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Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (AKA AoE2 HD HD)
- Thread starter Infinitron
- Start date
Lacrymas
Arcane
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After Age of Mythology.
Endemic
Arcane
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Odd that the AOE2 version of Romans still have the stock knight line alongside mounted Centurions as the unique unit. The "Dromon" is a good addition but not a sensible name for the ship (Dromons used fire or ramming as weapons).
Looks like the original AOE1 campaigns aren't going to be included in the seperate RoR dataset, though there are some more mechanical reworks like garrisoning.
Looks like the original AOE1 campaigns aren't going to be included in the seperate RoR dataset, though there are some more mechanical reworks like garrisoning.
Sensuki
Arcane
This was a fun one
Cat Headed Eagle
Learned
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Do you want them to "update" the game's content to force in Disney Star Wars content??
The OG works fine and it's available on GOG and Steam.
Endemic
Arcane
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Possibly, they did add the Burgundian civ into the AoK French campaign for example. It makes more sense than using Byzantines to represent them, at least
Cat Headed Eagle
Learned
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my brother in christ, are you actually trying to find historical accuracy in age of empires? it never had it
Cat Headed Eagle
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Endemic
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Yeah but that makes sense.
Possibly, they did add the Burgundian civ into the AoK French campaign for example. It makes more sense than using Byzantines to represent them, at least
Fighting units from the time of Caesar in the late Roman Empire... not so much.
I mean, I see the entertainment value here, but I would like to have an actually historically-accurate Late Roman Civilization
In 436? Problem is it wouldn't be an indigenous Roman army at that point. Nothing stopping you editing in the historically present mercenary armies for each scenario, if you want. There was a fan-made Tamerlane campaign almost 20 years before the official one in Definitive Edition, for example.
So here's the Romans' unique abilities.
Tech tree found here.
Heavy focus on the Militia line with a unique unit after the Long Swordsman, a mounted unit that buffs said upgrade, several bonuses to melee armor and a charge for infantry. Ranged units are middling, with the primary focus being on Scorpions. No gunpowder units, but they instead gain access to the Dromon, a new siege ship that they get instead of the Cannon Galleon. The Byzantines, Goths and Huns also get the Dromon, but only the Huns don't have access to the Cannon Galleon. They look pretty fun when you're into infantry blobs, but you'll be extremely vulnerable to catapults.
Tech tree found here.
Heavy focus on the Militia line with a unique unit after the Long Swordsman, a mounted unit that buffs said upgrade, several bonuses to melee armor and a charge for infantry. Ranged units are middling, with the primary focus being on Scorpions. No gunpowder units, but they instead gain access to the Dromon, a new siege ship that they get instead of the Cannon Galleon. The Byzantines, Goths and Huns also get the Dromon, but only the Huns don't have access to the Cannon Galleon. They look pretty fun when you're into infantry blobs, but you'll be extremely vulnerable to catapults.
They've got Halberdiers, which also get the armor upgrades, so they have at least some defense agaisnt anti-infantry cavalry. While they lack access to the Paladin you might get some mileage out of a fully upgraded Cavalier (they also get the charge bonus). But their archers are lacking several upgrades and technologies to make them good, and they have limited options in sieges as well. They also lack Heresy, which might bite them in the ass when facing a Monk-focussed civ. So the Romans have some good if expensive infantry lines (remember, no Supplies means no -15 food cost on the Legionaries), but once your enemy breaks out the elephants or handgunners you don't really have a reliable hard counter.
Sensuki
Arcane
They'll receieve some nerfs before they're available in ranked multiplayer - some of the bonuses are too OP for sure and the Centurion looks to be way too strong in Castle Age
Shouldn't they be called Western Roman Empire as the Byzantine Empire is already available as a playable Civ?
The AoE2 Romans are intended to be late Western Roman Empire, not classical age Romans.
The AoE2 Romans and the AoE1 Romans are two completely different civilizations that have nothing in common but the name.
