Microsoft Age of
Empires II Readme File
September 1999
© Microsoft
Corporation, 1999. All rights reserved.
Welcome to Microsoft® Age of Empires®
II: The Age of Kings™!
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.
CONTENTS
A. Installing Age of Empires II
B. Starting Age of Empires II
C.
Getting Help
D.
Changes to Formations and Manual
Corrections
E. DirectX Troubleshooting
F. Gameplay Troubleshooting
G. Video Troubleshooting
H. Audio Troubleshooting
I. Performance Troubleshooting
J. Multiplayer Troubleshooting
K. Map Editor
L. Age of Empires II Information
A. Installing Age of
Empires II
To install Age of Empires II, you must
be using Microsoft Windows® 95 or later or Microsoft Windows NT®
4.0 with Service Pack 5 or later. (For information about how to get Service
Pack 5, go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/).
To install Age of Empires II
1. Turn on your computer and start Microsoft
Windows 95 or later or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 5 or later.
2. Place the Age of Empires II CD in the disc
holder (if required), and insert it into your CD-ROM drive.
3. If AutoPlay is enabled, click Install,
and then follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
-or-
If AutoPlay is disabled, double-click the My
Computer icon on your desktop, double-click the icon for your CD-ROM drive,
and then double-click the AOESetup.exe icon. When the Setup screen
appears, click Install, and then follow the instructions that appear on
the screen.
B. Starting Age of
Empires II
You must have the Age of Empires II CD
in your CD-ROM drive to play Age of Empires II.
Age of Empires II will not launch or
join a multiplayer game from the MSN™ Gaming Zone lobby if the player
does not have the Age of Empires II CD in the CD-ROM drive. All players must
have a CD inserted at launch time.
You can connect only to multiplayer
games created with the same Age of Empires version you are using. For example,
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 Empires: The Rise of Rome
Expansion games.
To start Age of Empires II
·
Place the Age of Empires II CD in the
disc holder (if required), insert it into your CD-ROM drive, click the Start
button, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Games, point to Age
of Empires II, and then click Age of Empires II.
You can skip the opening cinematics by
clicking the mouse or pressing ENTER, SPACEBAR, or ESC.
C. Getting
Help
Information about Age of Empires II is
in the in-game Help, in the printed manual, and on the foldout provided with
the retail version of the game.
To display in-game Help
·
Pause your pointer over any button or
interface item in the game and Help text automatically appears on the screen.
(To turn off in-game Help, click the Help button near the mini-map in
the lower-right corner of the screen.)
The manual is also
available on the CD in the Docs folder in .pdf format. You can view and print
the file using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
To
install Adobe Acrobat Reader
·
Double-click the My Computer
icon on your desktop, right-click the icon for your CD-ROM drive, and then
click Install Adobe Acrobat Reader.
D.
Changes to Formations
and Manual Corrections
The following changes were made to improve
gameplay in Age of Empires II after the manual was printed:
·
Page
42: There is no longer a Select Formation
button.
·
Page
43: There is no longer a Horde formation. You
cannot control or disband a custom formation.
Manual corrections and clarifications are as
follows:
·
Page
107: Building Attributes table, Bombard Tower – 25W should be 100G.
·
Page
108: Non-upgraded Pikemen receive 0/0 armor (not
1/0 armor); Berserks have 55 hit points (not 48); Huskarls cost 68, 34G (not
80F, 40G); Elite Huskarls cost 60F, 30G (not 80F, 40G) Elite Berserks have 72
hit points (not 60); Janissaries have 53 hit points (not 35); Elite Janissaries
have 60 hit points (not 40).
·
Page
109: Non-upgraded Elite Mamelukes receive 10
attack (not 8 attack).
·
Page
131 and on foldout: Saracen Transport Ships can carry 10, 15,
and 20 units depending on technologies researched (not double (2X) the number
with each technology researched – for
example, the Dry Dock technology).
·
Page
137 and on foldout: Viking Docks cost 25% less, not 33% less.
