Version 1.3.7 is out - The Rome I wanted!!!

Field of Glory: Empires is a grand strategy game in which you will have to move in an intricate and living tapestry of nations and tribes, each one with their distinctive culture.
Set in Europe and in the Mediterranean Area during the Classical Age, experience what truly means to manage an Empire.

Moderator: Pocus

Post Reply
MarkShot
Sergeant First Class - Panzer IIIL
Sergeant First Class - Panzer IIIL
Posts: 397
Joined: Tue Dec 28, 2010 7:15 pm

Version 1.3.7 is out - The Rome I wanted!!!

Post by MarkShot »

6+ months ago, I was on Turn #494 having pulled off a Roman Miracle where Rome remained Glorious for over 400 years. But could never collect it due to a late game memory bug. (I have to say to his credit, Pocus ran my game and let me know I pulled off my feat.)

But finally, I am able to see for myself my win on an "official" version. How wonderful!

This is the ancient world I want. I have played:

RTW1: unmodded, DM, RS3, EB1

MTW2: EB2 (modded to be Rome)

RTW2: DEI

CK2/CK3/EU4/HOI4: Yes, there are not Rome (and I won't buy IR), but they represent the philosophy that vastly complex games which produce hundreds of YouTube videos of how I conquered the World as Poland with light tanks in 1937 has not raised the bar of our hobby; although it did PDS' bottom line.

RTW1-Remastered: At $14 USD who wouldn't, but I have my doubts. BAI has not improved over the 20 years (one of the great weaknesses, and cannot be fixed by modders).

This is the ancient world I want:

* Tight game.
* Culture flavor.
* A battle autoresolve that is very nicely managed.
* A battle export system that mops the floor with any TW game; although I prefer FOG2 campaigns stand alone.
* Game mechanics that are not just a rehashing of countless time tested formulas.

FOGE - 1.3.7 Welcome to my library of games! This as other AJE titles of the ancient epoch shall always have a home.

Thank you, Pocus and Slitherine (and Richard, as well)!
Pocus
Ageod
Ageod
Posts: 5507
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 3:05 pm

Re: Version 1.3.7 is out - The Rome I wanted!!!

Post by Pocus »

It is always very rewarding for a developer to get such appreciation of his work, more than 2 years of my professional life put into Empires!
AGEOD Team - Makers of Kingdoms, Empires, ACW2, WON, EAW, PON, AJE, RUS, ROP, WIA.
SuitedQueens
Senior Corporal - Destroyer
Senior Corporal - Destroyer
Posts: 120
Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2021 3:09 pm

Re: Version 1.3.7 is out - The Rome I wanted!!!

Post by SuitedQueens »

MarkShot wrote: Fri Apr 23, 2021 12:40 pm I am able to see for myself my win on an "official" version. How wonderful!

This is the ancient world I want. Thank you, Pocus and Slitherine (and Richard, as well)!
I browsed through the forum recently and saw that you showered the game with praises on many occasions. I think you even created 3 topics in a row to do that. I love this game, because it's actually very similar to Master of Orion 3 I wanted. Perfect mix between grand strategy, micromanagement and deep turn based tactics (FoG 2 exports).

I found this game about 3-4 weeks ago and played like 10 hours per day during weekends without getting bored. My first thoughts were that it's too shallow for my taste, but then I dig through the code and saw multiple posts describing all interactions running during the game. After that I enabled detailed messages and start tracking what AI does and micromanaging every little system there is. Basically it's a perfect game for me and I can willingly spend 40 minutes on every turn to optimize everything.

I hope I will sort out my work related issues soon and continue with Burgundi Suicidal AAR, so watch out!
Pocus
Ageod
Ageod
Posts: 5507
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 3:05 pm

Re: Version 1.3.7 is out - The Rome I wanted!!!

Post by Pocus »

Nice to read (except for your work issues!).

I welcome anyone to do mods also, and who knows, people might even have their work included officially! On a personal level, a End of Empire mod would be kinda cool.
AGEOD Team - Makers of Kingdoms, Empires, ACW2, WON, EAW, PON, AJE, RUS, ROP, WIA.
_TotalWar_
Private First Class - Wehrmacht Inf
Private First Class - Wehrmacht Inf
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2020 2:48 pm

Re: Version 1.3.7 is out - The Rome I wanted!!!

Post by _TotalWar_ »

Pocus wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:11 am I welcome anyone to do mods also, and who knows, people might even have their work included officially! On a personal level, a End of Empire mod would be kinda cool.
Oh well, I still had some hope that even with the release of Medieval and a likely release of an "Empires" game set on the High Middle Ages, FoG:Empires would get a DLC ir small expansion dealing with Late Antiquity or the Early Middle Ages. Field of Glory II has the assets for it units-wise, after all (Wolves at the Gate and such). Now it seems you have just ruled it out. A pity.
MarkShot
Sergeant First Class - Panzer IIIL
Sergeant First Class - Panzer IIIL
Posts: 397
Joined: Tue Dec 28, 2010 7:15 pm

Re: Version 1.3.7 is out - The Rome I wanted!!!

Post by MarkShot »

I am happy for the bug fixes.

I am happy that FOGE and FOG2 remain tight games compared to literally 101 DLCs that EU4 has become.

I recently returned to tactical WWII CM & MIUS, and I was explaining to a friend why versus CK2/CK3/EU4/HOI4. It went like this:

In the above titles, exploits are so pervasive that they exceed strategies. Where as in the titles from BFC, Graviteam, and Panthergames, it is a very tight simulation and exploits are extremely rare. I tested for Panther for 10 years (and was one to the top players). I found a single exploit after 5 years. But I am playing HOI4 and doing my division templates, and I really don't know where the line between the game ends and the exploits begin.