The legionary looks more like a 4th century soldier than a classical legionary, the Roman unique tech is called Comitatenses (a term referring to the late Roman infantry), and the centurion even has the chi-rho of the late Christian Roman Empire on his shield.
AoE2 Romans are the Attila era Romans, not the Caesar era Romans. And the Attila and Alaric campaigns will be updated to have your enemies be the Romans.
Sensuki
Arcane
Tried out a Longsword rush with Dravidians after the latest balance patch to increase the viability of the militia line in the later stages of the game - Dravidians probably one of the best civs to get it going and particularly on Nomad / Hybrid maps
Sensuki
Arcane
Love Black Forest, lmao
Endemic
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Yeah, the wood and fishing bonuses are perfect for Nomad.
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Gave the Romans a spin and tried a RoR skirmish.
Romans function as expected: solid infantry and cavalry. Scorpions function excellently, but they're still Scorpions so use them accordingly. They suck against buildings though, so you better bring rams or trebuchets to deal with fortifications where your catapult boat can't reach.
Return of Rome runs a LOT better than AoE1DE, and it's got pretty much the exact same settings for skirmish that AoE2 has. Functionality has been improved across the board, with quite a bit of the jank of AoE1 being stripped out. So yes, you can control more than 36 units at a time now. There's a few new balance changes and a number of new things (for example, Urbanization: age 4 tech that for 350w/150s doubles the pop gain from houses).
But is it worth it? This is very much Age of Empires 1's show. Sure the Romans for AoE2 are nice, but they don't get a campaign or anything. If you just want the Romans and don't care about AoE1 then it's a hard sell for this price, wait for a sale. If you're an Age of Empires 1 purist you might not like the changes very much, and you might not like that this is probably how they're going to support the game from this point on. If you like Age of Empires 1 but wish it was more like Age of Empires 2, with less jank but without losing its heart, then you'll like this. If you have Age of Empires 2, don't have 1 but would like to try it, then this is the way to do it. If you don't really care about Age of Empires 1 or would just get this for the meme, wait for a sale.
Then again, this is essentially selling you a patch, so if you don't like practices like that you might not like this at all.
Tentative verdict:
/5
Romans function as expected: solid infantry and cavalry. Scorpions function excellently, but they're still Scorpions so use them accordingly. They suck against buildings though, so you better bring rams or trebuchets to deal with fortifications where your catapult boat can't reach.
Return of Rome runs a LOT better than AoE1DE, and it's got pretty much the exact same settings for skirmish that AoE2 has. Functionality has been improved across the board, with quite a bit of the jank of AoE1 being stripped out. So yes, you can control more than 36 units at a time now. There's a few new balance changes and a number of new things (for example, Urbanization: age 4 tech that for 350w/150s doubles the pop gain from houses).
But is it worth it? This is very much Age of Empires 1's show. Sure the Romans for AoE2 are nice, but they don't get a campaign or anything. If you just want the Romans and don't care about AoE1 then it's a hard sell for this price, wait for a sale. If you're an Age of Empires 1 purist you might not like the changes very much, and you might not like that this is probably how they're going to support the game from this point on. If you like Age of Empires 1 but wish it was more like Age of Empires 2, with less jank but without losing its heart, then you'll like this. If you have Age of Empires 2, don't have 1 but would like to try it, then this is the way to do it. If you don't really care about Age of Empires 1 or would just get this for the meme, wait for a sale.
Then again, this is essentially selling you a patch, so if you don't like practices like that you might not like this at all.
Tentative verdict:
/5
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The RoR version of AoE1 is still a whole lot like the original, they just removed some of the technical jank that came with the DE being as much like the original as possible. Sure, if you like AoE1 for what it is and have either the DE or original version of the game this might be a hard sell at the current price, but if you also enjoy AoE2 and are curious as to the new stuff you might end up liking this anyway. It's just a matter of asking yourself if you're willing to pay $15 for a patch.
Endemic
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Zboj Lamignat
Arcane
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- Feb 15, 2012
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This is the RoR Romans, not the AoE2 ones.
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