Hey everyone!
Just a quick note to say that we have released a new update video today showing off our work with the UI. There’s much to do, but we have completely converted what we do have and we think it will make the game easier to navigate and use. Check it out and see what you think!
Link is at https://youtu.be/CIw4tYk58ro
Thanks! Enjoy!
-Steve
UPDATE: The video showing the highlights of .3 visually is now up here: https://youtu.be/IaLunW37ibU
Hey all!
With a new month comes a new update, and after several months of development, .3 is ready for internal testing! Since it’s a foundational update, much of the work was done behind the scenes, but here’s a partial list of the main additions:
So that’s .3 – and I’m happy to say that it is pretty damn stable so far! So what’s coming for .4? Glad you asked! By June, Imperia should have the following:
There’s some other design work behind the scenes as well to prepare for future releases, but this is the stuff that you will see when you play. Very excited to release a new video in the next few days showing what we’ve done. As always, remember that we’re showing work that’s done way before a normal studio would – as we’ve always done, we’re showing people every step in the journey, and keep in mind that a ‘normal’ studio probably wouldn’t start showing work until about another 3-4 months in the process. Hopefully you like what we’re doing and we’ll keep doing it!
-Steve
Hi all, Oliver here. Just a brief post today, outlining where we are and what we’re doing! Sunday 1st is our scheduled production deadline for Imperia Alpha 0.3, and Steve and I are both hard at work nailing down what’s left of that milestone.
Steve has been working on the trade system – planets in each trade zone now bid for goods, and automatically create trade fleets to dispatch them, all of which you can see on the map. He’s going to be polishing that up and adding tooltips this week, along with implementing the characters’ secret attitudes towards one another and a bunch of other stuff under the hood. For testers, there’s a very detailed log showing what the AI is considering when making trades, and what personality traits they are using. We haven’t added House affiliation yet when making these decisions, but when the House system is fully installed that will be a factor as well. He will also be adding the Project Bar and begin adding the Project data so that testers can start using the Project system in .4.
On my end, I’ve been polishing up the core of the AI’s strategy tree – which determines what each character wants and how they try to get it – and building a simplified model of the Threat Assessment AI in Python, to test out our design for that as it stands. Using test articles like this is a really good way to refine the design without having to mess with the game itself, and since Steve is doing all the proper coding, it saves him a lot of time, too. Initially we were going to model it in Excel (!), but the extra functionality you get with Python means it’s much easier to do it this way.
Come next milestone, which all going well will come at the start of June, the Threat Assessment AI (in whatever form it takes after this round of prototyping) will be implemented, along with the core of the Strategy Tree and a fairly minimal set of Actions and Projects. Imperia will go from being a fancy-pants galaxy simulator to an actual game for the first time since it was all written in XNA, and I for one am stoked about it.
We’ve also been recruiting alpha testers and UI artists, which is rather exciting. Having set out most of the UI in fairly Spartan ink-and-paper sketches over the past few months, it’s quite something to see them rendered professionally. Hopefully we’ll have some shiny new art to show you in the next few weeks, too!
Until next time,
Oliver
Hey everyone!
With the release of our milestone schedule, we’re making great progress towards releasing .3. As such, we now have active builds that need testing. We are looking for 4-5 testers that will take the job seriously. Although the job is not paid, we’re not looking for more than 2-3 hours a week, most likely, depending on how diligent you are. You will however, get all the latest builds of Imperia (good and bad) and… you will get 2 free retail copies/downloads of Imperia as well. There may also be additional goodies as well… (i.e. SWAG)
To apply, please send me an application via Email at steve@imperia5x.com with your name, country, best contact E-mail, and system specs, as well as why you want to be a tester (~100-200 words. Include relevant experience). If you are selected, we will send you further information about the process of reporting bugs/version events.
If you are interested, please have your application sent by 4/24/16. We will close off tester applications at that time. If you were previously a tester, please send a new application to let me know you’re still interested, but if you were in good standing you will be automatically added (outside the additional 4-5 new)
The game is progressing daily, and we are releasing a new build every Sunday night. Major builds will be released every 30-45 days. If you have a question about the timetable, please email me or Oliver (oliver@imperia5x.com)!
Can’t wait to get your feedback!
-Steve
Hey all!!
Back from a little vacation to get recharged, and hot off the press is .412! Lot of changes, and some neat UI stuff. Highly recommend to get. Also, the beginnings of the finance screen are in, and some fixes for lower resolutions should have something for everyone!
EDIT: .412a had a fatal error having to do with dependencies requested that didn’t exist in the build. I have removed all those dependencies and have uploaded as .412b. Please try that version if your install didn’t work. Thanks!
