Search
Recent Forum posts
Palmyran Guide links to wrong page ... (6 replies)
Posted 12 hours ago by Fisk
RockNRoR : mod to improve AI and add ... (233 replies)
Posted 6 days ago by chab
Map options (New)
Posted 2 weeks ago by alemanparsons
Remove / copy map (New)
Posted 2 weeks ago by alemanparsons
Change missionary attributes (1 reply)
Posted 1 month ago by Fisk
David Saga II Three Roads to Hebron ... (19 replies)
Posted 1 month ago by EarlSmithIII
Designer Bio: PhatFish (1 reply)
Posted 1 month ago by Zarrr
Why am I getting a low disk space message ... (New)
Posted 2 months ago by St_Ives
Another Christmas gift (5 replies)
Posted 2 months ago by Fisk
Broken images on AoE Heaven (4 replies)
Posted 2 months ago by Grandy02
Latest Files
Poll
Advertisement
Random Screenshot
  • c4f036d5cb1b3828e050e8beba3215dc.jpg
  • History Tidbits
    Loading Quotes...
    HeavenGames
    News Archive 1998 April – September

    May 30, 1998

    2:15PM PST – Palmyran

    Heaven has some information on the new Palmyran civ that will be included in AOE: Rise of Rome.

    Palmyra, ancient city of Syria, in an oasis on the northern edge of the Syrian Desert, about 240 km (about 150 mi) northeast of Damascus. According to tradition, it was founded by Solomon, king of Israel. In the Bible it is called Tadmor (see 1 Kings 9:18). A prosperous caravan station in the 1st century BC, Palmyra became a Roman outpost and a major city-state within the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD. Palmyra reached its apogee under Odenathus. A Roman ally, Odenathus regained Roman possessions lost to Shapur I (reigned 241-72) of Persia. Upon the assassination of Odenathus his widow, Zenobia, succeeded him. Her ambition to further expand Palmyra’s influence in Asia Minor and Egypt was ended by the Roman emperor Aurelian, who in 272 captured her andrazed the city. Subsequently, Palmyra was taken by the Arabs and sacked by Tamerlane. The temple of the Sun (or Baal) and the colonnade, nearly 1.6 km (1 mi) long, originally of some 1500 Corinthian columns, stillstand. In modern times, a town, Tadmor, has been built nearby.

    “Palmyra,” Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1995Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. (c) Funk & Wagnalls Corporation. All rights reserved.

    Thanks to Tek for this information. – Argent_Knight

    9:45AM PST – Expansion Pack Extra!!
    OGR reports some more information about AOE: Rise of Rome, the expansion pack due out this fall.

    New units: Spike Chariots, Armored Elephants, Warships
    New Buildings: 
    Over 25, including a Roman Wonder of the World
    New Campaigns: 
    3, made up of 20 scenarios
    New Map Size: 
    Larger than Huge
    New Map Types: 
    Mountainous Highlands, ONE Large Island, Mediterranean Sea, Peninsula

    Oh boy! Are we overloaded with news lately? It seems it will never ends. Go read Doug Radcliffe’s article about the expansion pack. – Omnivac

    12:35AM PST – Expansion Pack
    We have just learned some new information for the X-Pack for AoE. Computer Games Online reports those things:

    The name: Age of Empires: Rise of Rome
    Four new civs: 
    Roman, Macedonian, Carthaginian, Palmyran.
    Some of the new units:
    Camel Riders and Slingers.
    Release date:
    In September or October.

    Thanks Computer Games Online for this great interview with Bruce Shelly. Go here to see the full interview. – Argent_Knight

    goto top of news

     May 29, 1998

    4:00PM PST – AOE on Playstation
    Microsoft has made an agreement with Psygnosis to start producing Microsoft titles for the Playstation.

    Microsoft revealed Thursday that it has reached an agreement with developer Psygnosis that will produce PlayStation versions of first-tier Windows games. The first three titles to be converted will be Age of Empires, Moto Cross Madness, and Urban Assault. GameSpot

    See the full report on this subject here.

