The Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition multiplayer closed beta has been active since shortly after our E3 2019 announcement, and we’re thrilled to have shared this pre-launch journey with more than 50,000 passionate fans so far! We intend to keep the closed beta running from now until shortly before the game’s Nov. 14 launch to give additional Age Insiders hands-on time with the game and to ensure we’re continuing our work toward a truly definitive edition of Age of Empires II. That said, we think now is the perfect time to provide the wider community with a “sneak peek” of the victories we’ve seen in beta.
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A Fabulous Community
A new version, called Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition, has captivated me entirely.Developer Forgotten Empires and Xbox Game Studios have done a fantastic job of taking a 20-year-old game. On August 21, 2017 at Gamescom, Microsoft announced Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition was in development by Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media and Wicked Witch Software. On June 9, 2019, Microsoft revealed the gameplay trailer at Xbox E3 2019. It released on the Xbox Game Pass in addition to Steam and the Windows Store on November 14, 2019. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition celebrates the 20th anniversary of one of the most popular strategy games ever with stunning 4K Ultra HD graphics, a new and fully remastered soundtrack, and brand-new content, “The Last Khans” with 3 new campaigns and 4 new civilizations.
We’ve always known Age fans to be passionate, and you haven’t disappointed us since we relaunched the Age of Empires Insider Program in June 2019. In approximately four months’ time, nearly 90,000 fans have registered for our Insider Program, indicating they’d like to contribute to and stay up to date on the future of all our Age titles.
We’ve been growing our Age II: DE beta audience based on the information provided at the time of registration and have equipped each beta participant with multiple tools for providing us with feedback about the beta as they’ve lobbied up and grown their empires. Since June, thousands of fans have provided us with their input via the forums and surveys, and we’ve been able to make more than 300 changes based on that feedback — spanning from UI and AI to the soundtrack and game balance.
A Major Impact
The Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition closed beta community has been focused on multiplayer, and as a result, we’ve gathered a ton of helpful data and community feedback to ensure the matchmaking and lobby experiences give our players what they want.
- Civilization balance changes. Balance has always been vital to Age games, and we’ve already implemented several changes to new and existing civs based on suggestions provided during the beta.
- Play Multiplayer your way. Tons of new quality of life improvements have been added to our multiplayer lobby and matchmaking systems based on your requests. For example, the game now remembers whether you prefer to queue for matchmaking or join a custom lobby, helping you get into the games you want even faster, and plays an audio cue when a successful match is made.
- Connection quality indicator. There are Age players all over the world, who we anticipate will be hosting and hopping into games starting Nov. 14. To better empower our community, we’ve implemented a Connection Quality indicator to give you a better idea of which servers and matches to join.
- New speed options. Thanks in part to beta feedback Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition includes a variety of speed options, based on whether you’re looking to play for fun or more competitively. This includes 1x, 1.5x, 1.69x and 2x speed options.
- Updated lobby music! We know this may sound small, but early on, our beta participants let us know that the lobby music should keep them uplifted and excited. As a result, we shifted our direction so that the lobby now rotates through a number of the game’s more upbeat tracks.
And That’s Just the Beginning!
These changes, and many others, came about because of feedback from the Age of Empires Insiders. But even though the beta’s almost over, we’re not done yet! We will soon share our post-launch plans for continued support and updates to the game, and we couldn’t be more excited to be on this journey together with our community!
Thanks to each and every one of you for taking the time to register as an Age Insider, join us in the beta, pre-order the game or reach out via our social channels to share your excitement. We’re just as excited as you are about Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and can’t wait to continue sharing the game, both in beta and beyond!
Discuss of 10 comments
(Sorry for my english)
Graphics is amazing, new civs is joyful, maps and accessories (animals, building, many many new object) are varied, i love big cats :) Enchants the game and takes me back to my childhood.The game crash sometimes. FPS and lag is so high. The 'team bug' still alive, this is one of the most ancient AOE2 bug. If i choose team, always change. Funny. Relig why did it turn brown :D? And i've been looking for a whiledle the 'idle pleasant' button,
although it is logical that he is there. The sounds sometimes resemble AOE1. But, this is AOE2. When attacked, the sound effect is less dangerous as before.
I think, it's good to sound a little scared. Although the characters are very nice, they look a bit like each other. But it will probably get used to.Overall very nice job, especially so this beta.
Singed up in June for beta never got a beta key or any kind of email. I don't have a supercomputer like most buts it's more than enough to run the game it runs aoe1 DE likes its nothing and was enough to get me into that beta so why have I been ignored for this one?
I updated my xdiag a couple of times :(
Like the game so much.but still ai is making archers all th time and path finding is not good. But its smooth and fun to play. Btw the health bar on top of units looks ugly pls make iy smaller
the game is fantastic and i am enjoying it a lot,i like the new civilizations ...!!!
No email sooo hyped to try it on beta and on the release date !
Hello,
Ive had a e-mail that my computer does not meet the minimum system requirements, but of course I do I even uploaded the right dxdiag.
I have a - Intel i7-2600k @3,4GHz (8CPU) + overclocking
-16gb ram memory
- Geforce GTX 1050TI
I would think that will be eneuf?I have the exact same specs. It runs fine but the whole experience is sluggish. (Its the same on low or max settings). Hopefully this is just because its in beta stage and wont be like this on final release.
