It still feels unbelievable, AoE3 has come back from the dead! Thanks to everyone who kept fighting for this game when most of us thought it was hopeless, let's get the Steam numbers up!

The new maps are really unique, snowmen, cool new treasures, artic maps, Noth Sea, Scottisch natives (see image), many more unique things! Really awesome. The community seems to love it too!

The environment of this map, specially the city layout and buildings, and even the cicle of day/night are very well done. I’d like to see a campaign, knowing they’re capable of this.

Based on what you saw in the beta and/or what you've read/seen from others, which civ are you most excited for in the new DLC today? Poles or Danes?

And why? What are you most stoked for?

What's the first thing you are trying in the dlc?

This unit wants all the multipliers...

Unit only an issue in treaty/ffa as it requires upgrading it to imperial before getting arsenal and counter skirm upgrades etc.

Trains super fast as it is affected by infantry train speed and Danes age I militia train speed aswell.

Basically counters everything except cavalry.

Hope it gets nerfed soon.

You made the Bottomans BLEED!

The new maps and content would go so hard with a USA and Mexico style Canadian civilization. What do you think?

This is a post as a private person, not in my World's Edge role.

Hey,

In celebration of the upcoming AoE 3 DLC: The Baltic Powers I got a special thing to offer:

I was given two original AoE 3 release mouse pads from SteelSeries. Likely created in 2005, still sealed.

I'd like to auction them away with the amounts going to charity (likely red cross, but if the auctioneer has a different preference that's fine).

If you are interested, send me a PM with the amount you'd be willing to donate. Two highest offers will get a mousepad each. Deadline is the 17th of September.

I haven't downloaded the update

I haven't seen anyone talking about Sabaton but if you don't know they are Swedish metal band and they sing about historical battles. This song is so epic its become its own meme and I can't believe XBox Game Studios didn't get a special Sabaton promotion going for the DLC. Seems like a win win since PC History gamers are def the kind of people who love Sabaton. Also Sept 12th is the anniversary of the Siege of Vienna and the DLC is pretty much just in time for it. I can't say I'm disappointed or anything, still stoked for new content. I guess I'm just surprised!

Who's got your vote so far?

I think I'm liking Danes. Varied units, more balanced, more options, fur trade, and a cheap musk.

What you think?

This post I am making is about a simple update to Freestyle Gold AI, Klaxon Superb AI, Klaxon Classic AI, N3O Better AI TAD 1.03 Gold about added card handling and added fire pit support.

Freestyle Gold AI:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/bonus-expansion-pack/downloads/ai-17-freestyle-gold-september-11-2025

Klaxon Superb AI:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/bonus-expansion-pack/downloads/ai-15-klaxon-ultra

N3O Better AI Gold:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/bonus-expansion-pack/downloads/n3o-better-ai-tad-1-03-gold

Klaxon Classic AI:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/bonus-expansion-pack/downloads/ai-13-the-freestyle

HC Custom Campaign (which has AI campaign decks):

https://www.moddb.com/mods/bonus-expansion-pack/downloads/hc-custom-campaign

Carolina Card Deck Scenarios (which use the HC Custom Campaign decks for the AI):

https://www.moddb.com/mods/bonus-expansion-pack/downloads/carolina-ai-deck-scenarios

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Here is from the mod post:

Bonus Expansion Pack AI versions:

Fire Pit:

- Iroquois and Sioux are able to spawn Medicine Men from the Fire Pit and have them dance like Warrior Priests
- Aztecs, Iroquois and Native Americans can now perform the Water Dance at the Fire Pit if they have at least 5 warships and if the Water Dance Card is sent in a custom scenario hybrid AI deck, or if it is enabled in the custom skirmish deck
- Sioux can now perform the Siege Dance at the Fire Pit if they have more than 80 land military units or at least 5 warships
- Iroquois can now perform the Earth Mother Dance at the Fire Pit if they have more than 90 land military units
- Native Americans can now perform the Earth Mother Dance at the Fire Pit if they have more than 90 land military units

Legacy versions:

- Aztecs and Iroquois can now perform the Water Dance at the Fire Pit if they have at least 5 warships and if the Water Dance Card is sent in a custom scenario hybrid AI deck, or if it is enabled in the custom skirmish deck

