Oh hello, @ES_MattP! Sorry for bombarding you with the long ramble.
I'm happy to see AoE come back. But at the same time, I feel a deep worry that some parts of the project may turn into blindly carrying things forward, without reflecting on why things are the way they were, what could be changed, and what should not be thrown out.
For example (I've been meaning to write a long post, and this is only a sample of my topics), I can't see "the sun is always shining" in AoE: DE.
In AoE1, the marbles, the white Asian walls, and the robes of Priests are all shining white, while the Babylonian ceramic mosaics and Asian roof tiles are shades of bright blue. These are not only highly readable, extremely pleasant to look at, but also adds to an idyllic children's picture book aesthetic, and Tony G attributed that as the biggest factor behind AoE's success. It's one of the most important things AoE had going for.
And what about the wine dark sea to contrast with the bright lands? All screenshots so far have shown light-colored Command & Conquer water. If the goal is to give waters a lighter tone, why not use the same colors as AoE2?
That's an example of what I believe shouldn't be changed; I can also talk about what should. One of my biggest issues, which admittedly most people are unaware of, is about the Asian architecture set. FE's update of the Iron Age set in AoE: DE is entirely based on Chinese architecture post-16th century - green glazed roof tiles, colorful decorations and brick walls, when they could have used some inspiration from actual pre- to 200 CE Chinese buildings seen in
indirect evidences and Chinese-produced films and TV series (most notably, they often have straight roofs). The worst part is, they do not fit the Yamato campaign at all, for which AoE2's Feudal-to-Castle Asian set would actually be the most appropriate; meanwhile, that same set is in fact less suitable for AoE2's period, even for Japan (every Feudal building there has chigi, which had lost its utility in Middle Ages, becoming a decorative element only seen on Shinto shrines).
Knowing both AoE1 and 2 would be remade again, it would have been better to plan beforehand. Ideally, the Yamato civ could have used a unique building set, but even without that, we could at least have avoided anachronistically upgrading from 16th century Chinese brick walls in AoE1, to significantly less ornate wooden houses in AoE2.
With the same foreknowledge, we could also have retired the good old Temple of Heaven as the Asian wonder, a 15th century building that thanks to TAD and Tale of the Dragon, has been remade four times in all four main AoE games, replacing it with something actually ancient.
I'm also very concerned for AoE3, which was not left in a very good state, and I have no idea who will be responsible for improving. Between a design update and an art update, I suspect AoE3 fans would be more interested in the former.[This message has been edited by atrican (edited 08-22-2017 @ 04:04 AM).]