Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition — Update 26865

Welcome back explorers!

It’s that time again as we’re excited to announce our latest update for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition!

Along with a number of notable fixes, this update brings additional new features to look forward to. Here’s just a glimpse at some of highlights coming in this update:

• Added support for custom hotkey profiles in addition to the Default and Legacy profiles.
• Added map and game information to the game summary panel both in-and-post-game.
• Added the ability for a host to “Rematch” from the postgame screen during Casual & Ranked Multiplayer games.
• Fixed an issue where units would become stuck in buildings due to pathing waypoints being created that would sometimes cut through buildings.

There’s a lot more to dive into in the full patch notes below, including a large number of UI fixes as well as map balance tweaks so be sure to scroll down and check them out in detail. Once you’ve done so, we’d love to see your thoughts, feedback, and discussions on any of our official channels below:

💬 DISCUSS: Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition Forum 🗣 JOIN: The Age of Empires Official Discord

We’re thankful to have such an amazing community along with us on this journey, and hope the changes in this update make your experience even better!

—The Age of Empires Team

◆ UPDATE 26865 ◆

GAME

Stability & Performance

• Fixed a multiplayer crash that would occur immediately after starting a game. This mainly occurred when restoring a saved game where one of the players is already out, but was also possible to occur in any multiplayer game.
• Fixed a multiplayer crash that would occur when playing a scenario where the host had changed a slot from Human to AI.
• Fixed a networking crash that could occur while the game was shutting down.
• Fixed a rare issue where units/buildings would flicker.
• Fixed an issue where a unit’s animation would flicker when shot by artillery.
• Fixed a rare issue where settings and progression were reset after closing and restarting the game.

Graphics

• Fixed a graphical glitch that would occur when the Battleship unit dies.

UI

• Added player numbers to the game setup page, the in-game score panel, the chat window, etc.
• Added a Game Summary panel both in-and-post-game that displays information on the current map and game settings.
• Moved Multiplayer pause information (who paused, and their pause count) to the in-game chat window so that it’s possible to view the game’s pause history.
• The in-game score panel now only shows icons for a player’s individually-owned trading posts, rather than for the entire team.
• Fixed an issue where UI elements did not appear while taking control of the hill in a King of the Hill game.
• Fixed an issue with non-English languages where spaces were removed from text when they came after punctuation marks.
• Fixed an issue with the Card panel UI where the deck selection preview would remain visible after viewing a deck with the USA civ.
• Fixed an issue with the Card panel where invalid UI might be displayed when switching from one player’s home city to view another via the player summary screen if one was using the USA civ.
• Fixed an issue where accessibility narration would not properly work with UI tooltips.
• Fixed a number of minor issues and made improvements to accessibility narration.
• Fixed an issue where the bonus XP trickle rate from Gift Ceremony at the Community Plaza would show incorrect values when below 1 per second.
• Removed the redundant password enabled checkbox when choosing to password protect a custom multiplayer game.
• Fixed an issue where changing teams in a multiplayer lobby would cause all players to be set as not ready.
• Fixed an issue where the incorrect flag was shown for Tokugawa during campaign in the score panel.
• Fixed a tooltip issue where text was cutoff in a multiplayer lobby.
• Fixed an issue with overlapping text and arrows on drop down boxes.
• Fixed an issue where text was clipping on the Edit Home City when using the Hindi language.
• Fixed an issue with text overflowing in the Tech Tree.
• Fixed minor keyboard navigation issues in the Home City customization and Multiplayer lobby screens.
• Fixed an issue where scrolling with the mouse wheel would not work in the Invite to Games multiplayer menu.
• Fixed an issue where scrolling up with the keyboard would not work in Compendium menus.
• Fixed an issue where a Yes/No popup could remain on screen when a player is disconnected from the lobby.
• Fixed an issue where whispers sent from players outside the game would not appear in the lobby or during gameplay.
• Fixed an issue with sending whispers from in-game or the lobby where any errors may not appear correctly.
• Updated the popup message that appears when a client is asked to download a save game file from the host so that it correctly refers to a save game file rather than a mod.

