Technical and Game Support

Install/Reinstall Procedures

Metis — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 02:06:46 GMT

You can successfully install the game under Windows Vista through Windows 8 from the CDs by following the steps below (if you are installing via Steam or GFWL then follow their instructions; GameStop users getting an account creation failure see footnote @ at the end of the post):

PREP YOUR SYSTEM

1. Log on to a system administrator account <-- this is important!

If this is a first-time install, go to step 6.

2. If the game (or a demo) has been previously installed, uninstall as far as you can from the Control Panel, then follow the instructions below (necessary as the Microsoft uninstaller does not completely remove all entries, which prevents successful re-installation of the game):

2a. CCleaner <-- download and install this program.

Manually remove the AOE III folders (If you have a 32-bit OS there will be no (x86).

Disk Set/GFWL

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires III

Impulse

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Game Studios\Age of Empires III - Complete Collection\

Steam:

C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Age Of Empires

Manually remove the Documents folder

C:\Users\<your log-in name>\Documents\My Games\Age of Empires

Now, run CCleaner's Registry scan and unmark everything except those listings pertaining to Age of Empires III. Allow the program to delete these entries.

3. Use CCleaner to to remove temporary files.

4. Run Windows Disk Cleanup and defragment your hard disk.

5. Reboot your system (there may be data still in memory that can conflict with the new install).

NOW IT'S TIME TO INSTALL THE GAME!

6. Install/reinstall the game.

Download the latest patches for your language at agecommunity.com

AoE3 patch: http://www.agecommunity.com/gameUpdates.aspx

WarChiefs patch: http://www.agecommunity.com/gameUpdates_xp.aspx

Asian Dynasties patch: http://www.agecommunity.com/gameUpdates_yp.aspx

Now, Disconnect from Internet. <-- this is important!
Shut down your anti-virus software as it can interfere with the game install.
Go to Start and type in "Autoplay" then cancel it temporarily.
Insert the AOE III CD, then browse the CD until you find setup.exe.
Right-click setup.exe and choose "Run as Administrator."

NOTE: If you get a "disk space" error and you know that you have sufficient space (> 3 GB) just click on the error popup's "X" (not "OK") and the install should continue. Note that if you are installing the game on a nearly-full drive you may not have enough space -- you will need to install it on another drive. The game requires considerable temporary disk space to install so you need to make sure that your temp folder is on a drive with sufficient space.

When asked, check "Yes" to "Install for all users?" -- if you forget this step you may have to create a folder in order to install TWC and/or modify user permissions to run the game (see * and ** below).
Patch the game (and the expansions if you install them) by right-clicking on each patch's .exe file and selecting "Run as Administrator."
Browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires III (if you downloaded the game from other than GFWL see the footnote # at the end of this post).

Right-click on Age3.exe and check the box labeled "Run as Administrator." then select the compatibility menu option "Windows XP, Service Pack 3." (see *** below for specific instructions if you are unclear as how to do this).

Do the same for Age3x.exe (TWC) if you have installed this expansion.
Do the same for Age3y.exe (TAD) if you have installed this expansion.

Create shortcuts for each .exe file, again selecting "Run as administrator" and "Windows XP, Service Pack 3" compatibility -- you will launch the game by double-clicking on the appropriate shortcut.

Make sure the game is listed in the exceptions list of the firewall you use (Note: if you are using ZoneAlarm you may have to manually change the exception settings to give the game both access and server rights).

APPENDIX

* If TWC will not install (depending on your Windows version):

First, make sure that the basic game (AOE 3) is installed on your computer; TWC and TAD are expansions of the basic game, not standalone games.

For XP (from ES_Paragon):

Right-Click the start button and select "Explore"

Navigate to the "All Users" directory, then "Start Menu", then "Programs"

Create a directory called "Microsoft Games"

In that directory, create another directory called "Age of Empires III"

For Vista (from ES_Paragon):

Right-Click the Vista button and select "Open All Users"

Navigate and open the "Programs" folder

Look for a folder named "Microsoft Games", if it does not exist create it

In that directory, create another directory called "Age of Empires III"

For Win 7 (from Dragonshooter):

Start > Right Click on All Programs

Open All Users > Programs make a folder called (Microsoft Games)

Open that folder then make another folder called (Age of Empires III).

Once you have created the above folders, install TWC as noted in the install section.

** How to take ownership of a file and/or assign user permissions.

*** Running AOE 3 under Windows 7/Vista in compatibility mode.

Right-click the game's .exe file
1. 64-bit location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires III
2. 32-bit location: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires III
3. Read this if you don't know which Vista\Win 7 OS you have.
Select Properties.
Select the Compatibility tab.
Check the box next to Run this Program in compatibility mode for.
Scroll the menu below this until you find Windows XP (Service Pack 3).
Click Apply and then OK.

Here and here are pictures to go with the explanation above.

