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    Home Unlabelled Age of Empires II Look at this badass unit! Can't wait for DLC release

    Age of Empires II Look at this badass unit! Can't wait for DLC release

    December 30, 2020

    Age of Empires II Look at this badass unit! Can't wait for DLC release

    Look at this badass unit! Can't wait for DLC release

    Posted: 30 Dec 2020 12:46 AM PST

    The office is closed all week, snow is coming down, and I finally have time to play AoE2 for the first time in a long time. Other than just putting my daughter down for a nap, I'm doing the same thing at 29 years old that I would be doing at 14.

    Posted: 29 Dec 2020 12:29 PM PST

    Quantum Farming Equation: Pilot Cycles, Mayan Privilege, and Strange Carries

    Posted: 29 Dec 2020 09:55 AM PST

    Quantum Farming Equation: Pilot Cycles, Mayan Privilege, and Strange Carries

    In the continuing struggle to craft the Universal Farming Equation, I can now explain

    1. Why villagers collect random amounts of food
    2. What Mayan farmers are really doing
    3. How initial conditions influence the overall farming rate
    4. Why farmers walk extra / less times around the farm

    In my previous work, I characterized the "farming cycle" as:

    https://preview.redd.it/imtjr9lvj4861.png?width=480&format=png&auto=webp&s=1b763e739279ab5c8e20b7f33135781d030f5dcd

    In a farming cycle there is a fast gather period, a slow gather period, three moveabouts, one dropoff food, and one return to farm (dropoff distance = return distance, therefore it's 2x dropoffs). Derivation from this idea results in the "classical model" of farming.

    https://preview.redd.it/4xag6g8nk4861.png?width=334&format=png&auto=webp&s=46f2a3be315ab35933e37de2f4f2ae931751ce0d

    It looks and sounds legit, but how does this model perform under experimental conditions?

    An experiment was set up with 10 farmers per player. Each one of the eight players had 10 farms exactly one tile further apart compared to the previous player. This covers all the farms with a distance between 0 to 7 from the TC, which means all possible first layer and second layer farms are fully simulated.

    For this experiment I used triggers to activate each farmer instantly and they would drop off food at the end of 300 seconds. Unfortunately, "instantly" and "300 seconds" apparently meant something entirely different to the game engine. In reality, "instantly" means the villager waits for 1 second before starting work. And "300 seconds" mean they stop at 301 seconds. While this is annoying, it is also a simple change in the mathematics.

    Zoom in for full data

    ​

    https://preview.redd.it/7b1690z8r4861.png?width=2493&format=png&auto=webp&s=2c0a7df48c7010c6979107eaf5111c6a46bd056b

    https://preview.redd.it/2a2b1z17r4861.png?width=2493&format=png&auto=webp&s=d88e9025f2c73e9b2f797ede4c656c5f73260660

    The errors made by the classical equation are not major, plus minus 3 points. However, what concerned me is that the errors are not random. These results initially underestimate the actual farming rate at close distances, and then gradually overestimate it as the farm is further and further away from the TC. But with Hand Cart, this pattern flips. First they start of estimating the food collection accurately, then underestimate it more and more with increasing distance.

    The errors are even bigger for the Mayans, who always seem to collect more food than they "should". After all, Mayans are experimentally calculated to farm an astonishing 6.88% slower. And yet they only lag slightly behind generic civs. What are Mayans really doing under the hood?

    So the classical formula breaks down under stress and does not work in the real world. The only civilization which it consistently works for is the Khmer, who don't need to drop off food, and thus simplifies the simulation immensely.

    But why?

    That it works for Khmer, who never drop off food, but not all the other civilizations that do drop off food, and especially Mayans, means the farming cycle advocated by the Classical formula was overly simplistic.

    How the Farming Cycle Really works

    Instead of the simple "return to farm", "collect food", "moveabout", collect food"...."drop off food"...

