Nick Lee is a highly skilled game artist, currently located in London, working on titles such as Lego Knight’s Kingdom, Star Wars: Jedi Knights, Harry Potter, Sims Bustin Out, Jurassic Park, 1945, Rainbow Islands, Sims2, JLH: The Flash, Fast&Furious, Metal Slug, Age of Empires 3, Transformers:G1 Awakening, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and Rockmania.

Travis Bowling, from Ohio, is a game enthusiast, mission and map designer and long-term player of Age of Conquest. He is the current administrator for Age of Conquest as well as the official game forums. He has created some of the maps for Age of Conquest as well as all the missions for Tropical Stormfront.

The three of us are working on the next installment of Tropical Stormfront, i.e. Desert Stormfront. We will definitely talk about Desert Stormfront, of course Age of Conquest, plus anything else related to games.

Best App Award

Age of Conquest for Android has received 3rd place in the 2011 Best App Ever Awards in the Board Game category. We have been beaten by Quell (1st place) and Carcassone (2nd place). Our congratulations to the winner!

Open link for details:

• 3rd Place for Age of Conquest (Android)

RTSGuru

RTSGuru has kindly reviewed Tropical Stormfront for Android! RTSGuru is a site dedicated to real-time strategy games.

Tropical Stormfront has received a review score of 8/10. Please visit their website to read the review:

• Tropical Stormfront Review by RTSGuru

Stop SOPA

Noble Master Games has joined the SOPA-Protest. The following web sites will be unavailable during January 18, 2011:

• Noble Master Games (Company Site)
• Age of Conquest (Game Site)
• Multiplayer Hub (Forums)
• Java Game Tome (Game Listing)

Please visit the following page for more information:

• Noble Master – SOPA Protest Page

PlayAndroid.com

I have been interviewed by Frederik Schrader of PlayAndroid.com. Please visit their web page for the 10 interview questions I have been asked:

• Developer Interview: 10 Questions for Christoph Aschwanden

Twitter: @noblemaster

We have launched our official twitter feed! Please follow us at @noblemaster for latest games news, updates, rebates and more.

May of Conquest

We will be hosting our first annual May of Conquest tournament this year May 1-31, 2012 to celebrate 11 years of Age of Conquest. The tournament is free to enter (no subscription or purchase required). You will need a PC, Macintosh or Linux computer to participate and sign up.

The May of Conquest festival lasts all month of May and includes daily tournaments featuring prizes such as free subscriptions, apparels, mugs and more. The tournaments are organized by King_Howard, ImLagging, fodder. Please contact them in-game for questions.

We already have several sponsors lined about that have graciously agreed to supply some of the prizes. We will announce the sponsors at a later point of time. Please contact us if you are interested to sponsor a prize as well. Your prize will go 100% to the winning players.

Download & Schedule: May of Conquest 2012

• Vote for Age of Conquest

Best Board Game 2011: Age of Conquest

Blackman'N Robin

Jourdan Cameron from Blackman’N Robin has gone through the trouble and reviewed Tropical Stormfront.

Read the review:

• Blackman’N Robin: Tropical Stormfront Review

The game features a multitude of pre-defined missions such as survival mode, eliminate all the enemy forces, capture the flag, hold the flag, defend against incoming forces, capture the enemy general, sea battles, air battles as well as tank fights.

To complete the objectives you take command of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and fight against the evil forces of Order, Discipline and Obedience (ODO). Choose the right strategies for each of the battles and you will claim ultimate victory!

Game Information: Tropical Stormfront in Android Market

Lewes, Delaware -– December 20, 2011 — Noble Master Games releases their real-time strategy game title “Tropical Stormfront” on the Android operating system.

Tropical Stormfront is real-time strategy (RTS) game in a tropical setting. The game features 25 pre-defined campaign missions plus a multitude of skirmish scenarios. For the campaign missions, a player takes command of the “United Democratic Alliance” (UDA) and battles for victory against the forces of “Order, Discipline and Obedience” (ODO). Nations included are America, England, Russia, Germany, Japan, China, Brazil and India.

The game features various game play modes such as survival mode, eliminate all the enemy forces, capture the flag, hold the flag, defend against incoming forces, capture the enemy general, sea battles, air battles as well as tank fights. Maps are based on real world locations including Hawaii, Falkland Islands, Fiji, Midway, the Philippines, Taiwan and China to name a few.

According to players, Tropical Stormfront might just be released right in time for Christmas, “This looks like the first proper RTS I’ve seen on Android that isn’t yet another tower defense game” –- PhonicUK, Reddit.com.

Tropical Stormfront is available via Android Market in the English, Japanese and Korean language. The game is priced at USD6.99 (CAD6.99, AUD6.99, EUR4.99, JPY549, KRW7999). A free LITE version is available for try out before purchase. For additional information on “Tropical Stormfront” such as screenshots, trailer videos, evaluation copy and demo, contact Christoph Aschwanden or visit http://www.noblemaster.com.

