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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