Genie Engine

The Genie engine was developed as the basis for Ensemble Studios' first game, Age of Empires which had the development name of "Dawn of Man".{{cite book|last=Grossman|first=Austin|title=Postmortems from Game Developer|publisher=Focal Press|year=2003|isbn=1-57820-214-0}} The designers received much of their inspiration from the game Civilization, with its proven historical setting; this was noted among reviewers as something positive.{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/games/empires/behind.htm|title=Behind the Scenes|publisher=Microsoft.com|access-date=2008-09-02}} Age of Empires was designed by Bruce Shelley,{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/games/empires/behind_bruce.htm|title=Behind the Scenes: Bruce Shelly|publisher=Microsoft.com|access-date=2008-09-02}} Tony Goodman (in charge of the game's artwork),{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/games/empires/behind_tony.htm|title=Behind the Scenes: Tony Goodman|publisher=Microsoft.com|access-date=2008-09-02}} Dave Pottinger (in charge of the game's artificial intelligence),{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/games/empires/behind_dave.htm |title=Behind the Scenes: Dave Pottinger |publisher=Microsoft.com |access-date=2008-09-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013144438/http://www.microsoft.com/games/empires/behind_dave.htm |archive-date=2008-10-13 }} and Matt Pritchard (in charge of the game's graphics).{{cite web|url=http://aok.heavengames.com/gameinfo/interviews/pritchard|title=Matt "The Optimizer" Pritchard|access-date=2017-05-03|archive-date=2010-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100908030930/http://aok.heavengames.com/gameinfo/interviews/pritchard|url-status=dead}} The game was described as "Civilization II meets Warcraft II"{{cite web|url=http://www.gamerevolution.com/oldsite/games/pc/strategy/ageofempires.htm|title=Build an Empire to Surpass Microsoft's|publisher=Game Revolution|author=Daniel Gies|access-date=2008-02-24|date=November 1997|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902071819/http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/age-of-empires|archive-date=2012-09-02}} and this shows in the game's engine design. Like Warcraft it is real time strategy but unlike Warcraft and like Civilization II it is historical and has an isometric perspective.

The design team for the sequel, The Age of Kings, intended to complete the game within a year by using code from the original and reusing the game engine.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/features/gdcarchive/2000/terrano.doc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227154204/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/gdcarchive/2000/terrano.doc |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 27, 2008 |title=The Art of Empires|format=.doc|publisher=Gamasutra|access-date=2008-09-22}} Several months into the process they found they would not be able to complete a game of the quality they sought in that time. Ensemble Studios informed Microsoft they would need another year and instead created Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome, an easily developed expansion pack of Age of Empires, as a compromise which could be released for Christmas 1998.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000307/pritchard_01.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000408201327/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000307/pritchard_01.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 8, 2000|title=Postmortem: Ensemble Studios' Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings - Catching Up|publisher=Gamasutra|author=Matt Pritchard |date=2000-03-07|access-date=2008-09-20}} To help meet the next year's deadline, additional programmers, artists, and designers were employed.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000307/pritchard_02.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000408222615/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000307/pritchard_02.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 8, 2000 |title=Postmortem: Ensemble Studios' Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings — What Went Right|publisher=Gamasutra|author=Matt Pritchard|date=2000-03-07|access-date=2008-09-20}}

The original Age of Empires had been criticized for its artificial intelligence (AI). Because the original AI did not "cheat"{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/games/empires/behind_dave.htm |title=Dave Pottinger |publisher=Microsoft |access-date=2008-09-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013144438/http://www.microsoft.com/games/empires/behind_dave.htm |archive-date=2008-10-13 }} by attributing itself extra resources or using other techniques the human player could not, it was easier to defeat than in many other real-time strategy games. For The Age of Kings, Ensemble Studios attempted to develop a more powerful AI system that did not compromise by cheating. Industry veteran Mario Grimani led Ensemble Studios in the creation of the new system. To overcome another significant objection to Age of Empires—that of path finding—the team completely redesigned the game engine's movement system.

