Age of Empires is terug op de DS -Update-

Geschreven door Dexter McllRatch op dinsdag 03-06-2008 12:50. Bron: IGN

De goeie oude stategy game is terug op de DS.

Na Age of Empires: The Age of Kings is het redelijk stil geweest over sequals van deze game op de Nintendo DS. Vandaag zijn er screenshots opgedoken van een nieuw spel uit deze reeks namelijk Mythologies. Griptonite Games gaf vandaag een interview met IGN en die vinden we hieronder met inclusief wat screens. Wanneer de game verschijnt, weten we jammer genoeg nog niet.

Interview:

Age of Empires: Mythologies Interview A sequel to Age of Kings is on the way. by Daemon Hatfield

June 2, 2008 - This fall, portable strategy fans will be receiving a sequel to 2006's Age of Empires: Age of Kings. Subtitled Age of Mythologies, the game is being developed by Griptonite Games, sister studio to Backbone Entertainment, which produced the first Nintendo DS game. Dan McAuliffe (Senior Producer) and Wendy Wallace (Producer) at Griptonite have shared the first details with IGN.

IGN: How long after the release of Age of Kings did development on Age of Mythologies begin?

Griptonite: Since the release of Age of Empires: Age of Kings, we have relished the chance to develop a follow up title. Everyone at Foundation 9 knew they had a real gem with Age of Kings and saw incredible possibilities in taking the handheld concept into the Mythologies universe.

IGN: Is Age of Empires: Mythologies produced by the same team that did Age of Kings, or is another studio handling the development on the game? If it's a different team, what have they worked on in the past?

Griptonite: Age of Empires: Mythologies is being developed by Griptonite Games, a division of Foundation 9 and a sister studio of Backbone Entertainment (Age of Empires: Age of Kings). The team members have worked on a number of incredible hand held games, including such titles as Spore Creatures DS and the Sims 2 DS. In addition, the team has experience with the handheld strategy genre, as evidenced in their work on Lord of the Rings: The Third Age for the Game Boy Advance. Realistically though, whenever you have a chance to work a series as beloved as Age of Empires, you get top talent.

IGN: Is Age of Empires: Mythologies being built up from scratch, or is the Age of Kings engine being used as its foundation?

Griptonite: Even though the game was built from scratch, we were lucky to have the original game code from Backbone. Seeing as Age of Kings was so well received, it was important to us that we review all the code from our predecessor. We were able to incorporate a lot of great ideas from it, which was especially helpful in architecting our new AI system. At the end of the day, though, we wanted to alter major systems to the point where a true reconstruction became necessary. Our updated graphics engine, for example, was necessary to create the new look we have planned for Mythologies.

IGN: Give us an idea of what's been changed in the move from Age of Kings to Age of Empires: Mythologies, either enhanced items or brand new features.

Griptonite: As we previously mentioned, our goal was to build upon the solid foundation of Age of Kings. As such, Age of Empires: Mythologies features beautifully rendered graphics, a wild variety of new units, awesome heroes, relics, and four completely unique environments for play. Not to mention three totally distinctive cultures. Focusing on the epic myths of the ancient world rather than the histories of Europe and Asia has allowed Mythologies to bring the heroes of the past alive on the battlefields of Greece, Egypt and the frozen north. Some complained that units in Age of Kings were difficult to see when bunched together on the map. To combat this, the units have become much more detailed, making them considerably easier to differentiate from one another. We also have fantastic mythological beasts that appear gigantic on the battlefield, providing dramatic contrast between the varied human soldiers. The terrain is also much more detailed and animated than the previous game, which makes the world truly come alive. Finally, we have added a whole new frontier of multiplayer options, allowing players to go head-to-head in local Wireless, or join other players around the world with Nintendo Wi-Fi.

IGN: When is the game expected to be released? How much longer do you have to go before it's completed?

Griptonite: The game will come out in the Fall of 2008.

IGN: Any other Age of Empires game you're interested in bringing to the Nintendo DS after Age of Empires: Mythologies?

Griptonite: We would love to develop more titles in the Age of Empires series. If Ensemble is willing, the so are we!