For those interested in learning more about Ancient Greece, Philip of Macedon and other topics related to Hegemony we've posted a few useful sites on the Hegemony links page.

We also invite anyone doing research relevant to Philip to send us links or drop us an e-mail. We're always interested in new information or ideas and some (like the ongoing survey of Macedonian related fortifications at Kastro Kallithea) we might even be able to include in the game.

We're back from the Penny Arcade Expo, and still recovering from the sheer abundance of majesty that is PAX. To say the least, it was a great experience. Of course, we got to witness demos from lots of unreleased games from Mass Effect to On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness (some playable, some not) and see some great nerd-rock bands like Jonathan Coulton, the Neskimos, and the Minibosses. We got to see some great panels from the likes of Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman, and by all accounts, the keynote by Wil Wheaton was life altering, as was my experience of seeing Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth, and Lana Skye playing Rock Band. I was also lucky enough to experience the greatest game of Jenga that has ever been played.

Oh yeah, and we were showing off Hegemony, too.

We're glad we've gone. Not only was it a fun experience, but we got to show Hegemony to a lot of people who hadn't heard of it, and it's always reaffirming to hear people tell us that we're taking the game in the right direction.

Thanks to everybody who stopped by our booth, and thanks to the guys at Penny Arcade for putting together (to paraphrase Tycho) the greatest con in the universe. We hope to see you again next year!

Next weekend we'll be manning a booth at PAX, the Penny Arcade Expo being held in Seattle, Washington on August 24th - 26th.

Visitors to our booth will be able to try out a pre-beta version of Hegemony: Philip of Macedon. So, if you're going to PAX or will be in the Seattle area, drop by our booth to say hello and take the game for a test drive.

This post will describe the role of the worker and slave units in Hegemony: Philip of Macedon.

In the typical RTS design, workers gather resources or build additional buildings and other structures on the map. In Hegemony: Philip of Macedon workers are organized in the same way as combat brigades are, each with a home city and population support, making them either native Macedonian or mercenary. Continued →

This post will describe the economy in Hegemony: Philip of Macedon . (We're posting this today as yesterday was a holiday here in Canada.)

I'll give my personal bias on micromanagement before describing the economy in Hegemony: Philip of Macedon . I'm not against micromanagement if a game is designed with micromanagement as its central feature. My concern is where micromanagement remains optional yet yields such amazing results that it becomes the de facto requirement for a player to do well. I prefer a game system where micromanagement is either a central feature or the need for it is avoided. With the emphasis in Hegemony: Philip of Macedon on battle, territorial expansion and organization of a growing Kingdom, we've tried to design the economy to work well without the need for micromanagement and have simplified it to Gold , Food and Population . Continued →

The essence of Combined-Arms Tactics can be defined as having different troop types fighting together in a coordinated manner to achieve a better result than if they fought without proper organization. A well executed combined-arms attack can allow a force to weaken, envelope and decisively crush the enemy army while taking minimal losses. When used defensively, Combined-Arms Tactics can significantly reduce casualties and enable a well ordered retreat.

When applying combined-arms tactics to ancient warfare, heavy infantry form a battleline to advance and engage the enemy in melee combat while light infantry use missile fire to lower morale and disrupt the enemy ranks. Cavalry protect the flanks and threaten to surround the enemy and pursue after victory. Catapults can be added to support river crossings, counter enemy siege defenses or to weaken the enemy in field battles. Effective combined-arms is all about coordinating the various troop types available for each battle. Continued →

We've posted a new HD video for Hegemony: Philip of Macedon, which, if you haven't been following the news, is our historically based, RTS wargame set in the Ancient Greek World.

This video shows in-game footage of the tactical to strategy map transition, formations, brigade grouping and battleline combat. To get the video go to the Hegemony Downloads page or go directly to the YouTube page. Keep in mind that this is all in-game footage! When you see the game zoom out to the strategy map, that's exactly what it looks like in game; there's no editing tricks being done here. This is one of the unique features of Hegemony; the tactical and strategy maps are not separate modes, and take place at the same time. But don't worry, you can pause the game at any time if you need to spend more time on your strategy.

If you want to give the game a try, we'll be in Seattle this August 24-26, 2007 for the Penny Arcade Expo. Our booth number is 144, so drop by to say hi!

As a result of our trip to Origins a few sites around the web have posted commentary on Hegemony. Check out this very thorough preview at The Gamer Hotsheet.

[Update: 7/19/2007] The Wargamer has posted more of their Origins convention coverage including a few words about Hegemony.

In the origin of cavalry, the cart literally came before the horse. After the potter's wheel was invented (circa 5000 BCE) it was only a matter of time before wheeled carts would appear (circa 4000 BCE) pulled by people and later by oxen. Early domestic horses were too weak in the back to carry a man and were harnessed to carts and chariots. Horseback riding gradually evolved in the Eurasian Steppes, in conjunction with the breeding of horses strong enough to carry a man. And by the 7th century BCE cavalry began to appear on the battlefield as organized fighting units.

In the world of the ancient Greeks, the nobility and wealthy owned the horses and formed the cavalry. Cavalry were fast and mobile, wearing greaves, breastplate, helmet and a small shield. They engaged in melee with a 12-foot lance and carried a short sword for backup. Continued →

We've been looking at some of our old screenshots, and we realized that there's a lot of new shots we should be showing! To tide everybody over until Monday's post (when Jim is going to post a write-up about cavalry units) we've posted a handful of new shots.

We picked some shots that impressed the crowds at Origins and showed off a couple new units as well as the range of views available in the game. Move in close to watch the battles or step back to arrange formations and plot flanking maneuvers on the battlefield. While at anytime smoothly zoom out to the 2D parchment map for full control over your empire using 3D miniatures.

If you've read this far, you should stop reading and check out our screenshots!