text: rise of nations : thrones and patriots rise of nations : thrones and patriots is the official expansion pack to the real - time strategy video game rise of nations . the game is the second in a series of rise of nations games by big huge games . thrones and patriots had its premiere release for microsoft windows on april 27 , 2004 in north america . it was ported to and released for mac os x in november 2004 . rise of nations : extended edition was released on steam on june 12 , 2014 and includes both the original game and thrones and patriots with updated graphics and steamworks integration for multiplayer . thrones and patriots expanded on a variety of features in the original game , such as new monuments ( called " wonders " ) , nations , governments , and campaigns . gameplay still remains similar to rise of nations , with its wide span of ages and players still manage and expand their nations at the macro and micro levels . however , thrones and patriots has campaigns which offer more turn - based strategy features than the original and the ability to make decisions outside of combat . up to eight players can play in multiplayer matches , with artificial intelligence being able to fill slots at the server host 's choice . tim train , executive producer of thrones and patriots , stated that various features were added to the game in an attempt to balance gameplay , including the addition of armed caravans and merchants . ign claimed that thrones and patriots is " a great game [ which ] gets better , " in reference to its predecessor rise of nations and other critical reviews also praised many features of the game , though some noted deficiencies . thrones and patriots has received a compilation score of 87 . 86 % and 88 % on game rankings and metacritic respectively . gameplay within rise of nations : thrones and patriots players control various units during battles , including land , sea , and aerial units . units used during gameplay include slingers , musketeers , tanks , large persian war elephants , aircraft carriers , and nuclear missiles . players progress in different ways in thrones and patriots by using various means including espionage , political strategy , technology races and population growth . the gameplay takes place from ancient history to modern times . players are able to lead their nations at the macro and micro levels , and build their nation up and expand it throughout the game . thrones and patriots added six new nations to the original rise of nations game . the ' new world ' situation playable in the game was enhanced by the introduction of the european nation — the dutch . three north american nations were added , the americans , referring to the ex - colonial civilization , and two native american nations were added , which were the lakota and the iroquois . two asian nations , the indians and the persians , were introduced . the other nation to be added was the dutch . new wonders were made available for building , such as the hanging gardens of babylon , the forbidden city , and the red fort . new features of the game were added to the new nations , for instance the lakota , which is unable to build farms to generate food , instead receive a constant food supply for each of their citizens , scouts , and cavalry units . they can make buildings in any region that is not possessed by their enemy , can raze buildings quickly , receiving a full refund . additionally , they receive resources when enemy resources are destroyed . campaigns rise of nations : thrones and patriots added four new " conquer the world " campaigns : alexander the great , napoleon , the new world , and the cold war . the alexander the great campaign allows the player to choose whether or not to raze or incorporate conquered territories . a player 's decision to raze may cause the rest of the enemies to either fight harder , or question their casus belli and ally with you . the napoleon campaign challenges the player to conquer europe in a limited amount of time , with diplomacy , alliances , conquest , and bribing with land . players must have intuitive leadership in this campaign because faulty decisions by the player can force themselves , that is to say , napoleon , into exile . the new world campaign allows the player to choose either the americans , a european power , or a native american tribe . if the player chooses to lead the americans , they must pay taxes to great britain , until they declare independence . the map of a battle incorporates the region 's environment , for example large forests in the pacific northwest . the cold war introduces the ability to fire nuclear missiles in the main map and initiate espionage missions . armies can also move anywhere in their nation 's territory without using up a of nations : thrones and patriots ' campaigns now offer more turn - based strategy into the game rather than real - time strategy being the only gameplay aspect . governments once the player builds the senate building , he or she may choose a government " upgrade " of either a despotism or a republic , each giving the player a different permanent gameplay bonus . each government has a different " patriot " , effectively a stronger version of the " general " unit with different bonuses , depending on which government is chosen . they are used during combat to assist players in battle . a player can only have one patriot unit at a time . when a patriot unit is killed , a new one is automatically created in the senate afterwards . after reaching the gunpowder age , the player may choose to upgrade to either a monarchy or a democracy , each with its own different permanent gameplay bonus , and then after reaching the industrial age , the player may upgrade again , to either capitalism or socialism . the previous gameplay bonuses remain , allowing players to select the most appropriate combination of benefits as the game evolves . multiplayer rise of nations features a highly customizable multiplayer mode . up to eight players can play in a game with a variety of modes to choose from , with ai filling spots at the server host 's choice . gamespy technologies had hosted matchmaking and other servers for multiplayer games played online through their dedicated server until december 2012 . a new feature that was introduced into the game was the ability to use homemade scripts in online