All I’m trying to say is that at any point, even with any amount of developer resource on AoE IV, CoH 3 has less units on-screen and in any game. That’s why it can look better.
That doesn’t mean AoE IV can’t look better than it does right now. But you raised CoH 3 as an example, and I wanted to explain the difference with that game. That’s all.
But there are other games that achieve quality even with a gigantic army and fighting against several factions on the same map.
Some examples:
Those games weren’t being compared, so I wasn’t talking about them. jimmy mainly references CoH 3 (entirely fairly) as a game on the same engine developed by the same original company behind AoE IV (Relic).
I don’t want to bog down the thread with talking about game engines and how they can differ.
Yes, I understand the difference in engines and this can really affect how much more polished or more unit-filled a game can be. I just wanted to show other games with different engines that can be massive.
But,
In my opinion, the problem with AoEIV is in the textures and not in the 3D models (with some exceptions), and this graphic texture could be changed if the company was interested.
Many indie games tend to make big changes to textures (even because it is something easy to do, they are just “skins”), traditional companies rarely do anything to improve, unless they bring up such a big controversy that they feel obliged to do something due to the repercussion caused.
Yes, I think Relic is a good developer, but having 2 teams working on two games at the same time can affect some things in both games since while they are improving the graphics of CoH 3 they are also working on the new DLC for AoE4…
Yes, they will do like last year, they will release the new DLC with the season 9 and then with season 10 they will release a new graphic update…
The AOE-2 DLC ‘Chronicles: Battle for Greece’ introduces campaigns set in this era, and it looks great because it has unique mechanics, some cinematics and so on. However, this, coupled with the transfer from AOE- to AOE-2, has upset some people.
If AOE-1 isn’t profitable enough to give it new content and support, and bringing content set in ancient times to a game that was established as a game set in the Middle Ages is very out of place, I think a new game is frankly necessary.
The ‘Chronicles: Battle for Greece’ DLC will introduce naval mechanics such as ocean currency sources (similar to the whales in AOE-3), the shipyard and I think new types of ships. It would be great if those ideas were implemented in an AOE-5.
Actually back when we just had AoE3 i always wished for an AoE4 in the next age. Into the modern time. Thus it would be like Rise of Nations.
With a more complex political system.
With mostly gun warfare, the development of electricity and industry.
For example the development of tanks and aircrafts.
It would be amazing to see a game where you can make choices in development, like in AoM and AoE3 you pick certain things when you age up. In that way you could make civilisations and choices asymetrical.
Thus in my opinon we now would have AoE5 in the next stop of the train. I would love to see a game in more pre- and modern times going beyond AoE3. Like Rise of Nations, going into “enlightenment age” “industrial age” “modern age” and maybe “post modern age”.
And then AoE6 would be post modern into the robotic/AI age with drones and further. And space colonisation i guess.
It has everything but fun.
Interesting find
World’s Edge is hiring for experience with Unreal Engine.
So, the next AOE5 Will probably move with this Engine. It means that Relic entertainment Will not develop next future titles.
And yes, AOE5 Is already in development.
Unreal Is the right choice because It allows to have incredible graphic and good performance with full support to DLSS.
My only Hope Is for a new game set in the ancient times.
So, probably my First suggestioni were right
And FSR too!
That’s for sure
Personally, I would like AoE V to be set in either
Classic Antiquity. Yes, again. A proper AoE title with UE will be pretty awesome. Just look at Assassins Creed Roguelike Saga, for example)
Early Modern Era Period. A well-deserved remake for AoE III, made with classic AoE II base gameplay but depicting cannons, rifles and so on! Around the same timeframe, Creative Assembly could release Empire II Total War, too 
It’s time to turn the page, don’t you think? AOE-3’s mechanics are an advancement, not a downgrade.
Yes, they are
Don’t get me wrong. In fact, III is my fav in the franchise
But its mechanics design divided all of the community.
