Imperiums: Greek Wars

[Asid]

Version 1.0.10. (Patch)
Mon, 5 October 2020

Hello everyone,
it has been a bit quiet from our side recently - we were off for two weeks but since 25th we are back and working days and nights again:) We have also just uploaded a new version on Steam.



New feature(s) and fix(es) added:
•   Overall performance increased.
•   Tooltips were tuned and should be now way faster (especially when you hover over tiles).
•   First Japanese and Chinese translations added.
•   So called "experimental language support" was added. When this feature is turned on in config file, you can start the game also in Chinese, Japanese and Italian.
•   Small confirmation windows (YES-NO, etc) were re-styled.
•   Improved pillage functionality - impact of pillage is based on history and can lead to riots in other cities (if city is considered "culturally close").
•   Issue in Multiplayer (UI showing a faction that is actually not currently playing) might be finally fixed:)
•   Issue in Treaties offer window causing CTD was fixed.
•   Default actions were improved (especially Attack and Heal inside - more appropriate tooltips explaning why you cannot perform them was implemented).
•   New information in Map Item Detail window added - date when a city was found or building was built.
•   Improved calculation of generating new Heroes/Generals.
•   Updated French and Spanish translations.
•   Several minor issues fixed.


We also continue working on a free DLC called Troy. We should have more details soon.
Have fun!

Yours
Kube Games team.

[Asid]

11 weeks, 11 updates
Sun, 18 October 2020

What can be done in 11 weeks and 11 updates? SO MUCH! Let’s look back at this fantastic journey together!

It has only been two and a half months since Imperiums went live, but to us it feels like much longer. We have published exactly 11 updates in the past 11 weeks, we managed to take two weeks off to recharge our batteries and now we are back developing at full throttle. We are making great strides towards the release of our first DLC, called Troy.

The DLC will be available for free, this is a thank you for the great reception that Imperiums had. It is also a promise of what‘s to come in the future, but we will talk more about that next time.

Today, we want to show you how Imperiums has grown and matured in the past 11 weeks, the major improvements that have been added and how the game now looks.

We know that there are many players among you who have waited to see the first reviews before purchasing the game and maybe others who have waited a while for any teething problems to be solved.

We believe that the game has been greatly improved over the past 11 weeks, we have removed all of the teething problems that we are aware of and the game is now ready for even the most hardcore gamers.


 
In the first few weeks after release we had to deal with some technical issues related to the specific PC configurations that players had and there were also a few bugs that needed extra attention. Surprisingly though, there were very few technical bugs so we were able to move onto the player‘s wishes and recommendations pretty quickly, many suggestions on how to improve and smoothen the gameplay have now been completed.

So, here is the summary of the most important changes that have been implemented in the last 11 weeks:

Generic improvements:
•   Overall performance was considerably increased.
•   Steam Trading Cards were released.
•   Support for new fonts and languages was added.
•   Time threshold for unlocking new factions in the campaign map was decreased as per player wishes.


Rules/mechanics improvements:
•   Calculation for generating new Heroes/Generals was improved.
•   Civil war rules and the rules for Generals that desert have been expanded.
•   Pillage functionality was enhanced. The impact of the plundering units is based on historical realities and can now lead to riots, especially in cities that are considered "culturally close" by the general populace.
•   Tweaks controlling the Celtic raids were implemented. The raids are less frequent but a bit more dangerous now.


Major improvements:
•   Dragging the map with the mouse is considerably smoother now.
•   New feature in mouse game settings, adjusting mouse delay of edge scrolling was added.
•   The size of city labels is now fully configurable in game settings.
•   Default saturation value was changed. The map is now more colourful.
•   The automatic unit selection setting has been enhanced. A player can now retain the selection of the current unit, even after it has completed its task and used all its action points, if they hold the ALT key.
•   Default actions were improved. More appropriate tooltips explaining why particular actions are currently disabled, e.g. for Attack and Heal Inside, were added.


AI (computer player):
•   Tweaks related to diplomacy offers sent by AI were implemented.
•   "Back to safety" behavior (when AI unit is in danger of being destroyed) was tweaked.
•   AI behavior related to influencing foreign tiles was polished.
•   Calculation of future supplies improved.
•   Disembarking behavior is now more sofisticated.
•   Handling of State Decisions by AI is now much smarter.
•   Behaviour of neutral players (independent nations) has been improved. They can now build cities within the borders of your country as well as outside your borders.


