Sandy Petersen, Former developer at Ensemble Studios on Aoe4.
This confirms the old image where aoe4 was shown to be a WW1/WW2 game, this was the official ensemble studios plan!, not a joke like most people used to say.
From : https://aoezone.net/threads/ama-with-an-original-designer-of-the-age-of-empires-franchise.188842/
Good thing Rise of Nations came out; we no longer need to worry about that era
Besides, plans change, and many see how popular AoE2 has been over the decades
Sandy Petersen tells us:
Therefore, Age 4 was planned to cover this era of warfare - from about 1850 to 1920. Of course it wouldn’t be as grim as I’m making it sound. We would have had railroads, gatling guns, repeating rifles, and so forth. In the final age we’d have biplanes and cool-looking WW1 tanks. And submarines! Lots of choices.
Assuming we were able to pull off Age 4, the next game Age 5, would be from pre-WW2 up to the present day. Probably the “wonder” would have been nukes with some kind of rule that the first one to a nuke won because Trinity. The bush wars before WW2, and WW2 itself “fixed” the military types of Age 4. We once again had a multiplicity of arms. Artillery became far more powerful, and in fact was the main killer, ranging across the map. I had an idea that artillery could hit the entire map, if it was visible, and you’d have Spotter units (an advanced unit was the Spotter Airplane) which allowed you to shell the enemy. Infantry was still good, and held the ground, but there was also tanks, and obviously having panzers, T-34s, and Shermans in an Age game would have looked AWESOME. Finally, there were tactically effective airplanes (which didn’t really exist in WW1) that could actually really hurt units & home bases. Probably you wouldn’t “build” airplanes. Instead you’d use your production to “build” a single air raid, then launch it at your leisure, after which it was gone.
Also we figured we would upscale the home city to a “home nation” by Age 4 so that ALL our production was being done off-map. We weren’t yet sure how we were going to keep the gameplay of the villagers farming, mining, and working in factories. One idea we had was that you’d actually have to PLAY on two maps - the battle map and the home nation. And you could launch attacks on the home nation by using “strategic weapons” - B-17s, U-boats, V-1s, maybe even Japanese-style balloon bombs. So some of your production might have to go into anti-aircraft or minesweepers or whatever. This home nation idea would’ve applied to both Age 4 & 5 but obviously it would have been complicated to implement.
The theoretical Age 6 would’ve been in the future, all science fictiony, and basically you can see much of what it might have been in Halo Wars.
I’m glad they didn’t. I didn’t like their creative ideas… horrible.
AoE4, set solely in World War I, would have been a very boring game. I’m glad they didn’t.
The most interesting vehicles and biplanes would only be unlocked in the Final Age… so the game would probably have largely focused solely on trenches, artillery, and machine guns… and would only start to get interesting at the end of the game if someone progressed to the Final Age.
The problem is that World War I doesn’t have many types of vehicles, it has a great lack of variety… the game would have become very repetitive and lacking in tactical variety.
It would probably have gotten boring very quickly.
That’s why they changed their minds later and decided to make AoE4 focused on World War I, World War II, and the Cold War, which would obviously have been much more fun and less boring, as we’d have many more vehicles and many more tactical options.
Now, regarding AoE5, the original idea was to set it in World War II, the Cold War, and the present day…
Regarding the use of planes in the game… it mentions the possibility of not being able to manufacture planes in the game!
Honestly… I would be DISAPPOINTED!
What do you mean? Not being able to manufacture and command your planes?? Seriously!
Until Rise of Nations and Empire Earth, you could manufacture and command planes!!! How could a game with a better engine not be able to do that?
If you really couldn’t… then it’s better not to make the game.
Man, I want to manufacture and command everything I can!!!
That’s the bare minimum an RTS game should do.
Exist many older RTS games, you could control land, water, and air units. There’s no way a new Age of Empires game would fail at that.
Another important thing…
They wanted to make AoE4 and AoE5 a game where you’d play on two maps during your match…
It would be like this: one map would be the battle map and the other would be your home nation’s map.
