Yes this is really a premature question today… Note that I am first finishing Republica DLC (politics) before i’ll start on Militaria DLC which will the point where i’ll also attack the naval units. Note I am still not sure if those navy units will be included retroactively in Oceania DLC or will become part of Militaria DLC. Also note that any speculation on any future releases in always shrouded in some uncertainty.
Anyway, I have previously said much about implementing those navy units as actual units, with ship models designed and produced much as the other models, but them not being hex-based like all the other units in the game. They would be either moored in a specific port or active in a specific Sea Zone (hex agnostic, as a Sea Zone has maybe like 100-400 hexes).
Now there is much to be said to implement those navy units with Sea Zones. Because it can better simulate actual navy battle mechanics and movement. However I have this nagging doubt that it might be more fun to actually move your navy units around hex-by-hex as it gives more immersion as you actually move your units hex by hex and an increased sense of exploration, even if it would make the rules much less realistic (like reduced movement range compared to a more realistic implementation).
So when in doubt: time for a quick question to the actual Shadow Empire players. What do you prefer?
It’s been very quiet for a while, so I want to take the opportunity to communicate that I am still alive and kicking. Its been quite a busy year in my personal life with family enlargement taking much of my time and also buying a new house (and moving into it and selling the old one) was rather straining. However things are getting back to a semblance of order and work productivity is picking up again. We are at about 75% efficiency compared to 2023.
Shadow Empire work is continuing and we saw new beta updates during August as well as September, the latter adding Housing Assets. Note that this concerns special housing and if you don’t build any of these the Populace will improvise as they have always done. The rationale behind this new feature is to allow the player to make sure that either Workers or Population stay in a specific Zone as they have a real interest to so with either the apartments or social housing offered to them.
Development of the next Decisive Campaigns is getting more time allocated as well, which will cause temporary lower productivity for Shadow Empire. I hope in early 2025 we’ll be able to present the next title in the DC series.
As for the Shadow Empire future: I am working hard on advanced politics (and hopefully also advanced trade if I can squeeze that in) and some major upgrades of the core engine. To be released together somewhere in 2025, the politics part very probably as a paid DLC. And yes I decided to keep pushing Shadow Empire forward, instead of only doing smaller updates. So my current efforts are going into “Republica DLC” which will expand the politics in SE enormously, including stuff like votes on Laws and among others even the installation of a Syndic Computer. Once I get closer to testing we’ll reveal more.
So summing up, yes I am still working hard, its just there is less updates because I am working hard on two releases: next DC title and the SE Republica DLC.
This is a follow up to the previous post. Let me just say that I am the master of my own schedule, but none-the-less I would be interested to see what ratio exists between players prioritizing for better looks versus prioritizing deeper gameplay… Here’s a binary small poll.
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Yes i know I did not add the option “I want my naval units right now” or “work on the UI” or “get the AI play exactly the same rules”. But this way I can get a clean result from the poll for my short term planning. If you really don’t like both the options than I owe you a small apology. Next poll will have more scope, I promise. :)
First of all thank you all for your continued feedback. I wish you all good health and happiness for 2024.
Last summer I shared my design plans for Shadow Empire. Last December the v1.25 Hardships & Hazards update has been released as the new mainline release version. So at least I stuck to part of my planning giving me a small increase on my Word score. That being said…
I gotta lot of stuff on my plate in 2024. Mostly personal: moving house and a family extension, but I also want to start finishing a next Decisive Campaigns title.
Now the family extension is going to play havoc with my work schedule and that’s the reason why I decided to scrap the DLC plans from the previous plan v1 and go for a bit of a different approach instead.
The idea behind this new approach is that I can work on more bite-sized chunks for a good while until things settle down for me. The downside is the ambition level is a little bit lower, but the upside is that there will be much more meaningful updates in the near future.
Now please do remember that I am sharing my plans with the community, but that you have to be aware these are plans and not promises. They are prone to change. I think we can set the likelihood of the plan above being executed, all the way to the end, without modification, is probably around 33%.
At the moment of writing, it is now more than three years since the original and initial Matrix release of Shadow Empire.
The number of patches, additions and upgrades applied to Shadow Empire since release have been staggering in quantity and scope. I have to admit I have never been so enthusiastic about doing continued work on an already released game.
With OceaniaI I even launched my first DLC ever and hope to follow up with at least one more DLC in the future. Note that I am putting in at least as much hard work into upgrading the Core Game as in doing DLC work. The current major new Core Game version 1.25 has been in the works for almost half a year for example.
The version 1.25 Hazards & Hardships Update brings many changes that make the game more interesting, more diverse and more challenging. With the modeling of water salinity, dissolved heavy metals, PH levels (acidity-alkalinity), notably Food and Water production will not be as obvious on many Planets anymore. Ammo-usage has been completely revamped, resulting in making, especially offensive, warfare with heavy and/or mechanized equipment quite expensive and a logistical challenge. On the contrary: Infantry has now become relatively much more economical to use. Energy weapons, once developed, will still be powerful, but Ammo-based weaponry should not be ditched that lightly anymore, especially on Planets with low air pressure and/or gravity. Ensuring adequate Energy production, especially in the early game, will also be more challenging. The Tech Tree has received an additional 20 Techs, including Furnaces, Ammo Factories, Landmines, Ablat Coating and Techs to obtain Hide Points for your Models.
The version 1.25 Hazards & Hardships Update also brings completely new features. As the Battle Report, that is accessible through the History Window and it allows you to inspect the battles fought during the other player’s turns in much more detail than previously. There is now also a Blue Prints feature that allows you to design new Models with a much better interface, especially if you like experimenting with all the possible variations. The Private Economy has been reworked and the addition of Farmsteads and the ability of your Population to go into debt will now allow very small groups of Population to eventually scratch out a viable living in a new Zone.
And the Artificial Intelligence (AI) has received a lot of love as well and should prove more of a challenge than in v1.20. Notably it is handling its economy better, more likely to use Tanks and it is also able to use its Air Forces now.
I wanted to update this manual not only to sing my own praise, but especially to take the opportunity to thank the larger Shadow Empire community. The hundreds, if not thousands, of issues posted in the Tech Forums over the years have made it possible to polish Shadow Empire to a very high degree. All the discussions about the mechanics in the forums, wish lists, youTube videos and the balance issues found notably by PBEM players organized on Discord have helped me balance and fine tune the game more and more. Without you it would not have been possible to get Shadow Empire where it is today! A big thank you to all of you who took the effort to bring me feedback!
And let’s see if we can get Shadow Empire even better in the years to come. Many plans still remain on the drawing board. Enjoy the game and see you on the Matrix or Steam forums!
Got a few weeks while I am still fine tuning the latest and rather enormous balance-difficulty changes to the open beta… so right now I am picking up the new portrait graphics where I left them before the summer holidays. Before I start work again I thought it might actually be a good idea to touch base with the community… The question is which graphical style the players (yes, you) actually prefer. Feel free to point me to other style options in the Matrix/Steam/Discord forums.
5 styles to choose from… And yes A+E and B+C have similarities. Style D is the current SE style.
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