AoE2 Coach
Live coaching and post-game review for Age of Empires 2 DE players. Perfect for climbing the ranked ladder or practicing for your first ranked matches.
Features
The AoE2 Coach app is looking over your shoulder - literally via real-time screen capture. It sees what you see.
Rein in your TC idle time
The app overlays your TC idle time on the stats screen, tracks it over games and lets you review idle moments.
Live Alerts
Receive real-time coaching tips during single-player games (disabled in ranked multiplayer for fair play). Get notified about idle Town Center, wood float, housed villagers, etc while practicing your build orders.
Hotkey Practice
Challenge yourself to use your hotkeys by blocking clicks in the bottom left build UI. Start by enabling this for Dark Age only. You can pause it with a custom hotkey.
Improved Tech Tree Overlay
Also see your opponent's tech tree in the overlay to exploit their weaknesses. Now available via hotkey.
Requirements (Beta)
- Discord account (the beta code and feedback both live in a closed beta channel).
- Supported screen resolutions: 16:9 at 1080p or higher, including 4K. 16:10 resolution tested with 1920x1200. 3440x1440 not supported yet.
- English language setting. To detect stats screen vs starting a game.
- Required in-game mod: Anne_HK - Better Resource Panel and Idle Villager Icon (available on the in-game mod browser). Makes the resource panel easier to read.
- In-game HUD scale setting: 99-100%.
- Game time display enabled. (F11 to toggle)
- No mods that alter the production queue or resource panel display.
- Alt-tab and pausing not supported.
- Optional, temporary: NVIDIA GPU. Feel free to try it with CPU, I use it myself, alerts would be slightly slower.
These requirements will become more lenient over time as support expands.
Join the Waitlist
Get early access and help shape the AoE2 Coach.
You're welcome to join the beta waitlist even if you don't meet the above requirements. You'll retain your original spot if you decline an invite for any reason.
Development Timeline
Alpha
Testing with friends
Initial Closed Beta
Invite only access to test beta readiness
Closed Beta
Waitlist, reddit invites and iterative development based on feedback
Open Beta
Make widely available once feedback confirms it's good enough
Fairness Framework
The AoE2 Coach only observes what the player can already see on their screen. This is consistent with existing mods.
1. What It Sees
The app captures your screen, the same information available to you as the player.
2. What It Does in Ranked
In ranked play, the app only makes existing information more accessible. No real-time alerts. Gameplay feedback comes in a post-game review. The gut check is:
- Does this feel like you checking information, or like a friend/coach alerting you to something?
- Could you have this on a post-it note or a website on a second screen?
3. What It Does in Single Player
Full coaching mode including real-time alerts (e.g. TC idle detection). Practice is where maximum feedback helps most.
4. Accessibility
The AoE2 Coach is free and not exclusive. The closed beta is temporary to ensure quality. The goal is for every player to be able to use this. Supporting all setups (resolutions, hardware, UI configurations) will be a journey.
5. Community Input
Actively engaging the community to validate whether this framework and its application hold up. Share your feedback on Discord.