Comment by recycledmatt
2 days ago
Awesome to see AoE, and games in general being future proofed. Sad when functionality is lost because someone turned off a server.
2 days ago
Awesome to see AoE, and games in general being future proofed. Sad when functionality is lost because someone turned off a server.
As someone who spent an immeasurable amount of time on AOE 2 online multiplayer, it has been a steadily refreshing experiencing the rise of AOE2 DE over the recent years. The game not only received updates that brought in the total civilization count to 50+, but also a ton of visual enhancements and improvements in the overall gameplay and performance.
This is nothing short of stunning to see new developments happening for these games, especially in the open-source community.
It probably won't matter. When I play a "random civ" game with my friends, I always get Vikings. On maps with no oceans.
For real, though, it's really great to see this game continue to live on.
Vikings are a very good archer civ, full tree and the free handcart is a top-tier eco-boost.
5 replies →
The Vikings are an incredible civilization. Berserks are one of my most favorite units. Not sure where they are today, but they totally matched Paladins in terms of attack strength back in the day.
Imagine AoE being owned by Nintendo. :D
A no small wonder. I never thought that MS, as the IP owner, would allow such an open community to grow and thrive. MS is notoriously bad at game community growth development.
I remember that right after the acquisition of ES through MS in 2001, Microsoft went on a rigid IP enforcement role and, for example, targeted people at MFO.
The story of DBD_Jinx losing his account to MS
Legendary DBD_Jinx lost his account and had to start anew under _IamJinx because MS suspended his ZONE account due to copyright infringement for using MS trademarks without a license.
What did he do?
He advertised at MFO to help people increase their early game through his academy training, which offered advice on micro-management, game planning, strategy, and scouting.
Together with a couple of other 2000+ Zone Rating dudes from the US, they started to make a few bucks on the side using AoE as a vehicle.
What a knee-jerk reaction from MS back then.
And today? Red Bull Wololo - I hardly can hold my pants compared to 2001.
I hope this keeps going, even though I am a purist "old-schooler" who prefers the AoE 2 classics game.
Cheers + gl + hf!
_CN
This happened with supreme commander.
The company shut down and turned the servers off, but luckily someone created an implementation of the match making server.
And even to this day the community is fully alive and growing, they even continue to develop the game, and have taken it far beyond the original.
It’s called Forged Alliance Forever.
That's awesome. What sort of changes have they made? I feel like that's got to be a tricky line to walk for a classic game.
Mostly balance and quality of life, the UI especially improved a lot. Better AI opponents as well, and a few new units that fit well within the rest (and improve balance between races)
Imo this should be legislated. Do you provide a service necessary to use your product ? Great. But if you decide to deprecate said service, rendering said product inoperable or partially operable, you should be obligated to release an implementation & documentation.