Age of Wonders II: The Wizard’s Throne

 

V1.00 – README

May 21, 2002

 

Thank you for purchasing Age of Wonders II! This document will assist you in getting the best experience from the game. It also contains last-minute information that was not able to make it into the manual.

 

 

Contents

                       

1.      Minimum Requirements

2.      Trouble Shooting

3.      Contacting Technical Support

4.      Play by E-mail

5.      Resuming a LAN or Internet Game

6.      Manual addendum

7.      Web Links

8.      Legal

 

 

1        Minimum Requirements

 

OS: Windows(R) 98/ME/2000/XP

CPU: 300MHz

RAM: 64 MB (128 Recommended)

Free Hard Disk Space: 250 MB

Video: DirectX8 Compatible 4MB 3D Video Card

Sound: DirectX8 Compatible Sound Card

 

2        Trouble Shooting

 

Age of Wonders 2 starts in Hardware Rendering Mode. On machines that do not have DirectX 8 or higher, or the latest video drivers installed, the  program may have trouble running. Either download the latest drivers, or set AoW2 to start in Software Rendering with AoW2Setup.

 

Problem: The Game does not Start Properly.

 

The game starts with a black screen, has redraw problems, instantly crashes or crashes after scenario setup.

 

A)  Make sure DirectX 8.0 or higher is installed.

B)            Download the latest Drivers for your video card from the manufacturer’s site. Here are some popular video card manufactures:

 

·      http://www.nvidia.com

·      http://www.ati.com

·      http://www.matrox.com

·      http://www.3dfx.com

·      http://www.viaarena.com

 

C)  Close all background Applications before running the game. Some programs can interfere with Age of Wonders 2.

D)  Disable the option “Allow Resolution Changes”.

E)   Make sure your monitor can display the required resolution.

 

 

Problem: Slow Performance.

 

When the game runs slowly on your computer, you can try the following options to make the game run faster:

 

A)  Close all background Applications before running the game. Programs like Virus Scanners, Security Programs and Internet Applications can be memory and performance hogs.

B)  Run the game at a low resolution, using the AoW2Setup program

C)  Set the Game to ‘Medium’ or ‘Low’ detail, using AoW2Setup. This will reduce some of the more demanding graphical effects.

 

Problem: Crash when using <alt-tab> for task-switching or when resolution-switching.

 

Game can crash or displays a black screen. This usually happens in hardware-accelerated mode on some graphics cards.

 

A)    Download the latest Drivers for your video card from the manufacturer’s site.

B)     Disable the option “Allow Resolution Changes” for in-game crashes.

C)    Run the game in “Software rendering mode”, using the AoW2Setup program.

D)    Change desktop to 16 bit color depth.

 

Problem: No sound

 

A)    Try toggling "DirectSound" off/on in the game or with the AoW2Setup program.

B)     Make sure you have the latest version of DirectX installed.

 

Problem: Editor instability, or game instability when running in Windowed mode.

 

Some video cards  conflict with AoW2 when the desktop is set to 24 or 32 bit color mode.

 

A)    Change desktop to 16 bit color depth.

B)     Run the game in “Software rendering mode”, using the AoW2Setup program.

 

 

3        Contacting Technical Support

 

Take Two Interactive Technical support can be reached by phone at 410-933-9191 and via email at support@take2baltimore.com The tech support hours of operation are Monday through Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm EST.

 

Technical Support Supervisor

Sydney F. Saunders IV

 

Technical Support Representatives

Dave Thomas

Katie Young

Matthew Baros

Mykl Ranere

Patty Saneman

Stacey Sharpe

Andre Liggins

 

 

4        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 using the Email Settings Option.

 

Local E-mail Address

 

Specify the E-mail address you use on your Age of Wonders 2 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.

 

            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

                       

            Netscape Communicator:

                        Go to the Edit/Preferences Menu

                        Under Mail & Newsgroups see Mail Servers

 

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 2 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) Save the PBEM game to a directory manually using your email            program, and then loading it in Age of Wonders 2 using the "Load Game" button.

 

2) Have Age of Wonders 2 check your email for PBEM games, using the "Check Email" button in the "Email Game" menu. Age of Wonders 2 will check the attachment directory for PBEM games. This option only works for E-mail programs that automatically save attachments.

 

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 a LAN or Internet Game

 

When an LAN or Internet game is interrupted for any reason, the following process allows you to continue your game where you left off:

 

Enter the Age of Wonders 2 LAN or Internet Scenario Setup Screen as you would if you were starting a new multi-player game. When prompted to choose a Scenario to play, find the save game you wish to continue playing multi-player, and select it, and reassign the players to their wizards.

 

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.

 

6        Manual Addendum

 

Lists last minute manual changes and corrections.

 

Spells

 

Blazing Comet            Attack 18, instead of 10

Death   Ray                  Damage 6, instead of 8

Stoning             Attack 10, instead of 8

Suffocate                     Damage 6, instead of 4

Deep Fissure                2-8x damage vs structures

Tremors                       2-8x damage vs structures

Fire Storm                   Attack 12, instead of 7

 

Abilities

Entangle                       Attack 12

 

Units   

Titan                            Willpower added

7        Web Links

 

·        http://www.ageofwonders.com/ - the official Age of Wonders II site, for news and updates on the game.

·        http://aow2.heavengames.com/ - the central AoW community site, includes forum frequented by the developers

·        http://www.triumphstudios.com/ - official site of the developers

·        http://www.poptop.com/ - provided development assistance on AoW2

·        http://www.godgames.com/  - site of the publisher

·        http://www.stratosgroup.com - site of manual writers

·        http://www.gamespyarcade.com/ - meet AoW2 players for internet games

 

8        Legal

 

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Age of Wonders 2, the Age of Wonders 2 logo, Triumph Studios, and the Triumph Studios Logo are trademarks of Triumph Studios. Copyright 2002 Triumph Studios. Gathering of Developers, the Gathering of Developers Logo and godgames are trademarks of Gathering of Developers, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.  Copyright 2002 Gathering of Developers, Inc. All Rights Reserved.