Trade (scenario)

This article is about the scenario in Age of Empires. For the economic feature, see Trade.

Trade
Scenario information
Game	Age of Empires
Campaign	Ascent of Egypt
Civilization	Egyptians
Color	Blue
Scenario no.	7
Previous	Farming
Next	Religion (named Crusade before Definitive Edition)
Setting information
Year	2700 BC 2000 BC (original)
Map

Trade is the seventh scenario of the Ascent of Egypt campaign in Age of Empires. It teaches the player to use Trade Boats and mine stone.

Scenario instructions

Description

• Return and Definitive
• Original

“	Mediterranean, around 2700 BCE The reputation of a united Egypt is spreading to all corners of the world and trade has vastly increased your people's wealth. With this prosperity, the Pharaoh Djoser has decided that a mere mastaba, a simple mud tomb, will not be enough to serve him in the afterlife. Instead, he has ordered the architect Imhotep to design a stepped pyramid that will be visible from miles away. Such a large project will require great resources. You have been ordered to go to the north and set up a trade post to collect the gold for the pyramid. At the same time, you must venture into the desert and find a quarry to supply stone for the construction. Your trading partners, the Minoans, Canaanites, and Libyans, could become jealous of Egypt's success and might even cease trade and attack your people. In case our diplomats fail to keep the peace, you must defend your trade ships. The pharaoh is entrusting you with the success of this project.	”
—In-game section

“	2000 BCE Now that you have mastered the techniques for farming along the river, your civilization is among the fastest growing and most advanced in the world. Your increasing wealth makes it possible to trade abroad. The Pharaoh requests that you take advantage of your position near the coast to help gather resources for a wondrous new temple he is planning. Your contribution is 1000 gold and 1000 stone. Gold can be obtained by trading with the Minoans, Canaanites, or Libyans, but they are all likely to be antagonistic. Stone can be found nearby.	”
—In-game section

Tutorial

• Return
• Definitive
• Original

MINING STONE AND GOLD

To mine stone or gold, select a Villager, and then right-click a stone mine or a gold mine. The Villager will gather the stone or gold and deposit it at the Town Center or Storage Pit.

TRADING WITH OTHER CIVILIZATIONS

Trading with other civilizations' Docks or Markets is another way to acquire gold. Trade units (e.g. Trade Boats, Merchant Ships, and Trade Carts) travel to foreign Docks or Markets to sell their goods, and return to your Dock or Market to deposit the gold. The longer the route, the more valuable your cargo and the more gold you receive. Trading has no effect on the player you are trading with. To trade with another civilization, build a Trade Boat, Merchant Ship, or Trade Cart. Select the trade unit, and then right-click the Dock or Market to trade with. Select a trade unit to display its cargo in the status box in the bottom of the game screen. Select another player's Dock or Market to display the trade profit a trip there will yield in the status box.

MINING STONE AND GOLD

To mine stone or gold, click a villager, and then right-click a stone mine or a gold mine. The villager gathers the stone or gold and deposits it at the Town Center, where it is added to your stockpile (as shown in the upper-left corner of the game screen). The more villagers you assign to mine, the faster your stockpile grows.

TRADING WITH OTHER CIVILIZATIONS

Trading lets you exchange the food, wood, and stone in your stockpile for gold. You trade with other civilizations by establishing trade routes to and from foreign Docks. Trade Boats and Merchant Ships travel to foreign Docks with a cargo of trade goods (20 food, wood, or stone), receive trade goods for gold, and return to your Dock to deposit the gold. The farther you travel to the foreign Dock, the more valuable your cargo and the more gold you receive. Trade vessels can carry a maximum of 20 trade goods. If the stockpile of resources you are trading drops to zero, the trade vessel becomes idle. Trading has no effect on the player you are trading with. The resources you drop off and the gold you receive are not added to or deducted from the other civilization's stockpile. To trade with another civilization, build a Trade Boat or Merchant Ship (at the Dock). Click the Trade Boat or Merchant Ship, click the button at the bottom of the game screen that corresponds to the resource you want the vessel to carry (food, wood, or stone), and then right-click the Dock with which you wish to trade. To display a vessel's cargo, click a Trade Boat or Merchant Ship. The cargo it carries is displayed in the status box at the bottom of the game screen. To display the gold earned from trading at a Dock, click the Dock. The amount of gold that you receive for your trade goods is displayed in the status box at the bottom of the game screen (shown as the amount of gold/cost).

