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[Vanigo]

I've been working on an empire-building game for about a month now, designed for PBEM and play-by-post. It's loosely based on the Age of Restoration forum games I invented over on the corresponding forum, which tended to die out because they were so much work. The game I'm making now, being largely computerized, will be much easier.

Currently, it is not at all playable - but I'm getting close. I've built administrator and player interfaces, and you can currently expand your borders, improve tiles, build cities and roads, build infrastructure in your cities, grow your cities, and build units. You cannot, however, do anything with your units, which is my next big task. (EDIT: Or, rather, you can, but only because I haven't disabled the administrator unit/army popup in the player interface.) There are also undoubtedly many many bugs, although I think I can eliminate most of them by forcing the player to interact only with the topmost pop-up window.

You can check out my current build here:
Admin interface
Player interface
A saved game

Saving and loading is done by copying and pasting XML, since Flash can't do much with files on the user's hard drive unless the flash file is itself downloaded. (As for why I'm using Flash, it makes interface stuff really easy, and running inside a browser is a nice plus.)

[Ninteen45]

HEY GUYS HE CHECKS OUT IT'S ONLY A LURKER. 

Good for you. Quite a few computerizations of games work out well.

[Vanigo]

I've got some news (since I know everyone's been just dying for an update): The basic engine is complete! The game is now technically playable - it just isn't likely to be much fun, since there are only three buildings (two of which are useless), two unit types, running out of food or money doesn't actually do anything, etc. But you can claim territory, build cities, improve tiles, build units, and send your armies to fight other players. The links in the OP should link to the new version now.
It's undoubtedly very buggy, so if you find something, please let me know.

Aside from debugging, my next task is to populate the game with content - unit types, resources, buildings, tile improvements, and so on. If anyone has suggestions for them, go ahead and speak up!

[quinnr]

Definitely watching this, gotta love play-by-email games!

[Nirur Torir]

This might just be a thing that will lure me to some sort of IRC, although I'm not sure how well fast-paced AoR would work.

It would be nice to be able to cancel after looking at a city. I also don't see why aquatic cities need to be hard-coded out (merpeople or future times), although I don't see such content being much of a priority.

Will it be possible for people to add content themselves, either through the the load XML paste, or a second XML area for mods?

[Vanigo]

Will it be possible for people to add content themselves, either through the the load XML paste, or a second XML area for mods?

I've been considering that. I'd want it in a separate XML file, just because duplicating all that data everywhere makes me sad. Problem with that, of course, is that you're doing two copy+pastes to load the game instead of one. I think loading mod XML from an external file would work okay, though. People would need to rehost the game if they wanted to mod it, then, but that seems reasonable to me.

[Vanigo]

I should probably explain what all the rules are, shouldn't I?

Spoiler: Overview (click to show/hide)

Each player controls one civilization, consisting of territory, cities, and military units. You also have civilization-wide resource stockpiles, and free population. Free population is used to claim new territory and grow your cities. Each tile you control automatically produces resources every turn. Cities serve several purposes: They produce money and labor, they allow you to improve nearby tiles, and it is at cities that you build buildings and produce units.

Spoiler: Food and population (click to show/hide)

Your empire's population is one of your largest concerns. Most of your empire's population is settled in the villages and cities that make up your empire. Every tile you control contains at least one population, and cities can contain anywhere from two to six. You also have free population - population that has not yet been assigned a tile. Free population produces nothing, so it is usually advisable to settle them somewhere as soon as possible. One point of free population can be used to claim a tile for your empire, to build a city on a claimed tile, or to increase the size of an existing city by one.
Your people, naturally, eat food. Each turn, your population eats food equal to your total population. If you run out of food, nothing happens yet (but something bad will happen in the future). When your stored food exceeds half your total population, that much food is consumed and your population grows by one, giving you a point of free population.

