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It looks to me that the 3D modelling has been done by the AoE3:DE and AoM:RE teams rather than the outsourced studios that did past civilizations, which is a drop in quality from the usual assets they commission. At least that is what it seems based on the Stavkirke wonder that the “Vikings” have and their Longhouses. I’m positive that I saw a male Rus villager amongst their villagers too, so perhaps they aren’t finished. But, unit armor and weaponry looks kind of rough.
I’m surprised they are further fleshing out the continent by adding these two European civilizations, considering that there are many entirely unique cultures yet to explore, like Khmer, Vijayanagara, Inca, Aztecs, Ethiopia. Moreover, I’m surprised that Spain was not one of the picks.
I’m sad we haven’t gotten any more Craig Mullins artworks for these civilizations. The half-naked barbarian trope just isn’t reality, and I’m not a fan of going with “Vikings” instead of Norsemen or Scandinavian.
AoE4 has shown signs of improvement through these years of struggle so I am happy that they are back to making new civilizations instead of variants. I am worried that they may be unable to deliver on AoE4’s standards set in the past by artwork and 3D assets, but I don’t want to judge too early in this regard.
Personally, this DLC offers civilizations that are culturally too close to the existing roster for my taste, but I am excited that we may be getting yearly fully fledged civilizations again!
Cute cattle.
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Vikings
For the description, we’re going to have the Vikings of the Viking Age (800-1000) as they transition to forming Christian kingdoms (Denmark, Norweign, Sweden), and thus gain Knights and crossbowmen in either the Castle Age or the Imperial Age (it’s not clear which). Their wonder, a Big Wodden Church, reflex that change.
It seems they won’t have landmarks, but will advance to the next age with something else, I suppose, or Edicts (like the Golden Horde).
Unique Units Confirmed:
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Berserker.- with 2 axes. I suppose a light infantry raider.
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Huskarl.- Their heavy infantry, I suppose.
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Shield Maiden.- Javelin Thrower female warrior with a shield, I suppose it replaces the role of Horseman, because Vikings don’t have cavalry until Age III, I suppose.
Unique Buildings confirmed:
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Communal House (Longhouse).- I suppose it replace the normal houses and maybe other buildings. You can chose beetween some compartiments, to use as farms, blacksmiths or barracks i suppose.
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Ring Fortress (Trelleborg).- Historically, they were forts that the vikings made in some places, but is known that they work also as barracks. Maybe they works as defensive barracks or to make special units.
Wonder: Giant Wooden Church
OH YEAH!!!
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Historically speaking, the Vikings were foreigners who didn’t have a lasting empire; the Hungarian Empire would be more relevant, but casual gamers are what they are.
Ah, no Spanish then. Maybe they’ll release them alongside the American civs. At least the Vikings can reuse Rus units and building textures to save on development time.
It feels like their DLC output this year is a bit lacking. The May DLC only had a single Variant, and while the next one might have more content, it still won’t compare to previous releases. Are they secretly working on Age of Empires 5, by any chance?
By the way, I don’t think creating new music tracks similar to the Jin Dynasty’s would cost much extra manpower. I believe the new music should be outsourced to additional music teams, so it wouldn’t take up much of the original programming team’s time.
I’m glad they chose at least one theme for the DLC, in this case, Northern European civilizations: Scandinavia and Scotland.
And well, with this from the original Age of Empires II, which ones are missing? Let’s see:
Well, goths (200-711 D.C) obviously didn´t gotta enter in the timeline of the game (800-1650 D.C), and about persian, well, maybe the Persian Intermezzo, Timurid or Saffavids could be good choises. Also, Delhi Sultanate fill the space of the Elephant civ.
For the Conquistadors vs Aztec DLC, we need first a Spain civ that cover the Reconquista and Imperial Era, so, maybe a Hispain DLC, with Al-Andalus + Spain. There are many possible choises.
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This civ can have villagers work in the Longhouse garden, and I wonder what the benefits are. Would having them consume vitamin-rich vegetables instead of carbohydrates make the soldiers healthier? (resulting in less food production and extra hitpoints for all longhouse units?)
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Will this DLC bring a way for us to zoom out more, and bring updates to the icons to make them more readable for visual players?
I just checked again, and it’s not just agriculture + other buildings, but 3 different types of food sources:
Vegetables, Honey, Meat.
Does each one have a special nutritional value? Hehehe, we’ll find out someday.
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The civ with the most balanced diet in AOE4 history! Jokes aside, It might be similar to AOM Aztec’s Calpulli. You gain economic benefits by installing Addons on buildings. The Longhouse might be a similar case. Perhaps it provides food or gold, or offers military advantages?