E. DirectX
Troubleshooting
DirectX® 6.1 or later must be
installed on your computer before you can play Age of Empires II. If you do not
have DirectX installed on your computer and you chose not to install DirectX
when you installed Age of Empires II, you will receive the message "A
required .dll file, Dplayx.dll, was not found." To fix this problem,
reinstall Age of Empires II and install DirectX 6.1.
If Age of Empires II installed DirectX
but could not update your video drivers to be compatible with DirectX 6.1, when
you restart your computer you will receive the message "Age of Empires II
could not initialize DirectX. Make sure that DirectX 6.1 or higher is installed
and contact your hardware manufacturer for a video driver update." To fix
this problem, either get updated video drivers from your video adapter
manufacturer or install DirectX in safe mode, which will replace the video
drivers.
To install DirectX in safe
mode
1. Copy the DirectX directory from the Age of
Empires II CD to your desktop.
2. Click the Start button, and then click
Shut Down.
3. Select Restart, and then click OK.
4. When your computer restarts, press and hold
down the F8 key until you see a Windows Startup Menu.
5. When you are prompted to enter a choice,
select Safe Mode, and then press ENTER.
6. After Windows starts in Safe Mode, open the
DirectX folder on your desktop, and then double-click Dxsetup.exe to
install DirectX.
If you experience sound or video problems
using DirectX, go to http://support.microsoft.com/support/directx/ to
get the latest troubleshooting information.
You should also check with your video
or sound card manufacturer for the latest DirectX-compatible drivers.
F.
Gameplay Troubleshooting
·
Saving Games – You cannot name a saved
game using certain operating system terms, such as COM1, LPT1, etc.
·
Uninstalling Age of Empires II – If you uninstall Age of
Empires II (to save disk space, for example), but you want to save your Age of
Empires II campaigns and scenarios, you must click No when the uninstall
program asks "Do you want to delete all user-created files?”
·
Moving Campaigns and Scenarios to a
Different Computer
– You can move the files for your Age of Empires II games to another computer.
Age II files have a .gam file extension – for example, Age2.gam.
To transfer your campaigns,
move the *.cpn files from the Campaign folder where Age of Empires II is
installed to the same location on another computer. Then transfer all of the
scenarios in that campaign and the Player.nfo file as explained below.
To transfer your scenarios,
move the *.scn files from the Scenario folder where Age of Empires II is
installed to the same location on another computer.
To
transfer your player name and progress through the campaigns, move Player.nfo
from the folder where Age of Empires II is installed to the same location on
another computer. If you are moving the Player.nfo file to a computer that
already contains a Player.nfo file, you may want to rename the file on the
computer to which you are moving files so you do not overwrite the existing
Player.nfo and lose the campaign information it contains.
G. Video
Troubleshooting
·
Intergraph Intense 3D 100 Video
Adapters –
Intergraph Intense 3D 100 video adapters cause the game to crash during the
opening cinematic. To resolve this problem, add the command line parameter Nostartup
in your Age of Empires II shortcut. For information about adding parameters to
the command line, see "Command Line Parameters," under
"Performance Troubleshooting," later in this Readme file.
·
Intergraph Intense 3D 100 Video
Adapters –
During gameplay, the bottom game screen border may be corrupt and pink in
color. Also, the in-game custom mouse pointer may not be visible. Upgrading to
the latest video driver (v. 4.3.0.3133 at the time of this writing) will fix
these problems. You may not be able to view the game in 1024 x 768 resolution.
To fix this problem, contact your video card manufacturer for the latest
drivers.
·
Diamond
Stealth 3D 2000
– You may
experience a black screen when starting the game (you may still hear game
sounds and be able to click buttons). If this occurs, contact the video card
manufacturer for the latest drivers, or download them at http://www.diamondmm.com/.
·
Diamond
Monster Fusion
– You may
encounter stability problems when starting a game using this card. If this
occurs, contact the video card manufacturer for the latest drivers, or download
them at http://www.diamondmm.com/. For the latest drivers to function
properly, you may need to update your video bios. You can find information
about how to do this on the Diamond Web site.
