Cut content

Cut content refers to material planned and produced during the development of Age of Empires series games, but not appearing in the final retail version.

Age of Empires

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
• Originally, Composite Bowmen were called Longbowman, this is also the reason why their bow is longer than a traditional composite bow.

Other

• There were two more ages called The Prehistoric Age and the Republic Age.
• There was a fifth 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"

Age of Empires II

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 Klux Klan members and because of this their hat was removed before release. However, The Forgotten reintroduced the original Janissary sprite-sheet for the untrainable Royal Janissary unit.
• Spies were a trainable unit, and while they appeared to the player as a spy (a unit 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. It is still usable, however.
• 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. These buildings are still found in the campaign and scenario editor.
• 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. 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 would later appear in the The Sack of Rome campaign scenario in The Forgotten DLC.
• 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.
  • Interestingly enough, Knights were originally meant to be armed with swords, before they were changed into Lancers, and later back into sword-wielding units.
• The Throwing Axeman did not exist, instead the Franks had a unique cavalry called Frankish Paladin. However, the Frankish Paladin was later changed to be 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 The Scourge of God, the Scythian prince was meant to be appear as a Light Cavalry hero but 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 Conquerors as an untrainable unit in the Scenario Editor that uses the Militia sprite set, despite their Skirmisher-based nature.
• In The African Kingdoms, the Genitour appears as mounted Skirmisher as the secondary unique unit, and team bonus of the Berbers. The original Genitour unit (after Patch 5.1) is now hidden in the files, and cannot be placed in the Scenario Editor.

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. This is evident by the fact that the Trade Workshop has a garrison count in the stats when selected. The Trade Workshop is still found in the scenario editor and campaign.
• Blacksmiths were used as drop-offs for gold, ore, and stone. They could also be built in the Dark Age. It would function similar to the Storage Pit in Age of Empires.
• 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 originally 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 a building that was cut from the game, and is hidden within its files, it functioned to train only military naval units, and research naval warfare technologies and upgrades, whilst the Dock could only train and research economic naval content. It was spirtually succeeded by the Harbor in the AoEIIHD DLC Rise of the Rajas.
• The City Wall was the original Fortified Wall for the Central European architectural style. The wall can still be found in the campaign and scenario editor.

Other

• There were up to 6 resources (7 if population is counted) which included: Ore, used for military units and military upgrades (whilst gold was used for economic units, trading, and economic technologies) and Trade Goods, which were used for unit-based trading.
• Various terrains were changed before release.

Many features that were cut from the final game can be found in the Portuguese Civ Mod II for The Conquerors.

Age of Mythology

Age of Mythology is the first fully 3D game by Ensemble Studios, and was showcased often by ES between June 2001 and October 2002. A multiplayer alpha build was released to selected testers in 2001, containing many files relating to cut content. As such, this game has the most known and documented cut content out of all Ensemble Studios games.

Units

• Units had the ability to run, though it is unknown how exactly this would have functioned.
• *Animals also had the ability to run. When prey was approached by human units they would run away (instead of walking away) and predators would run after villagers.
• Ranged units could move and fire upon enemies at the same time, likely at the cost of accuracy.

Economic

• Villagers could originally fish along shorelines, and the animations still exist in the game files.
• All Villagers could pray at Temples, and Shrines, before the feature was ultimately given to just the Greeks.

Infantry

• The Egyptian Swordsman were replaced by the Axeman. The original model was ultimately repurposed for the Khopesh Swordsman in Extended Edition.
• Norse Hirdman was a cut counter-infantry unit.
• Norse Bondi were cut Norse counter-cavalry infantry, its anti-cavalry purpose was ultimately given to the Ulfsark. Was ultimately made available in the Scenario Editor in Extended Edition.

Archers

• The Norse and Egyptians had generic Archer units, like the Greek Toxotes.
• * Bogsveigir were upgraded Norse Archers. The unit was ultimately included with Extended Edition.

Cavalry

• Egyptian Chariots were cut, they functioned as anti-cavalry units, its function was was merged with the Camelry.
• The Cataphract was originally unique Hades' unit. It was deemed unsuitable for an archery-based civilization and replaced with the Gastraphetes at the very end of the game's development. Available in Scenario Editor.
• Norse Light Cavalry were cut, they were effectively a Norse version of the Prodromos.
• Norse Heavy Cavalry were cut, they were effectively a Norse version of the Hippikon, it was replaced by the Jarl.
• Egyptian and Norse Scout Cavalry were cut. They were replaced with the Priest and Ulfsark respectively to make the cultures more unique.
• The Atlanteans originally had War Chariots, whether they were cavalry archers, or melee cavalry is unknown.
• Light Cavalry units (Norse, Chariots and Prodromoi) were originally ranged, and would throw Javelins.
• Chinese War Chariots were a Classical Age unit originally, most likely the War Chariot was intended as an Anti-Archer cavalry similar to the Hippikon.

