New Game?

Hannibal: Rome and Carthage in the Second Punic War is a new and innovative turn-based strategy game that puts you in command of the Carthaginian military during a period of total war over land and sea with the young Roman Republic. With this military juggernaut of the ancient world at your disposal, you will vie for control over Italy, Carthage, Spain and the Mediterranean Sea using a combination of strategic political maneuvering and sheer tactical skill both on land and sea. Play consists of two layers; the first is a strategic layer where you must prudently steer your forces to the destruction of Rome’s army and the ultimate destruction of the Republic and city itself. At your disposal are a variety of unit types and historical commanders from which to form your armies. On the tactical scale, when meeting the enemy in battle, skilled leadership and a knack for war come into play as you use a simple but engaging battle system to best your opponents.

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Orm
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Re: New Game?

Post by Orm »

Thank you for the update.

Happy New Year, everyone.
Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb -- they're often students, for heaven's sake. - Terry Pratchett
Simicro
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Re: New Game?

Post by Simicro »

Hi mercenarius,

I got the game one week ago and have just achieved to win in normal mode. Not sure I'll play again but great game and gorgeous graphic art. Congratulations! For the future game I was about to suggest some cosmetics on the play cards but by browsing this thread I can see it's done. The art is even superior to Hannibal's. Kudos! Can't wait to play the new game... next summer maybe? I also hope that it is less asymmetrical than Hannibal or if it is, in favor of Rome. Please inform us through this thread when you make a announcement/product page on Steam. Is it possible that you share with us a screenshot of the global map? Most importantly you have my respect for your dedication, focus and patience over so much time to work out the new game. Last but not least, IMHO 'Orm' deserves a complimentary copy of the new game for his patience and loyalty over all the years ;-)
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mercenarius
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Re: New Game?

Post by mercenarius »

First off, many thanks for your kind words! And we're glad to hear that you got your first victory.

Yes, Orm deserves a reward for his continuing interest and commentary! All of the old "Hannibal" players do, really.

You asked a fair question about play balance. I certainly did skew things a little towards Carthage in "Hannibal" because I wanted the game to be winnable for the player. I didn't want losing less badly to be the measure of a good game.

In "The Fall of Rome" I am trying to keep things in historical perspective, but I do want to bend some scenarios to allow for some competitive balance. But I only go so far. For example, if someone chooses to play Didius Julianus in the Year of the Five Emperors scenario, well, good luck. On the other hand, I have skewed the political allegiance of the Rhine legions in that scenario to Clodius Albinus rather than to Septimius Severus. Otherwise, I think that it's a cakewalk for Severus.

I will certainly make a forum post here when I announce anything on Steam for The Fall of Rome.

I would be happy to post a screenshot of the global map. Are you interested in the general layout or certain specifics? Unlike "Hannibal," the map in The Fall of Rome is generated in part at the runtime and there isn't a single graphic file with everything on it. And it's rather large. Scaling it down to something that will fit in a forum post leaves most everything on the map too small to see, really.

Thanks again for buying the game and sharing your thoughts about it and The Fall of Rome.

In the meantime, here is the overview map that the game uses. This shows what is covered in the game's "World."

Fall of Rome Overview.png
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James Warshawsky
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Nepos96
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Re: New Game?

Post by Nepos96 »

mercenarius wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:49 am First off, many thanks for your kind words! And we're glad to hear that you got your first victory.

Yes, Orm deserves a reward for his continuing interest and commentary! All of the old "Hannibal" players do, really.

You asked a fair question about play balance. I certainly did skew things a little towards Carthage in "Hannibal" because I wanted the game to be winnable for the player. I didn't want losing less badly to be the measure of a good game.

In "The Fall of Rome" I am trying to keep things in historical perspective, but I do want to bend some scenarios to allow for some competitive balance. But I only go so far. For example, if someone chooses to play Didius Julianus in the Year of the Five Emperors scenario, well, good luck. On the other hand, I have skewed the political allegiance of the Rhine legions in that scenario to Clodius Albinus rather than to Septimius Severus. Otherwise, I think that it's a cakewalk for Severus.

I will certainly make a forum post here when I announce anything on Steam for The Fall of Rome.

I would be happy to post a screenshot of the global map. Are you interested in the general layout or certain specifics? Unlike "Hannibal," the map in The Fall of Rome is generated in part at the runtime and there isn't a single graphic file with everything on it. And it's rather large. Scaling it down to something that will fit in a forum post leaves most everything on the map too small to see, really.

Thanks again for buying the game and sharing your thoughts about it and The Fall of Rome.

In the meantime, here is the overview map that the game uses. This shows what is covered in the game's "World."


