Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition News

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Step into the sandals of history’s greatest conqueror with the next chapter of the Chronicles saga – Chronicles: Alexander the Great comes to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on October 14th for Steam! Embark on a sweeping, narrative-driven campaign that traces Alexander the Great’s rise from precocious youth to world-shaking ruler. Chronicles: Alexander the Great is now available for pre-order on Steam, plus includes 15% off for a limited time!

Created by our development partner, CaptureAge, Chronicles: Alexander the Great introduces three new civilizations – Macedonians, Thracians, and Puru – in an 18-scenario grand campaign, brought to life through animated mosaic cutscenes, a customizable campaign army, with visual and audio upgrades, and so much more!
[hr][/hr]
Chronicles: Alexander the Great is available for pre-order now on Steam with 15% off for a limited time!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3793540/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__Chronicles_Alexander_the_Great/

[h2]Included in this DLC[/h2]

Experience Alexander’s legendary exploits, from his bold teenage ambitions to his triumphant march across Persia, his audacious expedition to South Asia, and his dramatic return journey. Crafted with the well-known Chronicles narrative flair and meticulous historical authenticity, this expansion delivers an immersive campaign experience brimming with drama, strategy, and replayability.

[h3]Key Features[/h3]

• Expansive Grand Campaign: 18 richly detailed scenarios – 16 as Alexander’s Macedonians, plus two unique Thracian and Puru scenarios – to chronicle every pivotal moment of his life.
  
• Animated Mosaic Cutscenes: Stunning, artful cinematics bring each chapter to life, blending classical aesthetics with modern animation techniques.
  
• Three New Civilizations: Command the disciplined Macedonians, the swift-raiding Thracians, or the elephant-riding Puru, with two new architecture sets for distinctive visual flair.
  
• Customizable Campaign Army: As you progress in the campaign, unlock 16 bonus units – including Achaemenid chariots and Puru elephants – and 4 bonus technologies that can be used in future scenarios. Unleash the full might of your expanding empire.
  
• Visual & Audio Upgrades: Overhauled siege unit graphics heighten the immersion for which Chronicles is celebrated, while 13 new music tracks for both campaign and skirmish modes provide a thrilling soundtrack for your empire’s rise.

[h2]The Grand Campaign[/h2]

The Alexander the Great campaign is fully focused on that main character’s life. Five or six scenarios would hardly do justice to his incredible feats!

In the grand campaign, play as the Macedonians in 16 of the 18 scenarios, with the Puru and Thracians each getting one scenario which intersects with Alexander’s story from a different perspective.

Across the campaign, unlock new technologies and units – including the Puru, Thracian, Athenian, and Achaemenid unique units – and train them in future scenarios with a customizable campaign army. There are 16 bonus units and 4 bonus technologies which to acquire! Coupled with the Chronicles philosophy of unique level designs and diverse mechanics, experience a deeply varied and highly replayable campaign.

[h2]Three Legendary Civilizations [/h2]

[h3]Macedonians [/h3]

Conquer the world with the highly-drilled Macedonian army. Use the long pikes of their Phalangite infantry to pin the enemy in place, then crush them with the mighty Companion cavalry! Build Fortified Outposts to stage lightning assaults and move your units to the frontlines faster.

[h3]Thracians[/h3]

Launch devastating raids with your swift Rhomphaia Warriors, and profit from them with unique technologies that generate gold from combat. A variety of bonuses and technologies turn Thracian skirmishers from neglected trash units to deadly fighters!

[h3]Puru[/h3]

Unleash the elephants! The Puru, a powerful Punjab people, can call upon these extraordinary beasts to flatten their foes. Build an army that combines brute force with precise ranged support with archers who wield devastating bamboo longbows.

At its core, Chronicles remains a series dedicated to narrative and historical immersion, primarily with a single-player focus. To build upon this goal and to continue exploring additional possibilities, the Macedonians, Thracians, and Puru civilizations introduced with Chronicles: Alexander the Great will not be available in ranked gameplay.

[h2]Pre-Order Chronicles: Alexander the Great Now![/h2]
Chronicles: Alexander the Great is available for pre-order now on Steam with 15% off for a limited time!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3793540/Age_of_Empires_II_DE__Chronicles_Alexander_the_Great/

Welcome to a small update for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! This is the second of two small patches originally planned to address issues reported in the most recent update.

