Designed by Rutam Rane
Commandos Imperial Glory Praetorians Eidos Pyro Studios
Pre Imperial Glory interview, (Page 1/2)
Please tell us who you are and what your function is at Pyro Studios.

We are different people answering these questions:
- François Coulon works as the Executive Producer for Imperial Glory
- Íñigo Vinós works as PR and Marketing Manager.

A lot of people compare this game to Rome: Total War. What are the similarities, but much more important, what makes this game different from RTW?

FC: It’s true that Rome TW has been a source of inspiration and that there are similarities between the two games (turn based strategy game, 3D real time battles) but I believe that both games have a different approach. Being released some months after RTW, it would be unfair to compare Imperial Glory with Rome, which is a great game. Let’s just say that with the time of history we chose as initial setting, with the birth of the first modern nations (early XIXth century) the kind of relations you can have with your neighbors are different (diplomacy, economy, etc…) than in the Roman time.

Can you tell us something about the campaign map? Is it going to be point to point moving or province to province moving? And how does diplomacy and resource management work?

FC: It’s divided into 51 land provinces and 31 maritime areas and reflects Europe and North Africa over the period during the Napoleonic Wars. You will move from province to province.

Diplomacy – there is a dedicated Diplomacy screen on which you may engage in various actions: Form coalitions and defensive alliances; request right of passage; improve relations with other countries; declare war; make peace; sign commercial treaties; send and request military aid; arrange marriages... Not all options will be available from the start – some need to be researched on the Research Tree. Certain actions, such as state Marriages, are only available to those following certain governmental systems.

Resources – divided into Gold, Food, Raw Materials, Population and Research Points. These are generated per turn in the provinces that you own and can be increased by building certain constructions and researching Advances. You may also earn more money through commerce, smuggling, taxation, customs duties – in various different ways...

We heard that even though America may not appear on the map, that’s not to say you won’t come into contact with her. Will you also come in contact with other parts of the world that are not on the map, and in what ways?

FC: You’ll come “in contact with other parts of the world” as you say, through some of the 16 quests (helping Simon Bolivar for instance), but the main focus is really Europe and North Africa where you’ll be able to trade, develop diplomatic relations, and of course fight.

Commandos Imperial Glory Praetorians Eidos Pyro Studios
Commandos Imperial Glory Praetorians Eidos Pyro Studios
Will there be, apart from the single- and multiplayer mode, also some historical battles you can fight? Can you also tell us something about the side quests you can unlock?

FC: Apart from the campaign mode, there is also a quick game mode (where you can choose any province, and any kind of troop – or ship), a multiplayer mode, tutorials, and, as you said historical battles such as Waterloo, Friedland, Austerlitz, the battle of the Pyramids and the battle of Salamanca. All these battles will reflect the “as exact as the game engine allows it” (Iena was fought by more than 300.000 men!!) layout, original settings, composition of the different armies, as they were on the battlefield.

Do you concern getting things historically correct as important? For example, many history buffs don’t like the standardisation of the Empire’s uniform colours. Will there be an option to display the Empire’s uniforms as how they really were in that time?

FC: We’ve always been really concerned about being as accurate as possible. That’s why we have made a lot of research and worked with historian experts in this time period, to be sure we didn’t make outrageous errors. Though, we’re making a game, which means that the gameplay always comes first. Also, the game starts in 1789 but can end in 1840 (or even much later if there is no winner), so it was impossible for us to display the changes in uniforms for each army all over this time period, not mentioning the flags, borders, etc… without giving the player 3 full DVD to install and expending another two years working in the game. We saw on our forum a long debate between some history experts about the colour of the paint used on the English cannons wheels! It is sure some of them will not be pleased by the necessary adjustments we had to make to have a consistent and user friendly gameplay.

What types of multiplayer modes will the game feature, and how many people can connect to the game? Will the turn based side of the game also feature in MP? It might give problems when two players are fighting a battle, and another has to wait for it to be finished. How do you plan on fixing this, if present in the game?

FC: The Multiplayer mode will feature quick game battles as well as historical battles, but as you perfectly pointed it, the turn based system might be a problem for any player who has to wait for others to play. So we’ve decided no to include this in this mode. On the battle side, up to 4 players will be able to connect to the game, fighting two against two.

How is the AI? Will enemy units try to make use of the landscape the best they can? Is one type of unit smarter than another when it comes to using tactics, and can you change the difficulty level of the game?

FC: There are 3 different levels of difficulty, influencing the turn based system (diplomacy, economic, military, scientific, etc..) as well as the tactics used by the troops on the battlefields. To be more specific on the battlefield, all units have different behaviours according to their kind (artillery, cavalry, infantry), the composition of the army (some units will try to defend their artillery), the landscape (trying to take advantage of higher positions, investing houses, taking position behind natural barriers, etc.) and of course their experience on the battlefield (a unit of Blackwatch having already fought many battles will be for instance really hard to defeat). Also the AI will differ according to each map.

The battle AI was one of the big challenges for this game and we’re pretty happy with what we have. We wanted realistic behaviours, as well as smart tacticians, balanced units but also a game fun to play.

How much do weather conditions affect your units morale and such? Are there more factors that affect units’ morale, like replacements or the death of a General?

FC: We are not using the units’ morale as a factor in the game. The fatigue is a factor, and in that sense, the type of terrain will also affect the performance of the units. To give you an example you can’t run or have a cavalry charge where there is mud, snow, etc.

more continued on the next page
Pages : < back | 1 | 2 | next >

Participants : François Coulon and Íñigo Vinós.
Interviewers : TAFN Staff + Community Questions
Additional Credits : Simon Wells and his Eidos colleagues

Commandos Imperial Glory Praetorians Eidos Pyro Studios
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