Solium Infernum

Design

Solium Infernum is a turn-based strategy game currently under development by Cryptic Comet, developer of the independent turn-based strategy game Armageddon Empires.

Players take on the role of a lord in Hell, vying for the throne after Lucifer vanishes.  Players gather resources in tribute, using them to activate special abilities and bid for artifacts against other players.  Players hire and control legions which march about the blasted surface of hell, conquering regions of hell and capturing special buildings which yield prestige points.  Events may come up which affect the flow of battle, and because the board wraps around, players will always be effectively surrounded by the other players.  The game is turn-based, but players dictate their moves simultaneously, decreasing downtime while increasing apprehension and necessitating bluffs and guesswork.

The battle for control is not immediate, as the rules of Hell dictate players must have vendetta or a blood feud against each other.  This allows for time to build up forces, then clash, obeying the requirements for the vendetta to secure victory and regain any prestige lost in setting the vendetta conditions.

Several artifacts are available which modify the statistics of legions and have other effects on the board, while Praetors can be hired to lead legions or garrisons in control points.  Praetors can also duel in your stead to satisfy vendettas or blood feuds.  Players gather resources by demanding tribute, but no resources come steadily, and players must be careful in demanding too much, lest they waste time while other players gain resources steadily. 

The Lord a player controls has several stats which increase as the game progresses, allowing different skills to affect the many strategies available, increasing the amount of options.

While total defeat is possible, the object of the game is to amass as many prestige points as possible to secure the vote in the conclave that convenes to decide the new ruler.

Theme

Designer Vic Davis has said in interviews that his primary source of inspiration was Milton's Paradise Lost, while Dante's Inferno, Greek Mythology, and other mythic sources, creating a fantasy pastiche of Hell. 

Davis also stated that though some may find the theme controversial, that it doesn't have any bearing on the specific morality of the player's conduct itself, and the theme could have been transplanted, with modifications, to other settings.  Whether players reject the game because of its aesthetics is up to them, he says, but the game itself has plenty of room for players to decide for themselves what the outcome of battle will be.
 

System Requirements

Minimum Requirements	Recommended Requirements
OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7 Monitor Resolution: 1024x768 Graphics Card: 32 MB CPU: 800 MHz Processor RAM Memory: 256 Mb RAM Hard Drive Space: 200 MB Sound Card: 16 bit Direct Sound compatible	OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7 Monitor Resolution: 1024x768 Graphics Card: 128 MB CPU: 2 GHz Processor RAM Memory: 256 Mb RAM Hard Drive Space: 200 MB Sound Card: 16 bit Direct Sound compatible