Hey everyone, It's been a few weeks since I've last posted and update and I wanted to share with you how the game is going.
After releasing the Gaul campaign earlier in the year and the updated African campaign recently. I've been looking at the original Roman campaign and looking into how I can improve and update the design, balance and gameplay to bring it in-line with the other campaigns.
Re-designed Buildings
The original design had everything in a low poly style. Over time however, with the African and Gaul cultures, I've created more detailed buildings and structures. When you compare these buildings to the old Roman ones you can clearly see a difference. Part of this update will be upgrading these old building stylistically so that they feel more detailed and polished.
Food Storage Yard
A good example of these changes are in the Food Storage yard which now has updated colours, an updated layout and several changes to the mesh.
Before
After
Multiple buildings will be undergoing a makeover. Some of these changes will be subtle, while others will be a drastic re-work, implementing new models and layouts.
Clay Mine
The clay mine was one of the oldest models in the game and it's design was quite basic. With the update it'll look more like a mine and be more detailed. The entire mesh has been replaced along with it's scenery.
Before
After
Resources
Resources play a major role in game and over time I've been making resource creation more in-depth. While the original resources are good, I've decided to go back and take another go at it.
Resource Re-Balancing
Originally the idea for the Roman dwellings was that to get them to their final state (level 4) they required a massive amount of resources and services. While it was great to finally get there, generally you'd only see maxed out version a few times (towards the end of the campaign).
I'm re-balancing this so that you'll see these maxed out dwellings well before the finals scenario and that they're less cumbersome to upgrade.
New Resources
A few new resources are being introduced as part of the re-work. Originally some of the citizens shared resources or required resources that would cannibalise other resources (for example low income citizens needing Olives but medium income needing Olive Oil, which required those olives also)
I'm updating this so there is minimal overlap between groups. That being the case a few new simple and refined resources are being introduced.
Linen
Created from Flax, this dried and refined resource is used both as a highly desired trading commodity and also in the creation of new Exquisite Clothing
Exquisite Clothing
Required by the High Income Romans, these exquisite clothes are created from a combination of Wool and Linen. You'll create these garments at the Masterwork Clothier.
Adjusted Civic Services
Originally *civic services* were balanced around the idea of higher income citizens needing more civic services. Currently *high* income citizens require all *five* services. This in practice made it hard to get your high income citizens to upgrade because they needed to be surrounded by five different types of services.
This is being re-adjusted so that each citizen type requires less diverse services.
- Low Income - Religion & Culture
- Medium Income - Education & Health
- High Income - Security & Health & Entertainment
In addition, a range of new buildings will be introduced so you can choose the right one for your budget, employment and sizing needs.
Balancing
A big part of these changes will be a re-work to the balance of the Roman scenario. While the first few scenarios will remain an introduction to the game mechanics, it'll start to ramp in difficulty much earlier than before. A wide range of things will be getting balanced here, along with time limits, resource requirements and other game rules to make these scenarios both more challenging and rewarding.
Launch Date
I'm aiming to have this update out at the start of December. it's been just over a year since the initial early access release and I'm really happy with how the game has taken shape. Thanks again for all the great feedback.