    In reality, it is not just one simple cycle. There are, in fact, three fundamentally different cycles that occur when you perform a farming experiment.

    https://preview.redd.it/6ka0abtg35861.png?width=1273&format=png&auto=webp&s=8d619e8f05575d5ae3c45026110c6b4aafa2c40d

    1. In the first cycle (pilot cycle), the farmer is idle for 1 second before it walks into position to start farming.
    2. Subsequently, the farmer performs normal cycles, which begins by dropping off food and then returning.
    3. In the final cycle, the farmer is cut off by the experimental timer of 301 seconds. They stop work and immediately drop off any partial amounts of food they have gathered.
    4. Note that if you mess too much with the pilot cycle (by setting the idle time too long, for example), it results in the farm pool accumulating large amounts of food which will skew results in normal cycles.
    5. In this experiment the initial cycle is extremely short, adding to the pool even less than a normal cycle of a farm directly beside a TC/mill.
    6. Therefore the initial cycle has no effect on later cycles, and only affects the estimated food collection rates in terms of its own duration.

    Within all three cycles, there are subcycle events that are not guaranteed to happen.

    1. Moveabout 3 can be skipped by Mayans, and Mayans will always skip Moveabout 4. This means they actually walk less than generic civ.
    2. Generic farmers always perform Moveabout 3, and they have a low % chance to perform Moveabout 4. This rare event only happens if Hand Cart is researched, or with Wheelbarrow + Heavy Plow & the farm is extremely close to its TC/Mill.
    3. Aztec Farmers always perform Moveabout 3, and they have a high % chance of performing Moveabout 4. They will do this even with no techs researched. This means Aztec farmers actually walk more than generic civs, blunting their advantage somewhat.
    4. The final cycle is a partial cycle, so any subevents within it have a % chance of not happening.
    5. For Khmer, all Dropoff-Return events do not happen. Instead, they perform a Moveabout event to start the next cycle.

    In order to truly estimate the food collection, the Universal Farming Equation must account for differences in all three cycles.

    But first, let's talk about what is going on with all these "optional" moveabouts, and why it happens.

    Optional Moveabouts

    1. Farmers try to gather as much food as possible under their Fast Gather rate (0.5295 F/s for generic civs, 6.88% slower for Mayans, 5% slower for Khmer, and 17.85% faster for Slavs).
    2. They try not to gather food using their Slow Gather rate (which is 0.4 F/s for generic civs, 10% faster for Slavs), which is the real number of food generated from the Farm.
    3. In order to achieve the Fast Gather rate, there must be surplus food from the hidden farm pool.
    4. The surplus food is created by the villager idle time, initializing (walking from start position), or drop-returning food.
    5. Villager 1 second idle time and initializing (in the pilot cycle), and drop-return are mandatory events (replaced with 1 additional moveabout, for Khmer). Both generate increases in food in the farm pool.
    6. Moveabout 1 and Moveabout 2 are also mandatory for all civs, and they increase food in the farm pool.
    7. During the Fast Gather event, the pool is depleted at the rate of |Fast Gather Rate - Slow Gather Rate|. Every second, the generic farmer takes out 0.5295 food, while the farm replaces it with 0.4 food.
    8. If there is no more food in the pool, the villager only collects Slow Gather food. Every second, the generic farmer takes out 0.4 food, while the farm replaces it with 0.4 food.
    9. While the total amount of food carried by the villager must be equal to their Carry Capacity, C, there are no restrictions on the amount of food carried inside the cycle, between moveabout events.
    10. The smart aoe2 farmer takes advantage of this leeway by carrying random amounts of food while in midcycle. They will try to avoid Slow Gather events by carrying less food when the pool is near empty, and more food when the pool is filling up.
    11. As a last resort, the farmer will also perform an additional moveabout (Moveabout 4 for generic civs), randomly idling so that the pool is allowed to fill up with more food.
    12. However the Slow Gather event is not always avoidable despite the farmer's best intentions. Therefore Slow Gather events still happen.

