A lot of people are posting for 1.11 versions. That's the latest patch that FilePLanet has.

I just bought the game and it is patched to the 1.12 version.

Other people have the 1.2 version.

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There is a file in the game directory called proto.xml (Microsoft Games\Age of Empires III\data) that you can edit with a text editor.

In the file it has stats for each unit in the game.

I only edited it so that no units cost me population (hence I have unlimited units.)

Here are the steps if you wish to do the same:

(1) Back up your proto.xml file by copying it to another directory. I just pasted it to my desktop.

(2) Right click the proto.xml file in your game directory and click the properties option. Uncheck the Read-Only option and click apply.

(3) Open the file (the one in the game directory) in a text editor like Notepad or Wordpad.

(4) Do a search for < PopulationCount>. Typically each unit will have a tag in their stats section that looks like this:

< PopulationCount>1< /PopulationCount>

!!!!NOTE!!!! The PopulationCount tags will not have a space between the < and the PopulationCount. I had to put the space in there so it would show up in the post.

This tag reflects that when the unit is constructed it will cost 1 population. Go through each of these tags and change the number to a 0.

Another easier way is to copy the text from the text file into Microsoft Word or another word processor and use the find and replace method. It took me about 2 minutes to replace all the values.

Note:
The PopulationCount values go all the way up to 8 on some units so be sure if you use the find and replace method, make sure you go all the way up to 8.

If you do end up using the word processor method, be sure to remember to paste your changes back into the xml file.

(5) Once your changes are complete, save the proto.xml file and again right click it and selection the Properties option again. Check the Read-Only option and click apply.

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As far as I know these changes work in Single Player only (Skirmish and Campaign.) I would assume they will not work in multi-player.

There are other properties listed in the proto.xml file, such as resource cost for each unit, etc. Presumably changing these other values could also alter build time for units as well as resource cost.

This is far from a trainer, but it's the best method I've come up with and so far it's working great. Editing these properties and combining it with the cheat codes for the game, might just suffice.

If you have any problems, questions, suggestions, or information regarding editing files post here or send me a private message. I'll respond as promptly as I can.

i will post my copy

Not sure about using a trainer or cheats though.