The maps too…they are so generic and messy…
4 Likes
And that’s another thing. AoEIV lets you choose a biome which is really cool but they all have the same huntables and predators. Boring.
This is just another example of laziness, lack of immersion and disregard for detail. Even AoEII has different animals so what is AoEIV’s excuse?
Stop treating players like they’re too dumb to figure out a caribou functions in the same role as a deer.
16 Likes
Of course…I think the same…as if the players were too dumb to
not being able to differentiate one flora or fauna from another…
My unhappiness with the game has never had anything to do with balance. Balance can and will be adjusted as people test the game, as the meta evolves. To be upset with balance = to like the game already (at least enough), to think that the “base game” is ok.
It’s not even the lack of features. Some of them are baffling, but, in time, maybe, they can be added back.
Instead, for me there are fundamental problems with too many design choices that make the gameplay shallow, not interesting, simply not fun to play. Starting from the camera (but that seems to be a personal limit of mine) to end up with civs design, passing by game mechanics like homing arrows and no elevation (real) bonus, to cite only some of the major ones. For me, the “base game” is not ok, and the road map does not address its real problems.
But I’m just an old Age fan, probably I was never going to be among the target audience.
15 Likes
Things like a timer for the sacred site countdown when spectating a game is missing.
How can they miss simple things like that?
What about you shift your villager to get berries and the villager stop getting other berries around it once the one it gets from is depleted ? It’s horrible.
2 Likes
To the OP, a quick browse of the forum would likely yield some answers 
6 Likes
I’m still waiting for the Craig Mullins art compilation I paid for.
6 Likes
sadly it is in the game folder 
The digital deluxe version was also a big disappointment.
2 Likes
We got 1 picture. I’m still waiting for the compilation.
2 Likes
Hmmm, I didn’t check that, they really missing the set of arts!
COH3 will be awesome… its like their one and only true child (COH franchise)
and the issues we’re seeing with AOE4, might still be due to MS meddling… the huge delays on releasing patches (MS certification process), being forced to release the game before it’s ready, encouraged to add imba water before its actually ready and these kinds of things might make relic’s own mistakes look worse
ive found this weird merging of realism with non-realism odd. like they went for this super realistic approach to the videos, while completely missing the mark on remotely realistic things like wrong animals, siege crew (even visuals), scale and so forth. like i feel they tried to target 2 different audiences
i appreciate the effort they went to for the videos, but i dont watch them because they dont interest me(i wouldve preferred animated scenes)
and i wouldve preferred a little more immersion in game instead… OR a little more creativity(more abilities, stances effects etc), instead of this hybrid lack of creativity with poor realism
3 Likes
One picture doesn’t mean it isn’t a compilation. The problem for you (and a lot of posters) is the value for money generally, rather than any definition of what you received.
No my problem is definitely the misleading use of the word “compilation”.
5 Likes
The game needs an absolute ton of work, and at the current rate of progress it’s going to take like 10 years or something to get to where AoE 2 DE is now.
My first thought was “woah that looks just like the history channel!”
My second thought was “oh right I don’t like the history channel”
1 Like
lazy game, even to launch hotfix.
I think it’s people’s fault. They overhype everything and accuse the developers for not meeting their hypes.
Like, heck, the game even explicitly stated it is not released with a map editor or modding tools, but people still criticized it like it is false advertisement.
Zoom, color picking, random maps and civs are not essential parts of an RTS. There are a million games that work perfectly without those functions and they did not even say aoe4 is going to have them. But people still consider them as a must-have.
No game ever promised constant and quick bug-fixing and updates. If you compare it with other games, for example, the number of patches the original aoe2 got, the patching of this game is actually quite fast. But people still think it is not enough.
Even the deluxe edition contents. They said it contains a compilation and it is indeed a compilation. People were probably expecting a brochure or something, but nobody really ever said that, so they consider it as a lie.
I mean, sure, people can have their opinions and preferences on different things, and it’s okay if you think the game should have some features but there are also people who think it does not need them. But if you really come to think about it, the developers or publishers or whoever is in charge actually delivered everything they promised extremely well, in sharp contrast to games like 2077. But people still yell around as if they cannot do a competent job, which hurts their reputation. I think we all owe them an apology.
PS RTS is already a niche genre. If we lose this game we will lose RTS forever. It cannot fail. Please do not let it happen.
2 Likes
Yea, we got scammed there.
Lucky for them I actually like the game. But the deluxe edition was a big stab on the back.
2 Likes
Hmm, in 1997 I got Age of Empires 1 gold edition disk and the game was able to run with only 32pop max as I remember, and also I was able to select random civ and colour. The game also offered many more maps than AOE4, more variety of fish, wood, animal, nice looking UI, far better camera zoom out, unit death animation with blood and skeleton, modding, and proper projectile physics. The only main limitation was the technological capability.
After 2 years in 1999, they released the legendary Age of Empires 2. It added more features and mechanics in AOE2 as they built upon from the Age of Empires 1. Players got more colours to choose from, a bigger population for custom and single-player mode, modding, unique units, university, upgrades, and more. People were happy that they received an improved version of the game in all areas.
The quality of improvement from other AOE2 HD and DE improved on from its previous versions instead of going backward.
The AOE3 was not popular with AOE players as it missed the crucial features of the previous games. Many people didn’t like the colonial setting, the graphic design was too cartoonish compared to the more detailed AOE 1 and 2 approach, fewer civilisations than the previous titles (both previous titles had more civilisations). And more to mention. However, AOE3 at least did not fail on the unit balance and counter, unique units, mercenaries, nice UI, not a lot of bugs/ various animal types, trees, fruits, fish. Water gameplay was the best in the AOE series.
And here we are, receiving the AOE4 title that was supposed to learn from the mistakes they have made in AOE3. They decided to not give players the freedom to select their favourite colour, limited zoom in and out, cannot select random civ, the game did not release with modding tools, units are poorly balanced (sieges mostly), projectile accuracy and physics are worse and apply to few units, lots of bugs and glitches, cannot leave quick matchmaking with a single click, horrible UI, water game is horrible, have only 2 types of fish which are “shore fish and deep-sea fish”, got only 2 types of huntable animals which are deer and boar, Got only 1 type cattle animal (sheep), Sieges are so wrong and it operates just like a tank, Arrows go out from buildings one by one instead of many, no civilisation team bonus, and more.
For this, we must be happy? Are you joking with me?
And I’m not even mentioning the price of this AAA game compared to its previous titles!
And here you are saying like the technology did not improve and advance in the last 23 years…
11 Likes