- Grace Period: there is a 1 turn grace period for when someone joins a rated game when no rating points are assessed if the player is eliminated within that period.
- Team Games: for fair-play, sending and requesting assets is not possible anymore across teams. You can only send assets to your team members (or receive from team members).
- Clan Games: clan members are placed into the same team if they play a game with random join option.
- Clan Games: clan members need to join the same team as their clan mates when going into a team game.
- Clan Games: max. number of clan members for teams games needs to be equal or smaller to the average team size (fairplay).
- Clan Owners: owners cannot expel or change privileges of other owners.
- Clan Owners: owners can now leave the clans if there's another owner on the clan.
- Clan Owners: owners cannot leave the clan if there are other players and there is no other owner. They need to designate another owner before leaving.
- Clan Owners: owners leaving the clan and being the last members means the clan will get deleted after a confirmation.
- Clan Member (or not): now also shown in friend's list.
- Clan Member (or not): also showing for teams (e.g. moderators).
- Clan Member (or not): also showing in search.
- Teaming Flag: will be ignored & hidden if a player joins a clan. The regular clan rules will apply and the teaming flag will have no effect.
- Fullscreen Mode: auto-fullscreen mode at startup when run via Steam (unless it's not the first time you run the game).
- Sound FX: max. simultaneous sound FX increased to 64 (from 32) to make sure all relevant ones can be played.
- Cutscene Music: the music volume for cutscenes can now be adjusted manually.
- Audio Output: it's now possible to select the desired audio output channel in the game's settings, i.e. which speakers etc. (desktop only)!
- Home Indicator: home indicator hidden be default on iOS.
- Immersive Mode: immersive mode by default on Android.
- Game Guide: ONLINE Policy section updated, explaining that you generally shouldn't buy accounts (you carry full responsibility and also should notify the moderators).
- Settings: option to enable or disabled handicaps by default in newly created games (rather than manually adjusting them every time).
- Settings: "Join Anytime" option in settings which determines the default for new games you create, i.e. if they are unlimited as to when other players can join.
- Chat Bans: moderator accounts cannot be banned from the chat by regular players (e.g. that created a game).
- Moderator Email: now available via the "Moderators" group profile!
- Manual: In-Game FAQ updated to let everyone know that randomly banning players in the chat goes against the fair-play policy amongst other.
- Manual: Clans playing team games should join the same team. Joining opposing teams on purpose will be appropriately handled by the moderators.
- Language: missing texts added for official maps of Africa and the Mini World conquest (so the texts can be translated also).
- Language: latest translations added - Thanks :-D
- UI: "Search Utility" popup now auto-focus the text cursor in the input field when the popup is opened.
- UI: larger file selector.
- Pending Translations (Moderators): original and translated messages can now be copied (via popup menu).
- Performance: speed update for misc. functions to reduce ANRs.
- Moderation: password resets by moderators are now displayed in the moderator notifications (password is obviously not displayed).
- Moderation: remark added to disabled accounts, i.e. the cannot login, but the login attempt will still show up in the logs.
- Maintenance: news DB & I/O removed as it isn't used anymore.
- Maintenance: improved compression for main font file (about 35% smaller).
- Maintenance: WebGL's gdx-teavm updated to 1.0.0-b5 (teavm 0.9.0-dev-4).
- Maintenance: WebSockets updated to Draft 6455.
- Maintenance: Jetty updated to 9.4.51.
- Maintenance: Steam SDK updated to 1.57.
- Maintenance: steamworks4j library update to 1.10.0-SNAPSHOT (latest 2023-06-04).
- Maintenance: using getAuthTicketForWebApi() for login on Steam.
- Maintenance: Droid login functionality upgraded from 20.4.0 to 20.5.0.
- Maintenance: Droid AppCompat version updated to 1.6.1 (from 1.2.0).
- Maintenance: Google Play Billing library upgraded to 6.0.0 (from 5.0.0).
- Maintenance: disabling registration on server during automated lab-tests (e.g. Firebase).
- Maintenance: compiling to Java 8 (on Desktop) using Java 17 (updated obfuscation).