Siege

• The Oxybeles, essentially Greek Ballistae, were removed around March 2002.
• The Helepolis was originally just a Greek version of the Siege Tower.
• Norse Siege Towers and Catapults were cut.

Naval

• Ships were divided into Utility ships (boats for fishing, trade and transport) and Warships. Warships would function as transports, and dynamically change depending on the units garrisoned inside e.g. a ship with archers became an arrow ship. The warships were much larger than the ships that ultimately made it into the game, and units could be seen standing on their decks.
• The Gaiassa was the Egyptian Utility Ship. Only a text string can be found in the Multiplayer Alpha.
• The Knarr was the Norse Utility Ship. Only a text string can be found in the Multiplayer Alpha.
• The Pirate Ship was originally based on the Norse Longboat. Its assets ended up unused in vanilla Age of Mythology. But was ultimately made available in the Scenario Editor in Extended Edition.

Hero

• Each culture had a generic hero who was very strong and would be used to cast god powers (using flags), instead of accessing them directly from the core interface.
  • This concept was ultimately used in Age of Empires III, with Explorers and Abilities.
  • The Egyptian Hero most likely partially inspired Setna's design.
• Misenus — Original protagonist for the main campaign.
• Mnevis was cut, he was Amanra's commander, who would likely appear during the Abydos scenarios. He was a man of great girth who would ride a hippo into combat. All that remains of him is concept art and comments from the developers, who had hoped to bring him back with The Titans.
  • The concept of Mnevis may have been reworked into Stuart Black in Age of Empires III.
• Achilles was originally an infantry hero using a modified set of the original generic Greek hero unit art. His assets were repurposed for the Regent in Tale of the Dragon.
• Skult originally use to use the assets of the original generic Norse Hero, however whether or not it was only using this as placeholder is unknown.
• Priests could originally convert enemy units, just like in Age of Empires II. The ability was removed as it was deemed too powerful and discouraged other players from using Myth units.
  • The code was repurposed to allow Priests of Set to convert animals, as well as for the Traitor and Chaos god powers.
  • Tale of the Dragon introduces Monks who can convert human units (Shennong's Monks can also convert Myth units).

Other

• Poseidon was originally intended to appear directly instead of granting Gargarensis a Living Poseidon Statue.

Myth

• Unittypes MythUnitCavalry, MythUnitArcher, MythUnitInfantry and MythUnitSiege present in protox.xmb indicates a counter system amongst Myth units.
  • Classified as MythUnitSiege are the Scarab, Behemoth, Colossus and all three Norse Giants.
  • Classified as MythUnitArcher Argus, Medusa, Manticore, Centaur, Troll, Lampades, Satyr, Jormund Elver, Petsuchos, and Wadjet.
  • Classified as MythUnitInfantry Scorpion Man, Mummy, Minotaur, Einherjar, Anubite, Cyclops, Avenger.
  • Classified as MythUnitCavalry are Valkyries, Scarabs, Behemoth, Nemean Lions, Fenris Wolves, Hydra, Sphinx, and the Chimera.
• Sirens were planned but ultimately cut before art could be made.
• Apep was cut, according to one of the designers, it was cut due to being unable to refine the animations properly. Otherwise it is believed to have functioned like a melee Petosuchos. Was ultimately made available in the Scenario Editor in Extended Edition.
• Griffon was cut due to complexity of creating a flying/land hybrid unit. It was ultimately made available in the Scenario Editor in Extended Edition as a purely land-based unit.
• Satyr is seen in screenshots from 2000 but ultimately cut. Was brought back as an Atlantean myth unit in The Titans.
• Trollkarien was a Norse myth unit, and was replaced by the Troll. Was partially made available in the Scenario Editor in Extended Edition
• Golem — essentially a stone Colossus without the ability to eat. It was cut due to the developers disliking its design, and replaced by the Colossus which they found more interesting in concept.
• Greek Giants were cut, possibly meant as a sort of Mountain Giant/Cyclops hybrid, but were likely cut due to being too similar to the two.
• Sand Giant was a cut Egyptian myth unit that was never finished.
• Titan was a buffed up Mountain Giant. Titans would go on to appear as a completely different and unique type of unit in The Titans expansion pack.
• The Frost Giant was originally a support unit and could not directly attack, it originally resembled an Ice Golem.
• Mummies were originally meant to have both a ranged, special and hand attack according to the Atef Crown and its MythUnitInfantry unittype.
• War Turtles were both Green, and originally a Greek unit, though it's unknown what Mythic Age Greek minor god they were intended to be available to.
• Medusae were originally a support unit and its gaze special attack was originally its primary attack.
• Sphinxes could originally teleport to buildings. The sounds, and assets for this ability still exist in the game files.
• Caladria could originally attack as well as heal. Its odd staff is even still in the shape of a bow.
• Medusae and Anubites were intended to be visually changed when technology upgrades were research, but the textures are unused.
  • The Anubites however were meant to visually changed, but due to how .GRN files work, the texturereplace command in their animation file is ignored.

