Fall of an Empire
Demo Hotfix: 11/05/25
The save issue still remains, I'm in the progress of replacing the entire system with a custom one - currently it's just automated and regardless of whether it's buggy it still won't work in the full game due to being too slow and causing hitches every time that the game is autosaved - very annoying.
The next update is going to have a revamped diplomacy screen (removing the dialogue system and making everything more of a sandbox-type experience where the player makes dynamic choices and actions to defeat the emperor, rather than following a railroaded path), 20-40 more unit types, more buildings and proper spying.
- Joe
Demo Update: Characters and Navies
Now instead of being a faceless ruler abstractly managing a faction, you're the Duke of Histria, a character with traits and statistics who can be assigned to lead armies and navies and govern settlements. Your faction, and other factions, now also have their own characters who can perform actions. They can also have families and age realistically. Instead of being a purely army-focused game, FOAE now lets you construct ports and navies, move your armies over the oceans and blockade your enemies.
The new update might be a bit buggy due to all the new stuff in it, so please let me know via either the Steam Community or Discord, or any other method because I monitor them all.
Here's a list of the new changes. There are a variety of other little changes as well that I didn't add to the list.
Update Notes
Gameplay Improvements
Added Markets to towns
Added farms as building type
Added soft limit on max gold
Locked battle tactics behind higher commander tactics levels (with tooltips)
Improved battle balance for outnumbered armies
Added "Continue Game" button
Added map modes, like culture and religion
Character System
Added character system
Added regnal names system
Added age progression for character portraits
Added functions for gaining and losing traits
Added characters and character portraits to:
- Diplomacy screen
- Battle screen (commanders)
- Dialogue events
Added special trait to prevent scripted characters from dying
Military Improvements
Added navies and port system
Fixed armies strafing while moving
Made armies face correct direction when moving to target
Added standards for idle armies
Added selection indicator for armies
Fixed double right-click being needed for military movement
Fixed new armies not having correct faction
Added stat bonuses/penalties based on general's tactics
Added naval battles
Added special events for battlefield deaths and ship sinking
Visual & UI Updates
Added new main menu scene
Added new islands to south of the map
Added tutorial for navy selection
Added FPS counter
Added DOF to graphics settings
Improved graphics:
Better lighting
Enhanced vegetation
Fixed wall materials
Replaced building destruction icon
Fixed unit selection display issues
Press ESC to close all panels
AI & Navigation
Made AI build army buildings during wartime
Made AI factions limited by their actual building capabilities
Improved navigation to prevent military units from colliding
Fixed attack functions
Other Bug Fixes
Fixed "Bribe" button in battle not deducting money
Fixed production queue progress not clearing properly
Fixed various military and faction-related bugs
Demo Update: 7/11/24 (Patch 1.43)
Patch Notes
Dynamic Settlement Generation
- Settlements are procedurally generated on the world map
- When you construct new buildings, they appear in real-time on the overworld map
- Settlement walls and fortifications are now visually represented when built
UI Improvements
- Added target indicators when settlements are targeted by armies
- Added expected population increase display to population center glance
- Moved resources widget to prevent production amount from covering icons
- Building income tooltip now displays in green when settlement produces gold from buildings
- Press 'R' to reset camera rotation
- Fixed stutter when mousing over minimap
Gameplay Features
- Disbanded soldiers now move to the nearest settlement
- Building restrictions:
- Markets can only be built in settlements producing secondary goods
- Military Visualization Updates:
- Siege towers are now displayed during sieges
- Catapults in world map are now displayed and now correspond to artillery numbers
Population & Settlement Features
- Added culture system
- Added religion system
- Added health display in population center screen
- Added culture display in population center screen
Bug Fixes
- Fixed issue where AI armies could spawn outside the game world
- Fixed inability to disband, split, or merge units more than once
- Fixed statue incorrectly increasing training time
- Fixed buildings that reduce garrisoned costs of armies
- Fixed mismatch in population numbers
- Fixed issue preventing clicks on armies after initial selection
- Fixed issue allowing phase advancement by depleting action points
- Fixed issue with region control not updating when game is loaded
Balance Changes
- Slightly rebalanced Vituria's forces
Known Issues
Bridges are too big. I will have to redo the road system anyway, so this will be fixed in an update soon.
