Age of Empires IV: French vs Chinese

[@zeroyuki92]

That was a really nice series of macro and strategy counters, I like how the match is decided by you outsmarting the opponent by unit and tech switches. I'm sold

[@samuell1894]

You literally just describe AOE2, except this game does not have micro at all.

[@fir3wall514]

@@samuell1894 that's just not true. Did you watch the game with all the micro of cavalry vs spears, siege vs siege etc.

[@jerome6383]

@@samuell1894 I think Micro is not just dogging arrows, but rather any (local) concentration of moves that immediatly changes the outcome of an ongoing development. Like you do not just send cavelery against spears and wait for the outcome, you can still affect the outcome of a fight by realtime decisions. Even though - sadly - it is less intensive than some AoE2 and much less than (other) eSports mechanics. But maybe you want a strategy game to give more room for macro decisions. Marco then would be more about the (global) concentration on (rather) long term moves. These two concept may overlap. Like when you commit to a heated adaptive local management to (micro) perform (macro) strategies.

[@zeroyuki92]

@@samuell1894 The much less importance of hyper micro attributes (e.g archer doing maximum APM to dodge arrows) is actually what made me intrigued with AoE 4. Don't get me wrong, I don't want anyone to change AoE2 and I will keep watching competitive scenes of AoE 2. But for myself who like the macro aspect of RTS more rather than the micro if I play it myself, I most likely will play AoE 4 more. I'm also looking forward to the campaign of 4 since I've completed most of the campaigns of 2 including DLC anyway. AoE2 purists need to chillax a bit more. 4 will just give a game that is different with 2 and both could prosper together. In this RTS scene where there's not many modern options available anyway, I don't think you need to be so defensive against new entry in franchise when it's not perfectly tailored for YOU. A more casual AoE2 with more focus on civ variety? Why not?

[@Calebol04]

if he had described AOE2 he would say: "they locked themselves in until minute 20 with houses and buildings while they fought with 3 archers moving them from one side to the other until they reached castles" xD

[@degreeskelvin3025]

Cant wait to have Spirit of the Law tell me, by the numbers, if creating villagers or supervisors is more efficient in the early game

[@Kfo221]

@pit lord been playing that game for 20 years. It's time to move on

[@claytonc8101]

@pit lord cry more

[@adamday7777]

@pit lord always a puritan, get over it bruh, just cause you cant spam 2 units anymore.

[@VittamarFasuthAkbin]

@@claytonc8101 I think it's just a joke

[@Handinmapocket]

@@VittamarFasuthAkbin If it is, it's a pretty sad one.

[@FrostyBud777]

Thank you so much . I love this video. The 4k 60fps is so beautiful and I am so excited for this game in 13 days! 13 days left. SO excited. Thank you everyone working on this game. You did a great job!!!

[@TopKhan]

Finally French! Its about time

[@adrianhirst484]

Looking great as always. But please for the love of god add a building animation to infantry when they build siege! They look ridiculous just standing around it

[@Renovatio2142]

stronghold crusader 19 years old game has better animations and feels more live around the castle...why its hard to build great strategy game with everything from story to gameplsy

[@jorcktheoutcast8007]

@@Renovatio2142 stronghold and stronghold crusader were legendary 🙌 me and my brother would go in map editor and one of us would build a castle and lay traps and units and once you were done the other would create an army on the other side of map and try to destroy it. Good times

[@availablehage]

@@jorcktheoutcast8007 I loved it

[@jorcktheoutcast8007]

@@availablehage me too man, me too

[@szombatjanos]

@pit lord * Definitive Edition

[@adammorris551]

I am over the moon that the French and English actually have different architecture and unit appearances to each other in AOE 4! When I read all the factions in AOE 4 were each having their own style of gameplay, architecture and unit design my first initial thought was "they'll probably make the English and French have the same building architecture and just give each faction their own unique units and that's it" but I've never been more happy to be wrong! They look very different to each other and not just duplicate appearances like AOE2 and AOE3! Every faction really does has its own unique look, units and overall feeling and the diversity in each faction makes it that more appealing to try them all! I really hope you guys keep this quality up for future DLCs/Expansions and continue to make each Faction look and feel different...excited to see what you guys do with the Vikings at some stage! (Town Centres with Longboats and Shields Please!)

