Just tried doing a huge direct IP connect game with 5 friends and 3 computers. All three times, the host was disconnected about 20-30min into the game. We got some "exception error". It's really too bad. This game has the potential to be incredible over the LAN or online.

System Specs:
MSI K7T266 Pro2-RU (KT266A)
Kingston 896mb PC2100 DDR
AMD AthlonXP 2100+ (Palamino)
Nvidia GeForce4 Ti4600 (30.82 drivers)
Enermax EG465P-VE 431watt power supply
Creative SBLive! 5.1 w/ newest official drivers
D-Link DFE-530TX+ NIC w/ newest official drivers
Microsoft Windows XP Pro

The other guy that got the same error has:
Abit KT7A (KT133A)
512mb PC133 SDRAM
AMD Athlon 1.4ghz (T-Bird)
Nvidia GeForce2 Ultra
Creative SBLive! 5.1 w/ newest official drivers
Linksys LNE100TX NIC
Microsoft Windows XP Pro

We then tried again, with a different host. He then crashed out as well.

He has:
AMD AthlonXP 2000+ (Palamino)
512mb PC2700 DDR
Nvidia GeForce4 Ti4400
Creative SBLive! 5.1 w/ newest official drivers
Linksys LNE100TX NIC
Microsoft Windows XP Pro

[This message has been edited by Dimension_IV (edited 05-21-2003 @ 03:00 PM).]

Can you give more details? What build were you guys, and what language version? What were the multiplayer game settings? Do you guys remember anything specific that happened each game that might have caused the game to crash?

BUG 1.
Unable to initiate multiplayer game as host. allpeople visiable in intor room. none get thru to set up.

BUG 2.
game is way too laggy when trying to quit a game. it takes 2-4 minutes to return to the lobby. once it froze up and i had to reboot.

BUG 3.
multiplayer room- hitting space bar when the (click to cancel) bar is ont he screen will cancel game. this is a problem because if you are typing when the host starts a game, you will automatically cancel your game.

BUG 4.
HOT KEYs for the idle merchant and FORTRESS need to be added.

We're all using the retail game, so whatever version that is. We haven't applied a patch of anything.

I can't think of anything that would have made us crash. I mean, we were all on the same team, against 3 computers, All is the first time my friend and I got the exception error, it was fairly early. About 20min into the game. The second time we had to drop the host (turned him into AI), it was probably more like 30-40min.

Let's see, both times we had the age limited to the gunpowder age. From ancient to gunpowder. We had no wonder victory or territory victory. It was on "big huge" map and with normal game speed. The first time we crashed the map type was austrialian outback. The second time, it was on great lakes.

I can't join or host any multiplayer games. When I try to click on one of the multiplayer options like Gamespy Matchup or Direct IP/Lan it just gives me an error message.

"Unable to Establish Network Connection. make sure you are connected to the internet and try again."

I get the same message when using the actual gamespy client. I'm running on Verizon DSL and I have no router, firewall, or anti-virus software running. I know a few others who have this same problem as well.

Lerris: Make sure you have the latest updates for Windows. http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp

EclipseV:

BUG 1.
Unable to initiate multiplayer game as host. allpeople visiable in intor room. none get thru to set up.

Read RoN's ReadMe documentation. From my experience, people can't join games by hosts that are behind an ICS server, Firewall, or NAT. However, they can still join games hosted by others that aren't behind an ICS server, Firewall, or NAT.

BUG 2.
game is way too laggy when trying to quit a game. it takes 2-4 minutes to return to the lobby. once it froze up and i had to reboot.

Is this for multiplayer games through GameSpy, or Single Player games?

BUG 3.
multiplayer room- hitting space bar when the (click to cancel) bar is ont he screen will cancel game. this is a problem because if you are typing when the host starts a game, you will automatically cancel your game.

It could be by design, but I do find it annoying, too.

BUG 4.
HOT KEYs for the idle merchant and FORTRESS need to be added.

I don't know about merchants... but I agree that Fortresses should have a hotkey. You may be able to customize a hotkey for idle merchants and Fortesses in your Options... it might be a good thing to try out.

[This message has been edited by Scrubs (edited 05-22-2003 @ 03:35 AM).]

Bug#1
Unable to get game running. I get the intro,but once the intro finishes,the game quits responding.

I've upgraded my Nvidia drivers,updated DirectX,played around with the color(32/16 etc),tried starting it without the intro,tried windowed mode...the game still doesn't respond.

Bug#2
I have to manually un-install RON. It will begin uninstalling,then quit responding within 10 seconds or so.

System Specs:
Hewlett Packard Pavillion
667Mhz
192MB of Ram
15 Gig HD(with 8 gigs free)
Geforce2 MX 400 64MB PCI card (w/43.45 drivers)
Crystal Audio Codec Sound Card
Win98SE
DX 9.0a

Rise of Nations Retail US version

My bug:

1.)Game fails to run CTW

2.)650 mhz p3
win 98
256 ram
32 mb Prophet II vid card
30 gb hd

3.)CTW starts fine, allows me to choose civ, difficulty, and initial attack territory, but halfway through the map loading screen I am closed out of RoN and "Exception error" comes up.

4.)launch game, ctw, choose civ/difficulty, attack an area, game crashes

5.)n/a

6.)problem appears to be with all nations (I've tried 5 different ones) and difficulties. Version is most recent patch, v. 01.14.05.0902

TheSatyr and anyone else unable to get past the intro globe screen: Make sure you do not have any special/extra codecs or audio filters installed (eg. Nimo codecs) if you have them, remove them, worked for me.

