Age of Empires Online

Age of Empires Online
Studio	Gas Powered Games , Robot Entertainment
Publisher	Microsoft
Erstveröffent- lichung	August 16, 2011
platform	Windows
genre	Real time strategy game
Game mode	Multiplayer
control	Keyboard , mouse
system advantages preconditions	CPU : Dual Core, 2 GHz RAM : 1 GB (Win XP) / 1.5 GB (Vista / 7 32-bit) / 2.5 GB (Win 7 64-bit) Hard disk: 5 GB Graphics : 128 MB with Shader Model 2 support
Age rating	USK PEGI

Age of Empires Online ( AoEO for short ) is a mixture of real-time strategy game and massively multiplayer online game , based on the real-time strategy game series of the same name from Microsoft . It was released on August 16, 2011 and officially discontinued on July 1, 2014. Since the end of 2017, AoEO can be played again for free as the AoEO Celeste Fan Project on a server hosted by independent developers. The Project Celeste team has received the appropriate rights and developer tools from Microsoft.

Gameplay

The version of Age of Empires Online originally published by Microsoft played like its predecessors , but with typical MMO elements. Each player had their own city, which they could expand further in the course of the game. This represented the player and served as the starting point for all adventures in AoEO. Every city had its own quest NPCs , which constantly provided the player with new tasks. Completed quests provided experience and other rewards. Unlike in the previous parts, not all technologies and units were available at the beginning of the game. After reaching a certain number of points, the player rose to a level and could then distribute various skill points in the palace. The level of the game determined, among other things, up to which age you could advance. As the ages and technologies advanced, new units and buildings became available. In addition, you could make items from captured raw materials and sell them to other players.

Several playable civilizations were available to the player in the premium version.

The version of AoEO released by Project Celeste at the end of 2017 currently (as of January 2019) only contains a few MMO elements and instead focuses on the original concept of Age of Empires games with classic single-game and multiplayer modes.

Premium content

The player had various premium packages to choose from, which could be purchased in the game's own shop, on the Games for Windows Live website or on Steam. The player had, among other things, decorations for his capital and the additional package ("Add-on") The Defense of Crete ; in this the player had to defend himself against waves of intruders. In addition, the respective civilizations were available as premium cultures. The player got access to better items, advisers, more space for the items and the full technology tree. The team at Project Celeste has refrained from this concept and does not publish any relevant content, although the developer tools are available.

Development history

It was released on August 16, 2011. The game was originally developed by Robot Entertainment . On February 24, 2011, it was announced that it had been acquired by Gas Powered Games , the developer of Supreme Commander . The game was operated by Microsoft . The development was stopped in early 2013.

AoEO was a free-to-play game that could be downloaded for free from the online distribution platforms Games for Windows Live and Steam . The game could be expanded with various paid premium packages. After the purchase, for example, special items, more campaigns (“quests”) and units were available. These packages were available in the Games for Windows Live Marketplace or on Steam. In addition, the premium version of the Greeks was available in retail as a retail version. This included a reference card for keyboard shortcuts, a limited edition poster and advisor cards.

On July 1, 2014, the Microsoft server was shut down. AoEO has been available again since the end of 2017 and, with Microsoft's approval, is continuously being developed by Project Celeste.

Web links

• Age of Empires Online at MobyGames (English)
• Project Celeste (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ how-to-install-and-play-aoeo-celeste-fan-project - projectceleste. Retrieved January 13, 2019 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Age of Empires Online returns thanks to a fan project. December 14, 2017, accessed January 13, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Article “Further development of Age of Empires Online stopped” on golem.de , January 4, 2013.
4. ↑ Gamestar