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[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Thank you! That means a lot

Re: the idea, it's a very interesting one. The game is indeed rendered as coloured text, which is made each time something needs drawing. The fonts I largely made myself (they contain some custom parts, though some parts are based on general free tilesets) and, whilst I might one day add a 14x14 or something for people with monitors that can fit it on, I fear the suggestion isn't workable - they are distinct letter characters, not "images" in their own right (as you suggested) and the system (and Python library) I use wouldn't be able to anti-alias them or shrink down a larger version. I can understand what you mean about how it could look, but I think it would remove a bit of the ANSI aesthetic

[antoniodamala]

The coolest ansi & ascii art i've seen to this date. Just plain gorgeous. Sadly i'm not much into simulation, but good luck all the way.

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

The coolest ansi & ascii art i've seen to this date. Just plain gorgeous. Sadly i'm not much into simulation, but good luck all the way.

Thank you very much for both - I can't wait to get started on the next version, but the day job calls...

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Flag generation about 75% done. Some of the nicest ones generated so far:

[gimymblert]

Did they have "meaning", flag have meaning, if for example you derive them from the parameter of the object you derive them from

[Ouren]

Did they have "meaning", flag have meaning, if for example you derive them from the parameter of the object you derive them from

oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man please?

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Did they have "meaning", flag have meaning, if for example you derive them from the parameter of the object you derive them from

oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man please?

I debated this. Coats of arms, for instance, will be *very* closely tied to the family that generates them. What they are known for, where they live, what empire they are in, how large they are, and a number of other factors will tie into the iconography of the coats.

However, the meaning of flags is a) so often hidden even to those who know about the country (what does 'red' represent for this country?) and b) differs according to country. I didn't think it realistic that all nations would have the same rationale for what-colour-means-what, and if they all had different logics, then that would be indistinguishable from entirely random colours! Thus, the colours are random. But coats of arms will be very un-random, as it were.

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Today's blog entry, with a detailed plan for 0.3.x:

http://www.ultimaratioregum.co.uk/game/2012/12/10/onwards-to-0-3-x/

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Things are still ticking over; now working on history generation. Here's an example of "year 0" territories:



Full size at http://www.ultimaratioregum.co.uk/game/files/2012/12/Valid3.png

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

And here's an example of a completed territorial world:



Full size: http://www.ultimaratioregum.co.uk/game/files/2012/12/Valid1695.png

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

The final development blog entry of 2012: http://www.ultimaratioregum.co.uk/game/2012/12/24/holiday-musings-and-1700-years-of-history/

[Scut Fabulous]

Will there be any options for the territory generator to allow for unclaimed wilderness or no-man's-lands?  I suppose the modelling of territory snatch-up could be halted at some point to allow for those unclaimed interstitial regions.

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Will there be any options for the territory generator to allow for unclaimed wilderness or no-man's-lands?  I suppose the modelling of territory snatch-up could be halted at some point to allow for those unclaimed interstitial regions.

It currently has that option, actually; only nomadic civs are particularly interested in desert/tundra regions, whilst agricultural civs are unlikely to expand outside agricultural locations (these changes have been made since I first posted that image). Also, nobody goes into the extreme polar regions, though that's not to say they are *entirely* empty...

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Another devblog entry, at last, with religious icons, policies, history, territory, and lots more goodness:

http://www.ultimaratioregum.co.uk/game/2013/01/07/history-generation-i/

[eigenbom]

The cult of the Tie Fighter at coord (2,3).

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

The cult of the Tie Fighter at coord (2,3).

Ha, yes! Hadn't spotted that. Hmm... I'll leave it in. It's a rare enough possibility, especially after I finish religious icons (there's still a good 50% I want to add in).

[eobet]

Holy crap, this looks epic!

But why can't anyone who creates these huge games also create a user interface that doesn't come from 1980?

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Holy crap, this looks epic!

But why can't anyone who creates these huge games also create a user interface that doesn't come from 1980?

You're the only person who hasn't praised the URR UI as being a breath of fresh-air compared to Dwarf Fortress etc . Is the lack of mouse support the issue? I've actually been trying very, very hard to make it as clear, pristine, and explanatory as possible.

[eobet]

Holy crap, this looks epic!

But why can't anyone who creates these huge games also create a user interface that doesn't come from 1980?

You're the only person who hasn't praised the URR UI as being a breath of fresh-air compared to Dwarf Fortress etc . Is the lack of mouse support the issue? I've actually been trying very, very hard to make it as clear, pristine, and explanatory as possible.

If your target audience is rogue fans only, then sure it may be a breath of fresh air (but then again... Stone Soup?). However, if your target audience is everyone else, then sorry, but lack of mouse support is just one of the multitude of issues.

But since it seems that your target audience are Dwarf Fortress players, just ignore me (since I'm clearly not someone who is supposed to play this). I'll just look at screenshots and enjoy player stories without actually ever playing it, just as I do with Dwarf Fortress.

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Holy crap, this looks epic!

But why can't anyone who creates these huge games also create a user interface that doesn't come from 1980?

You're the only person who hasn't praised the URR UI as being a breath of fresh-air compared to Dwarf Fortress etc . Is the lack of mouse support the issue? I've actually been trying very, very hard to make it as clear, pristine, and explanatory as possible.

If your target audience is rogue fans only, then sure it may be a breath of fresh air (but then again... Stone Soup?). However, if your target audience is everyone else, then sorry, but lack of mouse support is just one of the multitude of issues.

But since it seems that your target audience are Dwarf Fortress players, just ignore me (since I'm clearly not someone who is supposed to play this). I'll just look at screenshots and enjoy player stories without actually ever playing it, just as I do with Dwarf Fortress.

No, no, I want to know! I'm not being funny, I'm genuinely interested. I don't intend to add mouse support just yet (though I haven't ruled it out), but for a keyboard-only game, I consider the UI one of its strong points. I don't really consider a lack of mouse support a problem anyway, given the billions of console games that do fine without it, but I'd really like to know what you think the other problems are, if you'd be willing to write them down. Is one of them the huge number of keys required?