UI (User interface):
•   Unit selection out of a stack was improved. A simple click on a banner will immediately show the unit selector if there are more units on a tile.
•   Special highlight for insufficient resources when player wants to build an improvement was added.
•   Unit selector opens even when a player cannot currently build any units in the city (e.g. due to lack of resources). He therefore knows what unit types are available in that city and what resources is he lacking.
•   When a Strategic Overview window is displayed without any unit selected, a city tab is selected by default.
•   Small confirmation windows were re-styled.
•   Information about the Citizens/Slaves ratio has been added to the tooltip of the Slaves resource in the Resource Panel.
•   Information about the construction of a building/city has been added to the Map Item Details Window.
•   The cost of State Decisions is now displayed in the Resource Panel when you hover over the State Decision button.
•   An option to disable Advisor pop up window directly in the window was added.


Major bug fixes:
•   Several quite rare, yet annoying issues causing crashes were fixed.
•   An issue with shovel holes staying on the map forever was solved.
•   An issue in Custom worlds when player selected a particular faction but a different one was selected instead, was fixed.
•   Graph of casualties was changed to show correctly the casualties for resurrected nations.
•   An issue in Multiplayer (UI showing a faction that is actually not currently playing) was fixed.


Other changes:
•   Changes in Russian, French, German, and Czech localizaton texts.
•   Several new illustrations were added to the game.
•   First Japanese, Chinese and Italian translations added (experimental for now).


As you can see, we are serious about bringing the game to the best level possible, so .. grab your copy and give it a try!:)

Yours,
Kube Games team.

[Asid]

A peek under the hood of Imperiums: Troy DLC
Tue, 27 October 2020



First details about Imperiums: Troy DLC revealed

The first DLC for Imperiums, simply called Troy, is now very near to release. At the moment, we are testing and polishing the last details and our great translators are finishing work on the remaining texts.



When we announced the DLC, some of you were surprised by the choice of theme. We are well aware of another recently released game that also focused on this historical period. It is not our ambition to go eye to eye with an AAA title, we just wanted to make our own version of this captivating story.

The Trojan war is half myth, even historians themselves are not united about when, where or even if it was really fought. We dedicated quite a lot of time to the reading of various historical sources and legends to make our account of those events as precise and as believable as possible.

On the other hand, gods and heroes are as vital a part of the Trojan legend as they were an integral part of life in ancient times and we could hardly ignore their role in this story. Our goal was to find a compromise where the supernatural is present but in an acceptable and believable way, even for those of you who come to Troy to fight a real battle. There will be no cyclops or minotaurs but the gods are by their nature omnipresent.

So, let’s take a more detailed peek under the hood.

The campaign map is relatively small, it covers the southern part of the Hellespont strait with several outlying islands. The story starts with the Greeks already settled on several of these islands opposite the mainland, with their fleet getting ready for an assault. The Greek coalition consists of the Mykeneans lead by ambitious Agamemnon, Ithakans lead by wise Odysseus, Myrmidons headed by the great Achilles and Salaminians lead by another great hero Ajax.



The Greeks disembark on the Trojan coast within the first few turns of the game and we took extra care to teach the AI to put Troy under real pressure right from the start. The testing shows that the AI is more than capable of leading the Greeks. Sooner or later Troy loses most of its coastal areas and although Troy has its own small war fleet, it cannot stand against the massive force of Greek ships. However it can still inflict some damage and trouble the invading armies.

Resource wise, none of the factions are fully dependant on income from mines and cities. Troy gets some extra resources via supply lines, but these are vulnerable to Greek attacks. The Greeks get resources from their homeland, but the maintenance of their army becomes more and more expensive over time.

This will necessarily lead to a war of attrition, with both sides fighting for more resources. Troy DLC is not only a tactical game, it has a strategic dimension too.

The course of the war can be affected by side events, such as Thrakian raids in the north, the sacking of the temple of Apollo or the cutting of the Trojan supply lines, via their only port that is capable of building biremes. The effects of these events might seem minor but their long term effect may significantly affect the war.



In contrast to the main campaign map, we removed the options to build most of the buildings, such as temples, blacksmiths, shipyards, etc. to emphasize their strategic importance in Troy. Several of them are placed on the map at the beginning and losing a blacksmith or a stable may have devastating effects on the outcome of the war.

Another major change is the removal of the Research tree and all technologies. You can only work with what you are provided with at the beginning of the scenario. This decision was driven by the fact that we are only covering a period of a year or two and pretty much all of the resources will be used by the war machine.

