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Ultima Ratio Regum is a middle-ground between roguelikes, RPGs and strategy games. It has no fantasy elements and seeks instead to be closer to a realistic history simulator, and a strategy/4x game which just happens to be in ASCII. Combat is rare and deadly - whilst these mechanics are modeled in detail, exploration, trade and diplomacy factors will have just as much effort put into them. URR aims to eventually be a fusion of roguelike and strategy two genres - rather than a strategy game where you command with omniscience (even in ancient eras), you instead command as an individual character also in the game. Orders must be issued in person; you can lose contact with distant armies; but the same mechanics affect the AI players who also lack omniscience and depend upon the knowledge of situations they themselves can garner. Worlds can be generated over a vast array of sizes, climates and types, but all ultimately with no fixed objective but a world full of civilizations and factions to be allied with or battled against. It aims for depth in character development and world events, but with much in the 'middle' - constructing buildings, city growth, resource management - abstracted out (as other games exist which handle those well). Political and social dynamics will be modeled via a complex system that aims to generate both a history for the world, and the current state of political affairs when your game begins.
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Latest News: Ziggurats, Skulls and Puzzles
0 comments by UltimaRatioRegum on Mar 5th, 2013
Things are progressing further for 0.3, the first URR release with some actual gameplay! I've created about half a dozen new block designs, and I've started the level generation for ziggurats. The current situation is that you can find your way from the bottom floor, to the top, via a number of procedurally generated riddles and puzzles, which have a selection of blocks, pressure pads, gates, clues inscribed on the wall, and the puzzles get tougher and tougher as you go upwards. The gate-pad-block triumvirate is coded fully, and can be expanded to any potential puzzle. Currently only the easiest levels of puzzle generate (2-4 blocks), but I'll be working on tougher ones in the near future.
Naturally, in the future there will be much more there, but each thing would require new mechanics. If I want treasure rooms, I need an inventory system; if I want bosses, I need an NPC system; etc. You get the idea. So, for now, they will be puzzle-focused, but completing specific ziggurats will give you... let's be vague... a component of a clue, and when you have enough of the components, then there will be some hints towards what later versions will hold. That's vague enough for now. There will be things to "accomplish" this release, but many will hint towards later offerings.
For those who don't follow on Facebook or Twitter, I'm aiming for the summer of this year for this release (probably/hopefully the most new content yet), to coincide with a talk I'll be giving at the International Roguelike Developers Conference. I'm not sure what exactly will be in 0.3 yet in gameplay, but there will at least be puzzles to ponder, and something snazzy to find on the top floors of the ziggurats. In the mean time, here's a picture of the "skull" block. I can't recall how many different procedural variations of this image are possible, but it's probably around a dozen:
You can keep up to date on my devblog, Facebook page, or Twitter feed. The devblog is updated weekly or fortnightly on Mondays, Facebook a few times a week, and the Twitter roughly daily. Any thoughts, please leave them in the comments! Version 0.3.0 is now in the works, and will generate languages, myths, histories, coats of arms, flags, and entire civilizations. It'll be a big one, but I'm hoping to keep the updates coming regularly. Stay tuned...
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© 2002 - 2013 DesuraNET Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved. 2608 modders.
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© 2002 - 2013 DesuraNET Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved. 2608 modders.
The more I think about the army thing, the more excited I get about it.
Cheers :D - it's ultimately a longer term goal, but I want a basic version of independent adventuring, small group adventuring, serving in an army, and army-leading, all in before too long. Then I work on each one, rather than just perfecting one before moving onto the next. Should also give people more to play, since all four will be available in some form from reasonably early on...
I just want to be able to stroll into a town and burn **** up with five thousand *** holes following me after I joined the rank of the *** hole army and earned prestige by biting our their leaders eyes and strangling him with my turban like I do to people in DF.
Awaiting for release :D
Thanks! I'm more concerned about quality than instant release, but I'm definitely looking at some time in the next few months... :)
The term "cooperative adventuring" makes me exude joy. Also, I'll be watching this. Cool stuff.
Haha, thanks! I'm hoping to get the small-scale adventuring group dynamic working every bit as much as the large-scale military one. It'll probably come earlier, too, since presumably it'll be a heck of a lot easier to get working...
The thing I like about URR over DF is how it isn't trying to be hugely complex and convoluted, which should speed up the game's development quite a bit. DF will eventually become one of the greatest games ever, but it's going to take years to get there.
I guess I'm trying to put complexity into areas DF doesn't. I want to focus on combat, AI and army management, rather than construction or settlement management. Also, some things I'd like to be more 'streamlined' - for instance, some combat messages in DF don't really divulge any useful information. URR ones are equally detailed, but I think every message gives the player worthwhile info. That's just an example (and, obviously, only my opinion), but indicative of what I'm trying.
Since the 5 minute editing time has expired - I'm not aiming to reproduce any of the Fortress Mode features, nor much of the worldgen, or the "living breathing world" aspect. My focus is on other areas.