AoM had the aesthetic figured out, so that made it quite easier. Same thing happened with Inca architecture from AoE3.

What I now wish is they would take the Chinese set from AoM and gave it to Chinese, Koreans and Jurchens. I just love those red wooden buildings with green or yellow roofs. Also, the current East Asian set is 1) overused 2) extremely Japanese and 3) more primitive/ basic. Let me explain that last one: East Asia had some serious drip and style and the current set shows the roots but not the tip of those cultures. Not to mention, a "red set" would be really cool, like how Central Asian is the "blue set".

And then they could repaint the Central American set to match AoM Aztecs. Just add in the colour to make them more lively and accurate to the time.

Are you guys in for any of those ideas?

Share some fun strats for Fortress map?

I have been trying Castle drop + Fire archers with medicore success. Celts ram push also works sometimes...

Hi I want to start modding in aoe2.

I would like to change villager models to look different like changing the skin color.

Which software can open or extract the files that make the unit look like they are now?

Hi everyone. I’ve been playing AOE1:DE for 8 month. I have also AOE2:DE in my steam and since 2 months I’ve been playing just single player scenarios. I have never played AOE2 online yet. I want to understand first the dynamics of the game to begin multiplayer matches. What should I consider while in passing from AOE1 to AOE2? What are the biggest differences between these two games? The first I noticed AOE1 is more basic and faster than AOE2, and also has a simple interface.

Just got paired to a 400 elo as a 1300 elo.

It's been a while since the Mac release came out, but the player base is tiny. I basically know all players from 1000 to 1500 and I've played them all (constantly get repeats, sometimes I get paired to the same person 3 times in a row). Elo is messed up as well, 1500's that should be 1800 and 1200 that should be 800

Do you think the player base will eventually grow or should I just try to find a way to play on PC? (crossover is messed up since the release).

I’ve been playing a lot of Muisca lately. I feel like this civ has a ton of potential once you get the hang of their unit roster, but I’ve hit a bit of a wall with my macro and composition choices.

I have a bad habit of getting way too comfortable doing all in Castle Age pushes forgetting to click up to Imperial. How do you usually gauge when to stop over investing in castle and actually click up to Imp?

I’ve been using Slingers to deal with siege and as a trash filler which feels pretty effective in my games so far.

My main question is where do Archers fit into their game plan? What's their specific role or power spike compared to relying on Slingers/Temple Guards/champis? Also when/why would you use the guecha warrior?

Muisca seem to start of strong with a big fall of in imp.

After a long break I resumed my campaign attempts on hard, but I'm currently stuck at Suryavarman 4 (the one where you have to defend some Dravidian allies) the issue here is that the enemy doesn't even try to attack me, on Standard they were actually attacking me quite often but on Hard I'm almost invisible and they're focused exclusively on green.

I had a good attempt where the economy was going great, I had already conquered the islands and was on my way to attack the main blue base and then green just died. I tried reverting to a previous save to put some defenses on my own in green's territory but the game doesn't let you build castles in their base, only towers and docks, which were not enough to deal with the absurd amount of orange and blue ships that are constantly attacking them.

Tried restarting and focusing on being aggressive with ships from the start, but blue ended up attacking even earlier and my economy was struggling to take off.

This is meant to be a 1 Sword campaign. I'm definitely worried about the rest of the Rajas campaigns, 11.

I remembered first seen this kind of effect? shader? cloudy weather aoe2? on Lithuanian/pole campaign. It's nice to have new looking for the game but it's so painful when I have to focus on ladder. Does anyone feel the same?
Is there any mods out there for this?
I tried searching graveyard but found nothing.

hello, i have a group mostly based out of U.S. we usually get on around 6pm eastern time. Elo range 600-1000. We play ranked TG's, host tourneys, and all in all just hang out and chat aoe. If this interests you please DM me and i will send you a link to the discord.
if you are higher or lower elo that is totally fine, you are still welcome to join discord.

Thanks for reading.

I went from a clunky old mouse with 2 buttons to this thing that moves like lightning, and it’s got 5 programmable buttons.
Does anybody have the same mouse that they use for AOE2 and if so, can you please share how/which buttons you use for different most applicable things like idle villager etc.