Nature

• Unicorn was cut, a blank animation file from the 2000-alpha era is all that remains.
• Wild Camels were cut. Its icon still exists and is repurposed for an Extended Edition Steam Achievement.
• Wild Horses were cut.
• Herring, Shore Fish and Anchovies, three fish types were cut from the original game, the latter was brought back in The Tale of the Dragon.
• Ram all art assets remain in the original game's files. Was ultimately used in Tale of the Dragon.
• The Musk Ox was planned for The Titans as a huntable for Tundra. Texture and history text is all that remains in the game files.
• The Dog was cut twice, first's basic animation file can be found in the files of the original game. Whilst the Dog in The Tale of the Dragon was planned as a trainable Chinese unit for Tale of the Dragon but was also cut. However this version of the Dog is available in the Scenario Editor.
• Originally predator animals would attack prey animals, similar to the original Age of Empires game.
• Cows had the ability to use a fart attack, and its special attack would fire a stream of dung at its enemies, these were intended as pre-release jokes, and never meant to be included in the final product.
• Short Bushes nature objects were cut, although they can be seen in the Atlantis Tile and Egyptian Temple objects. They ultimately returned in Tale of the Dragon.
• Icebergs, Ice Sheets, Tall Grass, and other nature objects were hidden in the data files. Using modified anim files, will make Tall Grass appear in Watch That First Step, and Icebergs to appear in the The New Atlantis campaign intro-cinematic and Main Menu screen for The Titans.

Buildings

• Most of the building styles used for each civilization changed, resulting in buildings looking vastly different from their final released versions.
  • Some of these are still leftover in the files, including the Greek Temple, and Egyptian Guard Tower.
  • Atlantean Buildings originally had a different appearance, as mudbrick buildings, and later as more elaborate.
• The Shrine was originally used to train (Alpha) Classical Age Myth Units and research related technologies, with the Temple becoming available in the then second, Heroic Age. The building is available in the Scenario Editor, though due to human error the Egyptian Shrine model is a renamed copy of the Archaic Age Egyptian Temple (and thus will be bigger than its obstruction radius)
• Greater Temple was cut, only an animation file remains. It may have been yet another variant of the temple that became available in the third age (Olympic Age) of the pre-release builds.
• The Egyptian Academy was cut, all that remains are shadow definition files. The Egyptian Academy was most likely either a military building or a utility building similar to the University from Age of Empires II.
• The Naval Shipyard originally warships could only be trained here, but ultimately the building's function was merged with the Dock. The building is available in the Scenario Editor.
• Charioteria were effectively an Egyptian Stable that would have trained Chariots, Chariot Archers and Camelry.
• Greek and Norse Siege Works.
• Egyptian and Norse Archery Ranges.
• Egyptian (different from Charioterias) and Norse Stables.
• The Outpost was planned, its model reused for the Sentry Towers, and its function effectively replaced by the Obelisk.
• The University was planned to be brought back in The Titans for the Atlanteans but was ultimately cut
• Palisade Walls were cut, they're mentioned in an unused quote from Just Enough Rope, and functioned as a cheap wood-cost wall. Its models were reused for the Wooden Walls.
• Signal Towers were Atlantean buildings that may have functioned similar to an Obelisk. The building is not defined in code, but all assets including visual effects are in the game files.
• The Atlanteans originally had Ballista Towers. Ultimately the upgrade was cut without assets being made (as the building x tower ballista is just a renamed copy of the Guard Tower)
• An Atlantean building called the Siege Shop for training and upgrading siege units. Functions were moved to the Palace
• Farms originally had to be built on Fertile Field sockets and were used for increasing population. The concept was ultimately transferred to Settlements and Town Centers instead, the former of which did not originally exist.
• Buildings had higher quality destruction animations, and would appear as ruins after they collapse.
• Town Centers were originally intended to be upgraded, increasing their attack, and population limit (10 to 15 to 20)
• *This feature became the Fortified Town Center and Citadel respectively.

