[Echigoya P]
Hello everyone!

From this week, I will talk about the scenarios covered in this game.



The first scenario I’ll talk about is the Yellow Turban Rebellion. This is a large-scale rebellion caused by the followers of the Way of Peace lead by its founder Zhang Jiao. It was a direct catalyst in the destruction of the long lasting Han Dynasty.

At this time, He Jin, the Empress's older brother, was appointed to grand general of the Han dynasty. For the sake of simplicity, he is treated as a Ruler in the game. Since he was appointed because of his blood ties, it is doubtful if he had the ability to control this situation, but under his command he had talented officers such as Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun who fought well and suppressed the rebellion in a short time compared to its scale. The rebellion uprising began in February and was suppressed in October, so it lasted about six months.

Zhu Jun is described as a competent officer in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, but he is often portrayed as incompetent in RTK works in Japan, including the novel by Eiji Yoshikawa. I also had carried this impression of Zhu Jun based on his portrayal in the RTK mangas by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, and considered Zhu Jun incompetent until I joined this company... ;) Here are the officer images of the founder Zhang Jiao, and Zhu Jun, with my apologies (?) for the misunderstanding.





The decline of the Han Dynasty became apparent with this rebellion. Regional powerful individuals such as Dong Zhuo take advantage of this situation and form independent forces. The Peach Garden Oath, where Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei swore their brotherhood, take place around this time and is the beginning of the story of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. This event is shown at the start of this scenario.

Looking at the layout diagram, it may seem that forces appears to be clustered to the north. The central unifying force, called “Zhongyuan”, was overwhelming, and the area around Wu and Shu was still buried in the shadow of the times. The regional powerful individuals also shared the goal to conquer Zhongyuan.

I’ll continue to introduce stories related to each scenario in this way.
Until next time!

Pre-order Now!
*English UI update coming on February 28th, 2020.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/872410/14/

[Echigoya P]
Hello Everyone!
　
This time with the single map introduction we will showcase a place of a slightly different nature. That is Nanman.



The large city you see in the upper right of the screen is Yunnan. It's not quite on the screen, but a little off the bottom of the screen is Jianning.
　
Naturally, you can see the difference by the color. Yes, Nanman is a poisonous swamp. The paths through it are narrow, and a large force cannot quickly push its way through.
Furthermore, there are steep mountains in front of Yunnan, leaving only the option of circling around them.
In the center area of the swamps is an area core called Dianchi. It is said that Zhuge Liang was able to push this far into the land.
　
On a side note, the Nanman King, Meng Huo, looks like a total barbarian, right? However, it is said that he went on to become the Minister of the Censorate, a position that oversaw the governors. This shows how talented he really was.

I also would like to introduce Hulao gate.
　
This is the land where the giants of the Three Kingdoms period, Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu, Liu Bei and his brothers, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and many others, all met and clashed. At this point, there isn't any need for a greater explanation, right?


　
On the screen, the city you see on the other side of Hulao gate is the capital of the Later Han, Luoyang. Actually, if you could see past Luoyang, you would also see the Hangu and Tong gates. Further on, you would find Chang'an, the capital of the Former Han dynasty.
　
With this, one might get the impression that Luoyang and Chang'an are relatively close. Especially compared to the Yinping route we introduced the other day.
As can be expected, it is absolutely one of the land's that must be considered in making strategies. In particular, enemies will always be aiming for it and given that the surrounding lands are flat, it is rather easy to move military forces there. It is not an easy place to defend. Thought and preparation is required.
　
How to conquer these lands? How to protect them?
I challenge you to give it some thought during the official game!


　
For our officer images, this time I chose Zhang Fei, the first out of Liu Bei and his brothers to battle with Lu Bu. Different works portray it in different ways, but in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is Zhang Fei who fights first. Well, he is a favorite...
　
This is the final map introduction!
Thank you for everything!

Next time, I will think of something else to bring to your attention.
You can count on something good!

[Echigoya P]

Hello everyone!
　
Today, December 10, is the anniversary of our Romance of the Three Kingdoms series!

