AoE1’s trade makes more sense, but AoE2’s one is much better mechanic-wise imo, since you can get infinite resources from it (meanwhile in AoE1 you need trade to have the basic buy and sell, + iirc u can only sell)
I personally have an alternate solution. Since Age 4 is revisiting the medieval era, I think Age 5 should return to the Ancient World, with a timespan lasting from the Bronze Age collapse circa 1000 B.C. all the way to the end of Eastern Antiquity, circa 700 A.D. This would put it chronologically in-between 1 and 2. Not only would it reintroduce some of the greatest empires from Age 1 to a more modernized format, but it would also finally give the series a chance to focus on some of the previously overlooked empires who peaked during that overlap period, such as the Scythians, Kushans, Hans, Vandals, Armenians, and Cholas.
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How about the background screen? 
Why not both?
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Have you converted the AOE:DE animals?
No, not yet. But I will convert them soon.
I have converted the African Elephant, Black Crocodile and Gazelle. I can share them with you.
Why didnt AOEDE take off
Because it is inferior to AOE 2 in gameplay mechanics. Endless amount of people complained about missing formations and gates, yet developers didn’t add them.
If @xWHIT3W0LFx succeeds in his incredible mission of creating AOE 1 DE total conversion mod for AOE 2 DE, then it has potential to be quite popular thanks to allowing to play AOE 1 with AOE 2 DE mechanics 
Converting AI and campaigns will probably be hardest part.
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@ [xWHIT3W0LFx] Your project sounds really ambitious!
I am currently looking for a way to bring the Phalanx from AoE1 DE to AoE2 DE. Unfortunately, AoE1 DE seems to use .SLP files, while AoE2 DE uses .smx files. Can you tell me how you converted them? And could you maybe upload some pictures of your imported graphics in AoE2 DE?
I think I am not the only one, who is curious to see them. 
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Savannah Scene with some animals from AOE1:DE …
and a scene from Vietnam’s fight against the Mongols, with the Vietnamese lord inspecting looted treasure and supplies from the Mongol baggage train at their hidden jungle holdout…See any buildings or units you recognize?
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You can use SLX Studio to convert AoE1DE SLPs to AoE2DE SMX. First, convert the SLPs you want to SLX projects. There are some important differences between the games, so you may need to make modifications depending on what you are doing. AoE1DE units have more frames and 32 directions rather than the 16 of AoE2 DE. If you are replacing a AoE2DE SMX, then you need to make the directions and frame counts match the SMX.
You can use the Multi-Select Frames tool in the Edit menu to select all frames in the even numbered directions so you can then delete them to get 16 directions from 32 directions. Then the Extend / Truncate Frames tool in the Edit menu can be used to match the frames per direction of the SMX. If you’re doing a .dat mod with AGE, then you should be able to change the number of directions and frames per direction to match the AoE1DE SLP.
The biggest difference is how decay SLPs work in AoE1DE. The SLPs only have 1 frame per direction and every pixel has a special byte indicating when it disappears as it decays. AoE2DE uses multiple frames where each frame sinks more into the ground. Now there’s 2 ways you can convert this; the proper way and the easy way. The easy way is to just not have a sinking animation and just duplicate the frames if you need to match the number of frames and replace a SMX. The proper way, which is a lot more effort, would be to create the “sinking” frames for each of the 16 directions. You can view the decay stages of the AoE1DE SLP with the Graphics Viewer tool using the decay scale and entering a % number. From there, you can save the frames and add them to your SLX project (make sure you keep frame names unique). AoE2DE decay SMXs seem to have 480 frames, so you need to create frames with 30 decay stages for each of the 16 directions.
As for buildings, the sizes may be a little off, so you may need to use the Resize Graphic Scale tool in the Tools menu. AoE1DE also does not have a damage mask (the darkening effect when buildings take damage). I don’t really have tools yet to help create damage data graphics for frames in a SLX project, so you have to draw your own for now. You can see what they look like if you import a building SMX into SLX Studio; it’s the 2nd image to the right of the frame with the cyan colored shape of the building.
If you made any graphical changes to the images, then remember to rebuild your data graphics with the Generate Data Graphics tool in the Tools menu before you export. When you’re done, go to File > Export and export to SMX format.
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Thank you!
But I’ve never worked with SLX Studio before. Also, I am not used to work with sprites. Since it seems that many people already tried to make this kind of conversion, is there anywhere a step-by-step-guide?
Even with your detailed description I fear that I won’t be able to make it…
The best way to get used to SLX studio is to play around a little bit. Then you will be able to understand the steps mentioned by Tevious.
I will upload a screenshot later that day.
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I’ll get to making proper new tutorials eventually, but I have another project I’m trying to wrap up right now (Expanding Fronts mod for SWGB). Some things may be a bit outdated, but be sure to check have a look at Help > Tutorial within SLX Studio for an explanation for many basic things.
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Very impressive! I’m glad that you try to import the AoE1 DE graphics. Also, it seems that you are up to the task - not like me… 
- do the imported sprites work with UHD?
- Have you also already imported the Phalanx? If yes, could you please upload a picture with it? That’s the unit i’m most interested in
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All the graphics I created to this point are UHD, I will create the low-resolution graphics after I’m done with the UHD ones. I haven’t finished the phalanx graphic yet, maybe tomorrow.
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The Babylonian Temples and Wonder would be perfect to recreate Ctesiphon, capital of the mighty Sassanid Empire and also the fire-temples.