Rise of Nations
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| Rise of Nations {{#if:{{{image|}}}|<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">{{{image|}}} | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Big Huge Games {{#if:{{{publisher|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Publisher(s)<td>{{{publisher|}}} |
| Release date(s) | May 20, 2003 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer {{#if:{{{ratings|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Rating(s)<td>{{{ratings|}}} |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X {{#if:{{{media|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Media<td>{{{media|}}} |
Rise of Nations is a real-time strategy computer game, developed by Big Huge Games and published by Microsoft on May 20, 2003. It was an evolutionary, rather than revolutionary step in the genre, keeping a similar structure to existing RTSs (like Age of Empires) while introducing many novel and innovative concepts to the genre. Many of these ideas are taken from turn-based strategy games, including territory, attrition and a much improved economic system. Rise of Nations allows a player to lead any one of 18 civilizations through a roughly historical time frame from Ancient Age to the Information Age. The game is also called RoN or RON for short. The leading designer at Big Huge Games for Rise of Nations was the veteran Brian Reynolds of Civilization II and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. An expansion pack, Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots, was released on April 28, 2004 and made small improvements to the original game by increasing the number of playable nations to 24, adding 4 new campaigns, and adding governments. In late 2004, a Gold edition was released that included both the original and the expansion. Big Huge Games is currently working on the spiritual successor, Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends.
Contents |
Overview
Rise of Nations was innovative among other related real-time strategy games in that one could only build within one's territory, resource gather rates were capped at various stages pending further research, and the costs of units and buildings ramp up with each successive unit or building.
Due to these and other complications, the game also lacks an aspect that was typical and annoying of other real time strategy games: near perfect build orders that emphasize luck of the spawn and clicking ability. Since villagers (resource collectors) increase in price as they are built and resource gather rates are limited by scientific advances in the library, any precise build order will rapidly become useless after about 3 minutes when the game becomes very fuzzy.
Also, since one's buildings can only be placed within one's borders, rushing with an obscure far flung barracks immediately next to the enemy city is diminished and the emphasis is instead placed upon economic development, strategic decisions like city and building placement, and timing. The amount of required micro-management ability to play Rise of Nations decently is less than other games due to various hot-keys which allows greater time to be spent on command decisions rather than their implementation. One of these useful micro-management reduction features is the infinite queue. Once activated for a particular unit, the infinite queue would pay and begin production of another unit as soon as the last completed as long as resources were available.
Unlike in nearly all RTS games before it, the citizens in RoN don't remain idle after creation until they are given orders. All idle citizens, after a brief pause, look for any nearby construction sites, unoccupied resource gathering sites, or damaged buildings and automatically move to build, gather or repair there. Players who find this irritating can deactivate it both in their player settings and in individual citizens - setting them to only build and repair, only gather, or do neither when idle.
One's borders can be expanded by (among other things) the construction of cities, so that ones power becomes based in that of large economic cities of great importance to one's victory or defeat.
Each of the 18 civilizations in Rise of Nations has its own set of unique units (the Japanese have the superior Samurai as their heavy infantry unit for example) throughout the ages as well as an unique graphics set within their respective culture groups. Nuclear weapons in the game produce a realistic and devastating mushroom cloud animation and Dog fights in the sky between fighter aircraft are well animated. Rise of Nations uses a hybrid 2D/3D engine to render buildings, but a 3D engine to render units, terrain, and special effects.
The end conditions are also made to be historically neutral in that one can win the game by a capital capture, territorial superiority, researching four dominating technologies, or the usual wonder and score victories.
A single player campaign, Conquer the World, is included in the game. It is comparable to the game Risk, except that attacks on enemy territories take place during in-game battles that can last as long as 2 hours, depending upon the scenario. The expansion added four historically themed campaigns - Alexander the Great, the Colonizing of the Americas, Napoleon and the Cold War.
Resources
Resources also undergo a significant departure from the RTS norm in this game, being shown as constant flows of resources rather than as expendable irreplaceable resources, as in Warcraft II, Empire Earth and Age of Empires. This simplifies the resource gathering aspects of the game, allowing the player to concentrate more on combat. Resource production is capped by commerce caps, determined by the level of commerce research you have achieved in game.