Today’s patch addresses gameplay issues and bugs reported by the community. Please check out our Known Issues page to see a list of these issues.

💬 DISCUSS: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Forum
🗣 JOIN: The Age of Empires Official Discord

Thank you again to our amazing community members, all of whom have helped to make Age of Empires what it is today!

—The Age of Empires Team
[hr][/hr]

     ◆ Minor Update 155976 ◆

[hr][/hr]

[h2]Game[/h2]


[h3]General[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where Microsoft Store / Game Pass on PC failed to recognize installed DLC.

[h3]Stability & Performance[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where launching the game from CaptureAge with Steam not running triggered an assertion and crash instead of gracefully handling the Steam initialization error.

[h3]Graphics[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where 3D Water rendering failed to display, showing flat water even with the 3D Water option enabled.

[h3]UI[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where civilizations remained hidden to spectators even after the match started when Hide Civilizations and a spectator delay were enabled.

[h3]Hotkeys[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where the Elite Cannon Galleon lacked a training hotkey after researching the upgrade, preventing production via hotkey.

[h3]Consoles[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where appropriate player usernames were incorrectly censored.

[h2]Gameplay[/h2]


[h3]General[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where units could skip subsequent shift-queued attack targets if an earlier target was destroyed.
  
• Fixed an issue where Onagers could stop after the first target when given shift-queued attack orders.
  
• Fixed an issue where chickens and their variants could be lured/pushed to the Town Center instead of remaining unlurable as intended.
  
• Fixed an issue where deleting a Scorpion mid-shot could let its projectile destroy resource nodes.
  
• Fixed an issue where farms could gain infinite food.
  
• Fixed an issue where Poles bonus gold generation while mining stone was inconsistent.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Cenotes map failed to spawn the standard four starting sheep near the player.

[h2]Campaign[/h2]

• Attila the Hun #1: ‘The Scourge of God’: Fixed an issue where choosing to save Bleda failed to trigger the follow-up event after the Iron Boar, blocking mission progression.
  
• Liu Bei #1: ‘The Oath of the Peach Garden’: Fixed an issue where the scenario objective to destroy enemy hideouts failed to complete even after the hideouts were destroyed and the enemy resigned.

[h2]Chronicles[/h2]

[h3]Campaign[/h3]

• Grand Campaign #5: ‘Chasing Smoke’: Fixed an issue where the various ambush sites would not trigger their intended abilities when activated.
  
• Grand Campaign #7: ‘Earth and Water’: Fixed an issue where the Hall of Emissaries on Delos could not be constructed because the foundation disappeared when builders approached.
  
• Grand Campaign #14: ‘The Fruits of Empire’: Fixed an issue where it was impossible to construct a Wonder on Delos because the foundation disappeared when builders approached.

[h2]Modding[/h2]


[h3]General[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where data mods containing an English strings file failed to load, unless the English file was duplicated across every language.

[h2]Ongoing...[/h2]

[h3]Investigation[/h3]
As always, we are continuing to track issues reported by the community for future updates.

For other known issues, please visit this page to see what’s being tracked!

[h3]:alertalert: DISCLAIMER[/h3]This list is subject to change and should not be considered a comprehensive list of all the known issues we’re tracking. The above is to inform you of the team’s current priorities, which will change as other issues arise or take precedence.

For the latest updates and announcements, please visit our social channels.

Welcome to a small update for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! This is the first of two small patches planned in the near future to address issues reported in the most recent update.

Today’s patch addresses key stability issues on console. Our teams are already working on a second patch to address gameplay issues and bugs. Please see our known issues page to see a list of these issues.

💬 DISCUSS: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Forum
🗣 JOIN: The Age of Empires Official Discord

Thank you again to our amazing community members, all of whom have helped to make Age of Empires what it is today!

—The Age of Empires Team
[hr][/hr]

     ◆ Minor Update 153638 ◆

[hr][/hr]

[h2]Game[/h2]


[h3]Stability & Performance[/h3]

• Fixed a crash that occurred when players without the Chronicles: Battle for Greece DLC tried to enter a Skirmish using a Chronicles Civilization-only set.

[h3]PlayStation[/h3]

• Fixed an out of sync issue on PS5.

