Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots
Encyclopedia
Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots is the official expansion pack
to the real-time strategy
computer game Rise of Nations
. The game is the second in a series of Rise of Nations games by Big Huge Games
. Thrones and Patriots had its premiere release for Microsoft Windows on April 27, 2004 in North America. It was ported
to and released for Mac OS X
in November 2004.
Thrones and Patriots expanded on a variety of features in the original game, such as new monuments (called "Wonders
"), nations, governments
, and campaigns. Gameplay still remains similar to Rise of Nations, with its wide span of ages and players still manage and expand their nations at the macro and micro
levels. However, Thrones and Patriots has campaigns which offer more turn-based strategy
features than the original and the ability to make decisions outside of combat. Up to eight players can play in multiplayer matches, with artificial intelligence
being able to fill slots at the server host's choice.
Tim Train, executive producer of Thrones and Patriots, stated that various features were added to the game in an attempt to balance gameplay, including the addition of armed caravans
and merchants. IGN
claimed that Thrones and Patriots is "a great game [which] gets better," in reference to its predecessor Rise of Nations
and other critical reviews also praised many features of the game, though some noted deficiencies. As of 2010, Thrones and Patriots has received a compilation score of 87% and 88% on Game Rankings
and Metacritic
respectively.
Within Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots players control various units during battles, including land, sea, and aerial units. Units used during gameplay include slingers
, musketeers, tanks, large Persian war elephants, aircraft carriers, and nuclear missiles. Players progress in different ways in Thrones and Patriots by using various means including espionage
, political
strategy, technology
races and population growth
. The gameplay takes place from ancient history
to modern times
. Players are able to lead their nations at the macro and micro
levels, and build their nation up and expand it throughout the game.
Thrones and Patriots added six new nations to the original Rise of Nations of game. The 'New World' situation playable in the game was enhanced by the introduction of the European nation—of the Dutch. Three North American nations were added, the Americans
, referring to the ex-colonial civilization, and two Native American
nations were added, which were the Lakota and the Iroquois
. Two Asian nations: the Indians
, and the Persians
were introduced. New Wonders were made available for building, such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
, the Forbidden City
, and the Red Fort.
New features of the game were added to the new nations, for instance the Lakota, which is unable to build farms to generate food, instead receive a constant food supply for each of their citizens, scouts, and cavalry units. They can make buildings in any region that is not possessed by their enemy, can raze buildings quickly, receiving a full refund. Additionally, they receive resources when enemy resources are destroyed.
" campaigns: Alexander the Great, Napoleon I of France
, the New World
, and the Cold War
. The Alexander the Great campaign allows the player to choose whether or not to raze or incorporate conquered territories. A player's decision to raze may cause the rest of the enemies to either fight harder, or question their casus belli
and ally with you. The Napoleon campaign challenges the player to conquer Europe in a limited amount of time, with diplomacy, alliances, conquest, and bribing with land. Players must have intuitive leadership in this campaign because faulty decisions by the player can force themselves, that is to say, Napoleon, into exile. The New World
campaign allows the player to choose either the Americans, a European power, or a Native American
tribe. If the player chooses to lead the Americans, they must pay taxes to Great Britain
, until they declare independence. The map of a battle incorporates the region's environment, for example large forests in the Pacific Northwest
. The Cold War introduces the ability to fire nuclear missiles in the main map and initiate espionage missions. Armies can also move anywhere in their nation's territory without using up a turn.Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots campaigns now offer more turn-based strategy
into the game rather than real-time strategy
being the only gameplay aspect.
or a Republic
, each giving the player a different permanent gameplay bonus. Each government has a different "Patriot", effectively a stronger version of the "General" unit with different bonuses, depending on which government is chosen. They are used during combat to assist players in battle. A player can only have one Patriot unit at a time. When a Patriot unit is killed, a new one is automatically created in the Senate afterwards.
