We didn't get many entries this week, and many were repeats. Therefore this week, I'll pick two winners, no matter what out of last week's entries and this week's. I'm sorry for this but I really don't think this is really fair. Hopefully we'll see more ToonEEs this week.
This newsflash is brought to you courtesy of our sister site Pharaoh Heaven:
Registration is now open for our latest Pharaoh competition, brought to you courtesy of Angels Gustavia and Baltic, and Cherub Bradius. Click here to find what it's all about, and head over here to register your interest in participating.
egistration is now open for our latest Pharaoh competition, brought to you courtesy of Angels Gustavia and Baltic, and Cherub Bradius. Click here to find what it's all about, and head over here to register your interest in participating.
Today is the big celebration for Tonto Clan! Their bash will get underway at 10pm EST, and you can find all of the details here. Everyone is invited to partake!
Our best wishes to all Tontos, and I hope you're all around to celebrate many more such milestones. Join them in the Manzikert lobby if you'd like to help them celebrate. ...or crash the party...no streaking permitted, this means YOU Chooch! ; )
Recently added to Ensemble Studios collection of blank, yet functional, Real World Maps is the Norselands. It encompasses the Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark area of the world, and is just waiting for a talented designer to put in some terrain.
As usual, the map I voted for finished runner up in the polling. France, Iberia, and the Mideast are the remaining maps to be posted. While you're there downloading, vote in the poll to decide which of the trio will be offered next. ...you try thinking up a little comment when it's 10:55pm and you're still at school...I dare ya! ; )
Our forums are busy as always, but I decided I would start posting news about interesting posts in our great forums. I think this will help vistors and forummers who don't have the time themselves to look through all the threads to find an interesting one.
1) EE Movie Thread So what did you think of the new EE Movie just recently released? Love it? Hate it? Too long? To short? If you want to voice and hear other opinions about it..then you should head over to this thread.
2)Archers vs. Tanks Very interesting post. The question is simplely said, can archers kill a tank? Over time of rapid firing will the tank eventually blow up from the archer's fire?Interesting read where Crexis SSS , a EE tester, stopped by to voice his opinions.
3)EEH Review System Thread Have you ever wondered how the EEH review system will work? Care to share some of your opinions about it? Great thread with lots of speculation. Though many predict Spineman will take over the EE Review system. Who knows though right? Here is what Park had to say about it...
Spineman has thought of several ways to improve scenario reviewing and long ago in one of the AOKH threads he said exactly what Stan said. Public comments will require you to be a forumer most likely and the average of scores will be your score. I find many flaws in this idea, but we can never satisfy everyone. Since I don't actually see many people putting comments on scenarios unless there is a bug or it is the best thing they've played. I've actually been thinking about hiring just a separate team of reviewers and give them more specific reviewing rules but there are problems in that too.
4)Ask Rasher Part 2 Not much is going on in this thread, expect one important notice Angel Rasher left..
IMPORTANT NOTICE: As of now, I will no longer be answering any questions in regards to the game itself. Feel free to ask any or all questions about my work with the game, what I enjoy most about the game, my scenarios, my life, etc, but please refrain from asking questions about the game itself (ie: unit specifics, detailed trigger questions, etc), as I will no longer be able to answer any of them. If anymore such questions are asked, I will just move on to the next one, ignoring them. I really apologize for this, but I think it is the best choice. Just keep the questions coming, cause I love answering them!
Well thats all for now, look forward to new news on forums happenings as soon as something interesting pops up! .
There are two new EE websites that have hit the scene. This only shows that Empire Earth is becoming more popular. Although they are hosted at free places, we all started at one
The first one and more better is Empire Earth Planet. It isn't completely done yet but isn't a bad start either. One wierd special feature they have is that their forums is actually a chat room, but there aren't many EE fans right now.
The second is Empire Earth (that is the name) which is under a lot of construction. It seems Joffe spotted it although it is still in very very early stages. One strange erro you'll notice at their site though is the FAQ page says FAG instead...better than an email to him
Also just on another notice, Empire Earth Place's host is changing their server around for the weekend so they won't be open this weekend. EEP's host is World Zone which seems to be a pretty cool cheap host.
Another past website we remember as Empire Earth Fever should be reopening Sunday (April 1) with their new domain. We'll all be waiting.
It seems the whole EE community is now going wallpaper crazy. The recently opened Empire Earth Sanctuary has released their second wallpaper available in 2 resolutions.
The sword swinging knight means that it's Forum Party time once again! Heads up though, the events will be held in the Manzikert lobby on the Zone tomorrow instead of our usual hang out. Head to the Tavern for the complete details as well as a few laughs as Lt_Surge99 shares some latin with us. ...you guys have to give me all the gory details in the Forum Party Thread as I'll be MIA tomorrow... ; )
The man, the myth, the legend, Kingkerry of Kingkerry's Courtyard will be having a chat with Sandy "Sandyman" Petersen this evening at 5pm CST, which is 6pm EST and 11pm GMT. If you're inclined to listen in, you can find out how right here. The show won't be listed until it's up and running at the slated time, so don't worry youself if you don't see it at the moment. ...giving a talk myself in a few hours on copyright law and the net, something both my audience and I will be sleeping through... : O
One of the many great features in our scenario and campaign loaded Blacksmith is the great big Best of AoK list. It contains many of the highest rated scenarios, mods, campaigns, random map scripts, and multiplayer maps that have been sent in. You'll find the section ripe with big name designers such as Gordon Farrell, who's working on campaigns for Empire Earth, SCN Punk Team, the talented band of designers, and Inquizative, the winner of a recent map design contest held by Ensemble Studios.
You'll find all sorts of gems on the list, everything from a World Map to an amazing Monestary. There's few, if any, places on the internet with an equal selection of quality AoK downloads as the Best of AoK! ...poke around on this site long enough, and you're sure to find something cool...that monestary is just awesome... ; )
A new section recently added to the AoK Command Center is another center unto itself. At UGD's Training Center you can gain the advice and teachings of expert players, such as DMer illusionS and great RMers such as DBD_Jinx. You may be lucky enough to win a free lesson, otherwise you'll have to inquire about their pricing. ...I'm beyond lessons...I need miracles! ; )
The Zone is continues it's string of tournament madness with a team RM event! Grab your pals and be ready to rumble at 5pm PST on April 2nd, which is 8pm EST. This event is for residents of the US & Canada only though, but with any luck they'll have another international tournament at some point in the near future. Check out the rules and sign up here.
