another company as good as this one,, or close anyway

"Never depleting resources - The basic resources in the game (Food, Timber, Metal and Oil) never deplete once you start to gather them."

I don't like it already...to say that those things are never depleted is false. Otherwise the world would be a much better place.

Just my opinion.

Lord Alzandrion

It's a game by Brian Reynolds, the real creator behind Civ2 and SMAC, but you'll diss it based on one game mechanic that goes against the grain.

As you say, it's your opinion, but it's not one that anyone should be putting much weight in.

Now, personally, I think there's a lot of room to criticize this game, but this mechanic is far from it as anyone who's ever played a real RTS such as TA or WBC/WBC2 instead of all the crap SC/WC/C&C games out there knows that reducing the tedium of infrastructure management is the first step in creating a game where you can have fun by concentrating on the tactical side of things.

I have the game and I thinks it's great. It's very similar to AOE, but improved. And not having to worry about stuff depleting is a great feature and adds to the strategy (since you can't "hog" all the resources).

And things never depleting is fairly realistic since the game doesn't go far into the future and we still havn't depleted the resources in the real world either. And if a resource is scarce, it cost ALOT of money to buy.

Great game.

you should try demo before you judge ,, I played alot of RTS games from TA , to Generals .. & this is one of the best out their ... when you try the demo try it a while cause its alot to grasp ,, not just fastclick your way to victory ...

Also this months PC Gamer has the demo if your on a 56K,, & about 5 pages worth of stuff on it ,, they gave it a 93 rating..
witch is a very good score ....
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Yeah, that's a very a shallow evaluation and it seems to me that the tone of the comment given the limited content, points to someone who is predisposed to not liking it. But I'm guessing that's pretty obvious to everyone, so who cares?

The game is actually quite interesting. So much less micromanagement than other RTS (which are usually too frantic for me) and much greater breadth of strategy available. The concept of borders is really well-done and makes you wonder why someone hasn't done something like that before. Moreover it looks great in stereo-3d (which is a big plus in my book.) I'd certainly recommend it.

From what I read hear the game is of no interest for me.
- "like AOE" -> all factions are nearly the same
- "never depleting resources" -> expanding is quite pointless
- "less micromanagement" -> skill is rather useless

So for RTS I am gonna continue playing SC and WC3 which have very different faction, the need to look for new resources and require skill to be good.

Eh, I was totally turned off by WC3- I found it to be a rush-happy click fest.
Im undecided about resources never depleting... in TA it was done very well, resource control/placement still gave good reasons to expand....but generally Im wary of limitless resources.

Guess I'll have to have a look and make up my own mind.

actually, if they only made a second set of resources, resources necessary for only one unit.

the strategic resources in Civ3 was a brilliant idea. You can't imagine how many wars have erupted over bickering over strategic resources, but yeah from the sound of the game, it isn't exactly a game with a lot of replayability.

I guess I should say, someone would have to really convince me.
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I love Rise of Nations.

You can find me on Gamespy playing most evenings EST as "Draginol".

I'm not going to sit around and defend every absurd point that some close-minded person makes -- hell, I'm still learning the game -- but the game is not getting rave reviews because all the most basic facets of gameplay are "useless" as you implausibly say. And I don't even have to mention it's that it seems to have a very enthusiastic FSOA, which has to carry some weight around here ...




(FSOA = Frogboy Seal of Approval)
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Frog boy you will se me in the late afternoon EST also ...

Im S31-Apocalypse ... I hope to see you soon ..

I actually play with the developers alot & the forum members.. their is also going to be a beta patch 3 .. thats going to add , ladder,quickmatch & lots of other nice MP addons.. Happy Games ..... if you guys want some good info about the game go to www.ron.heavengames.com (forums)

BTW on the unlimeted recources,, a game of this scale at least when you start getting real good .. you DO NOT want them to run out trust me ... but this game really does have so much more strat than anyother RTS i seen in a while ,,, I played them all from WC3, generals to TA.. most are just clickfests first to a certain lvl wins .. not the case with RON ,, you better plan that attack well.. lots & lots of stuff i cant even begin to name ,, finaly a RTS that stimulates my mind & not my hand ..
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One comment about the "expansion is useless".

The amount of $ you bring in in RON is based on what percent of the map you control. But hey, I don't mind playing people who don't think expanding is important...

So how do I get this game and annhililate Frogboy much like our G.R.O.S.S. empire was the first to push his out of the top 10 here?

