Second Zone Chat

Article written by Various
Published on 08-25-2012; updated on 08-17-2014
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Second Age of Kings Zone Chat

With Harter Ryan, Ian Fisher, Mark Terrano, and Sandy Petersen

+juliagal> To make the chat eaiser to read, you might want
to go to options and change the font and style I have mine set at
11point — much easier on my eyes.

+juliagal> If you would like to ask a question, choose Ask
Question from the Chat pull-down menu. This will place your
Member ID in the Waiting mode in the column on the right.

+juliagal> When it’s your turn, the Moderator will say “ga”
which means “go ahead”

+juliagal> and your Member ID will be bumped up to Asking
mode.

+juliagal> You will then be able to ask your question of
the guest.

+juliagal> Use points of emphasis (that is, three periods,
“. . .”) at the end of your question if you run out of space and
would like to ask more.

+juliagal> When done with your question, type “ga” so our
guest can answer.

+juliagal> At the Moderator’s discretion, you may get one
follow-up question. Follow the same format as noted above (“Flup”
means “follow up” or do you have another question or
comment.)

+juliagal> “NOQ” means “no other questions” – if you say
that a moderator will move you back to watching. Or you can move
your self by going back to the Menu and choice “Don’t Ask”.

+juliagal> After the follow-up question, the next person in
the queue will be recognized. Please wait until your Member ID
shows in the Asking category before sending your message.

+juliagal> Our chat will begin in 25 Min (it is now 5:35pm
PST)

Sandyman@ES> Now what?

Sandyman@ES> Turned my privacy off. Is that right?

harter@ES> Yes

+Debbee> Welcome all, here’s a few chat tips:

+Debbee> To make the chat eaiser to read, you might want to
go to options and change the font and style

+Debbee> I have mine set at 11point — much easier on my
eyes .

+Debbee> When you need to ask a question or make a comment
go to the menu and choose “Ask a Question” This will move you to
the “Waiting” area.

+Debbee> A moderator will move you to “Asking” and then you
will be able to speak.

+Debbee> When a moderator says “GA” that means “go ahead”
and ask your question or make your comment.

+Debbee> “Flup” means “follow up” or do you have another
question or comment.

+Debbee> “noq” means No Other Questions (that you are
done).

+Debbee> Welcome AGER’s from around the World!!! We are
honored to have Ensemble

+Debbee> Studios representatives Harter Ryan, Mark Terrano,
Sandy Petersen, and Ian

+Debbee> Fischer join us tonight!

+Debbee> These are the guys responsible for the awesome new
game … Age of Empires

+Debbee> II, The Age of Kings.

+Debbee> Let’s start out with a brief introduction of each
of our Guests 🙂

+Debbee> Harter Ryan, aka harter@ES, has worked for
Ensemble Studios for two years

+Debbee> and served as the Producer for “Age of Empires 2:
The Age of Kings” as well

+Debbee> as “Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome Expansion
Pack”.

+Debbee> A life-long board and computer gamer, Harter has a
degree in Management from

+Debbee> the University of Oklahoma and worked as a
programmer, Team Lead, and

+Debbee> Process Specialist with Mobil Oil for almost ten
years prior to joining

+Debbee> Ensemble Studios.

+Debbee> Mark Terrano, aka MarcoPolo@ES, has always had a
fascination with

+Debbee> multi-player and social content…

+Debbee> designing a computer-based multi-player game in
1983 and developing for MUDs

+Debbee> and Audiotext (Telephone) entertainment as
well.

+Debbee> Mark hooked up with the Ensemble crew in 1995 when
he heard about a game in

+Debbee> development and wrote all of the multi-player code
for Age of Empires.

+Debbee> On the design side, Mark’s broad range of talents
fit in well with the

+Debbee> collaborative environment at the Studios and he
moved from the Technical to

+Debbee> Design side full-time after Age of Empires hit the
streets.

+Debbee> Mark’s latest project was Age of Empires II and
current project…. well,

+Debbee> it’s one he will only describe as “something that
will turn RTS gaming on

+Debbee> its side”.

+Debbee> Sandy Petersen, aka Sandyman@ES, has been a game
designer for about fourteen

+Debbee> years. Until the Fall of 1988, he worked for
Chaosium Inc., a game company

+Debbee> for whom he designed (or co-designed) Call of
Cthulhu, Elfquest,

+Debbee> Ghostbusters, RuneQuest and a whole mess of
supplements.

+Debbee> In 1988, Sandy switched genres from paper to
silicon chip and became a

+Debbee> designer for MicroProse Software.

+Debbee> There he designed Lightspeed, and Hyperspeed, and
co-designed Darklands and

+Debbee> the infamous Dr. Floyd’s Wacky Windows.

+Debbee> In 1993, Sandy went to work for id Software, where
he designed levels and

+Debbee> monsters for the infamous Doom game, which
achieved the much-envied status

+Debbee> of having outraged a congressional
subcommittee.

+Debbee> After Doom, he worked on Doom II and Quake.

+Debbee> In the summer of 1997, Sandy joined Ensemble
Studios, where he worked on the

+Debbee> game you see before you tonight, Age of Empires
II, The Age of Kings.

+Debbee> Ian Fischer, aka IFischer@ES, has been with
Ensemble Studios since June,

+Debbee> 1997. Prior to coming to Ensemble, Ian was an
United States Navy Rescue

+Debbee> Swimmer (SAR).

+Debbee> When asked what his favorite part of AoE is, Ian
replied:

+Debbee> “Getting to hear the Tim Deen excuse generation
machine churn to life on

+Debbee> those rare occasions when he loses (also taking
credit for his defeat

+Debbee> although I never saw him in the game).

