Hi, and welcome to another dev diary for Imperator: Rome! As one of the major features in the 1.3 Livy update, we wanted to address objective and direction. We had discussed the possibility of a mission system well before release, but had not been happy with any of the designs that we considered. There were several key points that we felt (for legitimate reasons), hadnt really been covered by similar systems in our sister-titles, and we felt strongly that I:R should have its own, unique system. Firstly, we wanted to ensure that any iteration of a mission system avoided rail-roading the player into playing the game in the same way each time (with any given nation), and secondly, that the player did not only complete tasks, but that the tasks and missions would drive story, both for the intended target, and within the local region. What we came up with, was a system in which we would write mission blocks, if you will, which covered compact geographic areas or distinct subject matter, and of which the player had an array to choose from. For example, Rome may be presented with the initial choice to focus on uniting Italia, or instead choosing a mission to develop the land they already own, or turn to the south and deal with Magna Graecia.
Each of these mission blocks will be self-contained, and are intended to tell a bit of a story alongside the expected mission fare. Missions will appear as dynamically generated flow-trees, and contain a variety of tasks including timed tasks akin to focus trees, and objectives requiring conditions to be fulfilled. With the relative power of the scripting tools available to us, weve been able to create a series of highly procedural missions with varying objectives and task branches, which will react to the situation in which a nation finds itself, and which should maintain a basic feeling of individuality each time they are selected. This idea of generic missions, if you will, is an inevitability while the mission system is in its infancy, but should provide enough variety as to prevent every nation from feeling directly comparable.
Of course, we are working on a great set of story missions, and one of the primary focuses of these is to provide a sense of regional narrative. A mission for Rome which deals with Sicily, for example, will contain a great deal of regional involvement; for the primary antagonists as well as for nations close by, but incidental to the greater conflict. Our story missions are just that; stories intended to allow a player to pick chapters appropriate to their interests, in which to immerse themselves. Well cover a bit more about our story missions in the near future, so stay tuned, and Ill do my best to cover any questions that you have about the upcoming systems! /Arheo You can discuss today's diary on our forums here.