text: age of empires ii age of empires ii : the age of kings is a real - time strategy ( rts ) video game developed by ensemble studios and published by microsoft . released in 1999 for the microsoft windows and macintosh operating systems , it was the second game in the age of empires series . an expansion , the conquerors , was released in 2000 . a playstation 2 version was released by konami in 2001 , and a nintendo ds spinoff , age of empires : the age of kings was developed by backbone entertainment in 2006 . a dreamcast port , by konami , was canceled . the age of kings is set in the middle ages and contains thirteen playable civilizations . players aim to gather resources , which they use to build towns , create armies , and defeat their enemies . there are five historically based campaigns , which constrict the player to specialized and story - backed conditions . there are three additional single - player game modes , and multiplayer is supported . despite using the same game engine and similar code to its predecessor , development of the age of kings took a year longer than expected , forcing ensemble studios to release age of empires : the rise of rome in 1998 instead . the design team focused on resolving significant issues in age of empires , but noted on release that some problems remained . reception of the age of kings was highly positive . the significant number of new features was praised , as were the gameplay improvements . some reviewers , however , were critical of the presentation of units — they were seen as bland and uninteresting — while others considered the age of kings to be too similar to its predecessor , age of empires . three months after its release , two million copies of the age of kings had been shipped , and it topped sales charts in seven countries . the game won multiple awards and is today considered a classic of its type , having had a significant impact on future games in its genre . both the original age of empires ii and the expansion pack were later released as " the gold edition " . in april 2013 , age of empires ii : hd edition was released on the steam digital distribution platform for windows operating systems . the hd edition includes both the original game and the expansion the conquerors , as well as updated graphics for high - resolution displays . it also supports user - generated content through the steam workshop and multiplayer games provided through the steam servers . on august 16 , 2013 , microsoft announced the forgotten , the first new expansion in nearly 13 years and exclusive to the hd edition . on november 5 , 2015 , microsoft released another new expansion to age of empires ii : hd edition , the african kingdoms . gameplay the age of kings focuses on building towns , gathering resources , creating armies and ultimately conquering opponents by destroying their units and buildings . players conquer rival towns and empires as they advance one of 13 civilizations through four " ages " : the dark age , the feudal age , the castle age ( being the high middle ages ) , and the imperial age , reminiscent of the renaissance — a 1000 - year timeframe . advancing to a new age unlocks new units , structures , and technologies , but players must first build certain buildings from their current age and then pay a sum of resources ( typically food and gold ) . civilian units , called " villagers " , are used to gather resources ; they are either male or female – gender does not affect their abilities . resources can be used to train units , construct buildings , and research technologies , among other things ; for example , players can research better armour for infantry units . the game offers four types of resources : food , wood , gold , and stone . food is obtained by hunting animals , gathering berries , harvesting livestock , farming , and shore fishing and fishing from boats . wood is gathered by chopping down trees . gold is obtained from either gold mines , trade or collecting relics in a monastery , and stone is collected from stone mines . villagers require checkpoints , typically depository buildings ( town center , mining camp , mill , and lumber yard ) , where they can store gathered resources . each civilization can purchase upgrades that increase the rate of gathering these resources . players can construct a market for trade ; players can trade wood , stone , and food for gold , and use gold to buy other resources . market prices fluctuate with every transaction . furthermore , markets and docks can also generate gold by using trading carts or cogs which are used to visit foreign markets and ports ; once they return to the player 's market / dock , gold is added to the stockpile . the amount of gold a trade unit earns on each trip is related to the distance it had to travel to a foreign market ; more gold is earned on longer trips . it is possible to trade with enemies ' markets or docks , but the player 's trading units may be attacked or destroyed by enemy units in the process . players do not need to keep trading manually , as once they select the port or market the trading units infinitely continue to trade . there are five campaigns in the age of kings , containing historically based scenarios such as genghis khan 's invasion of eurasia , barbarossa 's crusade , or saladin 's defence of the holy land . in the joan of arc and william wallace campaigns , the player can control a unit based on its namesake ; in others , players take orders from guiding spirits representative of the army 's commander . additional game modes are available to the player in the age of kings . one mode , random map , generates a map from one of several randomly chose map generating scripts , with players starting in the dark age with a town center , three villagers ( or more depending on civilization ) , and a scout unit . the game can be won through military conquest , by constructing a special building known as a wonder and keeping it standing for a certain amount of time , or by obtaining control of all relics on the map for a set amount of time . deathmatch mode allows players to begin with large amounts of resources , creating a focus on military dominance , while in the regicide mode each player is given a king unit , winning by killing all of the other monarchs . units and civilizations every player has a limit to the number of units they can create — a population limit — but may not immediately use the entire potential population . the population capacity , which can be capped at anywhere between 75 – 200 in intervals of 25 , is based on the number of houses , castles , or town centers — the main building in a player 's town — which have been built . the age of kings introduced two significant new features for unit management : the idle villager button , which helps players identify villagers that have not been assigned a task , and the town bell , which sends all a player 's villagers into their town center , castle , or tower for safety ; units garrisoned within these three buildings , especially archers , increase the building 's firepower ( towers fire more arrows with units garrisoned inside ) including the town center , which can not fire anything at all without someone garrisoned there . the age of kings also includes five types of military units : infantry , archers , cavalry , siege weaponry , and naval units . certain types of infantry , archers , and cavalry are " counter units " with special defenses against other types of unit . the three human classes of military generally follow a rock - paper - scissors model . for example , infantry are generally powerful against buildings but weak against cavalry , thus the infantry counter units — spearmen and pikemen — have attack bonuses against cavalry . each civilization in the age of kings has one or two special units that are exclusive to that civilization . for instance , the britons have access to , an archery unit with increased range . these civilization - specific units are generally more powerful , but still follow the basic rock - paper - scissors model . the monk is a special kind of military unit that has the ability to convert enemy units to the player 's civilization , and to heal allied units . monks are also used to collect relics ; relics accumulate gold once held in the player 's monastery — the more relics are captured , the faster the gold is accumulated . collecting all relics on the map is one method by which a player can win a random map game , depending on the victory setting . once a player has all in their monasteries , a timer is shown to all players . if an opposing player does not destroy a monastery holding a relic after the set time , then that player wins . players choose to play as one of 13 civilizations split into four architectural styles — western european , eastern european , middle eastern , and east asian — that determine building appearance in - game . the civilizations have varying strengths and weaknesses with regards to economics , technology , and battle , and each has access to a different , very powerful " unique unit " . additionally , each civilization provides an individual team bonus in team games . to add variety , each civilization has a set of sound bites in its native language that are uttered by units when selected or instructed to perform a task . buildings the buildings in the age of kings are split into the economic and military buildings categories . buildings can research technologies and upgrades that increase economic , military or unit - based efficiency , as well as provide resources for the player . the most important economic building is the town center , where villagers are created , all types of resources can be stored , some technologies are researched , and the player can advance to the next age . the town center can fire arrows at enemy units within range if villagers or archers are garrisoned while under attack . other economic buildings available include storage buildings for resources , farms , docks ( the dock may also produce several military ships ) , and houses to support a higher population . military buildings include unit - producing buildings such as barracks , archery ranges , stables , and castles , as well as defensive buildings such as walls and towers . military buildings can perform research to improve the abilities of military units , increasing their strength , defensive capabilities , or other attributes . the castle is a military building which can build trebuchets , train the civilization 's " unique unit / s " , and fire arrows at enemy units within range , with garrisoned units firing extra arrows . it can only be built after a player has reached the castle age , although in some game options , players can begin with an already - built castle as early as the dark age . multiplayer the age of kings supports multiplayer over the internet , or via a local area network ( lan ) . up to eight players can take part in one game , with all of the single player game modes available . the msn gaming zone supported the game until the service closed on june 19 , 2006 . development prior to the completion of age of empires , ensemble studios had signed a contract with microsoft for a sequel . the design team chose to set the age of kings in the middle ages as a logical progression from the ancient era setting of age of empires . the design team was conscious of attempting to capture the broad appeal of the first game without making the game 's design too similar . nonetheless , they attempted to appeal to the vast demographic who played age of empires . the age of kings 's design team intended to complete the game within a year by using code from the original and reusing the genie game engine . several months into the process they found they would not be able to complete a game of the quality they sought in that time . ensemble studios informed microsoft they would need another year and instead created age of empires : the rise of rome , an easily developed expansion pack of age of empires , as a compromise which could be released for christmas 1998 . to help meet the next year 's deadline , additional programmers , artists , and designers were employed . to overcome another significant objection to age of empires — that of path finding — the team completely redesigned the game engine 's movement system . the original age of empires had been criticized for its artificial intelligence ( ai ) . because the original ai did not " cheat " by attributing itself extra resources or using other techniques the human player could not , it was easier to defeat than in many other real - time strategy games . for the age of kings , ensemble studios attempted to develop a more powerful ai system that did not compromise by