+Debbee> Witnessing Chris Van Doren quit 35 seconds into
any given game because of a

+Debbee> crippling and completely unfair random map (he
started with one villager too

+Debbee> far from his town center, his shore fish looked
sleepy, a bird flew over his

+Debbee> town, etc.)

+Debbee> Also, hearing everyone in the office screaming
back and forth during a

+Debbee> game — when people are that excited, you know you
have a good game.

+Debbee> What a great line-up of Guests!!

+Debbee> I know you’re all anxious to ask your questions,
so let’s get started.

+Debbee> Remember, one question per “turn”… thanks!

+Debbee> ga IClan First question

IClan_Emporer> First of all I’d like to say hi! 🙂

MarcoPolo@ES> Hello IClan!

IClan_Emporer> And my Question is after seeing all of these
fan-created AOE sites, and even AOE clans, like my glorious
website which I am sure you would love, what do you think of all
this? ga

IFischer@ES> In general, do you mean, “what do we think of
what AoE has become?”

IClan_Emporer> I mean what do you think of what the fans
are doing?

IClan_Emporer> ga

Sandyman@ES> The only way designers have of justifying
their existence is by making fans happy & enthused, so we are
invariably thrilled with this kind of response.

IFischer@ES> I think that it is fantastic. We get a massive
amount of feedback from our fans regarding what they want to see
in our future games…

IClan_Emporer> Do you think that they dug deeper than even
you did when you created the game?

IFischer@ES> Seeing clans form and web pages spring up
shows us that people really like what we’ve done, it is nice to
see that people like our game so much.

+Debbee> ty IClan

Sandyman@ES> They dig deeper in some ways, not in
others

+Pawfangs> Please Have you Questions ready to Cut and
Paste… ty!

+Debbee> ga pencil

pencil0> When is the next major age of empires tournament,
for Age of empires 2 like the rumble for rome tournament? What
well happen when age of empires runs out of ages to use, what
well your next game be? What well the expansion pack for Age 2 be
about? flup

pencil0> and

+juliagal> Please remember, one question per “turn”. Lots
to get through… and so little time! :-))

IFischer@ES> How can we run out of ages to use?

IFischer@ES> We’ll just make stuff up!

Sandyman@ES> we don’t know when the nexst major tourney
will be. At least I don’t.

Sandyman@ES> If we “ran out” of ages, we could always start
over again.

Sandyman@ES> The expansion pack for Age2 isn’t even
announced yet. Isn’t this quesiton a bit premature?

+Debbee> Be on the look out for announcements on the AOK
2000 World Championships!

pencil0> Can I ask 1 more?

+Debbee> thanks pencil

+Debbee> ga Blaze

BLAzE_Josh> hey I would like to know when the demo fo AoK
will be out and where I can download it?ga

harter@ES> The demo for AOK will be out next month.

BLAzE_Josh> ok thanx

+Debbee> ga Leader

LEADER_KLLS> hello everybdy!!! 🙂 I love AOE AND AOK “When
is the age kings going to be available in canada?” ga

Sandyman@ES> Sadly, I don’t think anyone at ES knows much
about when AoK will be out in Canada.

harter@ES> In the coming month, I believe.

LEADER_KLLS> ok cool thanks

+Pawfangs> AOE2_Merlin , Congratulations!! You have been
selected at random to receive Free Copy Of AOK and an AOK
Poster!! Please email your name, postal address and telephone
number to zevents@microsoft.com to claim your gift

+Debbee> COngrats Merlin!! Whqat a great prize!

_NightCrawler_> what gave you the idea of Demolitions
ships? Did they use them back in days..pack a ship up with 8 tons
of gun powder and then ram then into a boat? =) I lik ethem just
wondering what crazy guy came up with the idea..and i like the
differnt languages

+Debbee> ga night

IFischer@ES> Yes, they are historical…

IFischer@ES> The actual idea came from our playtesters I
believe (we originally had a ramming ship in their place).

MarcoPolo@ES> I think the languages add a lot for me as
well. I know from AoE we were always going WoLoLooooo in the
halls and things – the voice adds a lot to the feel of each
civilization. Microsoft’s office in Ireland got language
specialists from all over the…

_NightCrawler_> all i understand is the turkish

MarcoPolo@ES> world to record the languages. For me they
just add a lot to the feel of the different civilizations.

Sandyman@ES> Is it good turkish?

_NightCrawler_> yeah

+Debbee> ty night

Sandyman@ES> whew

+Debbee> ga taco

taco55> Does Ensemble Studios currently have any plans for
future games, and if so, what types of games are planned? ga

harter@ES> Yes, we are working on future titles but I’m
afraid we’re not ready to announce them, yet.

+Debbee> ga Corradok

Corradok> Have you notice that there is a serious “Out Of
Sync Error” on the multiplayer game? Is yes, what cause such an
error and is there any way we can prevent it? Also, is there a
patch for this coming soon? ga

MarcoPolo@ES> To get the games to have many units playing
simultaneously – the game runs independently on all machines.
Every few seconds they check each other to make sure these games
are still synchronized or ‘in sync’. If the games don’t
match…

MarcoPolo@ES> the out-of-sync problem occurs. If there is a
problem with the game we’ll track it and fix it. There may be a
problem with people with pirated copies – if the games are even
slightly different it will go out of sync. In the last weeks of
testing…

MarcoPolo@ES> we played hundreds of games without having
this problem happen once. MS test team and our progrmaming staff
here will be right on top of any problems we find with the
game.

Corradok> Will a dual CPU computer increase the performance
of the game? ga

harter@ES> We don’t have a patch effort underway, as the
game hasn’t really been released very far beyond the USA as of
now.

