By PF2K on Jul 20, 2019 at 1:54 PM
  1. PF2K

    PF2K Lead Developer
    Staff Member Administrator

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2017
    Messages:
    1,026
    Likes Received:
    3,363
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Header_-_Week_9.png
    Hello there Celeste players! We are back with another Roman reveal blog.

    As we develop the Romans, each week we will be revealing the Romans to you building by building, unit by unit, and technology by technology. We are not just showing you what the Romans will be, but showing you how we are building them, who is building them, and also why we are building them the way that we are. This week, we will be revealing the Age 2 Wall and Merchant Transport, as well as showing the model for the Centurion, which we discussed in detail last week.

    Age II Walls
    ===========
    Week_9_-_Age2_Wall_Closeup.png
    As discussed in more detail in our Building Design Blog, the Wall is one of the 13 Common Buildings that every Age of Empires Online civilization shares. The Babylonian Age 1 Clay Wall, which costs much less but has fewer hit points, is the only Improved Wall in the game, and there are no Advanced or Unique versions. So hypothetically, there’s still room for a special Wall.

    In the game files, however, we did not find any evidence that the original Devs intended to feature Roman Walls in their tech tree. Therefore, we rather quickly agreed to have the Roman Walls remain a Common Building that behaves identically to all the other Walls in the game. Accordingly, the Romans will use the same Age 1 Wall model as all other Civs and will then have their own unique models for Ages 2, 3, and 4 (though we do not expect the Age 4 wall to be available in their tech tree).

    However, we quickly realized that the available concept art for the Roman Walls would not work. Can you spot the problem?

    Week_9_-_Carthage_Walls.png

    The original Devs reassigned the Roman Walls to the Legion of Carthage. They are almost a perfect facsimile.

    So PF2K, Happy Smurf and Chaos designed something new. To do so, they first designed the Age 4 Wall. Then, once we agreed on its final design, they scaled the design down to create the Age 3 Wall and then the Age 2 Wall.

    Here is how the Age 2 Roman Walls look next to their equivalents from other civilizations:

    Week_9_-_Wall_Lineup.png
    To give you a better look at the visual unity of Roman buildings, here is a few of their buildings next to the newly revealed Age 2 Walls:

    Week_9_-_Wooden_Buildings_Lineup.png
    In the picture you can see the Guard Tower, Auxilia Camp, Castellum and Watch Post buildings.

    Merchant Transport
    ==================

    Week_9_-_Merchant_Closeup1.png
    Just like Common Buildings, every civilization in AoEO shares the same Common Units. There are four Common Units: Villagers, Caravans, Fishing Boats, and Merchant Transport Ships. These units can have small statistical differences in different Civs (the Egyptian villager trains slower, for instance). But otherwise, they are identical across all of the Civs.

    Therefore, it would be groundbreaking for the Romans to not have a Merchant Transport. However, while we ultimately are giving them one, they almost didn’t make it. The Roman Dock has been a vexing problem for us, and to finalize it, we needed to reconcile a lot of conflicting information.

    Week_9_-_Merchant_Closeup2.png
    In some places in the game files, the Merchant Transport was conspicuously missing. For instance, we have what appears to be a full set of unit icons, but none for the Merchant Transport icon.

    However, it appears in other places in the game files and we have concept art for it. The full roster of Ships fluctuates in the record, and in some places includes up to six different Ships (a Fishing Boat, a Merchant Transport, a Basic Warship, a Small Warship used for Scouting, a Large Warship, and a Very Large Warship.)

    Since no civ has more than five ships, we were very skeptical about giving the Romans six.

    Historically, Rome has a very strange naval history. Our Romans aim for the Roman Republic to mid-Imperial era (perhaps 500 BCE to 300 CE) with more emphasis on the classic late Republic/early Imperial era (150 BCE to 150 CE). Until around 260 BCE, the Romans sometimes had no navy and other times had a terrible one. Starting in the Punic Wars (about 260 BCE), they copied Carthage’s navy, but even then it was subpar. However, eventually the Romans dominated both the land and the waters of the Mediterranean, so history could be interpreted any number of ways.

