Microsoft® Age of Mythology®: The Titans Readme File (Revised for the Age of Mythology: Gold Edition) July 2004 © 2004, Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Welcome to Microsoft Age of Mythology: The Titans expansion! This file contains information specific to Age of Mythology: The Titans expansion.It also includes late-breaking information not included in the manual or in-game Help. CONTENTS A. Installing Age of Mythology: The Titans B. Starting Age of Mythology: The Titans C. Getting Help D. What's on the CD E. New Features in Age of Mythology: The Titans F. Shortcut Keys G. DirectX Troubleshooting H. Gameplay Troubleshooting I. Editor Troubleshooting J. Video Troubleshooting K. CD-ROM Drive Troubleshooting L. Audio Troubleshooting M. Performance Troubleshooting N. Multiplayer Troubleshooting O. Age of Mythology: The Titans Information A. Installing Age of Mythology: The Titans For assistance with top setup issues, visit <http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gmssetup>. Note: Installing Age of Mythology: Gold Edition will install both the original Age of Mythology and the expansion pack Age of Mythology: The Titans. Playing Age of Mythology: Gold Edition is equivalent to playing Age of Mythology: The Titans version 1.03. All of the content from the original Age of Mythology is accessible through Age of Mythology: Gold Edition. However, if you would like to play the original Age of Mythology only, see the readme.rtf for instructions. To install Age of Mythology: The Titans, you must be using Microsoft Windows® 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. If you are using Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you must have administrator privileges in order to install Age of Mythology: The Titans. To install Age of Mythology: The Titans 1. Insert the Age of Mythology: Gold Edition, Install Disc (Disc 1) into the CD-ROM drive. 2. If AutoPlay is enabled, the installation menu will appear. Click Install, and then follow the onscreen prompts. —or— If AutoPlay is disabled, on the Start menu, click My Computer. In the My Computer window, double-click the CD-ROM drive icon, and then double-click Aomsetup.exe. On the Setup screen, click Install, and then follow the onscreen prompts. B. Starting Age of Mythology: The Titans You must have the Age of Mythology: Gold Edition, Titans Play Disc (Disc 2) CD in your CD-ROM drive to play. To start Age of Mythology: The Titans 1. Insert the Age of Mythology: Gold Edition, Titans Play Disc (Disc 2) into the CD-ROM drive. 2. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Games, point to Age of Mythology Gold, and then click Age of Mythology Gold. 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: The Titans in the game manual, the in-game Help, and in the PDF files in the Docs folder on the Age of Mythology: Gold Edition, Install Disc, (Disc 1) CD. Visit the Games Support Center Web site (http://support.microsoft.com/games) to view top support issues, product-specific content, and other related resources for playing games. Additionally, to help you troubleshoot issues associated with game setup, performance, multiplayer networking, sound, video, or your game controller, visit one of the Troubleshooting Resource Centers available on the site. To view the PDF files, you must have Adobe® Reader® installed (see below). 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 manuals and civilization chart 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 later. To install Adobe Reader 1. Insert the Age of Mythology: Gold Edition, Install Disc (Disc 1) CD into the CD-ROM drive 2. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Games, point to Age of Mythology Gold, point to Age of Mythology Gold Docs, and then click Install Adobe Acrobat Reader. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, and Reader are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems in the United States and/or other countries. D. What's on the CD The Age of Mythology: Gold Edition, Install Disc (Disc 1) CD contains some additional information that you may find interesting or useful. To access the information on the CD On the Start menu, click My Computer. In the My Computer window, click the CD-ROM drive icon, double-click Files2, and then double-click on the appropriate folder. Docs folder AOMGold_Manual_OEM_EN.pdf—The standard manual, which you can view or print using Adobe Reader. To install Adobe Reader, see Getting Help. AOMGold_InGamePDF_EN.pdf—Additional Age of Mythology topics not covered in the standard manual such as mythological improvements and buildings. AOMGold_QRC_Egyptian_EN.pdf (Egyptian civilization chart)—Lets you view or print the civilization chart for the Egyptian civilizations in the game using Adobe Reader. AOMGold_QRC_Greek_EN.pdf (Greek civilization chart)—Lets you view or print the civilization chart for the Greek civilizations in the game using Adobe Reader. AOMGold_QRC_Norse_EN.pdf (Norse civilization chart)—Lets you view or print the civilization chart for the Norse civilizations in the game using Adobe Reader. AOMGold_QRC_Titans_EN.pdf (Atlantean civilization chart)—Lets you view or print the civilization chart for the Atlantean civilizations in the game using Adobe Reader. Redist folder Ar60enu.exe (Adobe Reader) —Once installed, this program allows you to view or print the PDF files in the Docs folder. For installation instructions, see Getting Help. E. New Features in Age of Mythology: The Titans Limited User Access—Age of Mythology: The Titans now supports Limited User Access and as a result some file locations have changed. o Scenarios, saved games, screenshots, and recorded games are now saved to the "My Documents\My Games\Age of Mythology\..." subfolders. o