Forging Legends into Immortal Pillars – Creating the Chinese Civilization in Age of Mythology

 

RTS Classic: Age of Mythology

Age of Mythology (AOM), developed by Ensemble Studios, is a standout title in the Age series, best known for its historical real-time strategy games. While other Age games focus on historical realism, AOM embraces mythology and fantasy. Besides human troops, it introduces mythic creatures and legendary heroes, which crafts a unique rock-paper-scissors balance: mythic creatures overpower humans, heroes defeat mythic creatures, and large human armies overwhelm heroes.

Moreover, what truly sets AOM apart is its integration of divine powers. Depending on the chosen deity, players can access godly abilities. Some can generate resources, and stronger ones can summon devastating meteor showers or lightning storms.

Each civilization features a distinct playstyle, influencing everything from map scouting and resource gathering to military composition and tech progression, offering both strategic depth and high replayability.

Image source: ageofempires.com

Building a Globally Resonant Chinese Civilization

Age of Mythology: Retold is the remake of Age of Mythology. During my time at Virtuos, I had the honor of collaborating with World’s Edge, Forgotten Empires, and Tantalus to develop this game’s first DLC, Immortal Pillars. As Lead Designer, I led the design team in creating the Chinese civilization and its campaign.

The original Chinese civilization was first introduced in the 2016 Definitive Edition. However, that DLC was poorly received due to various design flaws, narrative inconsistencies, and questionable visual quality. The selection of deities and mythological creatures reflected Western stereotypes of Eastern culture, featuring figures like the Monkey King, Zhong Kui, and even Jiangshi. The DLC felt superficial to most Chinese players.

In the past decade, the Chinese player base has grown substantially. Designing a civilization that is both enjoyable to play and respectful of Eastern culture has become more important than ever.

Focusing on Honghuang Mythology to Shape China’s Identity

In the original Chinese pantheon, figures ranged from primordial deities like Fuxi and Nuwa to later folk legends such as the Monkey King, resulting in a tonal mismatch. Chinese mythology spans Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist, making the pantheon creation particularly challenging.

To address this, we focused on prehistoric (Honghuang) mythology, an era rich with origin stories, which allowed us to offer:

1. Tightly interwoven divine relationships: Much like the Greek, Norse, and Egyptian gods were often connected through bloodlines or shared myths. Fuxi, Nuwa, and Shennong are known as the “Three Sovereigns”; they are revered for advancing early human civilization. They were followed by the legendary war between the Huangdi and Chiyou, which drew deities into opposing sides.

   We also introduced gods representing the Five Elements (Wuxing), a uniquely Chinese cosmology. Together, these deities form a complete and culturally rooted pantheon. (see the relationship chart below)

2. Extended story discovery: By weaving interconnected myths, players exploring one deity naturally uncover others, fostering curiosity and cultural exploration.

3. Era consistency: Honghuang mythology aligns better with other civilizations' mythic timelines, covering similar themes like creation, nature, and the origins of society.

Relationship of Chinese Deities

Expressing Civilization Through Gameplay Mechanics

To emphasize uniqueness, we designed distinctive mechanics across the economy, favor generation, scouting, and military:

1. Economy

Inspired by Kuafu, a mythic giant clan. We translated them into giant gatherers. In addition, we mix the massive population characteristic of China, we designed two-tier workers: numerous, but physically weaker villagers, and powerful giant laborers.

Villagers excel at gathering food, ideal for a farming-based economy, while giants are more efficient at harvesting wood and gold, as well as constructing buildings. Players must strategically balance and use both unit types to achieve a strong economy.

Image source: https://www.reddit.com/r/AgeofMythology/comments/1j07t73/kuafu_carrying_a_ridiculously_big_steak/

2. Favor generation

Favor is a special resource used to unlock technologies and produce myth units in AOM. 

For the Chinese, we developed the “Favored Land” system: every building generates a radius of sacred ground. Favor is only generated when these zones are connected into a network, and the larger the network, the more favor it generates.

This mechanic captures the gradual expansion of ancient Chinese civilization into a huge empire. It also adds rich strategic interaction: opponents can disrupt favor production by targeting key structures, breaking network links, and creating an engaging tug-of-war.