The team was less successful in resolving other issues; programmer Matt Pritchard complained following the release of Age of Empires that there was still no process by which patches could be issued. Extensive cheating in multiplayer games of Age of Empires came as a result of several bugs in the game, which resulted in Microsoft promising Ensemble Studios there would be a patch process for The Age of Kings. On release, there were several bugs that needed immediate attention, but the patch process was not yet ready. The first patch was released 11 months later.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000307/pritchard_03.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000408233150/http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000307/pritchard_03.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 8, 2000 |title=Postmortem: Ensemble Studios' Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings — What Went Wrong|publisher=Gamasutra|author=Matt Pritchard|date=2000-03-07|access-date=2008-09-21}}{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/games/age2/downloads.htm |title=Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings Downloads|publisher=Microsoft|access-date=2008-09-21}}

Ensemble Studios developed a new terrain system for The Age of Kings, with 3D presentation capabilities that were vastly superior to those of Age of Empires. Pritchard noted an improvement in the team's artistic abilities following their work on the past two games, and he is noted as saying that "AoK became a showcase for their improved talent". However, he complained about the lack of an art asset management tool, while other departments gained new tools and automated procedures to assist in design and play testing.

The Age of Kings saw the introduction of a triggers system for its scenario editor. The triggers allow messages to be displayed, or actions to take place, based on pre-set criteria or "events".{{cite web|url=http://pc.ign.com/articles/069/069876p1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021021191036/http://pc.ign.com/articles/069/069876p1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 21, 2002 |title=Age of Empires II: The Barbarossa Campaign|author=Greg Street|date=1999-08-27|publisher=IGN|access-date=2008-09-27}} The scenario editor was also improved by the new AI system. The AI and trigger systems interacted regularly in the single player campaigns.{{cite web|url=http://pc.ign.com/articles/070/070268p1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020306002910/http://pc.ign.com/articles/070/070268p1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 6, 2002 |title=Age of Empires II: The Genghis Khan Campaign|author=Greg Street|date=1999-09-10|publisher=IGN|access-date=2008-09-27}} Numerous upgrades were added in The Conquerors but this was mostly in terms of gameplay and not engine advancements.

Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds was developed by LucasArts by licensing the Genie game engine from Ensemble Studios. The game, as well as the Clone Campaigns expansion pack, was designed and directed by Garry M. Gaber.[http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,26679/ MobyGames - Garry Gaber]

The Genie Engine has several features that are common across all its games, including a scenario editor, campaigns, LAN, serial and TCP/IP multiplayer, background music amongst others. The engine uses an isometric tile set, unlike other real-time strategy engines such as the one used for Warcraft.

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File:Swgbbox.jpg

• Age of Empires
• Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome
• Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
• Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
• Age of Empires II: The Conquerors
• Age of Empires II: The Forgotten
• Age of Empires II: The African Kingdoms
• Age of Empires II: Rise of the Rajas
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Lords of the West
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dynasties of India
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Mountain Royals
• Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
• Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns

File:Age of Mythology ingame screenshot.jpg]]

File:Magna-Graecia-Redux-1600x1200.jpg]]

The games based on the engine have usually been rated highly with Age of Empires having sold over three million copies by 2000{{cite web|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/features/20000307/pritchard_pfv.htm |title=Postmortem: Ensemble Studios' Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings |publisher=Gamasutra|author= Matt Pritchard |date=2000-03-07|access-date=2008-02-01}} and having an average score of 87% from GameRankings.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/90380.asp |title=Age of Empires|publisher=GameRankings|access-date=2008-06-17}} The Age of Kings was a bigger critical success than the first game, with Game Rankings and Metacritic scores of 92%.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/63605.asp |title=Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings|publisher=GameRankings|access-date=2008-06-17 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/ageofempires2theageofkings|title=Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (pc: 1999)|publisher=Metacritic|access-date=2008-06-17|archive-date=2008-06-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623221512/http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/ageofempires2theageofkings|url-status=dead}} The Age of Empires expansions for both games received slightly less praise but were still very well received.{{cite web|url=http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/66971.asp|title=Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome|publisher=GameRankings|access-date=2008-06-17}}{{cite web|url=http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/914421.asp |title=Age of Empires II: The Conquerors|publisher=GameRankings|access-date=2008-06-17 }} Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds received generally positive reviews, both from critics{{Cite web |url=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/starwarsgalacticb/review.html?mode=web |title=List of reviews for Galactic Battlegrounds |access-date=2009-11-18 |archive-date=2011-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525075304/http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/starwarsgalacticb/review.html?mode=web |url-status=dead }} and fans.{{Cite web |url=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/starwarsgalacticb/players.html |title=GameSpot User Reviews for Galactic Battlegrounds |access-date=2009-11-18 |archive-date=2009-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903121308/http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/starwarsgalacticb/players.html |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/star-wars-galactic-battlegrounds/ |title=Moby Games Profile of Galactic Battlegrounds, with User Reviews |access-date=2009-11-18 |archive-date=2011-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027063632/http://www.mobygames.com/game/star-wars-galactic-battlegrounds |url-status=dead }} GameRankings gave the game a score of 77%, based on 38 media outlets.[http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/470395.asp?q=Galactic%20Battlegrounds GameRankings score for Galactic Battlegrounds] However, Galactic Battlegrounds did have vocal critics.{{Cite web |url=http://gamerevolution.com/review/pc/star_wars_galactic_battlegrounds |title=Game Revolution Review for Galactic Battlegrounds |access-date=2009-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829235354/http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/pc/star_wars_galactic_battlegrounds |archive-date=2008-08-29 |url-status=dead }}