    I hope you can follow this complicated explanation. Lets have a look at how many moveabouts actually happen. First, the pilot cycle:

    https://preview.redd.it/r62jgazz95861.png?width=2232&format=png&auto=webp&s=b1bc98ae548133fd5492828c7c71e26c718ee933

    And normal cycles:

    https://preview.redd.it/jqhb4bexb5861.png?width=2232&format=png&auto=webp&s=5cd4c1e48a4b973640836d1d4fd13e8f2bfb4979

    As you can see, the experimental data shows the exact pattern I described. During the pilot cycle, when the pool is still mostly empty, additional moveabouts start happening once Wheelbarrow is researched.

    In normal cycles, the pool becomes more stable, so additional moveabouts become rare, generally requiring very close drop distance or Hand Cart.

    Aztecs naturally carry +3 food, so they are forced to use additional moveabouts more often.

    How about the Mayans? Well...

    The True Secrets of Mayan Farmers - Exposed

    Behold the true nature of Mayan farming, demystified:

    1. Mayans farm 6.88% slower than a regular civ. Because they naturally farm slower, they also take longer to deplete their pool compared to generic civs.
    2. Mayan resources also last 15% longer. Instead of taking out (0.5295 * 93.12%) Food per second during the Fast Gather event, they only take out (0.5295 * 93.12% * 85%).
    3. This combination of two discounts means that, the 24 Food per minute barrier does not exist for Mayans. Mayans can officially ignore the speed limit!
    4. In fact, Mayan farmers only take out 0.4191 Food per second, while the farm still recharges at 0.4 Food per second. This means the farm only depletes at the very low rate of 0.0191 food per second.
    5. A generic civ farm pool depletes at the rate of 0.1295 food per second, 6.7 times faster than a Mayan farm.

    Here is the generalized formula for pool depletion. Each civ takes a different amount of time to deplete its pool, which depends on how much time was spent walking, how fast villagers go, and whether their resources last 15% longer like Mayans.

    https://preview.redd.it/cqzv5csy36861.png?width=762&format=png&auto=webp&s=4aa6a2823741647238284ba11b098a0825230b36

    https://preview.redd.it/h34wlrhyi5861.png?width=2232&format=png&auto=webp&s=a34ea2a8e327233b580744aec1580266a4da23fa

    https://preview.redd.it/j3avt86rj5861.png?width=2232&format=png&auto=webp&s=1f59cf14a4891ee76d43b7f95bf20572d48e878f

    Mayans generally take forever to deplete their pool. This means they always gather food at their Fast Gather Rate and never at the Slow Gather Rate, unless Carry capacity was artificially increased above ~130.

    Let's retrace that during any cycle (be it Pilot or Normal), a farmer can only gather food equivalent to Carry Capacity, C. Now if we imagine that the farmer always gathers food at their Fast rate (lets ignore the pool for now), they will take

    This results in the following table:

    ​

    https://preview.redd.it/q3q9r1btj5861.png?width=2232&format=png&auto=webp&s=6352043e6f71bf4f0499ccfcd0551834c2dc4445

    ​

    https://preview.redd.it/lxtq0exxj5861.png?width=2232&format=png&auto=webp&s=dae5c30afb8b35ae6df84d47e34adcc87ae18143

    ​

    Slow and Fast Gather Time

    If you compare these "time limits" to the pool deplete time, you realize that when the time limit is shorter than the pool deplete time, it means the pool is not fully depleted at the end of the farming cycle. There is still some leftover food in the pool.

    Which means that the villager always gathers food at the Fast Gather Rate, and the Slow Gather Rate never triggers.

    However, if the "time limit" is longer than the pool deplete time, the villager fails to gather all their Carry food under Fast Gather. They are forced to gather the remaining amount of food using the Slow Gather event.

    https://preview.redd.it/27gptkebd6861.png?width=407&format=png&auto=webp&s=2dc4a9e6a5f03af38cd7eb50190d23047e2aac8e

    Resolving these equations for all techs and all civs, we get both the fast gather time and the slow gather time.

    Now let's also resolve how much time is used to moveabout, initialize, and dropoff, culminating in the actual time of the farming cycle. Basically it is equal to the various values of distances, divided by villager speed.