The first Romance of the Three Kingdoms game was released on December 10, 1985, and 34 years have passed since then. Looking back, it’s an amazing feat... and said as if I wasn’t involved in the series. :)
　
I was a junior high school student when the first RTK game came out. As I have talked about in other articles, I attended a cram school just for the purpose of playing RTK, completely ignoring my studies and spending all my time playing the game. PCs were very expensive and I was unable to play at home. And of course the game itself was expensive...

Sorry, I went off topic. As a member of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to everyone who has played the series. Thank you very much.

And so! Since next year is the 35th anniversary, I’d like to make it an exciting year! It will start off with Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV! The master has gone gold for the Japanese, Korean, and Chinese versions (Simplified & Traditional)!! However, the release date is more like a service start date. We will continue to strengthen the game’s AI, etc., post-launch, so please be assured about ongoing support for this game!

Since today is the anniversary of the game, a festive image would be none other than Guan Yu. And to tie it in with Guandi Temple, have included Zhou Cang.

See you next time!

[Echigoya P]
Hello Everyone!

In this showcase of the single map, we introduce Jiange.
Fans of the Three Kingdoms will of course recognize this location. Right, this is the land where Shu's Jiang Wei and Wei's Zhong Hui fought. It also became the final battleground for the Shu forces.
This is a land with natural defenses, a natural fortress. And it is not just Jiange. The paths leading up to it are guarded by the Baishui, Fushui, and Mianzhu gates, all formidable locations.
As long as this route is chosen, without conquering Jiange, there is no moving forward. It can be considered the final defensive line.



30 years after the death of Zhuge Liang. Wei finally gains control of Hanzhong. Sima Zhao orders Zhong Hui, Deng Ai, and Zhuge Xu to invade Shu. This constitutes a pinch for Shu.

Jiang Wei chooses to lead the Shu forces to Jiange to meet the Wei forces. There, he successfully seals the movement of Wei's elite officer, Zhong Hui.

However, there was one who chose a path that no one could have predicted...
　
In May of 263, Wei's invasion was formed to deal the final blow to the sputtering flame that was Shu. However, Zhong Huo had been blocked at Jiange.
At that time, in contrast to the straight forward approach of Zhong Hui, Deng Ai, known as one of the pillars of Wei, literally chose a different path. He chose the Yinping route.



……Well, I was introducing this path, but it doesn't really look like a path on the screen, does it? (smile)
It is said that Zhong Hui placed no importance on Deng Ai's decision to take this path. This goes to show how difficult a path that was at the time.
　
It's just off the screen, but the core of Yinping can be found to the bottom right of the screen. In the direction of the upper part of the screen, off in the distance can be seen Chengdu. Continuing on past the top of the screen would eventually lead to Mianzhu gate. How far is it? On the map, it should be around 60 hex. (smile)
And the entire route from Jiange to Mianzhu gate is designed as a mountain path (considered by the game to be high mountain).
This distance and difficulty is sufficient to explain why Zhong Hui looked down on Deng Ai's choice and also, to show how amazing were the men who walked that path.
　
For any of you planning on attacking Chengdu, will you consider this route?
It would certainly be something to watch.
　
Until next time!

[Echigoya Producer]

Hello everyone!

Welcome to the map details intro, what's rapidly becoming a standard feature.
Up to last time it was the northern campaign and Wei/Shu, so this time we will focus on Wu. The vicinity of Hefei.


　
Hefei, a contested battleground, where Wei and Wu occasionally clashed.
Hefei is in the north of the screen, a little south of the great city Shouchun and northwest of Lake Chao in the center of the screen.

In the vicinity of Lake Chao, there are many well known RTK battlefields other than Hefei. There is Ruxu port (Ruxukou) on the east bank and south from the south bank is Shiting.
Crossing the Changjiang to the east, you'll soon find Jianye, the Wu capital. So to Wu, this land was right on their doorstep and was a place to fiercely defending.
　
On the other hand, to Wei, with Wu's powerful navy taking full advantage of this lake, Lake Chou was a problem. So much so that they constructed a new base at Hefei.
　
How would you attack? How would you defend?

Also, to move the focus from wither Wei, Wu, or Shu, let me introduce Guandu.
This was the site of a major turning point in the history of the Three Kingdoms.
Having gained control of Ji province and the lands north, Yuan Shao was the closest to gaining control of the land. However, here he meets with defeat and falls.


