Where is the support?

Yes, because there isn’t really a community anymore. People only love the first game for nostalgia’s sake but not for it’s Definitive Edition. Apart from the better graphics/music/sounds, nothing else has been improved (rather worsened).

I still occasionally pick up and play this game. Age of Empires: Rise of Rome was the first Age game I ever played, so it holds a special place in my heart.

I certainly feel that the game needs better support with bug fixes at least a few times per year. The support given by Microsoft for this game has been very inconsistent. Since Microsoft is still making money on this game, that money should be invested back into the game.

15 Likes

Exactly same sentiments.

3 Likes

The farm situation was improved and the unit stances are always nice to have.

3 Likes

The unit stances are bugged though.

1 Like

The thing is, the community is so small because of how poorly the game has been handled. The release version was one of the worst I have ever seen, it felt like an alpha at times, the support has been slow and inconsistent and finally, the game has not been updated enough. Many more QoL improvements were needed, you cannot just remake a 1997 game in 2018 with only improved graphics/sound and hope that people will be fine with it. AoE 1 did not age as well as AoE 2 after all. No steam version at release also made it so much worser…

There is still the potential to grow the community, but the devs need to take the first step. If they don’t start by showing that AoE DE is not a forgotten child whom they don’t care about, people will not come back. I have said it many times already in other posts, but it does not take a massive effort to improve the game. You could push-out a DLC with a shoe-string budget, just add a few units upgrades and techs to the tech tree and a couple of civs by using already existing assets. No new campaigns, no new mechanics to code. Release it and people will buy it. Then use the budget to further polish and improve the game and release new content, which allows to make more money.

8 Likes

I rarely use them so I wouldn’t know about that.

8 months without an update feel like an eternity to me. I’d like to go back to the game, but in its current state, it’s not making me want to play it :pensive:

2 Likes

Then someone would jump out and say it is because the community is so small that the game has been poorly handled XD.

I’m still hoping the devs jump out of nowhere and yelling: "Surprise, surprise!!! Here is this large update we were working on almost a year now and we would like to announce this new DLC about barbarian factions too!

But then I’m waking up and realizing sadly again this anti AoE 1 society we live in :smiley:

8 Likes

I wish AoE 1 would get a GoG release. The HD version is awful - awful looking, terrible music implementation (can’t select which OST to use, and it often just stops playing music completely), bugs, can’t play the campaign with the original graphics.

AoE 1 HD is an aborted project and worthless. A GoG release of the original game is needed.

The UPatch unofficial HD Mod is what I would call “AOE1 HD”. It was released within a few years of “AOE2 HD” (2013 version), as I recall.

3 Likes

Maybe the Devs would take some volunteers to help fix the game’s glitches.

2 Likes

Yeah, UPatch is cool. But there should really be an official release of the original AoE on GoG - which we could then apply UPatch to, or maybe it would even come with it pre-applied. I’d buy AoE again if it were there.

Microsoft’s AoE DE is one of the most disappointing releases in gaming history, IMO.

2 Likes

You mean AoE: DE, don’t you?

1 Like

Yup, I do. I’ll edit my post.

2 Likes

I tried that. They didn’t officially implement my work (I fixed/improved the in-game texts for Latin American Spanish, since it had lots -believe me, LOTS- of issues).

There are other mods (by other people), that involve gameplay changes, for the better, that weren’t implemented either.

2 Likes

Well, I agree that AOE:ROR is a great game. :+1: I hope that someone will come along and fix the bugs in AOE:DE, because I like it too. :point_up_2:

I’m not familiar with how G.O.G. works. The last two words in that abbreviation match the name of a reliable pay site with Customer Service marked “©2020 San Pedro Software Inc.” at the bottom offering the whole original “Age of” (CD) series for download for a low price. But I am skeptical whether they have a license to sell the game, so I’m hesitant to post the link.

In any case, it sounds like you are talking about the Designers updating AOE:ROR (CD) to work for Windows 7/10, making it downloadable, fixing glitches, making it compatible with playing AOE1.0A players online, and keeping it otherwise the same.

AOE1:ROR (CD) works on Windows 7 and 10, but there are glitches on both. On Windows 10, the Diplomacy menu doesn’t show the colored flags for the Players, so you have to use tricks to find out what their colors are.

I ended up buying the AOE2 CDs online this winter because there are actually a bunch of neat AOE2 scenarios that ONLY work on the AOE2 original version. Plus, I was having too much trouble trying to get even the copyright-allowed download versions of AOE2, like using the “Compatibility Patch” on AOE2:HD, to work on Windows 7 due to graphics issues.

Good luck.

1 Like

Good job with the language fixes! :+1:

I remember the Project Lead for Forgotten Empires that made much of AOE: DE asking for help (I think he meant programmers) for his company not long ago on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/cysionbe
I am not great with Twitter and I don’t see the particular Tweet though now.

I really do think it would be neat if AOE: DE would fix the bugs. They would clearly get more positive feedback if they did.

4 Likes

Right now, the game has 81% positive reviews on Steam. If most annoying bugs got fixed, I feel that number would rise up to at least 90%. I already gave it a positive review (well deserved even with all those bugs and missing content/features), but without doubt the game could get a lot better with some patches. It desperately needs at least one big update before being left aside indefinitely, like it has since July 2020.

The Steam version was released on Steam, August 2019. At this time of the year 2021, it still feels unpolished.

We need updates so we can go back to this beautiful game! :broken_heart::broken_heart::broken_heart::broken_heart::broken_heart:

8 Likes