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    HeavenGames
    News Archive 1998 January – March

    Headlines – March 13, 1998
    Voting Polls
    This & That
    Strategy Tips – Sun Tzu from SimMayor
    Agetoon by Art
    Search the resources of Heaven
    History Tidbits
     

     

    Voting Polls
    Knowing fans of AoE Heaven, to better serve them
    Vote
     now! The poll will last until the end of March. – Omnivac

    Comments on AOEII
    Vote
     now! You can also leave you comments in the form on why you think your #1 choice of the new opinions in AOEII is the best! – The Archangel

    This & That
    Gamecenter Reader’s Choice awards for 1997
     
    AOE picked up the following accolades.

    Best Strategy/War Game
    Runner Up: Game of the Year

    We loved it, and so did our readers–Age of Empires received more than double the votes of any other nominee. Myth: The Fallen Lords again showed some muscle in this category, but the mighty AoE rolled over it with the ability to command and create units.

    More great awards for AOE. Age took half the votes for best strategy/war game of the year leaving all others in the dust. Go read it all, and write some comments too, about how you love this game so much. – Omnivac

    Age of Empires addictive?
    Age of Empires received top billing in a story in the Circuits section of the New York Times today. The story is about computer game addiction, and the lead is about a man who is addicted to Age of Empires. There is even a picture of him playing Age on his computer. Read the story online.

    While the nature of the story is serious – addiction –  it can’t hurt to be associated with the type of quality it would take to get people addicted! – Azoic

    Wonder Stories
    And a little tactic. Fair, or not fair? That is the question.

    Ben Garvey: I was playing a game on the Zone that lasted around three hours, and seemed to be coming to a stalemate. My partner and I decided to try and build a Wonder, so we scrapped every last bit of stone out of the mines, traded for some gold, and finally, with my town getting invaded, we started building the wonder in my partner’s base. I tributed him most of the resources, and while he built it, I was mining stone to protect the Wonder at all costs by planning to build walls and towers. By now, my town had been thoroughly invavded, but I had 6 villagers left mining the stone. All of the sudden, a large groups of catapults appeared from the south tearing down the towers already in place. The timer was only down to about 1800 years, and it was about to be stopped all together. Then, I got an idea. I built a line of walls right in front of the cats, but called my villagers back before they could reach the wall to start building it. There was this line of unfinished walls blocking the cats, and because cats can’t fire at the spot in front of them, they had to back up, destroy the line, and move forward, when I would once again lay the line of walls down again. I tried this many diferent ways, trying to block him from behind as well as the front, but eventually he got through with some cavs and destroyed the wonder, but the timer got down to 1000 years. If we had a little more time, this wall placing technique might have won the game for us. I hope someone reads this and maybe tries it out in a desperate situation.

    The question is, if it is in the game, then we can use any means available. Everyone plays with the same rules. Still, I find this is a cheap tactic. I simply let go of this back in December after perfecting it with Egyptian priests, and achieving huge amounts of conversions. I got the ire of several players, as priests are viewed already as cheap tactic when use effectively (To those I say, stop whining and find a solution). And with the magic walls, this was very unsettling for the infidels, waiting to be converted.

    I hope in AOEII, peasants will be able to build only next to them. Or if a far away location is chosen, that the foundations will appear only when they start working there. I’ve seen players go overboard with this, and littering completely the map with walls to annoy their opponents, trapping them in several rows. I know they’re destroyed fast (1HP), but with a cost of 5 stones apiece, you get killed or converted during the time you need to get out. And it’s far more deadly when your ally put the walls, and you do the cleaning. Or vice-versa. – Omnivac

    goto top of news

    Strategy Tips – Sun Tzu from SimMayor :
    The great proverbs from Sun Tzu on the Art of War

    Thanks to SimMayor for letting the good words of Sun Tzu come to Heaven. Be sure to visit his site at 
    SimMayor’s Age of Empires Place.

    Sun Tzu’s proverb of the day :
    After crossing a river, you should get far away from it.

    Comment by SimMayor : 
    In AoE this is true based on different reasons that Sun Tzu meant. Boats can rapidly come to interfere your forces.

    Or you should stay near, depending if you have the boats.

    I think this will work better in AOEII. If you retreat from a battle, then you will have your rear exposed and suffers extra damage. With terrains affecting speed, crossing shallows will be slower so more pursuers will catch up for the carnage. Hence the wise words of Sun Tzu to never fight with a river behind you. – Omnivac

    goto top of news

    Agetoon – By Art
    New toons
    Don’t worry if your work is not in the toons section. From now on, toons will make the frontpage, and then go in the toon section. So depending on the number of submissions, this could take 4-5 days before you see your artwork in Heaven. – Omnivac

    Sharks Alert!

    More Agetoons here.

    goto top of news

    Searching in Heaven
    Find that little piece of heaven!

      Search for

    goto top of news

    History Tidbits
    Daily fix of real old news
    For a while Heavens angels will bring some history tidbits and trivia in this column. Look here every day for your daily fix of “old news”. – 
    Hamlet

    (want more? Then go to “History Tidbits – The Collection”)

    The Real-life game of Age of Empires
    Here’s my contribution for the history tidbits. Telling the real-life game of Age of Empires. I hope everybody will like it, and I will try not to make it look like a boring history class. Well, this doesn’t exist but that’s my opinion. 🙂 Read and enjoy. – Omnivac

    (Want all the story? Then go to “History Tidbits – The Chronicles”)

    612 BC
    Sappho, Greek lyric poet of Lesbos, is born. The most famous female poet of the ancient world, Sappho is inscribed in the Palatine Anthology among the Muses, rather than among the great lyric poets, in the second century BC. Her lyric poetry includes the exploration of female sexuality, female values in a male dominated society, and love.

    604-562 BC
    Nebuchadnezzar II rules in Babylon, where he undertakes several monumental building projects, including the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. This New Babylonian Revival uses glazed bricks for building thereby creating a colorful city.

