At Forgotten Empires we try to make history come alive and one way we do that is through our art design in Age of Empires II HD: Edition. With the release of The Forgotten expansion in 2013, we introduced 5 new civilizations, one of which was the Indians. Today is India’s Republic Day, a public holiday which celebrates the date in which the Declaration of Indian Independence was issued and 20 years later when the Constitution of India was officially adopted. So in honor of India’s Republic Day, let’s take a quick look at the unique Indian building architecture in Age of Empires IIÂ and how it has evolved since release.
Initially the Indians shared the same architecture set as the Byzantines, Saracens, Berbers, etc, but we wanted to flesh that out over time. Our initial Indian building design plan was partially based on the Mughals, but as the civilization evolved and with the creation of the Prithviraj campaign, the civilization transitioned more toward the Hindu rulers, kingdoms, and dynasties. With the release of the African Kingdoms expansion in 2015, we contacted community modder Chris ‘Moppo’ Morton and offered to officially support his Indian architecture mod by providing him with the framework in the the data files. Over 20,000 people subscribed to Moppo’s official mod and so we decided to formally bring him on board to fully upgrade the set.
With the release of the Rise of the Rajas expansion in 2016, the new Indian building architecture came to life and was completely remastered as an official part of the game. The updated graphics are automatically available to everyone with an Indians player in their game, no mods necessary! We hope that everyone is enjoying the new Indian building graphics as much as we are.
Some screenshots of the Prithviraj campaign with the new architecture:
“When designing the Indian architecture set I had a lot of fun trying to cram as many details in as possible. Due to the image size it’s difficult to depict a lot of the details seen in the varied styles of Indian architecture, so I chose just a few set pieces to make and repeat all over. Some of the taller buildings have lots of repeating layers that can be tricky too, but are extremely satisfying to complete.”
– Chris ‘Moppo’ Morton (artist)
Feel free to share your thoughts and screenshots with us below!
Really adds to the asthetic of the game. Wouldn’t mind seeing some more of this for other civs
great work as always ; but i really think that what needs remastering are the old game units some of them are nice but others always bugged me like (militia and feudal archer ) , and the villagers since they look the same for all vils ( no special costumes )
Would love to see a more in depth making off of this set!
Don’t tell the wonder looks like The Taj Mahal.
looks great and keep up the good work!! Btw,do you have in plan a new dlc for the game? played all 3 and they are super!
I’d say the Huns are the next civ in line desperate for an architecture set
Ohhh no, definitely the Byzantines. The Roman Empire having a Mosque and Sultan sickens me! đ
That Indian architecture is great, although I think the Wonder should be Taj Mahal (no ripping of Rise of Nations please, guys). However, I understand if they could not be, as both the Taj Mahal and Gol Gumbaz are Muslim architecture rather than Hindu architecture.
Here are some architecture sets to be fixed:
-Byzantines should have either their own set or the Mediterranean one.
-Huns should have either their own set or the Eastern Asian one.
-Spanish should have the Mediterranean set.
-Vietnamese should have the Eastern Asian set.
The problem with Taj Mahal and Gol Gumbaz is that they’r too modern not to be muslim
-Agreed with the Byzantines, Spanish and Vietnamese, though the Mediterranean set (particularly the fortifications) really needs polishing.
-The Huns can be assumed to be making use of the conquered European buildings, this also explains their wonder, which is the destroyed Arch of Constantine.
I think we won’t get a Byzantine set due to the few amount of things that need change: removing the monastery’s minarets and maybe changing the building’s colors (Middle Eastern set) or adding domes everywhere (Mediterranean set). They’re both good enough but I’d still use the current set so it doesn’t look like the Western Roman Empire.
Changing Spanish would be nice, and the Huns were already explained by orange19, but the Vietnamese have absolutely no excuse for not using the Eastern Asia one. They’re the most urgent (and do-able) change IMO.
Not only the indians needed a new building set. In my opinion you guys in your next dlc (if you wanna make tons of cash) should add a NEW sets or a remastered set of Age of Kings and Conqueror Civilizations. Each and every one of the civilizacion on the game have unique culture and diferents architecture style. The celts sharing the same set with the spanish or the english empire?? Arabians share sets with the Bizantine Empire??? The mediterranean set needs an urgent remastered set like the indians got but one for Bizantine Empires diferent from the Portuguese or… Read more »
Please update the Italian / Portuguese set, it is just horrible. Catbarf a have beautifull new set. also check the other civs ast the people says. Thanks
I agree. You guys should contact Catbarf and come to an agreement to implement his Italian/Portuguese set into the game. It is just perfect, I have been playing all the corresponding campaigns with it.
The ones derived from the middle eastern set (but with white walls and orange roofs) looks nice, but the towers, walls and castles look eh
The Forgotten expansion buildings need a restoration to look as well as new expansions buildings
Imperial Age buildings for Italian/Portuguese should be like “Venice Architecture”.
I have reverted back to the earlier version of this set which was released some time ago as a mod. Although I like the new one (it’s a bit more beautiful and full of details), the older one is easier on the eye, better recognizable. Ultimately, when a building set becomes too ornamental in Castle and Imperial Age, I rather go for the simpler version. It’s only a nuance, but I feel that the visual complexity of the new set went a little too far. Both sets are good, but given the choice, I go for the simpler one.