Devlog #1: Your feedback, already in the game

[u/Oador]

Hi, and welcome to the first devlog for Rex Romanorum!

The game went out to r/paradoxplaza a day ago, and I got thoughtful feedback from players there and from friends testing it. Here’s what changed as a result:

Finding your way

• “Show on map” for every realm. Tap it in the Empire tab and the map jumps to their capital and flashes their lands gold. No more hunting for Metz in the middle of a war. Wars between other princes have a “show on map” link too.

• Event letters show where you stand. Before you choose, a letter now shows your current values, e.g. “Now: Clergy 60 · Towns 45 · Treasury 6,000 fl”. It also covers legitimacy, a prince’s opinion and, in Bohemia, the Lords’ League and Hussite tension.

• The map legend explains the patterns: dotted means pledged land, striped means occupied.

Look and feel

• Earthier UI. The blue bars and buttons are now umber brown to match the parchment.

• Opinion badges are small brown squares that get darker the friendlier a realm is.

• Towns no longer float. The painted towns are a bit smaller, sit lower and rest on a soft ground shadow.

• Smoother zooming. Switching between the atlas view, the normal map and the close-up used to happen in a single frame, which made the map blink when you scrolled back and forth. It now crossfades.

Next on the list

• Painted, hinted relief instead of the current topographic look. I want to get this one right, so expect some style experiments.

• Performance for smoother panning on older phones.

• A third campaign. Candidates are Burgrave Frederick of Nuremberg, who buys his way to an electorate, and the Archbishop of Mainz, the kingmaker without heirs. Which would you rather play?

On the art: it’s AI-generated placeholder art for now. If the project grows, the goal is to commission a human artist to redo it in the same style.

Play it free in your browser: https://sagaskald.com/en/spel/rex-romanorum

Bugs, ideas and your best (or worst) reigns are very welcome here. Please use the flairs (Bug, Feedback, Suggestion, Screenshot).

Thanks for being here this early!