GAMEPLAY

• Fixed an issue where units would become stuck in buildings due to pathing waypoints being created that would sometimes cut through buildings.
• Various fixes relating to Trade Posts as part of a Settlement.
  • Units built by a trade post as part of a settlement will no longer spawn in the middle of that settlement if the military gather point is placed there or if the area is crowded with other units.
  • Units built by a trade post as part of a settlement will no longer try to seek to a military gather point if that gather point is placed in the middle of the settlement

• Fixed an issue where units would not move when tasked to in games with a large number of units and players.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Oklahoma USA event challenge that required an incorrect number of trained units to be completed. The previously indicated 14 units required has been amended to 10 units as intended.
  

CIVILIZATION BALANCE

General

🡒 UNITS & BUILDINGS

• Native Embassy: Captured Mortars and other Outlaws available at the Native Embassy can now be assigned a legacy keybinding.

🡒 CARDS

• Capitalism (I): Increased Coin Trickle from +1.5 ▶ +1.65 coins per second.
• 2 Ironclads (IV): Fixed an issue that prevented this card from being sendable.
• Huguenots (South Africa Revolution, IV): Fixed an issue that prevented the trainable Coureur des Bois it enables from being available in addition to the usual settler build limit.

The Haudenosaunee

🡒 CARDS

• Renegade French (III): Now properly delivers Veteran Cuirassiers as intended instead of the previously un-upgraded Cuirassiers.

The Incas

🡒 UNITS & BUILDINGS

• Inca Warchief: Now correctly receives a 50% hitpoints and 50% damage upgrade when reaching the Commerce Age.

The Portuguese

🡒 CIVILIZATION

• Now begin the game with 250 food and 200 wood (down from 300 food and 200 wood).

The United States

🡒 CIVILIZATION

• Fixed the missing description for Meeting House in the American Tech Tree.

🡒 UNITS & BUILDINGS

• General: Reduced kill XP from 100 ▶ 45.
• General: Reduced ransom cost from 150 ▶ 100.

🡒 UPGRADES

• Oregon Trail (III): Reduced Wagons hitpoint bonus from +100% ▶ +25%.
• Inspiring Flag: Reduced cooldown from 180 ▶ 160 seconds.

🡒 CARDS

• Bear Flag Revolt (IV): Reduced the number of Honcho the Pet Grizzly Bears from 7 ▶ 6.
• Spanish Immigrants (I): Increased Tercios levied from Pikeman Patrol from 5 ▶ 6.

RANDOM MAPS

General

STANDARD MAPS SET

• Removed Arctic Territories
• Added Great Plains
• Added Himalayas

TEAM MAPS SET

• Added Great Plains

LAND MAPS SET

• Added Great Plains

Map Balance

AMAZONIA

• Fixed an issue that occasionally prevented Trading Post sockets from spawning due to cliffs and other terrain features spawned near the river.
• Fixed a number of issues which could sometimes prevent the Fort from spawning in King of the Hill.

ANDES - UPPER

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately — players should now experience less variance with regards to how far/close they spawn to their teammates.
• Improved map load time.
• Slightly enlarged the map to create more room during the Treaty game mode.
• Reduced the size of cliffs, rotated the Native Settlements and slightly altered their spawning positions to create more space and improve the balance of Portuguse Rangefinding Mortars in the Treaty game mode.
• Updated spawning logic for resources (such as Huntable Animals and Coin Mines) to improve consistency and overall balance.
• Fixed an issue where cliffs would sometimes prevent some Trading Post sockets from being buildable.
• Improved the spawning consistency of Tier 2 Treasures (medium value) — these spawn in the mountains/highlands, near the Inca Settlements.
• Added Tier 3 Treasures (high value) back to the map — these avoid the mountains so objects left behind by treasures (such as trees/rocks) do not interfere with the combat that usually happens there in the Treaty game mode.

ARAUCANIA

• Spread-out each player’s Town Centers a bit more in 3v3 and 4v4 matches and added support for ‘unbalanced teams’ (e.g., 2v6).
• Adjusted the order in which the different difficulty-level treasures are placed onto the map to improve how they spawn overall.
• The loading bar now properly animates to show loading progress.

