TeAM YYePG

FEATURE AOE3
THE HOME CITYEnsemble adds some RPG to AOE3
BY FAR, AOE3’S BIGGEST INNOVATION IS THE
home city, which brings an element of persistence to
both your single- and multiplayer games and adds a
ton of new strategy to the mix.
It works like this: When you first start the game in
skirmish or multiplayer mode, you choose to play as
one of eight civilizations, each of which has a home
city. (See page 50 for details on skirmish mode and
the eight civilizations.) The home city represents
your HQ back in Europe—for example, if you’re
playing as Spain, your home city is Seville. While
your conquistadors are off in the New World, Seville
is supporting their endeavors with shipments of
resources, civilians, technology, and military units
that you specify and send so that they show up on
the New World map while you’re playing. In return,
your exploits in the New World—everything from
shooting bears to building structures—gain you XP
that allow you to level up your home city…which in
turn opens up opportunities for new, better shipments
to your New World minions, and more opportunities
to make those shipments.
AGE OF EMPIREQUEST
Think of the home city as an RPG character. In an
RPG, the first thing you do is create a character;
here, you name your town. In an RPG, the more you
play, the more your character levels up; here, the
more you play, the more your city levels up. As it
does, you get access to upgrades and customization
options (tweaks to architecture, different units,
texture tweaks), but more important, leveling up
affects the type and number of shipments you can
send. Just like in an RPG, there are more powerful
things deeper in the tech tree—you can send some
shipments at level 20 that weren’t available to you in
level 10. You can send shipments every few minutes
(the better you play, the less waiting time between
sending opportunities), and the number of ship-
46 > COMPUTER GAMING WORLD
> More
than anything, the home city
affects players’ strategies—how they’re
used can turn the tide of a game.
ments you can make increases as you level up.
You begin with 12 possible shipments. You may
use one on something you send once, such as a
technology, while you use a bunch of them on
something you send repeatedly, like villagers. At
the end of the game, if you have sufficient XP, you
level up and can choose an additional shipment to
add to your arsenal. In the next game, you’ll have
13 shipment options instead of 12. Developer
Ensemble is guessing that a grand total of 100
potential shipments will become available to players
who have established a fully developed home
city, but the limit for use in any given game is 20.
That’s the point at which you’ll have to start making
choices before each game: Which 20 shipments do
you want to bring in? Says Shelley, “It’s kind of like
building different Magic: The Gathering decks. If
I’m playing this guy and he favors one strategy, I’ll
play a particular city with a particular set of shipments
because they’re particularly good against
what I think he’s going to do.”
In practice, you can play and level up as many
home cities as you choose, though Ensemble
believes the typical player will probably have one
city per civilization. A particularly hardcore player,
though, might have 20 home cities with different
build-outs—three for each civilization. Home cities
are also separate for single- and multiplayer games,
with level disparities handled by restrictions aimed
at keeping things fair and focused on strategy.
Decks will be “tiered” by level, so that, for example,
any cards you receive from levels 0 through 9 will
make a tier 1 deck. Levels 10-25 will be tier 2, and
so on. If you have a deck with even a single tier 3
card, then you have a tier 3 deck. And you can only
play a tier 3 deck against other tier 3 players. So a
guy with a level 50 home city can play a level 1 newbie—but
he can only use cards available at the lowest
levels. “It’s not like World of WarCraft,” says
Street, “where if I’m level 30 and you’re level 35 I
have no chance against you.”
CHOICE STRATEGIES
More than anything, the home city affects players’
strategies—what shipments are sent and when
they’re sent can turn the tide of a game. Looking to
win with a booming economy? Focus your shipment
choices on villagers, food, and technologies that will
help to improve your colony. Seeking a military rush
victory? Be sure you’ve got shipments that let you
send in the cavalry and be ready to send in army
units when your opponents don’t expect it.
Defending against a military rush? Consider “saving
up” shipments so you have emergency supplies in
case of attack.
Despite the RPG analogy, Street is quick to point
out that Age of Empires III “is still an RTS, and skill
really matters. If you squander your shipments or
get attacked really early or something, it’s still possible
for someone who’s much more skilled than you
to win, even at a lower level. An RTS is about highlevel
choice. It’s about reacting to what another
player does, not having a system where 14 games
ago you got this technology that I didn’t get and
now, because of the map we picked, I’m probably
going to lose as soon as the game starts.”