History RefittedForSequel / AgeOfEmpires

* The Malians were drafted by Creator/SandyPetersen for both ''II'' and ''III'' expansions years before the ''II'' ExpansionPack ''The African Kingdoms'' included them.

* ''The Conquerors'' was conceived as adding a new civilization per building set, plus a new Mesoamerican set. Any other starting criteria (such as creating civilizations of a new style only, like ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresI''[='=]s ExpansionPack ''Rise of Rome'') and the selection would have been completely different. The Incas, eastern Europeans (with Russians and Polish as preferred options), Khmer, Tibetans, Indians, Italians, Swiss, Austrians (or "Habsburgs"), Magyars and Moors were all considered as candidates. With the exception of the Tibetans and Austrians, each and every single of these civs eventually made their way onto HD or ''Definitive'': Incas, Indians, Italians and Magyars in ''The Forgotten''; the Moors as Berbers in ''The African Kingdoms''; the Khmer in ''Rise of the Rajas''; and the Poles in ''Dawn of the Dukes''. The Swiss, which were also considered, may be seen as being covered by the later introduced Burgundians, as well. Furthermore, the Russians are a vanilla civilization for ''III'' and their supposed ''II'' counterpart, the Rus', are a vanilla civilization for ''IV''.
* There were going to be two different "superclasses" of civilizations: Sedentary (similar to the ones in the final game) and raiding. Raiding civilizations would be immune to conversion, not advance ages, pick no relics, build no military buildings, wonders, nor houses; and trade no luxury goods. Instead, their villagers would be turned into soldiers at the Town Center. The cavalry would have the ability to steal resources from other player's buildings and to kidnap villagers and bring them to their Town Center, where they would be converted to their side. If killed before making it to the Town Center, the stolen resources would appear as piles of resources that could be picked by any villager, like the crates in ''Videogame/AgeOfEmpiresIII''. This rather radical Civ playstyle that revolved around converting units would be used for the Norse civilization in ''Age of Mythology'', who can convert their Human Units into Hero Units to shift them to a different spot of the TacticalRockPaperScissors setup.
* The town centers of "raiding civilizations" (Mongols, Celts, and Vikings; see below) could be packed and rebuilt elsewhere, like trebuchets. It took nearly a decade and a half to implement this, as the Mongols schtick, in ''IV''.

* There would be different relics that would boost attack, defense, or conversion rates of nearby units when carried to battle, in addition to generating gold in monasteries. Some civilizations would respond better to one relic in particular: Franks to the True Cross, and Persians to the "Carpet of Chosis I" (Khosraw?). The idea of Relics giving minor buffs would be introduced in ''Age of Mythology'', where only Hero Units could carry them.

* A StanceSystem was considered for certain units, such as the Samurai being able to switch between their sword and a bow, but this was left out due to technical limitations. This feature was finally implemented in ''Dynasties of India'', where the Bengali's unique unit, the Ratha, can switch between melee and ranged stances.

* A unique unit switching attack modes had been considered by Ensemble for ''The Age of Kings'' already, first for the Samurai and then for a Persian cavalry unit. It was finally implemented as the Ratha's (the Bengalis' unique unit) ability in ''Dynasties of India''. The Ratha is also the return of the chariot ''and'' archer chariot to the franchise, which had been last seen in ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'' and ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology''.
** In addition, the Bengalis received a Monk armor bonus as part of a BalanceBuff, which was previously part of the Slavs' unique technology "Orthodoxy" available before the release of ''Dynasties of India''.

** ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'': the Asian Civilizations' Export resource (which allows them to acquire European units, techs and buildings (and in the case of Japan, complete isolationism culminating in the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration) and the African civilizations' Influence resource.

** Since the Mongols were still supposed to be a raiding civilization at this point, and the leaked 5.0 design document called the Kara-Khitai "Tartars", it is possible that they would have been played by Turks (a sedentary civilization) instead of Mongols. A Tatar civilization would eventually made the cut for ''Definitive Edition'' and feature Kotyan Khan as its main character.

* Kings used to have the ability to attack (technically they still do, but it is negligible and they are coded to run away from attackers). They would also boost the attack of allied units within 5 tiles. Queens (later introduced in the expansions) were considered and intended to have the [[GenderIsNoObject same ability]]. ''III'' has a closer example in Japan's Ieyasu Tokugawa, who not only is the Japanese A.I., but can also join the battlefield.

* Ivaylo was suggested as a Slavic campaign in ''The Forgotten'' along with a 'level involving pig-herding', but lost out to Dracula. In the ''Definitive Edition'', Ivaylo is the Bulgarian campaign and has a mini-mission where the player has to [[CrazyEnoughToWork scout with pigs]].

