Rise of Nations: Gold Edition

October 2004
© 2004 Big Huge Games, Inc. Portions © 2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Welcome to Rise of Nations®: Gold Edition. This file contains information to help you install, start playing,
and troubleshoot Rise of Nations: Gold Edition. It also includes late-breaking information not included in
the in-game Help.

CONTENTS
A. Installing Rise of Nations: Gold Edition
B. Starting Rise of Nations: Gold Edition
C. Playing Rise of Nations: Gold Edition
D. Getting Help
E. Known Issues
F. DirectX Troubleshooting
G. Video Board Troubleshooting
H. Video Board Manufacturers
I. Audio Troubleshooting
J. Multiplayer Troubleshooting
K. Rise of Nations: Gold Edition Support Services

A. Installing Rise of Nations: Gold Edition

System Requirements
Rise of Nations: Gold Edition requires a personal computer running either Microsoft® Windows® XP,
Windows 2000, Windows 98, or Windows Millennium Edition. It also is required that your computer have a
processor speed of 500 megahertz (MHz) or higher, at least 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM, and a 16 MB
video card. For the best gameplay experience, a 1 GHz processor, 256 MB of RAM, and a 32 MB video
card is recommended.

To install Rise of Nations: Gold Edition

To install Rise of Nations: Gold Edition, insert CD 1 into your CD-ROM. Follow the on-screen instructions
to complete the setup process. If installation does not start automatically, complete the following steps:
1. From the Start menu, click Run.
2. Type D:\setup.exe (where D: is your CD-ROM drive).
3. Click OK.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete Setup. Make sure to select the installation of
Microsoft® DirectX® 9 if prompted.
5. Click Play Now to launch Rise of Nations: Thrones & Patriots.

B. Starting Rise of Nations: Gold Edition

You can play Rise of Nations: Gold Edition after you have installed it on your computer. You must have
the Rise of Nations: Gold Edition CD in your CD-ROM drive to play.

To start Rise of Nations: Gold Edition

1. With the Rise of Nations: Gold Edition CD in your CD-ROM drive, click the Start button.
2. Point to Programs (or All Programs).
3. Point to Microsoft Games.
4. Click Rise of Nations: Gold Edition.

Note: You can skip the opening animations by clicking on-screen or pressing SPACEBAR.

C. Playing Rise of Nations: Gold Edition

Gameplay Modes
There are several tutorials to help you learn how to play the game. To access these tutorials, launch the
game and select Learn to Play on the Main Menu.

Custom Scenarios
To load custom scenarios created with the Scenario Editor, you must save your files in the mods folder of
the original game (for example, Microsoft Games\Rise of Nations\Mods). Custom scenarios created in
Rise of Nations: Gold Edition will not work in the original Rise of Nations game.

D. Getting Help
You can find out more information about Rise of Nations: Gold Edition by using the in-game Help.

To display in-game rollover Help

•Hold your mouse pointer over any button or interface item in the game. Help text automatically
appears at the lower left of the screen.

To display the list of keyboard hot keys

1. While playing a game, click the Menu button or press F10.
2. Click Options.
3. Select the Hotkeys tab to display a complete list of the hot keys used in Rise of Nations: Gold
Edition.

Note: Most hot keys also are listed in the in-game rollover Help.

E. Known Issues
Anti-virus software: Having anti-virus software enabled while playing Rise of Nations: Gold Edition can
degrade game load times and performance significantly.

Opening movie playback is slow with Windows 98 Gold: When playing Rise of Nations: Gold Edition
on a computer running the Windows 98 Gold operating system, the first time the opening movie runs, it
might be slow. Subsequent playbacks of the opening movie should not suffer from any degraded
performance.

Opening movie might skip under Windows Millennium Edition: When playing Rise of Nations: Gold
Edition on a computer running the Windows Millennium Edition operating system, the opening movie
might play slowly or skip. To resolve this issue, it is recommended that players download and install
Window Media Player 9 from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/.
Rise of Nations: Gold Edition runs too slowly: The performance Rise of Nations: Gold Edition can be
increased by lowering the game’s graphic settings.
To change the settings
1. Select Options & Profiles from the Main Menu.
2. Click the Graphics tab.
3. Select the Low checkboxes next to individual graphic settings.

