Echoes of the Imperium (4X Strategy Game)

[Lap]

http://www.echoesofimperium.com

I've been pretty quiet on here about stuff I've been working off. I posted a little multiplayer space shooter, but that's really only a one day experiment to see if I should go further. (http://love2d.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1591)

Most of my effort has been going to making a 4X space game. Luckily for me it's not much like the other one in development (http://love2d.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2077).

I have fond memories of the Dune games, as well as the Dominions series. EotfS stands for Emperor of the Fading Suns, which is probably my biggest inspiration for this project. In that game players were leaders of one of several Dune-esque Houses that fought for control of the known galaxy. Unique to this series was:

-A rarely used intricate resource system
-Multiple planets, but a focus on hex-based planetary combat. Lots of interesting planetary invasions and bombardments.
-Universal elections for Emperor and the other Imperial Offices which granted unique powers and responsibilities.

Unfortunately, a hex based game in which you had to manage lots of resources as well as move around dozens of units on multiple worlds meant that turns could easily take an hour+ towards the late game. By merging this type of game with a lot of the ideas from other games like Dominions I will hopefully be able to find a happy middle ground of complexity and turn time.

Here's what I've done so far:


-Full multiplayer from the ground up. Even singleplayer is just multiplayer connecting to a local host. 64+ players possible.

-Simultaneous turns. All players submit orders which eventually get executed at once, massively saving on turn time and keeping games moving.

-Scrollable, wrapping, zoomable, planet and galaxy maps. I love Supreme Commander zooming.

-Complex combat system that can support any unit type I can think of.

-Combat sandbox to test armies versus each other.

-Unit/Building construction, queueing, recruitment

-Supply lines,resource caches, and blockades. To minimize micromanagement, provinces and planets can automatically form supply lines.

-Messaging system Dealing with special and mundane events and for talking with other players.

-Drag and drop army creation

-Full tooltips on just about everything so that everything that isn't immediately intuitive is quickly learned.

-Extreme modability. It is extremely easy to make new planets, galaxies, units, special events etc.

-Most major UI functionality. Not beauty! Function comes first, and the whole thing is easily skinnable.

If anyone wants to contribute in any way, feel free. I am especially in need of art assets.

[ljdp]

Hooooooly crap.
This looks awesome, good job I didn't start my 4X idea, yours woulda blown mine out of the water.

Nice to see you're using goo

What are you using for networking, udp or tcp?

[nevon]

What license are you going to release this under? If it's a nice one, I might be able to help you out with some graphics. Especially those resource icons (I guess that's what they are) need replacing.

[ninwa]

Simultaneous turns. All players submit orders which eventually get executed at once, massively saving on turn time and keeping games moving.

Interesting concept! How does the game determine which actions get priority when two players submit commands which work against each other (e.g. Unit X attack Unit Y, Unit Z attack Unit X). Does Unit Y still get attacked if Unit Z did enough damage to kill Unit X? You get the idea.

[Robin]

Interesting concept! How does the game determine which actions get priority when two players submit commands which work against each other (e.g. Unit X attack Unit Y, Unit Z attack Unit X). Does Unit Y still get attacked if Unit Z did enough damage to kill Unit X? You get the idea.

Or X attacks Y, but Y is ordered to get the hell out of there at the same time.

[ninwa]

Interesting concept! How does the game determine which actions get priority when two players submit commands which work against each other (e.g. Unit X attack Unit Y, Unit Z attack Unit X). Does Unit Y still get attacked if Unit Z did enough damage to kill Unit X? You get the idea.

Or X attacks Y, but Y is ordered to get the hell out of there at the same time.

Exactly. An interesting solution might be to rotate priorities between players round-robin style, or perhaps even use some sort of "action point" system which determines priority based on the number of actions you performed that round. It could make for some unique dynamics.

[Lap]

Hooooooly crap.
Nice to see you're using goo

I wouldn't have even started the project without it. I hate making UI's (maybe I shouldn't have made such a UI intensive game then eh?)

Hopefully other users can benefit from the heavy modifications I've made for goo. There's a lot of minor stuff that's mostly just my preference instead of actually being improvements. Stuff that others might enjoy would be things like:

-Scrollable text boxes
-Sortable spreadsheets
-More options for scissoring, dragging, etc. on most normal panels.

I fear I might have changed a bit too much on some of the base classes so I guess people can just pick the pieces they want out later.

What are you using for networking, udp or tcp?

UDP is the way to do just about every multiplayer game, but PBEM type situations like this might be the one exception. I originally was lazy and used TCP, until I found out that LUBE had a bug which caused it not to actually work with TCP (bartbes and I found out the problem though). I made my own UDP system with some basic error checking and stuff, but I've also tested it with both. I could even do some sort of combination system. We'll see.

Simultaneous turns. All players submit orders which eventually get executed at once, massively saving on turn time and keeping games moving.

Interesting concept! How does the game determine which actions get priority when two players submit commands which work against each other (e.g. Unit X attack Unit Y, Unit Z attack Unit X). Does Unit Y still get attacked if Unit Z did enough damage to kill Unit X? You get the idea.

All units have an initiative value that serves as a representation of the units reaction times and organization level. Essentially, how quick can the unit respond to new orders and mobilize. An elite cyborg commando unit is probably going to be more responsive and quicker to mobilize/adapt than a standard brigade of tanks.

Each turn a unit takes it's initiative + a random number. Units then take turns according to this number. I think this is the fairest way to do things and it also adds a whole new aspect to choosing the composition of your army.

What license are you going to release this under?

The art is cobbled from all sorts of different licenses so those are all need to get released under their original licenses. The code itself will probably be released under a share-alike type license (give credit and make public all modifications).

I might be able to help you out with some graphics. Especially those resource icons (I guess that's what they are) need replacing.

Art direction and style is a huge problem for me. I'm not an artist, so I've just been throwing in placeholder graphics where I can. I've had a few people show some slight interest in contributing, but it's hard to develop a game without a lead artist, or at least a set style that contributors are able to follow.

Let me take you through the styles that have been suggested (rugged, modern satellite, bold/crisp)

Here is the original art style of EotfS



Here's an artist suggestion to make the maps in more of an old feeling (to give the game a more "dark ages in space" feel):



Artist burningpet submitted the following to make a gritty UI



He also made a more bold and crisp UI:

[Skasi]

Umm, why not make it so unit's don't need to "react first"? It doesn't make sense, it's not intuitive and to be honest.. it's getting boring.

Example: One unit is ordered away from an enemy, the enemy was ordered to attack.
Since both units act simultaneously, both move into the same direction - nothing happens. If one unit was faster than the other (eg. has one more movement point, a special ability to trap the enemy, or anything), a default combat situation arises.

Another example: Two units of different players are given order to conquer a city tile (or whatever) - both actually move there! The result would be an encounter between both, the winner gets it all. (if the situation allows/forces, units avoid attacking each other, or conquer the city together; for example if a peace treaty is active)


This would allow for more interesting gameplay - players would have to foresee/guess other players actions, they have more freedom regarding tactical decisions and there's less "ruleset".

[nevon]

Go with the "gritty" UI. Definitely the best and most fitting art style!

[ljdp]

I'd love to help with the art and design, but things are busy now and I can't be that reliable, I can offer bits and bobs and maybe help more during the christmas period.