Town Center (Age of Empires)

This article is about the building in Age of Empires. For the building in other games of the series, see Town Center.

Town Center
Building information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Economic
Civilization	All civilizations
Age	Bronze Age
Population	4
Use	Train Villagers Advance Ages Drop off resources
Construction
Requires	Government Center
Wood	200
Build time	60 seconds
Statistics
Size	3×3 tiles
Hit points	600
Garrison	15 (only Villagers)
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Line of Sight	7

“	Used to create villagers and advance to the next age. It is also where villagers can deposit food, wood, gold and stone. The Town Center supports 4 units.	”
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

The Town Center is an economic building in Age of Empires that is available at the start of the game. As it trains Villagers, advances through Ages, and serves as a drop off point for all resources, it is the most important of all the buildings in the game. Town Centers also provide four population points.

Gameplay

Unlike in all the other games of the series, the Town Center in Age of Empires cannot defend itself. In Return of Rome, it can be used to garrison Villagers for protection, but the only way to drive off enemy attacks is to send soldiers or build towers. It's still critical to block enemy units from reaching economic areas.

Initially, the player only has access to a single Town Center. This can be rebuilt if it's lost, as long as the player has the requisite 200 wood stockpiled. If the base is under an attack that can't be stopped, a possible strategy is to evacuate Villagers, delete the Town Center, and build a replacement in a safer location.

In the Stone Age, with just the one Town Center, a judgement call needs to be made about whether to age up when 500 food is acquired, or keep training Villagers to expand the economy. The key advantages of the Tool Age are the ability to build a versatile military, defensive buildings, sea power, and Farms. So if the player has no shortage of naturally-occurring food, and is in a secure location (such as a heavily forested starting location that can be barricaded with buildings), it can be an effective strategy to keep training more Villagers, allowing the player to harvest additional resources while rivals' Town Centers are occupied with research.

There is less of a judgement call for when to advance from the Tool Age. The Bronze Age immediately grants access to units that are far more powerful than anything available in the Tool Age, and units from the Academy and Siege Workshop will melt through unprepared enemies with ease. The Bronze Age also greatly expands the player's economic capability, so reaching it as quickly as possible should be a priority.

Additional Town Centers can be built after the player has constructed a Government Center, which requires a Market, which itself requires a Granary. These requirements can be waived depending on the match's starting age - new Town Centers are unlocked if starting from the Iron Age. Having several Town Centers pumping out Villagers simultaneously will radically transform the state of the player's economy, so should be done as quickly as possible.

When the player can build additional Town Centers, they usually become the default choice for new resource-deposit buildings in far-flung regions. While they do cost more wood and take longer to build, their ability to produce Villagers makes them far more useful than Granaries and Storage Pits, especially after the latter's technologies are researched. It can also be used to deposit all Villager-harvested resources, whereas Granaries can only store food from Farms and Berry Bushes, and Storage Pits can only store other resource types. Unlike later games, Town Centers have no stone cost.

As in all future games (except for Age of Empires III, where the main land shipment building applies), cheat units spawn at the Town Center.

Tech tree

Red: Buildings

Blue: Units

Green: Technologies

				Requires Government Center
	➞		➞		➞
	➞		➞

Upgrades

• Architecture: +20% hit points and -33% build time.
• City Watch: +3 Line of Sight.*

Civilization bonuses

• Greeks: Town Centers work 10% faster starting in the Tool Age.*
• Romans: Town Centers cost -10%.

Team bonuses

• Babylonians: Town Centers are built 10% faster.
• Choson: Town Centers have +2 Line of Sight.
• Palmyrans: Researching technologies that benefit Town Centers are 30% faster.
• Shang: Town Centers provide +4 population room.
• Sumerians: Town Centers cost -25%.

Changelog

The Rise of Rome

• Romans: Town Centers cost -15%.

Definitive Edition

• Romans: Town Centers cost -10%.
• Greeks: With update 38862, Town Centers produce Villagers and advance through ages 10% faster starting in the Tool Age.

Return of Rome

• Town Centers can now garrison up to 15 Villagers. It cannot garrison other units or attack.
• Town Centers have an Alarm Bell feature (along with Return to Work) which causes nearby Villagers to seek shelter in Town Centers and Towers.
• Team bonuses added:
  • Babylonians: Town Centers are built 10% faster.
  • Palmyrans: Technologies benefiting Town Centers are researched 30% faster.
  • Shang: Town Centers provide +4 population room.
  • Sumerians: Town Centers cost -25%.
• With update 93001, City Watch is moved from the Government Center to the Town Center.
• Choson (team bonus): With update 93001, Town Centers have +2 Line of Sight.

History

“	All villages and towns had an administrative center that was the site of governmental power and leadership.  In the earliest villages this might have been the leader's home.  Later it might have been the king's palace.  The center was often the place where important supplies, especially food surpluses, were stored.  Vessels for storing grain and oil were found in the ruins of the Palace at Knossos of Crete.  Some of the earliest accounting records yet found were clay tablets left in long- forgotten storerooms in ancient Sumeria and in Hittite cities.  The destruction of the town center usually meant the destruction of the town's governmental infrastructure.	”
—Age of Empires manual

Gallery

Town Center (in the Stone Age) as shown in the Definitive Edition

Town Center in the Tool Age

Farms and a Town Center (in the Tool Age), as featured in the Definitive Edition

All Town Centers in the Bronze Age: Egyptian, Greek, Roman (middle), Mesopotamian, East Asian

All Town Centers in the Iron Age

All Town Centers in the Bronze Age (DE): Roman, Greek, Egyptian (middle), Mesopotamian, East Asian

All Town Centers in the Iron Age (DE)

Icons

Greek

East Asian

Egyptian

Mesopotamian

Roman

Stone Age (original)

Tool Age (original)

Greek (original)

East Asian (original)

Egyptian (original)

Mesopotamian (original)

Roman (original)

Buildings in Age of Empires
Stone Age Starting Tool Age Bronze Age Additional Iron Age