Difference between revisions of "Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings"
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# Start the game with the afformentioned shortcut and the game will have background music | # Start the game with the afformentioned shortcut and the game will have background music | ||
# You can also do the same with the sound files from the Conquerors expansion demo, however, it is important to rename the midi files from music 1-8 to 9-16 to prevent replacement of existing files. | # You can also do the same with the sound files from the Conquerors expansion demo, however, it is important to rename the midi files from music 1-8 to 9-16 to prevent replacement of existing files. | ||
| − | + | {{ii}} The “-midimusic” parameter is no longer supported in UserPatch, however its m3u playlist system allows any audio format to be used for in-game music, including wav, mp3, wma, aac, and flac, as long as the required DirectShow codecs are installed. | |
}} | }} | ||
Revision as of 17:24, 23 June 2013
Key points
- A HD re-release of the game with updated graphics and Steam matchmaking is currently available.
- UserPatch: Conquerors Feature Update adds support for widescreen/multi-monitor resolutions.
Availability
- The "Age of Empires Collector's Editon" 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:
- Age of Empires
- Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome
- Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
- Age of Empires II: The Conquerors
- NoCD version, DVD only necessary for installation.
- All games are already fully patched.
- 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.
Improvements
Patch 2.0a (The Age of Kings)
The latest patch for the base game is Version 2.0a.
Patch 1.0c (The Conquerors)
The latest patch for The Conquerors is Version 1.0c.
Unofficial Patch 1.0e (The Conquerors)
The unofficial patch for Conquerors, which includes NoCD is Version 1.0e.
UserPatch: Conquerors Feature Update
The unofficial UserPatch: Conquerors Feature Update patch for The Conquerors adds many fixes including widescreen support, UPnP port forwarding, and various optional tweaks. Although it doesn't include a NoCD, it will not remove a valid NoCD. If it is installed on top of Version 1.0e, no CD is required.
Age of Empires II: Forgotten Empires
Age of Empires II: Forgotten Empires is an unofficial expansion which adds new civilizations, maps and other fixes.
Save Game data
Save game location
- You will need to backup all of the above folders and the .nfp file to have all of your player data and progress.
Save Game Cloud Syncing
Template:Save Game Cloud Syncing
Video settings
Widescreen resolution
Install UserPatch: Conquerors Feature Update then set your resolution in-game. Your chosen resolution is used during gameplay; menus are letterboxed 4:3.
Multi-monitor
Install UserPatch: Conquerors Feature Update then set your resolution in-game. Your chosen resolution is used during gameplay; menus are letterboxed 4:3. The main game interface is shown on the far left.
Windowed
Install UserPatch: Conquerors Feature Update and select Windowed mode support, then set your resolution in-game. Your chosen resolution is used during gameplay; menus are windowed 4:3.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Install UserPatch: Conquerors Feature Update and select Windowed mode support, then set the in-game resolution to the same as your desktop resolution. Your chosen resolution is used during gameplay; menus are windowed 4:3.
Input settings
Network Issues
LAN connectivity with Windows Vista/7/8
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- A much simpler method is to install GameRanger or Voobly and use it for lobbying (thus making all of the above obsolete).
System requirements
Issues unresolved
Dell laptop compatibility issues
On some older Dell laptop models (e.g. the M1530) an issue occurs where the OS crashes and a blue-screen of death is displayed. This issue occurs after a seemingly random amount of gameplay time (from <30 seconds to 10 or 20 minutes). Many things have been tried to fix the issue including changing graphics card drivers, limiting the framerate to mitigate overheating and running on virtual machines of different OSs (e.g. windows 98). As far as can be seen, this issue has never been resolved nor will it be, rendering AoE2 unplayable on the affected models of laptop. This issue can be mitigated by playing through Voobly.com game client and selecting 32-bit DirectX mode in the lobby options. It is actually caused by an unterminated loop in the graphic card driver. However, Age of Empires II HD (the re-mastered version of the game released in 2013) is unaffected by this problem.
Issues fixed
Windows Vista/7/8 Colours
See Also: Color Fixes For Older Games
Windows Vista/7/8 (NT 6.x) can have issues with displaying true colours in Age of Empires II correctly. This is because the game uses an outdated and no longer supported palette-based colour method. There are currently three available solutions to this issue.
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MIDI Music
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Links
- Age of Empires II Official Microsoft Site
- Age of Empires Wiki Wikia for the entire series
- Age of Kings Heaven Community Site and Map Archive
- AoCZone Community Site for competitive gaming
- /r/aoe2 Age of Empires 2 Subreddit