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[Retropunch]

I'd really like to see something like the Dune houses or a massive corporation (like CHOAM) that is on par with factions in power. Perhaps each game could randomly generate different types of third parties; it'd be a great way to mix things up for each play through.

[Texashawk]

I'd really like to see something like the Dune houses or a massive corporation (like CHOAM) that is on par with factions in power. Perhaps each game could randomly generate different types of third parties; it'd be a great way to mix things up for each play through.

Hmmm. Interesting how may people see Dune in this game. Not a bad idea, actually...

-Steve

[Texashawk]

Hey all!!

New (real) LP is out! This shows the first year+ of your empire, and shows some different situations/game systems. Check it out, even if you've played before!

http://youtu.be/UJccFfmcSQw

-Steve

[Texashawk]

Ah. Well, in no particular order, Democracy 3, CK series, MOO, and EU IV.

-Steve

Huh, I would have guessed warhammer 40k would be in there somewhere. This game sounds a lot like what you'd get if you took Warhammer 40k lore and pulled out the magic/psychic stuff. Star-spanning empire, reconquring lost colonies, rule by fear, governors being royal pains in the neck...

Will you ever add in non-government factions within the empire? I'm thinking about things like the great houses of Dune, family lines which have existed for centuries and are unimaginably wealthy. Civilians who, through wealth and influence, wield power on par with some planetary governors and who could, with the right diplomacy, be a tool for the Emperor. They can also be a royal pain in the ass if you piss them off, using their wealth to sow dissent and lobby for policies which undermine your orders or replace political figures with their own who are opposed to you.

Ironically, I've never played WH40K, though I'm certainly aware of it. Honestly, I think Imperia plays more like Emperor of the Fading Suns, although I can see the 'reclaiming humanity' theme as well.

As far non-government factions? Maybe. That's not a bad idea. I love Dune, and I always was interested in the idea that virtual oligarchies can be more powerful than the actual ruling family/government. It's amazing what money and connections can do. That's actually a pretty darn good idea. Maybe activate them as factions with an event trigger if certain conditions happen?

-Steve

[Majestic7]

Other interesting non-government powers would be corporations (partially intertwined with dynasties), religions (fanatical cults vs temperate mainstream), planetary nationalism (as opposed to Imperial nationalism) and various questions regarding transhumanism (cyborgs, genemodifiers, pure humanity movement). I could see intelligence agency playing a larger role with these, so you could manipulate and use them, as well as receive support from them or have them cause trouble.

[forsaken1111]

These various powers, be they trading families or religious cults, should have a varying degree of loyalty as well, either to the empire or to a specific political body or group of people. One power may be loyal to the people of a certain planet, favoring policies which improve quality of life there. Another power may be staunchly loyal to the office of the Emperor. Still another may be in favor of expansionist policies and tendencies, and if you are seen as allowing the empire to stagnate and not supporting expansion efforts they might turn against you.

I think this would really add a lot of depth to the game if implemented carefully. From a gameplay mechanics perspective, all of the power 'types' (cult, political group, etc) would be the same behind the scenes with some specific traits for what they favor and how they behave, and an attribute which is a generic representation of how powerful they are. Power would wax and wane depending on the situation and resources they can acquire.

I could see behavior types split into four attributes. Overt/Covert and Violent/Nonviolent.

Overt Nonviolent - Rallies, protests
Overt Violent - Military action, insurrection, rebellion
Covert Nonviolent - Political subversion, bribes, blackmail
Covert Violent - Terrorism, Kidnapping, Bombings

With an additional attribute to track radicalization. Radicalization would escalate these categories. An Overt Nonviolent faction when radicalized may begin using violent actions or more covert means for example. Radicalization would come when the faction's favored policies or population group are abused beyond a certain threshold.