    600 BC
    The Persian prophet Zoroaster (Zarathushtra) founds the religion known as Zoroastrianism.

    600 
    The Etruscans, believed to be natives of Asia Minor, establish cities stretching from northern to central Italy. Their major contributions to the Romans are the arch and the vault, gladiatorial combat for entertainment and the study of animals to predict future events. The Greeks establish city-states along the southern coast of Italy and the island of Sicily. Their contributions to the Romans are the basis of the Roman alphabet, many religious concepts and artistic talent as well as mythology.

    597 BC
    Nebuchadnezzar II captures Jerusalem and forces its King and nobles into exile.

    600-500 BC
    Lao-tzu, author of The Tao Te Ching and founder of Taoism, lives around this time. He encourages people to live simply and according to nature.

    594 BC
    Solon, the great elegiac poet, is appointed chief magistrate of Athens. His reforms include both political and economical adjustments which lead to dissatisfaction in the upper and lower classes.

    586 BC
    Jerusalem falls to the forces of Nebuchadnezzar II once again, after an eighteen-month siege, when their puppet ruler tried to rebels. Several Hebrews are taken to Babylon beginning the “Babylonian Captivity.” The book of Ezekiel is written at this time.

    585 BC
    In Miletus, the founding city of philosophy, Thales predicts a total eclipse of the sun. The founder of the Melesian school, Thales, teaches that all things are composed of moisture; he is the first to put forth a rational explanation of the cosmos. By the end of the sixth century, philosophers begin to question the metaphysical nature of the cosmos with inquiries into the nature of being, the meaning of truth, and the relationship between the divine and the physical world.

    574 BC
    Nebuchadnezzar II besieges and destroy the city of Tyr.

    563 BC
    Gautama Siddharta Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, is born somewhere in what is today Nepal. He will die sometime around 483.

    559 BC
    Cyrus II becomes King of the small Persian kingdom of Anshan. In the following ten years, he will subjugate the eastern part of Persia and establish a reputation among even his rivals as a great leader.

    558 – 491 BC 
    Bimbisara is one of the early kings of the Indian kingdom of Magadha. His expansion of the kingdom is considered to have laid the foundations for the later expansion of the Maurya Empire. Bimbisara was a friend of Jina (Founder of Jainism in India) and a protector of Buddha. The king’s support made Buddhism a popular movement in India.

    556 BC
    Nabodinus, last of the Chaldean Dynasty, takes the throne of Babylon. He introduces new reforms that gives him control of temple finances. For several years, he will not perform the important New Year festival in the name of the Babylonian deity Marduk, renewer of the fertility of the land. Unrest and dissatisfaction these events will foster will come at a bad time, with the gradual expansion of a new power to the east, the Persian empire.

    551 BC
    K’ung Fu-tzu (Confucius), author of The Analects, is born. Among other things, Confucius teaches the importance of centralized authority and filial piety. Like Aristotle, he belives the state to be a natural institution. Confucius dies around 479.

    550 BC
    The Medes surrenders their own capital at Ecbatana when their king attempted to reasserts his control over Persia, to Cyrus II, who will be known as Cyrus the Great from this day on.

    549 BC
    Cyrus the Great occupies the Median capital at Ecbatana, and founds the Persian Empire.

    546 BC
    The first of the Athenian tyrants, Peisistratus, replaces Solon as ruler.

    goto top of news

     

     

      Headlines – March 12, 1998
    Voting Polls
    This & That
    Strategy Tips – Sun Tzu from SimMayor
    Agetoon by Iron Cross
    Search the resources of Heaven
    History Tidbits
     

     

    Voting Polls
    Knowing fans of AoE Heaven, to better serve them
    Vote
     now! The poll will last until the end of March. – Omnivac

    Comments for AOEII
    AOEIIH has a few voting polls up (just a few :).. But for something different (but the same), we have put up a 
    submit form for your TOP Kewl thing (That we know about) that you are most looking forward to having in Age of Empires II. Is this different than the voting poll – Nay (Sorry just kidding :).. Yes it is – because you can also leave you comments in the form on why you think your #1 choice of the new opinions in AOEII is the best! – The Archangel

    This & That
    Last Reminder: Play the Age and Zone Teams Today! 

    Today, members of the Microsoft Age of Empires team and members of the Internet Gaming Zone team will be on hand in the Age of Empires 
    War Cry Room of The Zone. They’ll be available to play Age from 5 P.M. to 7 P.M. Pacific Time.

    The Heaven’s friends.txt list has been updated to include some of the names of the Sysops/MVP’s that will be playing. Make sure you put it in your Internet Gaming Zone “common” directory. See you on the battlefields. – Omnivac

    Speed limit = 1.0, 1.5 or 2.0?
    You can read all the thread in the message forums about the game’s speed. Here’s some excerpts, with little editing.

    qwksndI refuse to play on very fast speed. It turns Real Time Strategy into Real Time Arcade. I hate fast speed as well. The biggest cause of delay on the Zone is the lag, not the game speed. 

    Playing on any speed but default (and it’s called DEFAULT and NORMAL for very good reasons) takes away a lot of tactics. You cannot “dance” properly with your chariot and horse archers, you cannot use priests effectively, you cannot use evasion tactics against missile troops, etc. etc. etc. 

    Worst of all, it stifles creativity. When you play on default speed you can try different and exotic strategies. When you play on fast you are reduced to the same old tired rush. 

    Playing on Normal speed is not boring. If you’re sitting around not doing something, then you’re doing something wrong.

    Ben Garvey: I have to totally disagree with your ideas on game speeds. I can’t stand it when players insist on changing the speed to normal after I’ve set up the game and set it to very fast. I don’t usually have 2 or 3 hours to spend playing a single game, but I have been dragged into 4 hour games because of the “terrible” lack of play control that the very fast speed supposedly brings. Just move your mouse and click your keys a little faster, because after all, your playing at the same speed as everyone else.

