Caesar’s Revenge: Weapon Wednesday – VI

Written by Matton

Yo its weapon Wednesday! This week we got the big hook thing which strikes fear into the hearts of any Roman legionary. This guy is the: Dacian Falx or Thracian Falx or just Falx. In history it is described as an anti-Roman/anti-armour weapon with a punch. It’s shape is perfect for hacking at Roman troops hiding behind shields. The blades themselves had different degrees of hook to blade proportions, lengths and angles and came in one handed and two handed variants. The two-handed variant is the one you will find in Caesar’s Revenge. These two-handed Falx often had a handle at a similar or matching size to the blade. This gave a lot of leverage and power to the wielder but use of this weapon would cost protection due to the two-handed operation of the weapon using a shield is silly. This trade, however unorthodox, did pay off and was devastating when matched up with a classic Roman shield and Gladius style of combat. The superior reach plus the power and design necessary to punch through and over Roman Armour particularity the shields made a lot of common Roman fighting techniques and strategies useless.
Fun Fact: Roman helmets received modification during Trajan’s Dacian wars with the addition of cross-bars across the dome of the helmet, this change is often accredited to falx and its effectiveness at punching holes in Roman heads.

Falx Ceasars Revenge
But why is Julius Caesar using this heathen weapon? Lets just say when Mars gives you lemons you make lemonade. The Falx has become an iconic and infamous anti-Roman weapon in recent times and although its actual effectiveness and use in history is disputed the legend of its effectiveness provides the perfect alibi for the powerful, heavy hitting, shield splintering and armor breaking weapon type Caesar needs on his conquest for revenge.

Gameplay: The Falx like all our weapons has two attack types and primary and a secondary. The primary attack is is a powerful overhead strike from above, this is the shield splintering one! it ignores an enemies shield and deals damage directly , perfect for pesky Roman soldiers turtleing behind shields, it also applies a knock back. This attack due to its over the head nature is powerful but can only target one enemy at a time. The secondary attack is horizontal sweeping attack like the Gladius. A sweeping attack does not break armor as effectively but does apply knock back, it can target double the enemies of the Gladius currently a whopping 6! both attacks are balanced by longer wind-up and cool-down times. Attacks also slow you down to a walk while triggered, this means you have to tank a lot more damage while attacking. That’s the payoff to such great power. What I like about this balance is that it does not make the weapon “just a stronger Gladius” like we originally feared, but instead it it performs a different job completely. The Falx needs to be used with a different style of play, more patience and planning is involved in a Falx strike than with any other bladed weapon currently in the game.

Unique feel and divergence between the look and gameplay of each weapons is important in Ceasar’s Revenge. As always mechanics and visuals are subject to change as we tweak the Falx further but I hope you have all enjoyed this chunky sneak peak. You can check out the 3D model on Sketchfab below, plus let me know what you think.

Devlog V: Quarry Level Design

Written by Jordanon

For the past few months we have been working on a number of levels. One of the most immediate goals for us is getting the first act laid out in terms of content so we can balance and polish to the point of a playable build that could be potentially released. For this post we wanted to showcase one of these levels – tentatively named ‘The Quarry’. There is still tweaking as well as additional art to implement but the bones are in place and hopefully documenting this stage of development reveals something interesting about our approach and process.

We needed a level that introduced slaves who can be freed to fight alongside the player. The obvious answer would have been a prison (which we will probably do at some point) but I wanted to branch out from the corridor focused texture sets we have been using so far. Both of these intentions were met by recalling the slave quarry scene from the opening of Spartacus (1960) – the setting fits thematically, mechanically and offers a new outdoor location that could be achieved within the limitations of our aesthetic.


The architecture and environment of the quarry is mostly made from rock formations with a theme of wooden scaffolding and makeshift structures throughout. The two main areas are the soldier’s camps and fortifications, the mining pit as well as a cave. Conditions in Roman mines were brutal. Many of these slaves were criminals known as “damnati in metallum” – which translates to “those condemned to the mine”. Other slaves in Rome could earn or purchase their freedom, these slaves however would work until their death.

