NEW DLC confirmed for 2025

[grizzgolf]

I hope we get Aztecs and Spanish

[Darkness01101]

@FloosWorld

The AoE 2 DLC is solely intended for 4K monitors in mind.

It is still optional graphics DLC that is available for selecting. Not in the base game unless you manually add it. We still cannot predict the future here. AoE4 DLC could very well be a cosmetic graphics enhancement pack, which I’ve advocated before for AoE2 since we arent getting it yet included with the base game and probably never will, since the focus for DLC and game updates are so heavily focused on new civs, new campaigns, balance tweaks, MP, and fixes.

It’d.be a way to incentivize the development of adding purely cosmetic things like time of day options, weather options incl falling rain and snow, lightning, wind), more varied animals, more insects, enhanced and varied water, improved water waves/surf, more biomes, season options, more map clutter items (graveyards, delapidated market cart clutter, water landmarks (sunken ships, haystack rocks, dexorative coral and fish, rainbows, waterfall features, caves and caverns, more/improved dynamic effects (like sparks, spec hits, improved splashes, smoke, mud tracks, dust devils, and dirt kickups, leaves falling), heat distortion, dynamic lighting, camera shake for certain rare battle events, things that might only exist in the map editor brought out to base maps, classic UI icons option, more player colors, etc.

The list goes on for things that could go into a $2.99-$4.99+ DLC that some players would pay for to accentuate the game in ways that don’t affect gameplay at all but make the game nicer for them to look at, for the people who care about this stuff and who would like it to help with immersion and overall enjoyment levels. All that while the people who care absolutely nothing about this stuff and love the game graphics ‘as is’ can avoid it and not have their game performance suffer with the inclusion of any of it.

But, again, who has the crystal ball here (definitely not CRothlisberger) and how is talking about graphics DLC off-topic for a thread whose OP fantasizes about graphic enhancement DLC?

[jimmy19846071]

@Darkness01101

It is still optional graphics DLC that is available for selecting. Not in the base game unless you manually add it. We still cannot predict the future here. AoE4 DLC could very well be a cosmetic graphics enhancement pack, which I’ve advocated before for AoE2 since we arent getting it yet included with the base game and probably never will, since the focus for DLC and game updates are so heavily focused on new civs, new campaigns, balance tweaks, MP, and fixes

Yes, absolutely agree. I asked for a Graphic DLC since the launch of the game and of you searched in this forum you’ll find many threads and discussione about that, also by different people Who are not posting on this forum anymore.

[GorbMort]

@Darkness01101

It is still optional graphics DLC that is available for selecting. Not in the base game unless you manually add it. We still cannot predict the future here. AoE4 DLC could very well be a cosmetic graphics enhancement pack, which I’ve advocated before for AoE2 since we arent getting it yet included with the base game and probably never will, since the focus for DLC and game updates are so heavily focused on new civs, new campaigns, balance tweaks, MP, and fixes.

It’d.be a way to incentivize the development of adding purely cosmetic things like time of day options, weather options incl falling rain and snow, lightning, wind), more varied animals, more insects, enhanced and varied water, improved water waves/surf, more biomes, season options, more map clutter items (graveyards, delapidated market cart clutter, water landmarks (sunken ships, haystack rocks, dexorative coral and fish, rainbows, waterfall features, caves and caverns, more/improved dynamic effects (like sparks, spec hits, improved splashes, smoke, mud tracks, dust devils, and dirt kickups, leaves falling), heat distortion, dynamic lighting, camera shake for certain rare battle events, things that might only exist in the map editor brought out to base maps, classic UI icons option, more player colors, etc.

The list goes on for things that could go into a $2.99-$4.99+ DLC that some players would pay for to accentuate the game in ways that don’t affect gameplay at all but make the game nicer for them to look at, for the people who care about this stuff and who would like it to help with immersion and overall enjoyment levels. All that while the people who care absolutely nothing about this stuff and love the game graphics ‘as is’ can avoid it and not have their game performance suffer with the inclusion of any of it.

I would rather the devs not spend time and effort on a 4K graphics pack, unless they have effort going spare and a bunch of other things have been provided. Let’s take a look at Steam’s Hardware Survey:

As you can see, 1080p still dominates, followed up by 1440p. 4K is beneath 4%. Upscaling techniques also require significant hardware investment, and don’t equate to “true” 4K in detail.