After reaching the Gunpowder Age, the player may choose to upgrade to either a Monarchy
or a Democracy
, each with its own different permanent gameplay bonus, and then after reaching the Industrial Age, the player may upgrade again, to either Capitalism or Socialism. The previous gameplay bonuses remain, allowing players to select the most appropriate combination of benefits as the game evolves.
filling spots at the server host's choice. GameSpy
hosts matchmaking and other servers for multiplayer games played online through their dedicated server.
A new feature that was introduced into the game was the ability to use homemade scripts in online play. The scripts are able to be made in the built in script editor, and came with a pre-made script that disallowed silos.
and Big Huge Games
announced the development of the expansion pack for Rise of Nations, Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots, on November 21, 2003. By December 16 of that year, the game's development was about 70% complete. A website was launched for the game on February 13, 2004, which contained information, screenshots, and other details about the expansion pack.
Big Huge Games
added multiple new features to the game during its development, in an attempt to fix issues with the original version. In an interview with GameSpot
, executive producer Tim Train explained the development of the expansion pack. He stated how some nations were previously either too weak or too strong, and so features were added to balance gameplay. One way they did this is armed caravan
s and merchant
s were added to the Dutch nation, in order to weaken raids initiated by other players who rush their opponent. He said Big Huge Games
brought in professional players in order to get suggestions on how to improve the game.
The expansion pack Thrones and Patriots was released for Microsoft Windows and in North America on April 27, 2004, and subsequently in Europe on May 21, 2004. NPD
sales figures for May, the first full month of Thrones and Patriots release in the United States, showed it as fourth in PC sales for the month, with its predecessor needed for the expansion pack
going from twelfth in sales in April to fifth in sales in May. On October 28, 2004, Rise of Nations: Gold Edition was released for Microsoft Windows. The new product included both the original Rise of Nations
and Thrones and Patriots. In November 2004, a port
of Rise of Nations: Gold Edition was released for Mac OS X
. It was published by MacSoft Games
and developed by both Big Huge Games
and Westlake Interactive.
and Metacritic
. In its review, IGN
claimed that Thrones and Patriots is "a great game [which] gets better," in reference to its predecessor Rise of Nations
. 1UP.com
stated that the game is what expansion packs should try to mimic. Game Informer
declared that Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots is "one of the essential pieces of any strategy gamer’s collection." GameSpot
commented that the game is a terrific experience and it not only provides exceptional content, but that it also improves an already good game.
In the expansion pack, many insignificant changes were introduced to complement the existing game structure, rather than radically alter it, and critics considered the continuing of the original game format to be good. GameSpy
claimed that, even with all of Thrones and Patriots additions, the framework of the game still feels excellent. However, IGN declared that the developers only added many features into the game "in the hopes that it would seem coherent," rather than actually giving the game a "central theme."
Both IGN and GameSpot claimed the game's government mechanics were similar to those of the game series Civilization
.
However, GameSpy stated the game's artificial intelligence
for "managing the individual movements of units and citizens...[was] strategically brain dead." Their review explained that the wide range of upgrades, units, and technology research in different buildings requires micromanagement
and the use of hotkeys, especially during online play. The review stated that the game had biased gameplay times in single-player with different nations, such as Lakota having very limited use, and Americans
having a massive amount of playtime.
GameSpot stated that the multiplayer functionality of Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots had some lag, even when on a local network
. 1UP.com reported problems with stability of the games, with crashes on both the single and multiplayer modes of the games.
In awarding Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots "Best Expansion Pack" of 2004, IGN acclaimed the additions of more playable nations and new government mechanics that Rise of Nations didn't have, and new "Conquer the World" campaigns.
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
to the real-time strategy
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
computer game Rise of Nations
Rise of Nations
Rise of Nations is a real-time strategy computer game, developed by Big Huge Games and published by Microsoft on May 20, 2003. The development of the game was led by veteran Brian Reynolds, of Civilization II and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Concepts taken from turn-based strategy games have been...
. The game is the second in a series of Rise of Nations games by Big Huge Games
Big Huge Games
Big Huge Games is a video game developer located in Timonium, Maryland. The company was founded in February 2000 by four veteran game industry developers: Tim Train, David Inscore, Jason Coleman and Brian Reynolds...