So, if Phillipe and Richard keep their titles tight either due to personal preference or market realities, I much prefer this to bury me in a DLC sandbox which bears no resemblance to reality, history, economics, ... Chess has 500 years of play in its current form and continues. It is no accident ...



Phillipe and Richard, shoot for Chess; NOT another EU4. Thank you.

PS: Games like the original CIV and SimCity are truly part of the cultural heritage of the art and technology of our civilization. I would much rather introduce myself at a party, I am that Philippe or Richard of Empires or FOG2 than Johan of EU4.
SuitedQueens
Senior Corporal - Destroyer
Senior Corporal - Destroyer
Posts: 120
Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2021 3:09 pm

On game exploits

Post by SuitedQueens »

You see, exploits are fine if they done in a meaningful way. They make sense if only good players can use them to acquire advantage faster and snowball out of control in record times. For me it's like skill ceiling that makes the game deeper, more fun and challenging. But Paradox titles are not like that. To give you an example:
- average Master of Orion 2 (with multiplayer mods that are still developed and overhauled) will have sub-100 or sub-180 pop depending on the race picks by turn 100 and spend like 4-5 minutes max on the turn.
- me and the other High Grandmaster level Economy players will squeeze every little hidden mechanic/exploit and optimize literally down to the fraction of pop growth. This will ensure that we will have 4 times their pop, technology and industry and just roll over them with no problems.

Same with FoG Empires. One of exploits is PP funneling to certain regions in province by doing the next thing:
- if you don't have building you want, then queue up 1 PP Reshufle. The other regions will be focused on food or culture, but have enough POP on Production Points to do like 100 PP per turn. That will cause PP to flow to the one region that builds something and 99 PP will overflow into stockpile. You can split this 100 PP to 2-3 regions if you want, etc. And regions that don't build anything won't lose their stockpiles. It exactly the same as in Master of Orion 2 which allows for real planning and deep gameplay.

I looked through the code and this behavior should have been fixed, judging by the comment there and the code itself. But how much flavour and skill gap your remove by doing that? FoG Empires has some of the best mechanical exploits/optimization techniques I saw in a while. Movement system and all the systems tied to it is unparalleled and again very similar to Master of Orion 2 in terms of complexity and skill required to abuse them.

You see, I doubt that chess were meant to be played in the same way we do now. There are so much mechanical exploits that clearly wasn't intended by original developers occur in every game. That's the real difference between chess/Empires/MOO 2 and cheap easy to abuse exploits of Paradox titles.
Last edited by SuitedQueens on Fri Apr 30, 2021 6:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Gray Fox
2nd Lieutenant - Panzer IVF/2
2nd Lieutenant - Panzer IVF/2
Posts: 654
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2018 12:02 am

Re: Version 1.3.7 is out - The Rome I wanted!!!

Post by Gray Fox »

"Men, the CO has not returned from his recon and it appears we are going to be overrun and annihilated. I'm told that we could flank the enemy, but it is a well known fact that flanking is an exploit. So, its been my great pleasure to know all of you..." Just then, the CO returned and they flanked the enemy.

The ability to reason well is an exploit of which I am certainly guilty. If the devs give me a hammer, then I pound nails with it. Play the game you bought any way you want. ;)
For new players: Grand Strategy AAR and Steam Guide: Tips for new players
Samstra's Trade guide: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1805684085
Pocus
Ageod
Ageod
Posts: 5507
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 3:05 pm

Re: Version 1.3.7 is out - The Rome I wanted!!!

Post by Pocus »

For some exploits, I did not bother either because they are minor, very obscure or would cause 99% of the players a bother just so that 1% of less of the player base can't do the exploit.
For example I removed the penalty in changing your unit in production, or having too few buildings built in a large province. This was just a bother for most, for those who did not intent to exploit the system. So feel free to abuse these loopholes, they are more a convenient way to pool or save points to me that something really super exploitive.

Now some exploits need to be fixed, if they are just too cheesy or powerful.
AGEOD Team - Makers of Kingdoms, Empires, ACW2, WON, EAW, PON, AJE, RUS, ROP, WIA.
Gnaeus
Corporal - 5 cm Pak 38
Corporal - 5 cm Pak 38
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 7:20 pm

Re: Version 1.3.7 is out - The Rome I wanted!!!

Post by Gnaeus »

I treat this as a sandbox of the ancient world and for that, it's the best I've found. A real simulation of several hundred years of the ancient world would be interminable and mind-numbing. Hats off to Pocus and the rest of his team for striking the balance between a sense of realism and playability. I try not to use exploits, except the ultimate one, FOGII for the big battles, because otherwise it's like watching Spartacus without the final battle scene.

There are numerous ways to play this game, and all of them can be enjoyable depending on what one is looking for.
ess1
Corporal - Strongpoint
Corporal - Strongpoint
Posts: 65
Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2013 1:40 pm
Location: Horsehay, Shropshire, UK

Re: Version 1.3.7 is out - The Rome I wanted!!!

Post by ess1 »

Pocus wrote: Fri Apr 23, 2021 12:53 pm It is always very rewarding for a developer to get such appreciation of his work, more than 2 years of my professional life put into Empires!
And long may you continue. I hope to get a better laptop when son can get to me in care home. Then back to getting the stuffing knocked out of me in MP.

Good gaming to you all.
In care home looking for Diplomacy opponents :)
Post Reply

Return to “Field of Glory: Empires”