The Age of Empires Thread

[Yggdrasil]

Yep, the title is pretty self explanatory. This thread here is to discuss one of the greatest RTS series of all time, Age of Empires (from now on we abbreviate as AoE, 'k?). Your favorite installment? Favorite civilization? Strategies, thoughts on the series and more are welcome.

As for me, I'd say that my favorite of the series is AoE II, the Conquerors. That game was pretty much flawless. The methods and tactics one can implement are staggering, and the replay value is almost unheard of. I tend to pick a civilization such as the Byzantines for the economic +1, but occasionally I'll play as the Aztecs vs the Spanish, just for the irony :p

[d4veg]

AoE: RoR

I played that game so much on the zone.com. I love the simplicity of it. Fast and fun!

Deathmatch for the win!

[Th0r]

AoE:III.

I still have all my maps, somewhere.

[shopping cart for brains]

AoE II, I remember making my own 8 team map with a huge enclosed arena with a bunch of Heros and just watching the battle take place.

[Revvy]

AoE:III.

I still have all my maps, somewhere.

Aoe3 was fucking shit.

Conquerors is/was an utterly amazing game which I lost hours upon hours to, both online and off.

Koreans were undeniably the best civ in the game, I terrorised face with them, but people started banning them from games because of the crazy tower bonuses so that put an end to that. :(

[Yggdrasil]

Aoe3 was fucking shit.

Conquerors is/was an utterly amazing game which I lost hours upon hours to, both online and off.

Koreans were undeniably the best civ in the game, I terrorised face with them, but people started banning them from games because of the crazy tower bonuses so that put an end to that. :(

I do remember reading in the manuals that they had tower bonuses, but are they really that good? The only Asian civ I even bothered with were the Chinese

[Maddo]

Fuck yeah Conquerors. :cool:

[Idiot]

AOE 3 is/was shit. END

AOE is the best one. Choson DM, online with 8 people, good times. Tower tower tower, farm farm farm, push push push. Choson deathmatches are the best.

You can go to www.igzones.com to play AOE, AOE 2, RoR, and all that online. Sometime ago a retard decided to take it off the zone and put it on gamespy. So go to IGZ to play online instead.

YGG is right, this is one of the best RTS games of all time with good replay value.

[Mantikore]

for some reason, i hated AoE3. yeah, you had the capital city thing, which was nice, but there were very little choices when you went up the tech tree.

AoM is a dark horse, but its my favourite of the series. Greeks (Hades) for those slow games (gastraphetes are pretty ownage), Egyptian (Ra) for those early farm rushes, or Norse (Odin) just for fun.

the gods i choose after that really depend on how the game is going

[Mankonaut X]

My friend and I spent so much time on AoE II when we were unemployed. The best map for that game wasn't even in the game, it came with the demo. I forget what it was called, but you'd start as a priest and you'd have to convert a villager before you could do anything. Awesome fun.
Speaking of awesome fun, I remember I changed the mp3 file for one of the bird sounds to 10 minutes of silence with me suddenly going "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHFUCKFUCKFUCK SHIT!!!!" Scared the living crap out of my brother lol.

[CotDeath]

AOE3 was fucking terrible. The AI was also worse than AOE2.
AoK, however, took well over a thousand hours from my childhood and turned them into a historically inaccurate series of massacres.

[Revvy]

I do remember reading in the manuals that they had tower bonuses, but are they really that good? The only Asian civ I even bothered with were the Chinese

Their bombard towers are EXTREMELEY good, especially when combined with trebs, war wagons and siege onagers. (Koreans have best siege onagers in the game because they have a ridiculous range)

Seriously, try coming to a Korean base and you just run into a barrage of bombs, fireballs, flaming arrows and rocks: if you build defenses correctly it's impossible to break through.

It's a bit dirty though because the aim is to sit back and let everybody run out of resources whilst you sit in an impregnable base and slowly build forward with towers, walls, etc.