To display the objectives while you are playing the game, click the Objectives button in the upper-right corner of the game screen. For more tips on achieving the objective, click on Hints. To open this page again while you are playing the game, open the menu and click on the Scenario Instructions button.

Starting conditions

• Return of Rome
• Definitive
• Original

• Starting Age: Bronze Age
• Starting resources: 200 food, 200 wood, 120 gold, 100 stone
• Population limit: 50
• Starting units:
  • 3 Villager
  • 2 Axemen

• Starting Age: Tool Age
• Starting resources: 200 food, 200 wood, 200 stone
• Population limit: 50
• Starting units:
  • 3 Villager
  • 2 Axemen

• Starting Age: Tool Age
• Starting resources: 200 food, 200 wood, 200 stone
• Population limit: 50
• Starting units:
  • 3 Villagers

Objective

• Return of Rome
• Definitive Edition
• Original

• Trade 500 gold.
• Stockpile 500 stone.

• Stockpile 500 stone stone and 500 gold.

• Stockpile 1,000 stone
• Stockpile 1,000 gold

Hints

• Return of Rome
• Definitive
• Original

1. A large deposit of stone lies to the east in the desert. Build a Storage Pit near the mine to decrease the distance your Villagers must travel to add the stone to your stockpile.
2. The most efficient way to accumulate gold is to trade your surplus resources.
3. Build warships at the Dock to clear the seas of pirates preying on Trade Boats and Merchant Ships.
4. Build Farms and produce excess food that you can trade for gold. You can also build Fishing Boats to fish for food. If you want to trade food, be sure to Click the Trade Food for Gold button, otherwise wood is traded by default.
5. If you attack your enemies, leave their Docks intact so you can continue to trade with them. You can build a second Dock on the northeast coast to improve trade and reduce congestion.

• There is a large deposit of stone to the east in the desert. Building a Storage Pit near the mine decreases the distance your villagers must travel to add the stone to your stockpile.
• The most efficient way to accumulate gold is to trade your surplus resources.
• You can build warships at the Dock to clear the seas of raiders waiting for the chance to intercept your Trade Boats and Merchant Ships.
• Build Farms and produce excess food that you can trade for gold. You can also build Fishing Boats to fish for food. If you want to trade food, be sure to Click the Trade Food for Gold button, otherwise wood is traded by default.
• If you attack your enemies, leave their Docks intact so you can continue to trade with them. You can build a second Dock on the northeast coast to improve trade and reduce congestion.

• There is a large deposit of stone to the east. Building a Storage Pit near the mine decreases distance your villagers must travel to add the stone to your stockpile.
• The most efficient way to accumulate gold is to trade your surplus resources.
• You can build warships at the Dock to clear the seas of raiders waiting for the chance to intercept your Trade Boats and Merchant Ships.
• Build Farms and produce excess food that you can trade for gold. You can also build Fishing Boats to fish for food. If you want to trade food, be sure to click the Trade Food for Gold button, otherwise wood is traded by default.
• If you attack your enemies on land, leave their Docks intact so you can continue to trade with them. You can build a second Dock on the northeast coast to improve trade and reduce congestion.

Players

• Return of Rome
• Definitive Edition
• Original

Player

• Player ( Egyptians): The player starts with a small base in the northern corner of the map. The western entrance which leads to the Caananite base is guarded by a Watch Tower and two Axemen.

Allies

• Minoans ( Minoans): The Minoans have set up a base at the southeastern part of the map. They start with a Town Center, a Dock, and some Houses. They are the player's ally, so the player should consider trading with them.

Enemies

• Canaanites ( Phoenicians): The Canaanites are situated to the west of the player and consists of a small army and a few structures. Destroying them is not required, but will make resource collecting much easier if dealt with as early as possible. They also control some gold mines in the western corner of the map.
• Libyans ( Egyptians): The Libyans inhabit a small island to the southwest, where the enemy has two Stone Throwers and a few Bowmen. The stone throwers can be a major threat to ships passing by. Likewise, it should be destroyed quickly if the player wishes to trade with their Dock.