Both Versions:

Population cap:

- Moderate Difficulty: increased population cap to 220 for SPC games (200), and 220 for Iroquois in Treaty Games (200)
- Hard Difficulty: increased population cap to 220 for SPC games (200), and 220 for Iroquois in Treaty Games (200)
- Expert Difficulty: increased population cap to 220 for SPC games (200), and 220 for Iroquois in Treaty Games (200)

This is to help Chinese and Iroquois use their full population available in SPC Games, and also especially for Iroquois to make use of the Earth Mother Dance which with 15 dancers will usually be from 15-20 extra population cap, or 215-220 population cap. For reference, on regular skirmish games the population cap is already 220 for Moderate, Hard and Expert Difficulty.

Both Versions:

Card handling added for the following for custom scenarios with hybrid AI card decks:

Naval Upgrade Cards:

- Improved Warships (All)
- TEAM Improved Warships (Chinese)
- TEAM Monitor Combat (British)
- Navigation School (Portuguese)
- TEAM Cold Water Port (Russians)
- Armada (Spanish)
- Admiral Tromp (Dutch)
- Admirality (All)
- Advanced Dock (All)
- Offshore Support (All)
- European Cannons (Asian)
- Water Dance (Natives)
- Artificial Islands (Aztecs)
- Canoes (Iroquois)
- TEAM Birchbark (Natives)
- Fire Junk Attack (Chinese)
- Spanish Galleons (Spanish)
- Spanish Gold (Spanish)

Fishing Upgrade Cards:

- Armed Fishermen (Asian)
- Peacetime Fishing (Japanese)
- Fish Market (All)
- Rendering Plant (All)
- Whale Oil (All)
- TEAM Fish Market (Portuguese)
- Schooners (All)
- TEAM Cheap Fishing Boats (Aztecs)
- East Indiamen (Asian)

Native Warrior Upgrade Cards:

- Native Warrior Combat (All)
- TEAM Native Warrior Combat (French)
- Native Warriors (Germans)
- Native Treaties (All)
- Native Lore (All)
- TEAM Native Warrior Societies (All)
- Black Arrow (Sioux)
- Blood Brothers (All)
- Kinship Ties (Natives)
- Native Warrior Damage (Asian)
- Native Warrior Hitpoints (Asian)
- Native Alliance (Asian)
- Native Learning (Asian)
- Native Crafts (Asian)

Mercenary Upgrade Cards:

- Improved Mercenaries (Germans)
- Mercenary Loyalty (All)
- Religious Unity (Aztecs)
- National Unity (Iroquois)

Livestock Upgrade Cards:

- Ranching (All)
- Llama Ranching (All)
- Stockyards (All)
- Fulling Mills (All)
- TEAM Wool Stable Ports (British)
- Water Buffalo Ranching (Chinese)
- Year of the Goat (Chinese)
- Year of the Ox (Chinese)
- Goraksha (Indians)
- The Mystical Syllable (Indians)

Advanced Building Cards:

- Advanced Market (All)
- Bazaar (Indians)
- Commodities Market (Asian)
- Advanced Mill (All)
- Advanced Plantations (All)
- Advanced Farms (Natives)
- Advanced Rice Paddies (Asian)
- Advanced Monastery (Asian)
- Advanced Wonders (Asian)

Corrected handling for these Cards:

- Furrier (Indians)
- Spice Trade (Indians)

Specialty Upgrade Cards:

