AoE2 Intro: Is it a real chess game?
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- Опубліковано 27 лип 2021
- Have you ever watched the Age of Kings intro and wondered if it's real chess? It turns out there's a serious game going on, but can it be improved with a rigorous chess engine analysis?
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Patreon: / spiritofthelaw
Background music from Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsound.com
Game: Age of Empires II Definitive Edition, or chess(?) - Ігри
Director of the AoE2 cinematic here. First, I am always blown away at the impact this animation has had for over 20 years. We had no idea when we were making this what a cultural impact it would have. Second, and my memory may be faulty, but I do seem to recall some discussion among the team about the fact that the rules of chess were different in the time period. We did put quite a bit of effort into thinking through the moves but we also were beholden to the AoE-specific story beats that we needed to convey. Some of them were purely because they were visually cool, like the rook becoming the tower. And if I remember correctly, the game was longer as originally conceived and some moves got cut as we were animating. So that may have punched some holes in the kings' respective strategies in the final cut.
Last point - the commenters saying that it's the "millennial" king at the end dropping the chess piece on the battlefield are dead on correct. There is a version out there where he has a helmet on instead of a crown, but at some point it was decided that it wasn't obvious enough that he was the king. So the helmet became a crown.
Thanks for a great insight into this Paul, that is very cool information.
But how was the bishop in B1??
@@avengerofhorus2520 I don't remember. We probably screwed up.
@@PDeNigris I think I'm the one that thought of the meme about how villagers carry a bow and arrows to hunt and then can't use them to attack/defend.
@@avengerofhorus2520 Why was the bishop in a seemingly unlikely position? The answer is simple, the king was cheating.
The greatest achievement of slave masters is not convincing the slaves that they are not slaves,
it is convincing them that their enslavement is for their own good.
governments are generally based on fraud, violent coercion, terrorism and slavery.
All governments are inherently evil.
No war was fought for your freedom, any and all war fought in the past many hundreds of years were by design, orchestrated by the very people, who are your slave masters.
Government has never been for the good of the people, it has always been a tool of the slave masters to enslave the people, every time people rise up the slave masters trick them with a new style of enslavement, the last time they tricked the common people into believing that mob rule was a good thing simply by changing the name to democracy, well knowing that the mob of people would only ever have the choice to pick between their henchmen, these henchmen serve both as a safety net for the slave masters as most people will never know who their real slave masters are and as a tool to divide and conquer, having people fight each other over the henchmen, in the vain believe that it matters.
So in a nutshell, both these guys are Low Elo Legends, playing too passive with strong army, ignoring sides of map and never defending correctly.
and they are playing without any patch at all
Also researching heated shot on Arabia
@@scevda Arabia sometimes has small ponds. I've docked them when playing Malay before - back when infinite fish traps was a thing.
And using “Auto-Knight”
But, Chess players in the Middle Ages were equivalent to professional AOE players in 2000. Think about how the meta has changed, the top AOE players at that time wouldn’t even lure boars. They didn’t have computers to give them game analysis, it was all their wit and they discovered the moves in their own.
The content that everybody needed, but nobody asked. Thanks.
These two kings are clearly low elo legends
This would've worked better with the clauses the other way around
Hey aren't you the one behind Antaresian Reliquary? Great stuff man!
@@MajdFreiji Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
whole life...
Spirit really digs EVERY aspect of this game.
E
next up: coding strategy, and marketing descicions
“The buff to the queen makes it way too powerful, devs need to rebalance in a new patch ASAP” - peasant in the late Middle Ages
more like french people in 1789
@@dimitriorelnov7851 Uff. That's a good one! 11
Henry the VIII has entered the chat
Really glad they nerfed Goths; they used to get two extra pawns.
Well the global range is busted. But at least it has a build limit of 1...
