People play RTS games for a variety of reasons and ways, some may prefer to jump right into battle, while others may prefer to run a base, carefully laying out castles and farms before the battle. The latest patch for Age Of Empires IV caters to both play styles by opening up map size options for multiplayer matches.
Update patch 14681 lets you choose the map size for multiplayer. Players now have the option to scale up or down from the default – for example, 4v4 can be played on a large map, or 3v3 can be played on a medium map.
The patch also changes the default map size for several quick match configurations, making the game more compact. 2v2 matches will be played on the small map, 3v3 matches will be played on the medium map, and 4v4 matches will be played on the large map. But players can still use huge maps (or other sized maps) in custom games, these tweaks only apply to quick match games.
The patch also makes adjustments to specific maps and how spawn points work on engagement maps when teams are not evenly distributed. For example, trees were increased on the Altai, the mountains of the Pass de France were shortened, and the positions of trading posts and holy places on the Danube were changed.
You can read the full patch notes to see all the changes in the update. The developers said to keep an eye out for Season 1’s second seasonal event, while the Season 2 feature is currently in the works.