Genie Engine
Developer(s) | Ensemble Studios |
---|---|
Initial release | 1997 |
Type | game engine |
Website | www |
The Genie Engine is a
Development
The Genie engine was developed as the basis for
The design team for the sequel, The Age of Kings, intended to complete the game within a year by using
The original Age of Empires had been criticized for its artificial intelligence (AI). Because the original AI did not "cheat"[11] by attributing itself extra resources or using other techniques the human player could not, it was easier to defeat than in many other real-time strategy games. For The Age of Kings, Ensemble Studios attempted to develop a more powerful AI system that did not compromise by cheating. Industry veteran Mario Grimani led Ensemble Studios in the creation of the new system. To overcome another significant objection to Age of Empires—that of path finding—the team completely redesigned the game engine's movement system.[10]
The team was less successful in resolving other issues; programmer Matt Pritchard complained following the release of Age of Empires that there was still no process by which
Ensemble Studios developed a new
The Age of Kings saw the introduction of a triggers system for its scenario editor. The triggers allow messages to be displayed, or actions to take place, based on pre-set criteria or "events".[14] The scenario editor was also improved by the new AI system. The AI and trigger systems interacted regularly in the single player campaigns.[15] Numerous upgrades were added in The Conquerors but this was mostly in terms of gameplay and not engine advancements.
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds was developed by
Features
The Genie Engine has several features that are common across all its games, including a scenario editor, campaigns, LAN, serial and TCP/IP multiplayer, background music amongst others. The engine uses an isometric tile set, unlike other real-time strategy engines such as the one used for Warcraft.
Usage
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Games using the Genie Engine
- Age of Empires
- Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome
- Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
- Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
- Age of Empires II: The Conquerors
- Age of Empires II: The Forgotten
- Age of Empires II: The African Kingdoms
- Age of Empires II: Rise of the Rajas
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Lords of the West
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dynasties of India
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Mountain Royals
- Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
Legacy
The games based on the engine have usually been rated highly with
The Genie engine was succeeded by the Age of Mythology engine used by the games in that series as well as Age of Empires III and its expansions. The most significant changes are the updated graphics engine and the inclusion of the Havok physics middleware engine,[28] as well as the introduction of home cities.[29]
The design of the Genie engine has been mirrored in later game titles such as
References
- ISBN 1-57820-214-0.
- ^ "Behind the Scenes". Microsoft.com. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
- ^ "Behind the Scenes: Bruce Shelly". Microsoft.com. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
- ^ "Behind the Scenes: Tony Goodman". Microsoft.com. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
- ^ "Behind the Scenes: Dave Pottinger". Microsoft.com. Archived from the original on 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
- ^ "Matt "The Optimizer" Pritchard".
- Game Revolution. Archived from the originalon 2012-09-02. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
- Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- ^ Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- ^ "Dave Pottinger". Microsoft. Archived from the original on 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- ^ Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ "Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings Downloads". Microsoft. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ Greg Street (1999-08-27). "Age of Empires II: The Barbarossa Campaign". IGN. Archived from the original on October 21, 2002. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ Greg Street (1999-09-10). "Age of Empires II: The Genghis Khan Campaign". IGN. Archived from the original on March 6, 2002. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
- ^ MobyGames - Garry Gaber
- Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ "Age of Empires". GameRankings. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
- ^ "Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings". GameRankings. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
- ^ "Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (pc: 1999)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
- ^ "Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome". GameRankings. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
- ^ "Age of Empires II: The Conquerors". GameRankings. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
- ^ "List of reviews for Galactic Battlegrounds". Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ^ "GameSpot User Reviews for Galactic Battlegrounds". Archived from the original on 2009-09-03. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ^ Moby Games Profile of Galactic Battlegrounds, with User Reviews
- ^ GameRankings score for Galactic Battlegrounds
- ^ "Game Revolution Review for Galactic Battlegrounds". Archived from the original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ^ Steve Butts (2005-03-09). "Age of Empires III". IGN. Archived from the original on March 12, 2005. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
- ^ "Home City". Ensemble Studios. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
- ^ Kasavin, Greg (2001-11-13). "GameSpot Empire Earth review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2006-12-30.
- ^ a b "Cossacks: European Wars for PC Review". CNET Networks. Archived from the original on 2012-08-14. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
- ^ "Theocracy Preview". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
- ^ "Tzar: Burden of the Crown". IGN. 1999-10-26. Retrieved 2016-12-15.
- ^ "Empire Earth reviews". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
- ^ PRESS ROOM: October 27, 2004 - Rise of Nations: Gold Ships Archived September 22, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Stronghold (pc: 2001)". 2009-06-12. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
- ^ "Pyrogrensis Engine". Mod DB. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
- ^ "openage - free strategy game engine". Retrieved 2019-02-17.
- ^ "openage, the open source game engine for Age of Empires II and more games is advancing". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
External links
- Ensemble Studios: the developers of the engine