+Pawfangs> Stan_Man , Congratulations!! You have been
selected at random to receive Free Copy Of AOK and an AOK
Poster!! Please email your name, postal address and telephone
number to zevents@microsoft.com to claim your gift

+Debbee> ga EOD

EOD_WayCool> Hello! i want to know if they will sell
aoe/ror/aok on one pack? just like the gold pack that have
aoe/ror. ga

MarcoPolo@ES> We don’t have any special support to handle
dual CPUs. As far as they make your computer process faster
though – we’ll take advantage of any special speed. Maybe another
day we’ll have a few of the optimization specialists or something
on…

MarcoPolo@ES> to answer some of the technical questions in
more detail.

harter@ES> Eventually I’m sure there’ll be a bundle pack,
but that’s a long way away.

+Debbee> ga trackbear

TrackBear> My Question is “Will there be any strategy
(or inside scoop) within the strategy of the game…”
Such as Fish being the fastest food resource and turning a
15minute bronze time to a 12minute bronze time. You don’t
have to say what it is and exact times, I w

TrackBear> I was just wondering if the speed to all
gathering is the same or is there a twist like in Age of
Empires.

IFischer@ES> There are multiple strategies. We get asked
“which is the best” a lot — none of them are “The Best”.
Different strategies are better in different circumstances.

Deep_Dracula_> First of all hi.My question is how do you
feel about warez of Aok being distributed from websites ??

Deep_Dracula_> ive seen them alot

harter@ES> Well, obviously we’re not happy about warez
versions of our games.

+Debbee> ga Stan

Stan__Man> Hi.. I visited ensamble studios last month.Now
that AOK is out are you going to try to make a fix for trainers
and I am hopeing that there are no cheat codes for AOK

MarcoPolo@ES> We learned a lot about trainers, cheaters,
and the like from AoE. Lead programmer Angelo Laudon working with
the other technical staff plugged every hole we could think of,
built a little extra armor on. I was encouraged to read…

harter@ES> We are working on the AoE/RoR patch right now,
and you can look for an announcement on it in the next month.

Stan__Man> thank YOu

MarcoPolo@ES> one of the trainer writers from RoR that AoK
was officially ‘Trainer Proof’. High praise from someone who
knows the back doors nearly as well as we know the front doors
🙂

+Debbee> ga Vader

AoK_Lord_Vader> Hey guys! Its a real pleasure to be
chatting with you people today(c: My question is since Age of
Empires has been so succesful, do you think that there will be an
Age of Empires 3 and Age of Empires 4?

AoK_Lord_Vader> Also do you guys know my brother Jamie
Evans, who has been a test lead for Age of Empires for 3 or 4
years? AND IF SO. Could please talk him into getting me a copy of
AoK? hehehe. ga

harter@ES> I think all of us enjoy working on Age of
Empires games and hope to continue doing so in the future.

Sandyman@ES> we all know jamie

Sandyman@ES> But you can do your own dirty work

harter@ES> He’s pretty tight with his money.

+Debbee> ga Cattle

MarcoPolo@ES> Man, if your own brother can’t get you a
copy…what hope do I have 🙂 Jamie was a wonderful test lead on
the MS side – the entire group pulled a tremendous effort over
the past 2 years.

CattleDung> Do you think the next trend in RTS’s will be
towards 3D accelerated graphics features (ie. 3Dfx/Open GL)? If
so will future releases of the AOE series include this?

CattleDung> ga

Sandyman@ES> Yes we think the next trend may well be
towards 3D.

harter@ES> Undoubtably. It’s fair to say that the whole
marketplace is moving towards 3D. However, you don’t need one for
AoK!

+Pawfangs> SiegeSan , Congratulations!! You have been
selected at random to receive Free Copy Of AOK and an AOK
Poster!! Please email your name, postal address and telephone
number to zevents@microsoft.com to claim your gift

+Debbee> ga hunted

_HuNtEd_> HI Guys love ur games… here are my
questions…Why did u do away with the hoard command?? Also i
never recieved my cards that i was supposed to get when i
pre-ordered the game why is that?? ga

MarcoPolo@ES> The cards are between you and the dealer
where you bought the game. They were done as part of a
promotional pre-order program – talk to the store for them.

IFischer@ES> We did away with hoard when we revised the
formation system — staggered provided the same functionality and
we didn’t see a need for the duplication.

+Debbee> ga kudas

Kudas_> Hi, I was wondering if you guys thought the
scenario deathmacth will be as popular as it was with aoe and ror
if so do you think it will, will it be as standard set up and
build as it is in Aoe…

Kudas_> Ie if your playing 3v3 in aoe: 2 people have to
play choson and 1 hittite do you think there will be such strong
civs as aoe had…and how it was you had to build in such an
order or you lost. noq Ie if your playing 3v3 in aoe: 2 people
have to play choson

Kudas_> and 1 hittite do you think there will be such
strong civs as aoe had…and how it was you had to build in
such an order or you lost. noq and 1 hittite do you think there
will be such strong civs as aoe had…and how it was you had
to build in such an order o

Kudas_> you lost. noq you lost. noq

+juliagal> NOTE: We’ll be playing “AoK Trivia” at the end
of this chat! Winners get a chance to BEAT ES and MS folks at
their own game!! 🙂

MarcoPolo@ES> I think Deathmatch will be even more fun –
and with more challenges than in AoE. Ian did a superb job
working with the testers to balance the game – so I’d be
surprised if there is ‘one superior strategy’. The team bonuses
throw another twist into…

MarcoPolo@ES> all multiplayer games. There are special
deathmatch rooms on the Zone now too.