Player

• Player ( Egyptians): The player starts with a small base in the northern corner of the map. The western entrance which leads to the Caananite base is guarded by a Watch Tower and two Axemen.

Allies

• Minoans ( Minoans): The Minoans have set up a base at the southeastern part of the map. They start with a Town Center, a Dock, and some Houses. They are the player's ally, so the player should consider trading with them.

Enemies

• Canaanites ( Phoenicians): The Canaanites are situated to the west of the player and consists of a small army and a few structures. Destroying them is not required, but will make resource collecting much easier if dealt with as early as possible. They also control some gold mines.
• Libyans ( Hittites): The Libyans inhabit a small island to the southwest, where the enemy has two Stone Throwers and a few Bowmen. The aforementioned stone throwers can be a major threat to ships passing by. Likewise, it should be destroyed quickly if the player wishes to trade with them.

Player

• Player ( Egyptians): The player starts with a small base but no military units in the northern corner of the map.

Allies

• Canaanites ( Greeks): The Canaanites have set up a base at the southeastern part of the map. They start with a Town Center, a Dock, and some Houses. They are player's ally, so the player should consider trading with them.

Enemies

• Libyans ( Egyptians): The Libyans are situated to the west of the player and consists of a small army and a few structures. Destroying them is not required, but will make resource collecting much easier if dealt with as early as possible. Their resources deplete quickly.
• Minoans ( Minoans): The Minoans inhabit a small island to the southwest, where the enemy has two Stone Throwers and a few Bowmen. They also attack early on with Scout Ships, focusing their attacks on the player's pre-built Dock. The aforementioned Stone Throwers can be a major threat to ships passing by. Likewise, it should be destroyed quickly if the player wishes to trade with them. However, due to the speed of trade ships, shots by Both bowmen and Stone Throwers miss their intended targets, which can be exploited.

Strategy

• Return of Rome
• Original

The player can immediately start collecting food from forage bushes and gazelles, and train more Villagers and Fishing Boats.

The enemy does not attack by land, but many Libyan Scout Ships scour the sea outside the player's pond. This makes training and upgrading some War Galleys necessary in order to fish and trade outside.

Compared to the pre-Return of Rome versions, the player needs to stockpile half as much resources and also starts in the Bronze Age rather than the Tool Age. But the major change is that the player can not simply stockpile gold to fulfill the objective, they must earn the requisite amount of gold via trading. Gold mined or exchanged through the Market does not count for the objective.

The player starts off in the upper center of the map. To the east is a plain with huntable animals and Stone Mines. To the west is the Libyan base. They start with a Ballista, and will bring it if they attack by land.

The only way to gather gold here is by trading with other Docks, so if the player decides to attack the enemy bases, they should avoid destroying the Docks. Instead, they should kill the enemy ships and units which pose a threat to their ships and start trading.

Once 1,000 gold are stockpiled, the player can move southeast of their base to find plenty of Stone Mines. Send the player's villagers there, gather the stone, and the scenario is won once 1,000 of it, are stockpiled.

