NEWS: Big Huge Games' First Title Revealed!

[Thunderfall]

GameSpot has posted a four page preview of the first title of Big Huge Games (BHG), the company co-founded by several former Firaxians who left Firaxis in March 2000: Brian Reynolds, Tim Train, David Inscore, and Jason Coleman. Brian Reynolds was the main programmer on Civilization II and Alpha Centauri.

Titled Rise of Nations, this game is a 3D real time strategy game that "attempts to capture the enormous scope of older turn-based strategy games and the fast-paced structure of real-time strategy games". The game will have many concepts familiar to Civers, such as advanced diplomatic options, national borders, automated workers, ancient to information ages, bombardment, named cities, and units ranging from spearman to nuclear weapons. Rise of Nations may well be the 3D Real Time version of Civilization!

The preview includes a total of 11 first screenshots from the game that resemble the graphics of the Age of Empires series to some extent. The tentatively release date is Early 2003 and it will be published by Microsoft.

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,2850780,00.html

 

[Aeson]

Looks promising, I especially like:

The game has already been in playable form for quite some time, but Big Huge Games doesn't expect to complete its work until early 2003.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

Wow. From reading the article, it sounds like it could be really good. But like you said, TF, the graphics look really stuck in Age of Kings. REALLY stuck. I suppose that's what they're working on until spring 2003.





PS Ummm... isn't this off-topic forum material though?

 

[History_Buff]

Yes it does look alot like AOK, but I dont understandhow they can mesh the two. But if it works, Goodbye Civ3.

 

[History_Buff]

We should create a suggestion board for this, and make it clear that the game needs to be custumzable and have a map editor with a f**cking mini map.

 

[Selous]

yea ... this game looks promicing ... much like empire earth .... but im hoping more of a world map type thing ... like in civ series (i was dissapointed by empire earth ... but it is a big ask!!), and actually ... i really dont think it will work, not quite yet that is, i dont think that the 4X gaming genere has matured and advanced enough to make a good real time game, there really needs to be another revolution in turn based 4x gaming before it goes real time IMHO that is ... but then .. brian renolds had the forsight and vision to make AC the game it was, so there is still hope for a NEW game

i did notice that there was the PROMICE of multiplayer ... so that is cool .... and it is nice to hear that "they" dont wish to rush it? well .... we will see

 

[Thunderfall]

Originally posted by Sparrowhawk
PS Ummm... isn't this off-topic forum material though?

It is a bit off-topic, but the Civ3 General forum is pretty much the forum for discussion of this kind of "Civish" news. Just a week or two ago we were discussing the upcoming Civilization board game in this forum...

Back to topic: The game sounds very interesting. It probably will be even more interesting if they add roads and railroads to the game.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

Originally posted by Thunderfall It is a bit off-topic, but the Civ3 General forum is pretty much the forum for discussion of this kind of "Civish" news.

Agreed.

Back to topic: The game sounds very interesting. It probably will be even more interesting if they add roads and railroads to the game.

Good point. Hadn't thought of that myself, but I suppose if they really want to make a civ-ish game they'll have to include roads and such. In retrospect it seems that current RTS could benefit from road construction...

 

[Selous]

Originally posted by Thunderfall


Back to topic: The game sounds very interesting. It probably will be even more interesting if they add roads and railroads to the game.

now the big question is if those railroads will have unlimited movement and if the baddies will be able to use your roads when they invade .... now i think of it .... is silly that no rts has ever had roads that u could build ... it makes sence and in a rts would be so easy to implement, u just have to make units move so much faster along the roads

 

[Michelangelo]

The most irritating aspect of the great game of AOK and AOE is that you need to micromanage the villagers the entire game as well as continually plant new farms. The (intelligent) automation of these will be a great improvement. Especially if you have so many option to tweak their 'intelligence' as in Civ 3.

Although I like the graphics of AOK a lot, I think they should alter the appearance so it becomes a game in its own right, not just a clone of the AOE-series. (Or is it just that?????)

The (rail)road idea Thunderfall mentioned is a great idea IMHO.

