Ancient Empires: Official Update - Part one

[Sheridan]

Hello fans and long-time followers of Ancient Empires!

We hope you're doing great.

Since a few years back, a small group of modding enthusiasts have been working dedicatedly towards bringing their vision of a grand overhaul mod for Rome II - which has since then been moved over to Attila's engine - to life. There have been a few bumps in the road along the way, but thanks to our incredible community we've been able to push on. The purpose of today's update is to bring you news about our development of the mod you've all been waiting for so long.

To set the record straight from the start, we're choosing not to announce a release date as it would be based soley on speculation at this point. Not to mention potentially backfire like the previous time we announced a release date for the mod. Before you are disappointed, however, it is now safe to say that the campaign, currently being scrutinized by our beta testers on a faction to faction basis, is rapidly approaching a playable state.

As of February, two factions are playable (Rome and Carthage) and balancing is in full process for our other release candidates. We've listened to the community's voice on which factions to release first. We're working hard towards not only completing these, but also some Eastern factions for more variable playstyles and units at the player's disposal. Barbarian factions are planned to be patched in some time after release.

With this update we'd like to highlight some of the completed features in the mod - new and old.

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Faction rulers:

• Faction rulers have unique, personality- and action-based Ruler Traits
  
• Ruler traits define how popular a faction leader is with his people
  
• Since a recent update ruler traits are now changeable. Depending on the ruler's actions, he may receive a new trait to replace the old one. This allows unpopular rulers to gain popularity if they prove their worth - and already likeable ones to lose the people's favour in many different ways

Other family members:

• Close family members have unique traits based on a similar mechanic. This enables political rivalry within the family, as ambitious characters challenge the rule of their kin.

Public order:

• Commerce is stimulated at high public order, and taxes efficiently extracted
  
• Taxes cannot be extracted from outraged and rebellious provinces, nor can new units be recruited in these areas. People will abandon such regions, lowering urbanisation. Maintain order in your cities carefully, or your forces will be bogged down in civil conflict for many turns.

Political offices:

• Every culture has new political offices. They are themed with culture-appropriate political positions
  
• Each culture has unique advantages from their own set of offices
  
• The more experienced the character in office, the greater the bonuses will be

Traits & Ancillaries:

• Close to 600 traits and 100 ancillaries exist in the mod
  
• Traits influence the Attribute system, divided into Command, Management and Popularity. Each successive point into one attribute (up to 10) provides stronger bonuses. Depending on a character's attributes, he will be suited for some campaign tasks but not others
  
• Generals can become acutely ill on the field, affecting their ability to lead and potentially resulting in a premature death. Treat them carefully!
  
• Traits are primarily generated by one's actions, although a subset of personality and skill traits are generated randomly every time a new campaign is launched. This makes each faction playthrough different, encouraging different strategies (depending on your characters' strengths) each time

Military traditions:

• All-new traditions. Not every effect is purely beneficial; some come as a trade-off. It is possible to unlock 6 traditions with an army or navy - the total number of traditions varies by culture from 10 to 13.
  
• Each culture has its own set of Legacy Traditions - a type that is already unlocked to provide a unique challenge for every faction. These do not only provide positive effects, but also severe penalties, affecting your strategy
  
• New naval traditions. Carthage boasts particularly powerful naval Legacy Traditions.

Building trees:

• The mod features an extensively researched building system
  
• The settlement main building is dedicated towards imposing a particular rule over a subjugated/conquered region. The player can focus on integrating new territories, or permitting them to retain variable degrees of independent rule. The choice affects taxes, recruitment and public order.

Spoiler for Faction Menu: 

Spoiler for Political summary: 

Spoiler for Character selection: 

Spoiler for Technology tree: 

Spoiler for Arab battle: 

We'll keep trying to post these kind of updates if it's something the community would like to see more of. Until next time!

[Relf]

Everything looks pretty fantastic.

The only thing I can see that I don't absolutely love is the map in the Faction Menu.

The thing I'm probably most excited to explore is that massive trait system, I really enjoy building up my generals and armies as special characters and the unique traits for both lets me really dig into it.

[AngryPolack]

Man this looks awesome. Unbelievable work guys.

[DerThüringer]

The wife pictures looks terrible - let me know if I help you out with some new better 3d ones !
I made hunderts of them ! Would be possible also with the kids...

Examples:
1. Historical Carthage Womans


2. Historical Skythian Womans


3. Historical Iberian Womans


4. Historical Dacian Womans


5. Historical Thracian Womans


6. Historical Greek Womans


7. Historical Germanic Womans


8. Historical Eastern Womans


9. Historical Celtic Womans


10. Historical Roman Womans


11. Historical Ptolemaic Womans


12. Historical Nubian Womans

[LEXI2016]

DerThuringer yes, much better, though i wouldn't describe the existing ones as terrible...more not suited. Great job with the mod,unbelievable.

[Sheridan]

But there is no wife portrait included in any of these screenshots? If you mean the 2D blonde icon, it is just a generic replacement of the previous ring icon.

