Age of Wonders 4 - Dev Diary #9 - Ancient Wonders

Dev Diary #9 for Age of Wonders 4 focuses on Ancient Wonders.

Dev Diary #9: Ancient Wonders

Greetings future Rulers, welcome to another Development Journal! I’m Bas, a game designer at Triumph Studios. I’d like to give you some glimpses into the grand structures called Ancient Wonders that can be found in the realms you conquer.

Each Ancient Wonder is a monument from the great ages of the past, with several ties to the old Age of Wonders lore. They make the lands more coherent and mysterious as you encounter an ancient Mother Tree guarded by vengeful Entwined, a Secret Temple desecrated by evil cultists summoning a demon or a Lost Tower of ancient wizard horribly transformed by the Astral Sea.

Ancient Wonders are, next to being monumental landmarks in the world map, also filled with adventures and the promise of loot. They are the evolved versions of Treasure Sites in Age of Wonders 3 and Landmarks from Age of Wonders: Planetfall.

Discovering an Ancient Wonder

When you first uncover an Ancient Wonder on the World map, you already get a glimpse of what’s to come through:

• The name, which hints at the adventure that awaits inside.
• The tier, which indicates the difficulty but also the value of the Ancient Wonder and its rewards!
• The background lore, indicating what the Ancient Wonder’s original purpose was and what might still lurk inside

Beware though, that trying to enter and capture Ancient Wonders, while a dangerous ordeal in itself, also have diplomatic repercussions, other players gain grievances if you try to explore Ancient Wonders that are close to them. No one likes nosy neighbors stealing the loot.

To take you on an adventure, we’re following Wizard King Cinren Toliath of the Ashborn Hedonists.

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