The latest AoE is finally official, and that means it’s time for fans to pick apart each and every detail of the early footage – but Age of Empires 4 mods are sure to help if there’s anything you’re unhappy about. The first trailer was a bit brighter and more colourful than you might expect from a game about historical warfare, and the devs expect modders to help if you need a grimmer, grittier take.

“One of the pillars of the Age games has always been ‘a bright, inviting world,’” game director Adam Isgreen tells us, “and we certainly mean to maintain that in Age 4. Given the response to the trailer and the look, I think we’re pretty close to where we want to be. Being a PC game, we’ll be sure to include a vibrancy setting if players want to pull the saturation down a bit.”

But when it comes to blood and gore – which you might expect in game focused on warfare – “we want the game to be playable by as many people at as many age ranges as possible, so we intentionally avoid that to keep our rating towards the low end of Teen.

“However, much like every other Age game, I’m sure we’ll have a ‘bloody mess’ mod (or something as equally creative in name) within a day or so of release by an enthusiastic fan for those that want that in their gameplay.”

Isgreen also told us about what to expect with environmental destruction and the number of civs in Age 4. The Age of Empires 4 release date is still a long way off, but at least we have a tiny bit of detail to make that wait easier.