# What should Age of Empires IV improve? **URL:** \ **Category:** IV - Discussion\ **Created:** [June 13, 2023, 2:56pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172 "2023-06-13T14:56:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TwinsenOdyssey](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/twinsenodyssey/32/65462_2.png) [@TwinsenOdyssey](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/TwinsenOdyssey)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/21 "2023-06-16T16:41:47Z")
1. More unique units for the current civilizations 2. More unique mechanics behind the current civilizations 3. More diverse strategies at every stage of the game 4. Defenders advantage should be tunned down ---
**Author:** ![TheLiberator236](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/theliberator236/32/179247_2.png) [@TheLiberator236](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/TheLiberator236)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 4:53pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/22 "2023-06-16T16:53:30Z")
¡Exacto colega Adri! Los mapas siguen viendo y sientiéndose vacios y mas de lo mismo. Necesitamos más animales, plantas, arboles, más tipos de alimento de pesca. Como el Age 3 pero no tan saturado de elementos. También podrían añadir simulaciones de ventiscas, nevadas, movimientos de arena, neblina y más efectos climaticos que enriquezcan los mapas. ¡Saludos! Te cacho desde Mayorcete y AOE 3, jajajaja 😂👌 ---
**Author:** ![SavageEmpire566](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/savageempire566/32/43010_2.png) [@SavageEmpire566](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/SavageEmpire566)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/23 "2023-06-16T17:00:32Z")
---
**Author:** ![TheLiberator236](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/theliberator236/32/179247_2.png) [@TheLiberator236](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/TheLiberator236)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/24 "2023-06-16T17:09:19Z")
Haha seems like you have lost many games against Malians I think is a good addition to have stealth units in a historical game The things that make no sense at all are the addition of magic and myth to it! Maybe the devs are teasing us with AOM models? 😁😁 ---
**Author:** ![Franknezu11](https://forums.ageofempires.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Franknezu11](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/Franknezu11)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 5:40pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/25 "2023-06-16T17:40:24Z")
copy and paste @mast3rNZ 's list from the post [Thoughts from a nobody on the state of the game](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/thoughts-from-a-nobody-on-the-state-of-the-game/233358). that plus more ideas added from mine ones 1. Random map / random land map 2. Leaderboards 3. Visible elo which can be used to create balanced custom games 4. Chat rooms 5. In-game pause 6. In-game save/resume 7. Larger player limit (12 minimum) 8. A proper scenario editor (I still remember in AoM custom games like Zelda and Bloodsport were hugely popular) 9. Independent observer option 10. Player chat visible when observing 11. More biodiversity 12. A more defined identity for maps in terms of aesthetic appearance (as opposed to maps only having layout differences for competitive purposes) 13. Actually fully remappable hotkeys 14. actual civ that are well design that stop following the civ cookie aoe 2 design of every civ has to obtain 1 rax, 1 arecheyr range, 1 stable to build specific type of unit. as well the units inside to the point the only few unit that are common among civs are spears and vill. also more vill variation, 2+ pop vills demostrate to be fun when its done correctly. 15. age up that dont end in build an wonder with a bland option of a free building. give a free type of unit like english king (or aom age up type) 16. better resource comsumption. the game needs mre than the avg pc but it looks older than aoe 3 de. at least lower the bar if you want more players. 17. better death animation. (rlly the siege just ending in wood explosion when aoe 3 did better +10 years ago) 18. put fe devs in charge. they doing better than relic ones with the current changes. 19. separate matchmaking for pre assembled teams in +2v+2 20. better unit design than dont look plastic and being recognizable when they mob fight army vs army and allow more focusing on micro like retreating danaged costly units or age 1 fight 21. more map theme than is not fantasy ones that is temporal and annoying to the gameplay. 22. better ui (resources ones and building one) for custom hotkeys and less redundacy (seriusly double open menu for university building?) 23. better anti cheat system 24. add more mechnics. mechanics like snare and antisnare has alredy been added with success in other games like aoe 3 and sc2. this game can have more complexity. 25. roadmap or anouncement. ik devs has to be secretive but the silence has done more dmg. A more earlier response would prevented it. ``` Chat delay Limited zoom 30s wait to begin a quickmatch or ranked game is too long 20s+ victory/defeat screen at the end of the game is too long (yes, I timed it) Postgame scores still seem to have issues if Reddit is anything to go by UI elements related to win conditions take up too much space and we should have the option to switch them off Matchmaking is weird and takes too long. I could go into a lot more detail but I’d need to write a book. ``` ---
