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Age of Wonders (TM) V1.1 26 November 1999 README.TXT Thank you for purchasing Age of Wonders, we hope you have as much fun playing this game as we had making it! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) System Requirements 2) Trouble Shooting 3) Resuming a LAN or TCP/IP Internet Game 4) Play by Email 5) Heat.net 6) Game Updates and News 7) What's New in Version 1.1 8) Contacting Technical Support 9) Strategy Guide 10) Copyright Information ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) System Requirements ----------------------------------------------------------------------- O/S: Windows (R) 95/98 or NT 4.08(*) CPU: P166 MHz (P2-266 Mhz recommended) Memory: 32MB Ram CD-ROM Drive: 4x Speed Video Card: DirectX 6 compatible, capable of 16 bit high color display Sound Card: DirectX 6 compatible Available HD Space: 300MB Multiplayer: TCP/IP internet connection (for internet); Email account capable of attachments (for PBEM); TCP/IP or IPX (for network play) To run AoW on NT4.0 machines, NT4.0 requires Service Pack 4. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Trouble Shooting ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Age of Wonders has been designed to run with Microsoft's DirectX interface. To avoid compatibly problems and for the best performance, we suggest you use the latest version of DirectX and the latest versions of hardware drivers for your hardware. Look for the latest version of DirectX at Microsoft's at their web site http://www.microsoft.com/DirectX/. You may obtain a list of Microsoft-certified video and audio drivers for your system by going the Microsoft Hardware Compatibility list at http://www.microsoft.com/hwtest/hcl/. Problem: Game boots to a black screen Try playing the game in a Window. If the game runs in a window but not full screen, make sure you have the latest version of DirectX installed or download new video drivers for your video card. If the screen turns black or distorted after a resolution switch try turning off "Auto Res Switching". This will display the game at a fixed resolution and display scenes like the intro and setup screen boxed when the game is set to run in resolutions higher than 640x480. Problem: Game crashes at startup or won't boot In the AoW setup program, check the "Skip Intro" box, and verify that the "Use DirectSound" box is unchecked. If the game runs, there may be some incompatibilities with your Windows media drivers for video playing, and/or DirectSound drivers. Try updating your DirectX drivers Problem: No sound Try toggling "DirectSound" off/on in the game or with the AoW Setup program. Make sure you have the latest version of DirectX installed. Problem: Game runs slowly Low-end systems (sub P2s) should run the game in the lowest resolution: 640x480. If the game is still slow, run the game in the lowest detail level (you will only lose some transparency effects). Decreasing the sound quality or turning off sound altogether will also speed up the game. Problem: Mouse movement is slow The mouse movement is linked to the game's frame rate; on slower machines the mouse will move slower as well. Try running the game in a lower resolution and/or decreasing detail level using the AoW Setup program. Decreasing the sound quality or turning off sound altogether will also speed up the game. Problem: Multi-player games cannot start after all sides have been assigned When players connected in the Multi player lobby screen have a red 'X' behind their names, it means they these players have a different version of the game or selected scenario on their computer then the host. Make sure all players have the same version of Age of Wonders installed (the version number is displayed on the title screen) and that all players have the exact same scenario file on their computer. Problem: Age of Wonders can't be uninstalled Hey, don't uninstall this game! If you must UnInstall Age of Wonders for some reason, you should use the "Add/Remove Program" icon in your Control Panel. The Age of Wonders UnInstaller will leave your save games behind, in case you should come to your sense, and want to play Age of Wonders again at a later date. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) Heat.net ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Installing Age of Wonders will prompt you to install HEAT.NET software of your computer. HEAT.NET can also be installed after Age of Wonders has been installed by pressing the HEAT.NET button in the Scenario Menu in the game. The quickest way to get to the Age of Wonders game lobby on HEAT.NET is to choose the HEAT.NET shortcut from your Age of Wonders Start Menu. Once selected, your default web browser will open to the Age of Wonders Direct Launch page. Then follow this procedure: 1. Be certain that the name of the game listed in the drop down menu is "Age of Wonders". 2. Type in your HEAT user name and password where prompted. 3. Click the "PLAY NOW" button. Once the HEAT software loads, you will be brought immediately to the Age of Wonders main lobby. Here, you can chat with other people, create a new game room, or join an existing game in progress. For more assistance with HEAT.NET, log into http://www.heat.net, and select "HELP" from the top menu bar. For up-to-date, specific information about Age of Wonders on HEAT.NET, go to the "Age of Wonders Game Page" on HEAT.NET by logging into http://www.heat.net, and choosing "GAMES" from the top menu then choose the "ACTION" channel. Locate the "Age of Wonders" link from the game list to the left. