AGEOD Forums

Hi. Random question for discussion. I've noticed Ever since Field of Glory:Empires Ageod hasn't made any games based around the system used in their traditional AGE engine style of mechanics. I was wondering. Does this mean the company is no longer making that style of game anymore? Cause I must say I'd bee rather sad if they did that. while it did have some flaws I thought that was something very unique. And I'd find it very sad if they stopped using that system in games as I would have loved to see them apply it to other historical conflicts. Has the company said anything about their future plans?

Fully agree with you.

But this happened years ago, in 2019.

The old Ageod core team was PhilThib+Pocus. Then there were other people that developed games using AGE engine with the help of both. You may know who they were in the credits of the respective pdf manuals or inside the games.

The details are not known, but PhilThib was fired by Slitherine (Ageod was not an independent company like in the past) or perhaps he left the building.

He has been creating boardgames and also computer wargames. You may see the old Ageod style in his new games at his web page. But the engine is different, it uses a modified Wars across the World Engine.

https://strategygamestudio.com/


Recent PhilThib interview with some details:

https://strategyandwargaming.com/2021/1 ... d-and-sgs/


Then Pocus continued as Ageod inside Slitherine, but his engine was abandoned. So far he has developed 1 game, Field of Glory Empires, using Unity engine, that solves the problems AGE had, or so they say, it is faster, less crashes,...


So unless some kind of miracle happens, there will be no more AGE games. I also have a list of "lost" games that will never be released by the old Ageod team.

Nikel wrote:Then Pocus continued as Ageod inside Slitherine, but his engine was abandoned. So far he has developed 1 game, Field of Glory Empires, using Unity engine, …

You mean the Archon engine, don't you?

Yes that one, sorry.

Nikel wrote:Fully agree with you.

But this happened years ago, in 2019.

The old Ageod core team was PhilThib+Pocus. Then there were other people that developed games using AGE engine with the help of both. You may know who they were in the credits of the respective pdf manuals or inside the games.

The details are not known, but PhilThib was fired by Slitherine (Ageod was not an independent company like in the past) or perhaps he left the building.

He has been creating boardgames and also computer wargames. You may see the old Ageod style in his new games at his web page. But the engine is different, it uses a modified Wars across the World Engine.

https://strategygamestudio.com/


Recent PhilThib interview with some details:

https://strategyandwargaming.com/2021/1 ... d-and-sgs/


Then Pocus continued as Ageod inside Slitherine, but his engine was abandoned. So far he has developed 1 game, Field of Glory Empires, using Unity engine, that solves the problems AGE had, or so they say, it is faster, less crashes,...


So unless some kind of miracle happens, there will be no more AGE games. I also have a list of "lost" games that will never be released by the old Ageod team.

Well thanks for filling me in. And sorry for being so out of the loop. That is a huge shame though. I thought pride of nations in particular had a lot of room for new scenarios to be added to it.

I can certainly redo it in Archon (the engine used in Empires). We just need 2000 players lobbying Slitherine that it's a good idea

Really? The same engine in the old 2D boardgame style?

Well, I guess most if not all Ageod games sold more than 2000 copies?

Nikel wrote:Really? The same engine in the old 2D boardgame style?

Well, I guess most if not all Ageod games sold more than 2000 copies?

So I did look up the SGS games you mentioned and tested some of them out. They definetly show alot of influence form AGE engine games. the maps, unit organization, movement, and combat system in particular show traces of it. The Biggest imporvement I will say is the interface and overall preformance. While injoyed the old age games I'd say their biggest weakness was that they always seemed to have very bad preformance problems and being really unstable. The biggest change is that strategic level decision making seems to have been much more symplified with the new card system. production and unit activation also seems to be gone as far as I can tell at the moment. They're not bad i think, but its still a fairly distinct series compared to the old AGE engine games.

The SGS games haven't had good reviews on the AI.

Nikel wrote:Really? The same engine in the old 2D boardgame style?

Well, I guess most if not all Ageod games sold more than 2000 copies?

Style or substance? Probably it would need to abide to perceived standard, i.e. 3D Models. But yeah, Archon (and the games I did with it) are WEGO, regions based, and show most mechanisms of the AGE engine. Some I have abandoned like progressive military control in regions though.
2000 buyers are not 2000 lobbyists!

