New update coming in 4…3…2…1…0!
Today’s hotfix introduces several critical fixes to issues that cropped up after the November Anniversary Update. Most notably, it brings numerous stability improvements and crash fixes to the game, additional menu narration (when enabled) for the new UI areas of the game, the implementation of missing translations for several languages, and changes which address some clever exploits and issues uncovered in the Battle Royale game mode.
As always, these are based on feedback from the community, so don’t stop now; visit the forum and let us know what you’d like to see next!
We’ll be watching for feedback even as the World’s Edge team breaks for the American holiday! We hope you enjoy the hotfix and everything the November Update was meant to offer! 🖤
—The Age of Empires Team
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Please note that custom mods may not be compatible with the latest game update. If you are experiencing issues launching or playing the game after downloading the new build, try disabling your installed mods before trying again.
Still having trouble? Visit our support site!
GAME
Stability & Performance
- Implemented fixes for the situation where a player experiencing a performance spike in later stages of the game would cause degradation in animation smoothness for the remainder of the match. Note that this does not fix all lag issues everywhere: as individual PC performance, match settings (i.e. high pop, high participant games), and the random turmoil of internet gremlins can still have an adverse affect on the playability of the game.
- The game will no longer crash if the ranked queue pops while viewing the tech tree.
- Likewise, the game will no longer black-screen if a match drops or fails to connect while viewing the tech tree.
- The game UI no longer freezes when the “Failed to Join Match” modal pops while the Select Civilization menu is open.
- The game UI no longer freezes when the the UGC warning appears while the Select Civilization menu is open.
- Fixed an issue which could cause the game to hard-lock when a player disconnected on the victory or defeat screen.
- Fixed an uncommon crash when queuing to join a Battle Royale Quick Play game.
- Implemented several additional fixes for uncommon crashes.
UI
- Added the new Battle Royale option to the Game Mode filter in the Lobby Browser.
- Halved the animation time of the new UI windows and confirmation prompts within the game.
- Unique Unit icons have been added to each civ on the Select Civilization screen playing in non-English languages.
- Fixed an issue where using the arrow keys or tab to cycle through the Select Civilization menu would fail to update the details of the currently-selected civilization.
- Fixed an issue where the “Lobby Full” popup would constantly reappear after inviting a user to a lobby that subsequently fills.
- Fixed an issue which could prevent a player’s selected civilization from showing up on the match loading screen.
Settings
- Added menu narration to the tooltip text for each civilization on the Select Civilization screen.
- Added menu narration to the new Quick Play screen elements.
- Added menu narration to the Respond buttons in the Pending Invitations modal.
- Added menu narration to the Accept and Decline buttons in the Clan Requests menu.
- Added menu narration to the Close (X) button on the Yes/No dialogue that appears when exiting the queue.
- The narrator now reads the title and tooltips of the Settings Cog, Invites, and Profile UI elements on the home screen.
GAMEPLAY
- Monks can no longer be used to cheat death in the Battle Royale game mode.
- Fixed an issue where the object named “Invisible object that keeps player alive” would, contrary to its purpose, slowly inflict death upon nearby player units and buildings. This affected a number of custom maps and scenarios.
- Fixed a bug where attempting to remove a technology from the global queue would result in units being removed instead.
CAMPAIGN
Art of War
- On timed missions, the bronze medal timer is now properly displayed when the silver medal timer expires.
CIVILIZATION BALANCE
Burmese
UNITS
Arambai: The increased reload time added in the November Update now only applies to non-elite Arambai, as intended. So, the reload time of Elite Arambai is 2.0 and 2.2 for non-elite Arambai.
LOBBIES & MATCHMAKING
- Fixed an issue which could prevent game invitations from displaying properly for the receiving user.
- Restored games will now populate the invite list with the players that were in the original game rather than the full list of players who cannot join the game.
- Advanced game settings will no longer be displayed and configurable in Restored Game lobbies.
LOCALIZATION
- Added the missing translation text for an objective in The Falcon’s Nest (Pachacuti 4) scenario.
- Spanish (ES-ES, ES-MX): Corrected several percentage numbers which displayed the incorrect values when using the Spanish or Latin American Spanish languages.
- French (FR-FR): Updated the description of the Saracen archer bonus to clarify that it affects only archers, not cavalry archers.
- German (DE-DE): Updated the Magyar civ description to clarify that a Blacksmith is not needed to benefit from the free Forging, Iron Casting, and Blast Furnace technologies.
MODDING
- SHIFT+Clicking the Priority Up and Priority Down buttons will now, once again, allow you to quickly prioritize the selected mods as the highest and lowest priority, respectively.
ONGOING INVESTIGATION
As always, we are continuing to track issues reported by the community for future updates. Here is a brief update from our Production team regarding some of what is still in the works:
- Scenario Editor Crash: There is an issue being tracked which can result in the Scenario Editor crash when generating a map multiple times. A fix is being worked on and will be implemented in a future, major update when it has been tested and approved.
- All previous notes from the November Update continue to be relevant as we prepare the next official build. Keep an eye on the forums, official social channels, and the support site for the latest details!
For other known issues, please visit this page to see what’s being tracked!
DISCLAIMER
Please note that 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.