Talk:Age of Empires III

Fansites

To stop the constant add and revert process from fansite owners, I suggest others should request that their fansite be included from here first. If it is robust enough and there are no objections, we can put it on the main page. We don't want to let these users be a google whore. I included the heavengames fansite since heavengames has been the definitive "age of..." fansite since the original.--Will2k 16:47, May 26, 2005 (UTC)

Honestly, I don't any use to fansites until the game is released. Considering we're threading on sites with potentially duplicate content (as most news are done with press releases, magazine exclusives and speculation), until sites carry unique features such as maps, mods, strat guides and demos they have no place in the article. However, exceptions can, and even should be made with sites large and notable enough, and heavengames is one of them. My suggestion is keeping a collection of links in here, and include in the article as soon as they become more than a collection of gossip/PR or have unique content. ^wS 16:58, 26 May 2005 (UTC)

HeavenGames, while being a long-standing AoE fansite, is actually limited in its content. If a fan were looking for information on Age of Empires III, there are other sites that do a better job providing content, providing summaries, and providing other sources of information. Yes, there is little room for variation between AoE3 sites at this moment, but the difference between HG and those other sites is that those sites have the necessary information and HG does not. (SoggyFrog 22:32, 26 May 2005 (UTC))

I beg to differ. HeavenGames' AoE3 counterpart has the latest content available on its website. If a fan was looking for information on AoE3, he would be able to find the same general content available at HeavenGames, as well as other fansites (including your own). It's community, while larger, is equally just as important as other fansite communities. I do believe that until the game is released, the Age of Empires III page at Wikipedia should only allow the official links. This way, there would be no partisan, nor repetitive links. No fansite, whether small or large, would gain any larger attention by Wikipedia than any other. Afterall, hasn't the same general information been summed up in AoE3's Wikipedia page? I do believe Wikipedia's policy on external links, particularly fansites, does agree with this stance. Xunny

AgeSanctuary- new "expert" competetive recorded games added daily, from the people at the top of the online ranking system. although lacking in hard statistical content, the quantity and quality of the recorded games will teach you more about the game than any amount of number crunching/stats analysing will. users range from 30 to 100+ on at any one time, with several discussions on the game active at any one point(although usually about game balance and specific players/popular strats and less about game content and comparison).

http://agesanctuary.com/index.php?portal=AOE3&fview=1&act=news

For Windows 2000

Even though Age of Empires III works perfectly on 2000, Microsoft has made it impossible to install. (Some say this has been done on purpose, to force everyone to upgrade to Win XP) But some people have found a way to go around this.

Credit: Following instructions were put together by Timooo

To install the full retail version of AOE3 on a win2k system, you must use the command prompt:

• Start > Run...
• Type in cmd and press OK
• When the Dos window appears type in D: or which ever letter your cd/dvd rom drive is; then press Enter.
• Type in setup /a and press Enter.
• Wait for the installation wizard to appear, and press Next.
• Then type in the destination as to where you want it to be installed. I recommend using the default path, which is C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age Of Empires 3
• Press Install.

(During installation, you might NOT see the install progress bar. Or get an impression of "freezing," but DON'T worry just wait it through!)

Note: Once you have the game installed and try to run it, you may get an error about a d3dx9_25.dll if this is the case, then you can either download the D3DX April Update from http://www.toymaker.info/Games/html/d3dx_dlls.html or reinstall DirectX9 completely.

(There is also a folder on cd 1 called DirectX9, you may use that to reinstall.)

Note: Once you have that done, you may also get another error about MSXML 4; if this is the case then you should install msxml.msi from MSXML 4.0

How to install The Age of Empires 3 1.01 Update

Open up your registry (type "regedit" in the command prompt), navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Microsoft Games/Age of Empires 3/1.0, right click on the right portion of the window and select Add String Value. Name it "SetupPath", then right-click it and Modify it, typing in the full path of your Age of Empires III folder. (The default path is "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires 3\Age of Empires III").

Link to Patch: http://www.agecommunity.com/patch1_01.aspx

Please sign your posts. Who is Timooo? Brian Jason Drake 07:43, 17 November 2005 (UTC)

Windows XP Problem: Fixing D3dx9_95.dll not Found Error

Due to some issues with latest versions of Windows XP, when you launch AOE3 game, some people often get "The application has failed to start because d3dx9_25.dll was not found. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.". If you have Direct X 9.0b preinstalled, no matter how many times you update to Direct X 9.0c, it wont update at all. This is the most notorious problem often pop up with many people. I found a very useful site, where you can fix this problem here: GameCrashes.com - Age of Empires 3 D3dx9_95.dll Fix

More Controversy

Has anyone mentioned the outrage over Ensemble hocking video cards from NVIDIA and how superior cards don't work as well because they made some sort of deal with NVIDIA?

