Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition News

Age of Empires 4 is getting mods, and you can try a few now

Mod tools and a map editor are in the works for medieval RTS game Age of Empires IV, and while their official release won't be for another week, you can try some of them out now. A few lucky Age of Empires IV players have gotten invites to try out the Age of Empires IV mod and map editor tool, but everyone with the game can currently try out a few new in-house mods the dev team has created ahead of their launch at the start of Season One.

To access the list of mods the developers have created and curated, you need to opt into the Public Update Preview branch. To do this, open Age of Empires IV options menu in your Steam library, select the Betas tab, and select "future_live - Public Update Preview" from the drop-down menu. Once the game updates, you'll be able to check out the build of that game currently due to roll out with the start of Season One on March 18.

The mods you can try out are a mix of maps and 'tuning packs,' which alter the characteristics of specific game elements. One, called Dire Wolves, makes the game's wolves larger and deadlier - they've got increased damage and hit points, so they're a more serious threat than they are in the vanilla game. Others double the number of peasants you train at a time, or double the amount of wood available in each tree.

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Check out Season One content with Age IV’s Public Update Preview Today

The Age of Empires IV Public Update Preview build has now been updated to more closely align with what will be officially released in the Spring update. To coincide with this update, the Age IV PUP has been extended through the weekend to March 28th at 10am PT (17:00 UTC). View the release notes here.

We are excited to announce more details regarding our Public Update Preview (PUP) on Steam for Age of Empires IV—launching today, March 10th! Owners of Age of Empires IV on Steam now have access to many of the exciting changes we have planned for the Season One Update through Friday, March 18th.

PUP sessions will not only present a sneak peek to owners of the game but also provide an opportunity for passionate players to step up, give feedback, and help us identify potential issues ahead of our major updates. Builds will generally contain new features, content, or bug fixes and will provide a preview of what’s coming to the game in the weeks leading up to a major update.

Among the future content available during this PUP is a first look at mods! Join in if you’d like to experience some of the mods we’ve created in-house and plan to launch with Season One, including:

Royal Rumble (Game Mode) - Based on the classic Age of Empires II game mode “Regicide.”
Dire Wolves (Tuning Pack) - The Wolves are hungry and out for blood! All Wolves have increased damage, hit points, and size.
and many others that demonstrate a sampling of upcoming mod functionality!

In addition to a number of official mods, you’ll also be able to try out other exciting changes and quality life improvements like:

Global Build Queue
Hotkey improvements
MegaRandom
...and much more!

Read up on all of the exciting content and changes by viewing the Release Notes here. You will need to be logged in with a Steam account that owns Age of Empires IV to view. This is located in the same forum where you will leave any feedback or report bugs during this Public Update Preview session.

Starting now, owners on Steam can access the Age IV PUP by following the instructions below:

Navigate to your Steam library and right click on Age of Empires IV
Select “Properties...” at the bottom of the menu
Select the “BETAS” tab on the left
In the “Select the beta...” dropdown menu, select “future_live”
The build will begin downloading—once complete, you are ready to play!

Please note that replays in the PUP build are not compatible with the retail version. Players in the PUP version will only be able to match with those also on the PUP build. To revert back to retail, simply change your beta branch (step 4 above) back to “None.”

Join us - we’re excited to hear what you think!

N4C $100k LAN Tournament Now Through March 13

The first major Age of Empires IV LAN tournament has arrived, hosted by Nili. The 8 best Age IV players in the world are competing for their share of the $100,000 prize pool. Fan favorite casters Grubby, Aussie_Drongo, Dave & Nili are guiding you through the show, but with a special twist. The event is held in an apartment, at the GamerLegion Team House in Berlin, Germany, giving the tournament a unique charm—a cozy atmosphere where the players are invited to join the casting desk.

N4C will offer quality casting paired with the sharp analysis of pro players, making it enjoyable for casual viewers and long-time strategy fans alike. TheViper, DeMusliM, MarineLorD, Beastyqt, LucifroN, Vortix, TheMista & Leenock will be vying for the N4C Championship title and the $30,000 first prize for themselves.

[h2]Schedule[/h2]

The action started March 5th with a Group Stage, where the 8 players faced off to determine their standing for the single elimination finale. Then after a day of rest, the players compete in a tense single-elimination round.

[h3]Group Stage: 4 sets daily, all Best of 5, with only 3 rounds remaining.[/h3]

Monday, March 7th: Round 3 Starting at 13 GMT
Tuesday, March 8th: Round 4 Starting at 13 GMT
Wednesday, March 9th: Round 5 Starting at 13 GMT

[h3]Quarterfinals: Best of 7[/h3]

Friday, March 11th Starting at 15 GMT

[h3]Semifinals: Best of 7[/h3]

Saturday, March 12th Starting at 15 GMT

[h3]Grand Finale:[/h3]

Sunday, March 13th Starting at 14 GMT with a Showmatch
Finals Starting at 17 GMT, Best of 9

[h2]N4C in Short[/h2]

The first LAN environment combined with the biggest prize pool and the highest level of game play AoE IV fans have ever seen. Tune in to Nili’s channel March 5th-13th to see who will become the champion of the first Age of Empires IV LAN tournament.

Watch Live on Twitch
Catch VODs on Youtube

Игры Xbox Game Studios пропали из Steam в России

В пятницу, 4 марта, Microsoft объявила о приостановке продаж своих продуктов и услуг на территории России.

Age of Empires IV — Patch 11963

Patch 11963 is releasing later this week, and we're here to provide a preview of what's to come for Age of Empires IV!

For Patch 11963, we’re continuing to hone in on tighter win rates across the range of possible civilization match-ups and making changes to complement some of the updates introduced earlier in the month. With every new patch, we make sure to observe the reaction and response to the changes made – including how they impact critical data like selection and win rates, and how our community responds to them in our social channels!

What we noticed after our last patch is that the changes made to siege may have overly impacted the Chinese, as a result we’re making some changes this time around to provide the Chinese new strategic options. Additionally, we’re looking to slow down the early game of the Mongols and Delhi Sultanate by tuning starting resources, research bonuses and more. We believe these changes will increase your arsenal of gameplay choices moving forward.

NOTE: Upon updating to this patch, you will no longer be able to utilize replays from previous updates. At times, saves will also be impacted, though we’ve taken additional steps to ensure your campaign saves are not impacted by this particular update. Skirmish saves from the previous patch are impacted and will no longer be accessible after you update.

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[h3]Developer Discussion Stream[/h3]
Join us on Twitch at 3PM PT on Tuesday, March 1 for a pre-patch stream as members of the Community and Balance teams will be discussing the upcoming changes. Tune in at twitch.tv/ageofempires.

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You can find details on these changes and more below!