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Vikings are great, but why adding the Scots? Scots didn’t even appear on civ polls…
Relic is trolling?
Celts were the tutorial civ in AoE 2, the William Wallace campaign, and are very convenient as an opponent for the Vikings if they plan on focusing on the military campaigns in the British Isles. The battles they had there were transformative for the region, with the Battle of 839 creating a power vacuum that leads to the founding of Scotland.
Hoping to see Spain in the next year myself. I would prefer a focus within the era, so dark age visigoth, feudal-castle age Reconquista, and Imperial age we could see the golden age of the Spanish empire. It would also be a great time to consider adding the Incan Empire.
All this talk about Scotland and Spain makes me want to rewatch Highlander lol
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cause name of the dlc is raiders of north. also vikings had a really good history with scotts.
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It’s becoming clearer that our civ concepts must’ve influence the decisions of the developers in creating additional civs.
A full civ that’s named “Persians” can be a thing. In fact, it can go through various dynasties like what the Chinese do and the Safavids can be one of the dynasties within the dynasty system of the Persians. Now looking at Timurids, that would be a variant of the Mongols. Also, expect more full civs that are Elephant civs (e.g., Khmer and Muvendhar).
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For the description, we’re going to have the Vikings of the Viking Age (800-1000) as they transition to forming Christian kingdoms (Denmark, Norweign, Swiss)…
This is probably the most interesting if done correctly. Also in the English description on Steam it said militia, but I’ve seen crossbowmen mentioned in another translation.
However Swedish (Swiss is from the wrong country).
“As time progresses, their society transforms. Pagan traditions give way to emerging kingdoms, and their armies adapt with knights and trained militias while their legacy is carried forward through heroic Sagas that grant lasting power.”
Yes, things are improving…
I hope they’re called Godi like in AoM…
Yes, maybe it’s their keeps…
Okay, at least we’ve got almost all the Age of Kings civilizations… now we need to get the ones from The Conquerors (Spanish, Aztecs, and Koreans… forget about the Huns, besides, their civilization bonus belongs to the Mongols)… then we need to get the ones from The Forgotten (Incas, Italians, and Magyars/Hungarians, since Slavs and Indians are Rus’ and Delhi Sultanate respectively)…
Yes, I see the first one as difficult, unless it’s some Abbasid variant… the second one I see as more likely… a Reconquista DLC with Spaniards, Portuguese and Al-Andalus would be great…
Yes, I see them as the Norse from AoMR and perhaps with some elements from the Aztecs of AoMR…
Perhaps because they needed a North Sea civilization…
Exactly, that opens up the possibility of having a historical campaign or battle playing as the Vikings against the Scots…
Yes, he chose the wrong country…
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What the players need it’s to be heard and listened, adding a civ that doesn’t even have a single vote on polls is dissapointing and completely pointless. Of course I like that they add a new civ, but it isn’t what the players wanted.
They could add Spanish and Viking with no problem and nobody would’ve complained about it.
The Spanish are a much more important civ than Scots.
Not to mention, that they said when the dlc got announced some months ago " …including The Vikings, which we know you’ve been asking for " What about the Spanish then? It is the MOST requested civ for more than 1 year.
Im about to think that they have any personal issue with Hispanic/Iberia, otherwise this doesn’t make anysense
To be honest Relic has the worst dlc strategy ever.
Honestly I’m glad Scotland is being added as a civ instead of catering to the pop-culture zealots for once.
In fact, this is the first time an AoE4 DLC is a themed one instead of pairing requested ones that turns people into historically ignorant nationalists who aren’t aware about other countries’ history, not every “selling” civ needs to be added to the game immediately just because the so-called “sales experts” thinks it’s wise to add every pop-culture civ instead of letting the devs add less popular and less known ones for once.
I personally find Scots more interesting to see how are they going to be implemented (feels like a compensation for AoE2’s Celts), even more than the overrated Vikings that are being shoved to every historical game instead of the overlooked post-Kalmar Union Denmark…At least AoE4 gets a DLC compared to AoE3DE…One day they might add Hungary since it fits AoE4 perfectly like the addition of Scotland.
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No need to bring politics to the topic, regarding Nationalism and such. So, if they add the civ that you personally want, you automatically become an ignorant Nationalist? That’s not serious.
This is all about what the players want, since it is reflected on numerous polls all around the forum, that’s what the polls are for, to reflect what the players want or expect, about new civs, mechanics…
We’ve been asking for the Spanish for years, for its relevance on the AOE “Universe” and its Historical weight. Besides, all other European powers are included already in the game, so the Spanish should be in the game.
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