Age of Empires III (AoE III) is the sequel to Age of Empires II and the fifth title of the history-based real-time strategy Age of Empires series of computer games. The game will be developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft, and is slated for release in fall 2005. The game is set between 1500 and 1850 AD, and will be set entirely in the New World, covering the European colonization of the Americas. The game will allow the user to play one of the following historical empires: the Spanish, British, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Germans, Ottomans, and Russians. Some twelve different tribes of Native Americans, are in the game as well, not as playable factions, but rather as allies. Five of these have been confirmed: the Iroquois, the Cherokee, the Aztecs, the Sioux, and the Comanche. Players can trade with and obtain unique units from them. A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates video or computer games. ... Ensemble Studios is a Microsoft-owned company that has developed many computer games, including the famous Age of Empires series. ... Video game publishers are companies that publish video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT) headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... This is listing of computer and video game genres with a brief description and examples from each genre. ... Dune 2 (1992), an early RTS A real-time strategy (RTS) game is a type of computer strategy game which does not have turns like conventional turn-based strategy video or board games. ... In computer games and video games, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. ... Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) is at the Network layer of the OSI model and is part of the IPX/SPX protocol stack. ... The Internet protocol suite is the set of communications protocols that implement the protocol stack on which the Internet runs. ... A modem (a portmanteau word constructed from modulator and demodulator) is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal (sound), to encode digital information, and that also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. ... The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, advertising guidelines, and online privacy principles for computer and video games in the United States. ... Microsoft Windows is a range of closed source proprietary commercial operating environments for personal computers and servers. ... Size of CD compared to pencil. ... QWERTY computer keyboard A computer keyboard is a peripheral modelled after the typewriter keyboard. ... Operating a mechanical 1: Pulling the mouse turns the ball. ... Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (or simply Age of Kings) is a real-time strategy game set in the middle ages, released in 1999. ... Dune 2 (1992), an early RTS A real-time strategy (RTS) game is a type of computer strategy game which does not have turns like conventional turn-based strategy video or board games. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Ensemble Studios is a Microsoft-owned company that has developed many computer games, including the famous Age of Empires series. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT) headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... Events Europes population was ~60 million. ... 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The New World is one of the names used for the continents of North and South America and adjacent islands collectively, in use since the 16th century. ... The Vikings were the first Europeans to reach the Americas, starting but then abandoning a colonisation process. ... The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Imperial motto El Muzaffer Daima The Ever Victorious (as written in tugra) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital İstanbul (Constantinople/Asitane/Konstantiniyye ) Sovereigns Sultans of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million Area 6. ... -1... The Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee, also known as the League of Peace and Power) is a group of First Nations/Native Americans. ... Alternate meanings: Cherokee (disambiguation) The Cherokee are a people native to North America who first inhabited what is now the eastern and southeastern United States before most were forcefully moved to the Ozark Plateau. ... The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th century. ... The Lakota (friends or allies, sometimes also spelled Lakhota) are a Native American tribe, also known as the Sioux (see Names). ... The Comanche Nation is a Native American group of approximately 10,000 members, about half of whom live in Oklahoma and the remainder concentrated in Texas, California, and New Mexico. ...

The game was announced by Ensemble Studios on January 4, 2005. January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

Technical features

Age of Empires III is anticipated to build upon and introduce new features to the Age of Mythology engine. One of those new features is expected to be the inclusion of the Havok physics simulation middleware engine, the physics package included in other recent popular games, including Half-Life 2 and Halo 2. In game terms, this will mean that building destruction, tree falling and other things will not be pre-created animations, but rather will be calculated according to the physics engine. Other graphical features of the game include high dynamic range lighting and support for pixel shader 3.0. Age of Mythology (sometimes abbreviated AoM) is a real-time strategy computer game in the Age of Empires series by Ensemble Studios. ... In computing, a game engine is the core software component of a video game. ... Havok company logo The Havok Game Dynamics SDK, better known as simply Havok, is middleware designed for computer and video game collision detection and physics. ... In computing, middleware consists of software agents acting as an intermediary between different application components. ... Half-Life 2 is a first-person shooter computer game and the highly anticipated sequel to Half-Life developed by Valve Software. ... Halo 2 is a first-person shooter developed by Bungie Studios for the Xbox video game console. ... Vertex and pixel (or fragment) shaders are computer programs that run on a graphics card, executed once for every vertex or pixel in a specified 3D mesh. ...

Gameplay

AoE III is the first Age of Empires game to introduce gunpowder weapons on a large scale (there were gunpowder weapons in AoE II, but late in the game and not widely used). Also, later in a game of AoE III, railroads appear. However, technological dominance is not enough to ensure a victory in AoE III; cavalry with melee weapons can still be quite effective against gunpowder units. Gunpowder is a substance which burns very rapidly and is used as a propellant in firearms. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... An army unit consisting of mounted soldiers is commonly known as cavalry. ...

It is expected that the gameplay of AoE III will be more strategic than in previous Age of Empires games, and depending on their formation, units can gain combat bonuses. Battles can be won by a numerically smaller force if the planning is superior.

One of the new features in AoE III will be the home city system, which gives players a persistent character. Home cities provide both military and economic support to colonies, though they are separate from combat, and can be improved by earning experience points (XP). Players can spend XP on researching technologies for their nation, and customizing the appearance of the home city. Another feature of the home city is that it allows players to ally themselves with various different politicians in their home country, which in turn provide bonuses to the players units or buildings. Experience points (often abbreviated as exp or xp) are a representation of a characters advancement and improvement in skills in role-playing games. ...

AoE III will be incorporating a new trade route system, where players will have to build and upgrade outposts in order to receive trade income. This differs from the previous system where players could establish routes anywhere on the map, because now the location and number of such outposts is predetermined. Players will therefore be compelled to fight and expand their colony. Trading posts will likely begin with wagons on a dirt path, and will upgrade by the end of the game to a network of railroads. A trade route is a commonly used path of travel for those (e. ... A trading post is a place where trading of goods takes place. ...

AoE III will also feature a single-player campaign, as all previous Age of Empires games did. The campaign will follow the descendants of an immigrant named Morgan Black, and will be divided into 3 "acts" and is expected to provide about 16 hours of gameplay in 24 scenarios (these numbers are still subject to change, however). The campaign will feature a fictional family with a fictional story, but the events played out will include real world history events. Similar to previous games in the series, AoE III will have three types of resources for players to gather—food, wood and coin. Also, drop-off points have been removed, so villagers will no longer need to carry the resources they gather to a building. A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is a organic material found as the primary content of the stems of woody plants, especially trees, but also shrubs. ... 1¢ euro coin A coin is generally a piece of hard material, generally metal and usually in the shape of a disc, which is used as a form of money. ...

External links

• Official AoE III Website (http://www.ageofempires3.com/)
• Developer Site (http://www.ensemblestudios.com/)
• Official AoE III Press Release (http://www.ensemblestudios.com/MoreInfo.htm)
• Age of Empires III Fansite (http://aoe3.heavengames.com)