Building a World to Rule
Feb 19, 2024
Greetings, strategists!
In my first dev blog, I introduced the visual foundations of Empires and Embers. Today, I'm diving into the landscapes where your empires will rise and fall – let's talk map generation!
Shaping Your Battleground
Maps are more than a backdrop; they directly impact strategic choices. In Empires and Embers, I want to avoid predictable, 'samey' campaigns. My solution? Procedural generation to offer variety that adapts to your unique playstyle.
Foundations: My Hexagonal Terrain
As you know, Empires and Embers uses a hexagonal tile system. This offers tactical depth while maintaining visual clarity. But generating a hex map alone isn't enough! I want distinct biomes, natural features, and a sense of history built into the terrain itself.
Crafting Believable Landscapes
Here's what's currently driving my generation efforts:
- Natural Diversity: Picture rolling grasslands, dense forests, and imposing mountains. I'm creating algorithms to distribute biomes throughout the map, aiming for consistency alongside an element of surprise.
- Elevation Matters: Hills and valleys will be more than just eye candy. They'll impact defense, movement, and the potential for resources. Elevation generation will be integrated from the very start of the process!
- Rivers and Coastlines: These naturally influence borders and trade. My goal is believable flow across the landscape, forcing strategic choices for settlements and warfare.
Challenges and Choices
Procedural generation isn't without its hurdles, but I believe it adds immense value to Empires and Embers:
- Balance vs. Surprise: Ensuring maps aren't unfairly skewed for any faction while retaining an element of discovery is tricky. This will need constant playtesting to identify unbalanced layouts.
- Customization Possibilities: Allowing players to tweak world size, or the frequency of certain biomes? While that's not the immediate focus, these choices might enhance the experience down the line.
The Road Ahead
My next stage is bringing strategic resources into play – fertile valleys prime for expansion, mineral-rich chokepoints worth fighting over... Distribution of these resources adds another exciting layer to the generation process.
Share Your Views!
Do you crave the element of surprise in procedurally generated maps? What landscape features are most crucial to you in a strategy game? Let me know in the comments, your feedback is incredibly valuable!
Get Ready to Conquer!
Keep an eye out for future dev blogs, where I'll delve into AI factions, combat mechanics, and more. May your strategic brilliance guide your Empire to greatness!