Legacy UI Project

[AssertiveWall]

When Ensemble Studios Online shut down we witnessed the end of an era. In those final days, experiencing the once-vibrant Legacy version of the game left me nostalgic for those good ol' days, and wanting to bring them back. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to:

The Legacy UI Project

Let us bring back some of that beloved Legacy nostalgia, and enjoy that feeling with all the benefits that the Definitive Edition has to offer - combining the best of both worlds!

• Legacy UI Project: The Warchiefs

What exactly is it? The Legacy UI Project overhauls the style and function of the UI to bring back as much of the old feel and functionality as possible. From the main menu to the skirmish HUD to the multiplayer interface, the whole UI receives a makeover.

Main Menu


All the new features and pages of 3DE pack into the original nested menus.

In-Game HUD


Enjoy the improved, less intrusive layout of the Definitive Edition with redesigned artwork derived from the legacy files.

Multiplayer Interface


This mod addresses a pressing issue in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition: enhancing social interaction within the game. Currently, players face issues making it difficult to experience seamless communication and interaction, resulting in a lonely multiplayer experience. Now, you can stay in touch with your friends easier with the more prominent chat tab, notifications, and sorted, visible friends list.

Total Conversion


The new art style permeates through the entire game, making for a thorough UI conversion.

The Warchiefs Edition & Future Plans

This edition recreates the UI from The Warchiefs expansion, but it won't be the only version. We plan to recreate additional editions for the original release, The Asian Dynasties, and more.

Stay tuned, spread the word, and enjoy the new interface!

• Legacy UI Project: The Warchiefs

Bugs and Other Issues

IMPORTANT : Enabling this mod causes a crash to desktop (CTD) when first returning to the main menu. This is expected, and your game should restart without issue.

Attempting to run this mod with other mods runs the risk of causing a crash. If you run into an issue where you can't navigate to the mods page, locate your subscribed mods folder and manually delete the mod folder and entry in the .json file.

Lastly, we did our best to test everything as thoroughly as possible, but that doesn't mean we didn't miss something. If you notice a bug please reach out to me directly, @AssertiveWall20 with a description and a screenshot of your issue.

[fightinfrenchman]

Thank you for your service (100%)

[look]

is it working already? ill use 100% nice!

[iNcog]

the game browser alone should be the best aspect of this mod, right?

[MCJim]

So excited about the Legacy UI Mod! I think it can bring back a lot of social interaction, something we did not really have since DE, and especially after ESO closed. It was a privilege to test the mod in earlier phases, and it feels like it brings a bit of ESO back to life.

If a lot of people start using it, it could help rebuild the sense of community we’ve all missed. Big thanks to AsssertiveWall for making this, it’s amazing! Let’s bring back that feeling of playing together, chatting and seeing each other online in one eye-wenk!

[AssertiveWall]

is it working already? ill use 100% nice!

The Warchiefs version is out now (i.e. everything you see above). The in-game mod browser is the best way to find it but you can also go to the website: https://www.ageofempires.com/mods/details/313662/

the game browser alone should be the best aspect of this mod, right?

It better be, considering it took about as long as the rest combined! In all seriousness, though, I do intend to make a "3DE Version" where it's mostly just the new online interface in case some people prefer that.

[CuCkO0]

This is actually ground breaking and I think I speak for everyone when I say that this is genuinely so appreciated. Hopefully the devs can take a look at what the community can do for themselves and see where it went wrong and, in time, make them permanent changes for everyone.

Amazing work so far, well done

[AssertiveWall]

After talking a bit with Dr. Maxy and KG19991380, it looks like we'll be able to add a cool feature: changing the UI based on culture groups! There's still a lot of work to be done, but I thought I'd tease a new panel:

[ocemilky]

This is awesome

Is it possible to use this mod for the online browser but use DE for in game HUD?

[AssertiveWall]

Is it possible to use this mod for the online browser but use DE for in game HUD?

Not at the moment, but I've certainly been thinking about something along those lines.

[P i k i l i c]

This looks like exactly what this game needs... fantastic project and well done so far @AssertiveWall !!
EDIT : came back after trying the mod, incredible ! the good old social friendly ESO ! If everyone installed it or if the next patch implements it, it would be literally the best thing that happened to DE since its realease

[tabben]

Looks good! Have you looked into if there's a way to make the Windows taskbar app icon flash upon finding a game?

[MCJim]

Looks good! Have you looked into if there's a way to make the Windows taskbar app icon flash upon finding a game?

That is a very interesting idea.

[AssertiveWall]

Update
Ladies and gentlemen, a big update for the end of December. You’ll notice some little fixes here or there, but there’s a couple big changes I want to share:

Updated Control Group Banners



Reworked banners combine the legacy style flags with the updated DE icons for better visibility.

Civ-dependent HUD



Each culture group now has it’s own unique in-game HUD broken up into Euro & Colonial civs, Warchief civs, Asian civs, and African civs. Make sure to give them all a try!

[SoldieR]

It looks great! Can you say definitively if it affects performance? I downloaded it a few weeks ago and played one game of time to micro where I was getting full game freezes for multiple seconds, which I've never had before. Was it just a coincidence or is it possible the in-game UI change caused that?

[AssertiveWall]

I can't say for certain whether your experience was due to the mod or not. The game itself definitely does have issues like that which I experience fairly regularly, and there's even a thread on the AoE forums talking about how to help it.

It's possible that the mod uses more resources, but in my experience the performance is about the same with/without the mod enabled, and that holds true for the handful of people who were using it for the past couple of months.

[AssertiveWall]

Legacy UI Project: Definitive Edition

I’m happy to announce another version of The Legacy UI Project:



While it may seem at first like a contradiction, this version implements early unused DE assets into the legacy layout to truly mix the legacy and DE feel.



Available now on the mod browser!

[iNcog]

Is it time to finally play DE?

[Zanerre]

Great job I respect ur work, but maybe need to rework friends list with alphabetical order and some green or red icon for on and off ?

Maybe make him a little bigger bc name are so long bc steam ?

The invitation is same as DE or RE ?

Thanks you :)