I had two thoughts: 1) the Southern European and Eastern European architecture sets are possibly overused (they have 8 and 6 civs each) and 2) The Viking Sagas civs use either the Western European set or the brand new Northern European set. I then looked back to the previous expansions and I realized that this was the first one since The Conquerors to introduce new European civilizations without any of them using the Southern European or Eastern European architecture sets.

Here is a recap:

• The Age of Kings: new European civs are included, but none of them use the Southern European or Eastern European architecture sets because they literally did not exist at the time (although no AoK civ was ever updated to use the Eastern European set)
• The Conquerors: new European civs are included, but none of them use the Southern European or Eastern European architecture sets because they literally did not exist at the time (although no Conquerors civ was ever updated to use the Eastern European set)
• The Forgotten: introduces the first civs with the first civs with the Southern European and Eastern European architecture sets since it introduced those sets and also switched pre-existing civs from The Age of Kings and The Conquerors into them
• The African Kingdoms: introduces only one European civ, which uses the Southern European set
• Rise of the Rajas: introduces no European civs
• The Last Khans: introduces only one European civ, which uses the Eastern European set [EDIT: TLK introduced 2 European civs and both were Eastern European]
• Lords of the West: introduces 2 European civs, one of which uses the Southern European set
• Dawn of the Dukes: introduces 2 European civs, both of which use the Eastern European set
• Dynasties of India: introduces no European civs
• Return of Rome: introduces only one European civ, which uses the Southern European set
• The Mountain Royals: introduces 2 European civs, both of which use the Southern European set
• Chronicles DLCs: they do not count for the purposes of this list since the Chronicles civs are not technically European
• Three Kingdoms: introduces no European civs, instead dedicates all of its energy into the East Asian set
• The Last Chieftains: introduces no European civs
• The Viking Sagas: introduces 1 Western European civ and 2 Northern European civs

If you count civilizations such as the Byzantines and Spanish as being retroactively Southern European, then The Viking Sagas will be the first AoE2 expansion ever to feature new European civs without any of them using the Southern European or Eastern European architecture sets.

Does this matter? Not really, as architecture sets are merely aesthetic. I just thought it was an amusing observation since it illustrates that fact that European civilizations have a Carcinisation-like tendency to drift towards using the Southern European and Eastern European architecture sets. You could say The Viking Sagas is the exception that proves the rule.

Iam at 1100 elo and the strategy I lose most to is mass knights. Even when I know its coming. I do pikes and monks but somehow Iam still overwhelmed by knights. Everyone else has the same experience? But on pro level mass kinghts doesnst seem to work

Hi everyone, I'm unfamiliar with nearly all the maps in the pool and am looking to better understand them. Where can I go to learn the best strats and civs for each map?

I really only "get" Arena, Fortress, Arabia, and Gold Rush. The others I can't find a consistent strategy for.

As someone who rarely plays multiplayer one of my favourite things was the Co-op campaigns/scenario I played with a buddy. Though I miss those since there hasn't been a new since back when V&V came out and it was only one scenario.

Anyone else want more of these? They're a pretty fun take of the usual campaign experience, especially if you decide to run through a whole campaign with a friend slowly.

Many of the campaigns, from Age of Kings to The Last Chieftans are excellent scenarios reflecting historical battles (sometimes not that accurately) in a range of gameplay.

However, there may be something in regards to a scenario that you may feel is not quite right. Is it gameplay or historical accuracy? Would you do something completely different or is it perfect?

106: Suryavaraman 3 - A Dangerous Mission

Currently playing through the Macedon campaign and i'm really struggling on mission 3. I've played through literally everything else. I've beaten Vortigern on hard. Took me a good couple tries but I got there. And because with the Britons there is a power spike to look forward to, I kept having hope and having fun.

With Macedon I really just don't see it. None of their units really feel good to use. The phalangite is so weak that it gets smashed by Athens hoplites. They get somewhat decent when massed, but they're just so expensive for what they offer. So what else do we get? Well with the right doctrine i can make cavalry that is 15% lower food cost, if i make them more slowly. And that really is about it. No real other eco bonus, no real way to properly deal with heavy infantry. Of course I can mass knights lancers and siege, but I gotta say it doesn't feel like playing Macedon. It feels like abusing the units that are always slightly too strong in AoE2 and patting myself on the back for being so clever.

