DALLAS – 24th March 2022 – Soren Johnson, design director of Mohawk Games and lead designer of Old World and Sid Meier's Civilization IV, presented a postmortem analysis of his hit strategy game Old World at this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC).
Johnson, founder of indie studio Mohawk Games, described the technical and creative challenges of designing a new 4X turn-based historical game under the shadow of his prior titles.
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With Old World, Johnson and Mohawk Games set out to reinvigorate the historical 4X genre by reducing thematic scope and removing rote decisions to make room for procedural characters and narrative. Among the ideas that made the final cut are fixed city locations, family trees, and a dynamic story engine that enabled the creation of over 3,000 events, each with their own unique triggers and effects.
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The design team at Mohawk rebuilt the 4X genre with a focus on improving the player experience while adding new content in the right places and increasing variety, texture, and depth to the game without bloating the design. In the process, they reexamined and often rejected genre conventions, including the deterministic tech tree, the diplomatic bargaining table, and the conventional citizen tile yield model.
Two of the most innovative decisions were the addition of an undo button -- allowing players to rewind their last action or even an entire turn -- and the creation of an Orders system, which removes the classic turn-based strategy requirement to move every unit every turn in favour of a collective pool of movement shared by all units in a faction.
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The presentation is titled "My Elephant in the Room: An 'Old World' Postmortem", and can be seen here on GDC's website.
Old World can be wishlisted on Steam and GOG, and is out now on the Epic Games Store. Assets and info about the game can be found on the press kit. For press inquiries, please contact press@hoodedhorse.com.
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About Old World™:
Set in classical antiquity, Old World is a historical 4X turn-based strategy game where players select a historical leader to guide their civilization. Leaders are mortal, and once they die, the dynasty’s future depends on their heir. Old World is currently released on the Epic Games Store and is scheduled for release on Steam and GOG in Spring of 2022.
About Mohawk Games™:
Mohawk Games, Inc. is a Baltimore, Maryland development studio led by Leyla and Soren Johnson, the lead designer of Sid Meier's Civilization IV and co-lead designer of Sid Meier's Civilization III. Mohawk Games previously released Offworld Trading Company and is currently developing content for Old World. Mohawk Games be found at its website, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Discord, and Twitch.
About Hooded Horse™:
Hooded Horse Inc. is a publisher of strategy, simulation, and role-playing games based in Dallas, Texas. Hooded Horse is the publisher of Terra Invicta, developed by Pavonis Interactive; Alliance of the Sacred Suns, developed by KatHawk Studios; Falling Frontier, developed by Stutter Fox Studios; Old World, developed by Mohawk Games; The Way of Wrath, developed by Animmal; Fata Deum, developed by 42 Bits Entertainment; and Fragile Existence, developed by Fragile Continuum. Hooded Horse can be found at its website, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Discord.