A.O.E. 3 Demo is out

[Noema]

Just installed it...the installer has to be the biggest piece of bloated software ever...it brought CPU usage to 100% plus took over 500MBs of physical memory while running!:Q

However, the actual game runs quite well. I have a decent rig but a crappy video card and I even turned a bit of AA on to see how it worked, and suprisingly, very smooth.

 

[Yossarian]

I was really looking forward to this one. The demo isn't impressing me very much. I guess the graphics are good but they're not the greatest thing ever as many previews have claimed. Could the interface graphics take up any more of the screen???

 

[r6ashih]

my computer reboots when i try to play =(

 

[stnicralisk]

Well, I dont hate it but I am sad. I was hoping for a new great RTS and what I got was a repackaged old material with a bunch of new stuff added slapstick onto it. The graphics are great and the physics are funny but I dont see what this has over DOW.

The UI takes up 1/3 of the screen, the pathing is horrible my cannons get stuck in trees instead of going around etc, the AI is not impressive mostly reactionary ignoring opportunities to kill my workers and harass etc.

My biggest complaint is the addition of XP and that the pathing could have been worked out after what 5 games by the same group. I wonder how many people are going to play Winter Assault add on for DOW. I am starting to miss Warcraft 3:TFT and that is not a good thing! I want an impressive new RTS - the biggest thing we need is better pathing and companies ignore it and upgrade graphics. A smooth interface with balanced play and pathing I am really not asking for much.

 

[stratman]

Originally posted by: stnicralisk
Well, I dont hate it but I am sad. I was hoping for a new great RTS and what I got was a repackaged old material with a bunch of new stuff added slapstick onto it. The graphics are great and the physics are funny but I dont see what this has over DOW.

The UI takes up 1/3 of the screen, the pathing is horrible my cannons get stuck in trees instead of going around etc, the AI is not impressive mostly reactionary ignoring opportunities to kill my workers and harass etc.

My biggest complaint is the addition of XP and that the pathing could have been worked out after what 5 games by the same group. I wonder how many people are going to play Winter Assault add on for DOW. I am starting to miss Warcraft 3:TFT and that is not a good thing! I want an impressive new RTS - the biggest thing we need is better pathing and companies ignore it and upgrade graphics. A smooth interface with balanced play and pathing I am really not asking for much.

QFT

Can't wait until a great RTS is released again. I actually preferred the graphics of SC to WC3, been sticking mostly to FPS since there's been a whole in the creation of good rts.

 

[obeseotron]

It's ok i guess, I was expecting a little more. It was made out to look great for any game, rts or otherwise, but the "HDR" lighting just looks like a constant overdone light bloom effect and the physics are purely cosmetic and not amazing anyway. The gigantic GUI can't seem to fit a population meter or idle worker button, groups are size limited and can't find their way around... It's still the best looking RTS yet and enjoyable enough...

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Very bloated installer.

 

[sandorski]

meh, I think I'll pass on this one. Graphics look great, but what's with RTS games lately? What chaps me is the damn claustrophobic view, I want a better view of the area not an area so small that half the challenge is scroll skill.

 

[mAdMaLuDaWg]

Too much extra crap added onto this game... maybe it takes time to get used to or they should have given us a tutorial with the game.
Was expecting much more after all the hype that went into it but it wasn't impressive at all IMHO.

 

[Lucu]

Fairly poor.

The graphics with everything maxed out, just look like aoe2 with a subtle upgrade, they seem stuck in time.
The gameplay is just like aoe2.

Installed, uninstaled, forgot about it already.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Lucu
Fairly poor.

The graphics with everything maxed out, just look like aoe2 with a subtle upgrade, they seem stuck in time.
The gameplay is just like aoe2.

Installed, uninstaled, forgot about it already.

Seriously? I don't see that in the screenshots at all. I'll try it out tomorrow night.

 

[gonzaga1751]

here are the minimum specs
"Here are the min specs for everyone

- WinXP

- 1.4ghz Processor

- 256 RAM

- 64 MB Video Card that supports HW T&L

- Approximately 370MB of Hard Drive space (not including installer).

- DirectX 9c"

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: gonzaga1751
here are the minimum specs
"Here are the min specs for everyone

- WinXP

- 1.4ghz Processor

- 256 RAM

- 64 MB Video Card that supports HW T&L

- Approximately 370MB of Hard Drive space (not including installer).

- DirectX 9c"

Nice, it'll actually run on my computer.

 

[JBT]

I'm unmpressed as well. I liked I could actaully run 1920x1200 but the text was so small it didn't matter. It is pretty much unreadable unless I stop and squint to read it. I hate how big the HUD is too.. It seems like it takes up 1/3 of my screen. I feel like I can't see anything either. Why can't they zoom out just a little bit?

 

[sswingle]

I am very dissapointed with the graphics, and this so called physics engine. The screenshots looked amazing. I load the game up, and it looks barely better than AOE2. The buildings being destroyed look nice, how they actually fall apart, but don't try to tell me that is real time physics engine. From what I have seen, every bulding of the same type falls apart the exact same way.

Some things seem really out of place. For example, building a trading post. Under construction, it looks like it is being built out of steel. Then when it is done constructing, it suddenly turns into a log cabin.