Demo Update: 28/10/24 (Patch 1.35)
Patch Notes
I've just pushed a new update with a bunch of new changes, including a new minimap and region borders as well as some bug fixes and new buildings.
Major Features
- Added Paradox-style region boundaries with visible borders in-game
- More visible when zoomed out
- Added regions to minimap with tooltips - Redesigned minimap to focus on playable demo area
New Buildings
- Amphitheatre
- Mine
- Coastal Docks
- Hippodrome
- Statue
- New powerful buildings for Rephsis
- Barracks now reduce training time instead of increasing it
- General building rebalancing
UI Improvements
- Reordered and enlarged population centre glance
- Converted building layout from horizontal to grid system
- Repositioned "Paused" widget
- Reorganized pause menu
- Extended notification duration
- Enhanced repair tooltips
- Added build queue progress to settlement list
Bug Fixes
- Fixed unlocked dialogue options not saving
- Fixed crash related to monthly tick on invalid factions
- Fixed camera movement to new locations
- Fixed building upkeep tooltip
- Fixed repair tooltips and money refund after cancelling construction
- Added highlighting for important dialogue options
Outstanding issues with this update
- Minimap doesn't update when loading a save
- Minimap stutters when mousing over it - not sure why this is, doesn't occur in development
Demo Update: 16/10/24 (Patch 1.33)
Patch Notes
I have just pushed a new patch that should fix some more commonly-reported errors in the demo - mainly crashes and issues related to saving and loading.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed divide-by-zero crash in battles
- Resolved crashes occurring when battles are lost
- Corrected issue with buildings being removed from build list
- Fixed buildings not being saved properly
UI Improvements
- Replaced coins icon for better visibility
Save Game Enhancements
- Implemented save slot management system
- Ordered saves by date for easier navigation
- Added timestamp to save games for better tracking
Gameplay Changes
- Settlements now grow if the controlling faction has sufficient food
Demo Update: 16/10/24
Patch Notes
Hi all, I've just pushed a patch that should fix some common problems with the demo.
Gameplay Improvements
- Rebalanced spearmen effectiveness against cavalry
- Increased success rate of spying missions
- Armies now weaken when faction is in debt
- Gold reward added for defeating Corvinia
- Population now only reflects recruitable adult male population
- Adjusted seasons to match northern hemisphere
User Interface Updates
- Added Main Campaign button to main menu
- Updated new campaign buttons in main menu with icons
- Added armies and treasury information to province overview
- Updated villa description to mention tax increase
- Army strength now hidden when not actively spying
Bug Fixes
- Fixed AI units repeatedly moving in and out of settlements
- Corrected issue with Corvinia armies spawning out of bounds
- Resolved population declining without apparent reason
- Fixed armies walking away during battles
- Addressed crash reporter issues
Quality of Life Changes
- Reduced road winding for improved navigation
- Multiple save game slots now available
- Added saving and loading options to pause menu
- Pause menu behavior corrected to not reopen after closing
Combat and Diplomacy
- Changed garrisoning mechanics: players can now force out other factions' garrisons from their own settlements
- Clicking on enemy armies now shows their faction information
- Clicking on flags of other factions' armies opens diplomacy screen
Tutorial and Documentation
- Updated tutorial instructions for fighting Vituria
- Added population tooltip for clarity
- Made it clearer which dialogue options antagonize Corvinia
Miscellaneous
- Added faction defeat messages
- Fixed issue where closing the menu would automatically unpause the game
Plot your path to the throne in the Fall of an Empire Demo
In this 45-minute prologue, you will follow a path as the devious Duke of Histria against the elderly and decrepit Emperor Lucius Vetus, defeating rebellions and rivals, growing your power and armies until you can unseat him.
This is a vast improvement over the demo that was released last year, which I found to honestly be half-baked. Major additions to that previous demo include:
- Improved battles
- Improved graphical quality
- Better storyline
- Resource management
- Procedural cities and farms
- Dynamic seasons
- Food and starvation
- More detailed map with more settlements
- Building management
- Terrain effects
- Management of unrest
That's just the beginning. It now has a ton of quality-of-life features and a lot more general polish that will, hopefully, make the game a lot more entertaining.
