But then how will they sell lootboxes with EPIC heroes?
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Age of Empires 4 announced, made by Relic (Dawn of War/Homeworld/Company of Heroes)
- Thread starter Doukou
- Start date
But then how will they sell lootboxes with EPIC heroes?
LordBaztion
Member
hopefully, at worst, they make a MT mode like blitz that is separated from the core game like Halo 5.
GenericUser
Member
Wow, this is the worst trailer I've seen in my entire life. Basically no info, expect that it exists.
Man, turtle RTS games are great. Definitely need a new one.
texhnolyze
Banned
Hero units are essential for the campaign.
I mean there's a difference between named units that not not really that different from normal units and specialized heroes with abilities you need to micromanage and have special skins and can solo ten elephants.
texhnolyze
Banned
In that case, I do agree. I haven't played that many strategy gamese these days, but what I remember the named units in AoE games are totally not overpowered.
Do hero units in Warcraft 3 count?
Watch it be set during WW2, lol.
I got really really excited that WC4 had been announced ... fuck you
Anyway, as much as I loved AoE 1 and 2, I'm not fond of 3 and won't care about this one. There is actually no way they can create a proper RTS like they used to.
I mean not really...
I can think of multiple trailers/teasers that aren't much better. Pokémon switch, metroid prime 4, halo 5, uncharted 4, tlou 2, and kingdom hearts 3 all had pretty comparable and vague trailers. And that's just off the top of my head
Warcraft 3 heroes were what I was thinking of when writing about special hero units.
GenericUser
Member
Yeah, I remember that tlou 2 trailer. That was pretty vague, but at least it showed that Ellie would be the hero this time. Haven't seen the other teailers you mentioned because I don't care too much for these games.
But concerning age4, would it hurt them to at least show in which age this game is set? Everybody expects it to take place between the late 19th hundred and the 21st century. So it's not really a secret. I at least can't get hyped from a trailer that says nothing.
AcademicSaucer
Member
Explorers
Huw_Dawson
Member
Given the lack of a period in the announcement trailer I am guessing they will be going for some way of merging eras together so you can play as an ancient empire vs a later one for example.
BarringGaffner
Member
hopefully this but also hoping they stop at the edge of gunpowder.
ie just make a good 2017 AoE2
Iced_Eagle
Member
Nah. AoE2 Definitive Edition is going to fill that gap. That's the point of it after all! If all you want is a modern AoE2, then just get that.
It's a sequel, and should push the series forward and try new things. They just need to remember what made the series great and then figure out where to take it next.
Huw_Dawson
Member
I am personally fine having centurions charging muskets, as I am most interested in the game as a competitive RTS w/ a historical theme.
For those who don't trust relic because of how DoWIII turned out. Remember that relic is free say in what to do with the DoW franchise and will likely get more guidance and direction with Age of Empires from MS. Plus pretty sure the work closely with them - Adam Isgreen is always good with that stuff.
grandwizard
Member
It's especially stupid because 90% of the DoW III hate is just the same anti-MOBA hysteria that the RTS community has been suffering from the past 5 years. We have people saying DoW3 is a moba but Dow2 was totes fine.
It's now morphing into 'ESPORTS!' that people use to decry a game that isn't all about turtling and big game hunters max money maps. Guess what people, as long as the game is still in real time, as in real time strategy, speed is always going to be important. It was important back in 1998 just as much as today, you just weren't exposed to it.
My hopes for the game:
- As eras go, my first hope is 10,000 BC to 1500 AD (Stone Age -> Bronze Age -> Iron Age -> Early Medieval -> High Medieval -> Late Medieval). Six ages is a bit much compared to the customary 4-5, but I think it could work (particularly with settings to change start and end ages for people to customize).
- My second hope for era is that if they continue into modern times, go with something like 1700-1945 (Age of Colonization -> Napoleonic Age -> WWI Age -> WWII Age). WWII tanks, planes, and primitive nuclear and jet technology sounds like an interesting endgame setup to me. A more modern AoE setting seems likeliest.
