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AoE2RMSIDE

Watch the AoE2RMSIDE launch video on YouTube

AoE2RMSIDE is a desktop editor for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition random map scripts (RMS). It is code-first: you write the script, and the preview shows the result. Press Run and the map appears next to the code. The IDE has its own RMS engine, so you do not need to start the game to see a result.

The AoE2RMSIDE window with the Explorer, the editor and the map preview

What you can do with it

  • Write scripts with error checking, lint warnings with quick fixes, completion, hover documentation, inlay hints and formatting, for RMS and for the XS scripts your maps load. See Writing scripts.
  • Preview the map for any seed, map size, player count, game setting and lobby option, in minimap colors or texture colors. See Preview.
  • Test many seeds at once. A map test generates dozens or hundreds of maps and checks each one for problems you describe, such as missing gold or players without a land path. See Map tests.
  • Put the map into the game as a local mod, optionally with a generated map icon with trees, gold, stone and player starts. See Deploying and live testing.
  • Test in the running game (optional) through AoE2Control.
  • Use it in your language. Menus, dialogs and messages are available in 20 languages. See Interface language.

Requirements

  • Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit.
  • Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition is optional.

Without the game you can write scripts, preview maps and run map tests. The IDE ships the definitions it needs for each supported game version.

If the game is installed, AoE2RMSIDE can link its folder. A linked game adds:

  • your own game version as the preview version;
  • the game's standard include files, if your script uses them;
  • the game's XS constants, so the editor can check your XS scripts fully;
  • browsing and cloning the maps installed with the game;
  • deploying your map as a local mod;
  • live testing of your map in the running game (with AoE2Control).

The Minimap colors and Texture colors looks of the preview work without the game.

Steam installations are found automatically. Installations from the Xbox app or the Microsoft Store can be linked by selecting their game folder; they are untested.

Download and updates

Download AoE2RMSIDE from the AoE2RMSIDE releases page. Each release has an installer and a portable ZIP.

The app is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may warn you the first time you start it.

AoE2RMSIDE does not update itself. When a newer release is available, it shows a short note with a link in the Output panel when it starts. Download the new version from the releases page yourself.

Learn random map scripting

These pages explain AoE2RMSIDE, not the RMS language itself. To learn the language, start with the Definitive Random Map Scripting Guide by Zetnus, the most complete guide to random map scripts. Much of what AoE2RMSIDE knows about random map scripts was learned from it. More guides, including XS, are listed under Learn more.

AoE2RMSIDE and AoE2Control

AoE2RMSIDE is a separate app from AoE2Control, made by the same maintainer. Its documentation lives here, next to the AoE2Control documentation.

You only need AoE2Control for live testing. Editing, preview, map tests and deployment work without it. AoE2RMSIDE does not include AoE2Control; you install it separately if you want live tests.

AoE2RMSIDE is an independent project. Read RMS replication and compatibility boundary for what that means for compatibility with the game.