Microsoft Age of Empires II Readme File

September 1999 Microsoft Corporation, 1999. All rights reser ed.

!elcome to Microsoft" Age of Empires" II# $he Age of %ings&' This file contains information to help you install Age of Empires II. It also includes late-breaking information not included in the manual or in-game Help.

C()$E)$S
A. Installing Age of Empires II *. Starting Age of Empires II 1 +etting ,elp 2 Changes to Formations and Man-al Corrections E. .irect/ $ro-bleshooting F. +amepla0 $ro-bleshooting +. 1ideo $ro-bleshooting ,. A-dio $ro-bleshooting I. 2erformance $ro-bleshooting 3. M-ltipla0er $ro-bleshooting %. Map Editor 4. Age of Empires II Information

A. Installing Age of Empires II

To install Age of Empires II, you must be using Microsoft Windo s " !" or later or Microsoft Windo s #T" $.% ith &er'ice (ack " or later. )*or information about ho to get &er'ice (ack ", go to http#55666.microsoft.com56indo6s5do6nloads5+. $o install Age of Empires II ,. Turn on your computer and start Microsoft Windo s !" or later or Microsoft Windo s #T $.% ith &er'ice (ack " or later. -. (lace the Age of Empires II ./ in the disc holder )if re0uired+, and insert it into your ./-12M dri'e. 3. If Auto(lay is enabled, click Install, and then follo the instructions that appear on the screen. -orIf Auto(lay is disabled, double-click the M0 Comp-ter icon on your desktop, double-click the icon for your ./-12M dri'e, and then double-click the A(ESet-p.e7e icon. When the &etup screen appears, click Install, and then follo the instructions that appear on the screen.

*. Starting Age of Empires II

4ou must ha'e the Age of Empires II ./ in your ./-12M dri'e to play Age of Empires II. Age of Empires II ill not launch or 5oin a multiplayer game from the M&# & 6aming 7one lobby if the player does not ha'e the Age of Empires II ./ in the ./-12M dri'e. All players must ha'e a ./ inserted at launch time. 4ou can connect only to multiplayer games created ith the same Age of Empires 'ersion you are

using. *or e8ample, if you are playing Age of Empires II, only Age of Empires II games appear in the multiplayer list, not Age of Empires or Age of Empires9 The 1ise of 1ome E8pansion games. $o start Age of Empires II

0* (lace the Age of Empires II ./ in the disc holder )if re0uired+, insert it into your ./-12M
dri'e, click the Start button, point to 2rograms, point to Microsoft +ames, point to Age of Empires II, and then click Age of Empires II. 4ou can skip the opening cinematics by clicking the mouse or pressing E#TE1, &(A.E:A1, or E&..

C. +etting ,elp
Information about Age of Empires II is in the in-game Help, in the printed manual, and on the foldout pro'ided ith the retail 'ersion of the game. $o displa0 in8game ,elp

1* (ause your pointer o'er any button or interface item in the game and Help te8t automatically
appears on the screen. )To turn off in-game Help, click the ,elp button near the mini-map in the lo er-right corner of the screen.+ The manual is also a'ailable on the ./ in the /ocs folder in .pdf format. 4ou can 'ie the file using Adobe Acrobat 1eader. $o install Adobe Acrobat Reader and print

/ouble-click the M0 Comp-ter icon on your desktop, right-click the icon for your ./-12M
dri'e, and then click Install Adobe Acrobat Reader.

D. Changes to Formations and Man-al Corrections

The follo ing changes ere made to impro'e gameplay in Age of Empires II after the manual as printed9

2* 2age 9:# There is no longer a &elect *ormation button. 3* 2age 9;# There is no longer a Horde formation. 4ou cannot control or disband a custom
formation. Manual corrections and clarifications are as follo s9

2age 1<=# :uilding Attributes table, :ombard To er ; -"W should be ,%%6. 2age 1<># #on-upgraded (ikemen recei'e %<% armor )not ,<% armor+= :erserks ha'e "" hit

points )not $>+= Huskarls cost ?>, 3$6 )not >%*, $%6+= Elite Huskarls cost ?%*, 3%6 )not >%*, $%6+ Elite :erserks ha'e @- hit points )not ?%+= Aanissaries ha'e "3 hit points )not 3"+= Elite Aanissaries ha'e ?% hit points )not $%+. 2age 1<9# #on-upgraded Elite Mamelukes recei'e ,% attack )not > attack+.

