BAR is the big new kid on the block, and while i do love AOE4 with all my heart, its just not built for todays gamers. Maphacking just ruins it above all else and is so, so prevelant.
In and of itself the insurmountable cheating issue is enough to keep this game grounded. But the mechanical control and feel of the game is also a problem.
***It is not a test of skill and mind to overload the player with mechanical keypresses nor a zoomlock
It had been some time since i played a game where i could zoom way out, and after warcraft/starcraft/aoe in succession, it has become the staple - but why would this be neccessary in a strategy game? Its just more of the whole “make it fun to watch” ordeal popularized by blizzard.
The objective should be to simplify commands and optimize mechanical keypress, not keep them excessive. In BAR i can compete with 50 apm. That just doesnt work in games like this.
In Age of Empires IV, economic development operations are already quite busy, and you still have to defend against knight harassment. And you also need to harass the enemy villagers. It’s completely unwatchable. In contrast, even a game like StarCraft II, which is not outstanding, is better than it. You should know that Warcraft III is definitely much better than StarCraft II.
Yes, I’m immediately jumping over to robot sci-fi mech wars from medieval times. That’s exactly what I’m wanting in an AoE title
You say, “BAR” as if everyone’s heard of it. I’ve never, and had to Google it. I won’t say what it is here as it’s not my job :), but yeah, this sure looks amazing?
That’s too bad. I play SP/MP skirmish matches, so I don’t have an issue
I agree, AoE4’s zoom level is pretty antiquated. Circa 2002 zoom.
Disagree about APM, though. I like the macro AND micro of AoE games; not a fan of “auto” everything.
Low APM as an Accessibility Option for unranked SP or campaign games? Sure, automation and efficiencies to allow easier gaming (less micro) could be nice. But not as a default standard for the game incorporated for everyone
Such is life for the fans of the Total Annhiliation and Supreme Commander style games. There have been several attempts to bring that kind of gameplay into the realm of AAA titles, Grey Goo (from the original Command and Conquer team no less) being the most recent.
I like that style of gameplay a lot, but so far they’ve been commercially unsuccessful. BAR succeeds soley through the passion of its developers while being completely free to play.
Much of the QOL in BAR would be rejected by this community, such as auto queue. Though, many have asked for things that BAR has, like unlimited population caps and physics based ballistics.
The game was already released outdated in my book. I have also no idea what this bar thing is. I only know actual bars where I go for drinks. So if you want to make a point it would be nice to first start by explaining abbreviations that nobody else knows.
Well, sometimes the hype makes some of us unconsciously use acronyms, thinking everyone will understand.
I suppose it’s the same logic some anime fans used back in 2010 when they used acronyms for certain series, like FMA, TTGL, DBZ… which stand for Fullmetal Alchemist, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Dragon Ball Z, but if you’re not into that world, you wouldn’t even know.
I mean, on the AoE4 forum, it’s obvious that OftD is “Order of the Dragon,” HRE is Holy Roman Empire, but outside of these forums, they’re unknown terms.
BAR
Well, BAR is an acronym for “Beyond All Reason”.
It’s a futuristic sci-fi RTS with 3 civs (factions). There are 3 resources (Metal, Enery, Build Power), and their collection is automatic with certain buildings. So it’s more or less like playing Lancaster (before the manor rework), spawning units that fight automatically while they’re being created by fighting the opponent in a tug-of-war.
I don’t see the game as a competitor to Age of Empires IV:
its genre is different (sci-fi, guns and tanks)
its market is different (tower defense, automation)
and it has nothing to do with history or the medieval era (Future, robots, space).
On top of that, it has few civilizations (only 3).
If the main complaint is against map hacking, I don’t see any logic in mixing that with the promotion of another game; I think it should be in a separate thread.
