Oriental Empires

[Asid]

Oriental Empires

Official Site: Here
Official forum: Here
YouTube Channel:Here
Steam: Here


Official trailer

About This Game
Step into the world of the ancient Orient. Control a city or tribe from the dawn of Chinese history, and turn it into a great empire. Develop your land, create great cities, raise huge armies and fight epic wars. Advance your technology, culture and religion to create one of mankind’s great civilizations. All the action takes place on one spectacular game map that brings to life the mountains, forests, plains and deserts of China. Zoom in close to review your troops and see your peasants toiling, or zoom out for a strategic overview. Plan your battles, end your turn, and then watch as your armies obey your orders, with hundreds of soldiers battling right on the game map.

FEATURES
•   Start out as a single nation or tribe, starting from humble beginnings with a single settlement and expand your empire and develop your culture with the aim of becoming the universally recognized Son of Heaven and ruler of the world.
•   Persuade the other factions to recognize you as such by either military force, or by diplomatic persuasion.
•   Play as one of 16 different factions each with their own special bonuses or penalties.
•   Vast beautifully rendered map featuring an attractive and authentic depiction of the landscape of China and Mongolia.
•   Large scale battles with hundreds or thousands of soldiers, depicted in detail right on the game map. Watch skilled armies and reinforcements go to battle, according to the battle orders and formations set by the player.
•   Fully animated 3D models, with variations in face and clothing for each model, including infantry, cavalry, chariot and artillery units, as well as naval forces.
•   Long seamless zoom range lets you step right into the game world or zoom out for a strategic overview.
•   Develop your settlements by constructing buildings and developing the landscape around them, build markets and ports to enable trade by land and water.
•   Elaborate research tree including technology as well as cultural, philosophical and religious developments.
•   Many other elements will determine the outcome of you quest for dominance such as Leaders, Sieges, Unrest and Rebellion, and Authority and Culture ratings.
•   As Emperor, set edicts, laws and decrees to balance power and move into a glorious new Era, with new technologies and military units that change the game!

[Greybriar]

Here's a video of the beta which is about a month old:

[Asid]

Thanks Greybriar

[Asid]

Diplomacy Update Now Live!
Community Announcements



Hi everybody. Sorry it's been a bit of while since the last update, but we've been working mainly on multiplayer. However, since that's not quite ready for release, we took some time out to make another update for single player. Currently it's only on the beta branch, but hopefully will be made a general release next weak. If some of you have the time to test the beta though, it'd be a big help. Please remember to state that you're using the beta if you make any posts about it.

The main theme of this update, is improving diplomacy. A lot of changes were made as a result of community suggestions, so we thank you for those and we ask you to keep providing your feedback!


Diplomacy Changes



•   Added limited trading of settlements. Settlements may be traded as part of a peace deal, or if returned to the previous owner or founder, or if small enough to be disbanded.
•   Added trade embargo declaration.
•   Added option to trade info about enemies
•   Added diplomatic agreement to attack other players
•   AI and Player can make counter offers during negotiations
•   Number of diplomatic offers a player can make per turn is limited to 3.
•   Can only initiate negotiations with other factions if city or character location is known
•   Trade status shown on diplomacy screen
•   AI more likely to combine against player who is winning
•   Improved ai algorithm for detecting if player is likely to attack them
•   AI and player offer fraternal harmony pacts of same length (40 turns)
•   Looting reduces diplomatic liking
•   Vassals can't loot or block trade if player has an agreement with their overlord. Similarly if a player has an agreement with an overlord, they can't loot their vassals.
•   Can't make own noble rebels into vassals

Other Changes
•   Looting messages now given for each stack looting, so that zoom button can function
•   Stacks can't replenish if they've been in a battle
•   Fixed problem with trade routes being duplicated when a settlement changes hands
•   Fixed freeze bug when shooting
•   Fixed being able to click improvement icons through UI
•   Fixed cities starving in first turn of custom game.
•   Fixed issues with trade routes not being removed when at war
•   Improved handling of eliminated players
•   Fixed a couple more bugs relating to freezes and lost income.
•   More animation improvements.
•   Added a notification for when there isn't enough money to start a queued building.

[Asid]

Oriental Empires Tips & Tricks Livestream (TODAY: 5 PM CET/8 AM PDT)
30 MARCH

Pssst.. Would you like some tips and tricks to help you with your road to glory? Sit back on your throne and get ready to take notes. Iceberg Interactive is doing a special livestream to help you up your emperor game.