In short… a complete waste of time!
It’s hard to make a normal war game? with a large map? where you gather resources, build your city, and build your army? damn! This was already done in the old games called Rise of Nations and Empire Earth.
Honestly, I thought it was rubbish!
Thank goodness they didn’t do it.
I hope that if they’re going to make a new Age of Empires today… they don’t do it with two maps to intersperse the gameplay… because I’m not interested in that.
I just want a normal battle, on a large map… building your city and your armies… simple as that. No frills!
AoE6 would probably start in the present day and go into the future.
However, in my opinion… it would be the failure of the series. It will certainly be the least sold and least played.
As he himself mentions, it would be similar to Halo Wars… and if you look at the “Halo Wars: Definitive Edition” version today, there are less than 300 or 400 people playing that game per day (in STEAM).
Let’s face it, an Age of Empires in the future would be complete crap.
The RTS games that manage to succeed with a future theme usually rely on a very good lore/story, a plot with memorable characters and villains, or a lot of luck to succeed.
I definitely wouldn’t buy it.
Playing with a bunch of imaginary vehicles and imaginary technologies, I’d rather play Warhammer 40k or Star Wars, which I have much more fun with.
Looking at the AoE4 photo, we can see an American soldier using an M16 Assault Rifle and his classic green uniform, used in the Vietnam War, which is a period of the Cold War!
What we learned from this…
They realized that it would be a total disaster to make AoE4 focused only on the theme of World War I.
They changed their minds.
And they opted to make AoE4, depicting World War I, World War II, and the Cold War, , all in the same game.
And AoE5 would portray an alternative future, very much inspired by the Halo Wars look…
- Basically, in “Sandy Petersen’s” opinion, if he could make a new Age of Empires… he would want to choose between two time periods! In his words:
If I were put in charge of Microsoft Game Studios AND I had a development I completely trusted, I’d rather move ahead on Age by either restarting in the Age 1 time frame, or moving onto the gunpowder era. Imagine how fun an Age game would be set in World War II. Of course, you wouldn’t be able to have gold miners & such, but you could have logistic workers, truck routes, and so forth.
You can see that Sandy Petersen is a big fan of World War II, but it was clear to him that a new Age of Empires could also be made set in the same time period as AoE1, which would obviously be the Ancient Age.
Now to wrap up… my wish!!! Rsrsrsrs
I want an Age of Empires 5, set in either the Ancient Age or the Contemporary Age.
I didn’t know much about the First World War until I started researching because Hitler was very fresh from Germany’s defeat of France.
And what a ######## period for war:
European countries invented the “separation of church and state” solely so they could INVADE each other without being controlled by anyone, thus stealing resources from other countries.
In the dirtiest and most disgusting way possible, they created perhaps the most obvious and hypocritical false flag in all of history: Killing Duke Ferdinando, and then using it as an excuse to start an intercontinental conflict.
The problem is that everyone thought the same thing, and technologically, trenches slowed the advance of almost any contemporary army to an insane level, prolonging the war more than they thought, causing more casualties than necessary, creating Pyrrhic victories where they lost 90% of their men just to advance “50 or 100 meters more.”
And all of this was FOR NO REASON, given that in the end, most countries didn’t gain the territory they had hoped for, and those that did gain some did so through political intimidation, having more allies, and fearing the US would get involved in the war.
This film, in fact, made me see how banal and inglorious the conflict was: “All Quiet on the Western Front”
And the funny thing is that almost all the older films about World War I have the same “anti-war” tone.
Anyway, with all that said: Yes, it would be a joy if they considered including World War II for the theoretical AoE 4, and currently for AoE 5 or AoE 6.
Of course, considering that in theory in these ages one would have “HUGE” cities and Town Centers probably wouldn’t be suitable for putting Farms around them anymore (like in AoE 3), perhaps the shape of the base game would also change in many ways:
Maybe there aren’t even eras, I don’t know, they could get creative with it.
