Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: [1] 2 3 4

Author Topic: Age of Empires II  (Read 12593 times)

3

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Age of Empires II
« on: March 24, 2012, 07:35:41 pm »

Since PTTG??'s Empire Earth thread, I've been on a bit of a classic RTS binge. It was only a matter of time before I got to AoE2. I doubt I'll need to say much about it: It's one of the popular greats of the RTS genre, a significant refinement of the system popularised by the first game, and just generally a lot of fun given how comparatively basic it is in the light of newer games. That said, I haven't yet had the chance to play it online.

Running the game from CD can be slow, and it has problems with virtual drives. There are various hacked no-CD exes hanging around, but I think the only fully functional (MP-enabled) one is for the expansion (I might be misremembering).

So... insert nostalgia here, I guess.
Logged

Kilroy the Grand

  • Bay Watcher
  • I only want to give you a small kiss
    • View Profile
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2012, 07:57:19 pm »

teutonic knights up in this biatch!
Logged
*pew* *blam* "Aughgghggurglegurgle..." *slither* *slither* *pit* *pat* *tap* *click-click* *BOOM* "Aiiieeegurgle gurgle..."
X-com meets Dwarf Fortress

Catastrophic lolcats

  • Bay Watcher
  • [FORTRESSDESTROYER:2]
    • View Profile
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2012, 08:32:23 pm »

There's a widescreen hack that also kills off explorer so you don't get those odd colours on Windows 7. 
As for the game. I love Age of Empires II. All my old room mates refuse to play with me because I could roflstomp all three of them at once, and these weren't nerbs at the game  ;)

I found the Goths to be my best civ. Rush infantry and never stop rushing, keep up the wave of suicide untill you either break them or you get trebuchets and then mess up their pretty castles/walls. Never really was one for defence, I'd rather keep the full force on them and never really bothered about it, plus the Goths don't get walls either.

They just don't make them like they used to I guess. The Age of Empires series fell apart after Age of Empires III (wonder why?) and now it's branch out into that online pay2win crap which is always sad to see. I don't think we'll see another "true" Age of Empires again. Age of Mythology was also very fun in it's own right.
Logged

ShadowBroker

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2012, 08:43:37 pm »

ahhhh i love that game. once i got production down i would just set all of the rally points for millitary in the enemy base and just flood them. the body count was always ridiculous, but throw enough vikings at anyone and they go down
Logged
Aside from that, being rational is not only optional, but is frowned upon.  We hate elves.  We kill for socks.  We sacrifice nobles.  We love kobolds.

3

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2012, 08:47:11 pm »

Yeah, the Goths are a good fit for me as well. Being a StarCraft player I don't grasp the logic of turtling - either you spend time and attention mining loads of stone, building concentric walls and 8000 towers, or you spend that time and attention just getting more units which can attack and defend.

The prospect of an extremely cavalry-heavy army is also an intriguing one, though it'd need an excessive amount of micromanagement to work earlier on.
Logged

ShadowBroker

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2012, 08:53:35 pm »

see, i cant ever win in starcraft, because the comp is always on offense. at least in this game, i can build up a huge army, them just send them in waves. and honestly? a huge cavalry force is only useful if you supplement with siege weapons for buildings, then use the horses to protect them 10 trebuchets > anything
Logged
Aside from that, being rational is not only optional, but is frowned upon.  We hate elves.  We kill for socks.  We sacrifice nobles.  We love kobolds.

3

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2012, 09:08:07 pm »

My theory is that there isn't a true counter to a massed cavalry army because you can always escape from an unfavourable fight.

- Use the army to keep the opponent on the back foot and take control of the map
- If he attacks the army, run away
- If he attacks your base, bother his base, or start harassing his army (picking off siege etc.)
- If he turtles, build outposts everywhere and beat his economy

I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't work in this game, because you need to advance two ages just to get proper cavalry units, and by that time he'll probably have a wall. But if you pick Huns, you'll have an easier time getting into his base, and if you pick Byzantines, you'll probably be able to fight him anyway.

I guess it really comes down to whether or not cavalry units are cost-efficient. Comparing a longswordsman to a knight I'd say that they are.
Logged

ShadowBroker

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2012, 09:23:08 pm »

well that comes down to online play or not. the computer isnt too bright. its not really feasable because most people stuff their towns with towers, and they can do more to your knights than you can to them, if they garrison them well. as with harassing the army, siege units are always priority, and they wont stop attack once they get to your base

again, i only ever play offline, so i dont know what works in online play
Logged
Aside from that, being rational is not only optional, but is frowned upon.  We hate elves.  We kill for socks.  We sacrifice nobles.  We love kobolds.

Flying Dice

  • Bay Watcher
  • inveterate shitposter
    • View Profile
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2012, 09:24:16 pm »

Ah, brings back memories of playing Britons on Black Forest...
Logged


Aurora on small monitors:
1. Game Parameters -> Reduced Height Windows.
2. Lock taskbar to the right side of your desktop.
3. Run Resize Enable

ShadowBroker

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #9 on: March 24, 2012, 09:30:25 pm »

>.> .....reinstalling. gonna warm up some vikings, cant touch my norse swag. i salute you 3
Logged
Aside from that, being rational is not only optional, but is frowned upon.  We hate elves.  We kill for socks.  We sacrifice nobles.  We love kobolds.

Kilroy the Grand

  • Bay Watcher
  • I only want to give you a small kiss
    • View Profile
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #10 on: March 24, 2012, 09:33:59 pm »

I seem to remember the Mongolian horse archers were incredible OP, able to destroy virtually anything by kiting
Logged
*pew* *blam* "Aughgghggurglegurgle..." *slither* *slither* *pit* *pat* *tap* *click-click* *BOOM* "Aiiieeegurgle gurgle..."
X-com meets Dwarf Fortress

ShadowBroker

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #11 on: March 24, 2012, 09:36:27 pm »

 
I seem to remember the Mongolian horse archers were incredible OP, able to destroy virtually anything by kiting
see, i am terrible at archers. cant kite aaaanything. i only ever use them to make my towers even more overpowered. so i tend to stay away from mongols n_n;

and was it just me, or did the asian-ish castles always seem that much harder to destroy?
Logged
Aside from that, being rational is not only optional, but is frowned upon.  We hate elves.  We kill for socks.  We sacrifice nobles.  We love kobolds.

3

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #12 on: March 24, 2012, 09:41:45 pm »

Well, if anyone's ever up for a game, we could try getting one together.
Logged

Itnetlolor

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
    • Steam ID
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #13 on: March 24, 2012, 09:42:54 pm »

I gotta play against some other people online. Last match I had was against my sister, and that was a good amount of time ago.

I'm always up for a few rounds. This game is a classic.

Flying Dice

  • Bay Watcher
  • inveterate shitposter
    • View Profile
Re: Age of Empires II
« Reply #14 on: March 24, 2012, 09:48:08 pm »

I seem to remember the Mongolian horse archers were incredible OP, able to destroy virtually anything by kiting

Yep. You had to micro them a fair bit, but they were excellent kiters.
Logged


Aurora on small monitors:
1. Game Parameters -> Reduced Height Windows.
2. Lock taskbar to the right side of your desktop.
3. Run Resize Enable
Pages: [1] 2 3 4