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Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
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Although this product has been released, it remains under active development - information may change frequently and could be outdated or irrelevant.

This page is for the 2019 Definitive Edition. For the original game, see Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. For the 2013 HD Edition, see Age of Empires II: HD Edition.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition cover
Developers
Forgotten Empires
Tantalus Media
Wicked Witch
Publishers
Xbox Game Studios
Engines
Genie
Release dates
Windows November 14, 2019
Reception
Metacritic 84
OpenCritic 84
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, Expansion pack, Subscription gaming service
Microtransactions Cosmetic
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives Bird's-eye view, Isometric
Controls Multiple select, Point and select
Genres RTS
Themes Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Pre-Columbian Americas, Medieval
Series Age of Empires
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on HowLongToBeat
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on IGDB
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition guide on StrategyWiki
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on MobyGames
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition on Wikipedia
Age of Empires 1997
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings 1999
Age of Mythology 2002
Age of Empires III 2005
Age of Empires Online 2011
Age of Empires II: HD Edition 2013
Age of Mythology: Extended Edition 2014
Age of Empires: Castle Siege 2014
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition 2018
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition 2019
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition 2020
Age of Empires IV 2021
Age of Mythology: Retold 2024

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is an updated version of the 1999 Medieval RTS Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, its The Conquerors expansion pack, and all content from the 2013 HD Edition and its respective expansions. It features completely redone graphics, redone The Forgotten campaigns, improved controls, an updated multiplayer lobby, an in-built mod repository, an Art of War mode which teaches new players gameplay intricacies, and new content (labeled The Last Khans to differentiate from previous and subsequent expansions) in the form of new campaigns and civilizations.

The game has received multiple expansions with new civilizations and campaigns (see Monetization), the largest of which was Return of Rome in May 2023, which included a separate dataset based the first game's Definitive Edition, but with quality-of-life improvements of the new engine (such as gates and formations), the Lac Viet civilization and entirely new campaigns. In the standard data set, the Romans were added as a playable civilization.

A community-made spectating tool for replays and live multiplayer matches in modified versions of the original 1999 release, CaptureAge, received an officially supported version for the Definitive Edition free of charge.

Periodic seasonal events, usually enabled with major patch releases, allow the unlocking of player profile images and official cosmetic mods.

On January 31, 2023, the game was released for the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles, and unlike in prior games in the genre, PC and console players can play with each other in multiplayer. Updates are usually released in sync. Despite this, the PC version did not receive controller support.

The game retains its popularity as of June 2023, with major sponsored multiplayer events constantly organized. Updates are still being made to resolve bugs and imbalances, as well as occasionally introducing new map templates.

General information

Official Discord server for the series
Official forum
Official support knowledgebase
Steam Community Discussions
AoEZone active competitive community site
Age of Empires on Liquipedia

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Green Man Gaming
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Humble Store
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Microsoft Store
Microsoft Store
Xbox Game Pass for PC
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Not purchasable in the United Arab Emirates.
Windows
All versions require Arxan Anti-Tamper DRM

Monetization

Type Notes
Expansion pack The expansion packs include new civilizations, units and campaigns. Players can play in multiplayer regardless of whether all of them have any or all DLC.
One-time game purchase The game requires an upfront purchase to access.
Subscription gaming service Available via Xbox Game Pass for PC.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Enhanced Graphics Pack Free add-on, increases Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition to ultra-high fidelity resolution. Separate download to conserve space.
Windows
Lords of the West
Windows
Dawn of the Dukes
Windows
Dynasties of India
Windows
Return of Rome Outside of the Roman civilization in regular gameplay, this DLC includes a separate game mode.
Windows
The Mountain Royals
Windows
La Hire's Dry Humor Animated Icons
Windows
Joan’s Marvelous Moving Masterpieces Animated Icons
Windows
Barbarossa’s Barrel of Pickled Goods Animated Icons
Windows
Victors and Vanquished
Windows

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Method 1: Use command line argument[1]
Method 2: Delete or remove cutscene files[2]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\resources\_common\movies
  2. Delete or rename aoeii4K.wmv and aoeiide_titlevideo.wmv

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\<user-id>\profile\
Microsoft Store
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/813780/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\<user-id>\savegame\
Microsoft Store %USERPROFILE%\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\<user-id>\savegame\
%USERPROFILE%\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE\<user-id>\modes\Pompeii\savegame\
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/813780/pfx/[Note 1]
The modes\Pompeii subfolder refers to Return of Rome DLC, if it is installed.
Save files from Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings and Age of Empires II: HD Edition are not compatible with this version.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud
Xbox Cloud

Video

Graphics options
Graphics options
Interface options
Interface options

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
Hor+ gameplay & pillarboxed FMVs.[3]
4K Ultra HD
Native support, but the free DLC Enhanced Graphics Pack includes graphics assets better adapted to ultra-high resolutions.
Field of view (FOV)
You can zoom-in and out by using the mouse wheel.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Fullscreen and Desktop Fullscreen modes are both Borderless Windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
On/off toggle.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
Can be capped or uncapped manually using game options since Update 59165.[4]
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Color blind mode
Deuteranopia, Tritanopia & Protanopia.

Input

Game options
Game options

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
In Game Options, under Scroll Inertia
Mouse sensitivity
In Game Options, under Scroll Speed
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Controller types

Audio

Audio options
Audio options

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Music, Sound & Voice.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Hindi
Introduced in a later patch.
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Malay
Introduced in a later patch.
Polish
Introduced in build 51737.
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Latin American Spanish
Turkish
Vietnamese

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
LAN play
8 Versus, Co-op
Requires a connection to the master server for all LAN play.
Online play
8 Versus, Co-op
Supports cross-platform multiplayer; this can be toggled on and off on the user's side.

Connection types

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 3074, 8888
UDP 88, 500, 3074, 3544, 4500
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 11
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Audio Wwise
Multiplayer Relic BattleServer Uses RelicLink matchmaking; allows crossplay between Steam and Xbox Live accounts.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 10 (Win 7 SP1* / Win 8.1*)
Processor (CPU) Intel Core 2 Duo
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 30 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GT 420
AMD Radeon HD 6850
Intel HD Graphics 3000
2 GB of VRAM
DirectX 11 compatible
Other 1024×720 minimum screen resolution
A 64-bit operating system is required.
* Game was made compatible with Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 by developers but with no further support. Windows 10 is the official supported OS.[6]

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/813780/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (813780) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

  1. Verified by User:Plok on 2022-08-18
  2. Verified by User:SargeCassidy on 2020-07-02
  3. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - PC Ultra Quality (3440x1440) - last accessed on 2019-11-15
  4. Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Update 59165 - last accessed on 2022-05-26
  5. Microsoft Store requirements - last accessed on 2020-07-02
  6. Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 support - last accessed on 2019-11-14