I don't really know if Microsoft has an interest in revisiting this franchise, but they certainly seem to have big plans for Age of Empires considering the well received Definitive Editions and the new game coming out eventually. As sloppy as Tale of the Dragon ended up being, it was new content and it might suggest that they are aware of the franchise and might want to do something with it in the future.
With that in mind it would be interesting to see what could be done in a sequel, especially what particular mythologies could be utilized in the game. So Here are my thoughts for what a sequel could look like.
Certain gameplay elements are either abandoned or reverted back to how things worked in AoE2, in part because I feel like it tended to better define roles and encourage more aggressive play. For example there are no parallels to the Egyptians not using wood for buildings since I feel like that ultimately expunged an element to the Age Of games that was too well established, and made wood, a major resource, comparatively unimportant until you start blasting out chariots for Egyptians in particular. Additionally farms require a constant input of wood to continue to produce food, and you can't infinitely trade from your own market to a TC, all resources on the map (except favor) are finite to some degree or another, fish for example will run out and force you to send your ships further afield, and its crucial to do things like secure major sources of gold. I think it would work well to better define the roles of resources, so wood is mostly for ships, archers and buildings. Food is mostly for military units, particularly cavalry, villagers and upgrades. Gold is for higher grade versions of things like military units and improvements, especially crucial age ups and major military upgrades. Finally Favor is used for things that are supernatural and mythological in nature, Myth units, God Powers and Mythological upgrades you get from major and minor Gods.
A variation of the animal pen is introduced from Age of Empires 3. This acts as an alternative way of producing food to the farm. Its physically fairly big, about the size of a 2X2 farm and looks like a field with a fence around it and a trough to feed the animals. Tasking animals into the pen will cause them to fatten and reproduce over time, they will not do either outside the pen. To keep them reproducing you need to stock the pen regularly with feed, which costs wood and gold. A limited number of animals can be tasked into the pen initially, depending on their size (ie 10 chickens, 6 goats and 4 cows). Over time they'll reproduce, so you see things like calves and kids alongside their mothers, when fully grown it will count as a new animal, and go over the animal limit, as a result the fattest animal already in the pen will leave and stay outside. This animal can either be killed for food or assigned to a new pen. A villager can also be assigned to a pen, they will take care of the animals and exploit them for things like eggs and milk. This will speed up fattening and reproduction further and add a trickle of food so long as the villager is there and the pen does not run out of feed, though its not as much as you would get from a normal farm. Some civs, notably the celts, get bonuses to animal pens, others like the Indians are much more restricted. The overall concept is meant to offer an alternative to making farms, it requires more micromanagement but can offer better returns, but probably should be used in addition to farms instead of as a replacement to them. Military units can run over the pen like it were a farm, as such they are prime raiding targets for the enemy to either kill or steal animals and damage your economy. New animals can be 'trained' from a pen even if nothing is there, at the cost of some food, if you want to start the process again. Alternatively you can just ignore the mechanic and simply kill and eat any herdables as soon as you get them.
God powers are reusable (how many uses depending on balance) for all civilizations from the start. However, to use a god power will require the expenditure of some favor, the amount depending on either the age you are in or the overall power of the GP. Archaic age powers may be exempt from this so that players can ensure a smooth early game. Reusing god powers costs more favor every time, i.e. the Bronze power initially costs 25 favor, but the second time it costs 50 favour, and the third 75 and so on, this helps balance mythic age powers since the cost to use them goes above the maximum amount of favor you can store after the first one or two uses. Generally speaking, favor is something you will want to spend all of the time, but never quite have enough to do everything you want with it, forcing some strategic decisions.
Now for the particular civilizations and their characteristics. I've decided that I think it would be a good idea to try and vary things up a bit in terms of the represented mythologies. Greeks, Egyptians and Norse are always people's go to options when it comes to ancient mythology, especially in the western world, but there's a lot more that could be done to make somewhat lesser known mythologies more prominent. As a result the only returning civilization is the Greeks, but a lot of the quirks and gameplay elements from the Norse and Egyptians are used within the other civilizations.
Greeks
Side note, I love the way that when I type in 'Zeus' to google image search this AOM depiction is one of the most common hits.