[@adammorris551]

@Verum Similis True and I wasnt expecting any radical differences between the two factions exactly for the reasons you pointed out. But those very small differences between the French and English architecture that the design team added in is still a very welcome inclusion 🙂

[@Geerterig]

Looking forward to more games! Love seeing how these civs will play.

[@REALzackychan]

I hope this means age of mythology 2 is next

[@Geerterig]

@pit lord HD? Why not DE?

[@butcherpete2182]

19:41 You still haven't fixed the disappearing bodies?

[@indyHalo]

Its two weeks away and im starting to get excited!

[@ethanalspencer7294]

This looks fantastic, I only ever played Age of Mythology when I was younger but I think I'll jump back in here, love the great macro strategy of having every faction be so drastically different!

[@donderstorm1845]

@pit lord salty boomer

[@ggfdd5925]

balancing is difficult then however

[@serthiag7373]

Wow probably the best match ive seen so far!!! Truly looking foward to this game and everything it has to offer! Ggs

[@greatmacaron5779]

@pit lord more like whiny baby lord

[@luckydrag7273]

@@greatmacaron5779 talking emergency food!!

[@gabriellawrence6598]

The French architecture is looking gorgeous, the most beautiful in-game IMHO.

[@REALzackychan]

Chinese wants a word with you

[@AWaBfantasy]

Chinese architecture is easily better.

[@Martin-zg7hx]

@@AWaBfantasymeeeehhhh...

[@dark_khan2232]

You sure that’s not your dishonest opinion?

[@Martin-zg7hx]

@@dark_khan2232 yep... im on the side of the HRE and French.

[@BPaini]

He shoulda tried to drop a relic from the 4 relics he had and go mass conversion on those fire lancers at the end…

[@Cooleatack]

And have them turn on all that siege, now that would have been an epic turnaround

[@BrosephStylino]

@pit lord I am going to buy this game full price because of this comment

[@QwertySkill]

@pit lord I just preordered because of this comment. I was going to wait for reviews but no, now I have spite

[@Fyrapan90]

The game looks amazing but I hope that they will add animations for the buildings such as the stables etc. AoE 2 has them so can AoE 4.

[@artamir6605]

Yes, and the water textures need improvement. Nonetheless it's really beautiful

[@P4TRICCS]

I hope they add a deformated edition as well to run on budget pc 😂

[@delaval7767]

I liked everything but is it me or the units kinda die too quick. Maybe more hp on units in general.

[@artamir6605]

@@delaval7767 Compared to Age 2 they habe massively more health, sometimes more damage too. I would say they last decently long. My Main Problem with the cav charge is that it just stops, because Aoe has no knock-down mechanic like battle for middle earth or total war. I understand that from a gameplay perspective, but it looks weird. It just looks like it has no impact and thats my problem with damage in general. Was no problem in Age 2 because it didn't look realistic, but now the game does.

[@JohnSmith-us4pj]

@@P4TRICCS the min spec is a dual core and integrated graphics, I think you'll be fine

[@sambauman69]

That was tense! The unconventional strategies were amazing!

[@kittogashi8561]

Haven't heard Zero in so long that I had to watch this. Wasn't disappointed.

[@tredbobek]

19:40 would not expect the demo ship to just go through a castle on a shallow passing

[@TopKhan]

haha good catch. Man where did it even come from?

[@Jan-xf8sk]

All ships should collide and not glitch inside a building regardless if they're building it near the water or in the shallow. Also, that units glitching into the oblivion after death. Relic fixed some bugs and odd physics since start of Beta, but still they have a very long way to go. Or risk this game becoming a bit laggy like Cyberpunk 2077 (CP2077 was worse at launch though.)

[@nellam8]

@@Jan-xf8sk beta was already much better than cyber

[@KaccelTinker]

I wish the ui at the top left had an army count for both players, along with the resources

[@shadowbandit3975]

I'm sure it's under a different tab

[@karnazacss]

Yeah, watching this showmatch series made me appreciate CaptureAge (the observing system program of AoE2). I hope they do something similar.

