Feedback Begatting Change: Major Mechanics Change for .410

by texashawk76 on November 29, 2014November 29, 2014

So I frequent some other forums where people are talking about the game, and one thing I’ve always prided myself on is listening to other ideas if they make sense within the vision of what I want in Imperia. On the Bay12 forums, a forumite named Novel Scoops brought up an interesting point about your POV:

Sure, the spreadsheets can be there too. Before i go any further, i realize this may already be covered by the character interaction/events system.

However, this is supposed to put you in the boots of one child emperor with limited reach and neither omniscience nor omnipotence, to be played by humans such as i, who incidentally is suddenly considering eye strain. I think it’s already planned for liege-lords to give advice, king of dragon pass style, so why not have them describe (reliably or less so) the state of affairs in their holdings? While your spies provide their own version? It just takes me out of the game when i see something like Unrest represented by a number.

This is very true. Why would I just always know there is 14 unrest on a planet, for example? Hell, maybe I’m taking my viceroy’s word about the profit/loss the planet is bringing in!

So going forward, when you open up a planet screen (note: this shot also shows the new panel system where you can hide panels that you don’t use/need), this is the info you’ll get, depending on your viceroy’s loyalty and the situation on the planet:

Ah, you think, I’ll just check out the demographic screen and look at the info there! Well, you can try…

In order to get the dirt on a planet, you have to allocate informers (spies) towards Domestic Intelligence. This is also a new thing – you will have 2 pools that you can weight: Domestic Intel and Political Intel. All you will be able to do is set a slider between the two; your Intel Prime will actually handle the assignments of new informer blocs. You need at least 2 points towards DomInt in order to get a fairly accurate idea of the number, and the more you allocate, the more accurate the information is. This is basically how the character stat system is already handled, and you will add points to PolInt to continue that process.

I’m still playing with this idea. It could be frustrating if not handled correctly, even if it is more ‘realistic’ so I’m going to put it in .410 and see what people think.

-Steve

It’s Been a While… But Worth the Wait!!!

by texashawk76 on November 26, 2014November 26, 2014

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:

Astrography UI V4.0 — New quadrant screen

Uncolonized System View — System view with uncolonized planet box showing. Now you click on a planet to show a info box on that planet.

New Starbases — Updated planet view with contextual starbases.

Updated Intel Screen — Updated Intel screens with clickable/sortable columns.

New System View — New Terra, with their shiny new fleet in orbit

New Character View — The updated character screen (buttons have not all been converted to the new font yet) showing conversation type and possible Nationalist/Tyrannical effect

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

The Future of Imperia: New Art, New Direction

by texashawk76 on July 24, 2014July 24, 2014

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?