2.5 The Units tab

The units tab is by far the most complex part of AGE but it's also the most documented one with the descriptions of the fields. Nevertheless, some of the explanations are wrong and I'll try to clarify everything I can.

Edits per civilization​

On the top left corner of the units tab, you have a drop-down menu to select the civilization with which you want to see the units. In most cases, the civilization chosen there is irrelevant but there are some exceptions:

• Buildings have different graphics depending on the civilization, this makes architectures possible.
• Some units may have different values depending on the civilization, this is usually done for simplicity. The most notable example are units 1345, 1346, 1347, that handle the unique technologies and unit upgrades.

At the top of the tab you have a bunch of check boxes, one per civilization. These checks control which civilizations are affected by the changes you make, appart from the selected civilization from the drop-down menu.

This is very important as you can accidentally change things for civilizations with no way of reverting the mistake.

Type and Class of unit​

These values control how the game treats the units and some of their properties. For example, setting a unit to type 80 (building) makes it unable to move, packed units like the Trebuchet being the exception. The class field has similar properties but it's also used to update units in full. For example, range upgrades are applied to the full archer class instead of going unit by unit.

You could produce interesting behaviors by combining types and classes. I don't have an extensive list but we'll see some examples, like units that are type building but class prey animal so they can move and avoid other units.

Descriptive fields​

Fields in the Units Tab:

• Internal Name Used if the Language File Name is empty or doesn't have a string in the language file.
• Language File Name Entry in the language file for the name of the unit. AGE instructs you to set a value between 5000 and 5999 so that it doesn't conflict with other elements of the game.
• Language File Description Entry in the language file for the short description of the unit. It should be the value of the "Language File Name plus'' 1,000.
• Hotkey
• Language File Help Not used in the game but linked to the "Help Converter'' next to it. It should be the value of the file name plus 100,000.
• Help Converter Linked to the "Language File Help'' and no need to modify it. Entry in the language file for the long description of the unit. It should be the value of the file name plus 21,000.
• Lang File Tech Tree Not used in the game but linked to the "Tech Tree Converter'' next to it. It should be the value of the file name plus 150,000.
• Tech Tree Converter Linked to the "Lang File Tech Tree'' and no need to modify it. Entry in the language file for the name of the unit displayed in the technology tree. It should be the value of the file name plus 10,000.

Entries in the language file:

• n. Corresponding to the "Language File Name''. Name of the unit.
• n+1,000. Corresponding to the "Language File Description''. Short description.
• n+21,000. Corresponding to the "Help Converter''. Long description.
• n+9,000. Corresponding to the "Tech Tree Converter''. Technology tree name.

Graphics​

To talk about graphics, we first should mention the button "Show graphics" in the SLP menu. This opens a new window that displays the graphics for the unit. However, you will only see graphics that are in the base .drs or the mod .drs files, the ones you configure when opening AGE. This window can be useful to check some graphics but you may need to go into the drs files to be sure.

Let's go over the fields:

• Icon From the file 5730.slp.
• Special Graphic Related to the special abilities, unused.
• Standing Graphics Those of the unit when it's idle. There are two fields, to have them switch between animations if desired.
• Dying Graphics Death and collapsing animation of units.
• Undead Graphics Unused.
• Walking Graphics For when the unit is moving.
• Running Graphics For when units have two speeds, used for deers.
• Snow Graphics Usually only the snow to be placed on top of the building.
• Construction Graphics Foundation graphics.
• Attack Graphic For when the unit is attacking.
• Garrison Graphic Flags to be placed on the unit.

Damage Graphics​

Damage graphics control the flames of buildings and, in the case of the Community Patch, the health bars always visible over units.

They are created by setting a percentage of health that has to be lost for the graphic to appear and the graphic itself. There is also the option to replace the graphics entirely, which is done on buildings.

Statistics​

Here we have some of the stats of the unit, not counting attacks and armors. Some things to remark:

• A "Rotation Speed'' of zero means that the unit turns instantaneously. It's mostly zero for all units except for some ships.
• The "`Line of Sight'' is the amount of tiles the unit uncovers in a straight line. The "Search Radius'' is the distance the units look for enemies. For units, both numbers usually coincide but things like the Castle or the Krepost have search radius smaller than the line of sight.
• "Max Range'' is the maximum distance a unit can shoot and "Shown Range'' is the value displayed in the screen. Both values are the same but, when you research range upgrades, only "Max Range'' is modified, which makes the "4+1'' values appear.