    Another Report from Angel Deepwater
    Once again DeepWater has given us a ton of information on what has been happening at E3. The unveiling of the Expansion Pack has been delayed today and he hopes to have more information on it before the end of E3. Go to our Heaven @ E3 page to learn more about monks, relics, garrisons, formations and more. Here’s a tidbit:

    The list of buildings that can be Garrisoned include Castles, Towers, Churches, and Barracks. Also when Garrisoned within Castles and Churches units will automatically be gradually healed. As if they had a Priest/Monk healing them. DeepWater

    I just love the fact that garrisons will be in the game. It will really add more realism to the game, but from the looks of the screenshots it looks like they got the realism covered very well. I can’t wait for his next update. – Argent_Knight

    11:35AM PST – AOE Designer Forms New Game Company
    OGR is reporting that former co-designer of Age of Empires, Rick Goodman has formed a new company called Stainless Steel Studios. It reports that they will focus exclusively on developing real-time strategy games for “the next millennium” and have already begun development on Empire Earth (working title). Read all about ithere– Vidguy

    goto top of news

     May 28, 1998

    11:30PM PST – BIG News
    We got some updates from our angels over at E3. The Expansion Pack will be revealed tomorrow. Along with this revealing of the Expansion Pack we will hopefully see what the new civs will be in it.

    Today has been another great day for AOK. Heaven @ E3 has everything you need to know. One of the biggest suprises is that the last age has been renamed to Imperial Age. There has been so much information that I don’t have enough room to post it all. So go see the entire message from DeepWater here. – Argent_Knight

    10:15PM PST – Another Award for AoE
    We finally got some news from the front at E3:

    Age of Empires has just been voted Best Strategy Game of the Year in the first interactive achievement awards! They did have to share with StarCraft. – Alexander I

    Congrats to the fine folks at ES who are apparently treating Alexander I and DeepWater like family. Be sure to check out the Heaven @E3 page for Alex’s account from Day 1 at the largest gaming convention in the world! Much much more to come so keep your mouse pointer on the refresh button! – Vidguy

    4:30PM PST – Angels Arrive at E3
    Angels DeepWater and AlexanderI have arrived at the convention and should be viewing everything at the booth for AOK. They are probably staring into the monitor and drooling on the floor. Later tonight we should receive a lot of information on AOK and some on the Expansion Pack. Go here to see the page that will have all of the information that they send in. We are hoping before the night’s over that we will have interviews, pictures from the booth, and some new facts about the game.

    Microsoft Sound System
    Microsoft Corp. announced that they will be releasing a new sound system. In fact, it is their first one. Microsoft Digital Sound System 80 will be released in fall of this year. The sound system will take advantage of the Windows 98 and its built-in USB support. I bet it will sound great with AOK and AOE. : ) – Argent_Knight

    goto top of news

     May 27, 1998

    11:59PM CST – Retired Angel Hemlock in the News
    One of our old angels, Hemlock, left Heaven to do a brand new site dedicated to the game Outwars.  Microsoft interviewed him and highlighted his new site which is also hosted by Gamestats.  Go here to read the interview and here to check out his new site.   Way to go Hemlock!

    Heaven Forums Exploding with Discussions
    The Heaven forums have been very active recently due to the influx of information related to Age of Kings and the AoE Expansion pack.  Click here to read the many posts and as always, feel free to post your own messages!

    dabestgolfer Hosting Tourney
    One of the friends of Heaven, dabestgolfer, is hosting an Age of Empires tourney which you can learn all about 
    here.   The tourney starts on June 4 and is limited to 20 participants.  Go check it out and have fun!

    Cloud News
    Many of Heaven’s clouds have been recently updated so go check out what everyone has to say here.   Some highlights you can look for are the discovery of how Omnivac got his name on his cloud, a long rant about scenario design how to receive higher ratings in SpineMan’s cloud and some more pics from the Heaven vs Zone sysops on DeepWater’s cloud.  Grenadier, Infymus and Argent Knight has also posted updated recently. – SpineMan

    6:30PM PST – Argent Knight Comes Forth
    Today I make my appearance in the news and what a day it has been. I will be the co-newscaster along with SpineMan and together we will make a great team. If you would like to read more about me visit my cloud but be sure to read the rest of today’s news before you go.