And I for one loved WC 1, 2, 3, and SC. Blizzard puts out a very polished product (with one exception). I never have to worry about bugs or glitches or crashes. Lots of people hate em b/c they don't break much new conceptual ground but so what? I maintain there are only 6 or so puter games and the rest are nothing more than variation on the theme anyway. Though I will say wc3 ends up more of a click fest than wc2. But wc1 was the ultimate click fest (couldn't group units, no right click). You had to physically click each unit, hit its action button on the screen then click where you wanted it to go.

I hated all the miserable ai cheats in the Westwood games. I just looooooooved the storms that reversed course and followed your units all over the map in Emporer Dune. Or the puter units coming in right behind a storm but If I try it the storm reverses course. Oh and the Storm that reverses course 4 times just to snake through my base and damage every building. Oh that's priceless. Not to mention the harvesters that just love to take the scenic route through an enemy base rather than the shortest way home. But call me a sucker. I bought em all anyway once they hit the bargain bin. Although they cost me together less than what a single copy of Moo3 cost the eager beavers.

Loved Total Annhiliation. Brilliant game. I loved that you could order the agressiveness in both shooting and movement for a unit. And they'd actually follow your orders and not get lost!!! What a concept. The resources were unlimited in that one too but your extractors were so weak, they could be taken out fast so you had to protect them. The water missions were lame though. The ships just needed a different movement module (I think some of the mods provided one).

Liked Ta Kingdoms too.

Liked both AofE's Like the new one a bit less.

I really enjoy playing RON, because it's a RTS that can feel like a TBS civ like (playing nomad, super slow and expensive research, abusing the pause key). I like that the nation are very different (starting at "tough" AI one needs to leverage advantages of his nation) while staying fairly balanced (reading the endless debates at Apolyton). The non-depleting resources are nice (reminding me of TA, with a twist: the commerce cap). And less micro-management let you concentrate on the fun bit (like flank attacks using your cavalry).

Altogether, it feels like one of the best RTS I've played (a good successor to TA). It might disappoint people who like a click fest, but I guess there are not that many here.

I agree I get that good TA feeling also ..... also try siege attacks if you dont know about them; use Alt + attack ,,

Hmm... I liked SC and WC2 a lot. I liked AoE, AoE2 and AoM also. TA was also good.

I HATED the C&C series (except for the original, can't see buying another Westwood game) and didn't care for WC3 (I'd still buy from blizzard).

I don't think I'd really have a problem with limitless resources (I didn't in TA) and based on these postings I'll give it a try.

Are there Uberweapons in Rise of Nations that cannot be defended against? That really bothers me about the C&C games. Transports underground carrying commandos that blow up buildings in one hit take the fun out of the game for me. I mean seriously, they can't come up with a weapon that attacks underground?!

no you have some things that are suppose to give a wining edge to the person that gets them .. let me give you a link that might help ...

http://ron.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?action=ct&f=1,1747,0,all
[Message Edited] my link wont work sry try www.ron.heavengames.com
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Another method:
Right click on the link, and select "Copy Link Location" (or similar). Paste the url in the new browser window, and select ",1747,0,all" right next to the link. Append it to the url and load the page. You'll get there quite easily.

Edit: Can't do a direct link either, even by using the tag.
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Yeah the Big Huge guys are an awesome group!! I've been enjoying RON for a while. They made a lot of choices which made the game more fun rather than real. Being able to sit down and play a game in an hour was one of the first things to catch my attention. The neverending resources were really cool too. Realistic?...no, but how much fun is it to watch your characters congregate around the city waiting to be reassigned? And the borders add another great element, making you think about attrition damage and where and when to expand your empire...I'll be excited to see where they go as they pull further away from the AOE style and continue to develop their own feel. RON is a Great game and the developers have the right attitude ...BTW the post mortem on RON is up at www.gamasutra.com too if anyones interested!!

OMG someone needs hooked on phonics :/ It says that basic resources are undepletable, but there are over 22 special resources. So you have to expand to secure them :/ Gosh I wish people learned to read its 21st century and illiteracy runs rampant

On another note, my attempts to play the demo were foiled becuase my card isnt supported by the game

go to www.ron.heavengames.com they mite can help you in the forims with your card ,, they have gotten some to work that are not supported ...

I have this game, and I believe it is by far the best RTS ever made next to Dune 2.

Thanks Towelly but I bought a new gfx card today I was at the store returning some ram I bought that was labeled falsely on the box so i exchanged it for a not too shabby nvidia. I played the demo and man that game looks great! I just had some trouble with targeting units to attack im sure that can be resolved if I check the options to make my units move with attack command :/

make sure you have the advaced options button turn on , cause it will let your units have more things they can do ... & hotkeys are the key to the game

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