The Research tree is replaced by a `Book of Fate`. This represents the supernatural in the game and provides interventions from the gods to both Troy and the Greeks. As a player, you cannot affect these events. They are designed in a way that they should not significantly alter the course of the war, rather that they should create an immersive story line with minor advantages or disadvantages for either side while staying true to the legends of Troy. As always in Imperiums, this feature can be disabled if you are not fond of these kind of random events.

There are also two legendary prophets, Helenos and Kalchas. These two Seers, one on each side, allow the fog of war to be lifted. This enables you find out what is happening behind the Trojan walls or conversely where the Greeks are planning their next disembarkation.

If you decide to defend Troy, you can be sure that sooner or later the Greeks will push you back behind the great walls of your city. These walls give you a major advantage and if you use them well it may be possible to keep the Greeks at bay long enough to bleed them dry. You can also use your citizenry to defend the city walls, this will strengthen the defenses but you need to keep in mind that fear can have a devastating effect on the morale of those inside the gates.



The Greek factions have their own disagreements. If you manage to improve your relations with one of the factions and sign a separate peace treaty, you can save the city and the kingdom. This option, or the exhaustion of the Greek forces in front of your gates, provide two of the more practical options for winning as Troy.

The truth is though, that unless you are well prepared for a long siege, your people will start to starve. Even if you manage to keep the city walls intact, the men may stop following your orders, rebellions may break morale faster than the constant Greek attacks. To avoid starvation and to reduce pressure on your resources, you can lead elements of your population out of the city to the east.

How this legendary battle ends, is up to you. Although the games are quite short (2-4 hours), they are action packed, and if you step into the Trojan throne, you will most likely find yourself trying to save the city over and over again. Leading the Greek coalition is also a challenging option and we can promise you either way the outcome will be ʺjust one more turn“.

[Asid]

Version 1.0.12. (Patch)
Tue, 3 November 2020


Hello everyone,
we hope that you are all doing well.

Last couple of weeks we have been really busy with the upcoming Troy DLC, still we took some time to make some changes to the game core, too. They are rather minor but touch various parts of the game.



New feature(s) and fix(es) added:
•   It is now possible to translate unit names, including cities (we have already added several language-specific names).
•   Illustrations displayed in the Technology tree should be sharper.
•   UI issues with map shifting when clicking on the helmet above the banner (indicating number of units on the tile) were fixed.
•   UI issue with selecting units from stack fixed (a shield indicating stacked units on the map disappeared after unit selector was displayed).
•   The Launcher now displays an offline message when the game is started while the PC is not online.
•   Minor restyling of several popup windows.
•   Spanish, Czech, German and Russian text updates.
•   Additional texts of Japanese added (Japanese is heading to proofread now).
•   One rare CTD (crash to desktop) was fixed.


AI changes:
•   Naval invasions improved.
•   Military campaigns deals are now evaluated better.
•   Movement of generals was improved (finding safer positions, using amphibious options).
•   Actions of Hades warriors improved.


Have a nice week and we will be in touch soon!

Yours
Kube Games team.

[Asid]

Version 1.0.13.
Sun, 15 November 2020

Hello everyone,
we hope you had a good weekend and to make it even better, we have just uploaded a new version to Steam.

Some of the changes have been implemented thanks to you and your suggestions, some issues were addressed as part of the process of completing and balancing the Troy scenario.

There are some interesting changes in the list, so check them out.



New features and improvements added:

•   Map highlights for Generals added. When selecting a General, you will now see a highlight of all units as well as cities that would be affected by the Encourage or Provoke Uprising actions.
•   Self-healing of ships can be done on land only from now on.
•   Patrol Towers and Seers were added to the loop of active units; this applies only when there are any potential targets around the Patrol Tower or when a player has enough resources to execute the Peek action in the Seer.
•   A tooltip for defense penalty for influencing tiles/units was added.
•   Formatting changes in Objectives and State Decisions pop up windows were added to make the impact/rewards clearer.
•   State Decisions in State Decisions Window were ordered per their importance.
•   Updates in Czech, French, Spanish, German and Russian texts.
•   Major update in Chinese texts, getting ready for proofread.
•   Ongoing changes in Japanese texts as part of the proofread.
•   Some typos fixed.


AI changes:
•   Handling trade by AI was considerably improved (longer-lasting trades).
•   AI can take full advantage of a Unit Healing Treaty now (this treaty allows to repair units in ally's cities and facilities).
•   Attack preparations improved.
•   Actions and behavior of Heroes improved.


