Age of Empires 4 is a real-time strategy game pivoting it’s focus on historical accuracy, asymmetrical warfare, and deep strategy. It has been the long awaited sequel many that many have been waiting for. The first instalment of the Age of Empires franchise covered human history from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, while the second instalment centered more on the Middle Ages. The third instalment launched roughly 15 years ago, shifted the focus to the colonization of the Americas. Age of Empires 4 is the fourth installment that that hopes to bring players back to the Medieval period (the same period as AOE2).
Age of Empires 4 brings Four different campaigns where each has a deep historical background:
- The Normans
- The Hundred Years War
- The Mongol Empire.
- The Rise of Moscow
The game also Features 8 civilizations:
- The Dynasty of the Abbasids
- The Rus
- The Chinese
- The Delhi Sultanate
- The English
- The Holy Roman Empire
- The Mongols
- The French
About the game:
When playing the games, micro- and macro-management of workers and military units from ancient cultures is necessary. While doing so, you must start with a small population, acquire resources, advance through the ages, resist invasions, and strategize your assaults. Skirmishes, campaigns, and online warfare may be played solo or with friends.
Knowing the Hotkeys will undoubtedly aid in effective response to different scenarios while progressing in the game, since managing time and resources is a vital component in the game. Therefore, here are all the Hotkeys in Age of Empires 4:
Observer/Replay HUD Hotkeys
| Hotkey | Secondary Hotkey | Description |
| Control + [ | Ctrl + , | “View previous player” |
| Control + U | U | “Toggle cinematic mode” |
| Control + F | L | “Toggle fog of war” |
| Control + C | P | “Toggle free camera” |
| Control + ] | Ctrl + . | “View next player” |
| = | Num+ | “Faster” |
| – | Num- | “Slower” |
MOUSE
| Hotkey Default | Secondary Hotkey | Hotkey Action Description |
| Shift and [ left click ] ground | N/A | Queue building or ability placement |
| Shift and [ left click ] a unit | N/A | Add/Remove unit from selection |
| Right Click ground or unit with unit(s) selected | N/A | Issue contextual order to selected unit(s) (ie. Move, Attack, etc) |
| Right Click ground and drag mouse with unit(s) selected | N/A | Issue facing move order |
| Left Click ground and drag mouse | N/A | Bandbox select groups of units |
| Left Click ground | N/A | Confirm building or ability placement |
| Left Click a unit | N/A | Select unit |
| ESC | N/A | Cancel / deselect unit / game menu / skip NIS. Not user remappable. |
| Double Left Click a unit | Control and [ Left Click ] a unit | Select all visible units of same type |
CONTROLS
| Hotkey Default | Secondary Hotkey | Hotkey Action Description |
| Y with a unit selected | Ctrl + Y | Access secondary UI panel |
| Control + Shift + A | Ctrl + Shift + K | “[Shift]: Select all units” – Appears as shift message on Control-A binding |
| Control + A | Ctrl + K | “Select all units on screen” |
CAMERA
| Hotkey Default | Secondary Hotkey | Hotkey Action Description |
| ALT and move mouse | Caps lock | “Rotate camera (hold)” |
| [ | Num 6 | “Rotate camera 45 degrees counter-clockwise” |
| ] | Num 4 | “Rotate camera 45 degrees clockwise” |
| Backspace | Num 0 | “Reset camera” – 1st press resets camera rotation, 2nd press resets zoom |
| F5 | N/A | “Focus on selected unit(s)” |
| Home | N/A | “Follow Selected Unit” |
| < | ALT+A | “Pan camera left” – Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location |
| > | ALT+D | “Pan camera right” – Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location |
| /\ (up arrow) | ALT+W | “Pan camera up” – Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location |
| \/ (down arrow) | ALT+S | “Pan camera down” – Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location |
UNIT MANAGEMENT
| Hotkey Default | Secondary Hotkey | Hotkey Action Description |
| Tab | Right arrow | “Cycle through selected units (forward)” |
| “Cycle through selected unit types (forward)” | ||
| Ensure multiple types of units are selected and Tab with units selected | ||
| Control + Tab | Left arrow | “Cycle through selected units (reverse)” |
| Cycle through selected unit types (reverse) | ||
| Ensure multiple types of units are selected and Control + Tab with units selected | ||
| NB: can’t do shift-tab because it’s the steam overlay ;( | ||