    LaksamanaI play on the Zone very often, and personally detest the very fast option. In general, most people will be reasonable and set it on normal or fast if you just explain that the lag will probably kill the game at very fast speeds (this is true, faster speeds, more communication over network, slower game). Unless you’re lucky and all the players in the game have T1 connections, someone’s probably gonna get dropped. 

    Finally, very fast speed does not mean merely compensating by “clicking faster” (as Ben Garvey suggests in a prior response), it really affects gameplay. You just cannot control your troops as effectively under very fast speeds, and waypoints become a liability, not a help (takes too long to set them up). Try controlling your horse archers under bombardment by catapaults under very fast speeds, it’s almost impossible to manuever them. I usually play Yamato, and starting out under default resources, I can get to Bronze in 14-15 minutes under normal speed. With very fast speed, the time required balloons to about 17-19 minutes. 

    Stop the madness, play at NORMAL speeds.

    I think that sums it up. As I said previously, unless you don’t have the time, you should always play at normal speed. qwksnd and Laksamana gave enough reasons to do so. I’ll add to this that you miss most of the time sneaking villagers passing by your sentries on the diamond map. When you’re attacked, the time you see where on the diamond map and go there, you have a pile of corpses (it took you twice the time to go there), giving a big advantage to the attacker. Civs not of the infernal trio, suffers greatly because you have to look more after your villagers to keep up. Persians are probably the fastest bronzing race, but will not in very fast game, because of idle villagers near elephants (You have to remember that you’re late twice the time of normal speed. Enough to get you in trouble). Guerilla warfare can’t simply be done efficiently when you spread to the four corners of the map, and the winner will be the fast-clicker, the hyper-active, the one who drink too much coffees.

    In response to Ben Garvey, I take it you specify before the game that it will be very fast. Being the host do not give the right of controlling the speed. Changing speed during the game shows great disrespect to others, IMO. A player will increase speed when he’s settled and can let the game run for awhile, while another player is in the middle of lots of multi-tasking orders. Players engaged in battles will slow down the game, while another will speed it up. Peoples have to understand that other players are on the map, and you can’t change the speed of the game taking in accounts only yourself. Top players on ladders play at normal, sometimes fast (Wonder why?).

    Hopefully, AOE2 will have a feature to set the speed of the game at the beginning, and for all the game. I guess speed could be changed (by the host) only if everybody agree, and each ones click the new speed, as a confirmation.– Omnivac

    goto top of news

    Strategy Tips – Sun Tzu from SimMayor :
    The great proverbs from Sun Tzu on the Art of War

    Thanks to SimMayor for letting the good words of Sun Tzu come to Heaven. Be sure to visit his site at 
    SimMayor’s Age of Empires Place.

    Sun Tzu’s proverb of the day :
    All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

    Comment by SimMayor : 
    In the hassle of all battles think, what is the enemy’s strategy behind the fight or what the enemy thinks is your strategy.

    Lead the game and out-think the others. Don’t react to events, make others react to you. Choose where and when to fight. When an assault fails one or two time, change plans. Adapt yourself to the units of the enemy. Keep your villagers working, because it’s the main reason you will lose after the initial clashes around 14-15 mins (sooner if someone Tool Rush). Lead the enemy into traps, priests behind walls, archers on hill, boats near the shore or gauntlet of towers. More importantly, take time to do your attacks with good planning. Start overwhelming only when you see you’re succesful and then, send waves after waves of units. If you suffer more than the defender, stop and attack elsewhere. – Omnivac

    goto top of news

    Agetoon – By Iron Cross
    New toons
    Don’t worry if your work is not in the toons section. From now on, toons will make the frontpage, and then go in the toon section. So depending on the number of submissions, this could take 4-5 days before you see your artwork in Heaven. – Omnivac



    More Agetoons 
    here.

    Message from the Doc :
    Dr. Fish loved the idea. Send him suggestions for the name of the photon man. And the doc told also to eat an apple everyday. – 
    Omnivac

    Time Traveller begins
    You can find right now the adventures of the Photon Man in the 
    agetoons section. Check regularly as his misadventures continue. – Omnivac

    goto top of news

    Searching in Heaven
    Find that little piece of heaven!

      Search for

    goto top of news

    History Tidbits
    Daily fix of real old news
    For a while Heavens angels will bring some history tidbits and trivia in this column. Look here every day for your daily fix of “old news”. – 
    Hamlet

    (want more? Then go to “History Tidbits – The Collection”)

    The Real-life game of Age of Empires
    Here’s my contribution for the history tidbits. Telling the real-life game of Age of Empires. I hope everybody will like it, and I will try not to make it look like a boring history class. Well, this doesn’t exist but that’s my opinion. 🙂 Read and enjoy. – Omnivac

    (Want all the story? Then go to “History Tidbits – The Chronicles”)

    722 BC
    The Ch’un Ch’iu period begins. This period is characterized by a deteriorization of a feudal system and a collapse of central authority. It ends in 481.

    705-681 BC
    Sennacherib rules the Assyrians and builds a new capital in Ninevah where he begins to form a library of Sumerian and Babylonian tablets. Sennacherib is a powerful ruler who manages to subdue the entire region of western Asia.

    701 BC
    Sennacherib, king of Assyria besieges Jerusalem, without success.

    700 BC
    Hesiod, Greece’s second poet (after Homer) and the first poet to name himself, is composing his poetry. His most important works are The Theogony and Works and Days.

    692-626 BC
    Ashurbanipal was the last of the great kings of Assyria. Ashurbanipal succeeded his father Esarhadon in 669 BC. He achieved the greatest territorial expansion of the Assyrian empire which included Babylonia, Persia, Syria, and Egypt, although Egypt was soon lost as a result of a revolt. Ashurbanipal was not only a feared warrior but also a great patron of the arts. He established a famous library at his capital Niniveh with over 20 000 clay tablets. Soon after his departure Assyria fell to the combined forces of Babylonia and Media, and the empire disappeared from history.

