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Age Of Empires III Definitive Edition I Gamescom trailer

Hostile_18

Banned
As a big fan of the original games and would love to play this again... I will only play a game like this (a huge CIV fan) on a handheld device like a Switch or Surface...
Turn based games like Panzer General turned out ok on the console, by why limit your play to the couch?

I don't have a gaming pc anymore, can't see a choice been a bad thing. I've got lots of confidence any game can work on console after seeing Pillars, Divinity, Civ 6, Diablo and Baldurs Gate all work really well. Modern controllers have what 15 or so buttons, there really shouldn't be an issue for a capable development team IMO. Obviously as to which plays best; a RTS likely will be on PC but that dosnt negate a super fun console experience.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
I agree it could be "okay" on a controller if you really didn't care about taking the game seriously, just like the Nintendo 64 versions of Starcraft and C&C. Sure it could work, the same way Sonic on a phone works by using on-screen touch controls instead of buttons. It's a convenient option for those who neither care nor know any better.

Just have mouse/kb control for the game on Xbox in addition to a controller set up and the entire issue becomes moot. They already sell officially licensed mouse/kb sets for Xbox, if it doesn't work on a RTS game then why even sell it?

I think the issue with this is that most people will play with a controller, so you have to build the interface, and it has to be good, or people will complain/not buy it. And, as I detailed in this thread, it's impossible to make an RTS play well on console. The best you can do is borderline acceptable.

I don't have a gaming pc anymore, can't see a choice been a bad thing. I've got lots of confidence any game can work on console after seeing Pillars, Divinity, Civ 6, Diablo and Baldurs Gate all work really well. Modern controllers have what 15 or so buttons, there really shouldn't be an issue for a capable development team IMO. Obviously as to which plays best; a RTS likely will be on PC but that dosnt negate a super fun console experience.

I feel like I am taking crazy pills when I see people continue to bring up Civilization and Baldurs Gate to justify a RTS.
 
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Hostile_18

Banned
I think the issue with this is that most people will play with a controller, so you have to build the interface, and it has to be good, or people will complain/not buy it. And, as I detailed in this thread, it's impossible to make an RTS play well on console. The best you can do is borderline acceptable.



I feel like I am taking crazy pills when I see people continue to bring up Civilization and Baldurs Gate to justify a RTS.

Because what your saying about RTS games is EXACTLY what people were saying about those games back in the day 😊.
 

Hostile_18

Banned
Again, crazy pills - read one of my posts in this very thread, I brought up this exact point. No they did not.

"PC" is not a genre - just because Civilization works with a pad doesn't mean every game works with a pad. Civilization is not a RTS.

We'd just go round in circles. I'm more than happy to play a RTS at a leisurely pace on a console. If any designers have a RTS game and are struggling with console controls hit me up my rates are reasonable.
 

Hostile_18

Banned
Diablo 3 was very good on gamepad. I would agree with that.

For me with Diablo and Baldurs Gate its having direct control rather than mouse clicking way points.

Just to note though all versions are great. I'm struggling to think of a recent game where the controls have been garbage. They are all pretty much homogenized now.
 

Edgelord79

Gold Member
For me with Diablo and Baldurs Gate its having direct control rather than mouse clicking way points.

Just to note though all versions are great. I'm struggling to think of a recent game where the controls have been garbage. They are all pretty much homogenized now.

Strategy games for me are usually not too good on gamepad as I liked the micromanagent of the genre and prefer mouse and keyboard input. I wouldn't say they are garbage though.

I would like to see Paradox try to port Crusader Kings 3 to console just to see the amount of nesting within the radial menus lol.
 

devilNprada

Member
"PC" is not a genre - just because Civilization works with a pad doesn't mean every game works with a pad. Civilization is not a RTS.

been so long I forget.. Does Age of Empires have hexagon maps?
If so I think it would be perfect for the Switch, and touch screens like the Surface maybe another viable (portable) option.
No way I am sitting at a PC playing these again though..
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
been so long I forget.. Does Age of Empires have hexagon maps?
If so I think it would be perfect for the Switch, and touch screens like the Surface maybe another viable (portable) option.
No way I am sitting at a PC playing these again though..