The big ol' tournament at Planet AoE is now underway as well. Good luck to all those involved and stay tuned for recorded games as the talented field fights it out for the big bucks! ...it's been touch and go with our server over the last day, seems like we're ok now... ; )
We've had a visit from ES designer Sandy "Sandyman" Petersen, who posted a whack of answers to fan questions in this thread. There've been a lot of history fans voicing concerns about RTS3, one of the many subjects he addressed:
"Q) What do you think about all the criticism about RTS3 being a fantasy game and that most AoE/AoK players will be very disapointed in the game and perhaps not even buy it?
A) We have not announced ANYTHING about RTS3 at all except for one (1) measly screen shot. Fans can speculate all they want in a vacuum, but I don’t see why unsupported random musings should affect anything ES does. Do you? " -Sandy Petersen
Please note that there's a fresh new thread to query the Sandman, Ask Sandy 4. Drop in for answers, or share your questions. ...quick, jump into my Hoover and let's get crazeh... ; )
There isn't a whole ton of news today, so I thought I'd just make one news post with all the goodies.
First off, I'd like to welcome Age of Egos, an EE multiplayer expert, to our forums. BigFanatic, a forummer here at EEH, asked this question: "In the new movie,on the close up of the plane flying over the troops,you can see it start to tilt down and then the camera changes. You think that the altitude can be set?" Age of Egos responded with this post:
"As of right now Altitude cannot be changed/set. It's an interesting idea though =). In the new movie the plane tilting is more then likely from a sharp turn..as the engine is physics based...so planes will actually bank..tilt...etc."
Gamespot has recieved the same movie that we posted a couple nights ago, but they have copies in both MPEG and WM formats. You can read what they have to say, and download it here.
Angel Rasher has answered some more of your questions in the latest Ask Rasher thread. As you read the thread, be sure to check out this important notice in his latest reply.
In other gaming news, Ensemble Studios has released a screenshot of their up and coming RTS, codenamed RTS III. Very little is known about the game at this time, but it will contain a mix of fantasy and history. If you want to check out the first screenshot on the web, click here.
Last night and this afternoon HeavenGames was down. We are sorry for any inconveniance.
Well, I think that's about it! Have a good evening!...or morning, depending on where you live.
Over at Game Spy, Mark Asher has added another volume to his Gamespin section. The new volume also has a two page interview with Rick Goodman. Here is part of the interview on page two:
We've had dozens and dozens of RTS games now. What will EE do that's new and fresh? What do you think will really stand out when players play this game?
....improvable attributes like Speed and Attack Strength for each type of military unit; special units such as inspirational Heroes, Calamity-casting Prophets, and futuristic Mechs with special abilities; area-of-effect buildings that protect your civilization from calamities or provide other useful benefits; Wonders of the World, each of which has its own special power; and the UI, which is simple to learn and makes the game very easy to control.
Finally, we must mention the incredible Editors that will ship with the game. In addition to the Civilization Builder, Empire Earth will come with a Scenario Editor and a Campaign Editor. The powerful yet intuitive map-making tools and trigger system in the Scenario Editor are sure to please both novice and seasoned scenario designers. You can even create your own in-game movies. Then, with the easy-to-use Campaign Editor, you can wrap up your individual scenarios into a self-contained campaign that's easy to share with other gamers.
There isn't very many new facts on the game in the interview but still did say a few things like the French will be one of the premade civs. You can go read the rest of the interview here.......sorry guys we had a slight problem before which disconnected us from the net for a while, but everything should be fine now.
ust a quick note to welcome aboard our latest addition to our rank of Angels - he's been working so hard at running contests for such a long time now that we felt it would be a great injustice if he didn't suddenly become...Angel Baltic!
That's an interesting little tidbit shown on this page. So, does that mean we've got a Zeus expansion pack coming out this July? Of course, Impressions are remaining characteristically tight-lipped on the matter - here's what Kraken had to say about it:
As usual, we don't discuss hypothetical products until they are formally announced on our own website.
There's also mention of a "Pack Zeus", coming out in October. Presumably this is the add-on packaged with the original game.
Not to be overshadowed by news of the screenshot of RTS3 is another new job opening at the studios. The latest is for a Content Designer, which will certainly be of interest to the many talented scenario designers out there! For a complete listing of positions currently open at ES, check out their Job Opportunities page.
There's also been an update to the ES Designer Journal, which now sports Bruce Shelley's presentation from the 2001 GDC. He provides a set of guidelines for making a successful game, compiling his 20 or so years worth of experience into a list of golden advice. You can also check out his Power Point presentation, either view it online or download it. ...drat, I knew I should have finished my Wars of the Roses campaign... ; )
irst of all congratulations to Brugle and Snowwolf, the winners of the Tribute mission. For the complete listing of both Novice and Expert class, follow the link.
On a different kind of contest, the Pharaoh Cup is slowly starting to take shape. Cherub Baltic has posted some preliminary information and will add more this weekend.
From what I've seen of the missions so far, this is going to be mighty interesting...
Ensemble has hit just the beach! After allowing some time for Age fans to pick up a copy of the latest Computer Gaming World, Ensemble Studios has posted the first ever decent screenshot of RTS3, the code name for their next strategy game.
The screenshot depicts some cool effects of the bang! engine. For example:
1. Notice how you can see through the water. You can easily see the land sloping down into deeper waters. You can even make out submerged sections of the sea monster very faintly.
2. Units swimming (or floating dead) in the water.
3. A unit coming out from inside the boat. Notice how he's halfway in and halfway out, and not just appearing on shore next to the boat.