+Debbee> ga matty

XxMATTYxX> first of all I would like to say hello and thank
u for bringing us this great game on behalf of the Xx
clan….

IFischer@ES> Thanks

XxMATTYxX> i noticed u made AOK more defensive,whitch is
good.Do u think this will eliminate the tool rush?…ga

IFischer@ES> I don’t think we made it more defensive, just
more defensive in some places…

IFischer@ES> We didn’t think it was fun for people (and a
lot of people agreed when asked) to lose the game after 8 minutes
of play because someone was in their town. ..

IFischer@ES> So we made some changes to make the rush
require more skill — it isn’t dead but it is riskier, which is
what we wanted.

+Debbee> ga Majin

Majin_Piccolo> Man how come you guys try and switch up on
us? I personally do not like Age Of Kings because of it’s
cartoonyness. I do however like the line of sight addition and
the town bell also. And also, can you play AoK with a copied CD?
I heard u cannot……….

Majin_Piccolo> and also, if you rush in the game, it just
shows how good you are and if you can stay alive after that then
you are really good

harter@ES> You’re right — you can’t play with a copied
CD.

IFischer@ES> That is correct, you cannot play with a copied
CD… not sure what you mean by the “cartoonyness”.

+Debbee> ga Dr

IFischer@ES> Agree with you about pulling off the rush,
however.

Dr_CaNcEr> before I ask my questions(two short questions
ready to paste) congrats for the trully great AOE and ROR
(hopefully AOK too)… and I would like to report a historical
mistake u have made in AoK(last part of my question)

Dr_CaNcEr> Our gaming Network received a large numbers of
emails complaing about trainers and bugs of AOE/ROR; we were
unable to solve the problem or answer the questions as we were
unable to come in contact with your company! Aren’t you supposed
to favor a good …

Dr_CaNcEr> public image? We still receive more than 10
emails a day about trainers and bugs of the game. As a news
network we were not meant to support the game I believe….

Dr_CaNcEr> The Byzantine wonder is shown in the game after
its modification by the Turkish civilisation… Agia Sofia didn’t
look like that back then…. ga

Dr_CaNcEr> Do you think you will port any of your games to
Linux in the near future? and who was responsible for the leak of
the alpha version? ….

Dr_CaNcEr> ga

+juliagal> We’ll answer one of those

+juliagal> take your pick guys 🙂

+juliagal> you’ll have to get back in line for the rest,
Cancer, sorry

MarcoPolo@ES> The wonders and other buildings are all based
on architectural elements from various buildings, but aren’t
meant to represent specific buildings. Some elements are from
different time periods than the game represents. The game is
historically based…

MarcoPolo@ES> but shouldn’t be used as a replacement for
research, study, or your own research on the Web. There are 13
different wonders in the game.

MarcoPolo@ES> We have always ‘bent’ history to make the
game more fun, more interesting, or to fit within the screen
🙂

+Pawfangs> AOKH_Omnivac , Congratulations!! You have been
selected at random to receive Free Copy Of AOK and an AOK
Poster!! Please email your name, postal address and telephone
number to zevents@microsoft.com to claim your gift

+Debbee> Be sure to watch for announcements of AOK 2000
World Championships! In a few minutes you will have a chance to
win a game with ES and MS staffers!

+Debbee> ga mushroom

MushroomPeople> hiya, I got a question about the new
civs…Are they ALL historically correct? I mean, what’s with the
goths? and uh….ya know +pawfangs, if you wanna “accidentally”
pick me for a copy of AoK, I’ll appreciate it and lova ya
forever! :*) ga plz

IFischer@ES> They aren’t anything approaching historically
accurate; they are inspired by historical elements…

IFischer@ES> The Goths, for example, didn’t have enough
troops to garrison what they conquered in the real world…

IFischer@ES> So they would destroy all of a city’s defenses
when they took over…

IFischer@ES> That way they could retake the same location
with less difficulty when they had to come back…

IFischer@ES> Hence, no walls in the game.

+Debbee> ga tec

tec_ES> hi.You guys have made a great game i don’t do my
homework because i have to play it ..what kind of units did you
take out of the game that you found not to be fun to play??
ga

MarcoPolo@ES> We mentioned earlier how the ramming galley
was replaced by the demolition ship. In that case there was a
call on which was more fun, and which had more tactical
possibilities. The demolition ship…

MarcoPolo@ES> can be used to kill units crossing the
shallows or standing on the shore line – so we dropped the
ramming ship.

+Debbee> ga chicken

tHeFunKyChicKeN> Let me start by saying thanks for making
great games to play over the years……My Q is…

tHeFunKyChicKeN> it now seems that the tool rush or feudal
rush is more of a challenge….what age and which military units
do u like to use for a effective early game rush? ……and about
what time do u feel most confidant to start your attack? ga it
now seems that th

Sandyman@ES> The AI will rush in Feudal about a third of
the time. When there are multiple AIs, almost always one will
rush, to delay you while the rest build up

tHeFunKyChicKeN> so just watch the Ai?

Sandyman@ES> I stick with infantry for the early rush
myself, by the way

Sandyman@ES> I stick with infantry for the early rush
myself, btw

Sandyman@ES> I stick with infantry for the early rush
btw.

MarcoPolo@ES> Sandy is having some problems with his
connection for the rest of the answer…

+Pawfangs> Celtic_Dog , Congratulations!! You have been
selected at random to receive Free Copy Of AOK and an AOK
Poster!! Please email your name, postal address and telephone
number to zevents@microsoft.com to claim your gift

Sandyman@ES> Infantry are good rushers because they can
destroy outlying buildings.

