Age of Wonders (TM) V1.36 8 March 2000 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) Features not documented in manual 7) Game Updates and News 8) What's New in Version 1.36 9) What's New in Version 1.35 10) What's New in Version 1.31 11) What's New in Version 1.3 12) What's New in Version 1.2 13) What's New in Version 1.1 14) Contacting Technical Support 15) Strategy Guide 16) 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 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) **DirectX 6.1a or greater (for internet/network/HEAT play) * = To run AoW on NT4.0 machines, NT4.0 requires Service Pack 5. ** = To play TCP/IP or Heat games under Windows95, Windows Sockets v2 is -required- Windows Sockets v2 for Win95 can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/wuadmintools/s_wunetworkingtools/w95sockets2/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 won't play a TCP / Heat game To play TCP/IP or Heat games under Windows95, Windows Sockets v2 is -required- Windows Sockets v2 for Win95 can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/wuadmintools/s_wunetworkingtools/w95sockets2/ Problem: Game sometimes locks up for a minute when a player is disconnected from a IPX / TCP / Heat game This is a known issue in Microsoft's DirectPlay code. DirectPlay will cause AoW to appear to lock-up for about a minute, then AoW will continue as normal. Until Microsoft fixes this issue within DirectPlay, there is no work-around or fix. 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: 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 HEAT or TCP/IP Internet Game ----------------------------------------------------------------------- When an IPX/LAN or HEAT 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) Features not documented in the Manual ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The follow features were added to Age of Wonders after the manual went to print. Extra AI Levels Next to the 'Squire', 'Knight' and 'Lord' AI Levels, 'King' and 'Emperor' have been added for greater challenge for experienced players. Box Select Hold the mouse to draw a box around a group of units so they can be moved simultaneously. Hexagon Grid Press F5 to toggle the visibly of a hexagon grid on the map. Tactical Combat Visibly Toggle 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 Next / Previous City Next / Previous City buttons added to the City Screen ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) What's New in Version 1.36 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- BUG FIXES: General: - Some races' Hero faces were missing Global: - Casting Anarchy or Fire Mastery while in Low Detail mode crashed - Spanish version had an error when rescuing units Tactical Combat: - AI units sometimes moved incorrectly ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 9) What's New in Version 1.35 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- BUG FIXES: AI: - Global AI sometimes refused to end its' turn - AI could sometimes cast spells when Spell Ward was active General: - Italian version sometimes crashed when a player was defeated - Mastery Spells didn't make Unit-spells cost double Global: - Casting Holy Woods while in Low Detail mode crashed Fast Combat: - In rare situations, Fast Combat could crash Tactical Combat: - AI units could sometimes move 1 hex further than their limit - Units could sometimes move while Frozen / Entangled / etc - Defenders couldn't cancel global spells - When a Hero died, their items disappeared Multi-Player: - In TCP/IPX/HEAT, the game would sometimes go Out of Sync when entering Tactical Combat - Sending multiple email games, then pressing Cancel, crashed GAMEPLAY CHANGES: - In Fast Combat, ranged defenders get one less round to start combat - Swarm now has 2 DAM instead of the previous 1 DAM - Ice Shards now has 4 DAM instead of the previous 5 DAM - Chain Lightning now has 4 DAM instead of the previous 5 DAM - Water Elemental now has 30 MovePoints instead of the previous 24 MovePoints and has 3 DEF instead of the previous 2 DEF - Leprechaun now has 8 HitPoints instead of the previous 7 HitPoints - Charlatan now costs 64 gold instead of the previous 75 gold - Turtle Ballista now costs 68 gold instead of the previous 45 gold ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) What's New in Version 1.31 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- BUG FIXES: AI: - Parties sometimes attacked cities they could not hope to defeat - When an ally attacked a location an instant before the AI tried to attack the same location, sometimes the AI would attack his ally Fast Combat: - Heroes sometimes had negative Channeling Points after casting spells ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 11) What's New in Version 1.3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- BUG FIXES: AI: - AI in both World and Tactical modes has been enhanced General: - Units could gain sometimes gain extra movepoints - Life Mastery / Death Mastery didn't make opposition spells cost double - The rarer and more powerful items didn't appear in randomly filled exploration sites Global: - AI parties could sometimes move over cities belonging to allies, producing strange results Tactical Combat: - AI units could sometimes move while Frozen / Entangled / etc Multi-Player: - AI sometimes caused IPX, TCP, and Heat games to go out-of-sync - IPX, TCP, and Heat games sometimes went out-of-sync when a player was defeated - Hotseat and Email games sometimes crashed when a player was defeated - When in Tactical Combat, selecting units during another player's turn didn't work properly GAMEPLAY CHANGES: - Haste now reduces the cost of moving on a hex by 1, instead of the previous 50% - Ballista now costs 72 gold instead of the previous 56 gold - Elephants now have 9 HitPoints instead of the previous 12 HitPoints - Town Gate now costs 50 mana instead of the previous 52 mana (Note: a manual addendum is available at: http://www.stratosgroup.com/ which updates the manual to match this version of the game and provides additional information.