Age 3 Release Party: Last Friday we celebrated the upcoming retail release of Age 3 with a great party in Dallas. The event was organized by Lizette Atkinson, our studio administrator and it was great. We had a lot of family and guests come and anyone who didn’t have a good time wasn’t trying. Here are some of the things that went on at the party.
Dueling Chefs: do a lot of catering for us and food was great
Lots O’ Drinks: some fun rum drinks and even some good old Scotch
Belgian chocolate room: amazing dessert confections\
Costumed actors and service people: mock battles outside; costumes from every nation in Age 3
Pirates, teepees, a jail, snow
Age 3 game room with great projectors
Framed Age 3 art on display
The pirate carnival ride
Hand rolled cigars
Great band with a traditional exhilarating short set by the Rippy Brothers and back-up singers the Jackson Two and Celestipoo
Age 3 PR in Canada: I recently spent a day in Toronto and another in Montreal showing and discussing Age with Canadian press. I have gotten to know many of the people here during past visits or at E3. The response to the game was uniformly excellent and we may see some coverage from local magazines, web sites, and TV soon.
Part of my family has Canadian roots and I always enjoy visiting our friendly neighbors to the north. I can think of at least five Canadians at ES on the Age 3 team in some capacity. Much of the concept art, for example, was Fabriqué par le Canadians (pardon my French).
You Know You Have Been Traveling Too Much: When you have your passport number memorized.
Skirmisher Shoot and Scoot: It didn’t go unnoticed that most of our balance teams guys used a lot of skirmishers in our Age 3 tournament. The worry here is that skirmishers are too good. With a long range they can stand off some and still do a lot of damage, but are fast enough to run from a lot of threats. When thirty-to-fifty skirmishes show up in your face it can be bloody. The stuff that kills skirmishes, cavalry and cannons, are expensive and often require careful management. It is too early to say that skirmishers are a screw, but we will be watching how they are used.
We had a similar problem with Dragoons many months ago that we had to fix. These pistol firing cavalry units were very effective in large groups and could run from stuff that killed them also.
Is the AI Tough Enough?: A month ago the computer AI achieved a milestone of sorts by becoming smart enough to beat me and other casual gamers at hard difficulty. I have played a number of games since we went gold, however, and the AI has yet to beat me at Hard. So maybe I’ve gotten a lot better (not real likely) or the AI lost some of its edge in the last months as bugs were fixed or new features got polished. I almost always play 2v2 with an AI ally. I have learned that I like having Germany as an ally. The AI seems to be able to play that civilization well. This will be something else we watch after the game is released. If Hard difficulty is found too easy, we may consider some adjustments.
AI Personality: We made an effort to give the AI more personality in Age 3. Each nation has a famous ruler and each has a play style. The Germans under Frederick the Great, for example, seem very good at fighting and maybe rushing. When they are my ally in a 2v2 skirmish game, the Germans seem to be in an enemy town early. Queen Elizabeth of Britain seems to be more of a boomer, in contrast.
We also recorded over 4000 taunts for the AI personalities so expect to hear it during play from Napoleon, Queen Isabella, and the rest. My enemies seem very good at critiquing my play, helpfully letting me know when I have apparently aged up too soon, wasted too much time on map treasures, or extended myself reaching for a distance trading post. I think it really supports the feeling that I am competing with a real player, not an algorithm.
Map Stuff to Look For: A hallmark of the Age series has been the little touches of real world stuff that give our worlds a realistic feel. New stuff in Age 3 along these lines include the Old Faithful geyser, vultures hanging around a animal carcass, turtles climbing on and off floating logs, ducks feeding, and stately swans gliding around ponds. We think these little pieces of eye candy (which have no game effect) really appeal to non-traditional game audiences.
Bruce Shelley [This message has been edited by RiceJimBob1984 (edited 10-11-2005 @ 12:33 PM).]