Noble Master Games is a professionally established company to serves as a resource for the global gaming community at large.

• Age of Conquest III Review (Desktop)

AoC World for Android

The World Conquest edition for Age of Conquest is now available in the Android Market! The world edition features a mini map of the world (bigger maps are not possible due to memory limitations) including all the continents Europe, Asia, N. America, S. America, Africa and Australia.

The game features:

• Scenarios ranging from modern times to futuristic times.
• God mode option to see all the empires on the map.
• Simple building options including fortifications and watch towers.
• AI difficulty settings ranging from easy to extreme.
• Random placement and random fill options at game start.
• One game provides hours of entertainment.
• Background music matching the map and scenario you are playing.
• Management of income and spending as well as basic population and economy management.
• Diplomacy including alliances, peace treaties, cease-fires and vassalage.

Android Market: Age of Conquest: World

Lewes, Delaware — March 1, 2011 — Noble Master Games has announced a $1000 Cash Prize tournament that is played using their medieval Risk-like turn-based strategy game Age of Conquest ONLINE. The tournament is set to commence on March 14, 2011. Interested players have to register before the start date to participate.

The tournament is organized as follows:

• The tournament is played as single elimination (a.k.a. cup modus). The top three players of each game advance to the next round.
• Games are not played real-time, but instead you have a window of 48h each turn to login and enter your orders. One game lasts 50 turns maximum.
• The World Map will be used as the game arena.
• The tournament commences on March 14, 2011. Register before the start date to participate (no purchase necessary).

Please note that the tournament will last several months until the winner is found. In the final game, if there are multiple first place finishers, the USD 1000 prize is split between all the tournament winners. A PayPal account is required to claim the prize.

The tournament can be played on PC, Mac and Linux computers. Download “Age of Conquest ONLINE” and register for the tournament via the “Tourney” realm. Tournament information and client download are available at: http://www.ageofconquest.com/tourney.html

“We are very excited to host the opening tournament for the latest installment of our medieval strategy game Age of Conquest ONLINE.” said Christoph Aschwanden, owner of Noble Master Games. “We are looking forward to months of fierce competition to eventually crown the tournament champion.”

For additional information on the news that is the subject of this release, contact Christoph Aschwanden or visit http://www.noblemaster.com for inquiries.

The war game is a combination of Empires of Steel, WeeWar, Mother of All Battles by Sean O’Connor, Advance War, as well as Command & Conquer. The game will initially feature single player game play only. Please note, the graphics are not final yet. The tilesets will go out to the artist pretty soon.

RTS Wargame (WiP)

The Wargamer

• The Wargamer: Review for Age of Conquest III

Please note that the $1000 cash tournament is free to enter. The other tournaments require a valid subscription to join.

Please mark your calendars and spread the word. Thanks!

1st $1000 Cash Tournament 5th Stein Tournament 6th Championship Tournament

Tournament prizes are sponsored by Noble Master Games. Please inquire on the Multiplayer Hub for questions.

Release Date: Feb. 2011.
1st Tournament: Free to Enter (no subscription required), US$1000 Prize Money

The project is called the Atari Coldfire Project (ACP). Atari experts from hardware and software are putting together the next Atari computer called FireBee running on the ColdFire processor. The hardware is finished. The operating system and software is currently still being worked on. Visit the links below for imagery & video:

• Atari Coldfire Project
• FireBee on YouTube

Atari FireBee Desktop

Standard Galactic Alphabet

Age of Conquest is now available in Polish:

• Age of Conquest in Polish by Robert Urbaniec

So, right now, the following languages are support:

• Age of Conquest in English
• Age of Conquest in Italian by Gabriele Ravanetti
• Age of Conquest in Chinese by “绝影汉化组

Also, currently underway are translations to German, French, Spanish & Japanese. If you would like to add yet another translation, please contact me for details.

My thanks go to all the contributors for their hard work!

http://sig.ageofconquest.com/universe1/sig/user/<username>.png

Replace <username> with your Age of Conquest username. For integration into a forum, you could use the following BB Code. The code links to the homepage of Age of Conquest:

[url=http://www.ageofconquest.com][img]http://sig.ageofconquest.com/universe1/sig/user/<username>.png[/img][/url]

Game Signature for noblemaster

Custom Triggers

What are “triggers” are you probably asking yourself? Has he finally lost his mind? Not yet! Triggers are custom events that can be added to map scenarios. A trigger can either be shown at random or at a fixed turn. Triggers serve a game by providing “outside” events to a game, rather than everything being player generated.

The following triggers are currently available:

• Announcement: to display announcements. You could for example create an announcement that will be shown at turn 2 to all players telling them to attack Rome.
• Economy: you could say for turn 4, everyone will get an extra 17′000 gold in their treasury due to good economic time.
• Plague: a plague has killed 87% of the human population at turn 5. Once a plague has hit, income will be reduced as less population will not be able to produce as much income.

