A Legionary's Life - historical Roman soldier simulator RPG

[laclongquan]

 

[Binky]

Here we go: https://steamcommunity.com/gid/103582791464346990/announcements/detail/1606018740001171320

I am elated to announce that A Legionary's Life will be released on September 25, 2019. As I mentioned earlier, the big update of two weeks ago pretty much completed the story and content. The next update will consist of small new features, tweaks and fixes aimed at polishing the game.

Gotta say, playing a wimpy/average legionary and succeeding at daring deeds might be my gaming zenith this year. From scrawny runt to senator. Glorious.

 

[Dayyālu]

This is magnificent, yet simple, and it's also developed by an Ita.

Deserves more recognition.

EDIT: Finished the demo. It feels like the weird mixture of a Raising Sim with a historical tabletop game. The combat is weirdly balanced. It should not feel as good as it feels, but it feels good.

8/10, would be killed by a angry mob in a random Iberian village again

I'll wait for the full game on the 25th.

 

[CaesarCzech]

Here we go: https://steamcommunity.com/gid/103582791464346990/announcements/detail/1606018740001171320

I am elated to announce that A Legionary's Life will be released on September 25, 2019. As I mentioned earlier, the big update of two weeks ago pretty much completed the story and content. The next update will consist of small new features, tweaks and fixes aimed at polishing the game.

Gotta say, playing a wimpy/average legionary and succeeding at daring deeds might be my gaming zenith this year. From scrawny runt to senator. Glorious.

I recommend not stopping until you can beat the phalanx twice over in final battle is awesome and the game descriptions make it feel Very epic.

 

[Binky]

I recommend not stopping until you can beat the phalanx twice over in final battle is awesome and the game descriptions make it feel Very epic.

I already did all that (I've got every achievement), which is why I play legionaries with average/below average stats. Much more satisfying that way - getting a mercenary kill at the end of the siege of Carthago Nova is pure bliss with such a character. Won't be winning the grass crown or be elected consul, but winning decorations, getting into the senate, and butchering enemy champions is well within my reach.

 

[Üstad]

Expansion of slavery meant there was a large surplus rural population what led into a feedback loop: Rome wins a war -> lots of slaves and consolidation of small family farms into large slave estates -> lots of unemployed/impoverished farmers -> lots of prime manpower to win more wars

Rome was so successful primarily because it could afford losses that would have crippled the Successor states (whose reliance on a small settler population of ethnic Greeks to man their phalanxes meant a single defeat could ruin them for a generation). Carthage's wealth allowed it to employ large numbers of mercenaries but even this proved inferior. Republican Rome was the USSR of its day, able to field huge numbers of well-equipped and patriotic soldiers that proved unstoppable under competent commanders and even under incompetent ones could still replace losses seemingly infinitely.

Werent ancient greeks also used slaves that way? What you say is relevant but rather than sheer numbers it was their military tradition that overwhelm their enemies also they mainly lurked around places that suited to their tactics, if they roamed around eurasian steppes they would be doomed. Also a nice civic bureaucracy tradition to rule places nicely and assimilate is what rome kept alive.

 

[Infinitron]

Released:



https://steamcommunity.com/games/1058430/announcements/detail/1601517045993587689

A Legionary's Life v 1.0 Released!

When I began developing A Legionary's Life, a little over two years ago, the day of release was a destination so distant I could barely see it. There was so much to do to make it possible, it was scary to think about.
It has been a daunting task, working alone on such a long-term project, and many of the challenges it presented were entirely new to me.
I wish to thank all the players who have written words of appreciation and encouragement, everyone who has helped promote the game, the users who have been giving guidance and useful tips to newcomers and those who have offered advice and suggestions to me during these five months of Early Access.

What is new in version 1.0

• Successful attacks on limbs increase the victim's Fatigue, based on the damage received. You can find more details in the tooltip of the specific Attack. This should serve the double purpose of offering a new tactical option and reducing the length of duels. It might need fine tuning, feedback is appreciated as always.
  
• The difficulty coefficient of each body part is no longer partially randomized after each round.
  
• Thumbs have been replaced with something more decipherable.
  
• You can press Control to view Attributes and Skills during text events.
  
• It is no longer possible to skip your turn in the first round of combat because of low Quickness.
  
• It is no longer possible to skip two turns in a row if a character's Stance is full.
  
• The first time you show good leadership when attacked by slingers in a specific random encounter, there is a chance to increase one or more of your mental Attributes. Only the first time for each game.
  
• A little more text as been added to the initial part of the epilogue, based on the money you have accumulated. If you have less than 2500 denarii, it is the same as before. Above 2500, 5000, 7500 and 10000 denarii, you will see a slighly different description of how you fared right after your return from Greece.
  
