Overview of League Of Empires

In this article we will discuss about:

1. Heart and Soul of League of Empires
2. Snares
3. Why LoE?
4. RTS Genre
5. Inspiration
6. Our Audience

Heart and Soul of League of Empires

If you strip down the project to its very basic core we are left with a ‘game’. It all boils down to a competitive activity, with a set of rules in which players are engaged in a challenge that provides entertainment and amusement. Players will also be rewarded by successfully surpassing the challenges set before them.

Competition can occur on two basic levels: Player vs. Player and Player vs. Computer. The Player vs. Player aspect will make it very important for the game to have a set of identities (civilizations) that are both balanced and unique. This is useful for providing a sustainable multiplayer experience. Player vs. Computer will require to have a deep and strategic understanding of the game in order to play with different levels of difficulty for the AI which simulate the actions and reactions of a human player. This is useful for providing a fun and engaging single player experience.

The rules of the game are intended to offer players a wide variety of choices to make. The more choices we allow, the greater the depth of strategy the game can offer. It is important that the variety of choices is vast enough to allow the player to choose from an array of actions — each having a unique set of repercussions. And LoE offers a vast variety of choices and strategies to deploy. Some of them even more than many RTS games in traditional gaming industry..

Combat will be the focus of the competition. Economic and diplomatic actions will be used to forward militaristic actions. Every entity in the game will have a specific purpose and use. Much like in the game of chess, each piece on the board has a specific role in a game. Also like chess, a player who ‘thinks ahead’ and can ‘set up’ an opponent will benefit from such actions.

This interactive/real-time contest should challenge the mind and avoid boring repetitive actions. Therefore, players will view the following actions as fun:

• A triumphant assault
• Successfully repelling an attack
• Creation of your base
• Setting up your economy
• Outwitting an opponent by using the correct technology
• Advancing your civilization
• A come-from-behind victory
• Proper use of formation in a battle
• Effective raiding
• Acquiring territory
• Recreation of civilizations
• Reversing outcome
• Advancing a unit to a higher level of rank
• Creating scenarios for others to play
• Forming alliance with another human player against a common enemy
• Diplomacy
• Bartering and Trade

When a player is given an obstacle to overcome and they accomplish their goal, they will be rewarded. It will be the reward that encourages them to continue playing. The more they play, the more parts of the game they will ‘unlock’.

Snares

It is very easy for a game to fall prey to many of the common mistakes that prove disastrous to the games in the RTS genre. We have ensured to keep our guard up and avoid these pitfalls:

• Fastest click wins — In many RTS games, it isn’t the player with the most intelligence or the best strategy that wins, it’s the player who a. knows the proper order of actions and b. carries them out the fastest. People that practice a general procedure that is usually rewarding and know keyboard shortcuts should be slightly advantaged, and they will still be required; but, if the opponent recognizes their ‘cookie cutter’ gameplay, they should easily be able to outwit them by identifying and countering the tactics with an effective counteractive strategy.
• Single path to victory — It seems to be a trend that games cater to a specific strategy that is frequently used to attain a victory. That could be rushing, turtling, booming, etc. We recognize all these methods as valid ways to win a game, and the game does not attempt to favor one over another. Players should be and will be able to successfully use (and adapt/change) any strategy to achieve a victory. This is a Real Time Strategy game and players can deploy any strategy they prefer to win the game.
• Sneaky Tricks — Many games overlook some aspects of gameplay that are unintentionally (by the game designers) used to a player’s advantage. Through many hours of gameplay testing, we have identified and eliminated these tricks.
• Frustration of Artificial Intelligence — It is important to minimize frustration when playing the game. The game is rigorously tested and we have kept ease of use and mastering the game as key elements of the game so that players’ frustration can be avoided.
• Confusing UI — It is very important to avoid handicapping gameplay by making the user interface so complicated that people are not capable of doing what they want to do, and stop playing the game because they can’t figure out how to control it. We are working on the interface that can be easily picked up by our target audience. It is critical to pay special attention to other games in our genre from which we will be drawing players. In addition to that, we have also added keyboard shortcuts so that players have to deal with the clicks as less as possible.
• Repetition — If you find yourself doing the same action over and over without thought, then we need to either eliminate or automate such an action. Linear repetitious procedures are meaningless and boring. Therefore, the AI is programmed in such a way that some of the repetitive tasks such as a citizen gathering wood can be automated during the gameplay.
• Overly Ambitious — Even though, we have been in the gaming industry for nearly a decade, I think it is very important for us to always remember that this is the first blockchain project we have ever done. Much of the knowledge we have gained is based on trial and error. We will probably continue to forge forward in this fashion. We need to understand our limits and avoid getting fixed on them. Therefore, we have aimed to keep timelines as realistic as possible.
• Too much evaluation and IMC: Projects these days are too over valued and they spend a lot of money on the hype for the TGE without a real project in the background. At LoE, it is opposite. Main focus is on the game and almost all of the game development work has been done with in-house budget. The project started in September, 2021 and only in April 2022, we raised around a $100k for the private round. The total evaluation of the project is kept at $9,000,000 (9 million USD) leaving a lot of room for the growth in token’s price.

