Gods of Rome (Gladiator WIP)

Before I started working on Argus, I was actually building this game where you play a gladiator in Ancient Rome (around 122AD). You could be a man or woman, heterosexual or homosexual, one of 9 different cultures (Rome, Gaul, Spain, Britannia, Goth, Macedon, Carthage, Egypt and Judea,) and play as a fighter with a focus on one of 4 builds: Strength, Dexterity, Agility, and Charisma.

As a new and relatively-unknown gladiator, fighting in the backwater districts of the Empire, your equipment is going to change during every fight. The host of the games decides your equipment, but if you survive long enough to earn the admiration of the crowds, you can choose a “signature” weapon(s), armor, and accessory. These become as much a part of your image as anything else, really.

You work your way up from the bottom, beginning in the small arena of Arretium and eventually showcasing the main events in Rome. When you’re purchased as a slave, you start as the 5,500th ranked gladiator in all the realm, so there’s a ton of competition - but rising through the ranks isn’t as hard as you may think. Just takes a bit of talent…

I’ll be updating this on the regular, just as I do with Argus. I work from home, so I usually have a ton of free time on my hands. Until then, you all know the drill! I’d love to hear any feedback from you - questions, comments, suggestions, criticisms?

Enjoy.

LINK: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/207984753/Gods%20of%20Rome/web/index.html

11 Likes

I like it so far keep up the good work.

Customary grumblings about the “egalitarian” nonsense aside, I do see much potential in this game. Only two points: Firstly, there was a reference to heavy boots at one point, which induced raised eyebrows, since the Romans wore sandals, even when they were stationed in Scotland(!); And secondly, just to comment that I was rather amused by the No. of Concubines, and Bastard Children stat… Certainly, an eye-catching measure.

Bug spotted:

line 107: increasing indent not allowed, expected 5 was 6

@Drazen Sandals in Scotland? What sort of sickos were they…?

@Ramidel Where did you spot that bug?

@Proff They were also, for all intent and purposes, vegetarians, if that answers your question.

@Drazen It’s no wonder they fell into chaos. o.O

I’m kidding. I love you, vegetarians.

Error when I clicked on choose Decima as a name.

Wow, you folks are REALLY fast at debugging. Thank you so much! Fixed it and updated the link, above. :smiley:

Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing more.

I did feel that “bastard children” should be renamed “slave children” because the children of concubines are the owner’s property, but that’s my urge to quibble speaking.

How much will our origin come into play, if at all?

Your origin will mostly be flavor for lore and dialogue options, but I don’t think there will be any statistical advantages to choosing one or the other.

Bastard children is sort of a weird idea I’m throwing in there, just to see where it goes. It may not even stay in for the full-game. Not sure, yet. Either way, nothing wrong with experimenting.

@Proff “nothing wrong with experimenting”
Isn’t that what Heim said?

I kind of like the Idea of bastard children Despite not being 100% accurate with history but then again it is your game.

@Drazen No, he didn’t say that. Don’t be ridiculous. :wink: He said “nichts falsch mit experimentieren.”

And yeah, Bastards and Concubines aren’t really in-line with historical fact, but they add to the whole “Status” system, which ultimately determines your end-game result.

This game is great keep up the good work.

I love the idea and the setting of the story. However, I am not a huge fan of gender interchangeability as I think it just comes across as silly in combat heavy games. It just seems as if the authors of such games are just trying to pander to a small, yet vocal minority of fans on this site. I highly enjoyed Sabres of Infinity (mainly due to the awesome story and writing…but) partially because the author refused to pander and make a cookie cutter female role in a situation where it is laughable to imagine one. That being said, it is your game and your decision as to how your story is structured. I am excited with what I have read so far and will probably buy the game upon release.

I wholeheartedly agree with the above, from @fo694013.

If he doesn’t make it gender interchangable, there are going to be a lot of angry people. I’m not one of them.

Well, while most gladiators were men, there are a few references in historical record that show females may have indeed competed. That’s contested though, and it’s not worth debating.

I always do pander to the audience. I’ll admit it. It’s just what feels right, because gamers come in many shapes and sizes.

If I ran across an interesting game and then discovered I could only play a female, or a gay person, or a native in the African bush, (or a gay native girl in Central Africa,) it wouldn’t ward me away from playing it necessarily, but it wouldn’t be as inviting. Immersion is an important element to any game’s value, and it would be way more difficult to get immersed in a game like that, given the fact that I am a straight white guy. It could be done! Don’t get me wrong. I’ve played plenty of female characters in World of Warcraft and actually enjoyed my awkward, steamy romance with Anders in Dragon Age 2.

@Proff True enough, the Romans were fairly egalitarian with their slaughter, at times. Success as gladiators, though, has never, ever been reported.