Conquer the battlefield, and conquer the world.
The Middle Ages is an infinitely distant era for us who have entered the 21st century, it is turbulent and strife, but it is full of heroes and arouses people's infinite reverie. At the same time, this is a very familiar era for us, because countless literary, film and television and game works like to draw materials from here, and a magnificent fantasy epic is born.
This legendary history, academically, generally refers to the period before the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD and the opening of a new shipping route at the end of the 15th century. At this time, the world was not yet united, so the development of various regions, from architecture to military, from politics to culture, had more distinctive characteristics. At the same time, the complex feudal hierarchical relations in Europe also kept countries in a state of separation for a long time, and there was constant strife.
But because of this, this period is full of infinite charm. Many countries started from the wilderness, step by step through the efforts of the people, the command of the leader, gradually to the fullest, developed into a powerful empire, domination of one side. Such a journey, I believe, must be the yearning of countless gamers, to be able to personally incarnate as a wise ruler, watching their city-state gradually prosper, is an incomparably happy thing. Now, such stories can be experienced on mobile anytime, anywhere.
Ultra HD graphics Authentic Imperial Battlefield
On December 27, the full-freedom real-time strategy mobile game "Return to Empire" strategically cooperated by Tianmei Studio Group and Xbox Game Studios officially launched the conquest test, and Xbox Game Studios is the original project team of the famous strategy game "Age of Empires" on the PC platform, and this cooperation between the two can be described as laying a very good "foundation" for "Return to Empire", so that it can greatly reproduce the original imperial battlefield on the mobile end.
In the process of actually experiencing the game, I also do feel that unlike the traditional SLG mobile game, the picture quality expression of "Return to Empire" can be described as "very fine", the entire game has adopted 3D ultra-high definition realistic modeling and expression, while using PBR extreme rendering technology to shape details, from the perspective of lighting, shadows, the delicacy of various different materials and dynamic performance, "Return to Empire" has achieved a very high standard on the mobile end.
For practical experience, when I chose the "Chinese" civilization in the game city style, the camp full of "Chinese flavor" was immediately presented in front of me: the square and unified architectural group and space layout, the highly characteristic bucket arches and eaves, are the unique characteristics of our Chinese civilization, and when I close the camera, those wooden bridges with Chinese characteristics, the babbling water under the bridge, and the fish swimming and jumping in the flowing water further impact our visual senses. Coupled with the autumn leaves flying in the air, the roaring waterfalls on the side, and even the shadows of people dressed in Chinese costumes and them walking around, all this makes the whole world "alive". After that, with the change of day and night, the sun sets in the west, the mist gradually rises, and even the dark clouds gather, and suddenly the lightning thunders and the heavy rain pours down.
Under the premise of ensuring the balance of values and the relatively rich gameplay, "Return to the Empire" has further polished the game art, and it is really a pleasure to march and fight in such a picturesque world.
Small fish swim in the river
At the same time, Return to Empire also invited Craig Mullins, the "father of CG painting", to serve as an artistic visual consultant and produce original illustrations for the game. The "veteran" who created illustrations for the IP works of "Age of Empires" as early as 2006 has now achieved inheritance and innovation in "Return to The Empire", so the magnificent cities and pools of various countries in the game, the architectural style, and the setting and appearance of the hero are in line with the classics of the past, which really makes the old players feel nostalgic. For example, we are familiar with farmland and towns, such as the swords and heavy armor of the Roman legions; the helmets and spears of Greek warriors, it can be seen that the production team has referred to a large number of historical documents. And it is precisely this delicate visual feeling that allows us to indulge in it and witness the rise and prosperity of our empire.
The intersection of many civilizations write your own magnificent epic
In addition to the surprises brought by the powerful picture quality, "Return to the Empire" also gives players a lot of freedom in the theme framework. Set against the grand backdrop of the "Middle Ages", the game currently offers players three civilizational styles that are distinctive from this period, namely "Byzantine Style", "Frankish Style" and "Chinese Style".
