Autumn Dynasty Lite : real-time strategy meets enchanting art
Autumn Dynasty Lite, by Touch Dimensions, is a real-time strategy game that puts you in charge of an army during an engaging time of war. What separates this game apart from any other strategy game we’ve seen is the scenery and artistic touch. An exotic painting becomes an epic battlefield in this strategic battle of the barbarians. This review will cover the lite version, which does not have all the features of the yet to be released full version, but it should give you a good preview of where the game is headed.
Autumn Dynasty Lite Menu
Many strategy games are well known for their addicting game play, but do not always have the best aesthetics. Autumn Dynasty Lite is one that tries to change that stereotype with an artistic flair. The lite version, unfortunately, only has one stage, but the background is gorgeous. It’s like an exotic painting of a battlefield; with trees, mountains, lakes, and streams lining the entire plane. Your troops are displayed as separate units in the form of blue flags, while the opponent is designated with red flags. This adds to the feel of bringing a strategy map to life as you order them to move and attack in different directions. Each flag is marked with a special emblem that reveals if the unit is part of the archers, cavalry, or infantry. Archers can attack enemies from distance with their arrows, but are terrible in close combat. Cavalry are fast and can charge opponents. Infantry have strong defense, but are slow.
Autumn Dynasty Lite
Although the background remains unchanged, forts are randomly assigned to different locations of the map each game. And it doesn’t mean the map is small just because there is only one available. The stage is large and you can pan around by double tapping and holding the screen. Tap on colored boxes, which indicate forts off screen, on the edge of the map to instantly change the view to those locations. Drag a unit in the direction you want to move them. Select multiple units by circling them and then drag to move them in any direction.
The goal is to build or capture 7 forts and hold them. This is easier said than done. You will have to battle with the enemy to gain ground. Troops will automatically engage as they get near each other. The forts are not just for trophies; they also help and are quite rewarding. Claimed forts will aid by healing nearby units. They will also produce reinforcements after a predefined countdown, so you can grow your army as long as you put up a good fight. The type of unit the fort trains as reinforcements can be changed by the user at any time by tapping and holding the fort.
There are 2 difficulty levels, easy and normal. I thought easy was a bit too easy, but normal mode is a serious challenge. The biggest drawback of the game is in the sound department. There’s only one soundtrack, just like most strategy games we see for Windows Mobile. The song for this game is nice for the menus, but I grew tired of it soon after. There are no sound effects in the game either. Overall, the game is fun and can keep your attention if you like strategy games. It’s fun being able to order troops around by using brush strokes. It can get difficult trying to manage your army once they get separated on the huge map, but this adds to the excitement and challenge. For a free game, it’s worth checking out. We’re excited to see the full version soon and hope it will feature more stages and other variations. See the videos below to see the Autumn Dynasty series unfold for multiple platforms. If you want to see the Windows Mobile version, fast forward to 53 seconds on the first video. If these videos are any indication of the talent these game developers possess, then we are excited to see them developing games for Windows Mobile. The full version of Autumn Dynasty should be one heck of a game, but is scheduled for an early next year release. As for the Lite version it should come up on the developers site very soon. ( keep an eye out on their Twitter stream )
Gameplay on Various devices
Official Trailer
Screenshot:
Tested on: Touch Pro 2
Pros:
- Beautiful stage
- Randomized fort locations on each start
- Innovative brush stroke game play
- Advanced reinforcement system and troop categories make things interesting
- Touchscreen-centric
- Free
Cons:
- Just one song and no Sound FX, although it would be hard to implement Sound FX in a game like this
- Just one stage ( Update : the full version will have a random map generator and multiple maps campaign )
Possible Improvements:
- If full version features more stages, we would love to see them looking different with color variation
- Archers’ arrows look great, cavalry charging attack is superb, but up close combat could use some more oomph. Maybe something to reflect more action when enemies are destroyed and forts are captured?
- Would like to see a level up system for units and forts too. Maybe as time passes that forts are left unchallenged and as units kill opponents?
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When does it stop….hopefully never ever
Can the map be panned by the d-pad?
Can the map be panned by the d-pad?
Don't think you can pan the map using a d-pad (my phone doesn't have one), but I found that the easiest way to pan the map is by quickly swiping the touchscreen. Gets you from one place to another faster.
We do not have a phone with d-pad at the moment. It is a good idea, we will add that in for the next update.
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When does it stop….hopefully never ever