A while ago, I noticed the presence of “balance” scenarios in the following folder of Return of Rome:
…/steamapps/common/AoE2DE/modes/Pompeii/resources/_common/scenario
These appear to be scenarios created for testing purposes, probably unintentionally made available to players.
They can be opened in the Scenario Editor after copying them to the folder for custom RoR scenarios. The maps are generally minimalistic and rely on XS files that are not there, so they can’t be played the intended way (though the names of the missing XS files might give a vague impression of their purpose).
Another scenario named “building_damage.aoe2scenario” was already there at an earlier point, it is equally simple.
I wonder if this means that they are still working on future balance patches and other new content for RoR. The notes for the upcoming patch mention the introduction of Regicide mode, so there will be at least an ancient King (I expect the Chronicles variant).
Would be neat if RoR received more attention again.
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I hope there is a new model.
The kings of vanilla game also need more variants.
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There is already a model for a king for the Chronicle civs. You can play regicide in aoe2 mode and just add a chronicle civ. This king has no voice lines though.
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I assume they simply didn’t finish some things in time, like the chant of the Priestess and a number of icons. Will probably be added with a future patch.
Now that you mention it, how will be the King’s voice in Return of Rome? A new “Roggan”? Or will they simple reuse those of the Priest or male Villager?
Update 141935 added another simple scenario called “regression_herd_granary”.
As expected, the King looks like his Chronicles counterpart, and he uses the male Villager’s voice lines. If I’m not mistaken, this is the “first” new controllable unit in RoR since it was launched in May 2023. Hoping for more.
Some of the units recently introduced to the base game, like the Wild Horse variants, could have been added to RoR without too much effort, but alas, it didn’t happen.
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I was thinking earlier about changes that may apply directly or indirectly to Return of Rome with every single update released for AOE2DE, and it shouldn’t really be that way, since the game mode should receive more attention. It is good as it is now but it could be so much better. More additions, complexity and uniqueness to each civilization should be implemented as far as graphics and gameplay goes.
- It is still lacking 6 original (classic) campaigns. I would also love new ones, of course…
- An option/modifier that would disable garrisoning for custom games would be nice.
- I would suggest adding new units and upgrades to existing ones that are particularly weak reaching Iron Age (like the slinger).
- Whales need to be restored! Looking at the water and not spotting them there is kinda disappointing (I loved them in AOE1).
- I’d like Return of Rome to have new custom game scenarios and “real maps” covering Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
- New civilizations such as the Scythians, Nubians and Celts!
I think it’s time to take risks with Return of Rome. The game mode itself, being available through Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition, is an excuse to add and experiment with more content and ways to play.
I favor the idea of adding unique units for each civ, although the community was divided on this aspect from what I remember. Heroes, on the other hand, I don’t want to have them in AOE1 and definitely not in AOE2 either (outside campaigns and historical scenarios); I don’t think they belong in both games, since Age of Empires 1 and 2 differ from Warcraft 3 and Age of Mythology.
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That’s something the devs intended to do, unfinished upgraded forms of Axeman, Scout and Slinger can be found in the RoR dataset. However…
Yeah, I’d like to see Whales in both RoR and the base game. And the small African Elephants that can represent forest elephants, too.
Actually, they could add all the Gaia eye candy from AoE DE. Compared to the truckloads of graphics that came with the BfG and TTK updates, it would take little additional space. Just don’t add two dozen of rocks as indiviual entries, but in rotatable form.
I’d also appreciate bringing back the “pow” cheat code. If an armed baby is too controversial, change it to an Mach Rider-esque adult driving a motorbike. After more than 25 years, BabyPrez will have grown up anyway.
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Now that you mention the leak, I also remember finding new unit icons, but I thought of them more like unique units instead of upgrades to existing ones. I don’t recall if I posted the images on the forums or not, either.
I don’t remember seeing such icons. The only unused unit icons I’m aware of are these, all taken from AoE DE:
The one with the old Priest model is also used as the default player icon for Babylonians. And there are some unused technology icons dating back to the original AoE.
It would be cool if you could still find those. 
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