By Bryfft
In one of our recent release announcements, we mentioned that the next era will be called the Early Gothic Era. This could have probably been anticipated based on the name of the final High Middle Ages technology – “Early Gothic Decorations”. However, the truth is that we haven’t truly decided until recently.
Today, we’re posting to update you on the development progress, and we’re happy to report that it’s well underway!
Journey through the (thematic) eras
As you may have noticed, each era is loosely themed after either a historical period or a specific geographical area within that given period of time. It has been quite “in your face” with eras like the Kingdom of Sicily or the Byzantine Era. Sometimes, it’s more subtle – the Feudal Age or High Middle Ages are both periods that could be based on at least some part of Europe – at least as far as the capital city goes. In our case, we chose to play with the Arthurian Legends for the former and feature the Holy Roman Empire’s Barbarossa and Romanesque architecture for the latter.
Artistic adventure
When it comes to the Early Gothic Era, we faced a similar decision, and we elected to theme the art based on our interpretation of Hungary in the Middle Ages. As always, we are taking some liberties in this interpretation, which should be kept in mind – we are not exactly an educational game! The main character taking us through the period will not be Hungarian, though. We will follow a new questline presented by Hildegard of Bingen – a German abbess known for her wide selection of works on various subjects, spanning from history to philosophy, science, and more.
A word on the city and the technologies
As far as the city itself goes, in addition to the usual upgrades to the homes and farms, the era also introduces new goods and, thus, new workshops. It seems we’ll proceed with a trio of the Jeweler, the Alchemist, and the Glassblower:
The military buildings are getting appropriate upgrades, too. Check out the Siege Barracks, which will be capable of building Wheeled Onagers:
The research tree will most likely feature the total of 44 new technologies of which 28 will be exclusively capital city-related. Think Flying Buttresses, Veterinary Science, or Gargoyle Drainage Systems. How about the remaining 16 technologies?
New directions
Well, the Arabian allied culture concluded with the High Middle Ages. Yes, we may choose to rename the final technology of the era from “Early Gothic Decorations” to “Arabian Consensus” – we’ve been a bit inconsistent there compared to the naming used in the previous eras, and it seems to bother some players. This has also led to rumors about our intentions to continue Arabia further. It wouldn’t be the worst idea – Arabia is beautiful and can be a lot of fun – but we won’t be doing that. We’ve got something new in store.
But more on that next time!
In the meantime, feel free to theorize in our Discord server – see you there! 🙂
Or… if you are interested in reading more about how we develop the game, check the Museum article.
Fiene 
RJ