Rumours of AOE4 closed-alpha/beta

[Mitoe]

If true, sounds like we're getting an AoE2 clone. Yay.

[NyxAchlys9]

AoE2 sucks its too slow tbh. I'd be pretty disappointed if its an AoE2 clone. I can't really play AoE for long period anymore so AoE2 just isn't for me at all. Looks like im staying with Starcraft.

[_NiceKING_]

ye, sounds like AoEII:2 is coming.

[NyxAchlys9]

I know it looks like typical jakey being salty but its ridiculous to influence a new video game to just be a remake. Why can't it have elements from all titles in the series and build on it? AoE3 still sells more copies than AoE2, and is a more popular game from various sources. If a studio can be bullied into making a game by appealing to the popular vote then it simply wont be a good game. Great games are from developers who are unbaised and create what they want to.

I'm not (or should not ) saying that the card system should be in the game but it seems that they are appealing to AoE2 fans only - especially by having only the top players of AoE2 test it. Because people who are that dedicated towards AoE2 to be the best are definitely bias and probably havent even touched 1 or 3 in a long time. Why should they judge what it good?

[gamevideo113]

I don't think the game is necessarily going to be an aoe2 clone, if you look at aoe online the game plays out quite differently from aoe2 despite having similar mechanics. The speed of the game just depends on numbers, it's not really something to worry about as it can be easily tweaked (hopefully aoe2 players will recognize if the game is too slow and needs to be a bit faster). The fact that cards will not be in aoe4 doesn't worry me that much. I don't want aoe4 to be an aoe2 clone but i don't want it to be an aoe3 clone either. Brand new game mechanics would be the best possible thing. As for the era, many people think it will be in the last two centuries, and many think it will be a jump back to medieval times. If the guy says it is not what "most people expect" then at this point i'm thinking it will go back to ancient times with greeks and stuff

[Goodspeed]

I think you are also underestimating how much work Microsoft are planning on putting into the DEs. From what I can tell about AoE2 DE they are going to try to build Voobly into the game basically. That's no small feat.

But why would you need top players to playtest things like that? A DE is a remake of an existing game, where there are few changes to the actual gameplay. You would still need people to test it, sure, but they wouldn't need to be very good at the game. You need good players, players with a long history playing the series, if you're making a new game and trying to make the correct decisions when it comes to game design and balance.

[redacted]

[pecelot]

@Goodspeed , it just happens that top players are usually the ones with long history. They probably felt like they needed someone from the outside of their studio to get the perspective, so why not just fly over the best of the best? Moreover, in AoE2 there is the HD balance and the Voobly balance, which is why choosing the best options for an official DE may not be as straightforward as you seem to imply.

I dont buy it frankly. Game is like 3 years away from release. There are all the DE to complete and playtest (just look at how long it took for aoe1:DE from the announcement date).
There is probably nothing at all ready to play yet.
[redacted]

How long? https://www.ageofempires.com/news/annou ... e-edition/ The DE was announced in June, in October it comes out. Is 4 months that much?

Nice fucking watermark.

One could just, like, cut 10 pixels from the bottom

My guess/hope is the time period is early post-colonial America, with civs like Brazil, Mexican Empire, Haiti, Gran Colombia and USA joining Britain/Spain/France and various native tribes.

Also kinda suspicious about this timing, but if it's legit it gives me hope that they don't pass over the era between the revolution and ww1 like every other strategy game.

The Official AoE 4 Thread or others may be more appropriate for such posts

I think you are also underestimating how much work Microsoft are planning on putting into the DEs. From what I can tell about AoE2 DE they are going to try to build Voobly into the game basically. That's no small feat.

That is indeed a surprise to me. A pleasant one.

A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one

If you basically agree with the quoted sentences, what's the point of the „but" conjunction

[redacted]

I know it looks like typical jakey being salty but its ridiculous to influence a new video game to just be a remake. Why can't it have elements from all titles in the series and build on it? AoE3 still sells more copies than AoE2, and is a more popular game from various sources. If a studio can be bullied into making a game by appealing to the popular vote then it simply wont be a good game. Great games are from developers who are unbaised and create what they want to.

I'm not (or should not ) saying that the card system should be in the game but it seems that they are appealing to AoE2 fans only - especially by having only the top players of AoE2 test it. Because people who are that dedicated towards AoE2 to be the best are definitely bias and probably havent even touched 1 or 3 in a long time. Why should they judge what it good?

lol, that's a... far conclusion based on such a poor piece of evidence

[hleung]

There have been rumours circulating across the internet regarding Age of Empires 4 going into closed-alpha/beta phrase just a short while after the announcement in GamesCom. I will quickly summarise what has been discussed in this thread.