    From a gameplay perspective, though, in order to keep the Romans balanced we can’t just casually give it a giant armada. To give the Romans six Ships would necessitate sacrificing at least one or two of their land units (and, as we will discuss more in our forthcoming Unit Design Blog, their land unit roster was already too large and required us to make a few very difficult roster decisions). To cut even more units just to give the Romans a crazy navy would have been awful.

    So for several reasons we were tempted to cut the Merchant Transport and assign its duties to a different boat, perhaps that Small Warship used for Scouting.

    But ultimately, we could not find a way to make that work without feeling like we were needlessly creating a unit that tries to be two different units but ends up missing both targets and being neither. Meanwhile, since no other civ has ever deviated from one of the four Common Units, such a groundbreaking move should be reserved for the perfect situation and not done frivolously. So the Roman Merchant Transport lives another day and makes it onto the Tech Tree. In a few weeks, we will explain how we solved the Roman naval dilemma. But for now, here is the Merchant Transport Ship.

    And now let's take a look at it next to its cousins from other civilizations, shall we?

    Week_9_-_Merchant_Lineup1.png

    Week_9_-_Merchant_Lineup2.png

    Centurion's 3D Model
    ====================
    Week_9_-_Centurion_Closeup.png
    Meanwhile, PF2K and Chaos have finished the Centurion model. As you can see, we are using a large body for the Centurion, similar to that of the Norse Berseker. In the picture above you can see the Centurion in full Legendary gear.

    Below you can see the Centurion next to a Berserker and in the next picture, next to a group of Legionaries (who are wearing Epic gear).

    Week_9_-_Centurion_vs_Zerk.png
    We also wanted to create a Centurion that was both similar in costume to the Legionary but also obviously superior.

    Week_9_-_LegionariesAndCenturion.png
    Thank you for reading, and we will see you all next week!

    Project Celeste Development Team

    What do you think about this week's blog? What would you like to see next? Let us know in the comments below!

    ========
    Missed the Roman Civilization's announcement? Find out about it HERE.

    Project Celeste is completely free and always will be. However, we gladly accept donations for our overhead costs, which are larger than we have budgeted. If you want to support us, you can do so HERE.

    Read every Romans related blog HERE.

    Tell your friends! Join our Discord HERE.
    ========
     
    #1 PF2K, Jul 20, 2019 at 1:54 PM
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2019
  2. Loading...


?

What Unit/Building would you like to see next? The top 2 will be featured in next week's blog!

  1. Villager

    12 vote(s)
    17.9%
  2. Armory

    3 vote(s)
    4.5%
  3. Siege Workshop

    5 vote(s)
    7.5%
  4. Age III Town Center

    9 vote(s)
    13.4%
  5. Age III Walls

    8 vote(s)
    11.9%
  6. Battering Ram

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  7. Spearman

    18 vote(s)
    26.9%
  8. The Roman Tech Building (similar to Academy, Bard Hall, etc.)

    25 vote(s)
    37.3%
  9. Cretan Bowman

    24 vote(s)
    35.8%
  10. Other (mention in the comments section below)

    2 vote(s)
    3.0%
Multiple votes are allowed.

Comments

Discussion in 'Romans' started by PF2K, Jul 20, 2019.

    1. Daantjuh-NL

      Daantjuh-NL Woad Raider

      Joined:
      Jun 15, 2019
      Messages:
      25
      Likes Received:
      52
      Trophy Points:
      13
      Never thought I would be excited for walls, but I have to say they look really good! Plus they really fit the other buildings.

      The transport looks like a normal transport (sorry PF2K :p)

      But that Centurion, wow does it look good. The design is absolutely amazing! But about creating the model. I think you used a hoplite model for that didn't you? because I see some similarities

      Anyway, great blog post as always, looking forward to next week :)
       
      Kenji03, zenorhk, MatrixSoft and 2 others like this.
    2. FlamingNoah

      FlamingNoah Villager

      Joined:
      Jul 20, 2019
      Messages:
      1
      Likes Received:
      3
      Trophy Points:
      3
      I voted for Other because I think that it would be cool to see more Roman Officers.
       
    3. Andy P XIII

      Andy P XIII Moderator
      Moderator

      Joined:
      Nov 14, 2017
      Messages:
      562
      Likes Received:
      837
      Trophy Points:
      93
      I can’t wait to do the other Roman Officers, too. I don’t know if we’ll have any ready enough to show off next week, though. Plus we gotta save some big ones for the end.
       