Fall of Rome Overview.png
The day this game gets announced on Steam I’ll probably have a mini heart attack. Would it be possible to get some more info about the Grand campaign (the 400 years one). Like how would that work? What would be the general objective of it? Are enemies going to evolve over time?
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mercenarius
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Re: New Game?

Post by mercenarius »

Nepos96 wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 6:54 am The day this game gets announced on Steam I’ll probably have a mini heart attack. Would it be possible to get some more info about the Grand campaign (the 400 years one). Like how would that work? What would be the general objective of it? Are enemies going to evolve over time?
The goal of the Grand Campaign is to survive 400 years. How many victory points a player earns will depend on territory controlled at the end. Of course, in theory it is possible to conquer the entire world by controlling every existing city on the map. In practice that won't be possible.

The enemies will change but it will be more of a matter of "triggers" than slow evolution. Examples of triggers are the emergence of the New Persian Empire (Sassanians), the formation of political confederations such as the Gothic Confederation, and some simple technology bumps for the Germanic Barbarians. I haven't programmed these, yet, but I have a reasonable idea of how they will work.

What I haven't figure out yet is how to handle the extinction of dynasties in the Grand Campaign. It's absurd to require the player to continue an unbroken male line for hundreds of years. I will work on this a little later. In all other scenarios, the player loses the game if his faction's dynastic line comes to an end. (Adoption will be possible, however). In the Grand Campaign something else has to happen.
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Re: New Game?

Post by Nepos96 »

That is intriguing, almost a second game within the game. A survivor mode would probably be my favourite and most played scenario. Keep up the excellent work!
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Orm
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Re: New Game?

Post by Orm »

mercenarius wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 7:08 am
What I haven't figure out yet is how to handle the extinction of dynasties in the Grand Campaign. It's absurd to require the player to continue an unbroken male line for hundreds of years. I will work on this a little later. In all other scenarios, the player loses the game if his faction's dynastic line comes to an end. (Adoption will be possible, however). In the Grand Campaign something else has to happen.
Could it be that the game assigns a new politician, or general, as the new leader of the faction, and then the player gets the question if he want to continue as the new faction leader, or resign?

xxx takes control of xxx faction...

Thank you for the update. The game seems to become even more awesome. Didn't think that was even possible.

Any chance that the AIO can be a tough opponent to win against? Without if feeling like it cheats?

I have some more thoughts, and questions, but I will get to those later on. I hope. :)
Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb -- they're often students, for heaven's sake. - Terry Pratchett
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mercenarius
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Re: New Game?

Post by mercenarius »

Orm, good to hear from you. Thanks for your kind words!
Could it be that the game assigns a new politician, or general, as the new leader of the faction, and then the player gets the question if he want to continue as the new faction leader, or resign?
My thinking is something along those lines, yes. I am wondering if players should be able to continue to play even if they lose a civil war scenario, as long as Rome isn't captured by "barbarians." Meaning: a player gets to pick from any surviving Roman factions in such a case (in the Grand Campaign, I mean, of course). I have to think about this a little more, and this leads to your next question:
Any chance that the AIO can be a tough opponent to win against? Without if feeling like it cheats?
Well, I will try. That last thing is the hard part, admittedly. I still have some interface programming to do. Then I will get into the AI.
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Re: New Game?

Post by Nepos96 »

Well, I don’t know how the game exactly works, but I think players should be able to pick a side during a civil war and keep playing even if they lose. But if they picked the wrong side they should suffer some penalties (if there is a scoring system they should lose points for example). That way, when choosing a side, they’ll have to think carefully how to proceed. Maybe more points if you managed to win as the weaker guy as an incentive (downside would be a further weakened empire).
lwarmonger
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Re: New Game?

Post by lwarmonger »

mercenarius wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 7:08 am The goal of the Grand Campaign is to survive 400 years. How many victory points a player earns will depend on territory controlled at the end. Of course, in theory it is possible to conquer the entire world by controlling every existing city on the map. In practice that won't be possible.

The enemies will change but it will be more of a matter of "triggers" than slow evolution. Examples of triggers are the emergence of the New Persian Empire (Sassanians), the formation of political confederations such as the Gothic Confederation, and some simple technology bumps for the Germanic Barbarians. I haven't programmed these, yet, but I have a reasonable idea of how they will work.

What I haven't figure out yet is how to handle the extinction of dynasties in the Grand Campaign. It's absurd to require the player to continue an unbroken male line for hundreds of years. I will work on this a little later. In all other scenarios, the player loses the game if his faction's dynastic line comes to an end. (Adoption will be possible, however). In the Grand Campaign something else has to happen.
The Roman Army also needs to evolve, and eventually deteriorate, over time as well. The gradual disintegration of the Roman state and its accompanying difficulties in mobilizing the resources of the late Empire in meeting challenges was due in no small part to the near constant state of civil war the Empire found itself in from the 3rd Century onward.