V.412 Changelog
2.24.15
BUG FIXES
* Fixed several graphical issues, especially with lower resolutions
* Fixed issue where taxes were not being calculated properly
* Fixed bug where calculating trades could cause a crash
* Fixed most remaining instances of numbers/money amounts being out of sync
* Fixed issue where projected cash flow was not accurately taking into account sector growth for next month
* Fixed issue where you could go negative on the ADM used when creating an Edict
MAJOR CHANGES:
* Added empire treasury screen. This will greatly expand in future releases but for now you can see your sector-level profitability. As the game evolves you will have to manage your sectors first as well as your sector governors and this will be the first stage in that reporting.
* Added trade summary on planet screen. This shows what trades were coming and going, the status of the station, what kind of trades the planet can do, and eventually it will show the corruption (new concept!) and efficiency of the planet’s trade
* Added planet summary panels on the system screen. These panels show just about everything you would want to know about a planet in easy icon form. Will add tooltips for future versions.
* Added starbase effective range concept. In previous versions, a level I starbase was just as effective as a level V starbase as far as covering a part of space and supporting stellar missions/Edicts. This didn’t make sense from a gameplay perspective, so changed to be an exponential range increase based on starbase level. The downside to this is that starting in .413, the empire will have to pay 50% maintenance for all starbases.
* Added kickback information to emperor screen, so you can see how much money is coming in each turn from your less savory sources.
* Added additional comments/results for the ‘Have Conversation’ action. Now, depending on your charisma, you can learn additional things about the character, and they may even join your alliance if you are persuasive enough! Added charisma as the primary weight mechanism, with modifiers for intelligence, age difference, traits, and loyalty (was not considered before). This should produce more realistic interactions, where people who hate you all of a sudden love you and support you on the basis of one conversation
* Tweaked balance further now that the sector economy level is starting to be developed
* Added functionality to Edict creation screen. Now shows real-time what adding ADM to an Edict will do for a system/sector/planet cash flow. Also added ability to use a planet’s materials if they are out of ADM, so a system/sector can now use the remaining materials on the planet before dipping into their reserve.
* Added the ability for Logistical stations to send goods to their immediate trade hub only. May not send upstream to other planets for emergency supply.
* Added more Pressure/Persuade effects, should all be done except for personal actions (blue)
* Changed economic profits. Before, a sector could be losing billions of dollars and it would be subsidized by magic, apparently, since the money was never accounted for. Starting in .412, sectors that are not profitable will subtract from the total tax base of the planet before imperial and sector taxes are considered. This will make it more important to pay attention to ‘black hole sectors’ of your economy. On the plus side, made manufacturing and agriculture more profitable to somewhat compensate.
Enjoy!
-Steve
Great news!!!
I have closed the book on .310 for now. Frankly, I could have kept going and worked on it for a while, but after the SGJ podcast I want people to be playing the same version as they saw (with a bit more stability, of course!)
Please remember that you can hotsave the game using F1 and hotload using F2.
As usual, the new version is available on Sourceforge using the link to the left.
Here’s the full changelog!
Imperia V.310c Change Log/Readme
7.18.14
Notes
* Please uninstall any previous version of Imperia before installing a new version. I have not yet added patch ability. The good news is that the install is relatively quick.
* I am updating the Sourceforge Imperia wiki periodically and this will be the best document for questions and how to play Imperia. Please refer back to it frequently.
Fixes
* Fixed issue where game would crash after dismissing 2nd viceroy in the game
* Fixed issue where logistical stations would not receive food/materials for their planet
* Fixed a small glitch where if you loaded a game anywhere other than the quadrant screen, it would be blank and you would have to refresh it first
* Fixed a terraforming crash bug where it attempted to calculate the terraform amount using a viceroy on an unowned planet
* Fixed some save game issues with character intelligence and greed not saving properly, causing very high intel values upon reload
* Fixed an issue with saves that would cause save games to get exponentially larger if unchecked, although it would not affect the game itself
* Fixed emperor not aging issue
* Fixed several trade/logistic issues; trade should be more consistent and smooth
* Fixed crash issue with adding a system capital and moving the system governor
* Fixed annoying UI bug where holding down RMB while moving over a system would jump to that system.
* Fixed wordwrap function where the last word in a string block might not wrap correctly, causing it to draw off the screen
* Fixed crash bug when hotsaving a game anywhere other than the game process (i.e. the title screen)
* Fixed informer alert so that it only shows when new informers appear at a planet, not every turn
* Fixed being able to embargo the imperial capital – just not right!