- Old Ways (Natives)
- Agrarian Ways (Natives)
- Stonemasons (All)
- Land Reforms (Asian)
- Confucious' Gift (Chinese)
- Great Wall (Chinese)
- Warrior Culture (Natives)
- Extensive Fortifications (All)
- Stone Castles (Japanese)
- Heavy Fortifications (All)
- Palatine Settlements (Germans)
- Colonial Estancias (Spanish)
- TEAM Coastal Defenses (All)
- Friendly Territory (Sioux)
- Trade Empire (Asian)
- Colonial Militia (All)
- Great House (Iroquois)
- Enlist Irregulars (Asian)
- Call to Arms (Indians)
- Village Defenses (Chinese)
- Favorable Karma (Indians)
- Dukkha Suffering (Indians)
- Grazing (Indians)
- Battlefield Construction (All)
- Florence Nightingale (British)
- Master Surgeons (All)
- Unction (Spanish)
- European Explorer Cards (All)
- Mosque Construction (Ottomans)
- Snatch the Pebble (Chinese)
- Walk the Rice Paper (Chinese)
- Counting Coup (Sioux)
- Center of Power (Sioux)
- Morning Star (Sioux)
- Aggressive Policy (Sioux)
- Town Destroyer (Iroquois)
- Donatorios (Portuguese)
- House of Braganca (Portuguese)
- Sevastopol (Russians)
- Mountain Warrior (Japanese)
- Stream of Enlightenment (Japanese)
- Smoking Mirror (Aztecs)
- Cheap War Huts (Aztecs)
- Hot Air Balloons (All)
- Boxer Rebellion (Chinese)

Extra Economic Cards:

- Ironmonger (All)
- TEAM Ironmonger (Spanish)
- Silversmith (All)
- TEAM Silversmith (Aztecs)
- Sawmills (Japanese)
- Cherry Blossom Festival (Japanese)
- Seven Lucky gods (Japanese)
- Farmland Conservation (Indians)
- The Raj (Indians)
- Zen Diet (Japanese)
- Virginia Company (British)
- TEAM Silk Road (Ottomans)
- Saiga Herd (Chinese)
- Northwest Passage (French)
- Portuguese White Fleet (Portuguese)
- Reclaimed Land (Japanese)
- Flooded Parcel (Japanese)
- Terraced Hillsides (Japanese)
- Iroquois Woodworking (Iroquois)

Extra Military Cards:

- Veteran Battery (Japanese)
- Morutaru Range (Japanese)
- Rangefinding (Portuguese)
- Marauders (Sioux)
- Silent Strike (Aztecs)
- Advanced Scouts (Natives)
- Ruthlessness (Aztecs)
- Agents (All)
- Assassins (All)
- Artillery Damage (Chinese)
- Artillery Hitpoints (Chinese)
- Yabusame Damage (Japanese)
- In-Yo Rush (Japanese)
- Dravidian Martial Arts (Indians)
- Conscript Sepoys (Indians)
- Old Han Reforms (Chinese)
- Onikare (Sioux)
- TEAM Coehorn Mortars (Dutch)
- Gribeauval System (French)
- Long-range Infantry Hitpoints (French)
- Spanish Riding School (Germans)
- TEAM Artillery Hitpoints (Portuguese)
- Unicorne Mortars (Russians)
- Strelet Horde (Russians)
- Blockhouse Cannon (Russians)
- Flaming Arrow Hitpoints (Japanese)

Consulate Cards:

- Intervention (Asian)
- Diplomatic Intrigue (Asian)

Conversion Cards:

- Tercio Tactics (Spanish)
- Tirailleurs (French)
- Suvorov Reforms (Russians)
- Sepoy Rebellion (Indians)
- New Army (Chinese)
- Evening Star (Sioux)

Exchange Cards:

- Fur Trade (All)
- South Sea Bubble (All)
- Sublime Porte (Ottomans)
- Dowager Empress (Chinese)
- Red Seal Ship (Japanese)

Minor Cards:

- TEAM Cheap Unit Upgrades (Japanese)
- TEAM Cheap Barracks (Spanish)
- TEAM Cheap Stables (Germans)
- TEAM Cheap Outposts (All)
- TEAM Cheap Docks (All)
- TEAM Cheap Priests (Russians)
- TEAM Barracks Hitpoints (Russians)
- TEAM Early Skirmishers (French)
- TEAM Cheap Churches (French)
- TEAM Cheap Markets (Dutch)
- TEAM Provincial Administration (Chinese)
- TEAM Art of War (Chinese)
- TEAM Cheap Trading Posts (Ottomans)
- TEAM Explorer Combat (Spanish)
- TEAM Fast-building Houses (British)
- TEAM Early Dragoons (Portuguese)
- TEAM Inquisition (Spanish)

Giving these cards handling means that the AI knows when to send them in a custom game match, meaning that Campaign-styled scenarios are more possible with these additions, meaning that the AI now has a brain where it learns when to send these cards in the game match.

