Today, Age of Empires Mobile launched worldwide on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The epic real-time strategy series was first released in 1997, and now continues in a mobile version, bringing the franchise to a new generation of gamers.
The new title was co-developed by TiMi Studio Group (Call of Duty: Mobile, Pokémon Unite) and World’s Edge, an Xbox Games Studio.
The dev team focused on making the real-time battles feel epic on a mobile device, ensuring historical details add to the experience, and optimizing for the network to support millions of people globally playing at the same time.
Be a legendary hero
In Age of Empires Mobile, players start by choosing a legendary historic figure to lead their armies. These include Darius the Great, Joan of Arc, and Leonidas I, among others.
Liu Feng, lead game designer, said: “In terms of hero design, we specifically selected key moments for each hero to showcase their growth and transformation.”
Liu gave the example of Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. The game depicted three key moments in his life—his debut in Kyoto when he first gained fame, his duel with Sasaki Kojiro on Ganryu Island later on, and finally his transformation from warrior to scholar when he wrote ‘The Book of Five Rings.’
Liu said: “Both fictional and historical stories can trigger similar emotions, but that historical accounts are reality means they can have a stronger impact on players.”
Get immersed in historical details
The various civilizations have distinct fighting styles, too. For example, armies under Miyamoto Musashi, the Japanese samurai, are designed based on Bushido with swift and decisive actions.
But a player with a Chinese civilization will see martial arts styles in the animation, reflecting both agility and a sense of speed.
The world in which players are thrown into has to be architecturally accurate and historically correct. The studio said that the art department’s goal was to present the architectural styles of different civilizations to players in their original form.
This attention to detail gives the game the immersiveness fans of the series have come to expect.
Building for the age of mobile devices
Building out the world of a large game for a smaller screen presents a challenge for any studio. For Age of Empires Mobile, the devs also had to ensure that it ran smoothly across different mobile devices.
Liu Yu, lead game programmer, said: “We chose to use the advanced Unity Data-oriented Technology Stack (DOTS), which resulted in the game being able to take advantage of multi-core capabilities of mobile devices.
“In addition to working closely with the Unity team, we have been continuously iterating and optimizing our technology, so we can deliver the best visuals while striking a good balance with performance.”
Network optimization is also key in this mobile era. Age of Empires Mobile is a globally synchronized game and comes with advanced network acceleration technology to address the issues arising from differences in network infrastructure across regions.
Players will be able to join the game with lower latency for a smooth experience in key regions all over the world. This will ensure a large number of players can engage in combat simultaneously without crashing or lagging, allowing everyone to experience the large-scale epic battles that define Age of Empires.
Features and gameplay
Players start out by choosing to play as one of eight civilizations: British, Byzantines, Chinese, Egyptians, French, Japanese, Koreans or Romans. Each has unique heroes and troops, forming different combinations to pick their plan of attack.
The game features Siege mode, where alliances battle in massive castle assaults. Players command thousands of units using period-accurate weapons and intricate defensive strategies, with hundreds of participants engaged in a single, epic conflict.
“Age of Empires Mobile introduces a brand-new entry point to the franchise for mobile gamers, with its alliance gameplay and siege battles featuring hundreds of players at war,” said Earnest Yuen, senior director of production from World’s Edge.
“Your empire feels so dynamic, you can hear the world come alive, with water lapping the shore and wind blowing in the trees as your empire grows.”
Age of Empires Mobile is available for iPhones, iPads, and for Android devices. Visit the official site for more information, and download it from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
