Age of Mythology

[Devlin]

Developer(s) Ensemble Studios
Publisher(s) Microsoft Game Studios
Latest version 1.10
Release date(s) NA November 1, 2002[1]
Eur November 8, 2002[1]
Genre(s) Real-time strategy
Mode(s) Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: Teen (T)[2], PEGI: 12+
Platform(s) Windows, Mac OS X
Media CD (2)
System requirements 450 MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM, 1.5 GB Hard disk space, 16 MB GPU, 56k Modem for multiplayer [2]
Input Keyboard and mouse

[Devlin]

Age of Mythology (commonly abbreviated as AoM), is a mythology-based, real-time strategy (RTS) computer game developed by Ensemble Studios, and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released on November 1, 2002 in North America,[1] and on November 8 of the same year in Europe.

Age of Mythology focuses less on historical accuracy than the previous games by Ensemble Studios—namely, the Age of Empires series—but instead centers upon the myths and legends of the Ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Norse peoples.[3] Its campaign follows an Atlantean admiral, Arkantos, who is forced to travel through the lands of the three civilizations in the game, hunting for a man who has turned Poseidon against his homeland.[4] Age of Mythology is the first "Age of" game to utilise a 3D graphics engine, allowing rotation of the map.

Four months after its release, Age of Mythology went platinum, meaning it had sold over 1,000,000 units.[5] General manager for PC games at Microsoft, Stuart Moulder, said that "The worldwide popularity of the entire franchise continues to grow, while the fans' excitement inspires the development team at Ensemble Studios to create more innovative games each year."

Age of Mythology: The Titans, an expansion to Age of Mythology, was released in September 2003.[6] The expansion contained a new civilization; the Atlanteans, and several new units, including the titans. The expansion was received well by critics and fans alike, though its rating was not as high as that of the original

[Devlin]

Gameplay

Like many other real-time strategy games, the core of Age of Mythology is based on building towns, gathering resources, creating armies, and ultimately destroying enemy units and buildings. In this way, players are able to defeat and conquer rival towns, and civilizations. Players advance their tribe through four "Ages": starting in the Archaic Age, the player may upgrade to the Classical Age, Heroic Age, and, finally, the Mythic Age. Each upgrade to a higher age unlocks new units and technologies for the player, which strengthen their people. Conversely, upgrading requires a good deal of resources to be paid, and certain buildings to be built.

There are 4 major resources in Age of Mythology: food, wood, gold, and favor (which replaces stone in previous Age of Empires Series games). The resources can be used to train units, construct buildings, and research technologies. Resources are gathered by civilian units: the Greek villager, the Norse gatherer or dwarf, and the Egyptian laborer. Food can be collected by hunting animals, gathering berries, harvesting livestock, farming, or fishing (fishing is not performed by the standard civilian unit, but by a fishing boat). Wood is gathered from chopping down trees, and gold is gathered from gold mines, or from a camel traveling to a town center from a market. Each civilization can purchase upgrades that increase the rate of gathering these resources. Resources can be sold (for gold) or purchased (using gold) at a player’s market.

[Devlin]

Civilizations

There are 3 playable civilizations in Age of Mythology; Greek, Egyptian, and Norse.

Each civilization has three “major gods” - well known deities such as Zeus or Odin. One major god is chosen by the player before the game begins. Every time a player advances to the next age, a “minor god” is selected. Minor gods are slightly less significant gods (according to history) such as Bast and Hel. All gods have unique technologies, myth units, and a unique god power. God powers are special one-time use abilities that can massively damage an opponent, or can benefit the player. For instance, if a player chooses the minor god Thoth in the mythic age, they can summon down a barrage of meteors to destroy opposing civilizations. Or, if the player choose Hephaestus, the player can create a Plenty Vault, which provides a steady trickle of resources; however control of the vault can be taken away if another player has more units and buildings around it


The Greeks, based on the ancient Greek civilization, are considered the most basic civilization in Age of Mythology, as their gameplay aspects are almost the same as those of civilizations in previous Age of Empires series games. The Greeks gain favor by assigning villagers to pray at temples. Food, wood, and gold are also gathered by villagers. The Greeks train their military units at different buildings based on the unit’s combat class. Military academies are used to train melee infantry, archery ranges train ranged infantry and stables are used to train cavalry. The Greeks are the most balanced civilization in the game. Their building and units are of higher quality (health, attack, etc) but are the most expensive.