·
9FX
Motion 531
– If you are running Windows 95, you may experience any or all of the
following: screen corruption of the main menu and New Player dialog box, screen
corruption during gameplay when scrolling from left to right and from right to
left, and screen corruption as you select different objects on the game screen.
If this occurs, contact the video card manufacturer for the latest drivers (http://www.nine.com/),
or download the S3 Vision 868 reference drivers for the card at http://www.s3.com/.
·
Hercules
Terminator Beast
– You may not be able to view the opening video using the retail drivers for
this card (although you may be able to hear the sound). If this occurs, contact
the video card manufacturer for the latest drivers, or download them at http://www.hercules.com/.
·
Hercules Stingray 128/3D – If your in-game screen
resolution is set to 1024 x 768, you may experience screen corruption and your
computer may lock up if you restore a game using ALT+TAB. If this occurs,
contact your video card manufacturer for the latest drivers.
·
Matrox Millennium II PowerDesk Video
Adapters –
Your computer may lock up when you change the in-game screen resolution to 1024
x 768. To fix this problem, contact your video adapter manufacturer for the
latest drivers.
·
Matrox MGA Millennium – You may experience screen
corruption when playing with an in-game resolution of 1024 x 768 or when using
ALT+TAB in this resolution. To fix this problem, contact your hardware
manufacturer for updated drivers.
·
Permedia 2 Chipset-based Video Card
with Latest 3D Labs Reference Drivers – You may experience screen corruption
when playing Age of Empires II using this configuration. To fix this problem,
uninstall the reference drivers and contact your video card manufacturer for
the latest driver written specifically for your card. Many reference drivers
are not supported, and may cause problems with certain applications.
·
Sierra Screaming 3D Video Cards – Your computer may lock up
when you exit the game. To fix this problem, contact your video adapter
manufacturer for the latest drivers.
·
Sierra Screaming 3D Video Cards
(Rendition Verite 1000)
– You may experience screen corruption when your in-game screen resolution is
set to 1280 x 1024. If this occurs, exit the game using ALT+F4. Restart the
game, and in the Options screen set your in-game resolution to a lower resolution.
·
Rage
Pro Turbo 2X Video Cards
– Rage Pro Turbo 2X video cards may only allow you to use a 640 x 480 screen
resolution. The minimum Age of Empires II in-game resolution is 800 x 600.
Contact ATI for the latest drivers for your video card.
·
Creative Labs Graphics Blaster
Exxtreme –
Creative Labs Graphics Blaster Exxtreme video adapters may cause screen
corruption when you change the in-game screen resolution or press ALT+TAB to
enter or leave the game. To fix this problem, check with your video adapter
manufacturer for the latest drivers.
· Voodoo
3 Video Cards
– If you are running Windows 2000, your mouse cursor may blink during gameplay.
If this occurs, try a lower screen resolution. If this doesn't work, contact
your video card manufacturer for the latest drivers.
·
Screen flickering – Certain second-party
applications may cause a brief flickering of the Age II video palette.
Disabling all non-vital applications before running Age of Empires II will
increase stability, performance, and visual quality. This problem may occur on
some systems with the Creative SBLive! sound card with the Creative LiveWire
2.0 and 2.1 driver sets for this sound card.
·
Black Screen After Video – A black screen may
appear at the conclusion of the opening cinematic. To resolve this problem,
press ESC or click the mouse button. Another workaround is to add the command
line parameter Nostartup in your Age of Empires II shortcut. For
information about adding parameters to the command line, see "Command Line
Parameters," under "Performance Troubleshooting," later in this
Readme file.
·
Screen Corruption – If you experience problems
such as a black screen after starting the game, black areas on the game screen,
screen corruption when you press ALT+TAB to enter/leave the game, or other
screen problems while playing the game, contact your video adapter manufacturer
for the latest drivers.
