UHC2
Just over a year after UHC was initially introduced with EP5, we are coming with a massive update to its core. Although UHC has already allowed us to implement many great features, such as timed events or dymanic observer maps based on difficulty, we are really going next level with the abilities we are being granted by UHC2, thanks to the amazing work of @Kevsoft.
Kevsoft, one of the lead developers of Age of Empires Online – Celeste Project, has worked for months on improving the capabilities of UHC, uncovering inner parts of the game engine and introducing new ways to extend their functionality or override them. A few weeks ago, he had contacted me and offered help with implementing specific changes important for the AoE3 community. Today, you will all be able to experience the first improvements we are introducing on ESOC Patch as a result of this collaboration!
EP 6.1.0.0
changelog since EP 6.0.1.0
General
- The team selection in multiplayer game rooms (ESO/LAN) is now sorted logically, and teams 3 & 4 are properly synchronized between all players in the game room when selected.
- Default state of the Free-for-all option in multiplayer game rooms (ESO/LAN) now persists for the host throughout a single game session (until the game is closed)
ESOC Patch general changes
- Replaced the "Play Fast" button in record game UI with a dropdown allowing for a more precise selection of the playback speed factor - effectively allowing for faster playback than which was possible before. Value "1" is equivalent to the default speed, while value "2" is equivalent to the previously available "Play Fast" button. Note that playback speed remains highly influenced by the particular recorded game and by computer processing power. Aizamk's Spectator UI has so far not been updated to include this feature.
ESO game browser
- Added a new filter option to the Filter dialog; "Show games hosted on a different patch". With this option disabled, you will only see games hosted on the same patch as you're on and able to actually join. The option persists only until you leave ESO; the initial state always remains to show games hosted on any TAD-based patch.
- Added a new checkbox option above the game list; "Auto-pest inviters". With this option enabled, anyone who invites you to a custom game will become immediately pested. This option persists throughout a single game session (until the game is closed), disabled by default. The option is meant to alleviate the "invite spam" glitch, possibly making the glitch harder to execute or grant some additional time before it goes through. Absolutely no results guaranteed, previous attempts at this approach had mixed results at best. Note that the pest list has a limited size, which currently remains up to the player to manage.
ESOC Patch map changes
- UIx New England: mine spawn improvements, enlarged lakes.
ESOC Patch & ESOC Treaty Patch bug fixes
- Fixed a bug causing the Sioux Warchief building animation to sometimes not activate.
- Fixed a bug allowing for "knocked out" units (such as downed explorers) to wake up on command at any point by using a hotkey to change their tactics/squadmode.
- The master game sound level will no longer reset to maximum level whenever the game window regains focus.
- Fixed a bug that could cause a building foundation to be built at a much slower speed than intended when the main builder unit's action was suspended in an irregular way (garrison).
- Fixed a bug where garrisoned builders could continue to affect the maximum builder limit of a placed building foundation they were originally tasked on, resulting in less or even no other builders being able to be tasked on the building foundation.
Observer Mode
- The incredible Aizamk's Spectator UI is now bundled with the ESOC Patch installation in all its available resolutions, and automatically activated for players who are spectating a match, according to their current game resolution. If the spectator's game resolution isn't supported, no version of the spectator UI will be activated. The Spectator UI will be automatically activated in live matches as well as while playing back recorded games on a UI-enabled map (working on all post-UI 2.2 maps and post-EP 6.1 recs). The Japanese branch of Aizamk's Spectator UI is also supported in all its resolutions, but requires manually creating file "isjapaneseversion.txt" in the root game folder in order to activate it in place of the English one.
- The "minimized UI" game option will now become automatically enabled while observing, in order to ensure no display issues with the spectator UI. Upon leaving the match, this option will be returned to its original state in the case it's been force-switched. This should allow for seamless observing even for users who prefer maximized UI during regular gameplay.
