RE: New Game? (Full Version)

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Orm -> RE: New Game? (5/9/2020 5:41:21 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorch


quote:

ORIGINAL: Orm

quote:

ORIGINAL: mercenarius


I expect to get back full time on the Fall of Rome by the end of this month and I'll report some progress as soon as I can at the beginning of April.


I hope you are all well.


And I suspect that the plan have changed somewhat due to a recent world event.

Orm's last message was incorrectly translated from Swedish. The correct translation is, "Where is the new game, you lazy bastard?". [:D]

No, no, Sir, you are sadly mistaken. The correct translation would be, " We will gladly wait as long as it takes. And if need be we will play it in hell; or perhaps even in heaven?"



Zorch -> RE: New Game? (5/9/2020 7:16:58 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Orm


quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorch


quote:

ORIGINAL: Orm

quote:

ORIGINAL: mercenarius


I expect to get back full time on the Fall of Rome by the end of this month and I'll report some progress as soon as I can at the beginning of April.


I hope you are all well.


And I suspect that the plan have changed somewhat due to a recent world event.

Orm's last message was incorrectly translated from Swedish. The correct translation is, "Where is the new game, you lazy bastard?". [:D]

No, no, Sir, you are sadly mistaken. The correct translation would be, " We will gladly wait as long as it takes. And if need be we will play it in hell; or perhaps even in heaven?"


My apologies, good sir. I will play it on Earth, circumstances permitting. [8D]



Orm -> RE: New Game? (5/9/2020 11:35:34 PM)

Splendid. I look forward to playing it on earth. Circumstances permitting, of course. [:)]



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (5/11/2020 4:27:39 AM)

quote:

Orm's last message was incorrectly translated from Swedish. The correct translation is, "Where is the new game, you lazy bastard?".


Hilarious! [:D]

And I do appreciate the spirit in which it was offered. And, of course, the gracious reply from Orm.

I have been working on the game - along with other things. I have been adding new scenarios and refining the order of battle for them. I hope to have the set-up for about 8 scenarios done by the end of the month. That is not as much progress as I would like to report, but...I just keep plugging along.

I have also done some graphics work on the game's notifications. I have attached a screenshot to show what the last three notification messages look like in the Year of the Four Emperors scenario.

I intend to improve the appearance of this dialog, so what you are seeing here are not placeholders, but the first generation of these assets.

I'll post some other screenshots in following messages.


[image]local://upfiles/35543/C5A4F0D25B3B4CC39D04D3F1016A6CBF.jpg[/image]



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (5/11/2020 4:33:05 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Orm

Splendid. I look forward to playing it on earth. Circumstances permitting, of course. [:)]

quote:

Splendid. I look forward to playing it on earth. Circumstances permitting, of course.


I surely hope so too!

Another thing that I did in the last month is pure chrome, but it was driving me nuts: the status of dry lakes in the game. In the winter they should have water in them, but most go dry by summer. Lake Namak always has some water in it, I believe. And some of the lakes in N. Africa may too. But now I can refine that as needed. Here is an example of the lakes in N. Africa in Summer:




[image]local://upfiles/35543/D5E9849333CE44D9866ADA3A4F2868CF.jpg[/image]



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (5/11/2020 4:34:10 AM)

Now they have been baked dry in the fall:



[image]local://upfiles/35543/C91775AC0E3B4F03809E53B917C68E10.jpg[/image]



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (5/11/2020 4:44:02 AM)

The seasonal variation for the dry lakes is purely an aesthetic issue, but I finally got them drawn well enough. My previous efforts just weren't good enough, and that stayed on the back burner for that reason.

I have pretty much got the orders of battle down for four scenarios:

Year of the Four Emperors
Optimus Princeps (Trajan)
The African Emperor (Septimius Severus)
Restitutor Orbis (Aurelian)

Not all factions are playable, but the main ones are. It's hard to preserve much historical flavor and still have each player get a good chance to win. But there is no room for artistic license, of course! So, perhaps, Zenobia will conquer this time.

I will try to post some screenshots and a progress report for you at the end of the month.

Thanks for hanging in there!



Zorch -> RE: New Game? (5/11/2020 12:03:15 PM)

Much appreciated! I could care less about the graphics...but others do.
How is the Attila the Hun vs. Julius Caesar scenario coming? [;)]



Orm -> RE: New Game? (5/11/2020 3:59:29 PM)

I see graphics as a bonus. Fun with the program looking nice, but function is important. Graphics are not.