• The damage of all weapons has been increased by 1.
  
• The influence of Strength on damage as been reduced a bit. The overall effect of this change and the one above is that weak and average characters will do a little more damage than before. Characters with high Strength shouldn't notice a significant difference, unless they are very close to the human limit of 99. Even then, they lose very little because of the increased base damage of weapons.
  
• The damage protection of all armors has been increased by 1.
  
• Enemies you meet after a rotation are likely to be more fatigued than in previous versions.
  
• The Rally action of the phalanx has a cooldown and won't happen more than once per "cycle".
  
• The AI parameters of the phalanx have been tweaked. It is more likely to attack, especially when the player is vulnerable.
  
• You can now view previous messages during text events, in case you suddenly find yourself clicking through a branch you have never visited before, after playing the game many times.
  
• The help section of the Equipment screen contains an explanation of weapon Handiness.
  
• The cost of Skill enhancements has been decreased from 4000 to 3500.
  
• Ultra rare items with quality 7 are back in the inventories of merchants and camp followers.
  
• Foraging missions can no longer happen more than once after each battle.
  
• Armillae are easier to win right after landing in Africa and at Zama.
  
• There is a new option to use keyboard and mouse on desktop computers and laptops with a touch screen.
  
• Fixed: sound effects not affected by volume settings in the score assignment screen.
  
• Fixed: several typos and mistakes.
  
• Fixed: the Veteran achievement not unlocking when you finish the game.
  
• Several other minor changes.

 

[Wulfric Pinewood]

It's great game and cheap ! Buy !

 

[Dayyālu]

Bought it on release day, finished the first career with a legionary I got from the Demo. The mechanics were greatly improved from the trial version, I must add, the combat became far more satisfying. I don't get some reviews, my character did what he was good at doing without taking unnecessary or un-Roman risks and managed to do well.

I failed for the entire campaign to get a Corona Muralis for my centurion or me. The shame is endless.

Mechanically, I can't fight off the weird impression that this is, mechanically, a raising sim. Essentially a hardcore version of a Princess Maker game, only instead of anime monsters you have to chop Celtiberians. Can't complain, won't complain.

Doesn't change that this is almost the epitome of "small, smartly developed, work of love". I can see how some mechanics were reworked (for example, extra weapons categories do nothing!) but it's still worth the full price.

 

[AdolfSatan]

Ok, y'all convinced me. Buying this, gonna try and make some time during the weekend to play it.

 

[AdolfSatan]

Bumping because this game is amazing. Had a bit of a rough start, but once I figured a good starting setup it became easier to go through. Love how punishing it is nonetheless, a single fuckup might mean death, things get pretty tense.

Still can't beat that damned Phalanx, always end up at a draw on time-out.

 

[AlsGaming]

It's great, definitely the most authentic Roman experience in a video game. Combat takes a bit to get a hold of but is a lot of fun when you master it. There are times where you and your opponent are flailing hopelessly at each other for 8 rounds in a row, but that makes me convinced that happened a lot back then. Combat for the most part is a battle of attrition, wearing down your enemies form and fatigue so you can get in some easy finishing strikes. Most of the time you don't have to win a fight (unless it's a duel or certain random encounters), so when you're outnumbered or outclassed surviving is good enough. You'll live another day, and perhaps to the end of the game but miss out on potential glory.

The game does a great job with letting you decide how your story unravels; given there's stats of your characters virtue as well as their relationship with fellow troops, the centurion and proconsul. So you could be a master swordsman and kill dozens easily, but never be promoted due to poor conduct. Or get promoted and realise it was a mistake because you're stupid and a terrible speaker. I lost my most recent run where I had managed to get promoted real early because I underestimated the enemy Chieftain and challenged him to a duel. Not every fight is winnable for every character. Good thing is though, each run gives you a score based on your kills, rank and your distance into the campaign. This score is then applied to your next run, where you can use those points to buff your skills, buy gear or give yourself more money. So losing is never as devastating as it could be.

Least favourite part about the game is having to gather supplies once you're promoted. It turns the game into am rpg maker looking map where you walk around looking for food. It's not bad but definitely takes you out of the great text-based adventure that the game consists of. I'd much prefer if these events were done through text-based choices instead, as it'd give the same effect (go fishing, fight ambush, search village, negotiate with villagers). Overall it's a great game at a bargain price with heaps of replayability due to the strong variation that character skills influence events, as well as your own rank and virtue. I've yet to get through the 2nd Macedonian War, but it's been a lot of fun and hope there's more to come.