When creating your own custom AI files, they should go in the "AI2" subfolder, instead of the "AI" folder. Similarly, random maps should go in the "RM2" folder, and new victory condition scripts should go in the "trigger2" folder. General o Strategic Minimap—Use the TAB key while playing to bring up an expanded-size "strategic" version of the mini map. The strategic mini map can be dismissed by pressing TAB again, the ESC key, or clicking the Close button. o New Single Player Random Map Personalities—These new scripts allow users to select the AI type to play against. Standard—A normal, well-balanced opponent. He'll usually start attacking in the Classical Age, but will only send one or two waves before going to Heroic Age. He rarely walls, but will usually upgrade his towers and often builds a few extra towers. He maintains a good balance between military pressure and economic growth. Random—Randomly selects one of the six other personalities. Attacker—Starts attacking very early in Classical Age, and keeps the pressure on. He sacrifices economic growth in favor of applying more military pressure early. He tends to keep attacking in Classical Age longer than the other personalities, going for speed and army size over quality. He never "wastes" effort on defense, walls and towers are not his style. If he doesn't win in Classical Age, he will eventually advance to Heroic Age and start expanding his economy. If you survive his early rushes through defense, you can use a superior economy to crush him in the later Ages. Conqueror—On reaching Classical Age, the Conqueror will start making a fairly large army. Unlike the Attacker, though, he will usually wait until Heroic Age before launching a crushing series of attacks. Like the Attacker, he rarely invests in walls or towers, making him somewhat vulnerable to a strong rush. Builder—The Builder is a pure economic boomer. In Classical Age, he skips most defenses, builds only the smallest token army for defense, and focuses on expanding his economy non-stop. He'll reach Heroic Age fairly early, with a huge economy... but almost no army. Once Heroic Age starts, he begins making an army in a hurry, and will usually attack five to ten minutes into Heroic Age. He is deadly if untouched, but very vulnerable to a rush. Protector—The Protector wants to protect his entire section of the map. He will often wall in, and when he does, he encloses a huge area. If he towers up, he'll defer most tower building until Heroic Age, and then space them widely to cover a large expanse of territory. He makes a modest Classical Age army, but will not attack until Heroic Age. He reserves enough resources to expand his economy, so he's a little bit slower than the Conqueror in creating his armies and reaching Heroic Age. He can be vulnerable to a very early rush or to a boom followed by a siege-heavy attack. Defender—The Defender focuses first and foremost on defending his immediate area. He will usually wall up the core of his town quickly, and he towers heavily and densely in the Classical Age. While he is building his defenses, he will also attempt to launch some attacks as resources permit. He will be late to reach Heroic Age, but will have a thoroughly defended town by the time he gets there. The Defender is vulnerable to a boom, if you are prepared for his Classical Age attacks. Multiplayer o o o o o o Connectivity: Titans features new connectivity code that aims to make network configuration as simple and transparent as possible. Included in this is support for UPnP-enabled gateways, Windows ICS, and improved support for all types of routers, firewalls, and other network gateways. Support now includes multiple simultaneous users behind most internet gateway (NAT) devices, with automatic detection/configuration of the network settings when logging on to ESO. Quick Setup: Matchmaking has been made many times faster in the Titans expansion pack. New features include: New “?v?” matchmaking type, which will place you in the fastest-starting game of any type available (1 vs. 1, 2 vs. 2 or 3 vs. 3). “2vAI” matchmaking type which will find you a partner for a 2-player cooperative game against the AI. Map selection is random to expedite search times and level the playing field. The quick setup screen now displays your “persona,” an informative area that shows you quick stats about your player. Matchmaking now displays real-time status updates during a search. Games list: Titans includes a new games list with sorting and filtering capabilities. The games list is scrollable and can contain 100 entries on a single page. By clicking the Filter by Current Chat Channel button on the game list, you will only see games for players in the same chat channel as you. Stats: Stats for mismatched game logs (where one of the players was cheating) are now logged to the server .ES tracks player accounts when cheating is detected and appropriate action will be taken. Chat: The chat interface has been improved and now displays the population for the chat channels in the channel list (updates every 2 minutes). The user list in a given chat channel has also been updated and now displays information (favorite civ, rating, etc.) for the users in the channel. Friends: The Titans ESO interface includes a new Friends tab. This tab lists your friends and displays the private whispers you have sent or received. You can use the chat input box to send whispers automatically to whichever friend you have selected. Advanced Editing Features o o Animation Viewer: ALT+A will bring up an animation viewing dialog. Use this dialog to view the various animations that a unit has in more detail. Please note that overriding animations with this dialog will not be saved out in