 

[€ønqui$tadør]

i would prefer the map to be civ-style, it would be easier to make custom or real world maps.

and after playing civ3 for some time, i am so used to the civ3-style of presenting your empire that i am a bit turned-off by the AOE style interface as in Rise of Nations. in civ3, your empire really does look like a huge empire that spans continents. in AOE style interface, your empire looks nothing more than a tiny settlement, at most a conglomeration of small towns.

but from the screenshots and review, i think it not much more than an extension of AOE. it's basically AOE in 3D with civ3 features. but the idea of advancing through ages and having borders and diplomacy in the game is cool.

and i think the nuclear holocaust screenshot is amazing...:crazyeyes

 

[wervdon]

Even if its just empire earth with diplomacy it'll be cool I liked empire earth until I realized it was just a fancy starcraft/AOE. I still like EE actually, but its more of a once a month type of thing rather than an addiction like civ2/3 and moo1/2 are

Personally though I think the moo3 team has the right idea on how to blend RTS with turn based play, and I hope their game is so successful that other developers borrow the idea of making a kick ass turn based game and only doing the battles in real time. Beyond that, I hope its successful enough to see a moo4

In any case, Im sure this game will be pretty awsome when its released, maybe not the next civ, but at least the next big RTS title.

 

[Grey Knight]

Originally posted by Michelangelo
Although I like the graphics of AOK a lot, I think they should alter the appearance so it becomes a game in its own right, not just a clone of the AOE-series. (Or is it just that?????)

The (rail)road idea Thunderfall mentioned is a great idea IMHO.

Let's see, there are two general options, no?

1. Copy the graphics from somewhere else for now, and concentrate work on developing good gameplay
2. Copy the gameplay, and concentrate on graphics

Dunno about you, but I would rather play a good game than a pretty one.

Cheers,
Shawn

 

[seghillian]

The game sounds very interesting. Reynolds did a great job with Colonization, Civ II and SMAC, so this looks worth waiting for. Reading the Gamespot preview, it sounds as though he's been reading the complaints in this forum as he mentioned stuff like tanks vs spearmen and borders etc.

I agree that gameplay is much more important than graphics.

 

[warpstorm]

Originally posted by Selous
i did notice that there was the PROMICE of multiplayer ... so that is cool .... and it is nice to hear that "they" dont wish to rush it? well .... we will see

When I was talking about this game with BHG a year ago over lunch , they pretty much said that multi-player was the whole point of their new game.

 

[Moff Jerjerrod]

I don't mean to offend or rain on anyone's parade but I'd like to share my opinion.


I've never been a fan of RTS strategy games for a couple of reasons.

1. They're nothing more than clickfests that make
me nervous.

2. It's the same formula, collect a bunch of resources
fast, build a bunch of buildings and units, go attack
your enemies really really fast before they rush you.

True there will be national borders, non-depleting resources, and fresh new graphics but I'm a little skeptical. However, because the game will have Brian Reynolds name on it I probably will pick it up and give it a chance. He's a pretty innovative guy. But I will not get burned this time and will take the game back if it's just another AoE/AoK Galactic Battlegrounds clone. You know what aaaah mean?

 

[-proletarian-]

Looks a little too much like AOK for my tastes.....and really, isn't it going to be just impossible to co-ordinate your development when there are so many things to take care of all at once? They even admit this, in the part where they mention that workers will automate themselves and build buildings without your consent......what the hell? Most of the fun of strategy gaming is making decisions about what to build, and where.....I don't want the AI to decide that for me. The game looks pretty good though, I dunno, might be worth a try......

 

[Sparrowhawk]

Originally posted by -proletarian-
They even admit this, in the part where they mention that workers will automate themselves and build buildings without your consent......what the hell? Most of the fun of strategy gaming is making decisions about what to build, and where.....I don't want the AI to decide that for me. The game looks pretty good though, I dunno, might be worth a try......

If there's one thing I've decided from previous RTS experience, and by using cheats to look at AI cities in AOK, it's that the AI has no sense whatsoever when planning cities. The last thing I want is villagers spontaneously building. I hope the BHG team has sorted this stuff out, 'cause otherwise it looks like an intriguing game.

 

[MummyMan]

This looks exactly like AoE, I wouldn't be surprised if they even got sued for this.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

Originally posted by MummyMan
This looks exactly like AoE, I wouldn't be surprised if they even got sued for this.

Not likely. "Rise of Nations" is being published by Microsoft, the same fun people who brought you AoE and AoK.