Patch 3.0 is a patch in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten.
The introduction of The Forgotten came with a host of changes to the game, with the game version being incremented from 2.8 to 3.0. Some of the changes included in this new game version affect only those in possession of the expansion (content additions and balance changes) while others (bugfixes and UI improvements) affect all players equally; the former are included in the official patch notes of version 3.0 linked in the infobox.
Balance Changes[]
General[]
- Houses cost -5 wood (25 wood).
- Palisade Walls take +1 second to build (5 → 6 seconds).
- Stone Walls/Fortified Walls take +2/+3 seconds to build (8 → 10/11 seconds).
- Stone Walls -50% HP (1800 → 900 HP) in the Feudal Age.
- Building HP reduced in the Dark and Feudal Age.
- Onagers can kill trees.
- Trebuchets can attack trees much more effectively.
- Villagers can be garrisoned inside rams.
- Castles +1 LOS (range bug).
- Guard Towers and Keeps get +1 attack.
- Transport Ships available in the Dark Age.
- Palisade Gates are now available for 20 wood since Dark Age.
- Fish Trap construction time decreased by 13 second (53 → 40 sec, Farm seeding time is unmodified at 15 seconds).
- Cartography is researched free-of-charge in 1 second upon building the Market.
- Town Patrol costs -100 gold (300 food, 100 gold).
- Outposts cost -5 stone (10 → 5 stone).
- Fire Ships and Fast Fire Ships have +20 HP.
- Demolition Ships and Heavy Demolition Ships have +10 HP.
- Trade Cogs generate +10% gold.
- Cavalry Archer unit line costs -5 gold.
- Capped Ram garrison 5 units increased from 4.
- Long Swordsmen +5 HP.
- Long Swordsmen, Two-Handed Swordsmen, and Champions have +2 attack vs. Eagle Warrior line.
- Petards cost -15 food (65 food, 20 gold).
- Spearmen/Pikemen/Halberdiers +1 attack against camels and ships.
- Heavy Camel upgrade -20 secs research time.
- Tracking cost reduced to 50 food.
- Squires cost reduced to 100 food.
- Two-Handed Swordsmen have 12 attack (instead of 11).
- Men-at-Arms, Long Swordsmen, Two-Handed Swordsmen and Champions get +1 attack against buildings.
- Eagle Warriors have +5 hit points.
- Elite Eagle Warrior research time increased by 10 second (40 → 50 seconds).
- Camels have +1 melee attack (5 → 6), but -1 attack bonus against cavalry (+10 → +9).
- Fervor fixed (applied only to Monks carrying Relics in The Conquerors).
- Monks carrying Relics suffer from anti-monk damage.
- Murder Holes cost -100 stone.
- Chemistry affects Castles and Town Centers.
Aztecs[]
- Free Loom removed.
- Start with +50 gold.
- Jaguar Warriors +1 pierce armor.
- Elite Jaguar Warriors +1 attack vs. infantry.
- Castle Age unique tech: Atlatl (Skirmisher-line +1 Attack, +1 Range).
Britons[]
- Able to create Cannon Galleons.
- Longbowman creation time reduced to 18 seconds (19 → 18 seconds).
- Receive Heavy Scorpions.
- Imperial Age unique tech: Warwolf (Trebuchets do blast damage, 100% accuracy).
- Yeomen moved to Castle Age.
Byzantines[]
- Castle Age Tech: Greek Fire (Fire Ship line +1 Range).
Celts[]
- Furor Celtica gives siege units +40% HP instead of +50% HP.
- Castle Age unique tech: Stronghold (Castles & towers fire 25% faster).
Chinese[]
- Town Center LOS +5 (moved from Teutons).
- Chu Ko Nu (non-elite) creation time reduced to 16 seconds (19 → 16 seconds).
- Castle Age Tech: Great Wall (walls and towers +30% HP).
Franks[]
- Foragers work +25% faster.
- Able to research Squires.
- Throwing Axeman (non-elite) attack delay -0.2 second (from 1.2 to 1 sec, elite stays at 0.8 seconds).
- Elite Throwing Axeman upgrade cost -100 gold.
- Castle Age unique tech: Chivalry (Stables work 40% faster).
Goths[]
- Tech tree corrected to show that infantry are 35% cheaper instead of 25%.
- Treadmill Crane removed.
- Perfusion description corrected to show +100% working speed to Barracks instead of +50%.
Huns[]
- Cannon Galleons removed.
- Cavalry Archers cost reduction reduced to -15%/-25% (Castle/Imperial ages) from -25%/-30% (i.e., 40w, 65g → 34w, 49g in Castle Age).
- Treadmill Crane removed.
- Tarkan (non-elite) +10 HP.
- Tarkan (non-elite) gets +1 melee attack.
- Castle Age Tech: Marauders (create Tarkans at Stables).
