"Q&A" from discord

Age of Empires III: DE III - Discussion
21

Poles civ for what? If you don’t do anything, then don’t do anything anymore!

If Austro-Hungary is Germans 2.0, Danes are Swedes 2.0. And instead of Poles, it is to give wings to the Hussars (in Germans civ). Let the Germans civ represent the whole of Central Europe, if you don’t want to add Austro-Hungary!

In that case, let the developers only add Italians civ …

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22

i dont see how you can get Austria to become the same as Poles or Danes.

i understand that you want Austria and that they are kind of your baby (along with Poles which still seems distinctly possible) but a lot of the German Civs revolutions are parts of the Austrian empire such as Hungary. it was always a debate about wheter Austria make sense and Tilanus’ argument follows what others have said: Germany is Pan German, and Austria at the time was part of this.

23

HAHAHAHAHAHA not only austro-hungary was not in the time period (only created almost at the end of the game period) but also, just looking a little bit at its history it is known how much the people inside the empire didnt want to be in the Empire.

Any “Austria” of the time period like the devs mentioned - and SEVERAL other members of the forum also said - is well represented in HRE.

Polish - Lithuania, the Italians and even the Danes are much more important to add.

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24

So I’m not interested in any European DLC for AoE 3 anymore!

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25

Good to see, have the same mindset for aoe2 civs too.

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26

Thanks for taking the time to post this here, very interesting.

This is what many people wanted right? Every now and then a little message or some contact with the devs.

This is interesting, I wonder how long they plan ahead with new DLC and such.

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27

my guess is that from gameplay design the rework of the revolution happened relatively early in development. then later on as they are adding the historical battles they start making new unique units, which happens to include 2 American units, and from there they probably started making preparations for the US DLC.

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28

To be fair, when the Napoleonic Era mod was started it was initially supposed to focus on the Napoleonic Era in Europe. That’s why it primarily reworked and added new European civilizations like Poles, Italians, Swiss, and also Austrians and Prussians - next to the Germans. With the higher granularity of a mod you can find and stress differences between all these German-speaking civilization (like “within the HRE” but also “outside the HRE”) whereas on the global scale of the official AoE3 that would only introduce an unbalance of depth compared to let’s say Indians, Chinese, or even Ottomans.

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29

Thank you! I’m sure the most attentive NE players will already have found a couple of designs that were inspired by our work on NE! :wink: Everyone at FE is shaped by their creative past and in our AoE3 team we do count a handful of former NE but also WoL modders. :muscle:

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30

Cheers to the modders!
Is it also possible to introduce some new mechanics to the older civs (especially European ones, which look kind of blend right now), instead of putting all of them into the new civs?

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31

Do you suggest Austria-Hungary was launched out of nothing? Like until 1867 there was a black hole and then suddenly Austria-Hungary emerged?

Thats not true. At least until 1914.

Nevertheless, still I think Austrians are viable but only in European DLC. If devs prefer to stick to global theme (and theater) I understand that. It makes sense.

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32

The new age up mechanic introduced with the USA civ would be a good way to spice things up a bit for the Euro civs who as you say are quite bland/dated now.

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33

i think it would be the best way to “solve” the “german problem”, rework the faction and include some of the new mechanics to put some more units into the roster and by that way diversify the faction more.

tho that obviously would mean a complete rework of the faction.

as for other European factions i dont see the need to mess with them too much, sure they are not the most unique factions but that is okay.

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34

Pretty sure the Habsburgs were around in the game period. Whether the composing nations wanted to be an empire is a different story.

Both Romania and Hungary are valid revolutions for Habsburgs.

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35

which is why they are a revolution option for Germany.

Germans are pan German, not specifically Prussian or Austrian, so are other factions. as an example French represents all versions of France from the royals to republic to Napoleon. that being said factions are also related to a countries “golden age” or at least the periods they are known for internationally. for Germans that means the 30 years war, Fredrik the great and the wars of unification, each with their own elements.

36

If you devs really hate unbalance, why:

  1. did you add unique castle skins for Sicilians and Burgundians (aoe2)
  2. did you add civs like Sicilians and Burgundians (aoe2) and USA (aoe3)
  3. did you make 3 European DLCs in a row (aoe2)

?

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37

Yeah if they do not want to tweak the gameplay of the new civs too much, they could add some more options and techs at least.

38

While that is technically possible, there are a few constraints and obstacles for us game developers:

  1. Generally we need to prioritize the work that’s in our contract (like the new civs) and it’s rare that devs are given “free paid time” where they can fix/work on whatever they want
  2. Balance-wise this is a rather risky enterprise as the older, European civs have an established meta and balance that matured over a decade. These highly perfected playing systems are and react very sensitively to any kind of profound design change. So while it’s not completely impossible (see Ottoman Nizams or Aztec Eagle Scout) it does require notable balance efforts and discussion which are usually required elsewhere.
  3. In terms of civ design spreading new mechanics to other civs always bears the risk of eroding the uniqueness of the new civs. Now that does apply more to certain mechanics than others. For example, a single ported/repurposed unit or card wouldn’t turn the British into lets say USA 2.0, but applying their federal card mechanic 1:1 to all Euro civs would deprive the US one of their most iconic features.

What is possible and we’re also trying to accomplish in balance updates is to open up new and more possibilities for the older civs. :slight_smile:

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39

Thanks for the reply!
I fully understand that and I really appreciate your works.
I do think some new contents added in DE like the new politicians and the grenade launcher card are nice attempts. They make some less used units/playstyles more viable. What I hope is that many underused aspects can be further explored for those civs (for example, many unique church cards are rarely used, and mercenaries and grenadiers are still not so useful for most civs), while not interfering with existing meta.

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40

I was not involved in deciding these civilizations but I can tell that there are different criteria and constraints to what civ “makes sense” for AoE2 and AoE3 respectively. For example, design constraints like the different settings, audiences and established playstyles. Then of course let’s not forget business and marketing considerations and goals. If I remember correctly the US has one of the biggest audiences for AoE3 (if not the biggest one). Now before you yell cash grab! I whole-heartedly think the US also makes perfect sense for the game’s setting and everyone with an open eye can see that once you play that civ that uses so many defining elements of AoE3 and connects them smoothly to the history of the US.

I’m perfectly aware civ picks are always controversial and please don’t expect me to defend everything, because even though developers are paid professionals to get a job done they’re also individuals with their own wishes, convictions and preferences. :wink:

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