# File locations (from Musketeer):

Retail or GFWL:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires III\

Impulse:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Game Studios\Age of Empires III - Complete Collection\

Steam:
C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Age Of Empires 3

And if your operating system is 64-bit, change "Program Files" to "Program Files (x86)".

@ GameStop users and account creation failure (from RyZ0n)

The gamestop build works fine, but there are a few catches that could be tripping you up.

After installing via GameStop, make sure to run the core Age of Empires 3 game first (not the expansions). It will require you to input the CD key provided to you in your impulse client.

At this point you should not get a "failed to create account" error message.

Is ESO down or?

Neverseperat — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:09:14 GMT

I mean srsly people I can go to the logon portal, but then it just says "Loading HCs" for a while before I give up and close out.

tl;dr is eso down?

Ryz0n please help account problems

jamieEbona — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:41:45 GMT

Good afternoon Ryz0n,

I bought my game about 3 or 4 years ago played it for a while and than stopped playing for about a year. Than I wanted to start playing again and I guess I forgot my password or something because it wasnt working. Now I'm trying to log in and it says my account was disabled. I'm just wondering why this is happening and if it would be possible to fix my account.

Manav a member on this forum informed me that my account has been banned and I don't see how that's possible. If you can shine some light on what's going on it would be greatly appreciated

Account name : jamiebona

I have already sent a support ticket 1 month ago and I just sent two more today

Thank you for your time

Cheers

Changing your CD key

Heinrikr — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:37:24 GMT

I bought age of empires 3 (complete addition) through steam. When I installed it I wasn't sure how to find my CD key, so instead of using my own, I used my friends (he left the game at my house after a LAN party.) After playing single player for a while I got bored and wanted to play multiplayer. However you can only make one multiplayer account per CD key, so now I want to put in my CD key so I can play online. I already tried uninstalling the game, but when I uninstall it, apparently it saves the CD key. I looked online and most of the answers looked like go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SOFTWARE>Microsoft>Microsoft Games>Age of Empires 3>1.0 and erase DigitalProductID. However not only can I not find Digital Product ID my line to tthe game looks like Local disk>Program files>Steam>steamapps>common>Age Of Empires 3>bin>?

Can anyone help me figure out how to put in my CD key?

Account failed to log in: 200

flick123 — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:34:34 GMT

what does that mean? i tried logging in on aoe 3 TAD and got that message. . .

Banned Account

Androlo — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:23:47 GMT

How can i get back a banned account?

Play with a Macintosh against Windows players and backwards

chanceless — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:06:33 GMT

Age of Empires III: Play with a Macintosh against Windows players and backwards

Method I

	Macintosh Version	Windows Version
Age of Empires III (Needed Version)	1.0.4	1.12
Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs (Needed Version)	1.0.2	1.04
Age of Empires III (Newest Version - impossible to play with each other)	1.0.6	1.14
Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs (Newest Version - impossible to play with each other)	1.0.3	1.06

GameRanger

Method II

vmware Fusion

Voobly

Account problems

jamieEbona — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 03:05:45 GMT

Ryz0n,

Account name : jamiebona

I have already sent a support ticket 1 month ago and there was no response

Thank you for your time

jamiebona

Someone used my CD Key?

Aknivah — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:55:54 GMT

I bought AoE3 Gold edition some weeks ago to play it with a friend, but when i tryed to create an account a error message appeared, now i used this link with my CD Key and Prodect ID and it says ''Your username is ZoZo1983" Please help.

Banned from ESO and AoE3 Simple ELO Ladder

john91 — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 06:54:27 GMT

So today I decide to play some AOE 3 online after quitting for 8 months. I try to go online but it wont let me. Then I decide to check my ELO ladder but it says I'm banned from it. I got no idea why I'm banned from AOE ELO Ladders and ESO. I want this to be fixed so I can continue to play online.

Tuesday Maintenance

TychoPsycho — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 18:21:48 GMT

I'm making this thread so people don't make other threads because they were kicked off of ESO.

There is server maintenance every Tuesday and it just started today so it will be a few hours before the servers are back up.

So get up and stop being so lazy.

ESO Error 101

RainbowZ — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 11:11:19 GMT

Hi Guys,

I wanted to create a new eso account, but when i tried to create it, it had error 101.

I think i know why this is happening, becoz i already used my current key. BUT i have another key, i just dont know where to insert it to create another account.

Do i need to re-install just to create another account, or is there a way to insert my cd key, allowing me to create my new eso account?

Cheers

Game Towncenter Glitch

skhsri — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 23:18:05 GMT

I was playing a 3vs3 Treaty game, and then suddenly one of my town centers disappeared from view, but it showed up on the mini-map.Also, it relieves shipments and i cant build over the supposedly empty spot, please help this is the 5th time this has happened to me.

email.

unr113 — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 10:42:58 GMT

im currently waiting for support to help me out with my original aofe account. as i said before, i forgot my email so i couldnt find out my passwrd. is it possible to change the email without logging in? like moderator power? if i give my product key, ID and user?

it says itll take 24 hours to reply back. i juust hope i sent the support email right..