cheating . industry veteran mario grimani led ensemble studios in the creation of the new system . the age of kings saw the introduction of a triggers system for its scenario editor . the triggers allow messages to be displayed , or actions to take place , based on pre - set criteria or " events " . the scenario editor was also improved by the new ai system . the ai and trigger systems interacted regularly in the single player campaigns . the team was less successful in resolving other issues ; programmer matt pritchard complained following the release of age of empires that there was still no process by which patches could be issued . extensive cheating in multiplayer games of age of empires came as a result of several bugs in the game , which resulted in microsoft promising ensemble studios there would be a patch process for the age of kings . on release , there were several bugs that needed immediate attention , but the patch process was not yet ready . the first patch was released 11 months later . ensemble studios developed a new terrain system for the age of kings , with 3d presentation capabilities that were vastly superior to those of age of empires . pritchard noted an improvement in the team 's artistic abilities following their work on the past two games , and he is noted as saying that " became a showcase for their improved talent " . however , he complained about the lack of an art asset management tool , while other departments gained new tools and automated procedures to assist in design and play testing . the soundtrack for the age of kings was directed by stephen rippy , who has since taken that role for all games in the age of empires series . music for the game was split into two categories . for " in game " music , rippy 's team took musical elements from a variety of cultures and combined them to create a mixed sound . " pre - game " music was designed to be unique to the civilization in question . campaigns based on historical figures would include " a theme that will at least be rooted in [ the character 's ] culture " . a demo of the age of kings was released on october 16 , 1999 . it featured the learning campaign , a sample of a random map game , and the ability to play via the msn gaming zone . much to ensemble studios ' disappointment , numerous incomplete versions of the game were leaked . these were picked up by warez sites , and sold illegally throughout the pacific rim ; warez versions of the game were even sold outside microsoft 's offices in south korea . high - definition remake in 2012 , hidden path entertainment began working on a high - definition remake of age of empires ii , an effort spearheaded by matt pritchard , an original ensemble lead programmer . on march 7 , 2013 , its release was announced , branded as age of empires ii : hd edition . it has improved graphics , widescreen support and new multiplayer options through steam . it was released on april 9 , 2013 , and there was a pre - order available on april 5 . reception the age of kings received " universal acclaim " , according to video game review aggregator metacritic . according to eurogamer 's geoff richards , " the list of new features and improvements over the original game is over a page long " . gamepro 's review similarly focused on " new additions to the genre itself " which it argued made the age of kings outstanding . these included the idle unit button and town bell . gamespy 's carlos salgado was appreciative of other features ; he praised the ability to create individual profiles for different players and to customize hotkeys . meanwhile , ign appreciated the new abilities given to the villager unit — the review stated villagers " now play an important role not only in the collection of resources , but also in town defense and even in combat . " allgame 's michael l. house enjoyed the use of sound bites in civilizations ' native languages , which he said was " very influential in developing an era - enhancing atmosphere " . eurogamer said this feature " gives [ villagers ] a personality , rather than the standard ' acknowledged ' grunt of military rts games " , also stating that the use of female villagers provided a good variety . game revolution 's review explained that by being set in a more recent epoch of human history , the age of kings was able to " add character to an otherwise impersonal style of gameplay " . computer and video games approved of the age of kings ' use of shorter , more focused campaigns , compared to its predecessor , while game revolution noted that even in slower sections of the campaign , the historical narrative helped maintain player interest . gamespot said that with the screen full of units , " you can begin to imagine how their historical equivalents once prospered " , while gamespy said the age of kings presents " realism rarely seen in the rts genre " . ign staff argued that while the strengths and weaknesses attributed to different civilizations made the game more realistic , the fact that they were still mostly the same prevented the age of kings from " delivering the same battlefield impact of starcraft or tiberian sun " . house also praised the gameplay interface , which he said " couldn 't be simpler " , as well as the advanced grouping and path - finding systems . nash werner of gamepro said that the formation tools were wonderful , and complained only that they could not be assigned to naval units . computer and video games generally agreed , stating that " the controls are very user - friendly and well explained " . gamespot 's greg kasavin wrote that despite the game 's improved graphics , " there 's nothing foreign about its appearance " and that most game features will be " immediately recognizable if you 've played a real - time strategy game before " . pc zone agreed , but in a negative sense — it argued that the age of kings " is essentially an update of a two - year - old game " . richards was surprised by the quality of the age of kings ' graphics , considering they were all bitmapped . however , allgame complained that units were sometimes difficult to tell apart , a point numerous reviewers agreed on . it also called the sound of the age of kings as a negative , but not something significant enough to draw players away from the game 's overall quality . ign stated that cutscenes were somewhat bland , but that overall the graphics added " an amazing amount of detail to the actual game " . ign 's main criticism was for the in - game speech used in campaigns ; it rhetorically asked " why can 't they just find a frenchman to do a french accent ? " alex constantides of computer and video games rated the graphics highly , saying that some in - game buildings are " so grand you 'll even feel guilty about burning them to the ground " . werner agreed ; " the most noticeable graphical advancements " , he wrote , were " the sheer size and scale of things " . game revolution stated " is the best looking of the 2d rts games out there right now " . in january 2000 , three months after its release , microsoft announced that they had shipped two million copies of the age of kings . the game topped sales charts in the united states , japan , the united kingdom , germany , france , australia , and south korea . it would spend the next two and a half years on top 20 sales lists . the age of kings was top selling game in october 1999 , and the fourth highest selling game in 1999 . the age of kings won gamespot 's strategy game of the year in 1999 , and was a nominee for game of the year . gamepower also named it strategy game of the year , while pc gamer and computer gaming world gave it editor 's choice awards . the age of kings won strategy game of the year and computer game of the year at the 2000 academy of interactive arts & sciences awards . it was also nominated for game of the year , outstanding achievement in animation , outstanding achievement in game design , and outstanding achievement in game play engineering . ign ranked the age of kings the 53rd best game of all time in 2005 , and the 10th best pc game of all time in 2007 . gamefaqs users placed it 56th in a poll of the best games ever . the age of kings was highly influential on its genre . star wars : galactic battlegrounds , a 2001 game by lucasarts , shared the age of kings ' game engine , and was heavily influenced by its mechanics . empire earth 's design was also similar to that of the age of kings ; gamespot said it " borrows most of that game 's controls , interface features , and even some of its keyboard shortcuts " . rick goodman , designer of age of empires and the rise of rome , designed empire earth . gamespot 's scott osborne argued that the gameplay of cossacks : european wars was heavily based on the age of kings . hd edition age of empires ii : hd edition received mixed reviews with aggregate review website metacritic assigning a score of 68 out of 100 based on reviews from 20 critics . critics agreed that the hd edition changed very little from the original game . daniel starkey of destructoid added that the reluctance to change the game features encourages " a much more aggressive , and obsessive style of play " . he highlights the fact that many of the problems of trying to run the original game on a modern computer are gone , and calls its compatibility with steam 's workshop " an amazing bonus " . paul dean of eurogamer was less forgiving ; although he agreed that the workshop compatibility was a good addition and praised the players in the online community as " remarkably calm and friendly " , he thought that the game should have been updated more , citing its " boring campaign " and poorly - aged gameplay mechanics : " it just doesn 't play very well , and its flaws are more blatant than ever before " . his criticisms of the lack of significant changes to the game , he described it as " a mouldy time - capsule that will likely mar your memories of the original " . sequels an expansion for the age of kings , the conquerors , was released in 2000 . it introduced numerous new game features , including five new civilizations . two of these , the aztecs and the mayans , represent the new world and have new distinctive architectural style . other new civilizations are the spanish , huns , and koreans . as well as three campaigns similar in concept to those in the age of kings , the conquerors included a " battles of the conquerors " campaign which contained several unrelated battles such as those of agincourt and hastings . age of mythology , released in 2002 , broke away from the historical trend and instead focused on greek , egyptian , and norse mythology . it shared many gameplay elements with the age of kings and was considered a spin - off of the main age of empires series . the third historical game in the age of empires series , age of empires iii , was released in 2005 . the game portrayed the european colonization of the americas . aside from one significant feature , the home city , the game 's design was similar to that of its predecessor . in 2012 , a free - to - play title was released in the series , called age of empires online . while the game was freely accessible , it featured premium content which could either be earned through gameplay or purchased , enabling the player to use higher - tier equipment and new game modes . active development of the game ended on january 1 , 2014 , when executive producer kevin perry stated that adding new content was " no longer cost effective , " and announced that the game would be moving from " development phase " to its " support phase " . the game servers were subsequently shut down on july 1 , 2014 . age of empires ii hd : the forgotten in august 2013 an expansion pack was announced for age of empires ii hd , entitled the forgotten . it is based on the fan - made expansion , the forgotten empires . the expansion includes five new civilizations , seven new campaigns , two new game modes , twenty - seven new technologies , map size , twitch streaming and spectator mode . it was developed by forgotten empires and skybox labs and released on november 7 , 2013 . age of empires ii hd : the african kingdoms a second expansion pack for age of empires ii hd was announced on april 9 , 2015 , and released later the same year . the focus of the expansion is on african civilizations , thus named the african kingdoms . on june 23 , 2015 , new details and a tease were released for the the african kingdoms expansion . the expansion includes four new civilizations , four new fully voice acted campaigns , one new game mode , new generic units and technologies , twenty - three new maps , improved ai , and new scenario editor objects . it was again developed by forgotten empires and skybox labs and released on november 5 , 2015 .