MULTIPLAYER GAMES

• Starting a game: From the main Conquests menu, select "Multiplayer".
   
• Once you have selected what type of game you want (Internet, LAN, etc.), you must change the Game Mode from "Standard" to "Scenario".
   
• In the player setup screen on the right, be sure that every human player selects a civ to play. Often, the default civ is a tribe from the regular game, not the scenario, so each player must manually select a civ to play. Very important: be sure to set all of the non-human player slots to "Computer".
   
• When playing Imperial World, the host must not forget to set the World Size, Land Mass, Water Coverage etc...
   
• All of the human players in a multiplayer game must have the Age of Emperors mod pack installed.
   
• If you enjoy team play, Ancient Empires is a good scenario because of its locked alliances.

SINGLE PLAYER GAMES

• Starting a game: From the main Conquests menu, select "Civ Content", and choose a scenario to run.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Be sure to try all three of the AOE scenarios. Each has different rules, strategies, and objectives. Each scenario has a very different feel and offers a unique playing experience. Be sure to play all four of the major AOE civilizations. Each civ has unique abilities, special "superunits" that only they can build, and some units they cannot build. Each civ will require a different strategy to win the game. If you play every civ in every AOE scenario, you will experience 13 very different games.
   
• AOE has some new sounds, so make sure the volume is turned up on your speakers.
   
• If you have a slower computer and are playing a game with thousands of units, you may want to turn off unit animations in order to speed things up.  You can do so from the Preferences menu.
   
• A victorious army can start a Golden Age.  Armies in AOE are handled much differently than in a regular Conquests game. In a regular game, the AI is unlikely to field armies against you. This is not the case in AOE. You no longer need a Great Leader to build an army (so there are no Great Leaders). Armies are built like any other unit, when the technology becomes available. However, armies are expensive and cost population points to build. Civs that over-indulge in armies will find themselves population depleted, economically disadvantaged and quickly falling behind the tech curve.
   
• All military units require 2 gold in support cost, except under a Republic where units they require 3 gold.
   
• All military units cost one population point to build, except for Scouts (0), Numidian Mercenaries (0), siege weapons (0), and armies which cost 5 (or 4 for Carthaginian armies).  Note: population costs for armies are lower in the Tournament scenario.
   
• In addition to the normal special abilities of the civs (seafaring, religious, agricultural, etc.), a new ability has been added:
  1) Political civs (Rome and Persia) are the only ones capable of spying, and they are also allowed two Forbidden Palaces (in AOE, they are referred to as a Imperial Palace and Summer Palace).
   
• When you attack with a naval vessel, you can use one of two tactics.
  1) You can bombard an enemy city, naval unit, or ground unit on the shore. Use the bombard button to perform this action. Bombarding is safer because you don't risk your ship.
  2) You can board an enemy naval unit. This is an all-or-nothing direct attack that will result in the destruction of one of the two ships. To board a vessel, simply move your ship into it, as you would when attacking with a ground unit.
   
• AOE has two different ways of handling naval movement, depending on the scenario. These are known as the "shallow water rules":
  1) Relaxed shallow water rules: deep draft vessels (Triremes, Quinqueremes) can travel in coastal water and enter cities without deepwater ports, but their movement will be slowed to one square per turn.  Shallow draft vessels (Curraghs, Libernas) move unhindered through all water types.  The Ancient Empires and Imperial World scenarios use this rule.
  2) No shallow water rules: no restrictions on ship movement.  The Tournament scenario uses this rule.
   
• You can not build a deepwater port, it is a terrain feature. Charted deepwater squares show a distinctive icon. However, many uncharted deepwater squares remain for you to discover in the Ancient Empires scenario. Deepwater always appears along coastlines, and shows as "Sea", not "Coastal", when you right-click on it. Charted deepwater ports give economic bonuses to your city, but uncharted deepwater squares, although functional, give no bonuses. Deepwater ports become strategically important in the mid-to-late game when you need to transport large units (such as armies) that can't be accommodated on small shallow draft vessels.
   
• In the past, some players have been annoyed with the cultural aspects of Civ 3 because the biggest civ always had the highest culture. This has been changed in AOE. It is now possible for a small civ to have the highest culture. AOE offers many city improvements, such as the Artists Collegia, which only offer a cultural benefit. Players who concentrate on these improvements early in the game can be culturally competitive with much larger civs. When building a wonder or improvement, be sure to note its cultural value.  None of the AOE scenarios allow cultural victories, but you can still lose your cities to civs with higher cultures.
   
• Use the small "v" button in the lower right of your screen to check on your victory points (Tournament scenario only). Keep in mind that this button doesn't appear until 10 turns into the game.
   
• Only armies can enslave units.   When armies enslave a unit, it becomes a Slave.  These are essentially low-quality Laborers that don't require support. Only Roman Armies create Roman Slaves.  Roman Slaves are special because they can be sacrificed as gladiators (simply bring them into a city and use the sacrifice button).  Your slaves units can be captured by any enemy unit.  If you capture an enemy Slave, you liberate it and it becomes a Worker (costs support now, but works more effectively).  However, when a Roman Slave is captured, it remains a Roman Slave, and can be sacrificed by the civ that captures it.  In certain situations surrounding naval combat, it is possible for Slave units being transported by ship to become stranded in open water. Anyone can can pick up these drifting units and put them to work.  When using your military advisor to view your troop strengths, be advised that Slaves will not show up here (because they can be captured, but never built).  However, captured slaves will still show up in the captured units section of your military advisor screen.
   
• Building a Slave Market, however unsavory, gives you production bonuses. But be aware that this causes unhappiness in the city. Also, if the city ever goes into civil disorder, the slaves will occasionally revolt and burn the city.
   
• Certain units (such as Raiders and armies) have "defensive initiative". When they are attacked, they can inflict a small amount to damage to the attacker before they themselves suffer damage. These units can also cause "collateral damage" when attacking cities. For example, an army attacking a city may destroy the city's barracks in addition to killing a unit.
   
• In AOE, you need to build an Aqueduct for your city to grow beyond a population of 6 (an aqueduct, however, is not necessary if your city is built alongside a freshwater source). You need to build an Infirmary to grow beyond a population of 12.
   
• Due to a known glitch in the Civilization engine, your young capitol shows as a city instead of a town, and therefore doesn't show a city wall, if built. Same with enemy capitols. However, all other cities will display properly.  Note: Cities will not show city walls, even if built, because Cities have the same defensive bonus as towns with a wall.  And Metropolises will not show city walls, because they have an even better inherent defensive bonus that Cities.
   
• The Great Wall is allowed in all scenarios except Ancient Empires.
   
• The Prefect's Office improvement is now available (upon learning Code of Laws) to reduce corruption in distant cities. Courthouses can also help with this.  Expansionist civs (Rome and Persia) can also build the Summer Palace (essentially a second Forbidden Palace) to help with corruption.  Note: in the Tournament scenario, all civs are expansionists.