It was called Imperator Online
http://www.imperatoronline.com/about/

Some of your ideas are very good, and I like that you think in larger social perspectives of the fictional world (this is often omitted in game stories and worlds).

[quote post="3442"]Personally I think that rifle needs an overhaul

Yes, I agree, although I believe the length is perfect.

I would like tos ee some kind of shaped shield technology/apparatus. I feel that man-to-man style figthing would still be the commonly accepted form of combat.[/quote]

Man to man fighting is cool and all, but a ranged fighting aproach has more benifits to taking out a soldier, and that the Romans would have made the change like the rest of the world did upon the invention of the fire arm.

Not saying that it is unrealistic in the game. A light-weight very strong shield would have some good benefits on the battle field, and that having a melee sword that detaches from the gun where it is used as a bayonet by default would be a good idea.

I think the key to remember in the battle field is that simplicity in a weapon means that less can go wrong, and it is easier to diagnose and fix it when it does.

To Thordin_Doomforge, that is a cool drawing. I can just see him as a Roman Marksman(their name for a sniper.) the gun is a little too long for a general infantryman. Just one question. Is that soldier meant to be left handed? certain elements of the picture lead me to guess he is.

Personally I think that rifle needs an overhaul

Yes, I agree, although I believe the length is perfect.

I would like tos ee some kind of shaped shield technology/apparatus. I feel that man-to-man style figthing would still be the commonly accepted form of combat.

Cool idea. I imagine a game like that to be a bit reminiscent of Warhammer 40K, only more serious because of the rich historical background.

Woah! Hang on, you’re saying WH40k doesn’t have rich historical background? As a fan I might almost find that offensive

I could elaborate on that, but I won’t unless someone really wants me to…

Back on topic, I always liked the roman armour and wondered what a modern version would look like.
TJ Frame once did a sketch along those lines.

http://img512.imageshack.us/my.php?image=republicanguardsmallfu7.jpg

Had to upload it since his site has been down for some time now. Personally I think that rifle needs an overhaul

During Roman times, the conquering general would return to Rome and take over the government….becoming emperor.

Would we want to chant, “Hail, Emperor Petreus!”?

What I would enjoy is if some talented concept artist decided to sue this as a profolio project.

Some of the feel of the games sounds similar to this game. And it does sort of sound like Halo. With the collective brain being like a Marathon/Halo AI.

I don’t think that the brains would be destroyed until the aliens had boarded the ship, and that the ship would carry a compliment of additional slaves for jumps. and for taking care of the more menial tasks.

There would need to be a system of how the ship navigates, and how could navigation be restored to the ship after they have to cripple the drive to prevent the enemy from finding Rome.

A way around this is that at the moment of transit, every conscious person onboard perceives the entirety of the universe around them. an experience that drives them completely mad. linking multiple minds together, with a semiconscious navigator supplying direction is what controls them to a specific location. Everyone else must be rendered unconscious for the transit.

The other minds act as a buffer and an extension to the navigator’s mind, allowing the navigator to safely guide the ship through the eternal instant amongst the stars. Even as such, the navigators develop eccentricities and can only do 60~odd jobs before going mad themselves. They are thus limited to 20 jumps in peace time, with a transfer to somewhere else, where they receive mental health treatment.

How would this work in the story?

Defense of the ship is about to fall. The aliens want the ship for all the intelligence it will bring them, so they are not just blowing it out of the water, instead fighting compartment to compartment to take the ship. Seeing the armada, the captain realizes his supreme duty to protect the empire, he orders his ship to jump for the rendezvous point to warn the imperial fleet war is coming.

The captain orders it in. The navigator has no time to get doped up for the jump. he has but to try to make the jump naked. The captain hit’s the Knock out command for everyone onboard. due to system damage, it doesn’t go out to everyone.

Our protagonist wakes up later, with everyone else but him and the few other centurions who got the knock out gas either dead or insane. that includes the aliens.

From this point the story of the decimation jump could pick up.

Personally, the coolest idea I had IMHO was for the game’s soundtrack. Image full orchestral Rock sung in Latin. Just the sort of thing that could naturally out grow from a roman empire that never fell.

Another Idea I had for the story is what if Rome developed Slaves Rights? The institution of slavery continued, because reforms were undertaken guaranteeing such things as a slave cannot be killed, raped or have any other such horror visited upon them at their master’s whim, and that slaves are guaranteed a form of due process of the law. A caveat to all of this is that slaves’ lives can be forfeit instantly for the good of the empire. Slaves for the Faster than light travel are taken with compensation to their families.

Just as another musing, what ended Rome’s slide into corruption and weakness that was eventually it’s downfall.

Did Christianity come into play or did a hypothetically non-weakened emperor Constantine feel no need to have to pick a new religion to avoid fighting in the street.

How much of roman tradition survived? how does their past culture continue to influence them today?

Did Rome encounter new extra solar life, and either by conquest or threat of conquest and offer of trade benefits, bring them into the roman fold, preserving their culture and local government so long as the aliens paid tribute to Rome? would every adult male in these alien societies also be a equal soldier in the roman army?

What did it take to develop the multi-mind? Were their failures” do they have to cripple the minds, such as destroying portions of their Cerebrum to prevent the minds from remaining aware and forming a Hive mind? was there such a hive mind? did the Empire have to war against the hive mind in such a war that it has surpassed Carthage in the annuls of Roman history?

Just a couple of what ifs I came up after I got off work.

Phillip, have you ever considered writing storylines for any of the game companys?

I wish!

but the short storys I’ve read from you are fasinating and creative, such as this one!!

Thank you Sir.

Really neat mod idea. I feel more unique genres like this really should be explored. As much as I love sci-fi, I feel the genre is beginning to get a little tired.

For me most FPS games fall into three categories:
Horror: Jericho, Painkiller You Are Empty Etc
Modern: COD, Battlefield, MOH etc
Space Marine: Part Sci-FI, part military.

Perhaps something like this would allow developers more freedom. Not all weapons have to be hi-tech to be fun.