* Fixed crash bug where loaded games would not correctly load the character pool causing a crash when the pool to get a new viceroy from was empty
* Fixed bug where new outposts would not be added to the Empire’s planet lists, causing several issues
* Fixed the running out of planets issue when starting a new game – it rolls over the planet list
Changes/Additions
* Added Emperor screen, basic functionality
* Added universal tooltip system that will allow easy programming of tooltip help for virtually any part of Imperia! Added for this version: tooltips for all Character actions.
* Added numerous additional conversation strings to further personalize interactions
* Added Nationalist/Tyrannical continuum and added effects
* Added Nationalist/Tyrannical value effects for every character action
* Added hit to Nationalist rating if you cancel a good Edict equal to double the original effect (to prevent cheese ‘start Edict, cancel Edict’ techniques)
* Added next/previous buttons to Intel screen for easier navigation
* Added additional sort hotkeys to the Intel screen (Unrest – ‘U’)
* Added a check to each planet each turn to adjust the bio rating based on the primary designation
* Added more labels to Intel screen for additional designation types
* Added system trade screen window. This shows downstream trades (moving goods towards trade hubs) and upstream trades (moving goods towards planets that are in short supply). This is the first step in improving the trade/logistical UI.
* Added expanded trade mode UI on quadrant map. This mode will show lines and arrows showing upstream and downstream trades, as well as the amounts moving to and from each system.
* Adjusted trade logic so that planets will not send materials if they are below the goods alert threshold
* Added flag for characters who ask for a starbase to be built in conversation will now no longer hold up construction of it regardless of influence or loyalty
* Added UI feature: right-click will exit any main screen (intel, emperor, etc). ESC will also do the same
* Added remaining Edict alerts on system screen showing what is being built and what estimated time remains
* Updated look of planet status information on system screen for easier readability
* Added mouseover/contact capability for planetary viceroy on system screen
* Added character PoSup foundations: When you have at least level 3 intel on a character or active informers, you can see their PoSup. Will eventually lead to things such as breakaway systems, planets, and sectors if your PoSup is low, theirs is high, and they don’t like you
* Added new Character Action: Have personal conversation – this is another way to potentially increase your knowledge of this character, and when the needs and wants system is implemented, it will give clues to what they want and covet, helping to improve relations with that character (if desired)
* Added toggle on quadrant screen to remove sector lines (default option on ‘no submode’ display mode) – hotkey ‘S’
* Added ‘Stockpile Goods’ character interaction. This will always succeed and basically allow the planet to no longer be required to send most of their excess goods to their downstream hub. The character will be grateful and this is seen as a Nationalist act.
* Added ‘Send Goods’ character interaction. This may NOT succeed depending on many factors and will always make the character less loyal and depending on their personality (and the state of the planet) more angry. This is why you should be careful before taking a planet out of the trade network – you may not easily be able to get those goods back!
* Added build number to main status bar
* Added Emperor Continuum display to main status bar for consistent reference without always having to go to the Emperor screen
* Changed alerts to only appear when the planet has a year’s worth or less of goods depending on their usage. Fixes alerts generated by new or small planets that don’t have large stockpiles yet
* Changed trade system to disregard planets that are being abandoned for consideration for alerts, economic stimulus, sector expansion and needed goods – i.e. they will not be sent further goods or expand on their own
* Added more planet description strings. Doesn’t affect gameplay, but adds more variety to the planets.
* Added cool new Imperia desktop icon by Cor’e
* Added beginnings of new graphics overhaul 🙂
* Added admin cost of contacting character to character tooltip
Balance
* Raised cost of Logistical Station slightly
* Adjusted Nationalist effect of most Edicts downward slightly
* Adjusted Tyrannical effect of most Edicts upward slightly
* Adjusted Tyrannical effect of more Designations that promote military or heavy production or excessive government
* Lowered the chance that characters will reduce government unless they are very loyal and/or strongly Nationalist
* Lowered pool recharge rates across the board
* Changed character reactions to show ‘neutral’ until you have reached a certain level of interaction with them in order to promote more interactions and initial learning about your leaders’ personalities
* Changed Emperor power calculation to take into account your Will and Charisma rating, also dropped somewhat the PoSup rating factor. This will serve to have an initial lower rating early in the game, but more room for growth without having a super high PoSup later
* Added major Popular Support hit for abandoning a planet, moreso for abandoning a system/sector, this prevents abandonment unless as an absolute last resort
Unresolved Issues
* None
Enjoy, and as always I’d love your feedback on the forums at imperia.boards.net!
-Steve
This marks my first post on the Imperia blog… hopefully soon I will transition to a full website. For now, though, I wanted to show one screenshot of Imperia in action… the always-popular planet detail screen!!
Much, much more to come…. stay tuned!!
Steve
