Since the first Age of Empires game, wood has always been an essential element at the beginning of every chapter and match. It has always been the same process, simply requiring the player to select a villager and assign them to the task.
Gathering Wood
How to Gather Wood
This is one of the first things you need to do in the game's tutorial. Simply select one of your villagers by clicking on them (default is left-clicking) and finding a nearby tree. Hover over the tree until the mouse changes to include a wood icon, then press alt-click (default is right-clicking) to assign the villager to that tree. The villager will immediately move to that tree and begin chopping it. They will return the wood to the Town Center when they have enough unless you have a Lumber Camp nearby.
Lumber Camps
Lumber Camps are used to decrease the distance the villagers have to travel to add the wood to your inventory. Shorter distance means less time spent to deliver the harvest, and therefore faster-harvesting speeds.
The best way to use a Lumber Camp is to build it right next to a forest. Select a villager and go to their build menu (default button is Q), then select the option to build a Lumber Camp (default button is E). Last, place the Lumber Camp next to the forest. Assign villagers to trees near the Lumber Camp and watch the wood resource pour in.
That's everything you need to know about gathering wood. There are other options available for getting food, but they don't rely on gathering. For example, you can build an alliance with other colonies to establish a trade route.
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