Age of Mythology Demo file

Microsoft? Age of Mythology? Demo
Readme File
October 2002
? 2002, Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Welcome to Microsoft Age of Mythology Demo!

This file contains information to help you install Age of Mythology Demo. It
also includes late-breaking information not included in the manual or in-game
Help.

CONTENTS
A. Installing Age of Mythology Demo
B. Starting Age of Mythology Demo
C. Getting Help
D. Shortcut Keys
E. DirectX Troubleshooting
F. Gameplay Troubleshooting
G. Video Troubleshooting
H. CD-ROM Drive Troubleshooting
I. Audio Troubleshooting
J. Performance Troubleshooting
K. Age of Mythology Information

A. Installing Age of Mythology Demo

To install Age of Mythology Demo, you must be using Microsoft Windows? 98,
Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. NOTE: If you have
Alpha or Beta versions of Age of Mythology installed on your machine, please
uninstall these using Add/Remove Programs before installing the retail version
of the game.

To install Age of Mythology Demo

1. Turn on your computer and start Microsoft Windows 98, Windows
Millennium Edition, Windows 2000, or Windows XP.
2. If you are using Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you must have
administrator privileges in order to install and play Age of Mythology.
3. Insert the Age of Mythology Demo CD into the CD-ROM drive and locate
AomTrial.exe
-or-
On the Start menu, click My Computer. In the My Computer window,
double-click the CD-ROM drive icon, and then double-click AoMTrial.exe. On the
Setup screen, click Install, and then follow the onscreen prompts.

B. Starting Age of Mythology Demo

To start Age of Mythology Demo

On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Games, point to Age of
Mythology Trial, and then click Age of Mythology Trial.

You can skip the opening cinematics by clicking the mouse or pressing ENTER,
SPACEBAR, or ESC.

C. Getting Help

You can find information about Age of Mythology Demo in the in-game Help.

To display in-game Help

* Pause your pointer over any button or interface item in the game to view
rollover help text. You can also right-click on any unit portrait or
improvement icon in the game to view detailed Help.

The game manual and civilization charts for all nine major gods are available
in PDF format in the Docs folder on the CD. You can view and print the files
using Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or newer.

D. Shortcut Keys

In addition to the shortcut keys on the back cover of the manual, the following
keys can be very helpful during gameplay.

Building
Construction
Quick Select
Archery Range (Greek Only)
A
CTRL+A
Armory

R
CTRL+R
Barracks/Academy/Longhouse
B
CTRL+B
Dock

D
CTRL+D
Farm
F
CTRL+F
Fortress/Hill Fort/Migdol
Stronghold
V
CTRL+V
Granary
G
CTRL+G
House
E
CTRL+E
Lighthouse
L
CTRL+L
Lumber
Camp/Storehouse
N
CTRL+N
Market
X
CTRL+X
Mining Camp (Egyptian
only)
M
CTRL+M
Monument (Egyptian only)
U
CTRL+U
Obelisk (Egyptian
only)
O
CTRL+O
Siege Camp (Egyptian only)
C
CTRL+C
Stable (Greek
Only)
S
CTRL+S
Temple
T
CTRL+T
Tower
P
CTRL+P
Town
Center
Z
CTRL+Z
Wall
W
CTRL+W
Wonder
J
CTRL+J

Use the following shortcuts to create new units when the appropriate buildings
are selected. For example, to create a villager, select your Town Center and
then press V.

Building - All Civs
Create Unit(s)
Dock
F - Fishing Ship, A - Archer Ship, T -
Transport, R - Ramming Ship, S - Siege Ship
Market
C - Caravan
Temple
A - 1st
Age Myth Unit, S - 2nd Age, D - 3rd Age, F - 4th Age
Building - Greek

Archery
Range
T - Toxote, P - Peltast
Academy
P - Hoplite, Y - Hypaspist
Fortress
C -
Petrobolos, R - Helepolis, A - Age 1 Hero, S - Age 2 Hero, D - Age 3 Hero, F -
Age 4 Hero, U - Unique Unit
Dock
O - Argo (Poseidon), C - Carcinos (Zeus), Y -
Scylla (Poseidon & Zeus)
Stable
C - Hippokon, P - Podromos
Building -
Egyptian

Barracks
S - Spearman, A - Axeman, L - Slinger
Dock (Isis & Set)
L -
Leviathan, U - Sea Turtle
Siege Camp
C - Catapult, R - Siege Tower
Migdol
Fortress
A - Chariot Archer, C - Camelry, W - War Elephant
Temple (Ra Only)
R -
Roc
Building - Norse

Dock
J - Jormund (All), K - Kraken (Loki & Odin)
Hill
Fort
K - Huskarl, J - Jarl, R - Portable Ram, B - Ballista
Longhouse
U -
Ulfsark, T - Throwing Axeman, C - Raiding Cavalry, R - Hersir