There are currently no triggers defined in any scenario (to my knowledge?). If you are a map maker and would like to test the feature, open the map editor and fill in the corresponding fields in the “Trigger” tab. Hit test to see it live in action.

Please visit the MultiplayerHub Forums to discuss.

Espionage & Sabotage

The latest update for Age of Conquest ONLINE v3 includes five additional actions. The actions are available on both Android and desktop (PC, Mac, Linux), except the call to arms function is only available on desktop at the moment. The five actions include:

• Support - can be used to send gold to other empires. The functionality is limited to 40′000 gold per transaction.
• Purchase - can be used to purchase neutral provinces. The provinces are rather expensive and can be acquired for 100′000 gold or more depending on the province’s value (production, population).
• Call to Arms – can be used to rally troops from multiple provinces that are in range (radius 3). The troops become available the next turn. It helps prevent depletion of population on a province.
• Espionage - can be utilized to spy on other empires. Functions include locating an enemy ruler, their treasury, economy or reading their messages.
• Sabotage - can be utilized to steal gold from foreign rulers or reduce their morale.

[Call to Arms], [Espionage] and [Sabotage] are disabled by default and have to be set if a new game is created. [Support] and [Purchase] are new and become available also in games already in progress. [Support] and [Purchase] can be disabled as needed.

Android Walker

If Japanese is your first language, Android Walker has a review of Age of Conquest LITE for Android on their site. Review and video are in Japanese for obvious reasons. There is both a game description plus a YouTube video:

• エイジオブコンクエストLITE
• Android Walker

T3 AppVent Calendar:

• http://free-android-apps.t3.com/

T3 AppVent Calendar 2010

Please note, the purchases refer to the orders made through http://www.ageofconquest.com only and do not include purchases via 3rd party distributors of Age of Conquest (don’t have any numbers yet).

Live Statistics for Age of Conquest

Obviously for Age of Conquest! Should be available within the next few weeks…

Big Map of Europe

Overview Map for Age of Conquest

Age of Conquest ONLINE v3 now features an overview map. The map can be viewed during game setup and during game-play. The overview map shows the empires, economy and population sizes.

Also, please join noblemaster’s game in the Casual realm!

Mac Game Store

Age of Conquest III is now also available via the Mac Game Store also. You can download the game via the following URL:

• Age of Conquest III in Mac Game Store

Alternatively, you can obtain the game via the following 3rd party distributors:

• GamersGate (Windows + Macintosh)
• Intel AppUp (Windows only)

Zürich, Switzerland — November 17, 2010 — Noble Master Games releases their medieval strategy game “Age of Conquest III” for PC, Macintosh and Linux computers.

Age of Conquest III is a medieval Risk-like turn-based strategy game where you take the reins of a budding empire and struggle against other kingdoms for control of the world. One game supports competitions with up to hundred players.

Age of Conquest III contains maps from all over the world including Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, a World Map and many more. Scenarios range from ancient to modern times. The game features simple building options such as construction of fortifications and watch towers. A player governs over military strategy as well as income and spending. Diplomatic functions available are alliances, peace treaties, cease-fires and vassalage. An integrated map editor can be used to create custom maps and upload them to a central repository for other people to enjoy.

Age of Conquest III is available via Intel AppUp (http://www.appup.com), GamersGate (http://www.gamersgate.com), and via the official game site (http://www.ageofconquest.com). The game is priced at US$19.99. A free demo is available for try out before purchase.

Noble Master Games is a professionally established company to serves as a resource for the global gaming community at large.

GamersGate Logo

Age of Conquest III has been added to GamersGate!

The bundle is scheduled for release on Nov. 17. There will be a lite and full version available for both PC and Macintosh. The lite version is limited to one scenario and starting position which should provide several hours of entertainment. The full version contains all the maps and full game-play options.

Listing on GamersGate:

• Age of Conquest
• Noble Master Games

The music credit goes to Christian Andersson (Craze Music Productions, http://www.craze.se) who truly did an incredible job.

In other news, I am planning to release Age of Conquest ONLINE in about one month from now and need beta-testers for the online version as well. You will receive a free one year subscription to the online version for participating, plus being added to the credits. Also, you will get a headstart by getting to play around with it first. Please email me your username and operating system (Windows, Macintosh, Linux or UNIX) if you would like to participate. Send your email to contact at ageofconquest dot com.

Planned Release Date:

• Age of Conquest III: Nov. 17 (GamersGate, ageofconquest.com)
  
• Age of Conquest ONLINE: Nov. 17 (ageofconquest.com)

Release dates are pretty fixed, unless there are not enough volunteers to beta-test Age of Conquest ONLINE.

Please contact us at the email address listed on our web site.

Thanks!

Edit I: beta-testers will appear in the game credits!

