So many great memories playing custom scenario maps on AOM back in 2005-2006. I still have some of the maps but I lost my own "Lobster Escape" creation.
Also fun fact, around 2013 I discovered that the original ESO multiplayer servers were still online and hosted by Microsoft, the game didn't allow you to login because the SSL certificate was expired, but Fiddler2 actually got around that issue and I was able to login with my old ESO account details (these were originally created as live/hotmail accounts with a custom domain).
Studying history is a combination of 1. Calendars, 2. Maps, 3. Contacts, and 4. Messages.
I've been trying to figure out how to represent Calendar & Map data in a single user interface. (such a program would have other uses outside history, too). A video of a changing map, such as a screen recording of an AoE game, is one way I can think to show that data. Being able to then click on the characters and see what they're doing/saying would be helpful too. This idea is still quite vague in my head, but if anyone has any comments, I'd appreciate the discussion.
I remember pretty much nothing of history in at high school. Hundreds of hours went in vain. I still remember pretty much every video game I played. I remember San Andreas map to some extent for example. I remember Age of Mythology.
If history is repeated as a video game, I'd guess most people will get to "learn" history and remember it. At least, for me, I would.
I know one famous history lesson where a teacher separated her class into 2 groups based on the color of their eyes. This happened shortly after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The teacher than treated one group superior to the others. They received longer recess, praise & other benefits. The inferior group was treated very poorly & their grades & attitude suffered because of it. The next day she said she made a mistake & the other group was superior. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/introduction-2/
The students in my school had a history teacher that would randomly surprise us in Middle School with an announcement of our school being selected to send one student to space. He put on a great acting performance to a bunch of gullible students. He did this to discuss what it might have been like sailing across the ocean to discover a new continent. He also talked about the teacher that sadly died with several astronauts in an explosion. Almost everyone who attended my school remembers this lesson.
Imagine if it was easy for all teachers to provide historical lessons with such impact & meaning. The improvements it could make in civil engagement, relations in our communities & maybe it could even help curb the constant jumping to conclusions that people love to do.
But in all seriousness, while I do really like this idea, I have a feeling that costs of development might outweigh the benefits somewhat. Although having said that, if somebody made an Age of Empires style game which was chock full of historical information I would buy it in an instant.
Maybe because I grew up with it, but I love the 2D pixelated version of most old school RTS and grand strategy games. I can't explain why but it feels like how RTS ought to be. Bird view with 3D HD rendered bodies always feels like wasting electricity and meaningless graphics card deterioration.
The 2D version in comparison is much more pleasing to look at, it has the feel of old-school hand-drawn animated movies.
I know they said its not the final version of the art, but I think my gripes are not just about models and lightning or what have you. It's AoE, I don't need or want photorealism!
They remade the game, but it's not available yet.
You can register for the beta IF you accept the NDA.
And you need an xbox live account.
I got stuck at "need an xbox live account".
There is a problem with your login. Please be sure you are using a Microsoft account with an XBox Live account associated and that you have authorized access to your profile information if prompted.
It's free, open source and very similar but in my opinion a better game.
https://www.hanselminutes.com/568/forgotten-empires-amazing-...
However the podcast is from before the AoE1 remake announcement. It's about the AoE2 remake. Forgotten Empires were a bunch of fan modders that made an unofficial expansion in 2012. In 2013 Microsoft relaunched AoE2 HD and Forgotten Empires got to release there fan expansion into an official expansion. Forgotten Empires, now LLC, hired Matt Pritchard and Rich Geldreich from Ensemble Studios fame and they are now the developers of the AoE1 remake. Such a great story :)
http://www.forgottenempires.net/former-ensemble-studios-lead...
Why can't we have open and free games? Why not atleast after commercialization has ended? The current situation feels like stealing from mankinds heritage.
The problem is often that the infrastructure around such open source games is bad/crumbles. Everyone wants to write shiny gamedesign code, nobody wants to work on tools or server-software.
Another issue is, that people who felt the pain, dont have a way of knowing when the pain is fixed. If you could have a github-trigger, as in "send me notification, if the following issues are fixed" and the devs could see that there is a potential crowd waiting - that would be awesome.
The sources for big things like Starcraft and Age of Empires II gives you a monopoly on the new content though, so I understand why publishers keep those hits close to their chest. It's a shame they're not more liberal about the ones they aren't actively keeping up.
AoE2 (non-HD) with Voobly actually works really well. What MS could do is just take a look at that, and make an update based on that. AoE2 HD works too, but unless you are running beta 5.5, it's less playable than AoE 2 non-HD.
I suppose most remake-teams aren't that interested in the people that are currently playing or targeting people that might want good gameplay and integration with mods and platforms of choice (i.e. good Wine support and maybe a macOS build?). This is also why AoE3 pretty much failed: it didn't help with the fancy graphics and while pathfinding and engine errors were better, the gameplay was pretty much half as good as the older editions...
I bought AoE and AoE2 boxed for PC and Mac, it was great back then, and still is. If they could just fix the engine, update unit selection and pathfinding, get good resolution/monitor support and revise their networking code, I'd pay for that. I don't want 3D models or 4D or 5D or UHD or VR, the 2D-ish sprites are fine.
Edit: I thought this was AOEII, after looking at the site more I realized this is AOE.
Maybe it's because so many F2P mobile games copied their art style directly so it looks like it could be a mobile RTS from 2015 that's kept that art style so relevant.
But the RTS genre has literally not changed at all since AoE. The big question in my mind is: is AoE a universal truth, or are RTS developers lazy?
At least we got Deserts of Kharak recently which was a really good title. I still play StarCraft 2 because it's the only RTS with an active online multiplayer community, but I would love for there to be regular and more RTS titles coming onto the scene.
I attribute all my love of history to Ensemble Studios.
Turns out this is an extremely valuable life lesson.
This tactic was totally broken in AoM, where they forced town center locations (I presume intentionally, for this reason). I hated it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4DF099-DNo
(and here it is defended successfully: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcVTHFBeXM4 )
Apropos of nothing: I am not really into the whole "watching people stream video gamess" thing for the most part but I recently discovered that I do enjoy a lot of this guy's AOE2 videos. There's a lot going on in high-level AOE2 play and it's really nice to have someone who knows what they're doing breaking it down for you.
Also, shameless plug for youtube-dl, it's really nice to pull them down and watch them in a local video player instead of streaming them directly.
BTW: I've already pre-purchased StarCraft Remastered and can't wait to see it released on 14 August ;-)
As regards civilization, I have been playing AoE2HD with the Mongols. I always used to play the Romans for AoE, though I think I will switch to Greeks or Assyrians if I pick up this one.
Looking forward to this edition!
I know a lot of people think graphics don't matter. If that's you, I respect that. But for me personally, I would actually consider starting a team to do a 3D remake that is fully compatible with the original.
http://image.buildinggame.net/screenshot-cleopatra-game-buil... http://cf.shacknews.com/shack_images/sshots/immortalcities/1...
I realize that this is just my personal taste... I love 3D movies too!
I certainly wouldn't consider 2D graphics categorically "bad," that makes about as much sense as considering books, comics or paintings bad because they're not animated.
I've not seen a game that does the latter well. The extra degree of freedom, and the extra controls you need to manage it, just ends up confusing.
Release it Steam, or it never happened.
