Dave Pottinger: Sound is big part of combat. No one wants to see a Pikeman do the same attack animation all of the time.
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We've designed and implemented an animation system that gives us the flexibility and performance curve so that we can support several hundred animations per unit.
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But, animations, sounds, and group behavior play equally big roles. Physics and building destructions are two big pieces certainly. What other sorts of ways are you making combat seem more alive? Why is this a priority for you?ĭave Pottinger: There are a lot of things that go into combat. We've already heard that buildings crumble realistically and that soldiers will use ragdoll physics.
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IGNPC: It sounds like you're making combat much more expressive now. It was a difficult task to make that work and still retain the unit management flexibility that we've always tried to give players. You can't have Musketeers that don't fire in formation in this time period. In terms of gameplay, combat is wholly transformed with the addition of volley fire formations and the like. It's a fine line to walk between good-enough and two more weeks of work on Smoke Wafting Technologytm. If the smoke isn't quite right, people will be more critical simply because the smoke is trying to be more accurate. However, the closer to you to realism, the harder it is to suspend disbelief. It's trivial for people to identify with a big cannon blast that sends guys flying as smoke wafts gently over the battlefield. Hollywood gives us great stereotypes for what people expect. Additionally, the game is so much about exploring the New World and experiencing this epic time period, it just deserves rich visuals to go along with it.Ĭombat is certainly affected by the time period. We already wanted to go high-end with the graphics, but the time period gave us a little more freedom to push the graphical sizzle to round out the game's appeal.
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The time period is the logical follow-on to Age 2, plus it covers some of the best events in human history. IGNPC: How has the time period impacted the engine design? Has the type of combat from that era influenced the engine development?ĭave Pottinger: Good question. I'd wager that we've probably spent as much time on those lower-end parts of the renderer as on the super high-end components. Age 3 easily has the largest compatibility spectrum of any game that we've ever done. That's a tough challenge given the breadth of hardware out there right now. But, since our games sell a bunch of copies, we also have to make the graphics gracefully degrade if you don't have an uber box under your desk. The Age 3 renderer is built to be cutting-edge and take advantage of the latest technology. The renderer changes are the most sexy, of course. We've done wholesale replacement on everything with the renderer, the animation system, the model system, pathing, movement, and the multiplayer systems (client and server). How much of the original engine remains? What were the key changes you needed to make?ĭave Pottinger: We started with the AOM engine, but it's been very, very heavily modified by now. IGNPC: We understand you've built on the existing engine from Age of Mythology. I certainly hope that Age 3 is considered the bar-setter for RTS games.
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As we look at PC gaming as a whole, I think you'll see less and less graphical distinction between genres in terms going forward. The results speak for themselves, I think. There were several folks who were concerned that we were shooting too high. Age 3's graphical vision was even a tough sell inside Ensemble for a while.
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I'm actually a little surprised at how many folks are surprised by statements like that, to be honest. In terms of importance, I think Age 3 shows that RTS games don't have to be stuck with nasty graphics. The programmers and artists working on this project certainly solved several "Add Magic Invention Here" problems along the way. It's very rewarding to see our team's work turn out so well. We took a huge risk shooting for such a high level of graphical quality. I find myself happy on a daily basis about how great the game looks. Are you sure this game looks that good? Why is it important to include cutting edge graphics in an RTS game?ĭave Pottinger: Yes, it does look that good. The screenshots we've seen look too good to be true.