Koreans vs Koreans can make for some very long winded tactical games though. If both sides get to build up, then it's a game of drawing units out, ambushing, slowly eroding defenses, etc. Sometimes results in stalemate.

[toraton]

Their bombard towers are EXTREMELEY good, especially when combined with trebs, war wagons and siege onagers. (Koreans have best siege onagers in the game because they have a ridiculous range)

Seriously, try coming to a Korean base and you just run into a barrage of bombs, fireballs, flaming arrows and rocks: if you build defenses correctly it's impossible to break through.

It's a bit dirty though because the aim is to sit back and let everybody run out of resources whilst you sit in an impregnable base and slowly build forward with towers, walls, etc.

Koreans vs Koreans can make for some very long winded tactical games though. If both sides get to build up, then it's a game of drawing units out, ambushing, slowly eroding defenses, etc. Sometimes results in stalemate.

It's not impossible. You either play with people who suck or you don't play online. No defense is impossible to break.

[*ivy]

AoM is a dark horse, but its my favourite of the series. Greeks (Hades) for those slow games (gastraphetes are pretty ownage), Egyptian (Ra) for those early farm rushes, or Norse (Odin) just for fun.

I recently got hold of a copy of this and seem to have got a version with the Atlanteans attached. I can't play as any one else. Weird shit. The campaigns are all the same and all the buildings are there, just everything's named wrong.

On a separate note, I've jacked it in for Civilization 3. I was always a Sierra (Zeus, Pharaoh, Caesar) girl and find Civ 3 has more of the economy and culture aspect I like. Can't find anything that matches the detail of the Sierra games though :(

[*ivy]

Speaking of awesome fun, I remember I changed the mp3 file for one of the bird sounds to 10 minutes of silence with me suddenly going "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHFUCKFUCKFUCK SHIT!!!!" Scared the living crap out of my brother lol.

Dude.

May I shake your hand?

[Ford Prefect]

The CELTS! It was sickening how fast their siege engines were. Plus Woad Raiders are speedy as fuck and pretty much immune to death. You weaken them with wicked fast infantry, pull back and then pelt them with siege. :cool:

[Revvy]

It's not impossible. You either play with people who suck or you don't play online. No defense is impossible to break.

You are not beating Koreans on Conquerors if you're up against someone who knows what they're doing.

There's a reason why they're a a banned civ.

[Jack]

I started with the demo version of the first AoE, then went on to AoE II CE. I rarely played properly. I'd usually just use cheats and build massive fortresses. I was using it as more of a Sim City sort of thing, only I got to flatten everyone else's cities.


The best map for that game wasn't even in the game, it came with the demo. I forget what it was called, but you'd start as a priest and you'd have to convert a villager before you could do anything.


I didn't play the demo version of AoE II, but there was such a scenario in AoE, called Growing Pains. You began with a pair of priests, converted a nearby village, and defeated a village across the river.

[Mankonaut X]

I started with the demo version of the first AoE, then went on to AoE II CE. I rarely played properly. I'd usually just use cheats and build massive fortresses. I was using it as more of a Sim City sort of thing, only I got to flatten everyone else's cities.



I didn't play the demo version of AoE II, but there was such a scenario in AoE, called Growing Pains. You began with a pair of priests, converted a nearby village, and defeated a village across the river.

Yeah! That sounds like it. I played it so many times and it never got old.

[stab]

Loved AoE, loved AoE2 even more and joined a clan, created and administered an AoM clan, hated AoE3.

So much.

[Yggdrasil]

I recently got hold of a copy of this and seem to have got a version with the Atlanteans attached. I can't play as any one else. Weird shit. The campaigns are all the same and all the buildings are there, just everything's named wrong.

On a separate note, I've jacked it in for Civilization 3. I was always a Sierra (Zeus, Pharaoh, Caesar) girl and find Civ 3 has more of the economy and culture aspect I like. Can't find anything that matches the detail of the Sierra games though :(

Cheers to you, fellow Sierra fan! :)

I spent so much of my childhood playing Caesar and Pharaoh it's almost sickening. I was never very good until I got older, but just the feeling of being able to run a task as complex as running one of those cities was exhilarating for me. Which is your favorite of the 3? Caesar has a special place in my heart, but it had a few flaws which were for the most part fixed in Pharaoh.