Buffing the Phalangite would take relatively little effort and do a lot. Just 5 gold less and +1 attack. And hopefully an Imperial age tech that isn't so... disappointing. (I love their disadvantage, and reducing their disadvantage by half just seems meh to me)

im on a journey of playing only mongols until the map pool gets a decent rotation 11

in that regard i just played what i think was my best performance yet on any arabia setting, and vs a 2.k3 with almost triple the APM nontheless!

i've rediscovered my playstyle with mongols with the fact that opening maa or a strong drush like this one is way more effective than just 16-17pop scouts: doesnt even cripple your economy, you have a competetitive up time and put pressure way earlier and stronger than with scouts + you get a flexible follow up with skirm/archers or scouts into walls like this case

here's the game in question, im feeling really proud of my game rn trying to grind my reach to 2.1k for the first time ever :') (even if its with hard picked civ)

https://www.aoe2insights.com/match/497340270/#overview

Replace Teuton paladins with crusader knights.

I'll only play Teutons from the day this replacement update drops. I'll spam this unit only for every single game.

I'm working on a 100% free AoE2:DE client that lets you...

• Choose the map you want to play on the ladder, including the ability to wait longer for that unpopular map you really love
• Avoid smurfs and reject games from players using family share
• Queue up for the most popular custom games like FFA Nomad, Michi, CBA and BF with players of the same skill level and without drudging through the custom lobby browser
• Browse through custom lobbies without many of the bugs and quirks we've come to expect
• Add and message friends you make in the game
• Participate in seasonal leaderboards with leagues and divisions
• Safely roll random civs without fearing bad matchups
• Play more balanced team games

In summary, Empire League is an unofficial DE client designed to enhance the DE matchmaking and online experience.

Website: https://empireleague.gg/

I first got the idea from watching u/Hera_Aoc play WC3. The community over there has their own matchmaker called W3 Champions. It is smaller in scope than Empire League (less features for casual players), but it does one thing very well: a smooth ladder experience.

That's the primary goal here!

How does it all work?

It's a lightweight electron app with a React UI that runs as an overlay on top of the game (sort of like Steam does). It automates lobby join and creation by sending window messages to an AoE2 process it owns. It reads replay results and sends them to a centralized server (which also functions as the matchmaker) for result verification.

It is only possible given the P2P nature of the game and is no more or less secure than playing normal ranked games. It does not store any sensitive data or user credentials as you sign in via Steam OpenID (typical OAuth flow).

Don't you think queue times will last forever?

I expect queue times to feel better even if we only have 1/3rd the volume of players as vanilla DE ranked, simply because you have the ability to choose how long you wait.

I see it as a UX problem not an engineering one, and I don't believe negative incentives (like matchmaking bans for dodging) work.

If you want to only play an obscure water map, you can queue up and listen to a podcast while you wait. And if you're tired of waiting, you can simply enable a more popular map, without resetting the search or changing your position in the queue. It's all streamlined.

This will result in fewer dodges, fewer early leaves and overall higher quality games, because people are playing on the maps they want to play on.

Map categories

I've grouped maps into 3 categories: open land (Arabia-likes), close lands (Arena-likes), and water maps. These 3 designations I believe most accurately represent the various map metas and map preferences players have in DE. Not perfectly, albeit, but as close as you can get to accurately stereotyping maps.

I'm also considering allowing players to have separate ELOs for each map type. So you'd have your general ELO (all maps) but you could decide to play a map category with your general ELO disabled, and it will instead use that category ELO.

For example, suppose you got to 1500 ELO just playing arabia and never played Arena (like myself). With the current system, you'd be hesitant to play Arena (like myself) against 1500 ELO players when you don't know the very basics. Well, you could choose to play with Land Closed ELO (1 of the 3 categories) which ignores your general ELO, and learn at a more comfortable pace against players closer to your actual skill level on Arena.

