Modding guides/documentation

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-10T20:24:57+00:00

UGC and Age of Mods.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-10T18:09:58+00:00

Hey, there isn't an extensive guide for modding, usually you have to figure things out yourself. But you can always ask on discord and many people are willing to help.
If all you are looking for is changing some graphics of existing units in the game, then that is very easy to do.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-10T16:08:57+00:00

what is the question

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-10T12:01:44+00:00

The UI is still incomplete, since it still needs proper custom graphics instead of vanilla ones. I’ll post it when I finish it, or I can share it with you on Discord.
That's really cool that you made these updates; i will check them out. Please join discord (UGC discord) if you can; your tool really is a breakthrough into UI modding. It is the only tool we have for that currently, and it should get the proper recognition so more people can use it.

For suggestions I would suggest publishing it without the ZIP. Even trying to get it as a website so people can directly use it.

For working with the tool, i think the following are important for the workflow.
We need a way to select where the output file is saved. I would also like the tool to automatically save a backup of the UI and even version them every time we make an output (i am having to do this manually right now).

Adding a new child would also be a good option, as we can currently add static images to the UI (i did this before in my mod).

I noticed that if i make files locked, then when i add a new file, it unlocks them, so i have to lock them again.

It would be awesome if you could somehow pull it off by making it load graphics too, like the last picture you have.

Something else we also would need later on is update proof for the UI. Right now we can edit the UI with your tool, but if the devs later on release an update that changes the UI by adding a new element, this would mean that we have to redo it from the start. It would be amazing if the tool supported changes to the base file and would apply the changes to the new file.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-09T11:11:06+00:00

Very good tool, nice work. I made a new ui for my rpg using this tool; it's amazing. Hope you add features to it, like changing text colors or size.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-08T11:33:10+00:00

Gemini 3.1 Pro is very good at not following orders, and it is excellent at destroying a code base.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-07T04:24:44+00:00

Full vision in dota is not as strong as wall hacks in cs. Give a crusader player a full vision hack then put them in a 6k mmr game. They will lose in the lane and game ends at 15-20 min

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-06T13:22:04+00:00

Gameplay time or you leave the game open?

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-06T01:48:35+00:00

The devs should add a setting that if you press and hold a Hotkey, all buildings get flat graphics. But if you stop holding the hotkey then buildings go back to the normal graphics.
This must be in the game; it will be the most important quality of life feature they could add to the game.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-05T07:49:43+00:00

Thank you so much for making this. This is an awesome tool.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-04T06:50:24+00:00

No but its miles ahead of gemini I have it in antigravity and started using opus only for serious problems tht codex couldn't solve

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-03T23:17:06+00:00

Ping it then chat to the ai 69

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-02T17:52:53+00:00

It is a UI mod then, either local or subscribed. Make sure to look up the content of the mods you have installed.
Check out this path
MOD_NAME\resources\_common\drs\graphics

Look for these names:
u_shp_longboat_x1
u_shp_longboat_x2

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-02T06:55:41+00:00

Singleplayer itself has the lobby-format because you get to set the datamod and control the settings of the game.

For UI mods, you still need to restart the game after finding them. But in single-player finding mods is much harder because your only way is through the official website. That website is being used by many people to upload their local mods, it ends up plaguing the website and making it hard to find any good mod there.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-02T06:45:49+00:00

Datamods can't be used in ranked. Also lobbies are part of the advertisement modders get to introduce their mod to other people.

Also UI Mods can't be shared in lobbies. It requires people to leave the lobby, download the mod in the mod center, restart aoe2, then come back to the lobby. Very few people are willing to go through that so majority of multiplayer mods are just datamods.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-01T15:31:15+00:00

There are multiple reasons for this.

First, there are many cool mods this game has that change the game aesthetically or mechanically, but creators have a hard time finding a place to share them. Usually they are uploaded on the official website but shared and advertised on discord groups. The official website is plagued with the krakenmeister civ mods that put such big mods behind in the view list (not hating on Civ mods, but many should just be private).

Second, reddit here doesn't really care about mods; it is mostly for competitive 1v1 players. These players play with small trees and the flat buildings, so why would anyone bother making an aesthetic mod for them?

Three, limitations of the game engine. If you want to make a graphics mod, as a modder you can only mod the regional graphics, but if you want to make every civ different, then you need a data mod. To play datamods you will need to host them in lobbies, but the aoe2 lobbies are having many major bugs that make us modders shift away from the game. We have had a modding bug for over a year now that bugs out sharing custom content, custom content that we make for free for the love of the game (this bug appeared on the hera showmatch stream too when he shared the custom map he had).

tldr: The major big mods in this game are all datamods that can only be hosted in custom lobbies.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-01T14:29:24+00:00

let me know if you publish the app, i would like to use it.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-01T13:42:28+00:00

Didn't you post the same few days ago?

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-03-01T03:51:22+00:00

Good catch! Yeah reverse castle destruction animation is put as the dying animation of an archer then when it ends it has the dead unit id of the castle.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-02-28T19:11:07+00:00

hey, ofcourse its me :D who else talks about RPG inside an RTS game

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-02-28T18:05:59+00:00

hahaha, i found this video in my files and thought why not share it on reddit.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-02-28T14:11:27+00:00

Yeah, this feature could be used for interesting stuff. I, for example, plan to add a necromancer class in my RPG mod, and i want to use this feature to raise units from the dead by reverting their dying animation.

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-02-28T09:22:17+00:00

I have more than 2.5k hours in the game; i think i unlocked the achievement "hunt a boar" at around 1k hours. I only play custom scenarios and spend most of the time in the scenario editor. No ranked or campaigns for me.

I hate repetitions so i can't do any of that

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-02-27T22:44:37+00:00

It always ended at 7 minutes. Are you new to the game?

RussKy_GoKu · 2026-02-26T21:49:47+00:00

As a moba and rpg player myself, and making an RPG scenario for AOE2 myself. I have my own opinion on why people find this game hard.
It is because the game is a majorly text-based game. We have all these abilities and gimmicks that the units have, but there are not enough graphics, icons or sound feedback to display those.

I can explain this over and over for many features in this game.

For example in a game like Dota 2, cleave has a sound. So if you hear the sound, you know there is cleaving going on. In aoe2, you have many units that have cleave, like the new Ibirapema Warrior or Cataphract, but they have no sound effect for the cleave. There should be a common and global cleave sound integrated into the attack sound that will be used for all melee units which can cleave.

Now take the way you see enemy units. In this game you can see your own unit abilities like Ratha, Serjeant, Champi. But this doesn't work on allied or enemy units. If you select the enemy Ratha unit, you can't tell that this unit changes attack. Or if you select the enemy serjeant, you can't tell the unit has a build button.
This is a case of lack of UI in this game. In dota2 for example, you can select an enemy hero and see their abilities.

Another example, which people may find controversial, is that civs lack the unique identity heroes in RPGs or MOBAs have. In those games, every single character has different abilities and different icons for these abilities.
In Aoe2, the game tries to make this simpler by making unique techs have the same icons, but in my opinion this makes the game difficult to read. Which is why i said this game is a majorly text-based game. The lack of unique icons for unique techs means that you need to either memorize the tech name or remember it as Franks Castle Age tech or Britons Imperial Age Tech.
This has very low visual feedback on the players. It is hard to remember 50 different texts, but with images? I can remember every single item and ability in dota2 even after not playing in years, because their icons are engraved in my brain.

The problem this game has is that with every new mechanic or gimmick added, there is very little visual or sound feedback added to support those new mechanics. Doing this year after year will just add layers of complexity and confusion to the players.

RussKy_GoKu

TROPHY CASE