Age3 Announcements

General Question FAQ & Game Installation

Ryz0n — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:28:12 GMT

· I have Windows 7; can I play Age of Empires III on Impulse or Steam?

Age of Empires III does not officially support windows 7, however most users able to successfully play on the operating system after installing right through Impulse or Steam. Unfortunately we cannot provide official support for Age of Empire III on Windows 7

· What are the system Requirements for Age of Empires III on Impulse and Steam?

1. Microsoft® Windows® XP

2. PC with 1.4 Ghz equivalent or higher processor that supports SSE

3. 256 MB of system RAM

4. 2.0 GB available hard disk space

5. 64 MB video card with HT&L

6. DirectX 9.0c or above

· Is Age of Empires III available for the Mac on Impulse or Steam?

Age of Empires III is only available for PC in the English Language on at this time.

· Will I need Games for Windows Live to run Age of Empires III: The Complete Collection? Are there achievement points?

Age of Empires III does not require Games for Windows Live, and there are no achievement points available.

· Do I need 3 CD keys for Age of Empires III: Complete Collection?

Unlike the retail packaging of AOEIII: Complete Collection, you only need to input the CD key when launching the core Age of Empires III game to activate both expansions. Each CD key will allow for one online multiplayer account.

· What language localizations are available for Age of Empires III?

Age of Empires III is now available in multiple languages on Steam:

- English
- French
- German
- Italian
- Spanish

If you purchased a steam code via Impulse, the additional languages are available to you. If you purchased a retail build, they will not be available.

· Where can I find game manuals for Age of Empires III: Complete Collection?

I hope you like reading! Game manuals are available on the AOE3 Downloads section. http://www.agecommunity.com/all_downloads.aspx

· If I have Age of Empires III or the Demo Installed, do I need to reinstall it through Steam or Impulse?

If you are getting a new copy or already have the demo on your computer, it is highly recommended to first uninstall AOEIII from your system to ensure a smooth installation process of the game through Steam or Impulse, and to allow you to create a new ESO account if you wish.

· Do I need to download any patches or update for Age of Empires Online?

Age of Empires III: Complete Collection on Steam and Impulse is fully updated, no additional patches are necessary.

· Where is Age of Empires III: Complete Collection Installed to?

It can be found in your default steam installation directory. Usually it is the following for 32 bit systems: C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Age Of Empires 3

· What are some common troubleshooting tips?

Computer games can function differently on different systems because of different software and hardware configurations. These steps should be taken before playing Age of Empires III to ensure that you are playing on a stable system.

§ Make sure that your video card, sound card, and network card drivers, as well as router firmware are up to date. Visit your manufacturer's website for more information.

§ When you install the game be sure to turn off any anti-virus software, and make sure the game is not blocked by any security software while you are playing online.

§ A clean boot can often resolve problems. (US MS support article)

Check out AoEO PvP!

ES_MrMilo — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:33:49 GMT

Hello!

I’m MrMilo, MS Playbalance Lead for Age of Empires Online. You might remember me from my days as a moderator here on AgeComm. Or perhaps, I played or talked to you on ESO on AoE3 or AoM or their expansions. I love Age games, particularly when it comes to PvP. I’m posting here because I know you guys and gals are dedicated and passionate about the series too.

If you left AoEO, or never picked it up, because there was a barrier to getting into the kind of PvP game you wanted to play, you should come back: the barrier is gone. We’ve just introduced a new way to PvP, Champion Mode, that puts all players on equal footing from the moment you make a civilization. There’s no need to get gear or level up in Champion Mode: all in-game techs in the tech tree are unlocked, and gear still makes your units look cool, but it doesn’t affect unit stats. Just hop on a Premium civilization and play, simple as that. For more details on Champion Mode, see: http://forums.ageofempiresonline.com/forums/thread/140754.aspx.

This game is fun. The pacing is fast—it feels more like AoC than AoM or AoE3—and there is a hard counter system that rewards good micro. Also, because we patch the game most months, we'll continually be updating and fine tuning balance far more frequently than any Age title to date.

