My name is Oliver(PzK) and I am the webmaster of the Empire Earth Planet website. I've been running this site for over 4 years and have played Empire Earth since the first was released by Stainless Studios.

At the moment there is no Empire Earth IV in development. After Vivendi and Activision merged to create ActivisionBlizzard, Sierra was shut down and many games discontinued and sent to other publishers. Rebellion now hold the rights to the Empire Earth franchise and its future. Also the previous developer MadDoc who made EE Art of Conquest, EE2, EE2 Art of Supremacy and EE3 was bought by Rockstar, so they are no longer taking part in the franchise. At present an Empire Earth IV being developed, is looking very bleak.

The reason I wrote this article was to get some attention back on the Empire Earth series. I was originally going to write an Empire Earth 3 review too however I felt it was pointless to speak about the past and thought it would be more productive and better for anyone if we just move forward. Yes, I didn't like EE3 much and I hope that it doesn't end the franchise. I can only guess something went very wrong at MadDoc (rumour about a head programmer being sacked) because the state of the release of Empire Earth 3 was shameful and was one of the buggiest games I've played. My high hopes after playing the alpha were gone.

But that is all I have to say on that game. This article is about Empire Earth IV and what, in my opinion the developer should focus on. I will be referring to the older games and making comparisons where mistakes have been made.

Stick to historical Campaigns in single player

My first point is related to Empire Earth 3. The big globe was a interesting idea but it was implemented badly and there was practically no story for each civilisation. To me it just seemed too gimmicky. Forget the globe and just do normal historical campaigns that have a story. Just like EE1 and EE2. If the campaigns are highly detailed with about 8-10 missions each that would work fine. Also make sure the campaigns are somewhat original, and different to the competition.

Normal voices, cut out the comedy crap

Another point related to Empire Earth 3, the comic voices from units got old FAST and ruined the games mood. I would suggest just using voices similar to the previous games.

More then 3 civilisations, more than 5 epochs and MORE THEN 2 RESOURCES!

Don't try and simplify the game. Empire Earth is meant to have to depth to it, that's the fun of Empire Earth! Trying out each epoch, each civilisation, gaining all the resources. This game is meant to be complex, so keep it that way. I would say at least 10 epochs, 10+ civilisations and 6+ resources.

Good Performance

Empire Earth 2 and Empire Earth 3 both suffered from performance issues and lagged badly at times. Make the game so it runs good on most pc's, not just the high tech expensive ones.

Good AI

AI is pretty darn important for a strategy game. I bring this point up due to the A.I in Empire Earth 3, or the lack of it. It was appauling and you only have to read the reviews to find out how bad it was (units unable to cross bridges comes to mind). Empire Earth and especially Empire Earth 2 had good A.I so this a must if EE4 is to be successful.

War planner from Empire Earth 2

Not sure if this feature was popular but I thought I would add it. In Empire Earth 2 you can direct and show your strategies to your allies, or where you wanted them to attack. It was simple to use and it worked with the A.I. I would love to see this feature in EE4

A good user interface

I've provided some screenshots showing off the old interface in Empire Earth 3 and the one they used in the final game. I don't have the alpha anymore and didn't take any screenshots of it so the best I could get was a picture from EE3 University video showing the alpha interface. (It was very similar to the first screenshots released) The alpha interface was great, it was simple, you could move it, and didn't block too much of the screen. The one they used in the final was rubbish and I felt MadDoc took a step backwards with it. The vista theme wasn't good, and unlike the alpha it took up too much space on the screen. For an Empire Earth 4 I would want to see a good user interface that is similar to the EE3 alpha one.

Interface from the first EE3 shots

Alpha Interface from the EE3 University

Interface used in EE3

A Good editor

A good editor with mod capabilities for the community. I wouldn't say this is a must but a good editor so fans can create their own scenario's/campaigns would extend the life of the game. An example of this is that the first Empire Earth still has campaigns and mods being made for it, and it was released 9 years ago!

Able to upgrade unit skills

A must feature in the next ee game. Being able to strengthen units and choose which upgrades to do such as attack or armour adds depth and more skill to the gameplay.

Large unit capacity

Im not sure whats happening with the newer games (for example Command and Conquer 4) but the pop cap is being reduced significantly. What happened to having massive armies and watching huge battles with hundreds of units fighting each other. Removing it to just increase performance or make it more 'tactical' is just rubbish. A large unit cap please.

Large battles look great

Those are my opinions on what a developer should be looking for when making the next Empire Earth. I was planning to add alot more aspects and may add more later but i thought releasing this article early would start some discussion on Empire Earth 4. If you wish to add your own you can add them on the Petition or post in the forum thread (guests can post too) and if you haven't already please sign the petition for an Empire Earth 4 to be developed.

Quotes from the petition and suggestion thread by fans.

