Would you buy this game again?

Age of Empires II: DE II - Discussion
1

I’ll tell you the truth:
For many years, I was stuck in the AoE2 bubble. Actually, I was picky about AoE2, I didn’t want to play any other games, I definitely didn’t care about other games, I only played C&C Generals occasionally, but my focus was AoE2. I stayed in that bubble for years, even after the release of AoE4. I played AoE2 since around 2005. It was around 2022/2023 that I started testing other games, like StarCraft, and even wanted to try Dota. After a lot of sacrifice and effort, I got out of that damn bubble. This nostalgia blinds us so much that I thought the graphics of AoE2 were incredible, I didn’t even notice the ridiculous bugs and crashes in the game… To give you an idea, I thought the AoE2 campaigns were revolutionary until recently, when I started testing other real-time strategy games and came across StarCraft 2. The difference is so striking that you realize how much time you wasted in that idiotic bubble…
You get so obsessed with ONE game that you can’t see how much you’re wasting on it…
Then, when you get out of that bubble, you see the absurdity…
AoE2 is a game full of bugs, the villagers are constantly colliding and freezing, the game continues to have small crashes, it’s still a 2D game, the quality of life of this game is bizarre… I went to test the new AoE 2 DLC, it’s so bizarre, it feels like I’m playing an archaic game, while in AoE4, the quality of life is far superior, I can see my armies flowing smoothly and constantly, everything is responsive, it feels like a game that helps me play, And the graphics are infinitely superior…
REMEMBER I SAID BEFORE THAT I WAS ALSO IN THE AOE2 BUBBLE…
AoE4 is better, more fun, more complex, much deeper, each civilization plays differently from the start of the game, if you want to play campaigns, AoE2 has much more content because it’s a very, very old game…

If you want to play a game with very archaic mechanics, then you’ll like Age of Empires 2…

If you don’t mind seeing villagers stuck in the middle of a buggy resource gathering process, if you don’t mind your horse getting stuck in a tree after sending it somewhere, and much more… then you can play AoE2 DE without worrying… Just be careful that your army doesn’t block the way…

That’s bizarre…

Age of Empires 2 is an incredible game, it’s beautiful, very good…
Applause for Age of Empires 2… Or maybe not…
Because of nostalgia, I’d say it’s good…
Because the developers, after so many years, and so many times buying the DLCs and so many times buying the same game, why don’t they change it? It must be because we still don’t care and want the same game, or we’re suckers… I don’t know what to say, buying the same game so many times has made me tired and fed up with this practice of the developers…
I don’t know if it’s because of the competitive scene, which doesn’t allow the game to evolve, I don’t know what it is…

I don’t know what you guys think, but I’m tired of AoE2. The game doesn’t change; the problems are the same. I bought almost all the DLCs and it’s still the same game. Many times, there’s no improvement in quality of life; it’s terrible. The other day, I went to play the new DLC, I went to garrison my villagers, I pressed the hotkey and the villagers didn’t go to the Town Center. That’s when I remembered that it’s not enough to press the hotkey; you also need to CLICK on the Town Center. What a stupid game, and nothing changes, I COULD LIST COUNTLESS THINGS LIKE THAT IN THE GAME…
Even AoE4 is much better. This is a joke. WHEN WILL THIS CHANGE?

CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY THIS GAME NEVER EVOLVES?

PLEASE HELP ME…

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It would help if you can list down what exactly you mean by evolve,bug fixes and pathing fixes are obvious things everybody wants.

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The answer is quite simple: “QUALITY OF LIFE,” to begin with…
A very simple example of how to build structures in AoE4 by pressing Alt would be an improvement. I want to be able to garrison military units and villagers like in AoE4…
I DON’T WANT TO SEE VILLAGERS FIGHTING EACH OTHER AND STANDING STILL ANYMORE, IT’S EVEN FUNNY…
I ALREADY SAID THIS IN THE COMMENT ABOVE…
THE ARMY MOVEMENT IN THIS GAME DOESN’T CHANGE, IT SEEMS THE PROBLEMS REMAIN THE SAME…
((((((((( I CAN’T SELECT MY ENTIRE ARMY IN 2026 AND THAT DOESN’T CHANGE))))))) TERRIBLE… THERE’S A LIMIT ON THE NUMBER OF ARMY SELECTIONS, IT’S UNBELIEVABLE…