Town Center Commands
Key
Ring Town Bell (disabled for alpha)
B
Return to
Work
U
Ungarrison
N

Idles
Key
Jump to idle villager
PERIOD (.)
Jump to idle military
COMMA (,)
Jump
to Hero
FORWARD SLASH (/)
Jump to TC
H

Misc. Game Functions
Key
Score/Settlement count
F4
Game
clock
F11
Pause/Un-Pause
PAUSE

General:
ALT+N = toggle combat commands page in the UI
CTRL+DOWN ARROW = Minimizes in-game UI
CTRL+UP ARROW = Restores in-game UI

Formations:
ALT+L = standard "line" formation
ALT+B = "box" formation
ALT+M = "mixed" formation
ALT+X = spread formation

Stances:
ALT+A = "aggressive" stance
ALT+D = "defensive" stance
ALT+S = "stand ground" stance

E. DirectX Troubleshooting

DirectX? 8.1b or later must be installed on your computer before you can play
Age of Mythology. If you do not have DirectX 8.1b installed on your computer
you will not be able to play Age of Mythology Demo. You will receive the error
message "A required .dll file, Dplayx.dll, was not found" If this occurs.
Install DirectX 8.1b by downloading the software from Microsoft Windows Update
().

If Age of Mythology installed DirectX 8.1b but could not update your video
drivers to be compatible with DirectX 8.1b, when you restart your computer you
will receive the message "Age of Mythology could not initialize DirectX. Make
sure that DirectX 8.1b or higher is installed and contact your hardware
manufacturer for a video driver update." To fix this problem, either get
updated video drivers from Microsoft Windows Update
(), your video adapter manufacturer, or
install DirectX in safe mode, which will replace the video drivers.

If you experience sound or video problems using DirectX, go to
for the latest troubleshooting
information.

You should also check with your video or sound card manufacturer for the latest
DirectX-compatible drivers.

F. Gameplay Troubleshooting

* Random Map - A corrupted map or accidentally deleting all the maps may cause
the game to crash. Uninstall and reinstall the game to correct this problem.

* Detailed Help - In the contents section, when perusing units/buildings of
civilizations other than your own, your upgrades and bonuses will be appear to
be applied to that unit. This is not the case in the game, but rather a generic
application of these upgrades to those types of units or buildings.

* Key Scrolling - Users that use the arrow keys to scroll/move the main game
screen may periodically experience the screen scrolling in one direction when
the keys are no longer pressed. Simply tap the key that corresponds to the
direction it is moving to stop the screen.

* Console Commands - This developer feature is not supported and may cause
crashes, user-interface issues and other problems. Closing the application and
restarting it will resolve these problems.

* Unable to open string table xml file - If you receive this error when trying
to run another product or game after installing Age of Mythology, there is a
problem with the version of MSXML you have installed on your computer. You will
have to uninstall this Beta version before reinstalling Age of Mythology. You
will find detailed instructions at
()

G. Video Troubleshooting

* Latest Drivers - Ensure that you have the latest drivers from your
video card manufacturer or check Windows Update
() for the latest drivers. Users of
motherboards with non-Intel chipsets should upgrade to the latest miniport
drivers available from their motherboard manufacturer.

* AoM does not support the following video cards:

3D Labs Permedia 1

3Dfx Voodoo Rush
3Dfx Voodoo Banshee
3Dfx Voodoo
3Dfx Voodoo 2

ATI Rage II
ATI Rage II+
ATI Rage IIC
ATI Rage LT
ATI Rage Pro
ATI Rage MOBILITY M/M1/P
ATI Rage LT-PRO (RAGE PRO based)

Cirrus Logic - all versions

Matrox G100
Matrox G200
Matrox Millennium
Matrox Millennium II
Matrox Mystique

nVidia Riva 128
nVidia Rica 128 zx

S3 Virge_VX
S3 Virge_MX/MV
S3 Virge_MX+
S3 Virge_MX
S3 Virge_GX2
S3 Virge_DX/GX
S3 Trio64V2_DX/GX
S3 Trio64UV+
S3 Aurora64V+
S3 Aurora128
S3 Savage 2000

Intel i740

Rendition - all versions
Number9 - All versions
Oak Technologies - all versions
Chromatic Research - all versions
Tseng Labs - all versions
Neo-magic - all versions

* ATI Radeon 7000 - AoM may lock up after a few seconds of starting a game. If
this occurs, ensure that you have the latest drivers from your video card
manufacturer or check Windows Update () for
the latest drivers.

* ATI Rage Fury Maxx - For users running Windows ME, pressing ALT+ENTER may
cause the mouse pointer to disappear or flash. There are no known solutions for
this problem.

* Hardware Acceleration - AoM requires that graphics acceleration are fully
enabled.

* Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition - Certain video cards experience
mouse pointer problems (offset hotspot) when pressing ALT+TAB (switching to
another application) or ALT+ENTER (alternating between windowed-mode), or when
changing the in-game color depth. Exiting and restarting Age of Mythology will
fix the ALT+TAB problem, while returning to full screen fixes the ALT+ENTER
problem. The third problem is fixed by ensuring the desktop color depth is the
same as the game color depth or vice-versa.

* Menu Sorting Issues - Some lower end video cards experience z-sorting
problems with a few of the pre-game menu screens. Changing your in-game
resolution to 32 bit may fix the problem. Also, ensure that you have the latest
drivers from your video card manufacturer or check Windows Update
() for the latest drivers.

* Screen corruption - Includes 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. Ensure that you have the latest drivers from your video card manufacturer
or check Windows Update () for the latest
drivers.

* Screen flickering - Other applications may cause a brief flickering of the
Age of Mythology display. Disabling all non-vital applications before running
Age of Mythology 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.

* Mouse pointer - Some video adapters may cause the mouse pointer to disappear
if you change the in-game screen resolution or re-enter the game by pressing
ALT+TAB. If this occurs, ensure that you have the latest drivers from your
video card manufacturer or check Windows Update
() for the latest drivers.

* 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 the
game using the AoM Safe Video shortcut under Diagnostics, and then use the
Options screen to switch to a lower in-game resolution. Ensure that you have
the latest drivers from your video card manufacturer or check Windows Update
() for the latest drivers.

* DirectX - If you experience video problems using DirectX, connect to the
DirectX Web site for the latest troubleshooting information at
.

H. CD-ROM Drive Troubleshooting

Age of Mythology uses SafeDisc encryption technology. Some CD-ROM drives may
not be compatible with this technology. NOTE: This demo, however, does not use
SafeDisc. This information is provided in case you experience problems with
these specific drives.

* Matshita UJDA710 DVD/CD-RW - this drive (common in many new laptops) sets a
flag whenever a gold disc is used but does not reset, causing Safedisc to
reject a valid CD. Cold booting the computer will reset this flag.

* Sanyo CRD-256P, Firmware 1.01 - The drive enters a not ready state after
several executions of a protected game. Ejecting the CD restores it. This is
unlikely to be seen, unless the game is reloaded several times in one session.

* Sony CDU77E 2X, Firmware 1.0e - The early 1.0 firmware versions of this drive
fail with SafeDisc if configured as a slave on the IDE bus. The drive will work
if reconfigured as a master.

* Acer CD-624a - This drive fails when used with read mode drivers. Installing
protected mode drivers resolves the problem.

* Memorex CD-RW2224 24X, Firmware 2.27 - You may experience problems with these
drives. There are no known solutions.

* Yamaha 2216E, 4416SX, CDR641S-VK - If you experience problems with these
drives, check the firmware upgrade available from the Yamaha Web site

* Cybermedia 204 Pan International 204 - You may experience problems with these
drives. There are no known solutions.

* Liteon 4265 - You may experience problems with this drive appearing to hang
and not authenticate. There are no known solutions.

I. Audio Troubleshooting

* DirectX - If you experience audio problems using DirectX, connect to the
DirectX Web site for the latest troubleshooting information, as explained in
DirectX Troubleshooting. If this occurs, ensure that you have the latest
drivers from your sound card manufacturer or check Windows Update
() for the latest drivers.

* AoM does not support the following sound card:

ESS Canyon 3D2 sound card with Yamaha drivers - this card may crash the system
when
the game is launched.

* Sound Skipping or Stuttering - Often this problem can be fixed by
installing the latest sound drivers for your sound card and/or adjusting the
hardware acceleration settings in the control panel. Setting hardware
acceleration to a lower setting usually resolves these issues (and a few
others), but sacrifices some performance.

J. Performance Troubleshooting

There are several ways to improve the game's performance. For example, the game
will run faster if you use the least demanding game settings. These include:
* Setting the screen resolution to 800 x 600 or 640 x 480
* Setting the detail of graphics to Low
* Turning music off

Most of these improvements can be made from within the game (on the main menu,
click Options, or if you are playing a game, click the Menu button, and then
click Options).

We also recommend:
* Shut down as many other applications running on your system as possible
in order to free
memory and processing
* De-fragment your hard drive (for instructions, see Troubleshooting
Crashing Issues.rtf located in the DOCS subdirectory of your installed AoM
directory)
* Activate DMA (on appropriate hard drives)
* Reboot your system before starting AoM
* Turn your virus scanner settings down while playing AoM

Lastly, ensure that you have the latest drivers from your video and sound card
manufacturer or check Windows Update () for
the latest drivers. Users of motherboards with non-Intel chipsets should
upgrade to the latest miniport drivers available from their motherboard
manufacturer.

K. Age of Mythology Information

* For more information about Age of Mythology, visit our Web site at
<>.

Microsoft, Age of Mythology, DirectX, Ensemble, the Microsoft logo, the
Microsoft Game Studios logo, the .Net logo, Windows, and Windows NT are either
registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United
States and/or other countries.