While much of the information found on this website is obsolete because it derives from earlier versions of the game (patches prior to version 1.03), some of it is simply incorrect, regardless of the version to which it is applied. For example, numerous inaccuracies can be found in the section of this website titled How it Works, which addresses the acquisition of a particular resource over a given period of time. The purpose of this post is to update and correct the information presented in this section wherever appropriate. Because this is a work in progress, this post is subject to revision.

Unit Resource Gathering Rates

As originally posted in the guide titled How it Works: Gathering Rates:

One of the key pieces of data used for optimizing your AoM economy, happens to be the resource gathering rates of villagers.

This is true, as the validity of every principle that follows is entirely dependent upon the accuracy of these statistics. The equation used to describe the rate at which a given unit gathers a particular resource is given below.


While the equation used to calculate the rate at which a given unit gathers a particular resource is mathematically correct, the numerical accuracy of these statistics is somewhat questionable because at least four of the variables included in this equation require experimental observation to obtain. In the guide, the author lists the gathering rates for various units in the game on a table, which is given below.

Villager Resource Gathering

Unit Type

Wood

Gold

Herd

Wild

Farm

Greek Villager	1.08	.91	.73	.73	.69
Egypt Laborer	.98	.82	.65	.65	.63
Empowered Egypt Laborer	1.18	.98	.78	.78	.76
Norse Gatherer	1.08	.90	.73	.73	.69
Norse Dwarf	.80	1.09	.58	.58	.53
Thor Dwarf	1.00	1.09	.73	.73	.66
Atlantean Citizen	2.56	2.13	1.64	1.85	1.52

Unfortunately, the author has neglected to mention the source of these statistics. I am curious of how these statistics were obtained because, as previously mentioned, the validity of every principle that follows is entirely dependent upon their accuracy. To discern the accuracy of these statistics, I will conduct a number of experiments in the editor and then post my results within the near future.

Period of Unit's Gathering Cycle

In the guide titled How it Works: Gathering Rates, the author states:

With this data, you will be able to calculate how many seconds it takes to acquire a certain amount of resources. For example, to gather for 50 seconds, you take the above unit you wish to deal with, and multiply that number by the amount of seconds. It shall give you the amount of resources.

According to the author, this means that, if you want to know how much gold a Laborer will gather in 50 seconds, you merely refer to the chart above and multiply the rate at which a Laborer gathers gold (which, according to the author, is 0.82 gold per second) by the period of time over which it will be gathered (50 seconds), as illustrated below.

This is incorrect. This information alone does not tell you how many seconds it takes to acquire a certain amount of any particular resource; it only tells you the time it takes for a particular unit to gather a certain amount of it, which is not the same thing. Why? Because, most units can only carry a certain amount of any particular resource at one time. Laborers, for example, have a default maximum carrying capacity of 10 gold, which means that once this amount is reached, they must return to the nearest drop site and drop off what gold they have before they can commence gathering it once more. As a result, your true acquisition of any particular resource is primarily dependent upon the time taken to complete one of these cycles, as the resources a unit carries are useless until they are deposited at a drop site because, until then, they cannot be spent. The equation used to calculate the period of a unit's gathering cycle is given below.

It can be simplified to:

Assuming ideal conditions (a drop site right next to the Laborers currently mining), the only time between each deposit of gold is the time taken to reach the maximum carrying capacity for it, as demonstrated below.


As the distance between the drop site and the resource increases, so too does the period of a single gathering cycle.

The Acquisition of Resources

Thus, to calculate the amount of gold that a Laborer would gather in 50 seconds, you would divide this time by the time taken to complete on gathering cycle and then multiply the number of cycles by the amount of resources delivered each cycle (the maximum carrying capacity). The equation used to describe your acquisition of a particular resource over a given period of time is given below.
If this explanation seems incomplete, that's because it is. I have yet to include the remaining portion of this equation, but will include it within the near future.

[This message has been edited by Sagacious (edited 12-14-2011 @ 02:40 AM).]