I never likes Zeus much because I never figured out how to make custom maps, a feature that really made things interesting for me in both Caesar and Pharaoh.

Also, cool to know you like Civilization. I think it's a top-notch game, and I own the 3rd of the series, plus the fourth and all its expansions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Honestly, all throughout my time as a youth playing AoE I & II, I always wanted the ability to make gunpowder units, but AoE III was not quite what I had in mind. The AI is absolute shit, and the options for defenses are poor. It removed lots of the elements I loved about AoE II.

AoM was fun, in my opinion, mostly due to the fact it's the only installment in the entire series other than AoE III I've been able to figure out how to play online.

[Yggdrasil]

Whoaa, holy crap... :(

I just read that Ensemble Studios is to be shut down after the release of Halo Wars :( . Does this mean that there'll never be a modern age AoE? Damn..... :pissed:

[Rubik's Cube]

Yep, you can stick a fork in AoE, it's as good as a fading memory now.

I started off with the AoE:RoR trial version on zone.com, playing the same map with the same settings over and over again (2v2, RM, same old small mediterranean map, iron age start). Major high five to anyone who remembers the APO and AOM clans.

I eventually made the jump to the full version of the game, where I started playing default settings. Egyptian/Assyrian/Hittite FTW!

All in all I must have spent thousands of hours playing RoR over the course of 4-5 years. The game was one of my biggest video game addictions ever. My love affair with the game was such that I could never truly appreciate any other RTS game ever again. AOK/AOC came the closest by being decent, good at times. AOM was fucking garbage. So was Empire Earth, AOE3, Warcraft, etc.

Out of curiosity, I checked out IGZone a while ago, expecting to find it mostly empty. Much to my surprise, I found that many of the elite players of back in the day were STILL there, 6+ years after I quit. I could hardly believe it. It's like they'd just sat there this whole time, smoking bowls and playing Age.

[Revvy]

Yep, you can stick a fork in AoE, it's as good as a fading memory now.

I started off with the AoE:RoR trial version on zone.com, playing the same map with the same settings over and over again (2v2, RM, same old small mediterranean map, iron age start). Major high five to anyone who remembers the APO and AOM clans.

I eventually made the jump to the full version of the game, where I started playing default settings. Egyptian/Assyrian/Hittite FTW!

All in all I must have spent thousands of hours playing RoR over the course of 4-5 years. The game was one of my biggest video game addictions ever. My love affair with the game was such that I could never truly appreciate any other RTS game ever again. AOK/AOC came the closest by being decent, good at times. AOM was fucking garbage. So was Empire Earth, AOE3, Warcraft, etc.

Out of curiosity, I checked out IGZone a while ago, expecting to find it mostly empty. Much to my surprise, I found that many of the elite players of back in the day were STILL there, 6+ years after I quit. I could hardly believe it. It's like they'd just sat there this whole time, smoking bowls and playing Age.

Was on IGZone a while back playing a few games here and there. I got a bit shit though, and got rolled over badly.

Like you said, most of the players remaining on the AoE online scene are really decent players who've been grinding a score for years.

Surprising that AoE2:C's pretty active on IGZone though imo. After all these years.

[Kwinnie Bogan]

I played a very epic session or two of the first Age of Empires against Jesus.

[Cegstar]

Thank you for putting it it's non-abbreviated form first.

This is an awesome game, I haven't played it in years though since now I solely do console gaming.

I may dig out one of my old Windows PC's and play AoE 1 though...

[Eridani]

This thread really made me want to play AOE2 again. I just installed it on a [vista] laptop and tried to run it. I get a white square around the mouse and colours go fucked up (like 8bit colours). Anyone any idea why this is? Something to do with Vista I'm guessing.

