Genre: Real Time Strategy (RTS), Simulator, Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical
Imperator: Rome
Development Diary #64 - Visual changes to Cicero
Hello and welcome to today development diary for Imperator: Rome!
I’m Carlberg, the Art Lead on Imperator, and today we’re going to have a look at some of the visual changes that we’ve done to 1.2 Cicero. It’s also going to be a bit of a retrospective at some of the visual additions since release as well, and our thoughts behind them.
New Interfaces and UX As shown in earlier DD’s we’ve been working on improving our interfaces. This is a collaborative effort between our 2D artists and UX designer to make sure each window becomes more easily readable and contain the information you might need at a glance. In the case of our province view for example some information that wasn't as necessary was moved out, and more important information moved in from other interfaces to make sure it's closer at hand.
The new building icons were another area where we sought to increase the clarity, as the previous icons were small and unclear. When we added the new set of buildings we made sure that they and the old ones had a more iconic look and easier silhouette to read. This includes both the new set of buildings for settlements and for cities/metropolises.
In general we’re looking at making our interfaces more clear and streamlined. It’s a bit of a balance we need to strike between having information readily available, but it shouldn't be so cluttered that it’s hard to actually discern. This is of course an ongoing process and will continue past 1.2 Cicero.
Curtailed Fog As we got to hear from a lot of people after release, the fog was too strong. So much so that a mod popped up that went in and removed it completely. We definitely agreed it was too much and dialed it back. The before and after images below will give you a good idea of the change to bring more clarity to the world.
The fog became a problem when the game camera was at certain angles and just overall. We made sure that it’d look better at all zoom levels and just play a role in the background, for areas much further away in the distance.
Progressing civilization In 1.2 we dialed back the amount of visual cities in the world to create a more stark contrast between sparsely settled provinces and large bustling cities. This also makes the growth of cities and civilization stand out more in the world.
A living world Starting in 1.1 we’ve been adding more of what we call dynamic objects to the world. These come in the form of constructible wonders, storms, volcanic eruptions and the like. They are ways for us to show the progress of the classical states, as well as the uncaring nature of the elements and the world itself.
We aim to add more dynamic aspects to the world in the future, and it should also open up the avenue for our modders to add interesting things to the world as well.
Seagulls So as some may have spotted, and we have noted earlier, is that now all the ports in the game have seagulls flying overhead. This is not merely for aesthetics but also a sign that the territory is a potential port location.
Deepwater ports were hard to construct in this era, the Romans did, but more so during the Imperial era. Most states instead had to rely on using naturally occurring deepwater for their ports. So now, even if a territory is uncolonized, these seagulls will be flying overhead as a telltale sign of the natural harbor location.
Visualizing the Future Going forward we aim to add more interesting aspects to the world to tell the state of your empires, or what might afflict them. A more living world we will all enjoy conquering.
Some of the things on the horizon I’m burning to show you, but those will have to wait until they’re ready for showing.
That’s it for this weeks Dev Diary!
To discuss the diary further you can view the original post on our forums here.
Q&A Stream with Content Designer Peter Nicholson ON TWITCH
Join us today at 14:00 CEST for a special Q&A session with content designer Peter Nicholson, answering questions that you, the players, have submitted to us! You can watch us on Twitch when we go live here!
Development Diary #63 - Introducing the Cicero Team!
Hello and welcome to another development diary for Imperator:Rome!
Most of us are hard at work finishing up the 1.2 Cicero update, fixing things found in the open beta as well as in our internal testing. Others have now moved on to the future Livy Update, which I cannot talk too much about right now.
