Sounds

Age of Empires: DE I - Discussion
1

Great stuff so far on the audio front! Am glad you are spending so much time on the audio and its subtle nuances. That’s a big component that I feel AoE III missed compared to AoE II.

I can’t remember how the audio was for AoE I, but assume it was similar to AoE II. So, as you continue your Definitive Edition work, if there are any questions, please lean to how AoE II did it rather than III. The same comment goes for if you ever make an AoE IV.

For example, clicking a stable in AoE III, just sounds, like luggage being closed or something; rather than AoE II where a horse sound is made (a unique audio cue as to what you clicked). I think AoE III shared that same luggage sound across multiple building types, too, unfortunately.

As well, clicking a military unit in AoE III gave a different (worse) audio cue than in AoE II, imo. I prefer a generic military type sound like AoE II, rather than units giving a direct, “Yes, sir” type of comment as if I’m their gamer God up above like AoE III did. The latter just feels less immersive to me; takes me out of the game world.

2

In the original AoE all buildings had distinct sound effects that I liked very much. They are going to redo all the sounds, but they will try to keep to the original style which means unique sounds for all buildings.

I can’t say if any of the AoE games had better unit sounds than the others, but unlike in the newer games, in AoE1 the units of all civilizations had the same sounds and I prefer the AoE2 system of having different lines for the different civilizations.

3

AoE1 sounds fit perfectly to the game. A light lifting of them should be enough for AoE:DE