·
Black Screen Areas – Some video adapters may
cause black areas on the game screen. To fix this problem, you can add the Mfill
parameter to the command line in the Age of Empires II shortcut. For
information about adding parameters to the command line, see "Command Line
Parameters," under "Performance Troubleshooting," later in this
Readme file.
·
Mouse Pointer – Some video adapters may
cause the mouse pointer to disappear if you change the in-game screen
resolution or reenter the game by pressing ALT+TAB. To fix this problem,
contact your video adapter manufacturer for the latest drivers.
·
DirectX – If you experience video problems
using DirectX, connect to the DirectX Web site for the latest troubleshooting
information, as explained in "DirectX Troubleshooting," earlier in
this Readme file.
·
Monitors and Lower-End Video Cards – You may see brief screen
corruption or flashing when switching screens in the game. This is a limitation
of some older video cards and will not affect game performance or stability.
If you notice
screen corruption when switching to a high in-game resolution, this may be due
to the limitation of certain monitors or some older, lower-end video cards that
do not support higher resolutions. Use ALT+F4 to exit the game, restart Age of
Empires II, and then use the Options screen to switch to a lower in-game
resolution.
H. Audio
Troubleshooting
·
Aztech Direct Sound Driver – You may experience
choppy sound on this driver. If this occurs, contact the manufacturer for an
updated driver.
·
DirectX – If you experience audio problems
using DirectX, connect to the DirectX Web site for the latest troubleshooting
information, as explained in "DirectX Troubleshooting," earlier in
this Readme file.
I.
Performance Troubleshooting
CD-ROM Drive Issues
Age of Empires
II uses Safedisc encryption technology. Some CD-ROM drives may not be
compatible with this technology.
·
Sanyo CRD-256P – If you experience
problems with this drive, do not load the game multiple times in one session.
Also, you may try ejecting the CD.
·
Sony CDU77E 2X – If you experience
problems with this drive, make sure it is configured as a master, and then run
the game again.
·
Acer CD-624a – If you experience
problems with this drive when using read-mode drivers, install protected-mode
drivers.
·
Memorex 2216 – You may experience
problems with this drive. There are no known solutions.
·
Memorex 2224 – You may experience
problems with this drive. The drive may take up to 3 minutes to load from the
CD.
·
Plextor – You may experience problems with
this drive. The drive may be slowed to 2X speed. There are no known solutions.
·
Yamaha 2216E and 4416SX – You may experience
problems with this drive. There are no known solutions.
·
Error requesting CD insertion – When launching a
multiplayer game from the Zone, you may receive an error message asking you to
insert the CD although the CD is already in the drive. If this occurs, exit and
relaunch from the Zone.
Command
Line Parameters
You can add parameters to the Age of
Empires II command line to customize startup or resolve problems with certain
hardware configurations.
To add parameters to the
command line in the Age of Empires II shortcut
1. Right-click the Age of Empires II
shortcut, click Properties, and then click Shortcut.
2. In the Target box, type the name of
the parameter after the existing command line text. For example, if you add the
parameters NoStartup and NoTerrainSound, the command line will
read "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires\Empires2.exe"
Nostartup Noterrainsound. Parameters must be separated by a space;
capitalization is not important.
To add parameters to the
Age of Empires II registry for multiplayer games using the MSN Gaming Zone
1. Click the Start button, and then click
Run.
2. Type Regedit, and then click OK.
3. Double-click Hkey_local_machine/Software/Microsoft/DirectPlay/Applications/Age
of Empires II/CommandLine.
4. In the Value data box, type the name
of the parameter after the existing command line text. For example, if you add
the parameters NoStartup and NoTerrainSound, the command line
will read "Lobby NoStartup NoTerrainSound." Parameters must be
separated by a space; capitalization is not important. Do not remove the word
"lobby" from the command line.
The command line parameters include:
·
NoStartup – Skips all cinematic sequences
before the game starts.
