Relic Entertainment have further detailed the upcoming Age of Empires 4 season 2 and 3 roadmap, with timelines for several much-requested features including full hotkey remapping and a map preference system. The first details for season two of the RTS game were outlined in March, which has now been announced for July.
Along with fully remappable key inputs and the option to list your preferred maps to influence which locations you are more likely to see in ladder play, season two also brings a new map and a player colour picker. The latter of these means that you can now choose your empire’s fashion preferences before a skirmish in both single-player and multiplayer matches (including ranked games).
The Pit is the new map, and is said to be competitively focused with “a mostly open layout.” More details on that, and on the work that Relic has done to help resolve any hotkey conflicts, will be coming shortly.
Of course, this also means a new ranked season, along with new seasonal events and a selection of balance changes, which the team describes as “significant” but says will be detailed closer to the second season’s launch.
Relic also talks about its plans for season three, which is currently scheduled to introduce taunt functionality and cheats to the strategy game. The team says these are “heavily inspired by what you’ve seen and experienced in previous Age titles,” but that it’s looking to expand even more on the options on offer. It says the cheats on offer will be a mix of “functional and playful.”
Another recent patch allows Age of Empires 4 players to pick multiplayer map sizes. The game also saw recent nerfs to the Khans and mangonels.