Can't really get away from the Greeks, just too iconic, even in the original Age of Mythology they effectively took up two civilizations (much to my chagrin honestly) with the inclusion of the Atlanteans. I would imagine it would consist of the usual triad of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon with the voluminous amount of minor gods, maybe ones that haven't been used so much like Thanatos, Eris and Demeter. Add to that the usual complement of myth units like Cyclopes and Centaurs and you're away.
Greeks are essentially 'Vanilla' when it comes to the overall mechanics, closely aligning with previous Age Of games, including Age of Mythology. Villagers build buildings, collect resources at the default rate, cavalry countering Hoplites come from the barracks, archer countering Hippikon come from the Stable, that sort of thing. One thing to note however, is that Greeks tend to have the best fortifications in the game, with the most powerful walls and towers, so they are a bit defensive minded.
Favor mechanic: Same as previous game, villagers pray at the temple.
Hero mechanic: Same as the previous game, the player creates individual heroes famous from Greek Mythology, one in each age.
Scout mechanic: Same as previous game, start with dedicated scout cavalry unit with good speed and Line of Sight, later has access to Pegasus.
Hoplites are the backbone of a good Greek army
Example human units:
Similar to the last game Greek soldiers are fairly well rounded in most basic roles without notable departures or quirks.
-Hoplite: Heavy infantry, reasonably fast and good against cavalry. Available from Classical age.
-Phalangite: Even heavier than a Hoplite, their speed is pretty bad, but they counter cavalry harder. They also have a small amount of range on their spears that allow Phalangites in two layers to attack simultaneously (like the Kamayuk in AOE2), but their speed and low pierce armor makes them real sitting ducks for archers. Available from Heroic age.
-Slinger: Light archer, only good against infantry, but cheaper than other archers. Available from Classical age.
-Toxotes: Heavier archer, good against infantry, more well rounded compared to the slinger but also more expensive and has later availability. Available from Heroic age
-Hetairoi: Heavy cavalry, good against archers and siege. Available from Classical age. Fulfills the same function as the Hippikon and available for all major gods.
-Prodromoi: Light cavalry, only good against archers. Unlike the previous incarnation they are slightly ranged, throwing javelins at the enemy like a Turma. Their range is very short though, and they have little armor or health so need to rely on their speed to get away, but they still have some additional use in attacking villagers. Available from Heroic age.
-Helepolis: Siege weapon. A large tower with more health and power than other siege, but also more expense. Short ranged attacks against both buildings and units. Available from Mythic Age.
This Etruscan statue is a particularly famous depiction of a Chimera!
Example myth units:
Many of the myth units are recurring with similar abilities, stats and appearance as previously, like Minotaurs, Cyclopes, Centaurs, Chimera and Hydra. I would make some changes though, some units that the Atlanteans have like the Nereid or Hecatoncheires are moved to the Greeks, same with some Eastern units added or removed. Other units are changed to be a bit more accurate to the legends. I will note some changes here.
-Minotaur: Classical age myth unit, unchanged.
-Cyclops: Classical age myth unit, unchanged.
-Centaur: Classical age myth unit, unchanged.
-Hydra: Heroic age myth unit, unchanged.
-Chimera: Heroic age myth unit, now one age down, possibly with nerfed stats to account for their earlier appearance, similar mechanics though.
-Nereid: Heroic age myth unit, now available to the Greeks, I'm not sure if they should still ride sharks, it would probably be a bit more fitting if they ride Hippocampus. Either way they are mechanically different, Nereids now move underneath the water's surface, this makes them immune to ranged attack and abilities cast from afar when not fighting, they must be engaged within melee range to be brought to the surface, where they can then be targeted by any unit. They have considerable melee attack but no longer have the special ability to do a lot of damage and are still very brittle without much health or armor. Basically they can be very sneaky and powerful in the right circumstance but need a lot of micro to get the best out of them.
-Satyr: Heroic age myth unit, now Greek rather than Atlantean, mostly unchanged, but has a shorter range and a new special ability, evoking the drunken ribaldry associated with Satyrs and Dionysus they can make friendly units more aggressive, holding up some enchanted wine he tosses into a crowd of friendlies that buffs their attack for a short time, similar to the Einherjar. Associated with Dionysus.
-Phoenix: Mythic age myth unit, now Greek rather than Egyptian, otherwise unchanged.