    AOKH is Full of News
    Today has been a great day for news on AOK. Age of Kings Heaven has a lot information for you including new screenshots, buildings, links to Official sites, and MIDI songs from AOK. The latest screenshots are beautifully detailed with many new units appearing. They have also fixed the problem of units getting lost behind large objects. So what are you waiting for? Go see all of this and more at Age of Kings Heaven.

    Speculation on Expansion Pack
    There has been a lot of speculation on the AOE Expansion pack lately. First, some speculated civilizations are: the Romans, the Gauls, the Huns, the Vandals, the Goths, the Thracians, or the Scythians. Also some new units could be slingers, siege towers, or Peltastii (spearmen). One fact is that the Expansion Pack will include a new campaign called the Rise of Rome.

    Heaven @ E3 Page
    A new section in Heaven has been created to keep the fans of AOE and AOK informed about E3. This page will include interviews, rumors, images and news from the 2 angels that will be present at E3, AlexanderI and DeepWater. As of the moment they are on their way to the convention and will be there shortly. That will be when us angels over here will be working overtime. : ) View the page here– Argent_Knight

    8:00PM CST – New Format for the News
    Age of Empires Heaven has decided to adopt the news format from the Town Crier on Age Of Kings Heaven.  The change was made so that we can bring you more news and faster news.   The headings at the top are now gone but the toons, top downloads, search utility and other info are still at the bottom.  Hope you like the new look!

    Apology
    Many apologies go out to Shai’Tan Age of Empires Page.  The news on priest posted yesterday was not from one our our forums, but from one of theirs.  The archive has been changed as well. – SpineMan

    goto top of news

      May 26, 1998

    9:00PM CST – AoE Expansion Pack!
    Yesterday’s rumour is today’s news!   Microsoft announced at the preveiw to E3 that there will be an AoE expansion pack to be released around Christmas time this year!  It will feature new civs, units, campaigns and will spotlight the ancient Roman Empire!  How cool is that!   Christmas is how many days away?  Be on the lookout in the coming days for a flood of news from E3 where our angels on the spot, Deepwater and Alexander will be reporting on all the happenings!

    Age of Kings Heaven???
    The other big AoE news coming out of E3 today was the release of the name for the sequal to Age of Empires.   As you have already guessed, the name will be Age of Kings!  In conjunction with the release of the official name, Age of Empires II Heaven is already sporting a new name!  Man, Vidguy and Omnivac are fast!  Go check out Age of Kings Heaven! 

    Cool info on Priests
    For those of you out there who enjoy figuring out the math behind the game, like me, you will appreciate this post in a forum on Shai’Tan Age of Empires Page by ES dude Mario Grimani.

    “Priests will attempt a conversion every 1.5 seconds. The chance of succesfully converting a unit is 30%.  If you research astrology the chances of converting enemy unit increases 30% (to total of 39%). Chariots are 8 times less susceptible to conversion: approx. 4% chance w/o astrology, 5.5% chance w/astrology.” – Mario Grimani (Ensemble)

    Pics from Heaven vs Zone Sysops
    Here are a couple of pics from the tourney that was held a week ago.  Sorry it took so long to post these.   Sadly, I identify with the pic on the left far too easily.  :^)     – SpineMan

     

    goto top of news

      Headlines – May 25, 1998
    AoE Expansion Pack?
    Contest Scenarios Posted and Rated
    Cloud News
     
     

     

    AoE Expansion Pack?
    We pulled the following post off of GameCenter relating to some great news for AoE fans! 

    “Age of Empires to Get Expansion?
    Gamecenter has caught wind of a seriously hot rumor prior to the E3 
    onslaught. Due to the delay of Age of Empires II, now scheduled to 
    release in spring 1999 (and not this holiday season as previously planned), 
    Ensemble Studios is reportedly working on an Age of Empires expansion, 
    to be published by Microsoft. Inside word says Microsoft will release the 
    expansion this winter during the holiday shopping frenzy. If all goes as 
    planned, the expansion will start at the rise of Rome and boast new 
    civilizations and campaigns.”

