Age of Empires 2 Nostalgia Thread

[Bobby Baratheon]

So, I think I'm not alone in that I absolutely loved this game growing up, and I still love it, though the game is perhaps not quite as challenging as it used to be. The purpose of this thread is for Age of Empires 2 fans (and fans of the original and Age of Mythology, I suppose :smalltongue:) to share stories, strategies, anecdotes, favorite factions, etc. All the stuff that made the game(s) awesome for you guys.

Note: If there is a pre-existing thread for this, direct me to it!

[Gandariel]

This is a great place for nostalgia threads.

Try barely mentioning HOMM3 and see what happens :P

[rcarb65]

I never played Age of Empires two but I loved three. One of my all time favorite games. There was a mod in three that you had to capture a llama and keep it in your possession for seven minutes to win the game. Loved that mod, it was a riot to play.

[Bobby Baratheon]

Capture the llama does sound like a really fun game haha. Especially in multiplayer. I never played 3, so I'm not sure how it stacks up against the second game. I do recall hearing generally positive reviews, though, so there's that. The colony system seems like it could be interesting though!

One of my favorite things about the second game was the scenario editor. Had a lot of fun with that - setting up epic battles, re-enacting scenes from the lord of the rings, etc. Age of Mythology's was especially awesome - I made a really fun version of Amon Hen in that one.

[Cespenar]

AoE2 has in my opinion one of the best graphics styles in video gaming history, intentional or not. The drawings, units, etc. are so simplistic yet clearly detailed that they never seem to be "aged", even by 2016 standards (or by my 2016 standards). Unless you play it 640x480 on a 24'' screen, of course. :smalltongue:

And yes, definitely seconding the scenario editor. I remember making my first scenario: you control a longbowman in a small walled area versus an enemy onager in a small walled area. You had to dodge by moving around and then shoot the onager while it was reloading. I basically had made a platformer/action bossfight in AoE2. :smallbiggrin:

[Olinser]

It was a pretty good game, a LOT of research and background on all the units which I really licked, but the computer AI for the campaign was laughably easy to beat even on the hardest setting and the multiplayer was an unbalanced mess with a couple races having nearly insurmountable advantages on maps *cough* HUNS *cough* (Vikings on water).

For RTS original StarCraft holds a much more dear place in my heart.

[Bobby Baratheon]

It was a pretty good game, a LOT of research and background on all the units which I really licked, but the computer AI for the campaign was laughably easy to beat even on the hardest setting and the multiplayer was an unbalanced mess with a couple races having nearly insurmountable advantages on maps *cough* HUNS *cough* (Vikings on water).

Yeah that's why I never really got into multiplayer outside of friendly games with people I knew. You can only see so many Hun dark age rushes or goth infantry spams before it gets boring. I just enjoy perfecting my handle on the civs I like, and HD did some work on improving the AI. It's not quite as exploitable as before, though they still have no real idea how to counter a hand cannoneer/monk/bombard cannon gunline.

[Aotrs Commander]

I bought the HD edition a modest while back, and worked quite a long way through it, into the newer expansions... But the most recent patch basically stopped the AI working, like, at all, on the campaign missions (it wasn't building anything) and it hasn't been fixed yet. Supposedly, there's another expansion on the way, so they ought to have fixed it by that point, you would have thought...

It's taken them sufficiently long I've basically completed a full run therough Europe Universalis IV and about of a third of the way into a full Crusader Kings II game...

Honestly, aside from a few quality of life-improvements - and a bit better presentation on the campaigns to give it some actual flavour... Mechanics-wise, it doesn't feel THAT different from AoE 1, though.

Arguably a little better than the Star Wars version though, which just felt repetative and lacking because of the reskins, but I thought Age of Mythology was the best out of the AoE 2-versions.

[J-H]

The AI is meh. Multiplayer is where it shined; there was a whole big competitive league going at one point; I only played casually, but reading strategy and knowing what to do (even if my APM wasn't high) was enough to dominate my RL friends.

We picked it up at a LAN party about 5 years ago. I took the Goths vs 4 or 5 people and won. I aged up the quickest (except maybe for Feudal) and boomed to Imp, then flooded them. I like, and am pretty good at, the spidering expansion where I dot the whole map with fortified TCs, random barracks, etc. A battle? I probably have troop replacements nearby.

I had a few multiplayer games stretch into an hour and a half or more due to both sides spidering.

Looking back - Age of Mythology stole a LOT from Warcraft 3. The RPG-ish elements, the named semi-persistent heroes in the campaign, the limited TC placement, etc. Didn't like it nearly as much.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Ah, this was my first real video game! Only I didn't have the patience for resource management, so I would play the mode that gave effectively infinite resources, and just play the Britons, and longbow spam + trebuchets for castles would beat EVERYTHING.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Fun story: I never played AoE II growing up, but got introduced to it in college during LAN parties. And now that I'm housemates with one of the guys who spearheaded the LAN parties, and since he has access to a bunch of older computers thanks to his work, we've got it set up on all of them, and we break it out here for LAN parties, among other games.

The early game has a little more micro than I like (what with going and hunting boars), but it's definitely a neat game, although I vastly prefer the more elegant design and asymmetry of Starcraft.

