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Field of Glory: Kingdoms
Asid:
Field of Glory Day: RECAP Kingdoms Showcase
Mon, 12 June 2023
We hope that those of you who watched it live enjoyed the show. And in case you missed it, you can re-watch it now.
Dear fans,
Last week, we celebrated the Field of Glory franchise, a day filled with excitement, camaraderie, and a shared love for the Field of Glory universe. Your presence and participation made this event remarkable, and we couldn't be more grateful for your support.
We would like to congratulate Paul for winning the live tournament in Milan, and we extend our thanks to each and every one of you who attended the event, whether in person or online.
During the event, we provided a sneak peek of new features and content from Field of Glory: Kingdoms. If you missed it, you can watch the preview here:
For those who want to relive the entire event, you can watch it here:
Stay tuned for more exciting announcements, updates, and events as we continue to explore the vast and wondrous world of Field of Glory together.
Asid:
Field of Glory: Kingdoms - Forging the Legacy of Your Dynasty
Mon, 7 August 2023
Experience the Thrill of Strategy in Field of Glory: Kingdoms
Lords and Ladies,
The game features a main campaign, 2 large scenarios, and an introductory scenario to ease you into the world of Field of Glory: Kingdoms. Get ready to strike the perfect balance between progress and fun while enjoying a seriously fun historical gaming experience.
In Field of Glory: Kingdoms, you will take on the role of a nation guided by various rulers over time. One of the key features of the game is the Dynasties system, where you have to prepare for their succession by siring an heir with a spouse or significant other.
The ruler can have a wife and children, as well as uncles and brothers. All can play a role in the question of your succession and if they are unhappy with your rule (or simply determined to seize control themselves), civil war may ensue.
Your dynasty is made up of your direct family plus a few major nobles. For example, take your uncle Agdi - he will probably not perform well in warfare, but he would make a decent administrator in one of your provinces.
Maintaining a continuous dynasty over time is important, as you’ll reap more legacy, and this legacy is used to determine the winner of the game. This will be difficult at times, perhaps because your heir is considered weak by important nobles, or because of unfortunate accidents or assassination attempts.
You can also appoint family members and nobles as Peers of the Realm, who act as governors and provide extra bonuses and perks to the region they administer.
These Peers of the Realm can also react to the player's actions and potentially rebel with armies, as your vassals can.
Vassals too play an important role in the game,with players able to participate in multi-choice events with intriguing results and rewards. However, overextending their domain can result in a loss of Authority.
Some nations in the game also have baronial vassals in their regions, which can be both advantageous and a liability. These independent-minded individuals can help defend your realm, but they might undermine your Authority in doing so.
The Dynasty feature has been tailored to be both interesting and simple to understand.
Stay tuned to know more about Field of Glory: Kingdoms.
Asid:
Field of Glory: Kingdoms - The Concept of Authority in Kingdoms
Tue, 19 September 2023
In this Dev Log we will take a closer look at the Authority system.
In Field of Glory: Kingdoms, Authority is the foundational concept of the game. It's pivotal as it truly is the "King's Maker" of any nation. With low Authority, your nation will regress and fall into civil war. In contrast, strong Authority ensures the loyalty of your subjects and often a smoother transition of rule when the time comes for your king to pass away.
Many players familiar with Field of Glory: Empires have encountered and played with the concepts of Culture and Decadence. They might think that Authority is just a variation of the same term, essentially being the same thing. While there are undeniable similarities in terms of outcomes - in both cases, this notion determines if your kingdom will prosper or collapse - the way the two concepts develop is entirely different. This dramatically impacts how the game unfolds. Furthermore, whereas in Empires, Culture and Decadence only played a role in the overall evolution of your nation, Authority in Kingdoms pervades every aspect of the game in a thoroughly organic and integrated manner.
Take, for instance, declarations of war. In Kingdoms, multiple factors are taken into account, such as having claims, if the opposing nation is of a different religion, or even if you're launching a sneak attack without warning. Depending on the perceived justification for this declaration of war, you'll either gain or lose Authority. For example, declaring war on a pagan nation with a declared claim on the capital won't cost you any Authority. On the other hand, a Christian state that whimsically decides to declare war on another Christian state will lead to a significant loss of Authority.
Authority also plays a role in managing your territories. An expansive kingdom will often struggle to maintain tight control over its most distant regions. Here, national-level Authority plays a crucial role in keeping the population under a firm grip, as well as the local nobility, and the presence (or absence) of buildings generating Stewardship.
