Cut content

During the development of all games of the Age of Empires series, there were things planned to be added, but that never made it into the retail version of a game or have been changed.

Technologies

 * Leather Armor was available in the Stone Age.
 * Metal Working was available in the Tool Age.
 * There was a technology in the Bronze Age called "Trade Workshops"
 * There was a technology called "Mining".
 * Metallurgy was available in the Bronze Age.
 * The Bowman was planned to get upgraded into Composite Bowman.
 * There was a technology called "Longbow" which became "Composite Bow"
 * Scouts could get upgraded into Cavalry.
 * Afterlife was known as "Baptism".
 * There was a technology called "Scouting" which improved unit LOS by 1.
 * There was a technology called Advanced Metallurgy.
 * There was a technology called "Targets".
 * There was a technology called "Mathematics".
 * The player had to manually research technologies to train the:
 * War Elephant
 * Light Transport
 * Elephant Archer
 * Ballista
 * Chariot Archer
 * Chariot
 * Horse Archer
 * Writing used to be called Cartography
 * There was a technology that improved Villager fishing.
 * There was a technology called "Pottery".

Tech Tree

 * A building called the "Pasture" was cut, it allowed you to train Goats and Horses (like the Sheep and herdables of Age of Mythology) as a faster way of gathering food than Farms.
 * A building called the "Mine" was cut, it was built over Gold/Stone Mines in order to gather them effectively.

Units

 * Ruins2
 * Volcano
 * Goat
 * Stone Fence
 * Wood Fence
 * Discovery2
 * Horse
 * Trade Workshop
 * Cow
 * Spaceship (cut cheat unit)
 * Pile of Stone
 * Pile of Wood
 * Hero 12
 * Explorer
 * Traitor
 * Numerous Flags and Banners
 * Pasture

Other

 * There were two more ages called The Prehistoric Age and the Republic Age.
 * There was a sixth resource called "Trade Goods" which could be "made" at the Trade Workshop.
 * Land Trading was available.
 * Two types of acacia trees were cut, an autumn one and a standard green one.
 * There was another tree that was cut, it can be seen in the demo.
 * A beta tree from the 1995 development was left over.
 * Roads had to be built to allow further construction.
 * Leaves and the stump would be left over if the player (or AI) used attack ground with a Catapult against trees.
 * Numerous buildings were changed.
 * Berry Bushes were called "Forage Sites"
 * A lot of beta buildings were smaller, and more historically accurate.
 * Axemen were Topless (they looked like a Villager with an axe)
 * The Catapult Trireme was an upgrade to the Trireme.
 * The Ballista was built at the Archery Range.
 * Mines could be built on 4x4 or 6x6 ore deposits.
 * Iron was a planned resource
 * Barracks were called "Military Training Centers"
 * Buildings called Outposts were planned, these functioned most likely as a Town Center that could research Ages.
 * Farms were unique from Age and buildset like Houses
 * Archery Ranges had a Shared Tool Age variant, like Stables.
 * Barracks had a separate buildset unique Tool Age variant.
 * Siege Workshops were known as "Engineering Shops"

