Today we wanted to share some information from the producer regarding the download and installation of the expansion pack. While prices still haven’t been announced yet, players may find this information useful to understand how to download and install the content as well as how to switch between the core game and the expansion pack. Enjoy!
Taking a look around: The expansion UI & Settings:
Accessing the AoF Expansion is easy! After purchasing, the expansion will be automatically downloaded right into your game. Steam considers additional content in-game to be “DLC”, so any references to the expansion may show up labeled as DLC in some areas. For example, to verify the content is owned, right click on the game in the library, select properties, and head to the “DLC” section. You should see the following.
Inside the game, a new button will appear for everyone at release, whether or not you’ve purchased the Expansion. For those who haven’t purchased and loaded The Forgotten, clicking the button will bring up the content store page for AOE II HD. If you did already buy AoF, then clicking the button will switch you over to the expansion, with all of the expansion content, campaigns, etc. The logo and banner will change as well, so it’s easy to tell which version you’re in at any given time.
Both versions exist in essentially parallel worlds that share profiles, so settings you make to your hotkeys, profile, and in-game choices (i.e. 3D water enabled) will carry over regardless of which version you are playing. A number of things do not inherently transfer over however, expansion files contain different data, so some mods that affect some of the datafiles may not appear in the expansion. Texture mods, however, are commonly pulled by both.
In The Forgotten Expansion, selecting single player will allow the choice of playing expansion campaigns, or custom campaigns created within AoF. Standard game operates the same as in HD, however you’ll be able to play AoF or regular scenarios, as well as all of the new AoF content, including map sizes. The map editor will also contain content related to the version you’re working in, making a map in the expansion will require the expansion to play it. Feel free to load up a base scenario within the AoF editor to add in new content and civs!
When it comes to multiplayer, the current experience flow functions just like the rest of the game. The lobby browser will show you specifically AoF enabled games while in the expansion, while switching to the base game will show games running in the base variant. There is still some investigation on seeing if expansion users can get a full listing of both to alleviate any feeling of isolation, however switching between the two is extremely quick and doesn’t require exiting the game completely like other AOE titles.
Lastly I want to talk quickly about Hotkeys. AoF introduces a more streamlined hotkey set to improve efficiency. Clicking “reset hotkeys to default” while loaded into AoF will set the keys to the appropriate settings that resemble more of a grid format (and is much easier for me to remember). At the moment resetting default hotkeys in the base game will set the keys to their original settings, however we are debating moving everyone to grid regardless of expansion setting. If you do configure your hotkeys in either, those settings will stick.
Before wrapping up, here’s a teaser of the UI from one of the upcoming campaigns!
-Ryan