Let me start by saying that I am almost as excited for this game as people who owned it and played it when it was OG. I never had the chance to play this game because by the time I had learned about it, you couldn’t find it in stores and haven’t been able to order it online. I honestly can’t help but smile at the thought of playing this game, because I for ■■■■ sure am going to buy it when it comes out.
I do, however, want to hear from some of our original players and ask you some questions - this should help not only me, but also others that are new to AOE and might even help some people out if they get the chance of being in beta. I think it’d be a good idea to start off with some tips; how do you people usually play? I’m more of a boomer but I hear that gold is kinda limited so would that be difficult? Anything you guys think would be helpful to a new AOE1 player is welcome here.
From what I remember - the pop cap was only 50. Fishing for food was like the thing to do. Photon Man cheat was fun. Just play it, it’s not incredibly hard to figure out. I for one hope the increase the max pop limit, and add a build queue (could only make one unit at a time per building)
Going to iron is big advantage if you get there first. Though it is not that easy to get there without having to fight before. I for myself like to do big fight in tool already.
@AsskicknMike said:
From what I remember - the pop cap was only 50. Fishing for food was like the thing to do. Photon Man cheat was fun. Just play it, it’s not incredibly hard to figure out. I for one hope the increase the max pop limit, and add a build queue (could only make one unit at a time per building)
The pop 50 was a single player limit, most people played with 200 pop limit online.
The more you play the more you will understand what is important and what isn’t. Gold is scarce so what you do with it can play a big part. But IMO, micro and macro play is one of the more important things to consider if you want to improve you play.
A very important dynamic in AoE1 is that Tool Age units cannot be upgraded further. So when you reach Bronze Age you have to build entierly new units to get the better ones. But the Bronze age units cost gold which is a very limited resource that will deplete entierly at some point.
This means you have a choice: If you invest in a Tool Age army you must use it to significant effect before it is outdated - else you will fall behind. You must also expect to have to defend yourself with outdated units as you transition later to Bronze so you can build a new army from scratch. However, if you choose to not build a Tool Age army then you open yourself to being raided before you can produce Bronze units - particulrarly since defence is much harder in AoE1 than in other AoE games (no gates, not town center garrison, weaker villagers and buildings). This is a razor sharp line to traverse (much more so than in AoE2) and how you plan to deal with the Tool/Bronze gap should be a major concern in your strategy.
Another small economic tip: Hunting and shore fishing, even foraging to some extent, is extremely effective. If you are willing to move your villagers around like nomads you can actually hold of on building farms well into the Bronze age on most maps. This can save you a lot of wood and put you ahead economically. But it also requires a lot more attention than farms do. Nomad villagers are also much safer from raids since they are hard to find and you can just move them around to new patches if the enemy is in the area, but they are very vulnerable to scout raids who are fast and have good line of sight.
Check out my channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6gvgy0LRMx_OF6yi6ccTtA. I just started a channel on Age of Empires for beginners (as well as intermediate players). There is only 1 video right now, but I will make more . Also let me know if you want to see anything specific.
Thanks for all the feedback! By limited amounts of gold, how much is that in perspective? Like in AOE2, you got one or two gold mines around your town and then you had to go out far to find more. Is it the same in AOE, or less, where you get one gold mine and then maybe one or two more within reach?
@AsskicknMike said:
From what I remember - the pop cap was only 50. Fishing for food was like the thing to do. Photon Man cheat was fun. Just play it, it’s not incredibly hard to figure out. I for one hope the increase the max pop limit, and add a build queue (could only make one unit at a time per building)
You can’t queue units in the base game. You can in RoR, though, but only one type of unit per building at a time.