    Sounds like the game will boast a whole new look by Christmas.  We can’t wait to see what ES has in store for us! – SpineMan

    goto top of news

    Contest Scenarios Posted and Rated
    Grenadier posted all of the contest scenarios in the Granary today.  They are located on a separate page and you can find them here.  Also, the rating pages inSpineMan’s cloud have been rearranged to list scenarios in order of their rating and all contest ratings have been posted.   Thanks again to all contest entrants for their great work! – SpineMan

    goto top of news

    Cloud News
    Our newest angel, Argent_Knight, has already created a cloud which you can check out here!    Also, Infymus’ Cloud and SpineMan’s Cloud have recently been updated while in the next couple days, Deepwater’s cloud will contain some screenshots of the Heaven vs Zone Sysops tourney.  Be sure to pay all of the clouds a visit and go say “Hi” to Omnivac who updated AoE2 Heaven’s news for the first time today! – SpineMan

    goto top of news

      Headlines – May 23, 1998
    SpineMan and Argent Knight take over the news!
    Heaven vs. Zone Sysops
     
     

     

    SpineMan and Argent_Knight take over the news!
    Well, this happened a little sooner than expected since Omni has been having some major pc problems lately and couldn’t update the news at all.  So, Argent_Knightand SpineMan will be handling news for AoE Heaven from now on.  Vidguy was finally able to woolooloo Omni over to Age of Empires II Heaven so you can check over there to see what Omni is up too.   From now on, please send all cartoons and other newsworthy items to both of us as we will be alternating duties.   We look forward to bringing you tons of news from E3 which commences in only 5 days!   Alexander and Deepwater will be in Atlanta to witness the spectacle that is E3 and will report back regularly.  We can’t wait!  SpineMan

    goto top of news

    Heaven vs Zone Sysops!
    Wednesday night was our little tourney with the guys from the Zone and I must say that I had a great time!   For the record, Heaven was victorious by a score of 5 to 1 but the most important thing was that everyone had a great time and made many new friends!  I got to play two games and was actually victorious in both!  Pretty unusual for me  :^)   Check some of heaven’s clouds in the coming days to catch some screenshots of the action.  SpineMan

    goto top of news

     

      Headlines – May 20, 1998
    Scenario Design Contest
    New shadow over Heaven
     
     

     

    Scenario Design Contest
    Congratulations to Steve Ryan and Kyle Leach! Your prizes will be in the mail soon. The judges (Alexander, Ben Garvey, frink, SpineMan) and Heaven would like to thank all the participants of the contest for their excellent and varied efforts in scenario designing. It has been a thoroughly pleasant and exciting experience all along.

    Many could have claimed the top spot, but only one could emerge as the winner in each category at the end. Included here are the winners of each category, as well as the three runners-up for you to download. Look in the Granary during the next few days for all the entries of the contest to be available for download, their descriptions and the reviews of the judges. – Omnivac

    ~Best Singleplayer Gameplay~
    Steve Ryan’s The Relay
    Kyle Leach’s Fortress
    Joseph Friedah’s Super Bombardment
    Gordon Farrell’s The Eagle of Rome, The Lioness of the Nile

    About The Relay “A puzzler with a bit of head scratching…”

    “…new puzzles that I’ve never seen before were used – the elephants and lions puzzle was great! I couldn’t stop playing because I was so curious about what would happen next.”

    “…loved the sense of humor shown in the story – made me laugh out loud.”

    “Awesome scenario – fabulous work!”

    ~Best Map Design~
    Kyle Leach’s Fortress
    Jason Hinman’s The World
    Gordon Farrell’s The Eagle of Rome, The Lioness of the Nile
    Mark Stoker’s Phoenician Peril

    About Fortress “…a great all around and diverse scenario that includes puzzle, map and conquest elements in a balanced manner on a very nice map.” 

    “…loved the use of rafts which are rarely seen and the instructions were nicely written and clear.” 

    “…it was an exhilarating experience.”

    “The map took time to plan out and certainly enhances the game.”

    goto top of news

    New shadow over Heaven
    Big welcome the new Angel in the sky, Argent_Knight! A few changes should occurs in the next few days, hence why a new Angel. I’ll be flying over to Age of Empires II Heaven and Argent_Knight and SpineMan will be your news bringers here. Some of you may already know A_K from the late site AOE2 Battlefield. He will be a great addition to Heaven.

