"Victory belongs to the most persevering" - Napoleon Bonaparte

Welcome to Imperial Glory's Development Diary. I'm Álvaro Vázquez and I'm a member of the design team. At the moment, we're in the final stages of the project, polishing the last remaining aspects of the game to ensure that it meets the standards of quality that we intend. In this and subsequent issues of the diary, we will attempt to explain different aspects of the game. First, we'll take a look at the characteristics of the era in which it takes place.

"You must not fear death; defy him, and you drive him into the enemy's ranks" - Napoleon Bonaparte

Imperial Glory takes place during a time of great turmoil across the world. The game begins in July 1789 with the storming of the Bastille, symbol of the Monarchy's oppression. From that date and until the end of the Napoleonic wars the world evolved dramatically, finally to reach the contemporary era.

Throughout these years, Europe witnessed battles, wars and coalitions never before seen. A sense of liberty and patriotism was etched deeply into these events and thousands of men gave their lives for their ideals.

"One minute can decide the outcome of the battle, one hour - the outcome of the campaign, and one day - the fate of the country" - Field Marshal Suvorov

In my personal opinion, the Napoleonic wars were the last example of the heroic wars, where a soldier's determination and the strength of his arm could decide the outcome of the battle. Since then, military technology has progressed in such a way that fighting takes place at a distance. Machine guns, planes and rockets transformed war into a situation where the contenders never face each other. Moreover, as Napoleon said, "In war, as in love, we must come into contact..."

Some of the most famous generals in military history are of these times and Napoleon stands out above all others. Wellington himself greatly respected the Corsican's ability to command an army, likening it to having an additional force of 40,000 men on the battlefield.

Battles during these times were the culmination of political conflicts, in which everything could depend on the turn of one card. Defeat could mean the fall of an entire country under the enemy's boot; victory, supremacy over the continent. War was no longer an isolated phenomenon in which both sides faced each other in remote scenarios. War was now considered from a global point of view, involving not only great contingents of soldiers but also powerful navies. The net of alliances arranged prior to any battle now involved the whole continent for the first time and every fighting country was involved in the war effort like never before (thanks to the introduction of Conscription, Napoleon claimed he could afford up to 30,000 casualties per month).

"War is nothing more than the continuation of politics by other means" - Carl Von Clausewitz

Nevertheless, the beginning of the XIX century was not only an important time from a military perspective - the evolution from an almost feudal society to a contemporary one meant profound social changes; as well as great scientific advances which became possible thanks to the learned men of the Enlightenment movement. Exploration of the whole world was complete and every continent was involved in commercial dealings in an irreversible way. That is why in the game we have included the possibility to develop your country not only militarily, but also scientifically, commercially and politically.

Above all, in this era the importance of the human being was paramount. A humble cradle would no more mark a man's destiny. Anyone, no matter their social origins, could even be Emperor, in a time where kings were so "by the grace of God".

From the outset, our ambition was to infuse the game with not only the spirit of that age, but also the sensation of taking the reins of a country at the onset of the XIX century, in every detail of battle (land and naval), research, economy, etc.

This is why we have researched the age thoroughly. Have you read Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables"? Its detailed description of Waterloo was an inspiration for us when designing the battles. We also saw MANY movies dealing with this era, such as "The Patriot", "Barry Lyndon" and "Master and Commander"...

Needless to say, after our immersion in the era, we all became fans of it. The truth is, even though I've always been a war game person, I never had as much curiosity about Napoleonic times as I had after I started working on this project. The more I delved into the secrets of that time, the more exciting it became.

For all these reasons, we have been extremely careful when putting the units that took part in these wars, into the game. The French have the feared Imperial Guard, but the British can deploy the Black Watch, or the Austrians the Hungarian Hussars (considered the best cavalry of the time). The Egyptian Mamelukes, the famous Polish Lancers and Spanish Guerrillas are also in the game, among many other units.

However, we have tried to avoid the trap of making a History simulator instead of a game. Historically, a battle during that age was the result of a process that started months before with the planning of the campaign: the strategy, the recruitment, supplies, logistics, transportation, etc. We have simplified these elements to ensure that the player enjoys the game. We cannot forget that Imperial Glory is a videogame, so on occasion we allowed ourselves small licences to improve the game play.

This is a broad outline of where Imperial Glory began from. Over the coming issues of the diary, we will explain the different parts of the game. Thanks for your time and I hope I have succeeded in communicating our passion for this era to you.