In terms of gameplay, this level experiments with having the sling as a primary weapon as well as the gladius. So far we have used the sword as a staple starting point so introducing a ranged weapon with a bit of ammo management adds a bit of variety as well as strategy to the gameplay. The sling’s behavior was tweaked quite a bit to make it viable – running a level with a single weapon seems to be a good test of not just its usability but also fun factor. Currently the sling can be held for a strong shot or tapped for a faster but less damaging throw. This dynamic in addition to the extra damage dealt on surprise attacks makes for some interesting encounters.


The overall level is fairly linear and so the cave section breaks this structure by offering two seperate paths to take which should keep the level fresh on repeated plays. Both routes have a few pickups as well as allied slaves to free who will fight alongside the player (art is still being developed). An important design consideration was the placement of these benefits; they are far away enough from the fastest route to be of little use to speed runners but are also easy enough to find that players struggling with the level could go both ways to collect all of the slaves and items. This is a thought process throughout the entire game as we want levels to be challenging to speedrun but also provide options for players who want to take the game at a slower pace.

caesar'srevenge crucifixion
The game is very much a revenge story and so this opening shot of the level sets the tone of the tyranny and brutality of the senators that you are assassinating. Crucifixion was a method of punishment used in Ancient Rome. Mass crucifixions took place throughout Roman history with 6,000 of Spartacus’ followers suffering the torturous death after rebelling. Thematically this scene fits the context of a corrupt slave quarry as well as motivates the player to show little mercy to the ruling senator and his troops.

This level introduces a dog enemy type who runs quickly towards the player and alerts other units by barking. While not particularly high in health, the dog can be dangerous due to its high speed and potential to cause a chain reaction of opponents closing in on the player. This gif also includes a campfire with a roast leg. One of the great strengths of the Roman military over its opponents was superior nutrition. This versatile prop can be used throughout camp areas and provides a bit of flavour to the environment. I’m sure the dogs would love to sneak a bite!

Caesar's Revenge Dog

Something fascinating about making this game using GameMaker is the way in which 2D design sentiments translate to a 3D context. We’ve definitely been inspired by looking at Wolfenstien 3D editor and the intricacies of zoomed out video game maps. There is something very rewarding in laying out disgusting 2D sprites in a flat editor, then hitting ‘play’ and seeing the world come to life. Below is a side by side shot of the Quarry in editor as well as the same view in game through the 3D camera. Some new cinematic debugging features were implemented this week which definitely helps in capturing more dramatic screenshots – it is also quite strange seeing our flat-plane environments form a different angle!

That’s all for this post! It will be interesting to see how the level changes going forward as a lot of the balance depends on where it is placed in the game. We probably won’t do a post on every level like this (a little surprise is always good) but expect to see a few more areas being fleshed out in the coming months. If you would like to talk about the game, head over to our TIG Devlog.

Bonus content: Have you ever wondered how many stone quarries were in Ancient Rome? Have you ever wished you had a tabulated database and location map? Well, during research for this stage we found this great paper. Ben Russell has your back.

He is here!

Written by Matton

Rats of Rome: This week’s Weapon Wednesday has been overrun with an infestation of Rats! So unfortunately, no weapons. But Instead, I will present to you our newest enemy: the Rat. Rats are the first animal to be added to Caesar’s Revenge. Rats were a common site in ancient Rome and still thrive in modern Rome today. Rats are excellent survivors and opportunists and flourish around cities due to the abundance of human waste. Ancient Rome was no exception! Rats could be found anywhere from the slums and sewers to granaries and markets. Thriving on the excess and vastness of Rome. Rats in these conditions have been known to grow bigger and bolder than wild counterparts. In Caesar’s Revenge rats are a menace in the backstreets or Rome and will no hesitate to try take a bite out of undead Caesar. Although the Rats grow bolder, a rat is no problem for an experienced warrior. If you can hit em!

Rat Stats:
What a fat rat model! a total 1256 Triangles, how disgusting (and excessive). His coat is made of 1x trashy 1024×1024 diffuse. Ratty was made quickly to render as a 16 frame run animation at 8 directions as 128×128 sprite (once of these directions can be seen below). A benefit of working with the lower resolution of this retro project is how it presents shortcuts in the modeling, animation and texture processes. shortcuts that would not be acceptable in a modern 3D pipeline become available and speed up development time.