+Debbee> ga eagle

AOEKINGS_Eagle9> I have 2 questions that are easily aswered
-what time period is the next aoe game gonna take place in ? and
when and where can i get the trail version of aok ?- i may not be
getting it for as long as 2 months ga P.S – AOEKINGS IS THE
COOLEST CLAN

harter@ES> We haven’t announced a next game so I don’t have
any information for you about that. The Trial version will be out
next month.

+Debbee> ga merlin

AOE2_Merlin> First, I wish to decline the prize I won and
let another Ager win instead. I already get lots of free stuff,
including the game and soon the poster and strat guide. Please
pick another random name and let someone else enjoy this new Age
of Kings.

AOE2_Merlin> Superb Job ES ! Question — What is it like at
the Studios now that AoE2 is in the stores? Business as usual,
already stressed out working on new projects, or still coming
down from the rush of releasing the game? — GA

MarcoPolo@ES> You’re a gracious one Merlin – I’m sure a
lucky Zoner will be thankful for your generosity. As to the work
environment – we all got a week off to recuperate and get some
rest after we went Gold. People are spending a little time to get
their…

MarcoPolo@ES> PCs upgraded, their offices cleaned, and
catch up on playing all the *other* games that have come out in
the last few months. And of course, we’re working away on our
next games.

harter@ES> Things are picking up as people return from
their vacations.

Sandyman@ES> that’s the producer talking.

harter@ES> Except me — I got to stay home.

IFischer@ES> Paid bills, slept, moved boxed from last time
I moved out of apartment out of car, back to work.

+Debbee> We only have time for a few more questions, but
stick around for your chance to “Play the Developers”!

+Pawfangs> ScurveyHerb , Congratulations!! You have been
selected at random to receive Free Copy Of AOK and an AOK
Poster!! Please email your name, postal address and telephone
number to zevents@microsoft.com to claim your gift

+Debbee> ga evil

EvilYoshua> Simple question I hope, why is it only a host
can record multiplayer games, this feature seemed exciting to me,
but was disappointed when I learned that only the host could
record (at least with Zone games)

EvilYoshua> One more afterwards if I may ?

+Debbee> Sorry 1 per customer 🙂

MarcoPolo@ES> Some people might not want their ‘secret play
style’ recorded – actually only the host chooses if the game will
be recorded or not – it is recorded on all players machines.

MarcoPolo@ES> The record game feature is a lot of fun –
we’ve enjoyed analyzing our victories “And this is where I hit
his town with 20 fully upgraded elephants” – and our defeats -to
see what to do better next time.

+Debbee> ga Stomp with the last question

Stomp_N_Romp> First, games from Ensemble and Blizzard are
the only one I buy sight unseen with total piece of mind. Thank
You for being 50% of my gaming security blanket. 🙂 Question:
What do you forsee the effects of Sovreign from Verant being
twords future RTS…

Stomp_N_Romp> games, and how many massively multiplayer
games do you think can be supported at once? ga

IFischer@ES> How many channels do you want on your TV?

IFischer@ES> 🙂

Stomp_N_Romp> 🙂

Sandyman@ES> Embarrassingly enough, some of us (including
me) have not heard of Verant’s Sovereign.

+Debbee> I’d like to thank our guests for spending time
with us tonight, we all enjoyed it!! I’d also like to thank all
of you for being here! See you next week, Good Night All!

MarcoPolo@ES> I put it down on my list though 🙂

Sandyman@ES> bye all

MarcoPolo@ES> Thanks for hosting us, and thanks to all the
fans – we’ll see you out there on the Zone.

harter@ES> Thanks.

IFischer@ES> Thanks, everyone.

+Debbee> Now Juliagal will give you all a chance to win a
game with a developer!

LEADER_KLLS> ok cool thanks

+Pawfangs> AOE2_Merlin , Congratulations!! You have been
selected at random to receive Free Copy Of AOK and an AOK
Poster!! Please email your name, postal address and telephone
number to zevents@microsoft.com to claim your gift

+Debbee> COngrats Merlin!! Whqat a great prize!

_NightCrawler_> what gave you the idea of Demolitions
ships? Did they use them back in days..pack a ship up with 8 tons
of gun powder and then ram then into a boat? =) I lik ethem just
wondering what crazy guy came up with the idea..and i like the
differnt languages

+Debbee> ga night

IFischer@ES> Yes, they are historical…

IFischer@ES> The actual idea came from our playtesters I
believe (we originally had a ramming ship in their place).

MarcoPolo@ES> I think the languages add a lot for me as
well. I know from AoE we were always going WoLoLooooo in the
halls and things – the voice adds a lot to the feel of each
civilization. Microsoft’s office in Ireland got language
specialists from all over the…

_NightCrawler_> all i understand is the turkish

MarcoPolo@ES> world to record the languages. For me they
just add a lot to the feel of the different civilizations.

Sandyman@ES> Is it good turkish?

_NightCrawler_> yeah

+Debbee> ty night

Sandyman@ES> whew

+Debbee> ga taco

taco55> Does Ensemble Studios currently have any plans for
future games, and if so, what types of games are planned? ga

harter@ES> Yes, we are working on future titles but I’m
afraid we’re not ready to announce them, yet.

+Debbee> ga Corradok

Corradok> Have you notice that there is a serious “Out Of
Sync Error” on the multiplayer game? Is yes, what cause such an
error and is there any way we can prevent it? Also, is there a
patch for this coming soon? ga

MarcoPolo@ES> To get the games to have many units playing
simultaneously – the game runs independently on all machines.
Every few seconds they check each other to make sure these games
are still synchronized or ‘in sync’. If the games don’t
match…

MarcoPolo@ES> the out-of-sync problem occurs. If there is a
problem with the game we’ll track it and fix it. There may be a
problem with people with pirated copies – if the games are even
slightly different it will go out of sync. In the last weeks of
testing…

MarcoPolo@ES> we played hundreds of games without having
this problem happen once. MS test team and our progrmaming staff
here will be right on top of any problems we find with the
game.

