nih il ated ▁Emp ires ▁is ▁the ▁first ▁install ment ▁of ▁a ▁planned ▁tr il ogy . ▁The ▁developers ▁c ite ▁the ▁Hero es ▁of ▁M ight ▁and ▁Magic ▁series ▁and ▁their ▁own ▁C oss acks ▁series ▁as ▁inspir ations . ▁ ▁The ▁developers ▁describe ▁the ▁game ' s ▁genre ▁as ▁" R TS ▁vs . ▁R PG " ▁– ▁the ▁game ▁can ▁be ▁played ▁as ▁an ▁action ▁role - play ing ▁game ▁with ▁a ▁solo ▁hero ▁unit ▁or ▁as ▁a ▁traditional ▁base - building ▁real - time ▁strategy ▁game . ▁The ▁game ▁engine ▁uses ▁a ▁ 3 - D ▁world ▁map ▁with ▁ 2 - D ▁unit ▁spr ites , ▁although ▁larger ▁units ▁and ▁the ▁hero es ▁are ▁fully ▁ 3 - d ▁models . ▁The ▁small ▁units ▁are ▁spr ites ▁to ▁save ▁processing ▁power ▁as ▁there ▁can ▁be ▁up wards ▁of ▁several ▁hundred ▁present ▁in ▁large ▁batt les . ▁Hero es ▁of ▁An nih il ated ▁Emp ires ▁features ▁four ▁play able ▁races ▁and ▁twelve ▁neutral ▁races . ▁The ▁game ▁supports ▁up ▁to ▁ 7 ▁players ▁via ▁L AN ▁or ▁Internet . ▁ ▁Setting ▁ ▁The ▁game ' s ▁setting ▁and ▁story line ▁were ▁created ▁by ▁Ukrain ian ▁novel ist ▁I ly a ▁Nov ak , ▁who ▁received ▁an ▁Enc ou rag ement ▁Award ▁at ▁Euro con ▁ 2 0 0 5 . ▁Nov ak ▁describes ▁the ▁game ' s ▁genre ▁as ▁" ep ic ▁dark ▁fant asy ". ▁A ▁series ▁of ▁five ▁nov els ▁are ▁planned ▁to ▁support ▁the ▁game