      MatrixSoft likes this.
    4. MsMuffins

      MsMuffins Champion

      Joined:
      May 3, 2019
      Messages:
      57
      Likes Received:
      86
      Trophy Points:
      18
      Really like the designs this week, walls great and probably look even better with upgrades :O, merchant ship looks nice !;), and Centurion.... :hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes::hearteyes:, my favourite roman unit overall so far, love it, great work !!! x)
       
      coolblade23 likes this.
    5. RASPUTINPRIME

      RASPUTINPRIME Champion

      Joined:
      May 27, 2019
      Messages:
      54
      Likes Received:
      85
      Trophy Points:
      18
      Excellent blog post this week. I'm looking forward to reading more about the sacrifices and choices you all had to make in designing and building the Civ.

      Walls look exceptional. The rounded joints are sublime.

      I can't remember the last time I used a merchant ship. It would have been odd to keep it out though.

      The first of the officers looks outstanding.

      I'd say get some rest but selfishly I hope you all double-down in energy drinks while the work progresses!
       
      Andy P XIII likes this.
    6. MechSmith

      MechSmith Champion

      Joined:
      Nov 24, 2017
      Messages:
      46
      Likes Received:
      59
      Trophy Points:
      18
      Dare I hope that the red centurion and purple berserker are a hint that we may one day be able to choose some colour other than blue?

      I'm probably reading too much into it but if so, then that would make me very excited- Romans just aren't quite the same unless they're in red.
       
      MatrixSoft likes this.
    7. Fristi61

      Fristi61 Champion

      Joined:
      Jun 22, 2019
      Messages:
      40
      Likes Received:
      79
      Trophy Points:
      18
      I have to say that when I think of Roman warfare, one of the things that always leaps out at me is their use of walls.
      Like Caesar saying to the Gauls: "I'm not besieging you, you're besieging me!" and basically building a hollow circle fort around the enemy's city (Alesia), or Caesar and Pompey's "wall race" at the battle of Dyrrachium.

      But I guess that's not so much the quality of the walls themselves so much as the efficiency and speed with which the Romans could construct fortifications on the fly.

      Great work as always! The Centurion looks badass.
       
      MatrixSoft likes this.
    8. NCSGeek

      NCSGeek Moderator
      Staff Member Moderator

      Joined:
      Oct 24, 2017
      Messages:
      283
      Likes Received:
      63
      Trophy Points:
      28
      The Centurion has to be one of the coolest looking units in the game now!
       
    9. Andy P XIII

      Andy P XIII Moderator
      Moderator

      Joined:
      Nov 14, 2017
      Messages:
      562
      Likes Received:
      837
      Trophy Points:
      93
      I have a strong suspicion that the Norse infantry’s ability to construct buildings was lifted directly from the Roman Design. Rome built things crazy fast with their army. You’d go to bed with the Romans outside your gates and wake up with them waving at you from the top of a fortress.

      We obviously couldn’t steal that mechanic back without looking like we were copying the Norse, so we have to do without. But we have a lot of ideas to capture the Roman spirit. Stay tuned!
       
      zenorhk and MatrixSoft like this.
    10. Fristi61

      Fristi61 Champion

      Joined:
      Jun 22, 2019
      Messages:
      40
      Likes Received:
      79
      Trophy Points:
      18
      Interesting thought. I figured they just copied that from Age of Mythology where the Norse infantry has the same ability.

      Thanks for the reply! I understand of course that you can't just cram the civ full of crazy features. Wasn't a complaint, just a thought. :)
       
      Andy P XIII and MatrixSoft like this.
    11. Naitfae

      Naitfae Villager

      Joined:
      Jul 19, 2019
      Messages:
      1
      Likes Received:
      2
      Trophy Points:
      1
      I really love the work you've done with the Romans, they blend very well with the other civilizations. The unit portrait are quite on point too.

      The Merchant Transport look nice, but I feel it a little empty. Eh, probably I'm just being nitpicky, don't mind me.

      The Centurion look great, I really like it. It look nice with legendary gear. I'm don't usually like how look epic and legendary gear. The portrait reminds me of the Sea People Chieftain.

