Hey everyone!
Sorry the blog hasn’t gotten much love lately. I’ve had a lot going on with my ‘real job’ but rest assured we’ve been working on a lot of design and structure with Imperia, and we’ve even done some programming as well! Here’s the latest video blog. If you haven’t been to the Imperia channel, this will have all our videos, LPs, diaries, etc. Check it out!
More coming soon!
-Steve
Hey everyone!!
The first (true) LP is now live on YouTube. It shows off several of the new gameplay mechanics and Edicts, as well as the military, intel, and character interaction options. Plus, you get to see the most updated UI! Fun, fun, fun!
Here’s the link: http://youtu.be/UJccFfmcSQw
Enjoy!! Expect .410b to be released in a day or two. It’s essentially ready.
-Steve
Hello all!!
Sorry it took a few days longer, but I had some issues with audio mixing and my first attempt was a video that ended up being over an hour long! Going forward, I will post smaller videos that cover different parts of the game; this one is an overview tutorial and shows the current UI. The next video(s) will show a tutorial LP that explains more about how to play, and will be updated as newer versions of the game are completed!
Here is the link:
Enjoy! Oh, and .410 should be available by the end of the week!
-Steve
Hey all! In preparation for the new LP that will post very soon, I wanted to show some new stuff off!!
First, the updated astrography (main screen) UI:
The continued evolution of Pavlos’ vision is at work here, with a clean, clear, yet ‘retro’ imperia look. Next, we look at the updated military tab, showing a selected army and unit within that army:
As you can see, you will have a listing of all units on the left side, where you can see both the unit detail and unit listing. When you select an army only, the army’s stats will show on the right side detail window. The fleet review screen will look slightly different, but be essentially the same idea. You can access your general here with a tooltip showing basic stats, or through the character mode of the Intel screen.
Now, let’s move to an exciting first feature of the eventual relationship system between characters: pressure and persuasion! In this instance, Cyra has a problem: even though there are enough jobs to go around, the pay is so low and the job prestige is so low that people would rather sit around and collect their unemployment then get out and work. Now, we could just cut unemployment, but this is Tyrannical and I don’t want to go that route. So perhaps making the sector more appealing is in order. I plan to ask June Grayson (the viceroy) to raise agriculture wages in order to make the sector more attractive to job-seekers. First I look at her basic stats:
I already know quite a bit about her, but she doesn’t have any pro-agriculture tendencies, and since the sector is already losing money, she will probably be reluctant to spend more money in the sector. So I look to other means. I could pressure her, which would be a lot more effective but is very Tyrannical (and causes a lot of friction between both you and the character and the character doing the pressuring and the character), so I choose to simply Persuade. After looking at the chain of command, I choose to let my sector governor persuade June. First, I ask her:
Turns out she is willing to persuade. Great! I then check June’s character window to see how persuasive Kelly was…
Whoa! Kelly’s good at this! Now, before you think that you’ll just merrily pressure and persuade people hither and yon, there is a fatigue stat that increases as a character persuades and pressures others. After a certain point, they will simply refuse to do any more. This fatigue represents not physical fatigue per se, but finding out information, asking confidents of the target to help, calling in favors of the target, etc. and it takes time to recharge those sources. So next turn, I will apply most of those points (they decay over time, which is why it is important to plan ahead) to my request and hopefully, it will be granted!
Stay tuned!!
-Steve
Hello everyone!!
It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, but I promise there’s been a lot going on behind the scenes. Here’s where I get everyone up to speed.
First of all, our team continues to grow! Besides Pavlos, our talented artist whose work you will be about to see, we have added a scienc guy!! Thiosk hails from California and is a research assistant at Stanford, and has offered some amazing thoughts on population ideas and is working on the science system, which I will talk about both in a later post.
The upcoming .410 update will be massive both in terms of content and what’s changed. From a UI standpoint, one word will describe it: everything. Here are some example shots – actual in-game screens, not mocks:
There are a lot of changes; I will add the post with the changelog tomorrow. But the two biggest by far are the UI and the military system starting to be added. That system is actually very complex and the roots are already in the game.
When a new game is created, your empire is ‘rolled up’ a value n numerous science fields, including missiles, railguns, kinetics, lasers, defense systems, engine tech, warp tech, armor tech, etc. and from those values components are created dynamically. Once your empire has a starting component list, fleet designs are generated based on your military rating and the size of your empire.
For example, home fleet might have 3 capital ships, 5 cruiser ships, and 8-9 picket ships (destroyers, escorts). At the same time, designs for each ship size in the Empire are created based on a type of role (raider, scout, combatant, missile boat, EW ship, etc). Not all roles are created – this is somewhat random, but important roles such as ships of the wall, escort ships, picket ships, etc. are always generated.
Hull designs are created based on role, and from that a ship template is created. The difference between a hull design and a ship template is that hull designs only specify hard points, base defense/HP/crew ratings, and size, while the ship template actually plugs components into those hard points, creating a template that multiple ships can be generated (and built) from.
Finally, ships are generated off the template based on the number and roles needed for the fleets, and they are personalized with names, designations, crew ratings, and commanders, and stationed at your capital planets.
Ground troops will also be in the .410 build. They will be able to be used as garrison troops and peacekeepers, all the way to shock troops and stormtroopers to keep the public in line. They will have a loyalty rating both to you (known) and to your viceroy (known with intel). Be careful that you do not lose the loyalty of your troops! You can send troops that are loyal to you to your planets, but your viceroy can be given the authority to raise troops if they deem it necessary – but beware, troops raised locally are loyal to their viceroy first, then you!
In the next update, I will talk more about the military system and how it ties into both the character system and the science system.
-Steve
As Imperia is developed and grows, like all games, it started out as an idea. Maybe just a germ of an idea, or perhaps an incomplete vision, but nonetheless all great works of all media types start with an idea. A seed.
And then comes the water of hard work, the soil of daily progress, and the occasional bugs of failure. But what happens when you finally have a sturdy little plant that can more or less stand on its own, without the help of the soil or a frame?
You want more. More plant, bigger plant, more everything.
And that is where Imperia stands. As of .311a, it’s a complete computer game in the sense of a game. It has a start, a win condition, a lose condition, an AI presence, a way to save and load, and it is pretty much stable.
What it does not have is the totality of my original vision.
What I envisioned with Imperia is the awesome responsibility of running an star empire. The majesty and awe that such a persona must engender! And how could I, with my very limited art skills, every bring across that feeling?
Well, someone with vastly more talent in this department than I has asked to help with the art direction and has already started to contribute. You can already see their work in the revised title screen and UI; over the next several months you will see much more.
For example:
A throne room, where your new month will start – what will you do? How will you rule?
Soon, there will be mighty ships of war for you to command and defeat your enemies… or cow your own people:
And there will be new faces – your characters, your viceroys will come to life!
There will be more varieties of planets:
There’s a lot coming down the pike, and I’m excited to bring you a small preview. Stay tuned!!!
-Steve
