Rob from eXplorminate had some really interesting questions for us, not only about Imperiums but we touched upon its development as well as the whole genre of strategy games. Read it here to find out more about our plans and what we have coming up!
1) Tell us about yourselves and, if you can, why you made the move to 100% indie!
Kube Games is a new studio. We all have some background in game development but we wanted to start fresh with this project as we feel it has the potential to grow and expand on its own.
The decision to go 100% indie, as you say, evolved naturally but it has never been – and still is – not the only path we consider. We keep an open mind in terms of possible ways of cooperation, but right now we feel it is the best way for us and for Imperiums. The competition out there is tough, and if we didn’t find our work fun and fulfilling, we probably wouldn’t have gone all this way.
Indie development has the advantage of complete freedom. You are not tied up by rules, traditional thinking and established processes with strict deadlines. You can be flexible and creative – and that’s the value by which we try to live every day.
And I can say the same about our fans. Some of them help and support us out of pure passion for the game. We are all indie in our hearts.
2) What interests you most in historical 4X games?
A game with historical background gives you the opportunity to relive past events yourself. You step into the shoes of one of the leaders, and with a bit of knowledge of what he/she has achieved, you try to do the same and better.
If the AI is good, you become totally absorbed in the game reality. Historical 4x is a game that makes you think. You cannot just declare war on everybody around. You have to plan your steps, try to outsmart your enemies and perhaps even your allies when you feel the conditions are right. The game hones qualities such as logical thinking, foresight, and careful evaluation of all facts.
Perhaps it is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it gives us a feeling of creation even if it is only in a game. You learn all the time, improving your skills and logic. When you win, you feel that you deserved it, that you actually might be smarter than all the others, and that perhaps if you did live at that time, you could be… let’s say Philip II of Macedon.
3) Tell us about Aggressors and what you learned from that project?
Aggressors was published already over a year ago and we learnt a lot from it – about the game and players, about ourselves and our mistakes.
If we should name one thing though, the importance of external assets was the biggest surprise for us. Game sounds, music and even in-game illustrations. Perhaps many will tell you something different, but the truth is that game aesthetics, UI design, and the look of the map and terrains play an extremely important role in the immersion and the way players feel in the game. I would say that this was the biggest setback if judged by the reviews.
We take any feedback very seriously and we considered all this when designing Imperiums. We are still limited by our budget, but we made a great leap forward. Soon, you will see for yourself.
4) What would you have changed with perfect hindsight about Aggressors?
Well, that’s a question that is not easy to answer. You see things differently when they are done and you can take few steps back and see it from a distance.
Perhaps the biggest lesson was the whole process of designing and creating the game.
Aggressors started as a hobby project with no firm boundaries. Our imagination went on a spree, still newer and newer mechanics were being added with no deadline in front of us. We understand today that we need to discipline ourselves and give ourselves limits and deadlines to be able to move the process forward at a healthy pace. As a result, the internal estimation of the release date of Imperiums has been moved only by weeks.
Another hard realization is related to the quality of assets as mentioned earlier. We really wanted to make everything in-house. It allowed us to touch many different segments of IT and programming. On the other hand, it significantly delayed the whole development process and had a negative impact on the quality of assets. So, if there are any developers among the readers, I can only say: Invest in quality!
The selection of external contractors, colleagues and partners was also not easy. We met some really great guys who helped us a lot and some others who proved to be more of a wasted time. You cannot do everything by yourself, but finding reliable partners is priceless and unfortunately not as easy as it might seem.
When Imperiums is finally out, we plan to write a post mortem to share our experience with other developers out there to hopefully help them save time, money and energy on things that just might not work.
5) Give us a quick summary of what Imperiums is and why it would appeal to our audience?
Imperiums is in essence a 4X strategy game which is probably what the followers of eXplorminate want to hear up front. It is also a historical game inspired by real events built up on a detailed research of the era, which should strike close to home with fans of grand strategies as well.
