3.2 Update Preview

[rob]

The next big Hegemony III update is just around the corner now, so we figured it was about time to fill you guys in on what we've been working on.

In the last big update (3.1), we focused a lot on battlefield-level changes such as scouts, ambushes, formation bonuses and charging. So for 3.2, we've turned our attention more to empire management with a focus on new ways to identify and solve resource issues and new mechanics to manage raiders and rebels.

As always, we'll be launching a public beta in the next few weeks to get feedback on the changes and once the update is released it will be a free upgrade for all users.

Territories

Likely the first change you'll notice when you start 3.2 is the addition of Territories (we're not 100% settled on the name for this so it may change before release). Territories are an expansion of the old supply zone system and depict the area your faction controls around a city, fort or building as well as the area that units can resupply from. What's different now is that when the "supply zones" of two neighbouring buildings touch, they will now automatically merge into one continuous larger territory that no longer needs trade routes to connect its members.

So for example, at the start of the game, Rome, Ostia and Lanuvium may all be separate territories connected by trade routes, but as they grow, or you build camps between them, they will automatically merge into a single "latium" territory that acts as one in terms of all resources e.g. units in that territory can draw food from any of the cities.

The main idea here is to reduce the number of individual "nodes" in your resource network during the late game so that it's easier to monitor flow and to identify shortages and stockpiles. However, it also introduces some really cool new blockade and terrain control mechanics because enemy combat units now block a city's territorial reach. You can see how this works in the screenshots below. For example, in the shot with Mantua you can see how the city's territory has to wrap around the Roman Cavalry unit and can't go through it. Using this mechanic you can intuitively move units to split enemy territories or to isolate and blockade cities.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=688143820

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=688147490

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=688144985

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=688146519

Economic Controls

While the territory system was designed to make it easier to identify and track resource issues within your economy, we also wanted to give you guys some new tools to solve any issues once you found them. We started on this in 3.1 with new city stances like Heavy Taxation that let you customize how cities used resources in order to meet your current demands. While this helped a little, we quickly realized that it would require far too many stances to cover all the possible configurations you might need. So, in 3.2 we've dropped the city stances and replaced them with individual controls for Tax Rate, Rationing and Recruitment. Using these controls, you can now adjust exactly how much gold a city produces, how much food it consumes (and therefore how fast it grows), and also how fast it generates new recruits. So if you run out of recruits you can now turn up recruitment. Short on gold - raise taxes. Low on food, impose rations.

Of course, there is a catch to all of this. Raising any of these controls will decrease your city's morale, and dropping morale below zero will lead to rebellion. So with limited morale to work with, you'll need to make trade offs like deciding if its more important to generate taxes or to reduce food consumption. In addition to generating some interesting strategic choices, it also highlights the real historical differences between managing friendly native cities with high morale versus hostile conquered cities that are less inclined to fork over their gold and recruits to you.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=688148088

Raiders and Rebels

Now, just because you've got the morale to "spend" on generating gold doesn't mean you won't still want to keep your taxes low. We've been promising an overhaul of the raider system for a while now and we're excited to finally share the details on how the changes will work. In 3.2, raiders (we're calling them rebels now) appear as a response to persistant low morale in your cities. This means that periodically (the speed depends on how low a city's morale is) rebel units will break away from your cities and seek out ways to liberate their homeland. This could mean that they immediately start raiding your farms, or it could mean they construct a camp nearby to wait for more rebel units to join them before launching a larger assault on your cities. The new rebel units will also have the ability to liberate slaves to join their cause and also to promote new generals from within their ranks.

Everything Else ...

While the previous sections have covered some of the biggest changes, they are by no means the only improvements in 3.2 We've also done a lot of work on the naval AI, so you can expect a lot more action at sea, and we've made a ton of small improvements to the GUI, optimization, mod support and more.

New Content

Now we've talked lots about the new mechanics coming in 3.2, but what about new content? For the past couple of months we have been working hard on the first major content expansion for Hegemony III (not counting the free Macedonia map mod). The new content will be released as separate DLC and will include a major expansion of the map, new factions and new units, as well as a brand new sandbox mode and historical campaign. Our focus right now is on finishing 3.2, but our hope is to get the expansion out later this summer and we will talk about it more as we get closer to the launch.

Thanks again to everyone for continuing to support the series and let us know if you got any questions.

[Wenchbane]

Looks very interesting. Super keen for it to release!