THERE ARE MANY OTHER ARCHAIC THINGS IN THIS GAME…

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4

When creating a military unit by pressing the Shift key, I want the units to be created in increments of 5 IN THE QUEUE…

I don’t want to see trade units wandering around the map anymore…

I want to be able to rotate the gate…

I don’t want villagers dancing while building a castle anymore; when they arrive at the construction site, the castle has already been destroyed… haha

Having too many villagers to build too many things is a nightmare… It’s a party of villagers spinning non-stop… The villagers are stupid…

I’M TALKING ABOUT 2026… AND NOTHING CHANGES…

Even CS has changed…

Will we have to buy more AoE2 games for them to improve or not…?

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There are already at least 3 versions of Age of Empires 2, the community loves this game, a lot of money has been spent, many DLCs and expansions have been purchased… What’s missing to improve it? I’m not talking about a new game, just improvements… “Quality of Life” for new players…
Or maybe the intention is a new game, to raise money to invest in a new game, because I don’t understand why THE GAME THAT REIGNS doesn’t change??

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Sorry for the rant…

The new DLC is cool and interesting…

7

So basically pathing is driving you nuts?We are all with you on that front.

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Perhaps this is due to professional players; many earn money analyzing other people’s games, which keeps the game somewhat archaic and quite manual, making it more difficult and less accessible, which allows those who teach the game to earn money…
It doesn’t make sense to change in this case, that’s the only explanation I have, because there are very obvious things that don’t make sense…
Or maybe I just don’t understand…

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Actually, what bothers me most is the lack of “quality of life” this game offers… It’s not even the bugs and glitches of such an old game that irritate me, that doesn’t drive me crazy… What bothers me is that it’s an archaic game…

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the route system is just an extension of the problem…

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Well, if some mechanics remain in Age of Empires II, it’s because of its two fandoms:

1. Casual Single Players - Those who enjoy the single-player content of Campaigns and Custom Campaigns in the Mods section. They sometimes play casual multiplayer to try out fun Mods or new scenarios.

2. Ranked Multiplayers - Those who have stuck with Ranked Multiplayer and already have a certain ELO level, and don’t want to leave the game because they think they would forget what they’ve learned.

About specific reason why they don´t want more changes:

For those who play single-player, this is because the campaigns, which date back to 1999, have certain mechanics and narratives. Altering the game mechanics would affect the nostalgia for those levels, as it would significantly change the balance of the original civilizations, and so on.

And for those who play multiplayer, interestingly, there are a large number of players who don’t want “the slightest change” to the base game because they’ve become accustomed to certain builds and strategies. Changing a few things, even for historical reasons, would put them at a disadvantage, and they prefer the game to remain the same:

  • When the General-Hero mechanic was added in 3 Kingdoms, many people criticized it because they didn´t wanR that some civs has so many unique elements in a game where almost all civilizations share the same technology tree with minimal differences.

  • Some players don’t even want 3 unique units per civilization: According to some, all civilizations should have only 1 unique unit, and if they have 2, it should be regional. That’s why they’re terrified of Age of Empires IV, where the Japanese have 14 UU and the Templars 13 UU.

And well, there are also AoE2 fans who welcome some improvements and changes, and another group who don’t like them.

In any case, since there’s no consensus, and well, since it’s still a 1999 game, to avoid affecting the nostalgia factor, some things will remain as they are, and other, which have more quorum, like “Unique designs for Religious units for each region”, could fit very well.

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Already possible since… checks calendar… 1999. It’s Shift instead of Alt.

Already possible since the release of Definitive Edition. Hold Ctrl + use the mouse wheel as shown in this video:

The rest of your points just sound as if you have issues with the pathing… which we all have.

This is missing the point. The three 3K civs first and foremost critiziced for not fitting into the AoE 2 timeline as they were short-lived political instances that vanished before even the Huns.

The heroes (as you call the ‘General’) were just the icing on the cake as they fully replace the classic trebuchet for those civs.

