History WhatCouldHaveBeen / AgeOfEmpiresIII

* An update to ''Knights of the Mediterranean'' included references to Denmark and Poland-Lithuania as aborted revolutionary factions. The first would give access to the units Royal Grenadier and Espingol, and the card "Royal Oldenburgs" which would ally the player with the House of Oldenburg. The second would give access to the units Grand Hetman (likely a hero), Scytheman, and Polish Lancer. It was later announced that Denmark and Poland would be introduced as fully playable factions in a new expansion, rather than as revolutions.

* Of the Swordsmen, only the Spanish Rodelero and the German Doppelsoldner survived into the final game. The Ottomans, and Russians were also going to receive their own versions.

* Playing against the same civilization in skirmish mode was originally possible. Mirror matches are possible again, as of ''Definitive''.

* Still wondering why the Ottomans are included in a game about the colonization of the New World (and the East Indies in the expansion)? It's because there were going to be maps based on Europe and the Mediterranean, but they were cut for time and due to having trouble incorporating the "build a colony and [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory ally]] with the natives" HighConcept to the Old World.
** With the release of the African civilizations, and to a lesser extent the Asian ones, this theme has been less and less at the forefront as the game receives more content, ''III'' can now be seen as more of a game about early modern imperialism and its effects on the whole world.
** As of May 26, 2022, the Definitive Edition's Knights of the Mediterranean DLC introduces over 30 new European and Middle Eastern maps, and a further eight multiplayer maps simulating major European battlefields, including the Italian Wars, the Deluge, and the Russo-Turkish War.
*** The random maps (such as England, Bohemia, Anatolia, Lithuania) include more water-borne trade routes and European Royal Houses as natives, offering powerful units, renewable big-button techs, and a myriad of technologies. Making up for lost time, eh?

* Of the Swordsmen, only the Spanish Rodelero and the German Doppelsoldner survived into the final game. The Italians, Ottomans, and Russians were also going to receive their own versions.
** The Italians nowadays may train the Papal Guard, a unique mercenary-like Halberdier that may be shipped from the Basilica to your military HC Shipment point.

** It is possible that this skin wasn't intended for the Musketeer after all, but for a separate archaic gunpowder unit, called the Arquebusier.

* A Zweihander unit (probably a Discovery version of the Doppelsoldner) was created, then cut. The visuals were recycled into the campaign-only Boneguard Swordsman.
** Well, the Zweihander skin is back, as the Maltese "Hospitaller", a powerful two-handed swordsman who moves faster in the proximity of allied buildings, who via cards may also move faster near enemy structures.
* A steamship was planned for the Imperial Age, presumably similar to the Ironclad introduced in ''The Warchiefs''.
** The United States in the ''Definitive Edition'' may train the Steamer, a more expensive Galleon analogue that differentiates itself in three key ways:
*** It cannot train cavalry and instead fields Gatling Guns.
*** It may boost its speed with Full Steam, where the Steamer sets its engines to full power for 8 seconds, during which its speed is increased by 40%. 90 seconds cooldown.
*** It may build Docks on suitable coastline, which no other watercraft in the game may do.

** With the release of the African civilizations, and to a lesser extent the Asian ones, this theme has been less and less at the forefront as the game recieves more content, ''III'' can now be seen as more of a game about early modern imperialism and its effects on the whole world.

* Playing against the same civilization in skirmish mode was originally possible.

[[folder:Civilizations]]
* Italy was considered to be playable factions until fairly late in development. This is why the game has the Elmeti as a mercenary units. According to developer Greg Street, Italy would have a unique design where the player could elect between subclasses standing for different historical Italian republics (Genoa, Milan, Venice), with their own unique units and bonuses. Italy would finally be added to the game in 2022's ''Knights of the Mediterranean'' ExpansionPack.
[[/folder]]

* The Italians would have a second Settler unit specialized in building structures, called the Architect.

* The Italians's de-facto Home City was Florence (hence the Florence cathedral model used in Lisbon and Seville).

* Italy was considered to be playable factions until fairly late in development. This is why the game has the Elmeti as a mercenary units. According to developer Greg Street, Italy would have a unique design where the player could elect between subclasses standing for different historical Italian republics (Genoa, Milan, Venice), with their own unique units and bonuses.

* The [[https://external-preview.redd.it/QW9_71nAp06hnUFsgl-hVmgaMNcpMCliEH_iSH11yuc.jpg?auto=webp&s=6536710b932843ad61950655b5fe432baf254bb1 last page]] of the hardcover artbook that came with the collector's edition of the game shows Roman numerals extending from I to V, with I through III underneath images from the boxart of the respectively-numbered games in the series. The IV is underneath a picture of a [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam-era]] American soldier, and the V is underneath some variety of SpaceMarine. Whether IV and V were concept boxart for future games or just wishful thinking remains to be seen. Ironically, it ended up being somewhat prophetic, since Relic Entertainment (developers of the SpaceMarine heavy ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'') wound up developing the fourth game.

* The [[http://farm1.static.flickr.com/33/55677518_25f950ab1a.jpg last page]] of the hardcover artbook that came with the collector's edition of the game shows Roman numerals extending from I to V, with I through III underneath images from the boxart of the respectively-numbered games in the series. The IV is underneath a picture of a [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam-era]] American soldier, and the V is underneath some variety of SpaceMarine. Whether IV and V were concept boxart for future games or just wishful thinking remains to be seen. Ironically, it ended up being somewhat prophetic, since Relic Entertainment (developers of the SpaceMarine heavy ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'') wound up developing the fourth game.

* Watch Towers equivalent to ''Videogame/AgeOfEmpiresII'''s Outposts (only for observation, no attack, and no upgrades) were created before being scrapped. Confusingly, the equivalent of the previous game's Watch Tower is called Outpost here.

* Italy and Sweden were to be playable factions until fairly late in development. This is why the game has the Elmeti and Swedish fusilier as 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). The latter was eventually added in the ''Definitive Edition.''
** According to developer Greg Street, Italy would have a unique design where the player could elect between subclasses standing for different historical Italian republics (Genoa, Milan, Venice), with their own unique units and bonuses. While Sweden was "a celebration of Gustavus Adolphus and all of his military innovations, with beautiful houses."
* According to lead designer Creator/SandyPetersen, there were plans to include Native American playable civilizations already in the vanilla version but they were [[ExecutiveMeddling prevented]] from doing so.
* 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.
* Petersen later outlined a second expansion set in Africa, with Ghana, Songhai, Ethiopia, and Kongo as new civilizations. However, the idea of setting the second expansion in Asia prevailed and the African expansion was retooled into the ''African Kingdoms'' expansion of ''Videogame/AgeOfEmpiresII'', before an expansion for ''[=AOE3=]'''s Definitive Edition was announced with the theme of African civilizations.
* China and Japan may have been planned to be playable in vanilla during th early stages of development, judging by some game file names.

* 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 War Chiefs'' 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 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 would also have a second Settler unit specialized in building structures, called the Architect.

[[/folder]]

* Petersen later outlined a second expansion set in Africa, with Ghana, Songhai, Ethiopia, and Kongo as new civilizations. However, the idea of setting the second expansion in Asia prevailed and the African expansion was retooled into the ''African Kingdoms'' expansion of ''Videogame/AgeOfEmpiresII''.