Expeditions: Rome - the final Expeditions game from Logic Artists

[Heroic Liberator]

This - I wasnt too bothered with female companions in Viking as they didnt really look that much out of place. Having the "Amazon princess" in Conquistador also wasnt that terrible, since Cortez himself had this local girl who he fucked (in fact their children were apparently the first mestizos) and used as translator and negotiator when dealing with various tribes that he wanted to unite against Aztecs. Even that girl who LARPs as a soldier on the first island (Isabela?) wasnt too bad, the game gives you an option to kiss her hand instead of saluting her when you first meet and generally treat her in a realistic way ("Yeah girl sure, you are a real fighter haha") if you want to.

Hope for the best, expect the worst. Not much more that you can do about it.

 

[cvv]

Hope for the best, expect the worst. Not much more that you can do about it.

Hope for the best? It's like living in North Korea and hoping the Dear Reader comes out tomorrow and announces soshulism is over, the borders are open and you can go visit the Disneyland right nao.

Why waste time with pointless "hope"?

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Why waste time with pointless "hope"?

Because you're still interested in upcoming titles? If you think that they're guaranteed to be shit, might as well just disengage rather than wasting your time and energy complaining about them.

 

[cvv]

Why waste time with pointless "hope"?

might as well just disengage rather than wasting your time and energy complaining about them.

Oh don't worry, Codex is just about the last place left where you can still complain about female legionaries, and it's not gonna be long before it's shut down or infiltrated by the Red Guards too. Eventually everyone will disengage or will be disengaged.

I say the opposite - let's complain liberally while the going is still good.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

I say the opposite - let's complain liberally while the going is still good.

If you enjoy doing that, sure.

 

[Mark Richard]

My favourite part of Viking was the start of the game, with Asleifr challenging you to a fight over the leadership of the clan. And the moment you beat him, you can cut his head off, despite him being a major character, a companion and a romance. You can later meet his ghost in Hel, where he can be heard regretting challenging you. A lesser RPG wouldn't have that.

Wish they were able to include the possibility of mutiny. Apparently it was planned for, but got cut for time. A bad leader in Expeditions: Conquistador would quickly find the friendly faces surrounding them had turned sinister. Injuries, dwindling supplies, and foolish choices would all contribute towards an increasingly tense situation. While there's less incentive to include this stuff with heavily written characters, I think it should be a core part of Expeditions' identity. In Expeditions: Rome the devs might have found a compromise by making a distinction between companions and the army, with the former remaining loyal no matter what, and the latter able to display mutinous behaviour under a bad commander.

Maybe I should try to get an interview with Jonas under the disreputable banner of the RPG Codex and ask him, though I only felt compelled to do so last time because of the lack of press coverage. Somehow I doubt Rome is going to have that problem.

 

[cvv]

In Expeditions: Rome the devs might have found a compromise by making a distinction between companions and the army, with the former remaining loyal no matter what, and the latter able to display mutinous behaviour under a bad commander.

I'd love it if my companions rebelled.

DECIMATION TIME!

 

[Avonaeon]

Wish they were able to include the possibility of mutiny. Apparently it was planned for, but got cut for time.

We talked about it a lot for Viking, and we had some cool ideas. One idea was that when followers became too demoralised, they'd challenge you for the leadership position. If you lost, the follower that challenged you would be the player character for some time, and you'd only be able to pick dialogue options that corresponded to their personality traits. It would have required a lot more writing though.

 

[Larianshill]

I've never had approval for any follower drop below zero in Viking, so it's not a feature people would see often.

 

[deuxhero]

Last time Greeks were Greeks was 2.5k years ago. Since then they've been Macedonian, Roman, Turks and Beggars.

False. The Spartans weren't Greek and didn't consider themselves Greek. The Helots were Greek while the Spartans proper were, according to their own propaganda, descendants of foreigner Heracles who conquered the Greeks and gave the land to Eurysthenes and Procles.

 

[Shadowfang]

They were Doric Greek.

 

[Sranchammer]

Byzantine Empire is not roman, and has nothing to do with Rome. They were greek larpers.

Most successful LARP in history then, given that the western kingdoms referred to them as Romans for nigh on thousand years.

Last time Greeks were Greeks was 2.5k years ago. Since then they've been Macedonian, Roman, Turks and Beggars.

The FUCK did you just say?

 

[fantadomat]

Last time Greeks were Greeks was 2.5k years ago. Since then they've been Macedonian, Roman, Turks and Beggars.

False. The Spartans weren't Greek and didn't consider themselves Greek. The Helots were Greek while the Spartans proper were, according to their own propaganda, descendants of foreigner Heracles who conquered the Greeks and gave the land to Eurysthenes and Procles.

Are you both fucking retarded? Greek is a modern word you dumbfucks,none of the old city states were thinking that they are muh greeks! Do you even fuck have basic education in your fucking countries?!

 

[deuxhero]

Last time Greeks were Greeks was 2.5k years ago. Since then they've been Macedonian, Roman, Turks and Beggars.