Rats In Gameplay: below you can see an example of the Rat sprites in-game (behaviors are not final and could change). Rats much like in real ancient Rome are found in levels that are set in lower tier areas. Rats have always been destined to be the weakest enemy in Caesar. There attack is weak and they die in one hit from many weapon. But they do have some redeeming factors. They are small, many and determined! these abilities attribute to a slightly “hard to hit” combat style. Alone they are the weakest enemy in Ceasar’s Revenge……. But watch your back buddy.


Ratty Run: I during that animation process I looked into how rats move an discovered that rats have an interesting gait. One kind is called a Half Bound, this type of gait is an asymmetrical “true bound” found in rodents predominantly rats: “True floating phase (extended position only). Hindfeet land before forefeet take off – this creates a brief period of 4-point support/contactHindlimbs take up as much as 90% of propulsive force. Forelimbs function more for shock absorption and steering.” Info courtesy of the Animal Movements guide for animators by sumid very cool reference animating animals. I find it very helpful not only to follow a pose to pose walk/run cycle reference but to learn about the locomotion of the animal itself. this entails: where pressures are being applied like push and pull and importantly the pattern of the footfalls. knowing this gives you a better idea about what your subject animal is actually doing rather than solely relying on copying poses from reference and hoping for the best.

if you wanna have a close look at Ratty, check him out on Sketchfab below:

-RIP RATTY-

 

Devlog IV – Keys and Levers

Written by Jordanon

This past week we have been working on gameplay scripting through trigger objects. This will allow for more dynamic level designs with the ability for us to create simple puzzles, traps and events in game that break up the general gameplay. An example of this are gates are activated by proximity and can be locked open or shut by various conditions. On the fly we are able to create gates that only open once, lock behind the player, are activated by a switch or even when enemies in a room are killed. Gates can control the flow of a level as well as offer an opportunity for gameplay scripting to create unique and memorable situations. Invisible triggers are used in conjunction to design this functionality but the same kinds of interactions can also come from switches.


We have had the functionality of switches in the game for a while but only this week have we finalised them into a suitable aesthetic. Previously we toyed with buttons but the lever look better suits the Roman theme and also stands out visually as a gameplay object. A cool feature about this design is that they will snap to the ground or walls depending on how they were placed. Interestingly, these are also the most complex 3D objects in the game in terms of draw code due to the multiple parts and octagon ends!


In terms of gameplay, a point of difference in our game is that levers can be activated by weapons – meaning you can fire an arrow down a corridor to activate a switch.


Doors are similar to gates in terms of gating progress and either open when approached or require a key to open. In terms of visual communication, doors and their corresponding keys will always look the same (iron key for an iron door) to ensure that players immediately understand what they need to find. While these mechanics are fairly typical of a classic fps we are also aware that their overuse can become worn out. For this reason not all levels rely on these mechanics and their focus is to open up creative level designs where spaces can be recontextualised and reused. There are also secret push walls that can reveal hidden passages. Unlike other games, these are activated by proximity rather than a keypress as we don’t want to encourage the tedium of pressing A on every wall in the level.


These keys were modeled after various Roman key finds. Roman keys have a wide variety of shapes and sizes all because lock making was in its infancy. Roman locksmiths had not yet figured out what locks worked the best and which were harder to break into. The majority of historical examples don’t even look like keys! Here are the photographs our keys were modeled after:


We have also been developing a variety of levels in different styles to get a feel for the gameplay over longer sessions. These stages are turning out to be a lot of fun and should be something we talk about in future posts.

Devlog III – Main Menu Interface

Written by Jordanon

A unique aspect of this menu is that like the gameplay itself, the mouse control is along a single axis. In some ways this has made it easier to also offer keyboard as well as controller support as we don’t need to worry about a mouse cursor. At first we wanted all levels in one scrolling list but without a free mouse or scroll bar it felt weird. The next iteration was one long list of stages but too many items in a row looked a bit messy and ultimately would limit the number of levels to what would fit on the menu which would be a terrible idea. What we have decided to go with is an episode system – though we prefer to call them acts as it is more thematic as well as avoids any confusion with episodic releases.