Path to the Throne to be released as demo on October 1
Hence, Path to the Throne will be delisted as a separate application.
Path to the Throne is still on track for an October 1 release date. I'm looking forward to releasing it!
- Joe
The Path to the Throne
Revamped Combat: The system has been rebuilt from the ground up for more strategic depth - rather than the simple system where two armies battle it out with no player interaction, they're now made up of multiple phases, in which each army can choose from one or more actions to turn the tide of the battle - bribe your enemies, spy on them to see what units are fielded the next phase or switch which units you will field. This is all done in real-time.
Espionage: New covert options to undermine rival factions - spy on them, steal from them, sponsor rebellions in their territory.
Resource & Food Management: Balance your needs more carefully with 18 resource types with different effects - some are needed to build specific units, some are for improving relations with vassals, some are needed to produce different kinds of resource. Food is required to maintain your population and your population's relations with you - lacking food causes starvation.
City Buildings: Construct and upgrade buildings to shape your urban centers - churches, walls, military barracks, monasteries, granaries, workshops, docks and more. Each level of settlement has different types of building - small rural churches in villages, basilicas in large cities. Special locations like monasteries and military camps can construct special buildings like cloisters and redoubts.
Improved Graphics & Animations: Including new siege combat visuals, better lighting and post processing, new models, shaders and textures, a cleaner, more intuitive and better-looking UI (with more tooltips and a more efficient use of space), and more.
Better AI: The enemy AI has also been improved to be more challenging - it now makes better and more tactical decisions about what to build, where to attack and how to control its armies.
Seasons: The game world now changes according to the season - snow gradually comes down the mountains in winter, in autumn the leaves of deciduous trees turn red and fall from the branches, the grass dries out in summer. This also affects the game world - certain resources are produced more or less depending on the season, so the player has to build granaries to prevent starvation.
Procedural Cities: Watch your settlements grow organically based on size and fortifications.
Expanded Factions: Three distinct factions to defeat with unique dialogue trees and diplomatic options - Corvinia, Virturia and the Imperial Domain.
Enhanced Settings: More control over your game experience - granular graphics and audio settings.
All these features will, of course, also be added to the main game, which will be released in Q3 next year. Your continued feedback will be crucial as we move towards the final release.
Path to the Throne will be available on Steam for Windows on October 1 9am PST. Stay tuned for our upcoming trailer. As always, check out the Discord or r/fallofanempire for more news.
Dev Diary 5: Vicisoria
Vicisoria was the birthplace of the Guild system that later spread to the rest of the Empire. Most of the governance of the province was originally led by the guilds, with each one having the ability to make their own laws (as long as these laws didn't conflict with a law of another guild, a problem that caused multiple long-running disputes and low-level conflict between them).
For seven hundred years Vicisoria was ruled by a hereditary council consisting of the leaders of the four (originally seven) biggest trading guilds and two representatives from the Naval Guilds that defended the province. Over time the wealth and power of the two guilds grew to equal that of all trading guilds combined, and after a quirk of inheritance led to the admirals of both becoming the same person he overthrew the council and led the province himself as its Admiral, with total approval from the Emperor, who retained the right to pick the Admiral's successor.
Vicisorian sailors were the first to discover the southern continent of Zeugitania, and the first to begin building colonies there. The five Zeugitanian provinces were known for their culture, which was strongly influenced by that of Vicisoria, which became prosperous from controlling trade and exerting influence over the southern provinces. However, it was dealt a major blow when famine struck the colonies and the cities started being harassed by barbarians from beyond the desert. After the imperial decision to abandon the five provinces, the remaining population was largely resettled in Vicisoria, giving the province's culture an exotic flavour.
The current Admiral of Vicisoria is Constantinus. It was his great-grandfather who finally began passing the reins of power from father to son, without consulting the Emperor in Rephsis. Constaninus's goal will be to continue this arrangement, and any hints of its end will not go down well. Descendants of Zeugitanian colonists also wish to attempt to restore control over the former colonies, although this is an expensive task that's almost certainly doomed to fail. Vicisoria, as an important naval power, is vital for the safety of the empire. If the Western Provinces fall to barbarians it will be open to attack, and this would be disastrous for your future as Emperor.