[sparky_]

So I'm a big fan of OpenTTD which is a similar premise - but I can't help but feel like the timing is going to hurt them here. OpenTTD, OpenRCT, et al, solve a problem that the original game is a subpar (or unplayable) experience on modern hardware; however Microsoft has just rerelease an HD version of AOE2 on Steam not even a year ago. So my fear is that it's directly competing with a equivalent proprietary executable with a lot of marketing dollars behind it.

[SXX]

Actually availability of game on Steam only benefit project like openage because it's increased audience of AoE2 a lot. It's was a good game, but community was slowly dying over many years.

In same time "proprietary executable" it's just slightly updated version of 16 years old engine with all it's problems with simulation and networking performance. There of course some patches released, but HD not going to be rewritten from scratch and obviously not going to solve main problems.

[sparky_]

I agree that it's a good thing, I just mean to play devil's advocate above. I am afraid they'll have a harder time to attract players to the FOSS version due to the availability on Steam. And especially for RTS games, multiplayer community health/size is vital to growth.

[dtech]

In the short-term you are right, but in 5+ years AoE2 HD is going to run into the same problems and then this version might become more popular.