Orm -> RE: New Game? (5/11/2020 4:04:36 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mercenarius

Stated, I am working on the Point and Click system for the Battle Board And I am adding a couple of new battles that will be good for multiplayer mode. One good battle - I hope - is the Battle of the Frigid River. Here is the force setup for Theodosius:



[image]local://upfiles/35543/557F457ECD834212ABDB4F4229EF0AAB.jpg[/image]

This has bothered me for a while now. Theodosius is rated as a very good leader, but was he as good as Arbogast? I am not saying he wasn't. Just saying that whith what little knowledge on the subject I have I would have rated Arbogast higher. Would be nice to hear your thinking.

Edit: No need for a lengthy explanation. Or even an answer. [:)]



Orm -> RE: New Game? (5/11/2020 4:09:20 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: mercenarius

Here is the force setup for Arbogast's forces in the Battle of the Frigidus.

Note that only Eugenius and Arbogast are historical personages. The other generals are fictitious. But he must have had some additional leaders similar to them. The names are chosen randomly but the command ratings are set by the scenario.

Eugenius has a low command rating because he wasn't a soldier. The auxiliary forces are Franks (a little obvious, I hope, because of the Francisca) and Alemanni. That is the 'improved' icon on the Roman Generals' tiles.

[image]local://upfiles/35543/08301920D8DC49E18FE7256C27F975C4.jpg[/image]

I notice that Arbogast have the same counter symbol as a normal general. It is my understanding that Eugenius was merely a puppet to Arbogast. Will the program reflect this?



Orm -> RE: New Game? (5/11/2020 4:11:50 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: mercenarius

Thanks for hanging in there!

Thank you for continuing with this project. [&o]

The program looks more and more awesome with each update. And I am not talking about the graphic update. [:)]

Although the graphic is very nice.



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (5/13/2020 3:42:51 AM)


quote:


This has bothered me for a while now. Theodosius is rated as a very good leader, but was he as good as Arbogast? I am not saying he wasn't. Just saying that with what little knowledge on the subject I have I would have rated Arbogast higher. Would be nice to hear your thinking.


I will certainly try to answer! On paper you could make a case for Arbogast deserving a higher ranking. But since Theodosius won this battle, if only because his prestige (as the 'legitimate' Emperor) was higher, I decided to give him an equal rating in this battle. In the campaign scenario it may be a little different.

It's a little hard to evaluate Theodosius because the period of his illness coincides with the one period where he wasn't as successful in the field? He never lost a battle, I believe. But, he had advantages, too, in those battles.

That's really about it, really.



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (5/13/2020 3:47:58 AM)

Yes, Eugenius can delegate command to Arbogast, who is the commander in the battle. The icon is determined by rank and title. Eugenius does have the rank of Augustus, but he is a figurehead.

In campaign scenarios, Emperors (and Empresses) will be able to delegate much authority to favored generals. That includes situations in which generals usurp the throne and then are "delegated" to command. [;)]



Orm -> RE: New Game? (5/13/2020 6:18:52 PM)

Thank you for taking the time and share your thinking. [:)] [&o]



Selus -> RE: New Game? (5/13/2020 7:49:36 PM)

well...now the question is when we can play this game...



Alikchi2 -> RE: New Game? (5/23/2020 8:35:24 PM)

Slow and steady wins the race. Honestly, it's kind of nice coming back to this thread every 6 months just to see the project is still alive. We appreciate the effort!



Zorch -> RE: New Game? (5/25/2020 1:29:07 PM)

Rome wasn't built in a day, y'know.



Selus -> RE: New Game? (7/19/2020 9:50:34 AM)

Any update?



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (7/20/2020 4:03:13 AM)

Hello! Yes I can post a few screenshots and provide an update. I am finalizing the Notifications dialog and polishing the dialogs for initiating combat and making choices in the aftermath. I will also be revising the "automatic" combat resolution which 'Hannibal' doesn't have, but the new game really needs.

Here is a shot of the revised notifications. Unread notifications have their title in red. Not very original, I'll admit!

I have changed the purple color to off-white to avoid confusion with the colors of a particular Roman faction:


[image]local://upfiles/35543/49B31EBD49014F4D9E64EB3EC1B0F1F1.jpg[/image]



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (7/20/2020 4:14:10 AM)

One notification can be expanded at a time. I am still working on the fonts and the typesetting.

