NOTE: Right now, I've only a quick sketch. I will flesh this out later. This is a concept for a real-time strategy game similar to Age of Empires and Rise of Nations. In the game, you are in charge of a pre-colonial African tribe struggling to survive in a dangerous wilderness and are tasked with building it up into an empire and training an army to conquer your enemies. Economics There are four resources to gather: food, wood, stone, and metal. Food is the most important resource in the game. It can be gathered from berry bushes, hunted wild animals, fish, herdable cattle, or (when you research the technology) farms. Food is spent on training most units in the game. Keep in mind that your food stockpile will naturally decrease over time, the rate increasing with every unit you train. If you run out of food, your units' health will suffer attrition. Therefore you must maintain a steady supply of food. Wood is used for most buildings and is gathered from trees. Stone is used for larger buildings such as fortresses and is mined from rocks. Wood and stone can also be harvested from the rubble of destroyed buildings. Metal is used for some military units as well as technological research. It is mined from special ore-bearing rocks. You can also acquire metal by building a Market, training a Caravan unit from, and tasking it to move between your empire's Town Centers. The greater the distance the Caravan travels, the more metal is generated every time it stops at a Town Center. Food, wood, and stone can all be sold and bought at the Market in exchange for metal. Territory and Morale Territory is an aura radiating from your Town Centers. You can only construct buildings within territory you control. Territory also affects the morale of your troops. Your troops' morale level determines their speed, fighting efficiency, and (if they have ranged attacks) accuracy. Their morale will increase if they are in friendly territory and decreases when in enemy territory. To counter morale loss, you may train Generals, who have a weak attack, but can spend their energy to raise the morale of nearby troops. Training and Grouping Units are not represented by single individuals in African Kingdoms. Instead, one unit may consist of multiple individuals. The number of individuals within a unit may be increased by researching certain technologies. Keep in mind, though, that larger units consume more food from your stockpile. If players select multiple units, they may choose to group them together into a formation. Once a formation has been created, selecting any unit within it will select the entire formation. Units may be added to formations or expelled from them. Formations can also be disbanded. The concept of formations should allow you to more easily move large numbers of units. Wonders These are expensive buildings that you can construct once you have researched all technologies in the game. Upon completing the Wonder, a timer will start. If the Wonder is still standing when the Timer runs out, you win the game. Each civilization has a unique Wonder. Playable Civilizations You can play one of five pre-colonial African cultures in African Kingdoms: the Egyptians, Ethiopians, Mandinka, Ashanti, and Bantu. The Egyptians research technology more quickly and construct more durable ships and buildings. However, they have a weaker attack than the other civilizations, and their buildings take a longer time to construct. The Egyptian military units are the Nile Spearman, the Khopesh Swordsman, the Medjay Archer, the Chariot Spearman, and the Chariot Archer. The Egyptian Wonder is the Great Pyramid. For the Ethiopians, resources at the Market can be bought at lower prices and can be sold for higher prices. Their cavalry also have more hitpoints. However, Ethiopians consume food at a faster rate. The Ethiopian military units are the Quiyanw Spearman, the Saif Swordsman, the Qest Archer, the Mailed Horseman, and the powerful but expensive War Elephant. The Ethiopian Wonder is the Obelisk of Aksum. The Mandinka (the people responsible for the Empire of Mali in western Africa) train cavalry which have a stronger attack as well as cheaper archers. Mandinka Caravans also deposit more metal at Town Centers. However, cavalry are more expensive for the Mandinka, and their stone-gathering rates are also slower. The Mandinka train the Niger Spearman, Soninke Archer, Tamba Skirmisher, Ton-Tigi Ranged Cavalry, and Mandekalu Cavalry. The Mandinka Wonder is the Sankore Mosque. The Ashanti of western Africa are unique in the game because they have firearms, giving their ranged units the strongest attack in the game. The Ashanti also enjoy faster food-gathering rates and larger unit sizes. However, they lack cavalry and their firearms are often inaccurate. The Ashanti can train the Twafo Spearman, the Akwansrafo Scout (who has a gun), the Adonten Musketeer, and the Sika'dwa Bowman (who is particularly good against buildings). The Ashanti Wonder is the Kumasi Circle. The Bantu of southern Africa have stronger melee infantry, build cheaper buildings more quickly, and lose morale more slowly. However, they have no cavalry, and technological research is more expensive for them. They train the Iklwa Spearman, the Knobkerrie Clubman, and Assegai Javelineer. The Bantu Wonder is the Great Zimbabwe Enclosure. Random Maps Sahara: Lots of stone and metal, but little food or wood. Nile River: A river crossing a desert. Food and wood are concentrated near the river while stone and metal are found further out in the desert. Niger River: A river crossing a savanna. Similar to Nile Valley, but with more food and metal. Serengeti: Lots of food in the form of game, but other resources are more sparse. Congo: Lots of wood and food, but little stone or metal. Ethiopia: Mountainous region with abundant resources. Scrubland: Similar to Serengeti, but with more wood.

so....this is pretty much exactly like AOE...except different names for the civilizations. Although most RTS are direct copies of each other anyway.

Agreed sounds more like Age of Mythology then original age of empires(in that original age of empires didn't have the concept. However just building a rough game decision table it seems some races are quite imbalanced(which age of empires also never addressed much to dismay of AOE fans). Still the marketing aspect of the game by keeping everything in the African theme is quite evident. Good job on that :-)

You've definitely hit on a theme that is almost completely unexplored in gaming. All the games featuring Africa I've seen are from the perspective of Europeans exploring or conquering the place. What do you think about an AI controlled faction of raiders/traders that come from the sea, have superior technology but less numbers, and in some cases require the players to collaborate against?

@ snak_attack

That's a neat idea. Perhaps there could also be European-controlled outposts where you could hire mercenaries, a la native villages in Age of Empires III.

EDIT: Maybe you could also build Consulates where you can hire mercenaries, as you could in AoEIII's Asian Dynasties expansion pack.

@ owl

The game I had in mind encompasses all of pre-colonial African history and is meant for a wider audience than just black Americans. Also, a game focusing on the Oyo probably won't attract too many customers, since the Oyo people aren't as widely known as, say, the Egyptians, Mandinka, or Zulu.

As for your ideas about mythology, I want my game to be quasi-realistic, so I don't want to include anything more supernatural than priests healing injured units.

[Edited by - Kahotep on September 15, 2009 9:18:21 PM]

Constructive criticism, you need a better name than 'african kingdoms' ... kinda bland.

Now, your name 'Kahotep' would be a good name. "Kahotep" makes me think hmm, what's that about? "African Kingdoms" makes me think... generic empire sim clone.


just IMHO.

I'm curious more about the mechanics of collecting resources, especially wild game. Do you have to send out units to hunt? Do any particular units have an advantage for that? Or do you just have generic villagers that don't necessarily consume stockpiles do the hunting?