Looking at the Pax Dei roadmap shows just how early days the game still is in the eyes of the developers. Currently, it isn’t that discernable from many other games just like it, and a lot worse than quite a lot of them. However, there are some interesting plans afoot which could set it apart.
Better building
The first point of focus for the team at Pax Dei is improvements to the building systems. Currently, although very beautiful, there are certain restrictions as to what can be built. Mainframe Industries hopes to expand greatly on the player’s freedom in the building.
This is an important step for Pax Dei. It is clear that the team are keen to have the players themselves build the cities, towns and villages. For all this to be possible, there will need to be a vast array of models to use. As it stands, on the not-to-distant horizon, the Pax Dei roadmap is promising:
- Expanded building sets
- Signs
- Grapevine wall pieces
- More furniture
- Building and crafting balancing
- Recipe tracking
- Farming
- Improved permissions
These are all a step in the right direction, for sure. I feel that if Pax Dei nails their building’s abilities in the game, the players could start to put together some really interesting communities.
An improved society
As I mentioned, Mainframe Industries are very clear on their vision to create a game based heavily on the community. Their goal is to encourage an ecosystem and storyline centred around the player base in their Pax Dei roadmap. Wars, trading, resources, and much more will be all in the hands of the community.
This is a lofty goal for any game to achieve. Fostering a naturally vibrant and functioning society in a game takes some serious balancing. We all know just how much players love to manipulate a game’s mechanics. However, Pax Dei has a few tricks up its sleeve that it is planning to implement in the future of their roadmap.
- Clan Tabbards
- New roles (Knight, Soldier)
- Market Stall
- Gold Economy
- Altars and miracles
- Friends list
The aim of this is to not only encourage people to clan up, and create communities, but also trade. In Pax Dei, everything, from the bricks used to the armour worn, is player-created. The thought process behind this is to encourage players to take societal roles. Maybe you want to RP as a blacksmith, building only the rarest armors for players role-playing as Knights. This is all possible in the imagined future of Pax Dei.
Combat and adventure
There is no doubt that in the current alpha build the combat of Pax Dei needs a lot of improvements. Combat feels wooden, clunky, and more like a chore than an adventure. Thankfully, this is heavily addressed in the Pax Dei roadmap, and looks to be going in the right direction.
The team’s main focus is currently on the PvE aspect. Improvements will be made to the responsiveness and NPC behaviours in battle. Once this has been worked on, the game’s adventures will start to open up. Currently, PvE is mainly for farming, but in the future, it will be a core element of adventure. PvP is still quite some time away in Pax Dei.
Along with the improvements planned to NPC behaviour and the combat system, new weapons, spells, and manoeuvres will be added to the game. I expect this will revamp the combat system, making this game more than just a dull resource-collecting game. We can expect these changes to be implemented over the coming months:
- New Spells and Gear
- Improved combat mechanics
- All new enemies
- Crowd control and improved NPC behaviours
- New lore
- Weather systems
A few Pax Dei quality of life changes
Of course, there are always little tweaks and changes that need to be addressed with any roadmap. Pax Dei has addressed a few in their roadmap, although there are surprisingly few needed in the game for how early the release still is.
- Voice Chat
- G Force now utilization
- Key remapping
- Controller support
- DE and FR Localization
Final thought on the Pax Dei roadmap
Currently, the game is beautiful but severely lacking. Looking at what the company has planned for the future of the title makes sense, though. Although, at the moment, Pax Dei is just like another resource-collecting base-building game with subpar combat systems, it is clear there is something else on the horizon.
The decision to have an economy and role-based RPG will hopefully give this game an interesting element. If the team is able to properly foster a community that has to rely on one another, go to war, and trade, then it could become a rich environment full of RPG fans and exciting quests.
However, this isn’t easy. Players love to exploit, rob, steal, and destroy. Nurturing a fair and balanced market is one of the hardest things in any game. I look forward to seeing what becomes of Pax Dei as the roadmap unfolds.