This is likewise misleading. People want civs to get more unique flavor, whether it’s by new unique units or more regional stuff. Just remember how well-received the Persian rework was (excluding the missed opportunity to change the architecture set). It is just that the older civs will look bland in comparison when only the new civs so far get more unique stuff.
From what I’ve seen, the Champi warrior now replacing the militia-line for the new civs is likewise welcomed.

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13

Well, the 2D aspect is what continues to attract its fans for two reasons:

  • It allows you to play it on toasters with low graphics settings.

  • Mod editing is easier: If you want a modded building, you just change the template and the frame rate, and you can even do that in Paint.

Also, even among AoE2 fans, some prefer the time when the 2D wasn’t realistic, while others like how it turned out in DE.

I feel something similar after finishing the three campaigns of The Last Chieftain.

More than archaic, it’s that many things that are still in AoE2 were improved in AoE4:

  • Flaming arrows: When I used Tupi Archers, I felt like I had to stack enough arrows to do “fire damage” to buildings, and then I remembered that doesn’t exist in AoE2.

  • Torchs: I tried to set buildings on fire with melee units, and then I remembered that doesn’t exist in AoE2.

  • Battle Line.- I tried to create great armies to fight in a line or in orderly formations… only for them to scatter and fight however they want at the start of combat. And micro-creating, pausing every 2 milliseconds so that each unit fights properly, is annoying. In AoE4, melee units, if you send them to attack in a line, do so and even prevent enemy cavalry or melee units from reaching your archers.

  • Very Slow Age Up.- At least compared to AoE4 times. Since it wasn’t a game specifically designed for competitive multiplayer, but rather for single-player, casual arcade, or even LAN play, advancing ages is “Very slow”. If you start with 3 villagers, it can take 20 minutes to reach the Castle Age, and 30 or 40 minutes to reach the Imperial Age. That’s why when Regicide was released in Conquerors (2000), I preferred to play it; it saved you from building a castle and even gave you more villagers. In comparison, Age of Empires 4 almost always takes 4 or 5 minutes to reach the Feudal Age, 8 minutes to reach the Castle Age if you do a Fast Castle Age, and 12 or 13 minutes for some Fast Imperial Ages.

  • Unique Unit Bonuses.- Many of the unique unit bonuses in Age of Empires 2, the vanilla game, and its first expansions consisted mainly of giving special attack bonuses to the unique units. Age of Empires 4 improved this by giving them active abilities, passive abilities, or incredible stats, or a combination thereof.
    – AoE2: Samurai vs. unique units, Cataphracts vs. melee infantry, Mangudai vs. siege, etc.
    – AoE4: Samurai with reflective armor, Cataphracts can cross enemy lines, Mangudai Parthian Shot 360°.

And well, there are also AoE2 fans who welcome some improvements and changes, and another group who don’t like them.

In any case, since there’s no consensus, and well, since it’s still a 1999 game, to avoid affecting the nostalgia factor, some things will remain as they are, and other, which have more quorum, like “Unique designs for Religious units for each region”, could fit very well and were applied.

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I dunno…its fast speed compared to the Militia seems like it’s causing a problem on the ladder. In between my drifting off to sleep, I watched a T90 video where Phosphoru did a Champi rush with the Inca, using their Settlement bonus and the Champi’s speed to very quickly attack the enemy. It will probably need to be nerfed. Having a normal Militia line would not cause this problem.

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Regicide is in the game since Age of Kings. It was promoted as the new mode beside Random Map and Deathmatch. Conquerors added other new modes tho like Wonder Race and King of the Hill.

You need to do the math on top because the game isn’t played on 1.0 speed, not even back on the old versions. The game is played on 1.7 speed which means 30 minutes ingame is actually 17.6 minutes real time.

I refer to the general concept of having a unique replacement. Balancing is a different issue imo.

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Well, that’s “one” of the main aspects that was criticized, but there are even more. Among them:

  • The campaign improvised fake endings for CaoCao and the other general where they rule All China.
  • CaoCao’s civilization having elements from later dynasties in the same region
  • Magical elements in the campaign;
  • The fact that the three kingdoms don’t have names based on a race or ethnicity, but rather kingdom names, which is rare in AoE2 (but normal in AoE4);
  • The Kitanghuts
  • etc.

