There are few issues I really like greater than videogames and historic historical past. Builders make digital worlds that assist us climb by means of an open window into the previous, the place historic accuracy and artistic license mix to provide a dwelling, respiration approximation of a bygone period. No different medium can handle it and even real-world archaeological websites are only a reminiscence of their former selves. With the metropolis administration of Cities Skylines and the historic accuracy of Murderer’s Creed, Pompeii: The Legacy is an upcoming metropolis builder on the forefront of digital historical past. To be taught extra I chatted with Siscia Video games’ solo developer Zeljko Kos. Belief me, this can be a sport it’s good to control.
What if Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 AD left sufficient for us to rebuild? That’s the central thesis of Pompeii: The Legacy, because it duties you with commanding a household that governs the town over a number of generations. Similar to with Cities Skylines, it’s good to analysis and develop your metropolis, however this time you’ve acquired pure disasters and the philosophy of the Roman empire to deal with.
“I’ve all the time been fascinated by Roman historical past,” Kos tells me. “Pompeii, particularly, stood out due to its distinctive place in time. It was a metropolis frozen within the aftermath of Vesuvius’s eruption. The concept of rebuilding Pompeii after such a tragic occasion actually appealed to me as a city building game idea.”
The Roman area in Pula, Croatia is near the place Kos lives, and the extremely well-preserved historic monument offered them with all of the inspiration they wanted. “The truth that I may contact the identical stones the gladiators touched throughout their battles intensified my need to make this sport to the fullest.”
Similar to how what survives of Pompeii as we speak is a mix of two,000-year-old stone, persevering with excavation tasks, and fashionable infrastructure, Kos has regarded to each the classics and fashionable hits of the town constructing style for inspiration. Whereas I prefer to name Pompeii: The Legacy an historic Cities Skylines, there’s a lot extra to it.
“There are a number of video games which have impressed me through the years, particularly traditional metropolis builders like Caesar 3, Caesar 4, and Pharaoh,” Kos explains. “I’ve all the time admired the stability between metropolis administration and historic context that these video games achieved. I’ve additionally been impressed by extra fashionable metropolis builders like Banished and Patron (which I used to be concerned in growing), the place useful resource administration and strategic decision-making are key.”
That’s greater than 20 years of style historical past baked into Pompeii: The Legacy, by no means thoughts the 2 millennia between us and the precise metropolis’s destruction. Whereas Pompeii was frozen in time after Vesuvius erupted, Kos’ recreation will maintain evolving. You are taking cost of 1 household throughout a number of generations, and identical to with the development of expertise in Civilization, in Pompeii: The Legacy you watch historical past unfold proper at your fingertips.
“As gamers progress by means of the sport, Pompeii will evolve throughout a number of generations,” Kos explains. “The town’s structure will change—there are a number of visually distinct ranges of homes that can evolve over time—the inhabitants will develop, and new challenges will emerge. Within the early phases of the sport, gamers will focus extra on communal points equivalent to safety and water provide, whereas later phases will shift towards extra philosophical and social issues. A very fascinating interval might be when Marcus Aurelius involves energy, throughout which Stoicism could have an affect.”
“Gamers will even expertise shifts in Roman politics, commerce, and social dynamics, which is able to affect their metropolis’s growth. Every technology presents new alternatives and challenges, making the sport really feel like a dwelling, evolving world.”
So whereas most videogame worlds act like images, frozen in time regardless of your interactions, Pompeii is all the time shifting. It doesn’t matter what you obtain historical past marches on, and it’s as much as you to adapt the town to make sure its survival. This goes for Mount Vesuvius too, as a result of as historical past’s taught us, 79 AD wasn’t the one eruption. So when you may be accountable for the town correct, there’s a sure 1,200-meter volcano which may have one thing to say about that.
“Vesuvius will even play a big position, performing because the true ruler of Pompeii, able to inflicting immense injury to the town and the participant with a single eruption,” Kos says. “It is going to be fascinating to see how gamers’ understanding and strategy to the mountain evolve as they try to develop their metropolis.”
Pompeii: The Legacy’s pure disasters would require you to behave swiftly, however different in-game occasions may be mitigated through cautious planning. Information of locust swarms and rebellions throughout the empire might be identified nicely upfront, however fires and eruptions are way more sudden. “Gamers can put money into analysis or infrastructure that can assist them higher put together for volcanic exercise or commerce disruptions. This stability retains gamers on their toes whereas nonetheless permitting them to plan for the longer term.”
Pure disasters aren’t the one menace although, as you’ll nonetheless must deal with different societies that need a piece of Pompeii. “There might be RTS-style battles the place gamers can defend their metropolis or take part in Roman navy campaigns,” Kos explains. Pirates and revenge-seeking insurgent troopers will need the town for themselves. There are even automated navy campaigns that your loved ones might want to go on, organized by the Emperor.
For those who’re in opposition to the violence and would quite give attention to the cityscape itself although, there’s additionally a peaceable mode with none of the fight. Then, if you wish to go a step additional and construct Pompeii “with out worrying about analysis, bonuses, or the story,” artistic mode provides you much more freedom.
There’s even more to learn about Pompeii: The Legacy forward of launch, however Kos already has loads deliberate. Between the evolving world, pure disasters, navy conquests, and a plethora of choices, this might be in contrast to any metropolis builder we’ve performed earlier than.
Siscia Video games has a first-look preview of Pompeii: The Legacy scheduled for December, with the launch deliberate for someday within the third quarter of 2025. You possibly can wishlist the sport right here.
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