False. The Spartans weren't Greek and didn't consider themselves Greek. The Helots were Greek while the Spartans proper were, according to their own propaganda, descendants of foreigner Heracles who conquered the Greeks and gave the land to Eurysthenes and Procles.

Are you both fucking retarded? Greek is a modern word you dumbfucks,none of the old city states were thinking that they are muh greeks! Do you even fuck have basic education in your fucking countries?!

Using "Hellenes" instead just makes my point even stronger...

 

[Brancaleone]

Last time Greeks were Greeks was 2.5k years ago. Since then they've been Macedonian, Roman, Turks and Beggars.

False. The Spartans weren't Greek and didn't consider themselves Greek. The Helots were Greek while the Spartans proper were, according to their own propaganda, descendants of foreigner Heracles who conquered the Greeks and gave the land to Eurysthenes and Procles.

So much a foreigner that he was born in Tiryns to a woman from Tiryns, Zeus as a father, and with a foster father also from Tiryns.

The Heracleidae were chased away after the death of their father and took refuge first in Athens and then in Thessaly, where they stayed for a few generations while trying to reclaim their heritage. So nobody considered them foreign in the slightest bit, which would have greatly undermined their claim of legitimacy.

 

[cvv]

Last time Greeks were Greeks was 2.5k years ago. Since then they've been Macedonian, Roman, Turks and Beggars.

False. The Spartans weren't Greek and didn't consider themselves Greek.

Bullshit, the Greeks absolutely DID feel a common bond across the city states and they did have a loyalty to their city AND to Hellas, including the Spartans. In fact Alexander mustered such a support for his campaign against the Persians across the peninsula precisely because all Greeks (Hellenes) were butthurt about the Persians desecrating Greek temples in Asia Minor and wanted a revenge.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Ofcourse the Greeks felt common Hellenic identity - divided politically they were united by language, religion, and culture. They had panhellenic cultural and religious festivals and sport competitions. And you had to be Greek to participate. Allowing representatives of Philip of Macedon to participate in Olympic games was a big thing - it served as a proof the Hellenic world considers him as one of their own.

There was even a political ideology called Panhellenism, that called for political unification of all Greek people.

 

[Dodo1610]

​

https://community.expeditionsseries.com/index/dev-diaries/devdiary-1-game-vision-r7/

DevDiary 1 - Game & Vision
Ave! Welcome to our very first DevDiary for Expeditions: Rome. After being quiet for so long, we are very excited to finally share more about the next instalment in our Expeditions franchise. This is the first in a series of DevDiaries where we’ll be sharing insights and behind the scenes looks at Rome and its development process. To start, we’d like to share with you our vision for Rome, and maybe a little more on what the game is all about.

Expeditions: Rome is a single player Turn-Based Tactical Role Playing Game set during the Roman Republic era roughly between 100BC and 40 BC, around the time when Rome was slowly starting to turn into an empire. At its core, Rome is an RPG, where you play the role of either the son or daughter of a patrician family, leading your Praetorians and Legions in battle across multiple regions while navigating the intricacies of Roman politics.



This leads us to our first vision statement. With Rome, we want to create an immersive, story-rich RPG with player driven choices. Right out the gate, you can choose to play either a male or female hero, and that choice has a major impact on how the story unfolds. That is just the first of many decisions you’ll make, many of which can alter how your missions unfold, what types of quests you can take, and much much more. For anyone who’s played previous games in the Expeditions franchise, you’ll have some taste of what we’re talking about here, but for Rome, we’ve really aimed to take the impact of choices to the next level. Expect to hear much more about this in upcoming DevDiaries.

We also wanted to bring an even more immersive experience when it comes to how we tell our story, and a big part of that was going for a fully voiced experience this time around. We can’t even tell you how much time and care went into casting each character and making sure we can get the best performances we can, but we think you’ll be excited about the outcome.

Our next major vision statement is about our turn-based combat. We feel we’ve learned a lot from our previous games. With Rome, we really focused on bringing exciting turn-based combat with a wide range of tactical options, driven by loot and character growth. There’s way more variety in the weapon and class based skills this time around, not to mention a wider selection of items to use. We’ve also gone through countless iterations on the core combat system and encounter design with a focus on keeping combat fresh as the game progresses. And wait till you hear about our epic Siege missions, which we’ll talk about later! There are almost limitless options for you to explore as you level up and equip your party to fit various playstyles.



This also connects with our next vision statement. While turn-based combat is at the center of how you play Rome, we also wanted multiple meta-game systems focused around growing and leading your legions in conquest of foreign lands. While you personally engage in turn-based combat with your Praetorian squad, you are also leading an army of Rome, growing your forces and ordering your troops to conquer new territories.

We’ve brought back the world map that some may remember from Expeditions: Conquistador, where you can both actively explore with your party as well as dispatch your legions to conquer new territory and unlock new resources. As your conquests expand, you can use these new lands for many different purposes, like improving your legion’s warcamp or crafting new weapons and equipment for your party to use during turn-based combat. We want you to enjoy both the visceral, tense excitement of leading your troops in turn-based combat while also providing the strategic fantasy of leading the roman war machine. We think we’ve struck a fun combination between the two, and we’ll share more about each as our DevDiaries continue.

