Some ideas for an AOE remake (Most of it is a repost, with some edits):
1.) Each civ should have unique art. All units and buildings should have unique art. Every civ should LOOK different. However, for balance, this doesn't mean every civ's units should have different stats and such. For instance, a spearman is a spearman is a spearman in stats, but the GREEK's could be more powerful (Hoplite) as one of the civ's bonuses; and the ROMAN swordsman (Hastatus) would stand out from the rest as one of THEIR bonuses.
2.) Give each civ 2 or 3 "unique super units" like how in AOK each civ got 1. Also, not all civs should get the "War Elephant." Mix and match the unit availability a bit like in AOK. For instance, the Romans wouldn't get the Cavalry Archer, but the Parthians definately would; the Greeks, Etruscans, and Chinese wouldn't get the War Elephant, but the Indians, Carthaginians, and Macedonians definately would.
3.) Naming of each unit should be to its civ specific name. No more "spearman" and "javelin thrower" names. The names should be "Hoplite" and "Peltast" for the Greek's and "Triarus" and "Principe" for the Romans, etc.
4.) 3D grafx engine like AOM/AOE3. Include all the cool visual things from AOE3, like ragdoll physics and shaders and dynamic lighting.
5.) Yes, include rally points and queues and all that. We want to keep the GOOD innovations that have cropped up since 1997.
6.) Stick to realistic unit interaction for balancing purposes, rather than applying arbitrary "bonuses." For instance, in AOK the reason cavalry countered skirmishers effectively was because skirms had a minimum range and ran away from cav - same with onagers. This was a much more realistic interaction and made sense.
7.) Add cool features like cavalry archers firing while moving. Infantry dodging and blocking sword blows, etc.
8.) Formations with bonuses.
9.) Focus some energy on naval warfare for once! Throw in AOK's merchant ships again. Make all ships garrisonable like the Norse Longboat from AOM. Allow some ships (Greeks, Carthaginians) the ability to RAM opponents. Boarding (Romans); etc.
10.) Include historical heroes, like the mythological heroes in AOM. They don't counter anything per se, but just have uber stats and special abilities. They should be expensive.
Note: Mythological heroes may be substituted for "real" heroes if suitable historical heroes are sparse. This is determined by a civ-to-civ basis.11.) Civ ideas:
Vanilla: "Age of Empires: Dawn of Civilization"
- Etruscans
- Mycenaeans
- Egyptians
- Phoenicians
- Babylonians
- Assyrians
- Hebrews
- Hittites
- Minoans
- Scythians
Chocolate: Expack1 "The Rise of Rome"
- Romans
- Hellenes (Greeks)
- Macedonians
- Syracusans
- Persians
- Carthaginians
- Samnites
- Iberians
- Celts
- Thracians
Rocky Road or Strawberry: Expack2 "Imperial Turmoil"
- Mongols
- Parthians
- Chinese
- Indians
- Dacians
- Huns
- Palmyrans
- Germanians
- Byzantines
[This message has been edited by Mythos_Ruler (edited 07-02-2005 @ 08:19 PM).]