Age of Empires 3 Demo is OUT!

[Malisk]

Why are people moaning so much? Be pleased with something for once.

Eh, and why do you want people to lie, exactly?

[Dane]

first time playing it, and i will actually buy it too.

[Mystical112]

But i f'ing hate the limit on how many bulidings i can have such as 7 guard towers. and 20 houses, This sucks i think.

586499690[/snapback]

yea thats how i lost the first mission... then the 2nd time around i just beat the crap outta the other army then build the trading posts....

i think the game is alright works pretty good... i checked the release date its oct 25 thats pretty far i thought it be sooner but i guess they still have some bugs to work out....

Edited September 9, 2005 by Mystical112

[Borbus]

i* scrolling is awful - 'right-mouse-button-held + direction' is a much better idea and more user friendly

I'm glad somebody agrees with me. I couldn't play the demo at all becasue of the awful scrolling. Putting the mouse to the edge of the screen makes it race past where I wanted it to go before I can even think about what has happened. Then trying to go back it goes even further the other way. There is no way to control the speed of the scroll and it takes a massive movement of the mouse to get it to change direction. If it had right mouse + direction style, I would actually be able to play it and might have even liked it.

[Rigby]

Actually you can adjust the scrolling speed in the options menu. It's very touchy right now though, I hope they fix it. I read on another forum that Ensemble has fixed over 600 bugs and have shrinked the interface a bit, so maybe by the time it's in stores it won't be so bad.

[digitalsoft]

well so far i think the demo is CLASS.

at first i was disapointed how the graphics look no way as good as they do on screenshots.. and i do have everything on MAX.

anyways i've managed to spend 10 hours today playing just 2 skirmish games :D

[bryce_56]

I don't know what everyone is complaining about. I think the game is totally awesome. The way the building explode, guys get blown up by the cannons and roll into the water. Of course there are a few minor bugs to fix(most importantly is the unit control). I cannot wait until the game is released to the masses. I think everyone is a little to critical of a DEMO version, of course there are alot of features that are not in the demo it just makes you want the full and final version more. Patients people it will all work out :)

[nekrosoft13]

i tried the demo

huge disapoitment

it looks about the same as AOEII

glad i got mine Earth 2160, because i won't waste anytime playing this AOEIII garbage

[WildFire]

everyone who has an ATI card has that problem, it's quite rediculous really

586499176[/snapback]

Er what? I have an ATI card...

I find it all almost unplayable becasue of the poor scrolling. In command and conquer games including generals...

586494854[/snapback]

I agree about the scrolling being a little bit weird too - but you can change the scroll speed of course. I especially know what you mean with regard to Generals... so I think it's more just missing that feature than the scrolling being "bad".

[agent_9000]

everyone who has an ATI card has that problem, it's quite rediculous really

586499176[/snapback]

??? I have a Radeon 9800 PRO, and I have no problem!! ???

[briangw]

it looks about the same as AOEII

Are you smoking crack??? Can I have some????

Geez, update your video card from that Monster PCI you have! :rolleyes: :whistle:

[Groovedude]

Are you smoking crack??? Can I have some????

Geez, update your video card from that Monster PCI you have!  :rolleyes:  :whistle:

586500551[/snapback]

if im correct he has an x850 :unsure: i dont think he needs to update..

and the game doesnt ever run here stupid B&W textures ?

the menu is a solid white background :sleep:

[nekrosoft13]

yes you are correct

[Leo Natan]

Well, got to have a PS3 compatible card(GF6+, r520) to fully enjoy it (HDR), but it actually looks and runs great on a Radeon 9800 Pro (With no problems described above).

[Groovedude]

Well, got to have a PS3 compatible card(GF6+, r520) to fully enjoy it (HDR), but it actually looks and runs great on a Radeon 9800 Pro (With no problems described above).

586500651[/snapback]

im using a 9800pro as well ??? odd :wacko:

[Shibby]

Also the sounds at the moment sound GREAT.

got 2 big ships that can bomb buldings. the sound they make shakes my room.

And when i shoot cannons at buldings, you do see bits fall off them and the great thing is it's like got a slight delay like you would see in the movies.

Thats a great part of the game i like :D

[kaffra]

everyone who has an ATI card has that problem, it's quite rediculous really

586499176[/snapback]

i dont know what issues people are having but no problems here with my 9800p

[briangw]

Same here. I have a 9800 Pro and I can't see how this looks worse than AOE2. In fact, it looks a hell of a lot better than EE2.

[Hurmoth]

i tried the demo

huge disapoitment

it looks about the same as AOEII

glad i got mine Earth 2160, because i won't waste anytime playing this AOEIII garbage

586500407[/snapback]

I can't completely agree with you about it looking the same as AOEII, however, I do agree that this is a huge disappointment though. The graphics don't seem anything like what the videos and screenshots that have been touted by Microsoft/Ensemble Studios. AOM was the exact same way, awesome graphics in the videos and screenshots, but huge disappointment when it was finally released.