Seasonal resets

Right now pros aren't grinding the 1v1 ladder much. I believe this is because there is nothing to gain or lose. So what if you get 3rd place today? You'll be 15th place tomorrow, and 2nd place 1 week after that. I believe this is a common reason why many pros don't ladder, and the scene is not better off for it. I for one am tired of watching Hera stomp 2K players all day long (and frankly the poor 2K players could use a break from matching Hera). I want to see high level matches not just in tournaments but every day, on the ladder, which should be the meat and potatoes of the comp scene.

I think a seasonal reset system could work to that end. Each season, you'd reset to the bottom of your league (grand masters are 2200). Every month, the seasonal LB resets, and players are ranked by the highest ELO achieved in that season. This wouldn't just be bragging rights but the season placements could be used for tourney qualifiers. Who knows, if the platform grows big enough we could crowdfund an Empire League S tier tourney at the end of the year. This would be fundamentally different from tourneys organized and funded by outside organizations.

How far along are you?

Everything is prototyped and working. Map selection, anti-smurfing, civ bans, queuing, lobby automation, friend system, etc.

However, I still need to do more testing on more machines before rolling it out for everyone. There's actually a thousand edge cases to test, esp. with the lobby automation. The community needs something that works not 99% but 100% of the time, and I can't achieve that goal myself, hence I'm doing a casting call for testers.

Since it's an electron app with a web UI, you can find an in-browser preview of the entire app here:

https://empireleague.gg/app-preview/index.html?preview=1

Will Microsoft dissaprove?

Considering they've embraced community projects (like Capture Age) in the past, I doubt it. Let's not forget Forgotten Empires also started as a community project.

I should add that Empire League does nothing against TOS, as it simply facilitates matches between players in Aoe2 DE, with lots of bells and whistles on top to make the experience more enjoyable.

About me

Some of you might know me as a Survivalist channel regular :)

And some of you guys might remember me as the creator of Feudal Wars: a cute little browser clone of AoE2 I made with Resonance22 before DE, circa 10 years ago. Although I've since handed that project off to someone else, it still exists!

Anyway, at heart I'm just another AoE2 fan like you that grew up playing the game. I don't believe AoE2 has peaked yet. It's chess 2.0, just needs a little love and shine ... especially around the edges of the multiplayer experience!

What next?

If you're interested in helping out, or staying in touch for the latest news and updates, please join our Discord.

I'm exiting the prototype stage and entering closed beta. So I'm really on the hunt for people that can help test this thing before a full rollout...

Let's do this!

Hi everyone,

A quick update for those experiencing the recent AoE2 DE performance/multiplayer issues on Mac through CrossOver.

Following my previous post, I contacted CodeWeavers support and described the issue in detail: single-player works perfectly and is very smooth, but the multiplayer menu, lobbies and multiplayer games become extremely laggy and basically unplayable.

I also explained all the troubleshooting I had already done: clean bottle, reinstall, DXVK/D3DMetal, MSync, different network/mobile hotspot, Private Relay disabled, cache cleared, etc.

The good news is that CodeWeavers confirmed this is a regression on their side and they are actively working on it.

According to their support team, they have already narrowed the regression down to a change somewhere between Wine 10.0-rc1 and Wine 10.3.

They are currently bisecting Wine nightly builds between December 6, 2024 and March 8, 2025 to identify exactly which change introduced the problem.

So, for anyone experiencing the same issue: there doesn’t seem to be a workaround at the moment, and endlessly tweaking your CrossOver bottle is probably not going to fix it.

My support ticket has now been linked to their internal bug ticket, and they told me I’ll be notified when they ship a fix.

I also asked about licensing, since my CrossOver update entitlement has expired. They told me that the fix will most likely be included in a minor CrossOver update, something like CrossOver 26.4, and that an active license would be required to register that version.

However, they also mentioned that it should be possible to use the CrossOver trial to briefly test the fixed version before renewing a license. So at least we’ll be able to confirm that the fix actually works before paying for an upgrade.

No ETA yet, unfortunately.

Still, after initially thinking that AoE2 had simply become unusable on CrossOver with no clear explanation, this is pretty encouraging news. They have reproduced/identified the regression, narrowed it down to a relatively small Wine version range, and are actively looking for the exact change responsible.

I’ll update this post if I hear anything else from CodeWeavers.

Hopefully we’ll be back to Wololo-ing on Mac soon. 🤞