Lobbies with custom scenarios behave badly

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

:arrow_forward: GAME INFORMATION

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

  • GAME BUILD #: as of 16.02.2021
  • GAME PLATFORM: Steam
  • OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 10

:arrow_forward: ISSUE EXPERIENCED

:point_down: DESCRIBE THE ISSUE IN DETAIL (below). LIMIT TO ONE BUG PER THREAD.

There are several problems with hosting a lobby with a custom scenario. My experience is based on CBA Requiem V6, but should apply to other mods as well.

Problem 1: File download
Anytime a player who joins my lobby accepts to get the file downloaded, I (the host) loose the “I am ready” check. This means, the host has to click “I am ready” like 7 times before he can start, or everyone has to wait until lobby is full and host does 2 times I am ready clicking (first, so everyone can download, second to get ready himself)

Problem 2: Downloading files you already have
Assuming after a lot of unmeaningful clicking we got the game running and played it. So this time I join someone elses lobby. He also creates Requiem V6, but I still have to download it. The big question is: why do I have to? I already have it, since I already hosted it last game? So I am not sure if it is the same version and check letter by letter if it is the version it tells me to be and not a version where the host modded himself some advantages (havent seen this kind of griefing on DE yet, but on HD this was kinda everywhere, but also you saved the files, and as soon as you didnt have the file, you knew something is fishy, this no longer is possible in DE, since you always have to download).
Note: I know that if I join a specific custom scenario the second time in the same session I do not have to download the file again. But hosting and then joining the same lobby does not have that effect. I dont get the logic here…

Problem 3: civs
new civs. I remember in HD we could choose the dataset, so games with no new civs were possible. This would be great to have again, maybe not whole dataset, but excluding civs from lobbies. You migth ask why? Another example of the CBA world: there is the Euron edition CBA and also older Requiem editions (like V5) that do not have added triggers for the new civs. So normally everyone goes random in these games, and if someone gets Burgundy/Sicilian he can already leave the game. Lately I had a host who didnt have V6, so we played one of the older versions, and I told him we have to rehost if someone gets a new civ → I got sicilians and with no triggers CBA is just resign sadly.
Also an option like random from this pool of civs would be cool… (this would even benefit ranked/other lobbies. Imagine following situation: you want to play random, but know your enemy team wont do that, so your team can get archer civs on the flank, knigth civs in pocket. But a random archer civ and a random knigth civ, so it at least is somewhat balanced)

:arrow_forward: FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

:point_down: How often does the issue occur? CHOSE ONE; DELETE THE REST!

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

:arrow_forward: REPRODUCTION STEPS

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

Problem 1: File download

  1. Host a lobby
  2. Choose a custom scenario, like CBA V6
  3. change settings
  4. ready up
  5. Get people to join your lobby
  6. wonder why you have to click “I am ready” again

Problem 2: Downloading files you already have

  1. Host, play, win/loose a custom scenario (so you have the file you need for sure, otherwise you could not have hosted it)
  2. Ask a friend to host a lobby with the same exact custom scenario
  3. Download the custom scenario you just hosted yourself earlier (This is the thing that is strange)
  4. Play the scenario
  5. Assume you always download custom scenarios, due to making sure everyone has the same version
  6. Ask your friend to host the same exact scenario again
  7. Join and wonder why this time you can ready up without downloading (Assumption in 5 is wrong)

Problem 3: civs

  1. Host CBA, Requiem V5
  2. Choose sicilians or burgundians
  3. not working (due to being a mod, this is fine, but the problem is: there is no posibility to exclude specific civs from lobbies)

:arrow_forward: EXPECTED RESULT

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

  1. Host only has to click “I am ready” once
  2. Files I already have should not be downloaded again, or at least be always downloaded (due to being consistent)
  3. Add the possibility to choose randomly from a pool of civs, or possibility to exclude specific civs from a lobby