Why LoE?

What is in it for me? Why would someone play our game over another game? I think the largest factor in answering that question would be that the game is FREE and is a real game to play instead of click to earn type games. LoE is also the first Real Time Strategy game on blockchain. The game also offers NFTs which players can own, mint, evolve, upgrade and sell on the marketplace for profit.

Other than that, the game offers stunning graphics, a gripping storyline, real gameplay and leaves players with a thirst for the game that could not be quenched.

We have also included some features that will set us apart from the crowd and make the game unique:

• Element of History — Enables people from the modern world to re-live moments and engage in warfare and tactics as our ancestors did.
• Citizen Soldiers — There will be no standard villager unit. Instead, regular infantry and cavalry have not only military capabilities, but also economic, making them substantially more versatile than in typical RTS games.
• Unit Auto Upgrading — Citizen Soldiers will gain experience and automatically gain promotions. With each rank, they become stronger, and get a difference appearance.
• Units on Structures — Some garrisoned units will be visible on the battlements of structures or the decks of ships, and capable of firing on opponents at range.
• Realistic Ships — Ship gameplay will include a variety of new features, from a much larger scale, to ship capture, to sea rams, to a modular design that allows catapults to be stationed on the decks, and units to fire from the bows.
• More Multiplayer modes — The host will have a wide variety of game types and features to tweak when creating a game session, permitting the kind of gameplay that he most enjoys.
• Provinces and Territories — In some game types, the map is subdivided into Provinces that must be captured and annexed into a player’s territory in order to reap their valuable resources and construct forward bases in these areas. If the host wishes, a player’s starting Territory can also be surrounded by attrition borders to reduce early rushes.
• Real World Map Realism — Random Maps based upon geographical regions where the civilizations of the ancient world lived and ‘died’. These are generated with biome specific-to-location features that replicate (as best we have researched) the look and feel of the world as it existed throughout the known history. This provides for further player immersion into the game.

RTS Genre

A real-time strategy (RTS) game is a type of game where players progress simultaneously with each other in “real-time” as opposed to taking turns. A real-time strategy game may also be referred to as a real-time war game. RTS games generally have four main elements. These are units, buildings, technologies and resources. All of these elements are deliberately, progressively and systematically created or generated by the players during the game.

Some of the most popular RTS game series include “StarCraft”, “Warcraft”, “Command and Conquer”, “Company of Heroes”, “Warhammer” and “Age of Empires”.

In RTS games, players assume the role of a commander, architect and logistician. RTS games can be sedating experiences with the layering of organizational challenges. As a comparison, in TBG (Turn-based games) and RPG (Role-playing games), a player has control over only one single powerful unit called “hero” or “champion”. In such games, players usually don’t have a direct control over the progression, development and creation of their gameplay; instead, these “heroes” march forward along set paths or play the same repetitive levels.

RTS games are more than just games or idle ways to pass the time; they are playgrounds for exercising the mind, and they do so in ways that few other genres can. Among other things, playing RTS can strengthen skills like self-analysis, critical thinking, planning and decision making, and reinforcing a proactive and positive approach to life and challenges.

Developers do not seem to be content to further the traditional RTS in the same vein as Age of Empires, Command and Conquer, Red Alert, and Warcraft II. Though some are fleeing, we are going to stake a claim in the RTS genre. LoE has incorporated some of the innovations in the game. This includes:

1. Less tedious/mindless micro-management
2. More strategic thinking
3. Greater stress on planning, formations, and tactics
4. Choices, Choices, and more Choices
5. Enhancing the multiplayer experience

Innovation (nowadays) is not “amazing 3D graphics” or “hundreds of units”. Those are now merely the standard by which an RTS or any good game is measured; a rite of passage. LoE is more than stunning graphics. It is a game that players will play for hours without getting bored. Something which click to earn games can never offer.

Inspiration

Here is a rundown of commonalities with other games and inspiration.

• Age of Empires — Historical era & civilizations
• Age of Kings — Basic combat system
• Rise of Nations — Territories
• Generals — Ranks
• Warcraft III — Heroes
• Praetorians — Units in trees
• Knights of Honor — Units on structures
• Civilization — Technology ‘tree’

Our Audience

The players we are targeting will likely have one of the following traits:

• An interest in past time period and/or civilizations
• Ancient warfare
• ‘Age of Empires’ gamers
• RTS buffs
• Map Explorers
• Single Player campaign players
• Online Multiplayers
• NFT enthusiasts
• People who want to make a living while playing the game.