Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition has arrived on Xbox. Real-time strategy and console don’t always go well together. In this case, however, it works extremely well, as you can read in my test of the Xbox version. On top of that, I had the chance to ask a few questions about the game’s new controller controls and how they’re being developed.
Read on to find out what Alex Liu, Design Director at World’s Edge, had to say about its development, the obstacles, and the tradeoffs. And, if you want to know why you started from scratch in the meantime.
Eurogamer.de: At first glance, the controls in Age of Empires 2 reminded me of Halo Wars. Was that your internal role model?
Alex Liu: During development, our team has played and been inspired by many wonderful strategy games for consoles, including the Halo Wars games. Although they share some similarities, Age of Empires 2: DE is a very different game from Halo Wars and required its own control solutions.
Our goal was to create a user experience that feels like Xbox while reflecting the classic, popular Age gameplay. We have developed many prototypes from the ground up, tested and revised again and again over the years. The result is a console Age experience that we’re very proud to bring to our fans and future Age players.
Eurogamer.de: What was the priority when developing the controls?
Alex Liu: Many Xbox users haven’t played Age games in a long time, if at all. It is critical that our new user experience is intuitive and engaging for new players in order to successfully integrate them into our Age family. In our internal testing, we deliberately invited a majority of players new to strategy games to ensure our new controls, tutorial, and features are intuitive for players of all skill levels.
Eurogamer.de: To what extent does mindset play a role in developing an RTS control scheme on consoles? For example, should it be viewed more as an opportunity for improvement and less as an obstacle?
Alex Liu: It’s important to mention that Age 2 for consoles is not a port, but an entirely new Age game. And it’s an opportunity to bring more innovation to both the strategy game genre and the Age series as a whole. Whenever we encountered a challenge or limitation, our first reaction was to step back, question our assumptions, and maybe find a better way to address the problem.
For example, when trying to solve the problem of quickly and accurately selecting villagers on the controller, we asked ourselves: do I really have to select a villager to construct a building? Perhaps we can create a feature that circumvents this need and helps players focus their valuable attention and actions on strategically important decisions.
Eurogamer.de: What compromises did you have to make?
Alex Liu: In our early testing, we received a lot of conflicting feedback from players of different experience levels. Many new players asked for more and bigger UI elements to make the controls easier to learn and remember. At the same time, veteran Age players preferred minimized UI elements so they could focus more on the map and the action. Ultimately, we solved this problem by creating two surface modes. We recommend new players to use the default interface. Once they get comfortable with the controls, they’re welcome to switch to the sleeker advanced user interface, which also offers some additional advanced features.
Eurogamer.de: What was the most difficult aspect of adapting the controls?
Alex Liu: Unit selection has always been the most difficult area when adapting to controllers, as analog sticks don’t have the speed and precision of a mouse. Solving this problem required a combination of efforts in many areas. We adjusted the crosshair movement and added some kind of attraction. We’ve created new keyboard shortcuts for common selection commands. But that still wasn’t enough. We also had to create a number of new features, including AI automation, to reduce the need to repeatedly select units in the first place.
Eurogamer.de: At what point do you stop adding new features to a limited number of buttons so users don’t have to learn too many commands?
Alex Liu: In a very early prototype, we had so many keybindings that each key performed three or four different functions, tap, double-tap, hold, or a combination of keys. In short: we quickly went back to square one to drastically reduce and redesign the controls, resulting in a completely different layout that emphasizes simplicity and accessibility.
Eurogamer.de: What makes Age of Empires 2’s controller controls stand out?
Alex Liu: To me, Age 2 feels very different on the console in my living room than it does on PC; it’s relaxing. Thanks to the controls themselves and the many new features and innovations we’ve added, I can enjoy the same gaming experience at a more leisurely pace, without sacrificing meaningful strategic gameplay.
Eurogamer.de: How can control methods for real-time strategy games on consoles (including Age 4) evolve in the future?
Alex Liu: My team works closely with the Age 4 console team to ensure our fans will have consistent control and experience across all games. At the same time, be aware that there will be some differences in controls and features as we’re optimizing them specifically for Age 4’s unique mechanics.
We are committed to the long-term support and innovation of Age 2 and the Age of Empires franchise. We welcome any feedback from our valuable fans as we continue to develop the strategy games.
