Oh, and Quboid, World Govt doesn't give you an instant win, rahter it makes all the timers instant. You still have to trigger a winning event (X% territory, Y Wonder Points, whatever).

I thought there was an optional victory which was achieved just by getting this, no? If not, then what is a "Government Victory"?

Cheers,
Quboid

War isn't about who's right, its about who's left.

Well, I turn off the wonder victories.

Well no WONDER (hehe.. bad pun! bad!) your games last so long.

The whole point of the Wonders is to force a resolution (since your have to resolve the Wonder disparity within the time limit).

Games which simulate a Civilization shouldn't just be about who has the best army.

Oh, and Quboid, World Govt doesn't give you an instant win, rahter it makes all the timers instant. You still have to trigger a winning event (X% territory, Y Wonder Points, whatever).

I think (without looking) you have:
1. Any game winning criteria that you meet will end game instantly.
2. All units produced instantly.

Well, I turn off the wonder victories. IMO those types of victories are just bullshit. Strategy games should be about your armies and how you use them, not how good you are at placing buildings.

When each game goes to launch you get something showing the unique units... I believe the number you were looking for is 6 or 7

I guess I should've said unique unit types. When you upgrade, one unique unit turns into another unique unit. At any given time in the game, you may only have access to two or three faction unique units.

The armageddon counter makes everyone loss when it gets to zero. It decreases by 1 everytime a nuke detonates. I'm not sure this is a great feature as while I understand they want to avoid over usage of nukes, it gives an opportunity for some bad sportsmanship. If you're about to loss and you have resources or nukes, you can just nuke until the counter is at zero, even if you're nuking your own territory. Granted this won't make you win or even draw, but if everyone looses, you're going to feel like you got a draw. That sucks.

I'd like to see a change so only people who launch any of the last 3 - 5 nukes before loss and the others draw so you can avoid loosing if you avoid nuking late in the game - however the option is still open if you really need it.

Cheers,
Quboid

War isn't about who's right, its about who's left.

I think (without looking) you have:
1. Any game winning criteria that you meet will end game instantly.
2. All units produced instantly.

and then there's two others.

Yep, there are 4:
Missle Shield: Stops missiles from being launched against you. Also turns the armageddon count back by 2.
World Government: Gives the researcher a Government victory (which can be turned off), which is basically a research victory. Also makes city assimilations instant rather than the usual ~2 min wait for a captured city to be yours.
Global Economy: Gives you very good prices at the resource market and opens up the stealth fighter and bomber.
Artifical Intelligence: Units made instantly.

They also have other bonuses but these are minor.

Cheers,
Quboid

War isn't about who's right, its about who's left.

"bothersome: I haven't noticed any. There's ICBMs and Nukes, but every nation gets those. Plus there's the nasty Apocalypse countdown on the nukes. "

There's also the techs that after the library is fully researched that you can research...

I think (without looking) you have:
1. Any game winning criteria that you meet will end game instantly.
2. All units produced instantly.

and then there's two others.

"As for unique units, I noticed each nation really only has 2, maybe 3."

When each game goes to launch you get something showing the unique units... I believe the number you were looking for is 6 or 7.

the game ends with no winners.

jesus christ,

www.riseofnations.com and if that fails www.google.com

you have a wealth of information at your hands, people. Freaking use it.


This comment was edited on May 20, 19:15.

kittencool, sounds to me like you should stick to the SimX and XTycoon games.

You know, the easy ones.

just wondering, what does the armeggedon countdown do when you reach 0?

Oooooops, how could I forget CFS3?! That was nothing more than a piece of crap. I never played Mech Commander 2 so I wouldn't know about that but I actually paid for CFS3. Shocking product that one, totally killed the CFS series for me.

Cheers,
Quboid

War isn't about who's right, its about who's left.

#14, MS Combat Flight Sim 3 sucked TOTAL ass, still does. VERY unpolished...

Going to throw the replies all together so I don't have to double post.

bothersome: I haven't noticed any. There's ICBMs and Nukes, but every nation gets those. Plus there's the nasty Apocalypse countdown on the nukes.