Spoiler: Map tiles (click to show/hide)

The game map is made of tiles, each capable of producing resources. An empire may claim an unoccupied tile by using one point of population to build a village on it. You may only claim tiles adjacent to at least one land tile you already claim. (In the future, you will also be able to claim land tiles if you have a ship in an adjacent tile. This will allow you to colonize islands and such.)
Each tile in your empire automatically produces resources. The amount of resources produced is determined by the terrain type, any special resources present, and any terrain improvements built on the tile. Rivers and cities can also provide bonus resources. Some special resources always add to the tile's production, while others require a specific improvement be present.
Once you have claimed a tile, you may not unclaim it. You may, however, lose it if an enemy unit enters the tile and conquers it (see below).

Spoiler: Cities (click to show/hide)

Building a city on a tile you already claim costs one population. This creates a size 2 city, the smallest size. A city produces money and labor depending on its size:
Size   Labor   Money
2      0       1
3      1       2
4      1       3
5      2       4
6      3       5
Cities are also required to build improvements. Any city will allow you to build improvements in adjacent tiles (including diagonals), and a size 4 or larger city also allows you to build improvements in tiles two squares away (except for the four tiles two diagonals away).
Each turn, a city can perform one of the following actions:
Raise or lower population (to a maximum of 6 and a minimum of 2). This will either take or free up some free population.
Build a building, if you have all the prerequisite buildings
Raise a military unit, if you have all the prerequisite buildings

Spoiler: Military units (click to show/hide)

Military units, produced by cities, do pretty much what you would expect. You can group them together into armies, move them around the map, fight other armies, and conquer other nations' territory. You may have multiple armies in the same tile.
You can freely rearrage your units among your armies, and create new armies at will. (Empty armies, however, will be removed automatically during the turn.) An army's movement speed is determined by its slowest member. Faster armies move earlier in the turn than slower armies, in addition to moving farther. If an army tries to move into or through a tile occupied by another nation's army, the two will fight. (In the future, this will only happen when the two nations are at war, and armies will stop if they encounter a non-hostile army.) Battles are fought automatically, with no input from either player. They do not end until one side or the other is completely wiped out.
An army in another nation's territory may, if it takes no movement, conquer that tile. Tiles with no city will be depopulated, and can then be claimed by a new player. Cities will have their population reduced by one, to a minimum of 2, and control will be transferred to the conquering player. However, conquest always happens after movement and combat, so if another army is in range, the would-be conquerers may be destroyed before they can do their job.

[Vanigo]

I've put some more work in, and implemented some new functionality. Chiefly, I've implemented special abilities for units - the only ones currently in use are Charge and Chargebreak for cavalry and pikemen, but several others are supported. I've also restricted tile improvements by terrain type, implemented experience levels for units, and made a few other minor changes. It's getting to the point where it would be worth tooling around with it to see if I've made any serious game design or balance errors. Would anyone like to help me test? This is still really early alpha, of course, but I'd love to hear what some of you think of the game so far.

[quinnr]

I've put some more work in, and implemented some new functionality. Chiefly, I've implemented special abilities for units - the only ones currently in use are Charge and Chargebreak for cavalry and pikemen, but several others are supported. I've also restricted tile improvements by terrain type, implemented experience levels for units, and made a few other minor changes. It's getting to the point where it would be worth tooling around with it to see if I've made any serious game design or balance errors. Would anyone like to help me test? This is still really early alpha, of course, but I'd love to hear what some of you think of the game so far.

I would definitely love to help you test the game! Just let me know what to do.

[Vanigo]

I would definitely love to help you test the game! Just let me know what to do.

I think I'm going to run a test game over in Forum Games and Roleplaying. Check this thread.

[Vanigo]

Little update: I've implemented some more functionality over the last week, including boats, units that carry other units, and buffs and debuffs.

[drago55577]

 Civilizations much?

Still good work on making a game

[Vanigo]

I've been continuing to develop this. I've implemented terrain defense bonuses, siege weapons, some special properties buildings can have, special civilization-wide bonuses, and some other stuff that doesn't come to mind right at the moment.

[drago55577]

I've been continuing to develop this. I've implemented terrain defense bonuses, siege weapons, some special properties buildings can have, special civilization-wide bonuses, and some other stuff that doesn't come to mind right at the moment.

What kind of of do I need to play? I'm bored of civilization now.


Still goodwork

[Vanigo]

What kind of of do I need to play? I'm bored of civilization now.


Still goodwork

I... am not quite sure how to parse this.