A lot of the other things you’re mentioning I would vastly prefer are free, in the base game. Just as they did with terrain rendering, AO and shadows in the Season 5 (?) update, and just as they did with water in the Sultan’s Ascend expansion (which they did significantly enhance - something you’re asking for in your list).

There’s a lot of visual polish can that can be made that people have called out, like static animals in building models, various unit textures (including apparently broken textures at certain detail levels), siege death animations, and so on. These are all good wins that don’t go near more arguable topics like “siege crew” and “consistent proportions”. These would help the game look better, and feel better, without affecting anyone’s preferences whatsoever.

And that’s before we get onto things like more map details, better FX, and some of the other things you mentioned.

@Darkness01101

But, again, who has the crystal ball here (definitely not CRothlisberger)

Nobody does. Therefore predictions of success must also come with predictions of failure. With acknowledgement that what an individual wants might not actually be successful with the playerbase as a whole.

I’ve been banging on about mod tools for ages. I stand by what we have as good, but flawed and in need of improvement (not replacement). Can’t exactly say much has come of that, eh? They’re still in beta, and have only had incremental updates and minor fixes since they were released.

[Darkness01101]

@GorbMort

would rather the devs not spend time and effort on a 4k graphics pack,

None of my suggestions in that list was asking for a 4K enhancement pack. I also don’t want or need that because I don’t have a 4K monitor.

@GorbMort

Nobody does. Therefore predictions of success must also come with predictions of failure.

Oh, I’m well-versed in predictions of failure when it comes to not getting my suggestions acted upon in AoE games. You’te preaching to the choir on that

[GorbMort]

@Darkness01101

Oh, I’m well-versed in predictions of failure when it comes to not getting my suggestions acted upon in AoE games. You’te preaching to the choir on that

I kinda split my comment into two points, which doesn’t help. To refocus:

1. Is the suggestion popular? Only the devs really have the data here - there are a lot of things that the game could benefit from, despite how far it’s come.
2. Is it motivated by personal interest? Normally yes, but it’s worth recognising it when it comes to things that people have differing opinions on.

When we frame our own suggestions with these two points, imo it gets easier to discuss without getting mad at each other, or the devs, for not valuing what we want to see.

Modding is near and dear to my heart, and despite not producing much actual content myself I’ve been consistently on the main modding Discord helping out wherever possible. I honestly think it’s a bit of a joke that modding has been neglected by the devs for this long, but at the same time if they came out tomorrow with news of an improvement to another area of the game, I wouldn’t be (too) upset. Even if I think MP gets the bulk of the support and PvE / more casual players seem to get less

[Darkness01101]

I don’t really care about modding, so you’re correct there, sometimes the main advocate for our suggestions is ourselves. Most anything I’ve ever added via mods are things I think the dev should have included in the base game themselves. Like, in the case of AoE2:DE - classic music, classic sounds, and blood/corpses, so it can be more reminiscent to the original version… and a snow on/off toggle. That’s all I’ve ever really needed.

[MatM1996]

@ArdeiGras1576

It means that you can only do so much when you have to develop a game from scratch, vs when you’re only improving the textures. Show the textures in the original games, not the remasters released 1 year before AoE4, for a fair comparison. You say they were the best of the best. In your head, maybe. Let’s see them now. There’s so much jankyness in AoE3, it’s laughable. From the noisy ground and building textures, to the weird unit movement and stiff animations. Even the remastered version is a visual mess and looks deprecated. The only one of the old games that looks tasteful to me is AoE2DE, released in November 2019. But its civ design is as interesting as watching paint dry.

And don’t disregard the good parts of AoE4. The best sound design in the series, the best animations in the series, the best gameplay in the series BY FAR.

@ArdeiGras1576

Manor Lords pretty much has the same review % as AoE4. But it’s a city builder. And I haven’t even heard of Ancestors Legacy. There are 49 people playing it right now.

@ArdeiGras1576

It IS a great game. You just don’t play it enough to realize it and probably don’t judge it as an RTS, you judge it as a city builder.

@ArdeiGras1576

Yes, but there are better games for this. In RTS, the building mechanics are underdeveloped, whereas a city builder goes much deeper. So while playing it like this is possible, it’s “off-label” and you would get bored of it very quickly.