 2age 1;1 and on foldo-t# &aracen Transport &hips can carry ,%, ,", and -% units

depending on technologies researched )not double )-B+ the number ith each technology researched ; for e8ample, the /ry /ock technology+. 2age 1;= and on foldo-t# Ciking /ocks cost -"D less, not 33D less.

E. .irect/ $ro-bleshooting
/irectB" ?., or later must be installed on your computer before you can play Age of Empires II. If you do not ha'e /irectB installed on your computer and you chose not to install /irectB hen you installed Age of Empires II, you ill recei'e the message EA re0uired .dll file, /play8.dll, as not found.E To fi8 this problem, reinstall Age of Empires II and install /irectB ?.,. If Age of Empires II installed /irectB but could not update your 'ideo dri'ers to be compatible ith /irectB ?.,, hen you restart your computer you ill recei'e the message EAge of Empires II could not initialiFe /irectB. Make sure that /irectB ?., or higher is installed and contact your hard are manufacturer for a 'ideo dri'er update.E To fi8 this problem, either get updated 'ideo dri'ers from your 'ideo adapter manufacturer or install /irectB in safe mode, hich ill replace the 'ideo dri'ers. $o install .irect/ in safe mode ,. -. 3. $. .opy the /irectB directory from the Age of Empires II ./ to your desktop. .lick the Start button, and then click Sh-t .o6n. &elect Restart, and then click (%. When your computer restarts, press and hold do n the *> key until you see a Windo s &tartup Menu. ". When you are prompted to enter a choice, select &afe Mode, and then press E#TE1. ?. After Windo s starts in &afe Mode, open the /irectB folder on your desktop, and then double-click .7set-p.e7e to install /irectB. If you e8perience sound or 'ideo problems using /irectB, go to http#55s-pport.microsoft.com5s-pport5direct75 to get the latest troubleshooting information. 4ou should also check ith your 'ideo or sound card manufacturer for the latest /irectBcompatible dri'ers.

F. +amepla0 $ro-bleshooting
4* Sa ing +ames ; 4ou cannot name a sa'ed game using certain operating system terms,
such as .2M,, G(T,, etc.

5* ?ninstalling Age of Empires II ; If you uninstall Age of Empires II )to sa'e disk space, for
e8ample+, but you ant to sa'e your Age of Empires II campaigns and scenarios, you must click )o hen the uninstall program asks E/o you ant to delete all user-created filesHI

6* Mo ing Campaigns and Scenarios to a .ifferent Comp-ter ; 4ou can mo'e the files for
your Age of Empires II games to another computer. Age II files ha'e a .gam file e8tension ; for e8ample, Age-.gam. To transfer your campaigns, mo'e the J.cpn files from the .ampaign folder here Age of Empires II is installed to the same location on another computer. Then transfer all of the scenarios in that campaign and the (layer.nfo file as e8plained belo .

To transfer your scenarios, mo'e the J.scn files from the &cenario folder here Age of Empires II is installed to the same location on another computer. To transfer your player name and progress through the campaigns, mo'e (layer.nfo from the folder here Age of Empires II is installed to the same location on another computer. If you are mo'ing the (layer.nfo file to a computer that already contains a (layer.nfo file, you may ant to rename the file on the computer to hich you are mo'ing files so you do not o'er rite the e8isting (layer.nfo and lose the campaign information it contains.

+. 1ideo $ro-bleshooting
7* Intergraph Intense ;. 1<< 1ideo Adapters ; Intergraph Intense 3/ ,%% 'ideo adapters
cause the game to crash during the opening cinematic. To resol'e this problem, add the command line parameter )ostart-p in your Age of Empires II shortcut. *or information about adding parameters to the command line, see E.ommand Gine (arameters,E under E(erformance Troubleshooting,E later in this 1eadme file.

8* Intergraph Intense ;. 1<< 1ideo Adapters ; /uring gameplay, the bottom game screen
border may be corrupt and pink in color. Also, the in-game custom mouse pointer may not be 'isible. Kpgrading to the latest 'ideo dri'er )'. $.3.%.3,33 at the time of this riting+ ill fi8 these problems. 4ou may not be able to 'ie the game in ,%-$ 8 @?> resolution. To fi8 this problem, contact your 'ideo card manufacturer for the latest dri'ers.

9* Diamond Stealth 3D 2000 ; 4ou may e8perience a black screen hen starting the
game )you may still hear game sounds and be able to click buttons+. If this occurs, contact the 'ideo card manufacturer for the latest dri'ers, or do nload them at http#55666.diamondmm.com5.