Limited users overwrite profile files: Playing as a Windows-limited user (someone that does not have
permission to write to the hard drive) does not prevent that user from saving to other user's profile folders
and overwriting their files.

Game crashes cause subsequent games to lag: If a Rise of Nation game crashes or is terminated
through the Task Manager, then games played after this will slow down. To resolve this issue, reboot
your computer before playing another game.

Hardware color cursor support and game resolution: When running Rise of Nations: Gold Edition on
systems without hardware color cursor support, the bit-depth cannot be changed from the Graphics
options panel within the game.
To change the bit depth between 16- or 32-bit
1. Exit the game.
2. Select Start.
3. Point to Settings.
4. Point to Control Panel.
5. Double click the Display icon.
6. Click the Settings tab.
7. Select either 16- or 32-bit color quality.

Replay of saved games might not function: If a Rise of Nations: Gold Edition game is saved in the
middle of a battle and the player quits and subsequently tries to view a replay of that game, the replay
function might not work. This is also true in multiplayer games where one of the participants is
disconnected from the game. To avoid this issue, do not save games to be played back when battles are
occurring or refrain from viewing recorded games in which a player is disconnected.

Autosaving does not save progress in Espionage missions: In the Cold War campaign, if a player
quits an Espionage Mission that has not been completed, then the progress in that scenario will not be
saved. Selecting the Continue button in the Campaign Selection screen will cause a loss of the 20
Tribute spent on the Espionage Mission, and it will prevent further participation in other Espionage
Missions until the next turn.

Restarting game on a computer running Windows Millennium Edition after a crash: In the event of
a crash while playing the game on a computer running the Windows Millennium Edition operating system,
subsequent attempts to restart the game will result in an error message. The error message states that
the video card is not supported and that users should download the latest version of drivers for their video
card. This can be resolved by rebooting the computer and restarting the game.

Error received when playing an Oath of Fealty card: In some Conquer the World campaigns, the
player might receive a message that says "You may only play one <Nation> Oath of Fealty bonus card
per battle." To resolve this issue, remove all bonus cards from the Cards Played area, and place your
Fealty Card first. Then, place any other cards you want to play.
F. DirectX Troubleshooting
Microsoft® DirectX® version 9.0 or later must be installed on your computer before you can play Rise of
Nations: Gold Edition.

If you experience any problems installing DirectX, go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/ and

follow the DirectX links to install the latest version.

If you experience any problems using DirectX, go to http://support.microsoft.com/support/directx/ for

the latest troubleshooting information.

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

G. Video Board Troubleshooting

Check with your video board manufacturer for the latest DirectX-compatible drivers. See L. 3-D Card
Drivers and Manufacturers later in this Readme for more information on video board manufacturers.

Enable AGP Texture Acceleration: For the best possible gameplay experience, you should set your
AGP aperture to at least 64 MB (128 MB preferred). To see if your computer is set correctly you can open
the Start Menu and select Run. In the Run dialog box, type dxdiag to launch the DirectX Diagnostic tool.
Click the Display tab to see if AGP Texture Acceleration is enabled. If it is not, please contact your
computer’s manufacturer for instructions on how to enable this setting in your BIOS.

Creating a Merchant causes the game to crash: This problem can occur on the Diamond Viper V550
and Intel 845 chipsets. To resolve this problem, update to the latest drivers for your video board.

ATI Rage 128: When using video boards based on this chipset, buildings will be displayed with solid
white textures. To resolve this problem, download and install the latest drivers from the manufacturer.

NVIDIA GeForce: When using some GeForce drivers, you might experience significantly decreased
game performance the first time the game is started after the computer has been restarted. If this occurs,
exit the game by pressing ALT+F4, and then restart the game. After restarting once, the game should
perform as usual until the next time the computer is restarted.

NVIDIA GeForce 2: Occasionally a loading screen or some UI backgrounds will not load correctly while
using the latest drivers (56.64). To resolve this issue, press ALT+TAB to get out of the game and then
either return to the game or restart it.

