Archived News From January 2005

Due to the old age of most of these news items, all hyperlinks have been disabled. It is also not possible to comment on any of news. They are presented in their current form purely for your reading pleasure – it’s the closest thing to a time machine we can offer you!

It’s Here: Age of Empires III Heaven
Posted by Aro on January 31st, 2005 @ 10:52 p.m.
Finally, after plenty of waiting, HeavenGames has finally unvailed the site dedicated to Ensemble Studio’s next Age of Empires sequel, Age of Empires III.

HeavenGames LLC announced today that it has launched Age of Empires III Heaven, the latest in its series of special-interest sites for Real Time Strategy & Citybuilding games.

Currently in development, Age of Empires III is a Real Time Strategy (RTS) game developed by Ensemble Studios/Microsoft. The game takes place during the discovery and colonization of the New World, covering events from Columbus’ discovery of the Indies until the American Civil War. It features eight unique civilizations, including the Spanish, French, and Britis. Age of Empires III’s graphics are being developed with the intention of being the best graphics of any game in any genre ever, which are portrayed in a fully 3D world with vertex shaders, pixel shaders, and an advanced physics engine.

Age of Empires III Heaven will be dedicated to featuring extensive coverage of Age of Empires III as the game is being developed. It will bring you the latest news on the game, as well as chats with developers in the forums.

AoE III Heaven will be operated by a veteran staff of five. They are Sergio “Socvazius” Prado, Site Director; Sarah “Angel Sunny” Green, Content Writer; Aron* “Angel Aro” Patterson, Content Writer; Ian “TheShadowDawn” Lyell, Content Writer; Luciano “Elpea” Pereira, Technical Assistant. All have been actively involved in the gaming community for more than 4 years.

*Rgh, they spelled my name wrong. 😉

AOE III Preview
Posted by Adder on January 28th, 2005 @ 9:58 p.m.
Gamespy has put up a preview/interview with Age of Empires III designer, Greg Street. It’s a nice, in depth article about four pages long. Here’s an excerpt:

Real physics will play a major role in terms of damage. As buildings take artillery damage, pieces of the building realistically break off and fall down with proper collision modeling. Soldiers will be tossed around with ragdoll physics when artillery shells explode in their vicinity. This won’t just apply to one or two units, but for 50 units. Units realistically bounce off of rooftops, roll on the ground, fall over the cliff, and float away in the water. It’s some very cool stuff.

You can check it out here!

AOE III Release Date?
Posted by Adder on January 21st, 2005 @ 3:25 a.m.
Gamestop has Age of Empires III up on their site for preorder. Normally that wouldn’t be newsworthy but they have an ETA as well; 7/15/05. Sounds pretty precise. Who knows? Check it out here!

University Update: DeathMatch Game Overview
Posted by CrystalCrown on January 16th, 2005 @ 9:56 a.m.
Cherub DaVe has just recently revamped his excellent DeathMatch article. DeathMatch Game Overview provides a step-by-step guide on the fundamentals of a DeathMatch game. In addition, it also includes valuable tips along the way. With in-depth analysis and explanations, this article will prove beneficial no matter if you are a DeathMatch guru or you have yet to begin your first DeathMatch game. Check out this great read here at the University!

It’s Coming…
Posted by Aro on January 15th, 2005 @ 7:32 a.m.

It’s coming soon. 😉

Historical Campaign Contest!
Posted by Adder on January 8th, 2005 @ 7:01 a.m.
A historical campaign contest has recently started signups in our Scenario Design Forum. Here’s an excerpt from Tanneur99’s post:

The campaign should have a minimum of three, maximum four playable scenarios. Cut-scene scenarios, maximum three, allowed. The historical theme is free, but limited to the period of AoEII, a history section mandatory. The campaign can be about historical characters like the ES campaigns, like the historical Harold fair-hair in Gyda’s Challenge. It can be about historical facts but a fictitious character like the templar in ‘Revenge of the Templar’. Important is the historical background of the campaign.