In another interesting twist, units and buildings 'ramp up' in cost, increasing their price as their numbers in the game increase. This causes the player to employ more balanced armies, instead of armies heavily composed of any particular unit. This is used to avoid the sort of problem encountered in games where certain units are so underpowered as to make them unusable, and other units are so overpowered as to make them unstoppable.
There are three initial resources of going concern in Rise of Nations - food, wood, and wealth. The first two are gathered via farms, fishing, and wood-camps. The third by establishing trade routes, various temple upgrades, and rare resources. Upon the onset of the second age, two more resources become available - knowledge and metal. They are both equally important for different reasons. Knowledge is collected by scholars in universities that must be purchased with wealth. Metal is mined in mines built on impassable mountains that are present in the landscape and is paramount for a successful military until it is eclipsed by oil in the Industrial Age, although it is still necessary for units that use oil, like tanks or ships.
Research
Ages
Template:Wikibookspar Rise of Nations has 8 unique ages to be researched via the library, each with its own crop of units and batch of building art. Ages divide up military, civic, commerce and science developments nicely, and each age is suited to a different style of play, even though many things stay true throughout. To age up to the next, at least two of the subordinate developments must be researched and the required amount of resources must be spent.
- Ancient Age
- before 2000 BC
The Ancient Age limits the military strength of the player severely. The inability to mine metal prevents the player from developing a strong army or navy, because metal resource requirements for units are replaced by wood requirements 1.5x greater in cost. The lack of any great siege units prohibits the taking of any cities, and the lack of supply wagons prevents successful foreign incursions. That having been said, early rushing is not completely out of the question. A plus to rushing is the chance that no attrition will take place because the enemy has not yet researched it. If a rushing player builds a barracks early and targets an enemy who has neglected to build up a defense, he may be able to take his city. Unfortunately, these attacks are feeble at best, and can be easily taken care of with a small garrison. Most military ventures in the Ancient Age will probably be in the form of raids on woodcutters and farmers.
- Classical Age
- 1999 BC - 500 AD
The Classical Age gives more leeway for aggressive players. Cavalry, generals, siege and supply all come into play, providing the player with many more options. Units become much stronger in the Classical Age, and are more than capable enough to capture enemy settlements. Economically booming players will probably have to miss out on the fun, however, because their need to reinvest their surpluses back into their economy quickly is greater than their need for military strength, and they will probably pass on to the Medieval Age without investing in their armed forces.
- Medieval Age
- 501 AD - 1299 AD
The Medieval Age tilts the balance of war back in favour of the defender. Attrition increases again, and the discovery of castles only contributes to the favouring of the defender. Several nations receive crossbowmen, which fire much more accurately than earlier archers. The Terra Cotta Army makes its appearance as a wonder, and does a good job of lessening the hassle of maintaining an army.
- Gunpowder Age
- 1300 AD - 1650
The Gunpowder Age brings about a small revolution in arms in the game. Arquebusiers are a leap forward for light infantry, and do a good job whenever they are used. Bombards, as well, weaken the defensive strength of the large cities and castles of the Medieval Age. Sea warfare is revolutionized as well, with sea bombards, frigates and corvettes making navies much stronger and more important to victory on land.
- Enlightenment Age
- 1651 AD - 1800 AD
The Enlightenment Age finishes the developments started by the Gunpowder Age, as all infantry now become equipped with guns. The cannon makes sieging much easier, and the improved supply research at the smelter makes invading less difficult. Many, if not most, nations have special units in the enlightenment age, making it a prime time for grand battles and invasions. The musketeer's (basic infantry unit) smoke created form their guns makes the battlefield all the more realistic.
- Industrial Age
- 1801 AD - 1914 AD
The Industrial Age divides the game definitively into the half with oil and the half without. The Industrial Age brings the player semi-automatic weapons, full motorization of the cavalry corps and highly powerful artillery. Land based combat becomes highly in favour of the attacker, and the faster the attacker is the better. The Industrial Age replaces the one-shot fire ship with the submarine, which is able to be used over and over again. The replacement of wood by metal as the prime building material for ships makes the navy much more powerful, although it at a high cost to the by now already overstretched miners. The biplane is not yet capable of significant damage, but can still destroy the vulnerable supply wagons, undeployed machine guns, and siege weapons of an army.