NVIDIA (GeForce 3, 4): When using these video boards, nuclear explosions might have a muted, grayish
effect, and boat reflections will not be present. To resolve this issue download and install the latest
version of your video card driver from http://www.nvidia.com.

Intel 740, 810, and 815 Chipsets: Attempting to launch Rise of Nations: Gold Edition on these chipsets
might result in a black screen followed by a crash to the desktop. There is no known solution.

SiS 315: Shore effects might appear blocky on game map. To resolve this problem, download and install
the latest drivers for your specific video board.

ST KYRO: When using video boards based on this chipset, the graphics might be so corrupted that the
game is unplayable. To resolve this problem, download and install the latest drivers from the
manufacturer.

Specific 3-D Graphics Accelerator Issues

It is usually a good practice (unless otherwise noted below) to install the latest certified drivers for all your
hardware.

3dfx Voodoo 3 3000: Rise of Nations: Gold Edition will not run on computers using this video board,
regardless of operating system. After the program is run, the screen will briefly flash black before
returning to the desktop. There is no known solution.

3dfx Voodoo 5 (AGP Series): Various graphical anomalies occur on water portions of a Rise of Nations:
Gold Edition map when using this video card on a computer running the Windows 98 SE operating
system. There is no known solution.

3dfx Voodoo 5 (AGP Series): Rise of Nations: Gold Edition is unplayable when running the game in 32-
bit mode on a computer running the Windows 98 SE operating system because of missing text and
buttons and other graphic corruptions. To resolve this issue, run Rise of Nations: Gold Edition in 16-bit
mode.
To change from 32- to 16-bit mode
1. Select Options & Profiles on the Main Menu.
2. Select the Graphics tab.
3. Set the resolution to one of the 16-bit resolutions.

ASUS v-3800 Ultra: Rise of Nations: Gold Edition might not run on computers using this video board. To
resolve this problem, download and install the latest drivers from http://www.asus.com.

Creative Annihilator Pro: The pointer flickers and might cause minor corruption to the game graphics.
To resolve this problem, update to the latest drivers from the chipset manufacturer.

Diamond Monster Fusion: Rise of Nations: Gold Edition will not run on computers using this video
board, regardless of operating system. After the program is run, the screen will briefly flash black before
returning to the desktop. There is no known solution.

Guillemot Maxi Gamer Cougar: Attempting to launch Rise of Nations: Gold Edition on a system using
this video card might result in a graphical initialization error. To resolve this problem, update to the latest
driver from the chipset manufacturer at http://www.nvidia.com.

Hercules 3D prophet 4500 (PowerVR Kyro 11): When Rise of Nations: Gold Edition is run with this
video card at 32-bit resolution on a computer running the Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating
systems, the mouse cursor will flicker during the game. To resolve this issue, run Rise of Nations: Gold
Edition in 16-bit mode.
To change from 32- to 16-bit mode
1. Select Options & Profiles on the Main Menu.
2. Select the Graphics tab.
3. Set the resolution to one of the 16-bit resolutions.

LeadTek GeForce3 Ti 200: A nuclear explosion might appear as only as a white circle. To resolve this
problem, download and install the latest drivers from http://www.leadtek.com.

Matrox Millennium G-400: Buildings might appear covered with solid white patches instead of color
graphics, and some button text might not appear. To resolve this problem, download and install the latest
drivers from http://www.matrox.com.

Matrox Millennium G-550: When Rise of Nations: Gold Edition is run with this video card at 32-bit
resolution, the mouse cursor will flash during the game. To resolve this problem, update to the latest
drivers from http://www.matrox.com.

nVidia GeForce FX 5900: When using this video card, some units will lose their textures and appear only
in white after detonating a nuclear missile in the game. This will not affect the function of these units, only
their appearance. There is no known solution.

nVidia GeForce2 MX 200: When using this video board with the retail drivers on a computer running the
Windows XP operating system, the pointer might become sluggish and/or jump around the screen. To
resolve this problem, download to the latest nVidia drivers from http://www.nvidia.com.

