DOCUMENT:Q258772 12-NOV-2001 [homegame] TITLE :AoE: How to Play Age of Empires PRODUCT :Microsoft Home Games PROD/VER:WINDOWS:1.0 OPER/SYS: KEYWORDS:aoe kbimu msgame ====================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in this article applies to: - Microsoft Age of Empires, version 1.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY ======= This article discusses Microsoft Age of Empires (AOE), and how to play the game. This information is taken from the online help within AOE, and can also be found in the printed Game Reference manual that is provided with the Age of Empires CD-ROM. MORE INFORMATION ================ The theme of Age of Empires is the rise of the first great civilizations over the 12,000 years that followed the last Ice Age. Your goal is to build your tribe into a mighty civilization that can vie for world (game) dominance (victory). You begin the game in the Stone Age with a small tribe of villagers on an unexplored map. As you move your tribesmen over the map, you reveal different types of terrain, locate sources of food, wood, stone, and gold, which villagers gather by hunting, fishing, foraging, farming, chopping trees, and mining. You must gather enough resources and build enough housing to support your growing civilization. Constructing buildings lets you train military units and boats to defend your civilization or attack enemy civilizations on land or at sea. Constructing buildings also lets you research technologies that benefit your civilization, such as increasing the resources you can gather or the strength of your military units. As you advance through the ages, you can build new buildings, create new boats and military units, and research new technologies. You can establish alliances with other civilizations, exchange tribute, and establish trade routes. Other civilizations are controlled by human or computer players. The winner of a game is determined by the victory conditions of the scenario. You can play a variety of predesigned single player campaigns, as well as single player or multiplayer random maps or scenarios. In addition, you can use the scenario builder to create your own custom scenarios. Learning to Play ---------------- The best way to learn the basics of Age of Empires is to play the Ascent of Egypt learning campaign that is provided with the game. You will learn how to hunt, stockpile resources, construct buildings, and engage in combat. To play the Ascent of Egypt learning campaign, follow these steps: 1. On the Age of Empires menu, click Single Player. 2. Click Campaign. 3. Type the name of your player, or click a player name in the Name list. 4. Click OK to display the list of campaigns. 5. Select the Ascent of Egypt Learning Campaign. Only the first scenario is displayed. After you complete a scenario, the next scenario in the campaign appears at the end of the list. 6. Select the Difficulty Level (the skill of civilizations that are controlled by the computer). The difficulty levels range from easiest to hardest. 7. Click OK to start playing the scenario. After the introductory movie is played, the scenario instructions are revealed. To display the scenario instructions while you are playing the game, click the Menu button on the menu bar, and then click Scenario Instructions. Starting on an Unexplored Map ----------------------------- You start the game with a few villagers and a Town Center on an unexplored (black) map. Moving a villager into the black area reveals the map terrain. To move a villager, click the villager, and then right-click the location on the map that you want to move to. Enemy buildings and walls are not visible until you explore the area of the map where they are located. As you explore the map, you discover resources to increase your stockpile of food, wood, stone, and gold. Villagers can chop trees for wood, forage berry bushes, hunt animals, and catch fish for food, as well as mine for stone and gold. To assign a villager a task, click a villager, and then right-click a work site, such as a tree, animal, or stone mine. You can also increase your stockpile by trading with or receiving tribute from other civilizations. Building Your Civilization -------------------------- You use the resources (food, wood, stone, gold) in your stockpile to construct buildings. You need to build enough Houses to support the population of your civilization. Each House supports four villagers, boats, or military units. Each civilization can create a maximum of 50 villagers, military units, and boats. Advancing Through the Ages -------------------------- The resources in your stockpile are also used to advance through the ages. There are four ages: Stone Age, Tool Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. You typically start the game in the Stone Age and strive to advance to the Iron Age. To advance to the next age, you must have a Town Center and build two different buildings from the current age. Once you have fulfilled these conditions, click the Town Center, and then click the Advance to Next Age button. As you advance through the ages, you can build new buildings and military units and research technologies that benefit your civilization. For example, researching Leather Armor decreases the damage your military units receive in combat. The buildings, military units, and technologies that are available depend on which civilization you are playing. The technology trees for each civilization are located in the Appendix of the Age of Empires Game Reference manual and in the Docs folder on the Age of Empires CD-ROM. Engaging in Combat ------------------ Military units and villagers can engage in combat on land. War ships can engage in combat at sea. To win a game by military conquest, your civilization (or team) must destroy all enemy villagers, military units, war ships, and buildings. You do not need to destroy trade vessels, transport vessels, fishing vessels, Artifacts, Ruins, or walls. You can also pursue an allied victory with other civilizations. Wounded villagers and military units can be healed by a Priest. Enemy villagers, military units, buildings, and boats can be converted by a Priest. Damaged buildings and boats can be repaired by a villager. Winning the Game ---------------- In a random map or death match, you can win the game by achieving any one of the standard victory conditions. Players can pursue any of the standard victory conditions to win. For example, player 1 might attempt to control all Artifacts, player 2 might attempt to build a Wonder, and player 3 might attempt to achieve military conquest. The first player to be successful wins the game. The standard victory conditions include: - Artifacts (the first player to control and hold all Artifacts wins the game) - Conquest (the first player to conquer all enemies wins the game) - Ruins (the first player to control and hold all Ruins wins the game) - Wonders (the first player to build and hold a Wonder wins the game) If you do not want to use the standard victory conditions, you can also choose your own victory conditions: - Conquest (all players compete to achieve military conquest) - Score (all players compete to achieve the specified score) - Time Limit (all players compete to achieve the highest score within the specified time limit) You can change the victory conditions in both single player games and multiplayer games. Additional query words: 1.00 msgame aoe ages ror rise of rome expansion pack ====================================================================== Keywords : aoe kbimu msgame Technology : kbHomeProdSearch kbAOE kbGamesSearch kbZNotKeyword kbAOESearch Version : WINDOWS:1.0 Issue type : kbhowto ============================================================================= THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. 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