In this topic, I would like to discuss what is probably the best mod for AoE 2 in the entire history of this game - Age of Chivalry: Hegemony. This fan mod adds a lot of cool content that significantly diversifies the entertainment (I will mention those things that can be added to AoE 2 DE):
Two or three different paths to choose for every state, based on Policy Decisions.
New technologies, and units, some of them general and others unique to a country.
A new campaign of 9 scenarios based on the battle of Bouvines, the Barons’ War, the conquest of West Friesland, the battle of Kortrijk, the start of the Hundred Years War, the Chioggia War, the siege of Maastricht, the battle of Vitkov Hill, and the siege of Neuss.
A lot of completely new Architecture Sets for European civs.
Unique buildings (I will mention the two most interesting ones): Guild Hall (mercenary building), Princely Court (hero building).
A lot of brand new European civs that could be packed into just a few (in brackets I will list those civs that are in this mod): Allemanians (Helvetia), Bavarians (Austria and Bavaria), Lotharingians (Flanders, Friesland, Guelders and Liège), Hansa, Saxonians (Brandenburg and Saxony) and also Danes, English, Venetians and Scots. Personally, I would also add Croatians, Silesians and Swedes civs - they would fit perfectly into such a DLC.
Above is a map showing civs in this mod (including unplayable ones)
As you can see, this mod adds a lot of interesting content. Guild Hall and Princely Court could be added to all civs. Policy Decisions mechanic also.
Italian Architecture Set
British Isles Architecture Set
Dutch Architecture Set
Hanseatic Architecture Set
I think that such a large DLC could significantly make this game more attractive. Of course, the content of this DLC would be optional - for example, new additional content (like new buildings, technologies or Policy Decisions) could be disabled in the game settings or in matchmaking (an option for people who do not like radical changes).
Such a DLC would also bring significant reworks of old civs:
Teutons (minor changes. Based on Teutonic Order and Livonian Order states) (adding a new UU - Crusader Knight)
Vikings - rename into Norwegians (adding a new UU)
Britons (minor changes. Based on Wales)
Celts - rename into Irish (more changes)
Franks - rename into French (adding a new UU)
Italians (changes to better representation Italian states like Milan and Florence - they have acces to large number of Northern Italian Mercenaries)
Romans (minor changes. Adaptation of the civ to also represent the Papal States - through the Pope unit?)
Adding Age of Chivalry: Hegemony like they added AoE I with RoR would be very cool.
I love playing that back before the HD days.
To have a Age of Chivalry: Hegemony DLC means that all the tiny European factions that people want can go into that DLC and then can AoE II proper focus on world history.
I prefer to combine smaller civs from this mod into larger civs based on cultural groups. My proposal would eliminate the need for further European DLCs for many years to come. New buildings and other things would be available to all civs (not only European ones) which could please every player of every civ without exception.
Princely Court - building with a unique model for all civs. It would be based on the most famous seats of rulers.
Guild Hall - a building giving access to mercenary units from different regions of the world. For example: African civs would have access to African mercenaries and Indian civs would have access to Indian ones.
Do you think that the new features presented here are something that refreshes the game?
Yes
No
0voters
Despite the addition of a large number of European civs, would you be interested in the remaining content of such a DLC (new Campaigns, new mechanics, new UU & UT, completely new buildings shared by all civs in the game). QUESTION FOR THOSE WHO ARE AGAINST ADDING NEW EUROPEAN CIVS
Yes
No
0voters
If such a DLC were released, it would become the largest DLC in the entire history of AoE 2 and in the entire AoE game series. With so much new content, it’s easy to expect DLC prices to be high. What is the maximum amount you would be willing to buy such DLC?
Love any idea of adding more diversity to AOE2, especially in architecture.
Celts should remain celts, not Irish. this is one of the main differences between AOE2 and AOE4, is that AOE4 has nations, but AOE2 has people. I think the Celtic people represent the Irish and the Scottish.
Vikings should remain Vikings. their cultural was a huge impact around the world.
In my understanding, the Romans are the Romans during the time of the Attila the Hun campaign, meaning they already have Popes, Pope Leo the great. not sure what the change would be.
What I meant here was increasing diversity in the British Isles. Medieval British history is full of twists and turns, involving a multitude of nations that shaped Britain for centuries to come.
Splitting the Celts civ into at least Irish and Scottish civs could bring a lot of cool things - including making the scenarios more attractive.
Celts would be more suited to RoR - but there were a lot of differences among the ancient Celts because they covered a large area of Europe (Celtoiberians, Gauls, Gaelic, etc.).
The Viking were a profession, not a people. It’s important to remember that AoE 2 covers the time frame up to the Renaissance. The greatest Scandinavian powers were Denmark, Norway and Sweden - each of them created strong empires that influenced the fate of Europe and even the world (geographical discoveries covering almost the entire North Atlantic!).
The current civ Vikings would be renamed into Norwegians civ and they would still represent the era of Viking raids. Danes and Swedes civs would be based on later times (Canute the Great - Danes civ, Gustav Vasa - Swedes civ).
The point here is that the civ Romans were not limited only to the falling Western Roman Empire, but also to the Papal States that grew on its ruins. The Papal States had a strong army and enormous influence over the entire Catholic world - especially in the Middle Ages. Some minor references to this would be nice. The Pope could be a civil UU for Romans civ (powerful Monk).
This content is all about Europe again. There has already been a strong demand among players to add anything other than Europe.
The game already has experience when mods were released as official DLC. V&V was received horribly.
The architecture sets look good for a mod, but for official content it would have to be remade.