I'm keen to see how the supply radius system plays out. Will raider/scout officers have any affect on the system? How far a units 'disruption' extends?
How do sieges play out with they new system? I take it we can't just block the gates and starve them out anymore when supply routes aren't made necessary.

I also look forward to crushing rebellions and actually having regular enemy generals to battle against! Now only if the AI made attempts for experienced unit preservation by changing brigade home city and it would be perfect!

[Raied]

Great changes, cant wait to try them out,

[valentin_daruvar]

This game is getting better and better...

[BTAxis]

I like it.

[diegozed]

it will be lovely if you add cartage and spain and greece,

[Nicht Schylli ;)]

Finaly, so far everything sounds and looks amazing, i cant wait to get into it in the next weeks and ofc cant wait for the expansion too :D

[bersoua]

Sound good, i have a little request tough, when someone raze your city it make the others city rebel, i think it happen too easely, even when you're the one razing the city! Why would my Roman citizen feel unsafe if i raze a Sabellic town i've just capture?
Great job for the game, good luck

[Mastermind]

Sounds great!
I also agree with bersoua about the razing. It is somewhat strange that there would be a rebellion in your core lands because you razed your mortal enemies capital after it was captured.

[rob]

Originally posted by Wenchbane:

Will raider/scout officers have any affect on the system? How far a units 'disruption' extends?

Right now the size of a city's territory is mostly controlled by the population, but can also be affected by general/building bonuses.

We're still experimenting with how much territory a single unit can block. Right now it's a fixed 3x3 block but that might change.

Originally posted by Wenchbane:

How do sieges play out with they new system? I take it we can't just block the gates and starve them out anymore when supply routes aren't made necessary.

You've got it right. Blockading large cities will likely take more units now since you'll need to surround the city completely.

Originally posted by bersoua:

Sound good, i have a little request tough, when someone raze your city it make the others city rebel, i think it happen too easely, even when you're the one razing the city! Why would my Roman citizen feel unsafe if i raze a Sabellic town i've just capture?

Thanks for the feedback. [EDIT] I looked into the script that controls that event and the game wasn't properly accounting for the fact that you were the one doing the razing. We've made a few changes now so the event should only happen when it's someone else razing your native cities.

[Wenchbane]

Thanks for the reply Rob! With 'Territories' that only makes supply lines obsolete in that territory once it becomes full, is that correct? It doesn't completely eliminate the need for supply lines?

If it does that is a LOT of income saved which would otherwise go to planning and networking your empire.

Will it be open to tweaking before the release becomes final? That might lead to some comical sieges on the AI's part which is my only concern xD It seems way too easy to abuse on the players part.

[rob]

Originally posted by Wenchbane:

Thanks for the reply Rob! With 'Territories' that only makes supply lines obsolete in that territory once it becomes full, is that correct? It doesn't completely eliminate the need for supply lines?

If it does that is a LOT of income saved which would otherwise go to planning and networking your empire.

Will it be open to tweaking before the release becomes final? That might lead to some comical sieges on the AI's part which is my only concern xD It seems way too easy to abuse on the players part.

Supply lines are still necessary to connect between territories (like power lines in some city builders), but you'll definitely have a lot less overall. This was an intentional move to try and reduce clutter on the strategy map to make it easier to follow where your supplies are moving.

Theoretically this should save you some money on supply lines, but the new taxation system also makes it harder to raise revenue from hostile cities so don't expect a ton of extra money. I also cut the cost of supply lines significantly in 3.1 because i found it was accounting for a disproportional amount of expenses, but I might raise that again now that we have fewer of them.

While we're trying to get everything working as well as possible before the beta, we can't anticipate everything so I'm definitely expecting some balance, AI and bug fixes before release. However, unless something really serious comes up, any significant feature changes will be held for 3.2.1 or even 3.3.

[pacman]

I am glad that you plan to make supply lines less important. That whole system feels a little un-intuitive right now.
How will this update be released to non-steam-buyers? Will I be able to download it in the humble store? Or will it be an automatic game update once I start the game?

-pac

[Stabby <3 haimikki]

It'll be downloadable from the humble store, automagically through steam (for steam buyers), and directly through our website for those that bought it from our website directly.

[Vanorah]

Will you make the borders of your empire look a little more natural when you release the update? Looks too 'blocky' for me at the moment...

[ersatz]

Awesome. Looking forward to the expansion dlc as well.