UPatch HD or unofficial Patch High Definition fixes and modernizes Age of Empires: Rise of Rome.

Link to official site


You do not have to download from Nexus but you can if you want a funny picture.

List of features

Notes:

- F = Food, W = Wood, G = Gold, S = Stone, LOS = Line of sight, HP = hitpoints.
- All changes and fixes from Rise of Rome version 1.0a (also known as update 1.0c) are also included. Check the 1.0c Readme for more details.
- Percentages and numbers for bonuses are not cumulative (i.e. they are derived from the original value, not the last value), except for wood, gold and stone gathering upgrades (at the Market).
- The new modding features (modding system and Mod Manager) are not included here, check Help - Using Mods for full information.
- For more general information or help – click on Help above.

New Features:

- Support for high resolution - up to 2560x1440. The original game supported only 640x480, 800x600 and 1024x768. For more detailed information click here.
- HD interface graphics - interface background screens reworked and enhanced to HD quality. No more badly resized low resolution/low quality graphics. Check the comparison images in the Gallery.
- The original CD audio soundtrack for Age of Empires and Rise of Rome in mp3 format now plays in the game, replacing the synthesizer (MIDI) version.
- Compatibility with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1 and Windows 10/11.
- All parts of the patch work properly with High DPI settings.
- Support for 10 game languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Russian, Chinese (both Traditional and Simplified) and Japanese.
- New HD Launcher - a remake of the original game launcher (do you remember it?), now a central place for all UPatch HD settings and the Mod Manager.

    - New Mod Manager with new modding system – allows you to apply mods without replacing any original files (the proper way to handle mods, as in all modern games). With extended mod capabilities, like the ability to add civilizations. More information here.
    - New UPatch HD settings  (full information here).
    - Windowed Mode: allows you to play the game in a window, instead of full screen.
    - Player Name: allows you to change your player name in the game, including in Single Player.
    - Game Language: allows you to easily change your game language without reinstalling the game or the patch.
    - File Check: new option to check your game installation for problems – explained here. Always run this check before reporting problems.
    - New Scenario Editor options, which enable more control over unit placement and the use of hidden objects - more information here.
    - New Mouse control (now enabled by default) - previously the game did not detect right-clicks properly when moving the mouse rapidly, which prevented commands to be quickly issued one after another.
    - New options to disable startup videos and terrain sounds.
    - Added some mods as part of UPatch HD: "UPatch Improved AI" mod by gestremd (reworked AI strategies in Death Match and Random Map games in order to support the maximum population limit in Single Player), "Balance from v1.0/1.0A" (mods restoring the original gameplay and balance from Rise of Rome v1.0/1.0A), "Unlimited Farm Food",  Population limit in Single Player to 100/200, "No Scout Auto-attack" and "No Shared Exploration".

- 2 new random map types - the desolate "Oasis" and the treacherous "Rivers".
- The original AOE and ROR demo campaigns (Reign of the Hittites, First Punic War) and scenarios (Multiplayer Rumble, Multiplayer Mediterranean) are now installed with UPatch HD. They were created by Ensemble Studios and should be part of the game.
- Option to select random teams: "?" (question mark) for team number. Two teams will be formed if everyone selects "?".
- Option to select "Random" in Map Type, so that you don't know which map will be chosen. In Multiplayer this option also hides the selected map type in "Scenario Instructions" ("Random" is displayed there).
- Multiplayer population limit option extended to 400.
- Post-Iron Age option added as starting age in both Single and Multiplayer.
- New Path Finding option "Very High" added, set by default.
- New Idle Military Units hotkey (in addition to the Idle Villager key) - press "," (comma) key to cycle through your idle military units (all units that have an attack and are not currently moving or in combat, this includes war ships).
- New hotkeys to select and go to (previously these were missing): Granary (Ctrl + G), Storage Pit (Ctrl + S), Market (Ctrl + M), Government Center (Ctrl + C), Wonder (Ctrl + O).
- The number of possible unit groups is doubled - numpad keys 0-9 can now be used to create and select unit groups, in addition to the main 0-9 keys.
- New hotkeys to open the Diplomacy menu dialog ("F9"), Multiplayer Chat dialog ("F8" - only in Multiplayer) and Scenario Editor Menu ("F10").
- The game now remembers the last state (shown or hidden) of scores (F4) and timer (F11). For example if you enable scores and then exit the game, next time you play, the scores will be enabled automatically on game start.
- The game now saves screenshots (CTRL+F12) in a new folder screenshots/.
- All ai related files (.ai./.per/.cty) now reside in the new dedicated /ai folder.
- New Starting Resource option added - "Low": 0 Food, 200 Wood, 0 Stone, 0 Gold.
- Prey animals, fish and Berry Bushes are now visible on the mini map in light green color.
- Improved red and orange player colors in the game (including on the mini map) - now more distinguishable.
- Mini map colors are improved: player colors are more distinguishable from terrain and other player colors.
- Full game version is now also displayed on main menu (at the bottom).

