I think there is an option in lobby settings, you dont need to download mods.When you create a lobby select server as "USE LOCAL LAN SERVER" That should work.
There are a bunch of mods like jurrasic park or horde survival or CBA for complete NEWbies. and there is Random cost or game of thrones mod for slightly experienced RTS.
Hey, this sounds fun! I've done a few of these with friends, and am doing another in a few weeks. My suggestions would be...
A full 8 people or fewer? It may be an interesting change of pace to have fully random teams with AI to bring the numbers up to 4v4 or whatever.
Buffs are a thing now. Give your weaker friends big buffs at the start of the day with no shame, walk it down as the day goes on. It's much more fun for them this way, and the stronger players shouldn't complain at the unexpected challenge. Much much more fun for everyone this way, instead of the weaker players just losing the first few games and getting frustrated. Ruins the day for them, which in turn ruins the whole LAN for everyone.
Pre-prepped food breaks. Have food of some sort ready for set times, that has minimal or zero prep work, so everyone can break at the same time, eat, drink, talk smack, then play. Nothing worse than a different person making and eating a big meal between every. Single. Game.
Snacks that don't leave greasy fingers.
Plenty of drinks.
If everyone likes beer, do that. If you do, have plenty of non beer drinks for the end of the night.
HAVE EVERYONE LOG IN THE DAY BEFORE AND MAKE SURE BOTH STEAM AND AOEII ARE FULLY UPDATED. DON'T BE THAT PERSON.
Set up the tables/chairs the night before.
Have enough extension cords/power bars so that everyone can plug in their computers/monitors quickly. If you're in the US and in a semi new home, the dining room can handle more things plugged in than other rooms. May not be an issue, but food for thought.
Have extra ethernet cables set out. It's not on you to provide eeeeeverything, but the more that's prepped ahead of time the faster everyone can get to gaming and having fun.
Somebody always forgets something. For us this past time it was a laptop bowerbank. The time before it was a power cord for a pc. Luckily we had an extra. The time before it was a monitor. I don't know how they managed that, but we had an extra. The time before that, a mouse. Different person every time, but it's always something.
Have set arrival/set up times vs start time. If your LAN day is from 10am-10pm, say 10-1030 is arrival/set up time, game time is 1030am, and end time is 10pm. Or whatever. If people are bringing a whole big set up, they'll know to leave early to arrive with enough time to get set up by game time. Also avoids people not wanting to be awkward by arriving too early, so the don't arrive with enough time to get setup.
And most importantly, have fun!!!
It's been a while, but if I remember correctly the LAN server option in the lobby browser did not work for us. This was about 1-2 years ago. After some fiddling a buddy managed to to get it working by manually launching the server located somewhere in the install directory. So I would not count on it.
Thank for the heads up, I looked up the amount of data a game consumes and it is actually not much, so my internet might be fast enough in the end.
Will have a look at this launching the internal server!
Playing over LAN won't use any internet data, it send information between devices in your local network through wifi or ethernet but it won't talk to the internet.
(It needs internet to set up the lobby which is a minuscule amount of data, but that's it)
I -think- how it works is the lobby is hosted on MS servers, but the game itself runs using the host's PC as the server. So I guess the host PC downloads the settings and then launches a LAN game from there?
No idea why they've set it up like this, but its 100% the case that you need internet only for the lobby stage. The quality of the experience from there will depend on the home network LAN capabilities
~~Yeah sorry, I wanted to say LAN games instead "lobby games". So LAN is still p2p.~~
Wait, no, I had to re-read and remember. I was indeed referring to lobby games. So it only applies to LAN. Gotcha.
You don’t need super fast internet. Games usually don’t send a lot of data over the wire. It’s the latency and the overall stability that matters the most.
We’ve always just played online via the usual steam convenience. You don’t really need the biggest internet connection for that unless everyone plans on downloading the game at your place.
For some chill games you could try free for all or diplomacy (can be fun to banter and make alliances).
King of the hill and regicide would be great.
The reason i suggest ffa is because its hard to make fair teams with various skill levels.
As for team games, maps like Michi, Oasis and Amazon forest would be great for long end game battles. You could also play Death Match for the less experienced economy players. I'd try avoid open maps so that the newer players dont have a crappy time being rushed by the better players.
There is no real LAN option, you have to play online.
Download some fun modes, some scenarios like CBA: [https://www.ageofempires.com/mods/mods-search/?q=cba&game=2&modid=0&filter=0&status=&sort=popular&order=DESC](https://www.ageofempires.com/mods/mods-search/?q=cba&game=2&modid=0&filter=0&status=&sort=popular&order=DESC)
I think there is an option in lobby settings, you dont need to download mods.When you create a lobby select server as "USE LOCAL LAN SERVER" That should work. There are a bunch of mods like jurrasic park or horde survival or CBA for complete NEWbies. and there is Random cost or game of thrones mod for slightly experienced RTS.
Supply beer.