The last major vision statement really comes down to style. While we are making a game, it was very important for us to use a historically inspired framework to create a believable, fun world. We did a monstrous amount of research on Rome that we leveraged across every aspect of the game. To start, our visuals reference library is filled to the brim with weapons, historical locations, armors, and more, to help provide a solid grounding for the visual games. At times we took liberties to bring the art to life, but we made this decision carefully to help keep ourselves grounded.



We also looked into many historical figures in Roman history and tried to bring them to life in a way that both worked for our game while still reflecting some of their key traits. We don’t want to divulge too much now, but some of you probably already picked up on some of this from our first trailer, where you’re debating philosophy with Cato, otherwise known as Cato of Utica, a famous orator known for his integrity and strength of character. We’ve done our best to weave historical figures into our narrative in a way that enhances the story and brings a level of reality to the game. We want you to feel like you're in a living, breathing alternative version of Roman history, one where your choices shape how Rome’s future is forged.

So, to quickly recap, we have 4 primary vision statements we’ve talked about so far:

• Immersive, story-rich RPG with player-drive choices and fully voiced dialog
• Exciting turn-based combat with a wide range of tactical options driven by loot and character growth
• Multiple meta-game systems focused around building and leading your legions in conquest of foreign lands
• Historically inspired framework to create a believable, fun world

These vision statements are guideposts for us, goals we keep in mind while navigating the complexity of making a game of this size and magnitude. Each one is critically important, informing our decisions and helping us keep our eye on the game we’re trying to make.

There is so much more we’ll be talking about in the weeks to come. In future DevDiaries we’ll dive into the details of every aspect of the game as we lead up to launch.



We’ll also be actively engaging with you throughout that journey! This coming Wednesday May 12th at 1:00 PM Eastern / 5:00 PM GMT, we’ll be hosting our very first DevStream on the THQ Nordic Channel: http://twitch.tv/thqnordic, where you’ll be able to hear from our Senior Producer Brad Logston and Creative Director Jonas Wæver. They’ll be talking about our vision and answering your questions. We’ll also be taking questions directly from this DevDiary and answering them on stream, so make sure to tune-in and watch!

We hope you’ve enjoyed this first DevDiary, and stay tuned in a few weeks where we’ll delve into our core combat functionality, discussing the details of how it works with a tease into our class-based systems.

Until next time, Vale…

 

[fantadomat]

looks good

 

[Starwars]

FULLY VOICED DIALOGUE OH YAY.

Seriously though, looking forward to it. I've been replaying Expeditions Viking, am nearly finished it. I liked it when I first played it, but I think I'm enjoying it more this time around. Aside from some mistakes here and there, it's actually a pretty impressive game.

 

[Infinitron]

Oh, I didn't see that community site: https://community.expeditionsseries.com/

The upcoming events panel is useful.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

I keep saying this (even made a separate thread some months ago): Expeditions:Viking is flat out one of two greatest iso RPGs of 21st century (the other being Shadowrun: Dragonfall). It is much, much better than all the usual suspects - Underrail, Aod, D:OS 1/2, PoE 1/2, ToEE, Kingmaker, probably even Arcanum as a whole), and with Dragonfall represents the real continuation of BG/Fallout/PST lineage. I have high hopes for this game.

 

[Tigranes]

We’ve brought back the world map that some may remember from Expeditions: Conquistador, where you can both actively explore with your party as well as dispatch your legions to conquer new territory and unlock new resources.

Ho ho ho. Now this is good news.

 

[Starwars]

Finished my replay of Viking. Went the Invasion route which was fun. The game felt both bigger and prettier than I remember it. Not normally a fan of the look of top-down 3d stuff but they did a great job with the environments in this game. The soundtrack is outstanding too. Voicework is pretty bad though.

I guess my main complaint would be the combat. I really enjoy the actual combat-system and hope they don't fuck around with it too much for Rome, but if you get into situations where there's a lot of combat, it turns the game into a real slog.
I also ended up cheating a bit since apparently you need exactly 100 Power to start the invasion and I was a ways off. I think I could've made it but would've spent a long time just running around the map and waiting for buildings to finish. Not a very elegant design. Would've been better to have it somehow related to how the actual invasion goes instead (harder to do if you have lower Power) or something like that.

The looting is also really dumb and a pain with the camera at times.

Still, lots of fun overall. Gonna replay Conquistador now.

 

[Grim Monk]

I don't really get the way they are trying to set up a "Expeditions" game in the Roman Period.

Trying to let the player roleplay a Julius Caesar stand-in seems to not really fit the series strengths.

Conquistadors and Vikings both reflect a scenario when a small group of soldiers can have an outsized impact.

The many thousand strong Legions of Republican Era guys like Caesar/Pompey/Marius/Sulla seem like a poor fit.

Imagine trying to replicate feel of the Battle of Pharsalus or the Siege of Alesia with the player limited to controling about a dozen dudes...