Corradok> Will a dual CPU computer increase the performance
of the game? ga

harter@ES> We don’t have a patch effort underway, as the
game hasn’t really been released very far beyond the USA as of
now.

+Pawfangs> Stan_Man , Congratulations!! You have been
selected at random to receive Free Copy Of AOK and an AOK
Poster!! Please email your name, postal address and telephone
number to zevents@microsoft.com to claim your gift

+Debbee> ga EOD

EOD_WayCool> Hello! i want to know if they will sell
aoe/ror/aok on one pack? just like the gold pack that have
aoe/ror. ga

MarcoPolo@ES> We don’t have any special support to handle
dual CPUs. As far as they make your computer process faster
though – we’ll take advantage of any special speed. Maybe another
day we’ll have a few of the optimization specialists or something
on…

MarcoPolo@ES> to answer some of the technical questions in
more detail.

harter@ES> Eventually I’m sure there’ll be a bundle pack,
but that’s a long way away.

+Debbee> ga trackbear

TrackBear> My Question is “Will there be any strategy
(or inside scoop) within the strategy of the game…”
Such as Fish being the fastest food resource and turning a
15minute bronze time to a 12minute bronze time. You don’t
have to say what it is and exact times, I w

TrackBear> I was just wondering if the speed to all
gathering is the same or is there a twist like in Age of
Empires.

IFischer@ES> There are multiple strategies. We get asked
“which is the best” a lot — none of them are “The Best”.
Different strategies are better in different circumstances.

Deep_Dracula_> First of all hi.My question is how do you
feel about warez of Aok being distributed from websites ??

Deep_Dracula_> ive seen them alot

harter@ES> Well, obviously we’re not happy about warez
versions of our games.

+Debbee> ga Stan

Stan__Man> Hi.. I visited ensamble studios last month.Now
that AOK is out are you going to try to make a fix for trainers
and I am hopeing that there are no cheat codes for AOK

MarcoPolo@ES> We learned a lot about trainers, cheaters,
and the like from AoE. Lead programmer Angelo Laudon working with
the other technical staff plugged every hole we could think of,
built a little extra armor on. I was encouraged to read…

harter@ES> We are working on the AoE/RoR patch right now,
and you can look for an announcement on it in the next month.

Stan__Man> thank YOu

MarcoPolo@ES> one of the trainer writers from RoR that AoK
was officially ‘Trainer Proof’. High praise from someone who
knows the back doors nearly as well as we know the front doors
🙂

+Debbee> ga Vader

AoK_Lord_Vader> Hey guys! Its a real pleasure to be
chatting with you people today(c: My question is since Age of
Empires has been so succesful, do you think that there will be an
Age of Empires 3 and Age of Empires 4?

AoK_Lord_Vader> Also do you guys know my brother Jamie
Evans, who has been a test lead for Age of Empires for 3 or 4
years? AND IF SO. Could please talk him into getting me a copy of
AoK? hehehe. ga

harter@ES> I think all of us enjoy working on Age of
Empires games and hope to continue doing so in the future.

Sandyman@ES> we all know jamie

Sandyman@ES> But you can do your own dirty work

harter@ES> He’s pretty tight with his money.

+Debbee> ga Cattle

MarcoPolo@ES> Man, if your own brother can’t get you a
copy…what hope do I have 🙂 Jamie was a wonderful test lead on
the MS side – the entire group pulled a tremendous effort over
the past 2 years.

CattleDung> Do you think the next trend in RTS’s will be
towards 3D accelerated graphics features (ie. 3Dfx/Open GL)? If
so will future releases of the AOE series include this?

CattleDung> ga

Sandyman@ES> Yes we think the next trend may well be
towards 3D.

harter@ES> Undoubtably. It’s fair to say that the whole
marketplace is moving towards 3D. However, you don’t need one for
AoK!

+Pawfangs> SiegeSan , Congratulations!! You have been
selected at random to receive Free Copy Of AOK and an AOK
Poster!! Please email your name, postal address and telephone
number to zevents@microsoft.com to claim your gift

+Debbee> ga hunted

_HuNtEd_> HI Guys love ur games… here are my
questions…Why did u do away with the hoard command?? Also i
never recieved my cards that i was supposed to get when i
pre-ordered the game why is that?? ga

MarcoPolo@ES> The cards are between you and the dealer
where you bought the game. They were done as part of a
promotional pre-order program – talk to the store for them.

IFischer@ES> We did away with hoard when we revised the
formation system — staggered provided the same functionality and
we didn’t see a need for the duplication.

+Debbee> ga kudas

Kudas_> Hi, I was wondering if you guys thought the
scenario deathmacth will be as popular as it was with aoe and ror
if so do you think it will, will it be as standard set up and
build as it is in Aoe…

Kudas_> Ie if your playing 3v3 in aoe: 2 people have to
play choson and 1 hittite do you think there will be such strong
civs as aoe had…and how it was you had to build in such an
order or you lost. noq Ie if your playing 3v3 in aoe: 2 people
have to play choson

Kudas_> and 1 hittite do you think there will be such
strong civs as aoe had…and how it was you had to build in
such an order or you lost. noq and 1 hittite do you think there
will be such strong civs as aoe had…and how it was you had
to build in such an order o

Kudas_> you lost. noq you lost. noq

+juliagal> NOTE: We’ll be playing “AoK Trivia” at the end
of this chat! Winners get a chance to BEAT ES and MS folks at
their own game!! 🙂

MarcoPolo@ES> I think Deathmatch will be even more fun –
and with more challenges than in AoE. Ian did a superb job
working with the testers to balance the game – so I’d be
surprised if there is ‘one superior strategy’. The team bonuses
throw another twist into…

MarcoPolo@ES> all multiplayer games. There are special
deathmatch rooms on the Zone now too.