[h2]Ongoing...[/h2]

[h3]Investigation[/h3]
We are actively investigating out of sync issues reported for all our platforms, but at times these are very tricky to reproduce internally. In recent updates we’ve increased our logging to help us investigate this further, and we’re hopeful that the added detail from the new logs will help us get to the bottom of this issue!

As always, we are continuing to track issues reported by the community for future updates.

For other known issues, please visit this page to see what’s being tracked!

[h3]:alertalert: DISCLAIMER[/h3]This list is subject to change and should not be considered a comprehensive list of all the known issues we’re tracking. The above is to inform you of the team’s current priorities, which will change as other issues arise or take precedence.

For the latest updates and announcements, please visit our social channels.

Gamescom has started and with it some awesome discounts on your favorite Age games! Whether Age of Empires or Age of Mythology is more your style, complete your collection and grab a couple of DLCs with up to 75% off on all your favorites!

Don’t wait – sale ends August 24th at 10 AM PT (17:00 UTC).

Welcome to an exciting update for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition! This patch addresses many pathfinding issues, also implementing a new “runaway/escape” feature, and improving the overall player experience. We are aware though, that the improvement will be an ongoing process and want to view this as the first of two major pathfinding patches. Be sure to dig down into the post below to get all of the smaller details before hopping in-game and checking them out firsthand.

While there are plenty of notable fixes and features to which to look forward in today’s build, here’s some of the big highlights coming with this month’s update:

• Bug fixes based on your feedback!
  
• Pathfinding improvements based on your feedback!
  
• Balance changes!
  
• New Maps and Map Updates!
  
• Quality of Life Features!

This is just a small taste of what is coming in the latest update. For a more complete list, please visit our site and check out our blog. Happy Gaming!

💬 DISCUSS: Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Forum
🗣 JOIN: The Age of Empires Official Discord

Thank you again to our amazing community members, all of whom have helped to make Age of Empires what it is today!

—The Age of Empires Team
[hr][/hr]

        ◆ Update 153015 ◆

[hr][/hr]

[h2]Game[/h2]


[h3]Stability & Performance[/h3]

• Fixed a crash occurring when trying to launch the game when Steam is closed.
  
• Fixed a crash which could occur in prolonged games with AI players.
  
• Fixed an out of sync issue which was occuring on Great Wall real world map when playing with players on different game platforms.

[h3]Graphics[/h3]

• Added a new running animation for Jaguars.
  
• Adjusted idle and walk animation settings for several animals to improve their appearance.
  
• Improved the fire visuals on Tarkan’s and Elite Tarkan’s torches.
  
• Herdable animals no longer lose their player color upon death.
  
• Added a chance for Hunnic Horse to use different Horse graphics instead of always using Horse A graphics.
  
• Terrain cracks graphics (eye candy object) can no longer appear above unit graphics.
  
• Updated the texture of “Ice, Navigable” terrain.
  
• Fences on Pastures no longer receive outlines when they are behind other buildings.
  
• Pastures placed on mangrove terrains now use rice farm terrain textures.
  
• Sheep graphics can no longer turn invisible in Return of Rome.
  
• Snow graphics are now correctly displayed on buildings placed on all types of snow terrains, as well as on terrains with layered snow terrain.

[h3]Audio[/h3]

• Reduced the volume and frequency of The Three Kingdoms hero unit selection and command sounds.
  
• Adjusted the variation, frequency and volume of Chicken sounds.
  
• The Tarkan attack sound effect has been updated to use an enhanced version of the legacy effect (also known as “thump”), which is more audible than the previous one.
  
• Fixed an issue preventing the Narrator dictating the text in the Technology Tree menu.
  
• Narrator will now pronounce character-based words more consistently.
  
• Fixed issues with screen narration handling on the Multiplayer Lobby screen, Quick Taunts Selection screen, Clans screen, Mods screen, Credits screen, Help Index screens, Quick Play and Ranked screens.
  
• Cleaned up the menu narration system to improve menu narration.
  
• Fixed many minor narration issues.

[h3]UI[/h3]

• Added negative regeneration rate display on UI for indication of lasting damage applied to the unit.
  
• Fixed an issue where an incorrect number of queued farms and fish traps was displayed when having several Mills or Docks selected.
  
• Fixed several instances of item display issues in the Technology Tree.
  
• Adjusted the frame colors for regional buildings in the Technology Tree to be more distinct from common buildings.
  
