It looks nice overall, however I’m not a fan of the ships. The water looks like it lacks any depth and it doesn’t help when all the rudders are out of the water! It’s the same in AOE 2 HD however as it’s an older game it gets away with it.
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this looks incredible, the ice is really beautiful
the ships in the first image are odd, perhaps the shadow is too strong against the vibrant water? they look a float
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And there is much more good news. They offer also a discount for current AOE HD owners and Xbox Game Pass for PC members.
Developed by Forgotten Empires, Tantalus, and Wicked Witch, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition includes entirely new content and many exciting gameplay improvements. This edition contains all previously released Age of Empires II content, as well as brand new civilizations, additional campaign missions, new graphics that support up to 4K resolution and Xbox Live support for multiplayer, including all-new achievements. Not to mention, the edition features quality-of-life upgrades such as automatic farm reseeding to take the game you already know and love to the next level. Exciting new features include:
- The Last Khans campaign: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition includes brand-new content, “The Last Khans” with three new campaigns and four new civilizations.
- New civilizations: Four new civilizations are being added exclusively to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition : the Bulgarians, Cumans, Lithuanians and Tatars, bringing the total number of civilizations in the game to 35.
- New spectator mode and tournament features: Players will be able to spectate multiplayer games in real time and switch between each player’s view, with overlay UI on top to give spectators information on different players’ status.
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition will cost $19.99 USD for new players and $14.99 USD for existing Steam owners of Age of Empires II: HD Edition . Additionally, Xbox Game Pass for PC members will be able to purchase Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition to own on the Microsoft Store for a discounted price of $14.99 USD.
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Thank you for that information! I was about to ask if the DE would include all of the civilizations and content that are part of the Forgotten empires. It looks like that is the case and I’m truly excited for this release. Unlike AoE DE, this release will have some truly new content along with the enhanced graphics.
I just hope they have fixed the optimization problems that AoE II HD had with the huge maps and high pop limits
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There are even more screenshots in here - https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2019/06/09/e3-2019-age-of-empires-ii-definitive-edition-launching-fall-2019-beta-coming-soon/
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I have downloaded the full media kit. 
Your new desktop wallpapers? 
They should spread those on the Windows welcome screen. 
But I’m not marketeer, just thinking like one.
Screenshots from the trailer - https://imgur.com/a/3H89Wv5
Reddit user GabrielZ07 is the author
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This screenshot is directly from Attila campaign “The Walls of Constantinople” scenario - https://news.xbox.com/en-us/wp-content/uploads/Age-of-Empires_Atilla_Screenshot.png
Map of original HD scenario - https://ageofempires.fandom.com/wiki/The_Walls_of_Constantinople?file=508994494_preview_Attila3.jpg
Can open HD scenario, use “marco polo” and compare its appearance with DE version.
Constantinople from original HD scenario at 1920X1080 resolution. Would be good if someone with 4K monitor would do screenshot at 4K for better comparison.
It seems like developers are making some changes to original scenarios. Units and buildings are the same in “Walls of Constantinople” comparison screenshots, but terrain is different. Many trees have been added, while before there were none.
It looks much better and natural now 
I am silly excited for this, been playing AOE for as long as I can remember playing games. I used have my friends round for LAN parties back when I had AoC on disk and my dad would trash me all the time at it, then got the HD edition on steam and cant stop playing it. Absolutely cannot wait to keep enjoying this timeless game - truly the best RTS game in my eyes.
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The new graphics look amazing!
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I agree , is inferior to DE (1).
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More than anything, I’m amazed at just how faithful it is to the original art style. In the first trailer, things were going by fast enough that I honestly had to double take. That isn’t a criticism mind, because the detail and improvements are obvious when you’re looking at it for more than a second. I just thought that what we’d get would result in something looking fairly detatched.
I am very, very happy with where it’s going. AOE 2’s art style helped a lot during gameplay, so it’s good that they didn’t break from it the same way so many graphics mods do.
I am also thrilled to hear about the discount for AOE 2 HD owners. So far, it looks like Forgotten Empires has, in fact, been keeping an eye on the forums after all, as many of the points people kept bringing up (Steam release, discount call, etc) seem to be getting addressed. Bravo! Bravo indeed!
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all models are made in 3d but converted to 2d. This is case for both AOE2:HD and AOE:DE
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Also one sprite contains 32 images against 8 in the previous versions. Let’s hope they don’t have to do this over again for 8K screens.
You mean we won’t be getting AOE2: 8K and hopefully last edition?
Never say never again.
Age of Empires 2: Ultimate Edition in 10 years
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16K in VR, 8K per eye. My prediction.
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