Ok so this has come up in another topic, I was looking for an old article on MFO which explained it well, but was unable to find it. IIRC the optimal time to wheel was 55+ vils, so long as u kept ur eco "clean", ie not too many vils per lumber camp, not to many 2nd layer farms.
I found 1 article about it here: http://www.salamyhkaiset.org/aoe2/step_ ... ades_page2
Which states:
"Wheelbarrow increases the amount of resources each villager can carry (he has to go drop them less often) and increases its walking speed (less time spent carrying them).
It is hard to evaluate the impact of this on a full economy. When we have a lot of villagers dropping resources on a single lumber camp or far away from it (for example when we use a single lumber camp or when we do a galley rush: multiple lumber camps) or when we do several rows of farms on a single drop point its effect on our economy is very big, in these cases it is best to purchase it as soon as possible.
When the distances villagers have to walk are short (farms in single row, few villagers per lumber camp, etc.) I estimated it improves the economy in around 10% (on wood and farmers, its effect in minery are almost null since the walking there is minimal unless you have loads of miners). Knowing this and taking its upgrade time of 1:15(exactly 3 villagers) into consideration it is my belief Wheelbarrow is good once you have 30 or more villagers (which comes to be around 14 minutes game time in Feudal Age - 16 if we rushed with 4/5 vills because they wont be working normally or if we are mining gold/stone with them once rushed, and 17 minutes in Castle Age if you went feudal with 28, made 2 villagers and clicked castle, wait till you reach castle age then click Wheelbarrow)."
So that conflicts with what I remeber and says 30 vils.
Another dicussion about Villager Seconds which I think is important can be found here: http://www.mrfixitonline.com/viewtopic.php?t=2391
But we have to remember the true cost of wheel/any other tech that is researched from the tc, is included in VS.
For example, the loom isn't just 145VS of gold, its 25 VS, for the vil u missed out on, and its +1 VS for every second u have loom relative to an enemy who doesn't.
So the cost of wheel would include 75+50+25= 150 VS
Has anyone analysed it properly and found where the balance point for cost vs return is.
What are your opinions?
I found 1 article about it here: http://www.salamyhkaiset.org/aoe2/step_ ... ades_page2
Which states:
"Wheelbarrow increases the amount of resources each villager can carry (he has to go drop them less often) and increases its walking speed (less time spent carrying them).
It is hard to evaluate the impact of this on a full economy. When we have a lot of villagers dropping resources on a single lumber camp or far away from it (for example when we use a single lumber camp or when we do a galley rush: multiple lumber camps) or when we do several rows of farms on a single drop point its effect on our economy is very big, in these cases it is best to purchase it as soon as possible.
When the distances villagers have to walk are short (farms in single row, few villagers per lumber camp, etc.) I estimated it improves the economy in around 10% (on wood and farmers, its effect in minery are almost null since the walking there is minimal unless you have loads of miners). Knowing this and taking its upgrade time of 1:15(exactly 3 villagers) into consideration it is my belief Wheelbarrow is good once you have 30 or more villagers (which comes to be around 14 minutes game time in Feudal Age - 16 if we rushed with 4/5 vills because they wont be working normally or if we are mining gold/stone with them once rushed, and 17 minutes in Castle Age if you went feudal with 28, made 2 villagers and clicked castle, wait till you reach castle age then click Wheelbarrow)."
So that conflicts with what I remeber and says 30 vils.
Another dicussion about Villager Seconds which I think is important can be found here: http://www.mrfixitonline.com/viewtopic.php?t=2391
But we have to remember the true cost of wheel/any other tech that is researched from the tc, is included in VS.
For example, the loom isn't just 145VS of gold, its 25 VS, for the vil u missed out on, and its +1 VS for every second u have loom relative to an enemy who doesn't.
So the cost of wheel would include 75+50+25= 150 VS
Has anyone analysed it properly and found where the balance point for cost vs return is.
What are your opinions?