Opening Thoughts:
AoE4 followed in a lot of ways with the theme of AoE2. What if AoE5 follows “what AoE3 could have been”?
What do I mean? Am I saying AoE3 was bad? Of course not. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things that didn’t fit with the series that could be changed in a new game to smooth out some unnecessary mechanical uniqueness and complexity.
Imagine if they took a similar time period (maybe a little smaller), kept shipments, XP, Heros, Trade Routes, Minor Civs, and Treasures, but removed snare, and some unnecessary complexity from minor civs and some playable civs.
In my opinion shipments should have changed the genre forever, but I think things like snare (which I actually enjoy) changed the game too much and permanently forced AoE3 into being a “black sheep”. A lot of things (and it only got worse in DE) are unnecessarily complicated for new players too. Some of that complexity should absolutely stay, but some should go.
Units:
Unit Classes would approximately mirror the ones in AoE3, but with some changes to account for the loss of snare which very well might be the most off putting thing to most AoE2 players. The Heavy Cav class would likely receive bonuses against artillery and skirmishers and most melee infantry would likely receive some AoE and better hp/armor.
Royal Guard Units would likely not be a thing as unique units could easily replace them and provide unique advantages earlier in the game. Redcoats for example could be a Musketeer replacement with slightly more HP, and more range than a regular musketeer for a slightly higher cost.
What Civilizations to start with?:
Base civs could be:
The British
Spain
The French
Russia (or Poland, or Austria)
India
China
Inca
Haudenosaunee
This also leaves a few great civs for the first few DLCs. Japan, Poland, Austria, Portugal, Ottomans, Sweden, are just a few of that come to mind.
Minor Civilizations:
Villages still spawn around each map, but instead of having trained units, they spawn units for free (think of Factories or Dojos). Someone definitely suggested something like this with AoE3 so I won’t take credit for the idea, but it actually makes more sense in a new game. Native units would closely mirror regular classes and would be able to be set to “Select with units of the same class” in the game’s settings for convenience. After all, you might be getting some free native musketeers with a unique name and look which you just want to control with your potentially identical stat musketeers. I also think if a Russian player ended up with a few native hussars they very well might still want them controlled with their Cossacks. Villages would still have a few unique techs and build limits for the free units. Native units would shadow tech across the board, and would have standardized training times based on vill seconds and standardized build limits based on unit costs. A native post would likely have a slightly higher value than a Trading Post, but the trading post gives resources that can be used on anything (or XP) while the native post just gives units.
Given the uniqueness of each Civilization, I don’t see a need to give all of the native units unique stats, especially since some of them have basically been “it’s a dragoon with more hp and lower attack” historically.
Playable Civilizations:
Each civ would have a civ bonus, and several unique units/building. Most civs across the board would also have some “standard units” with a civ specific look but identical stats. Most of those would see some interesting card interactions that make them unique, while maintaining easier balance. This aspect follows closer with AoE2, while still having something of a “shipment spin” to it. Perhaps most importantly though, this keeps things easier to learn.
Closing Thoughts:
I do think this is extremely unlikely to happen, probably less than 1%, but it’s an interesting thought so I decided I’d share.