The chess skills of the Kings are a reflection of original AI capabilities
Human player destroys a single town center
*CPU implodes rest of civilization and resigns
You get internet bonus points and good-good feelings. 🥂
Haha. Died!
and also the competence of actual historical kings
Oh, indeed, a time where playing a 1vs2 or 1vs3 against the hardest AIs was a breeze even without knowing about build orders. Attacking a villager with the initial scout causes all nearby enemy villager to go after the scout, which, if microed correctly, would lead most of the enemy's villager population to a wild goose chase across the entire map.
When the king gave a smirk with his absolutely awful move it had me laughing
A game of blunders, sounds like a typical AOE 2 match.
AOE 2: Age of Blunderers
I mean, queueing for 1v1 Arabia Is technically getting involved in a land war in Asia…
Stevie Blunder
I am always genuinely amazed by how funny SotL can be in his completely serious way of speaking.
This is the correct way to make fun in a video, be dead serious all the people I watch make fun this way.
Danchinefel - "At this point the admiral did what had become ou so common, and walked out the side of the bridge to scream at the [for got the name of the ship in the distance], propably saying I wish your report of there being japanese torpedo boats was right, in russian." - serious voice.
Or Military History Visualized when saying that they had the enemy of surprised to visualize it as an emblem showed his drawing of a unicorn form my little pony. Yes the audiance was very surprised but now its just a running joke.
Growling sidewinder after seeing a flat spinning Su-27 in Digital Combat Simulator sayed - "I dont like the looks of this. ... Ou" - and then got shot and showed a black screen saying; "KIA took a machine gun round to the face."
....
He is serious, and don't call him Shirley
Can we all agree that not remaking that scene is the biggest missed opportunity of DE?
Ensemble studios made the scene. Since they’re no longer in the picture with the series, it got removed.
No, I think the biggest mistake is that there is no offline Lan mode
No, the biggest mistake is the new automatic matchmaking.
To continue the chain: no, the biggest mistake is not having spectator chat.
There are no mistakes, just new possibilites.
When I was little I watched the intro every time.
It amazed me so much back then! I loved it.
And I was terrible at the game (but an ok chess player).
@@zagobelim based.
Same, I think they should definitely remaster the original opening video for definitive edition
Same here
I did it just for the music, the Music was bangin' lol
This is quality content
So nostalgic
Man i still f@&ing love that cinematic. Someone should make a remastered version. 😃
@@UrbanKovac I think the Music in the original Intro is just amazing, and really wish I could find a decent version of it. I would love to have it on my Playlist.
Bad quality
"The intro even gets a little dark at the end."
Sole survivor, traumatised for life. Everyone around him is dead, the place is on fire, he looks tired, exhausted and incredibly sad. He drops the king, showing how pointless it all was. All of this death for a phyrric victory.
Saying the end was *a bit* dark is an understatement.
@Emperor AlHasan Yeah, definitely left an impression on my 12 year old self.
Honestly, I'd go as far as to say that the intro had an anti war message - which is funny, given how many units you send to their deaths each match. :D
I remember being angry at the king lol
When i was kid i cried seeing the last scene
@Hanfgurkenhasser that's like gundam franchise, anti war message delivered in the form of cool giant robots fights))
One of the most memorable moments if my childhood
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they knew in the middle ages the Queen didn't act as it does today
Oh, you little bastard!
Should I even ask why this comment is 5 hours old?
@@frikatela7711 Probably Patreon giving them early access
@@frikatela7711 "Thats an illegal move"
@@frikatela7711 yeah Patreon early access
in an alternate timeline:
"Hey guys, Spirit of The Law here. If you've recently gotten into Chess with the definitive edition then you may not recognise this gem, but the original age of Rooks and HD had a pretty cool introduction video. Two kings are playing Age of Empires II on LAN with the boomer playing the Japanese and the Milennial playing the Britons"
millienial should play a conquerors civ tbh
Best comment!
@@GBlockbreakermake it Korean vs Saracens
Clearly they were playing an arena game with how defensive the moves were.