Edit II: Let’s make this a paid beta-test (PayPal ony). The whole test shouldn’t take much more than 1-2 hours. I need bug reports for Windows, Macintosh & Linux. I need 3 beta-testers for each platform (9 total). You will receive a payment of $25 for sending me the test report, plus have your name added to the credits of the game. Please email me know if you would like to participate. Let me know which platforms you can test for (you only need to do one). It’s first-come first-serve. Thanks!

Links for Users

Age of Conquest III will have linked users and clans. All the users and clans, wherever they appear inside the various panels will be clickable and will open an information panel.

The user information panel will contain the following components:

• Information about the user such as his location, birthday, standings and awards.
• A button that allows to contact the user directly via private messaging system.
• Add a user to the friend list; or block the user from contacting you.
• A reporting button to report suspected cheaters.
• Administrators will be able to view last logins and other user related information. There is admin functionality available to administrate the user if you are an administrator.

The same will be available for clans. The clan information panel will display the clan owers, admins and honor members. Also, it will be possible to directly apply to become a member of the clan.

Ratings & Awards

Age of Conquest III will feature a much improved user information panel. The panel will display the following information:

• Overall Rating & Ranking
• Season Team/User Rating & Ranking
• Awards including Championships won, Top Season Ratings achieved as well as Contest finishes.

More awards will be added once version III has come online.

Visit the Age of Conquest Modding Discussions & Workshop forum on the Multiplayer Hub for download and information.

Age of Conquest Editor (beta)

Star Rating

I couldn’t find a good star rating component for Java Swing, so I rolled my own. The star rating component displays the current current rating (yellow stars), as well as a “selected” rating (reddish stars). The “selected” rating can be changed by a user. If the “selected” rating is changed, all the listeners will be notified of the change.

Example (5 stars, 3.78 average rating, 3 stars initial selection):

  StarRater starRater = new StarRater(5, 3.61, 3);
  starRater.addStarListener(new StarRater.StarListener() {
    public void handleSelection(int selection) {
      // a new number of stars has been selected
      do something...
    }
  });
  add(starRater);   // add the component to the container...

The star rating component will initially be used to rate maps in Age of Conquest.

Here is the download for both source code & star images (Photoshop). Note that I included the star images as byte array in the source code for your convenience. You are obviously free to use your own as well. Please consider both source code as well as images in the Public Domain. If you would like to credit me for the work that’s great, otherwise, no problem either:

• Star Rater Component (Swing) + Star Images (Photoshop)

England Zone

Age of Conquest will have a new game type available. King of the Hill will require a player or a team to hold a certain area on the map for a given time to win the game. Target flags will define the zone.

For additional suggestions, please post your ideas here in the blog!

Color Swatch (Java)

The color selector (JColorChooser) for Java is rather ugly, so I decided to write my own color chooser. The color chooser is made up of two components:

• ColorSelector: A button which displays the currently selected color and pops up the ColorSwatch when clicked.
• ColorSwatch:  Displays a color swatch with clickable colors. The color swatch expects a two-dimensional array of colors as input that will be displayed in the swatch.

The color selector and swatch will be used for Age of Conquest to make it more convenient to select a color in the map editor (less cumbersome). Please note, the five columns to the left are specifically designed colors for Age of Conquest to give maps a medieval look & feel. Although other colors can be chosen as well, it is recommended to use the medieval colors when creating new scenarios for the game.

Here is the code for both components. Please consider the code Public Domain. Feel free to use and modify it any way you please. Although, I would appreciate to be credited, it is not necessary to do so. Enjoy!

ColorSelector.java

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.RenderingHints;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;

import javax.swing.ButtonModel;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JPopupMenu;

/**
 * Represents a color selector.
 *
 * @author noblemaster
 * @since August 16, 2010
 */
public class ColorSelector extends JButton {

