Compatibility, limits and troubleshooting

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Game versions and compatibility

Which game versions are supported?

AoE2RMSIDE is verified for these versions of Age of Empires II: DE:

101.103.48987.0
101.103.54800.0

It ships everything the preview needs for the verified versions, so it also works without the game. Without a linked game, the newest verified version is the default.

Other game versions still work when your game folder is linked. The Preview game version menu then shows your version with (not verified), and Output adds unverified game version to each run. Such a version uses the rules of the newest verified version. Maps are usually right, but there is no guarantee that they match the game.

Live testing with AoE2Control works on the verified versions and refuses other game versions.

Which installations of the game can I link?

Steam installations of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition are found automatically, and you can also pick their folder yourself. Installations from the Xbox app or the Microsoft Store can be linked by selecting their game folder; they are untested.

Without a linked game you can still write scripts, preview maps and run map tests.

How closely does the preview match the game?

For a verified game version, AoE2RMSIDE aims to make the same decisions as the game: the same random choices, terrain, elevation, cliffs and object positions. It only claims this within what has been checked, and that is not every possible script. On large community scripts it had not seen before, 44 of 66 maps matched in a first measurement and 64 of 70 in a second; the differences found were fixed afterwards. See How AoE2RMSIDE is checked against the game.

To get the same map as in the game, everything has to be the same: the script and all its include files, the seed, every lobby setting, and the game version.

If you find a difference on a verified version, please report it.

What does the preview not show?

The preview shows the map at the moment a game starts. It does not play the game. Nothing that happens after the start is shown: AI, unit behavior, or changes during the game.

XS code does not run in the preview. The game runs it after the map has been generated, so it never changes the terrain you see, but it can change players, objects, and game data when the match starts. For a map that loads XS, Output shows the note XS effects are not shown.

Why is my map refused with a later starting age?

With some starting ages later than the Dark Age, the game changes objects depending on technologies the players start with. When AoE2RMSIDE cannot work out that result for certain, it refuses to generate the map instead of showing one that could be wrong, and Output says This map can't be previewed with a later starting age. Choose Dark Age or Standard starting age in the preset menu to preview the map.

Why is my map refused with Full tech tree or Antiquity?

Like a later starting age, these lobby options change the technologies some object replacement rules depend on. When a script uses such a rule, AoE2RMSIDE refuses to preview it with these options on instead of showing a map that could be wrong. Turn off Full tech tree and Antiquity in the lobby options to preview the map.

Why are my human players computers in a live test?

A live test starts a single-player game. In it, you play the player in P1 and the game makes every other player a computer, whatever the preset says. While Live test on run is on, the players menu shows this and the preview generates the map with the same computer players, so the preview and the game agree. Turn live testing off to preview other human and computer players again. A live test needs a player in P1.

Why does my map behave strangely, and the game does the same?

AoE2RMSIDE copies the game's behavior, including its odd corners. If the game handles some code in a surprising way, the preview does the same, so what you see is what players get.

The exception is code known to crash the game or whose behavior the preview cannot safely reproduce. AoE2RMSIDE reports an error instead. The game crashes on this script (RMS2042) identifies a known game-crash path. Open the message's Details for the affected code.

Is the time shown in the preview the time the game takes?

No. The execution-cost numbers are measured on your computer, in AoE2RMSIDE's own engine. They help you find the slow parts of a script, but the game can take more or less time.

How large can maps and scripts be?

Maps up to Ludicrous (480×480) are supported.

Large scripts are refused before generation. The limit is 65,536 generation steps after all includes and conditions are resolved. Most maps are far below it.

Does AoE2RMSIDE send any data?

No. AoE2RMSIDE has no usage statistics, no error reporting and no automatic uploads.

The only network request is a check for a newer release on GitHub at startup. It sends nothing about you or your scripts, and it never downloads or installs anything.

RMS replication and compatibility boundary

What AoE2RMSIDE is

AoE2RMSIDE contains its own, independently written implementation of how Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition reads random map scripts and generates maps from them. It was built by observing the game's behavior. It does not contain copied game source code. It is not part of the game, not an official tool, and not an endorsed replacement for the game's own map generation.

What matching the game means, and where it applies

For a verified game version, AoE2RMSIDE aims to make the same decisions as the game: the same reading of the script, the same random choices, and the same resulting terrain, elevation, cliffs and objects. This does not cover the game's graphics or how the game stores data in memory.

This claim is limited to what has been checked: the verified game versions (behavior profiles), the kinds of scripts and lobby settings covered, and the matching game content. A newer or otherwise unverified game version can still be used, but its maps carry no guarantee that they match the game. Output marks such a run with unverified game version. See Which game versions are supported?.