In my opinion, we’d still need farms.
We’re still in the 21st century, and plant-based foods are still produced on farms.
We can see how this works in the game “Rise of Nations.”
However, nothing prevents new buildings from being built to acquire economic bonuses, such as food processing and charcoal production… but there would still need to be farms to produce processed foods and wood to make charcoal.
Cities wouldn’t be incredibly gigantic… but many buildings would probably be slightly larger than those in AoE 4.
So, yes, cities would increase in size a bit.
An important part will now be the player’s screen zoom.
In my opinion, the zoom will need to be more like Age of Empires 2 and Rise of Nations, so we have a better view of everything that’s happening, especially for controlling planes and cities that have been greatly expanded. Obviously, we expect to see larger maps… It’s strange for me to say this… but Age of Empires 2 has larger maps than Age of Empires 4.
I would expect to see an Age of Empires (contemporary age) with the largest maps of the entire Age of Empires series.
Now comes the important part.
As mentioned previously, the size of buildings could be slightly larger than seen in Age of Empires 4.
This means this will also apply to vehicles.
The size of units won’t be as gigantic as seen in Company of Heroes, but will be the size we’re used to seeing in AoE2, AoE4, and Rise of Nations, while choosing a pleasing size, as has always been the case.
Example:
In my opinion, vehicles, ships, and planes need to be reduced in size to make them pleasing and controllable, maneuverable.
We can easily see this reduction in size when looking at the ships in Age of Empires 2 and Age of Empires 4. Therefore, this would also need to be applied to contemporary warfare.
For example:
I didnt say that there is no farm or Food, only that the normal resources as Gold, Stone maybe would be changed.
Food obviously is a necessity. Farms can be gathered as in AoE3, with a Mill with farms near them, or with individual farms near “farm-houses” in the first ages, and latter with “Plantations” in the 3rd or 4rd age, to represent the Agroindustrial farms. Also Livestock Pens, a lot.
Wood, i didn know. Maybe yes, for normal Buildings as market, houses, farms, ports. Also for Trade ships, and fisshing ships
Currency as gold, you get in gold ores, but also with certains Business Buildings: Honney Pots, Artessany Markets, Flower Shops, Coinage Houses, etc. Something like that.
Iron for well, near EVERY military unit of the game, more for Artillery, Aircraft, Military Naval units. Also for Better Buildings: As Skyscrapers, Bunkers, Landmarks (Statue of Liberty, Lenin Statue, etc).
Oil for artillery, Aircraft, Miltiary Naval Units. Also for some technologies of 5t age (Plastic)
Electricity? Didnt know if count it as a resource or a mechanic. Coudl work as the Cystern of Bizantines, that increase is Level depending of the founts of electricty (Eolic + Oil consume + hydroelectric + Wood consume). Yeah, Cystern mechanic was a good example.
And their destruction would be incredible too.
What worries me most is “How are they planning on giving us control of the planes?”
In Empire Earth, I remember that military planes had to take off from a hangar and then “Fly in circles.” They didn’t hover in the air like they do in Starcraft.
I think Empire Earth’s model for air units is one of the best.
Somebody has playing another RTS with realistic air units control that is fun to play?
If I want to play Call of Heroes I’ll play Call of Heroes.
Keep my AOE historical please.
Exactly! i hope 5 will go forward 
Fate of the Dragon kinda does this.
In Rise of Nations the airplanes can do two things. They can fly in the area of the airbase. Or they can attack, they go on a flightpath to the target and attack. They circle around the area and fly over the target about 3 times. Then they go back to recharge.
IV medieval setting choice was a mistake in terms of franchise continuity
They wanted to replicate II formula by releasing a spiritual successor of II but with modern controls and a fresh look and feel
Now we know this did not happen as they keep on milking II DE and giving the largest support on Esports, Content and Updates!
