I did some calculations regarding the effectiveness of trade posts and found some striking results.
Best maps for trade posts
Most people think the trade posts give the same amount of XP per second for each map. But this isn't the truth. To prove this, I did 3 tests per standard map (which was enough because the figures didn't deviate much) where I divided the amount of XP with the time it takes which results into the XP per second. The calculations can be found here (Excel 2007):
http://members.home.nl/vvanmeurs/TP.xlsx
These are the results (right you see the XP per second):
Yucatan 1.36
Great Plains 1.35
Ozarks 1.31
Mongolia 1.27
Yukon 1.27
Deccan 1.25
California 1.20
Himalayas 1.19
Araucania 1.19
Great Lakes 1.18
Texas 1.17
Siberia 1.17
Carolina 1.16
Saguenay 1.15
Sonora 1.13
Patagonia 1.13
New England 1.09
yellow riverDry 1.06
borneo 1.06
silkRoad 0.60
As you can see, the differences are quite big. Yucatan, GP and Ozarks are the best for trade posts. However, the trade routes are quite big so it takes long to arrive and you can be unlucky if the trade cart just passes when you are building the TP. Mongolia has a very short trade route but a high XP/sec so this map is also very good. Great Lakes was very disappointing altough a lot of people use a TP strat on that map...
So when should you upgrade your trade route
A question that a lot of people ask themselves. Beneath a list of the amount of XP needed for each shipment:
Shipment 1 320 XP
Shipment 2 375 XP
Shipment 3 425 XP
Shipment 4 490 XP
Shipment 5 565 XP
Shipment 6 650 XP
Shipment 7 750 XP
Shipment 8 865 XP
Shipment 9 990 XP
Shipment 10 1135 XP
The upgrade to a stagecoach costs 200 food and 200 wood and makes it 42% faster. A colonial shipment is worth an average of 700 resources. So you want to upgrade the traderoute to get resoruces instead of XP when the amount of XP needed for 1 shipment is >700 XP. Because it also makes it 42% faster (42% will be subtracted from the 700) it's beneficial when shipments cost more than 406 XP which is after shipment 2. But I didn't take in the 400 resources it costs to upgrade it so it's actually it's (400+406) after 806 XP which is after shipment 7.
I don't know if I did any calculation wrong. Feel free to discuss!
Dumbest question of the week by windo master (Agecommunity):
'Do you get online when you buy the age of empires regular version not the collectors editon but the regular?'
Best maps for trade posts
Most people think the trade posts give the same amount of XP per second for each map. But this isn't the truth. To prove this, I did 3 tests per standard map (which was enough because the figures didn't deviate much) where I divided the amount of XP with the time it takes which results into the XP per second. The calculations can be found here (Excel 2007):
These are the results (right you see the XP per second):
Yucatan 1.36
Great Plains 1.35
Ozarks 1.31
Mongolia 1.27
Yukon 1.27
Deccan 1.25
California 1.20
Himalayas 1.19
Araucania 1.19
Great Lakes 1.18
Texas 1.17
Siberia 1.17
Carolina 1.16
Saguenay 1.15
Sonora 1.13
Patagonia 1.13
New England 1.09
yellow riverDry 1.06
borneo 1.06
silkRoad 0.60
As you can see, the differences are quite big. Yucatan, GP and Ozarks are the best for trade posts. However, the trade routes are quite big so it takes long to arrive and you can be unlucky if the trade cart just passes when you are building the TP. Mongolia has a very short trade route but a high XP/sec so this map is also very good. Great Lakes was very disappointing altough a lot of people use a TP strat on that map...
So when should you upgrade your trade route
A question that a lot of people ask themselves. Beneath a list of the amount of XP needed for each shipment:
Shipment 1 320 XP
Shipment 2 375 XP
Shipment 3 425 XP
Shipment 4 490 XP
Shipment 5 565 XP
Shipment 6 650 XP
Shipment 7 750 XP
Shipment 8 865 XP
Shipment 9 990 XP
Shipment 10 1135 XP
The upgrade to a stagecoach costs 200 food and 200 wood and makes it 42% faster. A colonial shipment is worth an average of 700 resources. So you want to upgrade the traderoute to get resoruces instead of XP when the amount of XP needed for 1 shipment is >
I don't know if I did any calculation wrong. Feel free to discuss!
Dumbest question of the week by windo master (Agecommunity):
'Do you get online when you buy the age of empires regular version not the collectors editon but the regular?'