Bugs fixed:
•   An issue with opponents' actions continuing in the background when a Battle Result Window is open and blocking the view was fixed.
•   "Walking Jesus" issue solved (a unit supposed to be inside a ship was running after the vessel above water after the ship has moved).
•   Couple of rare "quit" game issues fixed (despite it had no impact on gameplay, it opened an error window when the game exited).
•   Two very rare CTDs fixed.


See you soon in Troy!

Yours
Kube Games team.

[Asid]

Manual for Imperiums: Troy revealed
Tue, 17 November 2020

The free DLC called Troy will be out in a week, and you can start planning your strategy with its manual.

The time just before releasing a game, be it a new campaign or a sequel, is always very exciting. We get a lot of questions about the upcoming DLC Imperiums: Troy, and it’s great to see that our players are as excited as we are!



We realize that as veterans of many strategy battles, you need to plan your war campaigns in advance to be ready for any eventualities that might happen – like, you know, having to call in sick You should be aware of the strengths and weakness of your armies, the open as well as covert intentions of your allies, and of course, you need to gather as much information about your enemy as possible.

Though short, the Troy manual contains all important pieces of information that you should be aware of before you strike. Troy is a tactical scenario, so knowing the battleground is essential (not to mention the game mechanics changes we’ve made to accommodate this style of scenario).

Let the gods guide your steps and lead your men to victory!

[Asid]

The Imperiums: Troy DLC is out and for FREE!
Wed, 2 December 2020



Return to the walls of Troy with our new DLC Imperiums: Troy.

The first DLC for Imperiums: Greek Wars we’ve named Troy has been just released! The stage for the legendary battle between Greeks and Trojans is set –the armies are prepared, cities fortified and assorted kings and heroes on both sides determined to crush the enemy.



Step in the sandals of proud and arrogant Agamemnon of Mykenai, wise Odysseus of Ithaka, brave Ajax of Salamis, invincible Achilles of Myrmidons, or honorable Priam and Hektor of Troy, and face the destiny that has been set for you by the goddesses of Fate.

This war will be merciless, but don’t forget that there could be more ways to victory than at the tip of your sword.

This DLC is a gift to our fantastic community and all the players who enjoy Imperiums: Greek Wars. So, saddle your horses and ride into the battle with a battle cry on your lips!

Yours
Kube Games team.

[Asid]

Version 1.1.0. - Imperiums marches forward

Hello everyone,
you may know that the first Imperiums DLC called Troy is out today. This expansion is available for free so don't wait, give it a try!
Considering the small size of the map, we have tried really hard to balance it and make it entertaining.

Apart from the expansion itself, we are releasing an update of the game’s core (main game) with version number 1.1.0.
We consider this to be the next step in the development of Imperiums, pretty much all of the teething problems have been fixed, a lot of mechanics have been improved and tweaked and thanks to the enhanced tactical level of Imperiums: Troy a number of improvements to the AI tactical behavior have also been added.

But don't worry, it does not end with 1.1.0. Au contraire! The fun has just begun, we have very interesting plans for Imperiums.

Version 1.1.0. has a number of interesting changes; in particular the AI has gone through a pretty big iteration. Check out the list below.



New features and improvements added:
•   "Tithe" State Decision improved (farms are added to the most suitable tiles).
•   Higher wood production for city-states.
•   "Discipline" improvement now works as a counterweight to "Dread" improvement (it prevents the drop of unit defense when an enemy unit with the "Dread" improvement is nearby).
•   "Slaves Manumission" State Decision is now cheaper (it can be used more frequently with lower impact).
•   Hades' Warriors can be transported by vessels.
•   Localized city names added for several languages.
•   Updated Spanish, French, Russian, German and Czech translations.
•   Japanese is now available by default in game (not yet officially supported but it will be very soon).


AI changes:
•   The behavior of Generals when trying to influence the cities of other players was improved.
•   Improved usage of defensive facilities (a unit's ability to decide when it is better to stay inside a defensive facility and defend or whether to launch an attack was greatly improved).
•   Slaves handling changed (AI calculates more precisely when it needs Slaves and acts accordingly).
•   More predictable diplomacy.
•   State Decisions usage improved.
•   Prediction of food shortages was improved and affects decisions on a tactical level as well.
•   The algorithm for unit healing was improved (the decision whether to let a unit heal on autoheal, use "recover" or "repair" action or to use allies' facilities for "heal inside" action).
•   More focus given to destroying enemy Generals.


Custom worlds:
•   Capital cities are bigger from the beginning.


Bugs fixed:
•   An issue in the Technology Tree when technologies that should be hidden were visible, was fixed.
•   Battle Result Window - unit names are now localized (connected to localized city names).
•   "Exiting" CTD was fixed.
•   Treaty proposal window was not deactivated after clicking on Cancel (sometimes it was necessary to confirm your decision twice).
•   "Patriot" improvement was not working correctly.


