• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
INTRO

Hi all!
We are excited to finally introduce ourselves to you, as we have been working for 9 months to bring you something very special to Imperator.

With “we“ I am referring to the fabulous people of Paradox Thalassic - a studio created a few years back that has gotten the chance to help out on everything from Bloodlines 2, CK3, Planetfall and last but not least Imperator. We will be collaborating closely with the Stockholm studio to help improve and expand Imperator for upcoming releases.
We have worked really hard to prove that we have what it takes to deliver on the high Paradox standards and can’t wait to share more of our plans for the future as our team grows alongside the Imperator team in Stockholm. Our upcoming release is actually the first time a team outside of the team at PDS in Stockholm has independently created a DLC for a GSG so we are pretty psyched about this achievement!
Curious to get to know us a bit better? Read on!



0pCg1-5a8y_v4IITe23OudHoN4Or6lmYNGGwvrAN09TR8TMGNmoHvJ-GKy8uOD_MFCrFdJ4NhxU8kssKqZ4RYCWHsunxpIAG8tAU9CcYX4TMRBpzcCYVDpzYtFac7T10RHrQX7jw

Erik Sjöblom
Hello, I’m Erik, senior designer at Paradox Thalassic. I’ve been with the company for about 5 years in total, one run back in 2014-15, then I rejoined in -17 when Paradox opened up a studio in Malmö. I’m a passionate RPG player and mostly enjoy the emergent story-telling in our Paradox games. My job as a designer is to come up with ideas, solidify those ideas to make them understandable, then iteratively communicate the ideas through implementation and follow up the result to make sure it plays out as I intended. I also double up with some scripting, content creation and prototyping when needed.

-pBxtdedGzsdrL5AwE4WQ90gRPiJaSZ6Rq6Obdt0R29ZcuWn7Yi6VmEzBHTMWR_nS2HI2gAy83_JvrMY8bb8rK5Mub5CqS9E2-NRwQT-S-M6I7fAFyAfwKFLFm7n6sm74ack5iYx

James Persaud
Salvete! I’m James, a senior programmer at Paradox Thalassic, and I’ve been here since the founding of the Malmö studio more than three years ago. In that time I’ve been lucky enough to play very small parts in both CK3 and EU4 (the latter still my favourite game of all time) and to work with the rest of the Malmö team, most recently of course on Imperator. As one of the tech leads my responsibilities include striving for ever increasing quality and stability on the code front, and most of my time thus far has been spent helping bring some of the game’s upcoming features to life. I think it’s a privilege to work on the games I’m passionate about, with the talented and dedicated people at Paradox who really know how it’s done. No challenge can be more exciting or more humbling than that of furthering the great tradition of Paradox grand strategy. Right, that’s the speech done. Now I think we should all go over and absolutely trash Carthage, don’t you agree?

D9_P3DAIkqcEqfeMoQpUiVg4t6IQAQUKOnO32HFCz-4OATOfWGELOxZu5ENPglzrQQBO_dt2b3iIYUTysRcwr3MOrWqeETYq_-SBzKH5LxQgTxYsP-jrzh3C8RC0fDtaS2R2rQ0n

Oscar Sjöstedt
Hi! I’m a senior 2D artist and I’ve been with the Paradox family for a few years now. I’ve been helping out with the 2D needs of various projects here at Paradox, including CK2, CK3 and of course Imperator. I’m a big fan of strategy games and systemic gameplay and that’s one of my main drivers for getting to work for Paradox - really looking forward to what lies in the future of Imperator: Rome and Paradox Thalassic!

xB-eZ7xunfM7gmoCAKCPzf6_wcA41JOHBp4W6iy09efgTK_htTjdDPcY5m8KQYa9aNFC2Y3a_6sd6DWn4w3fndxH8pnuBoawGsXVlFfjVxu91OiJS-r-TIV_dTPXcOq_9EthZ12t

Mårten Stockhaus
Hello!
My name is Mårten, I work as a senior game designer and have been working here for a bit over 3 years. I really enjoy the complex challenge of working with systematic games and it’s really cool to deep dive into the abyss of systems. During my years at Paradox I’ve been doing a lot of different things such as, feature design, content design, narrative design, all over the place really. But what I enjoy the most is coming up with features and taking them from idea to completion, see them grow, see them fail, see them succeed, it’s almost like having a small AI baby.

DNkgzmogLHOsBFE5sjGzfIIepYHznLEdVKQtHyrmpe9KoIgGd_Rvr4awDjZF95MHEFpK7NOzQrPcnt9JIguMEcUwarG1OAkCQCy8WcKxTGh4m4tcObJmz8C0qenSQ7eQstRjViFf

Lars Håhus
I’m Lars, Thalassic Studio Manager, producer, recruiter and cleaner of coffee machine extraordinaire. I’ve been at Paradox Thalassic for almost two years. I’m a big fan of the emergent storytelling and gameplay that GSGs provide and am extremely proud to get to be a part of delivering these experiences to the world.
My responsibilities change from day to day but at the end of the day it’s all about making sure that my team stays healthy and we deliver kickass games.

