# IMPERIUM ARCANUM ⚔️🔮

**A Caesar 3–style city builder with heroes, magic and monsters — running entirely in your browser.**

Inspired by [Caesar 3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_III) and its open-source remaster
[Augustus / Julius](https://github.com/keriew/augustus), rebuilt from scratch as a modern web game — then
extended with a full **heroes & magic** fantasy layer.

---

## ▶ Play

```bash
pnpm install
pnpm dev            # → http://localhost:5173
```

Production build:

```bash
pnpm build          # outputs dist/ (single-page, static hosting ready)
pnpm preview        # serve the production bundle
```

No backend. No accounts. Saves live in your browser's local storage.

---

## 🏛️ Classic city-builder depth

| System | Details |
| --- | --- |
| **Roads & walkers** | Buildings may be placed anywhere; connect them with roads to employ workers. Prefects, priests, actors, teachers, doctors and tax collectors patrol as animated walkers |
| **Housing evolution** | 11 tiers from Small Tent to Estate — water → food variety → religion → entertainment → education → health + luxury goods + desirability |
| **Food chain** | Farms/orchards/fisheries → carts → granary → market buyers → peddlers feed homes; famine starves citizens and stalls growth |
| **Industry chains** | Clay→Pottery · Timber→Furniture · Olives→Oil · Grapes→Wine · Iron+Timber→Weapons — warehouses store, markets distribute |
| **Trade** | Open routes with foreign cities, toggle per-good import/export lists, quarterly caravans, price factors per partner |
| **Treasury** | Tax rates, wages, forums/senate collection coverage, unemployment and sentiment feedback |
| **Ratings & victory** | Culture / Prosperity / Peace / Favor ratings drive scenario goals across the 5-mission campaign |
| **Disasters** | Fire spreads tile-to-tile until prefects douse it; buildings collapse without engineers |

## ⚔️ Heroes

Build the **Hall of Heroes** and summon legends:

- **Aurelius the Champion** — unbreakable melee tank
- **Lyra the Huntress** — swift ranged killer
- **Magnus the Stormcaller** — area devastation, +industry aura

Heroes gain XP, level up (more HP/damage), passively boost nearby industry,
fall in battle and return from the underworld after a few months.

## 🔮 Magic

Temples trickle mana; **Ley Pylons on crystal seams**, mage towers and the **Arcanum** make you rich in it.

Spells (bottom bar): 🌿 Blessing of Ceres · 🔥 Firestorm · 💧 Healing Rain · 💨 Hermes' Haste ·
🗿 Summon Golem · 🛡️ Aegis Ward · 🔮 Divine Insight.
The Great Library and Arcanum research advanced spells.

## 👹 Monsters

Hydra, Minotaur, Harpy flocks and the Lich King (who raises skeletons) attack in scripted campaign waves
and scaling sandbox raids. Answer with walls, towers, legions trained from weapons, golems, heroes and spells.

## 🗺️ Content

- **5 campaign scenarios** — farming village → breadbasket → ley-line awakening → iron frontier → eternal city of magic
- **Endless sandbox** with prosperity-scaled monster waves
- Procedural maps: rivers, forests, clay, iron, crystal ley lines, fertile meadows

---

## 🎮 Controls

| Input | Action |
| --- | --- |
| Left click | Place / select · drag paints roads, walls, plazas, gardens |
| Right-drag / WASD | Pan camera |
| Mouse wheel | Zoom |
| `Space` | Pause |
| `1` – `4` | Game speed |
| `Esc` | Cancel tool / close panel |

Overlays: fire risk, water coverage, desirability, farm fertility.

## 🛠️ Tech

- TypeScript + Vite, zero runtime dependencies
- Canvas2D isometric renderer with procedurally drawn sprites (no art assets)
- Deterministic seeded maps, BFS/A* pathfinding, monthly-tick economy simulation
- WebAudio synthesized music & SFX
- Test suite: headless sim test (`scripts/simtest.ts`) + Playwright E2E (`scripts/e2e-test.mjs`, `scripts/combat-e2e.mjs`)

```bash
node scripts/build-simtest.mjs && node /tmp/simtest.mjs   # sim balance smoke test
BASE=http://localhost:5173/ node scripts/e2e-test.mjs     # full browser E2E
```

*Made with ⚖️ by an open hand — have fun, Governor.*