    689 BC
    Sennacherib destroys Babylon, but his son rebuilds it. By 650, it has once again become prosperous.

    671 BC
    Egypt is conquered by the Assyrians. But when the Assyrian empire collapses just under ten years later, Egypt enjoys a century or so of independence.

    668-627 BC
    Ashurbanipal succeeds Sennacherib as ruler of Assyria. He continues to develop the library and, by the time he has finished, collects more than 22,000 clay tablets. In 648, Ashurbanipal destroys the newly rebuilt city of Babylon in a fierce campaign.

    640 BC
    Sparta’s form of government, which is adapted from the Dorians, is heavily influenced by militarianism. The Messenian wars initiate Sparta’s fear of change. They remain an isolated people, primarily by banning trade and discouraging travel outside of Spartan territory. Alcaeus, Greek lyric poet, is born in Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. His lyrics expound on contemporary politics, love, hymns to Apollo and Hermes, and include some drinking songs.

    625 BC
    The Assyrian empire collapses. Babylonians and Medes achieves their independance, and dominates Mesopotamia.

    624-562 BC 
    Nebuchadnessar II was the king of Babylonia who captured Jerusalem in 586 BC, and destroyed the city. This ended the Judean kingdom, and was the beginning of the ‘Babylonian Captivity’ of many Jews. During Nebuchadnessar’s reign the Neo-Babylonian empire attained its peak and the city of Babylon its greatest glory. Among many other building projects he built the ‘Hanging Gardens’ one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

    614 BC
    The Babylonians (particularly, the Chaldeans) with the help of the Medes, who occupy what is today Iran, begin a campaign to destroy the Assyrians. In 612 they succeed, and the Assyrian capital of Ninevah is destroyed. Without the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, a semetic people, rule the entire region thereby issuing in the New Babylonian period, which lasts until 539.

    goto top of news

     

     

      Headlines – March 11, 1998
    Voting Poll
    This & That
    Strategy Tips – Sun Tzu from SimMayor
    Agetoon by Chris V.
    Search the resources of Heaven
    History Tidbits
     

     

    Voting Poll
    Knowing fans of AoE Heaven, to better serve them
    Vote
     now! The poll will last until the end of March– Omnivac

    This & That
    Play the Age and Zone Teams March 12! 

    Register in 
    The Internet Gaming Zone. Tommorow, play the members of the Microsoft Age of Empires team and members of the Internet Gaming Zone team, from 5 P.M. to 7 P.M. Pacific Time. See you on the battlefields of the War Cry Room, and choose your victims with an @MS or @Zone in their member ID. :^) – Omnivac

    Finding friends, to make new enemies
    We’ve also updated our Zone friends.txt list to include most of the ES, Heaven and Gamestats staff. Download it 
    here and then make sure you put it in your Internet Gaming Zone “common” directory. Hopefully we will see a Friends.txt file from the Zone people, if so, I will add their names to the Heaven Friends.txt file also. – The Archangel

    What the…???

     

    What is this building you’ve missed? You tought you knew it all about Age of Empires, and all its little secrets. You’re probably right, so this must be one of the gems from the past, early designs that didn’t made it in the final version. Wrong again. For now, all you can know about it, it’s about a new exciting area of Heaven that will open soon, and that it will be good news for multiplayers.

    Speaking of multiplayers, if you play the MS and/or Zone peoples tomorrow, Heaven would like to hear the story of your game. Write it and send it to the innkeeper. Maybe you’ll be already there when the new section opens. – Omnivac

    Speed limit = 1.0, 1.5 or 2.0?

    Noah RoyNow, I haven’t been playing over the net that long, so this could just be a newbie gripe (though I’ve been playing multiplayer over a LAN for a while), but I can’t stand playing games on very fast speed. The problem is, it seems everyone on the zone just assumes that everyone wants to play that way, and gets pissy if you don’t. At first I had a lot of trouble adjusting to the increased rate at which villagers got done with things, but I’ve gotten better at that. The element of gameplay that suffers most on very fast games, in my experience, is tactical control of your forces in combat, which is one of the most interesting and challenging aspects of the game. If there’s even a little lag (which there nearly always is), then any large combat is quickly reduced than little more than a battle between your units and your opponents units, presided over by the (crappy) AI. That’s a drag. There’s a lot of enjoyment to be had in devising good tactics and counter tactics in the game, and though you can still employ these to a lesser extent in a very fast game, the degree of control that I’ve gotten used to on a normal speed, low-lag LAN game just isn’t there. The obvious answer to that is, “Go back to your damn LAN then,” but there’s always someone to play on the zone, which isn’t the case with the LAN. 

    Basically, I’m just bitching, I realize, and I understand that the main reason for the popularity of very fast speed is probably that people don’t like to spend all night on a game. I’m just wondering if there’s anyone out there who shares my perspective on this.

    MalachiI agree, I like to have the game on very fast until I hit bronze, then put it on fast. Then in Iron, maybe even normal. The problem with lag and very fast game speed is that the screen freezes, then all your units run of in another direction before you have a chance to do anything, then the screen freezes again. This is made worst by the fact that lag usually becomes more pronounced during large battles. I think that only the Host should have the ability to change game speed, that way everybody does not keep $crewing with it.

    Some personal views on this. Never, and I mean never I have played at very fast. I play a lot of games in the Zone, fun ones and team ladder ones, and have never encountered someone who had put the speed at very fast. 50% of the games were at fast, and the rest at normal. I guess Noah Roy was very unlucky.

    I still maintain that speed should be set in the beginning, and couldn’t be changed during the game. There is also the false myth in multiplayer about lagging games being better at fast, or very fast speed. This is not true. The game will lag more because more things happens in a given period of time.

