The Kickstarter Demo launched on Monday and it looks at a very small cross section of how towns will fit into the scheme of Imagine Nations. But what do towns really mean? Today we'll look at a breakdown of some of the various methods that allow you to interact with a town, from simply using them as adventuring hubs to expanding towns into giant metropolises.
As A Nomad
This approach would be the least hands-on with a town. You start the game off, and simply go off into the wild never to see the town again. You also steer away from any civilization if given the opportunity. This may be one of the most difficult paths you can take as you'll only have primitive techniques and tools available to you. If you can find a good location in the wild to build a home and a good food supply, and find the resources to expand, you may be able to make it. However, in areas such as technology, you'll always be a major disadvantage to cultures as you'll be limited to your starting technology as well as any caches you may come across.
As An Adventurer
An adventurer sees towns merely as hubs. They may go to towns to find missions, hire companions, relax, sell loot, and buy new gear. Your time is mostly spent away from towns whether exploring for lost relics, accomplishing missions, or locating new towns to gain access to even more missions. As you're generally working with towns, you'd gain access to any advancements they make, while generally having a good reputation handling their various missions. However, you live a dangerous life in which a dangerous creature, a misplaced step, or a cunning trap may result in your death.
As A Citizen
So maybe you want to settle in to a town. Perhaps you like knowing that you're generally safe from the dangers of the wild, or you want to design that perfect house to live in, or maybe you want to start a family. A citizen's first step is purchasing a lot of land, then getting a "home" core block. From there, its up to you as to how to build the home to your specifications. Once settled in, you're free to do what you like. You could find a job to generate some funds. You could find that special someone and begin a courtship to eventually start a family. You could even get involved with the politics of the town itself to ensure that decisions being made are in your best interests. However, bear in mind that with a home comes responsibilities such as paying taxes, acting proper, and showing up for work in the job you've chosen. Otherwise you stand the risk of being jailed, your home being taken down, and you being banished from the town.
As A Soldier
So the life of a soldier interests you? You love combat, and want to be involved in it whenever possible. Well, just remember that a soldier is not all combat. Taking this job in town would establish your home in the town's barracks, give you standard issue gear, and put your under the command of the general. During your stay as a soldier, you may get such "interesting" jobs as patrolling standing guard at various points around town. However, as you gain more reputation with the town, you may start getting the more action-based jobs such as patrolling the area of influence, patrolling hostile borders, guarding caravans on trade routes, and being involved in major battles throughout the world. Depending upon the current assignments, this can range from being as dangerous as an adventurer, to as simple as a citizen, but ensures that you have a place to live, a steady amount of income, good gear, and a constant list of objectives to accomplish.
As A Politician
You noticed some of the other politicians were making some "questionable" decisions that began to affect your standard of living, so you took a stand and applied for office. Once you win a position (through various means, shady or otherwise), you are given the political power to control certain aspects of the town. It is up to you decide just much control you are going to apply. For instance, an "economics" position may control how the market functions, or the taxes applied to all businesses within the town. A good politician may ensure that they are taxed fairly, while a greedy politician may apply a heavy tax in order to line his own pockets so more (perhaps even embezzling money on top of it all). A politician is an extension of a citizen, where you will get paid based on the complexity of the office, but you would still live within your own home (with the exception of the mayor).
As A Mayor
The mayor is the head of state for each town. They make final decisions during any political meeting, vote on new office positions, and control the town itself through various measures. Their main interface is their desk which allows you to switch to the "Mayoral View" and begin controlling the fate of your town. When in the mayoral view, you can define the locations where homes, businesses, and manufacturing facilities can be built through lots (where citizens would then purchase lots and build their own buildings on them). You can also define the infrastructure of the town (from roads in early stages, to power lines in later ages), special buildings (such as the barracks for the military), defenses (such as walls), and terrain (such as city beautification, or making adjustments to the terrain such as for moats). Any citizens that specifically work for the town can then be assigned to carry out these tasks. This can be a very hands on or a very hands off job. At early ages, you are doing a lot of the heavy lifting yourself, while later ages can have advisors handled various aspects of the town management (similar to how the AI mayors handle towns on their own). However, generally the mayor can do no wrong so it gives the player the ultimately control over a town and how it runs. The mayor has the option of living in a special portion of the town hall, and they can define a special home for themselves if their town hits certain milestones.
As A Cultural Leader
A cultural leader is generally the mayor of the culture's capital. At the start, there is only one town so there is no special functionality, but as the culture expands to many towns (both on the planet and throughout the universe in space-faring ages), the leader can define many aspects of how the culture functions. This can include what towns should be focusing on with research, various major trade routes, locations to found new towns, and generally how each of the mayors of each town should behave. Cultural leaders can define a palace for themselves if their culture hits certain milestones.
Conclusion
We could go on and on about various other possibilities, but these were some of the big ones that stood out. The nice thing about Imagine Nations is that you can do any of these, or none of these. You can start out as an adventurer, then use the funds you obtained to settle down in a wealthy-looking home, meet someone nice, and start a nice family. You could then invest into a business and grow it to heights to further sustain your finances. You could use this influence to become a mayor and build the town into a giant metropolis. Then, you can get bored and go back to being an adventurer. You're never locked into one style of play.
- The Imagine Nations Team
Imagine Nations Kickstarter Campaign
Imagine Nations on Steam Greenlight
