RTR VII: FOE Mini Preview - Regions

[Tony83]

RTRVII: FOE Mini Preview - Regions

FOE Mini-Preview: Regions

On 25 July last year we published FOE Preview One. In that preview we showed you sections of the map that was going to make up the FOE campaign. This map, designed by our illustrious team leader, Muizer, is an extension of that used in our previous release, The Iberian Conflict (TIC), and covers the whole of the western Mediterranean which, at the time, was populated with 55 regions. However, things have changed significantly since then and it is time to give you an update on what we have planned for FOE.

Today, FOE's campaign map is split between Major and Minor Regions, both having their own distinctive characteristics

Major Regions

There are still around fifty or or more of these, and they operate in pretty much the traditional manner, in that their settlements will have the full range of administrative, economic and cultural buildings available to them. They will require the usual amount of micromanagement as a wide range of buildings can be constructed and upgraded there. Settlements in a Major Region have the potential to generate wealth and troops for your empire, and strong walls to hide behind in times of trouble.

Additionally, a Major Region can have one of three different types of settlement: normal - provincial capitals - capitals.

• Normal settlements will have access to all the usual administrative, economic, recreational, religious and military buildings and upgrades.
• Provincial Capitals will be the same as a normal settlement but with some additional bonuses. They will function as local administrative centres of culture or trade, and losing it will result in the loss of these bonuses.
• Capitals. The historical capital of a faction will not only enjoy all the benefits of a normal settlement and provincial capital, but will also have access to special buildings and bonuses. Lose this capital and you will get serious unrest all over your empire - it may even collapse entirely! So protect it well, because the AI will try its best to take your capital to finish you off! Another new feature is that the player will not be able to change the location of the Capital.

Major Regions will be easily identifiable on the map, as the first letter of their settlement's name will be capitalised. For example, Rome, Carthage, Syracuse, Ambrakia.

Minor Regions

Minor Regions are a completely new and exciting concept for FOE, and we hope that their addition will lend significant depth to the campaign. There will be around 80 of them on the map and they will be easily distinguishable from the Major Regions because their names will be all in lower case. For example (from the Central Italy - Rome map), cannae, beneventum, paestum.

Minor regions are different because their settlements will be a lot smaller than those of a regular major region. We are still working on the exact details but they will have a distinct character (stronghold, agricultural centre, port etc.). While they will contribute financially and strategically to your empire, they cannot produce troops, nor can they upgrade their defences, so their security will depend on your nearest Major Settlement for their support and your ability to patrol your borders and maintain their integrity.

Below are images taken from the latest version of the FOE map. We are hoping that these region and settlement changes, along with our other gameplay innovations, will bring you one of the most exciting and challenging campaigns that you will have played in a long time. As other of our new elements bear fruit, there may well be further mini-previews such as this - so keep tuning in to the RTR forums.

Click on maps to enlarge

Central Italy - Rome


North Africa - Carthage


Tarentum - Epeiros


Northern Italy - Cisalpine Gauls


Northern Iberia - Celtiberians


Eastern Iberia - Saguntum


Southern Iberia - Gadir


Southern Gaul - Massalia


Sicily - Syracuse


Sardinia - Caralis

[rhaudch]

That's... actually really cool.

Nice to see you guys making use of the freed up settlement slots.

[stormer]

Wow,a lot of closely packed cities.

[Tony83]

Lol - I think "cities" is overstating it a bit. The mini region settlements are only the size of villages and will not grow any larger. While they will contribute to your empire's economy, they are meant to operate as satellites and depend upon their nearest major region town or city for defence, thus adding extra complexity to your strategic concerns. Lose them and you lose the income that they generate.

[leif_erikson]

Looking good Tony, I love the fact that Sicily has quite a few cities. Keep it up mate

[Tony83]

Thanks Leif, the extra mini-region settlelements are certainly spicing up the beta testing campaigns.

[DraeKlae]

Looking really good, keep it up!

Just one thing: why do we have a roman territory in the 'Southern Gaul - Massalia' screenshot?

[Tony83]

Thanks matey.

Not sure I follow you about the Roman settlement, can't see one there myself.

[Pat89]

Thanks matey.

Not sure I follow you about the Roman settlement, can't see one there myself.

I guess he has noticed the same error I had noticed, of what you thought noone would notice it

[Companion Cavalry]

This idea is genius! Amazing job, RTR team

[Finn]

Tony, if you look at the screen of southern Gaul you can see one of the mini regions has a Roman colored border instead of a Rebel one. This is of course is going to be fixed and most likely has been already.

[Pat89]

It's nothing special really... We only used a save-game after a non-savegame compatible update... Sometimes this messes up the map. So if you start a new campaign, it's all ok

[Tony83]

Lol - and here's me thinking that a red border meant no duty-free" booze.

[Maurits]

Those new mini-regions are really great! I think they'll add a totally new gameplay-layer. Keep up the good work!

One question: will provincial capitals count for the 'distance to capital' unhapiness? That'll surely give you the possibility to create a bigger empire without constant rioting. Also, these mini-regions give you some extra work while conquering an area, so maybe the new realism-effect that it takes much longer to conquer lands (more like history) will finaly be implemented.

[Pat89]

Thanks all for the nice comments

will provincial capitals count for the 'distance to capital' unhapiness?

Nope... They won't...

However, the distance to capital penalty, will count from your "administrative" capital and NOT from your real capital. You can change your administrative capital, but the very core of your empire will always remain the same (for the S.P.Q.R. this is Rome and for the kingdom of Epeiros this is Ambrakia etc...).

That'll surely give you the possibility to create a bigger empire without constant rioting.

Uhm... Well... Something you should not do, is to expect less riots when expanding your empire... It will be harder than ever to expand. but it won't be in the same manner as with the distance to capital penalty. In fact, we've designed a completely new system (consisting of 1262 lines of code with approximately 300 characters each!) which will completely remove the steam-roller effect. Conquering a region will not end with a military victory......

[Garlic Jr.]

Cool im on space watching europe

[tone]

Beautiful work guys. My compliments to the chef map creator and all the RTR team.

[Salvor Hardin]

The concept looks great, people. Only one question, though: will these mini-regions have walls or the possibility of building them? I am having in mind the possibility of the campaign becoming a siege-fest if it is so.

[Pat89]

The concept looks great, people. Only one question, though: will these mini-regions have walls or the possibility of building them? I am having in mind the possibility of the campaign becoming a siege-fest if it is so.

mini-regions can't build anything themselves (or at least almost nothing), since they will always remain at the village level. Some will start with walls and others won't, but I think it hasn't been fully decided yet which will and which won't start with walls. Many of tghe mini-regions in Sicily will for example have walls... historically due to the many conflicts in that area, a lot of regions there how small they may be, had walls to protect them. About the other regions I don't know... But I don't think you have to be afraid of that siege-fest

[Liviu]

Amazing job as always RTR team