- Modern Age
- 1915 AD - 1991 AD
The Modern Age gives the player a dangerous double-edged sword in the form of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are an expensive investment, and there is a limit to how many nukes can be used before the Armageddon timer runs out (in which case the all sides lose, the whole world has been destroyed), but their effects on enemy ground forces and infrastructure are devastating. Aerial combat becomes much more enthralling in the Modern Age with the development of the bomber, aircraft carrier and V-2 rocket. Aerial control becomes a priority for the player at this point in the game, calling for an investment in anti-air defenses and sea-based air power in the form of flotillas of Aircraft Carriers. Strong advances are also made by land forces as well, as the tank becomes the fastest cavalry unit in the game, and infantry are greatly quickened. Self-propelled artillery hit the scene too, making lightning warfare ever easier.
- Information Age
- 1992 AD and beyond
The Information Age, the final age, is a collection of minor improvements in most unit categories. Nuclear missiles are strengthened, have their collateral damage increased, and have their range made all-encompassing, representing the twin developments of the hydrogen bomb and the ICBM. Helicopters, introduced in the Modern Age, make a much stronger showing, becoming the most valuable counter to tanks in the game. Artillery reaches its pinnacle in the form of the Rocket Artillery, but its importance is lessened due to the development of the long-range Strategic Bombers (which resemble B-52 Stratofortresses) and jet fighters. Air power becomes even more potent, but with the development of the SAM anti-aircraft missile and vast strides in portable anti-aircraft technology, along with the increasing cost of airplanes, extremely large air assaults become a rarity and are replaced with missiles.
End-game Technologies The Post-Information Age library research accessible after all library technologies are completed provides four end-game technologies:
- Military ends with Missile Shield to prevent missile explosions in the player's territory, and increase the Armageddon timer by two.
- Civic ends with World Government to annex conquered cities immediately, without assimilation, and all victories become instantaneous, without a countdown timer.
- Commerce ends with Global Prosperity to boost resource production and further air domination by way of Stealth Bombers and Advanced Fighters.
- Science ends with Artificial Intelligence to make all unit production instantaneous.
In practice, the Civic end-game technology is generally preferred, as it allows one to defeat another player immediately by simply taking over his capital, even if this is done by militarily overextending oneself badly. The gain of territory from this instant victory can in turn lead to an immediate game win if one gains enough Wonders or territory.
Library Research
Below is the research that takes place at the library. The names of each individual technology change to match the ages that the current game spans, but the technology's effect is still the same. The names shown are the names that the researches will have in a default game (one starting in the Ancient Age and ending in the Information Age). The boldface technologies are only available in the Information Age once all other library research (in every category) has taken place. They each provide a unique and very strong benefit to the nation that researches them.
Military Technologies
- The Art of War
- Mercenaries
- Standing Army
- Conscription
- Levee en Masse
- Nation-in-Arms
- Selective Service
- Missile Shield
Civics Technologies
- City State
- Empire
- Feudalism
- Divine Right
- Constitution
- Great Power
- International Law
- World Government
Commerce Technologies
Science Technologies
- Written Word
- Mathematics
- Chemistry
- Laws of Nature
- Electricity
- Electronics
- Computerization
- Artificial Intelligence
Non-Library Technologies
Religion Technologies
Taxation Technologies
Strategy Technologies
Fortification Technologies
Militia Technologies
Attrition Technologies
Crops Technologies
Campaigns
A single player campaign, Conquer the World, is included in the game. The expansion adds four historically themed ones - Alexander the Great, the colonization of the Americas, the Napoleonic Wars and the Cold War.
Conquer the World
The game's campaign is an unconventional one. Instead of a preset list of scenarios, it takes place turn-based on a world map divided to territories in a manner slightly reminiscent of Risk, with some diplomatic options, bonus cards, territory-specific bonuses, etc. Attacks and defenses take place in the normal game influenced by the factors on the board. There are some special scenarios with varying themes and victory conditions, but most battles are just ordinary last-side-standing ones with a time limit of 90 minutes.
Alexander the Great
The territories listed here are the starting ones. Players or enemies may take more as the game takes place.