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Diamond Monster Fusion ; 4ou may encounter stability problems hen starting a game using this card. If this occurs, contact the 'ideo card manufacturer for the latest dri'ers, or do nload them at http#55666.diamondmm.com5. *or the latest dri'ers to function properly, you may need to update your 'ideo bios. 4ou can find information about ho to do this on the /iamond Web site.

11* 9FX Motion 531 ; If you are running Windo s !", you may e8perience any or all of the
follo ing9 screen corruption of the main menu and #e (layer dialog bo8, screen corruption during gameplay hen scrolling from left to right and from right to left, and screen corruption as you select different ob5ects on the game screen. If this occurs, contact the 'ideo card manufacturer for the latest dri'ers )http#55666.nine.com5+, or do nload the &3 Cision >?> reference dri'ers for the card at http#55666.s;.com5.

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Hercules Terminator Beast ; 4ou may not be able to 'ie the opening 'ideo using the retail dri'ers for this card )although you may be able to hear the sound+. If this occurs, contact the 'ideo card manufacturer for the latest dri'ers, or do nload them at http#55666.herc-les.com5. ,erc-les Stingra0 1:>5;. ; If your in-game screen resolution is set to ,%-$ 8 @?>, you may e8perience screen corruption and your computer may lock up if you restore a game using AGTLTA:. If this occurs, contact your 'ideo card manufacturer for the latest dri'ers. Matro7 Millenni-m II 2o6er.es@ 1ideo Adapters ; 4our computer may lock up hen

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you change the in-game screen resolution to ,%-$ 8 @?>. To fi8 this problem, contact your 'ideo adapter manufacturer for the latest dri'ers.

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Matro7 M+A Millenni-m ; 4ou may e8perience screen corruption hen playing ith an in-game resolution of ,%-$ 8 @?> or hen using AGTLTA: in this resolution. To fi8 this problem, contact your hard are manufacturer for updated dri'ers. 2ermedia : Chipset8based 1ideo Card 6ith 4atest ;. 4abs Reference .ri ers ; 4ou may e8perience screen corruption hen playing Age of Empires II using this configuration. To fi8 this problem, uninstall the reference dri'ers and contact your 'ideo card manufacturer for the latest dri'er ritten specifically for your card. Many reference dri'ers are not supported, and may cause problems ith certain applications. Sierra Screaming ;. 1ideo Cards ; 4our computer may lock up hen you e8it the game. To fi8 this problem, contact your 'ideo adapter manufacturer for the latest dri'ers. Sierra Screaming ;. 1ideo Cards ARendition 1erite 1<<<B ; 4ou may e8perience screen corruption hen your in-game screen resolution is set to ,->% 8 ,%-$. If this occurs, e8it the game using AGTL*$. 1estart the game, and in the 2ptions screen set your in-game resolution to a lo er resolution. Rage ro Tur!o 2X "ideo #ards ; 1age (ro Turbo -B 'ideo cards may only allo you to use a ?$% 8 $>% screen resolution. The minimum Age of Empires II in-game resolution is >%% 8 ?%%. .ontact ATI for the latest dri'ers for your 'ideo card. Creati e 4abs +raphics *laster E77treme ; .reati'e Gabs 6raphics :laster E88treme 'ideo adapters may cause screen corruption hen you change the in-game screen resolution or press AGTLTA: to enter or lea'e the game. To fi8 this problem, check ith your 'ideo adapter manufacturer for the latest dri'ers. 1oodoo ; 1ideo Cards ; If you are running Windo s -%%%, your mouse cursor may blink during gameplay. If this occurs, try a lo er screen resolution. If this doesnMt ork, contact your 'ideo card manufacturer for the latest dri'ers.

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Screen flic@ering C .ertain second-party applications may cause a brief flickering of the Age
II 'ideo palette. /isabling all non-'ital applications before running Age of Empires II ill increase stability, performance, and 'isual 0uality. This problem may occur on some systems ith the .reati'e &:Gi'eN sound card ith the .reati'e Gi'eWire -.% and -., dri'er sets for this sound card.

*lac@ Screen After 1ideo ; A black screen may appear at the conclusion of the opening

cinematic. To resol'e this problem, press E&. or click the mouse button. Another orkaround is to add the command line parameter )ostart-p in your Age of Empires II shortcut. *or information about adding parameters to the command line, see E.ommand Gine (arameters,E under E(erformance Troubleshooting,E later in this 1eadme file. Screen Corr-ption ; If you e8perience problems such as a black screen after starting the game, black areas on the game screen, screen corruption hen you press AGTLTA: to enter<lea'e the game, or other screen problems hile playing the game, contact your 'ideo adapter manufacturer for the latest dri'ers. *lac@ Screen Areas ; &ome 'ideo adapters may cause black areas on the game

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screen. To fi8 this problem, you can add the Mfill parameter to the command line in the Age of Empires II shortcut. *or information about adding parameters to the command line, see E.ommand Gine (arameters,E under E(erformance Troubleshooting,E later in this 1eadme file.

