The amazing pace in terms of updates continues… or not. Anyway, before I try to finalize some more screenshots, I guess I better complete my description of the previous one. With the map out of the way, I guess I’d better explain the panels.

The panel to the left of the screen is the basic mini-map; the buttons on that panel perform the fairly obvious services:

• “End Turn” ends the turn
• “Forum” takes the player to the faction screen. This allows the player to manipulate his faction (dynasty, in the case of Pyrrhus), marrying off family members, bringing up children, etc.
• “Empire” takes the player to the imperial overview screen, where the player can conduct diplomacy, set tributes or subsidies, and imperial tax.
• “Menu” takes the player to the game menu (saving/loading/options and so on).

On the right side, is the display panel showing the currently selected person (it can also be used to show recent game messages or the currently selected region). The right side of this panel displays the person’s portrait, while the five bars next to that displays the current skills of the person. These skills are – from top to bottom:

• Command:  With a rating of 8, Pyrrhus is clearly one of the leading generals of his age. Command skill has a significant effect on the outcome of battles, as you’d expect.
• Combat: The skill of the character at fighting hand to hand – essentially a measure of the person’s survivability in combat. Leading from the front was expected of commanders in many cultures, and Pyrrhus’s stats mean that he will be reasonably effective doing so. Good combat skills will also help the person survive assasination attempts.
• Organization: The organizational skill of a person is required in many situations, particularly in matters relating to construction, supply, and administration. Pyrrhus is a competent, if average administrator.
• Oratory: The skill of the person at talking others round to his or her point of view. This is utilized in all interactions between persons in the game as well as diplomatic endeavours. It is of course supremely useful for Roman politicians.
• Guile: The skill of the person at mind games and treachery. Useful for stirring up trouble, thinking of nasty tricks and recognizing opportunities (such as successfully engineering the betrayal of a city). This is also a very useful skill for politicians.

I am still debating whether to add a sixth skill, but that will wait until I have seen how these five balance out.

Next to the skills, the forces of Pyrrhus are displayed (number of troops and land factor on top, fleet and sea factor below). The order column displays which order Pyrrhus is currently set to (nothing). The list of buttons on the left side of the panel are the order options, allowing the player to set the orders of the general. I won’t go in depth with them at this time, but just point out that “Levy” actually indicates “Tax Levying” – essentially a form of pillaging and “Recrt” stands for “Recruitment”.

That’s it for the screenshot.

Work has progressed well for the past week. Right at this moment, I am (hopefully) finalizing elements of the combat system related to the withdrawal before battle. I’m pretty happy with the combat system that I’ve settled with now – although it is a pretty simple auto-resolution system, it actually provides the player with some degree of input and I think could even be made visually attractive, if I had the artists to work on it. There is a clear distinction between battle-line troops, skirmish troops and flanking cavalry and the system will reward balanced armies. In addition, troop experience and leadership skill have a significant impact on the battle outcome. Did I say I am happy with the system?

Once I’ve got this settled, it will (finally) be on to the implementation of the Roman election system. I’ve been giving this serious consideration, and I think I have settled for a final shape of the system that is fairly easy to implement and works for the game. My biggest worry is to get the AI negotiating well, but I think that this idea gives the AI a chance of balancing out the player.

We shall see.

Finally, as promised, another screenshot. Please keep in mind that everything here is placeholder art – usually stuff from pictures or icons that I have resized/manipulated into a usable form. Everything will eventually need to be replaced.

If any of you recall the old screenshots, you will note that a lot has changed in the representation on the screen. Something you probably can’t see is that world map has been scaled up; this is directly related to the fact that the map now shows a whole lot more information than in the previous iteration.

As mentioned earlier, there are now a whole lot fewer regions. The flag on the region denotes who controls the region; this may be an entirely different empire than the one that actually owns the region (e.g., Lucania in this screenshot has just been conquored by Pyrrhus, but it is still owned by Rome).

Some explanation of the map, using Apulia (Tarentum) as the example:

The size of the city denotes approximate size. The small building to the left of the city denotes the special feature of the region – in this case a temple that has the effect of improving morale. The two numbers in the lower left corner of the city graphics denotes the strength of the city militia if mobilized (as they will be, if the city is besieged) and the second denotes the combat strength of the garrison present in the city. To give some perspective, the city militia in this shot is around 12,000 men, the garrison around 10,000; but better arms and training means that the garrison would contribute much more combat effectiveness.

The asterisks next to the garrison numbers give the fortification level of the city (2). In a more graphically souped up version of the game, this would be shown using in-game graphics. The number in the lower left corner of the city is the supply level (2); this factor is used to supply friendly armies in the region if they exceed the supply capability of the region, as well as to resist blockades in a siege. The anchor with a blurred ship on it denotes a port with a fleet in residence; the number on the port denotes the combat strength of the fleet.
The figures standing around represent commanders, of course – the yellow band around the foot of the Greek in Lucania of course representing the commander currently selected – Pyrrhus Pyrrhidae. The numbers next to some of the commanders is the combat strength of the army they are commanding; the fleet in the water in addition indicates the command of a fleet (the number “on the fleet” is of course the combat strength of the ships).

More later…

It’s been a while since the last post, but with vacation rolling around, I am getting more time to work on Imperium, and thus time also to write a bit. And since I’ve promised “new” screenshots for ages, I thought I’d better post something with one. Please note that the graphics are entirely “filler”; stuff that I have cobbled together myself and contributions from artists who have worked on the project, that will be replaced when the game is published. In short, there is little point in commenting on the graphics as such (I know they need to be fixed) – comments on the interface, on the other hand, are very welcome.

To start from the top, the first shot is a preliminary look at the game startup screen.

Pretty straightforward, really; the top list on the left contains scenarios, the bottom list save games. The top left graphic is supposed to give an overview map of the game area (in this case, somewhat cropped), while the right image shows a graphic associated with the faction selected (in this case, Pyrrhus of Epirus).

Currently, there are only two campaigns available – The Pyrrhic War (my regular playtest and planned tutorial scenario), and the preliminary version of the Grand Campaign (preliminary, as in not yet completed). In addition to these two, I expect to build two more campaigns – “The Rise of Rome” (from 270 – 145, same startup as the grand campaign but ending right after the historical destruction of Carthage) as well as “The Fall of the Republic” (running from a historical setup of 145 BCE when Rome has “conquered the world” to the end of the Republic).

The “Information” button will provide additional information about the selected faction (objectives, hints and tips), while the “Options” button permits for the setting of game options (more on that later). “Return” exits, while “Done” starts up the game. As stated, pretty straightforward.