Empires of Steel website and forum now open! Come on inside!

[Madmatt]

Empires of Steel is a turn-based game of world conquest set in the 20th century. Players command various ground, armored, naval and airforce units against up to 20 human or computer-controlled (Artificial Intelligence) opponents.

Empires of Steel uses a simultaneous turn-resolution system, better known in gaming as „We-Go“. You can form alliances, capture and trade precious resources, research new technologies, and of course form huge invasion fleets and armies to conquer your opponents.

Empires of Steel was built from the ground up with multi-player in mind, and includes voice and text chat systems, matchmaking features, and even a download system for mods, maps, and custom unit sets all integrated seamlessly into the game! Single-play against the the Artificial Intelligence Computer Opponent is of course fully supported as well – be prepared to see the computer declare war against you, or offer you a trade!

Empires of Steel is all about conquest and exploration: at the start of each game you can either load a pre-generated map (such as a real world global map), or you can create a completely random map based on your preferences for land mass and other parameters. The map can either be fully revealed to all players at the start, or you can play in exploration mode, and lift the fog of the the unknown as you discover new lands and valuable resources as well as potential enemies, turn after turn.

Empires of Steel is about global domination. You need to conquer resources such as Oil, Crops, Steel, or Gold to fuel your production and infrastructure as well as technological research. Aggresive players can declare wars to fight for resources, and cunning players can estabish alliances to trade for them.

Empires of Steel is about the technology race. The game features an extensive technology tree starting from pre-World War One era units all the way to futuristic nuclear and satellite techs. Clever investments into technology will put you ahead in the race for global dominance.

Empires of Steel is about resource-management. You decide what to produce and when, how to upgrade your cities and armies, how to defend your territory and when and where to strike against your enemies. A typical game can be played in under an hour, or it can last days.

Empires of Steel is about tactics and strategy. Build up your armies and employ your land, sea and air (and space!) forces to defeat your enemies and establish an undisputed Global Empire!

Empires of Steel is currently in development and is scheduled for a release in early 2009!

Official Empires of Steel Website!

Madmatt

[Warspite2]

Oh wow this one is going to rock the house! Looks like a much better version of empire deluxe and maybe even a warlike version of civ. I am definitely buying it the moment it comes out

[Brit]

Originally posted by Warspite2:

Looks like a much better version of empire deluxe and maybe even a warlike version of civ.

Thanks. I'm the developer, and that's a pretty good description of the game. While playing Civ 3, I felt it could've been better with more war strategy - particularly in the 20th century. And, I was a long-time fan of the Empire game.

[hellfish]

I'm intrigued. Definitely looks like it'll be up my alley.

Will there be the option to change the names of equipment (i.e. 'Fighter III' becomes 'P-40 Warhawk'?). Totally cosmetic, I know, but it'd make me just a little bit happier.

[Kilroy Lurking]

Hi!,

Looks great - but don't forget the Mac!!

David

[Moon]

Kilroy, sorry to disappoint, but no Mac version is planned for the time being, as stated in the FAQ.

Martin

[Kilroy Lurking]

Duh- yes I just checked. I keep an old PC for Games (which I really do not want to upgrade). I just prefer the Mac experience and hopefully in the near future will replace my MacMini with a Mac somewhat better endowed in the graphics capability department.

David

[Canuck]

Looks good. I'll probably pick it up if the price is right. I picked up the original Strategic Command for $25 in a snap. If this game is priced similarly I would probably do the same.

[John DiFool the 2nd]

Intriguing. The final selling point for me will be how it handles combat-will logistics figure in at all, or not(being a possible micromanagement issue)? Will two units slug it out until one dies (as in the old Empire games), or can you have a multi-unit scrum, perhaps on some sort of tactical battlefield?

I like the resources and having to protect your shipping lanes (as freighters were mentioned) from subs and raiders, the alliance aspect, and the tech tree. I just don't want to see Civ-style Itchy and Scratchy combat (where 2 units face off one by one, whack each other on the head until one dies, rinse repeat).

[Warspite2]

Originally posted by Brit:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Warspite2:

Looks like a much better version of empire deluxe and maybe even a warlike version of civ.

Thanks. I'm the developer, and that's a pretty good description of the game. While playing Civ 3, I felt it could've been better with more war strategy - particularly in the 20th century. And, I was a long-time fan of the Empire game. </font>

[Darren J Pierson]

Good luck with the project and I look forward to its release.