With Troy being released for free, we would be happy if you help us spread the word. Tell your friends, share your opinion on forums and in online discussions, write a Steam review ... every little helps.
Thank you for your support.

Yours
Kube Games team.

[Asid]

Version 1.1.1. (Patch)
Thu, 10 December 2020



Hello everyone,
we have just released a small patch v1.1.1., fixing few minor issues we found last week and improving the AI.
Thanks to these changes is the AI in Troy scenario getting really dangerous so give it a try:)

 

New feature(s) and fix(es) added:
•   Probability of a starving unit deserting in the first turn was reduced.
•   The Temple of Appolo will be entirely destroyed when plundered (Troy scenario).
•   Thrakians have faster ships now (Troy scenario).


AI changes:
•   Faster and more focused initial coastal attack.
•   More focused advance when attacking (per available supply lines).


Bugs fixed:
•   Helmet above a unit banner indicating a number of units on the tile was incorrectly showing the number of enemy units in the ships.
•   Another "Walking Jesus" issue fixed.
•   A rare CTD fixed.
•   UI issue when a Diplomacy Window was closed with ESC/Spacebar was fixed.


Have a nice weekend!

Yours
Kube Games team.

   

[Asid]

What's in The Kube? - Future Plans
Mon, 14 December 2020

Take the wheel and co-decide where development will lead.

Hello everyone!

Firstly, we would like to share some great news with you - our game made it into the TOP 100 indie games released this year. We want to thank you and ask for your support to try to get into the TOP 10... we don't expect to win but being in the TOP 10 would be really amazing....

You can vote here - https://www.indiedb.com/games/imperiums-greek-wars

Now, back to the point - the release of our Imperiums: Troy DLC is yet another big milestone for us, and we hope that you already tried your hand on it and had fun.
However, the development of Imperiums does not stop here. We have many great ideas for the future, so let’s lift the veil a little.



We might take a short break before the year is out, a bit of quiet time with families and friends, but starting with the new year we want to rev up our engines again and jump right into the development of the next DLC.
It will be a detailed map comparable in size with the main campaign map of Imperiums: Greek Wars. Although we already have the idea worked out, we want to hold off on its announcement a while yet, probably till the end of January, just to give ourselves some breathing time. But we are confident that you won’t be disappointed and that the wait will be worth it.

However, creating a new campaign map is only part of our plan. We want to keep improving and expanding the game core itself, and so you can look forward to a number of smaller as well as major improvements and changes. And this is were you can take the wheel yourself and steer development where you feel it will benefit the game the most, or what you think will be the most fun.

With every update cycle, which should be not more than a month, we plan to make a poll on which feature or mechanic should be improved/upgraded/added for the next update. There is a new channel on our Discord called "Next feature poll" dedicated just to this.
The poll will be open for about a week after which we’ll check the results and the option with highest vote count will be selected for the next update. The new poll will always be announced both on Steam in an article and of course via the notification system on Discord.

You can also add your two cents to the discussion and list any suggestions for improvements that aren’t in the list. Feel free to share your ideas with us on the Steam forum in the Suggestions section, as well. We’ll give every opinion and idea due consideration.

So, which of these will be your choice nr. 1 in the first poll?

    Implementation of full 2D View - A new game setting in the Graphics tab allows you to switch to the fully featured 2D mod. Apart from pleasing all of the players who prefer this option over 3D or Topview, it should also make a considerable impact on the performance of low-end PCs.
    Shipyards affecting Food production - The function of a shipyard will be extended as it becomes a port for fishermen as well, and so it will increase Food production around the harbor.
    Plague contagion – The spread of the disease will be a multiturn event, affecting cities in waves and not all at once. This will give players a chance to make efforts to slow the spread by building appropriate improvements in their cities. The epidemic could also start among soldiers, not only in cities.
    Conversion of Knowledge to Influence - When a player reaches the end of the Technology Tree, part of their Knowledge resource will be automatically converted into Influence, while the rest will be kept as Knowledge for possible trading deals.



We think that all these changes will greatly improve the game and make it more fun, so we are truly curious which you select. However, should your choice not make the cut at first, don’t worry, it might be added to the one of the next polls.

All this however doesn’t mean no other changes and improvements will be forthcoming. We have an extensive feature wishlist and we plan to implement the most desired changes as we progress towards the next DLC.

We wish you all a happy and peaceful holiday season.

