Sandy Petersen made DOOM. He co-designed Age of Empires. Across three long conversations, he's shared stories from behind the scenes at Ensemble Studios - the balance decisions, the accidents that became features, the corporate chaos.

Here's 24 of them in one place.

The Korean incident that nearly got Microsoft reps arrested. The balance decisions made on pure vibes. The bugs Ensemble decided to keep as features. The plan to fire the entire studio the day Halo Wars shipped. The mangonels that chop down forests - and what they were originally allowed to destroy. The bridges the programmers refused to build.

other discussions
 

1. 📰 30 Minutes of AoE Facts (ft. [Age of Empires designer] Sandy Petersen) (direct link) (👍22 👎1)

from Real Time Strategy (!rts@reddthat.com) lemmy

- YouTube

Posted by Zagorath


2. 💬 What JRPGs will you be playing in August? What games did you finish in July? (direct link) (👍20 👎0)

from World of JRPGs (!jrpg@lemmy.zip) lemmy

Posted by tamlyn


3. 📰 Microsoft patches bug in video game Age of Empires II (direct link) (👍15 👎2)

from Strategy Games♟️| RTS, 4X and Grand Strategy (!strategy@lemmy.world) lemmy

Microsoft patches bug in video game Age of Empires II

Among the fixed vulnerabilities was one for the remastered version of the classic 25-year-old war strategy video game Age of Empires II. The flaw allowed hackers to take over a victim’s computer by sending a custom malicious game invite, according to security researchers. A video posted on X shows how the flaw could be exploited by hackers. There is no evidence that this bug was successfully exploited in the wild by hackers. But targeting video gamers can be an effective way to install malware on a high number of victims’ computers and steal their passwords, for example. 🖊️️🤖

Posted by monica_b1998


4. 📰 Grim Dawn Fangs of Asterkarn is out now (direct link) (👍7 👎0)

from ARPG's: Diablo/PoE/Last Epoch (!arpg@lemmy.ml) lemmy

Fangs of Asterkarn on Steam

About This ContentTrek across the glorious snowy peaks of Asterkarn, delve into frozen caverns, and explore ancient forest valleys and breathtaking hot springs as you seek to purge the corruption tainting this idyllic landscape. Parley with the Kurn tribes and aid them in rekindling old alliances as you contend with the darker side of their bloody history. Uncover hundreds of new items and create wondrous potions customized to your needs. Fangs of Asterkarn requires the Forgotten Gods and Ashes of Malmouth DLCs to play. Key Features: 🖊️️🤖

Posted by Blaiz0r


5. 💬 What CRPGs did you play in July? What CRPGs will you be playing in August? (direct link) (👍6 👎0)

from Computer RPG Games (!crpg@lemmy.world) lemmy

Posted by Agent_Karyo


6. 💬 [EVENT] ESA Summer 2026 starts in 9 hours! (Aug 1-8) (direct link) (👍5 👎0)

from Speedrun video games (!speedrun@sh.itjust.works) lemmy

Stream 1: https://twitch.tv/esamarathon

Stream 2: https://twitch.tv/esamarathon2

YouTube stream: https://www.youtube.com/@ESAMarathon/streams

Schedule: https://esamarathon.com/schedule/

Posted by Die4Ever


Inactive communities 👻

These communities have had no posts in the last month:

  • JRPG lemmy
    • No description
  • Tycoon Games lemmy
    • All things "Tycoon" games. Park building, zoo building, business building simulations. Any games related to management, financial growth and economic strategy.
  • Strategy Games lemmy
    • Discuss Grand Strategy, 4X, Real Time, and Turn Based strategy games here! Including, but not limited to Civ, Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings, Victoria, Hearts of Iron, Imperator, Stellaris, Age of Empires, Old World, Colonization, and many many others.
  • Fighting Game Community lemmy
    • All things Fighting Games - with a focus on its community!
  • Real Time Strategy, The RTS HQ lemmy
    • Welcome back, commander. Good welcome, soldiers.
  • Interactive Fiction lemmy
    • The community for interactive fiction and text games on Lemmy.
  • Turn Based Strategy lemmy
    • A place to discuss turn based strategy games. Tactical game discussion also welcome.
  • Life Simulation Games lemmy
    • A community for fans of life simulation games, including the Sims series and the upcoming Paralives and Life by You.
  • Gamebooks / Choose Your Own Adventure / Fighting Fantasy lemmy
    • For gamebooks like Chose Your Own Adventure, Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf, etc. whether that's in book form or apps or other formats of interactive fiction.
  • Truck Simulators lemmy
    • A community for truck simulators enjoyers.

Here is a popular post from one of the inactive communities. 🪦♻️

📰 The Sims 4's most notorious sex mod gets launched 400,000 times a day, which is more people than I realized were even playing The Sims every day (direct link), posted in Life Simulation Games (👍93 👎1)

The Sims 4's most notorious sex mod gets launched 400,000 times a day, which is more people than I realized were even playing The Sims every day

I've never installed Wicked Whims. Translated from German by Google Translate, Turbodriver said that Wicked Whims is used 400,000 per day. That's not 400,000 unique users per day, mind. In a Patreon post from December, Turbodriver says that the number of Wicked Whims players has been growing every year alongside The Sims 4's main playerbase. It's tough to dismiss Wicked Whims as a niche mod for horn dogs when you see that kind of number. 🖊️️🤖

Posted by Agent_Karyo


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Multicommunity: gaming-genres.json