* A StanceSystem was considered for certain units, such as the Samurai being able to switch between their sword and a bow, but this was left out due to technical limitations. This feature was finally implemented in ''Dynasties of India'', where the Bengali’s unique unit, the Ratha, can switch between melee and ranged stances.

* The scrapped Italians were going to excel in early warfare and become weak in later ages. They'd have their unique, stronger versions of the later cut anti-infantry hand cavalry (Elmeti) and a generic cannon likely replacing the falconet or culverin. The Elmeti and Lil' Bombard returned as mercenary units for ''The [=WarChiefs=]''). The Italians would finally be featured in 2022's ''Knights of the Mediterranean'' ExpansionPack.

* The scrapped Italians were going to excel in early warfare and become weak in later ages. They'd have their unique, stronger versions of the later cut anti-infantry hand cavalry (Elmeti) and a generic cannon likely replacing the falconet or culverin. The Elmeti and Lil' Bombard returned as mercenary units for ''The [=WarChiefs=]'').

* ''The Conquerors'' was conceived as adding a new civilization per building set, plus a new Mesoamerican set. Any other starting criteria (such as creating civilizations of a new style only, like ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresI''[='=]s ExpansionPack ''Rise of Rome'') and the selection would have been completely different. The Incas, eastern Europeans (with Russians and Polish as preferred options), Khmer, Tibetans, Indians, Italians, Swiss, Austrians (or "Habsburgs"), Magyars and Moors were all considered as candidates. With the exception of the Tibetans, Austrians and Moors, each and every single of these civs eventually made their way onto HD or ''Definitive'': Incas, Indians, Italians and Magyars in ''The Forgotten''; the Khmer in ''Rise of the Rajas''; and the Poles in ''Dawn of the Dukes''. The Swiss, which were also considered, may be seen as being covered by the later introduced Burgundians, as well. Furthermore, the Russians are a vanilla civilization for ''III'' and their supposed ''II'' counterpart, the Rus', are a vanilla civilization for ''IV''.

* A fifth resource, Trade Goods, created at the Trade Workshop was considered. The concept was revisted for ''II'' but once again, ultimately dropped. The UpdatedRerelease of ''III'' gave some of the Native civilizations (Haudenosaunee, and Lakota) a similar concept something resembling this resource in Fur Marketplaces used to gather gold.
* When having not enough stockpilled Food or Wood for some technologies and buildings, the Player could use Gold to buy them instead. This became a key function of the reworked Market in ''II''.

* The "No houses" bonus and siege cavalry unique unit was first proposed for the Mongols in ''Age of Kings'', then given to the Huns in ''The Conquerors''.
* Civ specific monks were planned, but not included until the ''The Warchiefs'' for ''III'' with the Aztec Warrior Priests.
* The Malians were drafted by Creator/SandyPetersen for both ''II'' and ''III'' expansions years before ''The African Kingdoms'' included them.
* Tamerlane, El Cid, and Pachacuti were included as Scenario Editor units years (or decades) before they became the heroes in their own campaigns.
* The Italians, Magyars, Slavs (as the Russians), Incas, Indians, Khmer, and Poles had been considered as possible civilizations already for ''The Conquerors''. The Swiss, which were also considered, may be seen as being covered by the later introduced Burgundians, as well.

* Creator/SandyPetersen said that he'd liked a Gothic campaign about either "Alaric or Theodoric", but without specifying which of the historical kings named such would be. A Theodoric unit was included in the editor, and later used in the ''The Forgotten'' Alaric campaign (as Alaric I) and the ''African Kingdoms'' Tariq ibn Ziyad campaign (as Roderic).

* Mercenaries would appear as a neutral faction on maps and call [[OnlyInItForTheMoney a bidding process]] for ''all'' players before switching to one player's control. The initial concept was split in two features for ''III'': the european civilizations' Saloon building and the Native villages.

