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Age of Empires

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games

This page is for the original game. For the re-release, see Age of Empires: Definitive Edition.

Age of Empires
Age of Empires cover
Developers
Ensemble Studios
Mac OS (Classic) MacSoft
Publishers
Windows Microsoft
Mac OS MacSoft
Engines
Genie
Release dates
Windows October 15, 1997
Mac OS (Classic) July 1, 1999
Age of Empires guide on StrategyWiki
Age of Empires on MobyGames
Age of Empires on Wikipedia
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⤏ Go to series page
Age of Empires 1997
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings 1999
Age of Mythology 2002
Age of Empires III 2005
Age of Empires Online 2011
Age of Empires II: HD Edition 2013
Age of Mythology: Extended Edition 2014
Age of Empires: Castle Siege 2014
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition 2018
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition 2019
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition 2020
Age of Empires IV 2021
Age of Mythology: Retold 2024

General information

Official website for the series
Official Discord server for the series
Microsoft's Official game page (archived)
Age of Empires Wiki - A wiki for everything Age of Empires related
Planet Age of Empires - A hub for all Age of Empires games
Age of Empires Heaven is an active fan website and forum that offers support and extra game content.

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
Windows
Mac OS

Version differences

The "Age of Empires Collector's Edition" first released in 2000 can often be found on store shelves. It is the most cost effective way of acquiring the game, as it contains the following games on a single DVD-ROM (although initial releases supplied separate CDs for each game):
No-CD patches are already applied; the DVD is only necessary for installation - which ensures compatibility with modern operating systems; and all games are fully patched to their latest versions.
However, it should be noted that the DVD re-release of these games does not feature the Red Book audio stored as separate audio tracks on the original games' discs. As such, the game music will not be played while the DVD is in the drive.

Demos

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome
Windows

Essential improvements

Patches

This patch updates both Age of Empires (to 1.0c) and The Rise of Rome (to 1.0a): English, German, and French or Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.
Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome 1.0a suffers from a serious bug in saved games. If a projectile (arrow from archers, ships, towers, siege weapons) is "flying" through the air while saving a game, the saved game becomes corrupted; loading it will crash the game.

UPatch

Unofficial patch that contains bug fixes and improvements for modern operating systems. Does not require any previous patches.
Fixes the color problem caused in newer systems
Fixes the save game bug of version 1.0a
Requires The Rise of Rome expansion

Skip intro videos

Use the NoStartup command line argument.[1]

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Games\Age of Empires\1.00\
Mac OS (Classic)

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\savegame[Note 1]
<path-to-game>\game0.nfo[Note 1]
Mac OS (Classic)
Campaign progress is stored in <path-to-game>\game0.nfo
Custom scenarios are stored in <path-to-game>\scenario
Custom campaigns are stored in <path-to-game>\campaign
You will need to backup all of the above files and folders to have all of your player data and progress.

Video settings

In-game options menu.
In-game options menu.

Template:Video settings

Input settings

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
German
Hungarian
Fan translation by .:i2k:. link #1, link #2
Italian
Portuguese
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
8
Online play
8

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
MSN Gaming Zone support has been discontinued.[2]
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 2300-2400, 47624
UDP 6073, 2300-2400
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Issues fixed

Game uses weird colors

Playing the game on modern versions of Windows may cause it to use weird colors. Repetitive red and purple specks in water and marsh areas are the common issue. This can be fixed by downloading and using DirectDrawFix.

Weird colors fix[citation needed]
  1. Download and extract the DirectDrawFix zip file.
  2. Run DirectDrawFix.exe.
  3. Use the browse button to locate and select EMPIRES.exe.
  4. Press the apply button.
  5. Repeat for EMPIRESX.exe.
Could not initialize graphics system error[3]
  1. Run the game in Compatibility mode for Windows XP Service Pack 2
  2. Disable Visual Themes
  3. Disable Desktop Composition
  4. Run this program as an Administrator

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
DirectDraw 5
ExecutablePPC16-bit 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
Mac OS (Classic)

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Multiplayer MSN Gaming Zone Discontinued.[4]

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 95, NT 98, 2000, ME
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium 90 or higher
System memory (RAM) 16 MB 32 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 80 MB
Video card (GPU) Local SVGA bus video display
1 MB of VRAM
DirectX 5 compatible

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

References