Further options to have your own (and others) covert forces infiltrate these groups and steer them or change them from within would be amazing. You could smuggle weapons to a group which opposes your enemies, or purposefully fund a terrorist group to destabilize the domain of a disliked governor so that you can publically proclaim his incompetence and have him removed thus making you a hero in the people's eyes when your pet terrorist group is 'taken down'.

[Texashawk]

Hey all, great news – while I can’t be totally sure that I got all the bugs out with the new release, Pavlos and I think you’ll enjoy it. This is a MASSIVE UPDATE that changes virtually everything about the game, and adds expanded intel, a totally revised UI, the army system, the pressure/persuade system, a revised economy model, a rebalancing, and more!! We have put a lot of work into the graphics and UI, and feedback is welcome!!

I’m exhausted, so I’m just going to let you try it out on the usual link at Sourceforge. There is also a new installer; goodbye OneClick! The link is at www.imperiagame.wordpress.com, on the sidebar.

Please enjoy, please remember it’s an alpha alpha (is that even a thing?!?), and please don’t kill me if something doesn’t work right. The game is getting large enough that I don’t know that I could catch every bug that might occur. Please send a bug report that is generated to the imperia5x.com forums – it would really help.

Enjoy!!!

-Steve

[Majestic7]

Thanks, definitely downloading this in the evening!

[Texashawk]

These various powers, be they trading families or religious cults, should have a varying degree of loyalty as well, either to the empire or to a specific political body or group of people. One power may be loyal to the people of a certain planet, favoring policies which improve quality of life there. Another power may be staunchly loyal to the office of the Emperor. Still another may be in favor of expansionist policies and tendencies, and if you are seen as allowing the empire to stagnate and not supporting expansion efforts they might turn against you.

I think this would really add a lot of depth to the game if implemented carefully. From a gameplay mechanics perspective, all of the power 'types' (cult, political group, etc) would be the same behind the scenes with some specific traits for what they favor and how they behave, and an attribute which is a generic representation of how powerful they are. Power would wax and wane depending on the situation and resources they can acquire.

I could see behavior types split into four attributes. Overt/Covert and Violent/Nonviolent.

Overt Nonviolent - Rallies, protests
Overt Violent - Military action, insurrection, rebellion
Covert Nonviolent - Political subversion, bribes, blackmail
Covert Violent - Terrorism, Kidnapping, Bombings

With an additional attribute to track radicalization. Radicalization would escalate these categories. An Overt Nonviolent faction when radicalized may begin using violent actions or more covert means for example. Radicalization would come when the faction's favored policies or population group are abused beyond a certain threshold.

Further options to have your own (and others) covert forces infiltrate these groups and steer them or change them from within would be amazing. You could smuggle weapons to a group which opposes your enemies, or purposefully fund a terrorist group to destabilize the domain of a disliked governor so that you can publically proclaim his incompetence and have him removed thus making you a hero in the people's eyes when your pet terrorist group is 'taken down'.

These are some really cool ideas and I will respond intelligently in the morning. :-)

-Steve

[forsaken1111]

These are some really cool ideas and I will respond intelligently in the morning. :-)

-Steve

No worries. I'm still brainstorming and it will require some polish. Glad you like the idea.

[Texashawk]

Here's the new changelog. Please note the installer options note.

Imperia V.410b R2 Change Log/Readme 2.6.15

Notes
* Please uninstall any previous version of Imperia before installing a new version. I have not yet added patch ability. The good news is that the install is relatively quick.
* I am updating the WikiDot Imperia wiki periodically and this will be the best document for questions and how to play Imperia. Please refer back to it frequently.
* If you are using the Actual Installer version, please note that you will have to download and install the XNA 4.0 redistributable if you do not already have it on your computer. The OneClick (the zipped file) will do this automatically.

