RoN (Rise of Nations) and DoD (Day of Defeat) are both Gold.
For those who don’t know, DoD was Battlefield 1942 before there ever was a Battlefield 1942. It just didn’t have the vehicles. But screw Counterstrike, DoD was the best Half-Life mod EVAR!
Well, actually that’s not true. As much as I like DoD (it’s the only HL mod I’ll play), BF1942 was in development shortly after the release of Codename Eagle.
So they were concurrent, sorta.
If anyone is wondering about the changes in the retail version of DoD, the developers posted this nice FAQ about it. They did a good job of squelching a lot of near-paranoid speculation among the fanbois.
Did they remove the SUCK from DoD?
DoD was decent, but I’m getting to where I can’t tolerate 1998 graphics any more. I prefer the vehicular combat aspect of BF1942 over the superior netcode of a Quake-derived engine, anyway. And if it’s pure combat you’re looking for, I’d suggest SOF2.
That happened when you quit playing.
pwn3d!!1!!
Where is the Rise of Nations buzz? I was hoping this thread would fill to overflowing with RoN insights and gushing. Instead its all DoD this and BF1942 that. I say screw all FPS with a large NY cop sized broom handle!
Anyone know who is doing the “exclusive” first Rise of Nations review? Wouldn’t it be a little funny if Bauman did it for CGM?
And Supertanker… :lol:
Good question. I’m excited about this one, and already have it pre-ordered. :)
I dunno… like some of the folks on the Half-Life 2 thread that have expressed their non-excitement over Valve’s next big thing, I’m just not very excited about this game. I have a lot of respect for Brian Reynolds as a designer, but the concept just leaves me cold. It’s Empire Earth, basically, a game that I had trouble getting excited over the first time around. The scope of Civ with the frantic action of an RTS don’t seem like two great tastes that go great together–think milk and cranberry sauce instead of peanut butter and chocolate.
I’d be happy to be proven wrong, of course. And I’ll probably try the game, either way. But I wish Brian would lavish his time and talent on something more exciting.
I have a lot of respect for Brian Reynolds as a designer, but the concept just leaves me cold. It’s Empire Earth, basically.
It’s actually the exact opposite of Empire Earth in many ways. Empire Earth was eventually pulled apart by the sheer centrifical force of all that stuff. Rise of Nations, on the other hand, has a really tight design tying everything together. For what seems like a very complex game, it’s surprisingly elegant and streamlined.
Okay, there. That’s my Rise of Nations buzz.
-TomYou know, with just the right amount of cranberry sauce, that sounds pretty good.
RoN has to pass the “winner isn’t necessarily the fastest clicker” test for me to try it.
Would I be safe in saying that Rise of Nations does everything that Empire Earth did wrong right? Clever turn of phrase, huh?
Feel free to use that in the review. That one’s on me.
Tom:
Thanks for that reassurance. Like Ben, my initial impression of Rise of Nations was that it would be similar to EE - too much breadth and not enough depth.
Since it seems you’ve seen the preview beta, what is the single biggest advantage RoN has over Empire Earth?
Troy
Since it seems you’ve seen the preview beta, what is the single biggest advantage RoN has over Empire Earth?
The answer is easy: design.
Sorry if that sounds coy, but I just got a review assignment, so I don’t want to go into too much detail now. We had a thread earlier that got into a lot of specifics. I seem to recall Brad Wardell and Bub had some wacky ideas that I thought would have done violence to the elegance of RoN’s system, which is a direct result of how well designed it is.
Just as a frame of reference, the guys at Shoot Club really liked the Rise of Nation’s beta. They’re not super hardcore players. If anything, the RTS guys there are a little slow and need immediate gratification. And all of them are looking forward to Rise of Nations.
-TomRoN is probably the best designed complicated game I’ve ever seen and I can’t wait until the game comes out. I can’t wait to see the refinements since Beta 2 as well. The only thing I’m concerned about is the one thing I didn’t spend much time trying: multiplayer. Against friends in a LAN setting (where you can easily pick the type of map and game you want to play) it should be great, but over the net? Against those wicked AOM and AOE masters? I can’t imagine how that will play out. It just sounds… chaotic. Also, does anyone know how matchmaking will work? Maybe they can borrow ESO.
Sorry for the promotion, but I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with Brian recently and he offered some very interesting insight into the game’s design. Designer stuff like: Attrition was almost cut from the game! Conquer the World was an afterthought added last year! And some scary stuff about farms…
http://firingsquad.gamers.com/games/rise_of_nations_interview/
Good interview, Andrew. Sounds like it could have gone on another hour or so.
Troy
That happened when you quit playing.
pwn3d!!1!![/quote]
IM TOTALLY HAX0RING UR BOX WITH L1NUX, N00B!@!
I played the RoN beta and enjoyed it, but wow does it look and play like Age of Empires 2 (right down to the font). I’m surprised that I’m not really seeing people mention this.
Does anyone know if they are using the AoE engine? There are so many simularities that I’d be surprised if it’s not that engine revamped.
RoN is basically AoE2 + revamped design + improved graphics + Risk.
Not that that’s a bad thing, but that’s how it could be summed up.
I’m intrigued by the “+risk” part. What elements of Risk are in RoN? Otherwise, I’d swear you were describing Cossacks.
So far, I’d still describe it as “A mix of all the best empire-builder games, with all the correct choices made.”
I’m intrigued by the “+risk” part. What elements of Risk are in RoN? Otherwise, I’d swear you were describing Cossacks
There’s a Conquer the World campaign that is a little bit like Risk.