+Debbee> ga matty

XxMATTYxX> first of all I would like to say hello and thank
u for bringing us this great game on behalf of the Xx
clan….

IFischer@ES> Thanks

XxMATTYxX> i noticed u made AOK more defensive,whitch is
good.Do u think this will eliminate the tool rush?…ga

IFischer@ES> I don’t think we made it more defensive, just
more defensive in some places…

IFischer@ES> We didn’t think it was fun for people (and a
lot of people agreed when asked) to lose the game after 8 minutes
of play because someone was in their town. ..

IFischer@ES> So we made some changes to make the rush
require more skill — it isn’t dead but it is riskier, which is
what we wanted.

+Debbee> ga Majin

Majin_Piccolo> Man how come you guys try and switch up on
us? I personally do not like Age Of Kings because of it’s
cartoonyness. I do however like the line of sight addition and
the town bell also. And also, can you play AoK with a copied CD?
I heard u cannot……….

Majin_Piccolo> and also, if you rush in the game, it just
shows how good you are and if you can stay alive after that then
you are really good

harter@ES> You’re right — you can’t play with a copied
CD.

IFischer@ES> That is correct, you cannot play with a copied
CD… not sure what you mean by the “cartoonyness”.

+Debbee> ga Dr

IFischer@ES> Agree with you about pulling off the rush,
however.

Dr_CaNcEr> before I ask my questions(two short questions
ready to paste) congrats for the trully great AOE and ROR
(hopefully AOK too)… and I would like to report a historical
mistake u have made in AoK(last part of my question)

Dr_CaNcEr> Our gaming Network received a large numbers of
emails complaing about trainers and bugs of AOE/ROR; we were
unable to solve the problem or answer the questions as we were
unable to come in contact with your company! Aren’t you supposed
to favor a good …

Dr_CaNcEr> public image? We still receive more than 10
emails a day about trainers and bugs of the game. As a news
network we were not meant to support the game I believe….

Dr_CaNcEr> The Byzantine wonder is shown in the game after
its modification by the Turkish civilisation… Agia Sofia didn’t
look like that back then…. ga

Dr_CaNcEr> Do you think you will port any of your games to
Linux in the near future? and who was responsible for the leak of
the alpha version? ….

Dr_CaNcEr> ga

+juliagal> We’ll answer one of those

+juliagal> take your pick guys 🙂

+juliagal> you’ll have to get back in line for the rest,
Cancer, sorry

MarcoPolo@ES> The wonders and other buildings are all based
on architectural elements from various buildings, but aren’t
meant to represent specific buildings. Some elements are from
different time periods than the game represents. The game is
historically based…

MarcoPolo@ES> but shouldn’t be used as a replacement for
research, study, or your own research on the Web. There are 13
different wonders in the game.

MarcoPolo@ES> We have always ‘bent’ history to make the
game more fun, more interesting, or to fit within the screen
🙂

+Pawfangs> AOKH_Omnivac , Congratulations!! You have been
selected at random to receive Free Copy Of AOK and an AOK
Poster!! Please email your name, postal address and telephone
number to zevents@microsoft.com to claim your gift

+Debbee> Be sure to watch for announcements of AOK 2000
World Championships! In a few minutes you will have a chance to
win a game with ES and MS staffers!

+Debbee> ga mushroom

MushroomPeople> hiya, I got a question about the new
civs…Are they ALL historically correct? I mean, what’s with the
goths? and uh….ya know +pawfangs, if you wanna “accidentally”
pick me for a copy of AoK, I’ll appreciate it and lova ya
forever! :*) ga plz

IFischer@ES> They aren’t anything approaching historically
accurate; they are inspired by historical elements…

IFischer@ES> The Goths, for example, didn’t have enough
troops to garrison what they conquered in the real world…

IFischer@ES> So they would destroy all of a city’s defenses
when they took over…

IFischer@ES> That way they could retake the same location
with less difficulty when they had to come back…

IFischer@ES> Hence, no walls in the game.

+Debbee> ga tec

tec_ES> hi.You guys have made a great game i don’t do my
homework because i have to play it ..what kind of units did you
take out of the game that you found not to be fun to play??
ga

MarcoPolo@ES> We mentioned earlier how the ramming galley
was replaced by the demolition ship. In that case there was a
call on which was more fun, and which had more tactical
possibilities. The demolition ship…

MarcoPolo@ES> can be used to kill units crossing the
shallows or standing on the shore line – so we dropped the
ramming ship.

+Debbee> ga chicken

tHeFunKyChicKeN> Let me start by saying thanks for making
great games to play over the years……My Q is…

tHeFunKyChicKeN> it now seems that the tool rush or feudal
rush is more of a challenge….what age and which military units
do u like to use for a effective early game rush? ……and about
what time do u feel most confidant to start your attack? ga it
now seems that th

Sandyman@ES> The AI will rush in Feudal about a third of
the time. When there are multiple AIs, almost always one will
rush, to delay you while the rest build up

tHeFunKyChicKeN> so just watch the Ai?

Sandyman@ES> I stick with infantry for the early rush
myself, by the way

Sandyman@ES> I stick with infantry for the early rush
myself, btw

Sandyman@ES> I stick with infantry for the early rush
btw.