For me Ageod is both style and substance, beautiful 2D graphics, history, WEGO engine, PhilThib and you

Everything passes. I won't digress on the more philosophical aspect of the sentence

Also, the AGE engine was showing sign of ageing, see PON, it was too much for it.

Everything passes but for me it is a great shame. I loved the old AGEOD 2D graphics. What more does one need? Give me a beautiful looking board game rather than annoying 3D with the always awkward camera angles. I miss Sandra's lovely graphics.

Chris

Couldn't agree more.

It's true the old engine was on its last legs and that for reasons of commercial viability an upgrade in terms of functionality and accessibility was no doubt the correct choice, but if I could have whatever I wanted (and I demand no less) then it would be a modern, sleek, accessible engine but with an aesthetic that captures that old 2D board game charm.

-deguerra

PhilThib is exactly on this line then, with his new wargames from SGS, and who among you are playing them? They don't get that much reviews on Steam, so my guess is not too many.

I'm working closely with PhilT at SGS.
I was involved in Afrika Korps, Halls of Montezuma, and my latest effort about the battle of the USMC in the Pacific [game name pending].

The SGS engine works nicely with the combat stuff, and some early experiments with political/economics are in the mill...

...and includes a very nice Editor for the mod-sters...

Pocus wrote:PhilThib is exactly on this line then, with his new wargames from SGS, and who among you are playing them? They don't get that much reviews on Steam, so my guess is not too many.

Haha touché Pocus, you got me there. I would say that the SGS games don't quite have the grand strategy scope that I favour, but nevertheless you are not wrong. I've had their website open on my browser for a while but haven't yet taken the plunge. I'm going to go look at them again now...

-deguerra

Pocus wrote:PhilThib is exactly on this line then, with his new wargames from SGS, and who among you are playing them? They don't get that much reviews on Steam, so my guess is not too many.

Uff.

That sounded like an attack. You two did not end well, did you?

The SGS games have a similar look but not as nice as the old AGEOD games. I have bought a couple but haven't played them much at all. The AI doesn't seem to be very highly regarded. I might try a PBEM of Heia Safari at some point as it's a conflict I have had interest in for some time.

Cheers,
Chris

Nikel wrote:

Pocus wrote:PhilThib is exactly on this line then, with his new wargames from SGS, and who among you are playing them? They don't get that much reviews on Steam, so my guess is not too many.

Uff.

That sounded like an attack. You two did not end well, did you?

Not an attack against Philippe, we are still friends and have no quarrels between ourselves. I was making a remark that in many regards, SGS wargames continue the philosophy of the AGE engine, albeit with a more focused scope and perhaps a higher level. I'll leave to Lodi and Hobbes the care of providing more details, I did not play them that much in the end.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but I figured I would start here.

There hasn't been any official word from the company, but from what I've seen and heard, it doesn't seem like they're planning on making any more games in the traditional AGE engine style. I'm not sure what the reason is, but it could be that they're moving on to other projects or that they're not happy with how the games turned out. Either way, it would be a shame if they stopped making games in that style, as it was really unique and I think there's a lot of potential there.GB Whatsapp

No more AGE games, the engine now is this:
https://www.slitherine.com/game/field-of-glory-empires
https://www.gog.com/en/game/field_of_glory_empires

A new FoG:E game is to be released when ready.

I've played some of the SGS games. The Hawaii one is great to get used to the UI and basic approach, Montezuma is a very nice AGEOD-style study of the US-Mexican war and Heia Safari uses the game engine well for asymetric warfare (anyone who has played 'PoN goes to Africa' will recognise the resulting frustrations).

the big but, I find, is the MP system is convoluted past the point of comprehension. I had a few goes at getting Montezuma to work with a regular opponent and I think we maybe managed to get it to play a couple of turns before giving up in frustration.

So they are nice solitaire studies of rarely modelled wars (at least the ones I've bought are). Think the AI is ok, as ever best to put it on the defending side.

