Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition Queue

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Last August on Gamescom 2017 Microsoft announced a nice suprise for the aoe2 fans: Microsoft is working on Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition! I collected all the information I could find and made the complete guide. Let’s dive into aoe2de.

Age of Empires @ Gamescom Live

Watch Queue Queue. Watch Queue Queue. Remove all; Disconnect; The next video is starting stop. Let's Play Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Lernkampagne 👑 #005 Deutsch/German1440p. Introducing Quick Play! We’ve now made it easier than ever to jump in and play Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Quick Play allows players to quickly set game type and map preferences, and effortlessly matchmake with others in Random Map, Empire Wars, and Battle Royale game modes. The queue for Quick Play is unranked and meant for convenient play with just a few clicks!

Lets walk you through the Age of Empires @ Gamescom Live show. As teased in June during the E3 there was a big Age of Empires event on the first night of Gamescom 2017. The one hour event was setup to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the franchise this year. The show was a balance of pleasing the aoe fans and also introducing it to new people. Dozens of fans showed up for the live show. The spotlight was on the already announced Age of Empires: Definitive Edition. The streaming fans also saw some familiar faces when they interviewed the casters ZeroEmpires and Killer B. Followed by gameplay example videos, some lan action, an interview with the Forgotten Empires team, some promotion for the Microsoft sponsored Escape Euro Cup finals on Gamescom and giveaways until finally they started the announcements!

First up was the new Age of Empires: Definitive Edition trailer with new game details, the release date (later postponed to Februari 20th) and the start of the closed beta. Followed by the quick note that they will also do Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition (Wow!) and Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition. Closing of the show with the teaser for new installment: Age of Empires 4 (Wow!!).

Overall I found it a positive and energetic event to watch. The hosts did a good job to move the show along for the casual viewers, but there was enough room with new details for the aoe fans. That they worked with ZeroEmpires and involved the community in the show is a big plus. Microsoft #clearly invested in the show and have big plans for the series.

Age of Empires: Definitive Edition

To understand the plan for aoe2de we first have to look at Age of Empires: Definitive Edition. The game was announced in June 2017 at the E3 event from PC Gamer. Maybe with a little push from Bill Gates.

The developer: Forgotten Empires

Microsoft Studios can no longer work with Ensemble Studios, because they closed the studio ten years ago. The developer for the remaster is Forgotten Empires. A group of former fanmods that were the creative force behind three popular aoe2hd dlc’s. Last summer they announced that former Ensemble Studios lead engineers Matt Pritchard and Rich Geldreich had joined there team. Nothing more then a dream team to work on Age of Empires: Definitive Edition.

Definitive

Definitive Edition

“Sticking with the spirit of the Age series, the Definitive Edition will have a map editor and mod support.” Via Mashable

The definitive edition is a remaster of the original Age of Empires game from 1997. Microsoft Studios announced new 4k graphics, improved balance based on UserPatch, different zoom modes, a classic mode, multiplayer, a map editor and mod support. The new graphics look closer to aoe2. Because both aoe1 and aoe2 are build on the Genie engine the Forgotten Empires had experience to improve the game with new features formerly only available in aoe2. Nothing game changing, but improvement we come to espect in modern games like the ability to queue multipe unites and a hotkey to find idle villagers. The multiplayer uses Xbox Live framework, but like with other pc games you don’t need the Xbox Live Gold console subscription to play the multiplayer. If you don’t like the graphics or the new features you can still play the original game in classic mode.

The game will be released on Microsoft’s own Windows Store for Windows 10. Because of some missing features like mod support the release of Age of Empires: Definitive Edition was postponed from the original October 19th 2017 to Februari 20th 2018.

Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition

There is not much known about Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition. In the Gamescom announcement Adam Isgreen from Microsoft Studios only mentioned that they want to take the the same care of aoe2de as they did with aoe1de. That sounds like Forgotten Empires is also involved, but Bert Beeckman aka Cysion cannot confirm this. They are only the graphics and creative support for aoe2hd, but the full developer of aoe1de. I think more details will follow soon after the release of aoe1de.

“I can’t deny, nor confirm” CysionBE on reddit

If we follow the details from aoe1de we could expect new 4k graphics, zoom modes and exclusive Windows Store and Windows 10 release. However I don’t think that will happen.