Many players asked for a fantasy mod, but combining historical strategy with fantasy elements can be tricky, and we didn’t want to repel history buffs. Ancient Greece seemed like a natural choice and a good testing scenario, as Greeks explained even common natural phenomena by the actions of gods, monsters, and mythological creatures. For them that was part of their everyday reality.
Therefore, we introduced a fully optional layer where myths and legends come to life. History buffs can play without being disturbed by unnatural events or creatures, as they are used to from other titles. For those who want to spice up the game with a bit of surprise and some extra adventure, the myths and legends open a whole new dimension of the game. All fantasy elements are tied to the existing mechanics and follow the gameplay in a logical way.
6) What are the main differences between Aggressors and Imperiums?
As I mentioned above, Imperiums is a different world. You can expect all the best mechanics known from Aggressors, only with many new features. To name the most interesting:
- Generals can have quite an impact on gameplay by encouraging troops and inciting rebellions in foreign cities
- Already mentioned myths and creatures of the ancient world
- Heroes who allow you to go on quests and search for treasures
- Common military campaigns that allow you to plan conquests with other players directly on the map and coordinate war strategies
Some other features that substantially increase immersion and fun for players include:
- Extended diplomacy, such as new treaties and diplomatic offers
- Sages who spread knowledge within as well as outside of your country
- Corruption mechanics that simulates the difficulties of managing large empires
- Slavery mechanic that greatly affects state economy and happiness at home
- Technology tree with locked technologies and conditions that accelerate research
- Introduction of territories that affect production of land resources
- Independent cities that defend themselves and are even able to expand
- New nations appearing during the game
- Many new buildings, improvements, state decisions and objectives
- Brand new UI
On top of that, the game will have hot-seat, multiplayer, localization to number of languages, and an improved terrain look.
The map is the most detailed map of Ancient Greece so far in strategy games, with 28 playable factions.
Our ambition is to explore new dimensions in which Imperiums could grow that make the game more real, more interesting, more fun.
7) What are the biggest challenges in creating a historical 4X?
Well, I guess that depends on the historical period. One of the challenges is to find reliable resources, especially good maps and stories. Most people have probably heard of Alexander the Great, but what do you know about his father, Philip II of Macedon? His story is as intriguing as that of his son, but history has nearly forgotten many of the side actors (not that he is one of them!). However, to re-create history you need to give life not only to the main characters but to the small ones as well, to give the world and all the events meaning.
Another major challenge is complexity. Real life has endless number of factors that affect every decision and event. As a designer, you want to put all that in the game, but then it would be unplayable. You have to decide how deep you want to go so that players feel that things happen for a reason and not randomly, but at the same time they are not overwhelmed.
8) What 4X/strategy games do you take the most influence from?
To be honest we don’t look for inspiration in other games. Not that we don’t find them worthy, but once you like a certain mechanic in another game you want either try to add something similar or you adopt it in the same way. It limits your own imagination and affects the game design decisions.
We take a lot of inspiration from real historical events as we know them and try to create a logical link between action the player takes and the ripples it makes in the game. Nothing happens out of nowhere.
Nevertheless, I am sure that players noticed that the closest game to Aggressors is Civilization. Yes, that is one of our favourite games. Imperiums is like Civilization with more historical emphasis and deeper rules.
9) Can you share with us anything that you’ve yet to reveal?
Ah, I should have saved some of the features named in Question 6 for now! 🙂
Well, we are now preparing beta so anyone who would like to test the game should stay tuned. We are just finishing off the last touches on UI and then we will be ready to start.
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10) Which strategy or 4X games stand out to you guys as developers the most from the last few years?
There are many good games, but if we should name a couple, they would be Thea and Panzer Strategy. They are not really 4X games, but they are very close to us in the way they do things.
From the 4X world, we were closely watching Jon Shafer’s At the Gates and we are a bit sad about the current state of it. We know very well how difficult, time consuming and uncertain the development of complex 4X strategy game is, so seeing any project run into difficulties is hard to accept – after all, we are all 4x fans in our hearts.