a scenario. Use the Set Animation trigger effect to override animations in an actual playable scenario. The animation viewer can also be accessed through the Cinematics menu in the editor. Camera Controls: Pressing ALT+SHIFT+C in the editor will disable the usual locked camera controls. Once you have unlocked the camera, you can zoom in and out beyond the normal limits. In addition, you can use PAGE UP / PAGE DOWN to move the camera height, and the A Z keys to pitch the camera up and down. CTRL+UP ARROW and CTRL+DOWN ARROW will also pitch the camera. While you cannot use these alternative camera views in gameplay proper, o o o o o o o o you can use this to capture a wider range of camera positions when making cinematics, or just to get a better view of your scenario. Aligning Units: The Align Selection option, under the Objects menu in the editor, will snap the selected objects position to the grid. This is of particular note when placing unclaimed Settlements by hand, because only properly aligned Settlements can be used by the computer player AI for building new Town Centers. Scaling Units: K and SHIFT+K can be used in the editor to scale objects up and down. This can give you some unique and interesting effects. Note however that objects with attachments (like soldiers with swords) will not scale their attachment positions properly, so use with care. AI Debugging: In order to engage the AI debugger, you must first put "+aiDebug +showAIEchoes +logAIErrors" on the command line when running Titans. When playing a scenario with AI players, you can press ALT+SHIFT+D to open the AI debugger. The AI debugger is a complex tool with many options that are beyond the scope of documentation here, but should be familiar to anyone who is familiar with source level code debuggers. With those options on the command line, when playing a game with AI players, some extra hotkeys will open AI diagnostic windows. ALT+W will open an AI info dialog for a specific unit, and CTRL+ALT+W will open an info dialog that will continually change based on the currently selected unit. CTRL+ALT+I will open a menu to view the "brain" of the AI (its, plans, goals, and the like). ALT+Q will toggle the AI output window. Setting AI Players: In order to use the new AI scripts and personalities in your own scenarios, when choosing an AI script via the AI button in Scenario > Player Data, use any of the following scripts: aomxailoaderaggboom.xs (Conqueror personality) aomxailoaderbalanced.xs (Standard personality) aomxailoaderboom.xs (Builder personality) aomxailoaderdefboom.xs (Protector personality) aomxailoaderdefrush.xs (Defender personality) aomxailoaderecorush.xs (Unused personality, quick jump to heroic age) aomxailoaderrush.xs (Attacker personality) aomxailoader.xs (Random personality) Trigger Copy: Trigger effects, trigger conditions, and entire triggers can now be copied. Press the Copy button in the trigger editing UI panel. Variations: When in the editor, CTRL+ALT+V can be used to toggle between variations of units. For example, this can be used to change between types of trees or switch villagers between male and female versions. Cinematic objects from the single-player campaign often represent completely different objects with different variations. This is the same as right-clicking when placing down a unit in the editor. Condition Logic: When viewing the conditions of a trigger, you can now select OR and NOT from the trigger editing UI panel. If OR is selected it will cause the trigger to fire when any individual condition is true. If NOT is selected it will cause the trigger condition logic to be negated. Here is a quick table showing the logical states of a trigger, assuming it has two conditions, A and B. Nothing selected: A && B ; both A and B must be true for the condition to fire OR selected: A || B ; either A or B must be true for the condition to fire NOT selected: ! (A && B) ; if either A or B is false, the condition will fire OR, NOT selected: ! (A || B ) ; A and B must both be false for the condition to fire Using God Powers: When invoking God Powers in a scenario from player zero, you are no longer required to grant that God Power first. New Trigger Content o o o Condition—Unit on Lush: This condition will activate when Gaia Lush is underneath the selected unit. Condition—Unit Is Garrisoned In: This condition is used to check when a specific unit has been garrisoned into another unit of an appropriate type. For example setting this on a relic and setting the Container Type to Temple will ensure that it only fires when the relic is contained in a Temple, not when a Hero picks it up. Condition—Chat Contains: This condition will activate when a string matching the trigger's string o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o appears in the player's chat area. Note that it can be fooled by Spoofed Chats. Use in conjunction with the Clear Chat History trigger effect if you want to use this on a looping trigger. Condition—Stat Value: This condition allows you to activate based on a number of different gameplay statistics. These are generally the same sort of statistics as appear in the postgame screens. Use the Echo Stat Value trigger effect to get a sense of how these values fluctuate. Condition—God Power Active: This condition will activate when the specified God Power is currently "going off," and only during the duration of that God Power. Be aware that some God Powers are active for a different amount of time than their UI countdown. Condition—God Power Used: This condition will activate once the specified God Power has been used. Condition—Quest Var Check: This condition will activate when a Quest Var (a sort of temporary variable) meets the desired values. These