History
Microsoft Game Studios 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 caravans and merchants 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.
Read more about this topic: Rise Of Nations: Thrones And Patriots
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