4. Lizard-man sort of unit. Seems to be dressed in an Egyptian robe. [Update: It seems I have been informed that it is probably not a "Lizard-man", but instead the Egyptian god Anubis, the jackal headed god of the dead. Thanks to WoadRaider for pointing that out ]
5. Units include an archer, a villager-type unit, and a halbredier-type unit.
A few questions also come to mind:
1. Is the sea-monster a player controlled unit or an world controlled animal?
2. The units don't seem to have much in the way of color coding for the player number, although they do seem to have a yellowish tint in some areas. Why is this?
3. Are these units hunting the sea-monster? Are the fleeing it and reaching shore just in time? Is the sea-monster trying to mate with their vessel?
Want to comment on this new piece of information? Do so here.
Well Sierra has posted at Empireearth.com that the EEU contest has ended. Five winners were chosen out of the thousands that entered. They are pretty lucky people being able to visit the entire SSS crew in april, play the game, and get $500 dollars at Best Buy. Here was what they said:
The Empire Earth University contest has concluded. We have received thousands of entrants and we want to thank everyone in the Empire Earth community for supporting the contest and getting the word out! We'll will be announcing the 5 lucky winners, who will be flying to Stainless Steel Studios to play Empire Earth in April, very soon -- so please stay tuned!
The five winners will be announced soon....thanks to Mithras for telling me about it
Mithras over at Empire Earth Oracle has got an exclusive interview with Steve Ashley. Steve is one of the artists at Stainless Steel Studios who makes the game look great and pretty. Here is just a quick part of it:
EE Oracle: What's it like working in an environment like Stainless Steel Studios?
Steve Ashley: Everyone here is very cool, definitely the best environment I've worked in to date. Within the art department, everyone pulls their own weight and knows their responsibilities. We all hangout with each other, go to parties and play games, so it's like a big clubhouse at times. However we know when to buckle down and get the job done, it's a good balance of work ethics here.
Howdy and welcome to "The Pick of the Week", a new AoKH sub-section. Here you will read the occasional critique of an exceptionally good scenario, campaign, or whatever we see fit to be featured on the main page. Rather than being a review, this sub-section is supposed to be more of a reccomendation to download something. It is a revival of the AoEH "Pick of the Week" section, one that was a highlight for many Agers at the time.
Our first Pick of the Week is a whodunit named "The Detective's Apprentice". You start out as a recently laid-off detective's apprentice, working with his friend to start their own detective business in the capital, getting into trouble with kidnappers, mobsters, armies and more.
I like TDA because it is a rather original rpg-like scenario in the Blacksmith. While most just require a use of force and enough obedience to do this for one person and that for another, playing scenarios like TDA wouldn't do without some attention to details, common sense and use of the large gray material we have inside our skulls.
The Detective's Apprentice is fun because you get a variety of different kinds of missions, humerous introductions and in-game comments, an interesting use of lost units (it really looks like it rains!), and a side b scenario named "Cliff Hideout".
The Pyromaniac testifies about himself that his first name is Michael, he is 15 and he lives in "sunny ole England". Enjoying sports, hanging with friends, cars and drawing, Pyro got the idea for Detective's Apprentice after playing the board game "Cluedo".
Total Empire Earth, another EE fansite lead by Aragon, is back with a new design. He's been busy with Real LifeTM, and hasn't had much time to update the site. Here is what Aragon had to say:
Wow...sure has been a long time since this place has been updated. *Blows away the cobwebs* Well, I apologize to all of you Empire Earth fans who kept on coming back. Life has been busy lately, but with my new cable modem updating the site should be a lot easier now. I will work hard these next few days...and try to update the site. If you know how to Install Cgi Scripts and would like to help out, please email me @ aragorn@hqgaming.com. I am in deperate need of someone who can install NewsPro and a few other scripts for us. Please check back soon for more info!
If you know how to install CGI scripts and want to help out an up and coming EE site, email Aragon and let him know your interested. ...that new EE movie has converted a couple of AoK fans over at AoKH.
The nosey folks at GameSpy tracked down Rick Goodman and Stefan Arnold for a chit chat on how Empire Earth is progressing. The interview is occumpanied by a few screenshots, which you may have seen before:
"GameSpy: Describe a favorite moment so far in the development process.
Rick Goodman: It has been a long process, so there have been many. Right now is a very exciting time because we are nearing the end of the development phase, when all the features will be in the game. Then we'll shift our focus to polishing the game, which will culminate in a beta program. It's exhilarating to watch a big project like this one come together and we're really looking forward to releasing EE to the gaming public."
It's a quick two pager, with not a lot of new ground broken. It is a nice read though to keep up on the details. ...sounds like they are close to being done, but polish takes a loooong time... ; )
Warning, you may bust a gut, or flee the room in terror! ironLotus posted in the Ask Sandy thread that he spotted a list of spooky celebrity websites at Daily Radar. Among them was www.williamshatner.com which features Mr. Shatner's picture fading in to the music when you lose a game of Age of Kings!
Stephen "Big_Al" Rippy, who composed the music, popped into the thread to confirm that it was indeed the tune he wrote:
"Sorry to jump in on your thread, Sandy - just wanted to address ironLotus' comment. :-)
Quite a shock! That is a piece of our music. I wrote it in my apartment in Austin three or four years ago; who knew that it would one day be the personal theme song of the great James T. Kirk?! (Or T.J. Hooker, depending on your preference.)" - Stephen Rippy
If you get a chance, do visit www.williamshatner.com, it's well worth it. It may take a few tries to get the introduction screen to load up as his server appears to be having troubles getting beyond warp two. ...you HAVE to see it to believe it... ; )
There wasn't much RTS3 info in the power point presentation Ensemble programmers Mark Terrano and Paul Bettner gave to the recent Game Developers Conference, but I did manage to find a few little things:
Recorded games –Good for testing, great for end users –Sync info embedded in recorded games for RTS3
This probably means that the cause of dreaded sync errors will be easier to detect in an analysis of the recorded game.
