Nomads is a FLOSS RTS single-player game developped using the Godot Engine.
You control a small clan who must survive and ultimately thrive in a hostile environment. Along the way, you may run into other clans, natural disaster, fantastical beings or relics of the past.
The basic idea is that this is played much like a classic RTS, with a top-down view and units that can be individually controlled. Technologies will be researched, structures built, and the player will advance towards completion of his goal. The twist on the formula is that the environment is the first (and the last) enemy. Sandstorms, drought, animals, monsters and diseases will pop-up and try to derail the plans of the human player. Because resources are scarce, slow to replenish and not global (think Anno, not AoE), the player will have to move his clan around a map to discover new resources, leaving behind structures until they can return. The point will be to balance resource utilisation and resource regeneration, and players should slowly be able to "repair" the environment until they can leave their nomadic ways. Other clans may join or fight them, depending on the circumstances and the user choice.
Other elements untypical of RTS games are:
- a focus on having a relatively large and somewhat empty map, which the player must explore, but where things that were known might change (after a sandstorm, an earthquake, or other events...)
- I intend the rythm to be rather laid-back (or at least, not APM driven). Games might be several hours.
- limited number of characters. I don't really want the game to devolve into a city builder (which IMO Dawn Of Man quickly does for example).
- A more event and dialogue-driven gameplay. I intend this to feel vaguely rogue-like-like-like.
On some level, I'll be happy if this can be a commentary on climate change and our destruction of the planet.
I'm not planning on adding Multiplayer for now, though conceptually there's nothing that really prevents it.
Various game inspirations:
- The core RTS aspect is lifted from classic RTS like Age of Empires
- This will probably end up being somewhat similar to Dawn of Man in some respect.
- Paradox 4X/RTS games are an inspiration for some of the event-driven gameplay. Stellaris in particular heavily focues on exploration, and the idea of 'anomalies' is something I probably intend to replicate.
- FTL is the roguelike I've played most, so there might end up being similarities