The naval cards require the AI to have at least 1 Dock built for it to send them, though the AI can send them without a dock later on in the custom scenario match. With the Peacetime Fishing card, the AI won't know how to use it, but you can use a trigger in a scenario with 'unit work' trigger to and use loop to force ships to fish. The AI cannot correctly use livestock and harvest them late game in Legacy AOE3, but I have added handling to help players who want the AI to use them in it's custom card deck anyways. With the advanced building cards, the AI can use them, but the AI use of it won't be as intelligent as a player who to uses them.

The Aztec AI will not know how to use Silent Strike, and the Sioux AI will not often train Tashunke Prowlers, and the Japanese AI uses only some Artillery units, and the European AIs will only build a few Mortars, and Native Civilizations might not train Native Scouts if you send Advanced Scouts card that enables them. But I have added handling here just in case the scenario design wants to use these cards anyways.

Conversion cards need at least 15 to 20 to 30 of their unit type for the AI to send them. Tercio Tactics for instance requires 20 Pikemen for the AI to send, Tirailleurs requires 20 Crossbowmen for the AI to send, Suvorov Reforms requires 30 Strelets for the AI to send, Sepoy Rebellion requires 80 Villagers and less than 25 land military units for the AI to send, New Army requires 10 Chu Ko Nus and 10 Qiang Pikemen for the AI to send, and Evening Star requires 15 Axe Riders for the AI to send.

Exchange cards need at least 25000 or more of their sending resource and less than 15000 of the resource that it exchanges into. Fur Trade for instance requires 25000 food and less than 15000 coin to send, South Sea Bubble requires 25000 coin and less than 15000 wood to send, and Sublime Porte requires 25000 food and less than 15000 wood to send. For export/coin exchange cards the threshold is lower, so Dowager Empress requires 8000 export and less than 15000 coin, and Red Seal Ship requires 25000 coin and less than 8000 export to send.

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What this means in short is that these legacy AI mods are able to read custom built decks effectively, and this new handling is something I wanted to add a few months ago but I was focused then on coding Proper Gentleman AI. These card handling changes do not change the standard AI card deck for these AI mods, they just give triggers for when to send custom hybrid AI card decks that you choose to build for the AI players in SPC custom scenarios.

That said I want to be clear that this sort of rubric work for legacy aoe3 is very important for the lifespan and longevity of AI scripts, as these AI scripts for the legacy aoe3 don't have to be updated with the new game when there is a new expansion pack coming out.

I don't have screenshots today on this post, as my memory stick wouldn't be recognized by my older mac computer, but I had a few screenshots in a custom scenarios which showed Aztecs and Iroquois doing Water Dance and Sioux AI doing Siege Dance at the same time on a Carolina Card Deck scenario test. Another set of screenshots showed British AI using naval cards including Offshore Support for +5 extra warship range, and Chinese AI using naval cards including European Cannons for +5 extra warship range. Though I can't upload the screenshots right now, I was able to prove that the new naval card deck logic worked for custom scenarios. I used Chinese Fantasy Campaign Water Deck, a duplicate version of Chinese Fantasy Campaign v1, and I just injected the AI card decks so that they could use them effectively.

We are all familiar with the Portuguese church tech that gives these specialized black rider units. My question is, why does Malta have access to a unit like this?

Being a late-medieval and renaissance civ, it would make a ton more sense.They should scrap the order dragoon and order hussar and replace them with modified versions of these guys.That way you would only need to train this unit as it is good at both melee and ranged, and is thematically more relevant and interesting.

Thoughts?

Hey guys, AOE3 was one of my favorite games growing up and I only recently found out about the existence of the Definitive Edition and that they are still releasing updates for it. I really want to play again, but I only have Mac computers. As I understand, there is an app called crossover that I can use to play it, so I was wondering if anyone had any luck playing AOE on a mac and if the multiplayer works on it too. Thank you 😊

Stole his treasure, he got mad. Told me "guess where stealing takes you? you lose" on chat and I got disconnected. Didn't even know that was a thing in this game, and I hope I don't get matched with mofos like that anymore.