    The Quantum Farming Cycle

    https://preview.redd.it/j7163zi946861.png?width=559&format=png&auto=webp&s=488878ce86510ebfd617afb8b2ecbbb160ba2927

    Summing up the various time of events, we now know the total time of the normal farming cycle, as well as the pilot cycle. So for an experimental timer of 301 seconds, we can figure out how many cycles will occur, by first subtracting the length of the pilot cycle, then dividing it by the length of normal cycles. We add 1 in the end which represents the pilot cycle.

    This typically gives us a fractional number. The fractional (modulus) portion represents the final, partial cycle which is an incomplete normal cycle. The round number represents full, complete cycles.

    Recall that partial cycles always start with a drop-return event, so if this fraction is not larger than a threshold needed to complete the drop-return, no actual food is gathered. (This means the experiment ended while the villager was moving either to and from the farm, so no actual food was gathered in the final cycle).

    However, if the fraction is large enough, it will result in the villager successfully gathering a fraction of its Carry Capacity. This is the final piece in the puzzle needed to estimate the Quantum Gather Rate, capping off the equation.

    https://preview.redd.it/fdj358eg46861.png?width=639&format=png&auto=webp&s=8d56660bcdabad773da09c0835a086449542f283

    How does the Quantum model perform compared to the Classical model of farming? Well, before we jump ahead to the result, let me also clarify that the drop distance is not exactly equal to the distance between the farm's 9 points to the TC / mill, but rather that farmers take "inefficient" paths to their destination. I might explain more about this some other time, but for now, these are the actual drop distances they use:

    https://preview.redd.it/tx3arctit5861.png?width=769&format=png&auto=webp&s=87d3172a5068dae3a1ed1b28b7c7a1f7f66398c5

    Quantum Gather Rate Estimates

    https://preview.redd.it/oqauyevbs5861.png?width=2493&format=png&auto=webp&s=a3d16641b8fa97856942d8c24469c61145a824b4

    https://preview.redd.it/kvbig3ids5861.png?width=2493&format=png&auto=webp&s=f92af95222405533381460a43450b783bdedf4df

    There are still a small number of errors that inevitably crop up, but they now only occur in very niche situations, generally only with specific very long distances to the TC / mill and both Heavy Plow and Hand Cart researched.

    The quantum model for farming is much closer to a true universal equation for farming rates, perhaps as close as any model can be without doing intense computation work like evaluating every combination of possibilities (there are 5 possible moveabouts, 2 possibilities between a moveabout happening / not happening, 3 possible initializations, and 6 possible drop distances, resulting in 3750 different versions of initial cycles and 7500 different normal cycles, and each cycle interacts with the one before it by manipulating the hidden farm pool...so our little experiment lasting only 301 seconds we will get upwards of 4.27 X 1024 possibilities to evaluate...no thank you).

    Comparing the quantum model of farming versus the classical model,

    1. The Quantum Model correctly captures accurate numbers for Mayan farmers
    2. The Quantum Model remains predictive across various distances between the farm and the TC/Mill.
    3. The Quantum Model shows smooth transitions towards the 24 F/min barrier, instead of a sudden abrupt cutoff. This more closely reflects actual experimental data.
    4. The Quantum Model's error rate
      1. In 86.3% of all scenarios, the error is less than 1%
      2. In 11.1% of all scenarios, the error is between 1% and 2%
      3. In 1.6% of all scenarios, the error is between 2% and 3%
      4. In 0.3% of all scenarios, the error is between 3% and 4%
      5. In 0.7% of all scenarios, the error is between 4% and 5%
      6. The error is never larger than 5%
    5. The Classical Model's error rate
      1. In 60.8% of all scenarios, the error is less than 1%
      2. In 22.4% of all scenarios, the error is between 1% and 2%
      3. In 10.1% of all scenarios, the error is between 2% and 3%
      4. In 5% of all scenarios, the error is between 3% and 4%
      5. In 1.2% of all scenarios, the error is between 4% and 5%
      6. In 0.5% of all scenarios, the error is larger than 5%