Favored Land

3. Scouting

Sky Lanterns were an iconic and culturally distinctive invention. Though widely used in festivals today, the legend holds that they were originally created for military signaling. This historical detail inspired us to design the scout unit Pioneer.

Pioneer’s unique ability is to release a sky lantern, granting temporary wide-area vision. As the lantern ascends, it quickly reveals unknown regions and bypasses terrain obstacles, offering a flexible strategic tool.

Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival. Image source: https://travel.taipei/

4. Military

Human units

Ancient warfare often centered around familiar archetypes—infantry, cavalry, and archers—making it a challenge to differentiate human units in meaningful ways.

Our design approach began with distinctive weaponry. Units like Ge halberdier, Dao swordsmen, and the Chu Ko Nu are all based on historical Chinese arms. These weapons not only have unique silhouettes but are also grounded in authentic historical context.
(As a side note, the Chu Ko Nu makes recurring appearances across the Age series, likely because of its strong recognizability and cultural significance)

We also explored the idea of "special forces" within the ancient Chinese military. Units such as Wei Wu Zu or White Horse Cavalry were renowned for their prowess. Some of them even provide unique abilities in the game.

For instance, the Tiger Cavalry continues fighting after dismounting when their horse is killed, introducing both flexibility and a dramatic twist in combat situations.

 Tiger Cavalry continues fighting after dismounting

Heroes

In most civilizations, except for Greece, hero units tend to be generic: numerous but far less iconic than their Greek counterparts. Greek heroes, by contrast, are powerful mythological figures, each with legendary status. However, their limited availability makes them vulnerable when overwhelmed by mythic creatures.

Still, unique heroes offer something special: they bring rich backstories and high recognizability, deepening player immersion and emotional connection.

For the Chinese civilization, we adopted a dual-hero system that combines both generic and unique heroes.

Generic heroes include the Pioneer, a scout who can release sky lanterns, and the Sage, a support unit with healing and spellcasting abilities. These heroes provide reliable utility during the early and mid-game.

Unique heroes are drawn from Investiture of the Gods (封神演義), a classic Chinese mythological novel. Figures like Nezha, Jiang Ziya, and Yang Jian appear as late-game powerhouses. They boast overwhelming strength and distinctive abilities, designed to evoke the awe and charisma of mythological superheroes.

Chinese hero: Nezha. Image source: https://ageofempires.fandom.com/

Myth units

In previous Definitive Edition versions, the Chinese myth unit roster featured a wide mix of elements, such as jiangshi (hopping vampires), giant salamanders, and terracotta warriors, resulting in a somewhat chaotic patchwork. However, Chinese classical literature contains a wealth of imaginative and culturally iconic creatures that offer a more coherent and compelling mythological theme.

• Taotie: A gluttonous and violent monster that embodies insatiable hunger and greed.

• Hundun: A featureless, faceless being resembling a fleshy orb, whose presence signals impending catastrophe.

• Qiongqi: A winged tiger-like beast, fierce and untamable, known for its brutality.

• Taowu: A wild creature with a human face and tiger body, representing chaos and destructive power.

From left to right: Taotie, Hundun, Qiongqi, and Taowu.. Image Source: https://ageofempires.com

Notably, the dragon is one of the most iconic symbols of Chinese culture. However, in previous versions, it lacked the majestic presence evoked by the classic image of “a dragon soaring through the sky.”

To address this, our team dedicated significant effort to its animation, studying the movement and grace of the dragon. The result is an elegant and visually striking Chinese dragon that truly embodies its cultural and mythological grandeur.

Moving Animation of Qinglong

Integrating scattered myths into a cohesive and distinctive pantheon.

With so many distinctive elements, the next challenge was integrating them into a coherent civilization framework. This involved designing unique technologies and offering players a wide range of meaningful strategic choices.

Each civilization is structured around a major god and several minor gods. Defining their roles was the first step. Major gods define the core strategic direction of the civilization. While economic and military units are shared, their unique bonuses and technologies create vastly different playstyles. Minor gods, chosen as players advance through the ages, allow for specialization in particular tactical directions.

Establishing Major Gods’ Core Roles through Mythology

Each god’s unique upgrades and technologies are designed to reflect their mythological identity, so we derived their roles based on legends. The major gods’ core roles are as follows:

• Fuxi: Teacher of fishing, hunting, and tool-making; represents technological innovation and drives rapid civilization growth.