The Egyptians are based on the ancient Egyptian civilization who lived in the Nile River Valley in North-East Africa. The Egyptians differ from other civilizations in the Age of Empires series in that they are led by a pharaoh, whereas other civilizations do not have a leader unit. The pharaoh is able to heal units and empower buildings, which increases their productivity. Laborers carrying resources to an empowered building perform their resource collection faster, technologies researched at an empowered building are researched faster, and units trained there are produced faster.[10] If a player selects Ra as their major god, their priests, another unique Egyptian unit, are also able to empower buildings. Egyptians gain favor by building monuments to their gods. There are five monuments a player can build; as they increase in cost, the amount of favor garnered by them increases. If a player selects Isis as their major god, the player's monuments also prevent the use of god powers near them. The Egyptians' economy and defense are their strongest points. Egyptian laborers are the weakest and build/gather the slowest compared to the other societies' civilian units. They are, however, able to build certain buildings for free and are extremely efficient with the aid of their pharaohs and sheer numbers. The Egyptian barracks only produce infantry and archers, with unique qualities, and as such cavalry can only be built during and after the Heroic Age. Set, the third major Egyptian god, is very popular with beginners despite the fact that they are unable to use him well.[11]

The Norse are based on the ancient Scandinavian people. They greatly differ from civilizations in other Age of Empires series games. Norse gatherers are unable to construct buildings, they can only collect resources. Rather, creation of buildings is done by the infantry units.[12] The Norse have two classes of resource collecter, the dwarf and the gatherer. Both the dwarf and the gatherer can collect resources, but the dwarf collects gold at a faster rate, but is more expensive to create. In addition, both units can be upgraded into an ulfsark, the basic Norse infantry unit. Players who select Thor as their major god are granted 2 dwarfs at the start instead of gatherers, and any dwarves the player creates are able to gather food and wood more proficiently than players who choose Odin or Loki. While the other civilizations gain favor from praying and building monuments, the Norse gain favor by fighting in any manner (even killing animals). They also gain small amounts of favor for having large numbers of Hersirs, the Norse Hero, alive. The Norse are considered the most aggressive civilization in the game.

[Devlin]

In this screenshot, an Egyptian town is under attack by the Norse, and is defending itself using the meteor god power.

[Devlin]

Gods

Age of Mythology’s gameplay differs from that of other real-time strategy games in that players are able to choose gods for their civilization to follow. Before the game starts, the player must choose a major god based on their civilizations. Greek players can choose from Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Egyptian players choose from Set, Isis, and Ra. Norse players can choose between Odin, Thor, and Loki. Each major god possesses a major god power, which is a powerful piece of “magic” the player can summon once in the game. Examples include Zeus’ Bolt, which does several thousand hit points of damage to the unit it is targeted upon, and Loki’s Spy, which allows a player to see the line of sight of an enemy unit. All major gods have one unique technology that can be researched. For example, players choosing Hades are able to research “Vaults of Erebus,” which provides a small but constant trickle of gold.

Every time a player advances to the next age, they must choose between one of two minor gods. Minor gods give the player several new technologies, a new myth unit, and a more powerful god power. Examples of Minor Gods include Dionysus and Bast.

[Devlin]

Favor

The favor system is a unique element in Age of Mythology which is based upon the ancient belief that the gods could greatly influence everyday life. Favor is gained by "pleasing the gods" and allows players to train myth units and research certain technologies. Greek players earn favor by praying at temples with villagers. Egyptian players earn favor by building monuments. Norse players earn favor by fighting, or by possessing Hersirs.[15] Players can posses up to 100 units of favor, unless they have chosen Zeus as their major god, in which case they can possess 200 and start with 20, whereas one would usually start with 0.

[Devlin]

Units

The bulk of each civilization’s forces are made of ordinary human soldiers. Each civilization has a maximum number of "population slots," although the player does not start with all of these available. More slots can be made available by building additional houses or Town Centers. Each unit takes up a different number of population slots; civilians take one, whilst some myth units can take up to five.