These kings are bunch of clowns
@@DogMeat- Nah they're the entire circus
@@slayersam1 1, 11
These poor chess skill explains why both kings have MAA and archers in imp - probably with no blacksmith upgrades either.
Also sending out a treb with no support
@@tiestofalljays yeah. That would be only possible in low elo legends or in got 8th season...
I get what you mean from an in game perspective. But men at arms were a fundamental part of medieval armies, not everyone could afford to be a knight. Knights were the minority of the medieval armies
@@ComfyDents 😁
0:42 "a Soldier crying and dropping a chesspiece" Seriously Spirit? a soldier? you dont realize that this is the actual millenial lord from the chessgame?! :D
Yea exactly
Yes but it should have been black king if it was Millennial instead of white.
@@Paws.of.Justice i interpreted it always as a moment of bittersweet victory for him, given his former friend (guy playing white) got now killed as an enemy as war escalated
Oh wow, I never realised this either. I too thought it just was a soldier. :P
There's some conspiracy here! Look up the intro on UA-cam, there is no one with a crown. Only a lowly a soldier. Whaaaat...
I like how White found back into the game after being tower rushed.
0:38 Isn't that one of the chess players (the one in green) letting the King fall? He even wears a crown.
Yeah. Its the young king
It's supposed to be him but all the version I could find on youtube actualy don't have the crown
I'm sure in original AOK, it had a crown and looked exactly same as the king with green cape.
Now I'm really confused. What version of the intro did SOTL use in this video? I can also only find versions with the soldier.
yeah, its the black player after defeating the white player, symbolized by the fall of the white king. i always assumed he looked that sad because the former king was an old (former) friend of his that became an enemy after war escalated
The last man standing at the end of the intro looks like the younger king and he drops the white king, so does it mean the old king lost by taking the tower with his white king?
It is the young one dropping his king meaning check mate. He was surrounded by his broken kingdom.
In the uncut version, he does not wearing a crown but a helmet, and the white king slipped out of his hand easier to explain that way
@@namvo3013 Yeah I remember thinking he was a knight in the old version.
@@fearfullymade8510 nope, he drops the white king, millenial had the black pieces. The destruction surrounding him is tied to the chess pieces to remind us that to them it wasn't just a game and had real consequences (I guess the actual battle was supposed to look allegorical, but him revealing the chess piece hints it really happened after the game), and him being alone among corpses was just for cinematic effect to underline how horrible the results were. But regardless, he won (or more appropriately, "won", considering the price he paid)
He is the young king
"Knight to c4, because its explosive". Ben Finegold follows us everywhere
Rawrrrr!
Video covering chess analysis on an AoE channel, confusing the audience.
It’s also worth remembering that the rules of chess in Europe weren’t fully agreed upon yet in the year 1000, and some different variations existed.
I thought I had seen an interview years ago that they did intentionally have it with the rules of that age, and that they wanted one king's moves to echo a personality of looking after both kingdoms' people and the other to be a little more aggressive but have less experience.
If thats the case, thats genious.
The developers even used actual chess pieces as references. They are called Lewis chessmen.
That explains the final shot. The young, aggressive king has won but he realizes too late the cost is too high.
@@Fronzel41 (He apparently lost according to a comment made by the animator)
@@ZKP314 that seems strange given that he drops the white king piece at the end. That's his opponent's color which implies he's won by capturing the king.
Ahhh yes another Agadmator vid-
WAIT WHAT
And SotL even gave us a pause the video moment LOL
Sorry about that
I was also reading that the bishop/elephant could only move exactly 2 moves diagonally, and jump over pieces which would explain why the white bishop was in b1 and why the bishop protecting the knight wouldn't have actually been a good move.