  /** The default colors. */
  private static final int[][] DEFAULT_COLORS = new int[][] {
      { 0xFFFFFF, 0xEEEEEE, 0xDDDDDD, 0xCCCCCC
       , 0xBBBBBB, 0xAAAAAA, 0xFFCC00, 0xFF9900
       , 0xFF6600, 0xFF3300, 0x999999, 0x888888
       , 0x666666, 0x444444, 0x222222, 0x000000 },
      { 0x99CC00, 0x000000, 0x000000, 0x000000
       , 0x000000, 0xCC9900, 0xFFCC33, 0xFFCC66
       , 0xFF9966, 0xFF6633, 0xCC3300, 0x000000
       , 0x000000, 0x000000, 0x000000, 0xCC0033 },
      { 0xCCFF00, 0xCCFF33, 0x333300, 0x666600
       , 0x999900, 0xCCCC00, 0xFFFF00, 0xCC9933
       , 0xCC6633, 0x330000, 0x660000, 0x990000
       , 0xCC0000, 0xFF0000, 0xFF3366, 0xFF0033 },
      { 0x99FF00, 0xCCFF66, 0x99CC33, 0x666633
       , 0x999933, 0xCCCC33, 0xFFFF33, 0x996600
       , 0x993300, 0x663333, 0x993333, 0xCC3333
       , 0xFF3333, 0xCC3366, 0xFF6699, 0xFF0066 },
      { 0x66FF00, 0x99FF66, 0x66CC33, 0x669900
       , 0x999966, 0xCCCC66, 0xFFFF66, 0x996633
       , 0x663300, 0x996666, 0xCC6666, 0xFF6666
       , 0x990033, 0xCC3399, 0xFF66CC, 0xFF0099 },
      { 0x33FF00, 0x66FF33, 0x339900, 0x66CC00
       , 0x99FF33, 0xCCCC99, 0xFFFF99, 0xCC9966
       , 0xCC6600, 0xCC9999, 0xFF9999, 0xFF3399
       , 0xCC0066, 0x990066, 0xFF33CC, 0xFF00CC },
      { 0x00CC00, 0x33CC00, 0x336600, 0x669933
       , 0x99CC66, 0xCCFF99, 0xFFFFCC, 0xFFCC99
       , 0xFF9933, 0xFFCCCC, 0xFF99CC, 0xCC6699
       , 0x993366, 0x660033, 0xCC0099, 0x330033 },
      { 0x33CC33, 0x66CC66, 0x00FF00, 0x33FF33
       , 0x66FF66, 0x99FF99, 0xCCFFCC, 0xFFFFE3
       , 0xFFFFFF, 0xFFE3FF, 0xCC99CC, 0x996699
       , 0x993399, 0x990099, 0x663366, 0x660066 },
      { 0x006600, 0x336633, 0x009900, 0x339933
       , 0x669966, 0x99CC99, 0xE3FFFF, 0xFFFFFF
       , 0xFFFFFF, 0xFFCCFF, 0xFF99FF, 0xFF66FF
       , 0xFF33FF, 0xFF00FF, 0xCC66CC, 0xCC33CC },
      { 0x003300, 0x00CC33, 0x006633, 0x339966
       , 0x66CC99, 0x99FFCC, 0xCCFFFF, 0x3399FF
       , 0x99CCFF, 0xCCCCFF, 0xCC99FF, 0x9966CC
       , 0x663399, 0x330066, 0x9900CC, 0xCC00CC },
      { 0x00FF33, 0x33FF66, 0x009933, 0x00CC66
       , 0x33FF99, 0x99FFFF, 0x99CCCC, 0x0066CC
       , 0x6699CC, 0x9999FF, 0x9999CC, 0x9933FF
       , 0x6600CC, 0x660099, 0xCC33FF, 0xCC00FF },
      { 0x00FF66, 0x66FF99, 0x33CC66, 0x009966
       , 0x66FFFF, 0x66CCCC, 0x669999, 0x003366
       , 0x336699, 0x6666FF, 0x6666CC, 0x666699
       , 0x330099, 0x9933CC, 0xCC66FF, 0x9900FF },
      { 0x00FF99, 0x66FFCC, 0x33CC99, 0x33FFFF
       , 0x33CCCC, 0x339999, 0x336666, 0x006699
       , 0x003399, 0x3333FF, 0x3333CC, 0x333399
       , 0x333366, 0x6633CC, 0x9966FF, 0x6600FF },
      { 0x00FFCC, 0x33FFCC, 0x00FFFF, 0x00CCCC
       , 0x009999, 0x006666, 0x003333, 0x3399CC
       , 0x3366CC, 0x0000FF, 0x0000CC, 0x000099
       , 0x000066, 0x000033, 0x6633FF, 0x3300FF },
      { 0x00CC99, 0x000000, 0x000000, 0x000000
       , 0x000000, 0x0099CC, 0x33CCFF, 0x66CCFF
       , 0x6699FF, 0x3366FF, 0x0033CC, 0x000000
       , 0x000000, 0x000000, 0x000000, 0x3300CC },
      { 0x000000, 0x222222, 0x444444, 0x666666
       , 0x888888, 0x999999, 0x00CCFF, 0x0099FF
       , 0x0066FF, 0x0033FF, 0xAAAAAA, 0xBBBBBB
       , 0xCCCCCC, 0xDDDDDD, 0xEEEEEE, 0xFFFFFF },
  };

  /** The rollover color. */
  private static final Color ROLLOVER_COLOR = new Color(0x20ffffff, true);

  /** The current color. */
  private Color color;
  /** The available colors. */
  private Color[][] colors;

  /**
   * The constructor.
   */
  public ColorSelector() {
    this(Color.RED, getDefaultColors());
  }

  /**
   * The constructor.
   *
   * @param color  The active color.
   * @param colors  The colors to select from.
   */
  public ColorSelector(Color color, Color[][] colors) {
    this.color = color;
    this.colors = colors;

    // set background
    setOpaque(false);

