AoE3 demo

[martinez]

I wouldn't have a problem with say 2 or 3 forts, the problems come when you can spam 15 of them and the game just drags on for an eternity. Also I like the fact that in AoE3 the TC doesn't shoot unless you garrison settlers inside.

 

[imported_g33k]

Originally posted by: martinez
I wouldn't have a problem with say 2 or 3 forts, the problems come when you can spam 15 of them and the game just drags on for an eternity. Also I like the fact that in AoE3 the TC doesn't shoot unless you garrison settlers inside.

Agreed, imo offensive tower building is a lame strat. It should be a battle between armies and not buildings that shoot. Castles were not overpowered in AOE II, but early offensive tower rush, consisting of pure towers sucked. I tend to agree with your assertion that defensive bulidings, turned it into a lenghty game. I remember 4v4 would last sometimes 3-4 hours! Average 1v1 could last 2 hours between players of equal skill. I'm not exaggerating either.

Anyhow it looks like AOE III is a winner in the sense that it has captured the spirit of AOE II. Gameplay looks and feels about the same. The new graphics and techs will keep me interested. I will probably enjoy playing the game as much as I did AOE II.

 

[Sc4freak]

This demo gives me a lovely 12fps @ 1024x768 all maximum settings

I don't see any bloom or HDR, though, is SM3 required for that?

 

[martinez]

Bloom is an option in graphics settings. Not sure if you need SM 3.0 or not since I have it.

@Geek

Yeah the game looks good and will be very competitive. There wont be any way for a less skilled player to lame a better player, cause you just have to be so quick and have a perfect economy in the first 5-6 min of the game. If you make mistakes in that area of the game it will be very hard to regain the offensive.

 

[imported_g33k]

Originally posted by: martinez

@Geek

Yeah the game looks good and will be very competitive. There wont be any way for a less skilled player to lame a better player, cause you just have to be so quick and have a perfect economy in the first 5-6 min of the game. If you make mistakes in that area of the game it will be very hard to regain the offensive.

I can only get a sense of game balance in the demo with only two civs. I certainly hope they make the civs balanced. One gripe I had with AOE II is that when they introduced the huns, they overpowered them. Pretty soon everyone was playing the huns and the game got boring. If they keep the civs balanced, I will probably waste another couple of years on this game.

 

[martinez]

There will be imbalances, the real question is how well and often they patch those imbalances. AoM got 10 patches, while the expansion AoT only got 3. AoM is pretty well balanced, but AoT has had 2 or 3 OP civs for about 18 months now

 

[jevans64]

I really didn't play in tournaments, I mainly played with friends on a LAN. I can see where having the ability to place a lot of Forts and Outposts would be a problem. I guess I'd get my a$$ kicked in tournaments since I primarily would use them as a safe line for my retreating armies and such. :lol I don't think me and my friends ever thought of having a lot of buildings do the fighting. Personally. I would think it a good strategy to have your settlement defended by towers and walls. That way we don't worry too much about our settlements and can concentrate on battlefield tactics.

I would think that rules concerning towers and such would be in place for tournaments to avoid lengthy games.

 

[martinez]

In tournaments where money is at stake is where you see the lamest strategies ever. Which is why this game they are taking steps to eradicate those strategies. In this game, you can't tower push your opponent, as you can't build anything within a certain radius of their towncentre.

 

[Nickrand]

Originally posted by: martinez

Originally posted by: johnnqq
how do i build a towncenter with a villager???

ps this game is awesome. it's a refined aoe2 which is exactly what i wanted.

You don't build a Towncentre, what you do is ship a covered wagon from your Home City in the 3rd age and you select that wagon and click the build icon.

You build towncenters with your scout/hero guy.

 

[TOAOCyrus]

Originally posted by: martinez
There will be imbalances, the real question is how well and often they patch those imbalances. AoM got 10 patches, while the expansion AoT only got 3. AoM is pretty well balanced, but AoT has had 2 or 3 OP civs for about 18 months now

With AoM whenever there was a need for a patch they had to pull people off other projects to get it done. After AoT came out they were deep into the development of AoE3 so there wasn't anybody available to patch it. AoE3 on the other had is going have a designated post-ship support team whose job is to keep the game balanced.

 

[martinez]

That will be great if it is the case. I'll believe it when I see it. I have great respect for Ensemble, they make very good games. If they can have 1/2 the post gold support of Blizzard their games would be far more competitive and popular online.

 

[Sledgehamer70]

I hope the final game is 100 times better, allot of flaws and bugs in the demo

 

[jevans64]

Originally posted by: martinez
In tournaments where money is at stake is where you see the lamest strategies ever. Which is why this game they are taking steps to eradicate those strategies. In this game, you can't tower push your opponent, as you can't build anything within a certain radius of their towncentre.

I wasn't even aware that you COULD build a defensive building right next to an opponent's town center in previous games. I thought that is what seige weapons were for. :lol

I guess that strategy is lame and not any fun either. I'd rather pummel the opponent's town center with CANNON!! :lol

 

[supastar1568]

Originally posted by: jevans64

Originally posted by: martinez
In tournaments where money is at stake is where you see the lamest strategies ever. Which is why this game they are taking steps to eradicate those strategies. In this game, you can't tower push your opponent, as you can't build anything within a certain radius of their towncentre.

I wasn't even aware that you COULD build a defensive building right next to an opponent's town center in previous games. I thought that is what seige weapons were for. :lol

I guess that strategy is lame and not any fun either. I'd rather pummel the opponent's town center with CANNON!! :lol

i just like sending an army of 50 men against 4 of the enemies females that are gathering wood

 

[TOAOCyrus]

Originally posted by: martinez
That will be great if it is the case. I'll believe it when I see it. I have great respect for Ensemble, they make very good games. If they can have 1/2 the post gold support of Blizzard their games would be far more competitive and popular online.

ES employees have promised this several times on different forums. They have admitted that their post-ship support has been lackluster and they want to improve.