Quest Vars are typically set with the Quest Var Set, Quest Var Modify, and Quest Var Randomize trigger effects. Quest Vars which have not been yet set all have a value of zero. Condition—Quest Var Compare: Like Quest Var Check, but is used to compare one Quest Var to another directly. Effect—Damage Unit Percent: This effect will damage a unit based on the chosen % of its maximum hitpoints. So 100% is always guaranteed to kill a unit. You can do negative damage to a unit to heal it. Effect—Damage Unit: This is like Damage Unit Percent but does an absolute value of HP adjustment. Effect—Damage Units in Area: This is like the above Damage Unit triggers, but applies to all units in an area, as represented by a reference unit and a radius. It can be modified to affect only a specific type of unit. Effect—Change Units in Area: This effect will cause all the matching type units in an area to transform into the selected alternative unit. It can be used to switch players at the same time. Effect—Change Name: This effect will override the name of the selected unit. It does not affect other units of that same type. Effect—Move From Area: This effect will cause all the units in the selected area to move to a chosen destination It can be filtered on type (to move, say, all Priests only). Effect—Forbid And Disable Unit: This effect is the missing converse of the existing Unforbid and Enable unit trigger, and does a similar effect to manually choosing a Forbidden unit in the editor. Effect—Set Civilization Name: This effect will override the major god name of a player. It does not affect any actual gameplay. Effect—Grant GP at Position: This effect can be used to give a GP in a specific "slot" in the UI. Note that there cannot ever be empty GP slots, so if you try to grant in slot 3 while slot 2 is still empty, it will fill the first empty slot. Effect—Send Chat to Player: This is just like the Send Chat effect, but only goes to a specific player. Effect—Send Spoofed Chat to Player: This is just like the Send Spoofed Chat effect, but only goes to a specific player. Effect—Clear Chat History: This effect will erase all the chat lines. It is mainly used in conjunction with the Chat Contains condition, but can also be used to clean up after complex chat sequences. Effect—Echo Stat Value: This effect allows you to monitor the stat values used in the Stat Value condition. Effect—Disable GP Blocking: This effect an be used to disable gameplay systems that would otherwise block God Powers from going off. Effect—Show Image: This effect will pop up a dialog with the chosen piece of artwork, and a subtitle. Effect—Choice Dialog: This effect will pop up a dialog that gives the player the choice of two options. The specified triggers will fire based on the player's selection. Effect—Modify Protounit: This effect will let you make global modifications to all units of a given type, for a specific player. Effect—Overlay Text: This effect will let you create floating text onscreen. It is best suited for use in cinematics. o o o o o o o Effect—Quest Var Set: This effect lets you set a named Quest Var to a specific numeric value. Effect—Quest Var Copy: This effect will copy the value of one Quest Var into another. Effect—Quest Var Modify: This effect will perform basic arithmetic operations on a Quest Var. Effect—Quest Var Modify 2: This effect will perform basic arithmetic operations on a Quest Var, using another Quest Var as a parameter. Effect—Quest Var Randomize: This effect will allow you to set a Quest Var to a randomly chosen value. The range specified is inclusive, so choosing from 1 to 10 will include both 1 and 10 as valid possible values. Selecting the Round checkbox will cause only integer values to be chosen. Effect—Quest Var Echo: This effect will simply chat the current value of a Quest Var, and is useful for debugging complex Quest Var sequences. Effect—Gaia Lush: This effect can be used on a pre-placed Gaia building to cause it to project Lush terrain as if it were built normally by a Gaia player. F. New Shortcut Keys The following shortcut keys have been added to Age of Mythology: The Titans. All other keys follow the same convention used in Age of Mythology. Building Construction Quick Select Counter Barracks Economic Guild Military Barracks Mirror Tower Palace S G B K V CTRL+S CTRL+G CTRL+B CTRL+K CTRL+V The following shortcuts can be used to create Atlantean units when the appropriate buildings are selected. For example, to create a Citizen, select your Town Center and then press V. Building Create Unit(s) Dock Counter Barracks Military Barracks Palace Temple N - Nereid, M – Man O’ War, V - Servant B – Chieroballista, K - Katapeltes, T – Turma A – Arcus, C – Contarius, M – Murmillo D - Destroyer, F - Fanatic, S – Fire Siphon A - Automaton, B - Behemoth, C - Caladrius, G – Heka Gigantes, L – Lampades, O – Oracle, P – Promethean, R – Argus, S – Satyr, T – Stymphalian Bird G. DirectX Troubleshooting DirectX® 9.0b or later must be installed on your computer before you can play Age of Mythology: The Titans. If you do not have DirectX 9.0b installed on your computer and you chose not to install DirectX 9.0b when you installed Age of Mythology: The Titans, you will not be able to play. You will receive the error message "A required .dll file, Dplayx.dll, was not found." If this occurs, install DirectX 9.0b by downloading the software from Microsoft Windows Update (<http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com>). If Age of Mythology: The Titans installed DirectX 9.0b but could not update your video drivers to be compatible with DirectX 9.0b, when you restart your computer you will receive the message "Age of Mythology: The Titans Expansion could not initialize DirectX. Make