    // listen to clicks and display popup as needed
    addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent arg0) {
        // create and show swatch
        final JPopupMenu popup = new JPopupMenu();
        popup.setOpaque(false);
        ColorSwatch swatch = new ColorSwatch(ColorSelector.this.colors);
        swatch.addColorListener(new ColorSwatch.ColorListener() {
          public void handleColor(Color color) {
            // set the new color
            if (color != null) {
              ColorSelector.this.setColor(color);
            }

            // hide the popup
            popup.setVisible(false);
          }
        });
        popup.add(swatch);
        popup.show(ColorSelector.this, getWidth() / 2, getHeight() / 2);
      }
    });
  }

  /**
   * Returns the color.
   *
   * @return  The color.
   */
  public Color getColor() {
    return color;
  }

  /**
   * Sets the color.
   *
   * @param color  The color.
   */
  public void setColor(Color color) {
    this.color = color;
  }

  /**
   * Returns the colors.
   *
   * @return  The colors.
   */
  public Color[][] getColors() {
    return colors;
  }

  /**
   * Sets the colors.
   *
   * @param colors  The colors.
   */
  public void setColors(Color[][] colors) {
    this.colors = colors;
  }

  /**
   * Returns the base colors.
   *
   * @return  The base colors.
   */
  public static Color[][] getDefaultColors() {
    Color[][] colors = new Color[DEFAULT_COLORS.length][DEFAULT_COLORS[0].length];
    for (int y = 0; y < colors.length; y++) {
      for (int x = 0; x < colors[0].length; x++) {
        colors[y][x] = new Color(DEFAULT_COLORS[y][x]);
      }
    }
    return colors;
  }

  /**
   * Returns the preferred size.
   *
   * @return  The preferred size.
   */
  @Override
  public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
    return new Dimension(60, 30);
  }

  /**
   * Returns the margin.
   *
   * @return  The margin.
   */
  private int margin() {
    return 3;
  }

  /**
   * Draws this component.
   *
   * @param g  Where to draw to.
   */
  @Override
  public void paint(Graphics g) {
    // use antialiasing
    Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D)g;
    g2.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_ANTIALIASING,
                        RenderingHints.VALUE_ANTIALIAS_ON);
    int width = getWidth();
    int height = getHeight();
    int x = 0;
    int y = 0;
    int margin = margin();

    // draw border
    getBorder().paintBorder(this, g, 0, 0, width - 1, height - 1); 

    // draw the color
    g.setColor(color);
    g.fillRoundRect(x + margin, y + margin
                 , width - (2 * margin), height - (2 * margin), 5, 5);

    // draw effect as need
    ButtonModel model = getModel();
    if (model.isPressed()) {
      g.setColor(ROLLOVER_COLOR);
      g.fillRoundRect(x + margin, y + margin
                 , width - (2 * margin), height - (2 * margin), 5, 5);
      g.fillRoundRect(x + margin, y + margin
                , width - (2 * margin), height - (2 * margin), 5, 5);
    }
    else if (model.isRollover()) {
      g.setColor(ROLLOVER_COLOR);
      g.fillRoundRect(x + margin, y + margin
               , width - (2 * margin), height - (2 * margin), 5, 5);
    }
  }
}

ColorSwatch.java:

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Dimension;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.RenderingHints;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.event.MouseInputListener;

/**
 * Displays a color swatch.
 *
 * @author noblemaster
 * @since August 16, 2010
 */
public class ColorSwatch extends JPanel {

  /** The rollover color. */
  private static final Color ROLLOVER_COLOR = new Color(0x80ffffff, true);

  /** The listener. */
  public static interface ColorListener {

    /**
     * Called if a color has been activated.
     *
     * @param color  The color.
     */
    void handleColor(Color color);
  }

  /** The listeners. */
  private transient List
 listeners = new ArrayList();

  /** The colors. */
  private Color[][] colors;

  /** The rollover color. */
  private Color rolloverColor = null;

  /**
   * The constructor.
   */
  public ColorSwatch() {
    this(new Color[0][0]);
  }

  /**
   * The constructor.
   *
   * @param colors  The colors to select from.
   */
  public ColorSwatch(Color[][] colors) {
    this.colors = colors;

    // set look
    setOpaque(true);
    setBackground(Color.WHITE);
    setBorder(BorderFactory.createLineBorder(Color.BLACK, 1));

    // add listener
    MouseInputListener mouseListener = new MouseInputListener() {
      public void mousePressed(MouseEvent event) {
        Color color = getColor(event.getX(), event.getY());

        // notify about selection
        for (int i = 0; i < listeners.size(); i++) {
          listeners.get(i).handleColor(color);
        }
      }
      public void mouseMoved(MouseEvent event) {
        rolloverColor = getColor(event.getX(), event.getY());
        repaint();
      }
      public void mouseDragged(MouseEvent event) {
        // not used
      }
      public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent event) {
        // not used
      }
      public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent arg0) {
        // not used
      }
      public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent arg0) {
        // not used
      }
      public void mouseExited(MouseEvent arg0) {
        rolloverColor = null;
        repaint();
      }
    };
    addMouseListener(mouseListener);
    addMouseMotionListener(mouseListener);
  }

