Age 3 : part 2

Ensemble Studios was a game development studio that was created in Dallas in 1995. Two years later it released "Age of Empires" which turned into one of the best computer games of the decade. More importantly the studio created the benchmark of the Real-Time Strategy genre. Subsequently Ensemble went on to make Age of Empires 2, Age of Mythology and Age of Empires 3. They recently finished "Halo Wars" a strategy game for XBox. Microsoft was the publisher that Ensemble had for all their productions. In March of this year Ensemble Studios was closed down.

Age of Empires- The original game focused on early civilizations of 3000 years ago in the Mediterranean and Middle east. By today's standards it is clumsy and chunky and everything seems like its on a hidden grid system.

Age of Empires 2 -The sequel game focused on the age of kings. The game time-frame was from the Dark Ages of 400 C.E. to 1500 C.E. and the age of Spanish exploration. Much better than the first, considered by some to be the best work Ensemble did. Graphics much improved but the game-play was still slow.

Age of Mythology- Back tracked on the time-line to ancient Greeks, Egypt, and Norse cultures. Mythological influence was heavy and made the series less historically accurate but interesting. A big step was faster paced game matches. Some fans were very critical of Ensemble basing a game on mythology instead of history. But a lot of human history has been influence by fantasy.

Age of Empires 3- The series returned and is set during Colonial times. European powers are bent on exploration and conquest of the New World. Huge leap in graphic visualizations and world physics. Light on innovation but large in presentation.

The best improvements made over the years is much greater visual detail and easier game-play and the ability to play games in 20 minutes or less. The early games had a slower pace to them and could be dragged out for hours, I had time in college to play that long. In Age of Mythology and Age 3 games are much better paced and are just as enjoyable with less free time invested. All of the above games had expansion packs or add-ons released later with additional content and improvements.

Age of Empires The Third:part 1

More recently, during some free time in the evenings, I have been going to virtual battle on the computer. Age of Empires, the entire series of computer games have intrigued me for over a decade. Most notably is the latest and last installment, Age of Empires 3 and it's expansions The Warchiefs and The Asian Dynasties.

What I love about this game is the strategy and thinking involved. While you could choose to passively play the game on an easy level, I choose to be challenged. With this, I have to apply lots of basic math skills to be successful and it makes the game rewarding and satisfying. Age 3 is not a new game. It was released in October of 2005, so I have tons of experience with it. A few years ago I played online frequently and I met a lot of interesting people. Surprisingly many were professionals. I met teachers, lawyers, dentists, drafters, artists, and even winemakers. I still have contact with some of them today. They live in locations from Kansas to Brazil to even Greece and New Zealand. In total I played over 1100 games online and held a rank of Major.Today I play casually offline. My wife will sometimes play along on the LAN, but I think she enjoys Titan Quest a touch more.

The basics of the game involve resource gathering and the construction of buildings and the training of units. Conquest is the basic idea, however there are other ways to win. Knowing the intricate system of balance multipliers that units ( musketeers, dragoons, swiss pikemen, samurai, highlanders, etc. ) have and the unique characteristics of Civilizations ( France, Spain, Japan, Sioux, Aztecs, Russians, Ottomans, etc. ) have creates interesting game play and strategy.

Honestly, I think everyone I know would find this game interesting and maybe even try if for themselves. If given an hour I could show how the game can ultimately be entertaining and yet give a sense of being educational. I play Age 3 on my self built computer so it's optimized for playing this. Being able to play this with full effects and physics on widescreen make it better than a cinematic movie. Below are 2 screens from recent play with my wife. Notice how her score is better than mine.

Complete Keller Holotapes

The Keller Family Transcript Holotapes of Fallout 3 all in one full video. The holotapes are just a small part of the many you might find in the game. All of them add a real sense of deep dark mystery and bring out more storyline of the Fallout Universe for the player.

World in Conflict

A fairly fun multiplayer war game. I only tried the single player portion for a few nights, but the online play is far more compelling. Every now and then it's fun to play some matches since they only take on average about 15 minutes for one game. Below is a custom generated signature tag from WIC. I'm a Captain, just like Jack Sparrow I guess.

Fallout 3

Nuclear War. The very words conjure images of mushroom clouds, gas masks, and bewilderd childed ducking and covering under their school desks. But it’s the aftermath of such a conflict that truly captures our imaginations, in large part because there’s no real-world equivalent we can relate to. Mankind may have witnessed the horror of the atomic bomb, but thankfully we’ve somehow succeeded in not blowing up the entire planet. At least, not yet.

The Fallout World presents a much grimmer reality. Imagine if, after World War II, the timeline split. Our world forked into one branch, the Fallout Universe the other. In that other branch, technology progressed at a much more impressive rate, while American society remained locked in the cultural norms of the 1950’s. It was an idyllic "world of tomorrow," filled with servant robots, beehive hairdos, and fusion-powered cars. And then in the year 2077, at the climax of a long-running war with China, it all went to hell in a globe-shattering nuclear war.

Fallout 3 takes place in the year 2277, in post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. The "Capital Wasteland" as it has come to be known, is a nightmare landscape of Raiders, freakish Super Mutants, Feral Ghouls, Mutated animals and malfunctioning robots. You have been living underground for the past 20 years, safe and secure in an official Vault-Tec facility known as Vault 101. 200 years ago the steel door of 101 was sealed shut, no one has entered and no one has ever left.

Everything is fine and dandy, until your father -who has been the one constant in your life- leaves the vault unexpectedly. Facing a hostile Vault Overseer you must also flee to the wasteland. Once you escape Vault 101 you have absolute freedom. Try and find dear old Dad or forget he exists - head into the nearest settlement with your 10mm pistol firing - or try to investigate where he could be.

War. War never changes. You will soon learn about the long enduring conflict between the "Enclave" and the "Brotherhood of Steel." Join a side or become a menace to the both of them. The choice is yours...

My wife got my Fallout 3 this past holiday season. I am fairly lucky that she allows it. While most people I know prescribe to the notion that video games are for kids, I think that many games are strictly for adults, like myself who do not watch television shows or movies. I find them very agreeable to entertain and ofter some interactive escape from everyday activities. I will be posting "character play-throughs" of Fallout 3 that I do in the future. I also from time to time will post moderate reviews of games that I have tried.

Thanks to Bethesda Studios for a majority of the content in the post.

Welcome

Well it looks like I have a ton of work to do on this. Lets just wait and see what I can come up with in a few hours. I first have to get Walker to take a nap, then I feel I can make some real progress here.