Attacks and armors​

First, a quick reminder on how units deal damage to each other taken from Age of Empires Wiki.

The damage dealt by units is calculated by comparing the different attacks and armors each unit has, adding the elevation multiplier, and setting it to 1 if it's smaller than 1:

The value kelev is the elevation multiplier, 1.25 in Age of Conquerors. The multiplier for cracked terrain and the resistance multiplier are not relevan in the Community Patch.

For example, a skirmisher deals 2 pierce damage, 3 damage to archers and 3 damage to spearmen. If it attacks an archer from higher elevation and both have no upgrades, it deals the pierce and archer damage, not the spearman one since its target does not have that armor class, in total:

max(1,1.25 * (max(0, 2-0)+max(0, 3-0)))=max(1, 1.25 * 5) = 6.25.

The decimals are respected, even if the game only shows integers.

For a list of all the armor classes used in the game, see Section 2.7.1.

The "Attacks'' and "Armors'' section have each a list of all the attacks and armor classes the unit has and the values there are the ones used in the damage calculation.

Appart from those values, some other interesting fields:

• The "Shown'' attack, melee and pierce armor are the values displayed in the screen for the unit and display "+1'' when upgrades are researched. "Shown Attack'' will check for the melee or pierce armor class in the attacks list.
• "Frame Delay'' affects only units that shoot projectiles. It is the amount of frames in the attack animation that have to pass before the projectile unit is created. This is what makes Manguadai easier to micromanage than Cavalry Archers.
• "Accuracy Percent'' is the probability (in percentage) of a projectile going for the intended target. For each projectile shot, a random number is generated to see if the unit misses. For missed shots, the "Attack Dispersion'' value comes into play and measures how much do the missed shots actually deviate.
  
  This means that you could have a unit with 0 accuracy and 0 attack dispersion and still it would hit its targets all the time.
• "Reload Time'' is the time in seconds that must pass before another projectile is shot or a new attack is computed. "Shown Reload Time'' has no effect.
  
  This creates a distinction between melee and projectile units. When melee units go into combat, they cycle through their attack animation over and over but that doesn't mean that every hit of the sword is an attack, it's just visual. The reload time is what controls the attacks.
  
  For projectile units this is a bit different. Once they finish the attack animation and have shot the projectile, they go into idle mode until the reload time has passed, when they shoot again.
• "Blast Width'' is the radius in tiles where the blast damage is computed.
• "Blast Attack'' control what type of blast damage units deal. "Blast Defense'' is not taken into account. For more information, read Section 2.7.2.
• "Base Armor'' is a default armor value used when an attack class is not present in the armors. It is set to 1,000 for everyone so as to ensure that no damage is produced.
• "Terrain Defense Bonus'' affects buildings and controls extra damage dealt when standing the unit is on a specific terrain. As far as I know, the only example is Cracked Dirt.

Resources and Garrison​

• Resource Capacity Amount of resource the unit can hold or store. Used mainly for villagers. Mines, farms and other animals use the "Resource Storages'' section.
• Resource Decay Speed at which units loose resources. Used on rotting animals and on corpses to make them disappear.
• Work Rate General purpose value used for farms to produce food, villagers to collect resources, buildings to produce units or monks to heal. Resource collection uses some extra values in the tasks section.
• Garrsion Capacity For transports and buildings.
• Garrison Type This fields uses a binary code, meaning that each box bellow controls a bit of the number and the value above is the decimal translation. This allows different units to enter buildings.
• Garrison Heal Rate Health gained per second while garrisoned. The higher the value, the faster the regeneration. This contrasts with the regeneration speed (attribute 45) used by regenerating units. There, the value is the amount of seconds that pass to get a single health point.

Projectiles attributes​

This section controls how units fire projectiles and how projectiles themselves behave.

There are two fields for projectiles: the main one is the one used when the unit shoots a single projectile and the secondary controls all extra projectile. The main projectile uses the statistics of the shooter when computing damage but the secondary ones used the values programmed on them.

"Total Projectiles'' is the base amount of projectiles the unit shoots, usually one except for things like the Kipchak or the Organ Gun. "Max Total Projectiles'' is the amount of projectiles a building can shoot when fully garrisoned.