P.S. If you would like to give us a Christmas gift, tell your friends about the game, share a word about it on forums, or write about your gaming experience in a review on Steam.

Thank you for your continuing support!

Yours,
Kube Games team.

[Asid]

Official localizations – new languages and updates
Fri, 18 December 2020

New languages will be soon added to the officially supported localizations.

Hello everyone!

Our player base is growing by the day, alongside this, there is also the wish to localize the game into more languages. So far, the base game has been released in six languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Russian and Czech.

All of these localizations have been completed by our dedicated community, volunteers with a passion for Imperiums who wanted to give their countrymen an opportunity to enjoy the game in their native language.



They have done and still do a terrific job considering the amounts of texts, additions, changes and updates being made.

Although they do their best, community translations carry the risk that things might be delayed, especially in these uncertain times. This happened to be the case with the French texts for the Troy DLC. However, today we are happy to announce that this translation is complete and we can add it to the next update.

We continuously work on other languages as well. The Japanese „one-man“ team and a couple of great proofreaders have already finished both the localization and proofreading and we are very close to adding the language into the official localizations. Similarly, the translation into Chinese is progressing and is slowly moving forward towards the proofreading phase. This is great news for our Asian fans.

The localizations into Italian and Polish are still ongoing but the translator teams would definitely welcome more contributors. They have already invested a lot of time and energy and have managed to complete most of the texts, however their current jobs and personal situations slow down the process. If you would like to help them, feel free to contact us on Discord. We are grateful for any kind of help and support, with the translations or the proofreading.

We hope to add more languages in the future so that we all can enjoy the full gaming sensation in the language of your choice.

Yours,
Kube Games team.

[Asid]

Version 1.1.2. Fully playable 2D view
Mon, 11 January 2021



Hello everyone!

We hope you all had a nice and peaceful Christmas and enjoyed the New Year's Eve celebrations.
2021 is here and we wish that it brings you more fun and less worries than 2020. We also took some rest and recharged our batteries, but we’ve been back a couple of days now and we are going full speed again.

As promised, we will be releasing an update every month (roughly) depending on our workload related to the new DLC. These updates will be focused on bug fixing and on improving the game in those aspects that the player community feels most strongly about.

We introduced a regular public poll where you can vote for feature(s) that you would like to see in the next update. The last poll showed clearly that many of you want a clearer, simplified view of the map in 2D. To be honest, Pavel wasn't particularly happy about this, because from the available options this one is the most time consuming from a technical point of view. But we got our teeth into the problem and would not let go until it was done.
So, full 2D view mode will be now available as a standard part of the game. But that's not all! The list of changes is quite long, so check it out.



New features and improvements added:
•   2D View implemented - a feature requested by many players who like to play in top-down view. It allows for a clearer overview of the map and should be also a good solution for those with low-end PCs.
•   Happiness modifier called Army Size now indicates if the penalty received is for too big or too small an army.
•   The calculation of the Birth Rate Support estimate was reviewed and made more precise.
•   Birth Rate Support manipulation was improved - a player can open the Birth Rate Support window also by clicking on city size in the Unit Menu.
•   Currently selected city is now highlighted in the Birth Rate Support window and the list of cities is automatically scrolled to it.
•   Panels listing damaged and currently busy map items can be now collapsed.
•   The Oracle State Decision was tweaked - a player now needs only two Sages to build it.
•   The algorithm for selecting the best position for the Lion Statue (State Decision) was improved.
•   The costs for paying tribute to Hades (an action of the Gates to Underworld) were added to the tooltip.
•   Multiplayer performance was increased (the size of messages has been considerably reduced).
•   Trade Overview window now keeps the current scrollbar position (when you get back to the window).
•   History Replay window got a new button, which allows the player to see the history either with cameos (leaders' illustrations) or banners.
•   Banners in the Political Map now get focus (when one banner is partially hidden behind another and the player hovers over it, the hidden banner will be highlighted).
•   "Busy" and "Fortified" 2D icons were changed.
•   UI performance was improved.
•   Descriptions and titles of the Steam workshop items are now displayed with correct localization (if the creator makes these multilingual).
•   Chinese localization got a big update.
•   Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Czech localizations were updated.


Bugs fixed:
•   Issue with locked technologies not being correctly displayed in the Invention Tree window was fixed (they were "hidden").
•   Issue with too many resources given to newly created factions was fixed.
•   Issue with a tooltip shadowing a currently hovered UI item was fixed.
•   Issues with a missing last line of text in long descriptions was fixed.
•   Several rare CTDs fixed.



