Bringing missing features of AOE 2 to AOE 3

Developpers seem to want to create a brige between AOE 3 and AOE 2, in making some civilizations similar to the style of the other game - as can be seen by the Incans, and the next expansion of AOE II.

Nonetheless there are some basic features and options in AOE 2 that are completely missing in AOE 3. Those make in some aspects AOE 3 feel in some like a downgrade from AOE 2. And it is really unfortunate, I really love AOE 3. I’ve played AOE 3 long before I even started AOE 2. Nonetheless, when I return to AOE 2 from AOE 3, I feel like I am playing a more complete game despite it being an older game.

  • A proper regicide mode : Currently Regicide is limited to a single map. It is a great system, but I would love to see it implemented as a full game.

  • Empire Wars : Empire Wars is an interesting feature in AOE 2, the fact that you begin with a “small Empire” ready to fight. It would suit the fast play-style of AOE 3 very well!

  • More toggleable settings : I saw how in AOE 2 you can for instance combine Empire Wars and Regicide rather than have to chose between either as you would in the past. It would be great to have a similar system in AOE 3.

  • Huge” and “Ludicrous” maps : AOE 3 is a smaller-scale, faster-paced game. Nonetheless it would be great to have the option to play on bigger maps than the current “LRG” ones. In 8 players mode, even the LRG maps feel a bit cramped. Especially since many computers now are more capable of handling such larger maps.

  • [Maybe] a choice for higher pop caps ? Now the game is balanced on a 200 population limit. Nonetheless, it would probably be possible to allow a slightly higher limit (250 ?) in casual games without breaking balance. What do you think?

What do you think? Certainly, those proposals are worth being discussed, tweaked, argued for or against. Nonetheless, I’m personally convinced AOE 3 needs some changes of that nature to feel like a fuller experience.

Some such changes (Empire Wars, Regicide) are certainly not very difficult to implement, and would already make the game feel more complete. Larger maps does sound feasible as well.

As for higher population caps, I’m not sure if it is possible to implement without breaking the balance of the game. Do you think a slight increase (250) would be possible for example?

[EDIT]
And diplomatic stances? Actually having the option to enable diplomacy could be interesting? What do you think?

7 Likes

Empire wars in AOE3 would be cool especially if it had different starting ages with different economic setups.

2 Likes

Have repeatedly asked during beta feedback for huge and ludicrous maps and once you have those agree on a higher population cap.

2 Likes

I just want to mention that the main reason why they added EW in AoE2 is because they want to reduce the early peace time to speed up the game pace to make the tournaments more watchable. However the pace of AoE3 is already much faster then AoE2.

In AoE3 you have more things to do in the early stage (scout, find treasures, etc), and the card mechanism and batch produce system make early rush strategies faster and also much more devastating than AoE2.

If you are also new to the AoE3 like me I strongly suggest you complete the Art of War section first. It will quickly let you have some basic concepts about this game.

1 Like

Thank you for your interesting contribution. I thought a bit and a system akin to that of Empire Wars might actually end up making rushes less devastating and change the early-game dynamics quite a bit - since the potency of early rushing cards would be significantly decreased.

Thank you for the suggestion. I’ve been playing AOE 3 since I was a kid, though never at a competitive level. :slight_smile:

I also liked AOE2 as a kid though the fact that all factions have the same unit appearences always was a major grievance I had with that game.

I was 100% sure that the developpers would bring huge and ludicrous maps as well as higher pop caps when the definitive edition was being develloped. Upon release, I was really surprised that they didn’t actually.

1 Like

Also, Ai commands in AoE2 there are much more specific commands you can give the ai like to train specific unit types

Ok, sorry. Just a suggestion because the Art of War tutorial is extremely useful to me. It is one of the best additions of this game imo.

No worries :slight_smile:
Agreed though, the Art of War tutorials are really a valuable addition to the game, especially for begginers. I appreciate that AOE 3 did get love and care from developpers (unlike AOE 1’s definitive edition maybe?).

have you tried large carolina? even normal carolina is pretty huge.

Personally I don’t think ANY of the new introduced modes in AoE2 is popular. Battle Royale is dead, so is Quickplay and Empire Wars. You’re not gonna change the habits of people who have played a game for 10+ years.