    Or maybe, in the words of zx75 from Medieval Age of Empires, Heaven was in need of a good Yamato cav rusher. hehe! – Omnivac

    goto top of news

     

      Headlines – May 19, 1998
    The boss with his head in the clouds
    The Plague
    Angel Infymus’ Cloud
     
     

     

    The boss with his head in the clouds
    Looks like Archy made a little mistake in the new Ensemble Studio site, hehe! Don’t know what Heaven will do with him. Probably only send him to the Sinner’s Booth to confess to the Pardonner, he’s such a nice guy. He always let me win… Guess if you had already done so, you’ll have to write again your cool words to the ES staff –Omnivac

    The Plague
    From the Strategy Forum, another thread about bad map positions, and luck in the beginning of the game.

    Cherub Maimin_Matty: I too have had problems with bad map positions in the past. Nothing kills my spirits more then when the nearest forest(or tree) is about half a map length away.

    I found a few things that got me back on track again…

    1) You can try doing the preset maps or making one of you own. For some reason people just havent seemed to catch onto that idea in aoe but it is an option and a good one at that.

    2) try playing a little more deathmatch as a refreshing break from the usual resource hunt.

    3) the option which i like the best however is having reveal map on. Many people i have played complain that you can see where the other guy is but i find that is part of the fun. With reveal map on you take away soo much of the lucky/random side of the game…such as finding your enemy or food or gold or water or the river crossing or lions….it is just a great underused option in the game.

    i could talk forever but i would rather hear what you think.

    I agree that for a change, pre-made maps are really fun. I have played almost all of them, some more than once, as well as some multiplayer maps from fans. The random factor is eliminated, and the presence of cliffs makes all the difference from random maps.

    Usually, what we do is send the map via ICQ, if not everybody has it. IF some players hasn’t played it, we simply turn reveal map on to be fair to everyone. Sometimes, we start the game like 10 mins later and everybody go take a look in the scenario builder, and we play with reveal map off after.

    Some maps are really good (Cutthroat, Gold Rush or Border Patrol) and make for a nice change. Another interesting factor is the special victory condition sometime, like in Border Patrol where you have to get your Artifact in a flagged area in the enemies’ territory.

    I will still play mostly the old random maps. I like too much the exploring and the random factor, but pre-made scenarios is really something to look into if you haven’t done so yet. – Omnivac

    goto top of news

    Angel Infymus’s Cloud
    Another Angel settled on his little cloud. This time it’s Infymus. Be sure to besiege his domain. to break through and see what he has to say. While there, visit the other Angels’ Clouds – Omnivac

    goto top of news

     

     

      Headlines – May 16, 1998
    Heaven is one year old
    Beta Signup!!!
    Cometh another Angel
     
     

     

    Heaven is one year old
    One year old already. Heaven would like to thanks all the fans around the world for stopping by to get a little piece of Heaven. Without you, Heaven wouldn’t be what it is today. Suggestions and ideas from everyone were, and will be, always welcomed to make you feel at home. What’s the future of AOEH you may ask now that the shadow of AOE2H is growing larger and larger over it? All I can say is don’t fly too far away, because AOEH will be well and alive for a long time. We have some good surprises in store for you. – Omnivac

    Beta Signup!!!
    Got you excited? Nope, it’s not for Age of Empires 2 (Bad bad Omni, so flame me <g>). Our host GameStats will hold a 200 beta testers sign up shortly for the new Microsoft game, Urban Assault.

    On Wednesday, May 20th GameStats will be facilitating signups for Microsoft’s Urban Assault!

    In total, two hundred lucky beta testers will be signed up receive this game before anyone else. These lucky individuals should be ready to record and report bugs in order to help prepare this game for release to the general public.

