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| Zone Player Becomes Age of Kings Play Tester! | |
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Last year, Kevin Holme, aka The_Sheriff, won a spot as one of the four semi-finalists in The Zone's Age of Empires Rumble for Rome tournament. Throughout the tournament, his Age strategies and tactics amazed and surprised many opponents and game spectators. He describes his play style as “reckless and unpredictable, always striving for overwhelming military numbers.” While he didn't arise victorious from the tournament, he did make many friends, including champion maimin_matty, who introduced him to Microsoft's Age II playtesting group.
And this summer, The_Sheriff has taken an online break from the Zone and jumped straight into playing and testing Age of Kings full-time, and he's actually getting paid! When he's not playing Age, his laid back personality allows folks to come up and ask him to share his Age strategies, which he freely does. Besides playing games, The_Sheriff enjoys skiing, fishing, golf, and playing jazz and blues on the trumpet.
Zone: We've been seeing you roaming around the halls of the Age II test team. Can you tell us what you've been doing this summer? How did you come to Microsoft? How have you been helping with Age II?
The_Sheriff: I got a call a few months ago from one of my buddies, maimin matty, whom I met at the Internet Gaming Zone's Rumble for Rome. He was taking a job at Microsoft to play test Age2, and recommended me to join the team as well. I thought to myself, “Play games for a living?” I couldn't possibly let this opportunity slip by!” I had a quick interview with some of the guys from MS, and was on my way! Unfortunately, I was the only one of us to make it out there, as maimin matty had some problems getting a visa. Anyhow, I spend my days (and most nights) playing games of Age of Kings, picking out bugs and imbalances in the game. My fellow testers and I are working hard to make sure that no unit, and no civilization, becomes too powerful. Zone: What has been the greatest challenge or most unique experience when working with the Age II team here at Microsoft? The_Sheriff: The depth of this game is amazing! For every unit there are 3 or more counter units. This is great of course, but it makes balancing surprisingly tough! Zone: What are your victories to losses ratio when playing against the Microsoft Age II folks? The_Sheriff: I haven't been keeping track of that. When you work here, it's not about winning, it's about testing! Zone: What were your initial thoughts when you first saw Age II? The_Sheriff: After my first game of Age2, I was scared that I might never be able to stop playing. LOL. Zone: What do you like best about Age II? Anything unique that you didn't find in Age of Empires and Rise of Rome? The_Sheriff: My favorite additions are the castles. Unlike AOE, this is a building that really hurts your empire when it goes down. Castles have a very powerful attack, they are very hard to raze, and the unique units available provide an excellent accompaniment to any army. Zone: Do you have a favorite civilization? And why is it your favorite? The_Sheriff: My favorite civilization right now is the Teutons. The cheap farms and powerful town centers guarantee a quick and safe path to the Castle age. From then on, the Teutons can really get mean, with armies of Teutonic knights, monks, and bombard cannons. Zone: What military unit do you think is the best and most powerful? The_Sheriff: I'd like to say that there isn't a most powerful unit. I think most players will find that in order to win this game, it takes a smart combination of unit types. If I had to pick one though, the Byzantine cataphract scares me most, because the best counter to it is the camel, which many civilizations are unable to build. Zone: Can you share with us your current strategies for this game? The_Sheriff: I have used countless different effective strategies in Age2. To name a few, I love converting enemy towns with a monk rush, or raiding villagers with light cavalry or horse archers. I generally like to support most of my armies with siege weapons; taking down your opponent's defenses is tough without them. Zone: Do you think the regular Age strategies still apply in Age II? Such as building two buildings right off the bat, and creating 22 villagers before moving up to the next age, etc. The_Sheriff: Most of the 'build-up' strategies are similar to AOE, we generally build around 25-30 villagers before advancing to feudal age. The biggest difference in the economy of Age2 is the need for farms. The fishing boat boom so commonly seen in Rise of Rome is much less effective (but not ineffective). The big difference overall is in the combat techniques. Micromanagement of units is far less important as strategic planning. In Age2, speed isn't always the path to victory; you need to be quick, AND smart. Zone: What is your recommendation for coordinating the different units before going into combat or during combat for Age II? The_Sheriff: It's hard to do a whole lot of management on the battlefield. A few tricks I use are putting my archers into a staggered formation, and monks in a box formation. I like to set my onager's attack stance to 'no attack' and use the attack ground hotkey for better accuracy, and to prevent it from killing all my other units! Zone: Is there anything you wish you could add or change about this game? The_Sheriff: I would really like to have a Random Settings option for multiplayer games that would randomize map type, size, and starting resources. I love playing new settings and there are so many combinations to choose from, I think that'd be a lot of fun. Zone: Any other comments or suggestions you'd like to share with your Zone players? The_Sheriff: Find some friends on the Zone! Try joining a clan or participating in Age2 forums, playing with people you know makes the game much more fun! |
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