Welcome to the Second Dev Blog!
As a solo game developer, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to all of you for helping Pompeii: The Legacy surpass 10,000 wishlists in less than a month! It’s been an incredible journey so far, and your enthusiasm is pushing me to make the game even better. Whether you've shown support on Steam, social media, or just by following the project, it’s been invaluable. The excitement surrounding the game has been amazing, and I can’t wait to share more of what’s coming.
In this dev blog, I’m excited to give you a peek into the core mechanics of managing your city, with a focus on building, production, resource management, and research. Below are some screenshots and explanations that should give you a better idea of how Pompeii: The Legacy will allow you to govern a thriving Roman city.
Building Construction
In Pompeii: The Legacy, city-building is one of the most crucial parts of gameplay. As the head of a Roman family, you will plan, design, and build everything from humble dwellings to grand temples. Each building plays a vital role in maintaining the prosperity of your city.
- Building Placement - Players can choose from a variety of structures, each with specific purposes, such as residential housing, production facilities, or administrative buildings.
- Construction Resources - To build any structure, you will need the right resources, such as wood, stone, and laborers. The placement and proximity of resource-gathering sites to your construction zones will significantly affect the efficiency of your city’s growth.
- Construction Sites - When the player initiates the construction of a building, workers will first clear the site by removing trees, then the construction will begin from the foundation and progress toward the roof. In the image above, you can see the construction process of an Insula.
- City Layout Strategy - Proper city planning is key. For example, placing similar buildings, such as sawmills and forestry huts, near each other will grant passive production bonuses and help streamline your economy.
Your choices will shape the layout and efficiency of Pompeii, determining how quickly you can expand while keeping your citizens happy.
Managing Production Facilities
Effective management of production facilities is vital to ensuring your city’s success. In Pompeii: The Legacy, each production facility, such as the Clay Pit, serves a specific function and needs to be carefully managed to ensure maximum efficiency.
- Facility Overview - Each production building has its own management panel, where you can monitor its input and output. For example, the Clay Pit extracts clay from nearby deposits and requires workers and basic resources like money to operate.
- Resource Depletion and Relocation - Resources, such as clay or stone, aren't infinite. Over time, certain deposits will be exhausted, requiring you to relocate facilities or find new resource deposits to keep production flowing.
- Workforce Assignment - You’ll also need to manage the workforce at each production site, ensuring that you have enough workers assigned to maintain output without draining your overall labor pool.
Managing production efficiently will allow your city to expand faster, meet imperial demands, and maintain a stable economy.
Resource Stock Management
Managing your city’s stock of resources is key to maintaining the flow of production and construction. In Pompeii: The Legacy, you’ll have a detailed stock panel that tracks all essential resources, including food, building materials, and luxury goods.
- Resource Tracking - The stock panel displays all available resources, their quantities, and consumption rates. This allows you to balance the supply chain and ensure you never run out of essential materials.
- Storage Management - Players will need to ensure they have enough storage buildings to stockpile excess resources, especially during times of plenty, so that they can weather leaner times.
- Resource Filters - You can filter resources by type (e.g., raw materials, food, basic goods, luxury goods), and sort them by priority to better manage stockpiles and production needs.
Effective stock management will allow you to keep your city running smoothly, ensuring that you always have the right materials on hand to continue expanding.
Research - Technology and Philosophy
Research is an important tool for advancing your city, unlocking new buildings, improving production, and influencing social policies. In Pompeii: The Legacy, research is split into two main branches: Technology and Philosophy.
Technology Tree: This branch focuses on practical advancements such as improved infrastructure, more efficient production techniques, and unlocking new construction options like aqueducts and advanced road systems. These upgrades will make your city more resilient and capable of meeting the demands of the empire.
Philosophy Tree: The Philosophy branch focuses on the social and intellectual development of your city. Players can invest in areas such as education, the arts, and governance to improve the quality of life for their citizens. Additionally, you’ll be able to influence Roman law and culture through your family’s involvement in imperial matters.
- Initiation Costs - Each research project requires an investment of resources and money to get started.
- Time and Workers - Research projects take time to complete and require a certain number of workers dedicated to the task.
- Simultaneous Research - You can only perform one research project from each tree at a time, but you can stack multiple projects across different categories to increase progress.
Research will be crucial for ensuring your city grows both in physical size and cultural importance, allowing you to stay ahead in the Roman Empire.
With these systems in place, Pompeii: The Legacy aims to offer a deeply immersive city-building experience, blending historical accuracy with engaging gameplay. Stay tuned for more updates in the next dev blog, where I’ll dive deeper into the story elements and how they shape the player's journey.
Thanks again for all your support, and remember to wishlist the game!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2632240/Pompeii_The_Legacy/