Tune in today at 5 PM CET/8 AM PDT:

[Asid]

Oriental Empires - Combat Update
Oriental Empires - [ICE] Surtur




Details of Update May 24. This update is mainly about battles and movement. Armies now line up against each other before engaging in open field battles, and the battle plans have been reworked to operate with the new battle lines, and make them clearer and more useful. A new help page has been added detailing them.

This update contains all the changes from the beta version, together with a number of new improvements. This list details all the changes since the Feb 28 release.

As always, this update could not have been possible without the continues support and feedback from our community and for that we thank all of you!

Battles
•   Units line up before battles
•   Tweaked battle plans to work with lining up system
•   Fully implemented ambush and withdraw plans
•   Reserve battle plan re-branded as "support"
•   Infantry units entirely armed with missile weapons can skirmish
•   General bug fixing and improvement of behavior in battle
•   Dropped fancy but impractical 180 turn drill for chariots
•   Some tweaking to missile and chariot combat factors
•   Defense penalty if hit by missile while moving.
•   Improved help and tool tips for battle plans
•   Reduced effect of friendly fire
•   Allowed more uneven lines in formations
•   In battles that include a settlement but are not an assault, archers only attack towers that are close to friends
•   In battles that include a settlement, but are not an assault, the battle finishes if one side only has garrison units left
•   Defeated stacks in a drawn battle don't return to position
•   When a settlement is captured in a battle that has multiple players attacking, the settlement is given to the player whose unit reaches the first undefended breach, or to their overlord if the overlord has combat units in the battle.

UI
•   Fixed issue displaying some event messages with double click
•   Per climate type picture in custom map screen
•   Improved settlement tab tool tip
•   Fixed stuck selected tab on tech screen
•   Fixed hex grid not being togglable on fastest graphics if disabled in settings
•   Fixed display not updating when all units in a settlement disbanded

Settlements
•   Added text for improvement completed messages
•   Added warning when a queued building can't be paid for
•   Fixed issue where no labor unrest was acrued on the last turn of construction if no more items were queued
•   Reduced unrest from labor service in easy and normal difficulty levels
•   Map resources in use by a friendly settlement are highlighted
•   Added a glow to tab of settlements with unrest problems
•   Fixed occasional duplicate settlement tab
•   Forests adjacent to plateau can be cleared
•   Fixed incorrect height of settlement bases created while under fog of war
•   Fixed incorrect display of settler availability in settlement list

Unit Movement
•   Stacks can move through stacks of other players outside of the other player's territory. I.e. you can still block other players inside your own territory.
•   Chariots and artillery can enter woods at 1 hex per turn
•   Rivers can be crossed from forests, but not marshes or hills
•   Can't cross rivers from flooded terrain
•   Increased cost of infantry moving in marsh, and some other move costs

Misc
•   Fixed Noble Cav armour upgrade
•   Picked light infantry move fast in terrain and have terrain combat bonuses
•   Capturing a settlement without a battle now fulfills a diplomatic agreement to attack.
•   Some climate types not allowed for small custom maps
•   Fixed deer animation
•   Fixed duplicate battle reports

[Asid]

The Multiplayer Mode is Ready to be Tested!
12 JUNE - [ICE] Surtur





Hi Everybody

Multiplayer is finally here. We apologize for the long delay, it's taken much more work than was originally anticipated, but we hope you'll find it worth the wait.

It's not quite ready for final release, but a beta build is now publicly available. To use a beta branch, right click the game in your Steam client, select properties, then betas, then select mp_beta. Steam will automatically update your game to this version.

We suggest that you start off playing small custom maps with not too many players. You can select the Grand Campaign, but it probably won't be a great MP experience.

It is a beta build, and there are still some issues to work out. In particular, the game desyncs a bit too often, and while resyncing is automatic, it may affect your experience. If you get persistent desyncs, try quitting and reloading. Please provide us as much feedback as you can when you encounter such issues.

Hope you have fun with it, and we look forward to hearing about your experiences.

[Asid]

Oriental Empires Release Update!



Hello everyone,

After nearly a year in Early Access, we are finally here, it is release day! In a bit, the game will officially leave Early Access and the full version will become available. For our great community that helped us through Early Access, we just pushed the release build out to Steam, giving them access to all the goodness that comes with it. This includes better language support, full multiplayer functionalities and the Warring States scenario with new factions and some unique units!

We want to thank all of you guys who helped shaping the game during the final stages of development and we want to stress that the support of the game does not end here by any means! We will continue to support, update and expand Oriental Empires well after release.

