Salve Internet,

I am Carmine Siena from Corvo Bianco Entertainment. Welcome back to the devlog series regarding the development of Villanus: Imperium Romanum. It is always nice to get back and speak to you guys; and today, we will open the fourth chapter together!

Looking back at the previous editions, I already told you about the basic idea behind Villanus, its societal structures and how they are influencing the game. Lastly, I gave you some insights into the resource groups, how they are produced and for what you will need them. Today, we will have a look into the different buildings which you can construct in Villanus and for what you can use these.

Similar to the resources, the buildings are also sub-divided into four groups: general buildings, production buildings, public buildings and special buildings. The general buildings are – as the name suggests – are your first contact point, since they include all the important basics such as the plebs’ dwelling, market square, warehouse, different types of pathways and more. At the current stage of the game, the player already starts with a built Forum (market square), so you can start directly with focusing on the first production chains and building up a decent number of citizens. The plebs’ dwellings will be automatically adjusted to the specific social class, if the demands are met and you have the necessary resources available.

As you have learned in the last devlog, resources are a crucial factor in Villanus. You will not start a session without having to construct production buildings. These can be direct productions, e.g. food which is produced directly by the Venator (hunter), or processing productions, e.g. steel (a material) which is produced by taking charcoal from the Carbonarius (char burner) and iron ore from the Ferraria (iron mine). Lastly, there are also end product productions, such as the Candelator (candlemaker) who produces candles (a luxury good) out of beeswax. In the construction menu, all the end products are listed as icons. Clicking on those icons will then show you the production chain, so that you can build all necessary production buildings.

Public buildings are a key factor in Villanus, because they address a very important mechanic in the game: the rise of your society. As already addressed in the second devlog, your citizens do not only demand food, water and luxury goods, but also access to public buildings. These differ from social class to social class, although you need them throughout all social classes. What I want to say is that a Reliquiarium theca (shrine), for example, is demanded by plebs and will still be demanded by your patricians. So, new demands will be added on top of the former ones. This makes strategic placement and also thinking ahead very important. Some public buildings will also grant you special benefits. But more on that in later devlogs. For now, it is important that you understand the interlinkages of your citizens, your resources and your public buildings.

Lastly, the group of special buildings is, indeed, a special category. You will be able to embellish your city with decorative buildings, gardens, statues, flags and more. Most of these will not require any resources, but rather good amounts of denarii. Thus, make sure to always have a positive balance, so that you can make your cities look even more pretty!

I hope that you liked this insight into the building structure in Villanus. What do you think? Are there any adjustments which you would prefer? Make sure to leave a comment in the comment box below! And as always, feel free contact me in case you have any question. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – both, Villanus: Imperium Romanum and Corvo Bianco Entertainment are on these channels.

If you want to support the development of this amazing project, head over to our Patreon page and become a patron. I am very grateful for each and every one of you aiming to help me realising this game. And don’t worry: you’ll get some pretty cool benefits for pledging!

I am looking forward to hearing from you guys! ‘Til then: happy gaming and “in vino veritas”.
Cheers!