nVidia GeForce2 MX 200: When using this video board with the retail drivers on a computer running the
Windows XP operating system, water textures might not blend smoothly. To resolve this problem, update
to the latest nVidia drivers from http://www.nvidia.com.

nVidia GeForce 256: When using this video card and playing Rise of Nations: Gold Edition in 32-bit
mode, the cursor might flash. To resolve this issue, run Rise of Nations: Gold Edition in 16-bit mode.
To change from 32- to 16-bit mode
1. Select Options & Profiles on the Main Menu.
2. Select the Graphics tab.
3. Set the resolution to one of the 16-bit resolutions.

Radeon 7500: Ground colors might appear smeared or stretched, or the ground might appear black when
using a computer with this video board. To resolve this problem, download and install the latest drivers
from http://www.ati.com.

Radeon 9700: The pointer might not be visible when using this video board. To resolve this issue
download and install the latest drivers from http://www.ati.com.

Radeon 9700: When using this video board and running Rise of Nations: Gold Edition on a computer
running the Windows Millennium Edition or Windows 98 operating systems, graphical corruption can
occur in the game after a period of time. To resolve this problem, download and install the latest drivers
from http://www.ati.com.

Radeon 9700: When using this video board with the 9062 version driver on a computer running the
Windows Millennium Edition or Windows 98 operating systems, Rise of Nations: Gold Edition will not
start. To resolve this problem, download and install the latest drivers from http://www.ati.com.

STB Velocity 4400: When using this video card with the retail drivers on a computer running the
Windows Millennium Edition operating system, graphical anomalies might occur with the in-game tree
shadows. To resolve this problem, update to the latest nVidia drivers (version 4109 or later) from
http://www.nvidia.com.

H. Video Board Manufacturers

3DFX http://www.3dfx.com
ASUS http://www.asus.com
Creative http://www.creative.com
Diamond Multimedia http://www.sonicblue.com
Guillemot http://www.guillemot.com
Hercules http://www.hercules.com
Leadtek http://www.leadtek.com
Matrox http://www.matrox.com
NVIDIA http://www.nvidia.com
ATI (Radeon video boards) http://www.ati.com

I. Audio Troubleshooting
It is usually a good idea to check with your sound board manufacturer for the latest DirectX-compatible
drivers. The following are the known audio issues and workarounds:

Aureal Vortex: Rise of Nations: Gold Edition audio might not function with Aureal sound cards. To
resolve this issue, turn off the hardware acceleration.
To turn off hardware acceleration
1. From the Start menu, point to Settings, and then choose Control Panel.
2. Double click Sounds and Audio Devices, and select the Audio tab.
3. Click the Advanced button in the Sound Playback section.
4. Click the Performance tab.
5. Move the Hardware Acceleration slider to None, and click Apply.

SoundBlaster Live!: Using this sound card when running Rise of Nations: Gold Edition on a computer
running the Windows XP operating system can degrade game performance. To resolve this issue, turn off
the hardware acceleration for this sound card.
To turn off hardware acceleration
1. From the Start menu, point to Settings, and then choose Control Panel.
2. Double click Sounds and Audio Devices, and select the Audio tab.
3. Click the Advanced button in the Sound Playback section.
4. Click the Performance tab.
5. Move the Hardware Acceleration slider to None, and click Apply.

SoundBlaster Live! Wave: Sound will only come from one speaker when using the 5.1.2535.0 driver. To
resolve this issue, download and install the latest drivers from http://www.soundblaster.com.

Onboard sound: Some audio hardware included on motherboards currently is not supported.

DirectX: If you experience audio problems using DirectX, go to the DirectX website for the latest
troubleshooting information. For more information, see F. DirectX Troubleshooting earlier in this
Readme.

J. Multiplayer Troubleshooting
Recommend memory for multiplayer games of five or more players: For multiplayer games with five
or more players, it is recommended that each player has more than 256 MB of RAM installed on their
computer to prevent latency problems.

Systems with more than one IP address currently are unable to host multiplayer games: To host a
game, one IP address must be removed, so the system only has one valid IP address.