[@blakeli]

@@shadowbandit3975 there isn’t yet

[@kemalbey271]

Bro this french player... It is so annoying to watch him wasting those knigths like a cheap archers. He literally produces a knight and chinese guy kills it.

[@karnazacss]

Do you realise all this matches are staged from Microsoft with a script for players and casters to showcase the civilizations... right?

[@shykorustotora]

Springald: "Who are you?" Culverin: "I'm you, but more French"

[@rifqimujahid4907]

i love how the destroyed buildings leave remains but still annoyed ships or siege weaponry has no operators -___-

[@tuguldursooyo4685]

AoE Siege weapons always has been blessed to operate autonomously by Wololo spells by priests xD

[@Hawklaxx]

I’ve always liked that siege has no operators. I don’t know why but I’ve just found that autonomous onager far more terrifying than one with a crew of people behind it

[@lorrdy7640]

@@tuguldursooyo4685 not in AoE 3

[@tuguldursooyo4685]

​@@lorrdy7640 Yeah its because most empires banned those PAGAN BLACK MAGIC in Colonial era, i'd say its pretty accurate.

[@informitas0117]

They could even use the yellow ghost crew to man them as it's them that pack/unpack. It just looks silly having possessed siege units.

[@ryanhellenbrand6767]

I love the commentary! Will you two be doing more of these after the game releases?

[@Gomjabbar28]

@pit lord DE*

[@fanzhou2078]

19:42 all those units just vanished into oblivion… you should fix those graphics

[@rebel99ism]

During the beta when I killed enemy vills they would often disappear in the blink of an eye with no animation. I couldn’t tell if I actually killed them or if I was lagging. None of the other age games had this weird disappear thing

[@adrianhirst484]

Its a bug atm. Hopefully its fixed

[@willianjohnam7350]

I was hoping for an England vs France match but I'm excited anyway. Counting the days for october 28!

[@Pathfinder0777]

And so do l with Mongols vs russians

[@ReinOrgmets]

why is the demo ship 19:40 moving through the castle as it's being built?

[@Hawklaxx]

Probably a glitch due to the fact that it’s a ship and ships probably haven’t been hard coded to not be able to move through buildings as it intuitively isn’t something you’d often have to think about, I’m sure it’s something that will be fixed when the game releases

[@andreicristian9575]

Building foundations aren't blocking units in this game. No quick walling.

[@Marth667]

Shame we didn't get to see much of the french royal cav since they were completely countered by spearmen. Keen to see more before launch!

[@tianx9275]

a bit too much counter. Probably some balance is needed but we will see.

[@czarkusa2018]

@@tianx9275 Do you want 10 knights to beat 30 spearmen???

[@jugadorcastriot7796]

@@czarkusa2018 10 vs 30? lmao 3 royal knights and 1 horsemen were getting rekt by 4 spearmen at the start and mind you knights are mid game 140food 100gold vs 60 food 20 wood early game unit, yeah no. they should trade badly vs spearmen but not instantly collapse against a super cheap easy to produce unit

[@goodbanter4427]

I have to say, at the first launch trailer I was really skeptical, but the recent gameplay looks great!

[@willthrill901]

Looks interesting. But the overabundance of siege in these games just makes battles look a little lame to me.

[@IorekMetal]

Is nice to see that they are used. In AoE2 they are pretty useless, a couple of mangos if enemy comes with crossbow or spam of siege ram in late imperial is the only thing you see.

[@Maryondo]

That's why I used to create custom maps in AoE2 where I banned all siege stuff ^^ Makes the game more relaxed and I can enjoy some nice field battles

[@Xadar24]

Good game. I wonder how it would have played out if French didn't forget to capture the second sacred site for so long. Maybe that would have given him the time he needed. I can't wait for this game to come out now.

[@fanzhang5568]

He just has one castle there and can’t easily reinforce it. Couple siege and a couple units is all its needed. Or even maybe one monk in a ram might just do it.

[@IorekMetal]

The other one was completely undefended.

[@JonatasAdoM]

These replays tend to be annoying but I am loving these!

[@joeovip]

Wow, that was fun, what a great match, brought me so many memories, I am counting the days, I just can't wait any longer.

