Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome
| Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome Expansion | ||
| center Box cover | ||
| Developer: | Ensemble Studios | |
| Publisher: | Microsoft | |
| Release date: | 1998 | |
| Genre: | RTS expansion | |
| Game modes: | Single player, MP over IPX, TCP/IP, Modem or Microsoft Gaming Zone. | |
| ESRB rating: | Teen | |
| Platform: | Windows | |
| Size: | 1 CD | |
| System requirements: | P90 mhz CPU, 16MB RAM, 30 MB HD (plus 80MB from AoE) | |
| Input: | Keyboard, mouse | |
| [[Image:AoEx screenshot.jpg | center|Age of Empires screenshot]] | |
Rise Of Rome was the expansion of the 1997 award-winning RTS Age of Empires. As the name points out, it's based on the rise of the Roman empire. It featured a new architectural design, unit queuing, five new units (Armored elephants, Camel riders, Fire galleys, Scythe chariots and slingers), four new techonologies to be researched (Logistics, Martyrdom, Medicine and Tower shield) and four new civilizations (Carthage, Macedonia, Palmyra and Roman)
The expansion, however, is regarded much more lowly than AoE. Only one building design was added and it does not add notworthy features to gameplay. Larger maps were available, several parts of the interface were tweaked (such as unit queueing, using the Home key to cycle through recent events, balancing damage done by catapults. However, matchups between Egyptian and Macedonian were popular both online and single player. While egyptian priests are the most powerful in the game, Macedonian units were four times more resistant to conversion.
New units
- Armored Elephant
- The armored elephant is an upgrade to the existing War elephant. It had increased attack and armor, could trample nearby units and has a bonus against towers and walls, making it a good siege weapon.
- Camel Rider
- A completely new unit, the camel rider is essentially a defensive unit against cavalry and chariot attacks.
- Fire Galley
- Also a new unit, the fire galley is a defensive unit against other ships. It is a short range boat, armed with Greek fire that has bonus against most boats, but taking extended damage from Juggernaughts and Catapult triremes and ground siege weapons.
- Scythe Chariot
- An upgrade to the chariot, the Scythe Chariot has increased attck over priests and is highly resistant to conversion. It can also damage nearby units, which made the unit not recomendable while defending allied AI territory or in joint attacks, since after a certain damage was done, the AI would turn against the player
- Slinger
- The only new low-tech unit, the Slinger was a unit capable of disrupting archer lines and ballistas, as well as attcking enemy fortifications
New technologies
- Logistics
- Logistics reduced the barrack unit count by half, allowing the player to create a high number of foot units without passing the population limit
- Martyrdom
- By reasearching Martyrdom, priests could sacrifice themselves while converting enemy units. The target unit would be converted instantly
- Medicine
- Medicine increases priest healing rate
- Tower Shield
- The roman square shield decreased damage against Ballista and Helepolis and other missile weapons.
New civilizations
- Cartaginian
- Transport boats 30% faster
- Fire Galley +25% attack
- Academy Units and all elephant units +25% hit points
- Macedonian
- Academy units +2 armor vs. Slinger, Ballista, Helepolis, missile weapons
- Units with no range +2 line of sight
- Siege workshop units cost 50% less
- Units 4 times more resistant to conversion
- Palmyran
- Free tribute
- Gold per tarde trip doubled
- villagers cost 50% more, have armor and work 20% faster
- Camel riders 25% faster
- Roman
- Buildings cost 15% less, except towers, walls and wonders
- Towers cost 50% less
- Swordsmen attack 33% faster