Vishnu wrote:....
There hasn't been any official word from the company, but from what I've seen and heard, it doesn't seem like they're planning on making any more games in the traditional AGE engine style. I'm not sure what the reason is, but it could be that they're moving on to other projects or that they're not happy with how the games turned out. Either way, it would be a shame if they stopped making games in that style, as it was really unique and I think there's a lot of potential there.

Pocus has answered this mostly above - fundamentally the old AGE engine was at the limits of its capacity. I still think Pride of Nations was one of the greatest games ever constructed but the engine really was a hindrence not an advantage (and that is before Paradox's antics around its development and release).

So far the 2 games using the new engine are different, in that they have a relatively long time span, don't really have the operational focus and are more open ended. But there is nothing in the new engine that prevents a re-make of say Rise of Prussia or Wars in America (hint hint ... please)

A wet grey November day so I'm idling around the web not doing admin that I should be doing.

Hi Loki, glad to see you around, and thanks for the mention of SGS games. I'll look at them.


I think I've got all the Ageod games. I don't think the system got out of date so much as the size of the games got too big for most people's computers.


TEAW, PON, and beyond became unplayable for me.

I still play more of BOA, WIA, NCP, and AACW.

In all cases the historical information and flavour is great so thanks to Pocus and others for these games over the years.

I just tried running Field of Glory - Empires for which the minimum spec is 4gb RAM - but it is like treacle.

-----

The market for historical games or simulations is pretty small which is a pity because they contain so much of educational value.

Oh well. and by the way Loki I still have the WITE2 manual as an unread doorstop and the game unplayed - but I did start reading your Manufacturing Italy AAR.
---
Best wishes to all.

aye, i think thats fair, I still play AJE/WiA, RoP MP, the game engine remains a brilliant fit to the subject. But the final set, to me, really don't deliver and I think pushed the engine too far - but equally it maybe that the subject matter is of less interest to me.

apols about the WiTE2 manual , its longer than my PhD thesis. I don't think its that daunting in that most of it is our attempt to document as much as we could, but in going for completeness we rather lost brevity.

Yep it is over. With Philippe T. departed. Pocus has most interest with Anglic conflicts. I'm still gratefull for RCW, ROP and Espana. What is done is done.

I have been lucky to be given the opportunity, without the stress of wondering about what I'll eat each month, to develop a new engine at Slitherine. The truth is the AGE engine was quite 'ageing' and would have needed such a major optimization pass that restarting from scratch was better. Add to that there were fewer and fewer people interested in buying our too niches, too detailed games, and it was not looking good for us the Philippe.

So Slitherine, since January 2013, time flies! A new engine, still WEGO, still region-based, with leaders (having stats and abilities), units, 20+ stats per unit, so far a simple supply system (but if I do an Age of Rifles game, believe me it will be improved to something ACW-esque in style), regional decisions, production, buildings (so many compared to AGE), diplomacy (better than AGE), a tactical grid, like a chessboard (and not the obscure combat report of AGE).

What is missing really? A sub-level (subunits within units in AGE), but it was just too much. Aside that? I don't see. The topic? It is no big secret that a topic is also chosen for its sales potential, so, for now, it has been Rome and the Ancient world (not bad!) and now it's all the Medieval period, something I never did before (Reconquista, Crusaders, the Mongols, not bad either!). And you might be very happily surprised by the next topic what's more!

Pocus wrote:...

I'm not a veteran of the AGE games by any means, but after I discovered the games, I already have all the games and played all of them. I'm not gonna lie, I will miss the "artwork"/style of the AGE games and the operational scale. But yeah, pretty much this. The "new" engine already covers all that the AGE engines cover, and the best thing is that it runs much better (unfortunately one of the big problems of the AGE engine). I already brought FOG Empires, and waiting for Kingdoms, to support AGEOD and you Pocus. I will wait what surprise you have to us (new period). Keep up the good work!

Pocus wrote:Add to that there were fewer and fewer people interested in buying our too niches, too detailed games,

And there were fewer modders to craft other AGE games... as they then have to rest long in asylum lol
I thank again all, for RUS and RusG, España36, and co.

Hello Guys,
"AGE engine style of game." The term "AGE engine" could refer to a few different things, such as the Adventure Game Engine used in the Dragon Age tabletop role-playing game, or the Advanced Game Engine used in some computer games.
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