The full roll-out from the San Francisco Press Party. Read and enjoy!
Stone Age - Sticks and stones may shatter my lifeless bones but words will never hurt me
During the Stone Age, battles are very grisly. As you can imagine spears flying everywhere and blood squirting like hot springs. As you zoom in to the battles, you will get first class seats into one of the most violent prehistoric battles engaged. Just make sure you got your villagers protected and working as hard as possible because a shortage of resources can cause major damage to your production of units and buildings. You won't have to worry about the farms depleting because it looks like we got millennium lasting farms. The reason Rick decided not to allow the resources to deplete is because he wanted to free up your worries and concentrate more on the game than the micromanagement. Speaking of simplifying, Stainless Steel Studios made sure that the mouse is the main key to victory. So you won't have to have fingers and toes everywhere trying to manage your world. Simplicity is the word. While the battles are breaking out and the lives are taken, Prophets can caste a devastating plague that can spread faster than goose bumps on a chilly night. The plague can spread rapidly from unit to unit. So watch out for the effected ones because they can cause great damage to your town. The Plague is just one of the many Calamities that can be brought upon an opponent, but don't go running around spreading wild fires and causing earthquakes because the calamities do come in a heavy price.
Bronze Age - No settling for third place!
While the years roll into the Bronze Age, you begin to build Wonders. Wonders are wonders of the world that can be constructed to achieve attributes that may lead to victory. For example, The Lighthouse of Alexandria allows players to see beyond the normal fog of war in the sea. So if a fleet of enemy ships come sailing your way, you have more time to respond to the pre-engaging attack. Don't hold me to this one, but I believe there are about 7 or 8 wonders. The Wonders can also achieve a victory in a multiplayer match. Destroying the enemies' wonders before your wonders go down triggers victory. So get those walls up and protected because you don't want the enemy to spoil the special powers that comes with each wonder. Although, those walls won't last forever if the enemy has got siege weapons hammering at your walls.
Imperial Age - I am the king!!!
We flew from the Stone and Bronze Age to the Imperial Age. Now we got siege weapons blasting everywhere and blood soaking the earths crust. Limbs are flying and bullets are shattering, but the taste of victory in this age will send the enemy far back. At the beginning of the Imperial Age, Cavalries play a very strong role in your army. They can sneak behind enemy lines and set wave of attacks on your enemy. In every epoch there is a hero born. Heroes are one of the most important units in all of Empire Earth. Any army unit near a hero can earn great attributes to their status. This can allow a company of units with much greater strength and skill to slaughter an opposing unit that lacks a leading hero. Imperial battles can get very foggy due to smoke from black powdered rifles and siege weapons. Let's hope the winds can blow the smoke away from your battlefield. Town walls break the line of sight for the enemy unit, but once they find a way in through the wall, the line of sight is given and disaster may strike. Terrains also play a huge role in Empire Earth. If an enemy unit is on a terrain higher than the town wall, then he has given sight to the rest of his army. In tight and crowded battles, you want to be organized with your units. So Rick put in the control group feature. This allows you to group up your units into individual groups that are selected when hot keyed (this feature is used in many RTS games such as Starcraft and Red Alert). As the day turns to night, battles become firework shows. Not just in land but on sea. I turn you to Ship Battles. Ship Battles are probably one of my favorite scenes to watch because it is so dramatic with all the canons firing everywhere and the ships sinking down to the lonely dark bottom of the sea. Each ship is finely crafted to represent an "actual" ship that was out and about during that period of time.
The big screen on which the game was showcased.
A bunch of nice Empire Earth sweaters next to another poster.
Jon (left), Dara-Lynn and Steve posing in front of the camera.
![[ THE RTS CAN OF WHOOP-ASS ]](http://www.eenc.net/images/quotes/whoop-ass.gif)