Most units can be upgraded through research, such as faster gathering for villagers, stronger armor for military units or better structure for buildings.[16]

Infantry units, such as huskarls and hoplites, attack using hand to hand combat, with weapons such as swords and axes, as well as shields. The throwing axeman is considered infantry even though it has a ranged attack. Infantry generally gain attack bonuses against cavalry, so infantry attacks against cavalry will usually do double the damage they would do against other types of units.

Archers are units that are able to attack at long range, and do well against infantry, who have low pierce armor. Examples include the Toxotes and Slinger.

Cavalry is the name given to all units on horseback that can’t fire at long range, but can only fight hand to hand. In Age of Mythology, most cavalry receive an attack bonus against archers, so cavalry attacks against archers will usually do double the damage they would do against other types of units. Chariots and war elephants are examples of cavalry.

There are two main types of siege weapons in Age of Mythology: ranged and non-ranged. All siege weapons inflict crush damage, meaning that all are able to inflict damage to an area wider than the unit they targeted.

Catapults are an example of ranged siege weaponry. They are able to fire small stones a long distance, doing large amounts of damage to buildings, as well as crush damage to anything near the building.

Battering rams are non-ranged siege weapons, so they knock buildings down with their large moving beam. To do this, they must get close to the building, risking attack. Battering rams inflict smaller amounts of crush damage.

Naval units are also present in Age of Mythology, but are not as prominent as in other Age of Empires series games. Fishing boats are used to gather food from fishing holes. Egyptian fishing boats are also capable of constructing certain buildings when near the shore.

Warships are classified as arrow ships, ramming ships, or siege ships. Arrow ships are similar to Galleys in previous Age of Empires series games, and receive attack bonuses against hammer ships. Hammer ships attack other ships in melee, using a large hammer on the ship’s hull. These ships receive an attack bonus against siege ships. Siege ships attack at a very long range, with missiles similar to those used by helipoli. They receive an attack bonus against arrow ships and buildings.

In Age of Mythology, myth units generally have special abilities that human soldiers do not possess (such as flight or the ability to petrify). In addition to normal resources, myth units require payment of favor before they can be trained. All myth units are trained at the player’s temple.[17] Myth units do well against human units, but have a negative damage multiplier against heroes, who are normally unaffected by their special abilities. Examples of myth units are minotaurs, scarabs, and valkyries.

Heroes in Age of Mythology are very effective against myth units, but are weak against human soldiers.[18] They can also pick up relics. When a hero returns a relic to the player’s temple, the player will be granted an economic or military bonus.[19]

In random map games, heroes can be killed like all other units. However, in the campaign, important characters will not die. Instead, they will lie at the spot where they ran out of hit points until an ally unit enters the vicinity.

[Devlin]

A mythological scarab beetle.

Buildings

Buildings are used for a variety of purposes in Age of Mythology. Town Centers are the most important buildings in the game. They serve as drop off points for resources, and can shoot arrows, garrison units inside them, and train civilian units. Building upgrades and age advancements are also researched there. A single Town Center provides 15 population slots (except when a player's Major God is Isis, in which case it provides 18). This can be upgraded in the Heroic age, when one can upgrade the Town Center to have higher damage resistance, as well as an increase to 20 population slots. In order to gain additional population slots, either more Town Centers or houses must be built.[20]

In Age of Mythology, most military units are trained at specific buildings. Military units are created in specific buildings corresponding to their combat type, i.e. Greek archers are trained in archery ranges, Egyptian soldiers are trained at the barracks, etc. Myth units are created at Temples. The only combat unit not trained at a specific building in the Egyptian mercenary. The two mercenaries, infantry or cavalry, can be trained extraordinarily quickly. However, the units cost large amounts of gold, and die after a short time. With those restrictions, they are often only used for quick town defense. [21] All sea units are created in Docks.

Walls and towers are defensive fortifications, and a fortress is a fortified building which can train special units, such as siege weapons and heroes. It also has the ability to defend itself, with arrows and boiling pitch. [20]

Farms are used to produce food, which can then be collected by civilian units. Food is then taken to the Granary or Town Center, where it is deposited. Wood can be deposited at the Lumber Camp, and gold at the Mining Camp. The Greeks, however, have only one drop off site that can be used for any type of resource except food. [20] Markets can train trade caravans, which travel between the market and a Town Center, and produce a set amount of gold at the end of each journey.

