Fionn

I know this is the focus of the original Age of Empires, but more contemporary historians and programmers could do it more accurately and artistically. I love the AOEI, but I still think that a more realistic depiction of the Bronze Age is long overdue.

What would everyone think of a prequel for the age of lost civilizations, the Bronze Age. Yes, the classic Iron Age civilizations of 0 AD are fascinating, but I think the game would be a great means of bringing these lost civilizations to attention. Here are my ideas for factions. -Indus Valley Civilization (Dravidians?) -Minoans -Hurrians -Sumerians -Assyrians -Babylonians -Canaanites -Egyptians -Aryans/Indo-Iranians (Andronovo culture, Vedic culture) -Hittites -Luwians (e.g. Trojans) -Mycenaeans Obviously, less centralized/developed cultures like the ancient Berbers, Dravidians and north Europeans could eventually be added in. Having the roster expand eastward into China would be nice, but I am not too familiar with Bronze Age East Asia (Xia? Shang?). The game would very much be based on chariots and runners, and would act out classic Bronze Age scenarios like those of Homer and the Rigveda. Perhaps there could be some sort of race to discover (effective) iron production to win the game or at least a great advantage?

I'm very glad to hear this. So it appears that a faction representing this important (albeit short) era in Roman history could be modded very easily using 'Atlas.' So hopefully, we will be able to see chain-mail wearing Republican (or Caesarist) legionnaires battling Gauls at Alesia... Exactly. The Germanic tribes were a distinctive branch of the 'Indo-European' peoples who migrated to Europe, long before the German unification in 1871. And yes, "German" is the proper noun for a member of one of these tribes. Hehehehe...

If there is a post-Marian Late Republican/Caesar era Roman army made available, a Gallic Wars campaign would be a great addition to the game. The player, as Julius Caesar's army, would start with the initial fight against the Helvettii and their allies to protect Rome's Gaulish allies and would finish the campaign by defeating Vercingetorix at Alesia. The player would have the chance to conquer all of Gaul, as well as cross the Rhine and the English channel. Keep in mind that the Rome of Julius Caesar (et al.) was very different from the Republican faction to be released in part one and from Imperial Rome... Factions Caesar's Legions - Post-Marian Republican Rome Gaulish tribes - Celts (Gaul) Belgians - Celts (Gaul)* British tribes - Celts (Britain) Suebi and other Germanic tribes - Germans Aquitanians - Iberians *The Belgic tribes may have have been related to the Germanic tribes (Caesar implies a Germanic origin), but whatever the veracity of this is the Belgians are known to have adopted Celtic culture

How about the Tocharians; the mysterious white/Europoid people that helped spread Buddhism in China. And let's not forget about the nomads of the east: the (proto-)Mongols, the Scythians and the Turks (eg. the Tartars, Uyghurs, etc). Unfortunately, we do not know if the Xiongnu (and/or the Huns) were proto-Mongolian, Turkic, or both... Oh and should an Indian civilization be included, someone should be able to make an Indo-Greek faction.

Excellent! Perhaps someone possibly could eventually make: *The Phoenicians/other Semites based on Carthage *The Scythians/Medians/Babylon out of the Persians (although less so the Scythians, due to their being less urban than the other Iranian civs) *The Late Republican Romans (the era of Caesar and Pompey) from the early Republicans *The Etruscans/other Italians from the Romans (and Greeks, especially in the case of the Etruscans) I know this is a bit of a pipe dream, but I think it is worth mentioning

Is it true one will simply be able to create civs/factions using Atlas? Do we know the full details on this yet?

I know, it's a lot of repetition, but there aren't many options. Perhaps the Celtic campaign can wait for future parts of the game- Marius'/Caesar's Rome for a Vercingetorix campaign and/or Imperial Rome for a Boudica campaign? As for the Persians... Well, couldn't the Atlas tool create Babylonians, Assyrians, etc? No one would really care if their buildings/units weren't 100% accurate...

It's funny you say that. As you probably know, Mithridates VI was a descendant of Darius.

If each faction could only have one campaign, I would suggest these: Hellenes/Greeks - Alexander (or perhaps a campaign that covers the whole struggle against the Persian empire, from the rebellion against Cyrus to Alexander's conquest) Carthage - Punic Wars- especially Hannibal's victories in Italy (against Iberian rebels, hostile Alpine Gauls and Rome) Romans - Punic Wars (against Iberians, Gauls and Carthage) Persians - Cyrus' expansion (or perhaps the expansion of the Achaemenid empire in general) Iberians/Spanish - Infighting with other tribes and Mediterranean colonists. Celts - Same as the above (it wouldn't be accurate to have Boudica or Vercingetorix fight against the Roman army before Marius' reforms)

I'm almost certain that Parthia is one of the planned factions for part two. But I'm not sure if Pontus or Armenia were ever a huge problem for any of the big empires (ie Rome and Persia), compared to the Parthians.

That will probably be the case. I'm not too sure of the differences between the two dynasties in terms of military, architecture, technology, but I'd be interested if someone were willing to explain, especially the military. For example, did the Sassanids rely on light infantry like the Achaemenids did?

Do the Persians in this game represent both the Achaemenids and the Sassanids, or just the former? I know 0 AD part one represents approximately 500-1 BC, but I think it's worth asking.

I like this... I'd be interested in seeing if your idea somehow goes through.

So the Imperial Roman faction also covers the late Republicans?