* Kings used to have the ability to attack (technically they still do, but it is negligible and they are coded to run away from attackers). They would also boost the attack of allied units within 5 tiles. Queens (later introduced in the expansions) were considered and intended to have the [[GenderIsNoObject same ability]]. ''III'' has a closer example in Japan's Ieyasu Tokugawa.
* A second mounted villager ("supervillager") that could gather more and faster was considered. The closest equivalent would be the Germans' Settler Wagon in ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII''.
* After the game was released, there were considerations for a fifth age, featuring Renaissance warfare and Pike and Shot tactics among other things. ''III'' features five ages, the last of which, depending on the Civilization, can also lead to the civilization becoming a rogue state in post-''Warchiefs'' expansions and rereleases.
* The Lithuanians were notable for being the only civilization, up to ''Lord of the West'', with neither a campaign nor even a scenario of their own (they only appear as an AI faction in the Ivaylo campaign). While Vytautas the Great was around for quite some time in the Scenario Editor with an unique sprite, ''Dawn of the Dukes'' finally added a Lithuanian campaign, about Algirdas and Kestutis (Vytautas could still appear there or in either the Polish or Bohemian campaigns, though).
* ''The Conquerors'' was conceived as adding a new civilization per building set, plus a new Mesoamerican set. Any other starting criteria (such as creating civilizations of a new style only, like ''Rise of Rome'') and the selection would have been completely different. The Incas, eastern Europeans (with Russians and Polish as preferred options), Khmer, Tibetans, Italians, Swiss, Austrians (or "Habsburgs"), Magyars, and Moors were all considered as candidates. With the exception of the Tibetans, Austrians and Moors, each and every single of these civs eventually made their way onto HD or ''Definitive'': Incas, Italians and Magyars in ''The Forgotten''; the Khmer in ''Rise of the Rajas''; and the Poles in ''Dawn of the Dukes''. Furthermore, the Russians are a vanilla civilization for ''III'' and their supposed ''II'' counterpart, the Rus', are a vanilla civilization for ''IV''.

* Until ''Dawn of the Dukes'', the Lithuanians had the (dubious) distinction of being the only civilization not to have a playable campaign or scenario, and only appeared once as an enemy, in the form of a placeholder for Poland, despite the presence of Vytautas the Great as a cavalry hero in the editor. Notably, Lithuania is mentioned as the place [[spoiler:Tokhtamysh Khan]] flees after the events of the third mission of the Tamerlane campaign, yet the Lithuanians never appear in the campaign itself. The aforementioned expansion adds a Lithuanian campaign based on Prince Algirdas and his brother Kestutis.

* Amanra's Commander Mnevis was originally meant to appear in the game as a fat guy riding a Hippopotamus, judging by various developer comments, and Amanra's history file, Mnevis was most likely an early version of Stuart Black from ''III''.

* Sweden was considered to be a day-1 playable faction until fairly late in development. Their unique units would have been the Fusilier (historically a French military unit) and Horse Artillery. ''The Warchiefs'' later reintroduced both as mercenaries.
* The scrapped Italians were going to excel in early warfare and become weak in later ages. They'd have their unique, stronger versions of the later cut anti-infantry hand cavalry (Elmeti) and a generic cannon likely replacing the falconet or culverin. The Elmeti and Lil' Bombard returned as mercenaries for ''The Warchiefs'').
* Petersen wanted to include the Incas as the fourth playable faction in ''The [=WarChiefs=]'', but they were scrapped by other leads due to time and art constrains. One of the four had to go, and they thought the Incas the least interesting and harder to find information about. They were finally added in the ''Definitive edition'', a decade and a half later.

* Goats, cows, and horses could be created as additional sources of food functioned as huntable animals, similar to gazelles. Only the horse remained late into development. In all AoE games (including ''AoM'') since ''II'', herdable animals were finally introduced. Goats and Cows were later added in ''AoM'', and have appeared in all games since, even being retroactively introduced in both of the UpdatedRereleases of ''II''.

* Town Centers could be "fortified" with a technology. This was later implemented in ''AoM''.

* Wood fences were considered for the game, but they found their way onto ''II'' as the Palisades.
* Piles of pre-mined, pre-cut stone and wood available for picking (perhaps after being dropped by dead Villagers) were also considered. In ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'', these can be found across the campaign in key areas, while in regular matches they could be sent from the Home City.
* A fifth resource, Trade Goods, created at the Trade Workshop, was considered. The UpdatedRerelease of ''III'' gave the Native civilizations (Haudenosaunee, Lakota, Aztecs and Incas) something resembling this resource in Fur.

* Goats, cows, and horses could be created as additional sources of food and behaved somewhat like wild gazelles. Only the horse was worked on but was left unfinished. In ''II'' and ''III'', herdable animals were finally introduced, with sheep first in ''II'' and a wide variety of animals, some of them civilization-dependant, on ''III''.
* Decorative, or perhaps observational flags and banners, were under development but ultimately cut. They were eventually added in ''II''.

* Villager javelins had a minimum range of attack. As a result, lone Villagers could not defend themselves from animals when they caught up to them. This was eventually fixed in ''II''.

* Civ specific monks and buildings that would produce gold by assigning Villagers to them were planned, but not included until ''III'' and the Inca priestesess and the Dutch bank.
* The Malians were drafted for both ''II'' and ''III'' expansions years before ''The African Kingdoms'' included them.
* Ivaylo was suggested as a Slavic campaign in ''The Forgotten'' along with a 'level involving pig-herding', but lost out to Dracula. In the ''Definitive Edition'', Ivaylo is the Bulgarian campaign and has a mini-mission where the player has to [[CrazyEnoughToWork scout with pigs]].