Head on over to the thread if you’re interested in signing up. Signups can be made no later than 04/30/05. The final campaign must be submitted no later than 09/30/05. I hope to see some great stuff out of you all!

RM League – Season Twelve
Posted by Adder on January 8th, 2005 @ 6:41 a.m.
Over at the RTS-League the accepted clans for season twelve of the RM league have been posted. Of the 93 that applied 67 were accepted. Those clans will participate in season twelve which will start this coming Monday; the tenth.

Check out the site for all the clans and more information!

Do I hear giggling?
Posted by Aro on January 8th, 2005 @ 5:27 a.m.
Or do I hear Jayhawk suing me for using his lines? =(

Age of Kings Heaven has a new Cherub, who’ll be assisting CrystalCrown and AnastasiaKafka in the moderation of the Scenario Design forum and will be assisting CrystalCrown by writing articles for the University. Who is it? None other than Tonto_DaVe, who excels at both Death Match-type games and Scenario Design.

Feel free to congratulate him in the Town’s Crier!

Age of Empires III – Theme Song
Posted by Adder on January 6th, 2005 @ 4:57 a.m.
Ensemble Studios has uploaded the the theme song from Age of Empires III to their site. As far as I can tell it seems to be a remix of the Age of Kings theme with some trumpets added in. It sounds pretty awesome.

Give it a download here!

Age of Empires III Announced!
Posted by Aro on January 4th, 2005 @ 11:12 p.m.
Looks like AoE III has finally been announced, after a long wait. It looks like the AoE-lover’s dream of a 3D age game has been answered, and with plenty of change to come with it. Check out the Ensemble Studios website for more info. Age of Mythology Heaven has mirrored the AoE III screenshots, so check them out if you get the chance!

The graphics look sooooo awesome… maybe I’ll get some sleep now that it has been announced. 😉

IGN Preview
Posted by Adder on January 3rd, 2005 @ 11:27 p.m.
IGN has a preview for Age of Empires III on their site. It’s in the form of a question and answer and there’s a lot of information included, here’s an excerpt;

Ensemble: Age of Empires III (there’s no subtitle). The period we’re covering is basically from the end of Age of Kings until the industrial age. This is a game about taking the European power that you governed in Age of Kings and sending it across the sea to struggle for control of the New World. The teasers on our website are building up to launching the Ensemble Studios’ Age of Empires III site.

Looks like it’s going to just be plain ol’ Age of Empires III with no “Discovery” attached. It’s a very informative article with three amazing looking images attached. If you’re interested I highly advise taking a look!

2003 AD – Age of Mythology: The Titans
Posted by Aro on January 3rd, 2005 @ 10:45 p.m.
Ensemble Studios has posted another, and hopefully their last, teaser. This time it has Ensemble’s latest game, Age of Mythology: The Titans expansion.

So I presume the announcement for AoE3 will happen this week (especially since the latest PC Gamer announces the game), or we’ll all go crazy during the wait. Either way, it’ll get announced eventually. So… there. ;-P

Have a Happy New Year!
Posted by Aro on January 1st, 2005 @ 5:57 a.m.
I hope everybody has a great 2005. Now, what should you expect this coming year? Hopefully I’ll get the full site update (that’s right, all of the pages, plus more, updated) up, and you should look forward to some changes with the Blacksmith. I doubt you’ll see a Pretty Town Contest during the summer, but you’ll definitely see a design contest of some sort this year. Some other things might (and probably will) happen as well, but I’m not quite sure yet, so… yeah. ;-P

Again, have a great 2005!

Guess What?
Posted by Adder on January 1st, 2005 @ 3:21 a.m.
If you guessed that Age of Empires III has been announced you need to guess again. 😉 The Ensemble Studios site has been updated…yet again. Now it shows a screenshot from Age of Mythology and the text: “2002 AD – Age of Mythology.” From this we can surmise that The Titans will be on the site tomorrow and the announcement will be on Sunday? I sure hope so!