For the background art we liked the idea of a burning Rome and experimented with a bunch of approaches. Originally we were going to go with a pre-rendered still (like the Age of Empires I title screen) but it distracted from the logo (which still needs some work on readability/contrast and the dagger. A painted look gives some balance to the rest of the game while conveying a strong mood. Three inspirations were the cd booklets you might find in metal albums – to emphasise a darker tone as well as the importance of individual tracks or in our case, levels. Second point of reference was intermission screens in old epics like Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments to evoke a sense of grandeur. And finally the third inspiration for the background images was Alphonse Muchas’s painting “Nero watching the burning of Rome” 1885-1886:
The image both has detail and an element of abstraction. A slight parallax on the background brings it all together and stops it feeling too static. Some more polish can be done but it is in a good place for now (the gif is a little cropped at the bottom, the actual spacing is much better).

Dagger

The menu features our current logo as well as a cool spinning dagger as the selection icon (perhaps one of the daggers that was plummeted into Caesar himself?). The pugio is a dagger like blade carried by all Roman soldiers. Identifiable by its wide blade shape. A lot of pugiones are speculated to have doubled as mini digging and multi-tools but their importance to Roman soldiers is unknown; perhaps a final backup after a javlin and gladius were lost.

Menu music

This piece is unfinished but is a style test of what we are aiming for with the menu music – the blending of darker metal with faux-ancient sounding instruments. The music in levels will be a lot more thrash-y with faster tempo so the menu is a good chance to take a breathe and set the scene. Here is the direction for the title screen so far:

Pause Screen

The game has a pause screen! I have never coded one of these myself before and it ended up being easier than I thought. How it works is the game takes a screenshot of the game then deactivates all of the objects in the game except the a controller which draws the screen grab with a transparent black overlay. Right now it is just showing the game is paused but later might include a menu selection to resume and quit (there won’t be saving mid level). I find it whimsical that it looks like objects are frozen when really we are just looking at a screen grab!

Save Data and progression

I have been working on the save file system. Data is now tracked and encrypted with the framework in place for tracking level unlocks, best times and other statistics. One thing we have been debating is whether or not weapons should carry over from level to level. This would be in line with classic shooters and gives the player a good sense of progression as well as making ammo usage meaningful. On the other hand, starting each level without a weapon opens some interesting level design possibilities (only bow, or melee only stages). This also incentivises players to use the weapons they find instead of saving them. A disadvantage of this however is that secrets are less important and people may not like having to start from scratch every time. All of this can of course be balanced around but currently needs some more thought.

Caesar’s Revenge: Weapon Wednesday – IV

Written by Matton

Fire Pots are the grenades of ancient Rome. Clay Pots full of Flammable liquid. They are the perfect solution to a room full of archers that you just don’t want to deal with. Just light it up then smash it directly over traitorous heads or simply roll one into a room full and wait for the screams.

Fire Pot gif
An overarm throw is the first alternative attack. This powerful throw will explode on impact with the ground or an enemy. The second attack is a gentler underarm throw. This attack causes the pot to bounce along the ground. The pot will then explode after a time when the wick has burnt down. Both attacks can be charged up for a longer throw by holding down the corresponding mouse button. Be careful not to take any damage while charging as this will cause you to drop the pot at your feet. I’m sure you can figure out why that’s not a good thing! Check it out in 3D below:

Devlog II – Traps and Slingers

Written by Jordanon

The featured image is some promotional art that Ivan unveiled this week – don’t forget you can check our development log over at TIGSource for smaller but more frequent updates!

A focus of our enemy design is that different units will stay relevant throughout, even into the late game. We don’t want to do recolours or higher health versions of the same types of enemies, instead difficulty will increase by the number of opponents as well as the unit composition of each encounter. With this in mind, even early game enemies can be deadly later on. One issue we were facing however was that early game units such as the archer become quite easy with the stronger weapons but we didn’t want to strengthen archers as they would be too powerful for new players. To solve this issue we have added a lower tier slinger to allow for early game ranged combat while enabling the archers to be stronger without throwing off the balance. We chose this enemy because it is less armored (lower hp) and in the game, will be shorter range and less precise than the Roman archer. The enemy was inspired by the historical use of auxiliary troops in the Roman military. These auxiliaries weren’t Roman citizens and would be paid considerably less than the Roman soldiers.

