Empire Wars isn't working

Age of Empires II: DE II - Report a Bug
1

:play_button: GAME INFORMATION

:backhand_index_pointing_down: These details are CRITICAL; DO NOT skip them or your issue may not be reviewed.

  • **GAME BUILD #:**141935
  • GAME PLATFORM: Steam
  • OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 11

:play_button: ISSUE EXPERIENCED

In the lobby, I have enabled Empire Wars Mode. It’s not active after pressing start game. Everything else stays as selected in the lobby (except sometimes Antiquity mode too?) but no matter whether I’ve selected Empire Wars Mode instead of Random Map Mode or used the checkbox, the issue occurs every time.

:play_button: FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

:backhand_index_pointing_down: *How often does the issue occur?

  • 100% of the time / matches I play (ALWAYS)

:play_button: REPRODUCTION STEPS

:backhand_index_pointing_down: List CLEAR and DETAILED STEPS we can take to reproduce the issue ourselves… Be descriptive!

Here’s the steps to reproduce the issue:

Game Settings I use consistently and get this issue every time in single player are as follows:

  1. Data Mod: Default.
  2. Game Mode: Random Map
  3. Civilization Set: Age of Empires II
  4. Location: Arena
  5. Map Size: Tiny (2 player)
  6. AI Difficulty: Hard
  7. Resources: Standard
  8. Population: 200
  9. Game Speed: Slow
  10. Reveal Map: Normal
  11. Starting Age: Dark Age
  12. Ending Age: Imperial Age
  13. Treaty Length: [None]
  14. Victory: Standard
  15. Team Settings: Lock Teams, Team Together, Team Positions, Shared Exploration.
  16. Advanced Settings: Empire Wars Mode, Regicide Mode, Antiquity Mode, Record Game
  17. Then I press Start Game. Wait for it to load. And voila!

:play_button: EXPECTED RESULT

:backhand_index_pointing_down: What was SUPPOSED to happen if the bug you encountered were not present?

These settings used to produce a walled town of around 30 people with a castle, several houses, a barracks, a blacksmith, 3 lumber camps, 1-2 mills and 1 mining camp, all already being worked on by 4ish villagers each the moment the game starts. All victory conditions worked as described everywhere. It was all working great. Now the entire Empire Wars part of it isn’t working.

:play_button: IMAGE

:backhand_index_pointing_down: ALWAYS attach a PICTURE (.jpg, .png, .gif) or VIDEO (.mp4, YouTube link) that highlights the problem.

image
image1434×940 87 KB

:play_button: GAME FILES (SAVE / RECORDING)

:backhand_index_pointing_down: Attach a SAVE GAME (.aoe2spgame) or GAME RECORDING (.aoe2record) of the match where you encountered the issue. Link it below if using an external file service.

SP Replay v101.103.10863.0 @2025.04.11 114452.aoe2record

It wouldn’t let me attach the file. Idk if your system allows you to access it from your end? I don’t have an external file service. This is the file name of the replay that includes the intended game settings selected and the fact that Empire Wars is not working. Wanted to use a screenshot, but apparently I can only embed one image.