After months of hard work, we’re almost ready to launch our all-new Precinct update and Make it Count DLC, and shake up Chicago’s Prohibition. We’re all extremely excited for you to play it, so as we prepare for release day, why not share our excitement and showcase some new design and gameplay features?
Enclosure update
Speakers are arguably our most ambitious change in the game, so let’s start there. Constituencies are subdivisions of neighborhoods that offer a new level of control. Right now, you can build or burn a racket anywhere from the municipal pier to Chinatown and stake out your concession. It’s a lot of fun at the start of the game, but as the game progresses we think it gets too predictable. As upgrades are done on a one-to-one basis, managing the rackets scattered around the city comes with considerable administrative work for any budding Mob Boss. Also, once you have enough rackets, losing a weird one to the enemy doesn’t affect your game much.
First, economic controls have been streamlined with the City update. You can track your snowshoes, neighborhood by neighborhood, from an easy-to-use screen.
It’s a more efficient way to run your empire and keep tabs on the parts that need your attention while still giving you time to focus on other Mob Boss demands.
In terms of expansion, the enclosures gradually stack outward, painting your faction’s colors on the map, while also setting up a supply line. Another crucial part of your empire, Supply Lines form a route to get supplies to your compound and ensure your money comes back to you safely. This means it’s bad news if your supply line is interrupted by the enemy and your enclosure is cut off, preventing money from entering until the supply line is restored. However, it also gives you new offensive strategy options: the only way to get around the enemy is through them, and if you’re well planned, you can surround their compound, leaving them no way out.
So how do you own an enclosure? Just take out the Depot. This is the precinct control building, and control will not be yours until you claim it. Deposits should not be underestimated. Security is heavy and they can draw reinforcements from surrounding rackets to aid in defense. This gives you options when it comes to picking up an enclosure.
Attacking surrounding rackets first eliminates reinforcements, removing them from the Depot combat. Of course, you can go for the quick kill and attack the depot directly. You’ll face more opponents, but bring in enough firepower and they won’t be able to stop you.
Interestingly, we found that adding speakers acted as a great motivator for AI. As it is, AI attacks on your rackets happen anywhere in town. Thanks to the enclosures, the attack zones have been greatly reduced. With less choice available, the AI has focused more on attack zones, with a particular focus on breaking supply lines. This adds another layer to your strategic game: the enclosures that border the AI can focus primarily on security upgrades to prepare for these attacks, leaving the inner enclosures – the heart of your empire – to focus on them. lucrative upgrades.
The speakers offer more in-depth strategic options while avoiding the current pitfalls. By dividing neighborhoods into neighborhoods, there is more to gain (and just as much to lose) in fighting for control. Every decision you make carries more weight, and good strategy in how you build your empire is essential. Empire of Sin’s take on turf wars gives you a sense of realism, a sense of what it’s like to carve out your own ground, and most importantly, what it takes to keep it. and improve it. Where you choose your battles and how you plan your next move matters, allowing for more meaningful gameplay.
In order to follow your trajectory throughout the game, your campaign is divided into four acts. From your humble beginnings in Chicago, these Acts chart your progress and offer different rewards for reaching each. Act I, The Roaring Twenties, begins with each new game session and halves the police activity generated by rackets. You reach Act II, Paint the City Red, when a third of the compound is yours and the AI, reducing redemption costs by 25%. Once a third of all major factions are eliminated, you enter Act III, Under The Gun, and reduce the cost of Racket buildings by 25%. The final act, The View From The Top, triggers after half of all major factions are taken out and rewards you with reduced gangster hiring costs.
One thing that players have given us a lot of feedback on is the font. Well, we heard you! As you manage your quarters, we’ve made the police presence and the way they interact with you more apparent. The value of suspicion in today’s game can sometimes be a bit difficult to decipher. This affects each racket differently and therefore depends on your own judgment. With the introduction of constituencies, we have added a constituency-wide policing activity number which is much easier to follow. This value is affected, positively or negatively, by your actions and decisions. Keep your number low and it’s easier for the police to turn a blind eye to your actions. However, even the dirtiest cops cannot ignore the most brazen criminal enterprises. As police activity increases, customers spend less, becoming less inclined to drink in neighborhoods with high police presence, and the police may even raid some of your rackets to get the hang of it. look busy.
Make it count DLC
That covers most of the free update (yes, you read that right, everything that has been mentioned so far comes with the free update from Precinct). Let’s take a look at some of the new features in the Make It Count premium DLC.
First of all, we’re going to address the new Mob Boss in the room. Maxim Zelnick is the son of a Brooklyn-born butcher who cooks both books and bodies. With a quick wit, Zelnick brings a different nuance to the role of Boss. As a mediator for the brash thugs, Zelnick has adapted his ability as a boss to this particular skill.
He can force a truce between two warring factions, and when money is tight, he charms gangsters to work without pay twice as long as they usually allow. It doesn’t even include Maxim’s unique combat ability! We already know Bolster the Ranks will be a fan favorite. In combat, when the chips are low, Maxim whistles two bodyguards, packing some serious heat, to help turn the tide of the fight. It’s an awesome feature that changes the dynamics of combat and is a lot of fun to play.
With Maxim comes a new business venture to make money. Loan Sharking opens in Chicago, offering a type of racquet that doesn’t depend on alcohol to function. Of course, that doesn’t make a money printing service easy. Loan Sharks are integrated into the economy, and while they don’t have customers like conventional snowshoes do, they still affect the neighborhood economy.
A dollar that repays a loan is a dollar that cannot be spent in a sweatshop! Then there are the customers themselves. Loan Sharks have a unique set of events related to debtors who cannot repay you and rely on your contribution to release them. How you treat them is entirely up to you. Your honor rating influences the chances of default, so if you are a word boss, then people know they have to pay. Letting too many payments go, however, does damage your honor, so keep in mind that some people will have to learn the hard way.
There are also a few other new faces in town. The Make It Count DLC includes The Fixers, five all-new problem-solving gangsters. From the crooked judge, Ma ‘The Pillar’ Miller, to the black market artifact trader, Dr. Ada Santos, each Fixer’s background creates a unique and memorable character. Having a Fixer in your crew allows you to hire two Gangsters who hate each other, thanks to their mediation skills, and allows you to bribe your way out of certain fights. However, after hearing what they can do in battle, maybe a song will be exactly what you’re looking for.
Fixers have unique abilities like traps and crow’s feet. Crow’s feet are spiky, spiky area weapons perfect for crowd control in dense buildings. They are super efficient and, when launched at the right time during combat, can put you in control of the fight.
Beyond everything mentioned here, you’ll be busy with a bunch of new missions and events, as well as new items, weapons, interiors, paths to victory, upgrade buildings, and boss reveals. Maybe it’s better to spare a few details, however, we wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.
We can’t wait for you to see how Empire of Sin plays out with the Precinct Update and the Make It Count DLC, both launching on November 18.