Age of Empires 3 | Demo Released | Reviews at 85%

[jerryhussain]

Currently in QA, demo will be released this month.







Read more on AOE3 here

Personally speaking I've wasted countless hours on the AOE series so far and dont see any reason that their upcoming release can follow that tradition.

[puff_daddy_58_99]

the new one seems less like the age of empires. It's like 1500-1850 or something, which really isn't an empire. Rise of Nations and Empire Earth got it right, being able to start in almost the cave age and make it all the way to the future.

I would bet that this may be more of a marketing play. The stock game is 1500-1850, then after it is released they just add new content for an 1850-2050 game or a 1200-1500 game. Same engine, same gameplay, just expansion scenarios and units.

Anyways, I hope it is decent. It is one that I will be sure to pickup!

[Fantaz]

Sexy graphics! I might pick this one up if the gameplay is as good.

[JayPatel]

IGNPC: Are you using a modified version of the Age of Mythology engine or are you starting over from scratch? What new technologies and visuals are you hoping to include?

Ensemble: Yes, we started Age of Empires III with the Age of Mythology engine. But, fairly soon into Age of Empires III's development, we realized that we had an opportunity to do something unique in terms of pushing the edge of the envelope with graphics in the RTS genre, and perhaps even for all PC games. As a result, we've rewritten most of the engine by this point in time.

The Age of Empires III engine is a fully DX9, Shader 3.0 compliant engine with more technical bells and whistles than any other PC game to date. As you can see from the screenshots, we have a world that feels bright and sunny, but with a softness and depth that hasn't been seen before. From things like self-shadowing to HDR (high dynamic range) lighting to water that has proper Fresnel reflectance properties, this is a very high-end graphics engine.

We've also integrated physics into the game in a big way. When units are blown up by cannon fire, we use ragdolls to bounce them around the world, off of rooftops, and down cliffs. As buildings take artillery damage, pieces of the building realistically break off and fall down with proper collision modeling. When you throw in hundreds of integrated animations per unit, the overall effect is quite impressive.

Age of Empires III has more programmers working just on graphics than worked on all of Age of Kings. While gameplay still reigns supreme, it would be accurate to say that the bulk of our programming time has been spent on graphics. Everything from low-level shader architecture to higher level, applied things such as unit movement and combat have been taken to the next level. Simply put, we set out to create the best looking PC game of all time with Age of Empires III.

[ledorky]

Nice. Time to put my 6600GT to use.

[coldWater]

time to upgrade my video card

[plisk3n]

*DROOLS AT THE PICTURES*

Now this is a game I'll play on the PC (I'm mainly a console boy) but I've always loved the AOE series. A definite buy for me!

[JayPatel]

im looking forward to the integration of the physics engine the most. looking forward to the ragdoll deaths

[oceans_end]

i still can remember Rise of Rome Trial days@ zone.com lol

[MrDisco]

time to upgrade my whole PC

[dazz]

Nice. Time to put my 6600GT to use.

I highly doubt it's going to be enough at full resolution and graphics

[slippy]

that is one good looking game
look at all those animal to eat!

[grant]

hopefully they fix the gameplay issues!

I'm also wary of the perspective, when you look at the landscape from an angle it's easy for things to get lost behind buildings etc.

[Rosico]

purdy pictures!

[jerryhussain]

Officially announced today with more screenshots