If I pointed out the hero-generals (CaoCao) for Ranked, it was precisely because it touches on the competitive multiplayer aspect.

But yes, aesthetically, many expected 3K civilizations to at least be included in Chronicles, not the base game, because of the time period in which they take place, even before the fall of Rome.

Yes, that’s confusing.

I noticed it a while ago; the game’s speed display didn’t match how you perceived time in the game. I’d have to ask Sandy Petersen why they implemented it that way.

And well, only at 1.7 speed on normal speed, but 1.0 in slow speed.

In fact, when one learn how slowly the time flow of the game is in Slow speed, they began to play it in Normal speed. Fast speed (2.0) is so fast that one can´t even Micro normally without pausing every 0.5 seconds in Single Player games.

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Sorry to hear it took you that long. I’ve been bored with AoE2 campaigns quite a long time, with motionless enemies until you trigger them to move, linear gameplay, and hard limits/caps/handcuffs on you through the journey. I didn’t need other games to teach me that, and have never played SC2 or Dota.

Thank goodness. All the 3D offerings in the franchise lost charm, sacrificed gameplay, and incorporated bad camera zooms and perspectives.

Through achievements and Steam telling you how much you’ve played, I’ve been well aware XD. Thankfully, my interest in AoE2 waxes and wanes over time, so I mix in other games.

Not sure what you’re expecting, but the usual pattern with the DLC for one or two decades has been “more civs”, “more campaigns”, “more balance tweaks”. There have been quite a number of QoL improvements, actually, so I’m not sure what you mean. Try AoE2:HD or CE and surely you’ll notice quite a few QoL improvements

:neutral_face: I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one, very much so. AoE4 makes me feel like I’m playing in gelatinous Jell-o. So much impreciseness with directing units, and muddy, uninspired, repeating textures. I think there were some improvements within the past year or two, but at launch, its graphics definitely didn’t feel like a modern day game (nowhere close), and it still doesn’t, imo.

And then after buildings are demolished, the rubble stays forever, cluttering the map and mini-map, making it unnecessarily and significantly harder to see your next targets? No thanks :confused:

Not to mention the weird, cartoony scale of the buildings vs. units, and the zoom level.

Luckily, you enjoy AoE4, though… so there’s that 3D engine for you, along with what you feel are better graphics, gameplay… and probably UI/UX?… there’s the modern RTS medieval game you’re looking for, it sounds like. AoE2:DE is just an updated iteration of the most popular AoE in the franchise. I think it’s great they evolved it and didn’t completely re-do it with a different engine altogether to make it look and feel like, say, AoE3 or AoE4.

It might be your hardware, combined maybe with devs not making it more compatible with your system, because on my PC I’ve played many games with nary an issue or crash (except for when I try to make my own sound mod). Yeah, some pathing issues, but those are fairly predictable and somewhat avoidable and/or mitigated through quick micro. Yes, some vibrating units as they are being converted by monks, and a few tiny quirks here and there, but it is what it is. They definitely don’t interrupt or hurt my gameplay too much (SP vs. AI, random map, skirmish, usually)

The game came out in like 1999, and DE is an updated version of that old Genie engine. Things won’t be perfect…

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Maybe if you don’t like doing micro and don’t like a UI being more immersive?, then I could see that perspective. But for an RTS, AoE2 and AoE2:DE is how I want to play my medieval RTS. No Total War, Anno, Manor Lords, or StarCraft franchise stuff. AoE is its own thing.

The “modern” way is to automate and streamline many more things, throw in an anachronistic, modern, and kewl UI, and limit your gameplay to exactly how the devs want you to play through artificial/arbitrary limits, like, “you can only build 5 towers and 2 forts”, “your explorer is a permanent webcam”, “this trade building shall last forever”, and “siege counts as 2 population spots”)… with no emergent gameplay

Strange, if you click the town bell, they should all run for nearby shelter. Is there no hotkey for that? I thought there was. I bet you can make one if it’s not there.