    I therefore submit the Quantum Model of Farming.

    submitted by /u/whisperwalk
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    Won with Xolotl Rush

    Posted: 29 Dec 2020 10:47 PM PST

    Me and friends like doing "FFA" Matches (We all start unallied...but alliances tend to form and shift a lot). One of them was playing the Huns and I was playing Incas. We play on Highlands so I'm stonewalling the crossings near his base for him...and he builds two Stables in my base. I temporarily unally and convert the Stables he built for me...and we wipe out his neighbour with a Xolotol Rush (said neighbour was springboarding for another player).

    submitted by /u/Consaibot1
    [link] [comments]

    interview about the existing aoe2 extensions

    Posted: 30 Dec 2020 06:53 AM PST

    Found my battlefield drawings from over 17 years ago...inspired by the AoE 1 cinematics

    Posted: 29 Dec 2020 09:22 AM PST

    Hate to ask again, but any advice for a novice player?

    Posted: 30 Dec 2020 04:01 AM PST

    I kinda am still hitting the same roadblocks I did in the past when I made a previous post; I am rather sluggish when it comes to building up my empire. Sadly so much so that when I took people's advice and went for a ranked game for the first time, I got met with the same problem as in quickplay; while I did manage to rank up to Feudal just slightly before my rival did in a 1v1, it was not long after that the guy was in Castle while I was trying to amass to that point. (To be fair, was Arena, which threw a wrench in any plot to use more aggressive playstyles, since siege would struggle.) and by the time I got to castle, he just got to Imperial and was mass-producing trebuchets and had a significant sized army that I was not exactly capable of dealing with.

    I did take people's advice of playing with Cicero's build order mod (Even though for some reason, I have to jump through a loop of going into the editor and testing the scenarios rather than play them normally, since I can't access any scenarios for some reason otherwise, and all the guides I tried to refer to look at older versions that use the older menus) and it feels like even after 20 or so run-throughs, I keep getting an F on every task. I could just rant about the fact that it has something to do with the boar in the first Scouts scenario that is unusually far away. But it does not exactly stop me from feeling worthless. I am trying to follow its build order to the best of my ability, however.

    Which leaves me wondering. What the hell am I doing wrong? I know (most) of the hotkeys in the game at this point, I do everything in my power to make sure everything is not idle, I try to build up a military rather than focus 100% on the economy. I don't know. it feels hopeless when even after such effort, I still get stomped on. And I do not have the financial stability (Or mental stability) to roll with a paid coaching service.

    submitted by /u/Yukimare
    [link] [comments]

    Looking for people to play with

    Posted: 30 Dec 2020 06:45 AM PST

    I'm an entry level player who pretty much just plays ranked - I like team he's for now and my elo for 1v1 is around 850.

    I suck and want to get better. Looking for people who share these characteristics to play with.

    I'm on eastern time and free 5-10pm.

    Hoping I get some responses.

    submitted by /u/JustANonsenseGuy
    [link] [comments]

    The Burgundian Coustillier

    Posted: 30 Dec 2020 08:09 AM PST

    Looking for good Europe Map with Civ's in Correct Countries

    Posted: 30 Dec 2020 07:47 AM PST

    Hi all, I've been looking for a decent Europe map with civs starting in their correct countries. Does anyone know of a mod or scenario I can download? Struggling to find a one that works well.

    Thanks!

    submitted by /u/Edwaarrrddd
    [link] [comments]

    Teutonic Knights immune to conversions?