- Dump AoE3's hard caps on towers, walls, and forts. Turtling and breaking the turtle player is part of the fun, speaking as a lower-skilled player who can at least make my frequent defeat in PVP interesting. There are modern analogues for each emplacement also.
- Dump AoE3's Home Cities and shipment cards. Keep trade units and take them back to being buildable and with player-determinable routes.
- Iffy on keeping AoE3's Explorer unit. Map exploration is fun, fighting over goodie sites oftentimes felt like busywork rather than something with larger strategic significance.
- Crib from Kohan and kill build orders. Whatever time period is selected has enough interesting unit diversity to make this work.
- Bring back and make prominent colonization maps instead of systemizing stuff like "the Home City".
- Pop limit: something above 200, please.
- Asian civs without waiting for a second expansion. AoE3 lost a lot of flavor and identity with its European-centric setup.
- Actually make mechanical use of the game being 3D, rather than it being basically set-dressing à la AoE3.
- TrueSight (Company of Heroes 2). Even if CoH's cover mechanics aren't a good fit for AoE, I think the more immersive fog of war is a given success.
- CoH-styled positional control for vehicles and units. And hey, I'm a fan of making armor facing important too.
- Naval gameplay with depth this time.
- Bring back real formations.
- I want huge hills and shit like in AoE1 and 2, not the two settings of AoE3.
- Wololo. Seriously. We need a priest-type unit in the game, and it needs to be one that can convert other units. AoE3 lacked that wacky counterplay and it suffered for it.
- Crib divisions and supply mechanics from Rise of Nations. Let people break divisions down to individual units so they can do all the same scouting and harassment stuff they're accustomed to.
- Random maps.
I personally hope the game might even go a little bit past WW2, so we gonna have something like Pre-WW1, starting 1870, then WW1 as second age, WW2 and last Post-WW2. So stopping in the 50s or 60s for the final Age. With that they could round up the historical approach of AoE I-IV and probably then focus on a Spin-Off like AoM, if it sells well.
1v1 ladder is just not suited for casual play in RTS's. That was true of AOE II as well and in standart mode it wasn't a turtle RTS either.
The no rush thing is always going to be more of a gentlemen's agreement rather than good play.
That said, Devs need to figure out how to serve both, the competitive crowd and more casual players. No easy task.
grandwizard
Member
I posted in the last thread about RTS decline that I think going forward they need to deemphasize competitive play in general for RTS multiplayer. There is just to many more lower impact / pressure options for players out there, and people don't want to put in the time to get good at an RTS online when you will have to lose a lot to do so.
A focus on coop is probably the way forward, as sad as that is for people who loved competitive play.
Surface of Me
I'm not an NPC. And neither are we.
Teknopathetic
Member
The greatest RTS of all time actually played extremely well in team settings. Maybe one day people will steal from the motherlode of great game design that is Kohan: Ahriman's Gift.
Huw_Dawson
Member
I swear NeoGAF is the last place that remembers that game.
Tone deaf in a Warhammer game? Huh?
There was an similar Age of Empire clone RTS that came out early 2000's that covered 5 ages IIRC, from castle age, leading to the end of WW2. Was pretty good for what it was and had some great ideas and fun units with cool abilities. It will be interesting to see what Age 4 covers e.g. the same as that old magazine scan, especially with Call of Duty really owning that period of time (though I suppose the different in RTS gameplay, especially in resource systems and base building would help separate them).
They Should slow mkb on xbox
Wololo's will be heard by the neighbors
That might have been Ensemble's plan, 12 years ago or whatever, doubt they still care about it. Personally, I'd hope for the setting to be similar to Age of Empires 2.
Forerunner
Member
rakkadakka
Member
CA is busy.
Relic might do well with this, give them a shot.
Although we all know that the best possible AoE to come out of this would have been made by Paradox.
They are making Age of Empires, not DoW or CoH.
Has Paradox developed/funded any RTS games?
I think doubting Relic because of one middling game is really selling short the good work they've done in RTS games for a number of years.
rakkadakka
Member
Not that I'm aware of, but they are one of the only publishers/devs left standing I would trust with a license like AoE.
They would want more independence though than MS would provide.