MegaRandom is a random map in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome, Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten, and Age of Empires IV.
Age of Empires[]
MegaRandom selection in Return of Rome
| “ | Ever dreamed of an endlessly unpredictable map where anything is possible and nothing is guaranteed? Multiply it by ten and you have... MegaRandom | ” |
| —Return of Rome description | ||
The map was introduced in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome. It is similar to the Age of Empires II counterpart.
Age of Empires II[]
| “ | Ever dreamed of an endlessly unpredictable map where anything is possible and nothing is guaranteed? Multiply it by ten and you have... MegaRandom | ” |
| —Age of Empires II description | ||
On MegaRandom, players never know what kind of map they will get. They can start with various explorers like Skirmishers, Spearmen, or even Camels, or begin the game with Bombard Towers, sometimes they will start with more Villagers, other times they will get two Town Centers or even start without a Town Center; the possibilities are infinite. Often on MegaRandom, players can experience critical shortages of gold on the map, making Markets one of the most important buildings in the game; other times, gold and stone are so abundant that wood becomes a much more valuable resource. Most maps remain fairly open, often with large obstacles in the center of the map like forests or mountains. Sometimes rivers, lakes, or seas are also generated.
Generation[]
Viable tactics[]
Since the map is unknown to the player beforehand, scouting is essential for this map. The information the player needs lies in scouting the map to find where resource depots are located and to devise strategies based upon the map's layout. Virtually any kind of strategy can work on MegaRandom. The key strategy lies with what civilization players receive and what the map is like. In some cases, the player may have to think outside the box in order to exploit any possible rare feature the map may have (like having almost all the stone in a specific place of the map, like the corners: this may be an exploitable map feature if the player find a way to secure a place like that).
Players may also have to learn how to make fast transitions between types of units in order to maintain a surprise factor against an opponent.
Civilizations that have advantages in MegaRandom:
- Jack-of-all-trades civilizations: Byzantines, Malians, Chinese, Inca, Khmer, Hindustanis, etc.
- Civilizations with good scouts or Line of Sight bonuses, like the Mongols.
- Saracens, since trading at the Market is very useful in many maps where the available resources are unbalanced.
Civilizations that may struggle in MegaRandom:
- One-trick ponies, like the Goths.
- Civilizations that focus heavily on late game, like Turks and Spanish, since maps are typically very open and aggressive.
- Teuton and Khmer farming bonuses are less relevant, since the majority of maps contain either lots of fish or animals on land, making farming in the early game much less needed.
Age of Empires IV[]
| “ | Fully random generation - a different experience everytime! | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV MegaRandom description | ||
MegaRandom is a random map in Age of Empires IV introduced in the Season One Update. Its features and resources do not follow a set pattern and are randomly generated. It very often features water in some way. It, along with Land MegaRandom, are the only two available maps in the Ranked Free-for-all game-mode and are often played with the Nomad game mode.
Features[]
MegaRandom maps can have nearly every imaginable feature combined into one map and offer a completely unpredictable experience. They can have multiple rivers, ponds, and lakes, large sections of impassable mountains or cliffs in crazy patterns, Archipelago-like islands, and more. They usually have two or three Sacred Sites and two to four Trade Posts. They likely target the standard Relic generation, but the abundance of map features can cause many of them not to spawn. MegaRandom is not intended in any way to provide balanced gameplay and generations can results in situations such as having one player on a safe island or behind a choke point while others are close together, unbalanced resource spawns favoring certain civilizations, or multiple Sacred Sites or Relics clustered together (especially towards the center). In Nomad mode, Villagers can also spawn in isolated locations.
Resources[]
As with map features, MegaRandom feature randomly placed and generated resources. Resources are usually more abundant than on standard maps but can also be quite sparse on water-focused map generations with little land. Occasionally, certain map seeds can have a huge number of one type of resource, such as having hundreds of Deer Packs or Gold Mines, or have unique woodline distributions.
Land MegaRandom[]
| “ | Fully random land generation without any water - a different experience everytime! | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV Land MegaRandom description | ||
Land MegaRandom is a version of the MegaRandom map which features no water and was introduced in Season Seven. It seems to include a subset of the 'features' in MegaRandom that can spawn separately or together. These are: many snaking cliff patterns and large sections of impassable terrain, and woodlines covering large portions of the map edge. Without either of these, it spawns a very Dry Arabia-esque map with more unbalanced resource and Sacred Site distribution. In fact, Sacred Sites seem to be more likely to cluster together in the center. Land MegaRandom also typically spawns with a large number of Points of Interest. The specific Points of Interest that spawn are random, and can be chosen from among all varieties.
Changelog[]
- Originally Trade Posts did not spawn on Land Megarandom. With update 13.0.4178, they can spawn in the corners.
- With update 13.0.4178, random Points of Interest now spawn on Land MegaRandom
Gallery[]