sure that DirectX 9.0b or higher is installed and contact your hardware manufacturer for a video driver update." To fix this problem, either get updated video drivers from Windows Update (<http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com>), 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 <http://support.microsoft.com/support/directx/> for the latest troubleshooting information. You should also check with your video or soundcard manufacturer for the latest DirectX-compatible drivers. H. Gameplay Troubleshooting Postgame Stats—Stats can be inflated or inaccurate if users continue clicking on the build button when there are already 15 units in the queue. The amount of resources required to build that unit is added back to the player’s resources resulting in inaccurate postgame stats. It is recommended that these stats by themselves not be used to determine if another player may be cheating. Loading Scenarios and Multiplayer Save Games—These browser windows allow the user to navigate to subdirectories but will fail to load any files from these locations. Ensure that these files are located or moved to the correct directories before loading them in the game. File Transfers—Multiplayer save games and custom scenarios must be in the default subdirectory \savegames to be successfully transferred to other players. Random Map Games—A corrupted map or accidentally deleting all the maps may cause the game to crash. Uninstall and reinstall the game to correct this problem. Record Game Playback—Clicking on the resource panel while a record game is playing will cause it to pause. To continue playing the record game, you must either click the Previous Bookmark button or use the in-game menu to load the record game again. Computer Players in Multiplayer Games—It is not recommended to enable computer players as opponents 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. Performance-wise, one computer player is roughly equivalent to two human players. Multiplayer Scenarios—Age of Mythology: The Titans does not support the use of triggers for user-created scenarios in multiplayer. Triggers may cause out-of-sync errors or other unknown problems. Exiting the game and restarting Age of Mythology will fix any instability caused by this situation. Uninstalling Age of Mythology and/or Titans—Either application can be uninstalled before the other without causing problems. However, if Age of Mythology is uninstalled before Titans and then reinstalled, the Titans application will not run properly until it is reinstalled. I. Editor Troubleshooting Quest Var Set Effect—Invalid values in the value parameter of the effect 'quest var set' will cause all trigger effects, including other trigger’s effects, to not work. Known invalid values are ‘-‘ and ‘.’ (examples: 123.45.90, 123-456). Multiplayer Custom Scenario—If a human plays a position with a valid CPAI attached to it in a multiplayer custom scenario, the host will receive many warning dialogs. These dialogs will be activated repeatedly and pause the game rendering it unplayable. The solution is to avoid this creating situation. Single-Player Custom Scenarios—If a valid CPAI is assigned to the player position that a human is playing, the AI will give orders while that player is also giving orders resulting in a very frustrating experience. The solution is to avoid creating this situation. General—If a scenario can not find the victory conditions file then ALL Triggers will refuse to work. This functionality is found in the scenario data tool, where the victory condition is selected and a file name entered. If that file is not found, then all triggers in that scenario will not work. The solution is to clear the Use Victory Conditions box and save the scenario or create the file. J. Video Troubleshooting For assistance with top video issues, visit <http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gmsvideo>. Latest Drivers—Many graphic issues can be resolved by ensuring that you have the latest drivers from your video card manufacturer or by checking Windows Update (<http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com>) for the latest drivers. Users of motherboards with non-Intel chipsets should upgrade to the latest miniport drivers available from their motherboard manufacturer. Unsupported Video Cards—A list of unsupported video cards can be found at <http://support.microsoft.com/?id=331147>. 3DFX Voodoo 5 5500 in Win 2000—This video card does not display the Implode God Power correctly and may cause the game to crash to the desktop. There is no solution to fix this issue. 3Dlabs Permedia3 Create! —This video card has the following display problems: - The Implode sphere is completely black instead of shiny gray as intended. There is no solution for this issue. Unit’s shadows do not display properly. There is no solution for this issue. All-In-Wonder 128 Pro—This video card has the following display problems: - The Implode God Power does not display correctly and may cause the game to crash. Installing the latest manufacturer driver (#4.13.1.8139) will fix this problem. ATI Radeon 7000—Age of Mythology: The Titans 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 (<http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com>) for the latest drivers. ATI Rage Fury Maxx—For users running Windows Millennium Edition, pressing ALT+ENTER may cause the mouse pointer to disappear or flash. There is no solution for this issue. Diamond Stealth III S540—This video card does not display the Implode God Power properly using retail and latest drivers. There is no solution for this issue. Diamond Viper V770 (nVidia TnT2)—This video card does not display the Bronze God Power special effect. Installing nVidia