Fixes
* Fixed some issues with lower resolutions
* Fixed bug with calculating edict times with low Emperor power
* Fixed a few save/load bugs
* Fixed issue with budget not calculating correctly
* Fixed issue with going into negative ADM in certain situations

Changes/Additions
* Added numerous new graphics, including planets, starbases, stars, and other spacey things
* Complete UI overhaul - everything in the game has been revised as a new look is created
* Added additional info panels for Production
* Added system nav bar for widescreen monitors >= 1600 px
* Added army system, generals, and the UI to support moving them, disbanding them, mothballing them, and changing their mission/stance
* Totally revised intel system, splitting into domestic intelligence (gives you more information about your planet's people) and political intel (take actions against characters)
* Added allies and enemies system, affecting your Power rating as emperor
* Added Pressure and Persuade system, allowing characters higher up a chain of command to pressure or persuade characters who report to them, increasing the chance actions are effective
* Added more character portraits and names
* Added event portraits and event response UI for future events/comms
* Added Develop Specific Economic Sector Edict, to allow focus on a particular sector instead of a whole shot to an entire planet
* Added more events dealing with riots and using your military against your people to lower/suppress unrest
* Added many more conversation strings and stubs in preparation for the 'HawkTalk' conversation engine conversion
* Added foundation for Fear/Love mechanic re: Popular support
* Hundreds of small tweaks and changes

Balance
* Increased maximum Total Development Levels across the board – this made starting smaller planets more room
* Increased population per level of economic sector to 1.2 million
* Gave more minerals and food to starting planets
* Lowered ADM costs across the board for Edicts
* Added more starting ADM for the Emperor (more to do now!)
* Added more to starting sector treasuries (they were going bankrupt too quickly!)
* Added Fear modifiers to certain events and stances
* Tweaked popular support and unrest factors to be less punishing
* With more options to control unrest, reset wage factors on unrest
* Decreased Admin/Gov costs, making it easier to build more ADM on planets
* Made System Edicts less reliant on Emperor power (since it starts much lower

Unresolved Issues
If you use the mousewheel to scroll up and down intel lists, it also effects the zoom level of the quadrant map. I can fix this, but it will require a rewrite of the zoom function and is not a huge priority at this time.

Thanks! Enjoy!

-Steve

[Majestic7]

I think the new UI could use some tweaking. Right now getting into building anything on a planet takes several clicks. In the old UI just clicking on a planet opened the interface to issue edicts. It would be nice if clicking on a planet gave a general overview of the status and you could issue edicts / military orders from it, then there would be specific buttons for more information. The more clicks you need to actually do something, the more tedious the playing becomes.

That being said, nice to see fleet and armies in the game, now looking forward to having things to do with them. 

[Zireael]

I went bankrupt in 1,5 year. Money is an even bigger problem than in previous betas, since armies and fleets consume it too.

[Texashawk]

I went bankrupt in 1,5 year. Money is an even bigger problem than in previous betas, since armies and fleets consume it too.

I'm releasing a small update today that dramatically changes the balance in favor of the player. I tested 3 different empires last night; all lasted 20+ years with no involvement. They still died eventually, it just took a whole lot longer. This update also changes the numbers and money from long strings to things like 1,343,343,565 would be 1.34 B, and so on. Much more readable.

Get on the new forums, Z! They're popping! www.imperia5x.com We miss you! 

-Steve

[Texashawk]

I think the new UI could use some tweaking. Right now getting into building anything on a planet takes several clicks. In the old UI just clicking on a planet opened the interface to issue edicts. It would be nice if clicking on a planet gave a general overview of the status and you could issue edicts / military orders from it, then there would be specific buttons for more information. The more clicks you need to actually do something, the more tedious the playing becomes.

That being said, nice to see fleet and armies in the game, now looking forward to having things to do with them.

Well, the interface layers are the same. Are you talking about having to open up the edict window?

Check out this thread. I think we may be heading the direction you want:

http://imperia5x.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=23

And you already can do things with armies! You can protect and crush your people! What, haven't tried to suppress your population with a 1000 point army? Try it... it's... effective. :-)

-Steve