Age of Wonders III cover
Age of Wonders III screenshot
Linux PC Mac Steam Gog
Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical

Age of Wonders III

Dev Journal: Tigrans Part II
Today we reveal the second part of the Tigran Race! In Part 1 we discussed the background and shared characteristics of Tigrans, as well as the Prowler, Cheetah and Chariot units. Today we take a look at the Shredder, Sun Guard, Mystic, Dire Panther and Sphinx. You might notice that’s 1 unit extra compered to other races; you’ll see why in the dev journal!

Expansion Soundtrack Preview & More news from the front!
In today’s journal Michiel van den Bos discusses the soundtrack for the upcoming expansion, and we a small update of little bits and pieces we’ve been working on. First, the Maestro in his own words:

When starting work on this expansion, I had to keep three things in mind: Necromancer, Frostling and Tigran. Each race evokes a different mood.

Necromancer – Dark, brooding, evil.
Frostling – Cold, desolate.
Tigran – Wilderness, Egyptian undertones

Each of these are polar opposites when it comes to their overall tone. I tried very hard not to fall into the trap of focusing on one specific mood. Composing a song based on Necromancers alone would sound foreboding, perhaps even scary, which usually doesn’t make for a compelling melody. A Tigran-centric song would contain none of those traits, but would contain more ethnic drums and instruments. Instead I chose to incorporate pretty much every element in each map song. I also experimented heavily with instruments, blending darker atmospheric instruments with ethnic ones. The result is rather psychedelic and they have a mood that compliments all three classes without ignoring their focus.

I’ve made a small collection of clips from each of the songs in this expansion. Two of them are more uptempo, heroic songs which are the main theme and combat song. See if you can spot which of the maptunes has its focus on each of the classes. Of course small portions of songs don’t paint an accurate picture, but I think you can hear where I’m going with them.

Hope you enjoy the music.

Michiel van den Bos

Check out the tune & more news from the front (including a Tigran Leader image) here!

Dev Journal: Vassals and Enhanced Diplomacy
After the previous weeks saw some journals heavy on content, this week’s journals is about indepth underlying mechanics.

Race Relations



Relations are now tracked per race, making decisions about who you make war with much more important. Declaring war on an Elven city might give you a quick conquest, but don’t expect your Elven citizens to be happy about it afterwards. As your relations with each race improves, you will be able to earn unique racial perks that boost your armies and economy as described in the Race Command Feature. However there are more benefits, like new ways of expanding your realm without warfare.


Vassals



As your relations with Independents improve through better race relations and completing quests, you can convince independent towns to serve you as Vassals. Though they retain independence, Vassals have many benefits:

  • Vassals provide you with a reliable per turn income, based on a % of the actual town’s income.
  • Unlike regular independent towns, vassals grow in population and maintain their own defenders.
  • Vassals occasionally give units as gifts to your empire
  • Vassals are allies, meaning you can help protect them via the adjacent hexagon rule.
  • Vassals can be bought to join your empire when you think the time is right.




Click here to continue to reading our new Dev Journal!

Dev Journal: Structures of Frost and Darkness
Today we take a look at a selection of new locations for the upcoming expansion. This set is associated with the cold north and the awakening of dark necromantic powers in the world of Athla.




Tactical Combat view on a Necromancer’s Circle adorned with a perfectly normal pentagram. Necromancers are just misunderstood.

For more information, see the Dev Journal.

Upcoming Beta & Mac/Linux Update
This is an announcement that we’ll have a public Steam Beta for the Update/Patch 1.5 in a couple of weeks. This free update will launch officially together with the upcoming expansion. It will be loaded with new features such as Diplomatic AI profiles, overhauled diplomatic relations and you’ll be able to test the awesome new PBEM mode. (PBEM is now the most played game mode here at the office!).

Also Lascha has been making great progress on the conversions; the Mac and Linux versions of the game are now nearing completion. We hope to have both these versions ready to drop together with the Beta of Update 1.5 on Steam, to launch together with the new expansion.

We could really help use your help to test Mac Linux, PBEM and V1.5 on as many systems as possible!


Lascha posing with the latest AoW3 build running on a Macbook Pro and a Ubuntu 14.10 Linux system.
For more information, see the Dev Journal! :HappyMask:

Dev Journal: The Tigrans Part I
Yes – we have another race lined up for you for the upcoming expansion, and as many of you have already guessed that race is the Tigrans!
These warmth loving cat people make for a great contrast with the Frostlings. With their Egyptian inspired culture, they make for a great fit in the Necromancy theme.


Prowler, Sabretooth Chariot and Cheethas with a glimpse of Tigran Architecture in the background

For more information, see the Dev Journal.

Grey Guard and Keeper of Peace Specializations
Hi there!

Because this new expansion is so big, we still have more development journals to bring you before we can announce it - and you can play it ;-)
There will be a video, name, and full feature list presented at least a month before release.

Today we’ll be discussing the Grey Guard and Keeper of the Peace specializations.

Dev Journal: The return of PBEM multiplayer
We are bringing back the PBEM system, a classic turn-based game mode that offers you an option to experience AoW multiplayer in short brackets of time, in your free moments during the day.

For more info, check out the Dev Journal on our site.

Dev Journal: The new Leaders in 3D!
Hi there! In today’s Development Journal we’re taking a look at the new Leader 3D assets. The art team has been hard at work on this for months, and is now nearly done creating all the race-class combos and an unprecedented set of extra customization options for the upcoming expansion.

Dev Journal: ShadowBorn Specialization
Newer posts Older posts