RTS3 Multiplayer – The Goals •Builds on the success of age of empires I & II –All the same features and design requirements of our previous strategy titles: internet play, large diverse maps, thousands of controllable units
•3d –RTS3 is a fully 3D game, with interpolated animation and non-faceted unit position and rotation
•More players –Design called for the possibility of >8 player games
•TCP/IP support –56k TCP/IP networked players are our target
•Support for home networks –Nats, firewalls, and other network configurations should be supported
RTS3 Multiplayer – Realizations
•Same core network model – the synchronous simulation
•3D implies more stringent animation requirements
•Get the multiplayer system online as soon as possible – iterative playtesting is key
Most of this was already known, but it sounds like RTS3 is coming along nicely. I wish I could have seen Mark and Paul give the presentation. must... pick... up CGW today.
The recent news post by Mike "Archangel" McCart has had a few little extras attached to it! First off, Herb "Captain Insano" Marselas has answered some questions regarding his work week, attire, and some programming related questions. Way down at the bottom of the same post you'll find a picture of artist Chris Van Doren. Big bad VD looks like he's holding a little something in his hands in the picture, check out this tid bit from the Archangel:
"The happy young lad to the left is (of course) long time ENSEMBLE 3D Artist Chris Van Doren. Chris seems to have a habit of changing his web picture every 3 or 4 months. That's not a problem as we all look forward to see Chris in latest Dallas Designer Clothes.
But, I am a little concerned about what Chris THINKS he is holding in his hands, I have no idea. But the first fan to send in a caption or telling me what they think Chris is holding will go home with a Age of Empires II: The Conquerors T Shirt."
An easy way to get yourself some new duds, but be quick about it! Click on the source link above and scroll all the way down to the bottom for the picture of VD and the all important e-mail address. ...Archangel is a sly one isn't he... ; )
One of the lectures given at the 2001 Game Developers Conference was given by ES designer Mark Terrano (marco...polo) and programmer Paul Bettner. You can find the Power Point portion of their presentation in the latest update to the ES Programmers Journal:
"Moving a few units around in your multiplayer game is an easy concept to grasp, but the challenge of tracking thousands of units over a modem connection is an entirely different matter. This session opens the hood on the Genie engine, the technological foundation of the Age of Empires series. We further delve into the multiplayer implementation of the next-generation BANG! engine. We discuss some of the lessons learned and the evolution of the networking code throughout development of the Age of Empires titles. The presentation covers useful tools, testing methods, and a few horror stories from the network code development of both engines."
You can view their Power Point goodies online, or download them. There's also a couple of pictures of the dynamic duo from the conference. ...don't bump your head on the frames... ; )
Stainless Steel Studios has given EE Heaven first chance at looking at the new Empire Earth Movie that Rick and B Donor have been hinting about the past month. I have to say this is the very best EE movie I've seen. I feel like a kid on Christmas Morning
The movie itself is 13 megs, and shows the great details of the game including the graphics, zoom, and everything! I mean you almost feel like you're in the game. Go check it out at the movies download page. One thing to point out is they've changed the release date to September. Thanks also once again to Dara-Lynn and SSS for giving us special access to this movie first and for making it
The latest from the drunken folks in the Tavern involves the election of a Strat Forum president. The list of candidates and voter debates are available to one and all. Be an informed voter! ...*hanging chad joke deleted*... ; )
I got this question from Derrick Grant. Has anyone been sucessful running AOK on a Mac's virtual PC, or even with the new MacOS X?
Do you know if it is possible to run AOE2 on a Mac G4 320 Mb ram) with Virtual PC 4.0, in Windows 98. I got the combined set of CD-roms including the Conqur. I can install the program in Virtual Windows 98 but when I want to start up the program it gives me an error that the CD is being shared by another device. I have tried all the CD-rom fixes on the MS site. Do you know anyone who has gotten this to work? The older AOE work well.
Dara-Lynn, member of Stainless Steel Studios, sent us a screenshot/map of Empire Earth during the WW2 epoch. Some very easy features you can see are the airport, many churchs, and what seems to be gates and towers. The cliffs also look amazing rising more than in AOK. Here is a smaller size version of it:
If you want to check out the full size than you can just go here. Also talk some more about the map over in this thread.
The position that has belonged to some great Agers, including Mike "Captn" Kidd, is open once more at Ensemble Studios. If you think you've got what it takes to hunt down bugs and make sure games are balanced, check out the job description and send in your resume.
In addition, Mike "Archangel" McCart posted this bit of information on the recent revelation that an RTS3 teaser appears in the May issue of Computer Gaming World:
"On a completely unrelated subject. Yes, there is RTS III information in the May Issue of CGW, No ENSEMBLE STUDIOS will not comment on anything related to RTS III at the present time (Don't worry, the time is not far off), and please don't scan and post images from the May Issue of CGW on the web. CGW is copyrighted material. Thanks (Hope that saves me answering a few dozen emails tonight . - Archangel"
Well, Kevin "The_Sheriff" Holme is still listed on the Studios Team page, so perhaps they've added another QA position, or he's moved on to something else at ES. Best of luck to those who apply! ...balancing an RTS...much like balancing, very hard to balance...things... ; )
Angel Zen, the HeavenGames forum administrator, has added a new feature to our forums. If you visit the main page of our forums, you will see a list of the users at the bottom that are currently online, along with other forum stats. If you are wondering why it says there are 11701 registered users, that is because it combines Age of Kings Heaven, Cossacks Heaven, and of course, EE Heaven.
A couple of posts regarding an RTS3 teaser in the May issue Computer Gaming World. Jugg10 posted a bit of a teaser of his own this thread, listing descriptions of screenshots included. This has been confirmed by Mike "Archangel" McCart!
There was also another post regarding this at Through The Ages! Keep an eye on your newstands, and more in following issues of the magazine. ...everything exciting happens as I am supposed to be leaving for school! ; )
Well Sierra has updated their Weekly Screenshot over at EmpireEarth.com. Sadly though the screenshot is actually old and smaller than the original. To see the original large version just go here.