To conclude with one more example of Authority's omnipresence in every aspect of the game: low Authority can tempt the characters of your nation to betray you. Each character now has a loyalty index and personal treasure. If they see an opportunity to replace a weak king, chances are things might go awry. Be especially wary of characters with several mercenary companies. These troops are powerful and quickly recruited, but they could easily be tempted into committing high treason.
This concludes our dev diary on Authority. We've only scratched the surface of all its intricacies and implications in the game, but there's so much more to discuss. Regardless, rest assured that this new concept provides a unique stamp on AGEOD's new production, Field of Glory: Kingdoms!
Asid:
Field of Glory Kingdoms: A new Dev Log is out now
Wed, 27 September 2023
Kingdoms places a strong emphasis on the development of the regions within your nation, each boasting a diverse population in terms of culture and religion. Alongside this, a vast array of infrastructures and a plethora of buildings are available to steer the economic and societal development in the direction you desire.
Indeed, this is one of the strong suits of Kingdoms, setting it apart from many other games. Even in times of peace, you will always have dozens of interesting choices to make within your realm, as the game offers no less than 600 different structures (no, that's not a typo!). Taking into account the different categories of buildings and their roles, the culture of each population, the various religions, and the numerous unique situations allowing for uncommon buildings, we indeed reach this high number, signaling a great diversity and almost certain renewal of the content in your gameplay. But let's delve into how all of this is structured...
At the core of the region, the economic unit, lies the population. These populations are defined by their social class, culture, and religion. Don't expect a peasant to fulfill the role of a noble, or a clergyman to till a field. Each population point, despite these constraints on who can work where, is somewhat of a wild card, as you can allocate it in various ways, slightly altering its production from turn to turn. However, the population also provides construction slots, each allowing for a building. There are several possible roles for these buildings, and some do a bit of everything, while others are specialized. Some have synergies with others, while dozens have small events attached, making them unique. In any case, there are a large number of interrelations between the game's concepts and therefore between buildings and populations, in a very organic and logical manner. For instance, the population requires food to grow, but also needs access to a healthcare system, however rudimentary, otherwise epidemics lurk. Similarly, loyalty to the Crown must be monitored, and while it's possible to ignore the problem for sparsely populated regions, those with larger populations will require a strong presence of the Clergy, or nobility, sometimes even the army, to prevent any possible revolts.
But regions are not isolated islands either. Kingdoms introduces the concept of National Authority and then Local Authority, the latter deriving from the former. This Local Authority serves as a basis for determining the loyalty of the region, and decreases progressively based on the distance of the region from the capital (posing problems for overly extended empires). Nevertheless, nobles, with their function of generating Stewardship points, can help solve this problem by maintaining a high level of Local Authority. The Clergy plays a somewhat similar role, but will be particularly useful either for converting the infidels to the True Faith or for convincing heretics, in various more or less unpleasant ways, to return to the fold.
Besides this, regions often have a military function, either defensive or offensive. On the defensive side, the game could not overlook one of the staples of the medieval period: castles and other fortified places. You probably know that castles of the time were built over a long period. Kingdoms represents this by allowing you to erect several structures over time that provide temporary bonuses as well as permanent Fortification points. Once you have accumulated enough of these Fortification points, a permanent defensive structure will be proposed. Thus, in the beginning, you will have the choice between a hill fort or perhaps a Motte and Bailey, but with time and effort, you will have the opportunity to build double-walled concentric castles, bristling with towers and caltrops.
On the offensive side, you will also need to put in some effort to be able to raise anything other than peasants and low-quality troops. Over time, you will then be able to raise archers, armed sergeants, and other knights. In this case, we are talking about permanent troops, and while they are powerful, losing them in battle is always a blow to your Authority! It's somewhat of a double-edged sword...
Let's conclude this brief tour of the regions of Kingdoms by citing a few examples of structures, so that you can appreciate the full diversity of the game's buildings, which are much more than mere providers of numerical bonuses!
The Manorial Demesne is a very important structure in Agriculture, as it is a pivot structure, unlocking the other half of Tier I structures. It also benefits from a productivity bonus for each other agricultural structure present.
The Demesne Expansion is a rather peculiar structure as it can be upgraded no less than 5 times, and provides a free slot each time! While initially a few peasants will suffice to clear the countryside, the later levels will require tools, a large population, and a determined local lord.
The Trade Road is a structure that can spontaneously appear if you have itinerant merchants in the region. Being itinerant, they move between your regions (and rarely into other nations' regions). Thus, over time and with many merchants, Trade Roads will appear in your Realm.
The Jousting Field is quite emblematic of the Middle Ages as well, as it will provide free XP to heavy cavalry units created, and can even give them a special unique perk.