    Faster speeds benefits also the infernal trio (Assyrians, Shangs and Yamatos) simply because they will make it easier for the missing orders of a human. Their style of play goes hand in hand with the speed of the game, that is get there fast and hit the opponent quickly. At normal speed, you have time to plan in the Stone Age, and build effective walls. Other than time constraints, I don’t know why some peoples want to play faster than normal. They’re affraid to play only one game during the evening? Better ONE good quality game, than several Bronzed before you, you’re dead games. Maybe they’re simply inneficient? They don’t know what to do other than make a huge group of units and do a mass attack, and are completely lost against an opponent attacking at three places at the same time and keeping his economy in working order. Maybe they don’t know how to deal with strong iron civs, and don’t want the game to go there? Who knows?

    Bottom line is, if you’re good at fast speed, and you bronze around 16 mins, then at normal, you will be excellent and bronze 1-2 minutes faster. – Omnivac

    goto top of news

    Strategy Tips – Sun Tzu from SimMayor :
    The great proverbs from Sun Tzu on the Art of War

    Thanks to SimMayor for letting the good words of Sun Tzu come to Heaven. Be sure to visit his site at 
    SimMayor’s Age of Empires Place.

    Sun Tzu’s proverb of the day :
    It is a military axiom not to advance uphill against the enemy, nor to oppose him when he comes downhill.

    Comment by SimMayor : 
    It’s perfectly true in AoE. The 25% possibility of triple attack by missile units downhill combined to the gravity makes hills very important.

    Probably one of the big differences between new players and experienced players. I see many players wanting to kill archery units on a hill, and trying forever by sending waves after waves of units. Or building walls at the bottom of hills that are outside of their fortresses, giving the advantage to the attacker. This is easily done by choosing where to fight. Next time you see a sizeable army running away from you, be careful. An experienced player will lead you to a battle of his choosing and own terms. – Omnivac

    goto top of news

    Agetoon – By Chris V.
    New toons
    Don’t worry if your work is not in the toons section. From now on, toons will make the frontpage, and then go in the toon section. So depending on the number of submissions, this could take 4-5 days before you see your hardwork in Heaven. – Omnivac



    More Agetoons 
    here.

    Message from the Doc :
    Dr. Fish loved the idea. Send him suggestions for the name of the photon man. And the doc told also to eat an apple everyday. – 
    Omnivac

    Time Traveller begins
    You can find right now the adventures of the Photon Man in the 
    agetoons section. Check regularly as his misadventures continue. – Omnivac

    goto top of news

    Searching in Heaven
    Find that little piece of heaven!

      Search for

    goto top of news

    History Tidbits
    Daily fix of real old news
    For a while Heavens angels will bring some history tidbits and trivia in this column. Look here every day for your daily fix of “old news”. – 
    Hamlet

    (want more? Then go to “History Tidbits – The Collection”)

    The Real-life game of Age of Empires
    Here’s my contribution for the history tidbits. Telling the real-life game of Age of Empires. I hope everybody will like it, and I will try not to make it look like a boring history class. Well, this doesn’t exist but that’s my opinion. 🙂 Read and enjoy. – Omnivac

    (Want all the story? Then go to “History Tidbits – The Chronicles”)

    859 BC 
    Ashur-nars-pal II was the cruellest of all the Assyrian kings, and his death was much welcomed for everyone. Ashur-nars-pal introduced cavalry in warfare and became the creator of the new Assyrian empire. Cruel methods of subjugation put the conquered peoples into a state of fear. Impalement, scourging and mass-executions were used. A new residence with a gigantic palace was established at Calah, built by deportees.

    811 – 757 BC
    Sian-Chien was a prince who successfully defended the Chinese retreat from the Huns in the North. As a reward for his battles against the Huns Sian-Chien received the state of Chin from the emperor. He assumed the title Prince of Chin and became the first ruler of the state which gave China its name.

    810-805 BC
    Sammuramat rules Assyria as Queen. She is one of the very few women to achieve prominance in the ancient world. It is remarkable that the mighty Assyrians were willing to accept a Queen as ruler.

    800 BC
    Increase in trade and the establishment of governmental defense fortifications allows for the emergence of Greek city-states from tribal communities. These grow up around marketplaces and include Athens, Thebes and Megara on the Greek mainland. The Greek city-states are considered the most famous units of Greek political life to develop in this society.

    800-600 BC
    The Brahmans, a priestly caste, begin to emerge in India.

    800-500 BC
    The Upanishads are written around this time; the doctrines of rebirth and the transmigration of souls start to appear, leading to important theological transformations within Hinduism.

    800-500 BC
    This period, often referred to as the Archaic period, marks the developments of literature and the arts, politics, philosophy and science. The Peloponnesian city of Corinth, SPARTA and cities along the coast of the Aegean Sea flourish. For the most part, the Greek city-states are similar in their political evolution, with the exception of Sparta’s elite dictatorship. Most begin their political histories as monarchies, evolve to oligarchies, are overthrown during the age of the tyrants (650-500 BC) and eventually establish democracies in the sixth and fifth centuries. Of the Greek city-states, Athens and Sparta were the two most important.

    771 BC
    The Chou Dynasty faces difficulty when its leader, King Yu, alienates the noble class who refuse to answer his call for help against invading barbarians. King Yu is killed and the nobles install a new leader. The capital is moved eastward to Loyang, thus ending the “Western Chou” period.

    753 BC
    Archeological research indicates that the founders of Rome itself are Italic people who occupy the area south of the Tiber River. By the sixth century BC, Rome will have become the dominant power of most of its surrounding area. Their conservative government consists of a kingship, resembling the traditional values of the patriarchal family; an assembly, composed of male citizens of military age; and a Senate, comprised of elders who serve as the heads of different community sects.

    750 BC
    Kashta, the ruler of Kush, begins a campaign against Egypt. With the help of his son, Piankhy, he is successful. Piankhy becomes pharaoh of Egypt.

    722 BC
    The Assyrians conquer Israel, leaving nothing behind. Nonetheless, the Hebrew kingdom of Judah manages to survive.