KillerMarv

"One of the good things about Empire Earth was the number of epochs and the complexity given by the number of units and buildings. So, I say that a combination between Empire Earth I's approach and Empire Earth II's approach would make it perfect. Like, let's say there could be two types of gameplay: with territories (EE II style), and without them (EE I style). This, along with climates and weather, good graphics, depth, a huge number of units, plenty of civilizations (EE I style) and many resource types (EE II style) would make this a delicious RTS."

Gary Stephen

"The Empire Earth franchise has offered literally months of gameplay. Despite the fact that the 3rd part of the series was something of a flop, I would welcome a return to the old style with open arms. Perhaps with something more of the tactics of combat involved, such as flanking and cover bonuses and knockback on units hit with shells and the like. All in all though, this was an absolutely wonderful series, I would like to see it returned to glory. Please don't leave EE on the bum note of #3"

pilgrim

"So in terms of design philosophy, I think EE4 needs to be a combination of EE1 combat, RoN base building and some of the positive elements of EE2. What differs EE form AoE and the Total War series, is that they take a slice of history, and create a strategy game taking place in that period, while EE takes all of history and turns it into a game. What I'd go for is taking a lot of the brilliant RoN concepts, put it into the visual style of EE, and keep the great and comprehensive combat of EE.

What to take form EE2
- Citizin Planner
- Assigning Citizins to Resources
- Auto-Assign Citizins
- Battle Planner
- Multiple Cultures with different Buildings
- Having more then 5 resources; changing resources
- Bridges
- Better Diplomacy

What to stay the hell away from
- 6 Unit type R-P-S formula
- Aztecs having horses
- Visual Style
- Having those blue dots under selected units
- The ground textures
- The forests, the terrain, the mountain maker
- The EE2 Editor
- Limited Zooming"

Jake Raymond

"The series is great. Not only does it provide endless hours with thousands of different skirmish maps. IT also has a great map editior and it is easy to create your own campaings. Just look on the empire eath heaven website. There are hundreds of user made scnearios and campaigns all of good quality. The series should most definatly be continued."

ShieldWolf23

"The single player campaign is composed of 5 campaigns:
- Tutorial: Chinese/ Other Tribes
- Ancients: Roman/ Persian
- New World: Europeans/ Native Americans
- World War: Japanese/ Americans
- Space: Earth/ Space Colonies

The Campaign Menu is a rotating Earth-Moon system. The Earth is divided into 4 sections, representing the 4 campaigns taking place there, while the moon represents "Space". The player has the choice of picking up what campaign he wants to play by clicking the section, although the player is advised to play first the tutorial. (You could also see that the campaigns are intentionally done to cover the whole of Earth). After picking the section, and after loading, the strategic map appears. Then, the player is asked what faction he likes to play (there are 2 choices). The Strategic Map is similar to the map in Rise of Nations, but unlike RoN, the area can be accessed for city-building like in Total War. But unlike Total War, the city-building would include the traditional RTS style of EE, mixed with city-building aspects of Caesar IV."

Peter SpieB

"EE4 should be a mixture of EE1 and 2. EE2 had many improvements (i. e. territories, citizen manager, diplomacy system, native tribes, ...) but also some worsenings (less different units, less historical authenticity, ...). It would be great if EE4 would keep the advantages and improve the disadvantages of the first two parts. From EE3 only a much improved "World Domination Mode" should find it's way into EE4. But most important is: Please continue this great series and don't let it die!"

Late

"What i want is
1: a decent eco system that is easy to learn but hard to master (screw all this AI controlled stuff where no macro is needed anymore)
2: a fast paced game that allows or forces fights with your first unit (raiding etc) while later you will fight with big armies (ee1 like)
3: a better online platform.. whatever if its EA/blizz integrat it into battle.net or make something similar."

Marc Canepa

"One of the most addicting and enjoyable games ive ever played. I proudly devoted many hours of my time to playing this game and every minute was a blast. please bring it back"

BigBear

"What I really want to see in Empire Earth 4 is Empire Earth I with Dx11 graphics. I also think that there should be 4 long campaigns such as classical, renaissance, modern, and future. These will follow that paths of various civilizations throughout history just like in EE 1. Essentially I want more of the same. In terms of multiplayer it have some more gamemodes but other than that it is great. Honestly if Empire Earth 4 is remade like this I truly believe that this will be the best RTS ever made."

Luz Michael

"I am still playing EE1 AOC, simply because it's best rts game I ever played since 2002. Would love to see a combo of civilization(turn base+research+diplomat) & AOC(real-time battle landscape & massive units, best if players can customized units with researched or stolen weaponry ), not forgetting moddable random event & tribes. I'm willingly to pay US$100 for just a single campaign version. Graphics are of lesser priority compared to the gameplay."

PzK

v2 09/10/10