Unclaimed Territories
The Persians
Ruler: Darius III
- Lydia
- Phrygia
- Phoenicia
- Syria
- Armenia
- Mesopotamia
- Media
- Partha
- Carmania
- Gedrosia
- Persia (Captiol)
- Bactria (Captiol)
The Indians
Ruler: Dhana Nanda
The Egyptians
Ruler: Pharaoh Nectanebo II
- Egypt (Captiol)
The Romans
Ruler: Dictator L. Papirius Cursor
- Latium (Captiol)
The Macedonians
Ruler: Alexander the Great (The Player)
- Macedon (Captiol)
Napoleon
The French
Ruler: Napoleon (The Player)
- Bordeaux
- Marseilles
- Paris (Captiol)
The Austrians
Ruler: Franz I
- Belgium
- Hesse
- Württemberg
- Lombardy
- Venetia
- Illyrian Provinces
- Hungary
- Transylvania
- Moravia
- Bohemia
- Austria (Captiol)
The Ottoman Turks
Ruler: Selim III
The Prussians
Ruler: Frederick Wilhelm III
- Silesia
- Pomerania
- West Prussia
- East Prussia
- Brandenburg (Captiol)
The British
Ruler: George III
- Hanover
- Brittany
- Corsica
- Great Britain (Captiol)
The Spanish
Ruler: Charles IV
The Dutch
Ruler: Stadtholder William V
The Russians
Ruler: Tsar Alexander I
The Papal States
Ruler: Pope Pius VII
The French Royalists
Ruler: Louis de Bourbon-Conde
- Burgandy (Captiol)
The Knights of Malta
Ruler: Grand Master de Hompesch
- Tunisia (Captiol)
The Swiss
Ruler: First Canton
- Switzerland (Captiol)
The Polish
Ruler: Stanislaus II
- Poland (Captiol)
The Portuguese
Ruler: Maria I
- Portugal (Captiol)
The Swedish
Ruler: Gustavus IV Adolphus
- Sweden (Captiol)
The Saxons
Ruler: Frederick Augustus I
- Saxony (Captiol)
The Sardinians
Ruler: Victor Amadeus
The Mamelukes
Ruler: Murad Bey
- Egypt (Captiol)
The Bavarians
Ruler: Elector Charles Theodore
Colonies
Unlike territories, colonies do not appear on the map and can not be directly captured. To gain control of colonies, you must defeat the nation holding the colony. For instance, if you manage to defeat the Spanish, you would gain control of Louisiana, Mexico, and Peru.
Gameplay
There are roughly two extremes from which to approach the game - pure economic boom or pure militaristic rush. The purely boom player will sacrifice everything else, especially military strength, towards the investment good of a powerful economy later on capable of fielding massive armies. The rush player will sacrifice economic gain early on in the hope of a quick capital sack or at least causing more damage to the opponent's economy than was incurred preparing and carrying through the rush.
Overall, a combination of these two approaches is superior as the pure economic player can be surprised by an early attacking army that destroys an important city or harassed forward builders and wasted building resources. Similarly, a rush can be easily countered with adequate scouting, which leaves the rushing player with a crippled economy and an almost certain loss in a few minutes. Thus, many of the best strategies involve light raiding of the enemy resource gatherers whilst booming economically.
Because every unit in the game has its counter unit (pikemen kill knights for example) and terrain and military tactics matter - a keen sense of generalship is required to make the best use of one's army. Indeed, with sufficient skill in creating proper unit distributions in an army and fielding that army, it is very possible to defeat a numerically superior enemy in Rise of Nations.
In a manner similar to chess, slight strategic mistakes early in the game can turn into major tactical woes later on. For example, a poor and hasty placement of a city in an empty piece of land when some more reconnaissance would have shown a superior wood placement site can lead to severe wood gathering problems later on since building a lumbermill (built to increase gather rates for the city-isolated wood-camp) would cost too much in the short term. Also, for rushes, simply using the wrong villager can initially cause only a two second delay that later becomes a 15 second delay that makes all the difference in the enemy's preparedness.
Maps
- African Watering Hole
- Amazon Rainforest
- Australian Outback
- Great Lakes
- Great Sahara
- Himalayas
- Old World
- Southwest Mesa
- Mediterranean
- Warring States
- Atlantic Sea Power
- British Isles
- Colonial Powers
- East Indies
- East Meets West
- New World
- Nile Delta
Units
There are at least 200 different types of units in Rise of Nations, ranging from the Ancient Age Hoplite to the Information Age AH-64 Apache Choppers. Most military units are created from either the barracks, stable, siege factory, docks, airfield or fortress. Unit types such as Light Infantry, Heavy Infantry and Ranged Cavalry are upgraded as the player advances through the ages. These upgrades usually represent revolutionary changes in their particular field. For example, the Arquebusier of the Gunpowder Age becomes the Musketeer of the Enlightenment Age, representing the great advantage of flintlock muskets over the earlier matchlock muskets, shown by increased attack power and reload speed. Also, each nation gets its own set of unique units. The Greeks get the Companion cavalry, the Russians get the Cossack, the Germans get the Tiger and Leopard tanks, and so on and so forth.
