[GDN] What’s the fascination with Rome over at Haemimont Games AD? A full 80% of games revolve around it.

[HM] Throughout the history of the ancient world one nation stands out as the greatest civilization of that time, unsurpassed for hundreds of years. Rome’s contribution to warfare, law, architecture, art and literature has influenced the world for thousands of years.

The history and culture of Ancient Rome holds the fascination of many people to this day. That is why our two most successful series – Celtic Kings and Imperium Romanum are based on this time period. However while Celtic Kings focuses on the military history of the ancient world, Imperium Romanum is based on the cultural and architectural glory of the Roman

[GDN]There’s a heavier military system in IR2, what prompted the increase in the martial side of the game?

[HM] In many city builders, including the original Impeirum Romanum, the military aspect feels somewhat underdeveloped, like an afterthought to the core gameplay.

The battles in IR were often criticized by the reviewers and we agree that there is a lot of ground for improvement in this area. The decision to add multiplayer mode also prompted for deeper and more interesting military system.

We are adding more crunch to the battles with a system for gaining experience and leveling up, a larger variety of units and interaction between the persistent player character and his troops.

The five prominent Roman families (gens) are not unlike factions or races in traditional RTS games - each family allows different "builds" and strategies to win the day on the battlefield.

Last, but not least, we completely revamped the military interface, allowing better control over the units and smoother learning curve.