I have a BFG nVidia 7800GTX OC and the graphics are really bad compared to what the videos I've seen show.

I personally have canceled my order from Amazon.com and I encourage everyone else to do the same, let's send a message to Microsoft that we won't stand for this anymore :crazy:

[EDIT] I wonder if it is possible that this was released to the general public in a beta condition. I mean, look, it is only September and the game isn't being released until the middle of October (October 18). How many other games have been released more then a month ahead of the game? As far as I know, not many... except for public previews (beta condition). Maybe it's just me :/

[GCNaddict]

I can't completely agree with you about it looking the same as AOEII, however, I do agree that this is a huge disappointment though. The graphics don't seem anything like what the videos and screenshots that have been touted by Microsoft/Ensemble Studios. AOM was the exact same way, awesome graphics in the videos and screenshots, but huge disappointment when it was finally released.

I have a BFG nVidia 7800GTX OC and the graphics are really bad compared to what the videos I've seen show.

I personally have canceled my order from Amazon.com and I encourage everyone else to do the same, let's send a message to Microsoft that we won't stand for this anymore :crazy:

[EDIT] I wonder if it is possible that this was released to the general public in a beta condition. I mean, look, it is only September and the game isn't being released until the middle of October (October 18). How many other games have been released more then a month ahead of the game? As far as I know, not many... except for public previews (beta condition). Maybe it's just me :/

586502312[/snapback]

no the graphics actually got better once I compared them

I dont know what you did but when you jack up the quality settings on the nvidia drivers (same with the ati drivers) the true quality shines :) and its exactly the same as the screenshots earlier.

edit: compare this with this

actually, look at this screenshot instead.

things to note in the comparisons:

1. I was using vista, so the quality settings were not touch(ed/able)/adjust(ed/able).
   
2. My card is a 5700 ultra, so some things may be lacking by default
   
3. The game supports HDR but it is turned off by default (Help & Tools >> Options >> Graphics Options >> Bloom Effect) (turn it on and im positive the screenshots will match in terms of quality
   
4. Water reflections from this angle are poor. While in-game, water reflections improve drastically :)
   

Edited September 10, 2005 by GCNaddict

[GCNaddict]

well it seems I cant edit my old post anymore. Here's a shot of the water compared to the water microsoft showed off 4 months earlier.

The polygon counts of everything seem to be relatively similar. If I had a warship (called a monitor) built, then I would have shown to you that the polygon counts are the same. Also, the water quality is exactly the same :)

Edited September 10, 2005 by GCNaddict

[breakuoff]

awesome game whoot

[obscure_detour]

I honestly don't know what you people are talking about. The game has some flaws, yes, but why is everybody getting so overworked about it. I was a huge fan of AOE and AOEII. My favorite RTS ever. I mean really the only other RTS's I've enjoyed are Starcraft, Warcraft, and RON.

Now lets not forget it is a demo. The game hasn't even gone gold yet. I have a 9800XT with Catalyst 5.8 and the game runs glorious at 1280x960 with high details, except for FSAA on. The gameplay is everything I hoped it would be, being as AOM was a little disappointing for me. I think it's more along the lines of AOEII gameplay.

And whats wrong with the graphics, I think they look amazing. The units have good characteristics, and even emotionally cheer as in BFME. Which is kinda cool. The buildings do not look like blocks with bad textures. The only thing I could remotely agree with any of you on is that the UI in-game is a little big. And few of the other minor flaws. I can't wait for the retail product though. I don't think the scrolling is that much of an issue, I think that BFME was worse in scrolling, imho.

All in all, yeah, was expecting a little better product, but I can deal. It's fun, new and gets me jazzed. Maybe I'm stupid, but maybe I can look past the minor bugs and concentrate on the goal of AOEIII. And focus on a game that needs a little improvement, but those aren't gonna stop me from having a good time.

Some screens...

Main Screen - Looks very nice to me.

City - Notice the water reflections and steam in various locations. It's zoomed out pretty far, but still looks pretty nice to me.

Victory - Notice the Mill getting blown up, with the pieces of it flying off with shadows. Also the birds and their shadows, and the foilage around the water lines. Seems pretty nice to me.

[Raraku]

Good to see a few more positive views in this thread since my last post... I think it's a great game and will also be buying it when it comes out, as it'll only get better.

These people don't seem to have any faith in a company that has delivered some of the best RTS games ever made.

[ahmz]

I must admit, i'm quite surprised, and glad, at how good it runs on my 64mb GeForce4! :) I still prefer the simplicity/pace/gameplay of AoE1 though, I don't think any RTS game will ever beat it, in my eyes anyway :)