And now it is time for the next poll! Again, we have four different features for you to choose from:
1.   Disabling Advisor for particular situations - this would allow you to disable the advisor for particular warnings only, not as a whole (currently the Advisor window pops up in all attention requiring situations or not at all).
2.   Cameos in Trade windows - we would add leader cameos to the Trade windows so that you can see your opponents.
3.   Infrastructure connections in Strategic Overview – this would enable the connections between mines and blacksmiths as well as temples and cities in the Strategic Overview window to be shown.
4.   "Replay the same map" functionality - this would allow you to regenerate the same custom world but with different starting positions and conditions.

Let us know what you think and don't forget to vote in the Poll section on our Discord https://discord.com/invite/KZUtEf2dgR . The poll will be open for a week 🙂

The best news we saved for the end though. We already started working on our new DLC and the announcement should not be too far off now, so stay tuned!

Yours,
Kube Games team.

[Asid]

Japanese localization is now official
Thu, January 21, 2021


Imperiums can be now played with Japanese localization.

Big news today for our Asian fans!

We can finally announce that from today Japanese has been added to the officially supported languages. This is all thanks to our small but extremely active Japanese community and in particular @vol who solely translated the whole game. As we know only too well how big this project was and how much sheer dedication was required to finish it, we want to express our admiration and gratitude for his hard work and passion for the game.



As surprising as it might be, it seems that only a few 4X and grand strategy games are translated to Japanese. Hopefully, this localization will not only attract players to Imperiums but perhaps it will bring renewed interest in this type of game in general.
So, if you put off playing Imperiums because of the language barrier, your time has come. The ancient battlefields are waiting for you!

And don’t forget, if you find a mistake in the texts or you want to suggest a way to polish them, feel free to share your ideas and opinions on the Steam forum.

And if you like the game and the quality of the translation, please do write a review in Japanese. @vol will surely appreciate the feedback and praise he rightly deserves.

[Asid]

Imperiums: Age of Alexander DLC in the making
Wed, 3 February 2021



Take a first look with us at the new DLC for Imperiums called Age of Alexander.

Many players keep asking about the next stop for Imperiums. The truth is that we have many great ideas on how to improve and expand the game, and many of those will come to fruition in the next DLC we’ve named Age of Alexander https://store.steampowered.com/app/1520480/Imperiums_Age_of_Alexander/

In the base game Imperiums: Greek Wars you had the chance as Phillip II of Macedon to lift backwater Macedonia to a powerful state with ambitions reaching far beyond the Hellenic world. It is only logical that we let you continue this great journey in the epoch of Phillip’s son, the great Alexander, and try to fulfill their grand plans for world domination.



As promised, Imperiums: Age of Alexander will bring unique new features that will put your military and political genius to an ultimate test.

Military Reserves
Maintaining a standing army is extremely expensive, especially in times of peace. You will be able to demobilize your military units and send the soldiers home to their ordinary lives. This move to put your workforce, well, back to work, will boost the economy by saving substantial amounts on military spending for state coffers. You can recall the men to service in a short time if required. However, leave them without regular training for too long and they’ll lose their skills to the point you’ll no longer be able to mobilize them into ready-to-fight units.

This feature will allow you to better balance economic development and the needs of a strong standing army. It can be a useful tool that will test your political foresight and military planning skills.

Economic Specialization
Basic resource management no longer suffices. The growing demands of the state will now require specialized facilities, built in blacksmith and cities, to operate the various resource mines and quarries in their vicinity. They represent skilled labor and special equipment needed for mining, processing, and efficiently moving resources. Such facilities are costly and every new specialization even more so, thus it will be up to you whether you decide to create one multi-specialized economic nexus operating all the mines in its vicinity, or you’d rather invest in several smaller facilities with a single specialization each.

Such economic specialization allows you to maximize production of those resources you need the most for realization of your plans. Besides which, it can easily build up a surplus of a certain resource(s) useful to improve ties to other states through trading with them.



Regional Centers
A growing empire requires decentralization of power to effectively manage affairs in remote corners of the state. Building such provincial capitals will help you reduce corruption to acceptable levels; however, power feeds ambition, and with the growing importance of the new centers you might be faced with decreasing loyalty to your throne.

The choice is not an easy one. You either strive for economic stability and efficient government while accepting the risk of strong opponents growing in your shadow, or you keep all reins of power in your hands and ignore rising levels of corruption and unhappiness that can cause nation-wide revolts.