- Maintenance: i18n-parser updated to 3.0.0 (from 2.1-SNAPSHOT).
- Maintenance: update for development and test mode functionality (code clarity & customization).
- Maintenance: getdown deployment speed up by uplading a zipped file (instead of many single files).
- Maintenance: GeoIP database updated (latest version).
- Maintenance: improved logging when there is a library linkage problem (e.g. JARs missing or wrong).
- Maintenance: libGDX backend updated to version 1.12.0 (from 1.11.0).
- Maintenance: updated LWJGL library from 3.3.2 (from 3.3.1).
- Maintenance: minimum iOS version now 11.0 (no support for older versions due to missing support by Apple).
- Maintenance: iOS binaries now all 64bit (32bit support dropped by Apple).
- Bugfix: fixing vulnerability for Google Play login. See https://www.cybersecurity-help.cz/vdb/SB2022061720
- Bugfix: high-precision calculations in shader to prevent blurry font rendering.
- Bugfix: improved handling when a music file is not found (we check for file beforehand).
- Bugfix: selecting monospaced font keeps the text monospaced (e.g. admin terminal).
- Bugfix: platforms without monospaced font would show monospaced text blank (instead of the default font).
- Bugfix: when being in a game and opening another game, the previous "Nation Information" popup window stay on the screen.
- Bugfix: threading update for screenshot taking (prevents ANRs).
- Bugfix: cutting long country names in statistics (so they don't overflow to next line).
- Bugfix: Permissions fix for latest Android SDK version 33 (should now be able to select images).
- Bugfix: players already in a clan cannot create a new clan (they will need to leave their current clan first).
- Bugfix: iOS Apps were not running on Mac OS X Silicon (M1, M2 etc.). Search path for libraries updated.
- Bugfix: also keeping track if failed login attempts via provider, i.e. when no username/password but platform-based login was used (fail after 3 attempts).
- Bugfix: earlier check making sure banned accounts don't enter matchmaker games (failed too late).
- Bugfix: improved audio on desktop (should not stop anymore).
- Bugfix: stereo audio on desktop can now be played on mono output devices.
- Bugfix: Cron scheduler wasn't working properly during winter-summer time switches.
- Bugfix Crashes: making sure the game doesn't crash if the game had an old icon-array but new code (array out of index exception).
- Bugfix Crashes: game would crash on Droid when the achievements client couldn't be initialized at startup.
- Bugfix Crashes: making sure we don't open the user popup if there is no logged-in user.
- Bugfix Crashes: when tournament advancement status could not be determined, i.e. 'null'.
- Bugfix Crashes: when the monospaced font could not be loaded (continuing without).
- Bugfix Crashes: removed "installscript_osx.vdf" from the Steam binary because it has become obsolete and some stuff was causing problems on Mac OS M1/M2 (symlink)!
- Bugfix Crashes: Universal Binaries for Mac OS should now work on both AMD64 and ARM64 (M1, M2) architectures.
- Bugfix Crashes: when exiting the application and disposing observers which haven't been registered yet.
Age of Conquest IV
Update 4.40.357 - Fair-Play, Clan & Bugfixes
Map Filter, Game Listing, Formatting
- UI: map filter allowing to search locally installed map scenarios by number of players, teams and if balanced or not.
- UI: minor update for rankings table coloring.
- TOP Ranked: the TOP-3 ranked players in the slow section now have 31 days (instead of 28 days) to play a game to not have their rating decrease automatically.
- Game Listing: the spectators/watch panel has now a [List All...] button that lists all the games in the system across all the servers.
- Modding: modding instructions moved from website directly into the game (so they can also be translated).
- Steam Browser: now disabled and the game uses a regular browser to open link (some stuff just doesn't work right with the Steam browser).
- Formatting: support for monospaced texts integrated (ASCII only). Code tags "{MONO}" which is new, and "{CODE}" which is now working.
- Formatting: support for color multiplication inside a text when using {TINT:...|M}.
- Disabling AI: rated games require the AI to be enabled in multiplayer games for balancing reasons. If the AI option is disabled, a game needs to be set to non-rated.
