KB175347 - Age Of Empires: Command Line Parameters

Article ID: 175347

Article Last Modified on 7/13/2006

Microsoft Age of Empires

This article was previously published under Q175347

SUMMARY

You can use command line parameters to customize the startup process for Age of Empires and to resolve certain problems you may encounter when you attempt to start or play the game. Microsoft Product Support has created a number of shortcuts that include the command line parameters you can use when you start Age of Empires or The Rise of Rome.

To install the shortcuts, double-click the Agelinks.exe file for Age of Empires or the Rorlinks.exe file for The Rise of Rome.

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Agelinks.exe

Rorlinks.exe

Release Date: Aug-24-1999

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119591 How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services

Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help to prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

To use these shortcuts, double-click the appropriate file in the "Age of Empires" or "The Rise of Rome" folder.

To play Age of Empires normally, simply use the shortcut for the program that is installed on your desktop or in your Start menu.

For more support information about Microsoft Age of Empires, please visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/games/pc/age2expansion.aspx

MORE INFORMATION

The following table lists the command line parameters for Age of Empires.

Parameter	Description
NoStartup	Skips all cinematic sequences before the game starts.
640	Sets the startup screen resolution for the game to 640 x 480.
800	Sets the startup screen resolution for the game to 800 x 600.
1024	Sets the startup screen resolution for the game to 1024 x 768.
Mfill	Prevents horizontal line problem that may occur with some Matrox video adapter configurations.
NormalMouse	Replaces the custom mouse pointer with a standard mouse pointer.
NoSound	Disables all sound playback in the game, except for sound playback in cinematic sequences.
NoTerrainSound	Disables terrain sound playback in the game.
NoMusic	Disables all music playback in the game.
Msync	Prevents hanging problems that can occur with some SoundBlaster AWE configurations.
MidiMusic	Plays MIDI music instead of CD Audio (Redbook) music from the Age of Empires CD-ROM.

To manually add parameters to the command line in the Age of Empires shortcut:

Right-click Start, and then click Open or Open All Users.
Double-click the Programs folder.
Double-click the Microsoft Games folder.
Double-click the Age Of Empires folder.
Right-click the Age Of Empires shortcut icon, and then click Properties.
Click the Shortcut tab.
In the Target box, press END, press the SPACEBAR, and then type the parameter you want to use. If you want to use an additional parameter, press the SPACEBAR, and then type the next parameter.

For example, type:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires\EMPIRES.EXE" NoStartup 640 NoSound NoTerrainSound NoMusic NormalMouse MSync
NOTE: Parameters are not case-sensitive.

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