@ArdeiGras1576

If you’re referring to the “get rekt AoE2 fanboy”, that was more of a tongue-in-cheek comment. Just play the game man and stop obsessing about little details. Games are made to be played you know. I bet you know nothing about AoE4. I’ll tell you my honest opinion, as someone who’s played WC2, WC3, SC2, AoE2, Empire Earth, and many more at their time. It’s the best RTS I’ve ever played. Period. I absolutely love it. It looks very good on max settings, which is how I play it, but graphics is obviously not the focus. I mean that little should be obvious. It’s an RTS game, not something meant to blow you away with graphics or have breathtaking graphical fidelity. If you disagree then you might not know what an RTS is. Maybe you’re used to more idle games like City Builders. Those can have more focus on graphics, because they’re meant to be taken in (and also because they are less taxing on performance), but even there there are plenty which are quite stylized. Nevertheless, I quite like the graphics of AoE4. I think they’re nice and elaborate, with plenty attention to detail. If you don’t believe me go check other competitive RTS games. Check Stormgate (just kidding don’t). Cheers! And if you’re very sensitive, try not to argue with me, because I have a thing with people that are trolling this amazing game. Play what you enjoy. Or watch a movie with some nice cliffs.

@ArdeiGras1576

Now you’re acting like my 7yo. Maybe we’ll have to wait for AoE5 for those RDR2 RTS graphics then. The technology isn’t there yet. For the time being I am happy with what 4 has to offer. Ofc I wouldn’t mind if they make it look even better, because nothing is perfect, but it definitely doesn’t prevent me from playing the game, which btw is amazing. You should try it some day.

@ArdeiGras1576

Sorry. I tried to come up with counterarguments to your last 2 posts, but that’s the only thing that came to mind. I would be open to seeing some screenshots though, of a truly modern RTS in your view, if it exists. Because I kind of like the graphics in 4. I’m not saying they’re the centerpiece, because I love the gameplay more, and especially playing 1v1s and analyzing the graphs and replays to think how I can improve my strategy, and I love how the gameplay feels like a full brain workout. But the graphics look damn good to me, and detailed when compared to other modern RTS games. And this is why I don’t think an AoE5 is needed.

Good points, that’s true… but I don’t want to be a conformist either, I know that the game can do more, that’s why I criticize it positively…

@Croissantini

Spanish/Portuguese + Aztec/Inca + Khmer/Srivijaya would be great.

Would much rather have a third civilization than four variants. I’m hoping we get some actually interesting biomes too, such as mangroves or jungles, or anything that isn’t just some grassy plains. The Japanese biome is a massive miss IMO.

More importantly, I would love to see actual improvements to the baseline game for everyone. General improvements to graphics, immersion, addition of fauna or special effects, adding more flavour to the UI and so on.

@CRothlisberger

It was like $15. People would buy it for just the campaign and 2 new civs, but it ALSO came with 4 variants and some maps.

@slice

In the next DLC they should only bring 3 new Civs and campaigns, if they bring Civ variants they should bring them every 2 or 3 months but 1 by 1 so the game would always have content.
I think it was a mistake to release 2 new Civs and 4 variants at once for more than 1 year without any Civ news.

@grizzgolf

I hope we get Aztecs and Spanish

Yes, I agree… in fact it could be Aztecs and Incas and Spanish and Vikings civs, you can add 10-15 maps, improved graphics, fauna, flora and UI, 1-2 campaigns and it would be a very great DLC…

@GoldenArmorX

Either option should be taken with caution, since as far as I understand none of the countries had interesting unique units in the Middle Ages between 1100-1400, except for the known bodies of Viking units with large and short axes, or Swedish archers. Between 1400-1550 there were the internal Kalmor wars that could give one or another unique unit (Vasa Guard:halberdier corp), but that’s the norm.

Yes, the Kalmar Union (1397-1523) may be a late variant of the Vikings (793-1100)…

@Darkness01101

It should have looked that good 3 years ago. I can maybe understand launching in 2021 with graphics that looked like it ran on Playstation 3 or a PC from 2010 if their heavy focus was on making good gameplay. It’s 3 years later, though. They’ve felt no need to bring the graphics into the 2020s? They probably built high-res versions of models and terrains already pre-launch and actually made them low-res for the game’s launch. Can’t release HD versions after 6 or 12 months, let alone 3 years?

