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Aetas plays up to eight, humans and computer players mixed, over the internet or over the local network.

Finding a match#

The server list in the main menu pulls open matches from the official lobby server. On your own network the game finds matches by itself, with no server involved. You can also type in an IP address directly if somebody gives you one, or join a friend straight from your Steam friends list.

Hosting#

Whoever hosts runs the match for everyone. That means a reasonable connection is enough, because only orders go over the wire — no map, no positions. Playing through Steam means you do not have to touch your router: Steam handles the connection between players. Only outside Steam — a match on an IP, or your own server — does port 7777 (the default) need forwarding to your machine for someone outside your network to join. The game says so itself when it applies.

Thinking of ticking Ranked? When you host, the game shows how many ranked lobbies are open right now and how many players are waiting in them, so you can join one of those instead of waiting in your own.

Everybody plays the same match#

Only orders go over the wire — no map, no positions. That is why you do not need a fast connection, why every match can be watched back exactly as a replay, and why the game notices at once when something goes wrong on one machine.

The flip side: everyone waits for the slowest. Ping shows up as delay between your click and what happens. If a match feels sticky, F3 brings up a small overlay with your frame rate and your ping.

The lobby#

The host decides who gets in: open to everyone, locked with a password, or friends only. Beyond that the host sets the map, the teams, the starting resources, the first and last age, the speed and the population limit. If the host changes the map or the rules, everyone has to press Ready again, so nobody starts on settings they never agreed to.

Every player picks their people in the lobby. Computer players start on Random, and the host can change that. With Fixed alliances on, the teams from the lobby stay as they are all match long.

Any empty slot can become a computer player, with a playing style of its own: aggressive (comes early and often), balanced, or defensive (builds towers and a wall and saves up for one big push). On top of that style it picks up a character of its own each match, so two computer players on the same style do not open the same way. There are five difficulty levels: Beginner, Easy, Normal, Hard and Merciless. With Computer resigns on, a beaten computer player offers to surrender; you can accept or finish it off.

Teams can be balanced with one button. The game uses the ratings from the server for that, and for players who never played ranked it looks at how they did in normal matches. That balance rating is hidden: only the host's game gets it, to split the teams, and it is never shown anywhere.

Next to each name in the lobby you can see how often that player left a match without giving up, as a percentage. It only shows up once someone has played at least five online matches, and only if they ever did it, so the host knows who is joining.

Talking and chatting#

Type with Enter (everyone) or Shift + Enter (your team). You can also talk: hold Page Up for your team and Page Down for everyone. You hear a soft tick when your microphone switches on and off. Rather keep your hands free? Pick open mic: it sends to your team as soon as you speak louder than the threshold, and Page Down then talks to everyone.

It's all under Settings > Audio: on or off, push-to-talk or open mic, the volume of the others, how far music and sound drop while someone talks, the threshold, and which keys you use. Test microphone shows a bar for how loud you come through. You pick the microphone itself in Steam's voice settings; voice chat only works while Steam is running.

A small speaker shows next to the name of whoever is talking: in the lobby, in the player list (F1) and on the scoreboard (F2).

In the lobby the host chooses whether voice is for everyone, teams only or off. A ranked match starts on teams only. During a match, players and spectators never hear each other and spectators can't chat to the players: a spectator sees the whole map and shouldn't be able to give anything away. Spectators can still talk among themselves. In the lobby everyone talks to everyone.

Right-click a player#

Right-click a name or profile picture, in the lobby, in the player list or on the scoreboard, for a small menu: view their Steam profile, add them as a friend, send a message, or mute their chat or voice. You can also make a voice louder or softer there, from 25% to 300%. For players on Steam the game remembers that, even after a restart. Anyone you have blocked on Steam stays silent in Aetas, and the menu says so. The host can also remove someone from the lobby here.

Report player is in the same menu: pick a reason (chat, voice chat, their name, cheating, ruining the game, or something else) and send it. What that player said in chat is sent along.