Exactly! but this would make the bishop move in the scene itself (Bf2-g3) illegal as well.
also probably explains why Rd1+ was not played in the starting position after white’s move; if the queen is actually a ferz (diagonal 1-mover), Rd1+ is a blunder because Kxd1!!
though, then there’s the matter of how the white queen/ferz slowly shuffled to a1
also, the initial position of the white dark-squared bishop on f2 would have been illegal, so 5/10 to the creators of the intro: some effort was put in, but you got some important details wrong
The "bishop" mentioned at 1:42 is in fact a knight, hence that piece is placed in the correct initial position.
Back in my day Queens only moved one space diagonally and we liked it
Me, seeing the title:
"Is this a out of season April fool's joke?"
Me, watching the video:
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
It was intended as an April 1 video, but the analysis took 3 months longer than expected.
Don't you guys have chess?
yeh fuck activision-blizzard 100%
Me, after watching the video:
"Is this a out of season April fool's joke?"
When I bought DE, i wanted to see this Intro in HD resolution. I was so dispointed when I saw it was totally withdrawn from the game.
the archers rushing out towards cavs when the gate breached by the ram. so nostalgic :D
White didnt have block printing so his bishop couldnt range the knight on b4 for a convert.
LOL
The uncut version show a few extra moves and scenes too... Rebuilding the trebuchet with a relic for example
The uncut seen is great, and it can be found in UA-cam remastered.
As a fellow chess player, I LOVE the c4 being explosive reference to Ben FineGold! at 8:56
They really need to remaster the intro in current META xD
I really love watching SotL giving us advices about chess to these two kings. Can't wait to see them grow and play chess tournament 😂
They checked that the rules were different in the past and adapted the intro to the smallest detail, BUT let us scout with sheep. CONSISTENCY! :D
Pawns are sheep scouting.
My analysis of the chess game goes like that the older but more experienced king is initially troubled and in a bad position with the younger king being aggressive and killing a lot. However soon the older King's grand strategy is revealed and the younger king dies while his town burns. That crying 'soldier' is the younger cocky king.
This I believe is meant to show that age and experience still count for a lot in a strategy game rather than just pure aggressive moves. More like macro vs micro
8:58 Never thought that I would see a Ben Finegold cameo in a SoTL video!
He already had one in an earlier video a while ago. So it's not the first time happening.
I always thought that they were king and his son (prince), who won the chess game and their castle went under attack at the same time and he lost his father during the siege (dropping the king in the end)
Nostalgia lvl. Space Cadet 3D Pinball.
This vid is ridiculous and I love it.
I still have that thing on my computer.
*When i was a kid, i literally though this was the best videogame intro of all time, and i though that way for a long time xD*
It is!
There’s an uncut version of the intro floating around UA-cam incase anyone hasn’t seen it, has some more moves and them using a relic, worth checking out 👍
"During the Middle Ages, the rules of the game were slightly different from modern times. Queens could only move one space diagonally, and bishops only two spaces diagonally. Pawns could only move one space per turn and, upon reaching the other side of the board, could only be exchanged for queens."
I had a look at that position and my suggested move is to resign.
The soldier at the end of the Intro is actually the younger lord/king, after he defeated the older lord/king. He is sad he won't get to play a game of chess with the older one.
It’s so sad.😭😭😭
I allways thought it was him being defeated, as we see his king falling.
@@JoschiChr I believe younger lord was playing as black in the chess game. In the battle scene he dropped the defeated white king chess piece. Checkmate ;)
@@JoschiChr I always thought he lost. Throwing the king is something players do when they forfeit the game.
That puts his sadness into a rather different context. Victorious but regretful?
Hey SotL, I think you missed something: The White Bishop on B2 looks way more like a knight to me, check 7:08 for reference.
Yeah that's definitely a knight
That's a good catch. You're right. Also, keeping a closer eye on the pieces, I'm noticing that the c2 pawn next to that knight doesn't seem to show up in most of the shots. As fun as the video is, I think SoTL needs to rewatch the intro a few more times and get the game set up right. :)
No, that is a Bishop. For reference, the chess set they use is called the Lewis set, and the Knight is mounted, as seen in other Knight moves during the cutscene, as well as the real life set.