[Kwinnie Bogan]

Try changing the computer's colour resolution / using XP.

[Revvy]

This thread really made me want to play AOE2 again. I just installed it on a [vista] laptop and tried to run it. I get a white square around the mouse and colours go fucked up (like 8bit colours). Anyone any idea why this is? Something to do with Vista I'm guessing.

Alt + tab out of the game, then alt+tab back into the game.

Afaik, that worked for me.

[Mankonaut X]

Alt + tab out of the game, then alt+tab back into the game.

Afaik, that worked for me.

If that works that's pretty lulzy, I remember in Win98 alt-tabbing would make it 8bit and put the white box around the cursor.

[Eridani]

Yeah minimizing it actually worked thanks.

I'd pretty much forgotten about this game but as soon as I started playing all the models etc. were instantly recognisable.

What is everyone's favourite civ? I've been trying a few out (mainly Britons so far for longbows). Anyone got any starting strategies? I've been sending one each of the first 3 peasants to chop wood/build house/build mill. Then pump out peasants till I have about 20 roughly split between wood/food, then save for Feudal Age etc.

Anything better than this? Every time so far the AIs always beat me to getting to Feudal Age so seems a bit slow.

[Jack]

Yeah! That sounds like it. I played it so many times and it never got old.

There was a shitton of stone, right? If so, that'd be the one.

[Yggdrasil]

What is everyone's favourite civ? I've been trying a few out (mainly Britons so far for longbows). Anyone got any starting strategies? I've been sending one each of the first 3 peasants to chop wood/build house/build mill. Then pump out peasants till I have about 20 roughly split between wood/food, then save for Feudal Age etc.

Anything better than this? Every time so far the AIs always beat me to getting to Feudal Age so seems a bit slow.

I don't like playing the Britons much, their technology is shit. I prefer playing as the Spanish, partly due to the brute force of Conquistadors, and partly due to the extreme efficiency of trade routes for the Spanish. I usually focus mostly on food and wood production, leaving most gold output up to my caravans.

[@@@]

I was going to steal myself a copy of this, but didn't.

I'll do it next time i have a chance.

[Eridani]

I was going to steal myself a copy of this, but didn't.

I'll do it next time i have a chance.

Just download it. The torrent is only like 200mbs.

[Revvy]

Yeah minimizing it actually worked thanks.

I'd pretty much forgotten about this game but as soon as I started playing all the models etc. were instantly recognisable.

What is everyone's favourite civ? I've been trying a few out (mainly Britons so far for longbows). Anyone got any starting strategies? I've been sending one each of the first 3 peasants to chop wood/build house/build mill. Then pump out peasants till I have about 20 roughly split between wood/food, then save for Feudal Age etc.

Anything better than this? Every time so far the AIs always beat me to getting to Feudal Age so seems a bit slow.

Got a whole bunch of links back at home for AOE strats, here's some I remember off the top of my head.

http://aok.heavengames.com/
http://www.mrfixitonline.com/aok


There's no surefire way to starting: it all depends on what you think your opponents are doing. If you think they're trying to stockpile and attack in castle, you want to get in a good feudal time and rush them before they mature. If you think you're going to get rushed in feudal, build defensively and make sure you have some units to defend.

And AIs hack really badly. They can reach imperial age in impossible times so don't worry too much.

Though some very important advice if you're a bit of a noob to the game: make sure you're getting all the sheep, the berries and the 2 boars nearby: don't go straight for farms, because they cost wood you can't afford. You have a limited number of villagers to begin with so you want to maximise how many resources each unit is getting.

Also, try and harrass your enemies as much as possible with your scout cavalry. You don't have to necasserily kill his villagers, but even if you're drawing units away from resources, you're slowing him down: it could mean the difference between your tower falling or staying in feudal.

Hope this helps. I haven't played aoe for fucking ages, so I'm a little rusty, but still remember a few thigns here and there.