No, unless you played the DS version. Touch screen is interesting. Company of Heroes just came out on iOS and while I have not tried it, it has received good reviews. Part of the issue with touch is that when you get more into RTS games you really do want a keyboard for shortcuts, hotkeys for army, etc. However it should work far better than gamepad.
 

BlackTron

Member
For me;

Baldurs Gate; Great (prefer over k&m)
Diablo 3: Great (prefer over k&m)
Civ 6: Good (but prefer k&m).

But none of those are RTS games. Diablo works pretty good with a gamepad...what does that have to do with Age of Empires?

Granted, if you design a game from the ground up for play on console it can be pretty acceptable, for example Halo Wars. But you're talking about taking an existing RTS game and adapting it for a controller. I concede that if they're utterly brilliant, it can have about as much success as, like I said before, using a phone to play Sonic. People will do it "no problem", but ANYONE who ever played Sonic with a Genesis controller will laugh in your face.

I feel the same way about people who play FPS games with a controller. Sure, it "works". If you take the game even remotely seriously though, it's also a complete joke.

Before anybody starts screaming oooh we have a PC Master Race badass on our hands here. I will tell you I think you're just as insane if you try to play Mario with a keyboard. Sure it's possible. Sure it works. It's just unnecessarily silly and bad.
 

BlackTron

Member
We'd just go round in circles. I'm more than happy to play a RTS at a leisurely pace on a console. If any designers have a RTS game and are struggling with console controls hit me up my rates are reasonable.

What if you want to play the game as intended, not this leisurely pace stuff? I mean I can do a race at a leisurely pace using my grandma's walker, if that's your jam great, but the walker is still a shitty race car.
 

Hostile_18

Banned
What if you want to play the game as intended, not this leisurely pace stuff? I mean I can do a race at a leisurely pace using my grandma's walker, if that's your jam great, but the walker is still a shitty race car.

The difference between a pro player and a casual has always been massive in certain genres like RTS's and fighters. The developers don't intend everyone to play the same way don't worry.

Like Age of Empires I dont send all my men to my opponents base to wipe them out at the start of the game, as soon as I can. I'm here for fun. Each to their own. 😊
 

Tschumi

Member
This is totally apart from me not digging xBox.

AoE 3 was a catastrophic installment in perhaps my #1 most beloved game series.

I don't care if the game jumps out of my screen, I'm not going to touch this rank fuckin' remaster with a 50 foot pole.
 
I don't have a gaming pc anymore, can't see a choice been a bad thing. I've got lots of confidence any game can work on console after seeing Pillars, Divinity, Civ 6, Diablo and Baldurs Gate all work really well. Modern controllers have what 15 or so buttons, there really shouldn't be an issue for a capable development team IMO. Obviously as to which plays best; a RTS likely will be on PC but that dosnt negate a super fun console experience.


Those dont work well. They're actually so ridiculous that when i first saw them i was waiting for ashton kutcher to jump out from the closet and scream punked. Literally the definition of forcing something that doesnt work just so you can say you did it. Everything in the way you control and play those games on consoles is wrong and a thousand times more difficult and just a ridiculous experience all around. I cant fathom how devs looked at them and thought they're ok. This trend of putting unsuited titles like these on consoles likely started after Original Sin tried it. Nobody was doing them for consoles, then when they say Original Sin having a go they all started doing it. Even if they're near unplayable.
 

Hostile_18

Banned
Those dont work well. They're actually so ridiculous that when i first saw them i was waiting for ashton kutcher to jump out from the closet and scream punked. Literally the definition of forcing something that doesnt work just so you can say you did it. Everything in the way you control and play those games on consoles is wrong and a thousand times more difficult and just a ridiculous experience all around. I cant fathom how devs looked at them and thought they're ok. This trend of putting unsuited titles like these on consoles likely started after Original Sin tried it. Nobody was doing them for consoles, then when they say Original Sin having a go they all started doing it. Even if they're near unplayable.

