SandyMan
VIP
(id: ES_Sandyman)
posted 10-19-09 01:52 PM EDT (US)
the latest incarnation of Ask Sandy. All questions are possible.
1) Who is Sandy?
A) Sandy Petersen, a designer at former Ensemble Studios. He was design lead on Rise of Rome, The Conquerors, and the Warchiefs. He was part of the design team on Age of Emipres II and Age of Empires III. He has worked on numerous other games, and has been in the digital game industry since 1988.
2) What is Sandy doing now?
A) He teaches game design at The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University.
3) What are Robot / Bonfire up to?
A) Sandy will not answer ANY questions about Robot or Bonfire's plans -- he knows and likes the people who work there, and wishes them well. They deserve the right to make their own press releases.
Teutonic Twit
Scenario Reviewer
posted 10-20-09 06:18 AM
EDT (US)
10 / 238
Sandy,
Did you go with AOM, or did you find it a little to far removed from the AOE series...
also which of the AOE series 1,2,3 was your favorite concept, forgiving the graphics difference...
mk12mod0
Skirmisher
posted 10-20-09 08:35 PM
EDT (US)
11 / 238
Have you played Empire: Total War and if so what do you think about it? Although obviously a completely different game, do you think (in your opinion, not relative to RE's projects), the Age of Empires series could benefit by drawing from aspects of more realistic combat and tactics? Or does today's gaming audience not have a stomach for that anymore? This kind of shift has already happened in the first person shooter genre with games like Halo and Modern Warfare dominating the scene while (understandably) classics like Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon have slowly become more Hollywood and forgiving.
Eicho
Skirmisher
posted 10-20-09 10:08 PM
EDT (US)
12 / 238
two questions:
Why did you start a new thread while the previous one was still going?
How did we jump from XXIII to XIV? Is there any time machine I haven't heard of?
tony20060601
Skirmisher
posted 10-22-09 06:29 AM
EDT (US)
15 / 238
1. why isnt sandy responding to any questions
2. what is the point of having heavy cav and light cav when heavy cav pwns all xept HI
SandyMan
VIP
(id: ES_Sandyman)
posted 10-27-09 10:14 AM
EDT (US)
22 / 238
1)your other topic is still stickied, maybe just continue on that one?
A)One of my many adorable quirks is that when one of my threads gets really long, I like to start again instead of having one single giant unreadable thread. I have no doubt that if the wise men that rule this board see fit, they will sticky this thread as well. And perhaps consign the old thread to the ashheap of archival history.
2)Why do you keep making this "ask sandy" threads?
A)Some ask “why”? I say “why not:?”
3)make love you nice person
A)my non-platonic love is strictly reserved for my spouse.
4)How often is it that a game company (say, Ensemble) opens up design and development positions to people whose main credentials are expert-level play?
A)Almost never. Expert-level play is not a credential for being a designer, for instance. And though often a company needs skilled players for feedback and balance testing, we require more than just mad skillz. Communication abilities, for instance.
5)how often is it a "successful" game is developed and launched solo?
A)You mean by a single solitary person? My guess is “never” nowadays. If you mean an independent release by a small game company instead of one of the big publishers, it happens all the time.
6)Why did you give India both an OP musket (sepoys have all stats better than a jannie except HP) AND an an Age 2 skirmisher (that is not weak like strelets)?
A)You would have to ask BigHuge games, who is responsible for that decision.
7)hy, on TWC and TAD, are coyote runners classified as LI, and all the nilla LI classified as ranged infantry? instead of changing all the damage bonuses for HI, why didn't they just classify coyote runners as cavalry?
A)The answer is lost in the dustbin of history. I recall making that decision back in the day, and it made sense at the time. But I no longer remember why.
8)What do you think about a remake of the first Age of empires?
A)Game “remakes” aren’t really remakes in the movie sense. I mean, does anyone think that each successive Zelda game is a “remake” of the previous one?
9)why do abus have reduction against villies?
A)It was our feeble attempt to balance the game when early testing showed that they made far-too-efficient raiders.
10)Did you go with AOM, or did you find it a little to far removed from the AOE series...
A)While I had little to do with the design of AoM, I thought it was a fine idea. I did think that having the Titans be the expansion civ was dumb though. I wanted a real mythology, like the Celts, Aztecs, or Sumerians.
11)also which of the AOE series 1,2,3 was your favorite concept, forgiving the graphics difference
A)I still think Age 3 is the most fun, and it’s the only one where I can be an Indian. But Age 1 and ancient history and Rome is really attractive to me.
12)Have you played Empire: Total War and if so what do you think about it? Although obviously a completely different game, do you think (in your opinion, not relative to RE's projects), the Age of Empires series could benefit by drawing from aspects of more realistic combat and tactics?
A)In the first place, if you think Empire: Total War is “realistic” I recommend reading Archer Jones “Art of War in the Western World”. And in the second place, Age of Empires is about more than just combat – the economy has always played a dominant role.
13)Why jump from XXIII to XIV???
A)Typo
14)why isnt sandy responding to any question
A)it was the first week of the school term and I was really busy.
15)what is the point of having heavy cav and light cav when heavy cav pwns all xept HI
A)Light cav pwns heavy cav. It’s purpose is to defeat heavy cav.
16)i think the description for hussars is something like "light cavalry armed with cold steel"
A)yeah, but I can’t control the rollover help. By my definition, which I admit is not everyone’s, “heavy cav” is melee cav, and “light cav” is missile-armed cav.
17)Why is the description (iof light cav vs. heavy cav) so confusing?
A)The game’s internal logic and the game’s help scripts were written by two different people who lived a thousand miles away from each other. Literally.