Jon Shafer's At the Gates

Jon Shafer, lead designer on Civilization V, has taken to Kickstarter to find funding for At the Gates, a game that is similar to Civ in some respects.

In development at Shafer's Conifer Games the game puts you in charge of a settlement of barbarians at the time of the demise of the Roman empire. Your task is to evolve your tribe to take charge of Europe. One of the interesting aspects of the game is the fact that resources deplete, which is going to make for the kind of ebb and flow of gameplay that is largely missing from the later stages of a game of Civ. Supply lines are going to be a vital part of combat there will be the option of playing an authentic map of Europe or a randomly generated one. Another interesting aspect is the changing seasons and weather that will impact your troop transports and supplies.

Shafer and his colleagues are only looking for $40,000 to complete the game, and are targeting a release in the first half of 2014.