- Release History: now shown within the game via settings screen under "History".
- Release/Latest: the latest release information is now shown if you are running a new version and there is versioning information available.
- Announcement Board: moved the announcement link data to a different table, so announcement will appear blank/different until everyone has the latest version.
- Announcement for New Releases: the announcements for the latest update are now auto-generated for both the player and moderator walls.
- Language: font updated with additional glyphs for rendering.
- Language: re-formatted instructions for translations, API access, modding and such.
- Language: latest translations added - Thanks :-D
- Language: minor spelling fixes.
- Moderation: Executives can now also delete quick join games and games created via event system.
- Maintenance: build system updated to gradle 7.6 (from 6.9.2).
- Bugfix: approving (or rejecting) a large number of transactions could result in a network timeout because it took too long.
- Bugfix: bugfix for certain HTTP calls having GET/POST and Content-Type wrongly defined.
- Bugfix: improper screen context size when application exited fullscreen mode via outside call (not from within game).
- Bugfix Crashes: some potential crashes at boot of the game identified and fixed.
- Bugfix Crashes: re-try starting the application with OpenGL ES 2.0 ANGLE ON or OFF (if the other method fails and the application crashes).
Update 4.38.341 - Maintenance Update /w Audio, Font and Language Updates
- Font: missing glyphs added to bitmap font for misc. languages.
- Language: latest translations added - Thanks :-D
- Language: to prevent abuse, the translation system is now only available to accounts that are 3 days or older (not new accounts).
- Maintenance: main server moved to Hetzner.
- Maintenance: Jetty server updated to 9.4.49.
- Maintenance: login functionality on Droid updated to latest auth-method (potentially reduces problems when logging in?).
- Maintenance: betting setup option also removed from events setup (moderator function).
- Maintenance: Droid updated the use app bundles (*.aab).
- Bugfix: Trophies also awarded for e.g. 1 vs. 1 tournaments.
- Bugfix: turns would update too quickly for invalid turn restrictions (e.g. when a game was just to update on Thursday).
- Bugfix Crashes: while saving unknown file extensions.
- Bugfix Crashes: when viewing LIVE standings with ELO.
Server API & Website Updated
- Website: Rankings now available on the website at http://www.ageofconquest.com/ranking.html
- Website: Release history now available on the website at http://www.ageofconquest.com/history.html
- Website: Server status now available on the website http://www.ageofconquest.com/status.html
- API Addition: .../arr/[,] can be used to query a list with given IDs (e.g. for querying users). See API documentation for details.
- API Addition: option to query standings table and ratings of users. See API documentation for details.
- API Addition: profile query now also returns links (if available).
- API: profile pictures are now served cached for 30 minutes.
- UI: tutorial info panel now animated with '>' pointing to the location.
- UI: tutorial info panel has no an animated comic figure.
- Markup: the markdown code for strikethrough has been changed from '--' to '~~'.
- Markup: italic text can now be marked using "*|italic|*".
- Admin Guide: the information how to access the moderator inbox has been moved from the pinned post into the admin guide. It's the "Moderator Email" section.
- Discord Game SDK: integrated so the status is correctly displayed in Discord. There is also an option to spectate or join games now.
- SSL: All websites now switched to secure http, i.e. "https://...".
- SSL: Redirect to secure site at https://... automatically (.htaccess).
- SSL: Error reporter, if chosen to be used, now also uses SSL when sending a report (mail.php).
- Audio: asynchronous audio library now on Droid to improve performance.
- Language: latest translations added - Thanks :-D
- Language: some of the supported localizations now also listed for the app store (iOS).
- Launcher: better auto-detection how the game is launched (e.g. itch or gj).
- Steam Binary | IMPORTANT: I updated the Steam binary to better support Mac OS on M1 CPU. It's possible that the update inside Steam doesn't properly work, especially on Windows. Please uninstall the game first, then reboot and then reinstall if you are having problems. In some cases, also delete "jre" directory inside the game's folder inside Steam before reinstalling it. Sorry for the troubles.
