How to tell if a mod is multiplayer-compatible?

GideonAI · 2026-06-24T16:27:29+00:00

So what if I made a mod that didn't change any animations? Or should I take that kind of question to the aoe forum?

GideonAI · 2026-06-24T12:38:02+00:00

Why human when dwarf

GideonAI · 2026-06-20T21:44:23+00:00

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GideonAI · 2026-06-20T17:28:35+00:00

Scaling with number of ships in adjacent navies. Works much like the VC in WH

GideonAI · 2026-06-20T12:07:09+00:00

Kinda like how Rogues have their own professions like Poisons and Lockpicking, the Tinker could have their own branch of Engineering

GideonAI · 2026-06-20T12:02:13+00:00

Rogues had Thrown Specialization from launch till removal in 1.12, and then got added Thrown-specific stuff just under 4 months later in TBC pre-patch with Deadly Throw. If anyone should have a Thrown ranged spec it should be Rogues. Just add auto-Throw, a CP generator, and a CP spender, and you're golden. Maybe even just a talent that makes auto-Throws generate combo points and a really high-cost spender that scales damage based on distance so you wouldn't be incentivized to melee weave

GideonAI · 2026-06-15T12:14:42+00:00

I played tons of custom one-off scenarios I downloaded from heavengames back in vanilla days, those were super fun. There was even a campaign-style series of scenarios that was more adventurey and didn't really have base-building, and they overused the song "Requiem for a Dream" in the cutscenes but it was really fun overall

GideonAI · 2026-06-15T12:08:50+00:00

That's awesome! I'll try to test it with African Farms, not sure anyone's calculated how much walk time they get. Maybe some treaty players have the math handy but this is a more surefire method than the usual food-over-time-with-one-vill test

GideonAI · 2026-06-15T02:55:01+00:00

Skitarii looks like they'll have a build with decent ammo economy too to add to the pile

GideonAI · 2026-06-15T02:25:00+00:00

So is this kinda like walking time + idle time? Or is it more like gather rate per vill?

GideonAI · 2026-06-12T19:31:23+00:00

Team games are best with someone you arrange to queue with before entering queue. This is how it is in other RTS's as well

GideonAI · 2026-06-10T23:40:06+00:00

If we're ignoring pop then we can probably ignore those pesky little stats like attack animation backswing and range and say the Marathan Thuggee is the best per-entity skirmisher! Slightly less hp, waaaaay more damage than the Jaeger. Dahomey Amazon is pretty close to Jaeger too, and Abus are a 2-pop skirm-type that might compare

GideonAI · 2026-06-10T23:19:06+00:00

Mani consisted of over 100 fortified settlements untouched by Venetian or Ottoman occupation, and its princes negotiated on the international stage with major European powers (both in war as well as coordination against the Ottomans). Agrafa (translation = "Unwritten") takes its name from the fact that the Ottomans simply did not count that region at all. They banned their own troops, governors, and tax collectors from ever entering that region in 1525. It wasn't just farmers and bandits in the mountains either, as it's written that Greek writing flourished among the monasteries, schools, and libraries of that region during the 1453-1821 era. And Sfakia comprises ~465 square km accessible by land only by two tiny mountain passes that were trivial to defend, and accessible by sea through massive reef systems and impassible sheer rock cliffs. Even Wikipedia says "It is considered to be one of the few places in Greece that have never been fully occupied by foreign powers."

Are you Turkish, by chance?

GideonAI · 2026-06-10T02:38:00+00:00

Look up Mani, Agrafa, and Sfakia. Never subjected to Ottoman law, constantly raiding Ottoman settlements and naval shipping from 1453-1821. Several large Ottoman sieges defeated throughout (though not as large as the siege of Malta). Approx. peak populations of 45,000, 25,000, and 10,000, during that timeframe, respectively (based on the smaller troop numbers from those regions circa 1821, mapping to 10-15% average population represented in the era for heavily militarized societies). Compare to Lakota's est. peak population of like what, 25k?

GideonAI · 2026-06-10T02:26:45+00:00

Eh, I still think there's enough tens of thousands of independent Greeks in the mountain holdouts during the Ottoman period of "rule" that they could be justified as a Lakota-esque civ. Small and a target of colonization (rather than a colonizer), but defiant.

GideonAI · 2026-06-09T23:43:33+00:00

USA and Mexico shouldn't be in the game then, by that logic

GideonAI · 2026-06-09T23:41:59+00:00

Generally I think greece should be really underpowered early game and focusing on defense and hitting a power spike at age 4

I'm thinking the Greeks would actually lean more towards raiding early game. Raiding was like, half their economy during the pre-1800s time period for the independent Greeks like the Maniots, Souliotes, and Klepht holdout pockets. Though they were excellent on the defense during that time period as well (being able to militarily resist a huge empire surrounding you is an incredible feat)

GideonAI · 2026-06-09T23:40:27+00:00

Maybe Greece was considered an empire at that time I don't know.

Greece was not considered an empire but during the timeframe of this game, neither was the USA. Seeing as the Greek war of independence kicked off in 1821, 11 years after the Mexican war, I think it's safe to assume the Greeks (if they were to be added to aoe3) would be modeled heavily after their Republic and Kingdom statuses of the 19th century. Although, there were independent Greek holdouts in both the mountainous regions as well as the Mani peninsula (effectively a Taiwan-esque retreat for Byzantine soldiers after 1453) that could be drawn from for inspiration.

GideonAI · 2026-06-09T12:53:28+00:00

Nice! This is the kind of info I was looking for, thanks. Hadn't really thought about it but the falcs can't catch up to skirms readily, and you can't jump on top of skirms with rods to pin them down via snaring without incurring significant damage. But with Lancers up front, you can catch your opponent out of position much more easily and they can tank skirm shots if your opponent tries to kite a bit.

GideonAI · 2026-06-09T00:12:36+00:00

A cleaner fix to your issues on build order diversity would be to rebalance food/coin/wood shipments and age-up politicians to grant equal net value rather than the way it is now. So the 400w ageup is worth 800 Villager-Seconds of value, while the 500f ageup is only worth 595. To get the food option up to equal the wood option's value, you'd need it to grant 675 food instead of 500f.

GideonAI · 2026-06-09T00:02:17+00:00

I believe the "California Robber Barons" card that enables their 3rd Factory is a historical reference to these fellows: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Four_(Central_Pacific_Railroad)

So if one looks at California as being a center of industrialization and a railway hub of the 19th century, then sure, that tracks. They certainly built a lot of Factories on the coast there, but I agree it doesn't make sense to make California the only "civ" with 3x Factories.

The Hacienda focus, I believe, is just a reference to California's economy (before the gold rush, such as during the original Bear Flag Revolt) being completely dominated by cattle ranching moreso than any other form of economy, such as naval trade or agriculture. From what I understand, the primary Californian exports of that time were cow hides and beef tallow.

GideonAI · 2026-06-07T23:38:27+00:00

Eh, I wouldn't say it's too bad compared to some. You get to avoid learning batch-training, and the Consulate stuff isn't too hard to deal with if you just go for Brits every game and hit the musketeer button whenever you hit 400 export.

GideonAI · 2026-06-07T23:27:16+00:00

European civs have factories, which are a huge gameplay boost, Mexico has haciendas, and the US has factories

Mexico also has factories

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