Hey everyone, hope you're all having a great day.
First a super shout-out to all the players who've reached out and provided feedback. I appreciate all the feedback I've received and I plan to take it all onboard to help shape the game. As usual you can use the Discussions link to post topics and I'll try and get back to you as quickly as I can.
I wanted to provide a breakdown of where the game is going and what you can expect going forward.
New Campaigns
On release the game launched with the Roman Campaign, a series of 12 scenarios taking place mostly in Italy. A few weeks later I released Sandbox Mode so that players can work on their city without having to worry about deadlines.
There will be an additional game modes planned for release early next year.
The African Kingdom - ETA: February 2021
This campaign sees you managing settlements all across north africa and beyond.
The African Kingdom campaign will operate in a similar manner to the Roman version, where you complete a series of scenarios for the Senate, each progressively getting harder and introducing new buildings, resources and requirements.
Overview - What's changed
Unlike being in Rome, the expectations of you being a regional administrator changes your relationship with the Senate.
Your purpose is first and foremost to produce trade for the empire, these lands are rich in minerals and resources and it's your task to acquire them. The Senate will require these goods brought to them via a trading hub and will send an envoy at set interval to collect them. Meeting these trade requirements will provide Senate Approval, which will play a more prominent part in this campaign.
To provide these resources you will need to work with the local population to create settlement where both Romans and the indigenous people are satisfied. This includes upgrading their dwellings and ensuring they are taken care of.
New Citizens
Along with the standard low, medium and high income Roman citizens, you will need to manage the locals, supporting both Tribesmen and Tribal Elders.
These new citizens will work in new building chains and will be a key part in the trade and growth of the region.
New Resources
The African region is rich and fertile, providing the empire with an abundance of goods that can benefit the empire.
As the administrator of these lands you will need to generate a range of raw and processed goods for transport back to Rome. The resources you will create are diverse and include the following
- Ivory
- Animal Hides
- Woven Goods
- Exotic Spices
- Barley
New Building Chains
To support the creation of these new resources, you'll construct and manage a series of new building chains. These will require various citizens to create them and will operate in a similar manner to how they do in the Roman campaign.
The specific buildings will be discussed at a later date.
New Requirements
The natives have their own gods, needs and requirements to keep them happy. Rome wants good relations with the natives and to strengthen trade, to that end it's your duty to take care of these new citizens of the Empire.
Various new buildings will be created to cater to these citizens, such as the following:
- new religious buildings, applicable only to natives
- new cultural structures and requirements
- new healthcare buildings
While they don't require as many different types of civic services, they will require more to be satisfied.
The Tribal North- ETA: March/April 2021
This campaign will be the Roman expansion into the Gaelic region, consisting of the french and Germanic people.
This campaign is still being planned, but it will see you take control of settlements in the far north, working with the locals to establish trade and growth.
You can expect a similar level of detail as the African kingdom with new scenarios, game maps, people, resources and buildings.
Grand Civic Buildings - ETA: April/May 2021
In an earlier announcement I discussed the creation of a new type of building, grand civic structures.
These buildings are massive and require the concentrated effort of the settlement to generate all of the resources it needs to construct. The player will place the foundation and will build the structure slowly until it fully opens on completion.
These buildings will represent grand architecture of the empire. Grand arenas, libraries, gardens and other areas that showcase the wealth and prosperity of Rome.
These will take centre stage in a new campaign where you will create these grand structures. This campaign is still in early development.
Summary
There's a heap of stuff that I'm working on and as I make progress I'll post announcements / feature showcases so you can see how it's all taking shape. I'm really excited to share my vision for the game and I hope you all end up enjoying it as much as I've enjoyed making it.