Because of the wide variety of units in the game, players have the opportunity to create an army customized to their tastes. Most units have a cost that is roughly equal to that of their peers. Additionally, most units use only two resource types, making creating diverse armies easier and almost required. Terraced costs further contribute to the incentive for a diverse army, as each additional unit a player creates of a single type will cost more.
Buildings
Economic buildings
- City
Cities begin as small cities and progress into larger and larger forms with construction and research. The first city built will be the player's capital city. The capital city is important because in most games it's capture will bring the capitulation of the rest of the empire with it. The capital can, however be moved, with the use of the Senate. The number of cities capable of being possessed by any one player is determined by their Civic research level. Building additional cities expands a player's National Boundaries and allows the creation of additional trade routes. Cities are necessary for economic success because many economic production buildings require the city, and others benefit greatly from its presence.
- Library
The Library is where a nation researches most of its technology. Libraries have their research grouped into 4 lines: Civic, Commerce, Science and Military research. Your nation also researches ages at the library. Each additional library built allows the player to research additional technologies simultaneously.
- Market
The Market is where caravans, needed for creating trade routes, and merchants, needed for capturing rare resources, are created. Caravans are useful for generating gold without affecting the resource cap, and the market building itself generates a small amount of gold. Additionally, the market can exchange one resource for another, assuming the player has researched the required Commerce technology to do so.
- Temple
Temples expand National Borders and provide an increase in city attack range and health. They also allow for taxation, which accumulates wealth for the player according to how much territory he owns. They also allow for religion research, which increases the health, attack range, and border bonus for cities with temples.
- Granary
The Granary enhances the food production of all farms in the city in which it is located. It also allows for Medicine research, which increases the production rate of infantry and cavalry units as well as allowing them to heal faster when garrisoned. Farming research, also done at the granary, increases the bonus which all granaries give to nearby farms.
- Smelter
The Smelter enhances the metal production of all mines in the city in which it is located. Supply research is done at the Smelter, which increases the range of supply carts, decreases attrition damage done to the player, and increases the rate at which ships, aircraft, and tanks can be built. Like the Granary, it also allows for research that increases its effect on nearby mines.
- Lumber Mill
The Lumber Mill enhances the wood production of all woodcutters camps in the city in which it is located. The Lumber Mill affords the player construction research, which increases the health and construction rate of all buildings. Like the Smelter and Granary, it also permits technology which increases the rate of nearby lumber camps.
- Refinery
The Refinery enhances the oil production of all oil wells and oil platforms.
- Senate
The Senate is the player's center for government research, and can be made to change the player's capital. The city in which the Senate is built automatically becomes the new player capital. This building is available only in the Thrones and Patriots expansion.
Military buildings
- Barracks
Barracks are where Infantry and Scout units are constructed.
- Stable/Auto Plant
Stables are where Cavalry and Tank units are constructed.
- Siege Factory
Siege Factories are where Artillery, Supply Wagon and Anti-Aircraft units are constructed.
- Dock
Docks are where Naval Units and Fishermen units are constructed. Docks are also required to allow the safe passage of land units over sea.
- Airbase
Airbases are where Aircraft and Helicopters are constructed.
- Missile Silo
Missile silos are where Missiles are constructed.
- Lookout Tower/AA Gun
Lookout Towers provide a long observation range and the ability to see invisible units, such as spies. Lookout towers have no offensive or defensive capacities. They upgrade to Anti-air Guns in the Industrial Age, whereupon they gain the ability to shoot down enemy aircraft.
- Tower
Towers provide weak defensive fortification and have a small offensive power. They are useful for Attrition research. Militia research is also available here, which allows you to transform your workers and scholars into weak fighters, useful in times of dire need. Militia also increases the attack range of towers.