play . the scripts are able to be made in the built in script editor , and came with a pre - made script that disallowed missile silos . development microsoft game studios and big huge games announced the development of the expansion pack for rise of nations , rise of nations : thrones and patriots , on november 21 , 2003 . by december 16 of that year , the game 's development was about 70 % complete . a website was launched for the game on february 13 , 2004 , which contained information , screenshots , and other details about the expansion pack . big huge games added multiple new features to the game during its development , in an attempt to fix issues with the original version . in an interview with gamespot , executive producer tim train explained the development of the expansion pack . he stated how some nations were previously either too weak or too strong , and so features were added to balance gameplay . one way they did this is armed caravans and merchants were added to the dutch nation , in order to weaken raids initiated by other players who rush their opponent . he said big huge games brought in professional players in order to get suggestions on how to improve the game . the expansion pack thrones and patriots was released for microsoft windows in north america on april 27 , 2004 , and subsequently in europe on may 21 , 2004 . npd sales figures for may , the first full month of thrones and patriots release in the united states , showed it as fourth in pc sales for the month , with its predecessor needed for the expansion pack going from twelfth in sales in april to fifth in sales in may . by october 27 , 2004 , combined sales of thrones and patriots and the base game rise of nations had passed one million copies worldwide . on october 28 , 2004 , rise of nations : gold edition was released for microsoft windows . the new product included both the original rise of nations and thrones and patriots . in november 2004 , a port of rise of nations : gold edition was released for mac os x. it was published by macsoft games and developed by both big huge games and westlake interactive . in december 2012 , official servers for thrones and patriots were shut down by gamespy technologies , which made it difficult for multiplayer matches to be played officially online . programs like gameranger could be used to continue playing multiplayer games online without the usage of official game servers . the rights to the assets and intellectual property of rise of nations , thrones and patriots , and rise of legends and the big huge games trademark were sold in the bankruptcy auction of 38 studios to microsoft studios on december 11 , 2013 . gross proceeds of the auction totaled $ 320 , 000 . rise of nations : extended edition is a re - release of the main game and the expansion on steam that was released on june 12 , 2014 . graphical changes to the game include updated textures , lighting and water . other changes to the game include steamworks integration which will add cloud saves , steam trading cards , achievements , twitch integration and multiplayer with elo ranked matches to the game . extended edition is developed by skybox labs . rise of nations : thrones and patriots retains the support of a loyal fanbase as of june 2012 , which continues to produce a variety of mods for the game . the game can be modified in many aspects by enthusiasts , including the addition of new units , nations , buildings , scenarios , conquer the world campaigns and scripts . the modding community has been supported by the release of various packs by big huge games , including the exporter plugin , and a detailed guide on the scenario editor and creating scripts . modifications released so far by the community have encompassed themes such as the second world war , vietnam war , a hypothetical third world war , medieval combat and roman era warfare . while a variety of modding communities came into existence after the game 's release , most sources assert that the most popular remains rise of nations heaven . reception rise of nations : thrones and patriots has received a compilation score of 88 % on both game rankings and metacritic . in its review , ign claimed that thrones and patriots is " a great game [ which ] gets better , " in reference to its predecessor rise of nations . 1up.com stated that the game is what expansion packs should try to mimic . game informer declared that rise of nations : thrones and patriots is " one of the essential pieces of any strategy gamer ’ s collection . " gamespot commented that the game is a terrific experience and it not only provides exceptional content , but that it also improves an already good game . in the expansion pack , many insignificant changes were introduced to complement the existing game structure , rather than radically alter it , and critics considered the continuing of the original game format to be good . gamespy claimed that , even with all of thrones and patriots ' additions , the framework of the game still feels excellent . however , ign declared that the developers only added many features into the game " in the hopes that it would seem coherent , " rather than actually giving the game a " central theme . " both ign and gamespot claimed the game 's government mechanics were similar to those of the game series civilization . however , gamespy stated the game 's artificial intelligence for " managing the individual movements of units and citizens ... [ was ] strategically brain dead . " their review explained that the wide range of upgrades , units , and technology research in different buildings requires micromanagement and the use of hotkeys , especially during online play . the review stated that the game had biased gameplay times in single - player with different nations , such as lakota having very limited use , and americans having a massive amount of playtime . gamespot stated that the multiplayer functionality of rise of nations : thrones and patriots had some lag , even when on a local network . 1up.com reported problems with crashes in both the single and multiplayer modes of thrones and patriots . in awarding rise of nations : thrones and patriots " best expansion pack " of 2004 , ign acclaimed the additions of more playable nations and new government mechanics that rise of nations didn 't have , and the new " conquer the world " campaigns .