Quirks are part of compatibility. AoE2RMSIDE may reproduce the game's unusual behavior so that maps behave the same in the game.
Identical results need identical input. The same map only comes out when the complete script with all its includes, the seed, the lobby settings, the game version and compatible game content are all the same.
Timing is local. How long a map takes in AoE2RMSIDE is no promise of how long the game takes.

How AoE2RMSIDE is checked against the game

AoE2RMSIDE is checked against maps recorded from the game itself. For each verified version, the game and AoE2RMSIDE generated the same maps from the same script, seed and lobby settings, and the two results were compared: terrain, elevation, cliffs and the position of every object. Every map counted in the first table below matches.

The maps come from four sources:

Official maps that come with the game.
Community maps published by other map authors.
Tournament maps from recent tournament map packs.
Test maps written to check one rule of the game at a time.

A map here is one script with one seed and one set of lobby settings; a repeated run of the same map counts once.

Verified version	Maps	Official	Community	Tournament	Test maps
101.103.48987.0	291	152	85	29	25
101.103.54800.0	549	168	230	30	121

Most of these maps were also used to find and fix differences, so they show what has been checked, not how often an unknown script matches. To measure that, large and complex community scripts were picked at random, recorded in the game with two seeds each, and compared once, before any fix based on them:

Date	Game version	Scripts	Maps	Maps that matched
2026-10-05	101.103.54800.0	33	66	44 (66.7%)
2026-10-07	101.103.54800.0	35	70	64 (91.4%)

These rates describe these two samples only. Scripts that could not be recorded or compared at the time are not counted: three in the first sample, one in the second. The differences found were fixed afterwards, and every recorded map of both samples now matches.

These maps cover the commands and settings that scripts use most, but not every possible script: a script that uses something rare that none of the compared maps used can still give a different map. Output names such commands next to the result. A script on which the game itself crashes, such as the official map Stranded in one verified version or the community map Noble Bypass, is refused with an error instead of previewed.

What ships with AoE2RMSIDE, and what does not

For each supported game version, AoE2RMSIDE ships reviewed, neutral data that is needed to run scripts: numbers and rules for terrains and objects, and the complete set of built-in names such as GOLD with their values.

It does not ship or redistribute:

the game's data files or its definition files;
the game's own standard include files. Scripts that include them need your linked game folder, with its local version selected;
any game art.

The Minimap colors look of the preview is AoE2RMSIDE's own drawing with the game's minimap color numbers. The Texture colors look uses a list of single average colors, one for each terrain, object and cliff type, measured from the game's textures. AoE2RMSIDE ships that list; it contains no images. The graphics AoE2RMSIDE draws in map icons for trees, gold, stone and player starts are its own.

For a linked game version that AoE2RMSIDE has not verified, it reads the data it needs from your installation while it runs. That data is not saved to disk or shared.

The preview does not replace the game. Play and publish your maps with the game itself.

Your responsibilities

You are responsible for having the rights to the scripts and mod content you use, change or publish with AoE2RMSIDE. This includes maps you clone from the game or from other authors.

Affiliation

AoE2RMSIDE is independently authored. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft, Xbox Game Studios, World's Edge or Activision. Product names are used only to describe compatibility.

Not legal advice

This section describes what AoE2RMSIDE does and does not do. It is not legal advice.

Common problems

Where do I find errors, warnings and notes?

Problems in your scripts are listed in the Problems tab, grouped by file. Everything that happens when you run, deploy or live test is in Output, one group per run. The buttons next to the tabs show how many errors, warnings and notes there are, and turn each kind on or off. Output shows all three by default; Problems hides notes by default, so turn notes on there to see them.

Both lists follow the newest lines. Scroll up and they stay where you are; scroll back to the bottom, or press Jump to latest, and they follow again.

My script uses the game's include files and will not run.

AoE2RMSIDE does not ship the game's own include files. To use them:

Link your game folder (see Getting started).
In the Preview game version menu, choose your local version, not one of the shipped versions.

Output names the include and the one step to take, for example F_seasons.inc needs your local game version with Select your local game version, or Link your game folder.

An include file cannot be found.

Check the file name in your #include line, and open the folder that contains both the map and its includes with File → Open Folder….

Run does nothing useful on an include file.

Include files only work as part of a map. Open the map that uses them, press Pin executed script in the Run options, and then Run. See Running a map while you edit an include.

The preview still shows an old map.

If your script currently has errors, the preview keeps the last map that worked. Fix the errors listed in Problems and run again.

The preview is empty after Run.

Generation failed. The short notice at the bottom right of the editor and the run's line in Output say why in plain words. Open Details in Output for the code and the full technical message.

Problems shows a note about names that count as 0 in a game file.

Official maps include the game's own files, such as themes.inc. Some of their lines read names that are only defined for other map styles, and the game reads those as 0. AoE2RMSIDE does the same. Problems sums these up in one note per game file and hides it unless you turn on notes in the filter. The preview matches what the game does, and game files cannot be edited.

