We have already mentioned some of the changes that will be introduced to the game along with the new time scale. We will no longer operate in years and seasons, but in weeks. This affects many of the existing mechanics but also gives us a chance to introduce some new ones, such as 'Politics in Rome'.
Today´s spotlight will focus on the changes that are less visible but no less important.
Having a long-term strategy is essential for planning a lengthy war campaign. However, once the conquest starts, you need to operate on a much shorter time scale. Taxes that will fill your coffers over a year will not help you pay a group of mercenaries right now. The training of new soldiers takes time and conscripting all able men immediately would cripple your economy. As the campaign starts your most urgent need is men.
Let Pavel explain how citizens have become the most crucial of resources.
A number of challenges and new possibilities appeared when we introduced the new time scale into the Rise of Caesar DLC. We could implement the Weather and Seasons mechanic and we had to create an alternative to the classical tech tree by implementing the 'Politics in Rome'. So, what else has changed? Let's start with citizens. The population growth mechanic did not convert sensibly to a weekly time scale, because one year in the new DLC could see the population double or even triple. Balancing this mechanic led to an interesting outcome, the population was hardly growing between turns. The natural consequence of this has made citizens the most important resource, more so than even gold, iron or stones. Military strategy is affected, armies are made of soldiers and they in turn are recruited from citizens. With soldiers so precious, the more costly and lengthy ways of maintaining armies, such as their healing in cities, need to be planned very carefully as losing soldiers can become a real problem. Settlers are also affected by the slowed population growth. The "execution time" of certain actions has been modified to the new time scale, e.g. building a road, constructing a bridge, building a farm and chopping wood. With these actions now taking longer, alongside the fact that settlers cannot be "created" so easily any more, means that the whole development of the map slows down significantly. Careful consideration will be required for construction projects as well as supply lines, essential for any military advances. You as Caesar are not the absolute leader of Rome, you are a consul in one of the Roman provinces and obedient to the Senate and the will of the people. You cannot build legions yourself, if you need another legion to boost the four you have, you will have to navigate through a labyrinth of political intrigues. It is possible for you to train inferior units to supplement your battle hardened legionaries and use these troops to somehow get by. After all, part of Caesar's military genius was turning lost battles into victories. The changes to the time scale have made the new DLC much more tactical and the Roman Republic a very specific and interesting faction. This DLC will really push your strategic and tactical thinking to the limits, the action has not slowed, you will have to be on your toes and alert from the moment you step into Gallic territory all the way to the Scottish highlands.
Caesar's tactical skills made him an unpredictable and dangerous man, he could always find a solution to an impossible situation. This made him a hero amongst his troops and the people of Rome. Can you follow him with limited resources and move forward no matter how difficult the road seems to be?
All these changes definitely push the Imperiums series another step forward and bring a very different feel to the gameplay. Please take a moment and wishlist the upcoming DLC and subscribe to our channel. A few more spotlights are still in the pipeline so stay tuned!
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Yours,
Kube Games team.