We got 1 picture. I’m still waiting for the compilation.
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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
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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”.
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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”
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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.
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Yea, we got scammed there.
Lucky for them I actually like the game. But the deluxe edition was a big stab on the back.
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Read this buddy: You ask why are people unhappy? Let me show you :) - #12 by Pomknight
thanks
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…
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AoEIII “suffered” from too much innovation while AoEIV suffers from a lack of it.
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Maybe not in 2005,
I expect more in 2021, as is my right as a consumer. It’s more about the lack of overall progression and not so much about these particular mechanics, however they are brought up the most bc they’re literally so simple to implement it’s baffling why they didn’t and still haven’t.
I think this is due to people’s frustrations wit the never ending list of bugs and or lacking features and the speed at which they’re going feels like it’s one guy with a pickaxe trying to mine an entire quarry.
There are few people who thing we don’t need the basic things you mentioned earlier, and I would say to those people, why are you willing to accept less from your developers? Do you like paying AAA game prices for what I would consider a C tier game?
This is very debatable, but either way I don’t really care about what they promised I care about my expectations for the next game in the series which by common sense you’d expect to be better and have more features than the previous ones, I don’t see how it’s acceptable in any way that it does not.
This isn’t true.
Manorlords, bannerlord, crusader kings, EU4, HOI4, SC, EAW, Total War.
Sure these aren’t copy paste of the ideas of AOE but they can still easily substitute (at least for me) the RTS feelings.
It’s sad when I prefer graphics and mechanics from a 2005 RTS (Empire at War) and yk they have to compete with mods as well, there’s a lot of mods out there for different games that blow the level of detail and mechanics aoe4 has out of the water.
There is a lot of competition in this genre and I think the suits failed to realize this.
Edit: dont get me wrong a couple additions were made, like walkable walls and landmark victories, however I feel the lack of other mechanics and content heavily outweighs what they did add
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More than half of the games you mentioned are not RTS, one genre has nothing to do with another, although they may be from the same era or be another type of strategy game.
They are literally RTS games, just bc they’re 4x doesn’t mean they’re not still RTS
What about the other games I mentioned or hell even AOE3
Aoe4 doesn’t stack up anywhere close to aoe3 at its launch, that should be enough to convince people the game is heavily lacking, but my point was to illustrate competition. I guarantee players of age of empires also probably enjoy the other series I mentioned.
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RTS are CoH, SC, AoE, C&C etc. the others are TBS, RTT or Grand Strategy.
I am a patient person, when the Spring patch comes out, I will make my final evaluation of the game, meanwhile, I am not doing the toxic thing in the forums. Reddit gives a thousand turns to this.
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You mean providing constructive criticism and valuable feedback for the devs to go off of for new updates/patches?
A very small minority on these fourms are toxic, the rest of us are just disappointed and upset and genuinely want to provide insight for the devs into the players mindsets.
Sure some people attack each other, or the devs, or go on toxic rants about semantics and if 3.1 is the same as 3.2 (just an example not literal) some are here just to argue, and others are here with concrete ideas of what they want the game to become, and it’s pretty clear you can tell who is doing what.
Also, you’re on the fourms right now, and you’ve been on the fourms over the past few days.
If you’re okay with the state of release and waiting three to four months for a patch/update wit no guarantee the things we want to be added will even be included, that’s fine that’s your time.
I for one do not find it acceptable.
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I have been traumatized by Horses, Springalds, Mangonels and Elephants. My matches on team games are extremely competitive, but I also meet lots of drophackers. I only wish to play a normal game by this point without teammates getting kicked out or having pros on the enemy team that know the game by heart while I just discovered some upgrades are not valuable at all.
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I’ve been thinking a lot about this very statement, which I believe is completely true. AoM also suffered from too much innovation, but I’d argue it was mostly due to bad expansions. Then we had AoE Online which failed for being too cartoony.
So now, what is causing AoE4 to tank? What makes it lose steam so quickly? Given the above we know too complex, cartoony and/or safe are not going to work.
As you said, the problem with AoE 4 is that it played it too safe to the point of becoming boring too quickly. We have identical blacksmith techs, identical keeps with just a reskin, super simplified stances and mechanics (no more arrow misses, no friendly fire, eternal farms, etc.), monotonous tech icons, graphics that are at the same time not great for low-end PCs while also looking outdated and muddy on top-end systems.
No game has ever been great by playing it safe. Supreme Commander got rid of the whole minimap concept and people were initially up in arms, but it ended up being one of the greatest RTS of all times (then they stuck to the tried-and-true for SupCom2 and it bombed - see the lesson here?). AoE2 is to SupCom1 what AoE4 is to SupCom2.
I can’t speak for others as to what this game should have been. Certainly the big focus on eSports and simplicity was not a good decision. eSports success should be a consequence of designing a good game, not a marketing goal. The original StarCraft or even AoE2 were not meant as eSports hits, they were simply amazing, well balanced games.
Whenever I hear a game has a “council” to help cater to all audiences (like AoE4 had), I sigh. Committees make forgettable products. Instead, hire a bunch of crazy, innovative folks with a great idea and love for the genre and I’m sure they will make amazing things.
I have my very own personal wishlist of what the next AoE should be, but in reality we are the designers’ worst enemy because we all try to pull in a different direction.
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