Quboid: I have played two games now that turned into 5 hour stalemates against a friend. Maybe we're just so evenly matched that it's impossible for either of us to win, I dunno, but that's my personal experience.

As for unique units, I noticed each nation really only has 2, maybe 3. That's not a lot when you consider how many different types of units there are. I would've liked to see them branch off into the other basic techs (like air and sea) for more unique units.

So you know where I'm coming from, I'm a Blizzard RTS gamer, so I've come to expect game factions to have their strengths and weaknesses reflected in their units. I like the AoE game types, but none of them have ever kept my attention for this reason.

However, I will agree this is one of the most well polished games at release, and is worth giving a shot for that reason. I was also surprised to see this come from under Microsoft's hood.

No. 14, try MechCommander 2. That game was CLEARLY released unfinished, as evidenced by the poor AI and some other issues. Moreover, not even a single patch was ever released. A fan (someone who goes by the handle "Magic") has been the only person to put out what is considered the unofficial patch for the game.

MS just completely abandoned the game. And the people who bought it.

You guys are amazing, mind boggling even. I don’t see anything that makes this game standout. I’ve yet to have it crash on me though (maybe that’s it?)

When I first started the game it seemed like it had a decent twist on the norm. A little aoe, ee mixed bag but then the horror of it all struck.

Mentally keeping track of multiple cities, their needs, what buildings each has and which ones it needs is a huge pain in the heat of a battle.

The graphics are of course sub par (not saying they flat out suck but they are nothing new), a big issue? No.

The hyped game play would be good if it didn’t convolute it self. Some buildings stack bonuses and some don’t? The developers sure like to confuse you.

Base defense is a joke. Hope you like aggressive games because the only way to get a base up is to use the rules and set a peace time or age.

So those are my thoughts.

A little reality check for all these people here that seem to really like this puppy poo.

I find games last between 1 hour and 2 hours. They certainly don't drag on for 5 hours. I thought this had many more UUs per civ that AoE and such, no? Each nation usually has about 7, I thought AoE and AoK had 1 or 2.

It really is a fantastic game. Very stable and bug free (although saving in multiplayer was cut out - a BHG employee has told me and the others at the ron.heavengames.com forum that it will be included in a future patch). It plays well, very polished, very interest. The graphics get some stick but I think they are excellent, if technically unadventurous. Very clear and clean so you always know what something does. Highly modable too - I've already made a population cap mod to double the caps (ron.heavengames.com again). Top quality title that was released when it was pretty much done, bar saving in multiplayer, a real rarity these days.

It's impressive release state has got me thinking. These problems are usually caused by the publisher wanting a return on their investment ASAP. This game is Microsoft published and I'm having a hard time thinking of an MS published game that has been released in a bad state. I've heard AoM had it problems, although I never played it. Is this true? Are there any other games they've released too early?


Cheers,
Quboid

War isn't about who's right, its about who's left.
This comment was edited on May 20, 17:25.

Wow, it's getting great reviews so far: http://www.gametab.com/pc/rise.of.nations/1162/

I was pretty much set on getting it anyway after playing the demo, but I can resist no longer!

I have to disagree with you on this one... there's so many game ending techs that any game should not really last more than an hour... hour and a bit at the most... as designed.

My main gripe with the game is lack of unique units between nations, especially at the later stages of the game. This makes for some pretty boring late game skirmishes.

So, it's fun when a game doesn't last more than two hours, but if it does, you can bet on any one game going as long as five hours before coming close to an end.

I played the demo through a few times, I'm not sure that I found it all that challenging. What are features are in the full release, is the AI better?

Did you ever change the difficulty setting from "Easiest"?

This comment was edited on May 20, 16:51.

Multiplayer is real time with a lot of methods of customisation.

Craw... it just seems to have the polish that EE was missing. It plays like a finished product which is all too rare these days. The game play is also quite a bit different than EE... it plays like itself and not like any other RTS. The polish is the main thing... the more I play this game the more I like it and I started off loving it... Each time I play I notice something different. Then see everything that is in the full retail version vs. the demo and I think you're in for a treat and won't be disappointed in this game.

This comment was edited on May 20, 16:49.