If you don’t have the game already, check it out: ageofempiresonline.com. I hope to see you online for some PvP soon!

--MrMilo

Running Age of Empires III & Common Gameplay FAQ

Ryz0n — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:27:31 GMT

Running Age of Empires III & Common Gameplay FAQ

· Steam / Impulse and Age of Empires III are asking for administrator access, is this normal?

Age of Empires III was created prior to UAC and the vista / windows 7 security model. Steam and Impulse will require administrative access to install Age of Empires III, and the game will require administrative access to run properly.

· Why does Age of Empires III changes the Windows Color scheme to Basic when running?

On newer operating systems, Age of Empires III needs to run in Compatibility mode for XP SP3. Because of this, it will disable the Aero visual style while running.

· Where is my CD key for Age of Empires III?

o Steam - Your CD key is visible prior to launching the game on, as well as in a popup-overlay when launching the game. You can manually see it by right clicking on the game in your Steam library and selecting “View Game CD Key”.

o Impulse – Your CD key it is available from the client. Select “Product Code” when AOE3 is highlighted in your game library. (You must be connected and logged into the service)

· Can I activate a retail copy of Age of Empires III on Steam or Impulse?

Unfortunately Retail copies cannot be activated at this time.

· Where are saved games and campaigns stored for Age of Empires III: Complete Collection?

o Saved games are located in your documents or “My Documents” folder, by default (depending on OS) C:\Users\%YOU_USERNAME%\Documents\My Games\Age of Empires 3

o Saved games will not automatically transfer in the cloud between systems.

· I’m running Age of Empires III on a different computer user account than it was installed, but am having issues. Will it work?

To play AOEIII on a user account other than the one it was installed on, you may need to launch directly from the steamapps folder as administrator to get access to all features. Navigate to the install directory, right click “age3.exe”, “age3x.exe”, or “age3y.exe” and select “Run as Administrator”.

· Can I use my retail ESO account to log in to Age of Empires III on Steam or Impulse?

Age of Empires III on steam provides you with a unique key to create a new ESO account, however if you already have an ESO account you'd prefer to use - you may log into ESO with that account.

· How do I chat to all players in a multiplayer game?

Start your chat message with a * and your message will be sent to all players.

· How do I repair my buildings?

Select the building and click on the repair button in the bottom right of the interface. Note this button may not be active if you do not have enough resources to repair, or if the building is under attack.

· How do card bonuses stack?

o We apply all the percentages to the base rate not the modified rate.

o If your gathering rate is 0.5 and you get a 15% bonus, it becomes 0.575. Easy enough.

o However, if you get an additional 15% bonus, it does not affect 0.575, but it is calculated based on 0.5 and then added to the existing bonus. So getting three different 15% bonuses would increase gathering from 0.5 to 0.725 (0.075 added three times) rather than 0.760 (which is what you get if you keep multiplying the product by 15%).

o The reasons we do this are a little arcane, but they allow you to apply both addition and multiplications to rates without worrying about the order of operations.

· Can two teammates send the same Team card?

Two teammates using the same Civ should are not able to send the same team card. But you can send both the team and non-team versions of a card, see above for how they stack.

· Can we play with three teams in a game?

No, at this time you can only play 2 team or Free for all games.

· How did you chose which civs make it into the game?

There is no simple formula to how we choose to include a civ. It's a mixture of:

1. Historical relevance

2. Uniqueness

3. Fan expectations

4. Global prominence

5. Designer bias

6. Art time

We wanted to have the civs players expected, like the Spanish, but also to throw in some curve balls. The Ottomans and Germans were quite powerful during the time period and easily could have come to the New World with different leadership (as could a dozen other nations).