ARCTIC TERRITORIES

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately in 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 — 4v4 and other team sizes (e.g., 1v7) still have a bit of wiggle room to ensure all the players spawn.
• Whilst Docks are still forbidden on this map, the icon is no longer removed from the Villager’s build panel — this change will stop the buildings shifting down by 1 and interfering with default Grid Hotkeys.

BAYOU

• Improved map load time.
• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately.
• Adjusted the starting locations of each player’s Town Centers in team games — players should no longer need to worry about their starting crates being stolen!
• Altered how the map spawns in the FFA game mode so that the Natives Settlements are centralized Increased the size of each player’s starting area — this should make it easier to place buildings during late-game.
• Fixed a bug which sometimes prevented starting ‘in-base’ trees from spawning
• Added a few more trees and improved overall resource spawn rates in each starting area.
• Adjusted how the islands and various objects are generated/placed, and tweaked some under-the-hood values and constraints to improve the distribution of resources, embellishments and treasures — this should greatly improve the consistency and balance of the map
• Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent Town Center wagons from spawning in the Nomad game mode.

BORNEO

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately.
• Adjusted how resources spawn to improve consistency and overall map balance — these objects should now ‘bunch together’ a bit less.
• For 1v1 games, the island has been enlarged by approximately 10% to help with balance and spawn consistency.

CASCADE RANGE

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately.
• Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent Town Center wagons from spawning in the Nomad game mode.
• Adjusted the starting locations of each player’s Town Centers when spawned with ‘imbalanced’ teams — players should now have a bit more space to work with.
• Fixed an issue where players would sometimes be missing a Coin Mine in 1v1 or 2v2

FLORIDA

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately in 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3.
• Fixed a rare bug that sometimes prevented the Naval Homecity Spawn Point Flag from spawning.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent Town Center wagons from spawning in the Nomad game mode. Improved the spawning consistency of the free Market — in 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 it is now always placed on the front side of the player’s base.
• The Swamp area of the map now appears more ‘swampy’ on the minimap.

GREAT LAKES

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately to fix an issue where some players would not spawn into the game.
• Fixed a rare issue that sometimes prevented all a player from spawning in 8 players FFA.
• Added a starting ‘in-base’ hunt and adjusted how resources and treasures spawn around the map to improve consistency and overall map balance. All players should now have adequate access to all resources.
• Adjusted the KotH winter spawn, there should now be enough room to build a dock and access the KotH Fort.

GREAT PLAINS

• The deeply cherished Great Plains map has undergone some major under-the-hood changes! The map code has been overhauled with the goal of greatly improving how it spawns — due to the changes below, this iconic classic has been re-added to the random map sets.
• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately.
• It is no longer possible to catch the “first pass” of XP from the Travois by racing to build a Trading Post in the middle socket at the start of a match — this fixes a prevalent balance issue with the map where one player could get their first shipment much faster than their opponent(s).
• Fixed a number of issues that would sometimes prevent Native Settlements and Trading Post sockets from spawning.
• Fixed an issue which would sometimes prevent starting resources from spawning.
• Rebalanced the Huntable Animals so that every player starts with a large Bison herd in front of their base and a smaller Deer herd behind their base.
• A starting ‘front’ and ‘back’ Coin Mine is now guaranteed near each player starting Town Center (previously varied between 1 and 2 and was not always the same for each player) — like many maps, they sometimes spawn slightly off to the side, but this should still be a huge overall improvement from the original map.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent Town Center wagons from spawning in the Nomad game mode.

GREAT PLAINS - LARGE
All the same improvements as the ordinary Great Plains map, as well as the following:

• Added some additional patches of trees on the plains to fill some particularly wide open spaces.
• Added missing ‘Mercenary code’ — this is an under-the-hood change with no noticeable impact, but may be helpful to modders.

HOKKAIDO

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately.
• Reduced the size of the volcano by approximately 10%.
• Fixed an issue that would cause starting resources to bunch together.
• FIxed an issue which sometimes prevented Coin Mines from spawning in there intended positions.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent Town Center wagons from spawning in the Nomad game mode.

HIMALAYAS

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately.
• Adjusted how ‘in-base’ starting resources and all treasures spawn to improve consistency and overall map balance.