[Olinser]

Fun story: I never played AoE II growing up, but got introduced to it in college during LAN parties. And now that I'm housemates with one of the guys who spearheaded the LAN parties, and since he has access to a bunch of older computers thanks to his work, we've got it set up on all of them, and we break it out here for LAN parties, among other games.

The early game has a little more micro than I like (what with going and hunting boars), but it's definitely a neat game, although I vastly prefer the more elegant design and asymmetry of Starcraft.

I mean the big problem with the balance is because they didn't go all the way with asymmetry. StarCraft is much easier to balance BECAUSE the races are all unique, so you can tweak the races units against each other moderately easily.

The problem is that AoE tried to give everybody the same basic pool of units and just a couple race abilities and unique units. This made it nearly impossible to actually balance the bulk of races because everything had to stand on its own against the pool of regular units. This resulted in a large number being useless (camels), and others being stupid OP because they effectively had no counter (Eagle Riders, Longboats).

I mean when the competitive scene had the top tier players always playing mirror matches, it gets boring.

[Triaxx]

I eventually got banned from playing. I learned very quickly to push my way up the tech trees, and eventually no one would play. I guess when you're getting to castle age and imperial age berserkers come stomping up to your door, it's no fun.

I also really enjoyed Galactic Battlegrounds, which is basically AoE2 with Star Wars wrapping.

[Olinser]

I eventually got banned from playing. I learned very quickly to push my way up the tech trees, and eventually no one would play. I guess when you're getting to castle age and imperial age berserkers come stomping up to your door, it's no fun.

I also really enjoyed Galactic Battlegrounds, which is basically AoE2 with Star Wars wrapping.

I assume you are referring to booming - which really only worked on closed maps or in team games where others can defend you. In 1v1 on open maps against even a semi-competent opponent the early advantages of races like Huns meant you were dead long before you even got to the Castle age.

[Bobby Baratheon]

Yeah gotta love those huns :smallsigh:

I think my favorite part of the game was sieges, honestly. On offense and on defense. It was always fun trying to see the different ways the AI would try to crack my defenses. Right now I'm playing an arena map vs 2 AIs (originally three teams of two, three civs have been knocked out), so I'm generally on the defensive. I've got something like a three layer deep wall of bombard towers and keeps, and the map has no gold/stone left so I'm getting by on relics + food/wood sales and the AI on trading. They can't crack my wall, and I'm slowly building up an army of two hundred teutonic knights to steamroll them. :smallamused: Not the most efficient strategy, but an entertaining one. My (expendable) halberdiers have done a great job of holding the line. I even took out a couple of castles with a halberdier/ram spam. Got to say I'm proud of them, even if they die like mayflies :smalltongue:

[Triaxx]

We knew that as suicide. Nah, the trick was always lots of peasants and making sure your lumber camps were as close as possible to the front of the forest. The huns weren't so much banned, as we just sort of all agreed not to use them. Although I've always found them surprisingly simple to stymie with simple kill sections. V's of five wall sections to force them to slow down and go around, while I ventilate them with lots, and lots of archers. A good grasp of actual tactics will bring most OP enemy forces to a screeching halt.

[ngilop]

YAAY Age of Empires 2.. if only I could get mine to work on my damn windows 10 computer :(.. I can get the trial to work.. but not the actual game.

Age of Mythology is awesome as well, LOVE the game and wish I had the sequal, but oh well.


On game that is based off of AoE that somehow fell through the cracks ( I am assuming because of Warcraft 3 and Call of Duty being the massive games they were, just got overshadowed)

But the game play is amazing, the graphics still hold up over a deacade later:) the controls are literally identicle to AoE, but the concept is THE BEST EVER FOR A RTS!!

you make your units, like oh hey lookit my elephant lioness!! POW POW or a Wolf Turtle..


maybe a garfish grizzly? in the campaing you can change up your army in real time to better counter the opponent. but not able to do that in the multipayer.

I love that game and wish more people knew about it.

[Lentrax]

Ahh AoEII. How did I love thee?

Enough to spam the voice messages while my peasants chopped my way through the forests into the unprotected rears of other players empires.

So many good hours. So many great LAN parties.

[Triaxx]

Is there anything better than landing a couple transports full of peasants of the side they thought would defend them with forests? Especially if you drag up a couple Trebuchet, then he's got to bring his own peasants to cut his military a path to you. :)

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Ahh AoEII. How did I love thee?

Enough to spam the voice messages while my peasants chopped my way through the forests into the unprotected rears of other players empires.

So many good hours. So many great LAN parties.
Ah, the emotes.

START THE GAME ALREADY
START THE GAME ALREADY
START THE GAME ALREADY
RAIDING PARTY
RAIDING PARTY
START THE GAME ALREADY

[Cespenar]

Ah, the emotes.

START THE GAME ALREADY
START THE GAME ALREADY
START THE GAME ALREADY
RAIDING PARTY
RAIDING PARTY
START THE GAME ALREADY

Also, of course, trying to superpose the first and last "monk"s of "Monk! I need a Monk!"

[Lentrax]

I always preferred, "All Hail! King of the Losers!"

[Bobby Baratheon]

Nice town. I'll take it.