Major Overhaul for My Empire
My Empire has just received a major overhaul and has been bumped to v3.0.0! This update improves many core features of the game and adds some new ones, so let's take a look at what has changed.
An overhaul for My Empire has been a long time coming. It was my first Scroll3d engine game and my first use of Voxel Paint models, and things were a bit rough around the edges. With this update, I decided to give the game a facelift from top to bottom and improve the overall interface as well. I think long-time players and new players alike will appreciate the results!
The game now renders in the same orthographic/isometric view that I recently implemented for My Colony 2. I have also implemented softer transitions between biomes, improved border rendering, improved water rendering, improved shadowing, and added a subtle depth of field blur effect to the game. In addition, the city info cards that appear over each city have been vastly improved. Before they were just a simple label with the city name. They will now show current production, time until growth, and city HP, depending on the status and context.
The game now has fog of war in this release. This opens up a new need for exploration that the game was previously lacking. It also has an impact on diplomacy, as civilizations that you have not yet encountered will not know you exist yet.
Speaking of diplomacy, it has been completely overhauled. The diplomatic options available have been greatly expanded, and the AI civs will now employ different strategies based on a predefined "personality" that is assigned to the AI when the game is created. Some will be warlike, some will prefer economic expansion, some will be friendlier, etc.
I have also made it considerably easier to see your empire's boundaries. Not only are the actual border lines far easier to see now, but zooming out will now also shade in your territory with your empire color, giving you a quick overview of the entire world.
This update also brings air power into the game. Back when I was first creating My Empire, GeneralWadaling had created some nice air related assets, including the Fighter, Bomber, and Aircraft Carrier. The issue was that I did not have the air combat code working, so I disabled all of them in the game, even though the assets were there all along.
Everything is now active. The Aircraft Carrier acts like the transport ship, except for planes, and it can hold 8 of them. Fighters can be used to attack ground units and other aircraft, and bombers can deliver powerful bombardment of cities from above.
Steam users will appreciate that My Empire now supports Steam achievements! There are currently 31 different achievements you can unlock in My Empire, so go have at it.
There are many smaller UI improvements and tweaks that you will notice while playing. When you assign a task to a unit (for example), you no longer have to keep clicking on the "A Unit Needs Orders" button, it will now automatically jump to the next unit in line. Some mechanics that were goofy have been fixed, like your capital city can no longer defect to a nearby empire with a bigger culture. Military units can now also receive multiple promotions during combat. AI's will now properly use transports and invade your islands. AI's will also now form alliances and attack you if you are running away with the game. Mobile devices now support regular portrait orientation and not just landscape. And many other small improvements that are too numerous to list here!
This is the most substantial update for My Empire since its release, so if you haven't played the game in a while, go ahead and check it out. It's available now on the Web, Android, iPhone, Steam, Windows, Linux and macOS.
And if you'd like to see more My Empire or have suggestions (or find bugs), please head over to the official Discord channel and let me know about it!