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Opinions 01 July 2023, 12:37

author: Michael Sonntag

17 Years Later, the Best Star Wars Strategy is Still Alive

17 years ago Empire at War was released, by many fans considered as the best real-time strategy in the Star Wars universe. With hundreds of mods, this game has practically become its own franchise.

The power (of franchise) is strong in Disney – in the coming months and years, we will witness a never-ending wave of productions, both films and shows. The gaming sector also seems to be getting good representation, although most of the new titles are years away. EA remains the current provider of main titles in the Star Wars series, delivering single-player adventures in the Star Wars Jedi series.

“And what about good old RTS?” – asks a fan of the genre. Unfortunately, there isn't much good news for them, though a single, unannounced project that's supposedly a strategy brings hope. The situation looks completely different in a distant galaxy full of fans of these games. Here, Empire at War not only hasn't aged a bit – it has gained lots of new content. We paid a visit to fan servers to find out how enthusiasts created their own, little universe using a 17-year-old RTS as foundations.

Revival of the dead RTS

"I grew up on Star Wars." Not only in movies, but also in books, comics and everything else that I could get," says the modification author, Joel McFly. Many members of the community have similar experiences. When in February 2006 the developer Petroglyph released a new strategy game set in the world of Star Wars, it gained the interest of many fans. This game is not only a good license product, but also a good real-time strategy, as McFly proves.

This is a truly sandbox experience. One of the things that players loved in the old Battlefront was the approach to the conquest of galaxy – it's also part of EaW's appeal. On land, in space, on the map – there's the unique feeling of waging war in all three dimensions, while other games usually focus on just a single plain.

Originally, Empire at War only covered the war between the Empire and Rebels.

With the mods, the Clone Wars are also here.

Today's revival of Empire at War is not that obvious, though. It often looked bad, even disastrous. Lany, the community administrator and tournament organizer, recalled:

At the end of the 2000s, a mistake on the Message of the Day page caused a significant decrease in the number of players in multiplayer mode. The old-timers consider this the end of a certain era.

Long loading times made players mistakenly believe that the game had crashed. It didn't work in favor of Empire at War, but ultimately, it was the reliance on GameSpy as a multiplayer platform that sealed the fall from grace. Lany told us:

When multiplayer servers were shut down completely in 2014, it became really quiet, also in the general community. Some modding teams continued the development of the single-player mode, and the fun went on on ModDB, but there was no central hub where the community could meet.

The brand was practically dead for four years until Petroglyph got the green light to update the game version on Steam with the help of numerous mods in 2018. Thus, the multiplayer also returned. Lany emphasized:

Currently, only the Steam version is being updated. There are people who are disappointed about buying a game on GOG and now being left with nothing.

At the same time, Discord gained popularity and suddenly, the game got two key elements: (almost) full functionality and a platform where the community could meet. Petroglyph brought the game back from the oblivion, but it was the huge mod base – in the opinion of many fans – that kept it alive since. At the moment, from 1500 to 2000 fans per month delve into Empire at War. Several popular YouTubers, such as Corey Loses and Star Wars Basis Gaming, regularly display new mods from the scene to the broad fanbase. McFly adds:

Empire at War is – even after 17 years – the most active game set in the Star Wars universe according to Steam, right after Battlefront 2 by EA. It also helps that Steam often discounts the game by up to 75%, attracting new players to the community.

A great feature of this RTS is that you can fight both on land and in space.

A heap of mods

In order to maintain control over all the mods and provide every fan of Empire at War with exactly what they need, logistics are crucial. A girl explains this system – there isn't just one Discord server, but an entire network.

Large modding groups (e.g. Steiner Modding Group or The Dutchman) have their own communities on Discord, with thousands of members. That's why the EaW Community Discord project was created – to provide a community center not related to any specific mod.

From 250 mods on ModDB (including 45 for the base game) to 327 mods on Steam and all other mod websites – the offer is huge. The modder nicknamed Cuarson, adds:

To say that there is a lot to choose from is to say nothing at all. Some mods improve graphics, change the setting, add new factions, and some simply enhance the core gameplay. There are new UIs, music, sound effects, dialogues, unit models, maps – it's absolutely amazing how much time and effort the community has invested into truly making this old game their own. Fruitful cooperation between different modding teams has made it possible to introduce mechanics that were not even imagined in 2006.

Released in 2006, the expansion Forces of Corruption proved both a curse and a blessing for the modding community. The new corruption mechanics were obsolete and were often removed from modifications due to their rigid rules. However, with this DLC, it was possible to introduce more than two playable factions to the game – a milestone for all the upcoming modifications. McFly claims:

Empire at War has become a game as diverse and colorful as the many existing mods. Every modification reinterprets and changes elements from the original game in its own way, in order to discover new and creative ways of operation and mechanics. Some mods, such as Republic at War, try to remain as faithful as possible to the original gameplay. Other, such as Thrawn’s Revenge and Fall of the Republic, introduce many mechanics and solutions inspired by the 4X genre. Others still, such as the Awakening of the Rebellion, aim to be almost a complete conversion: they introduce completely new mechanics, new balance, and many story elements to the game. It just never gets boring here. After a year off, you can come back and have a ton of fresh content again!