Some additional (legacy) FAQ questions and answers can be found on the Agecommunity FAQ page

Age of Empires III – Multiplayer FAQ & Troubleshooting

Ryz0n — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:27:48 GMT

Age of Empires III – Multiplayer FAQ & Troubleshooting

This article contains ESO Server Status, Connectivity Information, ESO Accounts & Multiplayer FAQ

View the ESO Online Gaming Policy

Ensemble Studios Online (ESO) Service & Connectivity

· Weekly AOEIII ESO server maintenance occurs Tuesday at 10AM – 12PM Pacific

· The current Age of Empires III ESO Server Status can be found online here. I also frequently provide updates during downtime via twitter: @RChaply

· Do I need to allow AOEIII as an exception to my firewall?

Yes, Age of Empires III should be added as an exception in your local firewall for improved connectivity. Forwarding the necessary ports on your router is also highly recommended (see below).

· What ports are required for Age of Empires III?

The following ports are required for Age of Empires III, and manually port forwarding them is recommended for improved internet connectivity. To manually override the ports AOEIII uses to connect, please see this link.

o 2300-2310 TCP

o 2300-2310 UDP

o 80 TCP & UDP

· I get “Invalid IP Address” when attempting to connect to ESO or join games.

Power cycle the PC and router. If that does not resolve the issue, additional troubleshooting steps can be found at this link

· I get “failed to Join” when attempting to connect to a game

This error can occur if any individuals in a group have connectivity issues. Troubleshooting varies depending on software, hardware, and network configurations, however the following are important to check:

o Verify Age of empires III is an exception in local firewalls

o Verify the required ports are forwarded on the router (See Above)

o Restart System & Routing Equipment

o Additional information and troubleshooting tips can be found here and here

· I receive an Out of Sync (OOS) error while playing multiplayer games
This can be caused by several things.

o Make sure you do not have any mods installed, or have not modified any game files.

o If you have a corrupt installation, game mods, etc, remove the mods and re install the game through steam or Impulse.

o If the game is going out of sync late game (generally when you're about to win), and the system incorrectly reports a loss, the opponent may intentionally be 'droptricking'. If this is the case, report the user to age3support@microsoft.com. It is considered a form of cheating.

· ESO Connection Errors: The following are errors and their resolutions

o Error 100 – Bad CD key

§ Somehow you have a key that is not accepted by the online service. This can occur in a few rare occasions. Contact me by email for more information.

o Error 101 – CD key cannot be used to create further accounts

§ The CD key was used to create an account previously. If the game was recently purchased, email me for more information so I can investigate.

o Error 102 – Bad Login Information

§ The username or password was incorrect for the account. Visit the ESO account tools at www.agecommunity.com to reset your password.

o Error 103 – Account Disabled

§ The account is banned, or the CD key you are using is invalid.

§ Pirated CD keys cannot be used to access ESO (even if connecting with a legitimate ESO account)

§ When bans are issued, a notification to ban reason and duration is sent to the user.

§ Accounts do not become disabled due to inactivity.

· I had the game previously installed, and am receiving a 101 error:

If the game did not ask for a CD key upon launch, your old CD key may still be in the system. If you feel comfortable editing your registry, it’s an easy fix, if not please contact me at age3support@microsoft.com.

o Using Regedit navigate to the following locations:

§ 32 bit operating systems:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires 3\1.0

§ 64 bit operating systems:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires 3\1.0

o Remove the key PID and Digital Product ID (select and Delete)

o Restart Age of Empires 3 (without any expansions)

o Enter the provided CD key from Steam or Impulse

Ensemble Studios Online (ESO) Accounts & Multiplayer FAQ

· NEVER give out your ESO account password and do NOT share ESO accounts.

· Some providers have trouble receiving password resets, including @comcast, @sbcglobal, @aol, and @aim email addresses. It is not recommended to use them when creating an ESO account.

· How do I create an online account?

Ensemble Studio Online (ESO) accounts for Age of Empires III can be created from within the game. From the main menu of the game or expansion, select “Multiplayer” followed by “ES Online”. The next screen will have a button that says ‘new account?’. Simply select that and fill in the information to create your account.

If you receive a “failed to create account” make sure you are running the game as administrator.