If you’re satisfied with mediocrity and are okay with just “good enough”, then the game will continue to stagnate and look pretty bland. (By ‘you’ I mean the powers-that-be; not you personally.) Which is too bad, as I see a lot of room for improvement aside from simply adding new civs or doing balance tweaks. At this point, I mainly just hope AoE5 gets made and it will impress more

@Darkness01101

If you had actually played any new games that came out after 2005, you might care more about AoE4’s pretty mediocre graphics. Unless, that is, you play games on a potato, in which case all games since 2005 have looked pretty bad from your perspective. So, it’s probably best to leave the graphical analyses of a 2021 game that has had 3 years to get updated to others

@Darkness01101

I said the graphics look lackluster. That is because I see a lot of room for improvement. You all have been trying hard to defend why the game is, essentially, perfect visually… up to 2021 and 2024 standards, and could use no further graphical improvements. Look, I’m glad you feel that way, truly
But the reality is that there is objectively much room for improvement, if you take a step back. There are still motionless chicken ststues in the TCs probably after 3 years. I can appreciate more polish, for the sake of my immersion, what can I say.

@Darkness01101

I’ve seen some AoE3:DE screens that show it may be (is probably) better graphically than AoE4. It’s not like AoE4 needs to be stuck where it’s at just because it’s an RTS. I’m aware RTS games have a lot of calculations to keep track of. But when myself and many others can easily play at max graphics settings, there is clearly a lot of room to accommodate better graphics and more graphic options (and higher pop count max)

Yeah, I couldn’t have said it better… there’s no point in releasing a new AAA game in 2021 with graphics from 2010… AoE 3 was a game from 2005 and yet it had graphics from 2010…

@GorbMort

To be considered for reasonable criticism, acting as though no graphical improvements have been made in three years, saying a PS3 had the compute to run something like this, and then saying “they made assets low-res for launch” are possibly the least convincing claims to rest the argument on

Well, that’s a way of saying it…look at the games with super graphics that the PS3 had in 2013 (Crysis 3, TLoU and GTA 5)…

@Darkness01101

PS: For my PS3 comment before, it was intended to be about the graphical look, not the computations required to run AoE4. I think it’s pretty normal for game devs to create high resolution assets and then bump down the quality when putting them into games, to save on memory and such. I think it’s easier to downscale for release while keeping the original HD assets on-hand for the future than it is to release the best and try to up-res things for a future HD or DE release of some sort. I could be wrong

Buff…I don’t want to have to wait until 2036/2041 to have AoE 4 DE…

@OperaticShip743

AOE-4 may have some aesthetic flaws, but the terrain is not one of them. Maybe to add some more randomness they could add bushes and moss to those cliffs, but it’s not bad.

@GorbMort

To get back to the topic a bit, I hope the new DLC updates the graphics in some way, just like the previous expansion did, and just like other Seasonal updates have done (despite your claims that they never updated the graphics).

@CRothlisberger

Because that’s not how it works.

There could be graphical improvements (as they’ve already done), but not as part of an expansion.

It would be in the base game for everyone (as they’ve already done).

Yes, at least fauna and flora (I’m not asking for bandit camps because that would be too much), but something like that so it doesn’t feel so meh…

@ArdeiGras1576

Why have 2 modern AoE games at the same time? AoM2 makes much more sense.

Yeah, I think they’ll eventually release AoM 2 in 2027-2029…

@Darkness01101

There’s a difference. AoE2 came out years ago and has inherent nostalgia tied to it. AoE4 came out 3 years ago. So, when developing, they had to decide to either cater toward nostalgia and mimic the 2D graphics look, or use a 3D engine and make it look more modern. Since they decided to start fresh and go with 3D, I’d expect better graphics than what we see. I have no rose-tinted glasses toward AoE4 because the style, graphics, and vibe are entirely different than AoE2. I compare it to other modern-day games since it came out 3 years ago.

@jimmy19846071

The Beatiful thing of AOE Is a perfect mix of RTS and builider or your empire. There are many people Who play against Easy AI only to see their city and armies growing up.

There are different king of players but the casual ones are the most of them and they Don’t care about multiplayer.

Yes, things as they are…

@jimmy19846071

We seen this new approach inside the latest AOE survey (many questions about graphic, textures, realism or stylized style, physics and more) and also the latest leak about the Unreal Engine as the probably next Engine for the future titles.

@Darkness01101

UE5 could be cool, especially with Nanite for the static environment stuff!