　
Chenliu is the large city in the center of the screen. Guandu is located southwest of that. On the upper part of the screen but south of the Huang river is Yanjin port. It was here that Wen Chou was defeated.
Directly north of Chenliu is a place called Fengqiu and from there to Yanjin is covered in forests. Wuchao, where Yuan Shao kept his supply depot, was located in these trees.
　
With his depot razed and betrayed by Zhang He and others, Yuan Shao meets defeat. After a further defeat at Cangting, two years after Guandu, Yuan Shao dies of illness and despair.
　
Yuan Shao falls just short of success. Actually, there is a story that Cao Cao went crying to Xun Yu. He had been pushed almost to his limit.
Just one step short of victory.

If you were Yuan Shao, what strategy would you employ?

Until later!

[Echigoya Producer]

With Romance of the Three Kingdoms 14 nearing completion, there are an increasing number of opportunities for it to be seen in articles. However, there are quite a few points of which our development team is proud that are perhaps a bit too hardcore. So in consideration of our development team, I would like to use this medium to introduce some of those points that you won't find in normal articles.

Today I want to introduce a part of the map, the route of the Northern Campaign, the well known route for the northern campaigns of Zhuge Liang.



The lower part of the screenshot is south, where you have Yangping Gate.
On the screen, roughly from the west, you have:
・Guan shan road leading to Qishan
・Chencang road leading to Chencang
・Baoxie road leading to Wuzhangyuan
・Ziwu road that directly impacts on Changan

We designed the distance to give credence to the tale that Wei Yan emphasized the Ziwu route. We have also included a scenario leading up to the northern campaign, of course. By all means, we want everyone to develop their own strategies to carry out the campaign.
　
Introducing the map of the Jieting vicinity, was a vital fortress during the first northern campaign.



In the center, surrounded by mountains, you can probably see the area center. This is Jieting. Northwest is Wuwei. Southwest is Tianshui. Northeast is Anding. And in the southeast is Changan. This centrally located intersection allows access to almost everywhere.

Now, what do you think this line is? It's called a borderline.
In this game, understanding the relations of the various areas is important to develop strategies. This is shown by these borderlines.
　
Jieting was designed as a strategic location with as many borders as a city. So you see, Ma Su screwed up in such an important place like this.
　
Where to do next? I'll have to think about it.

Hello everyone! I'm Kazuhiro Echigoya, the producer of RTK14. Thank you so much for visiting this page. We're going to be updating information of RTK14 on Steam from now on.

By the way, do you know the RTK series? This is the historical strategy game based on "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the Chinese novel based on the period during the fall of the Han Dynasty in ancient China.
35 years have passed since Kou Shibusawa created the first RTK. As the name implies, this will be the 14th title of the series.

We successfully distributed the playtest version (Japanese only) which is positioned as a beta test version.
Since we achieved our goal of 35,940 downloads, the paid DLC scenario "Incident at the Gaoping Tombs" (Sima Yi's rebellion) will be available for free for 2 weeks after the game's release!
(In Japanese, 3594 can be read as "Sangokushi" which is the same pronunciation as the Japanese title of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.)

Thank you very much to all the fans who took the time to play!

Please stay tuned for more information. :)

Triumph over the land and take charge of the fate of China! Conquer territories and fly your colors! The "ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV" playtest version (Japanese only) has been released.

The AI of the final game will be adjusted based on the feedback from everyone who plays the "ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV" playtest version.
Feedback and play data can be submitted from "Launcher" > "Questionnaire Page"（アンケートフォームへ）.
*Questionnaire is only available in Japanese.

* In the playtest version, the use of some commands and functions are limited.
* In order to collect enough data when the AI and new commands are fully in effect, the difficulty has been adjusted to higher levels.
* The data collected will only be used to improve the game, and will not be used for any other purpose.

<Official Homepage> (Japanese)
https://www.gamecity.ne.jp/sangokushi14/trial.html

<Notes>
* The "ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Playtest Version" will only be released in Japanese only.
* The download volume of the "ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV Playtest Version" is 5GB.
* This product does not automatically transfer data.
* Provided data will not be used for any purpose other than improving this product.
* Support will not be provided for any questions or other issues concerning this playtest version.
* For details about the required operating environment, please see the official Japanese homepage.

* The download period for the "Playtest Version" has ended as of 2 PM on October 24, 2019. (JST)