Vassals Windows game

Hi, this is the first post on Vassals...

Vassals is a game I've been developing for almost 3 months, it started as an experiment on terrain generation and hex grid maths and started to get some sort of shape in my mind.

so what exaclty is Vassals?
The overall idea is to create an experience in the same vein as CK2 but way less complicated. Sort of an arcade-ish feudal simulator. In Vassals each player will be controlling a house patriarch and his fief, all players are vassals to the same king, who is also playing the game. The game the vassals play is a mix of strategy and diplomacy/politics manipulator, the main goal for each vassal is to reach the throne and have his house hold the throne for a certain number of generations. The King plays a different game, he has to feed the war machine to keep invaders off his country, he does this by getting soldiers and gold from his vassals, in raw numbers, this means that the king has an army cost each turn or face invasion.

How does it plays?

Each turn represents one year, meaning that characters get old and die. Every year the player will be presented with several event cards, each will prompt the player with decisions. These decisions will affect many values in the game, mainly the support from the different population sectors: clergy, serfs, noblemen and army.

About war and conquest...

Players will be allowed to defeat other players but they will not gain control of the castle, instead they will be given a choice to move to the new castle or stay in his home castle, a member of the victor's house will then be assigned to rule the unwanted castle, each Lord can only rule over one castle. Keep in mind that this game is not intended to be 100% focused on war as a solution.

City management

Cties are expanded by building one of 5 districts: shop, market, cathedral, barracks and Inn. Each will have its perks, these expansions are very expensive but prove very useful in the long run.

On diplomacy and politics

Vassals can create alliances, plot against each other or the king, go into war, arrange marriages, betray one another, bribe, assassinate, etc. My plan is to stride away from the conventional 4X diplomacy screen and make it more like a dialog screen from an rpg, similar to Mount&Blade for example.

So how do I win?

Become the king and have you house rule for the required number of generations. Claiming the throne can be achieved by several means like: Conquer the capital by force and convince the other lords to swore vassalage to you. Have your lord or an heir to marry the king's only daughter. Or do the previous and eliminate any other pretender to the throne. Plot with other lords to wipe out the royal house. Depending on how bad the king is performing his role, other lords will be more inclined to plot against him, just remember that they want what you want.

Some info about me

If you reached this point, you may assume that this is a one-man project, and you would be right. I'm a software developer from Uruguay who has a huge passion for games and game development. I'm fairly optimistic about my plans for this game, I'm a programmer and I know my limitations, most of the art that is implemented today in the game is snached from the internet. My plan is that somewhere along the way, I'll start recruiting artists to work on the game, so it won't look like crap when it finally releases.

What is implemented so far?

• Map generation, needs some tweaking but the main base is there
• Pathfinding
• Multiple-tile cities
• UI framework
• Battle system and screen
• Fief management screen
• Main menu
• Event framework
• Towns
• Villages
• Armies