. Thrones and Patriots had its premiere release for Microsoft Windows on April 27, 2004 in North America. It was ported
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to and released for Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
in November 2004.
Thrones and Patriots expanded on a variety of features in the original game, such as new monuments (called "Wonders
Wonders of the World
Various lists of the Wonders of the World have been compiled from antiquity to the present day, to catalogue the world's most spectacular natural wonders and manmade structures....
"), nations, governments
Form of government
A form of government, or form of state governance, refers to the set of political institutions by which a government of a state is organized. Synonyms include "regime type" and "system of government".-Empirical and conceptual problems:...
, and campaigns. Gameplay still remains similar to Rise of Nations, with its wide span of ages and players still manage and expand their nations at the macro and micro
Micromanagement (computer gaming)
In gaming, micromanagement describes minor, detailed gameplay elements that must be manually addressed by the player. It appears in a wide range of games including strategy video games, construction and management simulations and pet-raising simulations...
levels. However, Thrones and Patriots has campaigns which offer more turn-based strategy
Turn-based strategy
A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing...
features than the original and the ability to make decisions outside of combat. Up to eight players can play in multiplayer matches, with artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
being able to fill slots at the server host's choice.
Tim Train, executive producer of Thrones and Patriots, stated that various features were added to the game in an attempt to balance gameplay, including the addition of armed caravans
Caravan (travellers)
A caravan is a group of people traveling together, often on a trade expedition. Caravans were used mainly in desert areas and throughout the Silk Road, where traveling in groups aided in defence against bandits as well as helped to improve economies of scale in trade.In historical times, caravans...
and merchants. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
claimed that Thrones and Patriots is "a great game [which] gets better," in reference to its predecessor Rise of Nations
Rise of Nations
Rise of Nations is a real-time strategy computer game, developed by Big Huge Games and published by Microsoft on May 20, 2003. The development of the game was led by veteran Brian Reynolds, of Civilization II and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Concepts taken from turn-based strategy games have been...
and other critical reviews also praised many features of the game, though some noted deficiencies. As of 2010, Thrones and Patriots has received a compilation score of 87% and 88% on Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
and Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
respectively.
Gameplay
Sling (weapon)
A sling is a projectile weapon typically used to throw a blunt projectile such as a stone or lead "sling-bullet". It is also known as the shepherd's sling....
, musketeers, tanks, large Persian war elephants, aircraft carriers, and nuclear missiles. Players progress in different ways in Thrones and Patriots by using various means including espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
, political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
strategy, technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
races and population growth
Population growth
Population growth is the change in a population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals of any species in a population using "per unit time" for measurement....
. The gameplay takes place from ancient history
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
to modern times
Modern history
Modern history, or the modern era, describes the historical timeline after the Middle Ages. Modern history can be further broken down into the early modern period and the late modern period after the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution...
. Players are able to lead their nations at the macro and micro
Micromanagement (computer gaming)
In gaming, micromanagement describes minor, detailed gameplay elements that must be manually addressed by the player. It appears in a wide range of games including strategy video games, construction and management simulations and pet-raising simulations...
levels, and build their nation up and expand it throughout the game.
Thrones and Patriots added six new nations to the original Rise of Nations of game. The 'New World' situation playable in the game was enhanced by the introduction of the European nation—of the Dutch. Three North American nations were added, the Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, referring to the ex-colonial civilization, and two Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
nations were added, which were the Lakota and the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
. Two Asian nations: the Indians
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and the Persians
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
were introduced. New Wonders were made available for building, such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were considered to be one of the greatest Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one of the Wonders which may in fact have been legendary. They were purportedly built in the ancient city-state of Babylon, near present-day Al Hillah, Babil, in Iraq...
, the Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
, and the Red Fort.
New features of the game were added to the new nations, for instance the Lakota, which is unable to build farms to generate food, instead receive a constant food supply for each of their citizens, scouts, and cavalry units. They can make buildings in any region that is not possessed by their enemy, can raze buildings quickly, receiving a full refund. Additionally, they receive resources when enemy resources are destroyed.