Edit: I was wrong, as I acknowledge later. Also, another comment elsewhere correctly pointed out that the “Bishop” figure used in 6:51 was actually the Rook in the original Lewis chess set. It seems my mind isn’t working too well today...
@@c182SkylaneRG I’m sorry, you are right! I thought you referred to the Bishop moved in 6:51! That’s on me for not checking chess notation and believing you got the reference time frame wrong!
@@pepemontuenga3368 hey ho,
They do look pretty similar, but like you said and like I assume:
The Bishop is on foot (Check 6:53 )
And the Knight is on horse, which we clearly see at 7:08 .
SotL refers to the first piece as a Bishop and to the latter as a Bishop as well though we both might agree they are different pieces.
Edit: saw your second comment, got it ✌️
0:40 that's not some random soldier that's the young king who was playing chess.
As far as I know back in the day when queens could only move one square, bishops had to move exactly two squares. So either way the game isn't realistic
OH MY God. He actually did it. This man is insane in the membrane. What a commitment to the art! If I he could see me stand and clap slowly like Shia lebouf I would.
Crazy insane got no brain
You can specify that the chess pieces are inspired by the Lewis chessmen game :)
This brings back memories.
I remember as a kid thinking this was the pinnacle of 3D animation.
I learned more from this breakdown than I did watching the entire series of The Queens Gambit...
2:22 So for those of you who were able to find the best move congratulations on reaching Imperial Age, and for the rest of you who just want to enjoy the show... the correct move is
And in this position white resigned simply because there is nothing left on the board for him.
I do miss old intros in remasters, be it AoE, AoM, Halo. You name it
Dont forget Red Alert 2 and Dungeon Keeper! Legends!
one of my most favourite Sotl videos so far. Well done!
Just impressed to see all the efforts you put into making this video!
I remember in about 2005 or so when my brother and I were just getting into games he used this intro to get our parents to let us download the AoE2 Demo. I played that demo until about 2015 when I finally got HD. all those memories...
What Microsoft game did you get the demo from? I got the AoE1 demo from Microsoft Combat Flight simulator
@@Labyrinth6000 Looked it up online and downloaded it. THis was 10 years after it was released
@@ryanschmidt3319 the Aztec first mission from the conquerors demo was my whole life at one time lol. Playing that mission gives me atomic nostalgia
@@creepz6872 It only had the William Wallace campaign
@@ryanschmidt3319 And one predetermined random map too! I remember it fondly.
Also i believe that the "first move of pawns can be double" was patched in later, explains why white pushes pawn twice instead of just double moving. (Yes he does it three times but that is beyond the point)
This reminds me that I like to think of chess as a metaphorical interpretation of two opposing dynasties, rather than some kind of literal interpretation of a battlefield or war. Taking a piece might be as simple as a violent battle, or maybe it's something like cleverly buying out good property, or bribing off your opponent's subjects.
This is the most Spirit of the Law video that you could have made and I'm loving every bit of it
So in conclusion, the boomer king is actually a low elo legend.
Aah, the good old days!
I miss this AoE.
Not saying the current game is bad, but it sure was different back then.
I still have the paper tech trees for all the OG civs
The game is nothing different now lol. Except that you got more civs.
@@murderboytje have you played it back then?
@@jenexopie464 AoE2 is better now.
@@jenexopie464 I have. What you miss isn't the game, but the nostalgic feeling.
Love hearing you follow my interests and now talking chess. It’s a good look for you Spirit
This chess game is one of my first memories.
Look, he saw Rd1. He just didn’t like it
Analysis
an accurate representation of average ELO match
This cinematic was so unbelievably epic when I saw it for the first time... then again, that was about 20 years ago.. time sure flies quick. Needless to say, it still holds up incredibly well to this day, it conveys the message perfectly while giving the whole cinematic a deeper meaning with the final king drop, and the complete shift in music, from fast-paced heroic to sudden sad whimper... just perfect
It's crazy how detailed the original intro was for a game of it's time. It's still to this day one of my favorite game intros
How NERDY are you?