· How many ESO accounts may I have?

Each copy of Age of Empires III: Complete Collection on Steam may have 1 ESO account. A single account works on the game and both expansions.

· Can I change my name, delete and restart my account, or reset my stats?

ESO account names cannot be changed, deleted, or reset after creation.

· How do I request a password reset, change my ESO account email, or recover a forgotten username?

Visit www.agecommunity.com and use the ESO account tools to make account settings changes. You may need your PID to reset the password. The PID can be found in game. From the main menu select “Help and tools” followed by “About”.

· I forgot my password and have a new email, or I need advanced account verification and recovery.

For advanced ESO account recovery, email age3support@microsoft.com with as much of the following information as possible. While not all is required, the more information you can provide, the quicker the recovery process will be.

§ ESO Name

§ Age3 PID (You can find it in game under “help and tools” => “about”)

§ Hint question/answer

§ Date you created the account

§ Date you last accessed the account

§ The external / public IP address used to create the account. You should be able to use a site likehttp://whatismyipaddress.com/ to find the address we would see.

§ The MAC address of the machine that created the account.

§ Old email address

§ New email address

· Clans, Friends, and Power Rankings – see this article for more information

· Some behavior to avoid (and may result in account bans)

o Offensive, racist, or vulgar account names, clans, game names, chat room names, or chat speech

o Harassing other players or moderators

o Cheating / hacking in games

o Cheating on in-game ladders (point trading)

o Intentionally freely losing games to devalue rank

o Leaving games prior to completion with the intent of avoiding a rating decrease

o Impersonating employees / moderators

Any additional account questions should be directed to age3support@microsoft.com

Age of Empires III - Available on Steam!

Ryz0n — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:54:01 GMT

There has been some speculation about this for a couple of weeks now, and not only can I confirm that it's official, but we're live right now! Yep, as you may have guessed from the rumors:

We are excited to announce that Age of Empires III: The Complete Collection is now available on Steam!

For a limited time the game, get the game for 50% off.

The Complete Collection includes the origional Age of Empires III, as well as the two expansions, The War Chiefs and The Asian Dynasties. Play through all three unique campaigns, or battle it out with friends online or over LAN.

Grab your copy (or an extra) now at the Steam Store http://store.steampowered.com/app/105450

We may see a rise in the in-game server population as well as the forums, so please be kind and help out any new users. Remember, we were all n00bs once! (You can all fix your sigs now too)

-Ryz0n

Age of Empires III – Support Ticketing System:

Ryz0n — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 00:17:28 GMT

Have you had some issue with your game or account you’ve been unable to resolve with the ESO account manager or forums? In order to improve customer support, the Age of Empires franchise is shifting to a new ticketing system! This will allow me to resolve your issues more quickly; and better keep track of ongoing concerns as they arise. Simply click “Support Ticket” on the left navigation bar to get started!

If you’re looking to make changes to your ESO account, please continue utilize the ESO account tool on the right.

Although you may still see references to Age3support@microsoft.com on the game and site, this ticket system will be replacing email support for account assistance, installation help, or abuse reports. Inquiries to that email will receive a redirect to the new ticket system.

If you have any questions, post below – or give me a shout on twitter. (@RChaply)

Happy Gaming

-Ryz0n

Age of Empires 3 - now available on Impulse!

Ryz0n — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:26:47 GMT

We are excited to announce that Age of Empires III: Complete Collection is now available on Impulse!

Again, for a limited time the game, get the game for half off. The Complete Collection includes the original Age of Empires III, as well as the two expansions, The War Chiefs and The Asian Dynasties. Play through all three unique campaigns, or battle it out with friends online or over LAN.

Grab your copy now at the Impulse Store: http://impulsedriven.com/aoe3c

Recently purchased the game via digitial distribution? Got questions? Check the FAQs!

