Hi everyone!
I’m currently working on a new type of scenario for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, designed as a true co-op escort and defense challenge.
The concept is simple: two players must protect a convoy made up of three wagons and escort it safely to its destination.
Each player starts with a relatively basic base, while the enemy AI works very differently from a traditional AI opponent: it has no base at all.
Instead, it regularly sends out different and varied attack waves, with a timer between each assault. Enemy units can spawn from multiple randomly selected locations, forcing players to stay alert and constantly adapt their defenses.
Dynamic difficulty system
The convoy is also protected by AI-controlled defenders.
Their numbers, as well as the amount of allied reinforcements available, depend on the selected difficulty.
On easier difficulties, the convoy receives more defenders, giving players more time to react to incoming attacks.
On higher difficulties aimed at more experienced players, there are fewer defenders and fewer AI reinforcements, making coordination between the two players much more important.
Current features
- 2-player co-op
- 3 wagons to escort
- One starting base for each player
- An attacking AI with no base
- Varied enemy attack waves
- Different possible army compositions
- Randomized spawn locations
- A timer system between attacks
- AI defenders protecting the convoy
- The number of defenders and reinforcements changes depending on difficulty
- A challenge focused more on reaction, defense, and cooperation than on destroying an enemy town
To go beyond the limitations of the standard scenario editor, I have also started expanding the scenario with external scripting.
This gives me much more freedom to create the wave system, randomization, difficulty scaling, and other custom mechanics.
The goal is to create something closer to a co-op PvE / escort game mode, while still keeping the core gameplay and mechanics of Age of Empires III.
The scenario is still in development, and I’m currently working on balancing the waves, difficulty progression, and the different situations players will have to deal with.
I’d be interested to hear what you think about the concept, as well as any ideas for mechanics that could make this type of challenge even more interesting.
this one seems quite interesting 