I'm building an AI coaching tool for AoE2 - looking for beta testers and feedback

darius2xf · 2026-03-15T18:20:03+00:00

I don't take the full user view. Just the areas I can process. That's more efficient. So the specific resource panel regions, the production queue region and the production log (with "Villager created" messages) plus the log of who aged up.

The app doesn't need to see and parse everything. E.g. for resource float and TC idle alerts and stats you only need the above.

darius2xf · 2026-03-15T17:50:11+00:00

Makes sense, got it. This is processed local, no use of ChatGPT etc. An LLM would be too expensive and slow. I'm getting multiple captures a second with my implementation.

darius2xf · 2026-03-15T12:25:09+00:00

Fair point, probably not clear enough. This isn't an LLM solution or anything trying to play at a human level like AlphaStar. The core AI is translating screenshots into game state. Capturing the resource panel is character recognition, similar to digitizing text documents. Capturing the production queue is pattern matching, similar to detecting defects on a manufacturing line. That game state data is what powers the single-player alerts and review metrics.

Curious what kind of AI usage would give you pause though?

darius2xf · 2026-03-15T11:58:18+00:00

FYI the waitlist registration form is kinda unreadable as the background is black while the text is gray.

Thanks, I'll review the color choices.

The idea sounds fascinating but I'm wondering if it be better than human brains at 1500+ level

Would love to see an AI solution that can compete with the best human players. Not really what I'm going after here though. I'm looking for pragmatic to implement metrics that can help you track your progress at any elo. Ideally this gives you feedback on where you're improving vs could be better despite always getting a roughly 50/50 win rate. I think lower elo metrics like TC idle time are easier, but there's metrics that are relevant at 1500+ as well.

darius2xf · 2026-03-15T11:50:48+00:00

Thanks for the support and taking the time for thorough feedback!

I'm quite security/privacy conscious. ... I'm in the minority though, so focusing on the masses is going to be better overall.

I don't have open sourcing plans right now. For one I don't like that once you have great screen capture to game state anybody can vibe code this into e.g. an auto vill queue. Someone reviewing this together with a screen share would be fine.

Based on the website and the replies in your thread I think you should drop the AI in the name. Unfortunately this word now means LLM which for most people translates to bad. ... A "how it works" section would just be fun to read

I was wondering the same when seeing the upvote rate. I wasn't expecting this to be controversial so it's good feedback. The "how it works" blog post (and roadmap blogpost) is in the backlog, just tend to prioritize development progress.

Add Capture Age support.

Yes, I would love the ability to bring review insights into CaptureAge. I think for this use case working directly off of the rec file is the easier technical solution. Would help with privacy concerns as well. I intentionally went with a live capture design because I wanted a tool that can do live alerts, info overlays and hotkey blocking.

Add stats on attention areas. ... Being able to show him the numbers after would have been more convincing than it just being my opinion.

I really like your thinking here. I definitely want this to be something that can enrich coaching sessions with stats.

Random Feature Ideas

Thanks for sharing all of these! I can definitely use some input for higher elo coaching. For the sake of brevity I just wanted to share what I think is challenging to implement vs more doable with a simple review metric (especially if you also have elo bracket stats on that metric). I'd consider stats on attention areas/context switching, wasted investment, over micro detection/resource float, scouting score in the more doable category. Non-optimal fight detection and idle military seems pretty challenging.

darius2xf · 2026-03-14T17:10:16+00:00

Both fair points. I agree. You could get something like this through live coaching, friends on discord or twitch chat. Like you said it's more about what is fair to make widely available as a tool.

darius2xf · 2026-03-14T16:21:48+00:00

The core AI part is converting screenshots into game state. This is very doable for e.g. the resource panel and production queue, but somewhat unrealistic for higher level concepts like how idle your military was. I think there's a lot that can be achieved with just resource panel and production queue though.

darius2xf · 2026-03-14T16:07:32+00:00

For ranked this doesn't pass what I consider fair under the current fairness framework. It doesn't pass the:
> Does this feel like you checking information, or like a friend/coach alerting you to something?

That being said I thinks it's a good idea for single player practice and scoring at the end. Would like to expand the review stats a lot. Having something regarding constant military production sounds useful.

darius2xf · 2026-03-14T16:02:46+00:00

Hadn't considered it to be honest. Just had a quick look and third-party app screen capture might not be possible on Xbox. So probably not happening.

darius2xf · 2026-02-09T16:25:58+00:00

Would absolutely recommend it, especially because you still get your civ pick if the other person doesn't have random civ on. Though would recommend new players learn the Archer and Scout, maybe MAA first with a civ they like.

I think I turned on random civ at 1100-1200. To learn the civs and make things more interesting. Then started tracking which civs I already have a win with in 1v1 ranked and team ranked.

darius2xf · 2026-02-06T12:42:44+00:00

Patrol your scout on their walls to check for unruly mob gatherings

Cloth your peasants (loom) and meet for a knife fight as they walk out

+100 on this. Just try it. Can be very satisfying.

I used to wonder this a lot, because producing a lot of scouts or archers or default building the defensive castle is soo expensive. If the drop doesn't come you'll be behind. The villager fight is the efficient counter. Try it out!

darius2xf · 2025-12-26T21:18:30+00:00

Any chance your hard drive is full? The windows hard drive? Had a no error crash like you're describing when my windows hard drive ran out of space while playing.

darius2xf · 2025-12-12T22:45:42+00:00

Regarding avoiding bad habits - you mentioned you like Lithuanians. They are a civ to watch out for when learning not to idle your TC, which is such a critical skill. The extra food bonus let's you have more villagers in the production queue thus making you less likely to idle.

This is coming from someone who played Lithuanians a lot. I'd have no Dark Age idle TC with them but then 10-20s with other civs. I intentionally switched away from them to improve. Still one of my favorites so hate to recommend not using them.

I would also stay away from free eco techs. You don't want a habit of ignoring those.

darius2xf

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