EaW: Thrawn's Revenge focuses on making the game more realistic with new types of resources and a more complex combat system.

Lots of potential despite outdated tech

The modding community is proud of its numerous achievements, but it also recognizes the limitations of a 17-year-old game. McFly tells:

In the end, it's still a 2006 engine – it has many quirks that make life difficult for modders. Petroglyph maintains contact with several larger modding groups and when they have time in-between their own projects, they regularly turn to us, asking what updates could be useful for modders. Over the years, this approach has solved so many serious problems that would have almost destroyed the modding scene.

He particularly vividly recalls the time when the game's save files would stop working after a few hours of gameplay. Another bug was eliminated at the end of last year, which made saving take too much time. Generally, the game still struggles with some persistent bugs and unfinished features. Especially Forces of Corruption brought many technical problems in addition to new features due to the short production time. McFly reveals:

You can find a piece of code that reads: "I hope we'll have a chance to rewrite the code to fix it." But this patch was never implemented. It's a very popular meme in our community.

A screenshot of the FoC extension code demonstrates how fast Petroglyph was working during production. The developer says that he needs more time. - 17 Years Later, the Best Star Wars Strategy is Still Alive - dokument - 2023-06-30
A screenshot of the FoC extension code demonstrates how fast Petroglyph was working during production. The developer says that he needs more time.

Additionally, Empire at War can only use a single processor core. This is a limitation that must be taken into account with every modification. As Lany says:

The game is a 32-bit program, so it can only use 4 GB of RAM. The most modern and beautiful mods therefore have high system requirements.

Each modification has its own challenges. Cuarson explains what it looks like in the context of the tournament scene.

The old network code of the game has problems with multiplayer matches on Steam. If you participate in a skirmish and an Out of Sync error occurs, it's over. This poses a challenge for the tournament scene. Especially matches with many players are very unstable. Our tournament mod is doing what it can.

From single-player to tournaments

We decided to visit the community on their servers to find out what's what in reality. It is quite old-fashioned – most users avoid multiplayer mode and prefer single-player mode and galaxy conquest. Fans claim that "the truly fascinating thing here is the opportunity to fulfill your Star Wars fantasies.

Using well-known characters from movies, books, and games in spectacular battles felt exciting – amid the powerful warships, laser projectiles, and fighter squadrons intercepting enemy bombers to save their flagship. Fans of the series will truly feel at home.

Empire at War is half a strategy game and half a movie – McFly adds.

Sometimes you look at the galaxy map as a player and wonder how to best use your fleet. This is relatively simple, but few games offer this feeling combined with the magical world of Star Wars. The feeling that the fate of the galaxy depends on your plan, the destruction of the Death Star. This is what's beautiful about Empire at War. It puts you in a specific situation, gives you the tools and allows you to create and experience your own Star Wars story.

Empire at War isn't only a game gathering the Star Wars community, but also a stunning, almost cinematic spectacle.

No other real-time strategy from the Star Wars universe – neither Rebellion, nor Force Commander, nor even Galactic Battlegrounds can provide quite the same experience. At least that's what the fans claim. However, in the multiplayer, the skirmish mode is proving to be popular. All possible combinations are available here – from 1 on 1 duels to 4 on 4 battles. If you're up for the challenge, you can also participate in tournaments. The organizer of Competitive Empire at War regularly stream tournaments with cash prizes on YouTube and Twitch. In 2019, the prize pool was $150, and a few years later it was already $770, and the trend is upward.

These amounts represent donations from community members or have been collected by subscribers on Twitch. Surprisingly, land battles can rarely be seen here – the last one took place back in 2018. Usually, players take part in space battles. Love for Star Wars can be seen at every turn. As an example, one can mention special events with limitations – each player who won a match must then spin the wheel of fortune to receive a specific handicap. Roger, Roger!

Future: Empire at War 2? Yes and no

As for the future, the community is divided. Of course, everyone wishes for a new installment. Petroglyph would also be interested, although they haven't received the green light from Disney so far. But at the same time, there's the question of whether the continuation would live up to high expectations. Lany claims:

It would probably be a modern RTS with a formula typical for EA's games-as-a-service, and that doesn't inspire much confidence.

McFly is not necessarily interested in the new Empire at War, but rather in the chance for further developer updates that could expand the game's modding community. But this is the future. What he is currently really concerned about is the present.

I hope that more Star Wars fans and real-time strategy enthusiasts who haven't yet discovered Empire at War and its huge range of mods, will give this game a chance.

Alright, now the ball is in your court.

The original text appeared on Gamestar.de – we translated it as part of the cooperation within the Webedia group's services.

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