  /**
   * Returns the colors.
   *
   * @return  The colors.
   */
  public Color[][] getColors() {
    return colors;
  }

  /**
   * Sets the colors.
   *
   * @param colors  The colors.
   */
  public void setColors(Color[][] colors) {
    this.colors = colors;
  }

  /**
   * Returns the preferred size.
   *
   * @return  The preferred size.
   */
  @Override
  public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
    int colorSize = getColorSize();
    int colorSpacing = getColorSpacing();
    int margin = getMargin();
    return new Dimension((colorSize + colorSpacing) * colors[0].length
                              + (2 * margin) - colorSpacing
                       , (colorSize + colorSpacing) * colors.length
                              + (2 * margin) - colorSpacing);
  }

  /**
   * Returns the margin/insets from where the colors are painted. Override this method to paint the colors
   * further inside.
   *
   * @return  The margin.
   */
  public int getMargin() {
    return 2;
  }

  /**
   * Returns the color for the given coordinate.
   *
   * @param x  The x coordinate.
   * @param y  The y coordinate.
   * @return  The color or null if not found.
   */
  private Color getColor(int x, int y) {
    int margin = getMargin();
    int colorSize = getColorSize();
    int colorSpacing = getColorSpacing();
    x -= margin;
    y -= margin;
    int col = x / (colorSize + colorSpacing);
    int row = y / (colorSize + colorSpacing);
    if ((col < 0) || (col >= colors[0].length) || (row < 0)
                       || (row >= colors.length)) {
      return null;
    }
    else {
      return colors[row][col];
    }
  }

  /**
   * Returns the spacing.
   *
   * @return  The spacing.
   */
  private int getColorSpacing() {
    return getColorSize() > 2 ? 1 : 0;
  }

  /**
   * Returns the size of a color thingy.
   *
   * @return  The color size in pixels.
   */
  private int getColorSize() {
    if ((colors[0].length <= 12) && (colors.length <= 8)) {
      return 15;
    }
    else if ((colors[0].length <= 24) && (colors.length <= 16)) {
      return 7;
    }
    else if ((colors[0].length <= 48) && (colors.length <= 32)) {
      return 5;
    }
    else if ((colors[0].length <= 96) && (colors.length <= 64)) {
      return 3;
    }
    else {
      return 1;
    }
  }

  /**
   * Draws this component.
   *
   * @param g  Where to draw to.
   */
  @Override
  protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
    // use antialiasing
    Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D)g;
    g2.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_ANTIALIASING,
                        RenderingHints.VALUE_ANTIALIAS_ON);
    int width = getWidth();
    int height = getHeight();
    int margin = getMargin();
    int colorSize = getColorSize();
    int colorSpacing = getColorSpacing();

    // background fill
    g.setColor(getBackground());
    g.fillRect(0, 0, width, height);

    // draw the colors
    for (int y = 0; y < colors.length; y++) {
      for (int x = 0; x < colors[0].length; x++) {         Color color = colors[y][x];         g.setColor(color);         g.fillRect(x * (colorSize + colorSpacing) + margin                  , y * (colorSize + colorSpacing) + margin                  , colorSize                  , colorSize);                  // draw rollover?         if (colorSpacing > 0) {
          if (color == rolloverColor) {
            g.setColor(ROLLOVER_COLOR);
            g.fillRect(x * (colorSize + colorSpacing) + margin
                , y * (colorSize + colorSpacing) + margin
                , colorSize
                , colorSize);
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }

  /**
   * Adds a listener.
   *
   * @param listener  The listener.
   */
  public void addColorListener(ColorListener listener) {
    listeners.add(listener);
  }

  /**
   * Removes a listener.
   *
   * @param listener  The listener.
   */
  public void removeColorListener(ColorListener listener) {
    listeners.remove(listener);
  }
}

Honolulu, HI – August 17, 2010 — Noble Master Games releases their medieval strategy game “Age of Conquest: World Conquest” for Apple’s iPad platform.

Age of Conquest a risk-like strategy game where you take the reign of a budding empire and struggle for domination of the world. The game includes sixteen scenarios with a total of over hundred empires to choose from including Spain, Germany, France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, China, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Columbia, Cuba and the United States.

Age of Conquest features several AI difficulty levels from easy to extreme keeping you entertained for hours. Options include Fog of War and a God Mode to see all the units on the map. Features include:
- Play with any of the empires available.
- Random placement option.
- Basic population and economy management.
- Background music matching the game you are playing.
- Auto-save option to resume games in progress.

The iPad application “Age of Conquest: World Conquest” is available in the Apple iTunes Store for US$4.99. A free “Lite” version can be downloaded for try out before purchase. Age of Conquest is also available for iPhone and iPod Touch. iTunes URL:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/age-conquest-world-conquest/id386104577

Noble Master Games is a professionally established company to serves as a resource for the global gaming community at large.

