Civilizations in Age of Empires Online generally have about three brand new buildings that move the civ into its own thematic direction. The Indians will be no different, and we have already revealed to you their Plantation (an oversized Farm) and their Shrine (a resource generating, monkey spawning religious building). Their third major building will be arriving later.
Their Town Center, however, will be fairly standard, though it will train something other than the Villager, which we will discuss in the future.
Today we are revealing how the Town Center looks in the early game.
Age 1 and 2 Town Centers
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Max and Eamon began working on the Town Center almost immediately, as it is obviously the cornerstone building in any civ. To nail down the entire architectural aesthetic of the Indians, there is no better place to start that with the Town Center. Accordingly, ours went through a few rounds of drafts before we finalized them. Most notably, the roof begins in Age 1 with the fairly flat, blocky roof that you may recall from some other buildings. =========================
Here's a quick line-up of all Age 1 and Age 2 Town Centers for all civilizations:
Villagers
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We endeavor to create civs that feel like natural additions to our game, so we tend to follow well-trodden design patterns. Because the Indians do not need a special version of the Villager, they have the standard Villager unit.
But that doesn’t mean theirs is boring. The Villager is the most important and heavily used unit in the game, so we need ours to feel as Indian as possible. But those aspects will be artistic rather than substantive.
Eamon, Max, and Phillus added a few flourishes:
First, we are suckers for good moustaches, and in epic historical films, Bollywood habitually depicts Indians with some amazing facial hair. We are by no means going to limit the civ’s moustaches to the Villager, but the male Vil is definitely strong in that department. Eamon even added a little chest hair, to boot.
Third, Phillus provided the Indian Vils with an exclusive animation that allows them to carry their resources in baskets balanced on their heads. Head-carrying is common throughout the world, but generally more in India/Southeast Asia and Africa than in the locations of the existing seven civs. Again, this is a detail that has zero effect on gameplay. However, these tiny details are the kinds of thing that really set AoEO apart from all the other games, and we have so much pride in finding little ways to sprinkle them into our content. To us, it’s worth every extra hour, and we hope it is to you all, as well.
Hans did that amazing portrait of the Villagers, by the way. He cranked out a ton of art for us last summer.
Bowman and Ranger Gear Progression
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These are the two units available in the Archery Range, and we previously revealed them in an earlier blog. At that time we only had the basic models. Over the last couple of weeks, Eamon has gone back through and completed the many versions necessary for different gear. We think they look phenomenal.===================================
More Capital City Decorations
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To wrap this blog up, here are two more Indian Capital City buildings; the Advisor Hall and the Gear Hall, which are part of the core set of Capital City buildings, available to every civilization.===========================
Thanks for reading, and we look forward to revealing more of the Indians again soon. Please let us know your thoughts and questions below!
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