Campaigns
Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots added four new "Conquer the WorldHegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
" campaigns: Alexander the Great, Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
, and the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. The Alexander the Great campaign allows the player to choose whether or not to raze or incorporate conquered territories. A player's decision to raze may cause the rest of the enemies to either fight harder, or question their casus belli
Casus belli
is a Latin expression meaning the justification for acts of war. means "incident", "rupture" or indeed "case", while means bellic...
and ally with you. The Napoleon campaign challenges the player to conquer Europe in a limited amount of time, with diplomacy, alliances, conquest, and bribing with land. Players must have intuitive leadership in this campaign because faulty decisions by the player can force themselves, that is to say, Napoleon, into exile. The New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
campaign allows the player to choose either the Americans, a European power, or a Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
tribe. If the player chooses to lead the Americans, they must pay taxes to Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
, until they declare independence. The map of a battle incorporates the region's environment, for example large forests in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
. The Cold War introduces the ability to fire nuclear missiles in the main map and initiate espionage missions. Armies can also move anywhere in their nation's territory without using up a turn.Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots campaigns now offer more turn-based strategy
Turn-based strategy
A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing...
into the game rather than real-time strategy
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
being the only gameplay aspect.
Governments
Once the player builds the Senate building, he or she may choose a government "upgrade" of either a DespotismDespotism
Despotism is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. That entity may be an individual, as in an autocracy, or it may be a group, as in an oligarchy...
or a Republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
, each giving the player a different permanent gameplay bonus. Each government has a different "Patriot", effectively a stronger version of the "General" unit with different bonuses, depending on which government is chosen. They are used during combat to assist players in battle. A player can only have one Patriot unit at a time. When a Patriot unit is killed, a new one is automatically created in the Senate afterwards.
After reaching the Gunpowder Age, the player may choose to upgrade to either a Monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
or a Democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, each with its own different permanent gameplay bonus, and then after reaching the Industrial Age, the player may upgrade again, to either Capitalism or Socialism. The previous gameplay bonuses remain, allowing players to select the most appropriate combination of benefits as the game evolves.
Multiplayer
Rise of Nations features a highly customizable multiplayer mode. Up to eight players can play in a game with a variety of modes to choose from, with AIArtificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
filling spots at the server host's choice. GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
hosts matchmaking and other servers for multiplayer games played online through their dedicated server.
A new feature that was introduced into the game was the ability to use homemade scripts in online play. The scripts are able to be made in the built in script editor, and came with a pre-made script that disallowed silos.
History
Microsoft Game StudiosMicrosoft Game Studios
Microsoft Studios is the video game production wing for Microsoft, responsible for the development and publishing of games for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Games for Windows and Windows Phone platforms. They were established in 2002 as Microsoft Game Studios to coincide with the release of the Xbox, before...
and Big Huge Games
Big Huge Games
Big Huge Games is a video game developer located in Timonium, Maryland. The company was founded in February 2000 by four veteran game industry developers: Tim Train, David Inscore, Jason Coleman and Brian Reynolds...
announced the development of the expansion pack for Rise of Nations, Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots, on November 21, 2003. By December 16 of that year, the game's development was about 70% complete. A website was launched for the game on February 13, 2004, which contained information, screenshots, and other details about the expansion pack.
Big Huge Games
Big Huge Games
Big Huge Games is a video game developer located in Timonium, Maryland. The company was founded in February 2000 by four veteran game industry developers: Tim Train, David Inscore, Jason Coleman and Brian Reynolds...
added multiple new features to the game during its development, in an attempt to fix issues with the original version. In an interview with GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
, executive producer Tim Train explained the development of the expansion pack. He stated how some nations were previously either too weak or too strong, and so features were added to balance gameplay. One way they did this is armed caravan
Caravan (travellers)
A caravan is a group of people traveling together, often on a trade expedition. Caravans were used mainly in desert areas and throughout the Silk Road, where traveling in groups aided in defence against bandits as well as helped to improve economies of scale in trade.In historical times, caravans...
s and merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
s were added to the Dutch nation, in order to weaken raids initiated by other players who rush their opponent. He said Big Huge Games
Big Huge Games
Big Huge Games is a video game developer located in Timonium, Maryland. The company was founded in February 2000 by four veteran game industry developers: Tim Train, David Inscore, Jason Coleman and Brian Reynolds...
brought in professional players in order to get suggestions on how to improve the game.