[Revvy]

I don't like playing the Britons much, their technology is shit. I prefer playing as the Spanish, partly due to the brute force of Conquistadors, and partly due to the extreme efficiency of trade routes for the Spanish. I usually focus mostly on food and wood production, leaving most gold output up to my caravans.

Imo, you should pick your civ in accordance to who you're facing and what kind of start you're aiming for.

Spanish will get rolled by civs with strong infantry.

[Mankonaut X]

don't go straight for farms, because they cost wood you can't afford.

The exact opposite of my strategy :mad: No wonder I kept getting my arse kicked.

[Yggdrasil]

Imo, you should pick your civ in accordance to who you're facing and what kind of start you're aiming for.

Spanish will get rolled by civs with strong infantry.

You're right. Conquistadors get squashed by good infantry. However, I usually have a thin front line of swordsmen with a large component of conquistadors. Unless I'm up against Celts or something, I'm off pretty well.

EDIT: I also like the Byzantines. They are a bit slow economically, but they make up for it with a very diverse military. Chinese Chu-ko-nus are also good.

[nevermind]

I had the no-cd version so couldn't play this game on the official servers, so instead ripped it and sent CD's to all my mates. Ended up having about 3months of playing every night for around 4hours, when i should of been studying!

Great game, but almost fell waaay behind on work.

[Eridani]

http://aok.heavengames.com/
http://www.mrfixitonline.com/aok

...



Thanks for these links etc. MFO was especially useful - some nice newbie tips (although I played it for years when it was released I never played it online so I'm pretty bad). I always used to put an equal number of villagers on each resource from the start (say 10/10/10/10) but now I get say 8 on food - next 5 on wood - then get up to 25 villagers roughly spread between the two before going to feudal.

I've been playing it quite a bit the past couple of days and can consistently beat the AI on Moderate now, gonna get to where I can beat it on Hard before I embarass myself online. Does anyone here play on IGZones?

[Revvy]

Thanks for these links etc. MFO was especially useful - some nice newbie tips (although I played it for years when it was released I never played it online so I'm pretty bad). I always used to put an equal number of villagers on each resource from the start (say 10/10/10/10) but now I get say 8 on food - next 5 on wood - then get up to 25 villagers roughly spread between the two before going to feudal.

I've been playing it quite a bit the past couple of days and can consistently beat the AI on Moderate now, gonna get to where I can beat it on Hard before I embarass myself online. Does anyone here play on IGZones?

Bad move to progress like that. Can't remember openings but read these if you want to get better:

http://www.agerage.net/forums/aoe-non-cheating-sector/86-age-empires-flush-guide.html
http://aoeism.blogspot.com/2007/06/strategy-gamingpart-1.html

Will give you idea on how to get the ball rolling before you start experimenting with new strats.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFS, i really want to play again. Girlfriends away for 1 week, fuck it, I'm torrenting this shit.

[Eridani]

I just tried the feudal rush strategy a few times but without using China I don't think it works too well and I don't really want to use them. I've been using this http://www.mrfixitonline.com/viewtopic.php?t=925 and seems quite good. Starting as Vikings I like as their bonuses are pretty good.

One of the main problems I have is using forward builders or countering them. It doesn't seem right to me to make a barracks right next to your enemy - seems kinda cheap. Anyway, is this necessary to be succesful? Also, how should I counter it if my enemy manages to build a Barracks right on the outskirts of my town? I always seem to have groups of swordsmen (men-at-arms, long swords etc.) - about 6 of them, sometimes with 2-3 archers raiding my town. What's the best way to counter this? Annoying having to ring the bell all the time to get the TC to kill them.

When should I start building more TCs and how far away? Is it worth walling myself in?

Sorry lot's of questions... more complicated than I remember ^^.

[Yggdrasil]

I just tried the feudal rush strategy a few times but without using China I don't think it works too well and I don't really want to use them. I've been using this http://www.mrfixitonline.com/viewtopic.php?t=925 and seems quite good. Starting as Vikings I like as their bonuses are pretty good.

