The cathedral-like beta churches of the Russians, Spanish, Swedish, British/French, and Italians, still buried in the game's code.
After Age of Mythology, Ensemble Studios wanted to take the Age of Empires series into unexplored territory... and Word of God says they got a little lost along the way.
For stuff that made the cut for later releases of the franchise, see the franchise-wide Refitted For Sequel page.
Buildings
- Watch Towers equivalent to Age of Empires II's Outposts (only for observation, no attack, and no upgrades) were created before being scrapped. Confusingly, the equivalent of the previous game's Watch Tower is called Outpost here.
- A Fortified Wall upgrade was created (and appears extensively in the Campaigns). However, it came with different interior and exterior sides... and the computer could never figure which was it when building or upgrading an existing wall, so it was scrapped.
Maps
- New, map-specific resources were planned including Cotton, Tobacco, Sugarcane, and Spice.
- The Definitive Edition has "Australian" trees that are not found on playable maps.
Units
- The first outline of the game began firmly in the Renaissance era, with several units available in the Discovery Age (swordsmen, archers, pikemen, knights, ships, and even a small cannon) and skins matching with every new age. Nearly all this early gameplay was scrapped, players were banned from making military units in Discovery (other than Militia and pets), and some unit lines were pushed into the Colonial age and beyond resulting in Anachronism Stew.
- Of the Swordsmen, only the Spanish Rodelero and the German Doppelsoldner survived into the final game. The Ottomans and Russians were also going to receive their own versions.
- The Musketeer first became available in the Colonial Age (as in the final game) but had period-accurate Tudor clothing, independent powder bags, and a morion helmet. This skin still exists but it's been replaced in-game with the one originally made for the following Fortress Age version, who wears a Cavalier-era uniform and hat; this had a cascade of effects resulting in the original Industrial Age skin, with breeches and powdered wig, appearing in the Fortress Age, and the Imperial Age skin (in Napoleonic top hat) appearing in the Industrial Age and having no visual difference with its Imperial upgrade. Several other units including Janissaries, Dragoons, Horse Archers, and Cuirassiers, also have additional, more period-accurate skins that don't show up while playing.
- Dutch and Germans could train Musketeers, as revealed by their voice files.
- Dutch could train Crossbowmen.
- Russians could not train Musketeers.
- Portuguese could train Falconets.
- A Medieval-looking bowman was created in addition to the Crossbowman and Longbowman, presumably as another civilization-specific archaic infantry.
- Spahis were the main Ottoman cavalry instead of Hussars.
- Heavy Cannons were created in the Arsenal, while the Factory produced Gatling Guns.
- Dragoons (or possibly just upgraded Dragoons) were armed with a blunderbuss instead of pistols.
- The Ruyter was called the Reiter and shared by Dutch and Germans.
- A "Colony Ship" of unknown function was planned.
- A ranged infantry Mongolian mercenary was planned.
- Some cheat units without cheat codes in the editor are "fossil units" that were designed but were not implemented in the game.
- A non-playable hero "Neamaltha" (name shared with a 1817 Seminole chief) was made, but cut from the campaign.
- The Trireme and Fortress from Age of Mythology were going to appear as easter eggs.
- Planned wild animals cut include javelinas (which appeared in the previous game, but were replaced with tapirs), crab seals (partly coded and with no sprite attached, were going to appear in Patagonia), and ducks appearing either on land or water (only non-interactive flocks flying above are finished).
- Additional or alternative native units like the Nootka Knife Fighter and the Comanche Lancer, whose icons are still in the game.
- The Asian Dynasties has an unused "native mercenary" version of the Conquistador (the kind that is sent with a card from the Home City) in addition to the "native" kind that is trained at a Jesuit trading post.
Other
- According to producer Bruce Shelley, the game was going to be launched under a different name, but Microsoft prevented them from doing so.
- The last page
◊ of the hardcover artbook that came with the collector's edition of the game shows Roman numerals extending from I to V, with I through III underneath images from the boxart of the respectively-numbered games in the series. The IV is underneath a picture of a Vietnam-era American soldier, and the V is underneath some variety of Space Marine. Whether IV and V were concept boxart for future games or just wishful thinking remains to be seen. Ironically, it ended up being somewhat prophetic, since Relic Entertainment (developers of the Space Marine heavy Dawn of War) wound up developing the fourth game... a game set in The Middle Ages like II. - The Italians's de-facto Home City was Florence (hence the Florence cathedral model used in Lisbon and Seville). When they were made playable in Knights of the Mediterranean, their home city became Venice.
- Several Home City technologies were planned as normal technologies before being replaced with Home City cards or removed.
