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Thanks to updated console controls and menus, this traditionally mouse-heavy PC game plays extremely well on a console.
Disclaimer:This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
The Villager Priority System (VPS) allows you to quickly command all villagers to gather the resources you indicate on a selected chart.
The controls have been updated to feel intuitive on Xbox.
Rubyor:…You know, we were focused on getting the PC version out.
That was the most important thing.
The Villager Priority System (VPS) allows you to quickly command all villagers to gather the resources you indicate on a selected chart.
And then Age 2 was kind of spearheading this front on the Xbox.
And you know, we came back around and said, you know what?
Maybe I don’t have to play the tutorial.
The Villager Priority System (VPS) allows you to quickly command all villagers to gather the resources you indicate on a selected chart.
This feels really good.
So that was always our intent…
It was a lot of fun and incredibly challenging.
Windows Central: What was one of the biggest challenges of bringing Age of Empires 4 to Xbox?
Rubyor:Controls and UI.
And for the most part, they do.
After finishing a battle, Age of Empires provides a stat page fo you to compare yourself against other players.
The second of the biggest challenges is panning panning the screen and selecting units, right?
…So over time, [our] teams have kind of experimented.
I actually find it more intuitive than the keyboard… And so we put it in, and it just actually works.
Age of Empires 4 pits civilizations against each other in real-time strategic combat.
It works really well, and we get players a lot of flexibility to tune it however they want…
When Age 2 released… we watched all the feedback that came in, read all the reviews.
You know, it’s very important.
Delhi Sultanate can eventually produce War Elephants with gun-wielding riders on their backs.
What are the pain points that players experience?
What are the core friction points?
So we’ve looked to kind of alleviate a lot of those as well.
You know, it’s very important.
What are the pain points that players experience?
What are the core friction points?
So we’ve looked to kind of alleviate a lot of those as well.
It’s just too awesome.
We’re actually… like, how do we get this on the PC at some point?
You got your Spearmen they’re great against horsemen.
Horsemen are great against Archers.
Archers [against Spearmen].
This kind of basic rock paper, scissors wheel that will never essentially change.
Hey, Chat, go attack now, right?
So to some degree, we don’t want to take so much agency away from the player.
It has to be… Can I select a unit?
Can I pan the camera?…
We simplified where we needed to simplify so that players can have a good experience.
The feeling that… you’re executing on these really cool tactics to have a great experience.
That was core, right?
You don’t want to have to fight the control scheme just to execute an Attack Move command.
That’s just, that’s silly, right?
And that’s why Attack Move is on the X button.
On the console, you just hit the X button, and off they go.
So hopefully that answers your question.
Rubyor:No, it plays different.
It’s like, well, you have all these inputs, you got your mouse and keyboard.
That’s all we did in the grand scheme of things, and we did it well.
Now for Age 4, we had a lot of inputs.
So certain villager functionality, we just made contextual.
It just kind of went and did it.
If it’s not responsive, we’re dead in the water.
I’d go in every morning, I wake up to validate… confirm the UI is still responsive.
I’m checking all sorts of various bits and pieces.
And that’s the key point.
But a lot of time went into it.
You know, it’s funny.
I actually prefer to play with controller now.
…You know, it’s funny.
I actually prefer to play with controller now…. Where are the hotkeys at?
And then, you’ll love this, I was playing, and we’re in a multiplayer match.
I’m like, why do I have so much wood?
And then I’m like, oh my gosh, I don’t have the VPS.
And I’m like, sorry, team.
I can’t do it.
I’ve just gotten so used to it, and it’s a great system.
That’s the beauty of it.
That’s how I like to experience… Age in this way now.
It really feels like a huge boon.
Windows Central: Does [Age of Empires 4] multiplayer have cross-platform between PC and Xbox?
So, making sure our multiplayer for the Xbox ecosystem was absolutely fun.
We still support our game.
We love the fans, and we listen to our fans, so that’s critical.
Because that’s exactly what we wanted.
You just feel right at home.
And can we make this even easier?
And I also pushed on the design team.
Do we have to add more menus, guys?
Can we reduce the number of menus?
Can we just make it they just go menu, right?
So there was a lot of back and forth that went into tuning and polishing the experience.
It’s just super awesome.
I mean, that’s huge.
Windows Central: Are there going to be any more expansions for Age of Empires 4 coming out?
Will any future Age of Empires 4 expansions come out simultaneously on both Xbox and PC?
So it’s kind of all timed together.
We want to double-check that players have a great experience and they can talk about those experiences.
But again… we got to figure things out.
So I leave that to our capable production team and biz dev teams to work out.
I’m all gameplay.
Or are you planning on going back and bringing back 3?
Rubyor:That’s a good question.
I know right now we were focused on 2 and 4.
So, it’s free to play.
So go and have a great time.
Definitely check it out.
Have you had a chance to play Empire Wars?
Windows Central:I have not yet.
(Note: I have now, as of the time of this interview going live).
What they would have on gold.
It’s really awesome to play…
…I love [playing] Delhi.
They also have free research, right?
If you build the right combination of structures, too, it goes even faster.
But yeah, I’m getting those elephants out.
And then you get the villager with the VPS system going.
It can be game over.
…The great thing about Age is… there are 10 civs in Age of Empires 4.
You could spend months learning each civ.
So it takes forever, but that’s a great thing.
There’s a lot of great content for the game.
you could play through all the campaigns on the game.
Unlock the hands-on history.
I don’t know if you watched those videos?
And players love that.
It’s like, wow.
So that’s how trebuchets worked.
It’s like, yeah.
It’s pretty crazy.
So a lot of good stuff went into the making of the game.
A labor of love…
I don’t know if you know, at launch, mods will also be available for Xbox players.
Our community has done a great job of building missions, maps.
There are all sorts of fun tuning packs.
I build my own tuning packs too.
There’s a lot of fun.
So there’s there’s no shortage of what players can download.
We took all that to heart and just kind of moved it forward.
And you’re like, done.
But it’s great when you’re building farms around a mill.
Like wow, that’s awesome.
Windows Central:Is there anything else you want to say about Age of Empires 4 on Xbox?
Rubyor:Age, you know, Age of Empires 4 on the console, absolutely amazing.
Tons of content available for players to check out.
You know, download it, have fun.
Looking forward to seeing everybody online, it’s gonna be great.
Age of Empires 4 for Xbox |See at Microsoft