 

[Smashing Axe]

I really love the combat in this. I keep going back. My last character got to Senator rank and rose two ranks up the cursus honorum. I think I'll keep playing on and off until I make a character OP enough to get to Consul.

 

[Urthor]

The combat in this was extra super annoying until you figure out how the stance bit works and would shuffle the bar around.

By the end the good old method of move bar to far left and recover, opponent wiffs and loses stance, then move bar to right and charge worked pretty consistently.

Plus good old keep chopping their unarmoured legs/arms for 0 damage until they keel over with exhaustion

 

[Tacgnol]

This game captures the feel pretty well of being a regular dumbfuck legionnaire.

You always have the option of daring deeds, though there is a good chance they will end in disaster (at least until you've played a few times and improved your starting stats/equipment a little)

Also quite satisfying when you do manage some "impossible" feat of arms/glory.

 

[Dayyālu]

You always have the option of daring deeds, though there is a good chance they will end in disaster (at least until you've played a few times and improved your starting stats/equipment a little)

It's also somewhat poignant at times, when the random events and the event chains "fit" neatly together. In one of my last runs (an exceedingly good one, even,my guy was a monster) found a old Punic veteran living in Iberia who wanted to duel me, easy to see for a player a reflection of the future retirement for a successful legionary.

Then the next battle you can goad a young Punic into a duel and chop him into pieces (losing Virtue because easy win), and the game itself comments how you weren't so different at the beginning ("a young one defending his Homeland from invaders").

And then in the next encounter a merc cleaves your head in two, and you are all the same, young and old, all dead.

 

[Tacgnol]

You always have the option of daring deeds, though there is a good chance they will end in disaster (at least until you've played a few times and improved your starting stats/equipment a little)

It's also somewhat poignant at times, when the random events and the event chains "fit" neatly together. In one of my last runs (an exceedingly good one, even,my guy was a monster) found a old Punic veteran living in Iberia who wanted to duel me, easy to see for a player a reflection of the future retirement for a successful legionary.

Then the next battle you can goad a young Punic into a duel and chop him into pieces (losing Virtue because easy win), and the game itself comments how you weren't so different at the beginning ("a young one defending his Homeland from invaders").

And then in the next encounter a merc cleaves your head in two, and you are all the same, young and old, all dead.

Also when the game tells you an optional fight might be hard, it really isn't lying.

I was impressed with how thoroughly my badass centurion had his ass handed to him by the peltasts chiliarch in single combat.

Entirely my own fault as well, the game made it incredibly clear this guy was a badass.

 

[Riddler]

Bought and played this for a couple hours yesterday. Pretty good for such a small, one-man effort!

I managed to make it through the game after a few tries and became first centurion. Still haven't managed to beat the phalanx though and I have no idea what fatigue even does.

 

[Binky]

If anyone's curious about this but too lazy to try the demo, check out Dayyalu's let's play: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/signa-ferte-or-lets-play-a-legionarys-life.130827/

Spoiler

This is why you don't neglect your javelin throwing skill, kids.

 

[Dayyālu]

Holy shit that's an awesome throw.

 

[CappenVarra]

hope the author publishes this on GoG or some other store that allows setup download without store client installation bullshit (yes, GoG just barely qualifies nowadays with Galaxy crap)
the demo and the LP above have convinced me i need to give this guy money to support the game as it's right up my alley; hell, i'll pay him double the current asking price
however, i cling to ancient traditions and "death before Steam" is my family motto (i have it engraved on my scutum below the etching of a vodka bottle)

 

[Farewell into the night]

I played this 5 times and everytime my legionare died so fast. My best score is 35 and worst 0.

 

[Cosmo]

I played this 5 times and everytime my legionare died so fast. My best score is 35 and worst 0.

Persevere. In the beginning just create a physical guy, and yes roll and reroll till you have around 50-60 points in total above the standard 50...

PS: Your first objective will be raising sword and shield as high as you can without ruining your morale, and buying a gladius hispaniensis.

 

[Farewell into the night]

Persevere. In the beginning just create a physical guy, and yes roll and reroll till you have around 50-60 points in total above the standard 50...

PS: Your first objective will be raising sword and shield as high as you can without ruining your morale, and buying a gladius hispaniensis.

It worked! I've increased sword/shield stat and right off the bat got 2 kills with 0 lost HP. Previously I've bought nice sword but tried to boost stats like strenght/cons/sword/javelin etc. evenly and thus got a lot of misses.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[PrettyDeadman]

I really hate the long battles. It's almost always based on turns, not enemies, which means it doesn't matter if you are doing good or bad, you just have to survive for x turns. I've beaten it and got the best ending (and almost all achievments except one), but it was very annoying, because I had to redo those pointless battles...