RHIIQXrV3mTM2PkDbjTSXZwiLvfE2Y1RMVLvhsxyMxdAz61d-0R4Yrla8qkryvKjMXQItpuRr9-NCJAAgEj6461RnajoCjgbiuLgpndnSToSpzSwXXDOejTggjZm5W-B9NZME3j6

Weronika Kowalczyk
Hey! My name is Weronika and I'm a 2D generalist intern that very recently joined the Paradox Thalassic Studio, like two weeks ago and it’s very surreal to be in a newsletter already. I'm currently in the process of learning the pipeline and engine for Imperator but I’ve already started assisting the team. In the future I’ll be doing whatever UI, illustration or art tasks that will be needed from the rest of the team.

GnPH32a6ARkpNkntyV78iUawyomchVQSGXa2u9oiCLVq0wj-D1YYMUaFivw0pVXzLEDO93hGQRhPTl4mXgRDb4qthZFGuEvCSRsBfwuiYFuzAr_v3eCR9DBLSt0W6Jr3UYTnArdu

Pontus Jonsson
Hi!
I’m Pontus Jonsson and I’m a programming intern at Paradox Thalassic. I joined the Malmö office about two weeks ago after studying for two years at The Game Assembly, one of the best game development educations in the world. I’m currently getting into things and learning the pipeline, software and code standards. When I have familiarized myself with all the systems I will be working mostly with gameplay and AI programming for Imperator: Rome, with maybe some other stuff thrown into the mix. I’m really excited to be part of the Paradox Thalassic team!

Y61iNxQLARCSaJ5u0IirQg9rtHXva_ctoT7pxOFlh7aX9t4v9Nu9mdDeutS09BwMCnxP2Ofq0d92Ixn44BZ8q2HiN6WZOT-NOdKCWWRKG5FNFgxc-YeEl1Yf_384tWAZ103a4ThG

Jelina Karlsson
Hello! I’m Jelina Karlsson and I’m a programming intern that joined Paradox Thalassic just like two weeks ago. These two weeks have mostly been spent getting to know the team, setting up all the necessary software that we need to develop the game, and playing the game a lot. When I have gotten to know the workflow and the engine, I will probably be working mostly with gameplay related things for Imperator: Rome. I’m looking forward to be working with Imperator: Rome as a part of the Paradox Thalassic team!

Capture.PNG
Alina Gromova
Hi! I am Alina, Thalassics’ own 3D artist. I started a bit more than a year ago: as an intern during the first few months and later as a regular employee. On Imperator: Rome I am responsible for 3D assets of upcoming releases. I am passionate about everything that has to do with 3D art. But here at Thalassic I also have a chance to be involved in the tech side of things, which I am very happy about. In my spare time I’m a console gamer, reader of everything from nonfiction, to classics, to graphic novels, and an outdoor enthusiast.


dwpdPkvUh9FrGUxct33tfjJp5GRNJdf6WsFhiZ3vx6v_ruE-UONxrBh6FYs597KiT1TKVpl0R793JXTpEFl9eHEr4IcHq1WbRtuYp5LsIqSm3E7Cj6vMjBWarN-Ps9igZiNobFpS
 
Last edited:
Actually from rereading the OP it sounds like Thalassic have been working on the DLC themselves for the past months while the "main team" were working on non-DLC development? So both teams working concurrently on different elements during that time?

We are indeed working in parallel, with both PDS and Thalassic making future releases.

What kind of releases, you ask? Well, I won't tell you, because I am an evil sadist.

soon.jpg, etc
 
  • 28Haha
  • 12Like
  • 3
  • 2Love
  • 2
Reactions:
What was the reason to open a second Pdx-Dev-Studio back then? Where is it located?

There's actually quite a lot of Paradox studios these days.
Paradox Development Studio - Stockholm (Sweden)
Paradox Arctic - Umeå (Sweden)
Paradox Thalassic - Malmö (Sweden)
Paradox Tinto - Barcelona (Spain)
Paradox Tectonic - Berkeley, California (USA)

In addition to other studios that Paradox Interactive owns, but who don't have the Paradox name.
Triumph Studios - Delft (Netherlands)
Harebrained Schemes - Seattle, Washington (USA)
Iceflake Studios - Tampere (Finland)
Playrion Gamestudio - Paris (France)
 
  • 31
  • 4Like
Reactions:
Why hello there, yall. Glad to see more manpower shifted to Imperator, however, what will happen to the current people working on it (or at least that we've seen on the forums) like Jamor, Arheo, Snow Crystal, Trin Tragula, and others?

As a sidenote, what I am really missing on your roster is a historian or researcher. Who will handle those aspects?