Slingers
While a slinger’s inaccuracy, low health and insubstantial damage output make them fodder for Caesar’s bloodlust – larger cohorts have the potential to be more of a threat. Their AI spreads them out more than other units and their inaccuracy makes for widespread volleys of stones in greater numbers. This enemy is in line with the new weapon that we have been developing. Here are some renders Ivan did but you will have to wait for the next Weapon Wednesday for more details:


I posted earlier this week on our TIG forum devlog about experimenting with adding traps to the game. This perhaps breaks theme a little but at a stretch they could be found in ancient booby trapped tombs or even some of the more sadistic gladiator arenas. It will be good to have some elements to give levels more variety beyond combat. Inspiration comes largely from Tomb Raider 2 which had a number of devious, low poly dangers of a similar vein.


Spikes come in and out of walls. They can be activated by triggers as well as scripted to have different speeds and offsets to make simple movement puzzles.


Spinning blades can be pathed to travel around the room. Theses ones are quite basic but could later do things like circles or take only left turns etc.

Fire Trap
A new one since last posting is fire that blasts out of the ground. That’s all for now but there are plenty more cool features in the works.

Caesar’s Revenge: Weapon Wednesday – III

Written by Matton

The spear in Caesar is a hybrid between a more traditional Roman javelin (pilum) and a leaf-bladed spear. This choice was made to aid in the readability of the spear in gameplay. The pilum-shank in historical pieces is very thin and this makes the end of the pilum hard to see. A large flat leaf-blade spear shape made more sense and enables you to easily see where you are stabbing. Pila were used most commonly by infantry and were thrown at an advancing infantry/cavalry force to thin them out before advancing with gladius. Soldiers would often have multiple pila for multiple volleys before engagement. Pila could also be used in melee, but his is rarer due to the frail nature of their shank. Thus the thicker leaf-bladed spear hybrid is a superior weapon for the one man army Caesar.

Spear GIF
The Spear like all planned weapons in Ceasar has two alternative attacks. The first is a jab or stabbing attack. It Is slower than the primary attack on the gladius but has a longer range. This attack only targets one enemy at a time but will knock enemies back away from you as well as dealing damage. The second attack is a throw, at any time in combat you can opt to throw your spear. The spear throw is devastating and can be used to kill a large number of enemies in aimed correctly. An airborne spear hurled by Caesar will travel indefinitely until it contacts a wall. This makes spear throwing an excellent way to make shish kebabs out of any number of foes. Spears are accumulated as ammo and cannot be picked up again once thrown, so use your spears wisely. Check out the spear model on sketchfab: below:

Caesar’s Revenge: Weapon Wednesday – II

Written by Matton

The Roman composite bow was the principal weapon used buy the Roman Auxiliary: Sagittarius. It was used commonly in both infantry and cavalry units. A popular weapon in the outer edges of the empire, especially in the east. Caesar was a big fan of archers and used them as a defensive tool, laying down fire to protect flanks and thin out charging enemy attacks.

Bow GIF
The bow is the first ranged weapon added to Caesar’s Revenge. In Gameplay the bow will fulfills the same combat roles as historical archery. The bow is excellent for thinning out groups of enemies before engaging them in melee. The bow like the sword has two attack types. The first, a singular arrow that is drawn then shot. The second attack will enable Caesar to load three arrows into the bow. These arrows can be shot in a wide spread potentially hitting multiple targets or focused with a longer draw so that all three arrows will fire towards one target. The bow uses ammo, this sets it apart from the Gladius. Since arrows are limited they must be used strategically and sparingly. Check out the 3D model for the Bow on Sketchfab below.

Caesar’s Revenge: Weapon Wednesday – I

Written by Matton

The Gladius is the iconic sword of ancient Rome. It is distinguishable by its length and shape, short and stout in comparison to more modern swords. It’s an excellent chopping and thrusting weapon, common in any Roman military force. These attributes combined make the Gladius an excellent candidate for the primary weapon of Caesar, you will be seeing a lot of this guy.

Gladius GIF
The swordplay is evolving as we develop and add new features and mechanics. In its current state it reflects the qualities of the historical equivalent. Caesar’s Gladius has 2 alternative attacks. The first being a quick horizontal slash, it’s fast and it’s perfect for gutting multiple enemies if you can line them up. The second, a slower windup followed through with a powerful stab that is sure to cause devastating damage, that’s if you are pro enough to land it.

 
The 3D weapon models in Caesar are created with modern next gen standards in mind, we then render and compress them back down to assure a retro/modern quality of art. Check out the Gladius model in 3D on Sketchfab above.