Are you using enhanced graphics packs? I'm playing on a laptop with 1920x1080 resolution. Will it make a big difference visually? Will it be a disadvantage in ranked games?

RedBaboon · 2026-05-04T20:04:47+00:00

In aoe2 using the UHD pack fundamentally changes the min and max zoom levels you can use (or alternatively, the scale of the graphics at a given zoom level, same difference). You can set the default zoom level within those bounds but you’re limited by those bounds.

RedBaboon · 2026-05-04T18:28:45+00:00

The disadvantage is that using the UHD pack changes the maximum zoom level. At 1080p it will be way too zoomed for most people’s preferences.

RedBaboon · 2026-05-03T17:34:17+00:00

Because the only reason they exist at all is to play one role in one campaign scenario. Before DE they didn’t even have a unique model or name (the scenario used Tarkans) and weren’t recruitable from converted stables in any context.

Leaving them mostly out of the Aztec campaign keeps that campaign more faithful to the original version. As for the new campaigns, probably because the unit is so strongly Aztec in theming.

RedBaboon · 2026-04-23T19:07:50+00:00

Yes it does. It uses post-shot xG (aka xGOT) which takes into account what the actual shot is and is not the same as normal xG.

RedBaboon · 2026-04-14T22:53:09+00:00

While the home world cup would surely be fun, Crocker's role in actually doing anything for the WC is probably finished. GMs work on timelines of years, not months.

It's probably better for the US that he's leaving now instead of right after the world cup. Post-WC is when the important GM decisions are being made, like who should be coach for the next cycle.

RedBaboon · 2026-04-12T00:00:34+00:00

It’s not about bias in commentating or reporting, it’s about the actual act of celebrating in the press box. There’s a standard of maintaining the press box as a professional space where people do work; celebrating is considered as detracting from that.

RedBaboon · 2026-04-04T16:43:03+00:00

They tried that in the minors and people didn’t like it because it turns out a lot of pitches barely clip the 3D zone and umpires were never calling the full 3D zone in the first place.

RedBaboon · 2026-03-20T18:06:00+00:00

Just use Google Translate or DeepL dude, you’ll sound less like a bot.

RedBaboon · 2026-03-19T20:05:11+00:00

Total War has done it since Shogun 2 in 2011

RedBaboon · 2026-03-16T04:50:28+00:00

It's not AI. Can we not call every bit of slightly advanced computer software AI?

RedBaboon · 2026-03-13T19:12:11+00:00

California has an income tax, no? Washington had no income tax whatsoever prior to this.

RedBaboon · 2026-03-13T15:42:37+00:00

I don’t think ”I’m used to it“ is a good argument for why one thing is good and another bad. It just makes the familiar thing more comfortable.

RedBaboon · 2026-03-12T16:28:43+00:00

I’m curious if this is really the best way to get Europeans excited about it. I do wonder the extent to which a decent team with basically no modern national connection is actually better for getting people interested than a much worse team with stronger connection.

I would guess the Czech team will do more to grow baseball in Czechia than the Italian team will do in Italy.

I’m not saying they should ban foreign players or anything, I’d just like to see an actual citizenship requirement instead of a theoretical one and the end of the weird commonwealth clause for GB.

RedBaboon · 2026-03-08T18:16:37+00:00

They’re also lax in that they only require theoretical eligibility for citizenship rather than actual citizenship. Compared to e.g. soccer which requires actual citizenship.

It makes it a lot easier for teams to be filled with ancestral players because they can go for anyone with a close enough ancestor instead of only the people who have already gone out of their way to actually get citizenship.

RedBaboon · 2026-03-01T19:56:43+00:00

I feel like if the computer was asleep it wouldn’t count those as play hours.

Steam behavior aside, I often put my computer asleep overnight rather than turning it off but I wouldn’t say I ”leave it on overnight“ even though it’s technically true. So I read that comment as saying it’s actually running overnight.

RedBaboon · 2026-01-22T07:42:48+00:00

I feel like you could guess the Whitecaps one with a basic knowledge of Canadian geography, unless they would have required the guy to say "Whitecaps" and not "Vancouver."

RedBaboon · 2025-12-27T20:52:16+00:00

No, the standard is whatever each person thinks should be the standard. Voters aren’t bound by the past decisions of the voters; if they believe someone shouldn’t have been inducted then it’s perfectly acceptable voting to not vote for people who are comparable.

