TIC Age Of Empires FAQ V1.10

What's on this FAQ:

The Basics

1. What is Age Of Empires?
2. What is Rise Of Rome?
3. Where can I play Age Of Empires multiplayer?
4. What are maps?
5. Where do you put the maps after you've downloaded them?
6. Why does the game crash sometimes?
7. What are the difference of the trial and full versions?
8. How do you take screen shots?

   Intermediate

9. What is converting?
10. How can you convert?

    Advanced

What is Age Of Empires?

Age Of Empires, a strategy game released by Microsoft. It is different from other strategy games. The gameplay is better than most other games. It's features include random maps, scenario builder, death match, single and multi-player. One of the best feature is that the trial version can play new maps. It's what this site is based on. If you haven't got it yet, it's available in the Downloads Section.

What is Rise Of Rome?

Rise Of Rome, the official expansion pack of Age Of Empires. This expansion is also avaliable on trial which does not require the original Age Of Empires Trial/Full. A link for this download may be found on the Downloads Page. It offers many new features and scenarios.

Where can I play Age Of Empires multiplayer?

You can play Age Of Empires multiplayer on the ZONE. I believe that this is an exclusive to the ZONE because it is made by Microsoft. You can also play if your computer is connected to a network of LAN(local area network). The most popular and with the most people is the ZONE. It is suggested that you go there first for multiplayer.

What are maps?

Maps are scenarios which you play with Age Of Empires. When you download the game, it gives you a few scenarios in a campaign. These scenarios are maps. The other maps are made by players of Age Of Empires. Map Packs(or newmaps) are ones that you can play in multiplayer on the ZONE. Campaigns can be played in both Age Of Empires and Expansion Trial for single-player.

Where do you put the maps after you've downloaded them?

Put the maps in the following directories:
Age Of Empires:
newmaps C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age Of Empires Trial\scenario
campaigns C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age Of Empires Trial\campaign
Rise Of Rome:
newmaps C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age Of Empires Expansion Trial\scenario
campaigns C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age Of Empires Expansion Trial\campaign

This is considering that you installed the game(s) without changing the default directories.

Why does the game crash sometimes?

The game crashes for several reasons. I will list a few.

1. The campaign you are trying to run has full version units in it.
2. The campaign is bad somehow. Either its made for Age Of Empires and you try to run it on Rise Of Rome or its data is corrupted.
3. There's not enough RAM or Hard Drive Space.

The reasons list above are for the trial version of Age Of Empires and/or Rise Of Rome crashing. There are many more reasons of game crashes. If you know another one, please send them in.

What are the difference of the trial and full versions?

There are many differences between the trial and full versions of Age Of Empires. Some of the differences are that in the trial, you are unable to advance to the Iron Age or build Iron Age Units. You are only able to run campaigns and scenarios for multiplayer. However, you may convert and run new campaigns and scenarios for the trial version. You are unable to cheat with the exception of one cheat(HOME RUN) which wins the scenario for you. Those are some of the main differences between the trial and full versions of Age Of Empires.

How do you take screen shots?

You may take a screen shot during a game by pressing CTRL and F12 at the same time. The screen shot will be in the game folder. This means that if you are playing Age Of Empires, it will in the Age Of Empires directory. If you are playing Rise Of Rome, it will be in the Age Of Empires Expansion directory. It will be in a bitmap(.bmp) files and named somewhat like AoE0001. You will need a graphics converter to use convert this to .jpg for uses on the web. Do not use .gifs since it has a bad resolution. If you do not have a graphics conversion program, go to Download.com and search Graphics Conversion. If I find a good program, I will post it up here. I use Microsoft Image Composer to convert and edit images.

What is Converting?

There are two types of converting. There's the one in the game with the Priest, and the one that you use to make maps work for trial. This is talking about the second one, converting it so it works for the trial version. Converting can be very useful. It allows you to play full version campaigns and scenarios on the trial version. The best way to convert may be using cpnbuild. You can get a copy at the downloads page. You must use different conversion skill for both games. Please refer below to learn the conversion skills.

