Age of Wonders II Interview (continued)

GS: Aside from the new campaign and new town structures, Age of Wonders II will have lots of other intriguing additions, such as the new playable races and the enhanced map editor. What would you say will be the most important changes and additions that Age of Wonders II will make to the original game?

	The sequel will have a new magic spell system.

Lennart Sas: The new magical domains truly add a new dimension to the game. Within your domains, which are determined by the areas around your towers and magic relays, your global enchantments will be active and offensive spells can be cast.

This means that, for example, as a wizard of death, you can truly create your own "Mordor" from your tower. The darklands spell will turn your domain gradually to wasteland, crippling the cities of other players, while your own cities are unaffected. Add a domain of darkness spell, which will wrap your lands in an unnatural shroud of darkness, making invaders lost and weary. Then during battles you can cast combat spells over distance. Together with tower upgrades like teleportation gates, wall enchanters, and others, you will truly create a magical kingdom.

You might wonder whether these magical domains are impenetrable, but this is where your heroes come in. Leading your armies into battle, heroes function as magical spearheads that expand your influence beyond the reach of your towers.

	Different wizards will use different tactics.

GS: What are your thoughts on the current state of PC turn-based strategy games? For instance, we've already seen traditional turn-based strategy elements used in real-time strategy games, and we've also seen several excellent turn-based strategy games on consoles. Where do you think turn-based strategy games are headed in the future?

LS: Looks like this is going to be a good year for turn-based fans, after a dry spell of nearly two years. We don't see the more in-depth real-time strategy games as a threat. In fact, Age of Wonders II actually has a touch of real-time strategy, because of its simultaneous turns option. People who might have never picked up a turn-based strategy game in the past might go from twitchy real-time games to a more in-depth game like Kohan, and might check out Age of Wonders II next.

GS: Is there anything else you'd like to add about Age of Wonders II, or about turn-based strategy games in general?

LS: We feel that turn-based games have the opportunity to add a layer of depth and experience to gaming that no other genre can. However, gameplay and innovation need to keep driving the development of the turn-based strategy genre as it has in the past--not just updated graphics and some new content. There is plenty of opportunity to have the current turn-based franchises cover new ground instead of growing toward each other.

To see how we've done, check out the publicly downloadable beta demo, which will be available this spring.

GS: We will. Thanks, Arno and Lennart.