Regarding AoE 2 HD, which needs an update to handle higher resolutions

Hello,

Since AoE 2 DE came out, AoE 2 HD hasn’t received another patch. While I understand moving on to the next project is the primary focus of publishers and developers, AoE 2 is owned by a huge number of people using Steam, and the game is lacking one critical feature for future usability.

In AoE 2 HD, there is no option to choose which resolution to run the game at, and the game defaults to the PC system’s native desktop resolution. And the higher the resolution, the more zoomed-out the player perspective is (so everything appears smaller while more is visible on the screen), and the smaller the UI is. At 4K, it’s basically unreadable and extremely hard to play with because the buttons are incredibly tiny.

If an option to select the resolution to run the game at, or if the viewport distance was fixed regardless of the resolution the game is running at (which it should be, if for no other reason than fairness and balance for multi-player) and the UI was always the same size regardless of the resolution being played at, then AoE 2 HD would be future-compatible.

I don’t see a reason it wouldn’t be in Microsoft’s own interest to do this, as the fix is likely very little work for someone to do. And AoE 2 HD isn’t cutting into the sales of AoE 2 DE and isn’t a replacement for AoE 2 DE, and AoE 2 DE isn’t a full replacement for AoE 2 HD, either.

Also, AoE 2 DE and AoE 2 HD are priced exactly the same on Steam. So, by making AoE 2 HD future compatible with a resolution and UI scaling fix, that can only serve Microsoft by making it more attractive for people to buy both AoE 2 releases rather than just the only one that is playable on higher resolutions.

Since they’re both the same price, Microsoft doesn’t stand to lose or gain something if people buy one or the other. And there’s only less incentive to buy both when one has a simple-to-fix but interfering issue with the resolution and UI scaling.

Additionally, I think it would be in-line with Microsoft’s Xbox division’s new gamer-centric operational philosophy, which has been touted by Phil Spencer and shown in various Microsoft decisions such as bringing Microsoft’s games to Steam and pledging to do simultaneous console and PC launches for new titles.

AoE 2 HD really just needs this one simple fix to be a solidly accessible game indefinitely into the future, and for those who own it to continue being able to enjoy playing it. And it seems like fixing the high resolution issue would be a win-win situation for Microsoft, AoE 2 HD owners, and other players who want to try AoE 2 in both the DE and original style. So, I hope this will be done for it, and for its fans, as well as for Microsoft. Thanks for reading.

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honestly man? you’re better off just transitioning to DE as i doubt HD will get any further updates, Furthermore its got a bunch of useful updates, including allowing you to play the old campaigns (AoK/AoC campaigns) with the new balance changes and is even getting balance patches here and there to bring up weaker civs (like Koreans and Portuguese). and DE only costs 20$ tops, 15$ if you own HD, and includes all the DLC (Forgotten, African Kingdoms, Rise of the Rajas) that HD has as well, and one other expansion beyond that.

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Change Screen Resolutions mod

and maybe

I know that new updates for AoE 2 HD haven’t been in the plans of Microsoft. But that’s why I made this thread.

AoE 2 DE is a nice package, but it’s not a replacement for AoE 2 HD, and is more like an alternative. The original visuals still have their charm, and AoE 2 HD is a lot less performance intensive than AoE 2 DE. And when I played AoE 2 DE, I missed the visual style of the original and didn’t like all of the new touches done to DE.

Like I mentioned above, both games are available for sale and both games are for sale for the same price. So, I think that suggests that both games should be equally playable. AoE 2 HD just has the one accessibility issue getting in the way of playing it on higher resolution monitors. If that’s fixed, AoE 2 HD can remain as it is and be playable for the next likely very many years.

except it clearly is a replacement.
not only does it contain all of the HD content (and more), but its cheaper overall then buying HD (20) + all the DLC options (another 30$ for a total of 50$)
it has updated all the civs from HD with various balance changes and gameplay changes.

except when i buy HD for 20$ i got 18 civs and AoK and AoC campaigns and historic battles, using original AoK/AoC Balance.
when i buy DE for 20$ i get 35 civs and ALL the original Campaigns + all the HD DLC Campaign (which would run HD another 30$) + the Last Khans campaigns (which HD doesn’t have access too) using all the new updates and balance changes.
that is clearly a lot more content.

That’s neat. I still hope for a native fix to the resolution and UI-scaling issue.

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[quote=“MatCauthon3, post:5, topic:91101, full:true”]

except it clearly is a replacement.
not only does it contain all of the HD content (and more), but its cheaper overall then buying HD (20) + all the DLC options (another 30$ for a total of 50$)
it has updated all the civs from HD with various balance changes and gameplay changes.[/quote]

That’s not an experiential replacement, it’s an alternative. And since both are available for sale on the Steam store, one clearly doesn’t fully replace the other from Microsoft’s perspective, either.

They both have their own feel to them. And having played both, I prefer to play HD.