- Fort
Forts provide large and powerful fortifications with strong offensive power. They can also train Generals and Spies. Powerful technology is available at the fort - Fortification, which will increase the fort's health, border effect, and range, as well as Tactics, which increases the craft pool of Spies, Generals, and Scout units. Tactics also increase the effect radius of Generals and their passive armor bonus which is given to nearby units. These bonuses also apply to the Patriot unit.
Wonders
- Temple of Tikal
- Thrones and Patriots Expansion Wonders:
Expansions
To date there has been one expansion for Rise of Nations, Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots. The additions included 6 new civilizations, namely the Americans, Lakota, Indians, Dutch, Persians and Iroquois, 4 New single player campaigns and a new government feature. By constructing the new Senate building, a player could research various government technologies that would afford the player various military and economic bonuses, as well as providing the player with a special general unit. This "Patriot" unit provides bonuses to units near it that relate to the government chosen, as well as the armor bonus afforded nearby troops by all generals. The Patriot also automatically rebuilds itself when destroyed at no cost.
Tournaments and champions
1v1 play
Rise of Nations uses an ELO rating system to rank players - in brief, this system is based on a mathematical formula that determines how often players win against other players to give a rough estimate of skill. There are, of course, players who will exploit the system or abstain from matches they might lose to gain abnormally high rankings, so the ranking should be taken with a grain of salt.
In 2004, there was a world-wide online seeded single-elimination tournament named "Expanded Hostilities" hosted by MrFixitOnline wherein participants could only use a single civilization throughout the tournament. The tournament's victor was TWC_Mulfar, winning 2:0 against TWC_Tascan.
The AoI Xmas tourney crowned TWC_Shadowz, with AU_Bird, PCA_Frogman, and other notable players making appearances. AoI later hosted the "Smurfs" tourney, where players took on new usernames to conceal their identities. AU_Wolf (as "coyote") won a 2:1 victory over KIWI_Rolex_China, who had earlier upset expert player Gigi in the tournament. Gigi would dominate the playing field in the later RoNHeavenGames:Conquer the World tournament, which simulated the game's Conquer the World map, but with human players. Starting from Asia, he conquered all the land from Europe to the middle of North America.
AoI hosted a series of biweekly tournaments, collectively known as the FastTourneys, with points awarded to whoever could show up and win. After a set number of tournament, the highest scores were tallied to give a winner. In the final tournament, a single-elimination 1v1 tourney, WH_Georgie defeated Elite_Bearz, to take second place behind Bearz overall in points. The settings of the finals were identical to those of the "Smurfs" tourney, and served as a beta test of sorts for them. WH_Georgie would go on to lose 2:0 to AU_Wolf in the semifinals of the "Smurfs" tourney.
The Revolution Gang 1v1 Tourney produced as champion: AU_wolf. His passive-aggressive Iroquois boom strategy led him to victory over the field. Coming in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively were TWC_Tascan, PCA_Frogman, and AU_sims.
AoI_Lav has compiled a list of RoN's "Best Players of All Time", much like a hall of fame. It is still under discussion at the MastersLeague website. Many of the players on the list are/were using different usernames or are in different clans, but the names used are the ones in which they made their impacts under.
(in no particular order and with no respect to clan or "era" of play) Gigi, Insertyours, El_Capitan, Heavens_Myst, Heavens_Requiem TWC_ShaDowZ, TWC_NuuK, TWC_Mulfar, TWC_Lokatzis, TWC_Goofy TWC_Dogmeat, TWC_Tascan, KRG_Jups, PCA_Frogman AU_Wolf, AU_Bird, AU_niDe, AU_Sims, AU_Nevermore KIWI_Beertender, KIWI_KillaHertz, KIWI_Georgie TuF_Astator, TuF_Montana, TuF_Revenger, TuF_Raider ROSA_shimako, BC_Karnivor, mossar_grunt, [ElitE]_BearZ
Teams
The premier clans in Rise of Nations include Anarchy Unleashed, Tactical Warfare Collective,All For One and Fishstickfoundation. Over 30 clan teams participate in weekly multiplayer play through the Masters or RoN League, which offers three tiered divisions, community forums, hosting of recorded games, and over $2000 so far in cash and prizes.