History

• Definitive Edition
• Original

Historical notes

“	In prehistory, people bartered with other groups for food and useful necessities. Later, when small farming communities appeared in Egypt, trade increased in importance and people traveled far to acquire rare goods or tools that they could not find in their home towns. Evidence of trade between Egypt, Mesopotamia, and even the Indus Valley of India has been dated to as early as 3000 BCE. During Pharaoh Narmer's reign, pottery with Narmer's inscription was produced in Canaan, in the modern-day Levant, for shipment to Egypt, showing that Egyptian rulers looked overseas for rare luxury items. Despite these early contacts, trade did not become a major source of wealth for Egyptians until the late Old Kingdom. Trade provided Egypt with cedar wood from Lebanon; ebony and ivory from Africa; incense, myrrh, and oils from Arabia; gems from Afghanistan; and gold from Nubia. In return for these goods, Egypt exported grain, flax, papyrus, linen, gold vessels, and fish. The Nile River was as instrumental to Egyptian trade as it was to the country's agriculture. The Egyptians constructed rafts and boats from papyrus reeds, as quality wood was rare in Egypt. The wooden boats that were produced were long and were lashed together with ropes. The seams between planks were packed with bundles of reed to keep the water out and they lacked the internal framing that later boats had. Egyptians used these boats to transport goods along the Nile and the Mediterranean coast. Trade and farming generated wealth for the pharaoh, around whom a cult was established, linking him to the god Horus. Massive tombs were built to prepare and house the pharaoh for the afterlife. These tombs were filled with gifts, animals, ships, and even servants. The early tombs were called mastabas, rectangular mud tombs. Between c. 2667 to c. 2648 BCE, Pharaoh Djoser built the first pyramid, consisting of Six mastabas on top of each other. Each successive mastaba was smaller than the one below it, giving the appearance of a stepped structure. An architect named Imhotep is traditionally credited with this design. The biggest pyramids ever built were those at Giza. The largest was that of Khofu, also known as Cheops, and dates from between c. 2560 to c. 2540 BCE. During the Middle Kingdom, fewer pyramids were built and they were of a smaller scale. By the New Kingdom, the tradition of pyramid building had largely ended, although the Nubians of modern-day Sudan continued to build pyramids for centuries.	”
—In-game section

Victory

“	With the supplies you gathered, the first pyramid of Egypt is built in honor of Pharaoh Djoser. People from far and wide are in awe of this achievement and Egypt's fame grows. Djoser's successor already has plans to build an even larger pyramid. In time, these structures will dot the land of Egypt and last an eternity, guiding the pharaohs into the next life	”
—In-game section

Loss

“	The pharaoh has died and the pyramid is still not finished. Djoser has instead been buried in a simple mastaba intended for a lesser family member. If you ever make it to the afterlife, Djoser will be waiting with the proper punishment for your failure.	”
—In-game section

Historical notes

“	Egypt grew quickly to become one of the greatest and longest lasting of the ancient civilizations. Although rarely a leader in innovation, Egypt was remarkable for its architecture, art, and science. The Pyramids were built around 2500 BC, an amazing achievement for the time. Due to its agricultural wealth, Egypt became an important trading partner. Many less favored regions wanted Egyptian grain and textiles. Egypt lacked timber and wanted wine, copper, tin, oils, gold, horses, and cattle. The mouth of the Nile was an important trading stop for the Minoans, Canaanites, and later traders as well.	”
—In-game section

Historical outcome

“	The wealth of Egypt attracted traders at an early date and Egypt was thereafter one of the great trading stops along the Mediterranean coast. Trade was an important component of the Egyptian economy. Major Egyptian exports were grain, wine, food, papyrus, linen, perfume, gold, and manufactured goods (statuary, jewelry, and leather). Major imports were timber, copper, silver, tin, and pottery. Egypt held off the barbarian attacks of 1200 BC but went into decline nonetheless, at least partially because trade came to a virtual halt for many years. Alexander the Great commissioned a new port capital for Egypt named Alexandria, after himself, which became one of the most important ports of the ancient era. Outside the harbor was built the great lighthouse on the island of Pharos, listed among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It stood over 500 feet tall and its light was visible 30 miles away. Parts of the ruined lighthouse, destroyed by an earthquake, were recently found by underwater archaeologists. Grain from Egypt was critical to the large populations of both Greece and Rome that could not be supported by local food production. Roman governments sometimes fell when grain shipments failed to arrive and the starving citizenry rioted.	”
—In-game section

Bugs/errors

• A bug can cause the scenario to not be won even when collecting 1,000 units of gold and stone each. It seems to be related to the diplomacy to other players and having allied victory on. Setting Minoans from ally to neutral seems to fix this and allow the player to win the scenario. Alternatively, keeping allied victory off prevents the bug from activating
• Before Return of Rome, the hints state that trade is the most lucrative way of obtaining gold during this scenario. This is true merely because it just happens to be the only way of obtaining gold; no Gold Mines are found on the available land at all. Since Return of Rome, there is a cluster of Gold Mines in the left corner of the map, but gold mined does not count for the objective.