I've never heard that kind of feedback from people playing those games on console, I'm really surprised. Maybe if you haven't used a controller for a while there can be an adjustment period (like playing a FPS with a controller over mouse and keyboard etc).

Civ 6 and Baldurs Gate I've played with both control schemes and never had an issue with either personally.
 
This is totally apart from me not digging xBox.

AoE 3 was a catastrophic installment in perhaps my #1 most beloved game series.

I don't care if the game jumps out of my screen, I'm not going to touch this rank fuckin' remaster with a 50 foot pole.
Never played it myself. What's so bad about it?
 
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Tschumi

Member
Never played it myself. What's so bas about it?
It just went totally away from prior values of historical accuracy, education, introduced some wacky gameplay mechanics, the move to 3d hugely gimped the visual beauty of earlier games and also created smaller maps with more cropped camera views.. it was just ass.

I don't feel guilty spoiling that the climax of the campaign was the ottoman empire and some ex crusader Knights fighting in the heart of the Amazon in search of the fountain of fuckin' youth laaawl

Also, there was a colossal graphical downgrade, in the days before everyone picked up on that stuff, between teaser screenshots and the game.
 

TheSHEEEP

Gold Member
It just went totally away from prior values of historical accuracy, education, introduced some wacky gameplay mechanics, the move to 3d hugely gimped the visual beauty of earlier games and also created smaller maps with more cropped camera views.. it was just ass.

I don't feel guilty spoiling that the climax of the campaign was the ottoman empire and some ex crusader Knights fighting in the heart of the Amazon in search of the fountain of fuckin' youth laaawl

Also, there was a colossal graphical downgrade, in the days before everyone picked up on that stuff, between teaser screenshots and the game.
You gotta be kidding me.
AoE was never historically accurate, always just inspired.
AoE3 is just... even less accurate.

AoE3 meanwhile brought one of the best things to the series, a way to give players an actual agenda, a build possibility to fine-tune to their playstyle, in the form of the home cities.
Something to make the nation you play actually yours in a very mild rpg manner and not just some choice from a list.
I loved the hell out of that when playing, no matter if offline or online.

It also brought actually different nations to play, instead of being like AoE1&2 where every nation is pretty much identical apart from maybe a special unit or two and some minor tech differences.

And the campaign was just a majestic piece of cheesy storytelling. So absurd you gotta love it.
Though I can understand how someone would be upset if you expected anything historically accurate.

Not saying it was perfect, as it sure wasn't.
For example, I just love turtling and that is straight up impossible in AoE3. Walls are even less durable than in previous installments, gunfire units shoot right through them (yes, really) making them almost entirely useless and you can't build them over railroads making it impossible to build useful walls on some maps. At least some nations can go for pretty OP towers with the right hometown abilities.
Balance was also an issue with so many so different nations - but then again, better that way around than the AoE1&2 way with all nations being mostly the same. Still, they didn't even manage to make the different choices within the nations' hometowns on par with each other.
Online play became impossible to get into with most players being veterans of 10+ years so anyone trying to even get started would just be immediately disheartened by getting their asses handed to them nonstop.
 
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Mackers

Member
I'd love to see AoE be ported to xbox with full crossplay support. Nothing wrong with it what so ever, bigger player base is only for the better. It would be tough to play on pad, but anyone who wanted to play seriously online would have to plug in a keyboard and mouse, there's already plenty of console games with native support at the moment, and plenty of people using it.
 

TheSHEEEP

Gold Member
The difference between a pro player and a casual has always been massive in certain genres like RTS's and fighters. The developers don't intend everyone to play the same way don't worry.

Like Age of Empires I dont send all my men to my opponents base to wipe them out at the start of the game, as soon as I can. I'm here for fun. Each to their own. 😊
I mean, if you're fine with not being able to compete with kb&m players, I don't see what would speak against such a port.
After all, you don't HAVE to play competitively, not at all even.