With the release of the final 1.2 approaching I thought I’d take the opportunity to introduce some of those who are part of the Imperator:Rome team and what they do. :)
Name & Nickname: Johan Role: Creative Director What I do: Whatever is needed to make a game.. Mostly design and coding these days. Favorite Feature: Mana! j/k I really like how the dynamic pop mechanic worked out in Cicero. Favorite Nation: I love playing Tartessos
Nickname: Arheo What I do: Content Designer! Skilled in being bald, musicology, and battering rams. I have a hand in miscellaneous parts of Imperator. I'm always happy to discuss balance, design, or accidental features on the forums. Favorite Creation: The Olympics Least Favourite Creation: The Olympics
Nickname: Trin Tragula Name: Henrik Role: Game Designer What I do: My job is to come up with and document design as well as tweaking and adjusting the balance of the game. I have been working on Imperator since the project started but for a long time I also used to be the single Content Designer on EU4. Like many other Paradox employees I was also once a modder of these games before becoming a developer. Favorite Thing: I have always been in love with the maps of paradox games and I think Imperator has one of our best maps so far. From the Cicero Update I really enjoy how the dynamic between Food, Cities and Settlements turned out.
Name: Joachim Forum Name: Snow Crystal Role: Content Designer What I do: So I pretty much work with everything that isn't Art, Sound nor Code. Be that map changes or fixes, events, decisions, or whatever else needs Script work. Similarly to my time on CK2, I prefer working on the map or formables. Personally I always love starting with the smallest nations on the map, so I have a lot of playthroughs with Gadir, the Phoenician nations etc, and I secretly have a goal to give them all something special so I'll have even more fun playing them. Fun fact: I once paid 16 euros for a tiny ice-cream I didn't even get to eat.
Nickname: Katz Name: Sebastian What I do: Embedded QA on the project and have been along since the start. I try to keep a good overview of the project to do what I can to have good releases reaching you all. Outside of games I tend to try to be out with my camera. Favorite Bug: Demon Ghost Cassander haunting the Mac.
Forum name: Gorion3 Reddit name: u/Gorbear Role: Tech Lead What I do: A tech lead is part of the leadership team that is making decisions. Specifically a tech lead is responsible for the technical delivery of a game, setting up workflows & processes within the team together with the producer. Besides that talk with design about what is feasible and what is not. Besides that I do some programming, mainly working tasks that are not set 'features'. These are bug fixes, optimizations, but sometimes a new feature :) Favorite feature: I love army automation!
Nickname: Egladil What I do: Programmer. I joined both Paradox and this project about 1.5 years ago. Before that I worked as a software engineering consultant at Sweden's oldest consultancy agency, doing all kinds of different things. Since I started I've touched basically every part of the projects code, adding new features and fixing things that broke. In addition to programming, I also made the flag for Celticia. Outside of work I do larping, play colony management games, and most importantly pet my cats Trivia: Was once a developer for OpenTTD
Name: Evan Wu Role: Programmer What I do: I’ve been a huge fan of Paradox since Crusader Kings (the first one) and recently joined the company. Currently proud to be part of the Imperator team programming gameplay features and AI. Outside of games I’m either looking to fly my drone or scuba dive into the sea. Fun fact: When I was a kid, I made a strategy game in school which other kids paid to play.
Name & Nickname: Timor Role: 2D/UI Artist What I do: As long as it exists in the game, my job is to make it look as nice and appealing as I can in the time given to me. Favorite Feature: Events. In particular, the event images. These were a real joy to make and to set the art style for. Favorite Nation: Yamato... now we just need to get it on the map and travel into the future by a few hundred years.
Name: Joacim Forum name: Carlberg Role: Art Lead What I do: I'm the person who's in charge of the visual parts of Imperator. With my background in 3D I've been a part in setting the visual style for the units of the world, as well as the painting of the world itself with my colleagues. I'm always keen to make Imperator looking better, and work to make the map and world feel even more alive. Trivia: Used to fight a bit of Longword HEMA before moving to Stockholm, and have always been a history nut when it comes to armor and uniforms.
Name: Hörður Handle: Aule_the_creator Role: (Freelance) Content Designer What I do: I have only recently started at Paradox, so I make whatever they tell me to make. So far I've mostly been doing historical flavor events, which works well for me as a historian. Trivia: I do historical high-medieval and viking-age reenactment in my spare time: hit and stab friends with blunt metal weapons, always aim for the crotch. That sort of thing.
Upcoming Cicero Q&A
That was all for this week! There will be more information about the patch and the game as soon as tomorrow (10th Sept 19) as @Arheo will host a Q&A at 14:00 where he will be answering questions from the community. This will be available through our Twitch Channel.
To discuss today's diary feel free to head over to our forums here!
