There’s one thing about AOEIV I’d really like to see: make it e-sport worthy.
Seriously, that’s the best way to make the RTS genre popular again. We need teams, we need pro-players bringing new insights and daring strategies into the game and we need big flashy competitions. Strategy games too can be exciting to watch!
That’s the best way to immortalize multiplayer games. I’d like, at least, to see competitive features added to online multiplayer, like rank, ladders, tiers and such. I’d love to see the game being streamed 24/7 by known streamers. MOBA basically monopolized the “strategy” genre, but MOBA are still strongly skill-based. A pure strategy-based game that is good enough to create a e-sport friendly environment would be my dream come true.
For that they will need to find an additional kind of RTS action game mode. Like a north vs south or east vs west much more based on team play and efforts, but with all traditional mechanics. Personally I don’t think they will do or try such a thing yet. It might resolve later from a certain existing game modes and customized maps if those gain in popularity. Yet, the traditional AOE fans will never want to give in on randomized game play. So in order to not disappoint them you will need to add both of those cookies, which makes it very difficult for balancing the gameplay between all those different cookies. It requires an engine that can handle more than all previous engines could. And let’s not forget all the people who want sophisticated campaigns with exciting missions.
Balancing would be the key for making a good competitive game, the action can be narrowed down to in-battle troops management, which already happens in AOE, all they need is to intensify that, creating more combat mechanics that will allow players to benefit from.
Yeah, but also by something like the ability to build traps of wood. You could lure big animals or enemy troops into the trap. It could use some more interaction possibilities on the micro level without making it just a MOBA game. Other thing I though of was combining this with a more pre historical version running up to iron age.
I’d like to say one thing - pro players rarely bring in new ideas. A reason why most pro players keep playing the same arabia or mostly the same kind of maps. Once you reach a certain level of standing, you are psychologically programmed to preserve that standing and that programming usually is averse to variation.
If being an E-Sport for like 1% of the player base doesn’t mean sacrificing the fun aspect for the majority of the player base sure, otherwise definitely not.
SC2 skirmish mode isn’t enjoyable, AOE2 is. Age of Empires as a franchise always tried to please a lot of people at the same time. Maps are random, you can be pretty good without having insane APM, there are wonder/relic victories, different game modes like Regicide and Deathmatch.
If being an E-Sport means scrapping all that, I wouldn’t want that at all in Age of Empires 4.
How do asymmetric civs make a game more competitive? AOE3 has asymmetric but it isn’t as popular in terms of viewership and following as AOE2.
for who?sc2 is more popular.
my favorite rts is aoe2.and it is no problem for me it is symetrical or assymetrical.but i feel most of rts fans prefer assymetrical.
and relic selected assymetrical design,which they are experienced about it.their previous games(coh1-2-dow1-2) was successful at assymetrical faction design.
Also aom civs were assymetrical but it sold well?i think aoe3’s problem wasn’t assymetrical civs
to be honest in sc2 I played mostly co-op which is imo one of the best things in the strategy genre in the recent years (considering there were almost none good rts games)
i really would hope/love to see something similar for aoe4
i think sc2 skirmish can be enjoyable…but it’s a whole different tempo then aoe2 - and the asymetric factions certainly werent the problem
well after the success with Age II DE, i believe it will have a ranked mode and, eventually, an e-sports mode to take the game to a next level. It can be done, there are tools for it, it doesn’t need much investment and if you take care of the details, it can be well done.