Units

 * Janissaries were originally archers in the Castle Age, and could be upgraded into unique Hand Cannoneers, this was later changed due to an archer unique unit already existing.
 * Elite Janissaries looked similar to Ku Klax Clan members and because of this their hat was removed before release. However, their original model still appear in the Scenario Editor as an untrainable unit Royal Janissary.
 * Spies were a trainable unit, while they appeared to the player (wearing black armor) they appeared to the enemy as Villagers.
 * Off the map Trade Boats could be trained, they functioned as Trade Cogs that were large and would go to the edge of the map, and "despawn" for a short time, and return with a large flurry of resources. This system however was extremely buggy, and was cut due to time constraints, the system is still usable.
 * There was a fifth ship line, called Boarding Ships, they functioned as boats that would come up and convert ships, similar to the Monk, it had no range, but an extremely high success rate. The system as expected, still functions.
 * There was a unit called "Builder Ship", which could build Sea Walls, Sea Towers, Sea Gates, Docks, and even repair ships.
 * Camels had the ability to capture enemy Villagers, and drop them off at the player's Town Center.
 * Archers and Crossbowmen were originally two separate lines, similar to the first Age of Empires, Archers were to cost food and wood, and Crossbowmen costed gold and wood. Of course both had advantages and disadvantages to use.
 * Gaia units called "Outlaws" (in the form of Archers) would spawn randomly near trade routes, and rob Villagers and Trade Carts. Those units also appeared in the The Sack of Rome campaign scenario in the Forgotten Empires.
 * Various units had different designs and functions, they were eventually changed most likely for design quality due to the pushed date.
 * The Saracens had a ranged infantry called the Dervish instead of the Mameluke.
 * The Knight line originally used lances as their main weapons, before they were replaced with swords.
 * The Throwing Axeman did not exist, instead the Franks had a unique cavalry called Frankish Paladin. However, the Frankish Paladin was introduced as a hero unit and replaced by the Throwing Axeman.
 * The Samurai was originally meant to have both melee and ranged attacks, before developers ultimately removed their ranged attack due to being too unfriendly and cumbersome to use. The risk of quickly ordering a Samurai to attack a Ram in a melee attack, attend to other things and check back to see the Samurai accidentally having been ordered to attack with a bow instead of his sword was deemed too much.
 * As an alternative to Middle Eastern Camels, Western and some Asian civilizations had the ability to train Lancers, which functioned as heavy anti-cavalry that was more expensive, albeit more effective.
 * Mangonels and Onagers had to be packed and unpacked in order to be used. This was most likely changed due to how ineffective and tedious this system was.
 * Villagers had a drop-off resource button, which would drop their resources off at the nearest building.
 * In the scenario Scourge of God, the Scythian prince was meant to be appear as a Light Cavalry hero but this was changed to a Scout Cavalry with 1000 hit points for unknown reason.
 * The Genitour was meant to be the Spanish unique unit as a mounted Skirmisher, but it was scrapped and replaced by the Conquistador. The Genitour remains available in the Scenario Editor as an untrainable unit in the Scenario Editor in the form of a Militia that tosses arrows with each swing of its club. In The African Kingdoms, the Genitour in the form of a mounted Skirmisher was introduced as the secondary unique unit of the Berbers.

Buildings

 * Houses generated small amounts of gold (aka Taxation).
 * The Trade Workshop was removed, it functioned not only as a Trade Cart drop-off, but also as garrison post for up to 10 Villagers, which could convert gold to trade goods.
 * Blacksmiths were used as drop-offs for gold, ore, and stone. They could also be built in the Dark Age.
 * Similar to Age of Mythology, Town Centers could be fortified, it is unknown how this would work, although it is likely that they were able to fire upon enemies without garrisoning units.
 * Mongols, Celts, and Vikings used packable and unpackable Town Centers to reflect on their nomadic culture.
 * Monasteries were buildable in the Dark Age, as such Monks could not convert units until the Castle Age, and functioned entirely as healers until then.
 * Ports were used as building to train warships and the off the map Trade Boat.

Other

 * There were up to 6 resources (7 if population is counted) ore was used for military units and military upgrades, and gold for economic units, trading, and economic technologies. Trade goods were used for unit-based trading.
 * Various terrains were changed before release.

Age of Mythology
Age of Mythology is the first full-3D game by Ensemble Studios, and was shown very commonly by ES during June 2001 - October 2002, and because of this, it has the most found cut content out of all games.

Units

 * The Norse Hirdman was cut, it was a counter-infantry, infantry unit.
 * The Apep was cut, according to one of the designers, it was due to not knowing how to refine the animations properly.
 * An Egyptian Swordsman was cut, it was replaced by the Axeman, it's models are used by the Khopesh Swordsman
 * The Chariot was cut, it's anti-cavalry role was merged with the Camelry.
 * The Oxybeles was cut, it was essentially a Greek Ballista.
 * The Norse Siege Tower was cut.
 * The Norse Catapult was cut.
 * The Deerman (or Trollkarien) was cut, it was a Norse myth unit, and was replaced by the Troll.
 * The Frost Giant was originally a support unit and could not directly attack, it also resembled an Ice Golem.
 * The Golem was cut, it was essentially a Colossus without the ability to eat, it was replaced by the Colossus.
 * The Norse Bondi was cut, it was essentially a Norse Spearman. It's function as anti-cavalry was given to the Ulfsark.
 * The Greek Cataphract was cut, it was an anti-infantry cavalry, and Hades unique unit. It was replaced by the Gastraphetes.
 * The Norse Light Cavalry was cut.
 * The Norse Heavy Cavalry was cut, it was the Norse version of the Hippikon, it was replaced by the Jarl.
 * Egyptian and Norse Scout Cavalry were cut. They were replaced in function by the Priest and Ulfsark respectively.
 * Norse Bogsveigir were cut, they were upgraded Norse Archers.
 * Norse and Egyptian Archers were cut.
 * The original campaign hero, Misenus was cut.
 * Generic Greek, Norse, and Egyptian heroes were cut.