Well I got an email from Bosbel, who is the webmaster of the new Empire Earth Sanctuary. The site isn't completely up yet but about 90% of everything seems to work. Bosbel is also looking for new staff members in our forums. It is always great to work at a gaming site. Here was the news post at EES on the opening of the site:
EES is finished and ready for fans !!! Site is finished, I didn't finished to configurate links script and downloads script but ill finish that in couuple days.
Currently EES is looking for stuff to help, we need forum moderators and general news posters if you are interested please email me here ebosbel@hotmail.com
Well thanks to Desert Dog, one of our forummers, we now have the answer about the 800 pop limit that was told to us in the Gamespot article. Well it seems that it was just set for that on the demo they were playing. Here was Rick Goodman's reply to Desert Dog:
Yes, you can set the pop. cap to any number you like. We once played a multiplayer game with 3,000 units on the map at one time. Of course, this exceeds the boundaries of what today's computers can realistically handle.
Go here to visit the thread. Wheeew! I was kind of worried for a little while
A batch of seven new articles are available at the Scn Punk site covering various ways to make your maps and scenarios look outstanding. Everything from impassible bridges, waterfalls, and orchards is covered with tips from veteran map makers like Enrique Orduno and Shadow Angel. Visit the Punks for more on this and word of a new promotion for one of their own. ...no joke, my neighbours dog is names "Punky"... ; )
Kaiser at www.aoe2.de/, SirLANcelot has sent word that his site is not only back online after some down time, they've just started a new series all about the ES Team. ...and the pitch:
"Today, we went online again, which may just be of interest for you, if you recogized we were offline some weeks . I just wanted to tell you we started a new series today, from now on, we are going introduce the ES-team to our visitors. From time to time, seven questions are asked ES-employees, everytime the same. This time, Keira Erhard has answered them for us - there is an english version available, as well, you can find it here:
Great idea! There's a lot of folks who keep the Studios running that we don't often hear from. Keira works on the financial side of things at the Studios, which can apparently be pretty "CRAZY!!!":
"6. Whose ES-guy's office/workplace is next to yours?
Since we are in the middle of massive construction with our expansion, I room with the other 'Charlie's Angels,' Shay Girard (Cameron Diaz) and Leslie Yeager (Drew Barrymore). Our office is next to our CFO, Brian Moon, aka - Charlie."
Yes, for those of you who flunked out of German Class, or have never heard of Germany, there is a version in english as well. Enjoy, and stay tuned for more Q&A sessions! ...only found six questions myself... ; )
AGE OF KINGS HEAVEN Benelux Tournament: The Best Of The Best... Posted 3/25/2001 @ 2:14 PM EST by Thunder
If you live in the Benelux area, this tournament will be of note. It is a 32 player event that begins in April, hosted by MFO and CF Clan. This 1 on 1 random map event will be open to the 32 players with the highest ratings, which will surely make it an expert showdown! Some players of note already signed up are Myth_Osiris and NoX_Casanova.
If you're looking to get involved in this clash, or keep tabs on the results, click here for more information. ...only 11 registered at the moment, one guy with a 1600 rating too...plenty of room for you! ; )
Sierra has been spreading rumors through Rick Goodman, founder of Stainless Steel Studios, and lead designer of Empire Earth. Rick was kind enough to stop by the Sierra EE Forums and leave us this little message:
"I heard that Sierra might be releasing a short (60 second, 13 Meg AVI) Empire Earth trailer. It could be out in a week or two, on all of the EE Fan sites. This trailer will be the first of several to come, each focusing on a specific Epoch of the game.
Keep in mind, that what is shown in this first trailer represents a small portion of the vehicles, aircraft and naval units available in this one epoch." - Rick Goodman
We'll have these videos for you here at EE Heaven once they are released. Thanks to forummer DesertDog for the heads up...those numbers sound a little specific for a rumor, eh?
I spent the last 10 minutes making sure the winner I picked followed all the rules, but he has....The winner of this week's ToonEE contest with great pride is [suspense]..Jeremy Idol. There was a lot more toons this week, and I was stuck between a few, but this one seemed to catch my eye the most. Here it is:
Thanks for everyone who entered but please do so again. Jeremy will soon be getting his signed calendar
Game Spot also attended the GDC conference where Sierra showed off 3 of their games including Empire Earth. Here is some of what they said:
The last phase of the demo took place on a futuristic battlefield. While our requests to hear about that certain epoch's story were denied, Stainless Steel had a rare treat for us. After showing us the impressive mech models in fine detail, the team member present armed, and subsequently detonated a nuclear bomb. A sleek plane, of sorts, is what actually delivers the strike, and according to the developer present, it's fairly easy to destroy, if the defending settlement is decently fortified. The base in question wasn't, however, and the effects of the blast were devastating. Two fairly-sized battalions of mechs and infantrymen that were stationed rather close together were utterly demolished by the blinding explosion. Not a trace of them was visible even after the impressively rendered mushroom cloud vanished. The team member present reiterated that it would be indeed difficult to pull off a blast, given the relative weakness of the delivery craft. We managed to shoot some gameplay footage of Empire Earth during our audience with Stainless Steel, which we'll be posting shortly. GameSpot will have more news on this anticipated game as it develops.
I cannot wait to see the movie they filmed, hopefully it'll show some new features. You can read the rest of the article here.
Our very own Angel Rasher has been slaving away in the scenario design forum answering your questions.
Q) Would it be possible to create units, place buildings, trigger disasters and etc during a scenario 'X' number of tiles away from a unit/building? For example there is a scenario with the player controlling only one unit and I want 10 enemy soldiers to popup around him 30 seconds into the game.
A) Yes, you certainly can... you can choose to create units near another unit or building, within LOS of the building, within range of the building, or even create them completely at random.
Q) My second question deals with, my fascination with eye candy in RTS type games like this. I used to love to see flowers when I would make scenarios. Yet, in Age of Kings, there was only one type of flower. What I would like to know is what type of flowers and/or similar plants can be used as Eye candy in scenarios?"
A) Empire Earth has more flowers and plants then I could ever list... I'm guessing there are about 20 different types of plants for the forest/grass areas only. That is not counting desert, beach, and acuatic plants.
