No mate, probably i didn’t express my thoughts in the right way. I sayd that AOE4 would had probably been Better with a co-develop. You are Saying that tech have been developed in parallel but CoH3 seems a new generation game, Aoe4 not. And i’m not speaking about Artstyle or personal opionions: that’s a fact and also Digital foundry said the same. The reason to allow more people to play this game on the potato specs not convinced me when i see a game developed by the same Studio with same engine which includes all the modern technologies (including Ray tracing) and It can runs on many different specs.
why? There so many games developed on same engine. For example Engine “source 2” or any other.
The only “issue” is adding new feature into the engine. But mostly you do not need to modify engine at all.
Remove/add “fog of Zoom” - engine feature.
Add any explosions/units/project tiles - game feature.
Work hours strictly divided by two different projects…
People who “afraid” that two different projects affect each other - do not understand how development works.
And also you had the advantage to use your engine.
If we had a previous game technologically superior, the next installed should improve over what is done in the past, that includes age lll and age 2 mechanics like able to dodge proyectiles and siege, and physics from age lll, otherwise you are not honoring previous games, like DOW3 did
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You always trying to excuse relic unfinished products…
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In theory, yes. But in practice, there is basically never a clean cut between engine and project development. Features are developed for the project and then moved to the engine and vice versa as it’s just more practical, but of course also more messy. And this will become obvious once it isn’t an 1:1 relation anymore. A new project with its own needs and priority just mixes that up in many ways so that plans become more of ideal and active development to damage control.
Of course this is a guess and relic is that one gaming dev that got this right. But by looking at the result in form of AoE4s tech, I doubt it. It would make too much sense.
I had alot of fun with AoE4, but I feel the same unfortunately. Noone except Hera, Demuslim and Grubby still stream the game and on the steam charts AoE2: DE has already overtaken AoE4.
Yes, I do think more players use the XBOX game pass for AoE4, but it still alarming that the player base declined so much after just 2 month.
It is for good reason though. The game feels like from 2006 if you look at design and features. Like why is there no pause or reconncect functionality? The graphics are allright, but not particularly good nor fitting for an RTS.
What I’m saying is that Age IV was co-developed in a very similar way to CoH 3. However, with CoH 3 they were able to start this process earlier in the development timeline.
i.e. the first look any CoH 3 community members got at CoH 3 will have been at an earlier point in development than the Age IV was back in 2017, when the Council got to see it.
On the tech angle, CoH 3 is either one or two years newer, and / or it has more resource allocated to it, and / or it’s had a longer development timeline (which is the same as “having more resource allocated to it”). I don’t have the answer there. But it’s definitely not “Age IV and CoH 3 were developed at the same time”, because CoH 3 is still in development.
I mean, that’s not really how engines work. Things that are possible in an engine still require implementation for the project at-hand.
The beauty of being allowed an opinion is that I can say whatever I want, rules permitting. You not liking them doesn’t make them invalid, nor does trying to make this about my character.
Trying to remain on a colourful Artstyle and Graphic, next january 20th Will be available the beta version of the new Settlers game. This appears a new generation game and all setting are on medium according to the previews. (In the final game you’ll be able to set the game on High specs).
I don’t Say that this game Will be a huge success but i wanna only to show how graphic could be great also with a colourful Artstyle
And some videos
See the fauna, water, Buildings, animations. All seem Better.
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It looks like a mobile game for me.
Am glad I grew up on gems like Settlers III and IV and not on such a mess like is this one.
Looks like if The Sims and AoE had a baby.
I cannot see a generation which grew up on old titles and now is somewhere between 25-40 to be excited about this. Its nonsense. Like if I got back to play with toycars …
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Did you play CoH3’s early access version? Didn’t feel much different to CoH2. There’s no huge leap in tech to be seen anywhere (yet). So whatever branch they built AOE4 on was much closer to CoH2’s final state… a game that feels much more high quality and better optimized than AOE4.
It’s not realistic to think that they tried to incorporate every little new engine change coming from the CoH3 team along the way. They most likely took some perfectly working engine branch from around that 2017 timeframe and tried to bent it into shape to allow for the typical AOE systems. That was the big job.
Did they succeed? You be the judge. In my book, they ticked the boxes like it was a school project. Everything does kinda fit the AOE mold, but there is no robustness, detail or love in any of it.
