Rise of Nations: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets [Paperback]

Michael Rymaszewski (Author), Paul Stephanouk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0782141862 | ISBN-13: 978-0782141863 | Edition: 1

It's not easy to rule wisely across the span of human history when you've got competitors using trade, espionage, diplomacy, and war to thwart your goals. This guide will help you successfully lead your nation and show you new ways of enjoying the game. Jungles and deserts, Romans and Russians, economy, research, wars, and Wonders of the World--this guide has everything covered:
* Detailed analysis of nations, buildings, units, research options, economic factors, and more.
* In-depth stats for everything in the game
* Detailed advice for mastering the campaign
* New solo and multiplayer strategies for winning the game using diplomatic or militarily means
* Advanced tactics chapter by Big Huge Games producer Paul Stephanouk

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

It’s not easy to rule wisely across the span of human history whenyou’ve got competitors using trade, espionage, diplomacy, and war to thwartyour goals. This guide will help you successfully lead your nation and show younew ways of enjoying the game. Jungles and deserts, Romans and Russians, economy,research, wars, and Wonders of the World—this guide has everythingcovered:

• Detailed analysis of nations,buildings, units, research options, economic factors, and more.
• In-depthstats for everything in the game
• Detailed advice for mastering thecampaign
• New solo and multiplayer strategies for winning the gameusing diplomatic or militarily means
• Advanced tactics chapter by Big Huge Games producer Paul Stephanouk

About the Author

Michael Rymaszewski was born in Poland, but spent his formative years in Ghana, West Africa. In addition to being a passionate computer gamer, Michael is an aviation buff with a special interest in World War II air combat. He's written a dozen strategy guides, including the official guides for Combat Flight Sim 2, Fallout Tactics, and Imperialism II, from Sybex.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sybex; 1 edition (May 8, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0782141862
• ISBN-13: 978-0782141863
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 7.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,146,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have With Rise of Nations!, March 21, 2004

By 

Karen Hartford "Wise Spender" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rise of Nations: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets (Paperback)

When I purchased this book, I was sort of expecting to see things that where sort of obvious, but I was wrong. This book gives you a thorough view of all of the civilizations, the weaknesses and stregths, the bonuses, and so much more! It also explains tons of other things in the game, such as your military, etc. It also has an entire chapter on strategies, such as rushing, booming, and needle and hammer.

If you plan to purchase Rise of Nations, or you already own it, then you need to purchase this book. If you want to play the game to the fullest, then this book is the key. Not only will it give you better gaming for Rise of Nations, but it will help you win games!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good...but so close to being great., February 22, 2004

By 

M. Antalek (Dracut) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rise of Nations: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets (Paperback)

I'm not a big fan of strategy guides. They tend to be written as if talking to a 3 year old. However I was so in love with Rise of Nations to get my fill I needed more info on the game and this manual provided it. It incorporates all aspects of the game from multiplayer to the CTW campaign. The writer does a great job interlacing all the rare resource info, wonder info, unit info to specific civilizations in order maximize the efficency of your play. Great tips like how to "Age Jump" as well as perform hit and run attacks with light calvary ar invaluable in disrupting AI and Human opponents. What I really liked was the fact that he used his experience from playing only on the toughest difficulty levels to provide only top notch strategies.

I do feel there were a few aspects of this book that hindered it's drive to being a great strategy guide. The military chapters are very broad. Very few specific general tactics are described. The ones he does put forth are extremely helpful but it would have been nice to see charts or details on what he felt armies should be comprised of at different unit totals. Unfortunately we just get a broad stroke over that topic. It would have been neat to get a solid of idea what he felt the perfect "raiding army" or "seige army" should be comprised of.

My second complaint (if you can even call it that) is more info on building your nations. While he explains very nicely about city placement and the benifits of placing mines and mills in certian locations I would have liked a more analytical view of where to place buildings within the city to provide better defense/offense so on and so forth. I guess its just a minor complaint.

The highlight of the book is probably his explainations of using the functions that a lot of people overlook like the use of spies, commandos, militia, and early scouting techniques.

Overall a fantastic book, I highly reccommend it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must-have" instructional guide, July 26, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rise of Nations: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets (Paperback)

Rise Of Nations computer gamer, strategy guide writer, and RTS expert Michael Rymaszewski, is an in-depth and "user friendly" guide to the computer game "Rise of Nations". Offering detailed walkthroughs, analyses, and recommendations for every level, Rise Of Nations offers advanced tactics and strategies for solo or multiple-player games, as well as screenshots, meticulously delineated plans, in-depth stats, and a great deal more. Rise Of Nations a "must-have" instructional guide and continuing reference for dedicated players of this complex and involving computer game.