Actually, a lot of players do not like III due to its mechanics. There is so much information that the new or not experimented player has to acquire.
III has a lot of variety and fun, which is great. But their unique mechanics, units, bonuses, cards, civilizations, ageups overwhelm the player.
If the mechanics return to its origins I guarantee that a lot of people would try it and keep on playing it!
That is why AOE IV made for the better inhereting the best of II and III, making it a very streamlined game to play. Simplifying the AoM/III formula and returning to I/II core gameplay
AOE-4 has mechanics and other features from AOE-3 now, however there was some pushback when someone suggested things from AOE-3 for AOE-4. Now that many of them are implemented no one complains, or even ignores where they came from.
For me the most important thing is, that the game doesent crash so often, and that the engine is capable of a true RTS Game, with less input lag and more APM possibillities like in sc2 and newer modern rts games.
AoE4 has also a big problem with inputs in combinations with the “shift” modifier, wich is super super annoying. All these things are an absolutly standard for any newer rts and i hope so, that they will pick an engine wich is capable of doing this .. >.<
Many players also suffer from FPS losses etc. Pls get these things rolling!
if we talk UE5, which imo is what WE would most likely be using for aoe5, it would in theory take better advantage of modern hardware, but expect a UE5 RTS to be insanely demanding to run while looking barely any better than 3 DE or retold, case in point, stormgate (requires DLSS on quality on a 3060ti just to stay around 60, 1440p while looking really poor)
aoe4 and essence engine in general have input lag issues, any essence game feels like playing on a US west coast server from EU in singleplayer, let alone online
in all honesty, for all its perks, essence needs a proper upgrade, being able to put all 3 company of heroes games side by side and having hard time telling which is which is a bad look given how many years passed between each of them, even the camera zoom is just as bad as in the original COH, slightly worse even, that camera issue is smt aoe4 is also infected with (although the camera seemingly has more to do with stubborn designers that think they know better than everyone)
yeah true! So many problems with aoe4 and its not even the game stuff, its engine, performance etc. >.< so sad!
Age of Empires 4 was built on a laggy game engine
here you have a vid with side by side examples illustrating how much input lag there is
This is insane! This only wants me to quit the game 
I really hope, they will change something, and if they cant, that age 5 will be better or something >.< is AoM on the same enginge as aoe4?
The pinned comment on that video is a must read:
@TheTarnishedKnight
As an engine developer myself (for Beyond All Reason,) the simulation tick rate is a design choice. The faster the engine ticks, the fewer units the engine is capable of handling. AoE IV allows for 200 population cap for up to 8 players and this engine has to run all the simulation code on a single thread - they likely chose a single thread because of the complexities of deterministic simulation and the risk of the dreaded desync error (a whole topic in and of itself,) which is one of hardest categories of bugs to fix.
I’ve heard that StarCraft 2 generally cannot handle 6-8 players in the late game at full speed: that engine runs at typically 21.4hz and is also single threaded. So, to a certain degree lowering the simulation tick rate helps the engine to handle larger games on a wider range of machines. Whether 8hz was optimal or whether they could have raised that further for AoE 4 we may never know, it is likely that once they chose a tick rate for the engine, various parts of the engine’s code likely got harcoded with assumptions on the tick rate (which is surprisingly easy to do!) which will make very expensive (and risky) to change at this stage. That initial choice may have been conservative, but they would had to have made a guess and decision at the start of the project without sufficient information to choose better.
The reason behind the lower tickrate is much more complicated than a lot of the complaints recognize. Wanting better is completely valid, it’s not hard to see why the current situation is frustrating. What I hope is happening as people learn more about this is that they realize that this is a complex situation that doesn’t get solved simply by updating to a new game engine.
It’s a finely tuned machine with thoughtful decisions being made every step of the way. People often tell a story of this game being a failure with obvious issues, but the way the game was made and how it is maintained requires great skill and effort.