Some of us are slightly worried about the speed of development of a game title that is supposed to have relatively sophisticated mechanics, as the most recent trailer in GamesCom has revealed nothing conclusive yet (and most of us expect the game will be released in a few years, following the release of DEs). Some of course are also concerned about the removal of certain game mechanics such as cards and home cities in Age of Empires 4, which makes the game becoming more like a clone of AOE2. Nonetheless, there are also suggestions that the game is still alright even if it is similar to AOE2, if the good things in AOE3 and other rts games will appear in AOE4, such as meta resources, tech trees, age bonuses, etc.

Although rumours of the new game are being circulated, there has been no solid evidence to back them up (as far as I am aware of) nor has there been any confirmation on what has been said were true - and even if the rumours were true, many things in the game would be subject to change anyway.

While it is almost certain that some well-known AOE2 players will be participating in the beta testing, we hope the developers are going to listen to the AOE3 community as well, as we may also be able to provide some valuable ideas and feedback to the development.

I hope this sums up the discussion we are having, and let us continue as the thread is now re-opened.

[Goodspeed]

@Goodspeed , it just happens that top players are usually the ones with long history. They probably felt like they needed someone from the outside of their studio to get the perspective, so why not just fly over the best of the best? Moreover, in AoE2 there is the HD balance and the Voobly balance, which is why choosing the best options for an official DE may not be as straightforward as you seem to imply.

Still seems unlikely to me that they would fly those people over just for the DE's.

[pecelot]

Such a statement seems to be correct.

[dietschlander]

If 10 aoe people were flown into Vancouver atleast one of them should've been Ryan

[gamevideo113]

If 10 aoe people were flown into Vancouver atleast one of them should've been Ryan

+1

[hleung]

Alright. The thread has been partially restored and unlocked after some quick moderation.

@everyone can resume the discussion now.

[Goodspeed]

Such a statement seems to be correct.

What statement? [redacted]

[lemmings121]

I heard they are thrashing everything and making the gameplay aoeo based

[gamevideo113]

I heard they are thrashing everything and making the gameplay aoeo based

It's surely a good base to work on. Inb4 AoE4 is AoEO with realistic graphics.

[pecelot]

Such a statement seems to be correct.

What statement?

The one directly above the post.

[lemmings121]

I heard they are thrashing everything and making the gameplay aoeo based

It's surely a good base to work on. Inb4 AoE4 is AoEO with realistic graphics.

Aoeo is the aoe2 essence, fixed for a faster paced game with qol changes.. Its a good base. I would still add some aoe3 elements and prefereably new features, but I like it as a starting point.
(please no 15 minutes long early game aoc style)

[Goodspeed]

I still don't know what statement you're talking about @pecelot. I assume you mean they did fly people in for the DE's?

[n0el]

They wouldn't fly people to Relic to play DEs. Makes zero sense. It's obviously for AOE4, but that doesn't mean they played it. Could have been just to discuss it and listen for ideas. Relic was hiring quite substantially in the last few months, this tells me the game isn't near completion.

[WickedCossack]

If 10 aoe people were flown into Vancouver atleast one of them should've been Ryan

I think zuta with his connections and history has the biggest chance of being involved.

Next is ryan, seems he has been rather busy lately and his lack of progress in divinity original sin 2 is potentially suspicious.

Finally interj is also a possibility and he is conveniently taking a couple of weeks off right now not to mention he took a flight departing from London in the past few days, though he has a supposed cover story for that.

Beyond that I don't think they would be interested in anyone else.

The guy did say 80% were aoe2, which leaves 2 people not. Could be 0 or 1 from aoe3, idk, I wouldn't get any hopes up.

[hleung]

The community team would like to remind everyone that we should avoid making any NDA-related accusations in this thread. Any further discussions about NDAs in general will be removed by the community team

[momuuu]

any reason why they would take AOE2 guys rather than AOE3, or at least a mix of both? I don't get it

because its going to be aoe2 2

[Goodspeed]

Because AoE2 players are more representative of the entire fan base. We're the "weird ones" who liked the game nobody else liked

[gamevideo113]

I don't think anyone from the AoE3 community flew to vancouver unfortunately. Most of the AoE2 players that went there are relatively open minded when it comes to different games though (aka they aren't AoE2 purists) so i think we can still hope for the best. Assuming they will be asked their opinion, they probably won't push excessively for mantaining some AoE2 characteristics which might be out of date.