-Gorgon: Mythic age myth unit, visually changed, she no longer has the back half of a snake to avoid confusion with the Indian Naga, this visual quirk wasn't really a thing with the ancient Greeks regardless, it seems to be a 20th century trope. She may support herself with a number of snakes coming from below, like Gwyndolin in Dark Souls. Apart from that and the name (Gorgon is the collective, Medusa was an individual) they are identical in gameplay terms compared to the old version.
-Scylla: Mythic age myth unit. Instead of just being a water version of the Hydra, Scylla is dramatically different, being much closer to the myth. She's now a woman with 6 heads equipped with shark's teeth at the end of long necks, a torso made up of 6 dog heads, and 12 tentacles. Her special attack sees her conjure up a large whirlpool that does a lot of damage over a large area of effect.
-Hecatoncheires: Mythic age myth unit. Now Greek rather than Atlantean. Identical to the Heka Gigantes in terms of stats and abilities, only difference is even more arms and heads.
Example God Powers:
Similar to the Myth Units, some carry over, some changes
-Underworld riches: Archaic age power. Creates a gold mine, more gold if used in later ages, identical to Thor's Dwarven mine.
-Bolt: Archaic age power. Identical to last game, kills a unit of your choice.
-Urban expansion: Classical age power. Buildings cost -33% resources and are built 200% faster, can be useful for throwing down a fortress in a very aggressive position or quickly rebuilding a town.
-Restoration: Classical age power. Identical to last game, heals units in area cast.
-Curse: Heroic age power. Identical to last game, some enemy units are turned into pigs.
-Bronze: Heroic age power. Identical to last game, turns human soldier's skin to bronze to improve their armor for a while.
-Lightning Storm: Mythic age power. Identical to last game, mass lightning strikes that kill units but do little damage to structures.
-Chaos: Mythic age power. Eris's influence plunges an area into chaos, all building and units are randomized between the players in the game within the chosen area. This is best used on an enemy army with minimum amount of your own troops in the mix to get the most potential switches.
Mesopotamians
The Burney Relief, possibly represents Inanna or her sister Ereshkigal, the queen of the underworld
A fanciful representation of ancient Babylon
In my idea for AOM2, the Mesopotamians would take the place of Egyptians, offering a bit of a different flavor and featuring a lesser seen mythology from people in a fairly similar geographic area. This would be based off of a wide range of people and their mythologies that had considerable influence on each other, including the Sumerians, Akkadians, Canaanites, Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians. Possibilities for major gods range from the likes of Inanna (Ishtar), Marduk, Enki and Ashur, and minor gods could include Enlil, Ninshubur and many others. Myths such as the Epic of Gilgamesh provide a great basis for their identity and content.
Visually this civ would take on some of the most iconic elements of ancient Mesopotamia such as the vast Ziggurats and the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon (good ideas for wonders imo), they have excellent fortifications on the whole. Human units would be based on things like the famous Persian Immortals or the formidable Assyrian army with their early siege engines, they are the most siege capable civ of all, in part because of their favor mechanic, and uniquely can train siege units in the Classical age. Also curly beards, ya gotta have curly beards.
Mesopotamians, similar to the Norse, use foot soldiers for constructing buildings rather than villagers. Their villagers overall are weaker than other civilizations, with less health, but have an advantage in having an Ox-cart system for drop offs, also like the Norse, which grants some flexibility. Generally the Mesopotamians are trying to balance being highly aggressive early on with their need to keep their squishy villagers safe. To that end they can station some soldiers in their base to keep an eye of things and construct fortifications, or send soldiers forward to build bases close to the enemy and keep the fight close to them.
Favor mechanic: Conquest, civilizations like the Assyrians and Akkadians were famous for being some of the first city conquerors in history, in a region where controlling a city could have major religious importance. To that end the Mesopotamians get a trickle of favor for controlling town centers (like the Atlanteans, but overall less), but get a much larger amount of favor for damaging and destroying major enemy buildings, especially military production buildings, fortresses and town centers. This is meant to nudge the player towards an aggressive siege approach when playing Mesopotamians, and do something slightly similar to the Norse in the first game where they would farm favor off of combat.