Queue

Age of Empires II HD

The big difference between aoe1 and aoe2 is that the latter had an incredible successful release on Steam. Since 2013 the hd edition sold around five milion copies, has more then 400.000 active players every two weeks and a review score of 92%. Even if Microsoft wants to release the definitive editions only to build hype the next few years for aoe4 they cannot discard this playerbase of milions of fans. A release exclusive on Windows Store could potential splinter the community that the Forgotten Empires team nurtured to growth the last five years.

My hope is that they upgrade Age of Empires II HD on Steam with a dlc to Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition. Just like with Rise of Nations: Extended Edition Microsoft Studios could release it on Windows Store and Steam simultaneous with crossplay. This would please the active players on Steam and get them the Windows Store release and promotion for aoe4 they want. And if I’m right it could be possible that there is a team of Forgotten Empires already working on it for the last ten months. This unknown dlc for aoe2 on SteamDB could very well be Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition.

Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition

Just like aoe2de there is not much known about Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition. A graphic overhaul and a release on Windows Store seems most likely. Just like aoe2hd this game is successful on Steam. With 2.5 milion sales and 150.000 active players every two weeks it’s most likely to need crossplay between Steam and Windows Store to keep the community together.

Definitive

Age of Empires 4

Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition Queue Download

There has been much discussion about the meaning of the Age of Empires 4 teaser. The narrator and graphics reference all the old games and artwork. Even the logo is in the familiar style. It ends with the calling for a new age. Unlike the old booklet there is no reference of World War I, World War II or a future setting. I think that they will stick with the timeframe that made the franchise most successful: the aoe2 timeframe.

Microsoft also announced the new developer: Relic Entertainment. A seasoned rts developer that has a successful franchise based in the World War II timeframe. According to ZeroEmpires the development in August 2017 was a early stage technical demo. Starting there it will take minimal two years, but most likely more to finish a complete game. The Relic developers are active seeking for input on what should be focus of the game. A meetings with pro players, casters and community people has happened after Gamescom. Luckily for Relic they are based in the same city as SkyBox Labs, the developers of the most active title in the franchise.

2018

Age Of Empires Definitive Edition Bundle

aoe1de will be released next month and I expect some news for aoe2de to follow shortly after. It will be an active year for the aoe franchise and community. I will do my best to update this blog when any news breaks. The wiki is also still in development so you really should keep an eye out for updates on this blog. Subscribe via RSS and follow @aoe2wiki on Mastodon for the latest news.

The only problem with Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition is that you can already play the original Age of Empires 2. Oh and you can also already play Age of Empires 2 HD, which tidied up the original's visuals and, according to its store page, brought in 'improved AI, workshop support, multiplayer, Steamworks integration and more!' So if you're anything like me, that might've made you think twice.

Thankfully, there is more to the Definitive Edition than that. Talking to Adam Isgreen, Creative Director for Age of Empires on the Microsoft side of things and Bert Beeckman, co-founder of Forgotten Empires, the studio that takes the lead on these remasters, the first thing I wanted to ask was why an HD owner would want to upgrade. There is actually a decent answer.

'Well, we sell expansions for the game as well and the expansions usually run about 10 bucks, right?' Isgreen tells me. 'So, within the Definitive Edition you have a whole new expansion, basically: you've got three new campaigns, a whole bunch of new missions, you've got four new civilizations to play with as well, so right there you're pretty much already at 10 dollars into the game.'

You'll also get five dollars off if you already own the HD edition, which helps (I didn't get confirmation for the UK side of things - know you're wondering - but imagine it will be an equivalent amount). 'So for five dollars more you also get brand new AI, an entirely new multiplayer with a super-secure, awesome anti-cheat multiplayer solution that's super-stable across all kinds of connections. You get all the new social features, you get everything like the unified community, there's just a lot of things - for any kind of player you are - to take advantage of.'

Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition Queue Release

Fair enough. That chat was actually after Isgreen and Beeckman had taken me through a closer look at those features in the game, via a peek at the new Tamerlane campaign, the most striking of them being that new AI.

