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This article is about the economic building in Age of Mythology. For the building in other games in the series, see Farm. |
Template:Infobox Building In Age of Mythology, Farms are buildings that enable Workers to gather unlimited food. The cost of a Farm varies with different cultures. The high cost for the Atlanteans is presumably due to their Citizen's greatly enhanced work rate.
The Greeks, Norse, Atlanteans, and Chinese can build Farms in the Classical Age, but the Egyptians can do so in the Archaic Age. Like in other Age series games, only one Villager may work a Farm at a time. Farms do not hinder unit movement (unlike all other buildings), are very weak and can be destroyed very quickly. Moreover, another player's workers can take over an unoccupied Farm simply by beginning to gather from it.
Strategy
On most maps, farming is not economically viable in the early game. Farms cost resources to build, while the other available food sources (animals and Berry Bushes) are free and yield food more quickly. Once these sources become more scarce and Farms have been upgraded, farming becomes more useful; by the late game, farming dominates food production. Farms should always be built in a secure area. Normally, this will be inside a player's base, preferably around to a Town Center, which acts as a drop-off point and can garrison and defend the farmers if necessary.
When capturing a player's base, rather than spending time razing farms, it may be a good idea to send workers to capture them once the area is safe enough.
History
The ability to farm was one of the great advancements in human progress, because agriculture made possible large, renewable food supplies that could be stored and consumed year-round. The availability of food plants, rich soils, a mild climate, and dependable water determined where farming was possible and where early civilizations arose. Improvements such as the plow, irrigation, and fertilization increased yields.
Trivia
- Originally Farms required a Socket Unit (similar to Settlements) called Fertile Fields. Farms also dictated the player's access to population (As houses were not added yet) making Action more common earlier in the game.
- Farms originally were 3D instead of being a 2D .DCL (used for flat 2D images and fake-shadows) texture representing a cabbage field.
- There were also 6 visual types; Wheat, Olives, Berries, Cabbages and anachronistically Potatoes, and Corn.
- Farms originally were 3D instead of being a 2D .DCL (used for flat 2D images and fake-shadows) texture representing a cabbage field.
Gallery