HIMALAYAS - UPPER
All the same improvements as the counterpart Himalayas map, as well as the following:

• Each player’s first ‘in-base’ herd of animals can now properly be ‘herded’.

KAMCHATKA

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately in 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3.
• Improved spawn locations for imbalanced teams (such as 2v3 or 1v7).
• Fixed an issue which sometimes prevented a Trading Post socket spawning in team games.

KOREA

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately.
• Altered Huntable Animal placement rules to improve overall spawn consistency and balance (the overall quantity of food present on the map is unchanged).
• Fixed an issue that could prevent Town Center wagons from spawning in the Nomad game mode.

MANCHURIA

• Improved map load time.
• In team games, starting Town Centers are now placed in a new circular pattern which should be more enjoyable to play, and enables resources to be placed more consistently when there are higher numbers of players.
• Fixed an issue which sometimes prevented a Trading Post socket spawning in team games.
• Fixed a rare bug that sometimes prevented the Naval Homecity Spawn Point Flag from spawning.
• Fixed an issue which sometimes prevented Town Center wagons from spawning in the Nomad game mode.
• Improved how starting in-base resources spawn

NEW ENGLAND

• Improved map load time.
• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately.
• Fixed an issue that would sometimes prevent some players from spawning onto the map in games with ‘unbalanced teams’ (e.g., 2v6).
• Fixed an issue which sometimes prevented an ‘in-base’ starting huntable animals from spawning when playing a team game.
• Adjusted the order in which New England’s map features are generated, and tweaked some under-the-hood values and constraints to improve overall consistency and balance.

MEXICO

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately.
• Enlarged the mesa on which the Fort spawns in the KotH game mode, and added some additional openings to navigate units to it.

ORINOCO

• Starting Town Centers are now placed circularly in a ring when playing the FFA game mode or with teams.
• When playing FFA game mode, added additional shallows to the river — there are now always 3 shallow sections to cross the river through.
• When playing Team Games, there is now always one wide shallow crossing.
• Added more trees behind each player’s starting positions — this change should greatly improve gameplay in the Treaty game mode.
• Many under-the-hood updates to improve loading times, resource consistency and overall balance.
• Whilst Docks are still forbidden on this map, the icon is no longer removed from the Villager’s build panel — this change will stop the buildings shifting down by 1 and interfering with default Grid Hotkeys.
• Added some more rainforest underbrush.

OZARKS

• Improved player starting locations in the FFA game mode.
• The Trading Route and Cliffs now better accommodate KotH and FFA game modes.

PAINTED DESERT

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately, and spawn slightly further away from the edge of the map.
• Resources and Treasures are now more spread out as they can now spawn closer to the edge of the map, rather than ‘bunching up’ in the center.

PATAGONIA

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately.
• Adjusted how in-base resources spawn to improve consistency and overall map balance.
• Fixed an issue that would sometimes prevent some players from spawning onto the map in games with ‘unbalanced teams’ (e.g., 2v6).

PUNJAB

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately in 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3.
• Smoothed out some unusual bumpy terrain elevation.
• For 1v1, adjusted the Huntable Animal and Coin Mine distribution in the south of the map for improved balance and spawning consistency.

SAGUENAY

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately.
• Fixed an issue which sometimes prevented Town Center wagons from spawning in the Nomad game mode.
• Fixed an issue where the Trading Route would sometimes prevent the map spawning correctly for a 4v4 match.
• A Coin Mine now consistently spawns in the two nooks on each side of the bay

SAGUENAY - LARGE
All the same improvements as the ordinary Saguenay map, as well as the following:

• Tweaked some under-the-hood values and constraints to improve how a larger version of the map is generated.

SIBERIA

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately.
• Adjusted how ‘in-base’ starting resources spawn to improve consistency and overall map balance.
• The starting Coin Mine and Tower which spawns next to it are now placed a more consistent distance from each player’s Town Center, and will always appear on the ‘front’ half of each player’s base.
• Each player’s first nearby herd of animals can now properly be ‘herded’ (the ‘in-base’ starting Saiga/Musk Deer).
• Fixed an issue that would sometimes prevent some players from spawning onto the map in games with ‘unbalanced teams’ (e.g., 2v6).
• Adjusted player spawn location in the FFA game mode for a more balanced and fun layout (previously players 2 through 6 were bunched together along the southern edge of the map).