[Brit]

Originally posted by John DiFool the 2nd:

Will two units slug it out until one dies (as in the old Empire games), or can you have a multi-unit scrum, perhaps on some sort of tactical battlefield? ... I just don't want to see Civ-style Itchy and Scratchy combat (where 2 units face off one by one, whack each other on the head until one dies, rinse repeat).

Combat doesn't occur instantly, like it does in the Empire or Civ games. Instead, units trade blows over a period of time - sometimes the combat is resolved quickly, sometimes it can take a couple turns - depending on the combat results. And, if you have a small number of units defending a city against a larger number of attackers, you hope that combat doesn't get completed quickly - so that your reinforcements can arrive before combat is completed. Groups of units can fight against each other. In fact, I tried to make it as easy as possible to group units together and treat them as if they were one large unit. When groups of units fight, they don't send one unit at a time into combat. (I found the Civilization one-unit-at-a-time combat system to be slow and annoying when large numbers of units were in combat.) Instead, all units fight simultaneously.

For example, if you have a few units defending a city, and your enemy attacks with a few units, you'll trade blows back and forth - both sides taking damage and both sides losing units over a period of time. During each player's turn, they can order their remaining units to retreat from combat.

[Moon]

One of the screens on the website shows an ad-hoc group. You create them by simply dragging the unit icon in the top unit bar onto another icon - voilá, got your group!

Martin

[Guest Guest]

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[John DiFool the 2nd]

I'd guess you can set them up as such in the scenario editor, as there are tons of different tech levels to choose from.

The description of combat impresses me-thanks for learning the right lessons from previous titles. :cool:

[Guest Guest]

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[Guest Guest]

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[Moon]

Empires of Steel is using the technology of the 20th Century. The basic ruleset starts off roughly pre-WW1 and ends sometime in the near future. Limited rulesets (e.g. WW2, or Cold-War)should be available as well from the start.

But EoS is not a Sci-Fi game (even though you can generate your own maps to play on). Hence - no different "exclusive" technologies.

Martin

[Guest Guest]

deleted per user request

[Moon]

OK, let me put it differently: there are no different "races" in EoS.

Martin

[Guest Guest]

deleted per user request

[BRO,JD]

Count me in as someone looking forward to more info and a demo!

BREAK

Does anyone remember a game that was out about 15 years ago or so -- I think it had HQ in the name. It was fairly generic, sort of a computer real-time Tactics game. You could build infantry, armor, air units, and some naval units. You captured cities for resource points and oil was key -- without it your units couldn't move. Your ground units would automatically embark on transport ships when ordered to move across the water.

You could play two-player over a modem, but the one time I tried it we had a lot of technical difficulties.

It was a great game I played on my old 286 -- simple, but the emphasis was on strategy.

[BRO,JD]

Originally posted by BRO,JD:

Does anyone remember a game that was out about 15 years ago or so -- I think it had HQ in the name. It was fairly generic, sort of a computer real-time Tactics game. You could build infantry, armor, air units, and some naval units. You captured cities for resource points and oil was key -- without it your units couldn't move. Your ground units would automatically embark on transport ships when ordered to move across the water.

You could play two-player over a modem, but the one time I tried it we had a lot of technical difficulties.

It was a great game I played on my old 286 -- simple, but the emphasis was on strategy.

I thought it was a MicroProse game but didn't see it listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MicroProse_games http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MicroProse_games

[Brit]

Originally posted by BRO,JD:

Does anyone remember a game that was out about 15 years ago or so -- I think it had HQ in the name. It was fairly generic, sort of a computer real-time Tactics game. You could build infantry, armor, air units, and some naval units.

I think you're thinking of Command HQ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_HQ

[Brit]

Originally posted by Adam1:

I mean exclusivity. I don't mean that some countries start with different techs, I mean different countries having entirely different techs or units. (Or even different capabilities in pure bonus style)

The basic game rules don't have different bonuses or advantages for certain players. Empires of Steel does allow for user-designed rules, however, and the engine allows for customized nations. Theoretically, users could create entirely distinct technology trees and units for each player. For example, a user could create a WW2 ruleset that has tanks, ships, aircraft, etc for each of the major nations. (Even a kamikazi unit for the Japanese that self-destructs on attack.) However, with the official rules, there are no nation-specific units or technologies pre-bundled with the game.