I like collecting resources better. Your people dont need to walk back to town center to drop them off. Also how trading posts give you resources is nice. But what is with experience points? How does this benefit me? And the whole deck of cards thing at your "home town" That is a big WTF with me so far.

Meh, I'm gonna go play it some more now.

 

[warcrow]

All those getting an direct-x error on widescreen LCD do this:

1) Delete the folder <My Documents>\My Games\Age of Empires 3 Trial
2) Set your monitor resolution to 1024x768
3) Start the game
4) From the options menu in the game, set your resolution to 1680x1050
5) Quit the game
6) Set your monitor res back to 1680x1050
7) Launch the game.

 

[gonzaga1751]

Originally posted by: ScottSwingleComputers
I am very dissapointed with the graphics, and this so called physics engine. The screenshots looked amazing. I load the game up, and it looks barely better than AOE2. The buildings being destroyed look nice, how they actually fall apart, but don't try to tell me that is real time physics engine. From what I have seen, every bulding of the same type falls apart the exact same way.

Some things seem really out of place. For example, building a trading post. Under construction, it looks like it is being built out of steel. Then when it is done constructing, it suddenly turns into a log cabin.

I like collecting resources better. Your people dont need to walk back to town center to drop them off. Also how trading posts give you resources is nice. But what is with experience points? How does this benefit me? And the whole deck of cards thing at your "home town" That is a big WTF with me so far.

Meh, I'm gonna go play it some more now.

you will only get the game in all its glory with a top of the line graphics card and this is only a demo not sure though it demo shows all the good stuff as i only have radeon 9000 and all the screenshots were taken from the current build of the game which has all the graphical options the demo was pulled from bits and pieces of the full game you can't a full game in a demo

 

[Carl Uman]

Cool. I'll have to give that a try

 

[sswingle]

Originally posted by: gonzaga1751

Originally posted by: ScottSwingleComputers
I am very dissapointed with the graphics, and this so called physics engine. The screenshots looked amazing. I load the game up, and it looks barely better than AOE2. The buildings being destroyed look nice, how they actually fall apart, but don't try to tell me that is real time physics engine. From what I have seen, every bulding of the same type falls apart the exact same way.

Some things seem really out of place. For example, building a trading post. Under construction, it looks like it is being built out of steel. Then when it is done constructing, it suddenly turns into a log cabin.

I like collecting resources better. Your people dont need to walk back to town center to drop them off. Also how trading posts give you resources is nice. But what is with experience points? How does this benefit me? And the whole deck of cards thing at your "home town" That is a big WTF with me so far.

Meh, I'm gonna go play it some more now.

you will only get the game in all its glory with a top of the line graphics card and this is only a demo not sure though it demo shows all the good stuff as i only have radeon 9000 and all the screenshots were taken from the current build of the game which has all the graphical options the demo was pulled from bits and pieces of the full game you can't a full game in a demo

I have an x800 pro with all the graphical options set as high as they will go. You are right about it being a demo though, but I would think for a demo they would try to make it look as nice as possible.

 

[Yossarian]

 

[gw186]

Hey guy's if you want to ZOOM out more you can edit the game.cfg file. Heres a thread about it. Makes the game alot nicer.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: garkon
Requires Windows XP, BULL!
i cant even install the damn thing. Anybody know of a work around, always something like that out there. And no, i cant buy xp when it cost $160 and my 2000 is not lacking in any way. I'm so bumed. this deservers a

We need somebody to give us a hack/workaround.

I can't think of the member's name here, but he did one so D3 actually ran on win98se. I'll bug him when the full version comes out (although the reviews aren't very impressive. I expected this thing to have stellar gfx :thumbsdown: )

Fern

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: gw186
Hey guy's if you want to ZOOM out more you can edit the game.cfg file. Heres a thread about it. Makes the game alot nicer.

Ah, that helps, thanks.

 

[Noema]

Playing this game reminded me how utterly sick I am of RTS.

Maybe it's just me...after all I've been playing the genre for over a decade (I began with Dune II and played pretty much every major one till now, including almost 10,000 online matches of Starcraft).

But the demo didn't impress me. I will still give M$ the benefit of doubt and wait for the reviews when the full version is released, and I'll get it if they are favorable, but based from what I've played alone, I'd pass on this one.

 

[Winchester]

Originally posted by: obeseotron
It's ok i guess, I was expecting a little more. It was made out to look great for any game, rts or otherwise, but the "HDR" lighting just looks like a constant overdone light bloom effect and the physics are purely cosmetic and not amazing anyway. The gigantic GUI can't seem to fit a population meter or idle worker button, groups are size limited and can't find their way around... It's still the best looking RTS yet and enjoyable enough...

The idle worker button is on the top left of the screen.

For all the gripes about W2k not supporing this: Windows 2000 is no longer being supported. Why would they release software for something that is no longer supported.


The game does suck though. It was sluggish on my machine (Athlon xp 1800/ 1GB ram, G4 Ti 4200).

PRO:

Workers no longer have to return to city building to return items


CONS:

The UI is way too big.

I couldnt find a button for "advanced" options. So that I could put troops in a certain position/stance/formation etc.

It took me forver to find the idle worker button.

I dont quiet understand why I click on the button (experience points) and it takes you to a screen where you can click on buildings. I know I can get shipments of items etc but what do the buildings (military academy,etc) do from that screen where people are walking around.

There is not a population info screen anywhere.

Cannons "die" way to easily.