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Is Aetas out?#

Yes, in Early Access on Steam. You can play it from start to finish, and it gets regular updates. A free demo is coming soon to the same page.

Which platforms?#

Windows, 64-bit. It technically runs on Linux and macOS too, but only Windows is tested and released.

Will it run on my PC?#

Almost certainly. At minimum you need Windows 10 64-bit, a dual-core 2 GHz processor (Intel Core i3 / AMD equivalent), 2048 MB RAM, an OpenGL 2.0 capable GPU (Intel HD 4000 or better) and 500 MB of disk space. Recommended: Windows 10 or 11 64-bit, a quad-core 3 GHz processor, 4096 MB RAM and any dedicated GPU with OpenGL 3.0. The full list is under System requirements on the game page.

Do I need to install Java?#

No. The runtime is bundled.

Which languages?#

English, Dutch, German, Spanish, French, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and Simplified Chinese. The first time you start, the game picks the language you use on Steam; you can change it any time under the globe icon in the main menu.

Are my saved games safe?#

Your saved games and your progress in the campaigns, battles, challenges and tutorial go with you through Steam Cloud, to any PC you play on. That includes multiplayer saves: a match you saved together can be carried on later, see Playing together.

Can I play against the computer?#

Yes, and it is not a practice mode. The computer builds a base that looks like a real town, in one of five styles (Citadel, Ribbon, Quarters, Outpost or Open Village), and opens differently from match to match: a tower rush, an early cavalry raid, a long build-up. Before it attacks it gathers its army and comes in together, in formation. As your ally it warns you when something is coming and sends resources when you run dry.

There are five difficulty levels, from Beginner (which leaves you alone for the first sixteen minutes) to Merciless; Beginner and Easy play a simpler game. For each computer player you pick a style, aggressive, balanced or defensive, and on top of that it gets a character of its own each match, so the same style twice does not play the same twice. Humans and computer players can share a match.

How many players?#

Up to eight, in teams or free-for-all, with up to four observers alongside.

Can I talk to my team?#

Yes, Aetas has voice chat, in the lobby and during the match. Hold Page Up for your team or Page Down for everyone, or switch to open mic. More on Playing together.

Does my match count towards a leaderboard?#

Only if the host ticks ranked, and that is only allowed for a fair match: humans only, even teams and fixed settings. Then it counts towards your rating and puts you on the leaderboard. Every finished online match, ranked or not, earns XP and statistics; your rating only changes in ranked. More about it under playing together.

When have I lost?#

As long as you have a town center, barracks or other building that trains units, you are still in it. Lose the last one and you have workers left? Then after a minute everyone can see where they are, and you get three more minutes to finish a new town center or barracks. Make it in time and the clock stops; if not, you are out. With no workers and no such building left, you are out straight away. You can resign at any time from the Esc menu.

The computer offers to surrender when it has lost; you can accept, or play on and finish it yourself. You can change that in the lobby under "Computer resigns".

Is there a campaign?#

Yes. Every people has a campaign of eight missions based on real history, 48 in all, and there are six famous battles you can play on their own. Next to that there are single matches against the computer, multiplayer, a tutorial and challenges.

Can I watch replays?#

Yes, every match is recorded; the fifty newest are kept. A replay is not a video but the same match played again, so you can look around freely and put the camera wherever you like.

At the bottom of the screen you get controls like a video: pause (P), slow motion (0.25×, 0.5×, 0.75×) and fast forward (2×, 4×, 8×), with + and

Someone is ruining the game#

Right-click their name or picture and choose Report player. In the same menu you can mute their chat or voice.

Can I mod it?#

Not officially supported, but a lot of it sits in plain text files you can edit: units, buildings, technologies, civilizations and ages. The wiki on this site is generated from those same files.

What's coming next?#

Regular updates for now, then new art and animations. What is planned, and what might come after that, is on the roadmap.

Why is it called Aetas?#

Aetas is Latin for age. That is what the game is about.

I found a bug#

Write to info@aetasrts.nl or post in the Steam discussions. Say what you did and what you expected — and if it happened in a match, keep the replay. The support page tells you what to send along and where to find it.