Age of Empires 3 Impulse & Steam FAQs

Ryz0n — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:27:13 GMT

There are 3 main Age of Empires 3 FAQs for Age of Empires 3 on Steam and Impulse:

General Question FAQ & Game Installation

Running Age of Empires III & Common Gameplay FAQ

Age of Empires III – Multiplayer FAQ & Troubleshooting

Age of Empires III: Steam CD key Invalid?

Ryz0n — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 02:57:46 GMT

If you are experiencing an issue with your Steam CD Key, please see this thread for the resolution:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?p=28384528#post28384528

Current Server Status

Ryz0n — Sat, 07 May 2011 21:14:53 GMT

Current ESO Status: Online

All server work will be done on Tuesday between approximately 10AM PST (GMT -8) and 12PM PST.

During the downtime you may see the ESO servers appear online and offline a couple times, this is normal, the server status will be updated here during and after maintenance is complete.

I will be publishing maintenance status at my twitter account: @rchaply

Thanks for your co-operation everyone.

Also:

Please discuss any issues in the following thread:

http://forum.agecommunity.com/forums/922976/ShowThread.aspx#922976

Moderation Policy Changes

Ryz0n — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:36:24 GMT

Hey everyone, quick announcement here:

While the holiday season is full of joy and merriment, and this community is like a giant dysfunctional family at times - I will be a little more stringent on those iffy cases when it comes to moderation though December.

For reference, here are the:

Forum Rules -http://forum.agecommunity.com/forums/thread/489396.aspx

Online Gaming Policy - http://www.agecommunity.com/online_gaming_policy.aspx

Things I'll be cracking down on:

1) Quote Tunneling - while the situation has been pretty good, make sure to keep it no more than 4 quotes in a row. Breaking that will go straight to temp bans. (The forums get grumpy with excessive quote tunnels)

2) Trolling - There are a few categories here I would like to address:

a) Trolling New Users will not be tolerated. Period. We were all a noob once.

b) Posting replies consisting of only images that do not actively beneficially contribute to the thread topic is not permitted. There's no need for *trollface.jpg*

c) Personal, ideological, religious, or stereotypical attacks against other users is strictly forbidden. If you want to have heated discussions, do so about a topic - not how stupid someone is for having a different opinion than you.

3) Posting On-Topic - We've all been guilty of letting topics stray (including myself). Lets keep the game topics on-topic.

4) Appropriate Subject Matter - I hope this doesn't require additional explanation.

5) Bot Posts - Please Report bot posts, do not reply to them. (I understand if you need to put in a Chuck Norris comment once to get it off the 'unanswered' list. But no more than that).

I know you may be grumpy that I'll be a bit more strict here, there's a good reason I think you'll be excited about.

Happy Birthday Age of Empires 3

Ryz0n — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 21:10:48 GMT

AOE3 is not 6 years old! To celebrate I brought in some cake to the office here. Unfortunately since you can't come have any, I will instruct your browsers to give you cookies.

(Yes, its bad pun day too, didn't you know?)

Another impressive number, 100,000. That's the numbers of users registered on agecomm!

I've put up an updated home page in game to celebrate. Give yourself a pat on the back for sticking around and making AOE3 an amazingly long lasting title!

MrMilo joins the Age of Empires Online Balance Team!

Ryz0n — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 00:11:13 GMT

You may have noticed a change on the ESO home page, but in case you didn't I shall include the following below:

Age of Empires 3 has seen several different administrations over the years and those with a blue name are rarely forgotten. MrMilo is one of the original moderators for AOE3, and quickly became a household name within the AOE community. To this day I hear stories about his guides within the community, how he's helped others, and vignettes from people who have played with or against him. For Age of Empires Online, I am pleased to announce that MrMilo is joining us to work on the balance team here at MGS! Our balance team works both internally, as well as with Gas Powered Games, to make certain civs are designed fairly, and to tweak units to ensure exciting battles between players. We're thrilled to have him on board to help make Age of Empires Online an amazing game!

Microsoft Games Colonizes AgeCommunity

Aloysius — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:05:36 GMT

Hello Everyone,

I have some important news for all Age of Empires/Mythology fans. As of today, Microsoft Games will be taking over administration of AgeCommunity.com and Robot Entertainment will continue to operate ESO for the time being.