Are you releasing any new screenshots or videos of the beta tests? I’d really love to see more info on Cumans and Lithuanian civs, especially their tech trees
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Dec 28, 2020| Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Forgotten Empires[a] |
| Publisher(s) | Xbox Game Studios |
| Director(s) | Adam Isgreen |
| Designer(s) | Bert Beeckman |
| Series | Age of Empires |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | November 14, 2019 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is a real-time strategy video game developed by Forgotten Empires and published by Xbox Game Studios.[1] It is a remaster of the original game Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the original. It features significantly improved visuals, supports 4K resolution, and 'The Last Khans', an expansion that adds four new civilizations based on Central Asia and Eastern Europe, and four new campaigns.[2] It includes all previous expansions from the original and HD Edition. It was released on November 14, 2019.[3]
Gameplay[edit]
The core gameplay elements are shared heavily with the original but Definitive Edition builds upon it. The remaster includes new 4K graphics, new improved visuals for troops and buildings, the ability to zoom in and further out and a new spectator mode. It features a new campaign called The Last Khans and includes four new civilizations: Bulgarians, Cumans, Lithuanians and Tatars. Four new campaigns were added for the new civilisations: Ivaylo, Kotyan Khan, Tamerlane and Pachacuti which is about the Inca civilisation and replaces El Dorado from the HD Edition (Lithuanians do not appear as a playable civilization in any campaign; however, they represent Poles in the Ivaylo campaign).[2][4] It includes all previous expansions from the original (The Conquerors) and HD edition (The Forgotten, The African Kingdoms, Rise of the Rajas).[2][5]
Players can choose between the original AI, the updated HD Edition AI that was added alongside the HD Edition of the game, and a newer AI developed for the Definitive Edition.[6] The original AI had to cheat to be competitive, while the new AI is advanced enough to not require any cheating. When the old and new AIs were pitted against each other in a test, the new one easily defeated the old one.[7] Unit pathfinding is also supposedly improved upon.[8] Players can shift-queue villager tasks.[9]Farms now have the option to be replenished automatically.[10] A further expansion pack, Lords of the West, was announced on December 15, 2020 and is due for release on January 26, 2021. The Lords of the West will introduce two further civilisations, the Burgundians and the Sicilians, as well as three new campaigns, featuring Edward Longshanks, the Dukes of Burgundy and the Hautevilles.[11]
Release[edit]
Age Of Empires 2 Definitive Edition Walkthrough
On August 21, 2017 at Gamescom, Microsoft announced Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition was in development by Forgotten Empires, Tantalus Media and Wicked Witch Software.[12] On June 9, 2019, Microsoft revealed the gameplay trailer at Xbox E3 2019.[13] It released on the Xbox Game Pass in addition to Steam and the Windows Store on November 14, 2019.[5][14]
Reception[edit]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 84/100[15] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| PC Gamer (UK) | 78/100[16] |
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition received 'generally favorable' reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic with a score of 84/100 from 32 reviews.[15]Windows Central's Cale Hunt praised the improved artwork, animations and quality of life additions but criticized the AIpath finding and pointed out a need for further balancing.[17]
Notes[edit]
- ^Additional work by Tantalus Media and Wicked Witch[1][2]
References[edit]
- ^ abWright, Steve (June 19, 2019). 'Aussie devs Wicked Witch, Tantalus working on Age of Empires 2'. Stevivor. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^ abcdIsgreen, Adam; Empires, Franchise Creative Director for Age of (June 9, 2019). 'E3 2019: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Launching Fall 2019, Beta Coming Soon'. Xbox Wire. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^Moore, Ewan (August 19, 2019). 'Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition Release Date Confirmed'. UNILAD. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- ^'Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition will release this fall'. PCGamesN. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ abJune 14, Marshall Honorof |; Pm, 2019 05:50. 'Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Lives Up to Its Name at E3 2019'. www.laptopmag.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- ^White, Sam (November 12, 2019). 'Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition review – reverent treatment'. pcgamesn.com. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^Shea, Brian. 'How Age Of Empires II: Definitive Edition Hopes It Is Living Up To Its Name'. Game Informer. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
- ^Calvin, Alex. 'Why Microsoft is investing so heavily in the Age of Empires series'. PC Games Insider. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
- ^Ray, Bodhisatwa (November 21, 2019). 'Age of Empires II Definitive Edition Review: Price in India and review'. BGR India.
- ^'Review: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition'. Hardcore Gamer. December 12, 2019.
- ^'Pre-Order Age of Empires II: DE – Lords of the West, coming January 26th!' (in Lithuanian). Forgotten Empires. December 15, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- ^Knezevic, Kevin (August 21, 2017). 'Age Of Empires 2 And 3 Remasters Announced'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
- ^Giret, Laurent (August 19, 2019). 'Age of Empires: DE launches on Steam with cross play support, Age of Empires II DE also coming on November 14'. OnMSFT.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- ^'Pre-purchase Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on Steam'. store.steampowered.com. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
- ^ ab'Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition for PC Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^Brown, Fraser (November 12, 2019). 'Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition review'. PC Gamer. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
- ^'Review — Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is a remake true to its past'. Windows Central. November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
Age Of Empires Definitive Beta
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