Age of Mythology and SWGB2

[Admiral Vostok]

During the "Rise of Nations and SWGB2" thread's life, I was a supporter of the RoN engine over the AoM engine if LucasArts ended up not building their own engine for SWGB2. However, I have now played AoM and I am totally swapping camps.

 

I still don't think it would be perfect, no engine other than LucasArts own would be so.

 

What I'd like to see is LucasArts and Ensemble working together to develop their engine even more so it was totally suited to Star Wars. There are a few reasons for this. First, as SWGB1 used the AoK engine, having SWGB2 share qualities with the Age range makes sense. Second, there are some great ideas in AoM that with Ensembles involvement could be included without looking like a ripoff.

 

Things I like:

The way that each civ has a slightly different way of collecting resources. I've always liked this idea, but the concepts in WarCraft 3 were a bit extreme. The Star Wars civs aren't as different from each other as WC3's civs are, but AoM's differences are less extreme. The Norse idea of the mobile resource drop point I think would work for the Republic, who are known for their mobility. The single drop point the Greeks have would be suitable for the money-minded Trade Federation, while having separate drop points for each resource like the Egyptians might suit the Empire's by-the-book methods.

 

Although each has different unique unit sets, units always fall into a "class" such as Archer, Cavalry, Myth Unit, Hero, etc. The rock-paper-scissors approach developed by the Age series worked well for SWGB1, and I think AoM's take on the concept would suit unique unit sets for SWGB2.

 

The settlement idea. While it might not make sense in Star Wars terms, it is a great idea. Don't know how it would work in SWGB2, but maybe a variation on the idea is needed.

 

Things that wouldn't work:

God Powers. Doesn't make sense for Star Wars. You could change them to be Officer Orders or something, though there effect would have to be altered. I do like the idea that they can only be used once.

 

Favor. It obviously doesn't make sense in Star Wars. But perhaps a variation on the idea could be used for the Force. The Force is with us. Dark side civs would generate Force in combat like the Norse, but Light side I'm not so sure. Maybe like the Greeks except only Jedi can pray?

 

Myth Units. Nope, they have to go.

 

Minor Gods. Again, a variation could be used to have Officers instead of the Gods. They get unique techs but no Myth Units. It would give a bit of variation within the same civ.

 

 

 

Well I don't want to see SWGB2 as similar to AoM as SWGB1 was to AoK, but I think it would be worthwhile for LucasArts and Ensemble to work together on the project.

[swphreak]

Yea, the AoM engine isn't that bad. But I dont like the "Favor." If you're getting rid of yth units and god powers, there's no need for it. You could turn all the minor gos and pharohs into officers and stuff, and air will have to be made in.

[Admiral Vostok]

Yeah, I don't want the AoM engine, but something similar to it would be great. Get rid of all the Gods, favor, myth units, etc. Maybe develop something similar to minor god worship, where you can have lots of room for variation within the same civ.

 

Another idea I forgot to mention is the way the Norse infantry are the builders and the gatherers don't build. This is how I think the Rebel Alliance would actually operate, their troopers construct the buildings and astromechs just gather resources. Though it makes more sense to have astromechs repair... I think Wookiees would operate like this too.

 

The reason I think AoM ideas suit SWGB2 is because I've always said that basically the Star Wars civs are the same, except their armies are different. This is just how the cultures are in AoM, basically they are the same: they all need resources, they all build farms and town centers and armories and markets and temples and towers, but their armies are different and some of their buildings are too.

 

Anyone got other ideas to add slight variations between the civs when it comes to things like resource drop points and building construction? I think it could be cool to have Gungans grow their buildings, so they get them started growing and walk away while they grow, like the Protoss in StarCraft or the Undead in WarCraft 3.