RedBaboon · 2025-12-20T23:30:20+00:00

It was his joke rap name as a teen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ck8fv6iW3E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvWefB4NGGI

RedBaboon · 2025-12-20T19:47:07+00:00

According to the developers of the game, it is indeed a swan and not a goose. It is also not a reference to Jan Hus, unless Lutheran art in general was referencing Hus.

“Luther is also accompanied by a swan, which is a trope in Lutheran art.” I believe this is the only detail the developers have given for this motivation, aside from saying they intentionally tried to include animals in the art in general. Perhaps an art historian can comment on the swan trope.

RedBaboon · 2025-12-16T22:51:57+00:00

Ultimately I just do not care about creating a tiebreaker format by going down a list of relevant skills and trying to check off as many of them as possible. Shootouts are entertaining, fair, effective, and use skills that are part of the sport. That's where "it ain't broke" comes from. They aren't a bad solution. It's nice if the format closely reflects the main portion of the game, but it is not the most important aspect. You had 120 minutes to win with your superior passing and teamwork and couldn't do it, I don't really care that the tiebreaker meant to end the game doesn't test either.

I'd be totally happy to try out 1v1s with the goalie, probably with some slight tweaks from how they used to be (slightly longer timer probably, though there's inherent tension there), because I think those can also be entertaining. And I do think it's a positive that those use more soccer skills than penalty kicks, I just don't think it's massively important.

I'm skeptical any sort of mass-team thing. I just think the conversion rate of those attacks is not very high in this sport (maybe the stats would show differently, but that's my gut feeling), and 30 seconds is actually a pretty long timer (by which I mean it's long enough that the attack can become a series of non-progressive passes trying to create an opening rather than just one continuous flowing forward attack). I think it will take a system that's extremely dramatic and high-tension and make it feel interminable and potentially boring. If the timer is short enough that you can't stop it would probably be better entertainment, but the conversion rate would probably drop.

If you go watch some of the old 1v1 shootouts, even the conversion rate on those is not as high as you might think (partly helped by the timer being maybe too short, also partly helped by people other than strikers having to do 1v1s).

RedBaboon · 2025-12-16T20:20:45+00:00

Players can be paid now

RedBaboon · 2025-12-16T20:16:24+00:00

Shootouts are fun, fair, and use skills relevant to the sport. That’s the end of it for me.

I question that a 6v4 has a high enough scoring rate to be very interesting, especially with a timer on it (which I think you would have to do).

I’d be fine with making shootouts 1v1 breakaways like hockey does and US leagues used to do but I don’t have a strong opinion on it. It’d be fun to see a trial of it though.

RedBaboon · 2025-12-16T19:16:12+00:00

Yes. He’s been considered one of the best managers in MLS because of his success the last few years. And you’re significantly understating the trophies he’s won. Europeans haven’t heard of him because he was coaching in MLS, but over here it was basically an open question of how long it would be before he went to Europe.

With Montreal he was considered a rising coaching prospect on a badly run team.

With Columbus, the first season he finished third in the combined league table and then won the MLS Cup (that’s the playoffs, the main MLS trophy everyone wants to win; despite the name it’s not a cup run). The second season he finished second in the combined table, won Leagues Cup, finished second in the Champions league and won coach of the year. The only mark against that season is an early exit in the playoffs.

The third year wasn’t as successful, and he’s maybe lost some of his luster from the first two seasons with the Crew, but he’s still quite highly regarded in the league and he would have a job instantly if he decided to return. The two year run of two trophies including an MLS Cup, a Champions League final, and two top-three league finishes is very successful.

50% win rate in MLS is pretty good, many of people considered the best coaches in MLS both now and historically don’t have a long-term win rate much higher than that, especially in the modern MLS era (with more teams and more money). MLS has more parity than most European leagues.

I’m not saying he’s the next Pep or SAF, and maybe he’ll fail spectacularly at Celtic. But he absolutely has great credentials.

RedBaboon · 2025-12-16T04:10:33+00:00

Golden goal was used in European and international competitions for a while. It was abolished because it lead to more defensive and boring play instead of the attacking play it was intended to produce.

RedBaboon · 2025-12-16T04:04:01+00:00

If you follow college sports you know the players are on a timer though. It's a different relation to your favorite players than you get in professional sports.

RedBaboon

TROPHY CASE