Age of Empires 3 demo released !!!

johnny · 09-09-2005, 07:39 AM

Get it here

Azeral · 09-09-2005, 08:13 AM

Owww 31 hours for me to download it...

Thoran · 09-09-2005, 08:35 AM

hehe... 4 minutes 40 seconds.

Azeral · 09-09-2005, 09:44 AM

Update... Now it says 71+ hours

johnny · 09-09-2005, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Azeral:
Update... Now it says 71+ hours

Don't pay attention to those messages, they're more unpredictable than mother nature.

What's your downstream ? Mine is 3,2 MBps, so it should be finished in a matter of minutes, but in reality it'll take me a few hours i suppose, the line seems to be pretty clogged up. Doesn't matter though, i'm not in a hurry. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Azeral · 09-09-2005, 10:03 AM

well my dial up connection connects at 28.8k so you can do the math

Legolas · 09-09-2005, 05:11 PM

Hmm, I don't know. I hope the demo is no accurate reflection of the full game.

It seems like the computer players are extremely forgiving even at hard level, the research scattered around the buildings without real structure to it, and combat even more arcade-style than it was in Age of Mythology. Send the troops in and hope for the best, clean up the mess 20 seconds later.
The XP system which lets you send reinforcements or extra resources, and the trading posts which give you a choice of 'free' resource types are nice additions. I also like the way you can train squads of units, that is, up to five at once without that affecting the construction time.
I rather miss needing drop-off points for villagers, and having requirements to meet before advancing to the next age. I'm not sure what do with the Explorers.
The gaining xp for your 'home' city is a neat idea though it may unbalance games where your opponent has a far better or worse one; then again, the cards can only be played once you reach a certain time period.

On the whole, though, I get the impression that this is a stripped, yet more confusing, version of AoM. I assume much of the confusion will recede with more hours in-game, but I'm not sure the AI is up to it when it doesn't even matter for the final outcome whether or not I research any upgrades.
Apparently a concentrated force of some 20 musketiers and a pair of low-age cannons for the towers suffices for just about anything. The main challenge is to keep finding resources for your villagers to busy themselves with, because they're not very good at managing that on their own.

Sir Goulum · 09-09-2005, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Thoran:
hehe... 4 minutes 40 seconds.

Crap, I thought mine was fast at 15 minutes. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

the mighty stamar · 09-10-2005, 08:02 AM

It seemed a lot like rise of nations to me

the graphics were not great at all despite the steep requirements.

It seems like a cool game to me though. But just to add, I think that battle for middle earth game was the best game like that ive played in a long time so get that one lol.

Betelgeuse · 09-10-2005, 12:24 PM

all i want to know so far is how to save one's game. i couldn't find an option for it

09-09-2005, 07:39 AM	#1
johnny 40th Level Warrior Join Date: April 15, 2002 Location: Utrecht The Netherlands Age: 59 Posts: 16,981	Get it here __________________

09-09-2005, 08:13 AM	#2
Azeral Manshoon Join Date: May 16, 2003 Location: Orange , N.S.W , Aust Age: 38 Posts: 218	Owww 31 hours for me to download it... __________________ [img]\"http://img37.exs.cx/img37/4753/azeral2.gif\" alt=\" - \" />

09-09-2005, 09:44 AM	#4
Azeral Manshoon Join Date: May 16, 2003 Location: Orange , N.S.W , Aust Age: 38 Posts: 218	Update... Now it says 71+ hours __________________ [img]\"http://img37.exs.cx/img37/4753/azeral2.gif\" alt=\" - \" />

09-09-2005, 10:03 AM	#6
Azeral Manshoon Join Date: May 16, 2003 Location: Orange , N.S.W , Aust Age: 38 Posts: 218	well my dial up connection connects at 28.8k so you can do the math __________________ [img]\"http://img37.exs.cx/img37/4753/azeral2.gif\" alt=\" - \" />

09-09-2005, 05:11 PM	#7
Legolas Jack Burton Join Date: March 31, 2001 Location: The zephyr lands beneath the brine. Age: 40 Posts: 5,459	Hmm, I don't know. I hope the demo is no accurate reflection of the full game. It seems like the computer players are extremely forgiving even at hard level, the research scattered around the buildings without real structure to it, and combat even more arcade-style than it was in Age of Mythology. Send the troops in and hope for the best, clean up the mess 20 seconds later. The XP system which lets you send reinforcements or extra resources, and the trading posts which give you a choice of 'free' resource types are nice additions. I also like the way you can train squads of units, that is, up to five at once without that affecting the construction time. I rather miss needing drop-off points for villagers, and having requirements to meet before advancing to the next age. I'm not sure what do with the Explorers. The gaining xp for your 'home' city is a neat idea though it may unbalance games where your opponent has a far better or worse one; then again, the cards can only be played once you reach a certain time period. On the whole, though, I get the impression that this is a stripped, yet more confusing, version of AoM. I assume much of the confusion will recede with more hours in-game, but I'm not sure the AI is up to it when it doesn't even matter for the final outcome whether or not I research any upgrades. Apparently a concentrated force of some 20 musketiers and a pair of low-age cannons for the towers suffices for just about anything. The main challenge is to keep finding resources for your villagers to busy themselves with, because they're not very good at managing that on their own. __________________ Say NO to the Trouser Tyranny!

09-09-2005, 08:35 AM	#3
Thoran Galvatron Join Date: January 10, 2002 Location: Upstate NY Age: 57 Posts: 2,109	hehe... 4 minutes 40 seconds.

09-10-2005, 08:02 AM	#9
the mighty stamar Avatar Join Date: February 12, 2003 Location: hades Age: 54 Posts: 583	It seemed a lot like rise of nations to me the graphics were not great at all despite the steep requirements. It seems like a cool game to me though. But just to add, I think that battle for middle earth game was the best game like that ive played in a long time so get that one lol.

09-10-2005, 12:24 PM	#10
Betelgeuse Zhentarim Guard Join Date: January 31, 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 46 Posts: 310	all i want to know so far is how to save one's game. i couldn't find an option for it __________________ Insert witty or insightful message here.

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