The developers have said that some civilizations will play as usual, but other will have important changes. Here I’ve read a post about “asymmetric balance” and about units being too similar between factions, and I want to build on that. Here are my ideas. For clarification, I use the present tense for implementations in the game, and the past tense for what happened in real life.
FOR UNITS:
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Only Europeans get Longswords and Two-handed swords. Infantry from the rest of the world used Spears, or maybe the shorter kind of sword, like that of the Roman Empire. The Aztec Jaguar Warrior wields a club with obsidian shards – I think that should be the standard American infantry.
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Non-European factions, whose Infantry consist of Spearmen, will also get Pikemen. What I mean is this: there continues to be two kinds of Infantry: the regular one, and the one that has an attack bonus against Cavalry.
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Europeans don’t get Cavalry Archers. I mean, they did have bows and horses, but they didn’t really combine them, or they didn’t became popular by doing so. Cavalry Archers are a thing of the Mongols and Huns.
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Every warship in the Middle Ages was a transport ship. Ships didn’t really have offensive power until cannons were invented. So, that thing we have now, which shoots bolts, needs to go. Actually, the fireship was real – it was a vessel that spit the renowed Greek fire. But I’m not sure if it was that popular after the Ancient Ages ended.
So, offensive ships, only come around after researching Chemistry, and we have two types: siege ones (the current Bombard Ship) and sea battle ones.
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Chinese monks have some offensive skills. I mean, kung fu didn’t really help in war, but it should be incorporated here. They were very different from European and Arab priests.
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Archers are cut out from certain civilisations. Franks, Celts, Spanish, Aztecs; all of them weren’t really reputed by using archers. Britons, Mongols, Magyars, Chinese, are the ones that keep them. Britons of course get the Longbow.
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All European Infantry is slower but stronger. It’s the concept of the Teutonic Knight for the whole region. Infantry from the rest of the world is faster but weaker.
FOR GAMEPLAY:
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Mongols don’t build walls or castles. They get a free Cavalry Archer everytime you create a Villager. Huns could play the same, with a Tarkan coming out instead of the Horse Archer.
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All European buildings are stronger. This would help to balance the early attack made posible by the previous point.
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American factions get three Villagers for the price of one. This would give some balance to the deplorable position they are in for not having Cavalry. On that note. I still can’t understand what they were thinking of with the Eagle Warrior – 50 Gold for a weak Infantry.
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Arabic factions slowly generate gold, and European factions slowly generate Food. This is based on the fact that Arabs controled the gates to the East and earned taxes (which is why Columbus set sail to find a way around that), and that Europeans had more pastures and farms than Arabs (or at least I imagine that).
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All American units move 20% faster because they are fiercer than European.
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Aztecs get some bonus by killing enemies. This is based on their love for human sacrifices. Rise of Nations made it that you get extra resources when you play Aztecs and kill someone. But giving you resources would negate the “real life” feel I’m trying to achieve. So, maybe, the bonus could consist in your Villagers working faster for a few seconds after you kill an enemy, and those few seconds stack if you kill several enemies quickly. After all, human sacrifices were meant to enthrill the Aztec population.
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Art gets its place. You have three mutually excusive technologies: Literature, Music, and Sculpture. Literature improves Monks with 4x conversión speed. Music boosts all your Military (I can’t decide if it’s Hitpoints, Attack, Armor or Speed). Sculpture benefits Villagers. You can only research one; the other two disappear.
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A new civilization is introduced: American Nomad Tribe. It’s gameplay is radically different from everyone else. While Aztecs and Inca built strong cities, further up North and down South there were nomadic tribes that clashed with the English and French settlers in North America and Spanish and Portuguese in South America. So, this new faction builds nearly nothing. Its units are invisible to the enemy unless the Nomad Tribe attacks them. Their warriors steal resources.
CONCLUSION
My starting point to think about all this was the Mongols, about them not building Walls or Castles and getting free Cavalry Archers. This mechanic was implemented in the very first Age of Empires II: it was the Goths. No Walls, cheaper Infantry and faster working Barracks meant that their defense was their attack. They were designed to churn out soldiers easily. Then came The Conquerors and they were given the technology to produce them 100% faster.
Regional units were also there from the start. The 3 or 4 Arabic factions get Camels. Then the 3 American ones get the Eagle Warrior; although this needs to be balanced better. Finally, in Rise of the Rajas, the 4 new factions get the Elephant.
I also keep thinking about Age of Mythology. It was essentially three civilizations. But they were so different that every military unit was a Unique Unit. Norse didn’t even have Archers. Now: it was Age of Empires II the one that became insanely popular and is still played 20 years later. Maybe, Age of Mythology didn’t appeal that much to people because of the fantasy element – controlling Hydras and Cyclops feels childish. Then came along Age of Empires III, which also depicted major differences between civilizations, like Dutch Villagers costing Gold. But this game also had that wierd mechanich called Home City, which made it feel lousy and not as fun as its predecessor.
Will Age of Empires IV revamp everything to create a fresh experience, instead of making a convoluted product that isn’t fun anymore? I’m all for expanding differences between civilizations. But the risks are too high.