The gameplay with new buildings and mechanics could be included in a separate mode, but not in the main game. In this mode, it would be necessary to create similar buildings for each civilization (too much work), or only Europe would be available there (poorly received by players).
In general, I think this idea is not bad, but if it is released as paid DLC, it will become another failure, the third one almost in a row. And this will put an end to the whole game.
This could be made into free content, but this would divide the community. There will be supporters and opponents of this idea.
Personally, I would go the safe route - take only campaigns with unique mechanics, without skirmish elements, and a couple of civilizations. And release it as more or less classic DLC at a reduced price or for free.
This could be the final European DLC for AoE 2. Note that the civs I have listed here (I packed a lot of civs from the mod into one civ to reduce the number of European civs) basically cover the entire European continent. After the release of such a DLC, there will be no need to return to Europe for many many years.
It is worth remembering The Forgotten DLC, which was a mod and became a DLC. These DLCs messed up a lot by adding such umbrella civs as Italians, Slavs and Indians, but at the time it made a big impression.
V&V is a completely different type of DLC because it only offers single scenarios - and nothing else. V&V DLC definitely lacks new civs. Besides, before this DLC was announced, everyone was counting on the Far Eastern DLC…
Something that can be done.
A new game mode adapted to this mod is a good idea - certainly beneficial for people who don’t like changes.
BRAND NEW MECHANICS AND BUILDINGS WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO EVERY CIV IN GAME - INCLUDING NON-EUROPEAN CIVS!!!
It is better to divide the umbrella civs in the game, especially those that have been around for a long time. My proposed DLC would split the following umbrella civs:
Teutons civ into Allemanians, Bavarians, Lotharingians, Hansa, Saxonians + Teutons civ (current civ with new UU - Crusader Knight)
Celts civ into Scots + Irish civ (current Celts civ with big rework)
Slavs civ into Croatians, Silesians + Ruthenians civ (current Slavs civ with rework)
Italians civ into Venetians + Italians civ (current Italians civ with big rework)
OF COURSE, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE ABOVE POTENTIAL CIVS DOES NOT IN ANY WAY RUINE THE CHANCES OF ADDING OTHER CIVS OUTSIDE EUROPE TO THE GAME - IN FACT, SUCH DLC COULD FUND FUTURE DLCS IN AN EFFICIENT WAY!
I personally lost any interest in (adding more) European cultures unfortunately, I think adding stoney and bricky buildings start to look really boring to me
I want you to get me right. I am not against this thing. I am all for adding more and more content. But in this case my personal opinion and objective thinking are not the same. We are here talking about a paid content and people value same things very different when they are paid and when they are free. Lets take Historical battles and V&V. Very similar but first one is free and the other one costs money. The first one is mostly ignored and most players don’t need it but don’t go running around telling how bad they are (and they truly are). But V&V got all the rage.
It immediately became important to people that there is almost no voice acting anywhere, and the voice of the general narrator is constantly annoying, that there is little content, it is all single, often repeated, often hard. The players asked out for all of this!
So, Age of Chivalry seems very good while it’s free. But if you really release it, for the money proposed in the survey, it will simply be an immediate failure, and perhaps the final one for the entire game. This may cause you sincere bewilderment - “How come, the content is not bad.” But people are ready to part with money only when they have been truly charmed, and not just received more “fuel”.
India’s campaigns struck me to the core, every single one of them. It was something wonderful. But in Caucasus dlc there were 2 quite good ones and one was garbage, and therefore players are left with the feeling for years that they tore a third of their hearts away just like that. And therefore the ratings there are not terrible, but lower than they could be.
So here it is. The Chevaliers would have failed with absolute certainty. There is content there, but it is all debatable. I’m not saying it’s bad, but it won’t work as part of marketing. What 25-30 dollars? This is a mod and is available right now for free. And the people fiercely want full-fledged campaigns of the East, America, Africa and the Slavs. Another European release now, and with the bugs of the new mechanics that are sure to arise, will end this game…
Yes, it could be… in fact a lot of Age of Chivalry content ended up as expansions in 2DE:
The appearance of Flanders’ Scaerwetter (itself edited from the Pikeman) was reused for the Heavy Pikeman in the mod version preceding The Forgotten. His weapon is a Goedendag, a mix of club and spear developed by Flemish rebels in the early 14th century to fight French heavy cavalry.
Similarly, the appearance of the Genoese Crossbowman in the mod version, edited from the Hand Cannoneer, was also first made for the Genoese Crossbowman in this mod.
The mod’s version of the Swiss Pikeman has a range of one, like the Kamayuk introduced in The Forgotten.
The Cumans’ unique unit, the Kipchak, is very similar to the Cuman Auxiliary, being a weak but fast cavalry archer that can shoot several arrows at once. As the Cumans are not a playable faction and the Auxiliary is an implied mercenary (only available to Austria, Hungary, and Naples), it can also be considered a forerunner of the Cuman Mercenariesunique technology.
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Lords of the West introduces the Sicilians (which cover Naples) and the Burgundians (covering at least Burgundy, Flanders, Friesland, Guelders and Liege) as new civilizations. The Burgundians’ two unique units are the Coustillier, which is the strongest generic Stable unit in Hegemony, and the Flemish Militia, which is armed with the same weapon as the Scaerwetter. Similar to the current Burgundian Wonder (Brussels Town Hall), the Monument used is the Leuven Town Hall. The Barons’ War is also portrayed in the first scenario of the Edward Longshanks campaign.
Maybe new set of historical battles: Battle of Bouvines (1214), the conquest of West Friesland (1256-1297), the battle of Kortrijk (1302), the start of the Hundred Years War (1337), the Chioggia War (1376-1381) and the siege of Neuss (1474).