• The additional anti-building bonus of garrisoned rams is now correctly reflected in values in the attack tooltip.
  
• Monks and Warrior Priests with Relics now display all stats on their interface, same as when not carrying Relics.
  
• Resource gauge bar is no longer displayed for resources that are not being gathered, preventing it from being shown for decaying animals.
  
• Updated Change to Melee Weapon icon and tooltip to be more generic and applicable for both Rathas and Immortals.
  
• Fixed an issue where the auto-scout button was not displayed on the UI for animal scout units (Horses and Camels).
  
• The auto-scout button is now always located in the same slot as the Stop button.
  
  • Now the scout unit must be idle before auto-scout can be activated for it.
• Random map seed is now displayed in the Objectives screen in single player and finished multiplayer games.
  
• Updated the appearance of the loading screen when starting a game:
  
  • The map icon and description are now displayed.
    
  • The most important settings are displayed with new icons.
    
  • Only enabled checkbox settings are now visible.
• Updated the appearance of Tech Tree Preview panel:
  
  • Swapped positions of icons and civilization description.
    
  • Reorganized labels to better represent the tech tree.
    
  • Slightly reduced the panel size.
• Fixed accessibility issue with focus handling ensuring that button focus is indicated by button visual style as well as highlight color.
  
• Fixed issue where multiple buttons/tabs could appear to be focused at once.
  
• The colors of players mentioned in the Scouts tab in scenarios are now correctly named when a colorblind mode is enabled.
  
• Improved the button selection visual display when highlighting the DLC navigation icons on the main menu.
  
• Added a text marque to places where the text became very small due to its length e.g. in the Taunts and Diplomacy menus.
  
• Changed Civilization Set dropdown in lobbies to radio buttons for the available civilization sets.
  
• Player and clan names in multiplayer lobbies now have a higher contrast ratio to the background.

[h3]Settings[/h3]

• Added a new option which enables a visual and sound alert when queuing and training units with less than 5 remaining housing headroom.

[h3]Hotkeys[/h3]

• Fixed an issue preventing research hotkeys from functioning when the “Select All Lumber/Mining Camps” hotkey is the same as “Select All Mule Carts”.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented villagers from being ungarrisoned with the corresponding hotkey.
  
• The “Select All Town Centers” hotkey now also selects Town Center foundations.

[h3]Multiplayer[/h3]

• Spectators are no longer able to see the chosen civilizations before a match starts if the “Hide Civilizations” setting is enabled.
  
• Added a checkbox to filter full lobbies in the Lobby Browser.

[h3]Xbox[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where the Blast Radius stat could not be displayed on the UI for buildings.
  
• Keyboard controls are no longer displayed on various menus when playing on controller.
  
• Fixed an issue that made UI elements overlap on certain languages.
  
• Fixed an issue that swapped Fast Castle and Booming tooltips in the Art of War campaign menu.
  
• Fixed a crash occurring when switching from Standard to Advanced interface while in a match.
  
• Voiceover audio will now correctly play for non-English languages after downloading the Language Pack.
  
• Prevented users from seeing player’s Clan Name/Tag when certain privacy settings are enabled.
  
• Added controller hotkeys for Dromons and Lou Chuans.
  
• Added a Command Menu Shortcut for Khitans villagers to build Pastures.
  
• Fixed an issue where the military units added in The Three Kingdoms DLC were not counted in the military unit category display.
  
• Fixed an issue preventing the player to join a Multiplayer game after accepting a game invite from the main menu.

[h3]PlayStation[/h3]

• Improved navigation hints on the Game Settings screen.
  
• Fixed menu narration so that where a language is supported it chooses the correct language narrator and when it is not it disables the narrator.
  
• Fixed an issue where the player chat color in the multiplayer lobby was cached from the previous session.
  
• Fixed a number of minor UI rendering issues.
  
• Fixed a number of minor text issues, with incorrect text displaying.
  
• Updated localized voice overs to fix some missing lines and a few minor bugs.

This is just a small taste of what is coming in the latest update. For a more complete list, please visit our site and check out our blog. Happy Gaming!

[h3]:alertalert: DISCLAIMER[/h3]This list is subject to change and should not be considered a comprehensive list of all the known issues we’re tracking. The above is to inform you of the team’s current priorities, which will change as other issues arise or take precedence.

For the latest updates and announcements, please visit our social channels.