Japanese[]
- Able to research Bloodlines.
- Able to research Gold Shaft Mining.
- Castle Age Tech: Yasama (towers shoot extra arrows).
Koreans[]
- Turtle Ship cost -10% (180 wood, 180 gold).
- War Wagon creation time decreased from 25 to 21 seconds.
- War Wagon cost -10 wood, (120w, 60g → 110w, 60g).
- Fortifications (walls, towers, Castles) and Outposts are build 33% faster.
- Team Bonus changed: Mangonel, Onagers and Siege Onagers minimum range reduced by 1 tile.
- Castle Age Tech: Panokseon (Turtle Ships move 15% faster).
Mayans[]
- Base cost for Plumed Archers increased from 46w, 46g to 50w, 50g.
- Elite Plumed Archer upgrade costs 700 food, 1000 wood instead of 500 food, 1000 wood.
- Castle Age Tech: Obsidian Arrows (Archer-line has +3 attack vs. buildings, +3 vs. stone defenses).
Mongols[]
- Elite Cannon Galleons removed.
- Mangudai anti-Siege bonus limited to Rams.
- Mangudai (non-elite) attack delay -50% (1.0 → 0.5 seconds).
- Castle Age Tech: Nomads (destroyed Houses don't lose their population room).
Persians[]
- Castle Age Tech: Boiling Oil (Castle primary projectile +9 damage vs. rams).
Saracens[]
- Market costs -75 wood.
- Non-elite Mamelukes get +1 melee attack.
- Castle Age Tech: Madrasah (killed own Monks return 33% of their cost).
Spanish[]
- Missionaries affected by Bloodlines.
- Castle Age Tech: Inquisition (Monks minimum/maximum conversion time -1.25 second vs. units, -6.25 second vs. buildings).
Teutons[]
- Town Center LOS restored to normal (moved to Chinese).
- Town Center garrison +10 units, maximum arrows +5.
- Town Center +2 attack removed.
- Teutonic Knight (non-elite) +10 HP.
- Monk healing range bonus fixed (did not work automatically in The Conquerors).
- Castle Age Tech: Ironclad (Siege weapons get +4 melee armor).
Turks[]
- Elite Janissaries are now affected by the Turkish team bonus (faster gunpowder unit creation time).
- Castle Age Tech: Sipahi (Cavalry Archers +20 HP).
Vikings[]
- Team Bonus: Docks are only -15% cheaper (reduced from -25%; Docks cost 128 wood instead of 113 wood).
- Viking ship cost now staggered per age: 10% cheaper in Feudal (81w, 27g), 15% in Castle (76w, 25g), 20% in Imperial (72w, 24g).
- Able to research Treadmill Crane.
- Longboats wood cost same as Galley line.
- Berserkergang cost 850 food, 400 gold (from 500 food, 850 gold).
- Regular/Elite Berserks base HP increased to 54/62 (48/60 → 54/62 HP). Training time of Berserk line reduced to 14 second (from 16 seconds).
- Castle Age Tech: Chieftains (Berserks get +4 attack bonus vs. cavalry)
Random maps[]
General[]
- Deer variance removed, each player has 4 deer at more or less the same distance from Town Center.
- Fish density improved: fish appear at more regular intervals thus reducing chances of unlucky Dock placement.
Archipelago[]
- Bonus islands appear in the center.
- Gold distance variance reduced.
Arena[]
- Relics can no longer appear stuck in walls.
- Wall distance variance removed, distance set to 20.
Baltic[]
- Larger base size, preventing players to be too close to water.
- Wolves removed.
Black Forest[]
- Forests remade to prevent the occurrence of bubbles in which resources and relics often got stuck.
- Larger base size.
- Gold and stone distribution balanced.
- Relic distribution balanced.
Coastal[]
- Larger base size for players.
Crater Lake[]
- Larger base size.
- Gold moved slightly further.
- Central island's position improved.
Fortress[]
- Fish removed.
Ghost Lake[]
- Inland sea rounded.
- Bonus sheep scattered around more evenly.
Gold Rush[]
- Central gold mines' position improved.
Highland[]
- Variance on distance of extra boar and sheep reduced.
Islands[]
- Bonus islands appear in the center.
- Larger base size to prevent noodle-shaped islands.
Mediterranean[]
- Central sea rounded.
- Larger base size, prevents players from being too close to water.
- Wolves removed.
Migration[]
- Sheep and deer distance variance improved, 2 sheep appear very close to Town Center.
- Wood distribution improved.
- Distance of gold mines improved.
- Gold and stone no longer appear on the shores of mainland.
Oasis[]
- Forest enlarged, same distance from Town Center for everyone.
Rivers[]
- Water edges remade: 50% water covers all edges of the map, 50% none.
- Bonus islands appear in the center.
Salt Marsh[]
- Map remade from scratch, a ring of water with shallows appears in the middle.