Bug fixes and improvements:

General fixes and improvements:

- Fixes to prevent crash to Desktop and inability to start the game.
- Save game crashes are fixed.
- Distorted in-game colors (color bugs) are fixed.
- Fixed compatibility problems with Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10/11.
- Fixed the problem with wrong game fonts, causing incorrectly displayed text in-game.
- Fixed a lot of bugs and discrepancies in different unit attack bonuses.
- "Fixed Position" lobby option renamed to "Team Together" (same functionality).
- "Fortification" renamed to "Fortified Wall" (same as other AOE games).
- "High" starting resource option changed to 1000F, 1000W, 500G, 500S (previously 1000F, 1000W, 0 Gold, 750 Stone).
- Fixed some LOS bugs for units and buildings.
- Computer players no longer change their diplomacy on accidental hits by allies (catapults, elephants, etc).
- Computer players no longer automatically ally with other computer players when they are set to no team ("-").
- Many other fixes for computer players (ai).
- Added bonus resources for computer players on "Hard" difficulty (+500).
- Fishing Ship no longer hidden in Scenario Editor.
- Forest Trees are no longer hidden in Scenario Editor - Units section.
- Some terrain objects previously hidden in Scenario Editor are now unhidden: few Grass Clumps, Rocks and a new Bones graphics.
- Trade Workshop no longer hidden in Scenario Editor.
- Roman Trade Workshop player color and icon are fixed.
- Rubble from destroyed walls now disappears after some time.
- Tree stumps from dead trees now disappear after a while.
- kill9 cheat code corrected to kill8.
- Cheat code "gaia" replaced by play# (experimental, use only for testing and observing ai). For example typing "play2" will allow you to play as player 2 (the computer player will still have control over player 2 at the same time). Not available in multiplayer.
- Fixed a lot of graphic and sound bugs in the game, including missing/incorrect sounds, misaligned graphics, selection radiuses, hitpoint bars, etc.
- A lot of corrections in Portuguese and French language translations (all of these mistakes were inherited from the original game). Some minor corrections in other languages.
- Hundreds of other small bug fixes.
Unit and technology fixes:
- Ballista/Helepolis no longer receive their Alchemy bonus twice (so it's now +1, not +2).
- The following technologies were fixed to correspond to their intended (described) effect: Aristocracy, Fanaticism, Stone Mining, Siegecraft, Gold Mining, Woodcutting, Artisanship, Craftsmanship.
- Artisanship bug fix – now correctly increases LOS for Chariot Archer and Horse Archer.
- Phalanx upgrade now correctly adds +1 point for Achievements - Technologies.
- Fixed missing Slinger bonus attack vs. Heavy Horse Archer.
- Fixed Slinger extreme attack vs Watch Towers.
- Astrology description corrected: Conversion and healing 30% more effective. Healing bonus was always present, but undocumented effect.
- Fix: Fanaticism to 50% faster rejuvenation (as documented, previously 75%).
- War Elephant: fixed missing attack bonus vs. buildings.
- Minimum range of catapults to 3 (previously 2 - smaller than Ballista/Helepolis).
- Guard and Ballista Towers have +1 pierce armor (previously they had the same pierce armor as Sentry Tower).
- Hero Hector fixed - right-click to attack now works. The inability to board transports is preserved for scenarios.
- Hero Hersifon and Corlis now proper military units, do not turn to normal villagers when tasked. Inability to board transports is preserved.
- Hero units have similar fixes/changes as their corresponding units. Base stats (attack, hit points, etc.) are unchanged.