As long as those two groups are clearly separated (so you won't end up in a competitive 2vs2 and your partner uses a gamepad x.x), the game could be ported to tamagotchis for all I care.
 

Bergoglio

Member
I agree it could be "okay" on a controller if you really didn't care about taking the game seriously, just like the Nintendo 64 versions of Starcraft and C&C. Sure it could work, the same way Sonic on a phone works by using on-screen touch controls instead of buttons. It's a convenient option for those who neither care nor know any better.

Just have mouse/kb control for the game on Xbox in addition to a controller set up and the entire issue becomes moot. They already sell officially licensed mouse/kb sets for Xbox, if it doesn't work on a RTS game then why even sell it?

But how we know it doesnt'work?
 

BlackTron

Member
The difference between a pro player and a casual has always been massive in certain genres like RTS's and fighters. The developers don't intend everyone to play the same way don't worry.

Like Age of Empires I dont send all my men to my opponents base to wipe them out at the start of the game, as soon as I can. I'm here for fun. Each to their own. 😊

So it will work the same way as FPS on console works. Everyone is equally neutered so it's all fair in the end.

The simple act of deciding to select a single specific unit will take longer and require more effort with a controller than a mouse. This alone ensures that it would drive me psychotic within 5 minutes. I see a lot more work, to do less. Why anyone would want to put themselves through this I have no idea. Unless you will play the game fundamentally differently, like a total macro game with almost no micro control whatsoever, and therefore removing nigh infinite viable strategies from your thought process entirely. But even playing a pure macro game, would be way slower and clunkier.

Even a casual player has to be able to select a single friggen unit, and do it whenever he wants on a second's whim, not as some annoying task. If you're so casual this isn't even a big deal, it's hard to believe you are paying for a $60 game, you should be on a phone.

To me this is like saying only PRO Mario 64 players need the control stick, the d-pad in the DS version is good enough for everyone else. Um, no. Everyone deserves the control stick, even if they're not speed running. To say the dpad is fine for more casual players is like an insult, like they have some fundamentally lower appreciation for games and it won't matter anyway, may as well give them shit and assume none of them will ever get better enough to appreciate the control stick anyway.

Garbage!
 
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Tschumi

Member
Never played it myself. What's so bad about it?
It's lame to revisit this but i just wanted to corral together a few of those screenshots that they didn't live up to. For a few months back then these screenshots meant so much to me~

images

images

images

images

AOE3_006-large.jpg

AOE3_008-large.jpg

AOE3_012-large.jpg


Suffice to say i was expecting some pristine, faithful, Gorgeous (these screens looked pretty fantastic in 06) rendering of the colonial US. Didn't get it. And yeah, I've been butthurt ever since.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
It just went totally away from prior values of historical accuracy, education, introduced some wacky gameplay mechanics, the move to 3d hugely gimped the visual beauty of earlier games and also created smaller maps with more cropped camera views.. it was just ass.

I don't feel guilty spoiling that the climax of the campaign was the ottoman empire and some ex crusader Knights fighting in the heart of the Amazon in search of the fountain of fuckin' youth laaawl

Also, there was a colossal graphical downgrade, in the days before everyone picked up on that stuff, between teaser screenshots and the game.

I wasn't aware of any graphical downgrade stuff, but I will say when AOE3 came out, I honestly thought it was the best looking game up to that point. I just thought it was incredibly beautiful.

I too was disappointed with the game, but I give them credit for at least trying some different things.
 
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It's lame to revisit this but i just wanted to corral together a few of those screenshots that they didn't live up to. For a few months back then these screenshots meant so much to me~

images

images

images

images

AOE3_006-large.jpg

AOE3_008-large.jpg

AOE3_012-large.jpg


Suffice to say i was expecting some pristine, faithful, Gorgeous (these screens looked pretty fantastic in 06) rendering of the colonial US. Didn't get it. And yeah, I've been butthurt ever since.
Well, looks like you're finally getting those graphics lol
To be honest I never liked the graphical style they were going for. Too different from AoE2.
 
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