Post by JuanSabini on Aug 22, 2004 16:19:57 GMT -5
Continuing with the blood-pressuring real time strategy games, Microsoft, in association with Big Huge, has released a game called Rise of Nations and its expantion pack, called Thrones and patriots, some time later. Fortunately, because I was getting low on the emotion of playing Age of Empires 2.
RON uses the same controls and camera of AOE, but has better 3D graphics and has many more differences, which I proceed to point out. First, you're not stranded in the Medieval times, you go from the Classical age to the Information age, that is, today; exploring eight eras of advances. Cavalry becomes war tanks, pikemen transform into anti-tank bazookas, and the slow, weak catapults are replaced with blow-it-all nuclear missiles. Detailed information about the ages advancing can be found in www.microsoft.com/games/riseofnations/ages.asp
Second, this is a large-scale constructing game. In AOE, what you build in the average random map are cities. You know that because you can wall up your base, you make small houses, and the villager producing buildings are town centers. In RON, you are to craft an entire country. You have national borders, which affect certain elements in the map and can be expanded, and the villager producing buildings are cities, which are built quickly. Walls aren’t present, because in real life it’s impossible to wall up a terrain as big as a country.
Cities cannot be destroyed. If its hitpoints reach zero, it’s reduced, and an enemy player can capture it with infantry. After some minutes, the city is assimilated and it now belongs to the player who captured it.
You can research governments (in the expantion pack only), which provide military and economic bonuses for your nation. There are two columns with three levels each, and the levels are opposed governments. Eg: the first level is Despotism (tyranny) and, at the other side, Republic. Then there is Monrachy vs. Democracy and Socialism vs. Capitalism. If you pick a government of one level, you can’t take back your decision and choose the other. You don’t have all the three levels from start, they will progresively appear in age advances.
The in-game music is superb. It isn’t an uninterrupted series of playing tunes, but the starting melody depends on the nation you chose and they will keep playing according to your current situation. Example: if you lose a city, a dramatic piano tune will be heard, and if you are building an enormous troop, you’ll trigger a strong military music.
Micro-management is lost, that means, you don’t have to worry about single units. There aren’t any mini-upgrades for combatants, unlike AOE, where you can research different types of armor, swords, and increase defense and attack points. Also, the resources are gathered constantly. You don’t have to wait until the villager reaches a drop site, because the amount of workers put on a task is sumarized and the total makes the average of the speed in which the resource is obtained in thirty seconds. Eg: if you have five villagers gathering wood, the total speed would be 50 pieces of wood in thirty seconds. And the sources of goods never disappear: forests are never cut down entirely and mountains never run out of metal.
There are four main tecnologies that you research in the Library: Military, Civics, Commerce and Science; each with eight levels. I won’t go more deeply on it, I just tell you that they are indispensable to advance from age to age and they make your nation’s economy and military power grow.
You can select from a vast gallery of nations to fight, of all around the world. From the Inca empire in the mountain scenary of the Andes to the snowy and treacherous land of the Russians, several civilizations can fight to each other in the game mode called “Conquer the world”, where you have a strategic map. Through it, you move the armies you have at your disposal to snatch away territories from the enemy. This is important if you want to gain more armies to fight, capture rare resources (resources that give certain bonuses to the player who claims it) to aid your battles and end the game with glory and dignity. It’s convenient to make dealings with the leaders of other nations to gain allies.
I love Age of Empires, so it’s natural that I love this game also. Although it can become more difficult in later ages by the almost mandatory usage of the new units available, namely airplanes, rockets, anti-aircraft radars and the rush to get as much oil as you can, I’m still hooked to this gameing jewel and I will be KING one day. I hope you liked the whole premise of it and if you don’t own it (probably you don’t, judging by the puzzled faces of anyone I tell about it), I’ll be happy if I actaully encouraged you to buy it.
Official site of Rise of Nations: www.microsoft.com/games/riseofnations/default.asp
Official site of RON: Thrones and Patriots: www.microsoft.com/games/thronesandpatriots/
RON uses the same controls and camera of AOE, but has better 3D graphics and has many more differences, which I proceed to point out. First, you're not stranded in the Medieval times, you go from the Classical age to the Information age, that is, today; exploring eight eras of advances. Cavalry becomes war tanks, pikemen transform into anti-tank bazookas, and the slow, weak catapults are replaced with blow-it-all nuclear missiles. Detailed information about the ages advancing can be found in www.microsoft.com/games/riseofnations/ages.asp
Second, this is a large-scale constructing game. In AOE, what you build in the average random map are cities. You know that because you can wall up your base, you make small houses, and the villager producing buildings are town centers. In RON, you are to craft an entire country. You have national borders, which affect certain elements in the map and can be expanded, and the villager producing buildings are cities, which are built quickly. Walls aren’t present, because in real life it’s impossible to wall up a terrain as big as a country.
Cities cannot be destroyed. If its hitpoints reach zero, it’s reduced, and an enemy player can capture it with infantry. After some minutes, the city is assimilated and it now belongs to the player who captured it.
You can research governments (in the expantion pack only), which provide military and economic bonuses for your nation. There are two columns with three levels each, and the levels are opposed governments. Eg: the first level is Despotism (tyranny) and, at the other side, Republic. Then there is Monrachy vs. Democracy and Socialism vs. Capitalism. If you pick a government of one level, you can’t take back your decision and choose the other. You don’t have all the three levels from start, they will progresively appear in age advances.
The in-game music is superb. It isn’t an uninterrupted series of playing tunes, but the starting melody depends on the nation you chose and they will keep playing according to your current situation. Example: if you lose a city, a dramatic piano tune will be heard, and if you are building an enormous troop, you’ll trigger a strong military music.
Micro-management is lost, that means, you don’t have to worry about single units. There aren’t any mini-upgrades for combatants, unlike AOE, where you can research different types of armor, swords, and increase defense and attack points. Also, the resources are gathered constantly. You don’t have to wait until the villager reaches a drop site, because the amount of workers put on a task is sumarized and the total makes the average of the speed in which the resource is obtained in thirty seconds. Eg: if you have five villagers gathering wood, the total speed would be 50 pieces of wood in thirty seconds. And the sources of goods never disappear: forests are never cut down entirely and mountains never run out of metal.
There are four main tecnologies that you research in the Library: Military, Civics, Commerce and Science; each with eight levels. I won’t go more deeply on it, I just tell you that they are indispensable to advance from age to age and they make your nation’s economy and military power grow.
You can select from a vast gallery of nations to fight, of all around the world. From the Inca empire in the mountain scenary of the Andes to the snowy and treacherous land of the Russians, several civilizations can fight to each other in the game mode called “Conquer the world”, where you have a strategic map. Through it, you move the armies you have at your disposal to snatch away territories from the enemy. This is important if you want to gain more armies to fight, capture rare resources (resources that give certain bonuses to the player who claims it) to aid your battles and end the game with glory and dignity. It’s convenient to make dealings with the leaders of other nations to gain allies.
I love Age of Empires, so it’s natural that I love this game also. Although it can become more difficult in later ages by the almost mandatory usage of the new units available, namely airplanes, rockets, anti-aircraft radars and the rush to get as much oil as you can, I’m still hooked to this gameing jewel and I will be KING one day. I hope you liked the whole premise of it and if you don’t own it (probably you don’t, judging by the puzzled faces of anyone I tell about it), I’ll be happy if I actaully encouraged you to buy it.
Official site of Rise of Nations: www.microsoft.com/games/riseofnations/default.asp
Official site of RON: Thrones and Patriots: www.microsoft.com/games/thronesandpatriots/