[@MrEmafon4]

that demo ship on the spearman was so amusing damn I would resign right there 19:40 it came out of nowhere

[@catbiscuits4424]

Im assuming this is more a demonstration then anything but still, rip Mike for having to sit there and retreat his artillery to allow french bowmen to chip down his fort.

[@Archaneus]

I was kind of bored watching this video... then the french player demo shipped and I was hooked.

[@mikewright7964]

Can't imagine the anger when he found out he sent a villager there instead of a monk. That could have been a game winner

[@SlamBaron]

Sheep cannot resist the baguettes.

[@shahriarchowdhury7871]

Letting a guy named Frank play the Franks 🤔🤔

[@Fanatic102nd]

Looks like they did tone down the bright colours a bit. Its looking a lot better now.

[@baldihamza9264]

i wish you could zoom out a bit more in this game but other than that i'am excited !

[@pumpkinpie8235]

Please add the posibility to select individual units from the UI before release (not groups of same type), or else the game will fail at esports from start.

[@Nickball97]

Yeah seems like a small but mandatory qol feature

[@jerome6383]

Oh, that really is important. Was it mentioned on the forum already?

[@pumpkinpie8235]

@@jerome6383 it was, many many times

[@felipeuseche332]

I've been watching a lot of games and they are really fun to watch. Relic is doing a good job.

[@adams13245]

I really like that AoE4 is giving these big qualitative bonuses to the civs and seems to have a lot of different economic and base building bonuses. I'd like to see where it goes, and I hope Relic can create a great game, cause they seem to really be innovative. Most of the complaints about DoW3 is stuff that was in the first two games, and Relic deserves some success after the internet mob decided they were public enemy number 1.

[@금나라돌격기병대]

It ended with a Chinese victory. In the ancient and medieval times, the Chinese army was the most powerful in the world. The Age of Empires IV game itself is not bad and looks fun... I wish the graphics were a little more advanced. It would be better if the graphics were developed a little more.

[@seewaldsja]

You say that but in a 8 player game it needs to run good still.

[@linshitaolst4936]

In history, the Chinese army was very strong in the Han and Tang Dynasties, but there was a gap with the West since the Song Dynasty

[@gerritgrauwinkel8665]

Why are killed units just disappearing?

[@luckydrag7273]

Because this is a mobile game

[@ScottyShaw]

Is the barbican not allowed to shoot ships? I don't understand why MikeP let FrankN bait him so hard at 18:00.

[@Harai_Ulfsark]

We are not sure if its a bug or intended, but for now it seems you cannot tell a building to attack something else, it will attack the first thing to enter its radius. Basically just send your ram first and anyone else entering after it will be safe

[@gymjunkie3748]

Absolutely loving this I just hope the population is higher than 200 because that’s just too low that would be my only issue

[@timwhitman3207]

Score displays!! An Excellent and needed addition.

[@danicule8671]

Mike always overplaying, he is the only one that never stops making villagers and improving eco

[@koleszka35]

The burning question is: will there be an improved zoom out option? The camera is just too damn close to the units and buildings. Also: why the buildings are disproportionate to the units? Another thing: Is it just me or the graphics looks like a downgrade in comparison to Age of Empires III?

[@jorcktheoutcast8007]

French team ends with over 6000 gold? I mean its a demo match so expected but dang that's a lot of resources not used

[@mbrp5107]

can't wait to see delhi sultanate gameplay

[@henripoque]

Yeah I didn't like their mechanic honestly

[@CosmicValkyrie]

Yes, i'd like to see how they actually work in a game.

[@mbrp5107]

@@henripoque are you sure you're not mistaking abbasid for delhi ?

[@henripoque]

@@mbrp5107 I played Delhi in closed beta and maybe it's just me

[@mbrp5107]

@@henripoque oh, i see, i never played beta. i just got my information from KZbin.

[@RockyD12]

Looks great! I Hope you choose a higher pop cap for unranked games 🙏

[@2009worstyearever]

i havent played an Age of Empires since the 2nd one..a really long time ago but is the meta to be kind of semi-turtly or is it just that these plays and map is forcing this kind of play?