-Surtur

The full changelog can be found here:

September 14 Release Update Details. (Actually says September 12 on game). Many of these fixes have been in the beta build for some time, but I've included them here for people not using the beta.

Major New Features
•   Multiplayer Mode
•   New Warring States Scenario
•   4 New factions for custom games.
•   German, French, Russian and Polish language support.

and smaller fixes and improvements

UI
•   Right clicking or double tapping a unit card brings up a detailed stats display
•   Added tool tips on some unit card indicators
•   Added indicator on unit card to show when a unit can replenish
•   Added many new hotkeys and improved display of hot keys
   o   1 -8 Set battle plans
   o   Ctrl 1 - 4 Set Formation
   o   ,. and rotate stack
   o   Keys for cancel move, delete, sleep and auto-explore
   o   B to open construction panel
   o   R To open recruitment panel
   o   ,. To cycle between settlements
   o   F5 - F10 to open major game windows
   o   ,. To cycle between messages
•   Diplomatic offers from AI don't have to be decided immediately
•   Current number of settlements shown on authority tool tip
•   Added tool tip for why settlement can't be founded.
•   Increased range of settlement foundation locations shown
•   Extended tech card turn display to three digits
•   Added some more pieces of pop up advice.

Economy
•   Reduced upkeep for ports and shipyards
•   Level 2 shrine only produces level 1 piligrims
•   Copper increases value of bronze production
•   Reduced tech value boosts for ceramics trade
•   Reduced building upkeep for palaces temples and schools, foundry, weapon smith sword smith, bazaar, artillery workshop, cannon maker, silk weaver, granary,siege granary , bowyer and CB maker.
•   Added upkeep cost for cities and huge cities
•   Decreased trade value of copper, jade, ceramics, and silk
•   Increased trade value of bronze

Battle
•   Improved siege AI. Archers have better target priority, and assaulting units get into position sooner.
•   Implemented sword skill bonuses
•   Reduced effectiveness of land units against naval. Made naval skill bonus count against land.
•   Stacks with defensive battle plans can move adjacent to settlements
•   Battle plan defense modifiers don't count in settlements
•   Fixed some issues with dagger axe and halberd units [*}Added some nicer chariot textures for nobles and bodyguard.

AI
•   AI will construct roads
•   Improved AI for choosing settlement locations [^]Improved AI force composition, particularly in mid to late game.
•   Harder to get AI to recognize you as emperor. Harder to just buy SOH victory [*}AI can sack and destroy captured settlements.
•   AI won't overbuild infrastructure in peacetime such that it can't afford an army.
•   A few minor AI diplomacy tweaks. Less offensive alliance spam.

Misc
•   Roads on gentle hills allowed
•   Added edict to move capital
•   Added edict to cancel disaster effects
•   No bandits generated in first 5 turns, or on map edges
•   Increased time to act on offensive alliance to 7 turns
•   Added some faction special units for some factions.
•   Some Chinese text improvements
•   Noble units on foot can longer be recruited in Imperial Era, as it's grossly unhistorical. Must issue "Gentlemen Ride Horses" edict to get nobles in this era.
•   Reduced suppression effect of cavalry and chariots. No longer greater than infantry units.

Significant Bug Fixes
•   Fixed bug that breaks UI when a loaded game has units on ships
•   Fixed occasional freeze in AI during diplomacy
•   Fixed freeze due to units with withdraw orders in attacked settlement
•   Fixed an issue triggering a battle when moving adjacent to settlement with a stack that had moved in earlier in the turn
•   Fixed bug that reopened trade routes when at war or embargoed
•   Fixed issue with units not being available to defend breaches if settlement attacked twice in same turn
•   Fixed various issues related to roads and trade routes when upgrading settlements

[Asid]

Update 22 September 2017
Oriental Empires - [ICE] Surtur



Hi everyone,

Thank you for all your support during the Oriental Empires release, it is truly great to read all your feedback and comments. Today, we are happy to say that we are releasing the first in a series of post-release updates. The first one, is a small update that fixes a few issues that were found after release. The full changelog can be seen below.

- Surtur

Changelog:
•   Fixed bug in WS scenario where some cities couldn't be attacked if they didn't have a garrison
•   Fixed game freeze
•   Fixed graphics quality setting not working in non english versions
•   Fixed UI problem with list panel
•   Implemented compression sending saved game in MP. Should help with any issues reloading large games, as well as speeding up loading.
•   Fixed some little black triangles around settlements
•   Updated Polish text
•   Chokuno and guns increase firing rate of towers
•   Construction stalled message check moved to after point income has been collected. Stops players seeing construction stalled messages when they apparently have enough money for the building.
•   Corrected Yue capital name in Chinese

[Asid]

Battle AI Update
Oriental Empires - [ICE] Surtur


Update 9 October 2017

A new update has just been made available. This update was mainly focused on improving combat, plus a few small issues that came up over the last couple of weeks. We would like to thank all of you for your feedback, especially regarding the combat mechanics and we want you to know that more improvements are on the horizon!