- Maintenance: reducing jars required when running the status bar daemon (less likely to not work).
- Maintenance: improved performance when outputting FPS, MEM etc. overlays.
- Maintenance: migrated the map download server to a new provider due to cost & misc. (Hetzner).
- Internal: boot-animation now based on internal video clip format (more customizable).
- Internal: ROOT-only option to modify bundles (e.g. re-assign owner).
- Bugfix: status bar notifier not working anymore (desktop).
- Bugfix: connection error to Steam API prevented players from logging in (API call rewritten from direct socket call to URL connection).
- Bugfix: Server doesn't store initial username as "Contact Name" anymore (wasn't really intended).
- Bugfix Crashes: if the clipboard couldn't be obtained.
Update 4.36.328 - Universal Binaries for Mac OS (with M1 Support)
It's possible that the update inside Steam doesn't properly work, especially on Windows. Please uninstall the game first, then reboot and then reinstall if you are having problems. In some cases, also delete the game's folder inside Steam before reinstalling it.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Bugfix: Status Bar Notifications
Update 4.36.326 - Improved Compression & Misc. Improvements
- Update Required: if you are running a version of the game older than half a year you will need to UPGRADE the game if you login to the server. Older versions cannot handle the new image compression algorithms. Please upgrade. Sorry for the inconvenience.
- Compression Images: Image data is now better compressed. That includes everything from map images to avatars to awards etc. Reduces network I/O.
- Compression for Maps: Map files are now better compressed reducing download size. Please update your map and upload an update so your map is smaller for others.
- Official Maps: updated all the official maps with the latest compression (the file sizes are now smaller to download).
- Multiplayer: invite option for friends to SOLO games is now gone (for obvious reasons).
- Intro Tutorial: made it more clear on which mouse button to use when attacking another province.
- UI: FPS or memory consumption display can now be turned ON/OFF anytime (without exiting the game).
- Graphics System: changed to using the ANGLE wrapper for OpenGL starting with just Windows 10+ (instead of Windows 8+).
- Keyboard: shortcuts 'M' and 'N' for chat removed as they interfere with other key bindings. Use ENTER (or ENTER+SHIFT) instead.
- Manual: manual updated explaining that "Blackmail" is not acceptable behavior.
- Manual: explained that multiplayer games can potentially be deleted by the moderators (e.g. ganging in non-gang games, farming of rating points etc.).
- Manual: explained in more detail that circumventing the spam filter via modified binary might result in appropriate actions against a player.
- API: added more details when the API for "play" and "game" gets queried.
- API: functionality "ro-enrol" added to query users as to which "play" and "game they are enrolled in, including their status (e.g. if turn was entered).
- API: manual updated with latest information how to access "ro-enrol" for plays and games.
- Language: latest translations added - Thanks :-D
- Language: renamed "Eye Candy" to "Level of Detail" (for clarity).
- Moderators: please verify the fix for the team tournament (e.g. clan championship) does properly keep the players in their teams after the 1. round. Sorry for the inconvenience.
- Maintenance: Mac OS X signing certificate updated (till 2027-02).
- Maintenance: updated to Google Billing 5.0.0 (from 4.0.0).
- Maintenance: updated Droid to version 13 (API 33).
- Internal: internal mail notifier for server status updated to port 465.
- Bugfix: the team tournaments (e.g. clan championship) did shuffle the players after the 1. round by mistake.
- Bugfix: tooltips in menu screens also show when scroll panel is activated.
- Bugfix: election result for "recognition" (victory) would display the numbers wrong if some of the factions that voted were eliminated. There doesn't seem a bug in who won or not, i.e. just a display issue.
- Bugfix: asking to join a war against an eliminated faction would result in a declaration of war against the already eliminated faction.
- Bugfix: custom keyboard mappings weren't properly saved resetting them when the game was restarted.
- Bugfix: map does not continue scrolling when the game window is out of focus.
