So the idea here is to reflect that the buildings should play a more strategic role and reflect the whole idea of building up a grand civilization to last the ages. So here are my thoughts for how to improve the building system in Imperator.
New Buildings for Cities
I do not like the limited number of buildings we currently have, if the game is about building up a grand civilization then there should be more buildings to reflect that. There is also a notable lack of buildings that existed during this time. So here are the new buildings I am suggesting and their possible effects. The effects are just suggestions and they could easily be changed.
Military
This naturally will require a much higher limit to what you can build in a city at once. However, there should still be limits. This way you have decisions to make. Say you get an event about a fire in your city that burns down the freeman’s housing in the capital. Do you act like Nero and build a palace for yourself or do you rebuild the houses of the freemen? Will you take your city from brick to marble?
Pop Building Affiliation
Pops will want to have certain buildings this is based on the type of pop. Slaves and tribals are excluded from this list as the first has no rights and the second doesn’t like civilization based on Imperator’s rules. These are just some thoughts on what the pops would like.
Noble Demands
Temples are a special building, pops want temples dedicated to the gods and goddess of their faith. A pop who mainly worships the Egyptian gods and goddesses will want those temples over temples to the Hellenic deities.
Location, Location, Location
While all pops will want those sorts of buildings in their city, how demanding they are for them will be calculated based on the type of city, its location, and country status.
Pops in the capital would demand the most, those in a city that is part of the capital’s province, would be next. Followed by provincial capitals and then other cities. The closer the provincial capital is to the capital, the greater the demand. Finally your country rank would modify this. Pops in a regional power capital vs a great power capital would have different demands.
So as an example let's take rome. At the start of the game, the nobles, citizens, and freemen won’t be demanding a lot and you could probably get away with building things that both want such as Temples. However as Rome expands and conquers Eturia and the Sammites, now you are seeing more demands for villas and insualas. Then after the war with Carthage, the nobles want to help show off the wealth and splendor of Rome. It might be around this time that newer cults are brought into Rome from afar requiring new temples dedicated to them to be built.
Great Works
This would represent the more impressive buildings. Think of things like the Colossus of Rhodes, the Pharos Lighthouse, the Library of Alexandria, the Acropolis of Athens, Plato’s academy and so on. These are the impressive landmarks of the city, basically the things that the building decisions now largely represent.
These would be special buildings that you can customize a bit and be able to expand over time. So you can have things like different Ptolemaic kings expanding on the Library of Alexandria.
Settlements
So far I have just talked about cities however, settlements which are the vast majority of territory you will own deserve just as much love. In contrast to the cities where people would want it to be built up over time. Pops in settlements won’t have them demand such luxuries. However there would still be more options this way the villages can be more customized.
So some new buildings could be shrines to represent that the village is focused more on religion and that there is a particularly holy grove or shrine near the village, wineries and other workshops for the trade goods like glass or wine, small markets and inns for traveling merchants that help with commerce. Just to name some ideas.
This hopefully would help integrate the building system into the pop system and other mechanics, like the civilization and trade.
New Buildings for Cities
I do not like the limited number of buildings we currently have, if the game is about building up a grand civilization then there should be more buildings to reflect that. There is also a notable lack of buildings that existed during this time. So here are the new buildings I am suggesting and their possible effects. The effects are just suggestions and they could easily be changed.
Military
- Shipyard - Dockyards designed specifically for building military ships. faster building time for naval ships.
- Workshops - workshops for the various trade goods. Effects population output and commerce income.
- Dock - The non military dockyards. Would help add to trade route value and commerce income
- Gymnasium - A place for men to exercise. Helps with civilization value.
- Hippodrome - Chariot racing for people to enjoy. Helps with Civilization value
- Baths - Lets people enjoy themselves in a public bath. Helps with civilization value.
- Hospital - Help to fight diseases.
- Barbers - Helps to keep people groomed. It helps with civilization value
- Villas - These are the houses for the rich. Aside from being demanded by the Nobles, they also support more Nobles in your city.
- Domus - Similar to villas but for citizens; might need a different name to not be so rome centric.
- Insula - Similar to villas but for Freemen; might need a different name to not be so rome centric.
- Palace - The ruling palace for the local governor of the city . Increases civilization and local provincial loyalty
- Boulevards - Pretty roads in the city and other infrastructure in the city; increases commerce and army movement in the city. Decreases building time for building roads in the province.
This naturally will require a much higher limit to what you can build in a city at once. However, there should still be limits. This way you have decisions to make. Say you get an event about a fire in your city that burns down the freeman’s housing in the capital. Do you act like Nero and build a palace for yourself or do you rebuild the houses of the freemen? Will you take your city from brick to marble?
Pop Building Affiliation
Pops will want to have certain buildings this is based on the type of pop. Slaves and tribals are excluded from this list as the first has no rights and the second doesn’t like civilization based on Imperator’s rules. These are just some thoughts on what the pops would like.
Noble Demands
- Villa
- Academy
- Temple*
- Baths
- Theater
- Gymnasium
- Court of Law
- Academy
- Temple*
- Baths
- Theater
- Forum
- Market
- Granary
- Temple*
- Docks
- Workshops
- Mill
Temples are a special building, pops want temples dedicated to the gods and goddess of their faith. A pop who mainly worships the Egyptian gods and goddesses will want those temples over temples to the Hellenic deities.
Location, Location, Location
While all pops will want those sorts of buildings in their city, how demanding they are for them will be calculated based on the type of city, its location, and country status.
Pops in the capital would demand the most, those in a city that is part of the capital’s province, would be next. Followed by provincial capitals and then other cities. The closer the provincial capital is to the capital, the greater the demand. Finally your country rank would modify this. Pops in a regional power capital vs a great power capital would have different demands.
So as an example let's take rome. At the start of the game, the nobles, citizens, and freemen won’t be demanding a lot and you could probably get away with building things that both want such as Temples. However as Rome expands and conquers Eturia and the Sammites, now you are seeing more demands for villas and insualas. Then after the war with Carthage, the nobles want to help show off the wealth and splendor of Rome. It might be around this time that newer cults are brought into Rome from afar requiring new temples dedicated to them to be built.
Great Works
This would represent the more impressive buildings. Think of things like the Colossus of Rhodes, the Pharos Lighthouse, the Library of Alexandria, the Acropolis of Athens, Plato’s academy and so on. These are the impressive landmarks of the city, basically the things that the building decisions now largely represent.
These would be special buildings that you can customize a bit and be able to expand over time. So you can have things like different Ptolemaic kings expanding on the Library of Alexandria.
Settlements
So far I have just talked about cities however, settlements which are the vast majority of territory you will own deserve just as much love. In contrast to the cities where people would want it to be built up over time. Pops in settlements won’t have them demand such luxuries. However there would still be more options this way the villages can be more customized.
So some new buildings could be shrines to represent that the village is focused more on religion and that there is a particularly holy grove or shrine near the village, wineries and other workshops for the trade goods like glass or wine, small markets and inns for traveling merchants that help with commerce. Just to name some ideas.
This hopefully would help integrate the building system into the pop system and other mechanics, like the civilization and trade.
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