    Beta testers will be selected based on first come, first served and system requirement basis. The lucky winners will become official authorized beta testers for Urban Assault

    GameStats will go live with the link to the signup form on Wednesday the 20th 11:00 am Pacific Standard Time. Don’t miss your chance to be a beta-tester for Urban Assault. An innovative combination of real time strategy and first person action. – Omnivac

    goto top of news

    Cometh another Angel
    The Angels’ Clouds continue to find occupants. Grenadier settled on his own little cloud now. Check back from time to time to know the Angels better and see what they have to say. – Omnivac

    goto top of news

     

     

      Headlines – May 14, 1998
    New Heavenly Cloud
    Scenario Design Contest
     
     

     

    New Heavenly Cloud
    Another cloud in the sky, and this time it’s Deepwater’s. Pay visit to the strange Angel in Heaven, the one that use his halo as a frisbee. The “old and decrepit” senior Angels are waiting for him in our next little installement of Hell in Heaven Slugfest to wash his mouth in a 7v1, for saying bad words. <grin> – Omnivac

    goto top of news

    Scenario Design Contest
    Results and winners should be announced very soon. Only a few scenarios remains to be judged so you can expect the announcement this week-end, maybe early next week. Singleplayers will then be very occupied conquering all the various scenarios, 31 in all.

    Given the success of the contest and feedbacks received, another contest might well be underway. If you have any ideas about this, you can send your suggestions to SpineMan and Grenadier. They’ll be happy to hear what you have to say. – Omnivac

    goto top of news

     

     

      Headlines – May 13, 1998
    ES has a new look!
    New AOE Mailing List
    Wired mentions AOE in passing
     
     

     

    ES has a new look!
    Ensemble Studios has a totally new look. Head over there and see if you can spot something new. Our own Archangel has been taking a little time out from Heaven but not from web design. He was lucky enough to be asked by ES to update their corporate website. Hat’s off to Archy for landing that gig! More details at AOE2H –Vidguy

    goto top of news

    New AOE Mailing List
    A new mailing list is at requests@lists.expand.com. This list discusses anything to do with the strategy game “Age of Empires” from Microsoft. Including, but not limited to: strategies, favorite civilizations and units,and tips for playing multiplayer games over the Microsoft Gaming Zone.

    To subscribe send an e-mail to requests@lists.expand.com with the words:

    subscribe AoE <YourFullName>

    in the BODY of the message.

    This list curently has a low volume of mailings, and is maintained by Josh Monson. Subscribe today and start discussing your favorite topics. – Omnivac

    goto top of news

    Wired mentions AOE in passing
    There’s an article by Theta Pavis at Wired titled Online Gaming? Still Sucks that mention Age of Empires.

    One of the most popular talks at the conference, “Do Online Games Still Suck?” gave a firm answer: Yes.

    While games like Age of Empires and Gettysburg are “awesome, wonderfully designed multi-player games,” designer Dani Bunten Berry said the games still “suck, relative to what they can be.

    A good article to read that raise many questions. For my part, I don’t think online gaming sucks at all. I went to the page of Dani Bunten Berry and read it all. Well, all the points about Good Multiplayer Game Elements, are all present in AOE. One could argue about the “Strategies need wiggle room” point, but would perfect balance ever be achieved? I think it’s more the skills of players that makes a difference in the end. I mean, from this point of view, even chess is unbalanced. Kasparov would simply knight rush me or whatever and win. Go read it, and tell me what you think. – Omnivac

    goto top of news

     

      Headlines – May 12, 1998
    Confusion almost caused a Riot
    A new Cloud in the sky
     
     

     

    Confusion almost caused a Riot
    Since yesterday, I received like almost 20 emails where fans were panicking Big Time!!! I thought it was clear and obvious but some of the readers misunderstood it. So here’s the clarifications…

    The final version of Age of Empires is 1.0b, and an official announcement has been made that there will be no 2.0 version. That is, no enhancements or new features. The Age of Empires we know presently is the final product, UNLESS something major occurs that warrants another patch, something like the woodbug.

    Age of Empires 2 will see the day, don’t worry at all. Just have to be careful when you read, and see the subtle difference between Age of Empires v2.0 and Age of Empires 2, which will be at first something along Age of Empires 2 v1.0. Confused yet? <grin>

    Sorry to have almost caused several heart attacks. hehe – Omnivac

    goto top of news

    A new Cloud in the sky
    Drop by the Angel’s Clouds and say hello to SpineMan. You’ll learn some interesting info about him, and be sure to look at his pic on how he got his nickname. Quite interesting. hehe – Omnivac

    goto top of news

     

    Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

    Advertisement
    © HeavenGames. All Rights Reserved. Please read our Disclaimer & Privacy Statement. © Microsoft Age of Empires.