A Wonder is a large building that represents an architectural achievement of the civilization. In certain game modes, once a player builds a wonder, a ten minute countdown begins. If the wonder is still standing after the countdown ends, the player who built the wonder wins.

[Devlin]

This Age of Mythology screenshot shows a Greek player shortly after the start of a random map game. The Town Centre can be seen on the left, 3 villagers in the center, and a scout moving south. There also two sentry towers visible.

[Devlin]

Multiplayer

multiplayer is highly popular aspect of Age of Mythology. Most multiplayer games are played through Ensemble Studios Online (ESO), or via a direct LAN or IP connection.
Age of Mythology includes a free multiplayer account on ESO. Similar in function to Blizzard Entertainment's Battle.net, ESO allows players to play matches and chat with other players.[22] Each copy of the game supports one ESO account.[22]
In multiplayer games, there are seven different game types available;[23]
•   Supremacy - standard game, includes randomly generated map and all gameplay aspects.
•   Conquest - similar to Supremacy, but victory is only possible by defeating all other players.
•   Deathmatch - players begin the game with high resources, but the game is otherwise the same as Supremacy.
•   Lightning - similar to Supremacy, but the game plays at double speed.
•   Nomad - players start with one civilian unit and no Town Centre, and must build up on a settlement before continuing.
•   King of the Hill - players must fight for control of a monument in the centre of the map for a set period of time.
•   Sudden Death - If a player's Town Centre is destroyed, they have a set period of time to rebuild it before they lose the game.
Multiplayer tournaments and LAN parties are also popular throughout the world, with players flocking to computer gaming lounges to participate.

[unknown]

Hi Devlin

I have this gold edition of this game... it is a lot of fun.

[Devlin]

The Age of Mythology scenario editor

The scenario editor is contained in Age of Mythology extras.[24] It is far more advanced than that of Age of Empires II.[25] It allows a map to be created from placing (and overlapping[26]) buildings and units, to raising the land into steep mountains and even place cinematics or special effects called Triggers

[Devlin]

I have it, too (obviously), do you have the expansion pack that includes Atlantis?  That's mostly what I bought it for.

[Devlin]

Campaign

Unlike the campaign modes in Age of Empires and Age of Empires II, Age of Mythology only has one central campaign that tells a long story, as opposed to short, unrelated campaigns.

Age of Mythology’s campaign is entitled Fall of the Trident, and tells the story of Arkantos, an Atlantean admiral who is sent on a quest with the goal of regaining favor from Poseidon, God of the Atlantean people.[4]

Arkantos’ quest takes him to the Trojan War, where he meets Ajax, Agamemnon, and Odysseus. After winning the war, he continues in his travels, and meets Chiron. Chiron advises him to follow the cyclops Gargarensis, a follower of Poseidon.[28] Arkantos, Ajax, and Chiron travel through the underworld in their search for Gargarensis, and end up in Egypt.

In Egypt, Arkantos meets Amanra, who asks for his assistance in domestic issues. He obliges, and assists her in piecing together the broken demigod Osiris to defeat an ally of Gargarensis, Kesmit. While in Egypt, Arkantos learns the true story about Gargarensis:he hopes to gain immortality by freeing the Titan Kronos from Tartarus. [29] After this, he continues north, still in search of Gargarensis.

In the Norse lands, Arkantos meets Reginleif, and together they attempt to prevent the Ragnarok from taking place. They encounter Gargarensis again, and he traps them in a small valley with no escape. In this valley, they must survive onslaughts from Gargarensis’ forces, and wait for aid from Odysseus.[30]

Whilst the heroes are fighting Gargarensis’ forces, he establishes himself in Atlantis, locking up its former leaders. At the end of the campaign, Arkantos and his allies march on Atlantis, and Zeus bestows his blessing upon Arkantos, giving him the power to defeat Poseidon and Gargarensis. After killing Poseidon’s living statue, Arkantos dies, and is immortalised by Athena.