    Posted: 30 Dec 2020 07:44 AM PST

    What does everyone think about Teutonic Knights being immune to conversation? I've always thought this would be incredibly thematic and also not affect balance at all because Teutonic Knights are always counted by archers anyways. I'm always disgusted by the idea that a Teutonic Knight can be converted. I think if you try to convert a Teutonic Knight, it'd be like trying to convert a town center, it just says you can't convert it. These guys are never changing religion.

    submitted by /u/Euler-Macaroni
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    AOE2 DE is lagging

    Posted: 30 Dec 2020 01:14 AM PST

    Hey guys! My AOE2 Definitive Edition(Steam) started lagging recently. I have the graphics DLC installed, but even if i turn it off and set the settings to minimum the FPS stays at 30-35. My PC is pretty fast(R7+1660Ti) and AOE2 should work fine. What can be wrong?

    submitted by /u/mishadeviaty
    [link] [comments]

    MAA vs Archers - too weak?

    Posted: 30 Dec 2020 07:18 AM PST

    Is it just me, or does it feel that maa should be stronger against archers? I was playing as Malians, and got a few maa out to raid, but as soon as the other player got ~6 archers together, my maa were destroyed and I lost the game. I know a common meta is maa into archers, but with a infantry civ like Malians, shouldn't you be able to put something together with strong infantry not having to do archers? It's annoying just getting my bunch of Maa completely picked off by a small group of archers - both are feudal age units - shouldn't the battle be a bit more equal than maa getting utterly destroyed by archers? It seems archers are too op in feudal... Does anyone agree?

    submitted by /u/irishlemon
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    Siege Tower woodline hop

    Posted: 29 Dec 2020 10:46 AM PST

    Specs

    Posted: 29 Dec 2020 11:23 PM PST

    I brought my dad a new pc nothing fancy very basic and cheap but it's meeting benchmark test for aoe2 de and I've been planning on getting myself one to play de specifically.

    It's got i3 processor with 3.1 ghz T61 motherboard Intel 4000 graphic card 8gb ram 1 tb memory Should i get myself the same or if i need to upgrade what needs to be upgraded.

    Thanks

    submitted by /u/mrjay28
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    This meme inspired by comments on my last post.

    Posted: 30 Dec 2020 06:10 AM PST

    Built before Erik arrived an now none of the town centres count lol

    Posted: 29 Dec 2020 06:02 PM PST

    1128 elo and struggling to climb any more.

    Posted: 29 Dec 2020 03:23 PM PST

    I started playing in april and initially dropped all the way down to 702 elo because i lost to literally everybody, incluing people who seemed like they where trolling while i was doing everything to improve.

    Eventually i got better, and climbed all the way to my current 1128 elo after a whopping 1400 hours in the game.

    The problem is i have invested so much time into the game, but it feels at times like i don't get better, sometimes it feels like i havent got better at all, and i still loose to 1000 or below elo players sometimes.

    I'm struggling to even beat 1000-1100 players, and this is with the biggest try hard civ of all, franks. It's just that i get hit with crazy strats like saracens xbows, pike and siege in early castle, and i don't know how to react so i die.

    I would show my recs in the discord, but nobody looks at the replays channel unless you ask people trough reddit. I'll upload some replays. Im gaius_is_best_collossus.

    submitted by /u/NinjaPotato206
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    (Poll) Do you play ranked matches with the game music yes or no?

    Posted: 29 Dec 2020 10:20 PM PST

    Which civ is best for TG Arabia on both pocket and flank?

    Posted: 29 Dec 2020 05:21 PM PST

    As a casual player with limited time, I cannot learn how to play all civs. I just want to learn the build orders of one specific civ and improve my learning curve by staying with this civ. Otherwise I always begin from the scratch when switching between civs.

    I am wondering which civ is viable and strong as pocket and flank in TG Arabia. I often play 2v2 with a friend but he likes to switch civs and role (melee/ranged) regularly. That's why I want to learn playing both roles too, but stay with one civ to master it. When I play alone, I am open to play everything from 1v1 to 4v4.

    I think the most important requirement for the civ is to suit Arabia TGs because in 1v1 most civs can be played with no devastating disadvantage.

    submitted by /u/bwg1952
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    Nice Christmas present

    Posted: 29 Dec 2020 01:46 PM PST

    1k to 1k4, EP10 - Army Control!

    Posted: 29 Dec 2020 10:04 AM PST
    Read more
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