[DerThüringer]

But there is no wife portrait included in any of these screenshots? If you mean the 2D blonde icon, it is just a generic replacement of the previous ring icon.

OK - sorry - but if you need my art - let know !

[Petellius]

You've changed your tune

[DerThüringer]

You've changed your tune

No - but I know - for the US citizens its really hard to get Access to educational resources - so I like to help you out from Munich here.

[The Wandering Storyteller]

Absolutely beautiful

I'm just so happy seeing how far the mod has progressed, and it looks so polished that its....amazing.

Plus I love the fact you guys chose Parthia for a screenshot preview, it's my fav faction. One day the word of Ahura Mazda shall shine in the known world!

So if I select an trait for a leader, does that mean I have to look over lots or is automatically selected?

Like the idea that Generals get sick but how does it play out?

Also, how do you know when a General is so powerful that he can leave you? Shogun 2 had this concept.

Perhaps a post explaining the political system works?

[Relf]

But there is no wife portrait included in any of these screenshots? If you mean the 2D blonde icon, it is just a generic replacement of the previous ring icon.

I think he means in the Political Summary, you can see portraits of women in a style that doesn't match the men they are next to.

[Haddon]

I think he means in the Political Summary, you can see portraits of women in a style that doesn't match the men they are next to.

Those aren't portraits of the wives, those are the empty slot picture. Rather than just the ring, that is the "not married, get yoself a wife" icon.

What has the team done with the Integrity system? I feel like the idea is fantastic, but was so poorly implemented in Vanilla as to be almost completely discounted, unless playing as a horde or playing AoC. I imagine that is a part of your supplies system (I see the "supplies: well-fed trait")?

Tons of officer upgrades in that screen, are they all 2 levels like in Vanilla? If so, how many of those can you get with a fully leveled general? Looks like they fall under the categories of something like city management, public order/politics, maybe the commander himself, and battlefield upgrades. Do all factions have that same breakdown, just with some differences in specifics from the upgrades?

[Sheridan]

Appreciate the feedback everyone!

Plus I love the fact you guys chose Parthia for a screenshot preview, it's my fav faction. One day the word of Ahura Mazda shall shine in the known world!

High five on that!

So if I select an trait for a leader, does that mean I have to look over lots or is automatically selected?

The leader trait isn't selected as such, but generated based on the personality and actions taken by that specific character. Essentially this determines how the faction leader is viewed by his people - summarised in the ruler trait, granting unique, powerful effects to your faction. You can affect the ruler's personality (and naturally his actions) on the campaign map in various ways. That is to say, a tolerant ruler may not always remain tolerant; similarly, a weak ruler may surprise everyone by conquering large swathes of lands (or losing his wits, haha).

The dynamics are complex here and it's not possible to delve into every little detail. These traits are arranged in a higherarchy of dominant and recessive types. What this means in effect is that your ruler trait can change from some traits into others, but not always the other way around. Typically a very negative or very positive trait is difficult to get rid off, for better or worse.

Like the idea that Generals get sick but how does it play out?

I would actually prefer not to disclose the details. The less you know about this mechanic, the more interesting it will turn out once you encounter it for the first time. Suffice to say that it is quite intuitive.

Also, how do you know when a General is so powerful that he can leave you? Shogun 2 had this concept.

This mechanic is more pronounced for our barbarian factions, for reasons that will be explained more thoroughly in due time. For other factions, it is largely still based on influence. The more influential a character, the lower his loyalty will be towards his king. Certain factions will have loyalty bonuses or penalties owing to their culture, but influence (and traits, importantly) are still main determinants of loyalty and will shift over the course of the campaign.

I think he means in the Political Summary, you can see portraits of women in a style that doesn't match the men they are next to.

Would like to second Haddon's reply here. In order to reassure everyone, here is a picture of a real wife portrait.

Spoiler for Wife: 

[Sheridan]

What has the team done with the Integrity system? I feel like the idea is fantastic, but was so poorly implemented in Vanilla as to be almost completely discounted, unless playing as a horde or playing AoC. I imagine that is a part of your supplies system (I see the "supplies: well-fed trait")?

I think the main focus of the integrity system has been integrating it appropriately with different cultures. We want each culture to play differently in the sense that some armies are more professional and long-term, while others are based on nothing but loyalty towards their commander and his ability to win them battles. The "legacy traditions" mentioned in the original post are a big part of this, reflecting on the unique challenges and advantages of each factions' armies. Barbarians have a integrity penalty (variable by subculture) applied to every army through this mechanic. Other factions, like Rome, has a bonus instead, owing to the discipline and mentality of their troops. Yet other factions fall somewhere in between.

I see you have a keen eye, first to spot the supply mechanic. The supply mechanic is also a heavy determinant of the month-to-month integrity. A starved army will suffer from lower battle morale as well as many campaign map penalties, including severe integrity loss.

Tons of officer upgrades in that screen, are they all 2 levels like in Vanilla? If so, how many of those can you get with a fully leveled general? Looks like they fall under the categories of something like city management, public order/politics, maybe the commander himself, and battlefield upgrades. Do all factions have that same breakdown, just with some differences in specifics from the upgrades?

