Hello everyone, and welcome to another developer diary for Imperator: Rome!
It’s been a pleasure following all the speculations and theories on what the coming update is all about. In the last dev diary, we sprinkled out a couple of clues, and you found most of them within 30 minutes or so. The one I think took longest to crack was that pixel-soup image, where the clue was hidden away in the name of the image, pixelatedGWs_02.png, nice catch there.
Even before that dead give-away, it seemed as if the strongest theory was that it would be something about great wonders and that the player would be able to design their own constructions: this is spot on of course. What we have in store for you is a free update: Vitruvius, and a paid DLC pack: Great Wonders, that expands on the features in the free update.
Vitruvius - Free Content
In I:R, there’s a number of magnificent constructions spread out over the world, such as Stonehenge, The Pyramids of Giza, Sigiriya and so on. These constructions have so far mainly had a decorative purpose, even though some of them also have given some additional bonuses to the nation they are located in.
With Vitruvius we’re adding new powers to each of these ancient monuments, turning them into important assets to keep and protect within your nation, or to conquer, claim or destroy for your adversaries. This also includes the constructions that you are able to initiate through decisions; the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse and Library of Alexandria, and the Dodona Oracle, making each of them even more powerful additions to your nation.
Monument Overview (Free Update)
You’ll find a new interface that opens up together with the normal buildings panel, that gives you an overview of the ancient monuments. Here you can see what modifier the construction is giving you, which can also be seen in the outliner or in the city buildings list. At this panel, you’ll also find the destroy button, which can be relevant to use if you want to destroy a conquered monument in a territory you don’t intend to keep, or if you want to free up a building slot, since the ancient monuments now occupy a slot just as with normal buildings.
Addition to the city buildings UI, showing the presence of a monument
Events (Free Update)
The Vitruvius update comes with 8 new events together with 5 new event images, related to the ancient monuments, which makes the lifespan of your constructions an integrated part of your nation's story and history. The new events will make it necessary for you to manage everything from maintenance of aging buildings, to celebrations or tourists flocking to your nation.
Paid Content - Great Wonders
The Great Wonders feature contains a brand new 3D builder tool that enables players to design and build their very own great wonder directly in the UI. Once your creation has been constructed, it will be represented on the world map using the models and materials you assigned to it. The construction and life cycle of your Great Wonders are far from purely ornamental, they will have powerful, customizable effects on your nation. We will cover those in more detail in upcoming DDs
A completed Great Wonder represented on the map
Modular Construction (Paid DLC)
With the 3D builder tool, you’ll be able to decide on the visual setup of your construction. This is done by choosing one of three categories. Within each category, you’ll be able to select pieces for the different segments. This allows you to mix and match pieces to your heart's desire and create a look that fits your taste.
The Great Wonder 3D builder tool allows you to choose building modules and materials
On top of this, you’ll be able to assign one of nine materials to each of the pieces, further increasing how you can customize the look of your construction. The materials are tied to the trading system, adding a logistical element to the construction of a Great Wonder.
Great Wonders come in variety of shapes and sizes
We are as eager as you to get this out there and into your hands, right now we are putting the finishing touches on Vitruvius, and will have more news as it gets closer to release. This means that we’ll need to have a festina lente mindset right now, but we’re getting there. Until that time has arrived, we’ll continue to give you the inner workings of the Great Wonders feature in our upcoming developer diaries, so stay tuned.
