Hegemony III: Clash of the Ancients - Kickstarter campaign

[sandman2575]

Looks very cool.  Although I can't shake the feeling that Hegemony Rome is being written off by the devs, somewhat along the lines of what happened with StarDrive.

I still don't get what happened with Heg. Rome's strange development. Only in the latest patch did they finally introduce unit formations -- a basic feature that Hegemony Philip of Macedon had from the get-go. It's like Longbow struggled mightily to implement things in Heg. Rome that already worked perfectly well in that game's predecessor --  ???

[WallysWorld]

I really liked Hegemony:Wars of Ancient Greece, but with The Rise of Caesar, I get quite a lot of stuttering when trying to move the map around. It seems the optimization just wasn't quite there with Rome like it was with the Greece game. Still I look forward to this new game.

[Philippe]

I suspect it may have had something to do with coming to terms with the fact that Hegemony isn't a tactical game and that the formations that were available in the first Hegemony were even less appropriate in the second game than they were in the first.

The first time I played Hegemony I very laboriously drew my armies up in Macedonian-style battle formations, phalanxes in the center, hysaspists next, with light troops and peltasts on the outer flanks.

I still try to draw my troops up that way out of nostalgia, but what works better in the game is to put your peltasts directly behind your phalanx.  I don't think there are any known instances of anyone doing that in Classical Antiquity before the third century A.D., and even then it was an abberation tempered by my foggy memory.

If you think about it too hard you'll realize that Hegemony is less influenced by ancient warfare than the Total War series.  Even the formations that were alluded to in all likelihood only exist in modern games: I don't recall seeing them in ancient tactical manuals.  The first time I saw the formations in Hegemony I, the first thing that struck me was that the only formations that you couldn't put your cavalry into were the ones the Macedonians and Thessalians actually used.  The formations were there to make Total War players comfortable, not to simulate reality, and they aren't all that useful in any case.

So I really didn't miss formations in Hegemony II.  On the contrary, I applauded their absence.

I don't have a problem with the testudo, but it was only used when assaulting cities, Hollywood notwithstanding.

[panzerde]

+1 to the above. I like the game, but more for the operational/strategic aspects than the pseudo-tactical bits. My experience is very much the same as Philippe's.

[Nefaro]

This game is now on Steam's website, but not yet released:  http://store.steampowered.com/app/308173/

Looks like they're finally adding more sandbox features.  O0

[tgb]

This gets an official release on Steam tomorrow with a "loyalty discount" that gets the price down to about $20.  I'm still waiting for Longbow to implement meaningful diplomacy instead of "give me x gold and I'll leave you alone for a while".  If they did that I'm probably in.

[Bison]

I'm a little annoyed because I bought the original Hegemony game on the now defunct Impulse and there is now way in hell I'm figuring out the bs Gamestop site to attempt get my games back.  Point being I really love the game, but it would be so much better if it had real diplomacy like tgb says.

[tgb]

I just watched the developer's livestream.

I'm a little disappointed that diplomacy still isn't better developed, but I like the increased focus on city-building and the alternative victory conditions. For $20 I'll probably grab it.

[WallysWorld]

Will definitely keep an eye on this game. Here is the wiki for the game: http://hegemony.gamepedia.com/Hegemony_III:_Clash_of_Ancients_Wiki

[Gusington]

Just watched the video...I agree with tgb that the city building aspect makes this one look meatier than the original. And the price is right. Goddamit.

[tgb]

 It seems a lot easier to outgrow your economy in the beginning than in the previous games - probably due to the overhead of city improvements. My army right now consists of a single axeman and a single spearman, and I'm still running 25 g in the red every week because I've yet to find a mine, and the cost of maintaining trade routes to the food and lumber producing sites is eating me alive.

[son_of_montfort]

I'm a little annoyed because I bought the original Hegemony game on the now defunct Impulse and there is now way in hell I'm figuring out the bs Gamestop site to attempt get my games back.  Point being I really love the game, but it would be so much better if it had real diplomacy like tgb says.

I had this problem with Revolution Under Siege and I'm not exactly sure how I fixed it. I think you can log in to the Gamestop application and get the keys which may or may not attach to Steam. Keep digging, because there is a way to extricate yourself from that terrible GS app.

[Ian C]

Looks interesting indeed, but I'm undecided as yet. Mentions a good AI in this review:

[Ian C]

I took the plunge. I also got Hegemony Gold Wars of Ancient Greece and I'm enjoying them both. Real time 1 hour = 1 game year is a bit of a new thing for me, but I'm finding it highly immersive and very challenging. Anyone else on board? Thoughts?

[Jarhead0331]

I'm pretty pissed about Hegemony II Rise of Rome. I think it had a really awkward development cycle and was never truly made with love and dedication. I think ultimately, it was just abandoned before it was really completed and left to whither and rot on the vine.

I'm going to need a more significant discount to take the plunge again.