| 0-9 | Num [x1] | “Select Control Group X” |
| 1x selects group, 2x selects and centers camera on group (or follow depending on user setting “Focus on selected unit(s)”) | ||
| Control and 0-9 [ range above ] | Num X [x1] | “Set Control Group X to selected unit(s)” |
| Assign group to selected units | ||
| Note: Setting a control group when no units are selected effectively removes that control group | ||
| Shift and 0-9 [ range above ] | N/A | “[Shift]: Add Group To Selection” |
| Changing this to “[Shift]: Add Selected Units to Group” | ||
| Add selected units to group | ||
| Appears as shift message on 0-9 binding | ||
| F1 | M | “Select all Military Production Buildings” |
| pick center-most building of selection using setting FindAndCyclePickType for pick-type (since mongol buildings can move, so follow actually has meaning) | ||
| F2 | K | “Select all Economy Buildings” as above |
| F3 | O | “Select all Research Buildings” as above |
| F4 | P | “Select all Landmarks, Wonders, and Capital Town Centers” |
| F5 | J | Focus on Selected Unit(s) |
| H | L | “Cycle through Town Centers” |
| Control + H | CTRL + L | “Focus on Capital Town Center” |
| Select and center camera on Capital Town Center | ||
| ‘ (Apostrophe) | ] | “Cycle through individual Monk units” |
| (FindAndCyclePickType) | ||
| Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location | ||
| / | [ | “Cycle through individual Scout units” |
| (FindAndCyclePickType) | ||
| Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location | ||
| . (Period) | N | “Cycle through Idle Economy” (idle economy include villagers, trade carts, fishing ships, and trade ships, officials (chinese civ)) |
| (IdleVillagerPickType) | ||
| Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location | ||
| Control + . (Period) | CTRL + Up arrow | “Select all idle Villagers” |
| Pick all idle villagers (IdleVillagerPickType) | ||
| Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location | ||
| (if all idle villagers are selected and made un-idle, Ctrl-. will not change the current selection – as designed) | ||
| Control + Shift + V | Up arrow | “Select all Villagers” |
| Pick all Villagers (FindAndCyclePickType) | ||
| Control + Shift + R | Page up | “Return all Villagers to work (from Seek Shelter)” |
| , (Comma) | Down arrow | “Cycle through idle Military units” |
| Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location | ||
| Control + , (Comma) | CTRL + Down arrow | “Select all idle Military units” |
| Default binding remapped on non-English keyboards to the key at that location | ||
| Control + Shift + C | CTRL + M | “Select all Military units” |
| Control + F | CTRL + V | “Cycle through Villagers gathering Food” |
| Cycle through groups of villagers gathering Food | ||
| Control + W | CTRL + B | “Cycle through Villagers gathering Wood” |
| Cycle through groups of villagers gathering Wood | ||
| Control + G | CTRL + J | “Cycle through Villagers gathering Gold” |
| Cycle through groups of villagers gathering Gold | ||
| Control + S | CTRL + K | “Cycle through Villagers gathering Stone” |
| Cycle through groups of villagers gathering Stone | ||
| Shift and [ unit production hotkey ] or click button | N/A | Queue production of 5 units of that type |
| Delete (hold) with unit selected | CTRL + = | Delete unit or building |
| Insert | CTRL + – | “Toggle Team-based or Unique player colors” |
COMMUNICATION
| Hotkey Default | Secondary Hotkey | Hotkey Action Description |
| Control + E then Left Click | Ctrl + P | “Notify Ping” |
| Control + R then Left Click | “Attack Ping” | |
| Control + T then Left Click | Ctrl + D | “Defend Ping” |
| Enter | / | [Team] Team chat |
| Enter with chat open | N/A | Send chat message |
| F6 | Ctrl + F | “Toggle Players & Tribute panel” |
| Page Down | Shift + < | “Scroll chat messages (newer)” |
| Page Up | Shift + > | “Scroll chat messages (older)” |
| Shift + Enter | \ | “[All] Global chat” |
| Spacebar | Num Enter | “Focus on last event” Center camera on last notification |
| Tab with chat open | N/A | Swap between [All] Global and [Team] Team chat |
GAME
| Hotkey Default | Secondary Hotkey | Hotkey Action Description |
| F10 | ` | “Game Menu” |
| F11 | Ctrl + T | “Toggle game time display” |
SINGLE PLAYER
| Hotkey Default | Secondary Hotkey | Hotkey Action Description |
| Pause | N/A | “Pause Simulation” |
| F9 | Ctrl + I | “Quick Load” |
| F8 | Ctrl + Q | “Quick Save” |
| ESC | ` | Pause game |