Output says a player slot has no player land.

The preset puts a player in a lobby slot (P1 to P8) that your script does not create land for, for example P6 has no player land. The map is still generated, as in the game, but that player starts without a land and gets none of the per-player objects. When it can, Output says which player to move, for example Put player 2 back in slot P2. Open Configure players in the preset menu and choose slots your script supports, or change the player count.

Map test: it asks me to pin a map.

rms.source() without a file name uses the pinned map, and nothing is pinned. Pin your map (see Map tests), or name it: rms.source("my-map.rms").

Map test: my map file is not found.

Check the path in rms.source("..."). It is relative to the open folder, uses / between folders, and must end in .rms or .rms2.

Map test: a name like GOLD is not known.

Write names exactly as in RMS, in capital letters and in quotes. The name must exist in the game version selected for the preview.

Map test: it asks me to generate fewer seeds per run.

The test would keep more maps in memory than a test may use. This happens with many seeds of a large map. Use fewer seeds per rms.generate call, a smaller map size, or split the test into several runs.

Live test: it says AoE2DE is not running.

AoE2RMSIDE never starts the game. Start Age of Empires II: DE, stay in single player, and press Run again.

Live test: it says this AoE2Control release is not compatible.

Live testing needs AoE2Control 1.1.0 or newer. Download a current release from the AoE2Control releases page and select it with Select AoE2Control in the Run options.

Live test: it says this AoE2Control version lacks a selected civilization.

Saxons, Varangians and Danes need AoE2Control 1.1.1 or newer; 1.1.0 cannot start a match with them. Select AoE2Control 1.1.1 or newer with Select AoE2Control, or choose another civilization. The game must also be version 101.103.54800.0.

Live test: the game stopped answering while the match started.

The game stops answering while it shows a message, such as a script error in your map or its XS file. Look at the game window, close the message, fix the script if needed, and press Run again. If Output says AoE2Control closed the connection without an answer, the cause is usually the same.

Live test: it says an XS file already exists in my profile's XS folder.

For a live test, AoE2RMSIDE copies your map's XS files into your game profile's XS folder. It never replaces a file it did not put there. Rename your XS file (and its #includeXS line) or remove the existing file, then run the live test again. See XS files in live tests.

Live test: it says this AoE2Control version can't set lobby options.

The game mode modifiers, Turbo, Full tech tree, Antiquity and Solid farms need AoE2Control 1.1.1 or newer. The live test stopped before it changed anything in the game. Select AoE2Control 1.1.1 or newer with Select AoE2Control, or turn the lobby options off.

Live test: the Regicide match ends at once.

With the Regicide modifier (or the Regicide game mode), the game ends the match when a player has no king. Maps that place no kings therefore end at once in the game. The lobby options panel reminds you of this while Regicide is on. Turn the Regicide modifier off, or place a king for every player in your script.

Live test: it says some lobby settings were not restored.

The live test failed after it had changed the game's lobby, and AoE2Control could not put every setting back. Output lists the settings that may differ, for example Turbo or Solid farms. Check them in the game's lobby before you start your next game.

Live test: it says this game version is not supported for live testing.

Live testing works only on the game versions AoE2RMSIDE knows (see Which game versions are supported?). After a game update, check for a new AoE2RMSIDE release. The preview still works with your linked game, marked (not verified).

Live test: CONTROL writes "Have fun!" to the chat in every match.

That's AoE2Control's welcome chat message, which is on by default. To turn it off, close the game and AoE2Control, open %appdata%\CONTROL\AoE2Control\settings.ini, and set Chat Welcome Message=false under [misc]. AoE2RMSIDE keeps your AoE2Control settings, so the change applies to live tests too. See Interface Options for the other AoE2Control settings.

My deployed map does not appear in the game.

In the lobby, set the map style to Custom.
Check that you deployed to the User profile you play with.
Check that the mod is enabled under Mods → My Mods (the IDE enables it when Enable mod is on), then restart the game. The game shows new maps and icons only after a restart.

A small restart button appeared in the bottom panel bar.

One of AoE2RMSIDE's background processes stopped unexpectedly. Click the button to restart it. If it keeps happening, please report a bug.

Reporting a bug

How do I report a bug?

Choose Help → Report a Bug. It opens the issue list of the AoE2RMSIDE repository on GitHub.

Please include:

the AoE2RMSIDE version, shown in Help → About AoE2RMSIDE;
the game version from the Preview game version menu, including (not verified) if shown;
the seed and the preset settings (map size, players, game mode);
the smallest script that shows the problem. Only share scripts you are allowed to share;
the relevant lines from Output, with their Details (the code and the technical message);
what you expected and what you saw. For a difference with the game, a screenshot of the preview and of the same map in the game helps a lot;
for a map test, the report saved with Export.

For questions and discussion, use Help → Join the Discord.