Mo-se 2ointer ; &ome 'ideo adapters may cause the mouse pointer to disappear if you

change the in-game screen resolution or reenter the game by pressing AGTLTA:. To fi8 this problem, contact your 'ideo adapter manufacturer for the latest dri'ers. .irect/ ; If you e8perience 'ideo problems using /irectB, connect to the /irectB Web site for the latest troubleshooting information, as e8plained in E/irectB Troubleshooting,E earlier in this 1eadme file. Monitors and 4o6er8End 1ideo Cards ; 4ou may see brief screen corruption or flashing hen s itching screens in the game. This is a limitation of some older 'ideo cards and ill not affect game performance or stability. If you notice screen corruption hen s itching to a high in-game resolution, this may be due to the limitation of certain monitors or some older, lo er-end 'ideo cards that do not support higher resolutions. Kse AGTL*$ to e8it the game, restart Age of Empires II, and then use the (ptions screen to s itch to a lo er in-game resolution.

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,. A-dio $ro-bleshooting
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ADtech .irect So-nd .ri er ; 4ou may e8perience choppy sound on this dri'er. If this occurs, contact the manufacturer for an updated dri'er. .irect/ ; If you e8perience audio problems using /irectB, connect to the /irectB Web site for the latest troubleshooting information, as e8plained in E/irectB Troubleshooting,E earlier in this 1eadme file.

I. 2erformance $ro-bleshooting
C.8R(M .ri e Iss-es
Age of Empires II uses &afedisc encryption technology. &ome ./-12M dri'es may not be compatible ith this technology.

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San0o CR.8:EF2 ; If you e8perience problems ith this dri'e, do not load the game multiple times in one session. Also, you may try e5ecting the ./. Son0 C.?==E :/ ; If you e8perience problems ith this dri'e, make sure it is configured as a master, and then run the game again. Acer C.8F:9a ; If you e8perience problems ith this dri'e hen using read-mode dri'ers, install protected-mode dri'ers. Memore7 ::1F ; 4ou may e8perience problems ith this dri'e. There are no kno n solutions.

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Memore7 :::9 ; 4ou may e8perience problems ith this dri'e. The dri'e may take up to 3 minutes to load from the ./. 2le7tor ; 4ou may e8perience problems ith this dri'e. The dri'e may be slo ed to -B speed. There are no kno n solutions. Gamaha ::1FE and 991FS/ ; 4ou may e8perience problems ith this dri'e. There are no kno n solutions. Error reH-esting C. insertion ; When launching a multiplayer game from the 7one, you may recei'e an error message asking you to insert the ./ although the ./ is already in the dri'e. If this occurs, e8it and relaunch from the 7one.

Command 4ine 2arameters

4ou can add parameters to the Age of Empires II command line to customiFe startup or resol'e problems ith certain hard are configurations. $o add parameters to the command line in the Age of Empires II shortc-t ,. 1ight-click the Age of Empires II shortcut, click 2roperties, and then click Shortc-t. -. In the $arget bo8, type the name of the parameter after the e8isting command line te8t. *or e8ample, if you add the parameters )oStart-p and )o$errainSo-nd, the command line ill read E.9O(rogram *ilesOMicrosoft 6amesOAge of EmpiresOEmpires-.e8eE #ostartup #oterrainsound. (arameters must be separated by a space= capitaliFation is not important. $o add parameters to the Age of Empires II registr0 for m-ltipla0er games -sing the MS) +aming Ione ,. .lick the Start button, and then click R-n. -. Type Regedit, and then click (%. 3. /ouble-click ,@e0JlocalJmachine5Soft6are5Microsoft5.irect2la05Applications5Age of Empires II5Command4ine. $. In the 1al-e data bo8, type the name of the parameter after the e8isting command line te8t. *or e8ample, if you add the parameters )oStart-p and )o$errainSo-nd, the command line ill read EGobby #o&tartup #oTerrain&ound.E (arameters must be separated by a space= capitaliFation is not important. /o not remo'e the ord ElobbyE from the command line. The command line parameters include9

