1500 Archers on a 28.8: Network Programming in Age of Empires and Beyond
Paul Bettner, Mark Terrano · 2004
The Genie Engine was already running and the game simulation was shaping up into a compelling experience in single player. The Genie Engine is a 2D singlethreaded (game loop) engine. Sprites are rendered in 256 colors in a tile-based world. Randomly-generated maps were filled with thousands of objects, from trees that could be chopped down to leaping gazelles. The rough breakdown (post optimization) of processing tasks for the engine was: 30% graphic rendering, 30% AI and Pathing, and 30% running the simulation & maintenance.