"Chinese style" needless to say, it is the ancient Chinese civilization that we are most familiar with, and ancient Chinese architecture pays attention to the unity of function, structure and art, and the ideological connotation is very rich, painting, carving, fine arts and other different crafts will be applied to architectural decoration. At the same time, the building complex built around the "earth" and "wood" structures emphasizes the central axis symmetry, and there is a concise organizational law in the layout, which is orderly and orderly.
The Byzantine architectural style is characterized by Christianity and has a distinctly religious color. It is characterized by the round roof, the dome on a square plane, the establishment of the covering dome, and the weight falls on four independent pillars, the overall shape center is prominent, so that the echo of the centralized architectural form, and the use of color is endless but pays attention to unity.
Finally, the Frankish architectural style is characterized by historical reasons, combining the architectural styles of later France and Germany, and the graphic design is based on modulus, reflecting the order and stability of management.
In the "Return to Empire" game, these three city styles can be freely switched by the player, after the game process reaches a certain stage, we can choose in the monarch information, and each switch, from the main city to the residence, from soldiers to civilians, and even the natural environment, weapons and equipment, etc., will change accordingly, satisfying the desire of "I all want" At the same time, it also makes it possible for multiple civilizations to fight in the same battlefield, gentian generals, Lanling masks, and even the holy daughter Jon, when they fight together, We wrote our own grand epic.
Jon
From wilderness to full bloom See for yourself
Another thing that I felt deeply in this test was that players could witness the changing times with their own eyes.
"Return to the Empire" currently provides three very distinctive civilizations to choose from, and relying on the blessing of strong picture quality, no matter which civilization we choose, we can feel the changes in the architectural form of the main city during different civilization periods.
For example, when we first start playing, there is no doubt that we will enter the "barbarian period", when the main city has not yet formed a prototype and still retains traces of having fought with the barbarians. The architecture of the city will refer to the beams and columns of the temple, with some huge stone columns stacked on top of each other as elements, paved with staggered stone steps, and the outline of the building formed by the ancient stone walls with tight joints.
Slowly, as we continue to build and civilization develops, the main city will also transition from the "barbaric period" to the "Middle Ages", at this time, the prototype of the new town began to appear on the original ruins, and a large number of arrow towers and walls began to emerge in the town. This design style, modeled after European wooden villages, used thatch to cover the roof, was the main architectural form in the Middle Ages.
Time passed, and when the Age of Enlightenment came, the main city began to derive new town functions and battle modes, and castles began to appear. At this time, the building borrowed from the European castle shape of attack and defense integration, and the main elements of the building were converted from wooden thatch to stone, coupled with the design of four high walls, so that the main city had a better defensive ability. At the same time, elements such as hanging doors and pheasant towers have been added, which are both in line with historical facts and strategic functions.
Finally, we are bound to enter the heyday of the era, when the military and economy are very strong, and the architecture of the main city will become more magnificent. The spire-designed castle stands at the highest point of the main city, with towering minarets and slender columns.
Behind all these architectural styles, it can be seen that the "Return to the Empire" team's rigorous consideration of design not only retains the historical sense of ancient buildings, but also has more vitality in visual senses, which is in line with modern aesthetic standards. And after playing, we really witnessed the development of our empire from barbarism to prosperity, and this unparalleled sense of achievement and satisfaction, as well as the sense of historical atmosphere, made me unable to extricate myself.
epilogue
The rise of an empire not only requires the integration of time and place and the conditions of all parties, but also the shrewd leadership of the rulers, and as a history lover, a player who loves strategy games, he can now build his own country anytime and anywhere, witness its rise and fall, and feel the changes in architecture and culture.
With the testing and change again and again, "Return to the Empire" is also gradually optimized and further provide a better play experience, at least here, I feel the production team's almost harsh pursuit of quality, perhaps, for the traditional SLG mobile game, this is also a rise of "Empire".