reference driver# 4.14.10.4403 will fix this problem. Intel 82810/82815 Graphics Controllers—These chipsets have problems displaying transparencies on certain game objects. There is no solution for this issue. Intel(R) 82830M Graphics Controller—This video card does not display the Implode God Power properly using retail and latest drivers. There is no solution for this issue. PowerVR KYRO II 32MB/64MB—This video card does not display the Implode God Power properly using either retail or latest drivers. There is no solution for this issue. Matrox Millennium G-550—This video card has the following display problems: - The Implode God Power sphere does not appear shiny gray as intended using retail and latest drivers. There is no solution for this issue. The Titan unit is completely black when the user places the cursor over it. This occurs on retail and latest drivers. There is no solution for this issue. Matrox Parhelia—This video card has display issues between the waves and shore. There is no solution for this issue. Mobility M9—Mouse pointer disappears after clicking on the Vortex, Deconstruction, or Tornado God Powers in resolution 1024x768x16 and 640x480x32 using the retail and latest manufacturer drivers. There is no solution for this issue. Radeon 8500 DDR—This video card will change the color of specific units (Titan units, Behemoth) when the cursor is placed over them. Updating to the latest manufacturer driver (#4.14.1.3844) fixes this issue. Radeon VE—This video card has display issues between the waves and shore. There is no solution for this issue. STB Velocity 4400—Using the latest reference driver (#4.10.1.131) this video card still exhibits the following problems: - The Implode God Power does not display correctly. Installing nVidia reference driver# 4.14.10.4403 will fix this problem. The Titan unit is completely black when user places the pointer over it. This occurs on retail and latest drivers, and there is no solution for this issue. Hardware Acceleration—Age of Mythology: The Titans requires that graphics acceleration are fully enabled. For more information, see Troubleshooting Display Problems.rtf located in the Docs subfolder in the installed AoM folder. 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: The Titans will fix the ALT+TAB problem, while returning to full screen fixes the ALT+ENTER problem. The third scenario 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 (<http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com>) 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 (<http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com>) for the latest drivers. Screen Flickering—Other applications may cause a brief flickering of the Age of Mythology: The Titans display. Disabling all non-vital applications before running Age of Mythology: The Titans will increase stability, performance, and visual quality. This problem may occur on some systems with the Creative SBLive! soundcard with the Creative LiveWire 2.0 and 2.1 driver sets for this soundcard. 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. If this occurs, ensure that you have the latest drivers from your video card manufacturer or check Windows Update (<http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com>) 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. Press ALT+F4 to exit the game, restart the game using the Age of Mythology 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 (<http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com>) for the latest drivers. DirectX—If you experience video problems using DirectX, connect to the DirectX Web site for the latest troubleshooting information at <http://support.microsoft.com/support/directx>. K. CD-ROM Drive Troubleshooting Age of Mythology: The Titans uses SafeDisc encryption technology. Some CD-ROM drives may not be compatible with this technology. 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 <http://www.yamaha.com/service.htm>. 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. L. Audio Troubleshooting For assistance with top sound issues, visit <http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gmssound>. 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 (<http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com>) for the latest drivers. Age of Mythology: The Titans does not support the following sound card: ESS Canyon 3D2 soundcard 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 soundcard 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. M. Performance Troubleshooting For assistance with top performance issues, visit <http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gmsperf>. 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 800x600 or 640x480 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: Close as many other applications running on your system as possible in order to free memory and processing De-fragment your hard disk (for instructions, see Troubleshooting Crashing Issues.rtf located in the Docs subfolder of the installed AoM folder) Activate DMA (on appropriate hard disks) Reboot your system before starting Age of Mythology Turn your virus scanner settings down while playing Age of Mythology Lastly, ensure that you have the latest drivers from your video and sound card manufacturer or check Windows Update (<http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com>) for the latest drivers. Users of motherboards with non-Intel chipsets should upgrade to the latest miniport drivers available from their motherboard manufacturer. N. Multiplayer Troubleshooting For assistance with top network issues, visit <http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gmsnetw>. The Age of Mythology multiplayer system is designed to