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      Headlines – March 10, 1998
    Voting Poll
    This & That
    Strategy Tips – Sun Tzu from SimMayor
    Agetoon by Perd
    Search the resources of Heaven
    History Tidbits
     

     

    Voting Poll
    Knowing fans of AoE Heaven, to better serve them
    Vote
     now! The poll will last until the end of March– Omnivac

    This & That
    Strange AOEH logo, no more
    Well, finally it is correct. The logo and links should be okay, with all the browsers. Vidguy is the angel to thanks, as he got me out of this mess. Guess, I will have to let him win the next game, and promise him not to convert any units. – Omnivac

    Play the Age and Zone Teams March 12! 
    Register in 
    The Internet Gaming Zone. In two days, play the members of the Microsoft Age of Empires team and members of the Internet Gaming Zone team, from 5 P.M. to 7 P.M. Pacific Time. See you on the battlefields of the War Cry Room, and choose your victims with an @MS or @Zone in their member ID. :^) – Omnivac

    The HEAT Wave
    From the March 1998 newsletter of HEAT.net.

    For your gaming pleasure, HEAT now presents Star Trek(TM) Starfleet Academy(TM), Age of Empires(TM), Heavy Gear(TM) and Postal(TM)!  Check the Login page daily for the Reverend’s Scheduled Events so you can earn degrees while you play.  And don’t forget to be looking for our killer Quake Mods- Final Rocket Arena, All-Star Capture the Flag and Team Fortress.  They’ll be available for intense multiplayer competition this month!

    Granary’s Top Singleplayer Scenarios
    Here’s SpineMan’s favorite picks in the Singleplayer section of the Granary, with a word from him first…

    SpineMan: I decided to start a little something to celebrate the truely great single-player scenarios.  On a monthly basis, I will post my list of favorites for the month.  The idea is to further encourage people to make better scenarios as well as provide a quick list for those people looking for the best scenarios.  If you post the list, be sure to explain that there are quite a few other excellent scenarios that don’t make the list so be sure to check out the rest and look at the comments.  Below is the list for all scenarios created from the beginning through Jan 31, 1998.  When I finish reviewing Feb, I will post a favorites list for that month.  See ya around!

    Favorites
    Rescue Mission
     
    Battle of Troy 
    Jason’s Path
    The Summit

    Honorable Mention
    Kill Robin Hood 
    Lion Quest

    Speaking of the Granary, all Heaven sincerely apologize for the past few days. Everything should be in good working order very soon. We thank you for your patience, but sometimes [snip] happens. Some other ideas are in the making also, such as the highly requested TOP TEN Scenarios. More news on this when it’s official. – Omnivac

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    Strategy Tips – Sun Tzu from SimMayor :
    The great proverbs from Sun Tzu on the Art of War

    Thanks to SimMayor for letting the good words of Sun Tzu come to Heaven. Be sure to visit his site at 
    SimMayor’s Age of Empires Place.

    Sun Tzu’s proverb of the day :
    If his forces are united, separate them.

    Comment by SimMayor : 
    That really helps sometimes. Attack to his town with a small force (without letting him know the size of that army of course) while in a major battle far away from there. If you are lucky he takes part of his army to save his town. Then you beat the rest and even the savers.

    And the reverse is also true, and work better IMO. Attack with a small force (without letting him know the size of that army also) while you prepare the REAL assault elsewhere. The main force will be able to deal alots of damage, and face little or no opposition for a while, as your opponent is going after your decoy. Timing is very important. – Omnivac

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    Agetoon – By Perd
    New toons
    Don’t worry if your work is not in the toons section. From now on, toons will make the frontpage, and then go in the toon section. So depending on the number of submissions, this could take 4-5 days before you see your hardwork in Heaven. – Omnivac



    More Agetoons 
    here.

    Message from the Doc :

    “I have been getting a lot of emails asking if they could help with my “scenario mini series” so would you mind clarifying that it is an agetoon mini series and not a campaign or scenario.  Thanks”

    The TIME TRAVELLER mini-series is about a photon man trapped in the Iron Age. You should see shortly his adventures, here in Heaven. If you have any ideas, send them to the Doc. Dr. Fish sent already 10 toons, one more funny than the other. Another good idea would be to find a name, for the poor trapped photon man. –Omnivac

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    Searching in Heaven
    Find that little piece of heaven!

      Search  for

    goto top of news

    History Tidbits
    Daily fix of real old news
    For a while Heavens angels will bring some history tidbits and trivia in this column. Look here every day for your daily fix of “old news”. – 
    Hamlet

    (want more? Then go to “History Tidbits – The Collection”)

    The Real-life game of Age of Empires
    Here’s my contribution for the history tidbits. Telling the real-life game of Age of Empires. I hope everybody will like it, and I will try not to make it look like a boring history class. Well, this doesn’t exist but that’s my opinion. 🙂 Read and enjoy. – Omnivac

    (Want all the story? Soon to be found here)

    1200 BC
    The Hittite empire is suddenly destroyed. Fortifications at Hattusas were thrown down and the city burnt to the ground. It is not known by whom. The Kaskans, barbarians from the Russian steppes, penetrated their empire around 1300 BC and plundered Hattusas. They may have returned to finish the job for good.

    1200-1020 BC
    The Hebrews are ruled by the Judges during a period of relative stability that will be upset with the Philistine invasion of 1050.

    1182 BC
    Rameses III defeats the Sea People. Rameses is pharaoh until 1151. He is the last great pharaoh to rule in Egypt. In 1175 he builds his temple palace at Medinet Habu.

    1114-1076 BC
    Tiglath-Pileser I rules the Assyrians.

    1050 BC
    The Philistines invade Israel from the North. Facing the threat of annihiliation, the Hebrews institute a governmental reform. The amphictyony proves insufficient in the face of the new dangers, so the people of Israel ask Samuel, the last of the judges, to select a king.

