User manual MICROSOFT AGE OF EMPIRES III

[. . . ] X11-35580 Safety Warning About Photosensitive Seizures A very small percentage of people may experience a seizure when exposed to certain visual images, including flashing lights or patterns that may appear in video games. Even people who have no history of seizures or epilepsy may have an undiagnosed condition that can cause these "photosensitive epileptic seizures" while watching video games. These seizures may have a variety of symptoms, including lightheadedness, altered vision, eye or face twitching, jerking or shaking of arms or legs, disorientation, confusion, or momentary loss of awareness. Seizures may also cause loss of consciousness or convulsions that can lead to injury from falling down or striking nearby objects. [. . . ] An Explorer can construct Trading Posts on Trade Routes to boost your economy. Your Explorer can be hit and wounded but never dies. Finding & Gathering Resources As your villagers and Explorers explore the landscape, you'll discover sources of Food (such as sheep, deer, and fish), Wood (trees), and Coin (mines). Stockpiled resources of Food, Wood, and Coin help you pay for improvements that make your civilization more powerful. Immortal Click the Find Explorer icon on the Mini Map to locate your Explorer. Use your Explorer to reveal the uncharted areas of your map and seek out: Treasure. By keeping your Explorer and military units together and forming Explorer parties, they can back each other up when taking out a Treasure guardian or taking on an enemy scouting party. Tracking Your Current Resources The Resource panel, at the lower-left of your screen, monitors the real-time values and levels of your Food, Wood, and Coin stockpiles. It also tracks your village's real-time population against its population limit. 68 69 Determining Where to Place Your Town Center Your first Town Center is placed automatically at a site that's near resources. Nomad mode--the exception to this--requires players to choose all their Town Center sites. When placing your Town Center, use your Explorer and soldiers, also called an Explorer party, to search out the most strategic location. There are several factors to consider when choosing a site for your Town Center: Are resources readily accessible?Look for access to animals and fishing for Food, timber for Wood, and mines for Coin. Click your Covered Wagon, which contains all the raw materials needed to set up your Town Center. Place your pointer on the site for your Town Center, and then right-click the location. A Covered Wagon will travel to your site, build your Town Center, unload your villagers and resources, and then disappear. The villagers will immediately stockpile your Food, Wood, and Coin resources. Exploring a Map When you land in a new territory, most of the map is hidden. Your civilian units (villagers, soldiers, and Explorers) must venture into the unknown territory to reveal what's hidden beneath the map's blacked-out areas. Designed for exploring and Treasure gathering, Explorers excel at uncovering resources and discovering enemies. By using your Explorer in this way, you can expand your civilization and gain power. But beware--Explorers are vulnerable to your territory's hidden dangers. To explore hidden areas of the map using your Explorer Select your Explorer or an Explorer party, and then right-click the area to explore on your map or Mini Map. 70 71 Fog of War Whenever your Explorer party departs an area, a semitransparent fog--the Fog of War--creeps in, obscuring everything in its path. For example, if your party discovers an enemy building, the Fog of War descends over the building as you depart to conceal all real-time activity at the site. When your unit returns, the fog lifts and you may find all sorts of changes to the site--the building could be more heavily fortified or even destroyed. Gathering Treasure While scouting territory, your Explorer can gather Treasure to increase your stockpiles of Food, Wood, and Coin. [. . . ] The Manchurians formed the Qing dynasty, which replaced the Ming dynasty in the 1600s. Ronin A masterless samurai who has no lord and often wanders or works for the highest bidder. Stradiot An aggressive light cavalry unit originally from Albania. They favor a spear with a point at both ends. Swiss Pikeman An elite mercenary armed with a pike. In an age of gunpowder, the Swiss Pikemen recalled the era of the Greek phalanx. Privateer A mercenary warship for combat and transport. They are manned by pirates who work for a particular government and are authorized to pirate the fleets of enemy nations. 130 ENSEMBLE STUDIOS PROGRAMMING Dave "Bigdog" Pottinger - Lead Programmer John Evanson - Asst. [. . . ]