Empire Earth Interview

And as promised yesterday, we bring you our in-depth interview with Rick Goodman, Lead Designer of Age of Empires (and Empire Earth(tm), and Stefan Arnold, Writer and Designer at SSSI. We've got more Empire Earth info than you and your local football team (and their friends) can handle. Dig in, kids! BTW, don't forget to read our preview of the game if you feel like getting up to speed on some of the Empire Earth basics.

Action Trip: You recently announced that Gordon Farrell joined your Scenario Design team. Can you tell us a bit more about his creative input to the project?

They're all gonna land on that small carrier?

Is this Dune - the desert planet?

Stainless Steel Studios: Gordon, like the other professional Scenario Designers, is working on Empire Earth's Single Player Campaigns, from conception through creation and polishing. Gordon's work is focusing on one of the best known empires of ancient times.

In addition to Gordon, the Strike Team includes Tim "Yogurt" Mitchell, Jason "The Rasher" Dillman, and Steve "Lobby" Ryan - all veteran designers with outstanding reputations. Leading the team is another highly talented designer, Stainless Steel's own Chris "Eggman" Theriault. Given the imagination, knowledge, and proven design skills of this group, players are in for an incredible single player experience.

AT: Will there be a general story in the game, which kinda ties all the epochs together? And if so, can you tell us something about it?

SSSI: The story of the game is the biggest story there is: the history of the human race. The single player campaigns collectively cover the entire time span of the game and each campaign follows a famous civilization through the greatest events of its history.

AT: I'm intrigued by the empire building aspect of the game. How does it vary from your 'classic' RTS base building? Is it more elaborate in a sense? And how does base building relate to the amount of micro-management? Do you consider that a "time trade off?"

SSSI: You'll see some of the empire building aspects of the game when you lay out your towns and expand your empire. There are reasons to construct your buildings in certain places and to build your walls and towers in particular locations. Whether or not players choose to make this a cornerstone of their strategy is up to them, but the players who do will be rewarded for their strategic planning. An example is the University. In addition to allowing you to research certain technologies, the University in a center of learning that protects people in its vicinity from being converted by enemy priests. Therefore, players who choose wisely where to build a University get the most out of its special benefits.

Some micromanagement is an inevitable part of any RTS game. Our goal with Empire Earth has always been to minimize it - or, more precisely, to remove the most frustrating aspects of micromanagement. This doesn't mean players can't micromanage if they want to, they just won't have to. The empire building features of the game have been carefully designed so that they do not result in more micromanagement. They simply offer players more strategic options.

AT: Wait, let me see if I got this right; players will be able to create their own civilizations choosing from well over 100 unique attributes. Tell us a bit more about this. How are those attributes categorized?

SSSI: Empire Earth will ship with a dozen pre-defined civilizations. But with Empire Earth's Civilization Builder, you'll have the ability to create literally thousands of different civilizations on your own. Each civilization is defined by the attributes you decide to give it, and there are scores of attributes to choose from, all neatly arranged into categories. Your civilization might possess superior archers, faster aircraft, stronger tanks, or better night vision. You spend "civ points" to "buy" the attributes you want. The Civ Builder gives players the chance to experiment with various combinations of attributes, allowing them to find a combination that best suits their style of play.