So now you have heard about Age of Empires Online, and have seen that it takes us back to the time period of the original Age of Empires. From an art direction standpoint, we took a look back at the roots of the original game as well. Before I get into the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the factors that made up the look of our most recent game, I wanted to give a little background and my personal history with the Age of Empires Franchise, because I'm personally very excited about revisiting ancient times.
Age of Empires was the first game I had ever loved.
I was addicted! READ MORE
Hey 'bots!
Many of you are heading to PAX this weekend, and so are we! Justin "Mastermind" Moe and I will be heading out to PAX to mix it up with all the gamers. You'll also have a chance to play Age of Empires Online! If you head to Booth 670, there will be six stations setup for you to get your eager little hands directly on the beta.
Additionally, I'll be hosting a panel called "So I Have This Website..." It's all about Community Management and running fan sites. The panel is on Sunday, September 5th at 12:30 in the Wolfman Theater. Be sure to stop by and say hello!
Much like Gamescom, I'll be bringing some ... READ MORE
At last month's Gamesauce Conference, Robot Entertainment Design Director Ian Fischer gave a presentation called "Just Getting Started." In the presentation, Ian compares the growth of the film industry and the growth of the video game industry, and uses the comparison to speculate about the game industry's future. Now, thanks to the folks at Gamesauce, you can see the presentation for yourself in the video below.
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Age of Empires games have always been built by playtesting. At Ensemble before and at Robot now, our basic development philosophy remains unchanged – get a playable version of the game up and running as soon as possible, then play the living hell out of it.
This approach has massive advantages. Everyone on the team knows and contributes to their game. If something is broken, all of the most capable eyes are looking. If an idea isn’t going to work the way you saw in your head, the reaction in playtest makes that obvious. And nothing is better for guiding fast, impactful changes – a few weeks back ... READ MORE
Hey everyone! Day three is all wrapped up for me at GamesCom, and in just a few hours I'll be on a plane back to the states. Today's update is going to be relatively short. I got rather sick last night, which is no surprise when you pack a couple hundred thousand people into one building, right? Anyway, my time on the show floor was limited today. I've added about 35 more photos to the gallery on our page at Facebook. That should tide you over for a little longer. READ MORE
Another day of GamesCom is almost on the books. Today was considered by many to be the proper first day of the show. Why? Because today was the first time that the general public was let onto the show floor. As you can see in the image above, there was no shortage of general public waiting to get their hands on the hundreds of games inside. And those are just the ones from the North Entrance, near our booth. READ MORE
Guten Tag!
As my fellow bots at the Factory back in Texas are just getting their day going, I'm taking a break at the hotel after a long but awesome first day of GamesCom 2010. Today was press day, so it was mostly behind-closed-doors press demos courtesy of our very own Jerome, and press-only hands-on time at the Microsoft booth. This gave me a little time to walk the convention floor... and boy what a floor it is. It's only the end of our first day, and I already have blisters on my feet. This is a huge show. Thankfully, Age of Empires Online has a huge setup. READ MORE
With more than 20 million copies sold worldwide, the Age of Empires series redefined real-time strategy games for Windows PC players. Now the timeless franchise once again invites players to experience its rich storyline in new ways. Age of Empires Online will invite you to create a living, growing online world, shared with friends and friendly rivals around the globe.
Begin the journey with your own Greek civilization and watch as it progresses from a village to an empire. Embark on quests along the way, alone or with friends, and immerse yourself in epic tales, diverse characters, adventure, history and strategy. Together with the Games for Windows &nd ... READ MORE