Civilization fixes:

- Phoenician woodcutting bonus now actually +15%, as documented (previously +11%).
- Babylonian Priests now rejuvenate 30% faster (as documented; previously 37%).
- Egyptian gold mining bonus fixed: 20% faster gold mining (as documented; previously 44%).
- Egyptian chariot bonus no longer gives 1 HP less.
- Greek bonus fixed: Academy units move 30% faster (as documented; previously 33%).
- Assyrian: Elephant Archers placed in scenarios are now affected by their archer bonus.
- Persian Hunter bonus fixed: Hunters work 30% faster (as documented; previously 67%).
- Persian Triremes in Post-Iron Age no longer lose their faster fire rate bonus.
- Minoan Composite bowmen no longer lose their bonus when starting in Iron Age or Post-Iron Age.
- Choson: Legions in Post-Iron Age no longer lose their HP bonus.
- Hittite catapult bonus no longer affects Ballista/Helepolis in scenarios.
- Sumerian catapult bonus no longer affects Ballista/Helepolis in scenarios.
- Post-Iron Age bug fixes - civilizations no longer receive unit upgrades they do not have in their normal tech tree (for example Armored Elephant for Babylonian).
- Fixed technology tree bugs when starting in later ages (for example Minoan Composite bowmen no longer lose their range bonus).

Random Maps:

- New random map type - “Rivers”: Similar to Highlands with rivers, but much better. Rivers are wider and have more fish. Computer players will properly recognize the map type and may build Docks and ships. Rivers may or may not separate all players.
- New random map type - “Oasis”: An all desert map with most of the wood concentrated in a central oasis. This map is very open, with less wood around the player and few berries, but more Gold.
- Improved resource distances and quantity for each map accordingly.
- More gold and stone on maps.
- More fish on all water maps.
- Berry bushes near each player's starting position are no longer too far away on some maps.
- One straggler tree near the Town Center is now always generated per player on all maps. Additional straggler trees are random, as before.
- More consistent near Gazelle group distance.
- Adjusted Lion and Alligator count to fit the amount of land available.
- Small Islands - slightly larger islands, more forests, better resource allocation. No Elephants and Lions; more Gazelles and more Alligators.
- Large Islands - more distance between individual islands (previously some islands were too close).
- Additional (non-player) islands on Small/Large Islands maps are removed.
- River changes: Highland no longer has rivers (use the new Rivers map instead), Continental no longer has rivers, Narrows now always has rivers.
- Number of maximum recommended players in map size name – example: "Large (4 Players)"
- Some other small tweaks, improving the odds of generating better maps.

Balance - units and technologies:

- Shared exploration with allies now enabled from the start of the game. "Writing" technology is disabled.
- Domestication cost reduced to 150 F, 50 W (previously 200 F, 50 W).
- Plow: +100 Farm Food (previously +75).
- Irrigation: +125 Farm Food (previously +75).
- Villagers move 10% faster in Tool Age.
- Wheel: Villager move 50% faster. With the Tool Age bonus it's a total of 60% faster (close to the original game's 64% faster).
- Hunters work 5% faster than before.
- Food available from Fish - Whale to 300 Food.
- Farms can be placed on elevations.
- Gold mine pieces contain 450 gold (previously 400).
- Stone mine pieces contain 300 stone (previously 250).
- Stone mining, gold mining and woodcutting upgrades are now multiplicative (each upgrade multiplies the previous value).
- Gold and stone miners work 15% faster (to compensate bug fixes to technologies).
- Jihad: villager carry capacity penalty more consistent for different villager types; villager speed bonus to +10% (previously 27%).
- Siegecraft: Villager bonus attack vs walls and towers reduced in ~half (previously it was higher than that of Centurions).
- Short Swordsmen directly available in Bronze Age without any researches.
- Broad swordsmen have +10 HP, Long Swordsmen have +20 HP.
- Researching Broad Sword takes +10 sec.
- Long sword upgrade cost changed to 240 F, 100 G (previously 160 F, 50 G).
- Legion -20 HP (from 160 HP to 140 HP).
- Slinger training time increased from 24 sec to 35s.
- Warships and Slingers no longer have a minimum of 1 damage against buildings. This reduces Slinger attack vs normal buildings and Scout Ship attack vs towers/walls.
- Scout cost reduced to 90 F (from 100 F). Line of sight reduced by 1.
- Horse Archer and Heavy Horse Archer to 1 pierce armor (previously 2).
- Cavalry +1 pierce armor.
- Heavy Cavalry +1 armor, +1 pierce armor, +1 attack vs infantry (6 total).
- Cataphract: +60 HP, +2 armor, +2 pierce armor; +2 attack vs infantry (7 total), upgrade cost to 1600F, 600G (previously 2000F, 850G).
- Scythe Chariot -1 armor, upgrade cost to 1400 W, 1000 G (from 1200 W, 800 G), +50 sec. upgrade time.
- Towers have +25/+35/+40/+40 HP (Watch/Sentry/Guard/Ballista Tower).
- Elephant Archers +1 attack.
- Armored Elephant no longer requires Iron Shield, upgrade cost increased to 1200 F, 1500 G (from 1000 food, 1200 Gold), research time +50 seconds.
- War/Armored Elephant and Scythe Chariot trample damage area reduced to 1.5 (just enough so that they no longer damage enemy units/buildings on the other side of a wall; previously 2.0).
- Chariot units no longer have bonus damage vs Priest and are 2x harder to convert compared to other units (previously 8x harder to convert).
- Slingers have higher bonus attack (+4) vs mounted archers (bonus vs foot archers unchanged +2).
- Camel Riders now have bonus attack against all mounted units. Missing +4 bonus attack vs elephants added.
- Armored Elephant bonus attack vs. buildings decreased by 1.
- Scout gets +2 LOS per age upgrade – already present, but undocumented effect. Bonus from upgrading from Stone to Tool Age is removed (Scout isn’t available in Stone Age).
- Catapult, Heavy Catapult and Juggernaught have 25% smaller damage area radius.
- Siege weapon projectiles (stones and bolts) travel slightly faster (8-11%)
- Siege weapon projectiles are slightly slower to reload (3-7%) - affects all stone and bolt firing units, except Ballista and Helepolis.
- Ballista 10% faster fire rate.
- Helepolis +5 attack; upgrade cost to 1200 F, 1000 W (previously 1500 F, 1000 W); 23% slower fire rate (previously it fired as fast as archers).
- Dock work rate is now increased more gradually in Bronze (+13%) and Iron (+18%) Age, instead of jumping to +33% faster directly in Bronze Age.
- Scout Ship, War Galley and Trireme are 15% slower to train.
- Catapult Trireme and Juggernaught are researched faster.
- Catapult Triremes have 135 HP (previously 120 HP).
- Catapult Trireme and Juggernaught move 10% faster, cost reduced to 135W, 50G (previously 135W, 75G).
- Juggernaughts can no longer destroy trees. Upgrade cost reduced to 1300F, 700W (previously: 2000F, 900W).
- Academy cost reduced to 175W (previously 200W).
- Medicine: Priest heals 2x faster (previously 3x = faster than most attacks in the game).
- Martyrdom cost reduced to 400 G (from 600 G).
- Improved Bow researched faster (-15 sec).
- Wheel researched slower (+15 sec.).
- Farms are built 20% faster
- Towers are built 10% faster.
- Trade Boats to 120 HP (previously 200 HP - same as Trireme); Merchant Ships to 200 HP (previously 250 HP).
- The previously hidden hero unit "Hero12", now renamed to "Hero" and unhidden in the Editor. Unit class is fixed; increased HP and armor (similar to Cataphract).