Update 4.35.324 - Steam DLC, Hosting Games now Free, UI Improvements & Bugfixes
- Steam DLC "All Maps & Modding": the game can now be also purchased also via the "All Maps & Modding" DLC. This includes everything for single player including hotseat or playing against the AI. Also includes modding. This covers the same as the corresponding "All Maps & Modding" that is available in-game.
- Hosting Games: hosting games over the official servers is now free. The original goal was to cover hosting fees but also encourage players to join other players' games. Given hosting games is now free, giving 5 coins per day to each player isn't really needed anymore and the amount has been reduced to 1 coin a day.
- Official Events: there was a bug in the verification code preventing an official event game from being started ('null' pointer).
- Private Messages: there is now a dropdown allowing to select how a message is to be sent. E.g. via clan or moderator etc.
- Buying & Selling Provinces: the buttons now go with a factor of 10x (ditto sending or requesting gold).
- Display Scaling: the display scale factor setting had the scale into the wrong direction. It's now fixed. If you had it set before, it was reset due prevent problems. Please re-apply your setting again, sorry for the inconvenience.
- UI: tutorial hint panels updated.
- UI: export options for avatars and other images updated to also allow to export animated avatars in their internal format.
- Tooltip Delay: reduced the default from 1000ms to 800ms. Also, the tooltip delay can now be adjusted inside the game's settings.
- Mouse Middle Button: the mouse middle button (if available; possibly "merged" with mouse wheel) allows dragging the map when pressed.
- Key Binding: F10 will now bring up the game menu with settings & exit option when pressed in-game.
- Formatting: {SKEW} tag now formats text in italics.
- Manual: slight wording update to happiness penalties regarding to war (clarity).
- Language: latest translations added - Thanks :-D
- Language: misc. spelling bugfixes.
- Language: improved descriptions for "All Maps & Modding" and "Modded Maps". For "Modded Maps" you get ALL the modded maps (not just a single map). It just excludes official maps.
- Admin Function: ID blocks now allow max. one wildcard character '*'.
- Maintenance: memory consumption of RenderPool reduced (capped the cached items).
- Steam API: update the API calls to the Steam servers from v1 to v2/v3 with support for 64bit. Potentially resolves problems?
- Sponsoring Maps (for others): fee reduced to 99 (from 500).
- Betting: the option now has been removed.
- Maintenance: updated the backend libGDX library to 1.11.0 (LWJGL at 3.3.1). If you are on Mac OS X, you might have to re-install the binary if you got it (a) via itch.io or (b) our website. Sorry for the inconvenience!
- Maintenance: legacy product IDs renamed from "official:#..." to "pack:# ..." and "idol:# ...".
- Droid: "uiMode" added to "configChanges" to prevent restart of app when docked or undocked.
- Bugfix: properly disposing GUI atlas, i.e. box-selection (minor).
- Bugfix: application not shutting down when status bar notification was turned on (desktop).
- Bugfix: ANGLE OpenGL wrapper only used starting with Windows 8+ (to prevent problems on older operating systems).
- Bugfix: logging in didn't work with database eror for some users if certain data was over 64 characters (database column too small).
- Bugfix: input field is not handling CTRL+V if image.
- Bugfix: input field focus removed when hidden.
- Bugfix: clan-2-clan messaging wasn't properly working.
- Bugfix: purchase & refund confirmation emails could results in error messages (if the email address was wrong).
- Bugfix: we cannot declare war or send message otherwise to eliminated factions.
- Bugfix: we cannot swap to a faction that is already eliminated (preventing endless-loop).
- Bugfix: tooltip for awards properly reset when touch is gone (could stay visible for long-touch!). Fixes https://www.reddit.com/r/retrocommander/comments/v0xptx/bug_report_screen_forgot_to_redraw_after_popup/
- Bugfix: TAB-key could change the keyboard focus preventing the map to be scrolled via ASDW and arrow keys.
- Bugfix Crashes: when the server went down and one tried to download the latest translations (developer only one affected).
- Bugfix Crashes: if Steam wasn't properly setup and relevant code couldn't be linked.
- Bugfix Crashes: making sure UI doesn't crash when elements are layouted while they are removed at the same time (Advanced Tutorial).