Aoe III NAPOLEONIC ERA problem!

Eudamonia1991 — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:07:21 GMT

(Sorry for the english, i'm italian, but i'll try to be understandable) I have just installed the mod, but i have a problem. When i launched the game it was all ok, but when i tried to create a new home city, i found out that there aren't new civilizations. i have installed the mod, but no changes have happened..why?

Thank you

war cheif and original AofE 3

unr113 — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 02:40:34 GMT

can you have a EOS account on both war cheif CD and regular CD? i have forgot my account on my original AofE3 CD so im wondering if i can make a account. i tried and it was saying error 101

Help, My beach looks weird!

patowazhir — Tue, 28 May 2013 13:23:59 GMT

Hi guys! While playing on a Caribbean map (I was playing as British vs Spanish), I noticed that my whole beach (surprisingly, only on my island) had turned into a green/blackish color. I'm a little confused because it happens sometimes, and most recently, has happened a lot. I don't know what happened. Please help!

Pic: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151652845089743&set=o.261765930596239&type=1&relevant_count=1

Thank you!

PD: I have the original game, if you think you can help me further, here is my mail: patowazhir@live.com

PC specs: AMD A4-3305M APU with Radeon HD 6480G (2036 Mb), RAM: 4.00 Gb (3.48 Gb real), Windows 7 Home Basic 64 bits.

Someone else using my game!!

QuestionZ2 — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 09:57:49 GMT

Hello all. I just bought a copy of Age of Empires III Complete Collection and when I tried registering I was shown with the "error 101" and the game told me to go to eso.com/101.aspx up on reaching where I saw this account recovering tool, on following instructions I found that a guy named "Zozo1983" have already been using my game ID. I tried registering on the AOE III game and not on Warchiefs or Asian Dynasties.

Now I can verify it to anyone and anytime that I am original owner of the game and have bought it myself.

Can you guys help me with this, please?

Only first battle in game browser

The_Big_Warrior — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 06:59:24 GMT

My friend can only see the first game in the game browser.

Someone knows how to solve this problem?

When I invite him to my battle, it fails.

Greetings,

'Updating log stats'

Hestrichop — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 16:19:22 GMT

I keep getting this message since a couple of hours ago.

Now I can't play a online game anymore ...

Someone encountered this before and has got a solution?

Game browser

Hestrichop — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 13:01:14 GMT

Anyone else got a problem with the game browser?

I can get on ESO Online, but when I try search for a game it says 'loading' and the game gets stuck ..

"IP Address the game is trying to use is invalid"

The_Big_Warrior — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 07:10:21 GMT

"IP Address the game is trying to use is invalid"

I got this message when my friend invited me to a game. Before it worked properly.

He can also only see the first game in the game browser.

Can someone help us and solve this problem(s)?

Update: I get this message for all battles, so has nothing to do with problem of my friend.

2nd Update: Problem of me is solved. Problem of my friend remains: He only sees the first game in the game browser

Thx

1628 error box

mryosi — Tue, 28 May 2013 16:16:41 GMT

Hello,

I got a new computer and one of the first things I've done is to install AoE III the complete collection. I installed all 5 CDs and then when I opened AoE I got a in-game message that there some map file was modify and I need to re-install AoE and I did but I couldn't install warchief disk, I got the error 1268 I searched on the web but I couldn't find the answer.

Note that the normal AoE works fine so as the Asian, the only problem is warchief. Also I have Windows 8

Account login failed: 200

nybegynderen123 — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 12:56:27 GMT

When im logging in on ESO it says "Account login failed: 200" My friend got the same problem, what can it be? :-)

Account login Failed: error 200

Jackacake — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 13:03:30 GMT

Um; I'm not sure if the servers are down or what but I cannot login to my account on multiplayer I have waited about 3 hours and still nothing I'd just thought I would let you know. Also I any else experiencing this?

Technical and Game Support

Install/Reinstall Procedures

Is ESO down or?

Ryz0n please help account problems

Changing your CD key

Account failed to log in: 200

Banned Account

Play with a Macintosh against Windows players and backwards

Age of Empires III: Play with a Macintosh against Windows players and backwards

Method I

Macintosh Version

Windows Version

Method II

Account problems

Someone used my CD Key?

Banned from ESO and AoE3 Simple ELO Ladder

Tuesday Maintenance

ESO Error 101

Game Towncenter Glitch

email.

Aoe III NAPOLEONIC ERA problem!

war cheif and original AofE 3

Help, My beach looks weird!

Someone else using my game!!

Only first battle in game browser

'Updating log stats'

Game browser

"IP Address the game is trying to use is invalid"

1628 error box

Account login failed: 200

Account login Failed: error 200