Which is a strong argument in favour of Microsoft updating AoE 2 HD, because in order to get the full package of AoE 2 HD, people have to spend a lot more than they do to get the full package with AoE 2 DE. In other words, sales of AoE 2 HD stand to make Microsoft more money than sales of AoE 2 DE.

So, Microsoft loses no profit by adding a resolution fix to HD, and only stands to gain more profit from doing so. That’s not an argument against Microsoft updating AoE 2 HD to fix a fundamental accessibility issue. It’s rather an argument in-favour of Microsoft making that needed update for AoE 2 HD.

Or its telling you that HD is done and you should move on to the cheaper, better option, that is getting constant updates and includes more content.

there is a reason HD isn’t called HD anymore. its called 2013. Age of Empires II (2013) on Steam

except why would anyone buy HD when i can spend 20$ and get all the HD content and more, whereas HD costs me 50$ for less content?

[quote=“MatCauthon3, post:8, topic:91101, full:true”]

Or its telling you that HD is done and you should move on to the cheaper, better option, that is getting constant updates and includes more content.

there is a reason HD isn’t called HD anymore. its called 2013. Age of Empires II (2013) on Steam

It’s not telling me any such thing. I can play both, and I prefer to play HD.

And the reason why Microsoft took the HD out of the title for AoE 2 HD is because they wanted to create a contrast between it and DE, to make DE stand-out more and visibly be the newer product so that more people would buy DE while it was new and priced higher than HD.

DE is no longer priced higher than HD and is in-fact, as you’ve pointed out, priced lower than HD. So, it’s now in Microsoft’s interest for people to purchase HD over DE.

It’s not for you to worry about why someone would or wouldn’t buy HD. And buying HD, DE, or both isn’t a matter of one or the other. And if Microsoft saw things that way and they wanted people to only buy DE, then they wouldn’t leave HD up for sale.

I have a legitimate request to make that is well-reasoned. I don’t know what you get out of pointing-out that the expected date for ending HD patches has passed (if it hadn’t I wouldn’t have made this thread) and by convincing me that I want to play another release of AoE 2 that I have played and am familiar with. Being myself, I’m telling you that I prefer to play AoE 2 HD, and that, because many other people do, too, while Microsoft even makes more money from HD sales than DE sales, there’s strong merit to adding a resolution patch to HD.

except its never been priced higher then HD.

its always been priced lower then HD. even back at release. as a matter of a fact, they offered a discount to those who had bought HD in the past. another sure sign that it’s supposed to replace the old one “hey you have the old, great, you can upgrade at a discount”.

my point is that you shouldn’t expect it to be updated, nothing they have done in the past 9 months should lead you to believe they plan on updating HD. I’m not saying you can’t play HD and enjoy it. go for it as far as i’m concerned, just don’t be surprised if it doesn’t get updated.

You really don’t need to manage my, or other people’s expectations, and you don’t have any more information regarding what’s possible in that regard than I do.

With my assessment of what the situation is, this is what I’m hoping for and raising awareness of, with a petition that it be done. And if it could be expected to happen without a request, then I might not go out of my way to present the case in a thread.

Making a request isn’t a statement of firm expectation, it’s petitioning the possibility.

@MatCauthon3, @BeegorBucleor you guys turning this into DE vs HD private discussion.

Back to topic, I wanna mention that DE has the same exact resolution problem as HD. You have to have a monitor capable to play that high resolution and have it on the windows desktop.

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That’s very strange. In AoE 2 DE, does the viewport zoom-out and the UI become increasingly smaller the higher the resolution that’s played with?

Even games from 15+ years ago don’t have those issues. So, why are the HD and DE devs building those issues into the releases of AoE 2 - is this a forced-obsolescence tactic? Not being able to play a game from 2013 because higher resolutions (resolutions which even existed while this game was still being patched) make everything too small to see really makes no sense whatsoever.

If AoE 2 HD has the same issue, then I hope that it’s fixed with a patch for DE, as well, just as I hope that HD will be fixed in this regard.

Selling the newer game for cheaper is a common strategy to get people to transition to the new game to avoid splitting the community.

Just look at Valve. When Counter-Strike GO was released they sold it at 10 bucks and fixed the price of the older CS Source to a completely overpriced 20$.
In the long run it is much better for the game when all players play on the same platform. This is what DE is trying to achieve. Get all the players from HD, Voobly, Gameranger and other platforms to be united in one matchmaking pool.

If all AoE players would play the DE Version que times would be much shorter and you are much more likely to find opponents with an Elo very close to yours…

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Pricing DE cheaper to encourage people to buy it is fine. But intentionally having another game be broken to try to force people to play the newer version isn’t. And I’m not saying that’s what Microsoft have done.

I don’t play MP, either way. I just want to be able to play the AoE2 HD using a higher-res monitor, with the viewport not being too zoomed-out and the UI not being too small to read and use, like in this video:

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