* It was considered during the vanilla game's development to have lancer units as separate from other heavy cavalry and capable of dealing double damage on their first hit. These would be introduced twenty years later as the Steppe Lancer line of the Cumans and Tatars and the Coustillier unique unit of the Burgundians.

* Town Centers could be "fortified" with a technology. This was later implemented in ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology''.

* Early on, Lancers were a separate anti-cavalry unit. They were revived as an alternative to Camels for civilizations that didn't have them (Camels were not in the first draft), but were dropped completely in the end. A "Steppe Lancer" unit was finally added to the game in the 2019 Definitive Edition, but with a different role as a short-ranged light cavalry unit.

* After the game was released, there were considerations for a fifth age, featuring Renaissance warfare and Pike and Shot tactics among other things. ''III'' features five ages, the last of which, depending on the Civilization, can also lead to the civilization becoming a rogue state in the Definitive Edition.

* Sweden was considered to be a day-1 playable faction until fairly late in development. This is why the game had the Swedish fusilier as a mercenary units, and possibly why the Horse Artillery is a common unit in the Industrial Age (in reality it was an innovation of King Gustav II of Sweden, although other countries copied it later). According to developer Greg Street, Sweden was "a celebration of Gustavus Adolphus and all of his military innovations, with beautiful houses." It was eventually added in the ''Definitive Edition.''

* China and Japan may have been planned to be playable in vanilla during th early stages of development, judging by some game file names. They eventually made the cut as playable civilizations with ''The Asian Dynasties''.
* A pre-release map list included an Andes map and described it as an Inca city in the center that you have to control to win, with neutral "warlike" Huari strongholds scattered in the country around it. In the vanilla, the Andes are not included, the Incas appear as native villages in Pampas and Amazonia only, and the Huari are not included at all (although there is a building in the Pacasmayo campaign scenario and the Editor that is probably the planned stronghold). ''The [=WarChiefs=]'' introduced an Andes map, but it was a standard map with mountains on one side, a trade route on the other, and Inca villages scattered throughout.
* The scrapped Italians were going to excel in early warfare and become weak in later ages. They'd have their unique, stronger versions of the Knight (Elmeti) and Crossbowman (Genoese Crossbowman, complete with a large pavise); a generic cannon combining the roles of Falconet and Mortar (which became the Lil' Bombard in ''The Warchiefs''), and a Mounted Crossbowman that behaved like a mix of Horse Archer and Dragoon. The Italians eventually made the cut, but for the ''The Forgotten'' expansion of the HD edition of ''II'', and they received as their unique unit... the Genoese Crossbowmen.

!! ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresI''

!! ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII''

!! ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology''

!! ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII''

* The scrapped Italians were going to excel in this early warfare and become weak in later ages. They'd have their unique, stronger versions of the Knight (Elmeti) and Crossbowman (Genoese Crossbowman, complete with a large pavise); a generic cannon combining the roles of Falconet and Mortar (which became the Lil' Bombard in ''The Warchiefs''), and a Mounted Crossbowman that behaved like a mix of Horse Archer and Dragoon. The Italians eventually made the cut, but for the ''The Forgotten'' expansion of the HD edition of ''II'', whose unique unit is... the Genoese Crossbowmen.

* Wood fences were considered for ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresI'', they found their way onto ''II'' as the Palisades.
* Piles of pre-mined, pre-cut stone and wood available for picking (perhaps after being dropped by dead Villagers) were considered for ''I''. In ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'', these can be found across the campaign in key areas, while in regular matches they could be sent from the Home City.
* Also for ''I'' a fifth resource, Trade Goods, created at the Trade Workshop, was considered. The UpdatedRerelease of ''III'' gave the Native civilizations (Haudenosaunee, Lakota, Aztecs and Incas) something resembling this resource in Fur.
* Back when ''I'' was under development, when having not enough stockpilled Food or Wood for some technologies and buildings, the Player could use Gold to create them instead. This became a key function of the reworked Market in ''II''.
* Goats, cows, and horses could be created as additional sources of food and behaved somewhat like wild gazelles back during the development of ''I''. Only the horse was worked on but was left unfinished. In ''II'' and ''III'', herdable animals were finally introduced, with sheep first in ''II'' and a wide variety of animals, some of them civilization-dependant, on ''III''.
* Decorative, or perhaps observational flags and banners, were under development but ultimately cut for ''I''. They were eventually added in ''II''.
* Land trade units were planned for ''I''. It eventually made the cut for ''II'' as the Trade Cart.