[@Makofueled]

They undoubtedly want the game to go on to showcase all units and ages. However rushes and booms seem to both have their place and will likely see more favour to either depending on map.

[@mitchelblaser5232]

It says the stable and archery ranges are also population buildings when they are clicked on in the video. Do they also act as a farm?

[@leeimpp1471]

Did not see officers had been used or just skip the part.

[@Nathan-rt5vj]

Wow the battle at 18 min and the demo ship play jesus omfg

[@holyhandgrenadeofantioch2234]

Whats up with those units vanishing close to the river (19:30)? This is an unfinished mess.

[@RahulDevanarayanan]

Frank forgot what unit control is and had a bit of a rough night after lol

[@WWBCC]

some mechanics looks pretty ridiculous : building wall in a middle of a river, building keeps in front of your enemy, allow galleon to travel on a tiny river, explosion boat that doesn't damage friendly unit ...

[@QwertySkill]

seems like these are all mechanics that raise the skill ceiling imo

[@ukaszwojcik5131]

How many civilizations will be in the future?

[@Blottingpaper]

I feel like a lot of people casting games with Chinese are sleeping on the Imperial official.

[@juanolotgn]

Can you zoom out next game? Camera is waay too close

[@burninghalls]

Another week before everyone else can finally play it. It sucked that the beta was only one week for us but you know those influencers get to play it forever before its released.

[@TheZerglot1]

Maaan that keep bait with the demo was brilliant!! but the vill on the shrine i think cost him the game :C One thing i don't get tho... does the Barbican target on it's own? Could the chinese guy not have targeted the boats?

[@chuongnda06]

Old school but never old fashioned game of my childhood

[@furretthefuzzynoodle3896]

I just love looking at those fluffy boys run

[@averagewanderer1732]

It seems that the Dim Sums triumphed over the Baguettes this round xD

[@konnarlamanna7897]

Frank-hows it going dood staying away from the alcohol dood he's even here his vegen gang

[@locomotionchannel]

Aegis, How do you turn this on - Win.

[@michaelrunningdeer8778]

next week should be fun

[@tusk3260]

frankn didnt wall off his base, France is historically known for its fortifications... The french actually had walls around their whole nation and they even went overkill by building underground rivers for their ships to resuply and bypass british blockades which is the reason France never fell in the hundred year war vs england

[@Makofueled]

That and the fact God sided with France to cast down the English ofc

[@TacoTco]

Please redesign the icons, it is very hard to distinguish one from another...

[@sirk9565]

im rooting for mike! he keeps losing these but i know he can do it! mike! mike! mike!

[@nicholascotardo3795]

beautiful match to watch! Apart consider that chinese are rly strong in my opinion at 360 degrees, one of the player (i noticed) often forget to build a decent army in the beginning... Here franks needed more troops to defende properly in my opinion. or try a flank attack, or build walls and put ranged on them

[@julbombning4204]

What is the name of the artist behind the thumbnail?

[@phaserra]

Devs really going for a Esports-able game for this one.

[@SoftNoize]

yikes

[@PatrickHyland]

French seems like a good answer to English powerhouse. But all the power and unique bonuses in the English and French civs seem to REALLY overshadow the HRE

[@Vocu]

If this is a microsoft game how come the MS/Xbox store don't have a deluxe edition, but steam does?

[@altew]

Keep striving for excellence so much dedication put in to make AOE 4 btw AI awareness is good to see around in game environment

[@olly8435]

let me get this straight, if you have a siege workshop your spearmen can build siege equipment anywhere?

[@siposbalint2000]

It's an upgradr you research for your infantry, for them to be able to build rams etc on the field

[@Harai_Ulfsark]

There's a tech most civs need to research on the blacksmith (i believe abbasids dont need to research that) that allows any infantry unit (archers, spearman, man at arms) to build certain siege weapons on the field (ram and siege tower)

[@申子安]

The thumbnail art looks so awesome, can anyone tell me where to find the art and artist??

[@ariellaplays407]

Craig mullins :)

[@申子安]

@@ariellaplays407 Nice. I thought it might've been him again.

[@danfraser894]

The colours make them look like soccer teams holding spears haha. Prefer the old school look and evolution of unit armour in AOE1/2, but the game itself looks pretty fun.