**Author:** ![CRothlisberger](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/crothlisberger/32/29957_2.png) [@CRothlisberger](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/CRothlisberger)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/26 "2023-06-16T18:33:18Z")
Ok I chimed in earlier, but here is a more specific and larger list of things I would like to see: - More single player content. This includes campaigns, historical battles, and also more art of war missions. The two art of war missions they added for the Ottomans and the Malians are great, they even have replayability with trying to beat your high score. Every civ should have their own art of war mission. As for campaigns I do not personally care if they are the documentary style of the others, or the smaller scope story telling format of the other AoE games. Good level design is independent of that format. - A good coop mode. Honestly just straight up copy Starcraft 2 for the most part. Some interesting maps with unique objectives and then randomized modifiers based on difficulty level chosen. - Stances for units. For example, AoE2 has offensive, defensive, and stand ground. We have a stand ground command now, but it is not a “stance”. Issuing a command immediately removes the stand ground state. It needs to be something that is toggled on and stays on so you can move units to new positions but maintain the stand ground. Really stand ground is the only stance I care about, but the others would be nice to have for many people. - More customization for the UI. They FINALLY added minimap sizes which is great, but other UI elements could use similar treatment like the victory conditions for example. Let us shrink or minimize them. The more UI customization that is available the better. I am sure some people would like to be able to swap which side the minimap is on and which the resources are on for example. - The post game stats screen is pretty bad. It has some issues with accuracy for one, but it also has UI issues. Like having some categories being partially cut off without side scrolling so that “society” says “soc”. - The tech tree is terrible. It is missing most of the relevant information such as stats for the units and buildings. The fact that it is laid out vertically instead of horizontally like the other AoE games also means that less of it is viewable on the screen at a time. - The ability to box select only military, or only villagers, or everything. This is maybe the single most annoying thing for me in the game. Especially because in the settings there is an option for “smart select” but it doesn’t do anything other than regular selection of all units. The best way is to allow modifier keys to change the behavior. For example, in AoE2 if I hold alt and drag I get only villagers, if I hold shift I get everything, if I hold nothing I get only military. The game has options in the settings for only military or only villagers, but they are not great because if you pick only military you have no way to box select your villagers if military units are around. - Add pausing to custom games. I don’t care about it in matchmaking, you aren’t entitled to pauses in that setting, but I also don’t care if it is added there or not as long as it has strict limits. - Also, for custom games the capability to save a game state when someone crashes and reload it in lobby (this would be very useful for tournaments). AoE2 has this although to be honest it only sometimes works. I also do not care about an actual mid game reconnect in matchmaking games or expect it to ever happen. It is not trivial to add and frankly has limited value. People don’t want to wait around for you to maybe reconnect or maybe never. - Allow the ability to connect to allied walls in team games. - Rebalance stone wall towers. They are useless now. Make them cheaper to start and have them only shoot an arrow by default, and then let them add a springald emplacement in castle, or a cannon in imperial - Improve the way upgraded outposts look. Currently there is no real unifying design element when going from a regular outpost to a fortified one. Some do become larger, some actually smaller but stone, some change shape from square to circle, etc… If new models is too much work, then at least just make it so when they do become fortified they are always bigger than their unfortified version. - Show the civ flag next to player names on the right side of the screen - I of course want new civilizations, but I think 1 or 2 a year is plenty. Honestly more than 2 a year seems