Hey everyone,
It's Felix again! Today, I’m excited to sketch out the main gameplay pillars of Lost Legions for you. This is just a broad overview to give you a taste of what’s to come, and I’ll dive deeper into each aspect in future posts.
I’m a huge fan of survival crafting games, and with Lost Legions, we’ve aimed to blend the best features of some of my favorites, infuse our unique twists, and strip away any annoying bits.
Our game is built around three main interconnected pillars: Exploration, Management, and Conquest.
Management: Drawing inspiration from games like Medieval Dynasty and Bellwright, we’ve designed a system where you can delegate the grindy tasks to NPCs. Whether you’re adventuring or battling, your NPCs will be busy gathering resources, crafting items, and shuttling supplies between camps. You’ll need to strategically manage your limited manpower, especially since resources are often location-specific and your NPCs are at risk of capture by Germanic forces. For the big Roman engineering feats in the game, you’ll be tasked with collecting massive resource hauls from various regions to a central project site.
Exploration: Balancing freedom and storytelling in an open world survival game is tricky. Subnautica did an incredible job at this, and we’re taking a page from their book. While you’re free to explore, you’ll be able to use NPCs to subtly guide you. Scouts can be sent out to identify and report back on unexplored points of interest, giving you hints and directions only when you want them, ensuring you have total control over your exploration experience.
Conquest: Last but certainly not least, we have conquest. Stranded behind enemy lines in hostile territory, feeling constantly under threat is crucial. We’re taking inspiration from games like 7 Days to Die and Conan Exiles and their periodic raids and adding to it. Players will defend and also have opportunities to conquer predetermined enemy bases and villages. The locations for building most structures are limited to these base locations, adding a layer of strategic planning as each location has its unique advantages, like access to specific resources or key tactical positions. You’ll need to fortify these bases with walls, traps, and other defenses to repel the barbarians while also gearing up for your counterattacks. Every captured base could be regained by the enemy, making for a dynamic tug of war.
I hope this gives you a better sense of what to expect from the game. There’s a lot more to unpack about each pillar, and I’ll get into those details in upcoming posts. I’m also eager to discuss some quality of life features that we’re really excited about.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this! For now, it's back to the pixel mines for me. See you next week!
Cheers, Felix