The full changelog can be found below. Please let us know what you think in the forums or comments.

- Surtur

•   Fixed some pathing issues around cities
•   Fixed a problem with units congregating on top of shooting unit when waiting to attack breach
•   Improved charge behavior and made soldiers charge if targeting an opponent more than a few metres away
•   Fixed various issues when units perform drill maneuvers with soldiers that are out of position.Fixes a lot of line dancing issues.
•   Soldiers that get stuck will try to rejoin units
•   Small units won't form up with more rows than columns
•   Tuned target selection in battles. Closer targets more important
•   Switched around models for IC Noble cavalry
•   Fixed problem with missing WS Cavalry bodyguard for herders
•   Allowed whirlwinds to breach lowest level earth wall
•   Fixed very rare freeze bug
•   Added warning if player's siege engines can't breach walls
•   Fixed erroneous warning about horse archers being unable to burn walls

Plan to have another update in a week or two with some battle improvements.         

[Asid]

Update 4 December 2017
4 DECEMBER - [ICE] SURTUR




Hi guys,

This small update took a little longer, but rest assured that further development is ongoing! This small update deals with some issues with the Warring States scenario, as well as a couple of other small fixes. We also added a little console for those who like to... experiment with the game.

Please let us know what you think and stay tuned for more.

- Surtur

Changelog:

UI
•   Added option to retain height when zooming to show something.
Defaults to on.
•   Camera position restored when exiting settlement view on the settlement it was opened for. Otherwise previous height retained if keep height option selected.
•   Added slider to adjust white fade level when zooming out.
•   Stack without orders is now selected if you use the eye button from the warning dialog.

Cheats
•   Added console for typing cheat commands. Open and close it with the backtick key (located below Esc on American keyboards). There's a drop down list of commands you can use, or you can type them directly. Type command + " ?" for usage information. Some of the commands work on the internal names for things (e.g. buildings), rather than the screen names, so you'll want to select them from the drop down list on the right. And no, they don't work in multiplayer . I'm also afraid they haven't been localized.

Units
•   Fixed both bronze and silver level armor tribal horse archers being available together
•   Fixed name of NB Guard Spearmen
•   Fixed Militia Chu Ko Nu not being available if a first level armorer is present
•   Fixed some issues with herder dagger axemen and halberds

Misc
•   Fixed bug with naval combats causing game to crash
•   Herders can no longer research "Sword Making" tech as it gives them no benefits

[Asid]

December 20th - Santa brings a Map Editor!
Oriental Empires - [ICE] Surtur



Hi everyone, this update begins the roll out of support for user generated content, by adding a map editor tool built into the game. You can use the maps you create instead of randomly generated ones in custom games, and they can also be used in scenarios you create yourself. Please see the new Modding and Scenarios forum board for more details.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKDuYbsY8hk&feature=youtu.be
User Created Content Support
•   Added a map editor. Available from Options Menu
•   Added ability to load a particular map in a custom game. Can be one of the built in maps, or one created by the player.
•   Added ability to load a user created scenario



Bug Fixes
•   Fixed bug where stacks can incorrectly merge if both were ordered to a hex containing another stack
•   Fixed game settings tab not being available on systems with non supported system language
•   Added back button to game type selection screen
•   Fixed bug with caravansaries not exporting to settlements created before them
•   Stop re-exported goods being exported to their source
•   Improved algorithm for distributing starting positions in custom game

Important:
This is the first release of the map editor, so there are a couple of issues remaining. The editor is currently only in English, and custom maps aren't yet supported for multiplayer. Further updates will follow next year.

Happy Holidays!

- Surtur

[Asid]

Map Editor Now Supports Steam Workshop!
Oriental Empires - [ICE] Surtur



Following the launch of the first iteration of the map editor, we are pleased to announce that we are ready to further roll out the support for community content by launching Steam Workshop Support. With Steam Workshop support, players are now able to upload and share their own maps and scenarios with the community. It is our aim to keep expanding on support for community content and workshop integration.

Downloading new maps and scenarios could not be easier. Simply head over to the Workshop Section in the Community Hub, find an item you find interesting and hit the subscribe button. The file should be downloaded automatically the next time you start the game.