Go check out the questions Rasher has answered in this thread, and ask a question or two before you leave. ...Burger King, Rasher? Blech.
The gang at GameSpy had a sit down with Jan Allenson of SSSI at the big ol' Game Developers Conference. They were given a tour of the game, showed volcanoes, earthquakes, and put together a brief synopsis for us:
"In multiplayer, there is an 800 unit cap. If there are eight players, each player can have 100 units. If a player is eliminated, those 100 units are then distributed to the remaining seven players.
Finally, in each epoch, there are special units. Allenson showed off the nanoage where a bomber dropped a nuclear bomb onto a field of mechs. There was a blinding flash, a huge mushroom cloud and then an empty battlefield where the mechs had been. In the WWI age, he showed off biplanes that would take off from an airbase, attack a target and return to base for fuel and bombs. It would then return and attack the same target without micromanagement.
For such a brief little look at the game, there's actually a fair bit of information in there. Be sure to click on the source link above to check out a photo and the full write up! ...bring on the ToonEE winner! ; )
Well the folks at RiderzNews.com have interviewed Rick Good man himself; you can get see the interview here Here is a sample of the interview
In battles, how do terrain and elevation play as an advantage?
Units on higher ground do extra damage to units below them. Units can also hide behind hills and walls to take cover from enemy fire. Additionally, the height of the wall matters. A unit can't fire at another unit if it cannot see it behind a wall.
How far along are you in the development of the game?
We are nearing "feature complete," which is essentially an Alpha version of the game. Everything is progressing well.
If you get tired of the old watching the clock waiting for Cossacks to arrive in the States, take a peek at Walter's up-and-coming Cossacks at War site, it's a promising website that looks like it has great potential.
Seeing is believing, as CDV states in a recent press release. A new Cossacks gameplay video is out, as linked to in the release; hopefully it will keep you entertained until the 30th!
Rick stopped by the Sierra Empire Earth Forums this afternoon, and answered a couple questions for us. The first was a confirmation of which calamities will be cast by the prophet unit in EE.
"Empire Earth has the following calamities: -Hurricane -Plague -Disease -Earthquake -Fire -Volcano" -Rick Goodman
I wonder what the difference is between plague and disease? The second piece of information is regarding epochs.
"The game includes 14 epochs, not 12. During the design cycle, it became evident that although the 20th Century is only 100 years in length, the pace of technological change merited its division into three distinct technological Eras:
Examples: WW1 - Introduces Tanks, Planes and Machine guns WW2 - Introduces Carrriers and Nuclear Bombers Modern Era - Introduces Nuclear Subs and Helicopters These are treated like all of the other Epochs in the game." - Rick Goodman
That means you will progress through the Industrial Age to WW1, WW2, and then Modern before reaching the Information Age. Thanks for the info, Rick! :) ...makes sense not to go from World War 2 tanks to Info Age mechs, right? ;)
Hey 'Sax! Check out Cossacks Punk, a scenario design team for Cossacks (obviously ) also owned by HeavenGames. They seem all ready for the game's oh-so-soon American release, and they're certainly worth a try!
The gang at Gamasutra have got a handle on Dave "Bid Dog" Pottinger and peppered him with questions a plenty on programming AI. The interview covers a wide variety of AI types, from random map, pathing, and computer players. The interesting issue of non-linear campaigns was even brought up, with an RTS3 connection:
"Is there any way that you could affect player choice so that they can have an effect on the Campaign story lines?"
"... Despite the kind of cool factor that as a hardcore gamer I love that I can influence the story, the type of games you play where you can influence the story generally tend to have less powerful stories. We're aiming at a big, broad mass market who, in reality, seem to care very little about non-linear stories. As we get more advanced I think we have options to change that. As the art form goes through maturation we can figure out, and this is certainly a focus for RTS 3, now that we've done more campaigns from Age I to Age II and the Conqueror's we feel really happy with where our campaign quality is from a very linear standpoint. Actually one of the interesting things about RTS 3 is that we're trying to introduce some non-linearity to the story.
The flip side to that is that the campaigns in Age have always been a part of the experience. We are always happy to say that we put a lot of things in the box. The random map is where we've always hung our replayability hat both for multiplayer and for single player. We're talking about random campaigns for RTS 3 to help take that feature to the next level. I can't say too much more about that… But it's a hard problem you know? In an area with a linear mechanism, how do you take a story and generate it randomly so that it's any fun to play? You know, it's not where 95% of the story is exactly the same but instead of capturing the Sword of Fubar, you're capturing the Cup of Fubar. We wouldn't do that because that's not a very quality implementation. The goal for RTS 3 is to be the best single player experience ever in any game on any platform. That's a very high goal to achieve and I think that we can get close if not achieve it." -Dave Pottinger
This is definately a must read as Dave goes into some pretty great detail on different AI. They've got some big plans for RTS3, hopefully they'll make the cut and actually be implemented. ...like a handicapping system...gotta have it for slouches like me... ; )
The echo through the AOKH Tavern hall at the moment is news of our impending forum party and some pictures from the Behind the Scenes Video, courtesy headly1. For party information and or eye candy, pull up a stool and drop in. ...those expecting posts from Sandyman must have missed the pictures of him partying at the GDC...he's outta town folks! ; )
Cherub petard_rusher has been doing some digging through the latest screenshots released from GameStar. He has made some intelligent guesses at unit abilities, based on their stats from the new screenshots. Hey, they may not be set in concrete, but it's about all we have to work with at the moment.
"The Airport had a large number of plane options (as seen below), it also looks like this is where you order nuclear strikes form (check out the nuke icons)."
Take a look at the rest of the screenshot clips and descriptions here in our forums.
...As you may have noticed, this is my first news post at EEH. Expect to hear more of my loudmouthed ramblings in the future.
There's all sorts of action going on at this year's Game Developers Conference, and ES webmaster Mike "Archangel" McCart is in the thick of things! He has updated the ES news page with posts on awards, independent games, pictures of the ES crew having a good time, and the list of ES folks giving lectures at the conference.
