Allied victory
From GenieWiki
Allied victory is a setting in Age of Empires and Age of Empires II which determines how victory is dealt with in relation to alliances. This setting can be altered via the diplomacy setting both during play and from the scenario editor. When switched on, allied victory grants victory to an alliance as a whole, but when turned off by any member of the alliance victory is not awarded. Players can still be allied without selecting allied victory, but this will create the problem that neither player wins when the enemy players are defeated.
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Age of Empires
In Age of Empires allied victory seems to work well with global victory, however individual victory does not seem compatible with allied victory under most circumstances. When a given player has allied victory turned on, their individual victory conditions generally don't work, however this may not always be the case, and further investigation is needed into the area.
Global victory
Allied victory generally works on global victory, however there are different results depending on the victory mode.
Conquest
Allies are exempt from conquest requirements (meaning they need not destroy each other) if they all share allied victory. If any side does not support an allied victory there is no victor, and the non-allied victory player(s) must be destroyed before the other player(s) can win. Alternatively, the player(s) who do not comply with allied victory may check the allied victory box and the alliance will be victorious. For example, in a multiplayer game a player could uncheck the allied victory box from the diplomacy menu just before winning a 2v2 game and treacherously defeat their ally as well, as both players must comply with allied victory before the alliance can win. If however the player changed tact and decided to turn allied victory back on, the alliance would be victorious after all (assuming the other player hadn't already changed diplomacy).
For CPU allies, however, the human player does not have to tick 'allied victory' so long as the CPU player has it on, meaning shared victory by conquest depends entirely on the computer player's stance.
Standard
Because standard victory includes an embedded conquest option, the rules for alliances regarding conquest means of winning under standard victory conditions are the same. They differ however for countdowns, which force victory or loss upon all players when they terminate. Unlike conquest where an ambigious 'no winner' period ensues once an alliance without allied victory agreement is victorious, the termination ofWonders, ruins or artifacts countdown places all players squarely on the winning or losing side. This means that if allied victory is not checked by the winning side, all other players (allies and foes) will lose. Alternatively, if a player allied to the side owning all artifacts/ruins or a wonder should fail to check the allied victory box, they are ejecting themselves from the formal alliance, and are certain to miss out on the spoils of victory.
A more complex situation arises when ownership of ruins or artifacts is shared. In this situation allied victory treats the allies as one player, allowing them to share the countdown as a team and granting victory to all members. However, should one member break from allied victory during the countdown (by changing diplomacy or through allied victory), it will terminate, forcing either player to capture both artifacts/ruins, or to reset the allied victory alliance to start the countdown again. In the case of a reset alliance, the message 'Control of the Ruins/Artifacts was lost!' will appear. This is the case also if a human player unchecks allied victory, ejecting their partner from a share in control of the ruins without breaking their own countdown. Strangely, a human player can similarly admit a CPU ally to their alliance countdown even moments before it runs down, sharing victory between the players.
Wonder countdowns are not shared in this way, and remain property of their respective owners, however victory remains the same in other ways. The countdown still forces a result as before, and victory is shared between the owner of the wonder and all players mutually sharing an alliance and allied victory arrangement. Unlike conquest above, countdown victory cannot be bestowed upon a human player unless they agree to the allied victory arrangement.
Score
Score can be shared in a similar way to other global victory conditions. Much like conquest, an alliance where all players share allied victory, they will all share victory for meeting the required score. The score mode is further complicated by the fact that whether allied victory is on or off affects score as well - score is shared between allies with a mutual allied victory agreement. Here the score that counts is the shared score, so a low scoring ally can drag an alliance down below the required score. For example, picture a scenario where 300 points is the required score. A player on 300 allied fully with a player on 200 would have a score of 250. If they were to uncheck allied victory without breaking the alliance completely, they would move up to 300 and win the game. When allied victory is one way only, score is not shared at all (the only real indicator of whether a player has allied victory on or not). In this situation, a player with a sufficient score may still not win due to a full alliance extended to another player, but not accepted by them. This can be resolved by either the player rescinding their offer and taking victory (by unchecking the allied victory box) or the player offered the full alliance accepting by checking allied victory (and allying, if needed).
Time limit
Time limit functions in much the same way as score.
Individual victory
Allied victory tends to make individual victory invalid, meaning it becomes difficult if not impossible to use if allied victory is turned on. Further research is needed for a final conclusion on the status of individual victory when used with allied victory.
Examples of use
- In Angkor Wat and the Khmer Legacy's third scenario Champions of the Magnificent City allied victory is used to grant the human player shared victory with their allies who construct Angkor Wat (a wonder). When the wonder countdown reaches 2000 years the Khmer alliance of the human player and teal civilization wins the scenario. This example uses standard victory.
