Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition News

Happy 2020, everyone! The first build of the year comes with a handful of fixes for issues that arose in the massive December Update (Update 34055) or which crept into the game with its first Hotfix (34223). It includes the return of major performance fixes introduced (initially) with last month’s build, a fix for the “Castle Age Crash” which kicks players out of the game as they’re Aging-up, as well as new fixes for issues that have been prevalent subjects of discussion amongst the community.

And as always: once you’ve had the opportunity to play with the new build, we WELCOME your feedback!

[h3]A Note on Game Issues[/h3]
Crashes, disconnects, and bugs are frustrating—both as players and as developers of the game. It’s impossible to anticipate every problem, which is why we will continue working with you to gather information, gain an understanding the issue, and hopefully find a solution that gets you online and playing. Sadly, these issues don’t always come with a simple fix, which is why we ask that you gather and include as much information as possible whenever you report a problem!

Here’s where you can search for discussions or start a new discussion (if one doesn’t already exist) about problems you encounter in the game:

• Experiencing a technical issue? Search or post on Steam or the official forum!
  
• Encountered a game bug? Search or post on the Steam or official forum!

Finding a fix can also take time, and we appreciate your patience as we work to investigate, test, and implement new improvements during the early months of the game! We’re already working on a new, major content update aimed for later this month, and will continue to monitor your discussions as you have time to play with today’s build!

Plenty more to come, but for now: Enjoy the update!

—The Age of Empires Team

• Fixed a crash that could trigger when upgrading to a new Age—most notably to the Castle or Imperial Age.
  
• Fixed a crash triggered when loading into a match as a spectator.
  
• Fixed an issue that was impacting some of the prior performance gains initially released with the December Update.
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed units with minimum range attacks to pass through obstructions.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented certain battle audio from playing on machines with Vsync enabled.
  
• Fixed a visual bug that prevented control group numbers from displaying next to grouped units.
  
• Fixed a visual bug that caused the banned map cross to disappear after queuing for a ranked match.
  

• Fixed a bug that prevented music mods from working in-game.
  

NOTE: Some users have mentioned that their game no longer launches after the update. If you were able to play previously, make sure you add your Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition client as an exception to your firewall and antivirus programs.

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Coming this January 4th through January 12th, tune into Nili_AoE's presentation of Nili's Apartment Cup 3 on twitch.tv. The Microsoft-sponsored tournament will feature the world's best players as they jump into Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and compete for their share of a $20,000+ prize pool.

• Tune in on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nili_aoe
• More Information: Nili's Apartment Cup 3 | 04th-12th January (AoEZone)

Today's hotfix comes on the heels of Update 34055, and introduces a few additional fixes before the holiday break! Enjoy!

—The Age of Empires Team

• Potentially resolved issues related to searching for specific players in Spectator Mode.
  
• Resolved issues that were causing some players to experience crashes.
  

Today's hotfix comes on the heels of Update 34055, and introduces a few additional fixes before the holiday break!

IMPORTANT NOTE: In order to verify these fixes, we are pushing the Steam update today while the Microsoft Store build proceeds through its review channels. This means that cross-network play will be temporary disabled until we are able to sync the Microsoft Store build—ideally within the next few days. Thank you for your patience during this downtime!
Enjoy!

—The Age of Empires Team

• Potentially resolved issues related to searching for specific players in Spectator Mode.
  
• Resolved issues that were causing some players to experience crashes.
  

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Seasons greetings Age fans!

In addition to the first major update to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, we’ve also dropped a new mod for the game: the 2019 Winter Celebration!

As a thank you for joining us for our game’s journey thus far, we’ve added some festive touches to the game. Download the mod for free and enjoy:

• Snow covered trees
  
• Patches of snow on all non-water terrain
  
• Piles of presents in place of forage/fruit bushes
  
• Piles of presents underneath Town Centres
  
• Icicles replace normal sized arrows
  
• Candy canes replace spears from skirmishers and genitours
  
• Presents replace Trebuchet projectiles
  
• Snowballs replace cannonballs for bombard cannons, cannon galleons and bombard towers
  
• Snowflakes replace projectiles for Mangonel/Onager/Siege units
  

The mod will be available for free download until we update the game in January (the exact date will be confirmed in the new year) but will then disappear. However, once you have the mod, you’ll be able to switch it on whenever you want a touch of festivity—no matter what time of year!

• Download the 2019 Winter Celebration Mod!
• HOW TO: Download a mod in-game or from the web

Happy holidays to you and yours!

—The Age of Empires Team