How can you convert?

As you read above, converting can be very useful. It can also be tricky. Here are the instructions for converting Age Of Empires and Rise Of Rome maps.

• Converting Age Of Empires Campaigns
  
• Converting Age Of Empires Scenarios
  
• Converting Rise Of Rome Campaigns
  
• Converting Rise Of Rome Scenarios
  
• Advanced Converting for Rise Of Rome
  

Converting Age Of Empires Campaigns

Here's how you convert Age Of Empires campaigns:
Note: Be sure to leave a space between what you type.

1. Open MS-DOS.
2. Go to the directory with the cpnbuild files in it. It's the one you unzipped the cpnbuild files into.
3. Then type cpnbuild.
4. Now type /t.
5. Type where the campaign is. e.g. C:\ticcamp.cpn (include the .cpn and use the Dos File Name.).
6. Now type /v.
7. Now type the version. Trial Version is 1.10. e.g. 1.10.
8. So this is what you type in. cpnbuild /t C:\ticcamp.cpn /v 1.10.
9. Check if the scenarios are converted by typing cpnbuild /l C:\ticcamp. If not, go to step 1 or 3 and repeat.

That's all. You have to put it in your campaign folder.
Be careful not to confuse the slash(/) with the backslash(\).
Note that some scenarios crash because either there are full version units starting out in it or that there is a bug in it.
If you still have trouble with converting, read the readme carefully or E-Mail Me

Converting Age Of Empires Scenarios

Here's how you convert Age Of Empires scenarios:
Note: This may not be very useful with the trial version.

1. Open MS-DOS.
2. Go to the directory with the cpnbuild files in it. It's the one you unzipped the cpnbuild files into.
3. Then type cpnbuild.
4. Now type /a.
5. Type the name of the campaign, any name you create is fine. Just make sure you know where it's location. e.g. C:\ticcamp.cpn (include the .cpn and use a Dos File Name.).
6. Now type the scenario(s) you want to convert(wildcards accepted). e.g. C:\ticscen.scn (include the .scn and use a Dos File Name.).
7. So this is what you type cpnbuild /a C:\ticcamp.cpn C:\ticscen.scn.
8. Go to Converting Age Of Empires Campaigns and follow steps 3 to 9.
9. Now when you are back type cpnbuild /e C:\ticcamp.cpn.
10. This will extract the scenario(s) from the campaign file.

That's all. You have to put it in your scenario folder.
Be careful not to confuse the slash(/) with the backslash(\).
Note that some scenarios crash because either there are full version units starting out in it or that there is a bug in it.
If you still have trouble with converting, read the readme carefully or E-Mail Me

Converting Rise Of Rome Campaigns

Here's how you convert Rise Of Rome campaigns:
Note: Be sure to leave a space between what you type. This will only work if the campaign was made for Rise Of Rome.

1. Find the campaign you want to convert. Note that the scenarios in the campaign must end in .scx.
2. Rename the ending to .cpn if the campaign's name ends with .cpx.
3. Open MS-DOS.
4. Go to the directory with the cpnbuild files in it. It's the one you unzipped the cpnbuild files into.
5. Then type cpnbuild.
6. Now type /t.
7. Type where the campaign is. e.g. C:\rorcamp.cpn (include the .cpn and use the Dos File Name.).
8. Now type /v.
9. Now type the version. Rise Of Rome Trial Version is 1.12. e.g. 1.12.
10. So this is what you type in. cpnbuild /t C:\rorcamp.cpn /v 1.12.
11. Check if the versions are right by typing cpnbuild /l C:\rorcamp.cpn. If the the version listed is not 1.12 go back to step 1 or step 5 and try again.
12. Now find the campaign file that you've converted and rename the ending to .cpx.