• Nüwa: Creator and protector of mankind, known for repairing the sky; focuses on strengthening economic units and building protection abilities.

• Shennong: Inventor of agriculture and herbal medicine; embodies farming and healing.

Since this is a war game, the major gods’ roles also extend to military strategy. After the adjustment, their roles include:

• Fuxi: Military technologies + Human soldiers + Hero units

• Nüwa: Economic units + Buildings + Cavalry

• Shennong: Agriculture + Healing + Myth Units

Minor Gods Serve Strategic Needs and Complement Major Gods

The game mechanics allow players to choose one of two minor gods to worship upon each age advancement. This grants them the chosen god’s divine powers, unique upgrade technologies, and mythic creatures. Minor god designs allow players to flexibly adapt their strategies based on the situations they encounter. The broadly viable strategies as the game progresses include:

Age II (Classical Age):

• Fast Advancement: Speed up resource gathering to reach the next age earlier, unlocking powerful military units and divine powers.

• Early Raids: Conduct small-scale harassment to disrupt the opponent’s rhythm.

• Defense: Protect economic units and fend off enemy harassment.

Age III (Heroic Age):

• Fast Advancement: Rush to the highest age first to unlock top-tier military units and divine powers.
• Siege and Breakthrough: Launch larger assaults to destroy enemy buildings and economy.
• Defense and Counterattack: Effectively resist and counter enemy offensives.

Age IV (Mythic Age):

• Decisive Forces: Deploy the strongest units and divine powers to crush opponents completely.

• Late-game Economy: Strengthen the economy to sustain continuous troop production, wearing down enemy resources and units.

Additionally, the synergy between major and minor gods should be designed to encourage players to consider optimal pairings. For example, if both the major and minor gods enhance human soldiers, players can build a stronger human army than their opponents.

Role Setting of Chinese Gods

Refining Details Based on Core Roles

Once all roles of major and minor gods are decided, we can further refine each deity’s technologies and the god power. Designing these elements requires balancing two core aspects: Mythology and Role. Mythology provides cultural and narrative grounding, making the gods more immersive and recognizable; the Role addresses players’ strategic needs and choices.

Take Chiyou as an example. Known in Chinese mythology as the god of war, he is famed for forging powerful divine weapons. His tactical role focuses on early aggression and infantry enhancement.

• God Power: Lightning weapons grant a chance to stun enemy forces or ships.

  • Reflects the mythological image of forging divine weapons.

  • Effectively strengthens infantry combat capabilities, aligning with his role.

• Mythical Beast: Yazhi is a highly mobile divine beast capable of instantly teleporting to the target enemy, excelling at hit-and-run and harassment tactics.

  • Perfectly suited for early raids and economic disruption.

• Technology 1: Increases infantry attack range and slows enemy cavalry.

  • Fits the myth of forging powerful weapons.

  • Reinforces infantry-focused tactics.

• Technology 2: Grants resources when destroying enemy buildings.

  • It matches Chiyou’s image as a war god of plunder and destruction.

  • Supports the early aggression playstyle.

Conclusion

The process of crafting this civilization is like building a house: the civilization’s unique mechanics form the foundation, major gods act as the pillars, minor gods as the beams, and god powers and technologies are the bricks and mortar — layer upon layer, constructing a one-of-a-kind pantheon.

Epilogue

On March 5th, 2025, the day of release, I found myself both excited and anxious, scouring every video and forum thread I could find, eager to witness players' first impressions. I still vividly remember the joy and pride I felt reading the heartfelt responses from players around the world: their love for the Chinese civilization, their praise for the mechanics, and their awe at the mythological atmosphere we had worked so hard to create.

This development journey wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible team at Virtuos. Their creativity, passion, and dedication brought so many surprising and delightful ideas to life. I’m also deeply grateful to the veterans at Forgotten Empires; their deep experience with the Age of Empires series proved invaluable. With their guidance and balancing efforts, the gameplay became more solid, and each major god’s personality and strategic meaning shone through clearly.
Finally, I’d like to thank World’s Edge for giving us this opportunity to let Chinese mythology be seen, and experienced by players across the globe.