The Genie engine was succeeded by the Age of Mythology engine used by the games in that series as well as Age of Empires III and its expansions. The most significant changes are the updated graphics engine and the inclusion of the Havok physics middleware engine,{{cite web|url=http://pc.ign.com/articles/594/594629p1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050312005957/http://pc.ign.com/articles/594/594629p1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 12, 2005 |title=Age of Empires III|publisher=IGN|author=Steve Butts|date=2005-03-09|access-date=2008-06-17}} as well as the introduction of home cities.{{cite web|url=http://www.ageofempires3.com/age3/GameFeatures/HomeCity.aspx |title=Home City|publisher=Ensemble Studios|access-date=2008-01-18}}

The design of the Genie engine has been mirrored in later game titles such as Empire Earth,{{cite web | url=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/empireearth/review.html | title=GameSpot Empire Earth review | publisher=GameSpot | author=Kasavin, Greg | date=2001-11-13 | access-date=2006-12-30}} Cossacks: European Wars,{{cite web|url=http://au.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/cossackseuropeanwars/review.html|title=Cossacks: European Wars for PC Review|publisher=CNET Networks|access-date=2008-08-31|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814031943/http://au.gamespot.com/cossacks-european-wars/reviews/cossacks-european-wars-review-2702187/|archive-date=2012-08-14}} Theocracy,{{cite web|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/theo_p|title=Theocracy Preview|date=26 January 2000 |publisher=Eurogamer|access-date=2009-11-19}} Tzar: Burden of the Crown,{{cite web|url=http://ca.ign.com/articles/1999/10/26/tzar-burden-of-the-crown-2|title=Tzar: Burden of the Crown|publisher=IGN|date=1999-10-26|access-date=2016-12-15}} and Rise of Nations. Most of these games have also been critically successful.{{cite web | url=http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/930409.asp | title=Empire Earth reviews | publisher=Game Rankings | access-date=2007-03-16}}[http://www.bighugegames.com/press_rongoldships.shtml PRESS ROOM: October 27, 2004 - Rise of Nations: Gold Ships] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070922104639/http://www.bighugegames.com/press_rongoldships.shtml |date=September 22, 2007 }}{{cite web |title=Stronghold (pc: 2001) |website=Metacritic |url=http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/stronghold |date=2009-06-12 |access-date=2009-06-12 |archive-date=2012-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819074123/http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/stronghold |url-status=dead }} The in-development free software real time strategy game 0 A.D. by Wildfire Games started out as an Age of Empires II modification and boasts many similarities to Age of Empires in its current design on top of its new engine Pyrogenesis.{{cite web|url=http://www.moddb.com/engines/pyrogenesis|title=Pyrogrensis Engine|publisher=Mod DB|access-date=2009-10-18}} Openage is another free software project trying to create a modern re-implementation of the original Genie Engine using C++ and Python.{{cite web|url=https://openage.sft.mx/|title=openage - free strategy game engine|access-date=2019-02-17}}{{cite web|url=https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/openage-the-open-source-game-engine-for-age-of-empires-ii-and-more-games-is-advancing.10568|title=openage, the open source game engine for Age of Empires II and more games is advancing|publisher=GamingOnLinux|access-date=2019-02-17}}{{-}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.ensemblestudios.com/ Ensemble Studios] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225083904/http://www.ensemblestudios.com/ |date=2008-12-25 }}: the developers of the engine

{{Genie Engine games}}

{{Video game engines}}

Category:1997 software

Category:Genie Engine games

Category:Video game engines