Grey Eminence (Indie Grand Strategy)

[Syt]

https://nestinars.com/greyeminence/

I admire the ambition, but I doubt they'll be able to pull this off.

Reinventing the Grand Strategy Genre

Spanning from 1356 to 1956, steer the fate of any country on Earth through six epic centuries of conflict. Diplomacy, economics, warfare and intrigue are all weapons in your arsenal to transform the world that was into the world that could be.

Simulation on an Unrivaled Scale

A world of over 1,000,000 tiles, each with its own geography, population and buildings.
Realistic demographic model, breaking down population by social class, culture, religion, age and gender.
Logistics-based economy driven by supply & demand, with over 50 types of goods.
Powered by Unity's revolutionary Data-Oriented Tech Stack (DOTS). Learn more about the innovations behind DOTS' incredible performance.

Innovative Game Design

Character-driven politics and diplomacy, where each country is a unique amalgam of its elites and their competing interests.
Interconnected technology/progress system that allows for emergent gameplay with no railroading.
Optional complexity game design, allowing you to engage with mechanics at your own pace without feeling overwhelmed.

Frequently Asked Questions

▼How long has Grey Eminence been in development?

We have been developing Grey Eminence since 2019, with full-time development starting in 2020.

▼How is Grey Eminence different from existing grand strategies?

Grey Eminence covers the vast timespan from 1356 to 1956. It also features a world of 1,000,000 hexagonal tiles, far larger than any previous game. All of Grey Eminence's mechanics simulate real data, like population, goods, and armies.

▼Which countries will I be able to play as?

You can choose to play as any country that existed in 1356, from mighty empires to lowly vassal counts. In Grey Eminence, countries are not monoliths, so you can play as countries within countries (e.g., one of the numerous sub-states of the Holy Roman Empire).

▼Will I be able to interact with tiles during the game?

Yes! You can interact with individual tiles through all of the game's systems, like population, economy, and diplomacy. Higher-level geographical units (like provinces, which contain multiple tiles) exist only to reduce micromanagement by helping you enact top-down decisions faster.

▼Will armies be physically present on the map. Is total war the only type of war? Will war use logistics?

Armies will be physically present on the map! Total war is only one of multiple types of conflict that exists in Grey Eminence. All forms of conflict will be heavily dependent on logistics (which is also present for the economic simulation).

▼Will new countries / religions / cultures appear during the course of the game?

Yes! Grey Eminence has mechanics in place that will simulate the emergence of new cultures, religions, and countries.

▼Will players have to deal with internal management / politics?

Yes! Our goal with Grey Eminence is to make peacetime as exciting (if not more) than wartime, so we have included multiple mechanics around managing internal stability.

▼Will Grey Eminence support multiplayer?

Yes!

▼Why do the graphics look bad? / Why is the map wrong?

We are still in the early stages of developing graphics and building out the default 1356 world. None of what you see, graphics- or history-wise is final.

▼Will I have to learn C# to make mods for Grey Eminence?

No. Grey Eminence comes with a built-in world editor where you can make content changes (e.g., adding new countries, cultures, religions, events, etc.) without having to code them. You'll only need to know C# if you want to make very advanced mods that modify the game's core systems.

▼Will Grey Eminence be translated in my language?

Currently, we're only supporting English. However, custom localization can be added via mods.

▼When will Grey Eminence be ready?

Grey Eminence is at least 1 year away from completion. We intend on releasing the game in a fully-finished and well-polished state, so release timing is subject to change.

There's also a couple dev diaries on that page.

[Jacob]

So EU + Vicky + Hearts of Iron... but even more so?

Could be good, could be less good. I wish them luck in any case.

[Josquius]

Weird choice of dates.

[Tamas]

Yeah godspeed to them but there's no way they can pull this off.

[Solmyr]

Can I be: Ottoman Empire?

[Agelastus]

Weird choice of dates.

1356 - Poitiers? Golden Bull? Future founder of Ming taking Nanjing from the Yuan?

1956 actually does make sense, I think, being the year of Suez and the definitive eclipsing of the European Colonial Empires.

[garbon]

Why does it already get a steam page? Game from unknown dev ("collective"?) with wip graphics and no planned release date.

[crazy canuck]

There are lots of games that you can wishlist without release dates from unknown devs.

[garbon]

There are lots of games that you can wishlist without release dates from unknown devs.

And what's the benefit to Steam?

[Syt]

There are lots of games that you can wishlist without release dates from unknown devs.

And what's the benefit to Steam?

$100 or however much it costs to list your game these days?

Also, I think wishlist counts are some kind of metric pre-launch. Tons of wishlists might make it easier to secure third party funding.

[crazy canuck]

There are lots of games that you can wishlist without release dates from unknown devs.

And what's the benefit to Steam?

No idea, but I assume that since Steam does it there is some benefit to Steam.

[jimmy olsen]

Way too big a time frame and way too much detail to work

[Josephus]

Colour me cynically interested.

[crazy canuck]

Does anyone here know about  the Data-Oriented Tech Stack they are talking about and how that might help make this ambitious project a reality?

[Tamas]

Does anyone here know about  the Data-Oriented Tech Stack they are talking about and how that might help make this ambitious project a reality?

If they can synthesise sufficient velocity to achieve synergy with core values of agile and scale it to proactively manage vertical retrospective innovation, it could work.