like an insane pace for both the devs and for the game balance and meta. - This is a big ask, but for hotkey customization allow more manipulation of the way the various tabs work. For example, now we have one tab per age, keep that default, but allow players to customize how many tabs there are based on their hotkeys. For what really makes it a big ask though: I want these hotkeys to actually show up in the UI and change how the tabs display. - Continue to tweak water play to be more interesting. It is much better than it used to be. Rebalancing the counters made it playable, and varying the units’ costs to different resource types made it a bit more interesting. I think it still has further to go though. - Make the siege tower actually somewhat useful. **Some other nice to haves that I don’t personally find as important, but think many people would like:** - Map pool voting for each season - More gaia variation across different biomes (with things like the map monsters being created I do question why not use that effort to make more variations for hunt and herdables and hostile wildlife). - A tournament was finally actually linked in game, more of that. - Rebalance wonders for lower player count games (it was said quite a while ago that this was being done) - In team games allow players to choose their positions. In AoE2 this is done based on the player colors you pick as they are each assigned to a “player number” and players are positioned around the map based on the order of those numbers (it wouldn’t actually need to be tied to color). In some other RTS it is done by actually clicking on one of the options on the map in the lobby. ---
**Author:** ![Leon18](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/leon18/32/135199_2.png) [@Leon18](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/Leon18)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 3:45am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/28 "2023-06-17T03:45:59Z")
Where is Co-op Historical battles and missions? ---
**Author:** ![EaglemutOP](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/eaglemutop/32/29206_2.png) [@EaglemutOP](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/EaglemutOP)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 9:53am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/29 "2023-06-17T09:53:16Z")
> [@ArrivedLeader22](#): > > Something no one cares: AI player names using real historical figures. > > It would be even better if they got some unique dialogue lines so that you could advertise it as another new improvement introduced to the series That’s been in AoE3 since 2005. AIs having absolutely no personality is just another AoE4 regression. ---
**Author:** ![FloosWorld](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/floosworld/32/187375_2.png) [@FloosWorld](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/FloosWorld)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 10:08am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/30 "2023-06-17T10:08:31Z")
The AI trashtalking you is one of the best things in AoE 3. Imagine if this was in AoE 4. ---
**Author:** ![ArrivedLeader22](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/arrivedleader22/32/29255_2.png) [@ArrivedLeader22](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/ArrivedLeader22)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 11:05am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/31 "2023-06-17T11:05:37Z")
> [@EaglemutOP](#): > > That’s been in AoE3 since 2005. > AIs having absolutely no personality is just another AoE4 regression. Well they could advertise torch throwing as a new feature so why not. “Unlike in AOE2 where all AIs have the same dialogue lines, now in AOE4 each civ has a unique AI personality!” ---
**Author:** ![FloosWorld](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/floosworld/32/187375_2.png) [@FloosWorld](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/FloosWorld)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 11:23am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/32 "2023-06-17T11:23:47Z")
An in-game tech tree preview like in AoE 2 DE could be also nice ^^ ![Tech Tree Preview](https://forums.ageofempires.com/uploads/default/original/3X/e/9/e9de2b438c1ed2c3314559371db0bbe5987c533b.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![SoullessHeathen](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/soullessheathen/32/177779_2.png) [@SoullessHeathen](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/SoullessHeathen)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 11:26am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/33 "2023-06-17T11:26:59Z")
I want some old school campaigns, the documentary style feels so cold and clinical to me. ---
**Author:** ![Franknezu11](https://forums.ageofempires.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Franknezu11](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/Franknezu11)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/34 "2023-06-17T15:38:40Z")
and aoe 2 betrayal shenanigans on ffa on skirmish. It could ended on team games ---