Watching, dropping out and coming back#

Anyone who would rather watch than play joins as an observer and sees the whole map. You can also join a match that is already under way.

If your connection drops you can come back into the match; you arrive at the state it is in now. If your seat stays empty for 45 seconds the computer takes it over so the others can keep playing — and hands it back the moment you return. (The host can turn that off in the lobby with Computer takes over; then you give up after three minutes away.)

If someone stays connected but falls behind for fifteen seconds, the host gets a Continue without button for that player. They are then treated as dropped: the computer can take over, and they can rejoin later.

Saving and carrying on later#

Any player can save a multiplayer match from the Esc menu. To carry on, the host opens a new lobby and picks the save under Saved game: everyone gets their old seat back, and the computer plays for anyone who is missing. A resumed match counts once it is finished, but never as ranked.

Diplomacy and pausing#

In the diplomacy window (F7, or from the Esc menu) you can send resources to any player still in the game, ally or not. You can also offer an alliance, accept one, or break one and declare war. An alliance works like a team: accepting brings the other player into your whole team. Computer players answer offers too. With Fixed alliances on, only sending resources is possible.

Need a moment? Press P. Every player gets three pauses of up to a minute each. Everyone sees who paused and how long is left, and the game counts down 3-2-1 before it continues.

Ranked#

Ranked is not a separate queue but a tick box when you host, next to Friends only. With it on, the match counts towards your rating. Your rating is your skill, and only ranked matches change it. In the list of games a ranked match has a gold star in front of its name, with the padlock next to it if it also has a password.

What you choose when hosting is fixed in the lobby. A ranked match is always fair:

• humans only: the host cannot add computer players;
• everyone on Steam and logged in to the lobby server: anyone who isn't cannot join as a player and is told why;
• exactly two even teams — 1v1 up to 4v4. If the teams are lopsided, the match cannot start until they are fixed;
• settings at their defaults and alliances fixed; the host still picks the map type.

Observers are welcome either way. Inside the match RANKED sits at the top of the screen, so nobody finds out afterwards that it counted.

You start at 1200. Beating someone rated above you is worth more than beating someone below you, and losing works the same way round; in a team the averages of both sides are used. The first five matches are placement matches: your rating moves, but it is shown as provisional and does not appear on the leaderboard yet. Afterwards you see what the match earned or cost you.

Every month a new season starts and everyone slides halfway back towards the middle — you keep a lead, but not an unreachable one. Your highest rating ever stays on record. Not playing for a while costs you nothing; if you go 30 days without a ranked match, you are simply shown as inactive on the rating list.

Giving up a ranked match is an ordinary loss. Leaving it without giving up counts as a loss too, with an extra deduction from your rating on top, and it costs XP like in any other match (see below). Dropping out briefly and being back within a few minutes costs nothing — that is what reconnecting is for.

XP#

Every finished online match on the official server earns you XP, ranked or not. XP is what you get for playing; your rating is your skill. Per match:

Giving up is always free: you lose the match, but you keep what you earned. Leaving without giving up costs 25 XP of the month, in every match, ranked or normal. Leave within the first five minutes and you get nothing for playing either.

The leaderboard#

Every finished match on the official server is counted when all players report the same result. If the reports disagree, the match does not count. A ranked match always counts for everyone who played in it.

The leaderboard shows your rating, and alongside it XP, wins, records from single matches, map types and how the six civilizations are doing. Your own row is always shown, even if you are a hundredth. Players without a ranked match in the last 30 days are marked inactive on the rating list. Click a name on this site to see that player's own page: their rating over time, the civilizations they play with their win rate, and their most recent ranked matches.

The Hall of fame has the top three by XP of every past month and the highest rating. It is on this site and in the game. In the game there is also a button to show only your Steam friends. Next to each name you see the civilization that player picks most, and the Left column shows how often someone left a match before the end (only for players who ever did).