Ryz0n is the new admin from Microsoft Games and will be taking over all of my previous duties here on AgeComm. He’ll be handling tech support in that forum, as well as moderating and answering other questions.

Please welcome him.

-Aloysius

AOM Issues Resolved

Ryz0n — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 18:54:31 GMT

Based on the information I've been receiving, users are once again able to log in to ESO for Age of Mythology after the fixes I've put in place for the servers. Please note these servers have not been officially supported for years; so while I cannot guarantee or troubleshoot connectivity issues on an individual basis, hopefully the AOM fans will be able to continue playing at this point.

A huge thanks to Robot Entertainment and the IT department here for letting me steal a bit of their time and assistance to troubleshoot the issue.

You will need to make sure that your date is correct before logging in.

Robot Entertainment to take over Age 3 Community Support

Aloysius — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:29:35 GMT

Hi everyone,

I'm Aloysius and I'm the Community Manager at Robot Entertainment.

We'll be taking the baton from Ensemble Studios for Age3 community and customer support.

We'll be providing the same level of support that Ensemble always has, so expect a bigger presence on the forums.

A couple questions that I know a lot of people are asking:

Q: Are you taking the ESO servers down?
A: There are no plans to, and in fact we have been doing hardware and software upgrades to the servers so that they are even more stable, so you guys can keep on playing.

Q: Can you make a fan-made patch official?
A: Unfortunately that cannot take place due to legal reasons. A Robot made patch may eventually come out, but there is no date set for that yet.

Age Auction for Charity

ES_Thunder — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:54:28 GMT

We're holding an auction of all sorts of Age of Empires games and shwag, much of it signed by members of Ensemble Studios, with all the proceeds going to the Child's Play charity. Ensemble Studios will pay to ship the package to anywhere in the world, so please feel free to bid if you are located outside of the USA.

Age Auction

AOE 10th Anniversary Image Contest

ES_Thunder — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 22:28:50 GMT

It's been ten years! Age of Empires was shipped in October 1997 and we want to celebrate ten years of Age. Send us a photo of your favorite Age moment, a screenshot of your greatest victory, an Age inspired cartoon, an Age themed desktop wallpaper, or some other kind of image that you've created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Age of Empires. We'll choose a winner and some honorable mentions to share with Age fans here on our website, and shower the image creators in Age of Empires prizes.

Summary: The Age of Empires Image Contest requires entrants to submit a jpeg image by November 23rd to age3.community@ensemblestudios.com in order to win. The image should relate to the 10th anniversary of Age of Empires.

Link: Full contest rules.

Home City Creation Change and Bonus XP

ES_Paragon — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:39:10 GMT

For those of you who have been playing our game on ESO for the last two years, leveling up new Home Cities is old news and not all that fun. Starting tomorrow, we’re implementing some changes so that when you create a new Home City for multiplayer games, it will now start at a higher level which is based on your highest level city. Here is how it will work:

Highest HC Level	Newly Created HC level
0-19	10
20-39	20
40-59	40
60-79	60
80-99	80
100+	100

As an example, if your highest level Home City is 50, you will be able to create a new Home City for another civilization that starts at level 40 instead of level 1. This will effect both European and Native American civilizations for those of you with The WarChiefs.

The exceptions are the Asian Dynasties civilizations for those of your with the new expansion pack. Dynasties still follows the rules in the table above for European civilizations, but only takes into account your highest level Asian civilization when you create a new Asian civ. As an example, if you French HC is your highest at level 85, but your highest Dynasties civilization is Japan at level 22, a new Chinese HC will start at 20 for you. A new European civilization would start at level 80.

We are also increasing the amount of bonus experience awarded in every game by another 25%, which will make leveling up all Home Cities a little quicker.

