[SUGGESTION] Digital Scans of Original Box + Manual viewable in-game?

Age of Empires II: DE II - Discussion
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I came across a past AoE2:CE purchase. Took some photos. Made me think it might be cool if Microsoft made a digital version of the old, original box and manual (of the game and expansion pack) viewable in game. With page curling/turning animations and nice quality paper page-flipping sounds.

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Want to take it over the top? Have a top-down view of this manual, sitting on a rustic wooden table, lit by candlelight (maybe with subtle torch flame sounds or crackling fireplace in background)… and maybe a couple objects from medieval times visible around the perimeter; much like the objects in the current Campaign screens have. Immersive. (The table and surrounding objects/setting would, preferably, be a 3D-generated environment, of course.)

Don’t make this solution just like the Campaigns menu, though. I’d want a straight top-down view, closer view, and actual hi-res scans of the manual (i.e., the manual itself would not be painted artwork). You’d need a disclaimer so people don’t get upset when the stats/info presented doesn’t precisely match current iteration of AoE2.

Would anyone else like this? Or would it be a waste of time?

It’s not something that I would look at often… but would like to once in a while, if feeling particularly nostalgic. So maybe devs would feel it’s a waste of time.

Thanks for considering!

I know many of you probably have the original box/manual, too, but figured I’d share anyways. I think I had an older version of Conqueror’s Expansion than this, if that’s possible. I’m pretty sure this was a purchase later on as a backup, or to let a friend have for a while.

I photographed the Credits page (see last photo) to show thanks to the original creators at Ensemble Studios and Microsoft. I think we owe a debt of gratitude to all those who made the AoE franchise foundation so great :smiley:

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Great Idea! Absolutely.

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By this point, we seem so far away from the original game, both in time and in the evolution of the game. That’s not a bad thing; it’s just the way it is.

This would help honor the original game and ground it to the original game in a way that bridges that divide or gap in a much more tangible/palpable way than, say, reusing sounds or most any other way I can think of.

As tbe “Definitive Edition”, this would be the final great honor of the original CD-based gsme before the send-off, as there may never be a DE Part 2.

The disclaimer for entering the environment in thr game could br something like, “We provide this information for historical and archival purposes only.” … alomg with some note of thanks to the original crew. I might be wrong, but it seems like devs might enjoy making this quick little side project.

PS: The manual would need to be rotatable on the pages that have a tech tree layout which is sideways when viewed un-rotated.

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Some extras like this one would be higly aprecciated to have on the game, and I honestly don’t know how this sort of content, aside with making-offs, concept arts, etc. don’t show up for us to see in DE. I mean, AoE 2 is the most popular entry on the series! how can things like this just pass as a blank?!

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