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)oStart-p ; &kips all cinematic se0uences before the game starts. ><<, 1<:9, 1:>< ; &ets the screen resolution to >%% ?%%, ,%-$ @?>, or ,->% 8 ,%-$. *or e8ample, ><< sets the screen resolution to >%% ?%%, 1<:9 sets the screen resolution to ,%-$ @?>, and 1:>< sets the screen resolution to ,->% 8 ,%-$. 4ou can also set the screen resolution by clicking the Men- button during gameplay and then clicking (ptions. If you use a command line parameter to set the screen resolution, the game al ays starts at that resolution, e'en if you use (ptions to choose another resolution. #ote that the interface screens before the game ill al ays be displayed in >%% 8 ?%% mode. Mfill ; *i8es horiFontal line problems and black screen areas that may occur ith some

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'ideo adapter configurations.

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)ormalMo-se ; 1eplaces the custom mouse pointer ith a standard mouse pointer. )oSo-nd ; Turns off all sounds, e8cept those played in cinematics. )o$errainSo-nd ; Turns off all terrain sounds. )oM-sic ; Turns off all music. Ms0nc ; *i8es lock-up problem that may occur ith some &ound:laster AWE configurations.

2oor Frame Rate

1oodoo ; 1ideo Cards ; If you are running Windo s -%%%, you may e8perience poor frame
rate. If this occurs, contact your 'ideo card manufacturer for the latest dri'ers.

3. M-ltipla0er $ro-bleshooting
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*est performance ; *or best performance, connect to the Internet before starting an Internet multiplayer game. Age of Empires 1ersions ; In a multiplayer game, all players must be using the same 'ersion of Age of Empires. *or e8ample, if you are using Age of Empires II, only Age of Empires II games appear in the multiplayer list, not Age of Empires or Age of Empires9 The 1ise of 1ome E8pansion games. Serial or Modem Connections ; 4ou may ha'e difficulty 5oining a multiplayer game or you may be dropped from a game before it starts hen playing o'er a serial connection or a modem connection. To fi8 this problem, all players should install /irect(lay " ?.,A. $o install .irect2la0 F.1A ,. 2pen My .omputer, and then right-click the Age of Empires II ./. -. .lick Install .irect2la0 F.1A. 3. *ollo the instructions that appear on the screen.

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M-ltiple I2 Addresses ; If other players are not able to connect to a game you ha'e created by typing the I( address that appears hen you click the I2 button on the M-ltipla0er +ame screen, you may ha'e multiple I( addresses. 4ou can display all of your I( addresses by running Winipcfg. $o r-n !inipcfg ,. .lick the Start button, and then click R-n. -. Type !inipcfg, and then click (%. 3. &elect 222 Adapter. The correct I( address is displayed in the I2 Address bo8.

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M-ltipla0er 2erformance ; If you e8perience performance problems during a multiplayer game, try playing at a lo er screen resolution or ha'e the host set the game speed to Slo6 in the M-ltipla0er +ame screen. Comp-ter 2la0ers in M-ltipla0er +ames ; It is not recommended that computer players play in a multiplayer game o'er the Internet as it may slo the game. If you ould like to add computer players to a multiplayer game, make sure the player ith the fastest computer and fastest connection hosts the game.

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Connection $0pe ; Al ays select Internet T.(<I( .onnection for /irect(lay hen starting a
multiplayer game o'er the Internet. )&elect the Gocal )GA#+ T.(<I( .onnection if you are playing on a pri'ate or home net ork.+ If you choose GA# and you are playing on the Internet, the game may hang. If this occurs, restart Age of Empires II and select Internet T.(<I( .onnection for /irect(lay.

3oining a restored game ; If you attempt to 5oin a restored game 'ia direct I( and the game
as launched from the 7one, you ill not be able to 5oin the game. If a 7one restored game fails, all players should e8it the game and re5oin through the 7one.

.ifferent modem speeds ; If t o players ha'e different modem speeds, they ill be unable
to play ith each other. To fi8 this problem, use the same modem speed as your opponent.

,ome net6or@s and dial8-p connections ; If you ha'e a net ork card and you dial in to

the Internet 'ia modem, you may ha'e trouble launching multiplayer games. To fi8 this problem, unplug the net ork cable from your net ork card before connecting to the Internet.

%. Map Editor
4ou may e8perience problems hen creating your o n background art for campaigns in the Map Editor. If this occurs, do not use the first or last ,% colors in the color palette.

4. Age of Empires II Information

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*or more information about Age of Empires II, 'isit our Web site at http#55666.microsoft.com5games5age:5. 50* If youMd like to play against opponents o'er the Internet, check out the M&# 6aming 7one at http#55666.Done.com5.