You can have a unit shooting several projectiles and only use the main projectile field. In that case, all projectiles will use the shooter statistics. If you do set a secondary projectile, all extra projectiles will use that one.

The fields on "Graphic Displacement'' and "Projectile Spawning Area'' only control visuals to make it look that arrows leave the bow or bullets the cannon, it doesn't affect accuracy.

The next fields control how projectiles work:

• Projectile Type Always has value zero. Other values could be used for lasers in the Star Wars game.
• Smart Mode Ballistics behavior. All projectiles have it to zero and the technology changes it to one.
• Hit mode How the projectile behaves when hitting units different from the intended one or how to behave when hitting units in a line.
• Vanish Mode What happens when the projectile hits a target. It may disappear or pass through.
• Area Effects Zero for arrows, one for bullets.
• Projectile Arc How much does the projectile curve.

To understand the types of projectiles you can create, read Section 2.7.3.

Attributes​

This section has several check boxes and fields to control things like the availability of units, where they can walk on or their size. I will only list those that are used, bear in mind that some may be used in the Star Wars game.

• Available Whether the unit is available from the start of the game or requires a technology.
• Can be Built on Used to make corpses disappear when you build on top of them.
• Hide in Editor Whether the unit should appear in the Scenario Editor. Used to hide annex units or corpses.
• Fly mode To display the shadow properly.
• Can be Gathered To let the game identify resources and not apply the fog of war rules.
• Adjacent Mode Mainly used by walls to change shape.
• Built: Vanishes Used for buildings that have a different foundation unit from the standing one, to make the first one disappear. The most notable example is the Town Center.

Fields:

• Sort Number Relevant for scenarios, this field doesn't make corpses or farms walkable.
• Hill Mode What makes buildings require flat surfaces. This controls whether you need a fully flat surface or allow for some slope.
• Fog Visibility Whether the unit is visible in the fog of war. The game only uses value zero for normal units and one for animals or corpses.
• Combat Level Used by units to prioritize enemies. This is what makes wolves prefer villagers to military or rams buildings.
• Interaction Mode What makes units selectable and movable. Doesn't control the interface units show.
• Minimap Mode How the unit shows in the map. The game mostly uses zero for non-visible units and 1 for visible ones.
• Minimap Color Set to zero when the unit belongs to a player and a color for resources.
• Doppelganger I believe this makes fallen trees still not count as dead, and thus walkable, units.
• Gather Group Probably not used anymore.
• Task Swap Group This is what makes villagers switch tasks. Whenever a villager is tasked to something, the game looks at units in the same group for a unit that knows what to do with it, based on the tasks at the bottom of the tab.
• Special Ability Not used but implemented. This has a charge mechanic, for example.
• Unit Trait This fields uses a binary code, meaning that each box bellow controls a bit of the number and the value above is the decimal translation. This is what allows units to garrison others.
• Civilization Not used as far as I know.
• Trait Piece Not used.
• Dead Unit Into what unit does the unit turn into when it dies. Can be empty for the unit to disappear.
• Placement Terrains Two fields. Only relevant for docks.
• Placement Side Terrains Two fields. Only relevant for docks. Also makes shore fish appear in the shore.
• Terrain Table The actual guide for where a unit can be. Values don't represent single terrains but collections of them, see the "Terrain Tables'' tab.
• Foundation Terrain For changing a terrain when a building is placed there.
• Initiates Technology A technology to be researched automatically when the building is finished. Used for age requirements and queuable technologies.
• Defaut Task Used by animals to be move around the map.
• Drop Sites Two fields for the buildings villagers use to drop resources. Note that fishermen using the dock is not implemented through here but through the patch. You could do it at the expense of loosing another building.
• Collision Size Physical space occupied by the unit, specially relevant for missed shots and for bunching units together.
• Selection Outline X and Y values determine the size of the circle or square around the unit. Z value controls the position of the health bar.
• Clearance Size As far as I know, the same values as the collision one.
• Occlusion Mode This fields uses a binary code, but doesn't have check boxes so you need to do the binary translation yourself. This makes units display their outline when passing behind buildings.
• Obstruction Type This makes buildings have square selection and controls whether units can pass over others.
• Blockage Class One thing this fields controls is whether buildings can be placed over units, counting that they will move away.
• Selection Effect Whether to display the health bar or the outline when selecting the unit.
• Trailing Unit Used by projectiles to leave behind a trail of smoke. "Trail Mode'' is usually set to 2 and "Trail Density'' is usually 0.4.
• Interface Kind What controls the buttons you see in when selecting the unit, for example the formation buttons for military. Bear in mind that the buttons for units to create or buildings to build are controlled with the following fields.
• Train Time Also construction time for buildings.
• Train Location Set to the builder for buildings.
• Train Button Where in the interface does the button appear. 1 to 5 are first row, 6 to 10 the second row, 11 to 15 the third one and extra values create a second page.