- The "Sandbox" difficulty setting no longer acts as an Observer Mode activation on UIx maps, and will not influence the map spawn. Instead, we are introducing a separate checkbox option "Observer Mode" to act in its place, available only in multiplayer lobbies (ESO/LAN). The new option is properly synchronized between players in a game room, and its default state will persist for the host throughout a single game session (until the game is closed).
- Whenever a "team observer mode" game room is joined by a player, default teams as appropriate for the Observer Mode logic will be preselected for all players in the game room. For these purposes, a "team observer mode" game room is defined as a room with 4 or more players, FFA disabled, and Observer Mode enabled. With 4 to 6 players, 2v2 tvb is assumed. With 7 to 8 players, 3v3 tvb is assumed. Observers are placed on team 3.
- The amount of experience received for deleted units/buildings is no longer affected by the number of observers in a match. Players will now always receive the full bounty award as if there were only two opposing teams.
Diplomacy / Locked Teams
- Retired previous diplomacy implementation logic in favor of a more native one through UHC2. Diplomacy will no longer be automatically activated in FFA games and custom triggers used to activate Diplomacy in scenarios should no longer be used, although they remain functional for the time being; to preserve compatibility.
- Diplomacy can now be toggled using the "Locked Teams" option in ESO/LAN multiplayer game rooms, as is common in other Age games. Since AI players are not currently able to utilize this feature intelligently, it is not made available in singleplayer Skirmish.
- The "OK" and "Cancel" buttons have been brought back onto the Diplomacy UI window and now function as expected. Changes will not take effect until confirmed by the "OK" button.
- Diplomatic stance change notifications have been reimplemented natively, instead of using inefficient triggers. This should solve any performance concerns and make these notifications work out of the box even in scenarios.
- The Diplomacy feature is now also included in the ESOC Treaty Patch.
ESOC Patch Launcher
- The UHC library file is now versioned for the purposes of record game compatibility; this release introduces a separate version with breaking changes for the first time. The Recorded Games Recognition tool should allow for seamless playback of older recorded game files, even if those matches feature bugs fixed directly through UHC, such as "slow build" mentioned earlier.
ESOC UHC Plugin
- Foreign plugins in the game folder are now allowed and no longer detected by anti-cheat. ESOC Patch executables will now only ever load the ESOC UHC Plugin itself, as defined by a new UHC configuration option.
ESOC Map Pack installer
- Reflected changes to Observer Mode; compatible maps generated for use outside of ESOC Patch environment should remain functioning same as before.
- Fixed an issue that would cause an unwanted folder name to be appended to the destination path whenever a non-default path was selected.
ESOC Patch installer
- Fixed an issue that would cause an unwanted folder name to be appended to the destination path whenever a non-default path was selected.
- The installer will now verify whether the destination path contains a TAD executable (age3y.exe), rather than a vanilla executable (age3.exe), in order to proceed with the installation.
Additional notes
- All listed changes are also in effect on the ESOC Treaty Patch, unless stated otherwise.
- The bundled version of Aizamk's Spectator UI is functionally equivalent to the initial UI 2.2 release, as of now.
- If you currently have Aizamk's Spectator UI manually installed, you will still need to uninstall it in order to get on the regular game UI. Unless you are intending to observe games not played on the environment of ESOC patches, you should not need to install it again.
- Game resolution for Aizamk's Spectator UI is decided upon match start, and will not react to further resolution changes applied during the course of a match. The game resolutions supported by Aizamk's Spectator UI are:
- 1920 x 1080
- 1680 x 1050
- 1600 x 900
- 1366 x 768
- 1280 x 800
- 1280 x 768
- 1280 x 720
Credits
- @Garja for changes to UIx New England
- @mandosrex for supplying the fix for Sioux Warchief building animation
- @Aizamk for providing his wondrous Spectator UI
- @Kevsoft for all his work on UHC2 and help with implementing all the initial changes
Download
1. If you have a previous version installed, you can simply run the EP Launcher and auto-update should have you covered.
2. If you're installing for the first time, download the exe installer.
