Age of Empire III + Add-on DataBase

[Aeternitas]

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It's the dawn of a new age in real-time strategy (RTS) games. A brave New World is rising – a hostile yet beautiful world, filled with innovative gameplay, new strategic scenarios, eye-searing graphics and much more.

Welcome to a world called Age of Empires III.
HOME CITIES

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This revolutionary new feature to the RTS landscape is incorporated into all aspects of Age of Empires III — from Campaign to Multiplayer — and is unlike anything you've experienced before.

Much like the persistent character from a role-playing game that encourages you to keep playing, your Home City is an important support system to your efforts in the New World. During a game, your Home City can regularly send you supplies or military reinforcements.

You are the leader of your colony, but your success brings glory back to Mother Europe. The more games you play, and the better you do, the more powerful your Home City will become. Every few games, you gain the ability to both upgrade and customize your Home City:

Upgrade your city by unlocking new types of soldiers or buildings, or improving those you already have.

Broaden your tech tree in whatever direction most fits your play style – invest in warships, native alliances, cavalry, artillery or economy.

Customize your Home City by changing the appearance of buildings, the weather or even the types of people who walk, work and perform in its streets.

Throughout a game, as well as in between games, you can visit your Home City to watch its citizens go about their lives, get an opinion on how you're doing, plot your next move or just marvel at the beautiful sunset.

Graphics

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We first set out to reproduce the rich detail of Age of Empires II: Age of Kings. As we strove to make the fascinating Age of Empires III time period come alive, that goal quickly evolved: We at Ensemble Studios wanted to create the best-looking game ever. From the stunning water effects to the hundreds of units battling on-screen, you'll feel like you're a part of the action in the New World.

Tone mapping – This photo imaging technique balances the colors in a scene on the fly. The end result is a rich, warm game where bright colors are vibrantly rendered alongside darker counterparts, such as shadows.

Lighting and shadows – The sun is always shining in Age of Empires, so it's important that lighting and shadows be an awe-inspiring experience. Units and buildings cast shadows according to a real sun position, and even cast shadows on each other. High Dynamic Range rendering allows us to represent the shiny glints of sunlight that bounce off highly reflective surfaces.

Bump and specular mapping – Water glistens like water. Metal shines like metal. These advanced techniques serve to provide an extra level of rendering detail heretofore unseen in real-time strategy (RTS) gaming.

Water – We felt that portraying stunning, realistic water effects in the game was so important that we devoted a programmer to it full-time. You'll find the water rich with details like foam near the shore, accurately modeled water motion, flotsam in rivers and realistic water colors. Plus, reflections change with the viewing angle, the angle of sunlight and the motion of the water. The overall effect is breathtaking.

Add-on AoE III: The Warchiefs
Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs is the first official expansion pack for the real-time strategy game Age of Empires III. It was announced by Ensemble Studios and Microsoft Game Studios on March 7, 2006. The demo version was released October 4, 2006. The full game for PC was released on October 17, 2006 in the United States.[1] The expansion pack was then bundled with the full game of Age of Empires III, being called Age of Empires III Gold Edition on September 19, 2006. The Mac version was ported over, developed and published by Destineer's MacSoft Games. The full game for Mac was released on June 12, 2007 in the United States. It was followed by a second expansion pack to the original game called Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties.

Add-on AoE III : The Asian Dynasties

From renowned real-time strategy developers Ensemble Studios and Big Huge Games, Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties introduces gamers to Asian civilizations and a host of new gameplay features. Experience firsthand the rich and historical influences of Asia while commanding units and expanding your empire in the Eastern world.

In addition to the introduction of playable Asian civilizations to Age of Empires III, the expansion pack provides new content, new ways of winning and trading, random map styles that feature remixes of classic Age of Empires game styles, and the return of Wonders - a favorite gameplay element in Age of Empires II.