Resources and Costs​

This section controls the resources units give or consume and the costs they have to build.

"Resource Storages'' is used by trees or animals to store resources. Houses and alike use it to provide housing space and units use it to take housing space. Bear in mind that there are several options for the resource:

• The resource can be stored in the unit and has to be gathered.
• The resource can be given when the unit is created and never lost.
• The resource can be given when the unit is created and returned when the unit dies.

Costs control what resources the player needs to build the unit, including population. Resources can be subtracted from the bank or simply present, like the population space.

Looting Table​

As far as I know, this small section only controls resource production buildings, mainly the Feitoria.

Annex units and alike​

Annex units are units that appear next to a building when the unit appears and die with it. This can be with the foundation or with the finished building if it has the attribute "Built: Vanishes''. There can be four annex units and you could add annexes to the annexes. Bellow every annex unit field there are two fields for the position of the annex unit relative to the center of the head building.

Appart from the Annex unit, there are other fields here:

• Stack Unit The unit that appears after completion. Usually paired with the ``Built: Vanishes'' option.
• Head Unit As far as I know, it has no effect but informs of the unit an annex one is connected to.
• Transform Unit Used by trebuchets and gates.
• Pile Unit Not used.

Sounds​

This section is self explanatory, with the sounds units produced when being created, selected or tasked with something. Bear in mind that Damage and Transform sounds are not used.

Tasks​

The final section of the units tab stores the things units can do. For military units is fairly simple, attack and garrsion. But villagers have tasks to collect resources and Feitoiras have tasks to produce resources. For these two, the field "Productivity Resource'' is very important, as it controls the amount of resource collected or produced. This is what makes Mayans have extra resources.

Healing units​

Although the attribute is not visible in the units tab, it is possible to control the healing rate of units.

Originally, the only unit that could regenerate health (appart from heroes) was the Berserk. This ability was controlled via resource 96. The value of that resource would control the regeneration speed of the Berserk.

With the introduction of Maghrebi Camels, the game has a new way of giving units regenerating abilities that is programmed as an atribute of speciffic units, so that we can set different regeneration speeds for each unit. This is done via 2 attributes:

• Attribute 40 seems to control wether the regeneration is active or not. Putting it to 4 is the simplest option. Other values also convert the unit into a hero, thus making it impossible to convert.
• Attribute 45 controls the regeneration speed. The number is the time in seconds to get a new health point. The smaller the number, the faster the regeneration.

With this, the Berserker no longer uses the dedicated resource, which is reserved for the Caravanserai effect. Starting in Dark Age, attribute 40 is set to 4 and attribute 45 is set to 1.5.

Generating extra resources​

Malians, Mayans or Tatars have some variation of the bonus ``Villagers extract X\% more resources''. For the case of malians, for example, this is 10\% more gold. The way this bonuses are implemented is a bit obscure and worth explaining.

Let's look at the gold miner, unit 579. If we look at it's tasks, one of them is ``Hunt unit 841'', that is, gathering gold from mines. Let's look at the fields, ``Resource In'', ``Productivity Resource'' and ``Resource Out''. These resources work as follows:

1. The villager extracts a unit of ``Resource In'' from the mine. If we check the actual mine, unit 66, we see that it has 800 units of ``Gold Storage''.
2. The unit of gold is multiplied by the ``Productivity Resource''.
3. The amount resulting from the multiplication is added to the player's ``Resource Out'' bank.

If ``Resource Out'' is empty, the same as ``Resource In'' is used. The resources can also be different, as is the case for hunters.

The bonuses that increase the amount of resources obtained modify the corresponding ``Productivity Resource''. In the case of Malians and gold, effect 621 changes the original value of 1 to 1.1.