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Play by E-mail ----------------------------------------------------------------------- In an E-mail game, each human player takes a turn and then sends the Scenario's saved game file to the next human player in an E-mail file attachment. Play by E-mail (PBEM) games require Internet E-mail access. When starting an E-mail game you should fill in the PBEM settings in the Email Settings Window in the game or by using the AoWSetup program. Local E-mail Address Specify the E-mail address you use on your Age of Wonders computer to send and receive E-mail. The Local E-Mail address is in the common username@provider.com format. SMTP Server For Age of Wonders to automatically send email attachments, your Internet Service Provider's SMTP server name needs to be specified. If you are not sure what your provider's SMTP name is, you can look it up in the configuration window of your E-mail program. Netscape Communicator: Go to the Edit/Preferences Menu Under Mail & Newsgroups see Mail Servers Microsoft Outlook Express Go to the Tools/Accounts Menu Select the E-mail account you will be using for PBEM Click properties and see the Servers Tab If this didn't help you can contact your Internet Service Provider, They will be able to tell your SMTP server name. Attachment Directory Specify the directory you use for incoming E-Mail attachments. Age of Wonders will look in this directory for incoming PBEM games sent to the Local Email Address. Some mail programs automatically save attachments to a specified directory when they come in, others require you to manually save the attachments. Starting a PBEM game The person starting the PBEM session uses New Game in the PBEM Scenario Menu. The setting up of a scenario is similar to a regular Hot Seat game (only Classic Turns mode is available). At least 2 human players need to be defined for PBEM games. After pressing the Start button you will need to specify the PBEM Game's name and the E-mail addresses of the people involved. Continuing a PBEM game When you wish to continue playing a PBEM game already in progress, you can do either of the following: 1) Have Age of Wonders check your email for PBEM games, using the "Check Email" button in the "Email Game" menu. Age of Wonders will automatically check your email account and attachment directory for PBEM games, leaving alone all other email and files. 2) Save the PBEM game to a directory manually using your email program, and then loading it in Age of Wonders using the "Load Game" button. Once a valid PBEM game is found, your turn will begin. When you complete your turn by pressing the "End Turn" button, Age of Wonders will send the PBEM game to the next human player so that they may play their turn. This process continues until the game is completed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) Resuming an IPX/LAN or TCP/IP Internet Game ----------------------------------------------------------------------- When an IPX/LAN or TCP/IP game is interrupted for any reason, the following process allows you to continue your game where you left off: Enter the Age of Wonders Scenario Setup Screen as you would if you were starting a brand new game. When prompted to choose a Scenario to play, find the save game you wish to continue playing multi-player, and select it. If the game ended without being saved, players can use the "Autosave.asg" file to recover the game, as long as players haven't played another game in the interim. Save games are stored by the game in the ...\Save\ directory. When the other players join the game, ideally they should be ready to play, and after selecting races, the "Start" button should appear. If it appears, your multi-player game is ready to resume. If the "Start" button DOES NOT appear, check to the right of each player's name for a small red "X" symbol. If a player has this symbol next to their name, it means that they are missing the save game that you are trying to resume, for any of a large number of possible reasons. To remedy this problem, the host should transfer the save game to the person or people who need it, using whatever method they wish (email, for example). When all players have the same save game file, the red "X"'s will disappear, the "Start" button will appear, and the save game can be resumed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) Game Updates and News ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Official Age of Wonders website is located at: http://www.ageofwonders.com/. Please feel free to stop by for the latest information. If any patches are released for Age of Wonders, they will be announced here. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) What's New in Version 1.1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- BUG FIXES: AI: - AI in both World and Tactical modes has been enhanced - World AI sometimes produced "AI Exception" errors - World AI sometimes refused to end it's turn - World AI sometimes attacked allied players General: - On some systems, the game ran significantly slower than it should - Sometimes the game would slow down for no apparent reason - Sometimes the game would not exit to Windows properly - Sometimes sounds would not play properly, producing "clicks" - Resolution-Switching sometimes crashed or redrew incorrectly - Ice Storm was in the Air Sphere instead of the Water Sphere - Losing a Campaign scenario and replaying it could give the player extra Magic Spheres - In the Unit Window, selecting an ability, and sorting the ability list didn't remove the "Use Ability" button - In the File Dialog, sorting on filename didn't always sort correctly - In the Campaign Leader-Selection Dialog, the buttons sometimes