Yeah, AoE 5 using UE5 is going to be amazing, it could look something like this…

@Darkness01101

The thread title says nothing about how we can only discuss new civs, new units, and balance tweaks or whatever you’re wanting to exclusively talk about while shunning other wishes

Yes, one thing doesn’t take away from the other, we can still discuss all that, but since there is no information about what the DLC will bring, we can’t do that yet…

[GorbMort]

@MatM1996

AoE 3 was a game from 2005 and yet it had graphics from 2010…

Haha, no it didn’t. I don’t hate AoE III, I’m no genre / AoE II purist or anything like that, but at least recognise your personal preference is a factor here.

@MatM1996

Well, that’s a way of saying it…look at the games with super graphics that the PS3 had in 2013 (Crysis 3, TLoU and GTA 5)…

So we’re moving from “PS3-era” games circa 2010 to the final games of the PS3 generation, released the same year the PS4 was. Interesting.

Feel free to not like AoE IV’s graphics, but saying that they aren’t good enough for 2021 is ludicrous. As is saying they’re perfect and never need to change. Thankfully very few - if any - people are actually saying that.

[ArdeiGras1576]

@Croissantini

I’m hoping we get some actually interesting biomes too, such as mangroves or jungles, or anything that isn’t just some grassy plains. The Japanese biome is a massive miss IMO.

Japanese biome is my favorite biome. I love biomes that are bright. My most hated biome is one of the base biomes with dark green foliage and dimmed lighting. I think it’s called Taiga Summer, and it looks very close to how I imagine a Jungle biome would look as far as color scheme. Which is “depressing”.

[FloosWorld]

I really hope for more variety in Gaia. Bit depressing to see that we still only have sheep, boar, deer, wolves (and cows for Malians)

[ArdeiGras1576]

I think there’s no doubt that’s gonna get added with the DLC. I am convinced that’s why they redesigned Rus to get gold per amount of meat.

[MedicMaaan]

@FloosWorld

I really hope for more variety in Gaia. Bit depressing to see that we still only have sheep, boar, deer, wolves (and cows for Malians)

I want them to make the sheep flavor text hit harder by giving us a civ that cannot gather meat from animals but can build a building to attract animals to get resource trickle instead. Pretty much a copy paste from AoE III Japanese, but I thought the gameplay was interesting enough!

[GorbMort]

The sakura gives it such a nice stand-out visual design, I love it.

[OperaticShip743]

@GorbMort

Haha, no it didn’t. I don’t hate AoE III, I’m no genre / AoE II purist or anything like that, but at least recognise your personal preference is a factor here.

What he means is that he was ahead of his time. It’s not meant to be taken too literally. They were simply impressive for their time, and I think still.

Graphics

The game’s visuals were highly praised by reviewers. In a preview, IGN said that “After seeing the screenshots, our jaws hit the floor at the amount of detail”,[69] while in their review, 1UP.com described it as “one of the most beautiful games you will put on your computer for the foreseeable future;”[53] GameSpy agreed, stating, “Age III 's graphics are unmatched in the strategy genre.”[55] GameSpot also admired the graphics, but had a negative comment as well; they said, “Were it not for the awkward unit behavior…Age of Empires III would look truly amazing.”[63] GameSpy awarded Age of Empires III the “Best Graphics” award at GameSpy’s “Game of the Year 2005”, mentioning that the graphics engine boasted “all the high-end technology you would normally find in first-person shooters”.

Fountain: Age of Empires III - Wikipedia

[ArdeiGras1576]

@GorbMort

The sakura gives it such a nice stand-out visual design, I love it.

Yeah, I mean look at this picture I posted above.

@ArdeiGras1576

RelicCardinal_dEVJXy0mCn1641×921 361 KB

It’s gorgeous. I don’t know how someone could consider this a miss.

[FloosWorld]

Hm, maybe as a Japanese variant?

[OperaticShip743]

The Japanese biome is one of the best, but it would also be interesting to see more water tones like in AOE-3. For example, the Yellow River in AOE-3 has a brown color.

[KG19991380]

@ArdeiGras1576

It means that you can only do so much when you have to develop a game from scratch, vs when you’re only improving the textures. Show the textures in the original games, not the remasters released 1 year before AoE4, for a fair comparison.

challenge accepted my friend

i’ll let you compare aoe4 released in 2021 to 2005 graphics that take fraction of compute power to run, this is age of empires 3 original, you asked for original games visuals, here we go
will supply additional ones if it ain’t cutting it

[ArdeiGras1576]

@KG19991380

this is age of empires 3 original

Looks nice. Especially the water.