Hello,
Despite the presence of cities throughout the ancient world and in Imperator, the vast majority of human activity during this era was agricultural. More people spent farming in Italy then they did in the great cities. As things stand in Imperator, it is just based on the province’s food population and that seems to be it.
Yet in Imperator the wealth of Agriculture, the turning of the seasons, the flooding of the Nile, the impact of massive amounts of slaves following successful wars, winter fighting, this isn’t really represented so my suggestion is to include them.
The TL;DR is that Seasons and Natural disasters should be in the game and their effects should be represented in game. Prices should be different based on where you are in the world. Importing rare spices should cost a lot more in Britain then in India.
The Changing Seasons
In game there is a graphical effect for things being in Winter or in Summer but there is no impact to game play of the seasons. So the crux of this suggestion is to make them matter. In Northern climes you should prepare for the winters by importing food, for the province food storage would drop faster during winter months.
In the spring you had farmers focusing on sowing their crops and then in Autumn you had the harvest. This left Summer as the typical time for military campaigns. There should be some provincial modifiers to reflect the natures of the seasons as well as encourage summer to be the military campaign seasons.
Moreover it should be slower to move during the winter compared to the summers due to the harsh climate, particularly in the north. If one was going to invade in the winter then they would need a good number of supply trains. The Celts, Germans, Scythians might have access to a military tradition to make them better at fighting in the winter.
However, to reflect that tribes are used to surviving in the climes of their homeland, tribes or tribesmen should have a bonus to provincial food loss in the winter.
Egyptian Seasons
Egypt had a different calendar system all together from the typical spring, summer, autumn, winter season. Instead they relied on three calendar seasons of Akhet(Flooding of the Nile) roughly from September to January, Peret(Emergence) roughly from January to May, and finally Shemu(Harvest) roughly from May to September. The Nile flooded so regularly that the Egyptians based their calendar around it.
This should be represented as local modifiers to the provinces around the Nile. So that you have the bountiful harvests of the Nile as well as account that people are farming and harvesting during the other months.
There should also be a graphical affect to see the flooding of the Nile. Perhaps some fresh black soil during the Peret months? Perhaps during the flood a slightly bigger Nile. A bigger Nile could perhaps even add some more combat width if there is a naval battle on the Nile.
Monsoons/Rainy and Dry Seasons
India tends to deal with two other the Rainy season when Monsoons come roaring in from the Indian Ocean over the continent and the Dry seasons when the rains dry up. Similar to the Nile Flood mechanics, the monsoons and dry seasons should provide modifiers to reflect the agriculture of the land during those times.
The wealth comes from the Earth
The wealth of kingdoms in this time period came from agriculture, from the silk of the east to spices, to papyrus to olive oil and wine all that came from the bounty of the earth. This in turn made kingdoms that controlled fertile regions rich. Egypt was one of the richest kingdoms and later provinces in the Roman Empire because of how fertile the Nile River was.
Currently however the wealth of these realms isn’t quite the same because grain in the middle of winter in Dumnonia has the same price as grain in Egypt. This should be affected by the seasons and by where you are and events. So the Nile floods, Winter, Bountiful Harvests, Monsoons, technology could affect the prices of food. So countries that produce a lot of agricultural products from dates to spices to papyrus will tend to make more money when far away lands seek to import them.
Famine and devastation
As mentioned this is an era when agriculture was the center of most of human existence. With it being such a factor, one of the most terrifying things that can happen are famines. Famines would be regional events that greatly reduce the amount of food that one has access to. So if you are a massive empire it could only affect a couple of provinces, but it could affect a whole kingdom if you are small enough.
There would be knock on effects though to the famine. As people grow angry and desperate when they can’t eat. Long famines could change empires as pretenders and populists rise in popularity. Rebellious talk spreads more easily among the hungry and desperate. Though this can be mitigated by government actions to fight the famine though it might be costly; how costly would depend on the severity of the famine.
Shockingly, war is not good for agriculture if you have to worry about your food being stolen or devastation after your land is constantly sacked over and over again and farmers dragged off to fight instead of farm. In particular civil wars are particularly devastating if they last for any serious length of time. By devastating it would reduce food income which could become even more deadly if you
Of course you could use famines to your own advantage. Say southern Italy is suffering from a famine. Well you could save up money and food to give to the starving nation to greatly improve diplomacy, or perhaps you want to see his pops die so he has less fighting men to defend you against you?
Slaves and Populists
Famines are not the only thing about Populists that one should be aware of. During the Roman Republic as Rome battled Carthage for the fate of the Mediterinian and then fought the Greeks, farms got bought up by nobles and most of all a large number of slaves were imported to Roman Italy to work these estates. In turn a number of farmers were forced into Rome where they found poverty waiting for them.
This gave rise to the Gracchi brothers, the great populists of ancient Rome. Seeing their rise in Imperator as they wish to right the wrongs. Events showing the rise of populists who seek to push for the Lex Sempronia Agraria and the conflicts of Roman senatorial politics and how deadly they could be. Similar things could be in there for other republics, perhaps in Carthage after the conquest of Rome there are similar Gersakkun Brothers who fight for the common freeman?
Graphical effects
Finally the map should reflect the changing seasons. You should see the Nile flood, the Monsoons and dry season, famines. It might be nice to show settlements with farmers going about their day, wagons and merchants traveling from city to city via roads you build or down the rivers you control. All of which I think could help just add to the ambience.
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