Why were they having a good time? The booze? Maaaybe, but also the Conquerors Expansion pack won for Best Strategy Game, beating out some big time competition! Click here for the full list of awards winners and pictures form the ceremony. Congrats to the ES fellas once again!
Rumours? Yah, but not ES related this time. Daily Radar is reporting that Crave Entertainment has sold all of its PC titles in the works to that gaming giant, Electronic Arts! They had some major up and coming titles, including Battle Realms, an innovative strategy game under development. ...check out the pictures of Tony Goodman giving the tearful acceptance speech...hehe, he got me goin' too... :. )
**Update**
Is the PC Dead? There's a question that's been asked a lot recently with all these high powered consoles coming out. A panel of major players in the games industry, including Bruce Shelley (Ensemble Studios), Ed Fries (Microsoft Games), and Bing Gordon (Electronic Arts) tackled this very question at the GDC. You can find pictures and the thoughts of these fellas here on Daily Radar. A great read for those interested!
The readers of the old AoK Battlefield are a loyal bunch, always have been. Although the site may have been closed, some folks are determined to keep the friendly forum spirit. Their new forum looks very much like the one created for AOKB, it's downright scarey. Drop in and have a boo! ...almost got that imitation right...forums just load a little too fast... ; )
Looks like we're now getting the latest Mr.Fixit Online press releases in the ususal timing fashion once again, now if only I could post them in the same way we'd be all set! Here are the AOK related bits, the stuff that's going down at AoK.cc right now:
"AOKcc SMACKDOWN This week's Smackdown tourney will be Saturday at 2 PM - join us for wild settings in this weekly AOK tournament.
AOKcc LIVE GAME CLINIC Our 19th Live Game Clinic was completed with a 1v1 between _RCF_RiDeR vs NoX_Sesami. Clinicians: DBD_Jinx, DaRq_Lopri, MonkeyUpUrs, _ViRuS_Slayer and _ViRuS_KoRnaCuS." -Mr.Fixit
Any majesty fans out there? The MFO fellas have just openned the doors on a site that you'll be wanting to visit, www.MajestyOnline.cc. You'll find information a plenty of the new expansion pack that has come out for that game as well. Drop in for the grand opening! ...didn't like majesty much myself, but got it for something like $5 when I was in Istanbul...got my money's worth! ; )
Simmayor over at EE Place has whipped up some more wallpapers; they're very nice. This is what simmayor had to say:
Three more wallpapers will be downloadable tomorrow. This one I like most. Maybe it is not good as a wallpaper, because of the darkness, but it sure looks great! And who knows if I will make a few more of those papers tonight... P.S. This one you can download in JPG-format by clicking the image on the right. All five wallpapers are now available for Download in JPG and BMP formats.
Go there now and decorate your desktop with some beautiful wallpapers.
Well thanks to Chooch for pointing out that Empire Earth X got a hint that Game Star has a ton of new screenshots and a 14 second trailer of Empire Earth. Pretty weird since I've visited this site before and didn't see it. Anyway the screenshots are wonderful showing citizens, zoomed in shots, a wonder, night time shot, multi nuke screenshots, and a lot more. You can see the screenshots here. You can see the German 14 second trailer here which is mostly zooming in/out.
A whole bunch of the Ensemble Studios crew, over forty of them I believe, are out of town at the 2001 Game Developers Conference right now. Mike "Archangel" McCart posted a brief news update from there in San Jose, California with the current goings ons. He'll hopefully be giving us the goods on the big awards show that'll be taking place and perhaps a few pictures too, although those will likely have to wait until he gets back. ...hmmm, thought the awards went on the 23rd but Archy says tonight...stay tuned... ; )
Last night's tournament on the Zone featured a final showdown between FlatRock and FlippantDuke, with the Rock coming out in better shape. The field of 365 registered participants included some very skilled players, and you can check out how everybody made out on the tourney page here.
Best of luck to all the German Agers who will be going head to head in a Zone Tournament on March 24th! ...I'm guessing you've got to be living in Germany...you'll likely get the boot if you're a German living in another part of the world and enter that tourney... ; )
Keep a sharp eye on the Zone Tournaments page as there have been a whole heap of these events lately. In fact, there's an RM 1 on 1 tournament that goes tonight! Click here for more informtion on that one. There's a little over 320 players registered right now, good luck to one and all!
Don't forget that on March 24th, the first test of the Zone's global tournament system will take place! This will hopefully lead to more tournaments for players outside the US and Canada! If you're in Germany, you can sign up to take part in that event here. Let's all hope that this test goes off without a hitch. ...hey, if we can run a tourney for players around the world, anyone can... ; )
Better late then never! Due to some yet to be determined problem, Mr.Fixit had to hand deliver the latest press release from Mr.Fixit Online:
"HARDCORE RTS REVIEWS Join MFO in this project to provide hardcore gamer reviews of the current crop of Real-Time Strategy games. These reviews will involve playtesting by MFO staff and fans, and will cover in-depth analysis that any serious RTS gamer would want to know: Details
MFO FRIENDS PROGRAM Some new optional subscription programs are available for MFO fans to help keep MFO online. Details
DM GRAND CHAMPION Round 2 ends today as this major DM tourney moves to round 3 with only 32 players left from the field of 112: Bracket A, Bracket B
CLASH OF TITANS: UK/IRELAND This double-elimination tournament of the top 32 AOK players in the UK and Ireland hits round 2. CoT UK
DM HUN RUSH Sam_DeathWalker shows how a DeathMatch Huns Rush is done: Details" -Mr.Fixit
I for one can certainly see the value of MFO game reviews. We've seen plenty of reviewers at other sites declare the Expansion pack unbalanced because of those Spanish Conquistadors or some other civilization/unit. A team review by some actual RTS players would be much more informative I'd say. ...I swear some reviewers are total newbs to a genre... ; )
Zul asked me to mention his upcoming scenario project based on The Odyssey and it got me thinking... how many of you guys out there are trying to start projects like this and could use some help? Send me a short description of your project and a link to a website or a forum post with more information. Be sure to include "Age Project" in the subject, and it can be any Age related modpack, random map script, AI file, website, etc. must.. finish.. Java assignment...
