Happy October, Age fans!
As we move into the final stretch of the year, we’re continuing our monthly release schedule with another small changelist for the game. Today’s build focuses on some key Villager improvements identified by the community, AI improvements for hardcore players, and some audio fixes that benefit the modding community. As has also become the standard, it also comes with a new event: this time celebrating the recent launch of Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition with some exclusive crossover content for you to enjoy.
As many of you have guessed, next month is when we’re targeting the drop of our massive anniversary update! There’s still time to identify fixes and tweaks you’d like to see, so be sure to visit our discussion channels to leave your thoughts:
We hope you enjoy this month’s release, look forward to hearing from you, and can’t wait to see you on the battlefield!
—The Age of Empires Team
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Please note that custom mods may not be compatible with the latest game update. If you are experiencing issues launching or playing the game after downloading the new build, try disabling your installed mods before trying again.
Still having trouble? Visit our support site!
BUILD SPOTLIGHT
Here are some of the biggest highlights coming with this month’s update:
Age of Empires III: DE Launch Celebration
October 20 – November 3 
Exactly 14 years and 362 days since its arrival, Age of Empires III now has a Definitive Edition to usher in a new beginning for the youngest game in the franchise! We’re ecstatic to celebrate the launch of the new and improved game—so excited, in fact, that we only made you wait 5 days to join the fun! That’s because today marks the beginning of the October celebration, which is themed around the newest member of the family: Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition! So grab your favorite capybara and join in for two weeks of fun, games, and (of course) exclusive unlocks!
- Unlock three new Profile Icons, including legendary capy-boi, Barry!
- Unlock two new mods, including a Great Bombard Cannon statue for your Town Center and Capybara Projectiles for your siege machines.
- Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition owners can also unlock a third mod that changes your Hand Cannoneers to Musketeers!
- Unlock a new audio mod to add that special, Age III gunpowder sound to your shooty-bois!
New Rewards!
Starting TODAY through NOVEMBER 3, complete daily in-game tasks to unlock event-themed goodies:
| DAY ~ | 🎯 Sign into Xbox Live. 🏆 Unlocks the Musketeer profile icon. 💾 *Required* if you want to save any rewards unlocked during the event! |
| DAY ~ | 🔒 Earn the “Imperial Age” achievement in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. 🏆 Unlocks a mod that replaces your Hand Cannoneers with Musketeers. 💾 Xbox Live Sign required in both games to verify achievement. 📝 The mod must be activated manually in Age II: DE when unlocked. |
Each of the following challenges must be unlocked in order and on separate days:
| DAY 1 | 🔒 Play any standard game. 🏆 Unlocks the Great Bombard Statue Town Center mod. |
| DAY 2 | 🔒 Herd 8 livestock in one single- or multiplayer game. 🏆 Unlocks the Capybara profile icon. |
| DAY 3 | 🔒 Cumulatively deplete at least 5 berry bushes in games. 🏆 Unlocks the Capybara Cannonball mod. |
| DAY 4 | 🔒 Kill 5 enemy villagers in one game. 🏆 Unlocks the Inca Maceman profile icon. |
| DAY 5 | 🔒 Cumulatively build at least 50 farms in games. 🏆 Unlocks the Age III Gunpowder Audio mod. |
Keep it Forever!
Remember: if you sign in to Xbox Live at any point during the event, you’ll get to keep all of the mods and profile icons you’ve unlocked! Sign in, earn your rewards, and enjoy the celebration!
—The Age of Empires Team
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Event F.A.Q.
GAMEPLAY
General
- Fixed an issue where Villagers which began working before the discovery of the Wheelbarrow and Hand Cart would not be issued the tools, and thus would not benefit from their increased efficiency, until re-tasked.
- Restarting a scenario which enables the ‘Villager Force Drop’ setting will no longer activate that setting in standard games when tasking Villagers to collect another resource.
- Fixed a rare issue where Villagers would not collect the full resource value from a mine. An example is where a stone mine would be depleted after collecting 349 of the 350 stone normally available.
- Fixed a rare issue where buildings would disappear in the fog of war layer of certain campaign missions with the “shared visibility” flag enabled.
- Units in the “Land Battles” Art of War scenario will no longer be invisible (and consequently, counterproductive to teaching the concepts at hand)—another symptom of the above bug.
AI
General
- Fixed a rare issue where the Extreme AI would, without any strategic reasoning or clear benefit, choose to deploy units to the left corner of the map.
- Fixed a rare issue where the Extreme AI would, in certain circumstances, adopt a passive, non-violent philosophy of war until attacked.
Scripting
- sn-enable-patrol-attack now works correctly in combination with Town Size Attacks (TSA).
MODDING
- Audio mods will now take effect immediately without the need to restart the game.
- Fixed an issue where modifying a unit’s voice for a single civilization would silence that unit’s voice for any other civilizations not also present in the mod package.