·
800, 1024, 1280 – Sets the screen
resolution to 800 ´ 600,
1024 ´ 768,
or 1280 x 1024. For example, 800 sets the screen resolution to 800 ´ 600, 1024 sets the
screen resolution to 1024 ´
768, and 1280 sets the screen resolution to 1280 x 1024. You can also
set the screen resolution by clicking the Menu button during gameplay
and then clicking Options. If you use a command line parameter to set
the screen resolution, the game always starts at that resolution, even if you
use Options to choose another resolution. Note that the interface
screens before the game will always be displayed in 800 x 600 mode.
·
Mfill – Fixes horizontal line problems and
black screen areas that may occur with some video adapter configurations.
·
NormalMouse – Replaces the custom
mouse pointer with a standard mouse pointer.
·
NoSound – Turns off all sounds, except those
played in cinematics.
·
NoTerrainSound – Turns off all terrain
sounds.
·
NoMusic – Turns off all music.
·
Msync – Fixes lock-up problem that may
occur with some SoundBlaster AWE configurations.
Poor Frame Rate
·
Voodoo 3 Video Cards – If you are running
Windows 2000, you may experience poor frame rate. If this occurs, contact your
video card manufacturer for the latest drivers.
J.
Multiplayer Troubleshooting
·
Best performance – For best performance,
connect to the Internet before starting an Internet multiplayer game.
·
Age of Empires Versions – In a multiplayer game,
all players must be using the same version of Age of Empires. For example, 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 Empires: The Rise of Rome
Expansion games.
·
Serial or Modem Connections – You may have difficulty
joining a multiplayer game or you may be dropped from a game before it starts
when playing over a serial connection or a modem connection. To fix this
problem, all players should install DirectPlay® 6.1A.
To install DirectPlay 6.1A
1. Open My Computer, and
then right-click the Age of Empires II CD.
2. Click Install
DirectPlay 6.1A.
3. Follow the
instructions that appear on the screen.
·
Multiple IP Addresses – If other players are not
able to connect to a game you have created by typing the IP address that
appears when you click the IP button on the Multiplayer Game
screen, you may have multiple IP addresses. You can display all of your IP
addresses by running Winipcfg.
To run Winipcfg
1. Click the Start button, and then click
Run.
2.
Type Winipcfg, and then click OK.
3.
Select PPP Adapter. The correct
IP address is displayed in the IP Address box.
·
Multiplayer Performance – If you experience
performance problems during a multiplayer game, try playing at a lower screen
resolution or have the host set the game speed to Slow in the Multiplayer
Game screen.
·
Computer Players in Multiplayer Games – It is not recommended
that computer players play in a multiplayer game over the Internet as it may
slow the game. If you would like to add computer players to a multiplayer game,
make sure the player with the fastest computer and fastest connection hosts the
game.
·
Connection Type – Always select Internet
TCP/IP Connection for DirectPlay when starting a multiplayer game over the
Internet. (Select the Local (LAN) TCP/IP Connection if you are playing on a
private or home network.) If you choose LAN and you are playing on the
Internet, the game may hang. If this occurs, restart Age of Empires II and
select Internet TCP/IP Connection for DirectPlay.
·
Joining a restored game – If you attempt to join a
restored game via direct IP and the game was launched from the Zone, you will
not be able to join the game. If a Zone restored game fails, all players should
exit the game and rejoin through the Zone.
·
Different modem speeds – If two players have
different modem speeds, they will be unable to play with each other. To fix
this problem, use the same modem speed as your opponent.
·
Home networks and dial-up connections – If you have a network
card and you dial in to the Internet via modem, you may have trouble launching
multiplayer games. To fix this problem, unplug the network cable from your
network card before connecting to the Internet.
K. Map
Editor
You may experience problems when
creating your own background art for campaigns in the Map Editor. If this
occurs, do not use the first or last 10 colors in the color palette.
L. Age of
Empires II Information
·
For more information about Age of
Empires II, visit our Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/games/age2/.
·
If you'd like to play against
opponents over the Internet, check out the MSN Gaming Zone at http://www.zone.com/.