Technologies

Many technologies from Age of Empires II or based on technologies in that game were slated to appear in Age of Mythology.

• Wheelbarrow, and Hand Cart were meant to reappear from Age of Empires II.
• Writing, similar to Loom from Age of Empires II
• Map Making, and Military Foresight two unknown technologies where either cut or replaced, their function unknown.
• Steering Rudder, increased the speed of Ships
• Horn Bow, and Composite Bow increased the range of Archers, Fortresses, and Towers in the Heroic and Mythic Ages respectively.
• Myrmidon was a cut Greek technology that upgraded Hoplites to Myrmidons
• Shield Wall was cut, it was another Njord unique technology that have additional pierce armour, and anti-archer bonuses to the Huskarls.
• Originally the Levy and Conscription technologies were one unified technology, rather than seperated over units/unittypes and
• Sacred Cats was originally called Feral Cats.
• Tower Garrison, increased the capacity of garrison buildings
• Blessing, unrelated to Blessing of Zeus
• Red Tide, Sekhmet unique technology.
• Venom was cut, it was the Scorpion Man upgrade technology
• Shepherds was cut, it was probably the Classical Age Herdables technology?
• Butcher was cut, it was probably the Classical Age Hunting technology?
• Berserkergang was originally called Regenerate and would allow infantry to regenerate health.
• Murder Holes was replaced with Boiling Oil for historical reasons.
• Atef Crown was supposed to increase the attack of Mummies by 10% but due to human error, the effect is non-existent.
• Valley of the Kings was supposed to decrease the training time for Migdol units by 66% but however due to a Mathematical error, it decreases it by 200%.

God powers

• Bifrost Bridge was cut, not much information is known, as only a single text string exists in the Multiplayer Alpha. Presumably this would have spawned the mythical Bifröst, a burning rainbow bridge. According to an unknown Ensemble employee (likely Bruce Shelley) Bifrost simply acted as a bridge that would allow units to cross over it, and ignore terrain. It was most likely removed for being too situational, as well as too hard to program in.
• Hades originally had Bramble as a god power which spawned roots from below the ground to surround the caster's Town Center, giving it more hitpoints and armor. The bramble models were repurposed for the Uproot god power in Tale of the Dragon.
• Enrage was a god power that boosts all units attack, attack speed and speed.
• Inferno was an Egyptian god power that would set units aflame. Was ultimately used for the Chinese in Tale of the Dragon.
• Rebellion was cut, Ares god power that would cause all villagers to stop building and gathering for a time.
• Shepherd was cut, it had the same effect as the cheat god power Goatunheim.
• Sight was cut, it use to show all untamed animals on the map.
• Snowstorm was cut, it was a Norse god power that would blanket the map in snow, lowering the LOS of all units, and stopping the training of new units.
• Wilds was cut, its effect was combined with Snowstorm to create Fimbulwinter. It simply spawned wolves around buildings.
• Volcano was cut, it was an Atlantean godpower, several eruption effects crash to the ground instantly (similar to Meteor) and distort the terrain. Available in Scenario Editor.
• * The files include several unused volcano models, including a birth animation.
• Dwarven Mine was originally named Secret Gold.
• Ragnarok was originally named Divine Defenders.

Maps

• Golden Fleece was cut.
• Forgotten City was cut, it was meant to use a unique Mountain Giant called a "Titan" (unrelated other than to the Titans appearing in The Titans)
• Savannah and Watering Hole originally used palm trees and the grass terrain set instead of acacia trees and savannah grass.
• Old Atlantis was supposed to have Overgrown Temples that would grant players bonus resources when discovering them.
• Regicide was supposed to spawn a Fortress for each player.

Campaign

• The original campaign revolved around a Greek general called Misenus. Ensemble produced a 140+ page script, before trimming it down and reworking it over time until eventually it evolved into Fall of the Trident.
• The Fall of the Trident campaign was planned to have 40 scenarios, before being reduced to 36 and ultimately 32 scenarios and 3 tutorial scenarios.
• Theseus, Charon, Achilles, Mnevis, Zethos, Shaba Ka, and several other characters were cut from the campaign.
• Originally cutscenes could be accessed from their respective campaign menu. They still all have names and descriptions in the .cpn and .cpx files.
• An Arena mode was planned and is still referenced in the files, but was ultimately cut..