    1027 BC
    The last Shang ruler, Chou Hsin, is conquered by Wu-wang, and the Chou Dynasty begins. Ending in 221 BCE, it lasts longer than any other dynasty in China. It is typically divided into three periods: the Western Chou period (1027- 771), the Ch’un Ch’iu period (722-481), and the Warring States period (481-221).

    1020 BC
    Samuel selects Saul to be king of Israel thereby unifying the tribes of Israel into a nation. Facing many losses against the Philistines, Saul eventually commits suicide. Around the same time, David, undertaking his own campaign against the Philistines, proves victorious.

    1004 BC
    David becomes king of Israel. As such, he begins to build a centralized government based in Jerusalem, implementing forced labor, a census and a mechanism for collecting taxes. The First Temple period of Hebrew history begins with the rule of David.

    1000-600 BC
    During this period of Indian civilization, the Late Vedic period, the Aryans are integrated into Indian culture. The caste system emerges.

    965 BC
    Solomon becomes king of Iisrael. Intent on completing David’s plan to make Jerusalem stand out among the region’s cities and to affirm the religious commitment of the Hebrews, Solomon undertakes many expensive building projects, including the building of the temple in Jerusalem. Facing financial difficulties, Solomon raises taxes and employs forced labor.

    928 BC
    Solomon dies. The northerners, unwilling to pay taxes to help with the financial difficulties of Jerusalem and the national court, separate from the southern people. Two nations are created, Israel to the north with its capital in Samaria and Judah to the south with its capital in Jerusalem. Solomon’s sons rule the two kingdoms, Jeroboam in the North and Rehoboam in the South.

    900 BC
    The Assyrians expand their empire to the west. By 840, they will have conquered Syria and Turkey, the territory that at one time belonged to the Hittites.

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      Headlines – March 7, 1998
    Voting Poll
    This & That
    Strategy Tips – Sun Tzu from SimMayor
    Agetoon by Karolis
    Search the resources of Heaven
    History Tidbits
     

     

    Voting Poll
    Knowing fans of AoE Heaven, to better serve them
    We would like to know where you are from. We know there are many many Non U.S. Players of AOE, but just how many we are not sure. Please let us know. Sorry but we aren’t able to list every Nation in the World, please select the one that is closest to your area of the World.

    In return, we will have press releases and reviews of ES games to post in different languages for all the fans around the world. So vote now. The poll will last for the next three weeks. – Omnivac

    This & That
    Play the Age and Zone Teams March 12! 
    Another Freaky Friday in the making?

    On March 12, members of the Microsoft Age of Empires team and members of the Internet Gaming Zone team will be on hand in the Age of Empires War Cry Room. They’ll be available to play Age from 5 P.M. to 7 P.M. Pacific Time. Come on out and challenge the people who made Age and the people who bring it to you online! You can recognize a team member by their Member ID. If they have an “@MS” they’re from the Age team, and if it’s an “@Zone,” they’re from the Zone. Sound the battle cry!

    If not done already, register in The Zone, and come on in this March 12th. It will be a success as much as Freaky Friday was in January. Teach the pros how to play! :^) – Omnivac

    The Devolving of Age of Empires
    Some more toughts, this time from co-angel Azoic…

    Azoic: As an avid reader of AoE Heaven’s News I’ve been reading the recent comments regarding “devolution” i.e. bronze cav rush, with great interest. I can sympathize with the sentiment of 2 minutes more until the bronze cav comes rolling in, same old, same old… I am still a frequent victim of wel played Yamato Cav.

    But I think it’s worth looking back, who remembers when this sentiment was applied to the Tool Age archer rush in most Zone games? At the time many people expressed they felt this was a balance problem in the game, and attempted to find like minded opponents that would voluntarily refrain from this. But in the last month or two I don’t recall being threatened by any Tool Age rushes, some players have tried but I now find them easy to counter.

    I IMHO it’s not a question of player imposed “o.k. guys, nobody do this until I’m ready”, rather master the current level of gameplay you are at. Then look for an opponent(s) who can consistently counter the strategies that you use. And learn from them, or improvise until you hit on the fundamental weakness of any one strategy.

    I don’t mean to criticize those who feel the playability of AoE has peaked at Bronze Age, I would encourage them to dig a little deeper. I have seen numerous posts from, and been the victim of, the guys from Ensemble who can “blow off” a bronze age rush.

    My hat’s off to Ensemble and the beta balance testers for AoE. Think about it…. AoE passed the 850,000 unit sales last month, add to that the non-licensed users, it has taken 100s of millions of play hours of the “AoEer’s” to reach the current peak.

    Looking forward to having this discussion regarding Iron Age rushes, although we’ll have to come up with a different name as this is supposed to be end game.

    Just my 2 cents worth (1.5 cents U.S)

    The real answer is the current level of gameplay a player have peaked, not where the game have peaked. I agree with Azoic on that. Bronze rushing is simply a trend, that most players use presently. The drawback to this is you know what your opponent will do and this leads to new strategies. Tool rushing is probably the best answer to this, and contrary to Azoic, I have seen it quite often recently.

    Scout rushing can be very deadly (although more suited to Yamatos and Shangs) and bowmen rushes (any civs). There’s alot to say about 3 groups of 4-5 bowmen running around the map at 10 minutes or so, when someone bronze rush. Is it effective? You can bet it is. Tool is not simply a passing age anymore, unless everybody concentrate on the bronze race.

    If anyone haven’t seen someone do the tower sprouting tactic, this can be quite disconcerting. And walls. Build them! Too many peoples say it’s not useful, take too much time. That’s not true. Have one villager mine stone in the stone age, and 2-3 in tool. Build walls as soon as you’re in tool age. Build them along the beaches too, not only shallows, as good players will transport over very quickly. Nothing will happen to you if you’re 1-2 minutes too late. This is basic defense. To the players who says walls don’t stop anything, A big army goes through in no time, I say it slows them down, you know where they attack and when you hear TA-DAA!, it’s on walls instead of buildings or units. Always upgrade the walls too. – Omnivac

    matty‘s 10 comandments
    One more of matty’s 10 commandments in his Moral Code for AOE Players everywhere.