The expansion pack Thrones and Patriots was released for Microsoft Windows and in North America on April 27, 2004, and subsequently in Europe on May 21, 2004. NPD
NPD Group
The NPD Group, Inc. is a leading North American market research company. The NPD Group consistently ranks among the top 25 market research companies in the independent Honomichl Top 50 report, which the media and the research industry acknowledge as a credible source of information on the market...
sales figures for May, the first full month of Thrones and Patriots release in the United States, showed it as fourth in PC sales for the month, with its predecessor needed for the expansion pack
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
going from twelfth in sales in April to fifth in sales in May. On October 28, 2004, Rise of Nations: Gold Edition was released for Microsoft Windows. The new product included both the original Rise of Nations
Rise of Nations
Rise of Nations is a real-time strategy computer game, developed by Big Huge Games and published by Microsoft on May 20, 2003. The development of the game was led by veteran Brian Reynolds, of Civilization II and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Concepts taken from turn-based strategy games have been...
and Thrones and Patriots. In November 2004, a port
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
of Rise of Nations: Gold Edition was released for Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
. It was published by MacSoft Games
MacSoft Games
MacSoft Games is a Plymouth, Minnesota, United States-based computer game publisher and porter specializing in porting Microsoft Windows computer games to the Macintosh...
and developed by both Big Huge Games
Big Huge Games
Big Huge Games is a video game developer located in Timonium, Maryland. The company was founded in February 2000 by four veteran game industry developers: Tim Train, David Inscore, Jason Coleman and Brian Reynolds...
and Westlake Interactive.
Reception
As of 2008, Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots has received a compilation score of 88% on both Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
and Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. In its review, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
claimed that Thrones and Patriots is "a great game [which] gets better," in reference to its predecessor Rise of Nations
Rise of Nations
Rise of Nations is a real-time strategy computer game, developed by Big Huge Games and published by Microsoft on May 20, 2003. The development of the game was led by veteran Brian Reynolds, of Civilization II and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Concepts taken from turn-based strategy games have been...
. 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
stated that the game is what expansion packs should try to mimic. Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
declared that Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots is "one of the essential pieces of any strategy gamer’s collection." GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
commented that the game is a terrific experience and it not only provides exceptional content, but that it also improves an already good game.
In the expansion pack, many insignificant changes were introduced to complement the existing game structure, rather than radically alter it, and critics considered the continuing of the original game format to be good. GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
claimed that, even with all of Thrones and Patriots additions, the framework of the game still feels excellent. However, IGN declared that the developers only added many features into the game "in the hopes that it would seem coherent," rather than actually giving the game a "central theme."
Both IGN and GameSpot claimed the game's government mechanics were similar to those of the game series Civilization
Civilization (series)
Civilization is a series of turn-based strategy, 4X video games produced by Sid Meier. Basic gameplay functions are similar throughout the series, namely, buiding a civilization on a macro-scale from prehistory up to the near future...
.
However, GameSpy stated the game's artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
for "managing the individual movements of units and citizens...[was] strategically brain dead." Their review explained that the wide range of upgrades, units, and technology research in different buildings requires micromanagement
Micromanagement (computer gaming)
In gaming, micromanagement describes minor, detailed gameplay elements that must be manually addressed by the player. It appears in a wide range of games including strategy video games, construction and management simulations and pet-raising simulations...
and the use of hotkeys, especially during online play. The review stated that the game had biased gameplay times in single-player with different nations, such as Lakota having very limited use, and Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
having a massive amount of playtime.
GameSpot stated that the multiplayer functionality of Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots had some lag, even when on a local network
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
. 1UP.com reported problems with stability of the games, with crashes on both the single and multiplayer modes of the games.
In awarding Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots "Best Expansion Pack" of 2004, IGN acclaimed the additions of more playable nations and new government mechanics that Rise of Nations didn't have, and new "Conquer the World" campaigns.