**Author:** ![KnowingLamb8370](https://forums.ageofempires.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@KnowingLamb8370](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/KnowingLamb8370)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/35 "2023-06-17T18:59:01Z")
Things i want to add: - Better modding tool or tool that allow us to test ingame features - Walls of the same team can connect each other - Better tech tree > [@FloosWorld](#): > > An in-game tech tree preview like in AoE 2 DE could be also nice ^^ > > ![Tech Tree Preview](https://forums.ageofempires.com/uploads/default/original/3X/e/9/e9de2b438c1ed2c3314559371db0bbe5987c533b.jpeg) - why do we need to put / while we want to voice chat (also how does the new voice chat works someone can tell me) - There can be more colour when you do your flag - Building rotation could be added ---
**Author:** ![CRothlisberger](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/crothlisberger/32/29957_2.png) [@CRothlisberger](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/CRothlisberger)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/36 "2023-06-17T20:18:31Z")
> [@FloosWorld](#): > > An in-game tech tree preview like in AoE 2 DE could be also nice ^^ Oh yeah that was an awesome recent addition for AoE2. Great idea. ---
**Author:** ![TheRaff0](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/theraff0/32/134668_2.png) [@TheRaff0](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/TheRaff0)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2023, 11:06pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/37 "2023-06-17T23:06:37Z")
**editor.** so people would finally can: 1. build different UI for spectate at least. 2. build their own UI and more 3. easy making maps. So, much stuff can be made with proper editor tools. ---
**Author:** ![CRothlisberger](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/crothlisberger/32/29957_2.png) [@CRothlisberger](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/CRothlisberger)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2023, 12:30am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/38 "2023-06-18T00:30:51Z")
Making maps you can totally do already. There is no UI editing so far. Well you can for like observer UIs in custom games and such. Not sure if they’ll ever add UI modding for use in matchmaking games, that’s a pretty unusual thing actually, it’s very nice in AoE2 though. ---
**Author:** ![TheRaff0](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/theraff0/32/134668_2.png) [@TheRaff0](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/TheRaff0)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/39 "2023-06-18T01:04:18Z")
> [@CRothlisberger](#): > > Making maps you can totally do already. It’s a pain in the ass. I wont struggle\do boring\annoying job. There is no profit of struggling. So, technically you right… but you need to restart the game with every change cause you have no idea what will “break” the game and what will work. If you like some mode - you can not change\improve it. (in aoe2, you just change scenario without remaking it from scratch). _why you want to change other mods? DotA was surviving with 100 versions, CBA(from aoe2) always have some balance tweaks…with 100 versions doubt people recreate them from scratch_ I just literally convinced with aoe4’s engine and proper editor content can be printed…but for now it’s complicated factory for a few. > [@CRothlisberger](#): > > Not sure if they’ll ever add UI modding I’m sure they wont. but I still will complain… may be… just may be. ---
**Author:** ![KG19991380](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/kg19991380/32/65260_2.png) [@KG19991380](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/KG19991380)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2023, 11:54am UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/40 "2023-06-18T11:54:31Z")
also remember that thrown torch flies in octagonal arc for some reason, idk why thats still there ---
**Author:** ![jaybird79](https://forums.ageofempires.com/user_avatar/forums.ageofempires.com/jaybird79/32/135362_2.png) [@jaybird79](https://forums.ageofempires.com/u/jaybird79)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2023, 1:11pm UTC](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172/41 "2023-06-18T13:11:09Z")
I would like to cap tech tree progress: That is, games might only let you advance to Age II, Age III, or remain at Age I without ever progressing to Age IV. I would also like to anchor wood fences to stone walls; instead of wood circling perimeter of stone (or vice versa) you can produce a wooden fence around a gate or area in front of (or behind) a wall wich has no gap between it and the stone wall at it’s ends, creating a barrier for any structures which sit next to the stone walls. [Previous page](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172.md?page=1) [Next page](https://forums.ageofempires.com/t/what-should-age-of-empires-iv-improve/233172.md?page=3)