[@Brutik5]

Theory: Chinese - Faster building so they can defend themselves faster Practice: Drops Keep on your head offensivelly Isn't game design fun? :P

[@rikterandersson3568]

Between Esports and the chase for a ''unique'' RTS it feels like AOE4 is really focusing on what makes RTS shine. A tight but straightforward experience of resource & unit management while letting yourself getting immersed in the feeling of leading your people & civilization. Seeing your civ grow and your towns bustle with life was such a big thing in AoE2 that gets lost in the Esport vs casual discussion. RTS is not all about balancing challenge vs easy to play, a lot of what makes a great RTS is letting you get that immersive feeling. AOE4 has a really great palette of sound & graphical touches that gives you that immersive feeling while not being a raw simulator.

[@informitas0117]

Too much rock, paper, scissors. Some is fine for sure but not as heavy handed as here.

[@lateralus6512]

@@informitas0117 I keep seeing this type of comment in RTS communities but what is the alternative? Are you saying that the counters are too hard?

[@IorekMetal]

@@informitas0117 AoE was always about rock paper scissor. Mostly Aoe2.

[@Will-xl7xp]

Theres yellow ghost soldiers loading and unloading the siege units lmao

[@X_caron]

The pronunciation for the french arbalest sound kinda like that : arba-let-tree-yeah :) at least where i live.

[@sprauder]

I wish they could have taken a few notes from the original stronghold UI. I loved how villagers that were idle would be standing next to the fire and then be assigned a role. Not just randomly appear after the queue.

[@waleedkhalid7486]

I get what you mean, but the mechanic is different for both games. In stronghold you have to wait for a villager to be made passively before you can tell them to go to work. It was meant to be a way to preplan the build order and really punished you if you get behind. Here you have more comeback potential due to being able to choose what to make and when. Still, both games are good!

[@sprauder]

@@waleedkhalid7486 yeah, I understand. I just liked the attention to detail in stronghold. I loved the combat aesthetics. You could even see an arrow physically pierce someone and they would fall over and die. They could have done that easily in this game with the technology of today.

[@DenGood23]

the only thing I noticed in this game is that the siege guns here strongly dominate the units, and this is a strong imbalance, the siege guns need to lower the speed and rate of fire by 2 times, so that the players would not make sense to build them in large numbers, and that the siege guns would be support units, and not cheat combat units. And it's also very, very unfortunate that they didn't add units to the siege that would move them, otherwise it looks somehow unrealistic compared to the whole game, and it's time to understand that siege guns and ships can't just be units, they must be massive engineering structures, with the support of units.

[@butcherpete2182]

The real thing that you don't really see here but which I noticed in the stress test is that siege weapons' projectiles are just as accurate and guided as archers. That's why they are dominant.

[@Grudgebearer47]

I’m really hoping they add the Byzantines soon. Can’t be a medieval game without them. Also the Ghanians to represent an African civ. Plus the Turks as well (make them a blend of Mongols and Abbasids).

[@hello_world704]

I thought HRE would represent the Byzantines.

[@spriterfighterstudio4574]

@@hello_world704 Byzantines and HRE are two different things and cannot be emerged

[@apenych]

Definitely buying AE4

[@luckytap5062]

imagine the kaos with 4v4 on this map!

[@linshitaolst4936]

If I didn't read the introduction, I thought it was AI fighting against Chinese players

[@shubhamshirdhone6557]

I hope the UI is "temporary"

[@Karthadasht]

Am I The only one missing a little bit of early middle age content ? ( Early mid age civs like Byzantines, Goths, Huns, Celts ... more barbarian units )

[@LazyLinx]

According to historians the Fall of th French Empire started in the XXVI minute

[@karlkarlsson8826]

Lovely. Now please change the arrow shooting animation of the castle to a bow. You accidentally made it an MG42.

[@Ctrekoz]

That was so fun to watch!

[@Regunes]

Looking pretty good, tho at some point it really seemed like the french was trying his hardest to loose lol.

[@tiancheng8549]

The chinese age 1 building looks like imperial age building... what is this

[@IronHeel]

Seems like China is OP.