Age Of Empires Ii Definitive Edition

'If you look at the old AI, it cheated' Beeckman chuckled. 'It totally cheated. It doesn't cheat anymore.'

'If you put one AI, non-cheating, of the Definitive Edition version against seven of the original that do cheat, it just wipes the floor with them. No problem. Every time. So that's the kind of level we were aiming for here... the new AI is so good that you can watch replays of it to actually learn how to play the game, because it plays the game correctly now... it tries to follow the competitive meta - on the highest [difficulty] level - because we have 20 years of pro players doing tournaments and we tried to get that in the AI as well.'

You can also talk to the new AI in a more sophisticated way. I didn't see this in action but the example I was given was how, in the past, interactions were limited to things like 'do you have any spare Gold you could give me?' whereas now you could ask an AI ally 'hey, can you attack, with Knights, that specific player at that time', and they'll go ahead and do it.

Again, it's hard to really evaluate those sorts of claims without having a proper, lengthy hands-on, but to me the talk about an AI trained on competitive strategies is genuinely exciting. I might not ever see much benefit from it, mind - I'm one of those strategy players who hits a skill cap somewhere in the no-man's-land between teching-for-fun on Medium and struggling with a rush on Hard - but even the fact that the AI always sticks to the rules is promising enough for those like me who can now actually watch what they're doing and mimic it.

The rest of the improvements in the Definitive Edition fall comfortably into the category of neat stuff for nerds - which I really should stress I count myself as, too! - rather than big headline revolutions. Isgreen and Beeckman told me that the feedback they had was always a request not to touch the gameplay, and so their focus was on how they could help that 'stand out more' and deciding on looking mostly at how it's controlled, which first of all meant the ability to zoom in and out. Hope you were sitting down for that bombshell! (Although it is, actually, weirdly neat to see, especially if you've the dosh to witness it all in snazzy 4K).

There's now a global queue for what you're building. 'If you look at professional players,' Beeckman told me, 'they're constantly clicking on all the buildings to see what's going on, so it's really hard to follow the game. Now, it's there. You know what's going on, you don't have to click any more, there's more time to actually enjoy the game.' Or as Isgreen put it: 'We want you playing on screen, not necessarily playing on the UI.'

There's also a kind of 'automatic farm receiving,' so villagers will keep going as long as they have enough resources to do so (a boon for old school players who remember having to micro-manage this). There's a command queue, which has been in plenty of Age of Empires games and just about every other strategy game since, but was never actually in the original Age 2. There's better unit selection, so if you click and drag over a large amount of military units with a few villagers smattered in there, the game will know you're only trying to select the military ones and automatically leave out the villagers. No more 'why did my villagers stop working on my Wonder?!', as Isgreen put it. Even the ability to attack-move is new. 'All these foundational things that everyone takes for granted in RTS games now, we had to go put all that in.'

Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition Guide

It does add up - at least in theory. The Definitive Edition will have 27 campaigns in it; the original had five. There were 13 civilisations in the original and 35 now. I'm really not one for equating time spent in a game to value-for-money but, if that's your bag, Beeckman claimed that 'if you play through all the campaigns and win them all in one go, you have 200 hours of gameplay. That's how much there is, just in the campaigns, for 20 bucks.' Again, fair enough. It's cross-play between stores (Steam or Microsoft Live), 'basically it's like a mini version of Battle.net,' as Isgreen told me, so 'you have all the AoE games, all of your friends from both Steam and from Live; chat, everything across games all in one place, so we're kind of bringing the whole community together with Age' - hence the 'unified community' comment when I asked.

Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition Walkthrough

Basically, it does actually seem like a proper, ground-up job and a reasonable ask, given everything that's included - but it does also seem like it's still a big reasonable ask. It seems like the teams behind it, at Microsoft and at the three studios - Forgotten Empires, Tantalus, and Wicked Witch - are aware of that. The demo felt as much like a sales pitch as a walkthrough of what's new, because it's necessary if they're going to get players who bought Age of Empires 2 back in 1999, and then HD, so they could play it again with their friends, in 2013, to triple-dip on an even-more-HD version now. I can tell you it's pretty though (it really is), and I can tell I think I'm probably sold myself - even if it's just the cost of getting an AI friend to teach me how to play.