Rise of Nations

This page is for the original release. For the updated version, see Rise of Nations: Extended Edition.

Rise of Nations
Rise of Nations	2003
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends	2006
Rise of Nations: Extended Edition	2014

Warnings

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).

The Mac OS X version of this game does not work on Mac OS X Lion (version 10.7) or later due to the removal of support for PowerPC apps.

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).

Rise of Nations is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view and isometric RTS game in the Rise of Nations series.

After its release, the game received the Thrones & Patriots expansion in April 2004, adding minor mechanics, new Conquer the World scenarios and new civilizations.

The game runs stable on modern systems, with the only potential issue being a broken Vsync feature. Patching the expansion pack requires an unofficial repack as updates were distributed exclusively through GameSpy prior to its shutdown. An as-is Steam release was likely planned, but the Extended Edition was released instead.

General information

Rise of Nations Heaven

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc v2 DRM^{[Note 1]} for the base game, SmarteSECURE DRM for expansion pack.

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

Free demo versions are available from GamePressure: base game, Thrones & Patriots.

Version differences

The Gold Edition includes the base game and the Thrones & Patriots expansion. The former has patch 4 applied, but the latter is unpatched. Some DVD versions may not have a disc check.

Monetization

Type	Notes
Expansion pack	The expansion pack includes new civilizations, units, government mechanic and Conquer the World mode scenarios.
One-time game purchase	The game requires an upfront purchase to access.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Thrones & Patriots

Essential improvements

Patches

Rise of Nations patch 4 and Thrones & Patriots patches 1 and 2 were distributed exclusively through GameSpy, which has been shut down.

The Rise of Nations patch 3 (02.03.11.0302) is available here. Patch 4 (02.04.04.2903) is available here, and also comes by default in the Gold Edition.

An archived distribution of the Thrones & Patriots official patch 2 (03.02.12.0800) is here. It includes changes from patch 1 (03.02.07.0701) as well.

Skip intro videos

Intro videos^{[citation needed]}
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open `rise2.ini`. Change `SkipIntroMovies=0` to `SkipIntroMovies=1`

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\Microsoft Games\Rise of Nations\
macOS (OS X)

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Rise of Nations\
macOS (OS X)

Video

Graphics settings

Can only change resolution in-game.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor		HUD position affects gameplay. See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen		See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed	Off by default; can be enabled in `rise2.ini`
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	Force through video driver.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	Force through video driver.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	On by default; can be disabled in `rise2.ini`
60 FPS
120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Widescreen resolution

The minimum resolution is 1024x768. The game won't accept any resolution lower than that.

Widescreen^{[citation needed]}

Go to the configuration file(s) location.
Open rise2.ini.
Change AllowAllResolutions=0 to AllowAllResolutions=1
If the in-game drop-down box still does not show your preferred resolution, edit Windowed Width and Windowed Height= lines in the configuration file

Notes

When the resolution on the X axis is lower than 1280, the game shrinks the size of game world graphics according to the X axis, not unlike Vert-.

When the resolution on the X axis is 1280 or higher, the game world graphics no longer change size. The game functions like any "pixel based" games. At maximum zoom, the game graphics now are the same size as their original assets (the TGA files in the "art" folder).

Vertical sync (Vsync)

The Vsync functionality may be broken on some systems.

Vsync fix
Download d3d8to9. Extract the archive into the main game directory.

Gameplay settings

Input

Mouse settings

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Relates only to map scrolling speed.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Audio

Audio settings

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		SFX, taunts, music.
Surround sound
Subtitles		Applicable only in the Conquer the World mode.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Korean
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		8	Versus
Online play		8	Versus GameSpy server browser has been shut down in 2012.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking		GameSpy server browser has been shut down.
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
UDP	34987

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Issues fixed

"MSXML4.0 is not installed correctly" on startup

Reinstall MSXML 4.0. Use the installer on the disc or official download

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	8.1

Executable	PPC	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)				PowerPC only.^[3]

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Windows Media Video
Multiplayer	GameSpy

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98 SE	ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	AMD Athlon 500 MHz Pentium III	AMD Duron/Athlon 1.0 GHz or better
System memory (RAM)	128 MB	256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	800 MB
Video card (GPU)	16 MB of VRAM	32 MB of VRAM

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10.2.8
Processor (CPU)	600 MHz	1.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	128 MB	256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	800 MB	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	16 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]

References

↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
↑ Help me please!!cant run rise of nations gold : macgaming - last accessed on May 2023

[3] SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]

[1] Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16

[2] Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[4] Help me please!!cant run rise of nations gold : macgaming - last accessed on May 2023

[Note 1]

[3]

[1]

[2]

Developers

	Big Huge Games
Publishers
	Microsoft Game Studios
Re-releases	Ubisoft
Engines
	Big Huge Engine
Release dates
Windows	May 20, 2003
macOS (OS X)	December 2004
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, Expansion pack
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view, Isometric
Controls	Multiple select, Point and select
Genres	RTS
Themes	Historical
Series	Rise of Nations