Corp Description:
"An army with a nation led by their king. These knights wield powerful weapons and heavy armor: the culmination of countless wars waged to enforce order amidst the chaos. Citizen-soldiers chanting their holy scriptures as they march right into enemy defenses. They ride upon massive, hard-wearing vehicles carrying siege weapons capable of vaporizing cities while carrying the equipment to rebuild that city to their liking.
When welcomed, they are builders of civilization - roads, governance and security for the enslaved and downtrodden. But when angered, they are the heralds of death. Tempt not their blade, for their crusade does not end."
The Lemon Kingdom is an interplanetary superpower from a far-flung area of space - less a corporation and more a country, an interplanetary kingdom. Its history of both being invader and invaded forged it to become a highly militarized order of knights, where military duty to the kingdom is both the norm and a rite of passage, where guns are open-carried as a social status and where the government is run like a military operation. Everyone is a fighter in this kingdom, even the royalty.
General Design Overview:
The majority of my design choices are based on LK as a community. Over the years of me being in this group, I've been observing their behavior and mannerism, coming to a few conclusions:
- LK loves large, heavily armed Techs
- LK has heavy medieval/renaissance inspirations (because LK employs knights and have a monarchical government),
- LK was a uniting force back in its heyday - it held many community events and enforced the rules of the forum.
- LK is deceptively advanced for what they are. They pioneered the use of multi-techs and artillery Techs.
- LK is highly religious as well (worship of nature, lemons are most sacred, etc)
- LK is a militaristic society, as most LK denizens fight in Sumo and/or have contributed their Techs during conflict.
- LK loves lemons.
Having consolidated these observations, I began to work on the general design.
I've collected references from websites to create my own "pegs" or mood board. The one below is a cleaned up version of what I have (because I don't have a mood board per se, I just have a bunch of pictures in a folder)
The references suggest blocks that are very tough, very blocky, and very heavy-looking (and they are). Angular shapes mixed with Roman and medieval architecture, rugged mechanical parts, and the inclusion of lemon shapes where possible. This is the Lemon way.
Game Design and Differentiation from other Corps:
With the aforementioned details above, I've also made a short list of what LK's role is in the "Corp ecosystem". This is mainly to ensure that its blocks don't overlap with other blocks:
- They're the end-game faction. Their blocks are intentionally expensive, acting as "money/resource sinks". Players who have a few hundred Erudite resource blocks can trade them for a few nuclear cannons or tougher blocks in return.
- They're the "Landship" faction. This is a playstyle I like to play in TT where you have a large Tech, a "Landship", that does everything for you: fighting, building and traveling. Your "Landship" is your home, your base and your fighting vehicle. This means that LK will have the blocks catering to large Techs: large wheels, large blocks, large shields, etc.
- They're the faction carrying the biggest guns: There's a significant player population who want bigger weapons. Since this also plays into LK's preference, this is an easy role to fill.
Comparisons with other Corps:
- GSO has a bloated bureaucracy and its equipment is run-down. LK is old with a governmental bureaucracy, but is brutally efficient and its blocks are well-maintained and well-designed despite the age.
- GeoCorp is geared for mining and large vehicles. LK is generally the same, but using its large Techs as devastating siege platforms instead of mining rigs.
- Venture is a sports Corp that sells adventuring gear - most blocks are light, all-terrain and geared for good terrain handling. LK blocks are heavy, bulky, and while its wheels and treads handle terrain well, they're very slow.
- Hawkeye is a private military corporation - modern day mercenaries for hire. LK is an actual army controlled by the government and funded by its citizens, much like real-life armies.
- Better Future is a Corp that sells blocks that are expensive for what they do. LK blocks are absurdly expensive, but what they do is worth the price.