Hero mechanic: Mesopotamian units that kill other units in battle have a chance to randomly become an Immortal, elite variants on the type of unit they are (infantry, cavalry or archer). This substantially increases their stats and turns them into a hero unit with the associated perks. A unit's chance to transform is effected by multiple factors, including the amount of units they have killed (increasing with every one), the quality of units they kill (better against more expensive units) and the amount of immortals that are already present (the likelihood of a transformation occurring drops off sharply as more are present, usually capping things off at around 10). Killing hostile wildlife will also count towards creating an Immortal, this can be useful for getting an early game hero, but only really works for making one hero before it becomes extremely inefficient.
Scout mechanic: Similar to the Atlanteans you start the game with three 'Astronomers' and have the option to build more. They have the same mechanic as the Atlantean Oracle, but have the additional ability, when their LOS is at maximum, to build a 'star sentry' tower on the location they are standing. This is a building like the Egyptian Obelisk that will maintain that line of sight until destroyed, it has very little health, and for the Mesopotamians costs a bit more than the Egyptian Obelisk, at 30 wood. The Mesopotamians also start with a military spear-man to build buildings, but their LOS is too restricted to really be useful scouts.
The Assyrian empire was one of the first true empires in world history and responsible for many military innovations.
Example human units:
Mesopotamians have some good archers and elite cavalry, but fall down on infantry options where they go for numbers over quality. They tend to be weighted towards late game power, for example they can only start to train cavalry in the Heroic age. They do gain early access to siege though.
-Chariot archer: They have the same name as the Egyptian unit and are similar in appearance and expense, but overall a bit different. Where the Egyptian Chariots were the backbone of their army Mesopotamian chariots are a more supportive unit, they have less range and better operate in a hit and run role like the Cavalry archers of other AOE games rather than as frontline troops. Available from the Heroic age.
-Median Cavalry: Light horsemen, they have excellent speed and great attack but can't stand up to resistance for long due to weak armor and health. Best used to chase down small groups or archers, killing siege and for raiding the enemy economy. Available from Heroic age.
-Cataphract: Probably the heaviest cavalry unit in the game that's not an elephant, Cataphracts are encased in armor so have excellent resistance to melee attack, to go along with their attack and speed (though they are slower than most cavalry). They are particularly effective against infantry, unlike most cavalry units, so probably need to be focused down with archers or other tough cavalry units. Very expensive too. Available from the Mythic age.
-Composite Bowman: An excellent archer unit, compared to other foot archers it has better range and fire rate, which makes it especially effective in the Classical age. This is offset by being a lot more expensive compared to similar archers. Decimates infantry. Available from Classical age.
-Skirmisher: Counter archer javelin thrower like the Peltast. Best option the Mesopotamians have to deal with archers early on, but really have no other purpose beyond this and quickly outclassed by their cavalry options. Available in the Classical age.
-Spearman: Expendable infantry, only good against cavalry. Cheap and easy to mass, despite being quite a bit weaker compared to other infantry. Available from Classical age.
-Axeman: Expendable infantry, only good against other infantry, like the Egyptian Axeman. You'd probably want to go for the Composite Bowman in most cases but the Axeman has an upside in being extremely cheap, acting as a trash unit when gold is gone. Available from Classical age.
-Siege engine: A battering ram covered in animal hide, with a raised section in front. Fires arrows at enemy units and uses the ram to tear down walls. Good against buildings. Available from classical age.
The Lamassu
Example Myth units:
-Lamassu: Classical age myth unit. Occupying a role similar to the Sphinx for the Egyptians, the Lamassu are protective creatures composed of a man's head, bird's wings, and a lion or bull's body. They are powerful units, especially for the Classical age, and their presence can temporarily buff surrounding friendly unit's armour.
-Alû: Classical age myth unit. Succubus like creatures with no mouth or ears that the Akkadians and Sumerians were quite terrified of, these were said to have put people to sleep in order to drain them of their energy. In game, Alu are pretty feeble in most combat stats, especially health and damage, but have the useful ability to stun multiple units for a time, opening them up for attack.
-Scorpion Man: Heroic age myth unit. Funnily enough, although Scorpion men were already used for the Egyptians in the first AOM, its actually more accurate to use them for the Mesopotamians, since they appear much more frequently in Akkadian stories and symbolism. Visually modified to fit into the Akkadian style (they tended to put wings on everything, and, as mentioned, curly beards), these Scorpion men have similar attributes to the Egyptian ones, powerful close range fighters with a poison sting attack.