      The Walls look pretty good. I really like that hastily built appearance that Roman buildings have.

      Really great work. I'm looking forward next week.

      By the way do you have any plan to add a gladiator themed vanity gear? It's a nice opportunity. :p
       
      Andy P XIII and MatrixSoft like this.
    12. coolblade23

      coolblade23 Champion

      Joined:
      Jun 1, 2019
      Messages:
      47
      Likes Received:
      58
      Trophy Points:
      18
      Nice work! I sort of thought at first glance that the merchant transport was the shortest in length, from all the transport ships, but i was wrong, it is inline with the other ones. I was wondering how did you guys come up with the design for the sails ?

      I love the walls designed! They look very solid !

      The centurion looks very cool! I was wondering if during testing if it is easily distinguish, if for example a romans player would use the same vanity for both the legionair and the the centurion
       
      MatrixSoft likes this.
    13. Cwinchester

      Cwinchester Villager

      Joined:
      Jun 7, 2019
      Messages:
      4
      Likes Received:
      4
      Trophy Points:
      3
      Everything looks great but in my opinion it does not feel like a Roman civilization, when you search in Google about Roman architecture it does not tell you or show much about wood, it always shows you the types of stone they used like marble, concrete among others, This is what I think. I rely on what I saw on the web, especially on wikipedia. I think the buildings should be something like the ones on the island of Delos. This I say referring to some buildings that do not agree much with the theme used in the houses, the market, the urban center and the warehouse
       
      happysmurf likes this.
    14. happysmurf

      happysmurf Game Developer

      Joined:
      Apr 2, 2018
      Messages:
      21
      Likes Received:
      32
      Trophy Points:
      13
      Haha
      As explained earlier we follow a concept of the roman army camps for the standard buildings. Everyone knows roman architecture because of marble and colums. But marble and columns are very expensive and were only used in main cities. Whats why we reserve marble for the bigger buildings. The marble we save in the gameplay buildings will come back in the capital buildings. But 1 mayor issue is how they designed the greeks. If we used marble and columns in gameplay buildings the buildings would look way to similar to greek gameplay buildings (the roof is already a very similar object, thats why we use a more salmon red color).
      The buildings of delos are usefull for reference but you have to wait a couple.of blogs before we will start showing capital buildings.
       
    15. Cwinchester

      Cwinchester Villager

      Joined:
      Jun 7, 2019
      Messages:
      4
      Likes Received:
      4
      Trophy Points:
      3
      I really Want to see the capital Buildings, Hope will be Awesome!!
       
      happysmurf and MatrixSoft like this.
    16. MatrixSoft

      MatrixSoft Champion

      Joined:
      Jul 29, 2018
      Messages:
      52
      Likes Received:
      88
      Trophy Points:
      18
      Another incredible weekly blog, the wall is very good, eager to see the improvements of the next ages, the merchant shipping boat, is very good too, and the centurion look great, waiting for the other officers. Another cool thing was to see the Roman centurion using the red color, as already said would be very cool to play with the Romans using the color red, if possible it would be impressive. Keep up the great work, congratulations.
       
      happysmurf and Andy P XIII like this.
    17. happysmurf

      happysmurf Game Developer

      Joined:
      Apr 2, 2018
      Messages:
      21
      Likes Received:
      32
      Trophy Points:
      13
      Lets vote for the tech building !!
       
      MatrixSoft likes this.
    18. Comisa

      Comisa Spearman

      Joined:
      Oct 22, 2018
      Messages:
      6
      Likes Received:
      3
      Trophy Points:
      3
      Good job guys, this looks amazing! Rome is probably going to be my fav civ :)
       
      Andy P XIII and happysmurf like this.
    19. Kokus

      Kokus Villager

      Joined:
      Jun 21, 2019
      Messages:
      1
      Likes Received:
      2
      Trophy Points:
      3
      Ohh!!

      Wishing to try these Romans, I love everything, El Centurion is great, the model and colors, good choice. I am also delighted by the colors of the shields on the door of the Castellum, would it be possible to see the Legionaries with those same tones? I think they could also combine very well with the Centurion.

      A pleasure to see this come true, a big thank you and have a nice day.
       
      happysmurf and Andy P XIII like this.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice