Main Menu

Imperator: Rome

Started by steve58, February 05, 2019, 04:54:02 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Nefaro

#45
Quote from: jamus34 on March 31, 2020, 02:46:15 PM
Can anyone who's been following since launch say this is worth to buy yet?

Bought it on a previous sale.  Got my dollars-to-hours worth out of it and feel there is plenty more to go.

Like any other Pdox title, you're ultimately painting the map.  It's the detailed mechanical focus which makes each one different, however.  CK2 is all about micromanaging your individual ruler's reign and relationships.  EU4 is about national political maneuvering and progress.  Victoria had a heavier focus on population groups and economics. 

I think Imperator is largely a mix of Victoria and EU4's focuses regarding politics and population groups, albeit to a bit smaller degree in some areas.  However, the most depth I've got with it is from the Victoria style economic & resource building facet.  I was often constructing buildings and trying to squeeze out more resources from my provinces along with pushing the social classes to where I wanted them  With the addition of the previous 'Livy' update, there are now nation or region-specific progress trees which reward you for fulfilling progressive goals and provides solid goals over time if you want that sort of thing.  It definitely added value to the experience, and still leaves you to decide what you want to do.


EDIT:  It's free to try this week so should be worth a try to see if it's for you.
I gotta admit, the building/resource side of things takes a bit to figure out, but I did find that it kept me busy during periods which other Pdox games would just have me watching the timer tick for awhile.

Jarhead0331

You guys see the announcement that Paradox is halting development on this title? The announcement is couched in terms of a temporary halt, but I'm not so sure...Why do they seem to have such a hard time making a successful Rome game?

Quote
Hey everyone,

As we're gearing for PDXCON, I wanted to share with the community some (cool) changes that have been happening at PDS in the past year. As the studio is now 150+ developers strong, and each game team has its own challenges and plans to work with, we felt like we needed to better adapt to our new reality. We also wanted to find a way to stay focused and close to our games as PDS grows ever larger.

To make a long story short and simple: earlier this year, PDS has split into three distinct studios. Internally, we call them PDS Green, PDS Red, and PDS Gold. Each team is in charge of both maintaining existing game(s), and developing new games (unannounced for now, but at least one of them you'll discover more about at PDXCON this month!). Each also has its own Studio Manager and will grow its own team, with one common objective in mind: making the best strategy games in the world. We're one big family, and together we're still Paradox Development Studio. As of now, Green, Red & Gold are only internal names, but we know how interested you are in knowing what's going on behind the scenes, and some of us might refer to these names during PDXCON, so we wanted to share this with you before you hear the names and get confused as to what it's referring to.

PDS Green is in charge of the development of Stellaris. Rikard Åslund (Zoft), a veteran from the Stellaris team, has taken the lead as studio manager. PDS Green also works with the support of Paradox Arctic, our studio in Umeå.

PDS Red is in charge of the development of Crusader Kings III. They are also working closely with Paradox Thalassic in Malmö. The studio is led by Johanna Uddståhl Friberg (JohannaUF), another veteran of Paradox who you might not know, but who has been Studio Manager for Arctic and has worked on the coordination between all Paradox studios previously.

PDS Gold is in charge of Hearts of Iron IV. The lead of this studio is Thomas Johansson (Besuchov), having been a part of the PDS journey from small to not so small studio and more recently working together with Johanna on studio organizational topics, he's been delighted to be back working closer to the games he loves.

You might have noticed that Imperator: Rome isn't assigned to any of the studios mentioned above. The reason for this is that on a regular basis we analyze the projects we have in development, where they are at, what they are trying to do and also what people and resources we have working on them. As part of this analysis we realized that there was a need to bring reinforcement for a couple of the projects at PDS, and given where Imperator was at in the run up to 2.0's launch, we decided that after the launch of the update we would move people from Imperator to these other projects. Right now we're working on plans to regrow the team for Imperator and continue development, but for the short term we needed to focus our efforts on these other projects.

I wanted to break the news now to manage everyone's expectations: don't expect much Imperator news at PDXCON, or any new content coming out in 2021. We'll of course get back to everyone with news about it as long as we have something to share!

We'll see you during PDXCON for a first reveal of what we're working on, and of course, much more to be expected in the future.

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/update-of-the-organization-at-pds.1471119/
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


Toonces

Does it need more updating, though?   I don't have it so I'm relying on others for evaluation.  But, while CK2 got milked forever with new DLCs, the core game was pretty good for what it was on its own merits. 

"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs

Jarhead0331

Quote from: Toonces on May 10, 2021, 02:39:28 PM
Does it need more updating, though?   I don't have it so I'm relying on others for evaluation.  But, while CK2 got milked forever with new DLCs, the core game was pretty good for what it was on its own merits.

Paradox games ALWAYS need more updating and the epic titles can always be expanded through DLC. It is not like them to cease development on a grand strategy title altogether.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


nelmsm

Well I for one are hoping they aren't feeding us a line of shit and will bring back developers some day.  I really want to believe.  I mean if you wish hard enough game developers will follow through right??

JasonPratt

They stated from the beginning (as I recall) that they never intended to expand Imperator like the other Paradox titles. From that perspective, the fourish expansions that we've gotten are beyond expectation already, plus they've been adding functionality to the base game through patches. And aside from more patchwork (I assume -- they're still point-patching version 2.0), it makes sense logistically for them to put the workers they already have, on other titles still in development, from which they can earn more income, to pay the people to occasionally continue working on Imperator someday.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Anguille

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on May 10, 2021, 02:19:15 PM
Why do they seem to have such a hard time making a successful Rome game?
I wonder as well. Rome is usually a good selling theme. Maybe they make it too complex?

Jarhead0331

Quote from: JasonPratt on May 11, 2021, 04:58:10 PM
They stated from the beginning (as I recall) that they never intended to expand Imperator like the other Paradox titles.

I would be interested in a source for that recollection, because it doesn't really make sense given the context of virtually every other Paradox title. In addition, the timeline ends in very early BCE, 25, I believe, leaving hundreds of years of Roman history yet to explore.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


Anguille

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on May 12, 2021, 08:04:05 AM
Quote from: JasonPratt on May 11, 2021, 04:58:10 PM
They stated from the beginning (as I recall) that they never intended to expand Imperator like the other Paradox titles.

I would be interested in a source for that recollection, because it doesn't really make sense given the context of virtually every other Paradox title. In addition, the timeline ends in very early BCE, 25, I believe, leaving hundreds of years of Roman history yet to explore.
I am sure they had plenty of ideas for DLCs (like Alexander etc.).

Gusington

Would Aggressors: Ancient Rome be a good alternate to Imperator?


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

JasonPratt

They do things reaaaaaaallly differently.

Imperator is a highly modified version of Paradox's standard Clausewitz engine. (Is it still called Clausewitz? Originally it was the Europa engine of course.) It's ultra-complicated and detailed and fiddly and merges in some family management things from Crusader Kings. It also has a huge irregular-region map. I don't recall if it covers as much area as FoGEmp, but it's not far off. (I really don't recall for sure which one is larger, but my impression is FoGEmp.) As with Paradox titles typically, it's a pausable and scalable continuous-time engine. Combat is abstracted for both titles but each has a lot going on under the hood. It's.... let's say "in principle" "technically" multi-player capable. ;)


AggroRome is a hex-based turn-based game (single player only) with some capability for the hexes to be directly manipulated by units (mostly builders). The maps are substantially smaller, or much lower res for maps trying to cover the same area. On the other hand, maps can be designed (and posted on the workshop), and can be randomly generated, as can start positions and factional capabilities or existence. The tech tree can be somewhat randomized, too. (Naturally this leads quickly to factions being in-name-only. ;) ) It's very much an ancient-focused Civ design, but with quite a few things going on that Civ doesn't do (like harsh supply rules). Supply is important for both games (if I recall Imperator correctly, not having played it as much), but my impression is much moreso for AggroRome. It's been too long since I played Aggro to be sure, but I don't recall combat units being able to stack. Anyway, unit stacking is much more prevalent in Imper, as you'd expect from a Pdx game. I don't recall there being construction or similar map units in Imper, but as with Civ-ish games those exist and are very important in Aggro. There's little or no family/faction management in Aggro -- I mean internally for characters. I don't recall if Aggro even has rulers which come and go for your faction! -- but if so, not nearly as important as in Imper.

One important thing is that Imper may still get some patching going forward (until focus is ever re-applied), whereas Aggro has been left behind by the devs to self-publish games with their engine going forward (last update being May 2020). Aggro is quite playable and has all the intended content (it isn't an abandoned beta, much less an alpha), but bugs can still be a problem. https://steamcommunity.com/app/783210/discussions/2/

Unit variety is not a big selling point to either game, although my loose impression is that Imper has more. If you want unit variety (more like a modern Total War game), FoGEmp is the way to go.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

#56
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on May 12, 2021, 08:04:05 AM
Quote from: JasonPratt on May 11, 2021, 04:58:10 PM
They stated from the beginning (as I recall) that they never intended to expand Imperator like the other Paradox titles.

I would be interested in a source for that recollection, because it doesn't really make sense given the context of virtually every other Paradox title.

Yep, that's why I recall the designer talking about this in a FAQ long ago near release. I can even remember a good approximation of the wording: he wasn't expecting to do any expansions because he intended Imperator to be feature complete at release. I don't know how to find that FAQ now, though.

One could, of course, regard this as marketing spin since some fans were starting to be burned out at the constant expansions for CK2 and EU4, and wanted reassurance that they wouldn't be buying only half to one-third of a game. But as it happens, the expansions for Imperator have indeed been like Vicky2.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Gusington



слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Toonces

Rome and Star Wars seem to be tough to get right.
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs

Tanaka

Quote from: Toonces on May 12, 2021, 11:21:38 AM
Rome and Star Wars seem to be tough to get right.

Awakening of the Rebellion mod for Star Wars Empire at War got it right.