| “ | A lake rests in the cradle of a mountainous region. High above each side of the lake different factions prepare for inevitable conflict. | ” |
Lakeside is a hybrid random map in Age of Empires IV: The Sultans Ascend introduced in Season Nine. A lake surrounded by cliffs and its resource rich shores separate teams starting in comparatively barren areas.
Features[]
The reasonably large lake from which the map gets its name juts out from the center of the northeast edge of the map, taking up about half that map edge in width and extending about half the map in length. Players on each team spawn fairly close to each other in a row about halfway between the map edges and the lakeshores. Most of the lake is surrounded by steep cliffs, resulting in limited space to build a Dock. Each team only has a small shoreline on their side of the lake near the map edge as safe, buildable area. An additional shoreline faces the center of the map in contested territory, on which a Coastal Trade Post will always spawn. Slightly further out from the shore can be found the first of two Sacred Sites, while the second one can also be found further along the center axis of the map between teams close to the southwest edge. This edge is completely lined with mountains, slightly reducing the effective size of the map, and lies hidden behind a line of Stealth Forest. Almost all the Relics typically spawn in the area between the lake and the mountainous edge or between this edge and the Stealth Forest, but they can also spawn next to a team's shoreline or edge of the map. It is relatively common on this map for the full number of Relics to not spawn.
Resources[]
The large majority of resources on Lakeside spawn in the center of the map between the lake and the mountainous southwest edge, or between this edge and the line of Stealth Forest. The latter area also contains all of the Deer and Large Gold Mines, and may contain a few Small Gold Mines or Stone Outcroppings, while the former area contains most of the Small Gold Mines and Stone Outcroppings, and all of the Large Stone Outcroppings. Likely due to the restricted spawn area, the exact amount of Deer that spawn on this map can vary significantly from spawn to spawn. Six small packs (groups of 3) of Deer will more reliably spawn in 1 vs 1, but in team games, the numbers can vary more. Around 7 to 10 for 2 vs 2, 11 to 14 for 3 vs 3, and 15 to 18 for 4 vs 4 is expected. Players start out in a resource poor area, with only a single Tiny Gold Mine, Small Stone Outcropping, medium Berry Bush patch, and large circular woodline in range of their Capital Town Center. A single Tiny Gold Mine in each of the north and east corners in 1 vs 1, and a few other patches of dense and stealth forest are the only other resources in these areas of the map. Each player's second medium Berry Bushes will always spawn in a tight row next to the Stealth Forest close to the edge of their side of the map. Despite the lake's large size, it contains only a single Deep Water Fish and 2-3 Shoreline Fish per side, regardless of map size. Uniquely, this map also has no Boar. To compensate for this lack of food, the number of Sheep is greater than usual, with all of the groups of two or three Sheep replaced with a greater total number of solitary Sheep spread mostly in the contested center of the map.
Changelog[]
- Originally, each player started out with a Small Gold Mine (4,000 gold). With update 13.0.4178, this was replaced with a Tiny Gold Mine (1,600 gold).
Trivia[]
- An unofficial map named Lakeside first appeared in 2022, made by Bidderlyn. This map, while different, has a similar layout and resource distribution.
Gallery[]
