[jwdunne]

They released a Rome game on their older engine that's now quite dated. It was pretty fun and I'd recommend it.

Because they're so moddable, a total conversion would be possible. I know the mechanics are similar but the game of thrones mod is breathtaking (I recommend this too)!

A good place to start would be the time when Rome was merely a small kingdom and take it from there. Lots of Mediterranean based conflict with other civilisations like the Greeks, Egyptians, Estruscans, Carthage, etc. The end result might not even be a Roman Empire but, however unlikely, a Gaulish empire or a Carthaginian empire. That sounds like a lot of fun.

[eropple]

Yeah, I recall the old one (though TBH I thought it was not particularly great). I think it'd be fun to have a modern spin on it for sure, I just don't know how you put together the actual game and make it work. I tried to spec one out not that long ago and getting bogged down by trying to adequately represent, if not everything, then a reasonable subset thereof. The winnowing down of models of government and religious aspects into a more manageable few after the Western Roman Empire "fell" helps a lot from a design point of view.

[jwdunne]

No, it wasn't EU4 / CK2 / Stellaris grade. I just love the Roman period and RTW doesn't cut it (Caesar III satisfies city management in a way).

I guess I can't argue if you've sat down and tried to model it - the culling of establishment structures makes sense now.

Given me inspiration to take a stab, if only to come to your conclusion. A decent, historical early Rome grand strategy game is too much to let go of.

Hopefully an impetus to put some code down on a game I want to play.

[eropple]

Hey, go for it! It's a fun problem. Shoot me an email if you'd like to chat offline - email in profile.