Developer Diary | Ages Part Two
Hello, everyone. This is Ian Fischer from C Prompt Games and today I am taking a break from the post-demo push at C Prompt to present a new Developer Diary for Millennia. A quick aside on that – the demo went really well for us and we received a lot of feedback and bug reports. We have watched tons of players streaming the game and read comments in forums from all over. What we have not done is post a lot of responses. I apologize for that; we do wish we could engage more and we have been able to be more active in the past. But – right now – we are deep in development and focused on using all the time we have to make the game. We appreciate all of the feed and bugs. Thank you, and please know that we are reading / watching. Ok, this Developer Diary is part two on Ages. In the first one, we presented an overview of the basic structure of the Ages system and talked about the mainline, historical Ages. Here, we will build on that and cover Variant, Crisis, and Victory Ages.A Note on Age Gameplay
We have already covered mechanics and vision for the Ages in a few places so I won’t go into great detail here, but I did want to point out a few things about these Ages. To begin with, Variant and Crisis Ages are not “good” and “bad.” I know that, at first glance, the general structure of one Historical, one Crisis, and one Variant might make it seem that way (especially with one titled “Crisis”), but that isn’t the case. There is no requirement that there be three Ages, one of each type, at every Age advancement possibility, that’s just how the initial set of Ages happened to unfold. Variant and Crisis Ages also aren’t designed to be “rewards for doing good” and “penalties for doing bad.” Rather, Variant and Crisis Ages are based on the idea of being different. They can be better or worse for individual Nations depending on their position in the game, but you do not get a Variant Age if you’re doing really well and a Crisis Age if you’re getting stomped. Instead of player performance, what triggers a Variant or Crisis Age is focus – actions (or inactions) in the world. Doing more or less than the “typical” amount of something. For example, when going from Age two to three, if you do more than the typical amount of exploring early you can bring about the Age of Heroes and if you do more than the typical amount of fighting you can bring about the Age of Blood (and if you’re more down the middle, you’ll move to Iron). This is history changing in response to decisions, not the game trying to reward or punish. Similarly, Victory Ages are also not arranged with any kind of performance-based “if you do well, you can get this one” structure (they do tend to have entry requirements but these are more a question of where you have focused than how well you have done)and also surface in response to how history develops in the game. The Age structure overall gives Millennia a way to provide deeper, more focused experiences but this is especially true with the Victory Ages. Since the Victory Age contains the rules that will be used to win, everyone can know and be focused on what is important. There is a shared win condition, which cuts down on “surprise, you lost” endgames.Variant, Crisis, and Victory Ages
As with the earlier Developer Diary, the following is a tour of the Variant, Crisis, and Victory Ages in Millennia, with some brief notes on each. Age of Heroes (Variant) Currently the first possible Variant Age, the Age of Heroes takes inspiration from ancient Greek epics like the Odyssey. You get to develop powerful Hero-Leaders in this Age and send them out to complete Quests, which provide valuable rewards unique to the Age. In addition to allowing for some interesting Quest-focused strategies and Hero-Leader strategies, this Variant is also just fun for players who enjoy early exploration gameplay, as the Quests system refreshes that set of things out there for you to discover. Age of Blood (Crisis) Thematically, this Crisis Age imagines a history where warfare was even more widespread than it actually was. From a gameplay perspective, it supports the playstyle of someone who wants less “build up” in their “build up and fight.” Warfare in the early portion of a strategy game can be difficult to justify given the value of keeping your focus on your early expansion, but Blood seeks to make it easier to consider by removing some of the costs. For example, this Age turns off war Unrest, so you don’t have to worry about Unrest growing and hurting your advance. Also, since everyone is and can only be at war during this Age, you don’t have to deal with any diplomatic declarations or concerns about who the enemy might be. Age of Monuments (Variant) The Monuments Variant Age explores an alternate history where building ancient megastructures, like the pyramids, became a greater focus for all Nations. This Age presents a number of unique construction options (the monuments) as well as a number of construction-related bonuses that can be valuable long after having moved beyond this Age. This Variant also makes possible the construction of Super Monuments, large undertakings that can provide great boosts to a Region when completed.