Seems to me like a supporter for another video card company wants to put down the video card he doesn't like. I mean, I have a Radeon 9200, and I'd suggest it to other people... even though I've never tried an nVidia card, it's the same thing with this dude, except he's taking it a step further. Sad people should be shot, really :P

As for the controversy, it's just rumour, so far, and so I doubt it should be in wikipedia. Kareeser 05:23, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

That's, of course, my own opinion. Kareeser 05:24, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

No, I'm not supporting another card, just pointing out that it only seems to work with NVIDIA. It says right in the back of the guide that only certain features work with NVIDIA. Also, check out the online forums and you'll hear from plenty of people with their own experience.

Oh, no, no, I wasn't blaming you or anything, I was just trying to explain it as best as I could understand it. I did a brief look-through of the user's manual, with no results.

Also, it is very likely that Ensemble decided to build upon technologies that were not invented yet. In fact, I think that's what Bruce Shelley said in his interview (don't quote me on that). In that case, perhaps nVidia let Ensemble know what they had planned, while ATI or others didn't think that sharing their up and coming technology was the right idea... would you give away an abstract of your secret invention if somebody asked for it? ;) Kareeser 02:50, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

In any case, i think it's unfortunate that the game was designed primarily for the computers of tomorrow. The game will be great in 2 years when all our systems can handle it.

Interesting thought... but I suppose that ESO is taking a risk in investing in the technology of tomorrow.

If they can get past the rocky ground (now) where most computers can't handle the game, then the game will still be a hit in the future. A lot of games have high hopes, but they just don't quite get there because they become outdated way too quickly... Kareeser 08:06, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

I guess you're right about that. I still think they've lost touch with what made AOE I&II so great.

Game Cards examples

I have written the entire Home City and Game Cards section (sections 7 and 7.1 respectively).

If you see any errors or clarifications, feel free to update them as needed.

Some points of interest:

1) I have no idea how many experience points it takes for the spanish to earn a shipment. If you play spanish, can you take a look at the "mercantilism" upgrade and update the page for us? =)

2) The examples for the game cards are very stilted towards the British, mainly because I play the Brits. Musketeers, Longbowmen, musketeer upgrades, etc... If you want to add some variety (Rodeleros, doppelsoldners, whatever), feel free, but in the interest of conciseness, please keep it to two examples per category (technology, resource, etc).

Enjoy the section! Kareeser 07:16, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Navy Section

Thought there should be a navy section... despite the fact that naval warfare lags up so much it's impossible to play... anyhow, anybody up to the task of cataloging naval units?

I'm also sure there's a better name for the class than "Navy"... anybody? Kareeser 07:29, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Thanks Superchad for updating the Navy section =)

I reworded it a little bit, but there's one part I'm still unclear of. I'm not sure whether the Monitor can only fire once every minute, or once every two minutes... maybe you (or somehody else) could clear that up. Kareeser 22:41, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

How could there be a better name for it than Navy? That's what it's called. It's called a navy. bob rulz 06:13, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, but I was thinking.. Naval Units.. or something... Navy sounds a little short. Kareeser 08:04, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

Formations?

The article writes about putting an emphasis on formations. However, it seems that its implementation was remove from the actual game. Could somebody clarify and make necessary amendments?HistoryManiac 15:04, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

As far as I know, the formations exist under "advanced formations" in the options menu. The formations are practically useless, but there's one that helps avoid cannon fire (I guess splash damage doesn't apply?), and one that helps against ranged units...

I can't say whether they work or not... Kareeser 19:41, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

HMS Endeavor vs. HMAS Endeavor

I wasn't sure which was the correct one, and haven't the time to look it up on Wikipedia now, but as far as I know:

Canada - HMCS - Her Majesty's Canadian Ship

Britain - HMS - Her Majesty's Ship

HMAS = Her Majesty's Armoured Ship? I'm not sure.

I changed it to HMS for now, but if you're right, then you can change it back, and accept my apologies... =P

P.S. Great work on the Navy Section!! Kareeser 20:05, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

The "Controversy" section

I believe it constitutes an NPOV violation due to its biased nature. It was implied that Ensemble Studios purposefully made the game that way, and that simply isn't a proven statement.

I've reworded it and given it a new title. Kareeser 17:04, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

Secondly, the facts were wrong. Once players in a game room in ESO begin their game, all players disconnect from ESO immediately and connect directly to the host server. It is the host server's responsibility to keep information fed to the slave computers. In many cases, because of slow processor speed or slow internet speed, this cannot be done (perhaps a 1.4 GHz in an 8 player game!), and an out-of-sync error occurs, which is what your "intermittent disconnections" are. I've corrected this in the article. Kareeser 17:13, 8 December 2005 (UTC)