Graphics

• Snow-covered maps would experience gentle snowfall precipitation.
• Farms originally had 3D models that would alternate between different appearances, apparently even depending on civilization: Olive Groves, Cabbage Farms, Wheat Farms, Corn Farms, and Potato Farms.
• Unit idle animations were originally dynamic based on terrain, such as wiping their brows in the desert, and shivering in snow.
• Meteor would originally deform the terrain, but this was cut for performance reasons.
• Day/Night cycles were planned but cut for performance reasons. They were ultimately included in Extended Edition.
• Extended Edition originally had darker lighting, with better ambience, and more visible shadows. This was later replaced with attempts to replicate the original game's lighting.

Miscellaneous

• The game originally ran at 60 FPS instead of 30 FPS.
• Originally there were three ages, Classical, Heroic and Olympian. The Classical Age in the pre-release versions was divided unto Archaic, and Classical Ages in the later builds of the game, whilst the Olympian Age was renamed to the Mythic Age.
• In-game lighting was originally more saturated.
• Many terrains were cut, including a Greek city tile and several forest textures among others. a couple of these terrains can be selected in the Scenario Editor, but the textures are completely missing.
• Terrain and, depending on the Civilization, Cypress trees, Palms or Pines would automatically fill in between Heroic and Olympian Age buildings close to each other.
• Stone Mines were originally in the game, as well as Stone as a resource. It was removed in order to simplify resource gathering. All that remains are some references and animation files.
• Depending on Major God selection the player would get 4 unique Myth Units, and heroes, as Minor Gods were absent.
• The Building/Training UI was changed three times, from an Age of Empires II-like UI, to a 4x3 under 3 subsections UI, to the final, and current UI.
• The Multiplayer Alpha has two additional names that Pharaohs could be generated with: Setna and Steve. These names were removed from the retail release.

Age of Empires III

• Many terrains that could be seen in pre-release screenshots were changed or removed.
• At one point random maps based in Europe 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 originally has four visual upgrades in total but the first upgrade is unused in the game.
• The Germans and Dutch originally had the Musketeer. Musketeer's unused game file voices for the Germans still exist in the scenario editor and game files. The Dutch can still send Musketeers through the Stadhouders upgrade at the Church.
• The Dutch originally had the Crossbowman, there are unused voice files for Dutch Crossbowmen in the game files.
• The Musketeer wasn't available to the Russians.
• Spahis were originally planned for the Ottomans instead of Hussars, but this was changed.
• Gatling Guns were planned, but were removed, they were trained at the Factory.
• The Heavy Cannon was originally trained at the Arsenal, whilst the Gatling Guns were trained at the Factory.
• The Heavy Cavalry was a generic Cavalry most likely trained in the Fortress Age that wielded a Musket, and had a bonus versus Infantry. The Italian Elmeti, and Spanish Lancer, were unique versions of this unit.
• The Germans, and Dutch originally had a unique shared Dragoon called the Reiter, which would've been one of one many late-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.
• There was another Infantry-type unit called the Swordsman, which was available to the Italians, Russians, Germans, Ottomans, and Spanish.
• Ensemble planned for the Discovery Age to include Knights and the aforementioned 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.
• The Colony Ship was planned, its function is unknown.
• Watch Towers were set to reappear again, this time being an Age of Empires III version of the Age of Empires II Outpost.
• There was a Zweihander unit planned, most likely intended to be unique German Swordsmen, the assets were reused for the Boneguard's Swordsmen, Landsknecht, and Doppelsoldner.
• The Zweihander also became a technology used to improve the Doppelsoldner later in development before it was cut.
• Originally there were special Resources that would (depending on their type) appear, these included: Cotton, Tobacco, Sugar Cane, and Spice.

Italy

• Italy was planned to appear as one of the civilizations.
• Their Home City was Florence.
• Architect units were planned, as a unique Settler.
• Elmeti were planned to be their Heavy Cavalry unit, replacing the generic unnamed Heavy Cavalry.
• The Italians units were mostly "medieval" compared to other civilizations, much like the Ottomans.
• They had general "Cannon" units instead of Falconets, and Mortars, these would later become the Li'l Bombard in The Warchiefs.
• They most likely would've used Hoop Throwers, instead of Grenadiers.
• They had unique Crossbowmen called Genoese Crossbowmen, a similar unit would feature under the same civilization in Age of Empires II HD: The Forgotten.
• They had a Mounted Crossbowman, which functioned as being a mix between the Cavalry Archers and Dragoons.

Sweden

• The Swedes were cut, not much remains, however it was Sandy Peterson who shed light on them.
• Fusiliers were planned, they were a unique Musketeer for the Swedes, and is their only known unique feature.

Technologies

• Numerous technologies were removed or replaced by Home City Cards.
• Many Home City technologies were planned to be available in the retail version of the game, but were cut.