User Created Content Support

•   Added a map editor. Available from Options Menu
•   Added ability to load a particular map in a custom game. Can be one of the built in maps, or one created by the player.
•   Added ability to load a user created scenario



Bug Fixes
•   Fixed bug where stacks can incorrectly merge if both were ordered to a hex containing another stack
•   Fixed game settings tab not being available on systems with non supported system language
•   Added back button to game type selection screen
•   Fixed bug with caravansaries not exporting to settlements created before them
•   Stop re-exported goods being exported to their source
•   Improved algorithm for distributing starting positions in custom game

Important:
This is the first release of the map editor, so there are a couple of issues remaining. The editor is currently only in English, and custom maps aren't yet supported for multiplayer. Further updates will follow next year.

Happy Holidays!

- Surtur

[Asid]

More multiplayer options and improved AI, a new patch has arrived!
Oriental Empires - [ICE] Surtur



We are happy to share with you another major patch for Oriental Empires. This latest version brings new starting options for custom games, allowing players to select the preferred starting age. It also allows for more options in multiplayer and on top of that, the AI received a nice little boost, making it better at conducting diplomacy and using a navy.

The full changelog can be found below and as always, feedback is greatly appreciated.

- Surtur



Changelog:

AI
•   Improved AI's economic balance between buildings and army
•   AI will keep a minimum army size
•   Improved unit diversity in AI recruitment
•   Improved AI movement of armies
•   AI can build naval units

Custom Games
•   Added ability to set starting era in custom games. All the tech from previous era's is available, and some edicts are already issued.
•   Ability to have random AI controlled factions. The player still controls whichever faction he selects.
Multiplayer
•   Added ability to assign factions randomly in MP. All players, including the host, are assigned a faction at random.
•   Added hidden humans ability in MP. If this is selected, then the UI is adjusted so that no indication is given of which factions are human and which AI controlled. Diplomacy with AI factions has a delay, and functions the same as with human players. Random factions must be selected by the host in the initial faction selection screen for the hidden humans option to be available.
Diplomacy
•   Reduced offensive alliance diplomatic spam. AI won't ask for alliances against those enemies it can't reach
•   Can't declare war on vassals if you have a peace accord or fraternal harmony pact with their overlord
•   Less 1 coin diplomacy
•   Fixed a serious bug that was stopping inter AI diplomacy working correctly.

Misc
•   Reduced effectiveness of land troops against naval. Previous fix accidentally doubled it .
•   Fixed a bug that stopped naval units moving adjacent to large land stacks
•   Buildings can't be deleted if existing or queued building depends on them
•   Fixed issue with city list not being scrolled correctly in city list view

[Asid]

Scenario Editor Update Out Now!
Oriental Empires - [ICE] KevWatch



Hi everyone,

This update’s main feature is the scenario editor. This lets you create scenarios similar to the Warring States scenario, which is already in the game, and share them using Steam Workshop. With the scenario editor, you can define your own factions, easily place cities, buildings and armies, and even include your own faction symbols. We’re really looking forward to seeing what the community can create using this tool.

This update also includes a number of bug fixes and improvements.

Read the full changelog below, and enjoy!

Cheers,
KevWatch

Battles:
•   Fixed battles sometimes not resolving properly in single player when the player doesn't view them.
•   Improved siege initiation. Stack can begin attack if any stacks around the settlement can breach the walls.
•   Units dismount and artillery stay unpacked if two hexes away from the city wall.
•   Artillery oriented towards settlement at the start of the battle phase.
•   Large trebuchets don't stop firing when first rope puller killed.
•   Spare artillery crew re-assigned duties between turns, so the engine can continue to work even with some crew losses.
•   Fixed crash when land units without flaming ammo fire at ships.
•   Fixed some stats for faction specific units.

Settlements:
•   Can now delete roads. Use the delete key to remove the roads in the hex under the cursor when in road building mode in the settlement view.
•   Fixed bug when irrigated farms leave farms behind when their city is destroyed.
Settlements can take over resources when previously owning settlement is destroyed.
•   AI won't auto build farms on potential mine sites.

Multiplayer:
•   Fixed being assigned an eliminated player when joining a hidden humans game.
Changed save game name of hidden humans game to not include faction name.
•   Fixed battle indicators showing for human players in MP hidden humans mode.

Other:
•   Changed font for the Chinese version
•   Added ability to import a map from png file into the map editor. Mainly intended to work with files from the Demis Map Server.