One of the main problems I have is using forward builders or countering them. It doesn't seem right to me to make a barracks right next to your enemy - seems kinda cheap. Anyway, is this necessary to be succesful? Also, how should I counter it if my enemy manages to build a Barracks right on the outskirts of my town? I always seem to have groups of swordsmen (men-at-arms, long swords etc.) - about 6 of them, sometimes with 2-3 archers raiding my town. What's the best way to counter this? Annoying having to ring the bell all the time to get the TC to kill them.

When should I start building more TCs and how far away? Is it worth walling myself in?

Sorry lot's of questions... more complicated than I remember ^^.

First off, let me say that walling yourself in is an absolute waste of resources unless you're building the wall on a choke point or a precarious coastline. Other than that, towers are your friends. Word to the wise, though; Don't try and use towers out in the open as a buffer. They should only really be for warning in that situation.

If archers be your problem, skirmishers are your friends. Try building a tower or two near the villagers to give the enemy something to hack at while you scramble the defenses.

Other than that, I'm not a very "hardcore" aggressive player. I don't rush unless I see I've got some serious competition or the enemy flat out sucks. I prefer to set up a a good economic situation first before waging all-out war

[2009/10 is really GAY]

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings Best fuckin' AOE game.
I used to played it every morning before i go to school. 2000, decent year for me. :bluerazz:
Those blue cars (Cheat code) and those big elephants pwned!!!

[kfc v lot]

Brings back some memories this does! :D God i remember playing kings all the time. Half the time i would just create huge historically inaccurate battle in scenario maker haha. I actually recently (well 3/4 months ago) i bought the collection with 1/2 + expansions god i have got to find that.

[*ivy]

Cheers to you, fellow Sierra fan! :)

I spent so much of my childhood playing Caesar and Pharaoh it's almost sickening. I was never very good until I got older, but just the feeling of being able to run a task as complex as running one of those cities was exhilarating for me. Which is your favorite of the 3? Caesar has a special place in my heart, but it had a few flaws which were for the most part fixed in Pharaoh.

I never likes Zeus much because I never figured out how to make custom maps, a feature that really made things interesting for me in both Caesar and Pharaoh.

Also, cool to know you like Civilization. I think it's a top-notch game, and I own the 3rd of the series, plus the fourth and all its expansions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Honestly, all throughout my time as a youth playing AoE I & II, I always wanted the ability to make gunpowder units, but AoE III was not quite what I had in mind. The AI is absolute shit, and the options for defenses are poor. It removed lots of the elements I loved about AoE II.

AoM was fun, in my opinion, mostly due to the fact it's the only installment in the entire series other than AoE III I've been able to figure out how to play online.


Pharaoh was my favourite cause it ran smoothly, but I've always had a thing for the Romans :) They kick some serious arse.

I think Civ is good cause it combines the city micro-management of the Sierra series with the battle combat of AoE. The best of both worlds.

See what I did there.

[Yggdrasil]

Pharaoh was my favourite cause it ran smoothly, but I've always had a thing for the Romans :) They kick some serious arse.

I think Civ is good cause it combines the city micro-management of the Sierra series with the battle combat of AoE. The best of both worlds.

See what I did there.

Yes. I always enjoyed the level of management one could partake in while playing the Sierra games, but I always found the military abilities lacking. Civ makes up for it. Did you ever play the black sheep of the Sierra series, Emperor? I've never gotten the opportunity to. If so, is it any good?

[*ivy]

Yes. I always enjoyed the level of management one could partake in while playing the Sierra games, but I always found the military abilities lacking. Civ makes up for it. Did you ever play the black sheep of the Sierra series, Emperor? I've never gotten the opportunity to. If so, is it any good?

Nah, I never got round to it before I sacked windows off. Heard it was fairly good.

To be honest, I liked that the Sierra games were lacking in military. While it's all very good fun kicking the shit out of people, I'm not war minded enough to take it strategically past Tekken levels.