Using Cannon Time causes errors in playback of recorded game: If a player uses Cannon Time, the
replay of that game will be out of synch.

XP ICS Server Clients: Clients of XP ICS Server cannot join internally-hosted game either using LAN
browser or Direct IP without upgrading ICS Server to Service Pack 1 (SP-1).

Cannot use GameSpy or Direct IP to connect to games hosted on Windows 98 SE ICS server: If the
host of a multiplayer game is running Windows 98 SE ICS server, then players attempting to join using
GameSpy or Direct IP will not be able to connect. Or, if they do connect, they will be unable to select any
game variables in the staging area or see anyone else in the game.

Changing video resolution during GameSpy-hosted games causes graphical glitch: When a game
is launched using GameSpy, if a player changes their game resolution and returns to the game, the cost
to build villagers will appear with a “*1” prefix. For example, “25 gold” will become “*125 gold.” This is only
a graphical anomaly and does not change the cost of villagers.

On GameSpy Arcade-hosted games, public IP address is passed when client/host behind same
NAT, ICS server, or firewall: For games played using GameSpy Arcade, the public IP address appears
even though both client and host are behind the same ICS server, firewall, or Network Address
Translation (NAT).

GameSpy Arcade does not work with Network Address Translations (NATs), and internal ICS
clients cannot see hosted games on Windows XP SP1 systems in GameSpy Arcade: It is
recommended that players instead use the GameSpy interface inside the Rise of Nations: Gold Edition
game shell if they want to play using GameSpy.

Hosted games might appear as “No Name” in Gamespy when client/host is behind the same NAT
or firewall: When in Gamespy browsing the list of games to join, some might appear as “No Name” if the
host is behind the same firewall or Network Address Translation (NAT).

Routers without Universal Plug and Play (uPnP) prevent multiplayer game connection: Players will
experience this connection problem if their NAT/ICS does not have uPnP support. If players have uPnP
support, they should make sure they consult their manual to make certain it is enabled.

Players cannot browse for games over a Virtual Private Network: Players wishing to join a game over
a Virtual Private Network (VPN) might not be able to see hosted games on the VPN. Players wanting to
join must get the IP address from the host, click Join IP, and enter the IP address.

No link to GameSpy rankings website: Although Rise of Nations: Gold Edition supports a ranking
website hosted by GameSpy, there is currently no link to that website. Watch for further information on
the Rise of Nations: Gold Edition website (http://www.riseofnations.com/).

Connecting to GameSpy while on a private LAN: If a player attempts to connect to GameSpy through
the Multiplayer menu while on a private LAN with no Internet access, then further attempts to join a LAN
game after that will result in an incorrect error message. The message states that the game is hosted
through GameSpy even though that is incorrect. To resolve this issue, exit out of the game and then
restart it.

Enabling Multiplayer gameplay through Windows XP Service Pack 2: The new Windows Firewall in
Windows XP Service Pack 2 must have specific settings selected to allow connections to the Internet for
multiplayer games.
To select the correct Windows Firewall settings
1. After installing the Service Pack (SP2), launch the game.
2. Enter the Multiplayer Game menu.
 3. Click either GameSpy Internet Matchmaking or the Local Area Network button to attempt to
connect to a game over your Internet connection or private network. (The game should minimize,
and the Windows Firewall application will present a notification that a program has attempted to
access the network.)
4. Click the Unblock this program radio button.
5. Click OK to allow the game to connect to other multiplayer games.
This process must be repeated for GameSpy Arcade should you decide to play through that interface.

K. Rise of Nations: Gold Edition Support Services

This file contains information to help you troubleshoot issues with Rise of Nations: Gold Edition. You can
find more information about Rise of Nations: Gold Edition on the Rise of Nations website
(http://www.riseofnations.com). You can find information on Microsoft Product Support Services in the
manual that came with your game.

Note: If Rise of Nations: Gold Edition came installed on your computer as an OEM version, contact the
manufacturer of the computer or other hardware with which it was bundled for product support. Refer to
the documentation that came with your computer or hardware for the product support telephone number.