Age Of Mythology(tm) v1.03 Patch Release Notes

Patch 1.03 - fixes an exploit, balance concerns and ESO issues.

CLIENT FIXES


Fixed an exploit that could give permanent LOS from building foundations.
Fixed a potential memory overwrite.
Spy no longer goes away when the spied unit constructs a building.
Fixed a problem with IME cursor placement.
When placing buildings, automatic alignment now works against other foundations . as well as other buildings.
Fixed a targeting issue with Walking Woods that could sometimes cause it to do nothing.
When restoring a savegame, god power icons should be immediately visible.
Fixed some positioning problems with the post-game timeline "tooltip diamond".
Customized hotkeys are now reflected immediately in the UI help text.
Long filenames should now display more properly in the load & save dialogs.
In the editor, the "Set Tech Status" trigger now presents an alphabetized list of techs.
Popup dialogs in the editor can now be dismissed with the 'ESC' key.
Unit Balance Adjustments (NOTE: Save games from versions 1.00, 1.01, 1.02 will not be affected by the balance changes. Recorded games from versions 1.00, 1.01, 1.02 are still supported and will replay as before):
Egyptian First Age farming is slower; Plow restores the rate.
Plow takes longer to research.
Ra's Chariots and Camelry have a smaller hitpoint bonus.
Ra's Priests now empower gathering less than Pharaohs empower gathering.
Mercenary Cavalry pierce and hack armor decreased.
Build limits (max number you can have at one time) imposed on Mercenary (12) and Mercenary Cavalry (8).
Mercenary and Mercenary Cavalry lifespans are 5 seconds shorter.
Heavy Chariot, Camel and Elephant improvements are more expensive.
Chariot speed decreased (Ra's are still faster, but less fast than they were).
Animals of Set cost 1 less pop slot.
Heroes no longer get bonus damage vs. animals of Set.
Set's Slingers have more hitpoints.
Roc hack armor decreased (easier for Throwing Axemen to hit them).
Roc speed decreased.
Cyclops has more hitpoints.
Poseidon's Towers produce only 1 Militia.

Food Fight – I take my first three villies and have ‘em build a granary at the closest food source, and I rally my next 5 villies on the same food with ‘em. Doesn’t even matter what type of food, just as long as it’s close and I can keep producing non-stop. I also send all scouted sheep/cows/pigs to the same spot and slaughter ‘em if no other food sources are nearby. Like I said, produce food non-stop and keep an eye out for new places to hunt because farming is expensive and ya wanna do it last.

Mellow Yellow – 8th and 9th villies build a storehouse at the closest source of gold, which would be nice if it’s situated next to some trees. The gold will be used for upgrades and archers in the Classical Age.

Sportin’ Wood – 10th, 11th, and 12th villies get to chop wood using the trees around my TC or the trees next to my gold source if they’re close enough. The wood will be used for upgrades, archers, and Classical Age Hero.

Sim City – I take my 13th villie and use it to build a house on one side of a tower and a Temple on another side adjacent to it. Later on, another house and an Armory will be built which make a kind of sandwich in which the Temple and Armory are the bread and the two houses and tower are the meat ‘n cheese. The tower is in the middle of this configuration and is protected by all the structures.

PotLuck – The rest of the Archaic Age is all about pimpin’ da villies and hitting the button to advance to the Classical Age in less than 5 minutes. Depending on how things are flowing, I’ll keep making villies till I have a population anywhere between 17 and 25, and I’ll try to get a couple more each on gold and wood, another on favor (praying), and the rest on food. In a worst case scenario, I’ll advance to the Classical Age with a pop of 17 because the Greeks have no military in the Archaic Age and are so vulnerable to rushes.

Gettin’ Schooled - Okay, it’s almost the 5 minute mark so take a breath and hit the button to advance to the Classical Age. While advancing, research tech for wood and gold at the Storehouse so you’re villies will work faster.

Sim City 2000 – It’s the Classical Age and you have some real offense/defense at your disposal. Blow 200 wood upgrading your towers to Sentry Towers. Make your first two Heroes and keep ‘em handy for defense. Finish your sandwich with another house and the Armory, and then build another sandwich with an Archery Range and three more houses. Try to get more villies on food, wood, and gold (5 each would be nice). Pump out 5 archers, blow 250 wood researching Bull Minotarus then make at least 3 of ‘em, set them all to the same group, and knock on your wooden desk if ya haven’t been attacked because it’ll happen soon.

Calm Before The Storm – If ya haven’t been rushed yet, take a villie and lay down some walls starting at the point directly between you and your foe. Park your army right behind that wall and put a gate in it. Pump out some more archers and Bull Minotarus, and maybe build another tower. It’s expensive to rush, and he’ll take a big loss from your archers shooting from the back and Bull Minotaurs bashing up front.

Counter Strike – If things have gone according to plan, your foe has taken a beating and is retreating. Chase him off but let him get away. Pump out a few more archers and a couple of Bull Minotarus, then head over to his area and find some villies (research some Armory tech on the way over if ya can afford it). Walk your guys right up to ‘em, then they’ll auto-attack. The Bulls will toss ‘em about and the archers will nail ‘em as they run away. Set the archers and heroes to a group and the Bulls to another. Bulls have a bonus against buildings, so start tearing things down with houses and towers first to cap his population and defense, then go after the TC. Pick off military units with the archers and Heroes. Cast Restoration to heal your units, and set a rally point for your Temple and Archery Range right where your guys are fighting and pump out units. If things aren’t going according to plan, get ready for…

The Long Haul – The first series of skirmishes went bad and you’re both wounded. Run home, lick your wounds, and get to the Heroic Age while making a few defensive units and walling off. Make your troops stronger by researching at the Armory and save some gold/wood for building a Fortress and Market. Put the Fortress where you’re likely to get hit but close to your TC, and park the Market in some corner away from your TC. Pump out 3 donkeys, then research tech at the Market. Billd another Temple and a couple of Archery Ranges for fast military unit production along with some houses to support them. Remember to "sandwich" around towers, but don't leave any gaps between the Archery Ranges, Towers, and houses because archers are small units and can get trapped. Research at the Granary and Storehouse as well, and get at least 10 villies farming. At least 10 others each should be on wood and gold, and another 5 to 10 on Favor.

Fin – At this point, you’re either in the Heroic Age with a boomin’ economy and sizable military force, or you’re getting beaten down. Try to keep the fight close to home and fortify your troops with Fortresses and Towers. If you’re still alive after a wave or two, send your troops foreword to an unclaimed TC. Take a couple of villies and build a new TC there along with a couple of Towers or a Fortress. If ya get hit back home, cast Underworld Passage to get your troops back home then back to your forward TC. Wall off back at home, build Fortresses where you’re getting’ hit, and push foreword while building more Towers and Fortresses to bolster your units. If you manage to get to the Mythic Age, the Lightning storm can be used as a panic attack and research those flaming arrow thingies first at the Armory. Keep pushing foreword using Bulls to take down buildings and archers/Heroes to take out military units and villies. If things are really tough and there is a mess of defenses to get through, build a few siege engines for ground poundin’ and let your troops defend ‘em.