[]
- Ice patches are broken into smaller pieces and scattered around more evenly.
Yucatán[]
- Boar variance removed.
Bug Fixes, Performance and UI Improvements[]
General Gameplay[]
- Attack-move: There is a new button and hotkey for this. Units will automatically engage enemy units while advancing to their destination.
- Balanced Build Queue: When players select multiple buildings, all units created are load balanced for quickest completion time.
- Scrolling has several improvements. Diagonal speeds match horizontal/vertical speeds. Also the diagonal angle of scrolling matches the tiles (perfectly parallel to the map edge).
- The AI has remembered that trebuchets are useful in battle! Be prepared to counter siege units again
- Game Speed - Players may now choose to go up to 8X speed via the hotkeys in single player (Number pad + and number pad - )
System Improvements[]
- Registry settings are now centralized for game options. In the original code base, they were controlled and maintained in an adhoc manner and some didn’t update until players exited the game without crashing.
- Game Settings are remembered instantly. The cancel button has been removed. All game settings are enabled by default (and some have been renamed to allow the most common settings to be enabled).
- Sound volume has been renamed to Master volume, to better reflect its functionality, as music volume is relative to master volume.
- Music comes back after losing focus.
- Scroll speed has been rebalanced again (so players will want to readjust).
- Player profiles have been rewritten and should no longer be corruptible. For most players, it will port the campaign progress to the new profile system, but other settings for recent singleplayer and multiplayer settings will be started fresh.
- Player profiles now immediately remember settings for all modes:
- Single player settings in Age of Empires: HD Edition (referred to as AoK for simplicity for the items in this list)
- Multiplayer settings in AoK
- Single player settings in Age of Empires: The Forgotten (AoF)
- Multiplayer settings in AoF
- Lobby filter settings
- There are a few setting exceptions that aren’t remembered where it makes sense. For example, in MP, locked teams will always be enabled by default.
- All languages now use text files instead of dll files. Enterprising individuals should easily be able to take the English strings and translate them to any language of their choosing and share them in the workshop…like ewok!
- Cursors are now a consistent size (some cursors were showing up too small).
- The games extension system has been rewritten to allow for separation between features only available in Age of Empires: HD Edition (AoK) and Age of Empires: The Forgotten (AoF):
- .ai, * .ai2: These files are generally blank, exist in the AI folder and declare AI personalities of a matching name. AoF can load both types. AoK can only load * .ai files.
- .per, * .per2: The counterpart to * .ai and * .ai2 files. These files also live in the AI folder and contain all the scripting support for a personality. AoF can load both types. AoK can only load * .per files.
- .rms, * .rms2: Random Map Script files that live in the Random folder. AoF can load both types. AoK can only load * .rms files.
- .gax, * .gax2: These are single player save game files and are mutually exclusive. In AoK players can only save and load * .gax files. In AoF, players can only save and load * .gax2 files.
- .msx, * .msx2: These are multiplayer saves and are mutually exclusive. In AoK players can only save and load * .msx files. In AoF, players can only save and load * .msx2 files. (ditto with * .tmsx, * .tmsx2 – which are temp saves).
- .mgx, * .mgx2: These are replay files and are mutually exclusive. In AoK players can only save and load * .mgx files. In AoF, players can only save and load * .mgx2 files.
- .scx, * scx2: These are scenario files. AoF can load both types. AoK can only load * .scx files.
- .cpx, * .cpx2: These are campaign files. AoF can load both types. AoK can only load * .cpx files.
Performance Improvements[]
- The AI has been optimized to reduce how often it searches for targets when it doesn’t have one. This was responsible for approximately 10% or more of the frame rate cost and should improve late-game performance.
- Left+click dragging (selection boxes) no longer negatively affect the frame rate while the mouse is moving.
- Moving the mouse while placing a building no longer negatively affects frame rate.
- Many of the sprites (buildings and units) have been optimized to use less draw calls.
- Frame rate now follows new constraints that eliminate most types of “command-lag”.
Scenario Editor[]
- The player can now generate maps in the Scenario Editor with RMS files inside the Random directory as well as any of the embedded random map types.
- The player can now paint any terrain type.
- The player can now use any terrain type when setting the base terrain.
Multiplayer Features[]
- Mirror Random has been added to civ dropdowns in multiplayer. When players choose this option, the civilization will be chosen from the civilizations on the opposing team. The rules are a little more complicated in how selection works to account for all cases of course.
Hotfix[]
There was a small hotfix addressing some minor bugs associated with the release of this patch:
- Loc displaying issues in languages other than English. (No Chinese did not start with an Eagle Scout).
- Capture the Relic - ensuring Monastery was invulnerable for a few specific edge cases
- Game speed options in UI functions properly when selecting. Players can still use num+ / - to go up to 8x in single player.
