Age of Empires Online

Figured I would make a post as there wasn't one, this really frustrates me as I spent money and a lot of time on this game. I really enjoyed the art style and the gameplay and coop was great fun.

It makes me sad to know I will never get to play it again =/

Anyone else?

I think it's the swan song of the original Ensemble Studios developers. They took all the good ideas from every AoE and AoM titles, learned from all their past mistakes and created the perfect AoE title, only to be ruined by Microsoft's Windows Live and Pay to Win structure...

Have you played it? What's your opinion about it?

It died in 2014 but you can still find it here since fans resurrected it!

When the definitive editions of age of empires 1 and 2 came out, I got the itch to play again, but I already had age of empires 2 HD edition, and age of empires 3. So rather than spend money my brother and I have been playing those, Age 3 works beautifully in full 4K btw!

But then I started wanting to play Age of Empires online again, which unfortunately can't be played in 4K but I'm trying not to care and it's pretty easy since it's beautiful in 1080p. Lol

For those who don't know The Celeste Project has resurrected Age of Empires online so it's playable again for the first time since Microsoft shut it down, my 2 year old gaming laptop can play it at max settings 1080p without issue. And everything that used to be behind a paywall is now free!

It's funny that when it first came out I thought the cartoon styling was bad, now I love it lol.

I'm going to have lots of fun over the next few years...

Celeste Project - a fan made and run server is the backbone for this project. Completely free and a great lowend and entry level AoE experience. This is not NEW! However they recently updated everything and re-released the Roman civilization, so it came up on my feed.

Gameplay is not quite to the same depth as AoE 2, the most popular of the series, but it includes some great RPG elements, a good skill tree, and overall good variety as a combat RTS. Features Co-Op and PvP multiplayer, there are tons of PvE missions that can be done solo or in Co-Op, and you can download hundreds of offline scenarios if you don't have a consistent internet connection. The game is limited offline, and you lose the progression and gear elements offline.

If you use the STEAM version and your region is not locked out, you can get the game in English, German, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Simplified Chinese. If you choose the other method, it appears to be only English (although maybe I am not seeing the language options). There are installers on the fan site for installing outside of STEAM if you prefer.

Background: This game was always free upon release in 2011, the goal from Microsoft was to make a micro transaction monster, but instead they ended up abandoning the server after it flopped in 2014. Then, fortunately, Microsoft released the server code as open source and some savvy fans remade a server setup.

Random Gameplay Video:

Min Specs:

Processor: Dual Core, 2Ghz or higher

Video card: 128 MB Shader 2 supported card or higher

Memory: Linux or Win XP – 1GB; Vista or Win 7 32bit – 1.5GB; Windows 7/10 (64 bit) – 2.5GB+

Hard drive space: 5 GB required for downloads

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^{list of countries that can download from the STEAM link: Malaysia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, French Guiana, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Martinique, New Caledonia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, French Polynesia, Poland, Portugal, Réunion, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, United Kingdom, Isle of Man, United States of America, Puerto Rico, Guam, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion, French Polynesia, New Caledonia}

What did you guys think of this game behind all the Microsoft monetization bs?

I'm talking about the actual faction Vs faction gameplay and also other things like Graphics,quests,economy etc

I used to play it when I was young,and the PvP was great fun, but Microsoft went a little crazy and the game died rip.

forp

I didn't knew this labor of love for us RTS players existed...

Hello there! Yes, Im the Northgard guy, again!

This time I want to talk to you about Age Of Empires Online... This was a Free To Play real-time strategy and MMO title that went live on August 16, 2011; originally developed by Robot Entertainment and of course, published by Microsoft. This ambicious RTS had multiple problems after launch, like an aggressive micropayment system (which a lot of players like me hate) or some of its core progression mechanics, to name a couple of them. At the same time, it depicted colorful graphics and delicious animations, good and effective unit and base control, as well as single-player missions, PVE and PVP content as well. So, in short, the game had a few years of life, and its servers were shut down three years after its launch, during the year 2013, due to the content being too expensive to maintain.

Age Of Empires Online tried to deliver a new style of gameplay, combining the classic RTS with persistent civilization management and let me be clear, this was a great idea; but unfortunately, the execution was not. But hope wasnt lost at all...

During more than four years, people were unable to play this game... Until the year 2017 arrived, when the service was re-established using Microsoft's publicly released developer-kit for the game. So, Project Celeste was born, and it was a sort of Age Of Empires Online 2.0, with all content unlocked, free of micro-transactions or micropayments, frequent updates and even new civilizations, missions and events. Everything for free!

I discovered Age Of Empires Online and of course Project Celeste less than a year ago... It has given me a lot of enjoyment with its unique formula of real-time strategy and MMO mechanics blended together, so...

As I said before, I think it is time for you to play Project Celeste, why? Well...

First, if you loved Age Of Empires, Age Of Empires II - The Age Of Kings, Age Of Empires III or Age Of Mythology, youll love this one as well! The gameplay mechanics are almost the same we all knew; in general you start at your base with a few workers, a scout unit, some trees and a fruit bush nearby; you develop your base, train units and fight your enemies until you achieve victory, or until you are defeated! You also develop your selected civilization and get different perks and rewards for your units, as well as resources and upgrades to improve them, these are only available during single-player or PVE missions, which keeps the PVP matches balanced. In general, the gameplay mixture that Age Of Empires Online delivers its quiet unique and fun; believe me, you should try it for yourself to get a better glimpse of it. You have nothing to lose!

Second, as of now you have different civilizations to choose from like Celtics, Egyptians, Romans, Persians, Greeks, Babylonians and Norse; each one with unique campaigns, unique gear, unique 3D building and 3D unit models, and distinctive gameplay aspects. To give you an idea, until now, I have only played with the Egyptians and my civilization has already passed level 10, I have completed a lot of main and side quests and I have not known boredom. It feels really good to know that I have a lot of content ahead of me in Project Celeste...

Third, the scale in variety and quality of content in this game is astonishing... All units have been exquisitely modeled and animated, so you can admire them running, fighting, working or dying in detail. You have a lot of biomes to play in, from steppes, to winter plains, to deserts, to forests, among several others; all of them are beautiful and have been richly detailed. You have seasonal events to play like during Halloween, you have main and side quests, among a lot of stuff you should check yourself...

Fourth, Project Celeste has beautiful and detailed graphics and an even better soundtrack!

Fifth, freedom of choice in how you play.

In a nutshell, I think patient gamers will enjoy this beautiful and fun RTS-MMO experience, that has aged like fine wine. Let me know your thoughts if you have played or currently play Project Celeste! As I said before, I did not knew this labor of love existed, so thank you Project Celeste devs, you are the best!

Download and play now!

Greetings from Cuba!

Hey everyone,

We at Project Celeste are proud to announce that we are holding another tournament this summer! The upcoming Cup of beer 6 will feature a $320 prize pool and is open to everyone to sign up. From the 18th of July onwards, 16 participants will battle it out until there is one winner left. Until the finals on August 9th there will be action-packed games every weekend. As always, the tournament will be streamed live on Twitch () and uploaded afterwards on YouTube (). The tournament will be organized from the Project Celeste PVP discord (), which contains all the information about the specific tournament format and rules.

If you are interested, you can sign up until Sunday the 12th here:

(Project Celeste is the fan server of Age of Empires: Online, and is completely free to play)