Right now the tree is shared by all civilised factions (i.e. not barbarians). A character can get up to six points to spend on the tree, divided into four branches (management, politics, command (campaign) and leadership (battlefield)). In other words you can, if you choose to, complete one full branch of six skills. The player is incentivised to do so through special finishers towards the end of a branch, providing more powerful effects than the early skills. There is only one level per skill or army tradition, but instead they tend to have much more meaningful effects than vanilla

[Tyler455]

Will there be any psoibibilty to represent faction internal conflict like some sort of civil war?

[DerThüringer]

Would like to second Haddon's reply here. In order to reassure everyone, here is a picture of a real wife portrait.

Really nice ! Hopefully you have them also different for every other culture with many different variants ?

[Haddon]

I think the main focus of the integrity system has been integrating it appropriately with different cultures. We want each culture to play differently in the sense that some armies are more professional and long-term, while others are based on nothing but loyalty towards their commander and his ability to win them battles. The "legacy traditions" mentioned in the original post are a big part of this, reflecting on the unique challenges and advantages of each factions' armies. Barbarians have a integrity penalty (variable by subculture) applied to every army through this mechanic. Other factions, like Rome, has a bonus instead, owing to the discipline and mentality of their troops. Yet other factions fall somewhere in between

Excellent. I was actually thinking of making a mod to remake the integrity system to be something similar. My idea was reduced integrity per turn (reduction based on food available in the region, meaning enemy regions reduce it far more), eventually leading to some pretty heavy penalties both in battle and campaign. Starting with just something small, just a few penalties, adding up to some pretty large subtractions to a dozen different things. Sounds like your system is pretty similar.

I see you have a keen eye, first to spot the supply mechanic. The supply mechanic is also a heavy determinant of the month-to-month integrity. A starved army will suffer from lower battle morale as well as many campaign map penalties, including severe integrity loss.

Are supplies determined by distance to a city, or an overall region food amount, or factionwide or what?

Right now the tree is shared by all civilised factions (i.e. not barbarians). A character can get up to six points to spend on the tree, divided into four branches (management, politics, command (campaign) and leadership (battlefield)). In other words you can, if you choose to, complete one full branch of six skills. The player is incentivised to do so through special finishers towards the end of a branch, providing more powerful effects than the early skills. There is only one level per skill or army tradition, but instead they tend to have much more meaningful effects than vanilla

Does the general rank system still work the same, up to 12? If so, I imagine 1 point every other level? If so, I think adding one extra point at rank 12 would be great; an extra bonus for using that general like crazy and keeping him alive all the way to top tier.

[Commissar Caligula_]

Are supplies determined by distance to a city, or an overall region food amount, or factionwide or what?

From playing the beta, army supplies are based on the faction wide number whilst province public order is based on the amount of food produced just in that province. Dunno whether the team plans anything fancier.

[Sheridan]

Will there be any psoibibilty to represent faction internal conflict like some sort of civil war?

In this case it's mainly a question of existing vanilla mechanics, if I understood your question correctly. Characters that become disloyal may defect and instigate a civil war, as known from these two titles. However, in the mod, there is an additional (and important) layer to this mechanic in the form of the ruler traits mentioned above. Depending on your ruler's personality, he may alienate his subjects, lowering their loyalty, thus significantly increasing the chances of civil conflict occuring. This also goes the other way around. A certain level of good-will towards respected rulers decreases the chance of such events. In addition to this, heirs and other family members have special traits influencing their own loyalty as well as that of other characters. There is one particular trait for disloyal family members that represents their ambition to rise to power; in doing so, they will also lower the loyalty of other characters.

Really nice ! Hopefully you have them also different for every other culture with many different variants ?

Absolutely. There is at least 4 different wife portraits for each culture.

Are supplies determined by distance to a city, or an overall region food amount, or factionwide or what?

None of the above, strictly speaking. The supply system is based on location primarily. In your own regions, your armies will refill their supplies. (I will add here that it may be possible to add an additional layer of permitting such replenishment only in the presence of a food surplus). In foreign territory, whether hostile or not, armies slowly consume their supplies. Our current system is rather simplistic and focused on gameplay impact rather than complexity. It is possible to add many more dimensions to this; the reason why it is still rather simple is because we're developing a new system. As such, I don't want to spend time improving on a system that may ultimately be discontinued in favor of another. In any case, there will be a supply mechanic featured in the mod, whether it's this one or a new, more complex.

Does the general rank system still work the same, up to 12? If so, I imagine 1 point every other level? If so, I think adding one extra point at rank 12 would be great; an extra bonus for using that general like crazy and keeping him alive all the way to top tier.

There are 10 ranks in the mod, which I think is also the case in vanilla. So that's almost right, there's one skill point a little more frequent than every other level. Since the experience rank affects their skill in a political office, and owing to the pretty large leap in bonuses from level 9 to 10, I feel like there's already reason to keep your high-ranking generals alive.

[Tyler455]

Amazing thanks for the answer and can’t wait for the mod