Our upcoming release is actually the first time a team outside of the team at PDS in Stockholm has independently created a DLC for a GSG so we are pretty psyched about this achievement!

Such a tease, it hurts. When can we expect to hear more about that?

Pontus Jonsson

Oh I see, Pontus DLC confirmed then. Nice.
 
Last edited:
  • 14Haha
  • 10Like
  • 4
Reactions:
We're so happy about the warm and welcoming response to us joining in on the I:R project, thank you all for that, it means a lot to us!

  • How good and frequent is the communication between the 2 studios?
We've had great communication from day one and its only improved since then, we communicate on a daily basis. @Arheo have been giving us a lot of autonomy on the creative side, being involved just enough to make sure things align nicely. This has been a key thing as it allows us to work independently and efficient, and not bogging down the Stockholm team with additional management. Now in corona-times when most of us is still working from home, its almost unnoticeable that we have two teams working on different locations, everyone is just a video-conference call away.

  • Will you have cameo characters in the game?
I sure hope so, sooner or later :)

Psss, (whispers: anybody know a great route for extracting an espionage mission in Malmo?)
Crossing over the bridge from Denmark/Copenhagen is probably a bit tricky with all the border-checks and so on. I would recommend entering through Balkan -> Russia -> Finland, crossing the Finnish/Swedish border in Haparanda and make your way south along the coast by foot, bike and hitch-hiking. Once in Skåne county, you can just take a Pågatåg (train) and enter Malmö from the north.

Sure, but that's 6 ppl, and one of them (Lars ;* ) is probably just making coffee for everyone. I wouldn't expect anything to big.
Lars makes the greatest coffee though, coffee fueled development ftw!

I missed this video part at first viewing
Your mind isn't playing tricks on you, we edited in the you-tube vid after this DD was posted since the vid came up a while later. Sorry if we made you question your sanity.
 
Last edited:
  • 9Like
  • 2Haha
  • 2
  • 1
Reactions:
Huge respect to this studio. Despite all the memetastic hatred of this game, they still see those of us who think it's a more than fine title and they're still hard at work. Very professional, and very heartening to see. In particular to this point, I'm glad to see they're bringing even more skilled people into the project! I look forward to seeing what this content entails. :)
 
  • 7Like
  • 4
  • 2Love
Reactions:
Hello and welcome! I hope you all fit into your new roles seamlessly and I'm excited to see where the future of Imperator lies with you :)

A quick question though, what is to become of @Arheo, @Snow Crystal, @Trin Tragula, @Chopmist etc? Are they joining Thalassic to continue with Imperator or have they been handed new responsibilities?
 
  • 9
  • 3Like
Reactions:
Glad to see more manpower shifted to Imperator, however, what will happen to the current people working on it (or at least that we've seen on the forums) like Jamor, Arheo, Snow Crystal, Trin Tragula, and others?
I'd also like to know this! And are we still due another DD on Monday? I'd rather know about the game than about personnell issues.

Edit:

Actually from rereading the OP it sounds like Thalassic have been working on the DLC themselves for the past months while the "main team" were working on non-DLC development? So both teams working concurrently on different elements during that time?
 
  • 6
  • 4Like
Reactions:
Get excited man, this isn't to do with the game itself but it bodes really good things for the future.
Sorry but I am only judging the results. I am one of those who feared that Imperator would be quickly forgotten while hoping to be wrong and I hope this team will do a good job and prove me that I was wrong. I expected information on the future, but we will have to wait until Monday (after we were made to wait 4 days for this).
 
  • 5Like
  • 5
Reactions:
Sorry but I am only judging the results. I am one of those who feared that Imperator would be quickly forgotten while hoping to be wrong and I hope this team will do a good job and prove me that I was wrong. I expected information on the future, but we will have to wait until Monday (after we were made to wait 4 days for this).

While I'm very happy that they got extra hands and minds on Imperator and I wish to the new team all the best I do agree that it probably should have not been a Dev diary.

I was hoping for a meaty in game content update info and feel a bit frustrated to have to wait till Monday again (if it will be the case). Just a statement to how much I want new updates to be released
 
  • 10
  • 6
Reactions:
Hello and welcome! I hope you all fit into your new roles seamlessly and I'm excited to see where the future of Imperator lies with you :)

A quick question though, what is to become of @Arheo, @Snow Crystal, @Trin Tragula, @Chopmist etc? Are they joining the new studio to continue with Imperator or have they been handed new responsibilities?
I assume that they are, as quoted here :)
can’t wait to share more of our plans for the future as our team grows alongside the Imperator team in Stockholm
Its really great, I wish everyone a great welcome to Imperator, and I cant wait to see the content that will be released in the coming years :)
 
  • 6Like
  • 1
  • 1
Reactions:
Welcome!

Despite playing CK3 at the moment, I am still very eager to see what the future holds for Imperator Rome!

On my wish list is some more flavour for the tribes.
 
  • 7Like
  • 1
Reactions: