"Granted, I also have about a bazillion questions, but I do not think ganging up and posting 30,000 questions will do any good in getting answers. He may answer some, but he also may not. I think he usually posts on threads that have a discussion going on about a feature or idea for AOM. It seems to me he barely replies to lists that are thrusted upon him."
DS: My personal belief is that my spending too much time in one thread tends to kill all the other threads. It also cuts down on the participation of other fans if I just swoop in all the time and deliver the real answer from on high. At this point, I would rather participate in lots of discusssions on lots of different things. However, since news has been slow lately, I will answer some here. Let's try not to turn this thread into 30,000 questions.
"For a summary: I belive he posts on disscusions, not "Please tell me anything about AOM" threads. Start a thread with an enganging discussion."
DS: Yes, please start more threads on interesting ideas, confusion about how the game works, opinions, etc.
1) Is there gonna be a limit on how much you can zoom in or out.
DS: Yes.
2) Does water current affect how fast a boat moves?
DS: Probably not. Too much micromanagement.
3) Is there a limit to how steep an elevation that a unit can climb, and if so, does it differ for each unit.
DS: We are not handling elevation that way.
4) How long ya been work'en at ensemble?
DS: Uh, 3 or 4 years I think.
5) Are all of the God attacks purely offensive, or are some like increased food in farms or something like that.
DS: Not all offensive.
6) What do you think of the game so far?
DS: It is different from AOK in a good way.
7) Can i have your autograph?
DS: Sure. Here it is: DeathShrimp.
Hey DS can you be my daddy? lol
DS: Position already filled.
are u guys sure hes going to read this?
DS: Yes.
and i dont get it i know DS works in ES, but what does he do there? What is he's occupation?
DS: I am a game designer. Everyone at ES has design input, but I am one of the lucky guys who does nothing but design. Most of my job involves taking good ideas and fleshing them out to work in the game. I worked on scenarios for ROR, and have gradually had increasing responsibilities since that time.
Why in God's sake can't you make green open ground an option?! (In the Conquerors)
DS: It was too risky programatically. We designed the minimap to help you locate resources and plan attacks. We were much less worried about being able to make it look like real terrain.
er er is it DS who makes RMS, if so if he has spare time he needs to make some more. or make new real world maps!!! AOM is comin out what next year or 2002? so maybe he can spend some time wit us making AOC better. just a thought
DS: I made the RMs for AOK and AOC and most of the Real World maps. Several other guys helped make the maps that we released on the Internet. Sadly, we have all been too busy with AOM to do any lately, but hopefully you have not seen the last of them. Working on AOM is more than a full time job. There is just a lot that needs my attention.
1. Will AoM have Houses used to support Population like in AoK? I heard that it wont which is just fine with me.
DS: No comment. 2. If you waite untill your opponent builds his temple first, does that give your ally a tactical advantage? After all, he does know what god would best counter yours.
DS: That's the idea. Of course, then he is up in Age ahead of you.
3. I read that military units would show their upgrades as you research them, so if you research better swords or armor it will change the way your militry looks by displaying their new weapon or armor, is this still in the game?
DS: Yes, but this may not be the way the game ships.
4. Will AoM have larger buildings than in AoK, not neccessarily in proportion to the units but will the buildings look or be larger overall? Personally I would like to see them larger.
DS: The problem with making them larger is it is harder to control your town because you end up scrolling all of the time. Larger buildings may make towns look prettier, but they make the game harder to play. However, at the moment, they are in fact larger in AOM.
Yeah! I am his #1 fan! I want to be an oceanographer some day! Not really, but I do like sea critters!
DS: In some ways, it makes a better hobby than a career. Nothing is stopping you (or anyone) from visiting aquariums, reading books and magazines, watching Animal Planet, taking vacations near the ocean, etc. Always learn.
DS: Now let's see some interesting threads. Create them and I promise I will visit them, even if I don't always post.