The Asian Dynasties (2007), developed by Big Huge Games (of Rise of Nations fame), matured the concept of multiple meta-factions and increased the asymmetry of the new civilizations. Each native civilization had their own roster and cards, sharing only some general design choices, but enough to be recognized as a group, different from the European meta-faction, while still being different between them. The Warchiefs (2006) took the meta-faction idea in a new direction: it introduced a second meta-faction. The game departed from its original design philosophy with each expansion. The game incorporated the new trends in the genre by adding the home city mechanic, where players obtain experience by gathering treasures, fighting and producing units and building and destroying structures, to unlock the use of civilization specific cards: single use shipments of resources, units, technologies or civilization bonuses. These tweaks can be bonuses, unique units and roster compositions and tech availability. By tweaking this “ideal” faction, you obtain real subfactions (factions in a practical sense). The meta-faction is a theoretical faction that has all the units, all the techs and no unique bonuses. Two games that served to cement new features and design philosophies in the genre: great asymmetrical faction design and the introduction of customization options to allow player expression on each match (general abilities and doctrines)Īt launch, Age of Empires 3 featured only european civilizations, still anchored in the design staple of the franchise: The meta-faction. The original game was released in 2005, two years after Command and Conquer Generals and one year earlier to Company of Heroes. Faction design in Age of Empires IIIįirst of all I have to explain the development history of AoE3.
However, after 17 years, developers have finally produced a civilization that fully embraces the chaotic mix of faction design paradigms. It’s a clash of design choices, with the resulting power creep and overengineered factions. A time capsule of a particular period of time in the RTS genre history. However, this hasn’t stopped the game from carving its own niche audience, receiving a definitive edition, multiple dlc’s and regular updates, with one releasing in the following days. It may be the time period or the departure of old formulas.
There is no doubt that Age of Empires 3 is the black sheep of the franchise. This article was written by Felipe Eduardo Gonzalez Argañaras, who asked if his article could be posted on this site.
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