.. AGE OF EMPIRES IV is officially in production!!!!

[ngilop]

Spoiler: my initial statement

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YES!

There has been no other real information released as of yet.

I guess the biggest question on everybody's mind is 'what era is it set in?'

My guess would be either:

civil war era

World War 1 era

World War II era

post-Vietnam war era

or a future era where there are lazer-blasting mechanized infantry

[Olinser]

Doubt its going to be any of that because if you start out early and then try to transition past the Civil War era weapons like machine guns and artillery completely change the gameplay to 100% emphasize ranged weapons and if you still try to balance any kind of melee or cavalry it just becomes kind of ridiculous.

Going by the announcement trailer there appear to be 4 distinct Ages shown, Bronze Age with Spartan-ish guys, what looks like the Age of Exploration with Spanish guys in South America, about the 1600ish era of cannon ships and whatnot, and what looks like American Revolution period.

I don't see anything close to even the Civil War era, much less more modern.

I'm still pretty hyped though. I've always loved the Age of Empires series, Age of Empires 2 is still an amazing game.

[Keltest]

Doubt its going to be any of that because if you start out early and then try to transition past the Civil War era weapons like machine guns and artillery completely change the gameplay to 100% emphasize ranged weapons and if you still try to balance any kind of melee or cavalry it just becomes kind of ridiculous.

Going by the announcement trailer there appear to be 4 distinct Ages shown, Bronze Age with Spartan-ish guys, what looks like the Age of Exploration with Spanish guys in South America, about the 1600ish era of cannon ships and whatnot, and what looks like American Revolution period.

I don't see anything close to even the Civil War era, much less more modern.

I'm still pretty hyped though. I've always loved the Age of Empires series, Age of Empires 2 is still an amazing game.

Bronze age was, IIRC, AoE1, and most of the rest are AoE3 already.

Someone showed me a picture that indicated that AoE4 would be WW1/2, and a hypothetical AoE5 would be sci-fi, but I don't know how authentic or official that picture is.

[ngilop]

the reveal trailer is literally just showing the old age of empires game, you have to listen to the narator.

at the end he even says 'now a new age is upon us.'

this is a reference to a new AGE of empires game as well as a new AGE it is set in.


I would wager its WWI/WW2 that when the whole 'modern imperialism' stuff starts.

also in regards to machine guns, tanks, and rockets rendering earlier military technologies and tactics moot is kind of the point. I mean just take a look at the real world here.. when was the last time you saw a mounted knight charge on the battlefield against a modern army, well besides the polish.

[Vitruviansquid]

I can't be excited about this until I know anything about this game.

I mean, it might look like Age of Empires Online at the end, for all we know.

[Olinser]

the reveal trailer is literally just showing the old age of empires game, you have to listen to the narator.

at the end he even says 'now a new age is upon us.'

this is a reference to a new AGE of empires game as well as a new AGE it is set in.


I would wager its WWI/WW2 that when the whole 'modern imperialism' stuff starts.

also in regards to machine guns, tanks, and rockets rendering earlier military technologies and tactics moot is kind of the point. I mean just take a look at the real world here.. when was the last time you saw a mounted knight charge on the battlefield against a modern army, well besides the polish.

Yes but the entire theme of Age of Empires for the last 3 games has been technological advancement and mostly medieval warfare, capping off at about the 19th century in AOE 3.

Changing the gameplay to actually have modern warfare changes the entire basis of the game and is exactly the kind of thing that would generate huge fan backlash, especially given the length of time since AOE 3.

[Leecros]

Changing the gameplay to actually have modern warfare changes the entire basis of the game and is exactly the kind of thing that would generate huge fan backlash, especially given the length of time since AOE 3.

It's not like there hasn't been games like AoE that have managed to bring thegameplay into more modern settings...Empire Earth did it fairly well(It went from Stone Age tribals all the way to future tech laser guns) and was pretty well recieved. Also I mean the first two games, not that one.

[Olinser]

It's not like there hasn't been games like AoE that have managed to bring thegameplay into more modern settings...Empire Earth did it fairly well(It went from Stone Age tribals all the way to future tech laser guns) and was pretty well recieved. Also I mean the first two games, not that one.

Those are games LIKE AoE, not AoE games. I did enjoy Empire Earth although it was hilariously unbalanced.

But as with any game series, players come to expect a certain type of gameplay in a series. Obviously you CAN change anything, but it is very, very risky to change the gameplay of an established series.

[Aotrs Commander]

I can't be excited about this until I know anything about this game.

I mean, it might look like Age of Empires Online at the end, for all we know.

My sentiments exactly.

Show me some gameplay - and convince me you're not trying to "AAA"-ify it (because I wouldn't put it past MS) - and then I might give it the time of day,