Caesar Update

[Deride]

Hey all, just wanted to keep you guys up-to-date on some of the features we are working on.

1) AI difficulty settings

We have finally implemented settings: easy, normal and hard. The difference is basically how many combinations of moves the AI will consider before finalizing its choice. So, the difficulty is not based on your machine performance (i.e., a slower machine would take longer to run the AI in normal mode vs. a much faster machine.) AI thinking time should run in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 seconds for each turn.

2) Fog of war

We have replaced the old fog of war with a blue outline that shows where your units can currently see. We think it is less distracting and gives you a more concrete idea of where the fog of war really is.

3) Campaign battles

When fighint in the Gallic war, you will fight up to 6 battles: Helvetii, Ariovistus, Britain, Gergovia, Nervii and Avaricum. For each minor victory, Caesar's prestige will increase by 1 level. For each major victory, Caesa's prestige will increase by 2 levels. Once you have achieved the 6th level of prestige, the Gallic War campaign will be over. Therefore, you can fight as few as 3 battles or as many as 6.

At the completion of the civil war, you will fight at Alesia.

Upon completing Alesia, Caesar will move onto the Civil War. Here, you can fight up to 7 battles: Ilerda, Dyrrachium, Pharsalus, Egypt, Zela, Thapsus and Munda. Again, the prestige level will complete the civil war once you have achieved the 7th level of prestige. So again, you can fight as few as 4 battles or as many as 7.

Again, the campaign is not on a rail except that you must fight at Alesia before moving onto the civil war.

4) Siege weapons

I do not believe that we have had screenshots of the siege weapons released just yet. (Or if we have, they haven't been finalized.) These new units look really great and add a whole new twist to the game -- just like elephants did in Alexander.

I will continue to post updates as we get further in the process. We should be entering beta shortly, so we hope to have a lot more tester feedback to guide final functionality and make sure the game is a blast to play...

Deride

[sol_invictus]

Sounds great!

[Deride]

Just wanted to let the general community know that we are entering beta with Caesar soon. We feel that it is very solid and really a late beta, so we are hoping things will go smoothly.

So, for those of you interested in this game, we should be close to announcing a release date along with some general feedback from our beta tester community.

Deride

[sol_invictus]

Damn, that was fast! Looking forward to release.

[coregames]

ORIGINAL: Deride
At the completion of the civil war, you will fight at Alesia.

I hope fighting the battle in Matrix's game is as much fun and as challenging as Avalon Hill's classic wargame on the subject. I really liked that game a lot.

[koiosworks]

ORIGINAL: coregames

ORIGINAL: Deride
At the completion of the civil war, you will fight at Alesia.

I hope fighting the battle in Matrix's game is as much fun and as challenging as Avalon Hill's classic wargame on the subject. I really liked that game a lot.

Let's just say that it (AH's Alesia) is one of my all time favorite board games... [:)]

[Adam Parker]

And very expensive if you still have it [:D]

Deride is there any tweaking to the buying of units and cards phase? I tend to feel that when I reach this screen that I don't know where the money comes from or how to really finesse the choices I have. Sometimes as I once mentioned I can just buy/refit all.

Is there any scope for players to create armies afresh between battles or will these still be tied to the silhouttes and graphics shown on the refit screen?

Thanks and btw imo the new graphics do stand out much better,
Adam.

[Deride]

ORIGINAL: Adam Parker
Deride is there any tweaking to the buying of units and cards phase? I tend to feel that when I reach this screen that I don't know where the money comes from or how to really finesse the choices I have. Sometimes as I once mentioned I can just buy/refit all.

Is there any scope for players to create armies afresh between battles or will these still be tied to the silhouttes and graphics shown on the refit screen?

Thanks and btw imo the new graphics do stand out much better,
Adam.

Adam,

The order of battle screen is a bit different to fit with how troops and armies worked under Roman times. Legions were not mercinary units in the same way that Alexander's forces were, so Caesar could not, on a whim, reinforce his troops.

So, in Caesar, you will have Legion and auxillary groups that you must "re-enlist" and "mobilize" to bring to the battlefield. Often, you will be limited to how many troops you can bring. Legions, being the standing army of Caesar, are available across all battles. Bringing them to full strength will cost a lot and you will lose training for doing so. If, however, you leave them out of the battle, they will resupply on their own without the loss to training. So, a lot of the decisions you make will be based on which legions you want to bring to the battle and which legions you want to resupply.

Each map also has a selection of auxillary units that you can choose from. For example, German cavalry or special seige weapons such as scorpions and catapults. You can use these auxillary or ignore them -- but they will not carry through to the next battle.

Of course, you still have cards to buy, so you need to factor your money supply well. (In general, you will have enough taxes to support the mobilization of your forces, and you will get some resupply money based on losses -- but the delicate balance of better trained troops vs. a larger quantity of troops is something that you must decide for yourself...)

Deride

[Adam Parker]

Sounds nice, thanks Deride.

I played Alexander again last night. Paying attention to unit types and positioning definitely pays off.

Though of course the scen spread there is by the fickleness of history limited, of all titles Matrix has released this past year, your design with smooth scrolling and wheel zoom beats all others hands down (Battles in Normandy doesn't offer wheel zoom [;)]). You've definitely enhanced the map and graphics in Caesar from what I can see, though those for Alexander are fine. But your interface and overall game stability deserve praise.

Good luck with this next one. I don't doubt your ability to possibly follow Rome all the way through with another title or two beyond. But this series does have legs and looks to be on the way to establishing itself as the PC standard for Ancients, where possibly only the brave but flawed Great Battles Series once stood.

Adam.