Resource

Resources are basic supplies which are essential for running a powerful civilization. They are the central hinge around the Age of Empires series.

Several resource-gathering methods may overlap with each other. For instance, the Factory in Age of Empires III can produce any of the resources, and Rice Paddies in The Asian Dynasties expansion have the ability to toggle between the production of Food or Coin.

Conventional Resources

Food

Food is the basic resource in all of the games. It represents stored Food stocks, and can be gathered through a variety of methods-

Fishing (I,II,M,III - note: in I and II, there were shorefish that Villagers could fish for. This is not possible from Age of Mythology onwards).
Hunting (I,II,M,III - in Age of Empires II, Villagers get a much bigger meat haul than normal).
Livestock (II,M,III - this includes standard herdables, as well as the livestock that can be produced in Age of Empires III).
Berry Bushes (I,II,M,III - this defines Food in Age of Empires. The oldest Food gathering method, it's been in the tutorials even before hunting was).
Farming (I,II,M,III - the Food gathering after the normal stocks were empty. Also useful because you could throw the farms up near drop-off points and not have to worry about resource trips taking up time).
Trickle (M, III - certain buildings, Home City cards and improvements would provide a slow trickle of resources to your stockpiles, such as the Plenty Vault in Age of Mythology or the Factory of Age of Empires III).
Treasure (III - guarded by Treasure Guardians, also has wood, coin, or units).
Relics (M - A relic called Ship of Fingernails can provide a steady trickle of food in Age of Mythology).
Trading posts (III - Trading posts placed in trade routes can be ordered to provide food).

Wood

Wood is the other abundant resource in Age of Empires. Found on every map, needed for every Building (except for certain fortifications and Egyptian buildings in Age of Mythology) and chopped from every tree. Age of Empires trees have standard 40 wood, Age of Empires II trees have 100 wood, and Age of Empires III trees have 300 wood.

Trickle (M, III - certain buildings, Home City cards and improvements would provide a slow trickle of resources to your stockpiles, such as the Plenty Vault in Age of Mythology or the Factory of Age of Empires III).
Treasure (III - guarded by treasure guardians, also has Food, Coin, or units).
Trading posts (III - Trading posts placed in trade routes can be ordered to provide wood).

Gold

Gold, called Coin in Age of Empires III, is usually the limiting resource. Found on maps just like Food and Wood, Gold comes in several forms:

Mines (I,II,M,III - standard mining-out-of-the-earth strategy. I has mines with 400 gold, II has mines with 800 gold, III has gold mines with 5000 coin, and smaller Silver mines at 2000 coin, M has mines with 6000 gold and two smaller mines with 3000 gold and 1500 gold).
Trade (I,II,M - involved a trade unit running between points. Age of Empires I relied on a Trade Boat that physically traded e.g. 20 wood for x(based on distance) Gold between docks. Age of Empires II relied on either Trade Carts moving between Markets or Trade Cogs moving between docks, in a similar fashion to I but with no resource cost. Age of Mythology had caravans running around between any Town Center and the market. This was removed from Age of Empires III, due to the increase in infinite Gold sources.
Plantation (III - a Coin source like the Mill's Food source, relies on villagers working it.
Whaling (III - in previous games whales were the Elephant of fishing sources. In Age of Empires III three types of whales exist that can be gathered by no more than four boats and provide unlimited coin. It represents the sale of valuable whale oil.).
Treasure (III - guarded by treasure guardians, also has Food, Wood, Coin, or units.)
Trading posts (III - Trading posts placed in trade routes can be ordered to provide coin).

Stone

The resource of Stone is available only in Age of Empires I and II, and was gathered from stone mines respectively containing 250 stone and 350 stone. It was dropped in Age of Mythology, mainly because it was the most underutilized of the resources, with its main use centered around the construction of Towers, Walls, castles and Wonders.

Favor

The resource of Favor is required to produce myth units and Technologies in Age of Mythology. Greeks must worship to gain Favor at Temples, Egyptians build monuments to acquire a supply of the resource, the Norse receive Favor by combat, and the Atlanteans in The Titans expansion must construct and eventually increase the their amount of Town Centers to procure Favor. The Chinese introduced in Tale of the Dragon earn favor by building a special building called a Garden.

Export

This resource is only available to Asian civilisations in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. It is generated by settlers/villagers as they gather other resources. Export is used to purchase specialised military or economic shipments from European allies at the Consulate. The export gather rate can be adjusted at the Consulate, at the expense of reducing the gather rate of all other resources.

Gather Rates

Age of Empires I

Age of Empires II

Source	Base Gather Rate (res/sec)	Feudal Upgrades	Castle Upgrades	Imperial Upgrades
Hunting - wild animals (Mongols)	0.408 (0.610)	-	-	-
Shephard - herdable animals (Britons)	0.330 (0.408)	-	-	-
Berry Bush (Franks)	0.310 (0.388)	-	-	-
Farming	0.319	-	-	-
Shore Fishing with Fisherman	0.426	-	-	-
Shore Fishing with Fishing Ship (Japanese)	0.280 (0.294)	0.280 (0.308)	0.350 (0.403)	0.350 (0.420)
Deep Fishing with Fishing Ship (Japanese)	0.487 (0.511)	0.487 (0.536)	0.609 (0.700)	0.609 (0.731)
Fish Trap (Japanese)	0.206 (0.216)	0.206 (0.227)	0.258 (0.297)	0.258 (0.310)
Trees - Woodcutter (Celts)	0.388 (0.446)	0.466 (0.536)	0.559 (0.643)	0.615 (0.643)
Gold Mine - Gold miner (Turks)	0.379 (0.436)	0.436 (0.504)	0.504 (0.576)	-
Gold - Relic (Aztec)	0.500 (0.667)	-	-	-
Stone Mine- Stone miner (Koreans)	0.359 (0.431)	0.413 (0.496)	0.475 (0.570)	-

Certain civilizations receive certain automatic gather bonuses:

Mongols have a 50% bonus to hunting wild animals
Britons have a 25% bonus to herdables (sheep).
Franks have a 25% bonus to foraging (berry bushes)
Japanese have a tiered bonus where their fishing ships working 5% faster every age, with 20% bonus for the Imperial Age.
Celts have a 15% bonus to woodcutting
Turks have a 15% bonus to gold mining
Aztecs have a team bonus of 33% more relic gold for each captured relic.
Koreans have a 20% bonus to stone mining.

Age of Mythology

Age of Empires III

Further Resources

Population

Population determines how many people your empire can support. Houses can boost this number, certain civilizations get population bonuses (for example, Huns in Age of Empires II don't need to make houses and come with full population).

Experience

Experience(XP) in Age of Empires III is gained by construction, training and combat. It can be used to send Home City Shipments. Unlike other resources, it is not restricted to a particular game, but upgrades the Home City level, allowing for better Shipments in the next game.