AoE2.ai is tracking 49,190 RM 1v1 players. Top five: #1 VIT | Hera 2,924, #2 TAG_MbL_ 2,906, #3 Oni.Vinchester 2,879, #4 TAG_Sitaux 2,810, #5 wR.Lucho 2,804. Longest hot streak in the sampled top ladder: 抖音ique (62 wins). Best sampled win rate with 300+ games: VIT | Hera 74.8%. 55 of the sampled top players have played in the last 24h.

Hey there. Has anyone succeed in making a custom non-monk unit capable of converting targets ? I can’t have mine to work, all is working except the conversion process never starting.

GAME INFORMATION These details are CRITICAL; DO NOT skip them or your issue may not be reviewed. GAME BUILD #: 179158 GAME PLATFORM: Steam OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 11 ISSUE EXPERIENCED DESCRIBE THE ISSUE IN DETAIL (below). LIMIT TO ONE BUG PER THREAD. While I was trying to give a ship the conversion ability, I was not able to so I tested Sun Ce, the only vanilla non monk unit with conversion mechanic,s and it’s not working too. Currently the unit tracks the target, and once in conversion range, just stops and do nothing, returning to its default behavior after that. FREQUENCY OF ISSUE How often does the issue occur? CHOSE ONE; DELETE THE REST! 100% of the time / matches I play (ALWAYS) REPRODUCTION STEPS List CLEAR and DETAILED STEPS we can take to reproduce the issue ourselves… Be descriptive! Here’s the steps to reproduce the issue: Spawn Sun Ce and outpost for line of sight Spawn ennemies at the outpost Try convert ennemy with Sun Ce, starting from a distance to see the move-to-target and then stop. (easier to see with no attack stance on) EXPECTED RESULT What was SUPPOSED to happen if the bug you encountered were not present? IMAGE ALWAYS attach a PICTURE (.jpg, .png, .gif) or VIDEO (.mp4, YouTube link) that highlights the problem. Can’t really screenshot it, easy to reproduce. GAME FILES (SAVE / RECORDING) Attach a SAVE GAME (.aoe2spgame) or GAME RECORDING (.aoe2record) of the match where you encountered the issue. Link it below if using an external file service. #N /A

Hey folks ! Does anyone know how to turn the demo ships into regular non self-killing ships ? I’m pretty sure I managed to do that once but I can’t remember how I did it.

Game Version/Build: 101.103.48086.0 ( #179158 ) 23798925 The Problem: Since the June 18 patch, the game crashes consistently at approximately 25-30 minutes of in-game time during both replays and live gameplay. Frame drops/stutters are sometimes visible immediately before the crash. Crashes occasionally take the entire OS down (confirmed full system crashes in Windows Reliability Monitor on 6/29). Issue started around June 21-22 with no hardware or software changes on my end. No issues for over a year prior on the same setup. Reproduction Steps: Launch AoE2 DE via Steam Watch any replay or play a live game vs AI Game crashes consistently between 25-30 minutes of in-game time Frame drops/stutters visible in the seconds before crash Occasionally takes entire Windows OS down with it Crash Signature: Fault Module: StackHash_71cd Exception Code: c0000005 (access violation) No entries appear in Windows Event Viewer Application or System logs after crashes Confirmed via Windows Reliability Monitor System: GPU: GTX 1080 (8GB VRAM), driver 582.53 Windows 11 25H2 Steam version What I tried (all unsuccessful): RAM test — clean Full clean DDU driver reinstall, tested multiple driver versions (582.66 and 582.53) Full clean AoE2 reinstall including manual folder deletion Windows sfc /scannow (found and repaired corrupted files) + DISM /RestoreHealth Running with and without CaptureAge Running as administrator on/off -d3d11only launch parameter — stabilized FPS at 60 throughout (vs dropping to 10-12 previously) and pushed crash slightly later (28-30 min vs 25-27 min) but did not prevent it Notes: The -d3d11only flag improving FPS stability but not preventing the crash suggests a memory management issue in the game simulation layer introduced in the June 18 patch, unrelated to rendering or system load. CPU stays at ~30% and GPU at 25-55% at crash time — no resource ceiling is being hit.

This post is a player-oriented observation about how AoE2:DE DLC has evolved over time, and how player perception of DLC has shifted alongside it. It is not a critique of any single DLC, but rather an attempt to describe a long-term pattern: Over time, player understanding of what AoE2 DLC “is supposed to be” appears to have gradually diverged. 1. Early Stage: A Clear and Shared Understanding of DLC At the beginning of the DLC cycle, the community largely shared a consistent expectation: New civilizations New campaigns Additional content expansions At that time, the general assumption was: DLC = optional expansion content that does not affect the core identity of the game. Overall acceptance was relatively stable. 2. Middle Stage: Gradual Emergence of Diverging Expectations As more DLCs were released, differences in perception began to appear: Some DLCs were widely appreciated Others felt stylistically different in design direction Player expectations of what “AoE2 should feel like” began to diverge At this point, discussions gradually shifted from: “Is this DLC good or bad?” to: “Does this still feel like the AoE2 I know (in terms of civilization and campaign design)?” 3. Later Stage: Increasingly Individual Acceptance Criteria In more recent DLCs (for example, the Three Kingdoms-related content), community reactions became more clearly divided: Some view it as a natural exploration of different design directions Others feel it diverges from their original expectations of AoE2 A noticeable pattern is: Evaluation criteria have become increasingly subjective, rather than based on a shared baseline. As a result, player behavior also diverges: Players who dislike it → simply do not purchase Players who enjoy it → treat it as part of ongoing updates 4. UI Presentation and Increasing DLC Visibility In recent updates, DLC presence in the main menu and homepage has become more prominent. From a functional perspective, this is a standard content promotion approach. However,