Microsoft® Age of Mythology™ Demo
Readme File
October 2002
© 2002, Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Welcome to Microsoft Age of Mythology Demo!

This file contains information to help you install Age of Mythology Demo. It also includes late-breaking information not included in the manual or in-game Help.

CONTENTS
A.	Installing Age of Mythology Demo
B.	Starting Age of Mythology Demo
C.	Getting Help
D. Shortcut Keys
E.	DirectX Troubleshooting
F.	Gameplay Troubleshooting
G.	Video Troubleshooting
H.	CD-ROM Drive Troubleshooting
I.	Audio Troubleshooting
J.	Performance Troubleshooting
K.	Age of Mythology Information

A. Installing Age of Mythology Demo

To install Age of Mythology Demo, you must be using Microsoft Windows® 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. NOTE: If you have Alpha or Beta versions of Age of Mythology installed on your machine, please uninstall these using Add/Remove Programs before installing the retail version of the game.

To install Age of Mythology Demo

1.	Turn on your computer and start Microsoft Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000, or Windows XP.
2.	If you are using Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you must have administrator privileges in order to install and play Age of Mythology.
3.	Insert the Age of Mythology Demo CD into the CD-ROM drive and locate AomTrial.exe
	-or-
	On the Start menu, click My Computer. In the My Computer window, double-click the CD-ROM drive icon, and then double-click AoMTrial.exe. On the Setup screen, click Install, and then follow the onscreen prompts.

B. Starting Age of Mythology Demo

To start Age of Mythology Demo

On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Games, point to Age of Mythology Trial, and then click Age of Mythology Trial.

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 Demo in the in-game Help.

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 manual and civilization charts for all nine major gods 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 newer.
•	
•	
•	D. Shortcut Keys
•	
•	In addition to the shortcut keys on the back cover of the manual, the following keys can be very helpful during gameplay.
•	
Building	Construction	Quick Select	
Archery Range (Greek Only)	A	CTRL+A	
Armory 	R	CTRL+R	
Barracks/Academy/Longhouse	B	CTRL+B	
Dock 	D	CTRL+D	
Farm	F	CTRL+F	
Fortress/Hill Fort/Migdol Stronghold	V	CTRL+V	
Granary	G	CTRL+G	
House	E	CTRL+E	
Lighthouse	L	CTRL+L	
Lumber Camp/Storehouse	N	CTRL+N	
Market 	X	CTRL+X	
Mining Camp (Egyptian only)	M	CTRL+M	
Monument (Egyptian only)	U	CTRL+U	
Obelisk (Egyptian only)	O	CTRL+O	
Siege Camp (Egyptian only)	C	CTRL+C	
Stable (Greek Only)	S	CTRL+S	
Temple	T	CTRL+T	
Tower	P	CTRL+P	
Town Center	Z	CTRL+Z	
Wall	W	CTRL+W	
Wonder	J	CTRL+J	

•	Use the following shortcuts to create new units when the appropriate buildings are selected. For example, to create a villager, select your Town Center and then press V.
•	
Building - All Civs	Create Unit(s)	
Dock	F - Fishing Ship, A - Archer Ship, T - Transport, R - Ramming Ship, S - Siege Ship	
Market	C - Caravan	
Temple	A - 1st Age Myth Unit, S - 2nd Age, D - 3rd Age, F - 4th Age	
Building - Greek		
Archery Range	T - Toxote,  P - Peltast	
Academy	P - Hoplite, Y - Hypaspist	
Fortress	C - Petrobolos, R - Helepolis, A - Age 1 Hero, S - Age 2 Hero, D - Age 3 Hero, F - Age 4 Hero, U - Unique Unit	
Dock	O - Argo (Poseidon), C - Carcinos (Zeus), Y - Scylla (Poseidon & Zeus)	
Stable	C - Hippokon, P - Podromos	
Building - Egyptian		
Barracks	S - Spearman, A - Axeman, L - Slinger	
Dock (Isis & Set)	L - Leviathan, U - Sea Turtle	
Siege Camp	C - Catapult, R - Siege Tower	
Migdol Fortress	A - Chariot Archer, C - Camelry, W - War Elephant	
Temple (Ra Only)	R - Roc	
Building - Norse		
Dock	J - Jormund (All), K - Kraken (Loki & Odin)	
Hill Fort	K - Huskarl, J - Jarl, R - Portable Ram, B - Ballista	
Longhouse	U - Ulfsark,  T - Throwing Axeman, C - Raiding Cavalry, R - Hersir	

•	
Town Center Commands	Key	
Ring Town Bell (disabled for alpha)	B	
Return to Work	U	
Ungarrison	N	

Idles	Key	
Jump to idle villager	PERIOD (.)	
Jump to idle military	COMMA (,)	
Jump to Hero	FORWARD SLASH (/)	
Jump to TC	H	

Misc. Game Functions	Key	
Score/Settlement count	F4	
Game clock	F11	
Pause/Un-Pause	PAUSE	