Emissaries
Having emissaries at foreign courts not only helps you keep a finger on the latest political developments but allows you to subtly direct opinions and attitudes of foreign leaders in ways that suit your own plans and interests. Your envoys can spread rumors as well as words of praise, and occasionally collect vital military information. However, even here you must carefully watch your representatives, as they can easily forget where their loyalty lies as they grow comfortable in foreign ways over time.



Map
The story of Alexander will unfold on a big map spanning from mighty Carthage to great Persepolis, from the cold Alps to the fertile delta of the Nile. We’ll feature 18 playable factions from nomadic warrior tribes of the steppe to powerful ancient empires, each requiring a different strategy.



This is just a first taste of the changes and improvements that we plan for the DLC. We hope that it piqued your curiosity and that you are now as excited about it as we are. We promise to bring more news soon with a few sneak peeks to whet your appetite.

Wishlist now and get a discount at launch!

Yours,
Kube Games team.

[Asid]

Version 1.1.3. Strategic overview extension
Wed, 10 February 2021

Hello everyone!

It's peak winter season now, with fresh snow and freezing temperatures outside. The lockdown keeps us inside most of the time, but we try to get the most out of it, dedicating all of our time to Imperiums.

We are working simultaneously on the improvements to Imperiums: Greek wars and the Age of Alexander DLC.

Speaking of Alexander, don't forget to add the DLC to your wishlist https://store.steampowered.com/app/1520480  so that you don't miss the launch discount!

It has been a month since the 1.1.2. update and it is time for v1.1.3. We do our best to stick to the monthly schedule as promised, hopefully we can still manage this with the DLC release coming closer.



The February update v1.1.3. brings the enhanced Strategic Overview (voted in the last poll) and otherwise mostly UI improvements. The list of changes is pretty long so check it out:

New features and improvements added:

•   Infrastructure connections in Strategic Overview - the existing as well as the possible connections between map items are visible. This applies to blacksmiths (showing connected mines), cities (showing connected temples and mines), resource mines (showing connected blacksmiths and cities), temples (showing connected cities), sages (showing cities where a philosophy school improvement could be built), Lion of Victory statue (showing cities whose loyalty is affected by the statue) and heroes (capital cities he could still visit).
•   Banner and name of the defender in Opponent Actions Panel - the banner and name of the defending faction will be also displayed as text in the Opponent Actions Panel during AI turn (or your friend's turn in multiplayer game).
•   Position highlight in reports and dialog windows - when a player clicks on a report in the Report Panel (top left corner) or a dialog window about a particular event, the map view is shifted to the event location and now the particular position on the map will also be highlighted for easier orientation.
•   Selection of units in stack in 2D View (and Top View) was improved to make the opening of the unit selector more user friendly.
•   3D model selection improved - the selection of units in 3D was a bit cumbersome at certain positions and situations. It should be considerably smoother now.
•   Trade Overview Window can be opened with a click on the trade reports in the Report Panel (e.g., when your business partner doesn't have enough resources to hold his end of a particular trade deal).
•   Map Item Type Window can be opened with an alternative mouse click on the Map Item Type selector (e.g., when you want to select a specialization or select a building to build).
•   Birth Rate Support Window - names were incorrectly wrapped to another line, this is fixed now.
•   Dormant factions are now part of the player selection in customized worlds (e.g. you can now play as Ionia or Celtic tribes).
•   Improved automatic GPU identification.
•   Japanese "end turn" graphics added (top right corner).
•   Japanese language updated.
•   Additional changes in Polish language.
•   Changes were made allowing to run the game under Proton. Not yet fully supported.


With this update there's also the new poll! Here is a new set of features to choose from and as always, we are looking forward to hear your feedback:

1.   Diplomacy improvements - better explanation indicating why AI rejected a particular offer/deal. If such rejection falls under the "too soon" category, the action will be disabled so that a player doesn't waste his time and wait a turn to receive a negative answer.
2.   Enable the player to preview a generated map in a customized world and select his starting position before the game starts.
3.   Allowing hotseat in a customized world.
4.   Online multiplayer enhancement - when a player is waiting for another player to finish his turn, there is not much to do other than watching his actions and the map itself. We would improve this and let the player access the whole UI and all windows so he can plan his next turn in advance, however this will not change the nature of the turn-based approach as he will not be able to perform any actions until his turn starts.


What do you think? Let your voice be heard in the Poll section on our Discord https://discord.com/invite/KZUtEf2dgR . The poll will be open for a week 🙂

We plan to show the first sneak peeks of the Age of Alexander DLC, its map and features soon, so stay tuned!

Yours,
Kube Games team.