    6)Thou shalt not argue in public.

    We probably have all had a game where something happens, like someone disconnects, followed by a big fight in the zone. I am guilty of breaking this code but I am not proud of it. Try and keep this ‘discussions’ in a game room…and remember that if the other person just will not give you the win then just don’t worry about it. AoE is just a game and it is not important enough to get upset over.

    Speaking of game rooms, I’ll add that it shouldn’t be game rooms of others. Too often you try to set a game, only to have some players barging in and start arguing with your future opponents. At the very least, they should ask them to go talk elsewhere. Not in the room of someone who wants to play. Although sometimes it’s funny to read what they say. :^) – Omnivac

    To get more go to http://www.mba1998.hbs.edu/tseitz/Matty/moral_code.htm. Go, GO, GOOOOO – You wont regret it! – Hamlet

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    Strategy Tips – Sun Tzu from SimMayor :
    The great proverbs from Sun Tzu on the Art of War

    Thanks to SimMayor for letting the good words of Sun Tzu come to Heaven. Be sure to visit his site at 
    SimMayor’s Age of Empires Place.

    Sun Tzu’s proverb of the day :
    It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy’s one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him  (Straightway, without waiting for any further advantage.); if twice as numerous, to divide our army into two (“If our force is twice as numerous as that of the enemy, it should be split up into two divisions,  one to meet the enemy in front, and one to fall upon his rear; if he replies to the frontal attack, he may be crushed from behind;  if to the rearward attack, he may be crushed in front.”).

    If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.

    In respect of military method,  we have, firstly, Measurement;   secondly,   Estimation   of   quantity; thirdly, Calculation; fourthly, Balancing of chances; fifthly, Victory. The first seems to be surveying and measurement of the ground, which enable us to form an estimate of the enemy’s strength, and to make calculations based on the data thus obtained; we are thus led to a general weighing-up, or comparison of the enemy’s chances with our own; if the latter turn the scale, then victory ensues.

    Comment by SimMayor : 
    Scouting, scouting and scouting. Not only the ground but look at what building he has and how many.

    Look for more strategy proverbs in the days to come – Hamlet

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    Agetoon – By Karolis
    New toons
    Don’t worry if your work is not in the toons section. From now on, toons will make the frontpage, and then go in the toon section. So depending on the number of submissions, this could take 4-5 days before you see your hardwork in Heaven. – Omnivac

    Message from the Doc :

    “… doing a Mini Series, “TIME TRAVELER” is the adventures of a unfortunate Photon Man trapped in the Iron Age, I need lots of ideas for this one so post that I would like some help getting them. Thanks …”

    Hope someone will reply to Doc. Sounds like a fun project – Hamlet

    Wo-lo-lo this!!!

    More Agetoons 
    here.

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    Searching in Heaven
    Find that little piece of heaven!

      Search  for

    goto top of news

    History Tidbits
    Daily fix of real old news
    For a while Heavens angels will bring some history tidbits and trivia in this column. Look here every day for your daily fix of “old news”. – 
    Hamlet

    (want more? Then go to “History Tidbits – The Collection”)

    The Real-life game of Age of Empires
    Here’s my contribution for the history tidbits. Telling the real-life game of Age of Empires. I hope everybody will like it, and I will try not to make it look like a boring history class. Well, this doesn’t exist but that’s my opinion. 🙂 Read and enjoy. – Omnivac

    (Want all the story? Soon to be found here)

    1600 BC
    A revolution against the Hyksos begins in Upper (southern) Egypt and spreads throughout the country.

    1600-1500 BC
    The Aryans invade the Indus Valley region.

    1600-1000 BC
    Between these dates, the Early Vedic period of Indian civilization unfolds.

    1595 BC
    The Hittites, another non-semetic people who speak an Indo-European language, capture Babylon and retreat, leaving the city open to Kassite domination. The Kassites remain in power for about three hundred years, maintaining the Sumerian/Babylonian culture without offering innovations of their own.

    1560 BC
    The period of the New Kingdom begins when Ahmose defeats the Hyksos and establishes the XVIII Dynasty. The New Kingom ends around 1087. Unlike earlier periods, this period is imperialistic enabled by new modes of warfare introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos. Queen Hatshepsut is one of the rulers of the XVIII Dynasty.

    1550 BC
    Writing disappears from India for a time with the destruction of the Indus Valley civilization.

    1500 BC
    By this time, the kingdom of Kush has been established to the south of Egypt. The people of Kush, known as the Kushites, are dark-complexioned Negroids.

    1450-1300 BC
    The Hittite culture reaches its high point, dominating the territory to the North and East of Babylon, including Turkey and northern Palestine. By this time, the Hittite’s have constructed a mythology with a state pantheon.

    1400 BC
    Mycenaean Civilization replaces Minoan Civilization after the destruction of Knossos. Bronze weapons, war-scenes on art, Cyclopean defence walls, and the fact that male warriors were buried with their weapons provide evidence for the claim that the Mycenaeans were militaristic. The horse-drawn chariot emerges around this time. The Mycenaeans dominate the Aegean world for about 200 years.

    1384 BC
    In China, P’an Keng founds the city of Anyang. By this time, a mature culture including both writing and art has developed.

    1375 BCt
    Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton), concerned about abuses in the Osiris cult of Egypt, posits a new monotheistic religion, perhaps the first, dedicated to the worship of the sun. He moves the capital of Egypt from Thebes to El-Amarna. The new religion does not last long; the cult of Akhenaton is abolished under the reign of his successor, Pharaoh Tutankhamen (“King Tut”), who moves the capital back to Thebes and returns to the old religion. Akhenaton’s beautiful wife, Nefertiti, achieves her own position in world history.

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