It is time for another part of our Spotlight series, today focused on Historical Events. This new mechanic that will be introduced in the upcoming Imperiums: Rome vs Carthage DLC will enhance the feeling of historical authenticity and will bring interesting, yet realistic twists into the game flow.
As soon as you start your rule you will be inundated with reports and news from all corners of your empire, everybody will try to get your attention. As always, they all find their own problems to be the most pressing and acute, thus requiring the immediate attention of the ruler. In such situation, seemingly unimportant events might go unnoticed or pushed low on the list of priorities. You should learn to be sensitive to the signs and small manifestations that warn you of potential major changes on the horizon. What precautions can be taken to prepare for the unexpected?
Reports of barbarian groups living in the forests beyond the river border come every once in a while. Of course, they could be a peaceful people, but ignoring their existence completely might be a grave mistake. Perhaps a small garrison positioned on a lookout over the river is a sufficient precaution, one that might save the day should they decide to cross the river en mass, with sharp axes and battle cries.
Pavel will give you a more detailed insight into how this mechanic works:
It was our ambition from the beginning to make Imperiums historically authentic and believable. Once you enter the game, your actions and decisions create an alternative history, however, the initial setup is carefully designed to illustrate historical reality as faithfully as possible. To this end, we undertake a thorough AI balancing and tweaking to make the AI behavior logical and realistic, or at least historically plausible during the first dozens of turns. The new mechanic called Historical Events should further increase immersion and enhance the feeling of a true historical setting. We have selected several key events that shaped this historical period and have slotted them into the new campaign Rome vs Carthage. Therefore you might experience some history-changing events that are not triggered as a consequence of the developments in the game but have been implemented externally. They do not occur accidentally, nothing ever does in Imperiums games:). We have taken extra care to define the trigger conditions in such a way, that these events fit logically into the game situation. Often, their occurrence is preceded by „signs“ that you can observe directly in the game. A small spoiler now, examples of such events are, the intrusion of the Sarmatians into the Black Sea region leading to the destabilization of the whole area, the migration of the Germanic tribes towards Pannonia and the Danube river and the unrest in Bithynia that set off a number of other events that affected the whole of Asia Minor. The conditioning of the historical events is flexible, so they can be triggered anytime during the game and their effects can differ greatly depending on the current situation. Moreover, you will be informed about the potential dangers and the likelihood of their occurrence. It will then be up to you to analyze the situation and take whatever precautions you deem necessary. The selection and implementation of the historical events was tailored to the Rome vs Carthage campaign, however, we are aware that many players prefer custom maps to the historical scenarios. We wanted them to enjoy this new mechanic as well but the implementation is more difficult here. Not only do the settings vary greatly but also the map itself is not „known“ in advance. Here, the historical events will be of different nature than in the historical campaign, more generic, to fit the many different courses in which the game can develop. We believe that the extensive testing has been worth it. You can expect events such as the division of an empire between the sons of a deceased king, internal collapse caused by the decadence of the empire or annexation based on the historical affinity of particular regions. This mechanic is in many aspects a continuation of our previous efforts to make the game more immersive and the gaming experience as authentic as possible. We hope and believe that the selection and implementation of these events will increase player engagement and intensify the feeling of a true historical setting, as your game tells a believable story that could easily pass into the history books.
To weigh up the importance of all that is happening within the empire as well as outside of it, is one more aspect of the leadership skills that distinguish a good leader from a great one. Expect the unexpected and whenever possible apply measures that could prevent a catastrophe. Bad luck can befall you at any time and often it is a minor precaution taken some time in the past, perhaps long forgotten, that can change the outcome.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1839160/Imperiums_Rome_vs_Carthage/
Yours,
Kube Games team.