automatically detect and configure itself for your network setup as transparently as possible. In most cases, no additional configuration will be required on your part other than simply logging on to ESO. If you have trouble logging on or connecting to other users, please see the troubleshooting items below, and please check out the FAQ located at <http://www.eso.com>. Routers, NATs, Gateways, ICS, and Firewalls—Age of Mythology: The Titans includes native support for a wide range of Internet Gateway hardware devices including most NAT, router, and ICS configurations. In most cases it is recommended that you leave your network setup/device in its default configuration which will give Titans the best chance of auto-detecting and configuring itself on your network. If you experience an error (UDP port error) logging on to ESO or have trouble connecting to other players while in the game, here is the information which can be used to manually set up your network configuration (if you are uncertain about making these changes, please check with your network administrator): When using ESO, Titans uses UDP port 2300, by default, for all in-game communications between players. This port can be overridden by using the “hostPort=xxxx” option on the shortcut, where xxxx is the port you wish Titans to use—i.e., “hostPort=2301” (note: the quotes should not be included in the shortcut). When using DirectIP (please see the DirectIP section below), Titans will additionally use UDP port 2299 to find and enumerate games. In the case where manual configuration of your gateway device (NAT, router, etc.) is required, mapping these ports to the game client’s machine may help. Also, enabling the DMZ option on your router may improve connectivity if you are experiencing trouble. Firewalls—Firewalls may get in the way of multiplayer connectivity in Titans. If you are running behind a firewall and experience connectivity problems, temporarily disable the firewall before going online. Internet Explorer 5.0 or Later—To play Age of Mythology: The Titans multiplayer online, you must first install Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5 or later. Internet Explorer may be downloaded for free at <http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com>. Installing Internet Explorer will not displace your primary browser. Performance—The following guidelines are recommended for a good multiplayer experience: 12 Players—Greater or equal to a P4 2.4 GHz, 512 MB RAM, Cable/DSL, LAN 8 Players—Greater or equal to a P4 1.7 GHz, 512 MB RAM, Cable/DSL, LAN 6 Players—Greater or equal to a P3 1.0 GHz, 256 - 512 MB RAM, Cable/DSL, LAN 4 Players—Greater or equal to a P3 733 MHz, 128 - 256 MB RAM, 56 KB modem 2 Players—Greater or equal to a P2 450 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 56 KB modem Recommended specifications: 733 MHz (or better) processor 256 MB RAM 32 MB 3D graphics card w/ hardware Transform and Lighting 512 MB swap file Home Networks, Dial-Up Connections, and Multiple Network Adaptors—If you have a network card and you dial in to the Internet via modem, you may have trouble launching multiplayer games. Titans does not officially support multiple network adaptors. If you have multiple network adaptors setup in your network configuration and are experiencing trouble logging on or connecting to other users, please try disabling the adaptors that Titans will use by removing it from your network setup or else switch the order in which the adaptors are installed in your machine. This can also affect Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition users who are dialing up using a modem, if they are also connected to a LAN or other network connection. The modem counts as an additional network adaptor, and so the existing LAN connection should be disabled before dialing out. Conflicting Applications—Some applications like virus scanners, Zone Alarm, Kazaa and other file sharing problems, certain Instant Messaging clients, and some firewalls may cause connectivity problems when trying to play multiplayer games. Ensure that you close these programs before launching Titans. Lost or No Connection to the Internet—On Windows 98, the game may appear to freeze when trying to go online without a connection to the Internet because the system message dialog box will display behind the game. You will need to ALT+TAB out of the game, close the dialog box and then connect to the internet before trying to play an online game. Direct IP—In order to play a DirectIP game, you must have a direct connection to the Internet that allows inbound UDP traffic on port 2299. If you are running behind a NAT, gateway, ICS or firewall device, please try opening/mapping UDP port 2299. If you are uncertain about making these changes, check with your network administrator. Direct IP Games behind Internet Gateway Devices—By default, Age of Mythology will not attempt to automatically configure your internet connection if you select LAN/DirectIP. If you are trying to set up a DirectIP game behind an internet gateway device, and you wish to enable this automatic configuration, please add “+directIPConnectivity” (minus the quotes) to the Age of Mythology shortcut. The game will then attempt to configure itself automatically by making a brief connection with the ESO servers on startup, and searching for any UPnP devices that are active on the local network. (Note: This does not apply to ESO, only DirectIP/LAN.) 