I cant even play the game at all. It locks up between 30 seconds and about two minutes once started.
I am running DX9a and the latest Cat drivers(3.4) from ATi.
I have tried disabling sound acceleration and running with 16 bit colors with no luck. I have also follwed some other suggestions posted by others on this board. No luck whatsoever. I have uninstalled the game and ran a scandisk and Diskeeper on my hardrive and then reinstalled the game. Still the issues persists. Its a home built system.
Here are the specs.

Home Built
AthlonXP 2000 (Win XP Pro. Sp1 build 2600)
512MB Ram.
80GB WD Caviar SE with 68GB free.
Asus A7N8X Mobo (Nforce II Chipset).
ATi Radeon 9500pro 128Mb (Cat 3.4)
DX9A Installed.
Antec Case (430 Watt PSU)
Rise of Nations retail (English Version)
No mods,cracks or trainers.

I have not updated my chipset drivers yet even though there not that old. I read a post by someone saying that fixed there issues. I am in the process of doing that now. Any suggestions would be appreciated?

I don't have any "extra" audio codecs in my system. I took those out to get the sound working with Freelancer.

Anyway,I took Rise of Nations back to where I bought it and got my money back. First time I've ever had to do that.

However,I would consider buying it again IF the "failure to respond" problems are ever fixed.

BUG: Can't see mouse cursor except for brief flashes.

SYSTEM SPECS:
Compaq Presario 5838
256MB RAM
AMD-K7 Athalon 500MHz
Nvidia GeForce2 440MX w/64MB (4.13.01.4072 drivers)
Microsoft Windows 98SE

FAILED SOLUTION:
Tried modifying my RoN shortcut Properties such that the "Target" box contains a new flag:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Rise of Nations\rise.exe" -nohwcursor

The -nohwcursor flag doesn't seem to help. I am running in 800x600 32-bitTruColor mode. Doesn't seem to matter if I jump to 1024x768 or if I switch to 16-bitColor.

Help! I can see everything (except the cursor) and hear everything, but I can't see what I am trying to select!

chewy

I have updated my chipset drivers and still no luck. The game locks after about 30 seconds. I am still unable to play any of the single player or tutorial missions.
I am using the WHQL nforce drivers from nvidia (2.41).

I disabled the custom size on my swap file and let windows manage it and set my vid clock speeds back to default. The game still locks up. I have tried everything I can think of and its still not working. I have thought about updating my bios but it seems like that it wouldnt help considering the latest asus flash only enables support for AMD's with a 400Mhz fsb. Mine is running at 333MHz.
Any ideas?

chewy:
Hardware color cursor support and game resolution: If running Rise of Nations on systems without hardware color cursor support, you cannot change the bit-depth from the Graphics options panel within the game. To change the bit depth between 16- or 32-bit, exit the game and select Start, Settings, and Control Panel. Double click on the Display icon and the click the Settings tab. Select either 32- or 16 bit color quality.

Some video drivers may cause the pointer to flicker: To solve this problem, right-click the Rise of Nations shortcut and click Properties or select Rise of Nations from the Start menu, right-click, and select Properties. In the Target box type -nohwcursor at the end of the existing text (e.g. \rise.exeĦ¨ -nohwcursor). Click Apply and OK.

Scrubs,

1) I haven't tried changing anything as far as video settings go from the RoN menus. I always use the method described (i.e., via the control panel); so I don't see how this could be the issue.

2) As I stated in my message I already tried the -nohwcursor flag. I had no effect on my problem.

Any other ideas?

chewy

1. Go to your Rise of Nations folder which is probably in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Rise of Nations.
a. Open your rise2.ini file and change these settings to what I describe below:
ForceHardwareCursor=1

See if it works, if not:
ForceGDICursor=1

See if it works, if not:
ForceBWCursor=1

See if it works, if not:
Sound Enabled=0

See if it works, if it does, it's your sound card, if it doesn't, you can change all those back to the original settings.

We'll move on to plan C.

Hey scrubs, Is this workaround to be used for all general issues with the game or just a specific "issue".

The previous one is cursor-specific for chewy-- he can't see his mouse cursor.

Ok, Any suggestions that I can try or might have missed? Thanks.

WooHoo! Thanks Scrubs! You are 10^99999999 times more helpful than the MS-Support people! That seemed to work. Although I'm a little worried.

-What exactly does my sound card have to do with graphics performance?
-Did the SoundEnabled option really fix this or was it the 3 Cursor options?
-What does the SoundEnabled option really do?

Thanks again,

chewy

Scrubs,

Forget it. I just answered my own questions:

Q: What exactly does my sound card have to do with graphics performance?
A: Nothing

Q: Did the SoundEnabled option really fix this or was it the 3 Cursor options?
A: No, the SoundEnabled option didn't really fix anything; it was the other 3 options that fixed the problem.

Q: What does the SoundEnabled option really do?
A: DUH! It enables/disables all sounds. I didn't like this so I went back and set it back to 1 again. My sound returned and I didn't have the cursor problem.

Cheers,

chewy

lol, at least your problem was fixed. I just like mentioning sound... it sounds... good.

Get the same error as Brodie, scenerios and tutorials work fine, Conquer the World gets an exception error + crash to destktop as it's loading after you pick civilization/difficulty. Kind of depressing since that feature is what interested me in the game in the first place.

1.)Game fails to run CTW

2.)1200 megahertz AMD Athlon
Windows 98
256 ram
64mb Hercules Prophet 4500 vid card
40 gb hd

3.)CTW starts fine, allows me to choose civ, difficulty, and initial attack territory, but halfway through the map loading screen I am closed out of RoN and "Exception error" comes up.

4.)launch game, ctw, choose civ/difficulty, attack an area, game crashes

5.)n/a