Red Vs. Blue - Homoioi Style! (Alternative title - Sparta v. Athens) Thread

The year is 480 BC, the land is Classical Greece. The Greco-Persian War has long come to its end. Under the guiding hand of Athens, the free cities of Greece have made retribution upon the Persian Empire, striking back against the Persians and reclaiming lost Greek colonies along the coastline of Phrygia; the region that would become known as Anatolia and, later, modern day Turkey. These coastal lands would later swear fealty to Athens, becoming what was then known as the Athenian Empire. As their power grew, Greek city-states throughout the region would soon be overcome by the strength of Athens as it sucked tribute from its former allies, reducing them to vassal states in the Delian League. This tribute would fund public works in Athens, as well as its vastly superior navy. The only power to ever withstand Athenian strength was its greatest ally and rival; Lacedaemon, known today as glorious Sparta.

Yet all is not well within the Athenian Empire. Rivalries with Sparta continue to stretch to the breaking point as Sparta knowingly agitates the Athenians to no end; dismissing their aid in a Helot revolt while accepting other allies aid. When allies of Sparta went to war with one another, Athens took one side, gaining an ally and a foothold along the Isthmus of Corinth. This would later prove to be the final straw. In what would become as the First Peloponnesian War, Sparta would make its way north, allied with the City States of Corinth, Aegina, and some others, while Athens stood its ground alongside Megara and Boeotia. It would be the war that would forever spark conflict between the two great powers, and the prize will be the control of all Greece and the Aegean.

This as of yet unnamed concept is, in a nutshell, a FPS-like melee combat game set in Greek Antiquity, specifically in the Greek Iron Age in the time known as the Peloponnesian Wars. The game will have multiplayer and, perhaps, a singleplayer campaign, and will primarily focus on the conflict between the city states of Athens and Sparta in a Red vs. Blue styled combat experience.

In a way inspired by the general dissatisfaction with the current state of Valve's Team Fortress 2, this game seeks to fill a particular void in team-based FPS games while also exploring an as-of-yet untouched niche in the genre. The game's focus will go back to the roots of these shooter games; no abilities, no heroes, no individual named characters like in Overwatch or Paladins, just simple classes of warriors in glorious combat with one another over objectives, be they capturing points, defending fortresses, or being king of the hill. It also touches on that practically abandoned niche of games that focuses on first person melee combat; something that was very popular with games like Chivalry: Medieval Warfare and War of the Roses, but has been left untouched up until For Honor comes out.

The class system will be fairly simple; classes are divided based on the infantry types found in Ancient Greek warfare. Standard units will include Peltasts (ranged scouts with shields and throwing javelins that act as skirmishers), Toxotai (Archers with short swords), and Hoplites (heavy infantry with bronze armor, shields, and spears, the average Spartan or Athenian warrior of arms). Mounted combat might be possible depending on map sizes, but for the most part the game will be kept primarily to infantry combat. All classes will be equipped with a total of two-to-three weapons; a melee weapon, a backup weapon, and a ranged weapon. The exception will likely be Peltasts, since they were skirmishers who relied primarily on attacking swiftly and then retreating just as swiftly.

The first iteration of the game will likely be as a mod, perhaps for the Source Engine; especially since Source already boasts one of the best melee combat games in the business, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, as well as the mod Age of Chivalry, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare's predecessor. My hope is to study the code of both of these to use as the basis for the combat style of this particular game, especially since spears, throwing javelins, and shields are going to be a major part of the game's combat. The game's art style will likely reflect both the period and public appeal to games like these; I'd rather go for something almost 'toonish' when making such a title, something along the level of Team Fortress 2 in terms of appearance. It will make it slightly easier for those of us (such as myself) who have a hard time telling apart bits of the landscape that look too realistic...not to mention the fact that people seem to really enjoy toonish art styles in shooter games.

Let me know what you guys think.

Edited by: KerianH