The Biggest Pain Point and Flaw in Age of Empires IV Gameplay Design – The Scout's Excessive Line of Sight

[WoTaiNanLeYa]

*Note: There is a MAJOR design flaw in the current gameplay of Age of Empires IV!!! Designers, you must address this quickly!!!
*Note: Everyone, please like this post to pressure the designers into seriously improving this!!!

《The line of sight for all units (except Villagers) should be reduced by one-third.》

Age of Empories IV has completely devolved into a contest of competing civilizations’ military and economic strength. Within the same version, fixed strategies and repetitive gameplay make every match feel the same. In contrast, Age of Empires II often features incredible strategies that amaze and excite viewers.

I am a die-hard fan of Age of Empires IV. I only play Age of Empires IV, but I watch tournaments of many other games.
I have long noticed a critical issue that I haven’t voiced until now—a very important suggestion for improvement.

In 1v1 matches, the map size is quite appropriate, but the scout’s line of sight is excessively large!!!
Age of Empires IV is supposed to be a strategy + tactics game, but currently, it feels like playing chess—a game of nearly complete information. Even though it’s technically imperfect information, it’s close to complete information!

The reason lies in the vision range of all units, especially scouts, followed by archers. Siege weapons can have a large vision range because they are expensive. Additionally, I suggest: The vision range of siege weapons should not be the same across different civilizations!
The game currently lacks the excitement of imperfect information gameplay.

A single scout’s vision covers the entire screen! As long as you have one scout, you can light up the whole screen! Even more alarming, one scout can reveal one-tenth of the entire map! Perhaps you don’t think this is a big deal because you’ve gotten used to it. Try playing with the scout in Age of Empires II!

All of your opponent’s strategies are laid bare! Players have no opportunity to utilize tactical creativity because the opponent is fully aware of every move. It’s only in the late game, when walls are built, that the opponent’s vision is finally blocked.

When two perfectly balanced civilizations face off in tournaments like EGC Masters, matches often drag on for an hour. If one player continues to dominate intelligence gathering, the game will eventually reach a point where wood, gold, and stone on the map become scarce, leading to one side being “starved” to death due to resource depletion. Is this “The Hunger Games”?

[WoTaiNanLeYa]

《帝国时代4游戏玩法设计的最大痛点和缺陷——侦察兵的视野过大》
*注：帝国时代4玩法目前有着巨大的设计败笔！！！！！！设计师请务必快速改进！！！
*注：请所有人点赞，务必迫使设计师认真对此进行改进！！！

帝国时代4目前完全沦为对拼各种文明军事和经济强度的游戏。在同一个版本中，固定的玩法，固定的策略，比赛总是千篇一律。反观帝国时代2，每场比赛都能出现不可思议的策略令观战惊叹欢呼。

我是一个帝国时代4的铁粉。我只玩帝国时代4。但我会观看很多其他游戏的比赛。
我一直以来就发现，但一直没有表达一个非常重要的改进建议。
在1V1中,地图大小非常适当，但侦察兵的视野过大！！！！
帝国时代4是一款战略+战术游戏。但目前他就像下国际象棋一样是个完全信息博弈。尽管是不完美信息，但接近完全信息！
原因是所有单位视野，特别是侦察兵视野过大，其次是步弓手。攻城武器的视野可以巨大，因为它们价格昂贵。并且建议：不同文明的攻城武器视野不应该一致！
丝毫没有具备不完全信息博弈的乐趣。
一个侦察兵的视野占据了整个屏幕！只要你有一个侦察兵，你将能点亮整个屏幕！更可怕的是，一名侦察兵可以点亮十分之一的地图！也许，你还觉得没啥，因为你已经习惯了。请玩一下帝国时代2中的侦察兵！
所有对手的策略尽收眼底！玩家没有丝毫机会发挥策略能力的机会。因为对手完全了解的一举一动。只有到了游戏后期，建造城墙才阻挡了对手的视野。在两个完全平衡的民族对抗时，EGC MASTERS比赛往往会进行到一个小时。如果依然被对手掌控情报。那么游戏将进行到地图上的木材、金矿、石料开始短缺时，玩家最后被资源枯竭而导致一方先被饿死。这是《饥饿》游戏吗？

[GorbMort]

AoE II is a different game with different design principles, regardless of the similarities between the two games (there are an increasing number of things that look to have been inspired by AoE III, but that game also remains its own valid and unique iteration).

Homogenisation is bad. Nothing about this analysis convinces me that the designers should be “pressured” into changing it. Professional Scouts has been more of a balance issue than Scout sight (which is a large part of, well, using pop cap on Scouts).

Your screenshot also demonstrates the natural blocker to LOS - treelines.

[MedicMaaan]

A player activated mechanic to obscure vision, such as smoke traps or a unit blinding enemy units on attack, would offer strategic power.

As it is though… scouts are kind of necessary for vision. The only thing offering more vision in a unit are trebuchets, which need that vision to attack at distance.

[WoTaiNanLeYa]

Age of Empires II was merely an analogy. In Warcraft III and many other superior strategy games, the essence of strategy lies in executing maneuvers without the opponent’s full knowledge. It’s never about revealing your entire hand.

What would be the point of playing poker if we had to show all our cards to each other? Where would the fun be then?

The current excessive vision in Age of Empires IV, especially from scouts, is precisely this problem. It turns a deep, bluffing, and mind-gaming experience into a simple, predictable contest of brute force. We need the thrill of the unknown and the potential for surprise back in the game.

[WoTaiNanLeYa]

And this is precisely why I advocate for reducing the vision range of all units, especially Scouts and Archers. We, the players, all crave that “poker-style” strategy—the ability to keep our opponents guessing about our next move.

Intelligence is the very foundation of all tactics! If intelligence remains this easily obtainable, then this game will have no true strategy or tactics left.