SoLiD_CanucK and I were discussing some ideas that they could add to aoe. We thought it would be cool if they put barbarians in the game. They would be computer controlled people that are out to harrass you. Basically it would be worked like this: At the start of the game, the barbarians would only use stone age army. But if 2 or more people reach tool age, then the barbarians would be usuing tool age units. If 2 or more people reach bronze age, then they would start using bronze units, same with iron age. The barbarian units would be weaker than nomral units, about half, a little better than half. They would have villagers but they cant build anything, they would only be there to chop your wood, mine your gold, etc. They would just keep mining, they wouldnt store it anywhere. About the sea going part, same thing applies with land units. Fish boats would just steal fish, and ships would go around harrasing you. They could also have transpot ships for a suprise attack on the coast. Oh! and these barbarians can come out anywhere where the fog of war is at any time! Of course there would be settings for the barbarian level of activity. None, Small, Medium, and Large. None is obvious, no barbarians at all, Small would be very little encounters and small groups, Medium would be normal size groups and normal intervals, and Large, better watch out, you may be fighting barbarians more than the enemy! They would wear either the color white or black, not sure wich would be better, so they would stand out a bit. Maybe some other color, didnt really think about the colors too much.
Also we thought it would be cool to have day and night. You would obviously see less at night and town centers should make a new unit to walk around with a tourch, they could attack too. Night fighting could add a better element of surprise and can also let you hide better Tell me what you think! And if you got any more ideas please let us know!