This also shows how you can choose to select the event's location on the map. The "look closer" cursor will appear automatically when you hover the cursor over the location. Of course it takes a little experience to know that 'Venetia & Histria' is a location on the map.

[image]local://upfiles/35543/2EF2FB608D0342F2B00366987FC420A9.jpg[/image]



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (7/20/2020 4:15:36 AM)

When attacking a city or a fortress, you will now have three options, not two. This dialog shows the layout:



[image]local://upfiles/35543/0294B59B5C384382AC523608F77AAAA1.jpg[/image]



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (7/20/2020 4:24:28 AM)

I apologize if the embedded graphics are as blurry on your end as they appear on my machine.

The three choices are:

1. Storm the city or fortress immediately.

2. Start a siege but prepare to make further attempts to advance the siege level. You make one such attempt at a cost of 4 movement points from the active leader.

3. Start a siege by gathering the maximum supplies to feed the army while starving out the garrison. This completes your leader's turn, just like in 'Hannibal'.

When a city or fortress is captured or starved out, you'll have 3 options: spare the city, plunder it, or burn it to the ground. The first is merciful, the second puts money in your treasury and makes your troops happy. The 3rd adds more money to your treasury and your soldiers' purses. But it establishes a reputation for cruelty that might be counter-productive. And it will hurt the province's tax base.

Of course captured enemy fortresses that you don't intend to garrison should be destroyed. Here is a screenshot of the dialog when a fortress surrenders after a siege:



[image]local://upfiles/35543/5E8DA03E9DB74231B074826A79536933.jpg[/image]



Selus -> RE: New Game? (7/20/2020 8:39:38 PM)

wow nice sreenshot, now when we can prove the game?:p



Orm -> RE: New Game? (7/29/2020 5:38:12 PM)

Thank you for the update. Looking good. [&o] [:)]



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (8/10/2020 1:47:34 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Orm

Thank you for the update. Looking good. [&o] [:)]


Thanks, as usual, for your kind words!

quote:

wow nice screenshot, now when we can prove the game?


The truth is that the game is still at least a few months away. I am trying to arrange some modest funding so that I can work at it fulltime or nearly so. But I don't want to raise hope with false promises.

I will try to post a meaningful update next weekend with some new screenshots. Much of what I did the last two weeks was grunt work, such as improving the layout of the province borders in the Balkans and a revision of the mountain passes there. Not really that sexy, admittedly.



lavanpk -> RE: New Game? (8/15/2020 7:32:29 PM)


re: "modest funding" idea: How about making Hannibal available on Steam? I think the game would sell decently exposed to a whole new audience on Steam. Of course, I've no idea how Steam charges/pays out developers for hosting games...



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (8/16/2020 7:50:51 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: lavanpk


re: "modest funding" idea: How about making Hannibal available on Steam? I think the game would sell decently exposed to a whole new audience on Steam. Of course, I've no idea how Steam charges/pays out developers for hosting games...


I am starting to explore this, yes.

Meanwhile, here is a screen shot of the new "move" cursors that are used when Point and Click is in operation. The first image shows how the cursor changes to indicate a move which is only an adjustment:



[image]local://upfiles/35543/B5449D086DDF427AB470EBE1102D24FF.jpg[/image]



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (8/16/2020 7:53:52 PM)

I probably won't use the translucent effect for the same adjustment when the player has Drag and Drop selected. But I will probably also use the new "Move Army" cursor when a player drags an army into a new province, so as to match what the Point and Click system will do.

Anyway, here is the cursor used to show the potential for an actual move:



[image]local://upfiles/35543/CF3AF52720184781924308B1F6FF9C5C.jpg[/image]



mercenarius -> RE: New Game? (9/27/2020 4:14:02 AM)

I haven't forgotten about all of you!

I moved two weeks ago and I am still getting settled. But I have been working hard at finishing the icon inventory and coding the enabled/disabled states of all of the popup menus. And trying to get meaningful tooltips to explain when a menu item isn't available.

I will post some more artwork and screenshots of the popup menus in action by next weekend.

In the meantime, here is a shot of the naval move cursor in action. Not exciting, but it's something:



[image]local://upfiles/35543/B6B3C88825DC4CB5AF1E986539F5E99C.jpg[/image]



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