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 12) What's New in Version 1.2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- BUG FIXES: AI: - AI in both World and Tactical modes has been enhanced - World and Tactical Combat AIs sometimes produced AI errors - Fast Combat and Tactical Combat AIs now protect Heroes and Leaders better - Tactical Combat AI sometimes mis-targetted spells - World AI sometimes took structures that were being rebuilt from players the AI was at peace with - World AI is more likely to make alliances with players it is at Peace with - Lord AI Heroes now get +3 EXP/day, instead of the previous +5 EXP/day General: - On some machines, the game produced desktop redraw problems on exiting - Having Detail Level set to LOW, with sound/music ON, caused the Fast Combat and Unit Windows to lock up - Fire attacks did not set units on fire - Pressing F11 or F12 caused error messages - Various text errors have been corrected Campaign: - Heroes' skill points were not transferred between scenarios - Spells being cast were not cancelled when a scenario ended - Temporary abilities were not cancelled when a scenario ended - When a Hero gained a Level in the last fight of a scenario, they never got an Upgrade Dialog Global: - Builders could not build roads - Leaders that began scenarios with items sometimes had problems with those items - Underground, Holy Woods / Unholy Woods / Poison Plants were impassible - Summoned creatures sometimes deserted if the player ran out of gold - Warmonger didn't give new units their rank-abilities - Animated Heroes could be Animated again - Items that gave Protection and/or Immunity abilities didn't work properly - Water Nodes could not be entered when Freeze Water was cast on them - Allies could sometimes attack each other if they collided while moving to a different target - Units on razed towns that had walls could not be attacked without wallcrushing or wall-passing units - Buying and researching the same spell resulted in multiple copies in the spellbook - Having multiple Heroes in the same party could cause numerous glitches - Reloading the current game displayed the Save Game requester - When playing without Leaders on the Map, players still received Mana from their Leaders - Research book popped up even when there were no spells to research - Keyboard shortcuts for Load / Save didn't work - In the Realm Window, on the Hero page, the scrollbar didn't scroll all columns Tactical Combat: - Entering an Exploration Site when the party could not harm the defenders caused the party to disappear from the map - Breath sometimes missed a hex in it's area of effect - Player's spell ranges were all 1 hex too short - Multiple-unit movement (rectangle select) sometimes produced odd results - Sometimes Bridge combats had no Flee hexes - Having a ranged-path active when surrendering crashed - Dispel Magic could not destroy summoned creatures Multi-Player: - Having Settings->Gameplay->Combat set differently on different systems caused multi-player games to crash - IPX, TCP, and Heat multiplayer games are now more stable - Playing 2 PBEM games in one session crashed - in PBEM, losing during the Independents movement caused the game to not send to the next player Editor: - Placing an item bag sometimes crashed - Teleporters could not be set to Razed - In lower resolutions, the Unit Window wasn't always visible - Not all Heroes were shown in the Unit Window - Some tooltips were missing GAMEPLAY CHANGES: - Cursed now inflicts -2 DEF and -2 RES - Spellcasters can now initiate combat with flying units - Extra Strike now only works when attacking - Gold medal rank now gives units +1 RES - In Tactical Combat, Flying units no longer get free strikes on ground-based units that move away from them - Nature Elemental now has Entangle Strike and Healing, and loses Entangle - Highman Heroes/Leaders now have have True Vision - Reaper now has 5 DEF and 6 DAM instead of the previous 4 DEF and 5 DAM - Executioner now has 4 DAM instead of the previous 3 DAM - Elephant now has 3 DAM instead of the previous 4 DAM - Big Beetle now has Nightvision - Basilisk now costs 202 gold instead of the previous 243 gold - Green Wyvern now costs 98 gold instead of the previous 130 gold - In Global Mode, machines can no longer be healed - In Tactical Combat, walls are now slightly stronger - In Tactical Combat, Wallcrushing ability is now stronger - In Tactical Combat, when the attacked hex of a city is empty and the city has defenders in another hex, the defenders are moved into the attacked hex - Incarnate now gains EXP - Various maps tweaked for better gameplay ENHANCEMENTS AND ADDITIONS: - 2 additional AI levels have been added, King and Emperor - In multiplayer games, when player(s) are missing the chosen scenario, the game will automatically transfer the scenario to them - IPX, TCP, and Heat multiplayer games are now much faster - Message Events added to the Editor - Entangle Strike ability added - Hex Grid Display added (F5 toggles it On/Off) - Next / Previous City buttons added to the City Screen - Popup Menu of Ability descriptions available in the City Screen - Tooltips for Relation-status added to faces in the Relations Screen ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 13) 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 - 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 Campaign: - Losing a scenario and replaying it could give the player extra Magic Spheres - In the Leader-Selection Dialog, the buttons sometimes redrew incorrectly - In the 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 14) 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 15) 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 16) Copyright information ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Age of Wonders is a trademark of Triumph Studios, v.o.f. Copyright (c) 1999,2000 Triumph Studios, v.o.f. All Rights Reserved. Gathering of Developers and godgames are trademarks of Gathering of Developers, Inc. Copyright 2000 Gathering 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.