#RISE OF LEGENDS UNITS UPGRADE#

The three campaigns, while interesting took us back to the linear storytelling of other RTS games like Warcraft and Command and Conquer. Simply put, Rise of Legends felt more like the other RTS games on the market that Rise of Nations pulled away from to begin with. The maps were smaller there was less room for improvisation with the map and resources. With everything added together, Rise of Legends felt less engaging compared to Rise of Nations. Meaning that a quick player could keep moving a big unit and crush little ones and there was nothing the other player could do.В The use of hero units also required you to focus more on rapid controls compared to Rise of Nations. Large units could trample smaller units preventing them from attacking and doing additional damage. What I loved about Rise of Nations was how the developers fought against the rise of micro management in RTS titles but it seemedВ that micro play found a way into Rise of Legends. The designs of the different sides were really quite unique. This made maps more predictable and led to specific strategies and build orders to seep into the game. Rise of Legends however definitely had more real time elements to it which took away from the uniqueness of the design.ДЇirst was that cities could no longer be placed anywhere you wanted and had to be put at specific points on the map. Rise of Nations was pretty much a real time take on the turn based strategy genre, something that was never seen before with a design that meshed perfectly with what Big Huge Games was aiming for. So how did a studio go from making one of the most celebrated strategy games of all time to one that put them out of business? Style over Strategy: But as a great shock to everybody, Rise of Legends was a complete and utter flop to the point where it became the death nail for Big Huge Games. And the unique factions stood out and gave the game a great aesthetic. The elements Rise of Legends took from Rise of Nations in the area of combining real and turnВ based design still worked. Certain maps had story elements to them and presented a special battle as opposed to the standard you vs. Split into three acts and world maps, each act had different territories and Meta rules for the player to deal with. The 'Conquer the World' mode of Rise of Nations was replaced by a story campaign. This also added a level of micro management which I'll be coming back to in a minute. These units could level up, unlock new abilities and could lead your armies. Keeping with the personalities, you also had hero units that appeared both in singleplayer and multiplayer.

#RISE OF LEGENDS UNITS UPGRADE#

So there were essentially two upgrade paths: The more districts you put on a city and what kind of districts.Д®lements like super units and heroes altered the pacing and flow of Rise of Legends compared to Rise of Nations Each city could be upgraded with districts that represent different aspects of growth which in turn unlock new functionality or advantages. Research which was handled from the library in Rise of Nations was folded into the city designs. However the three races each twisted them to their own design providing more strategic options. So the mechanics of territories, attrition and using research were the same. What's interesting about Rise of Legends is that the developers used their design model from Rise of Nations as a template for this. And just like Starcraft each race was completely different in art style, unit design and strategies. Taking place in a fantasy world where three different factions vied for control: The Vinci, the Alin and the Cuotl. While Rise of Nations was based on real world civilizations and growth, Rise of Legends went in a completely different direction. A real time strategy game that took a lot of the mechanics and flow of turn based strategy games to create something entirely new. For those that didn't read my previous postВ on Rise of Nations, Big Huge Games founded by ex Firaxis employee Brian Reynolds struck a chord with RTS fans with the amazing Rise of Nations.

Rise of legends units