Spirit Of The Law: Yes.
In 0:42, the Millenial lord cries while dropping a king, implying that white somehow actually won the game.
I think black won, but it went down to some king and pawn endgame after a few dozen moves and everything else got traded off, and the winner is crying because pretty much all of his soldiers are dead
This video was fantastic, thanks Spirit!
This presentation is just fantastic. Great analysis.
You tell us that queens and bishops used to move differently, tell us how queens moved and left us hanging on the bishops.
Originally bishops could only move a single square diagonally.
@@Meloncov I actually looked it up and bishops could move 2 squares diagonally. Queens were limited to one square.
Hm, the only issue I see with the Queen theory is the fact that the Bishop seems to move like a normal bishop, and not like the old style bishop (Two squares in any diagonal and can jump pieces). That being said, old style bishop movement WOULD explain how White's F bishop reached B1 but it doesn't explain how' White's C Bishop reached F2, or its move to G3.
there's actually a white knight on b1
i expected a thousand different videos but this never came across my mind i love it!
God, this was a long time coming and I am HERE for ittt.
2:50 I had no idea you could do that "castling" move with a rook...
Castling consists in moving a previously unmoved King two squares towards a Rook and positioning the Rook at the other side of the King. There must not be any pieces between them, the King must not be in check and he cannot pass through an attacked square.
It is generally very useful to castle relatively early in most games. Also, choosing which side of the board your castle stands is a major strategic point of the game: King’s side is considered more defensive and Queen’s is more agressive (choosing to castle in the opposite side of your opponent also means a very wild and dangerous game).
You also cannot have moved either the king or rook previously as well. So if you were say to move king one tile to the side and back again, you can no longer castle even though the king and rook are in the starting positions.
Who rushes to see the video when you get a notification from SOTL?? 😀😀
Very likely this is my favorite game opening of all time. I'm so glad you did this, great job!
King of offering answers to questions I have never thought about. Love it!
Calling the king a boomer
Kings being stupid at chess and being stupid at ruling. This so real man!
Yeah, specially endogamic ones
SpiritOTL you're a legend, seriously. I saw you in-game once in like 2017 btw, was super cool
Nobody:
SOTL: AOE 2Intro Chess Analysis
Been playing a lot of AOE DE lately, such a relaxing game compared to the rest of games that I play (LOL, CSGO, RL)
I am subscribed to both agadmadtor and spirit of the law and got really confused ..
He even gave us time to think about the next best move, Agadmator style
You actually analyzed the intro for Age of Empires 2 chess game intro. Thank you Sir, I recreated this in game many times figuring it our myself.
Noone, literally noone
SOTL: who is gonna win in the AOE2 chess match?
Why bring up Odysseus?
Also historically accurate that a lot of people back then were bad at Chess
something to note is that the level of play has due to extensive study and computers increased drastically in the last 100ish years
What a legitimately fantastic video I really wasn’t expecting.
Now the question is: what is SoTL's rating?
*Agadmator has joined the chat*
"Hello everyone, and welcome to a most interesting game played between [insert famous royalty here] and [insert other royalty here]."
Also, now if the Sicilians are ever on the back foot, we can call it the Sicilian defense and if the Slavs mirror their opponent's move, it's a Russian game...
Thank you for answering this question that I had for 20 years. This is amazing.
thanks for doing this I've wondered about this kind of thing for a while now
Thank you for the inspiring content, Spirit! I am time and again surprised by the channel's high quality. 😊
I still remember the first time I saw this 20 years ago and now finally it makes sense. Thank you!
Amazing analysis! And tons of nostalgia!
I remember watching this every single time as a kid whenever I booted the game up, I thought about it and watched it again this very day (the 4k upscale with ai). So, seeing you upload this TODAY is hilarious! On top of the content itself, too 😂