The Astrologer (not to be confused with the Astronomer) engages in some esoteric studies, not very well seen by the Clergy, but it seems that he can occasionally create a very particular resource that we will call 'Luck'. It is said that this can prevent misfortunes befalling your characters or even your ruler, such as a sudden death during a hunt or an unfortunate arrow targeting them in battle. Certainly just rumors!
The King’s Agent allows for a discount on the promulgation of Edicts. These allow you to choose the structure of your choice to build in Kingdoms, which will certainly please players of Empires who didn't like the reshuffle button too much, as it has disappeared!
Here is a brief overview of population and economic development in Kingdoms. This is really just the tip of the iceberg, but we hope it will make you want to learn more!
Asid:
Field of Glory: Kingdoms - The Art of War
Wed, November 8, 2023
War is always near in Kingdoms, even if you avoid starting it, your neighbors might have different intentions
War is never far away in Kingdoms, for even if you do not wish to instigate it yourself, preferring to expand peacefully through diplomatic means or focus on improving your realm (which in itself is a viable winning strategy in Kingdoms, as victory is achieved through accumulating Legacy points), chances are some of your neighbors see things differently... And even without such a neighbor, you might find yourself embroiled in a Crusade, Jihad, or facing a nation growing too dangerous and on the verge of victory and thus in need of a 'corrective' action.
These factors make it clear that in Kingdoms, even in times of peace (perhaps especially in peace!), preparation for the next war is crucial. This entails numerous aspects to plan and anticipate.
Firstly, a nation with a king of strong Authority is desirable to reduce the risks of sedition and revolts. This also enables the sovereign to lead on the battlefield, magnifying the consequences of victory by earning more Warscore points, which are essential for negotiating favorable terms once peace is restored.
Furthermore, the art of war involves establishing fortifications, ranging from humble keeps to mighty double-walled castles, with intermediate variations depending on your culture and religion: Motte-and-bailey, Trelleborg, Qasada, etc. These defenses offer multiple benefits, the primary being protection for your troops behind walls, along with various recruitment advantages, sometimes even granting additional perks to certain troops.
Once this is achieved, depending on the military building infrastructure you possess, you can recruit various units more or less quickly (and in greater or smaller numbers). Recruitment ease depends on the presence of nobles, spear makers, armor smiths, training grounds, and many others. Quantity is determined by your treasury and metal stock for the SAUs (Standing Army Units) like knights, but for levies, a substantial population is required. Here's hoping you have many villages and towns within your kingdom.
In Kingdoms, units, besides the usual categories like heavy cavalry, infantry, archers, have an additional parallel classification: Mercenary, Standing Army Unit (permanent unit akin to professional), Levy or Volunteer. This grants them a completely different behavior and profile, as levies gain little experience and are relatively costly to maintain, so you may want to disband them in times of peace. SAUs have the opposite profile: they gain experience well, are costly initially, and any loss will decrease your Authority (it's better to avoid losing the cream of your cavalry or shall I say, as a French 'la fine fleur'!).
Mercenaries have other advantages and disadvantages. Quickly recruited, especially through a Regional Decision allowing mass recruitment, they are costly in gold to maintain, and can foster treacheries if commanded by a disloyal general. You might think to disband them when no longer needed, but then expect marauders in your lands. Of course, our testers will advise releasing them into the wild, but on enemy soil, just before peace. A kind of 'Not in my backyard' variant, so to speak.
The army lists of Field of Glory Medieval are honored in Kingdoms, as each nation closely follows these lists, divided into three time periods. For instance, as early period Byzantines, you'll have access to Skoutatoi Archers, but will have to wait until the third period to recruit heavy lancers. Fear not, these periods are not set in stone, as based on your military reforms and overall military expertise, you can advance these periods by a few years, say up to 25 if you excel in the military field.
When your armies are ready to march, it's time to appoint generals, considering their offensive and defensive tactical skills, loyalty (spy on them to ensure it), and whether they have relevant and suitable abilities. Sometimes this is easier said than done, and you'll have to make do with what you have. Whatever the case, don't appoint your psychopathic uncle with a loyalty of 30 at the helm of a mercenary army, unless of course, you believe a necessary wind of change should sweep through your kingdom.
Soon, the time will come to clash with the adversary, after some fine operational maneuvers.
Kingdoms being a game of simultaneous turn-based play, expect some surprises, as you can't be certain that during your turn, the enemy will stay put where you expect them to. But let's hope that luck, coupled with your tactical sagacity, will allow you to triumph on the battlefield.
We'll delve into this more in a future Developer Diary, focusing on the battlefield, castle sieges, and peace conditions!
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