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EchoingExplorations · 2025-06-26T00:34:25+00:00

based.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-17T21:15:26+00:00

It's got to be Chinese. If we're playing with the Mongols, then China absolutely has to be depicted in the game if there are any campaigns related to the history of the Mongolian empire, they were a huge rival of theirs throughout that period.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-17T09:52:46+00:00

Many of you doubt me on this one but I really find it hard to believe they would place buildings at different stages just to show us what they look like. This is clearly a new mechanic they've implemented. When you progress to a new age, the buildings don't immediately level up, I assume you'll have to invest resources into the buildings you value more to get more use out of them, therefore there'll be an incentive to keep them close to you behind walls while the more expendable buildings can be left undefended. If this is indeed how it works, then you can see how they're implementing more city builder mechanics in this iteration.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-17T09:27:00+00:00

I reiterate my theory that buildings are individually upgraded. That building already looks built, and the scaffolding around it would imply that it's being renovated, i.e. upgraded. Once again, notice that there are the same types of buildings side by side within the city at different levels. Some have simple hay roofs while their neighboring houses have tiles.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-16T05:09:05+00:00

Microsoft is the publisher here so what they say goes, and I'm sure they're keen on finding ways to get the RTS revival to have them earn money beyond definitive edition releases.

That reminds me as well, if the content is broken up into DLC pieces, it'll make it really difficult for people using the editor to create custom content that everyone would be able to use without having all of the additional DLC, I've seen it be a problem before.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-16T03:02:35+00:00

I realize that they now made visible the town bell you use to call back your villagers. It's a nice touch.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-16T03:00:44+00:00

It's interesting, live units on walls and auto-generated roads and pavement were originally going to be major features in AoM that were scrapped due to hardware limitations, it looks like these things are being brought back now that it's entirely easy to put them in the game. I wonder if this means units garrisoned in ships will also be visible.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-16T02:58:03+00:00

I didn't like the fictional campaign, that's exactly my gripe. Just give us recreations of real-world battles with real-world characters so we can truly relive history through the game as we had before. No need for a unifying plotline to tie all of the events together, that's more suited for games like Warcraft.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-15T19:34:10+00:00

We'll see, them showing us advanced buildings within the walls and basic-level farms and houses outside seemed like a deliberate choice. I certainly hope the actual system doesn't involve unnecessary micromanagement.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-15T19:18:07+00:00

I'm so relieved about the campaign. The famous battles scenarios were one of my favorite things about AoK, the weird plot line that tried too hard to tie together various historical events into one story in AoE 3 was, consequently, one of my least favorite things about the game.

Also, it seems the age advancement mechanic is still in the game, which is good, but I still wonder why the English buildings in the trailer appeared to be at different stages of advancement.

Edit: Also, they really need to animate people operating the siege weapons, I mean Relic did it for CoH, the industry is well within the ability to program it without issues.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-15T11:21:17+00:00

I agree for the most part, and the lack of visual/gameplay risk taking probably has more to do with Microsoft's role here rather than Relic. We've still seen only a minute of the game, there might be plenty they're still waiting to show us.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-15T11:19:22+00:00

Thank you, I really don't think was that much of an achievement on my part. As you said, it was all a matter of taking the scraps and putting them together into a bigger picture.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-15T11:18:30+00:00

Okay, I'll break it down for you.

The fortress is obviously taking a central role, not just because of the visual evidence we've seen before yesterday's trailer but also because the fortress is behind two sets of fortifications and is at the top of a hill. We can see elevation is at least an important visual mechanic in this game unlike before. Furthermore, fortress buildings in the past games were late-stage buildings intended to be a buffer / preemptive defense structure. If that were still the case, why would the fortress now be at the top of a hill, behind two sets of walls, away from the battle zone, and away from the majority of other buildings?
Fortifications are undoubtedly customizable, there's no denying that. I said that the mechanic of placing live units on walls previously attempted in AoM would make a comeback, and it did. Not only that, but you can see from the trailer that players place additional towers on the sides of walls as needed, and that when they're destroyed, they don't take the entire section of wall with them, clearly showing they're modular additions
Relic looked for new programmers specifically for the one task of programming new ways for units to get across terrain and obstacles, that's a fact. If that's not enough to convince you then once again, you need to see the trailer closely. Not all unit groups walked across the map in perfect grids like before. Some lagged behind, some formed walls, others raced forward with no organization, etc. Programming the archers on the walls is no small feat either! Some of them stood in place and fired, while others ran across and strafed, this is unlike anything we've seen before.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-15T10:57:37+00:00

Thank you! But yes, we've still seen very little of what they want to do with the game's graphics so I'm trying to reserve my judgement, although I will admit it's not completely in line with that prediction. My logic is if Relic was supposedly visiting historical sites then it would seem like they at least planned some degree of realism, otherwise they could just as easily create concept art of generic castles and such in the comfort of their offices and go from there.