I only use that hotkey + click TC/castle/tower method you mention because it’s my preference. It’s too big of econ hit to click the town bell as it fully kills your econ. I learned by watching pros play in TTL and Redbull eSport tournaments to be more precise with what villys you send to shelter. Note: If you’ve not watched any of those before, I really recommend. It’s crazy, imo, how good some people are at this game :sweat_smile: But to get a true feel for how fast they are, you’d have to watch a player like Hera actually stream their games, which he often does on Twitch

I understand you a bit. I’ve been asking for more environmental clutter, a fifth resource, another age (like a Primitive Stone Age type age), more techs, a ‘build an empire’ game mode that has you taking over a region of territories through multiple SP skirmish matches, an Age of Mythology spinoff or alien world maps using this engine, time of day changes and evolution, map selection improvements, more audio options, and true Expansion Packs that bring new stuff to SP skirmish random map games, too. And many others have many more good ideas, no doubt. But usually the evolution and DLCs are mostly “more civs”, “more unit skins”, “more building skins”, and “more campaigns”. (Caveat: I haven’t bought, tried, or looked at the Chronicles DLC yet; I hear it’s pretty different) And, also, many ideas including mine are often shot down by the AoE2 community at large due to staunch loyalty for the game they know and love

Probably never? AoE2 is its own thing, just as AoE3 and AoE4 are. Nobody who likes AoE3 wants it to be like AoE2, and are completely okay with its design and gameplay. It has its own target audience. Similarly, AoE4 is pretty set in its ways and will likely never do much more to attract AoE2 players over to it. (I’ve been waiting years for some QoL and other things that would bring me over to play it more.) If you really enjoy Ao4 and your AoE2 cup of nostalgia has run dry, it doesn’t sound like there’s a whole lot AoE2 2D Genie engine can do for you anymore. AoE4 will welcome you with open arms, no doubt!

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Yep and it has nothing to do with not being welcome to change as your points than underline.

I guess it’s just a Genie engine thing. AoE 1 likewise did it that way. It was only in AoM where real time matched ingame time.

Hard disagree, particulary in case of AoM and AoE 3 that were build by the same folks who worked on AoE 1 and 2 and designed the Bang engine to include everything that was not possible in Genie. But I guess that’s up to personal preference.

19

Well, you’re right.

Some people have been playing some AoE2 Civs since Vanilla 1999, others since Conquerors 2000, others since Forgotten, and others since the Definitive Edition.

And many are already used to certain mechanics and bonuses from certain civs, specially for multiplayer combos and builds.

It’s difficult, for example, to see them add an AoE4 mechanic like Battle Lines to AoE2, when there are professionals who precisely abuse the chaos of the fight to show their mastery of Micromanagament of individual units, the most recent sploit being the “Patrol and Attack” combo.

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I agree with you on AoM. But I don’t consider that part of the AoE franchise, though, so that wasn’t part of my comment. AoM looked beautiful and I think the fantasy/fantastical setting helped sell it for me as being a cool one-off 3D RTS in the same vein as AoE.

When it comes to AoE, though, I enjoy the 2D sprite look & feel (and now the DE-evolved 2D sprite look & feel) too much; especially the camera perspective. It also gives the game a vibe and charm that hasn’t been replicated in 3D AoE land for me yet.

If they ever make an AoE game (AoE5?) that is 3D and has AoE2’s Dimetric Projection, and more realistic gravity, animations, and physics, then I’d love to give it a try and see if I prefer it. I’m really not a fan of AoE3’s animations, cartoony unit tumbles, and some other stuff that prevent me from enjoying AoE in 3D. AoE4 did nothing to move the meter for me. I don’t want to go into any more detail about this… it is what it is. I kindly just agree to disagree :slight_smile: Plus, yes, it’ll be hard to pinpoint and explain personal preferences that you’ll relate to, agree with, or understand. It’s okay that I just prefer it in 2D so far, I guess

You should try playing on “Fast” mode. I always play Fast, and cannot imagine every playing Normal/Default speed again. I tried, and it’s like watching paint dry :smiley: I wish the Ranked area had an option to do Fast mode games. Without it, I don’t know that I’ll ever do Ranked games

You could also put “DEBUGSPEEDS” as a Steam launch option, to use the +/- numpad keys to go super fast or slow down whenever you want. Like, if you’re just milking things or aging up and not doing much, tap + a few times to do 4x, 8x, or 16x multiplier :tada:

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