Slider and Progress Bar

Age of Conquest III will feature two new GUI components: slider and progress bar. Both components have been designed by Sergey “Serjio” Churbanov who created most other graphics for Age of Conquest III as well.

All other paid Age of Conquest applications including Europe, N. America, S. America, Asia and Africa will receive full iPad support free of charge as soon as Apple approves the latest update (submitted, pending review). The new World Conquest edition featuring a map of the world will be released around August 11.

Download Age of Conquest Lite (free) now via the iTunes Store:

• Age of Conqest Lite for iPad, iPhone & iPod

Age of Conquest Lite for iPad

The income and expenses for each turn are calculated as follows:

World world = ... // the world including everything
Entity entity = ... // the empire we are doing the calculations for

// assets
long money = entity.getMoney();

// income: tax
long taxIncome = getTaxIncome(world.getProduction(entity),
                              entity.getTaxRate(),
                              entity.getMorale());
money += taxIncome;

// income: vassals
for (Entity vassal: vassals) {
  long vassalIncome = getTaxIncome(world.getProduction(vassal),
                                   vassal.getTaxRate(),
                                   vassal.getMorale());
  money += getVassalPay(taxIncome);
}

// expenses: economy and military spending
money -= getEconomySpending(taxIncome, entity.getSpendingEconomy()));
money -= getMilitarySpending(world.getMilitary(entity),
                             entity.getSpendingMilitary()));

// expenses: tributes to vassal masters
for (Entity master: masters) {
  money -= getVassalPay(taxIncome);
}

Please note, production is a factor of economy x population.

Utility functions to calculate costs as well as economy, population and military increases/decreases depending on the spending settings chosen.

  /** The percent the vassal pays. */
  public static final int VASSAL_PAY_PERCENTAGE = 10;

  /** The standard economy spending in percent [0, 100]. */
  public static final int STANDARD_SPENDING_ECONOMY = 80;
  /** The standard military spending in percent [0, 100]. */
  public static final int STANDARD_SPENDING_MILITARY = 80;

  /**
   * Returns the tax for the given number of people.
   *
   * @param production  The production.
   * @param taxRate  The tax rate in percent [0, 100].
   * @param morale  The morale in percent [0, 100].
   * @return  The tax.
   */
  public long getTaxIncome(long production, int taxRate, int morale) {
    return Math.round(Math.pow(production * 0.08d, 0.96d) * taxRate/10*morale/100);
  }

  /**
   * Returns the payment a vassal slave has to pay to
   * his master based on his production.
   *
   * @param taxIncome  The tax income of the vassal slave.
   * @return  The pay a vassal slave has to pay to his master.
   */
  public long getVassalPay(long taxIncome) {
    return taxIncome * VASSAL_PAY_PERCENTAGE / 100;
  }

  /**
   * Returns the investment spending for the given tax income.
   *
   * @param taxIncome  The tax income.
   * @param economySpending  The economy spending.
   * @return  The expenses.
   */
  public long getEconomySpending(long taxIncome, int economySpending) {
    return (taxIncome / 10) * economySpending / STANDARD_SPENDING_ECONOMY;
  }

  /**
   * Returns the economy increase for the given spending rate.
   *
   * @param economySpending  The spending.
   * @return  The increase factor. Stays stable for 1, decreases
   * or less than 1 and increases for more than 1.
   */
  public float getEconomyIncrease(int economySpending) {
    return 1.03f + ((economySpending - Market.STANDARD_SPENDING_ECONOMY) * 0.03f / 100);
  }

  /**
   * Returns the population increase for the given spending rate.
   *
   * @param economySpending  The spending.
   * @return  The increase factor. Stays stable for 1, decreases
   * for less than 1 and increases for more than 1.
   */
  public float getPopulationIncrease(int economySpending) {
    return 1.01f + (economySpending * 0.001f);
  }

  /**
   * Returns the upkeep cost for the given number of military units.
   *
   * @param military  The military units.
   * @param militarySpending  The military spending.
   * @return  The upkeep cost.
   */
  public long getMilitarySpending(long military, int militarySpending) {
    return (military / 5) * militarySpending / STANDARD_SPENDING_MILITARY;
  }

  /**
   * Returns the military increase for the given spending rate.
   *
   * @param militarySpending  The spending.
   * @return  The increase factor. Stays stable for 1, decreases
   * for less than 1 and increases for more than 1.
   */
  public float getMilitaryIncrease(int militarySpending) {
    return 1.0f + ((militarySpending - Market.STANDARD_SPENDING_MILITARY) * 0.5f / 100);
  }

Find below the menu screen layout for the single player version of the game:

Age of Conquest: Menu Screen

See below for current development screenshots for the iPad version (World Conquest). Please note, this is the medium-sized world map. The full-size world map will be available on desktop (PC, Mac, Linux) only due to memory limitations.

Age of Conquest III - Screenshot 1

Age of Conquest III - Screenshot 2

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