Building Rome is a function of painting the map red. Modeling post 2nd Century Rome is a function of desperately trying to fend off internal rivals while keeping the machinery of state somewhat functional.
Simicro
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Re: New Game?

Post by Simicro »

Hi mercenarius,

I apologize for not having responded to you before. It's ok for the map. By browsing this thread I found what I was looking for.

Please check your PM. I have just sent you a message.
mercenarius wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:49 am I would be happy to post a screenshot of the global map. Are you interested in the general layout or certain specifics? Unlike "Hannibal," the map in The Fall of Rome is generated in part at the runtime and there isn't a single graphic file with everything on it. And it's rather large. Scaling it down to something that will fit in a forum post leaves most everything on the map too small to see, really.
Nepos96
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Re: New Game?

Post by Nepos96 »

Hi mercenarius,

I hope you are ok.

Do you have any update for us about the development of the game? Some cool screenshot/feature to share? :D
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Re: New Game?

Post by mercenarius »

Thanks for ratting my cage! And I am sorry for the delay in responding. I guess that I went into Bunker Mode.

I am doing well, thanks for asking! The game is progressing. I have been working on the Administrative interface. I am now doing the order of battle for the A.D. 395 scenario ("The House of Theodosius"). Naturally, the date of the scenario allows me to work with the Notitia Dignitatum. When I have this scenario set up, I can complete the relevant portions of the Administrative Interface. For example, right now it isn't possible to enact "Diocletian's Reforms" or "Constantine's Reforms" because I still have a couple of details to work out. Hence the detour to working on the scenario in question.

OK, here are three screenshots that demonstrate the features of the administrative interface that I have been completing. This is a subsection from the "Exercitus Department" which is one of the 12-top level departments in the Admin dialog:

Exercitus_Enactments.jpg
Exercitus_Enactments.jpg (87.62 KiB) Viewed 738 times

If the player clicks on "Status et Ordines" you will see this popup menu:

Exercitus_Ordines_Menu.jpg
Exercitus_Ordines_Menu.jpg (182.15 KiB) Viewed 738 times

Choosing one of the five choices allows a Major Enactment to be completed. Here is the popup menu for changing the retirement benefits for soldiers (not counting Classiarii which are handled through the "Naves Department"):

Change_Retirement.jpg
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This is something that won't come up in most of the shorter scenarios because the scenario will start at a certain state of development. For example, in "Restitutor Orbis" (the Aurelian Scenario), the retirement benefits have already been reduced to 0. For the longer campaign scenarios these admin functions will be more important because the players will be making most of these changes on their own initiative.

I'll post a couple of more screenshots this weekend.

Thanks again for rattling my cage!
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Re: New Game?

Post by Nepos96 »

The level of attention to the administrative side of managing an empire/army is simply astounding. Looking forward to more screenshots this weekend.

And thank you for your answer!
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Re: New Game?

Post by mercenarius »

Nepos96 wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2023 11:25 pm The level of attention to the administrative side of managing an empire/army is simply astounding. Looking forward to more screenshots this weekend.

And thank you for your answer!
As always, thanks for your kind words! :D

I am working out the setup for the AD 395 scenario and tweaking the map (only where really necessary). I have attached two screenshots which are a little too large to insert into this message. By this time, the empire is Christian and you'll see that reflected in the Roman banners.

The first concerns Upper Egypt, which has to be a little abstracted because I didn't think that I could extend the map all the way to what is Aswan today. The two fortresses at the bottom of the province represent the garrisons located farther up the river.

The Blemmyes that you see are there for testing. They don't start the scenario on the map. They will usually be quiescent if their subsidy is paid.

The second screenshot shows most of Britannia and some of Hibernia. The Romans still have a decent garrison in Britannia Inferior and at Hadrian's Wall. But they have mostly withdrawn from Wales (Cambria) and, historically speaking, all of Britain was abandoned in 410.

I hope that you will enjoy these. I'll try to post an update next weekend.
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Re: New Game?

Post by Nepos96 »

mercenarius wrote: Sun Jun 11, 2023 3:05 am
Nepos96 wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2023 11:25 pm The level of attention to the administrative side of managing an empire/army is simply astounding. Looking forward to more screenshots this weekend.

