Inspired by these two threads:

What do you think about a Re-make of Age of Empires 2?

AOE4: AOE1 Remake Ideas

What I'd like to do is launch a GROUP PROJECT for anyone on the forums to join. This will be a complete overhaul and remake of the first Age of Empires. Not only a remake, but an overhaul. What does that mean? Well that means we will go deeper into historical gaming than any game Ensemble has yet produced. We will update AOE1 to modern standards of gameplay as well. Each civ will be unique and fresh and most of all historically accurate.

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What each project member will do is choose 3 civs from the list below to design as he or she sees fit, within the guidelines of the game as I will set up. What you will do then is research each civ to the best of your abilities, fill out the form I provide here and post it in this thread. Be careful not to be too verbose in your design because the forum seems to not like large posts. When everything is done and all civs have been profiled, I will gather everything together and make a giant new thread releasing the game design to the world.

This thread will be for strictly signing up for civilizations to profile (and then posting your results) and for discussing gameplay mechanics of the game and civs. What we want to do is stick to history and stay away from mythology and religion, except when dealing with Temples and Healers/Priests.

I fully expect this to last months, but that's not important. What's important is we all have fun making this and learn more about game design, history, and how they both fit together!


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Okay, first, the uber LIST OF CIVILIZATIONS! Choose three from below you'd like to profile (first come first serve). *Note, please choose Vanilla civs first, then move on to the expacks (don't everyone try to gang up on the Greeks and Romans):

Vanilla: "Age of Antiquity: Dawn of Civilization"
- Assyrians :: Mythos_Ruler
- Babylonians :: Empror
- Egyptians :: Cassador_Chris
- Etruscans :: Brocktree101
- Hebrews :: Yamato Take
- Hittites :: Empror
- Kushites (Nubians) :: Empror
- Minoans :: Mythos_Ruler
- Mycenaeans :: egel
- Phoenicians :: GatoFedorento
- Scythians :: Dieneces
- Sumerians :: GatoFedorento

Chocolate: Expack1 "Empires Ascendant"
- Carthaginians :: Yamato Take
- Gauls :: egel + Brocktree
- Hellenes (Greeks) :: Dieneces
- Iberians :: GatoFedorento
- Macedonians :: Mythos_Ruler
- Numidians :: Yamato Take
- Persians :: Mythos_Ruler
- Romans:: egel
- Samnites :: Mythos_Ruler
- Seleucids :: Hosko
- Syracusans :: Empror
- Thracians :: Dieneces


Rocky Road or Strawberry: Expack2 "Empires Besieged"
- Axumites (Ethiopians) :: skystrider
- Britons :: Egel and Brocktree101
- Byzantines (Eastern Romans) :: Empror
- Dacians :: Mythos_Ruler
- Germanians :: Brocktree101
- Han (Chinese) :: MudokonGod
- Huns :: GatoFedorento
- Indians :: Lord Iarune
- Palmyrans :: GatoFedorento
- Parthians :: Empror
- Sarmatians :: egel
- Yamato (Japanese) :: Yamato Take

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Next, choose your Civ Bonuses. Bonuses are things like, "Archers +25% HPs" or "Farming 33% more profitable." Please, stick to realistic bonuses for your civs. Make them historically accurate, and again, bonus points to those who come up with original ethnic names for your bonuses.

Bonus 1 - Economic/Civic
Bonus 2 - Military
Bonus 3 - Any

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After that, choose the units your civ will field in battle. The research part will be this: Choose units that your civ used in REAL HISTORY. For instance, the Babylonians did *not* use a Quinquireme. However, you can give them a "bireme" class ship for gameplay purposes. The fun part will be finding the NAMES OF EACH UNIT according to the civ you are profiling. For instance, a Greek Infantry Spearman is a Hoplite (hop*lee*tay). Bonus points to those profilers who can give each unit a unique ethnic (non-anglosized) name.

Out of the 33 unit types listed here, I'd recommend your civs have no more than 30 and no less than 20:

Villager Citizen/Peasant (jack of all trades, builder and gatherer)
Villager Slave (a quick gatherer, does not build)
Villager Colonist (a quick builder, does not gather)
Villager Merchant (land trader)

Infantry Militia (every civ; very first military unit; starts as clubman in Stone Age)
Infantry Spearman
Infantry Swordsman
Ranged Slinger (very first ranged unit; starts in Tool Age)
Ranged Skirmisher
Ranged Bowman
Cavalry Scout (very first cavalry unit; can hunt; starts in Tool Age)
Cavalry Spearman
Cavalry Swordsman
Cavalry Skirmisher
Cavalry Archer

Healer Priest
Spy/Assassin/Diplomatic Unit

Siege Stone Thrower
Siege Bolt Thrower
Siege Tower
Siege Ram

Ship Fishing
Ship Trading
Ship Light -> Ship Medium
Ship Siege(rare "super" ship)

Unique Civilian Unit
Unique Military Unit 1
Unique Military Unit 2

Hero 1 (every civ has at least one hero)
Hero 2
Hero 3
Hero 4 (few civs have 4th hero)

*Note: Chariots and Elephants are usually reserved as Unique Units.
*Note: Make Unique Units truly UNIQUE, SPECIAL, and ELITE. For instance, a Hoplite isn't unique (he's just a spearman), but a SPARTIATE is an ELITE form of hoplite that would work well as a UU.

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Next, profile the buildings for your civ. The fun part will be, again, to find out ethnic-specific names for each one. Also fun will be to come up with truly special Unique Buildings (listed at the end):

Town Center (upgradeable with different features, like in Battle for Middle Earth II)
Government Building (researches unique techs and "uber" post-Imperial techs, plus trains Unique civilian unit)
Market
House
Temple
Storehouse (gather wood, stone, and gold)
Mining Camp (generates gold like AOE3's Plantation)
Granary (gather food)
Farmland
Livestock Pen (like AOE3)
Outpost Tower
Palisade Wall
Palisade Gate
Stone Wall
Stone Wall Tower
Stone Wall Gate
Emissary (build at Mercenary camps to train mercenaries)
Smith (armory technologies)
Barracks (infantry)
Archery Range (ranged)
Stable (cavalry)
Siege Workshop (siege)
Naval Yard (ships)
Citadel (fort - build limit: 1)
Academy (trains Unique military units)

Wonder (give it a name and a unique bonus)

Unique Building Economic/Civic
Unique Building Military
Unique Building 3 (only a few civs have 3rd Unique Building)

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Lastly, choose the Unique Techs for your civ. You get one Unique Tech for each Unique Unit or Unique Building in your civ's profile. For instance, if you have 2 Unique Units and 1 Unique Building, then you get 3 Unique Techs.

Unique Tech 1
Unique Tech 2
...
Unique Tech 6 (Max number, based on max number of UUs and UBs)

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Don't worry about getting the "format" right. You don't have to do things IN THAT order. You can also easily copy/paste the lists provided above and work from there.


Alright, the floor is now open. Once someone completes his/her 3 civs, that person may then choose 3 more to complete! We have 30+ civs, so lets get going!

[This message has been edited by Mythos_Ruler (edited 08-02-2007 @ 06:37 PM).]