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 (Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition) or Ipconfig (Windows 2000, Windows XP). If you are uncertain about making these changes, check with your network administrator. To run Winipcfg 1. From the Start menu, click Run. 2. Type Winipcfg and then click OK. 3. Select PPP Adapter. The correct IP address is displayed in the IP Address box. To run Ipconfig 1. From the Start menu, click Run. 2. Type cmd and then click OK. 3. At the command prompt, type ipconfig and then press ENTER. The correct IP address will be displayed. Disconnection from ISP—If you are disconnected from your ISP and quickly reconnect, you and the host may be dropped from the game if your ISP assigns a new IP address because the game will not recognize you. If this occurs, restart the game. Hard Disk Space—If you join a multiplayer game but do not have enough hard disk space to download the scenario, you will receive a message that you must quit the game, clear space on your hard disk, and then rejoin the game. External Applications—Some applications like virus scanners, Zone Alarm, and some firewalls may have conflicts or warnings when running or updating Titans. Often times these warnings or dialog boxes pop up behind Titans and appear to be locked-up. You may ALT+TAB out of Titans to close the warning and continue, or disable these programs before running AoM. You may also select Play in Window in the Options menu if you have problems using ALT+TAB. Windows ME ICS—Clients/hosts connected to an ME ICS server may have trouble logging in or connecting to games because Windows ME ICS does not support UPnP. Try connecting directly to the internet; or, if that is not an option, try mapping the UDP ports in the range of 2299-2310 to whichever machine is running Titans from behind the ICS system. Friends List Connection Loss—On Windows Millennium Edition or Windows 98, ESO can occasionally lose connection to the friends server, usually right after a game ends. You can detect this case by viewing the status of your friends—if they all show incorrectly as Offline, then you may have lost your connection. This disconnection will also show up when trying to join into an advanced setup game as a dialog box that pops up saying "Connecting..." with no countdown—or the fact that no other players are able to join into your advanced setup game if you are a host. If you experience this error, exit the app and restart to reconnect to ESO and the friends server. Proxy—Some ISPs automatically force the use of a Proxy which may cause Titans to lock up when connecting to ESO. Configuring your Internet settings for a dedicated proxy server may fix this problem. If you are uncertain about making these changes, check with your network administrator. Router—Ensure you are running the latest firmware driver version on your NAT/router. Visit the router vendor's website for firmware download instructions. UPnP—If you are running behind a UPnP-enabled Internet Gateway Device (router, firewall, ICS, etc.) Age of Mythology: The Titans will attempt to communicate with this device to open a UDP port for game communications. Although we have tested this functionality across a wide range of devices, you may experience incompatibility with your gateway which keeps you from logging on to ESO. If you are unable to log on to ESO or you have trouble connecting to other users, first try restarting the game to see if it clears up the problem, and if not, add +disableUPnP to the Age of Mythology shortcut. D-Link Router—These routers are known to experience connectivity problems when using the DMZ setup option. This causes problems if one of the computers behind the router is placed on the DMZ. To work around this problem, make sure the machines playing Titans are not placed on the DMZ. Linksys BEFSR41—This NAT device supports UPnP (to enable it requires going into the NAT setup page, going to the Password tab, and enabling UPnP support), but at the time of Age of Mythology: The Titans release, the most recent firmware for this device still experienced problematic support for UPnP in the case of simultaneous use by multiple machines behind the same gateway. If you are using a Linksys BEFSR41 and you have trouble logging on to ESO or connecting to other games, please try first quitting and restarting the game in case someone else on your local network tried logging in at the same time (which has been known to cause problems on this device.) If restarting the game doesn't clear up the problem, you may want to try adding +disableUPnP to the Age of Mythology shortcut and/or disabling UPnP support in the NAT setup itself. Multiple Internet Gateway Devices—Age of Mythology does not officially support running a game behind more than one Internet gateway device (between the game and the Internet.) If you are running the game behind multiple gateways connected concurrently to each other (chained), reconfigure your machine to connect to only a single gateway device if possible. Limited User Access—To log on to ESO, Age of Mythology requires you to be logged on to the operating system as a user with normal users group access. If you are logged on as “Guest” or an account with only guest access to the OS, you will receive a UDP port error when trying to connect to ESO because the game is unable to bind to any ports because of restricted access. Setting Up and Disabling Internet Connection Sharing— For Windows XP, see <http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=306126>. For Windows 2000, see <http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307311>. For Windows Millennium Edition and Windows 98, see <http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=230112>. O. Age of Mythology Information For more information about Age of Mythology, visit our Web site at <http://www.ensemblestudios.com/>. Microsoft, Age of Mythology, DirectX, Ensemble Studios, the Microsoft Game Studios logo, Windows, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