And thank you for your answer!
As always, thanks for your kind words! :D
And thank you for making the game I've been waiting someone to make for years. The focus on late Rome is a nice bonus as well.
I am working out the setup for the AD 395 scenario and tweaking the map (only where really necessary). I have attached two screenshots which are a little too large to insert into this message. By this time, the empire is Christian and you'll see that reflected in the Roman banners.

The first concerns Upper Egypt, which has to be a little abstracted because I didn't think that I could extend the map all the way to what is Aswan today. The two fortresses at the bottom of the province represent the garrisons located farther up the river.

The Blemmyes that you see are there for testing. They don't start the scenario on the map. They will usually be quiescent if their subsidy is paid.
I assume tributes and diplomacy are much more relevant in longer scenarios instead of shorter ones. But nice to the player's attention is not just aimed at one (the main) enemy and every corner of the empire may have something going on. Also the map is quite pleasant to look at.
The second screenshot shows most of Britannia and some of Hibernia. The Romans still have a decent garrison in Britannia Inferior and at Hadrian's Wall. But they have mostly withdrawn from Wales (Cambria) and, historically speaking, all of Britain was abandoned in 410.
It would be a fun personal goal in a late scenario (like 395) to see if one player can rescue Britannia/avoid abandoning it. Or conquer the empire as a "British" emperor (Constantine III maybe) if the game allows for that.

I got a couple of questions: Is the AI as tough as it was in Hannibal?
And speaking of Hannibal, do you think it would be possible (at a later time, once the game has been released) to see a DLC focused on the second punic war? A sort of Hannibal 2.0. Would the game be able to simulate such early conflict?
I hope that you will enjoy these. I'll try to post an update next weekend.
I did :D
Looking forward to more next week!
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Re: New Game?

Post by lwarmonger »

Nepos96 wrote: Sun Jun 11, 2023 8:34 pm
It would be a fun personal goal in a late scenario (like 395) to see if one player can rescue Britannia/avoid abandoning it. Or conquer the empire as a "British" emperor (Constantine III maybe) if the game allows for that.
If I recall the reason Britain was "abandoned" was because something like 3 usurpers in a row gathered what troops they could and headed off to the mainland to try for the imperial throne. The last one lost control of Britain while he was in Gaul, however by that point there weren't enough actual troops in Britain to form a coherent power base, and basically everyone who could scrape up a private army started fighting for control.

Like so much of the collapse of the western empire, Britain wasn't lost because of rebellion or invasion, but because the central government had stopped functioning and much more local power centers took shape to fill the void. I think the way that one would "rescue" Britain would be to prevent the collapse of Roman government in the West.... the biggest challenge there should be more or less incessant internal strike and civil war (in which, until Roman government collapsed in Britain, Britain played an outsized role in given its population and relative lack of wealth).
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Re: New Game?

Post by mercenarius »

I think the way that one would "rescue" Britain would be to prevent the collapse of Roman government in the West...
I agree 100% with this and your other points.

To answer Nepos96's question: the 395 scenario is not a "become sole Emperor" scenario. You will gain/lose points for territory held. You can declare war on the other half of the Empire, but that is usually a dreadful idea and will usually cost you more than you can gain.

As for Hannibal 2.0, obviously I want to do something along those lines. It will just depend on how things play out in the future.
Is the AI as tough as it was in Hannibal?
I will try!
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Re: New Game?

Post by Nepos96 »

mercenarius wrote: Thu Jun 15, 2023 3:01 am
I think the way that one would "rescue" Britain would be to prevent the collapse of Roman government in the West...
I agree 100% with this and your other points.

To answer Nepos96's question: the 395 scenario is not a "become sole Emperor" scenario. You will gain/lose points for territory held. You can declare war on the other half of the Empire, but that is usually a dreadful idea and will usually cost you more than you can gain.
I probably worded my previous post wrongly: by empire, I meant just the WRE. So assuming there is a start date where you can play as one of the usurpers (like Constantine III), your goal would be to topple the legitimate government while trying not to endanger to much you powerbase.
And good thing that, even obviously bad ideas like declaring war on the ERE are still there if a players wants to do it anyway. Who knows, someone might actually pull off the gamble.

That 395 survivor mode sounds like quite a lot of fun.
As for Hannibal 2.0, obviously I want to do something along those lines. It will just depend on how things play out in the future.
Happy to read that. And of course, no rush for that!
Is the AI as tough as it was in Hannibal?
I will try!
:D
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Re: New Game?

Post by mercenarius »

As most of you already know, the reforms of Diocletian and Constantine introduced "grades" of soldiers. I haven't coded the interface for changing a unit's status yet, but the status itself will be available in the report dialogs:

Legio (Limitanei).png
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I guess that's it for now. I'll try to have more screenshots in a week (or thereabouts).
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