This will deter very early blitz tactics against rival civilizations. Buildings are also built to scale in Age of Kings and are unit transparent. Any time a unit walks behind a building, you will see an outline of that unit's position. Age of Kings boasts a technology tree with over a hundred nodes. That's supposed to be more than you could cover in a game, which adds to the replay value.
Technology is divided into two broad areas.
Economic sciences apply to farming and crafts. Go this route if you want to beat your opponent in the market place. Or, if subtlety isn't your thing, pour all your efforts into researching new ships and weapons of war. Representative technologies include Conscription and the Blast Furnace. The former increases the speed with which you build units.