Jason
chasing a bee
<strong>[ Article ]</strong>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.ensemblestudios.com/" target="_blank">Ensemble Studios</a></strong>, the team behind Age of Empires, was given a Viking funeral over at Crispy Gamer with a three part retrospective/interview.</p><blockquote><p> According to Shelley, "[Ensemble programmer] Tim Deen told us to buy Warcraft and said that this was the kind of game we should make. We thought, 'This is really cool, but why don't we make it historical?'"
An idea for a Robinson Crusoe/desert island simulation was tossed aside. "Bruce did Civilization, so [we thought] we should do something he knew how to do," says Goodman. Because the studio was full of history buffs, the idea of a real-time Civilization made sense. "It was originally called Dawn of Man," recalls Shelley. "It was about the rise of the great civilizations on earth." They expanded the game to include Greeks, Persians and Asians (at Microsoft's suggestion).</p></blockquote><p>It's definitely worth a look if you have any interest in PC gaming history, strategy or otherwise.</p><p>Read <a href="http://www.crispygamer.com/features/2008-12-16/age-of-ensemble-part-1-a-titan-passes.aspx" target="_blank">part 1</a>, <a href="http://www.crispygamer.com/features/2008-12-17/age-of-ensemble-part-2-perfecting-the-formula.aspx" target="_blank">part 2</a>, and <a href="http://www.crispygamer.com/features/2008-12-18/age-of-ensemble-part-3-the-closing-chapters.aspx" target="_blank">part 3</a>. </p><p>Spotted @ <a href="http://crispygamer.com/">Crispy Gamer</a></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.ensemblestudios.com/" target="_blank">Ensemble Studios</a></strong>, the team behind Age of Empires, was given a Viking funeral over at Crispy Gamer with a three part retrospective/interview.</p><blockquote><p> According to Shelley, "[Ensemble programmer] Tim Deen told us to buy Warcraft and said that this was the kind of game we should make. We thought, 'This is really cool, but why don't we make it historical?'"
An idea for a Robinson Crusoe/desert island simulation was tossed aside. "Bruce did Civilization, so [we thought] we should do something he knew how to do," says Goodman. Because the studio was full of history buffs, the idea of a real-time Civilization made sense. "It was originally called Dawn of Man," recalls Shelley. "It was about the rise of the great civilizations on earth." They expanded the game to include Greeks, Persians and Asians (at Microsoft's suggestion).</p></blockquote><p>It's definitely worth a look if you have any interest in PC gaming history, strategy or otherwise.</p><p>Read <a href="http://www.crispygamer.com/features/2008-12-16/age-of-ensemble-part-1-a-titan-passes.aspx" target="_blank">part 1</a>, <a href="http://www.crispygamer.com/features/2008-12-17/age-of-ensemble-part-2-perfecting-the-formula.aspx" target="_blank">part 2</a>, and <a href="http://www.crispygamer.com/features/2008-12-18/age-of-ensemble-part-3-the-closing-chapters.aspx" target="_blank">part 3</a>. </p><p>Spotted @ <a href="http://crispygamer.com/">Crispy Gamer</a></p>