-Manticore: Heroic age myth unit. Wow, another mythological creature from AOM1 where it would work better as a Mesopotamian creature! The Manticore is actually Persian in origin, though most of the surviving records are from Greeks. Generally they back up the description of it being a lion like creature with the face of a man, a voice like a trumpet and a scorpion like tail that can shoot spikes. I would probably have it mostly the same as in AOM1 because of this.
-Asag: Heroic age myth unit. A humanoid creature with three arms and three legs, no neck and eyes throughout its body, said to be so hideous its appearance boiled fish alive in rivers. Also said to have tough, rock like skin and is assisted in battle by its similar offspring. As such, its got good defensive stats, especially armor, but pretty basic attack. When it dies it leaves behind two weaker offspring to continue the battle, like a Promethean. Associated with Ninurta.
-Kulullû: Heroic age Myth unit. A merperson, male or female, front half of a human, bottom half of a fish. Kululla have the ability to heal damaged units, especially ships, and can attack naval units with their lance, though they aren't too powerful in combat, similar to the servant. Kulullu's presence will also cause your fishing and trading ships to work faster. Associated with Tiamat.
-Apkallu: Mythic age myth unit. Mysterious sages with bird's heads, non-functional wings and the scales of a fish, they frequently appear in Akkadian and Assyrian art and literature. They have a modest ranged attack where they burn enemies with a heavenly ray of light but some powerful abilities, notably they are capable of healing friendly units and have a 'silence' special ability. This prevents other hostile myth and hero units from using their special abilities, and even briefly blocks god powers from being cast. Finally they can teleport to anywhere on the map you have line of sight on. Associated with Enki.
-Anzu: Mythic age myth unit. A flipped Hieracosphinx, with the head of a lion and the body of a giant eagle. A powerful flying unit, the Anzu flies over the battlefield and attacks similar to a phoenix with an odd combination of fire and water blasting from its mouth. Anzu has a special ability where he can significantly buff the speed of friendly units beneath him.
-Humbaba: Mythic age myth unit. A terrifying guardian of the Cedar forest, the home of the gods, this creature is said to have had the paws of a lion, the feet of a hawk, a body covered in thorns, human entrails for a face(!), large horns and a snake for both the tail and penis (the last part will probably not be featured on the in-game model!). One of the most powerful myth units in the game, and suitably expensive, Humbaba possess a special ability called 'terrorize', when active this causes up to 5 enemy human units to lose morale and break, shown by very briefly falling out of the control of their owner and trying to run in a direction away from the Humbaba, unable to attack while terrorized. The effect of this power is very short, but it can be really useful to turn a fight in your favor if timed right. Associated with the sun god Utu.
Example God Powers:
-Ceder Forest: Archaic age power. Creates a patch of rich forest, similar to Gaia's power. Can block off areas.
-Prosperity: Archaic age power. Increases gold gather rate from all sources, similar to Isis's power.
-Whirlwind: Classical age power. Enlil's wind allows you to teleport some units to where you want, depending on line of sight of course. Like Ptah's shifting sand it works on either allies or enemies.
-Grasp of the underworld: Classical age power. When used on a certain location said area will be infested with Gallu, demons who drag victims down to the underworld. This acts as an instant kill on the unfortunate unit dragged down, similar to Leto's Spider's lair.
-Tower of Babel: Heroic age power. Transforms your town center into a great structure, similar to the Sekhmet's Citadel. However this tower notably also has a stupendous line of sight.
-Locust Swarm: Heroic age power. Calls forth a devastating locust swarm that destroys farms and damages and kills villagers and livestock, identical to Hathor's ability.
-Demonic Rift: Mythic age power. Identical to Hecate's power, creates a rift to the underworld that will destroy structures and blurt out powerful demons where it is placed.
-Divine Immortality: Mythic age power, a single unit, or a small group of units depending on balance, can be chosen to become truly immortal. In this case they will not die no matter what, and endlessly fight against the enemy and bleed them of units and resources for no loss. If this is too much they may possibly get knocked unconsciousness like campaign heroes and revived if the area is occupied by allies. Best used on the most powerful myth and hero units.
No comments:
Post a Comment