•	
•	General:
•	ALT+N = toggle combat commands page in the UI
•	CTRL+DOWN ARROW = Minimizes in-game UI
•	CTRL+UP ARROW = Restores in-game UI
•	 
•	Formations:
•	ALT+L = standard "line" formation
•	ALT+B = "box" formation
•	ALT+M = "mixed" formation
•	ALT+X = spread formation
•	 
•	Stances:
•	ALT+A = "aggressive" stance
•	ALT+D = "defensive" stance
•	ALT+S = "stand ground" stance
•	
•	
•	E. DirectX Troubleshooting
•	
•	DirectX® 8.1b or later must be installed on your computer before you can play Age of Mythology. If you do not have DirectX 8.1b installed on your computer you will not be able to play Age of Mythology Demo. You will receive the error message "A required .dll file, Dplayx.dll, was not found" If this occurs. Install DirectX 8.1b by downloading the software from Microsoft Windows Update (<http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com>).
•	
•	If Age of Mythology installed DirectX 8.1b but could not update your video drivers to be compatible with DirectX 8.1b, when you restart your computer you will receive the message "Age of Mythology could not initialize DirectX. Make sure that DirectX 8.1b or higher is installed and contact your hardware manufacturer for a video driver update." To fix this problem, either get updated video drivers from Microsoft 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 sound card manufacturer for the latest DirectX-compatible drivers.
•	
•	
•	F. Gameplay Troubleshooting
•	
•	Random Map - A corrupted map or accidentally deleting all the maps may cause the game to crash. Uninstall and reinstall the game to correct this problem.
•	
•	Detailed Help - In the contents section, when perusing units/buildings of civilizations other than your own, your upgrades and bonuses will be appear to be applied to that unit. This is not the case in the game, but rather a generic application of these upgrades to those types of units or buildings.
•	
•	Key Scrolling - Users that use the arrow keys to scroll/move the main game screen may periodically experience the screen scrolling in one direction when the keys are no longer pressed. Simply tap the key that corresponds to the direction it is moving to stop the screen.
•	
•	Console Commands - This developer feature is not supported and may cause crashes, user-interface issues and other problems. Closing the application and restarting it will resolve these problems.
•	
•	Unable to open string table xml file - If you receive this error when trying to run another product or game after installing Age of Mythology, there is a problem with the version of MSXML you have installed on your computer. You will have to uninstall this Beta version before reinstalling Age of Mythology. You will find detailed instructions at (<http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/default.asp?url=/downloads/sample.asp?url=/msdn-files/027/001/766/msdncompositedoc.xml>)
•	
•	
•	G. Video Troubleshooting
•	
•	·	Latest Drivers - Ensure that you have the latest drivers from your video 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.
•	
•	AoM does not support the following video cards:
•	
•	3D Labs Permedia 1 
•	
•	3Dfx Voodoo Rush
•	3Dfx Voodoo Banshee
•	3Dfx Voodoo
•	3Dfx Voodoo 2
•	 
•	ATI Rage II
•	ATI Rage II+
•	ATI Rage IIC
•	ATI Rage LT
•	ATI Rage Pro
•	ATI Rage MOBILITY M/M1/P
•	ATI Rage LT-PRO (RAGE PRO based)
•	
•	Cirrus Logic - all versions
•	
•	Matrox G100
•	Matrox G200
•	Matrox Millennium 
•	Matrox Millennium II
•	Matrox Mystique
•	
•	nVidia Riva 128
•	nVidia Rica 128 zx
•	
•	S3 Virge_VX
•	S3 Virge_MX/MV
•	S3 Virge_MX+
•	S3 Virge_MX
•	S3 Virge_GX2
•	S3 Virge_DX/GX
•	S3 Trio64V2_DX/GX
•	S3 Trio64UV+
•	S3 Aurora64V+
•	S3 Aurora128
•	S3 Savage 2000
•	
•	Intel i740
•	
•	Rendition - all versions
•	Number9 - All versions
•	Oak Technologies - all versions
•	Chromatic Research - all versions
•	Tseng Labs - all versions
•		Neo-magic - all versions
•	
•	ATI Radeon 7000 - AoM 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 ME, pressing ALT+ENTER may cause the mouse pointer to disappear or flash. There are no known solutions for this problem.
•	
•	Hardware Acceleration - AoM requires that graphics acceleration are fully enabled.
•	 
•	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 will fix the ALT+TAB problem, while returning to full screen fixes the ALT+ENTER problem. The third problem 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 display. Disabling all non-vital applications before running Age of Mythology will increase stability, performance, and visual quality. This problem may occur on some systems with the Creative SBLive! sound card with the Creative LiveWire 2.0 and 2.1 driver sets for this sound card.
•	
•	Mouse pointer - Some video adapters may cause the mouse pointer to disappear if you change the in-game screen resolution or re-enter 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. Use ALT+F4 to exit the game, restart the game using the AoM 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>.
•	
•	
•	H. CD-ROM Drive Troubleshooting
•	
•	Age of Mythology uses SafeDisc encryption technology. Some CD-ROM drives may not be compatible with this technology. NOTE: This demo, however, does not use SafeDisc. This information is provided in case you experience problems with these specific drives.
•	
•	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.
•	
•	I. Audio Troubleshooting
•	
•	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.
•	
•	·	AoM does not support the following sound card:
•	
•	ESS Canyon 3D2 sound card 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 sound card 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.
•	
•	
•	J. Performance Troubleshooting
•	
•	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 800 x 600 or 640 x 480
•	·	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:
•	·	Shut down as many other applications running on your system as possible in order to free 
•	memory and processing
•	·	De-fragment your hard drive (for instructions, see Troubleshooting Crashing Issues.rtf located in the DOCS subdirectory of your installed AoM directory)
•	·	Activate DMA (on appropriate hard drives)
•	·	Reboot your system before starting AoM
•	·	Turn your virus scanner settings down while playing AoM
•	
•	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.
•	
•	
•	K. 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, the Microsoft logo, the Microsoft Game Studios logo, the .Net logo, Windows, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.