Building (Age of Empires: The Age of Kings)

The buildings from Age of Empires: The Age of Kings are very similar to the ones in the PC version of this game. Buildings allow for training new units and unlock new research opportunities. Standing on top of buildings will slowly heal units and grant various defense bonuses. Enemy units cannot pass through the player's buildings, but the player can pass through, but not land on, friendly buildings. All buildings, including Wonders, take only one full turn to build.

Influence mechanics

All buildings provide 20% defense bonus (same as hills, forests, swamps and fords). Castles and Town Towers provide 40% defense bonus (same as mountains and bridges). Farms only provide a 10% defense bonus. All buildings negate movement penalties and only cost one movement point to cross (similar to roads, hill roads, mountain roads and bridges).

Buildings do not change sight and range bonuses of the tile they are built upon. This means that while a Castle in the forest and a Castle in the mountains will both provide the same defense and movement bonuses, the Castle in the mountains will improve range, but the Castle in the forest will have reduced range for ranged units. This means forests are generally a poor Castle location.

The cost of repairing a building is a percentage of the original cost of the building based on how much health remains. For example, a building a 50% health would cost 50% of the original cost of that building to repair it. Repairs are completed instantly.

Types of buildings

• Economic buildings - Mine, Mill, Farm - When economic buildings become damaged in combat, they begin to produce less resources. For example, a mine at 50% of its health will only proceed 50% of its regular gold output.
• Town buildings - Barracks, Stable, Archery Range, Siege Workshop, Market, Church, Blacksmith, University, Tower
• External buildings - Castle, Wonder - special building types that are sized 2x2 can be constructed away from a regular town

Economic Buildings

• Mine
  • Produces 150 gold per day (245 with all technologies)
  • Built on gold resource tile
  • Since gold is usually on hills or mountain tiles, a mine can be tactically useful, since as a building it provides passive healing, 20% defence, allows siege units to enter mountain tiles, removes movement penalties and but keeps the range and sight bonuses.
• Mill
  • Produces 50 food per day
  • Allows constructing 4 Farms adjacent to the Mill
  • Can be built next to unclaimed farms to capture them
  • An un-upgraded Mill with 4 Farms will produce 250 food per day (325 with all technologies)
  • Farm - Produces 50 food per day
  • Farms can be a good obstacle to delay or contain an enemy attack, as they occupy so much space that enemies can't cross over.
• Town Center:
  • Allowing the construction of new town buildings
  • Capturing town buildings that are lacking a Town Center
  • Trading food and gold
  • Trains Villagers
  • Researches technologies
  • Town Centres must be 5 tiles away from each other. Town Centers occupy 3x3 grids can be touching diagonally (completely walled off) but not straight on.
  • Produces 25 food, 25 gold per day
• Barracks - Trains and improves infantry
• Stable - Trains and improves cavalry
• Archery Range - Trains and improves archers
• Siege Workshop - Trains and improves siege weapons
• Market:
  • Trading food and gold
  • Presents three options of randomly selected daily mercenaries for hire - these normally cost more but do not require the prerequisite buildings or research
  • Trains and improved mercenary units
  • Trains some more units
  • Trains and improves trade units
• Church:
  • Holding and generating 100 gold per day from map Relics
    • If the church containing the Relic is destroyed or demolished, the Relic will appear on the tile where the church was
    • Each church can hold up to one Relic
  • Trains and improved Monks
• Blacksmith - imrpoves infantry, cavalry, and archers
• University - imrpoves buildings, archers, and siege weapons
• Tower
  • Increases the defense rating to units on a friendly tower tile
  • Can only be built in the corners of the 3x3 grid of a town
  • No research opportunities provided
• Castle
  • Serves as a forward base with some limited unit recruitment, defense bonuses and passive healing (like all buildings)
  • Provides a 40% defense bonus to any friendly unit on a castle tile
  • Only building that can normally be built on mountains or mountain road tiles
  • Since siege units normally cannot cross mountain tiles, building a castle on the mountains removes this movement restriction. This allows siege units to cross over mountains and gain a sight, defense and range bonus normally not possible.
  • Trains civilization's unique unit, Long Swordsman line, and Trebuchet
    • Japanese - Samurai
    • Mongols - Mangudai
    • Saracens - Mameluke
    • Franks - Throwing Axeman
    • Britons - Longbowman
• Wonder - Allows wonder victory

Building architecture

Buildings are largely based on the designs of the Age of Empires 2. The Britons and Franks share a European architecture style and the Mongols and Saracens share a more desert, central Asian and Middle-Eastern architecture style. Japan has its own unique architecture style.

Gallery

European architecture

Mongol and Saracen architecture

Japanese architecture

Peaceful Crusader State

French city of Orleans under siege