The only way to convert campaigns from the original Age Of Empires requires you to own the full version of Rise Of Rome.

Converting Rise Of Rome Scenarios

Here's how you convert Rise Of Rome scenarios:
Note: This may not be very useful with the trial version.

1. Find the scenario you want to convert. Note that the scenarios must end in .scx or the game may crash.
2. Rename the ending to .scn if the scenarios's name ends with .scn.
3. Open MS-DOS.
4. Go to the directory with the cpnbuild files in it. It's the one you unzipped the cpnbuild files into.
5. Then type cpnbuild.
6. Now type /a.
7. Type the name of the campaign, any name you create is fine. Just make sure you know where it's location. e.g. C:\rorcamp.cpn (include the .cpn and use a Dos File Name.).
8. Now type the scenario(s) you want to convert(wildcards accepted). e.g. C:\rorscen.scn (include the .scn and use a Dos File Name.).
9. So this is what you type cpnbuild /a C:\rorcamp.cpn C:\rorscen.scn.
10. Go to Converting Rise Of Rome Campaigns and follow steps 5 to 11.
11. Now when you are back type cpnbuild /e C:\rorcamp.cpn.
12. This will extract the scenario(s) from the campaign file.
13. Now find the scenario file that you converted and rename the ending to .scx.

That's all. You have to put it in your campaign folder in you Age Of Empires Expansion Trial directory.
Be sure to follow the instructions very carefully or there may be errors when you start the game.
Be careful not to confuse the slash(/) with the backslash(\).
Note that some scenarios crash usually because there are full version units starting out in it.
If you still have trouble with converting, read the readme carefully or E-Mail Me

Converting Rise Of Rome Scenarios

Here's how you convert Rise Of Rome scenarios:
Note: This may not be very useful with the trial version.

1. Find the scenario you want to convert. Note that the scenarios must end in .scx or the game may crash.
2. Rename the ending to .scn if the scenarios's name ends with .scn.
3. Open MS-DOS.
4. Go to the directory with the cpnbuild files in it. It's the one you unzipped the cpnbuild files into.
5. Then type cpnbuild.
6. Now type /a.
7. Type the name of the campaign, any name you create is fine. Just make sure you know where it's location. e.g. C:\rorcamp.cpn (include the .cpn and use a Dos File Name.).
8. Now type the scenario(s) you want to convert(wildcards accepted). e.g. C:\rorscen.scn (include the .scn and use a Dos File Name.).
9. So this is what you type cpnbuild /a C:\rorcamp.cpn C:\rorscen.scn.
10. Go to Converting Rise Of Rome Campaigns and follow steps 5 to 11.
11. Now when you are back type cpnbuild /e C:\rorcamp.cpn.
12. This will extract the scenario(s) from the campaign file.
13. Now find the scenario file that you converted and rename the ending to .scx.

That's all. You have to put it in your scenario folder in you Age Of Empires Expansion Trial directory.
Be sure to follow the instructions very carefully or there may be errors when you start the game.
Be careful not to confuse the slash(/) with the backslash(\).
Note that some scenarios crash usually because there are full version units starting out in it.
If you still have trouble with converting, read the readme carefully or E-Mail Me

Advanced Rise Of Rome Converting

Converting Rise Of Rome campaigns and scenarios is much harder. You can't simply using cpnbuild to convert the original Age Of Empires campaigns and scenarios. However, if you are having some trouble even if you've met up to the standards. Here are things that may be troubling you.
If for some reason, you have .scn files in you campaign file. You will have to do the following things.

1. Change the file name to .cpx if not already.
2. Now open a hex editor. You can download one here.
3. Now on the right column, you will see some file names with .scn endings, change them all to .scx.
4. The campaign should work now after being placed in the right folder. (see end for details)

You have to put it in your campaign folder in you Age Of Empires Expansion Trial directory.

Age Of Empires copyrighted Microsoft. TIC Age Of Empires: Game Page copyrighted Wang Xi.