Technologies

 * Wheelbarrow
 * Hand Cart
 * Writing
 * Map Making
 * Steering Rudder
 * Composite Bow
 * Horn Bow
 * Military Foresight
 * Myrmidon (Greek)
 * Shield Wall (Njord)
 * Levy
 * Tower Garrison
 * Murder Holes was originally planned to be in Age of Mythology, but was replaced with Boiling Oil for historical reasons.

Buildings

 * The Shrine was removed from Villager build lists.
 * The Naval Shipyard was cut
 * The Charioteria was cut.
 * Greek and Norse Siege Workshops were cut
 * Egyptian and Norse Archery Ranges were cut.
 * The Norse Stable was cut.
 * The Outpost was cut, it's function was replaced by the Obelisk.
 * A University-type building was cut, it was brought back in The Titans before being cut before release.
 * Palisades were cut, they are mentioned in an unused quote from Just Enough Rope, and functioned as a wood-costing cheap wall. There models were reused for the Wooden Walls.
 * All buildings used different textures, were cleaner, and more colorful.
 * Farms originally had to be built on Fertile Field sockets and were used for increasing population.
 * Town Centers did not require Settlements.

Random Maps

 * Golden Fleece
 * Forgotten City
 * Savannah originally used palm trees and the grass terrain set instead of acacia trees and Savannah grass.

Age of Empires III

 * Many terrains that could be seen in pre-release screenshots were changed or removed.
 * At one point European random maps were planned, but were removed to focus on the Americas.
 * The Trireme and Fortress from Age of Mythology were going to appear as Easter eggs.
 * The Musketeer has 4 visual upgrades in total, the first upgrade is unused in the game.
 * The Dutch and the Germans originally had the Musketeer. Musketeer's unused game file voices for the Dutch and Germans exist in the scenario editor and game files.
 * The Russians originally can't trained the Musketeer.
 * Spahis were originally planned for the Ottomans instead of Hussars, but this was changed.
 * Gatling Guns were planned, but where removed.
 * Fusiliers were planned, they were a unique Musketeer for the Italians and French.
 * The Germans originally had a unique Heavy Dragoon called the Reiter, which would've been one of one many Neo-Medieval units planned.
 * A Steam Ship (Possibly an early Ironclad) was planned, most likely as a Transport Ship.
 * A SPC hero called "Neamaltha" was cut.
 * The Ottomans and Russians originally had a Swordsman called East Swordsman, but it was removed.
 * ES planned for the Discovery Age to include Knights and Swordsmen (Along with Crossbowmen and Pikemen being in this age instead of the Colonial Age), but this was changed.
 * A ranged infantry Mongolian mercenary was planned.
 * Watch Towers were set to reappear again, this time being an AoE3 version of the AoK Outpost.
 * The Swedes were cut

Italy

 * Originally Italy was planned to appear as one of the civilizations.
 * Elmeti were planned to be their heavy cavalry unit
 * Their Home City was Florence.
 * The Italians units were mostly "Medieval" compared to other civilizations, much like the Ottomans.
 * They would've used Fusilers (A cut unit, that the French, and Swedes also used)
 * They had general "cannon" units instead of Falconets, and Mortars.
 * They most likely would've used Hoop Throwers, instead of Grenaiders.
 * They also had a Zweihander (For both them and the Germans) unit planned, most likely intended to be unique Skirmishers, the assets were reused for the Boneguard's Swordsmen.
 * They had unique Crossbowmen called Geonese Crossbowmen.
 * They had a Mounted Crossbowman, which functioned as being a mix between the Cavalry Archers and Dragoons.

Technologies
The following technologies were removed or replaced by Home City Cards: Numerous Home City technologies were planned to be available in the retail version of the game.
 * Carabineer
 * Life Guard
 * Corned Powder
 * Coraza Lanza
 * Field Gun
 * Gardener (Ottoman)
 * Horse Breeding
 * Medicine
 * Levy
 * Conscription
 * Religious Freedom
 * Riding Boots
 * Silk Road
 * Stadholders
 * Telegraph
 * Telescope