Here's my first review of a game that simply blew my mind in RTS strategic and tactical complexity but was discontinued after the author was hired out for an MMO. So here we have Genesis of Empires 2 mod from Bepu games. I had to write this review/FAQ of an old product that deserves attention in game design because of Stardock's project Societies. The purpose of this review has less to assert a rating but to explore mechanics.
http://bepu-games.com/wc3goe/goe2.htm
What is Genesis of Empires 2 anyway?
A multiplayer RTS 4x mod for Warcraft 3 that effectively combines a very wide range of game systems stemming from Civilization(s), Sim City and yes Warcraft 3. You start off as the great Seed of Empire and begin in the stone age where military doubles as survival harvesting indigenous resources and eventually advance all the way up to the modern age where infrastructure is a primary key to economics at the price of conservation. Not just your army but the empire itself radically changes shape over the tiered course of gameplay. Almost every unit out of the 110 has at least one unique special ability so that makes them all special special.
Strategic military victory can be through combining logistics and map control, maximizing modifiers with sub resources and economic supremacy and technological advantage.
Map preferences are initially selected by the host on game start to determine game type, map size, terrain, resource abundance and wilderness ferocity but the map itself is always a cut out from the base template. Do not click leviathan unless everyone is uber pro.
So how does it work?
Resources are divided between 2 primary ones, supply count and a subset of resources that you adjust to regulate the effectiveness of your troops like their food or paychecks. For example a very well fed meaty orc means lots of HP and strength, enough to employ in the modern age under the right circumstances. It helps rationalize why some primitive early units can still be used late game including substantial species bonuses. The sub resources are a key strategic factor when choosing the right path to war and econ victory over your opponent. Hint: be diplomatic, mostly.
The sim city mr. mayor aspect is your empire's based on population, based on growth, based on attraction/prestige and birthrate based on building placement exactly like sim city. Other factors include morale, sanitation, resource consumption (that could be going to your army) and a whole lot gobblety gook I won't go into because I'm not sure of it all. If you want to read all that civ info live during an RTS war game then feel free to do so.
Cutting this short...
Bottom Line, Pros and Cons?
Pros: Strategic variation long game, epic battles, good micro and micro management, many unique preset units that require specific tactics to execute and counter.
Cons: Empire building is the worst UI ever due to warcraft 3 modding limitations, very high learning curve, new players always choose leviathan mode and don't engage in active diplomacy.