At the same time things that the CoH engine was known for are missing: Detailed particle effects, destruction (including ground-deformation and physics based environmental destruction), more extensive and tactical machinery (tanks, crewed weapons, artillery, etc… basically what remains as completely dumbed down race car siege and ships), highly detailed unit models (no comment on AOE4’s models needed, I guess), much more in depth systems of unit abilities, the cover system, the squad system,…
Those are the things that people refer to whent hey say “why isn’t it more like other games using the same engine”.
Maybe it was a giant pain in the rear to achieve what we got now, and they themselves see it as a big success to even have shipped the thing in time and in this state. But that doesn’t matter to me as the consumer. I got something running and looking worse than CoH2, which is a clear step back, and something that falls short gameplay wise when compared to AOE2DE (the “old and obsolete” game).
If they really wanted to co-develop, maybe entering an actual early access would have helped with that. Instead of selling the thing for full-prize+ and then leave for vacation. Instead of not interacting with the community at all and incorporating alpha/“stress-test”-feedback haphazardly at most. Instead of fucking over even the super-fans who bought the useless special edition. Instead of releasing a roadmap that’s laughable and will most likely be stretched over a full year. Instead of leaving game rbeaking bugs and maximum-cheese meta units in the game for months. The list goes on and on…
CoH3 seems to do that better in a lot of ways so far… but I’m not here to pay Relic’s learning adventures through game-dev-land with AOE4’s price-tag and then stand on the sideline as a cheerleader while they apply the “gained knowledge” to CoH3. What kind of toxic relationship to your customers is that supposed to be?
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Nobody said you had to, so I’m kinda confused as to what you’re getting at.
so what if it does the other team
Anyway, do not want to argue, but from my experience it’s work fine. For one engine(although not gaming engine, but quite complex) several customer with different projects.
It will never “interfere” but even help.
yes, i’m doing it for my “home” project. But never seen that approach in normal projects.
Seeing GivesUAnxiety leaving the Balance test team as well as BonjwaHonor saying he will stop playing competitevly had one thing in common:
They stated how this all is super frustating for them.
The leads have created a monster as an attraction in Jurassic Park that now starts poking customers and employees as well, while the bosses who have made all the money take the safe helicopter exit, as did Quinn Duffy apparently.
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Beastyqt, Blade55555, GUA, Lidakor/EGCTV, Marinelord, Nili, Fitzyhere all regularly stream it as well. It’s still the most watched RTS on Twitch. AOE II DE has a few hundred more players on average in the past 30 days on Steam, but as you said, likely balanced out by game pass.
None of this invalidates you getting tired of it of course - the playerbase has dropped in the past couple months no doubt. I don’t think lacking pause is a reason for most people - general sentiment seems to be more about bugs and balance as to why people are taking a break.
All of the Age games took significant amounts of time and patching to get where they are now so none of this is really surprising. The ball is in Relic’s court now - there will be a January patch but the Spring update will probably be the real test of what AOE IV’s trajectory will be. Personally I think they got a solid framework, just needs bugfixing and balancing so there is a lot more variety and viability (units, builds, landmarks, etc.).
German games magazine Gamestar already did a preview stating that it will be a utter failure as it completely misses what The Settlers made interesting in the first place thanks to “streamlining”.
Graphics not really impressive tbh.
I have been on the council since its beginning and still do not feel remotely knowledgeable about the development process to make any final pronouncements about what happened that resulted in a game that I do not wish to install.
I suppose ultimately it is the result of people who have different opinions than me making decisions that I would not make. We humans each tend to feel like our opinions are the norm and measure everyone else’s based on how much they deviate from our personal standard. This clouded thinking affects me, everyone here, and every person who has developed these games, too, for that matter.
I just hope that together we can slog through the debris and come out on the other side with new content that I love. And if not, then I will continue to cherish the existing Age games that I play. I dunno – after 4+ years I don’t know what else to do but shrug my shoulders and sit down. God knows I’ve said enough publicly and privately. But if the topic comes up, I feel compelled to speak up and remind everyone that not all of us diehard Age fans are interested in AoE4 in its present condition.
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Do you have evidence that this is the main problem for the players and not the missing content, infrequent balance patches and bugged civilizations?
Currently I am having more fun discovering the new modding possibilities in Rome Remastered than trying to master the buggy Delhi.
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Its not even a problem to be fair , graphics were not the problem when the game released . Neither are now.
We have better things to wish for and I really wish that Aoe4 results on a better game in the end.
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ubisoft should have given same treatment as did MS for aoe4 
then their voices would be different