Suggested resource ideas
I would design the resources like this:
Perhaps there could be rare resources on the map that could give your economy a boost, allowing you to acquire certain types of technology faster, or improve your production, or provide special discounts, etc. For example:
In the case of Electricity, I would create a building called a Power Plant or Power Generator.
It would work like this: Each Power Plant would cover an area around it (which would be a sector), everything within that Sector belonging to a single Power Plant. Therefore, all buildings, research centers, and factories would operate at 100% speed, as they are within that sector.
Now, if the Power Plant is blown up, it will cause a blackout! You will work and gather resources at 10% efficiency (-90%). Your defense radars would be shut down in that sector, making part of your base vulnerable.
There would also be another rule: each Power Plant would cover a specific area/sector of your base, meaning you can’t have two Power Plants in the same area/sector. Therefore, these Power Plants will be truly important, and you will need to defend them appropriately.
The most efficient ways to destroy a power plant are through coordinated airstrikes or artillery, or through the use of spies who can infiltrate your city and plant bombs on your power plant.
However, to more effectively defend your base against sudden airstrikes or artillery, the player can place three fake Power Plants within the real Power Plant’s sector to confuse and delay the enemy attack. There may also be antennas that will interfere with enemy radar, hindering the Power Plants’ visibility.
However, there is a unit called a Spy, which will be extremely useful in these situations. It can easily infiltrate the enemy base and will be responsible for discovering the real Power Plant’s location, marking it on the map or planting bombs to detonate it.
Maybe I made it a little complex… but this is a bit reminiscent of what already exists in “Star Wars galactic battlegrounds” and the style of blackout in bases and spy unit or special soldier, is often seen in the “Command and Conquer” game series.
Two photos from the game “Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds” using a type of power generator/power plant to increase production speed. Below is a photo of what a “power plant” could look like for the game.
I can’t guarantee that everyone is good at controlling air units…
Here’s a list of RTS games for those who love this genre.
However, many of them are probably still in development…
But for those who want to follow along… here it is:
Base-building games, with a Command and Conquer-style look!!!
Massive war games, with the gameplay style of Supreme Commander!!!
Warhammer 40k Universe (Base Building)!!!
Have fun everyone!
Although most of them are still in development, rsrsrsrsrsrs!
But if you want the latest news, this is an interesting list to follow, because all the games are base-building.
I think that if Age of Empires 5 was to take place during the Contemporary Age, that the timeframe for the game should be 1850 - 1918.
Define historical? World War I was still in the literal age of empires existing, too (admittedly, the results of WW1 shook that up and lead to the ending of various imperial dynasties, setting the stage for the next 20 years or so heading into WW2, which redrew a lot of important borders in its own right).
I would take a modern galactic battlegrounds, new or remake I don’t care, over a WW1 AoE.
Guns make warfare boring in all honesty. Warfare shifted to a combined arms tactical kind of business in the late 1800s, it doesn’t sit right with how gameplay in AoE has been. Little to no melee action!
Just skip over the boring contemporary period and take us straight to space wizards and laser beams.
Or rather, back to a long long time ago.
Yeah, if AoE5 was going to focus on future wars, I would rather prefer a remake of galactic battlegrounds, which feels more unique than some fictional future technology system.
Some fun mechanisms I can immediately think of:
- Jedi knights (as unique units): can deflect 5 shots at one time
- Anakin Skywalker (campaign hero): can deflect 10 shots with 50% deflected back to shooters
- Obi-Wan Kenobi (campaign hero): can deflect 20 shots & gains bonus attack when fighting at high ground
The major issue would be the copyright, as MS does not own star wars.
I don’t think it necessarily needs to be a futuristic AoE5…
The perfect thing would be if they could get the rights back to make the following games:
That would be a sight for sore eyes! rsrsrsrs
Seeing the laser beam weapons again and finally hearing that characteristic sound…
Seeing the vehicles, tanks, robots, Jedi…
I love Rise Of Nations. Sad its not really played online anywhere.
Though a Civil War - WW2 would have been pretty sweet
