Age of Empires

15/11/2026

They Create Worlds

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1:24:00

TCW Podcast Episode 270 - Age of Empires

What do business software and battles across human history have in common? Both were powered by Paradox. Tony Goodman started Ensemble Corporation as a consulting business using the Paradox database to help other companies. Tony and his brother Rick knew the database and its extensible language, which was similar to Microsoft Access before Access later dethroned it. Once the business was established, Tony created the subsidiary Ensemble Studios to make games. Paradox found another purpose there as the back end for Age of Empires, allowing the team to program unit stats. Instead of swords and sorcery or a distant future in deep space, the studio’s beloved franchise would draw from our own past. Tony brought in Bruce Shelley, a former MicroProse employee and Sid Meier’s right hand man, to consult remotely. Warcraft II impressed the team enough that they used its combat system as a model for Age of Empires. Microsoft’s testing led to proper tutorials, a context sensitive interface, and other improvements that made the game approachable for people who had never played an RTS. But could it stand out when seemingly every company was releasing one? Ensemble thought Microsoft’s projection of 430,000 copies was far too high. By the end of December, sales had reached 650,000. Lifetime sales surpassed 850,000, rising above 1.2 million with the expansion. A company rooted in business software had created a massive hit that put Microsoft Game Studios on the map and helped Microsoft be taken seriously as a game company.

Gamers at Work - Stories Behind the Games People Play: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1430233516?plpRedirect=mhFallback&ref=clp_hp_h_pc

A Bit of Foolishness - An Oral History of Age of Empires: https://www.shacknews.com/article/121405/a-bit-of-foolishness-an-oral-history-of-age-of-empires

Borland Paradox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MskQ62r9fQE

TCW 192 - Microprose Part 1: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW192-microprose-part-1

TCW 193 - Microprose Part 2: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW193-microprose-part-2

TCW 050 - Civilizing Sid Meier: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW050-civilizing-sid-meier

TCW 238 - Quake: https://www.theycreateworlds.com/episodes/TCW238-quake

"The least-worst idea we had" - The Creation of the Age of Empires empire: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/01/the-age-of-age-of-empires-as-told-by-the-devs-who-built-it/

Age of Empires/Rise of Rome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BEcGsjcROs&list=PLQfrpbKb0ZGKsmdPjDF0Jmrb3rohYo-xx

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

TCW Email: [email protected]

BlueSky: @theycreateworlds.bsky.social