v1.5.0

ℹ️ See the repo if you are using a Custom Launcher in order to achieve 100% offline functionality.

What's Changed

Relevant changes since last stable version

General

• Added support for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition.
• Enhancement: config files now use the TOML standard instead of the limited INI pseudo-format.
• Enhancement: launcher now uses a separated config file for game-specific configuration apart from the common config file.
• Enhancement: the server now provides the last connected/friend list upon login.
• Enhancement: the server now sends to all clients the online/offline status of each other. In addition, it is also broadcasted when it changes.
• Enhancement: the server now also announces (by default) using IPv4 Multicast; a more efficient but less compatible protocol than Broadcast.
• Enhancement: server can now send the session data to the client using a long-polling technique when Websockets fail to work.
• Enhancement: now the server can be configured to select which games to support (currently: all, aoe2 or aoe3).
• New: Added dockerfile and compose for the Server.
• Launcher on Windows Fix: Severe bug when starting processes. Agent was affected thus config may not be reverted, config admin agent and server may not be stopped.
• Fix: Launcher correctly passing the game id when starting the agent.
• Fix: Unix server scripts not having a pause.
• Fix: Wrong config argument in launcher scripts.
• Fix: Fix taskfile file when debugging for the first time.
• Fix: Fix several race conditions in Server.
• Fix: Server now returns correctly that is returning UTF-8 JSON encoded data.
• Fix: Fix some lobby data that did not allow signed numbers.
• Change: Launcher exit functionality moved to scripts.

Archives

• Replaced .ini files to .toml
• Separated launcher config.toml into config.toml + config.aoe2.toml and config.aoe3.toml

Windows

• Add: launcher_aoe2.bat and launcher_aoe3.bat.
• Add: server_aoe2.bat and server_aoe3.bat.
• Add: cleanup_aoe2.bat and cleanup_aoe3.bat.
• Removed: cleanup.bat.

Linux

• Add: launcher_aoe2.sh and launcher_aoe3.sh.
• Add: server_aoe2.sh and server_aoe3.sh.
• Add: cleanup_aoe2.sh and cleanup_aoe3.sh.
• Removed: cleanup.sh, launcher.sh and server.sh.

macOS

• Add: server_aoe2.command and server_aoe3.command.

See Github differences v1.4.0...v1.5.0

Relevant changes since last unstable version

• Launcher on Windows Fix: Severe bug when starting processes. Agent was affected thus config may not be reverted, config admin agent and server may not be stopped.

Files

• Full:
  • Windows:
    • 10 on x86-64: ageLANServer_full_1.5.0_win_x86-64.zip
    • 11 on ARM: ageLANServer_full_1.5.0_win_arm64.tar.xz
  • Linux:
    • x86-64: ageLANServer_full_1.5.0_linux_x86-64.tar.xz
    • ARM64: ageLANServer_full_1.5.0_linux_arm64.tar.xz
• Launcher:
  • Windows:
    • 10 on x86-64: ageLANServer_launcher_1.5.0_win_x86-64.zip
    • 11 on ARM: ageLANServer_launcher_1.5.0_win_arm64.tar.xz
  • Linux:
    • x86-64: ageLANServer_launcher_1.5.0_linux_x86-64.tar.xz
    • ARM64: ageLANServer_launcher_1.5.0_linux_arm64.tar.xz
• Server:
  • Windows:
    • 10, Server 2025 or IoT on ARM64: ageLANServer_server_1.5.0_win_arm64.zip
    • 10 IoT on ARM32: ageLANServer_server_1.5.0_win_arm32.zip
    • 10, Server 2016 or IoT on x86-64: ageLANServer_server_1.5.0_win_x86-64.zip
    • 10 or 10 IoT on x86-32: ageLANServer_server_1.5.0_win_x86-32.zip
  • Linux:
    • Kernel 3.1 on ARM64: ageLANServer_server_1.5.0_linux_arm64.tar.xz
    • Kernel 2.6.23 on ARM32:
      • ARMv5 (armel): ageLANServer_server_1.5.0_linux_arm-5.tar.gz
      • ARMv6 (sometimes called armhf): ageLANServer_server_1.5.0_linux_arm-6.tar.gz
    • Kernel 2.6.23 on x86-64: ageLANServer_server_1.5.0_linux_x86-64.tar.gz
    • Kernel 2.6.23 on x86-32: ageLANServer_server_1.5.0_linux_x86-32.tar.gz
  • macOS - Catalina (v10.15): ageLANServer_server_1.5.0_mac.tar.gz

Note: If you are using Antivirus it may flag one or more executables as virus, this is a false positive.

Verification

The verification process ensures that the files you download are the same as the ones that were uploaded by the maintainer.

1. Download the ageLANLanServer_1.5.0_checksums.txt and ageLANLanServer_1.5.0_checksums.txt.sig files.
2. Import the release public key and import it to your keyring if you haven't already.
3. Verify the ageLANServer_1.5.0_checksums.txt file with the ageLANLanServer_1.5.0_checksums.txt.sig file.
4. Verify the SHA-256 checksum list inside ageLANServer_1.5.0_checksums.txt with the downloaded archives.

Simplest way to use it

1. Download the asset ageLANServer_full_1.5.0_....
2. Uncompress it somewhere.
3. If not using the Steam or Xbox launcher, edit the launcher/resources/config.aoe2.toml or launcher/resources/config.aoe3.toml file with a text editor (like Notepad) and modify the Client.Executable section to point to the game launcher path.
   You will need to use a custom launcher (plus what my other repo provides) for 100% offline play.
4. Execute launcher/launcher-aoe2 or launcher/launcher-aoe3: you will be asked for admin elevation and confirmation of other dialogs as needed, you will also need to allow the connections via the Microsoft Defender Firewall or any other.
5. Repeat the above steps for every PC you want to play in LAN with by running the launcher, the first PC to launch it will host the "server" for a given game and the rest will auto-discover and connect to it.
6. In the game, when hosting a new lobby, just make sure to set the server to Use Local Lan Server (AoE II) or select LAN before creating the Lobby (AoE III). In AoE II, setting it to public visibility is recommended.
7. If the lobby is Public, they can join directly in the browser or you can Invite friends by searching them by name and sending an invite as needed. You can share the link to join the lobby automatically (only works if already in-game).

Help

Look for the Troubleshooting if you have any issues, create an issue or look for discussions