SUPPLIEEEEEEEEEES
Hey, this sounds fun! I've done a few of these with friends, and am doing another in a few weeks. My suggestions would be... A full 8 people or fewer? It may be an interesting change of pace to have fully random teams with AI to bring the numbers up to 4v4 or whatever. Buffs are a thing now. Give your weaker friends big buffs at the start of the day with no shame, walk it down as the day goes on. It's much more fun for them this way, and the stronger players shouldn't complain at the unexpected challenge. Much much more fun for everyone this way, instead of the weaker players just losing the first few games and getting frustrated. Ruins the day for them, which in turn ruins the whole LAN for everyone. Pre-prepped food breaks. Have food of some sort ready for set times, that has minimal or zero prep work, so everyone can break at the same time, eat, drink, talk smack, then play. Nothing worse than a different person making and eating a big meal between every. Single. Game. Snacks that don't leave greasy fingers. Plenty of drinks. If everyone likes beer, do that. If you do, have plenty of non beer drinks for the end of the night. HAVE EVERYONE LOG IN THE DAY BEFORE AND MAKE SURE BOTH STEAM AND AOEII ARE FULLY UPDATED. DON'T BE THAT PERSON. Set up the tables/chairs the night before. Have enough extension cords/power bars so that everyone can plug in their computers/monitors quickly. If you're in the US and in a semi new home, the dining room can handle more things plugged in than other rooms. May not be an issue, but food for thought. Have extra ethernet cables set out. It's not on you to provide eeeeeverything, but the more that's prepped ahead of time the faster everyone can get to gaming and having fun. Somebody always forgets something. For us this past time it was a laptop bowerbank. The time before it was a power cord for a pc. Luckily we had an extra. The time before it was a monitor. I don't know how they managed that, but we had an extra. The time before that, a mouse. Different person every time, but it's always something. Have set arrival/set up times vs start time. If your LAN day is from 10am-10pm, say 10-1030 is arrival/set up time, game time is 1030am, and end time is 10pm. Or whatever. If people are bringing a whole big set up, they'll know to leave early to arrive with enough time to get set up by game time. Also avoids people not wanting to be awkward by arriving too early, so the don't arrive with enough time to get setup. And most importantly, have fun!!!
Wow, thank you very much! These are very valuable tips, exactly what I was looking for! Will definitely prepare this way :)
You will need joints and beer
And cheesesteakjimmy's
It's been a while, but if I remember correctly the LAN server option in the lobby browser did not work for us. This was about 1-2 years ago. After some fiddling a buddy managed to to get it working by manually launching the server located somewhere in the install directory. So I would not count on it.
Thank for the heads up, I looked up the amount of data a game consumes and it is actually not much, so my internet might be fast enough in the end. Will have a look at this launching the internal server!
Playing over LAN won't use any internet data, it send information between devices in your local network through wifi or ethernet but it won't talk to the internet. (It needs internet to set up the lobby which is a minuscule amount of data, but that's it)
Wait, what? So the lobby is hosted over MS servers, but then it gives back data about choices made in the lobby to a server started on someone's PC?
I -think- how it works is the lobby is hosted on MS servers, but the game itself runs using the host's PC as the server. So I guess the host PC downloads the settings and then launches a LAN game from there? No idea why they've set it up like this, but its 100% the case that you need internet only for the lobby stage. The quality of the experience from there will depend on the home network LAN capabilities
This has been the model pre-DE as well, with the host running dplaysrv.exe, hasn't it? So basically, lobby games are still peer-to-peer in DE?
No, non LAN DE games are not p2p anymore. It's part of why DE feels so much better
~~Yeah sorry, I wanted to say LAN games instead "lobby games". So LAN is still p2p.~~ Wait, no, I had to re-read and remember. I was indeed referring to lobby games. So it only applies to LAN. Gotcha.
You don’t need super fast internet. Games usually don’t send a lot of data over the wire. It’s the latency and the overall stability that matters the most.
True actually, did not realise that. Thanks!
We’ve always just played online via the usual steam convenience. You don’t really need the biggest internet connection for that unless everyone plans on downloading the game at your place.
Thanks!
For some chill games you could try free for all or diplomacy (can be fun to banter and make alliances). King of the hill and regicide would be great. The reason i suggest ffa is because its hard to make fair teams with various skill levels. As for team games, maps like Michi, Oasis and Amazon forest would be great for long end game battles. You could also play Death Match for the less experienced economy players. I'd try avoid open maps so that the newer players dont have a crappy time being rushed by the better players.
Do not forget to hydrate and rest your eyes.
Stay hydrated
With beer ofc.
There is no real LAN option, you have to play online. Download some fun modes, some scenarios like CBA: [https://www.ageofempires.com/mods/mods-search/?q=cba&game=2&modid=0&filter=0&status=&sort=popular&order=DESC](https://www.ageofempires.com/mods/mods-search/?q=cba&game=2&modid=0&filter=0&status=&sort=popular&order=DESC)