Anarchy Unleashed has dominated in these leagues because of their depth. They have captured the 2004 Team World Championships and the 2005 Masters of RoN League Cup in addition to finishing undefeated in Season 1 of the Master's League. In Season 2, however, the victory was surprisingly taken home by the Tactical Warfare Collective after a 2:1 win against AU in the finals. The Army Of Isengard won the season 2 cup, with WH, the Warhawkz as runners-up. KIWI won the third season league and cup with 2:0 victories against TWC and then AU in the semifinals and finals. A fourth season is currently taking sign ups and is in the works. The Army Of Isengard clan has now largely disbanded. Along with AoI, many other top RoN clans have become inactive. Up to date, the most active RoN clans include AFO, RU, RTS, FSF, and CMF and a couple of smaller groups.
More recently, KIWI players KIWI_Beertender and KIWI_WaVe, under the team name "ninja warriors" have taken the 2v2 FSF New Year's tournament undefeated, with KRG in second place.
Cheat Codes
Like many games, there are cheats for Rise of Nations. To activate a cheat, press the Enter key and type any of the following cheats. Then press the Enter key again for the cheat to be active. Here are some of them:
- cheat nuke - Nuke at Pointer
- cheat library [#] - Get Technology Level
- cheat resource all+[#] - Get Resources
- cheat safe - All Human Players Get Heavy Machine Gun Infantry
- cheat finish - Finish Selected Building or Item in Queue
- cheat die - Destroy Selected Unit/Building
- cheat defeat [name] - Defeat Player
- cheat bird - Create Bird at Pointer
- cheat diff [0-5] - Change Difficulty
- cheat reveal [0 or 1] - Reveal Map
- cheat sandbox - Reveal Map and Control All Players
- cheat victory [name] - Victory for Player
- ffwd #(minutes) - Fast forwards the game time by however many minutes you entered
Playable Nations and their Powers
Image:Rise of Nations scene.jpg Template:Main
- Aztecs-The Power of Sacrifice
- Bantu-The Power of Migration
- British-The Power of Empire
- Chinese-The Power of Culture
- Egyptians-The Power of the Nile
- French-The Power of Leadership
- Germans-The Power of Industry
- Greeks-The Power of Philosophy
- Inca-The Power of Gold
- Japanese-The Power of Honor
- Koreans-The Power of Tradition
- Maya-The Power of Architecture
- Mongols-The Power of the Horde
- Nubians-The Power of Trade
- Romans-The Power of Caesar
- Russians-The Power of the Motherland
- Spanish-The Power of Discovery
- Turks-The Power of Siege
Thrones and Patriots Expansion Nations:
- Americans-The Power of Innovation
- Dutch-The Power of Commerce
- Indians-The Power of Majesty
- Iroquois-The Power of the Nation
- Lakota-The Power of the Plains
- Persians-The Power of Ceremony
Reviews
- PC Gamer (UK) - 88%
- PC Gamer (US) - 95% (Editor's Choice)
- PC Format - 93%.
- Gamesmaster UK - 89%
- GameSpot - 9.3/10 (Editor's Choice)
- IGN - 8.2/10
- GameSpy - 90/100
- Eurogamer - 9/10.
Awards
- Maximum PC Kick-Ass Award
- PC Gamer Editor's Choice Award
- Best Strategy Game of the Year by ELiTeD
- GameSpot Best PC Strategy Game of 2003
- GameSpy 2003 Game of the Year - PC RTS
- GameSpy Top 10 RTS Games of All Time - Rise of Nations #8, which is arguably the best award that Rise of Nations won.
External links
Template:Wikibookspar As of July 2005, these are the most popular RoN websites.
Official sites
Reviews
Community sites
- Masters of Rise of Nations League
- Rise of Nations Heaven
- MrFixitOnline: Rise of Nations
- Rise of Nations Oracle
- Infidels Clan site
- Indews Rise of Nations
Clan sites
- Anarchy Unleashed Clan site
- Army of Isengard Clan site
- ElitE clan site
- FSF clan site
- Infidels Clan site
- KRG clan site
- KIWI Clan site
- TWC clan site
- All For One clan site
- People's Liberal Allies Clan site
- Warhawkz Clan site
Template:AOEang:Āstīgnes Þēoda fr:Rise of Nations it:Rise of Nations he:Rise of Nations nl:Rise of Nations ja:Rise of Nations～民族の興亡～ zh:王国的兴起