Announcing Age III Gold Edition

ES_Paragon — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:31:56 GMT

Announcing Age III Gold Edition

Microsoft Game Studios and Ensemble Studios™ today announced that the "Age of Empires III® Gold Edition" is headed to store shelves on September 25, 2007 in North America for an estimated retail price of $39.99 (U.S.). "Age of Empires III Gold Edition" bundles the exciting "Age of Empires III" and its respective expansion pack, "Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs," for one compelling gaming experience at a great value.

Full Press Release | 07/30/07

Announcing The Dakotas Random Map Contest

ES_Thunder — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 16:24:09 GMT

Announcing The Dakotas Random Map Contest, for anyone who is up to the challenge of creating a new random map for Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs! Not only will the winner, as determined by a panel of judges here at Ensemble Studios, receive much praise and Age shwag, but their map may also end up being added to The WarChiefs in a future patch. See below for the full contest rules and requirements.

http://www.agecommunity.com/dakotas.aspx

Age of Empires III Board Game on Shelves Now

ES_Thunder — Thu, 31 May 2007 16:40:11 GMT

Tropical Games Announces the Launch of its First Board Game: Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery

Plainfield, IL, May 14, 2007 - Today Tropical Games announced the launch of Age of Empires® III: The Age of Discovery. Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery is the board game version of the multi-million unit selling computer game Age of Empires III from Microsoft Game Studios and Ensemble Studios .

Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery was designed by Glenn Drover, designer of award-winning games such as Attack! and Age of Mythology®: The Boardgame, and founder of Eagle Games, Inc. and is being published by Chukerman Packaging. "There is no question that this is the best game that I have worked on", said Drover. "I can't stop playing it, even after almost a hundred play-testing sessions over the last two years. It's just plain addictive."

Bruce Shelley from Ensemble Studios added, "We asked Glenn to create a ‘Euro-style' design for the board game, since many on the team here at Ensemble are fans of that genre. We were involved in testing and provided feedback throughout the game's development. The finished version is exactly what we had in mind. We are very excited that fans of the computer game will now be able to enjoy it in a whole new way."

The game challenges players to become the king (or Queen) of one of the great European nations during the age of exploration. On each turn, players allocate their colonists to various actions: exploration, colonization, trade, warfare, merchant shipping, upgrading (merchant, soldier, missionary, captain), or building a unique capital building. Each choice guides their nation toward a unique strategy.

Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery is currently shipping to game retailers in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia, and will be on game store shelves very shortly. It may also be purchased at http://www.brownboxinc.com/, http://www.eaglegames.net/, and from http://www.funagain.com/ online.

Tropical Games, LLC is a privately held game design company based in Plainfield, IL

Microsoft, Age of Empires, Age of Mythology and Ensemble Studios are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

Map Hack Bannings...

ES_Thunder — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:10:03 GMT

The most prolific users of a map hack for Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs have just been banned from online play. We advise all players to refrain from using any sort of third party program to cheat in online games. We are aware of this activity and will be banning anyone from this day (03/22/07) forward who uses such a program to degrade the online experience of the vast majority of players who play fairly. [Edited on 3/22/2007]

New Age of Empires III Expansion Coming...

ES_Paragon — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:04:02 GMT

New Age of Empires III Expansion Coming...

Pack your bags -- "Age of Empires® III" is heading east. Microsoft Game Studios, Ensemble Studios and Big Huge Games Inc. today unveiled the first details about "Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties," the second expansion pack for the top-selling "Age of Empires III" that arrives on Microsoft® Windows® XP- and Windows Vista™-based PCs this fall. The expansion pack will introduce gamers to Asian civilizations, a host of new gameplay features, and a new developer that will provide a unique spin to a classic favorite.

Players will experience firsthand the rich and historical influences of Asia while commanding their units and expanding their empire in the Eastern world. The latest expansion pack will be the first "Age of Empires" title developed by Big Huge Games, the development studio responsible for the incredibly popular real-time strategy franchise "Rise of Nations®."

Screenshot (1600x1200) | Press Release |

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ES_Paragon — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 23:55:06 GMT

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