Balance - Civilizations:
    
 
Updated technology trees for all civilizations are available here.

- Note: Civilization fixes are listed above.
- All civilizations now get Heavy Transport upgrade (previously Choson, Assyrian, Babylonian, Hittite, Palmyran, Shang and Sumerian didn't).
- All civilizations now get Wheel (previously Persian and Macedonian didn't).
- All civilizations now get Coinage (previously Egyptian, Palmyran, Persian, Shang and Sumerian didn't).

Assyrians:

- Villagers move 10% faster (previously 18% faster).
- Archers fire 33% faster (previously 36% faster for mounted archers, 27% faster for foot archers).
- Get Alchemy, Engineering and Chain Mail armors.

Babylonians:

- New bonus: Market technologies are 30% cheaper.
- Stone mining 20% faster (previously 44%).
- Towers and walls have +60% HP (previously +100%).
- Get Metallurgy and Chain Mail armor.

Carthaginians:

- New bonus: Start the game with +50 of all resources.
- New bonus: Camel Riders have +15% HP.

- Transport ships move 25% faster (previously 25% faster for Light Transport, 43% faster for Heavy Transport; 30% only in documentation).

Choson:

- New bonus: Storage Pit technologies are 40% cheaper.
- Axemen/Short/Broad/Long swordsmen and Legion have +5/15/20/60/80 HP respectively (previously +80 HP only for Long Swordsman and Legion).
- Get Nobility.

Egyptians:

- New bonus: Farms are 20% cheaper (60 W instead of 75 W).
- Get Coinage.

Greeks:

- New bonus: Town Centers work 10% faster stating from Tool Age (affects villager creation and aging up).
- New bonus: Academy units cost 20% less (in addition to the already present move speed bonus).
- Ships are 20% faster (previously only warships were 17% faster).
- Get Fire Galley.

Hittites:

- Catapults have +50% HP (previously +100%).
- War ships (except Fire Galley) have +2 range in Tool Age, +3 in Bronze/Iron Age (previously +4 in all ages).
- Centurion, Architecture and Irrigation removed.

Macedonians:

- Get Wheel.
- Get Catapult upgrade.
- Siege Workshop units cost -25% (previously -50%).
- Academy units have +1 pierce armor in Bronze Age, +2 in Iron Age (previously +2 in all ages).

Palmyrans:

- Start the game with +75 Food.
- Villagers work 25% faster for all tasks (previously 20% faster for some tasks, 0% faster for others).
- Get Coinage.

Persians:

- Elephant units move 25% faster (previously 56% faster).
- Get Wheel, Plow, Artisanship and Coinage.
- Persian Triremes fire 33% faster (previously 38%).

Phoenicians:

- Catapult Trireme and Juggernaught fire 30% faster (previously 72% faster).

Romans:

- Swordsman line attacks 50% faster (no change in the bonus, wrongly described as 33%)
- Buildings (except towers, walls and Wonders) cost -10% (previously -15%).
- Towers cost -40% (previously -50%).

Shang:

- Walls have +60% HP (previously +100%).
- Get Ballistics and Coinage.

Sumerians:

- Farms have +125 F (previously +250 F).
- Sumerian catapults fire 40% faster (previously 43% faster).
- Get Coinage.

Yamato:

- Villagers move 10% faster (previously 18% faster).
- All ships have +20% HP (previously +33% HP for fishing ships, +30% HP for other ships)
- All cavalry units and Horse Archers cost -15% (previously -25%).