SIBERIA - LARGE

• Adjusted player spawn location in the FFA game mode for a more balanced and fun layout (previously players 2 through 6 were bunched together along the southern edge of the map).
• Added some additional patches of trees on the plains to fill some particularly wide open spaces.

SILK ROAD

• Fixed an issue in the FFA game mode which sometimes prevented all players from spawning on the map.
• Fixed an issue which would sometimes prevent ‘in-base’ starting resources from spawning properly.

SILK ROAD - LARGE

All the same improvements as the ordinary Silk Road map.

SONORA

• Overhauled the script to generate Sonora’s map features in a more sensible order (this includes the Trading Route, Native Settlements, central chasm, embellishment objects, starting Town Centers, starting resources, general resources, cliffs, treasure nuggets, props and more — this should result in the following improvements and alterations:
  • Fixes an issue where not all players would spawn.
  • Fixes an issue where Trading Post sockets would not spawn.
  • Fixed a prevalent bug where the Trade Travois would fail to spawn on the Trading Route.
  • Results in slightly fewer cliffs and canyons.
  • Results in new starting locations for the FFA game mode.
  • Overall, there should be far fewer placement issues, greater spawn consistency and much improved playability.

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately than the previous version of Sonora.
  

All the same improvements as the ordinary Sonora map.

YUKON

• Starting Town Centers are now placed more accurately, and no longer spawn so closely to the edge of the map.
• Improved the spawning of the ‘in-base’ resources and added slightly more trees.
• In the KotH game mode, Fort spawns farther away from the trade route to ensure it always spawns.
• Tweaked the shape of the Trading Route slightly to prevent an issue which sometimes prevented the
• Trade Post sockets from spawning or being buildable. The sockets now spawn equidistant from each player’s starting Town Center.
• Under-the-hood improvements to the treasure placement code to improve the fairness of where easy, medium and hard difficulty treasures spawn.
• Fixed an issue which sometimes prevented Town Center wagons from spawning in the Nomad game mode.

LOBBIES & MATCHMAKING

General

• Fixed an issue with Multiplayer Scenarios where the AI personality would default to Spanish rather than the intended one when changing a slot from Human to AI.
• Fixed an issue where a players civ would default to Spanish when a client leaves the lobby of a scenario or restored save game.

MODDING

Scenario Editor

• Fixed an issue with the Scenario Editor where player names were sometimes set to the AI personality that had previously been involved in a Skirmish or Multiplayer game.
• Fixed an issue with the Scenario Editor where player names were sometimes empty.

◆ ONGOING INVESTIGATION ◆

As always, our team continues to track issues that are reported by the community for future updates. Here is a brief update from our Production team with a look at some of the things they’re still working on:

• Pathfinding Issues: The team believes it has fixed the route cause of various pathfinding issues, including:
  • Units becoming stuck in buildings.
  • Unit groups becoming stuck in Trading Posts.
  • Livestock moving into Trading Posts making them impossible to gather.

• Attack Move
  
• Crashes in treaty
  

While additional pathfinding investigation work is planned In addition, the team has requested that those encountering stuck units reach out with additional information.

For other known issues, please visit this page to see what’s being tracked!

:alertalert: DISCLAIMER

This list is subject to change and should not be considered a comprehensive list of all the known issues we’re tracking. The above is to inform you of the team’s current priorities, which will change as other issues arise or take precedence. For the latest updates and announcements, please visit our social channels.

◆ MOD WARNING ◆

Please note that custom mods may not be compatible with the latest game update. If you encounter performance or stability issues after your mods are disabled, please visit our support page for assistance!

◆ HOTFIX 27330 ◆

This hotfix restores cross-platform MP, along with rectifying the US Civilization progress loss error for most players. If you still run into issues after, please contact support here.

◆ HOTFIX 27812 ◆

This hotfix brings additional fixes for some users whose United States Civilization challenge event progression was not restored with the previous patch. If you continue to experience issues with your progression, please contact support here.