redrew incorrectly - In the Campaign Transfer Dialog, Unit's medals did not display on the rightmost page Global: - Movement involving multiple caves and/or teleportes sometimes caused the game to lockup - Death Mastery sometimes crashed - Merging a boat carrying units with a flying party caused the units in the boat to drown - Leaders could disappear from the map if their Morale dropped too low - Path of Frost would disappear under the unit causing it, if it didn't move for 2 turns - A previously killed Hero sometimes reappeared later in the same scenario or campaign - Upgrading a city would cause it's production queue to rearrange - Migration wasn't cancelled after taking over a city - In Classic-Turns, Diplomatic messages sometimes popped-up during other player's turns - Building a Watchtower or Shipyard did not always cause them to work properly - Teleporters on the Surface could be razed with only one unit - Walled 4-hex cities could not be entered to enable WarMode - Rebuilding a Mine or Node caused their income to become available before they were finished being rebuilt - Ground units could force Tactical Combat with flying units - Items with Movement Abilities (Free Movement, etc) did not give their abilities to their owner - Exploration Sites could be selected when not in visual range Tactical Combat: - When a unit was incapacitated (Frozen, etc) during a Free-Strike, it continued to move - If a player fled with a transporter carrying unit(s), TC would never end - Floating units could move over obstacles and walls - Recall Spirit and Animate Dead charged much more mana than they should have - Movement Paths treated the last step of a Melee or Touch path as if it were subject to Free-Strikes - Stunned was sometimes removed too soon Multi-Player: - In Classic-Turns, entering combat locked the game up - In Simultaneous-Turns, when one player ended their turn as another started a Tactical Combat, the game never allowed the first player to end their turn - In Hotseat games, when attacked by the AI, players were forced to fight using Automatic Combat - In TCP (Internet) and IPX (LAN) games, in the Scenario Setup screen, Ping times didn't display properly - In PBEM games, when fighting Independent parties, players were forced to fight using Automatic Combat Editor: - When changing the AI's Behavior, it would reset to the default - Cutting and Pasting of Random Items would cause the Editor to crash GAMEPLAY CHANGES: - All Combat Spells have been given +1 ATT - The following spells have been given an -additional- +1 ATT: Call Flames, Death Ray, Flaming Arrow, Slow, Solar Flare, Vaporize - Race Relations now go back to their default at a rate of +1/-1 per turn instead of the previous +2/-2 - Walls now protect defenders better - Flamethrower now has ATT 4, DAM 3, instead of the previous ATT 1, DAM 1 - Summoned Units can not be transferred between campaign scenarios - Leaders can no longer be given First Strike - Life Stealing now takes a maximum of 1 HP per strike, only when attacking - Great Hail now strikes 21 times (3 per hex), instead of 35 times (5 per hex) - Winds of Fury now has a +2 ATT bonus when used on Flying units - Units no longer block Breath attacks - Animated units no longer give EXP when killed - Dwarven Berzerker now has Cave Crawling - Ring of Free Movement no longer gives its owner Swimming - Valley of Wonders campaign scenario tweaked for better gameplay - Trade Route campaign scenario tweaked for better gameplay - Rise of the South custom scenario now has Wizard's Towers with spells for sale ENHANCEMENTS AND ADDITIONS: - The game now runs faster - AI is now much faster, especially on large/complicated scenarios - Rectangle-Select has been added to the game, for more easily selecting groups of parties/units - In Multi-Player (Simultaneous-Turns), a Host-controlled option has been added to the Scenario Setup screen, for enabling/disabling the viewing of other player's Tactical Combats that are outside your visual range - Relations Window now displays a Leader's Race when selected - Sound Dialog now allows double-clicks to add songs to the playlist and to play a song - Turtle Units now have corpse graphics ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) Contacting Technical Support ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Having a problem getting your game to run? Problems with DirectX? Do you want to ask a specific technical question? You can e-mail us directly at: Support@godgames.com If you would prefer to talk to someone in person, you can reach our tech support staff at (214) 303-1202. Our hours of operation are seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Central Time. If you prefer U.S. mail, please use the following address: Gathering of Developers P.O. Box 565032 Dallas, TX 75356 Attn: Tech Support ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) Strategy Guide ----------------------------------------------------------------------- For polishing and perfecting your game strategy, consider the Age of Wonders official strategy guide, available at the Gathering of Developers online store at www.godgames.com or at your local PC retailer. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) Copyright information ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Age of Wonders is a trademark of Triumph Studios, v.o.f. Copyright (c) 1999 Triumph Studios, v.o.f. All Rights Reserved. Gathering of Developers and godgames are trademarks of Gathering of Developers, Inc. Copyright 1999 athering of Developers I, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Microsoft and Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.