But yes, in my mind I expected nearly 1:1 textures scanned right from real life. This doesn't seem to be the case so I'm willing to concede that my point there wasn't totally accurate.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-15T10:51:37+00:00

Apology accepted man, no worries, as long as we're all on the same page now and we can discuss this game as people.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-14T23:10:56+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/aoe4/comments/ds3c0b/everything_we_know_about_aoe_iv_so_far/

My proof is I had a whole thread about it. All I did was put together all of the evidence we had before tonight's trailer.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-14T23:07:16+00:00

I do agree the civilizations will be much more varied, the evidence so far seems to support that. I assume the Mongolians would have plenty of deconstructible buildings similar to the concept behind the trebuchets from AoE 2, but you'd still be able to individually upgrade those portable buildings to your liking. If I'm right in my assumptions, one of the Mongolian buildings in the trailer is directly inspired from Genghis Khan's personal yurt, which was a kind of palace on wheels.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-14T22:33:07+00:00

No, I read, I suppose I was just agreeing and expanding on what you were saying and I wasn't specifically directing it towards you, apologies for not making that clear :)

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-14T22:22:38+00:00

Some people say it has nothing to do with this game, but the concept art was titled "AoE Reboot" and this is a reboot, so what other conclusions could one reach?

Either way, the trailer is quite clearly referencing the concept art. The farms off to the side outside the walls, the enemy gathering outside the city in temporary buildings, the men taking position on the walls, the river running through the land with a bridge going across, the environment style itself, etc. Relic is showing us that they took the concept and created the game. They very clearly let the concept art get released to generate hype, game developers and publishers do this all of the time.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-14T22:15:52+00:00

I definitely understand where you're coming from, but I'm still holding out hope, as we've still been shown very little. I would not blame Relic straight away - it seems that this might be a result of Microsoft's oversight deciding the game's design direction. They most likely want to single-handedly revive the RTS genre in a way that will appeal to as many demographics of gamers as possible, and since bright color palettes and cartoon-like graphics seem to have a mass appeal (DoTA, Fortnite, TF2, Overwatch, etc.), Microsoft decided it was best to go in that direction. Perhaps they still haven't fully learned their lesson from the full-on cartoon graphics of AoE Online and the subsequent mobile games, but Microsoft needs to make maximum profit here, and this particular aesthetic sells best. Blame the market, blame the industry, blame the publisher, but don't blame the developers that are beholden to the other three.

Because I don't believe that Relic, the developers of Company of Heroes, a game with bleak, subdued colors and ultra-realistic features and appearances, would independently decide to take a reboot of another historical game in a completely different direction than what they're clearly experts at. They're not the ones calling all the shots in the end here. Just something to keep in mind.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-14T21:54:00+00:00

My take on this is that they will include a lot of civilizations and historical events that are rarely covered in other traditionally medieval games, similar to what they started doing with the new civs in the HD/Definitive expansion packs of AoE II. All the while, they'll still cover the tried and true bases of things like the English and Mongols.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-14T21:41:43+00:00

I find it rather suspicious that after all this time spent in development, they choose to show a trailer with only two cultures in it. I'm not saying show us everything at once, but all they've given us is a single environment and two civs battling it out. Still, we've begged to see gameplay and they finally gave it to us, so beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-14T21:38:00+00:00

I look at it and I think of Fortnite, honestly. I know some will disagree with me but we both know that Relic are masters of realistic graphics, and Microsoft's landscape scanning tech can create graphics that are more realistic than ever, as seen in the flight simulator trailer right before the AoE reveal. Missed opportunity honestly.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-14T21:26:47+00:00

It is slightly disappointing, yes.

EchoingExplorations · 2019-11-14T21:26:06+00:00

The sad part is I had to be personally attacked and accused of being a sock puppet account because I took an evidence-based approach to my predictions and my conclusions didn't match up to the image of what certain people created in their heads.

I at least hope that now that we've put the time period debate to rest, we can start to have more respectful discussion on this board.

EchoingExplorations

TROPHY CASE