EEPlace has added a few new nice additions to their site. Their link pages relating to clans has been updated, along with two new wallpapers.
Also, here in SW Florida I was told Rick Goodman was on NBC ,speaking about Empire Earth last night. I was planning to watch it myself, but I had to go to work. I plan later tonight to look at a few of NBC's local Florida NBC sites, to see if I can find more infomation about this.If and when I do, I will post more news about it. Sorry for my sudden 3 day dissappearance, work has had me consumed lately..and the recent weather we have recieved hasn't help any at all.Thunderstorms hit us all day yesterday, and more are on the horizon.
AGE OF KINGS HEAVEN Tavern: Tournaments & Sandy's Latest Feats! Posted 3/20/2001 @ 5:29 PM EST by Thunder
The latest of the slurred updates in the Tavern cover the most recent posts by Sandy "Sandyman" Petersen and tournament news from the Deathmatch forum! As always, anyone with an empty glass is welcome to stop in for your fill of forum suds. ...if you've got a full glass, I have to hold it for you while you read...I won't spill any, honest! ; )
One of the more recent recorded games available at AoK.cc was posted by DM expert Sam Deathwalker and illustrates an all or nothing Hun rush. He calls it his "Hun Sell Everything" strategy, which is somewhat self-explanatory, however, check out the recorded game to see how he pulls this off! ...ya gotta see Sam's sig over there too...whew boy! ; )
Eggman stopped by the Scenario Design Forum to give a few more details on the trigger system in this thread. This is what he said:
Our system is menu driven, so there are lots of categories for everything. You don't have to pick what you want from a master list of 100+ items. For instance, effects to change player resources and grant players victory are in a different area than ones to kill units and change unit stats.
If you didn't know Eggman is the head guy of the Scenario Editor/Campaign part of Empire Earth. Everyone thanks him for answering our questions.
Our Angel Rasher also continues answering quesitons in the "Ask Rasher" thread. Here are some of the highlights:
Yes, all units, no matter which ones, can be created with triggers. From buildings to plants to units, all can be created.
1) Can I use bitmaps in scenario (For my World War III campaign)?
Yes, you certainly can.. you can also use voice-overs during the introduction page.
Talk about amazing, although I wonder if anyone would want to hear my voice in a scenario Be sure to give a visit and ask some more good questions.
Those are the words of Mike "Archangel" McCart folks -- I'm not making it up, honest! The Ensemble Studios Media Relations dude was making a test post using their lovely news posting script, as they've been doing some server juggling, and added in some questions from the mailbag. The one at the very end leapt out and screamed:
"Fan Question: I'll try for short-and-sweet. age of kings was worth waiting for, as was the conquerors xpansion, however i have only criticism; i love the castles, but was disappointed to see no moat-making facility or siege weapons to overcome them. that's it. you guys did a great job and i can't wait for the next era of AoK, when is that out, by-the-way? can you post details on the site, thanks.
Archangel Answer: Thanks. You will find RTS III information in a few weeks on our website (and in other Media)."
The "and in other Media" bit could mean any number of things, such as printed magazines, gaming sites, or fansites, so do keep your eyes peeled in the weeks and month ahead. We'll be doing our best to give you all the heads up when any information is released.
One mailbag question was asking about information on the AoE card game as well. The best, and as far as I know the only, fansite devoted to the card game can be found here: http://www.tmct.net/ ...ok truthfully, the answer didn't leap up and scream, I did... ; )
The little site that could has closed its doors. The staff at AOK Battlefield have sent word that they are retreating and calling it a day. They recently have had domain name problems, and before that, yearly hosting problems.
The site was certainly a cornerstone in many Ager lives for some years, including my own as I worked there for a year and a half or so. The current staff did a great job of keeping the site going despite the problems that seemed to plague it from the beginning.
Our friends at the Battlefield, best wishes on whatever new heights you set your sights on. ... ; \
CDV has released an entertaining new flash download that simulates a quick little tongue-in-cheek battle. Vive la France or Go England? I won't tell you, but rumor has it that the French have great new technologies.
Degas has decided that it's time to get the proverbial ball rolling on the Zeus contest season:
CRITERIA:
ADVENTURE: Perseus and Medusa (shipped on the game CD)
CLASSES: There will be two classes of competition: Expert and Novice. Experts will be required to complete the adventure using no difficulty setting lower than Olympian. Novices can use no difficulty setting lower than Hero.
WINNING CONDITIONS: The shortest elapsed times to complete the adventure shall be declared the winners in their respective Classes.
It is another Monday here where I live. Monday are good that I have plenty of rest from the weekend but also mark the start of my 5 days of testing. Anyway let us jump into the smaller ee news and my favorite places.
- Empire Earth X has updated their screenshots. Nothing entirely new to see, but a screenshot is better than nothing. Also Jace seems to of lost his DSL connection since the host ran out of money. He is still online but don't expect to see him on too much until he finds a new ISP.
- Total Empire Earth is sporting a new better title logo at their site. Here is a little image:
I also added a past poll page (under the poll) with the help of Shadow Angel. That is about it. Remember to send your ToonEEs to me.
Sierra has updated their weekly screenshot over at their Official Empire Earth Site. This is it:
Notice the flowers and different terrain. There also seems to be a prophet unit in the center of some clubmen with what I guess to be a volcano rock flying down. There is also a town center/settlement in the back with a very large stone head. This is all very interesting
!
egistration is now open for our latest Pharaoh competition, brought to you courtesy of Angels Gustavia and Baltic, and Cherub Bradius. 
The sword swinging knight means that it's Forum Party time once again! Heads up though, the events will be held in the Manzikert lobby on the 
ust a quick note to welcome aboard our latest addition to our rank of Angels - he's been working so hard at running contests for such a long time now that we felt it would be a great injustice if he didn't suddenly become...Angel Baltic!
irst of all congratulations to Brugle and Snowwolf, the winners of the Tribute mission. For the complete listing of both Novice and Expert class, follow the 
. - Archangel"