MarcoPolo@ES> Sandy is having some problems with his
connection for the rest of the answer…

+Pawfangs> Celtic_Dog , Congratulations!! You have been
selected at random to receive Free Copy Of AOK and an AOK
Poster!! Please email your name, postal address and telephone
number to zevents@microsoft.com to claim your gift

Sandyman@ES> Infantry are good rushers because they can
destroy outlying buildings.

+Debbee> ga eagle

AOEKINGS_Eagle9> I have 2 questions that are easily aswered
-what time period is the next aoe game gonna take place in ? and
when and where can i get the trail version of aok ?- i may not be
getting it for as long as 2 months ga P.S – AOEKINGS IS THE
COOLEST CLAN

harter@ES> We haven’t announced a next game so I don’t have
any information for you about that. The Trial version will be out
next month.

+Debbee> ga merlin

AOE2_Merlin> First, I wish to decline the prize I won and
let another Ager win instead. I already get lots of free stuff,
including the game and soon the poster and strat guide. Please
pick another random name and let someone else enjoy this new Age
of Kings.

AOE2_Merlin> Superb Job ES ! Question — What is it like at
the Studios now that AoE2 is in the stores? Business as usual,
already stressed out working on new projects, or still coming
down from the rush of releasing the game? — GA

MarcoPolo@ES> You’re a gracious one Merlin – I’m sure a
lucky Zoner will be thankful for your generosity. As to the work
environment – we all got a week off to recuperate and get some
rest after we went Gold. People are spending a little time to get
their…

MarcoPolo@ES> PCs upgraded, their offices cleaned, and
catch up on playing all the *other* games that have come out in
the last few months. And of course, we’re working away on our
next games.

harter@ES> Things are picking up as people return from
their vacations.

Sandyman@ES> that’s the producer talking.

harter@ES> Except me — I got to stay home.

IFischer@ES> Paid bills, slept, moved boxed from last time
I moved out of apartment out of car, back to work.

+Debbee> We only have time for a few more questions, but
stick around for your chance to “Play the Developers”!

+Pawfangs> ScurveyHerb , Congratulations!! You have been
selected at random to receive Free Copy Of AOK and an AOK
Poster!! Please email your name, postal address and telephone
number to zevents@microsoft.com to claim your gift

+Debbee> ga evil

EvilYoshua> Simple question I hope, why is it only a host
can record multiplayer games, this feature seemed exciting to me,
but was disappointed when I learned that only the host could
record (at least with Zone games)

EvilYoshua> One more afterwards if I may ?

+Debbee> Sorry 1 per customer 🙂

MarcoPolo@ES> Some people might not want their ‘secret play
style’ recorded – actually only the host chooses if the game will
be recorded or not – it is recorded on all players machines.

MarcoPolo@ES> The record game feature is a lot of fun –
we’ve enjoyed analyzing our victories “And this is where I hit
his town with 20 fully upgraded elephants” – and our defeats -to
see what to do better next time.

+Debbee> ga Stomp with the last question

Stomp_N_Romp> First, games from Ensemble and Blizzard are
the only one I buy sight unseen with total piece of mind. Thank
You for being 50% of my gaming security blanket. 🙂 Question:
What do you forsee the effects of Sovreign from Verant being
twords future RTS…

Stomp_N_Romp> games, and how many massively multiplayer
games do you think can be supported at once? ga

IFischer@ES> How many channels do you want on your TV?

IFischer@ES> 🙂

Stomp_N_Romp> 🙂

Sandyman@ES> Embarrassingly enough, some of us (including
me) have not heard of Verant’s Sovereign.

+Debbee> I’d like to thank our guests for spending time
with us tonight, we all enjoyed it!! I’d also like to thank all
of you for being here! See you next week, Good Night All!

MarcoPolo@ES> I put it down on my list though 🙂

Sandyman@ES> bye all

MarcoPolo@ES> Thanks for hosting us, and thanks to all the
fans – we’ll see you out there on the Zone.

harter@ES> Thanks.

IFischer@ES> Thanks, everyone.

+Debbee> Now Juliagal will give you all a chance to win a
game with a developer!

+juliagal> All games will be played with same
settings…

+juliagal> please watch here closely!

+juliagal> I’ll repost the matchups

+juliagal> All games will be played in Imperial Horizon
Room

+juliagal> Icy_Bear/ACE_340 vs Winter@ES/Xemu@ES

+juliagal> _NightCrawler/_U_GonNA_Die vs
TimZ@MS/Ugdo_9@MS

+juliagal> PS_FunnyTale/SA_DAB_MAN vs
desperado@ES/MilkManDan@ES

+juliagal> LittleKnife/BIsForBob vs
Royster@ES/The_Sheriff@AOK

+juliagal> Cronus__/LordByte vs
Pilgrim@MS/plasticbrain@ES

+juliagal> taco55/game_over vs
Batman@MS/CaptainInsano@ES

+juliagal> _HuNtEd_/FWH_SIR_LANCE vs
aoetrain@ES/dCypher@ES

+juliagal> Tyrant5 vs germ@MS

+juliagal> Here are the game settings for each of the
“zoner vs ES/MS” games:

+juliagal> Game Type: Random

+juliagal> Map Type: Random

+juliagal> Map Size: Medium

+juliagal> Difficulty: Moderate

+juliagal> Resources: Standard

+juliagal> Population: 75

+juliagal> Speed: Normal

+juliagal> Reveal Map: Normal

+juliagal> Starting Age: Standard

+juliagal> Victory: Timed Game/500 yrs(40 mins)

+juliagal> All boxes on bottom should be UNCHECKED

plasticbrain@ES and pilgrim@ES
vs
LordByte and Cronus___