What define a Age of Empires Game

@Dandelion said:
Buildings, resourses, units, ages.

Empire earth?

:expressionless: well, yes, and half of all RTS :slight_smile:
I dont know). Story in campany.

Skirmish mode scenarios that are playable under two hours.

@“Pan Calvus” said:

I’d add:

  • no or very few RPG elements (hero units don’t level up or gain experience within a match, don’t have an inventory with equipment), no focus on heroes
  • lots of high-quality single-player content
  • drop sites for resources (even though AoE III didn’t have them)
  • no need for logistics to store resources or get them to the right places, all resources are raw materials (wood, food, …) and not complex goods (clothing, furniture, weapons …), no production chains
  • around four ages to advance through (AoE III had five and I think three could work, too)
  • alternative winning conditions to pure conquest (wonders, relics, trade posts, artifacts, …)

The worst thing they could do, in my opinion, is to minimize base building and economy even further from what we had in AoE III. AoE has never been or tried to be a complex economy simulation, but it hasn’t been and shouldn’t be pure combat, either. For me, it’s always had a perfect balance between the two aspects, without focusing on one of them too heavily.

Historical Input (AoE II style single player Campaigns)

Unique civilizations from a base set and LOTS OF THEM!!! … without in-game purchases…

I liked the level of uniqueness of AoE III… no more than that
— Home city cheat system needs to go
— Bring back gather points
City building and management should be as important as Fighting

I think that trade could play a larger role… I would like to see maybe neutral players on the map to trade with?
— This in an Anno 1440 concept

@TyBreaker69 said:
Definitely history, languages, different techs, cuteness (I think tiny characters should all have chipmunk voices but that would be new, not classic), I love the map reveal as you explore and moving troops around in ships and praying they make the trip!

I think the troops should be more intimidating! like if you were actually commanding a soldier~

The gamplay

-> configurable hotkeys :wink:

Many RTS games lack that feature, Relic ones included, but it was always a feature in the AOE games.

A soothing, diverse background music. Music that contains instruments of every country, and music that contains, bird noises, trees sweetely swinging via an air flow, and a guy cutting wood, mining gold/rock. So on… That’s what An AOE music is.

Stances and Formations
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Guess everyone knows about formations, but stances were very useful in AOE2 as well (weren’t a thing yet in AoE1, and can’t remember for AOE3 but surely they featured there too), for example you would put archers on hold ground to keep them tight, while you would put a spearman defending your wood cutters on defensive stance so it wouldn’t follow a passing enemy unit like crazy but return to what it was defending.
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Curiously enough, even though they are more about tactics rather than strategies, there are no such things in the Relic games. In Company of Heroes the only unit that has a stance is the sniper (hold fire or fire at will), that’s it. Really hope they integrate both stances and formations into AOE4, it’s a must.
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Unexplored maps/black fog of war combined with RMG

This is another AOE characteristic, mechanic and part of the charm (combined with the randomly generated maps), not found in the Relic games. Even though the explored maps are understandable for past Relic games which are built on pre-made static maps, it really has to be a feature in AOE4.
I noticed Eliot and Kat (Relic and AOE4 community managers) always playing AOE2 on ‘explored’ on the Microsoft streams. I’m sure that’s just because they want an easier experience during these streams. But, Eliot, if you’re reading this, make sure the AOE4 team is getting used with an entirely unexplored map setting as default <3

The amount of villagers. When i was a kid and didn’t understand some things i was having few vills. Until i realised i need like 100 times more. KILL ALL THE ANIMALS STEAL ALL THE GOLD AND TREES

@IamDalv said:
Stances and Formations
.
Guess everyone knows about formations, but stances were very useful in AOE2 as well (weren’t a thing yet in AoE1, and can’t remember for AOE3 but surely they featured there too), for example you would put archers on hold ground to keep them tight, while you would put a spearman defending your wood cutters on defensive stance so it wouldn’t follow a passing enemy unit like crazy but return to what it was defending.
.
Curiously enough, even though they are more about tactics rather than strategies, there are no such things in the Relic games. In Company of Heroes the only unit that has a stance is the sniper (hold fire or fire at will), that’s it. Really hope they integrate both stances and formations into AOE4, it’s a must.
.
.
Unexplored maps/black fog of war combined with RMG

This is another AOE characteristic, mechanic and part of the charm (combined with the randomly generated maps), not found in the Relic games. Even though the explored maps are understandable for past Relic games which are built on pre-made static maps, it really has to be a feature in AOE4.
I noticed Eliot and Kat (Relic and AOE4 community managers) always playing AOE2 on ‘explored’ on the Microsoft streams. I’m sure that’s just because they want an easier experience during these streams. But, Eliot, if you’re reading this, make sure the AOE4 team is getting used with an entirely unexplored map setting as default <3

The stances are quite of common in this kind of games, like Empire Earth and Rise of Nations.

what sets age of empire games apart from other RTS games? Thats a simple question. Economy management. It should be about managing your economy, protecting your villagers/workers. Use military to secure landgrabs and new resources. If you lose a villager it should impact your economy in a noticable way.

The Trashwar and definitly the ability to Counter every unit with at least two Others

What defines aoe?

-Aging up to unlock the next level techtree

  • 4 resources and economic upgrades with villagers walking around with big pieces of meat (sometimes some changes in resource types but always at least 3 resources)
  • Random maps being generated
  • Time setting of aoe has always been between stone age (aoe1) and ~1850 (endgame aoe 3).
  • Freedom in what you can do. You can largely build everywhere, which makes city building part of your military strategy.
  • Rock paper scissors military. So he builds archers to counter my infantry units? Then i build cav and do researches xyz to improve cav against archers.
  • AOE games always had a certain angle of perspective, the way you see the battlefield.
  • AOE looks realistic and has largely realistic things making it non-sci fi (apart from aom).

AOE looks realistic and has largely realistic things making it non-sci fi (apart from aom).

AoE is based on history and real things, but is not a sim and has never taken itself seriously. It’s like looking at history through a funhouse mirror. Wololo