The pips are super useful though, even if the art was totally changed and made colorful and different, it would still be preferable to have some indicator on the icon that instantly tells players which level of research it is.
2 Likes
I can’t believe someone is defending that atrocious UI
8 Likes
This game have been firstly developed for E-sport and this appears by the graphic choices.
After one year from the launch, also casual gamers should have been satisfied.
3 Likes
its safe to say this is the error #1 of modern RTS releases, the only reason AOE4 didn’t bomb is the name, that kind of launch day would’ve killed any new IP for RTS, ask grey goo devs how well this same move went for them
well, its only now in a state that it should’ve been on launch day, and even thats still debatable, as i said many times, esports happens as a result of game’s quality, you cannot design a game as an esport, because that game pretty much always sucks
1 Like
It’s incredibile how love have been dedicated to AOE3de. Realism.
This Is the reason why i said that a Graphic DLC Is needed
18 Likes
I’m sorry, WHAT!? Find me one person who’s interested in a historical RTS that wouldn’t recognize a part of a frickin’ arrow. AoE 2 icons are great because they motivate people to learn about history. Why is a bodkin point arrow better? “I see it’s sort of a metal spike, I’ll go and find out”. Same goes for armor (i.e. leather, chain mail, etc.), you can clearly see what you’re equipping your army with.
AoE 4 better? Really? Let’s do an analogy with car games: Would you rather have: Tire upgrade 1, Tire upgrade 2, Tire upgrade 3 or All Seasons, Performance Summer Tires, Racing Slicks? For car enthusiasts, which one is more immersive?
5 Likes
Are these troops wearing Byzantine helms and Ottoman chestplates or am I not seeing well
No it does not.
It only tells which tier the upgrade is, which is not useful.
It still does not tell me what exact stats I’m getting, how much it costs, and when to research it. I still need to read the tooltip and get more familiar with the game, at which stage I should have memorized every single icon.
Since it does not convey much additional information, I’d prefer better looking ones.
Edit: and small pips does not help visual memory. I still need to stare at it every time. At least use Roman numbers.
4 Likes
By adding siege crews?
3 Likes
So the game will look medieval finally? And siege will have crew ? If they improve that I will have a reason to reinstall it.
Also specific UI for each civilization when ?
3 Likes
They are also having a hard time with coh3 UI, is the most criticized thing in the game, at least they know people are mad about it and game still have some time… I think is a new tendency in relic to go minimalistic like if RTS were mobas lol
4 Likes
Es probable ya que los otomanos tomaron muchos aspectos culturales de los bizantinos, pero eso no les quita los geniales que se ven
1 Like
The icons clearly show an arrow or a sword either piercing (for attack upgrade) or being stopped by (for the armor upgrade) armor.
You can tell that is what they do before even reading the tooltip. This is not the case with the AoE2 icons. Yes, in either case you do need to learn that the upgrades add +1 to the stat (although this is not consistent in AoE2 which makes it even more difficult, but that has nothing to do with iconography).
For the few new players I have introduced to both games the AoE4 blacksmith icons have been more intuitive every single time (although some of them do not like the art style and prefer AoE2’s UI for that reason).
First of all, I have not said the AoE4 icons are objectively BETTER overall than the AoE2 ones. They do objectively do a better job of showing what the upgrade actually does and which level of upgrade it is.
Take the archer armor upgrades for example in AoE2:
Every player I have introduced to the game has confused this for the archer attack upgrade at some point. Day9, who is very experienced RTS player, made that same mistake many, many times when he was playing AoE2.
Or the infantry armor upgrades:
This icon gives no indication whatsoever on what the tech actually does.
It is of course possible to have more “interesting”, colorful, and artistic icons like AoE2’s while still conveying the information like AoE4’s.
3 Likes
Since we are talking about the UI, does anyone know if any MOD already exists to customize it (with better icons, or at least of the Aoe2 icons), or do the devs don´t allow it because it could happen like with Aoe2 where there are already mods that are too broken?
2 Likes
A) Name a broken Aoe2 mod, i have yet to see one, and B) yes devs are limiting what can be done with UI, by not making it its own category and an exception so they’d work in matchmaking
I have not encountered one myself, but there have absolutely been broken mods. There were some that even prevented the game from launching properly. That’s why they changed it so that everyone had to re-enable mods every time the game updates.
1 Like
thank you for explanation
I always see to attach the bad proportions to the issue of playability and this are not correct. The worse proportions in game are caused by reduction of an especific building without adapt the escale.
3 Likes
Apparently they have no plans to improve the scale, since new civilizations follow the same scaling pattern. It is a pity that Ottoman buildings have such a scale being such elegant buildings.
3 Likes
Lol.
You must be kidding.
I am not an AoE2 fanatic. But I still think that AoE4 failed to be a memorable RTS for exactly reasons that you mention.
Yea, you can tell what the upgrades do. But no, they don’t allow for memes, or even provide like a general sense of being cool. They are not memorable.
Very few people care about readability or competitive gameplay. Most people play to get a sense of immersion and probably just want a cool looking game.
If AoE4 wasn’t age of empires, it would be an utter failure. Nobody would remember it after a year.
They also came out with 2 new civs, and couldn’t do even half the justice to it that the AoE3 devs it. All for what? Balance?
And no, I’m no alt account. But I’ve played ottomans in both games, and guess what - the slightly imbalanced but cool game was way more fun than the entire AoE4 in total. The only reason people play AoE4 is that its the shiny new game thats most recent in the franchise. That’s about it.
17 Likes