2014-06-13: Rise of Nations on Steam! Developed by SkyBox Labs and published by Microsoft, Rise of Nations: Extended Edition boasts improved graphics, runs on Windows 7/8.1, and includes the Thrones & Patriots expansion. Multiplayer and other online features are now based on Steam. Generally, this is the preferred way to play Rise of Nations on modern systems.
I recently brought Rise of Nations Gold Edition and i cant seem to update the thrones and patriots, i currently have version 03. But i cant check for updates because it says there are none and i cant find a manual download for version 07.5 and when i try to join a multiplayer. Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots requires a personal computer running either Microsoft® Windows® XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98, or Windows Millennium Edition. It also is required that your computer have a processor speed of 500 megahertz (MHz) or higher, at least 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM, and a 16 MB video card.
The rest of this page refers to older disk-based versions of the game. If you already own one and have a low-powered system, e.g. an ultrabook with integrated GPU, you might wish stay away from the Steam version as its performance requirements are significantly higher than the original’s. My Sony Vaio Duo 13 runs the original effortlessly but responds to the new version with a howling fan and a rapidly depleting battery, regardless of the graphics options I pick.
Running the Disk Version
One game I put on every new Windows installation is Brian Reynolds’ Rise of Nations, originally released in 2003 and followed by the excellent expansion Thrones & Patriots in 2004.
Sadly, this real-time strategy classic had the misfortune of being a Windows game published by Microsoft. The company was already shifting its gaming focus from Windows to Xbox, and today you’re lucky to even find a legal copy. (Ten years later it’s finally come to Steam, see above.) The cheap DVD re-release I eventually managed to find dates from 2007.
The result is that Rise of Nations won’t run on modern systems without some help. On my 64-bit version of Windows 8 Pro, the game was unplayable due to a badly flickering screen and an invisible mouse cursor. Happily, I was able to fix these issues with a few simple tweaks. Once you’ve installed the game and its expansion as usual, do the following:
- Open the file
'C:Users<UserName>AppDataRoamingMicrosoft GamesRise of Nationsrise2.ini'in Notepad or another text editor. Replace<UserName>with your Windows user name. - Change the line
VSync=1toVSync=0. This eliminates the screen flickering. - Change the line
ForceGDICursor=0toForceGDICursor=1. This eliminates the invisible or immobile mouse cursor produced by other cursor settings. - Optional: Change the line
ForceAGPVBs=0toForceAGPVBs=1. I didn’t test this myself but two commenters said it eliminated screen flickering and visual corruption with integrated graphics. You may also need to setForceStaticCursor=1. (Thanks Daniel & James Wyper!) - Since you’re probably using a high-resolution monitor, change
AllowAllResolutions=0toAllowAllResolutions=1and changeWindowed WidthandWindowed Heightto your monitor’s resolution. These two settings apply to full-screen mode despite the “Windowed” moniker. - That’s it for the file
rise2.ini, so you can save and close it now. - The desktop shortcut created by my version’s installer was set to Windows XP (SP3) compatibility mode, but I found that unnecessary. Disable that option if it’s enabled, and save yourself the UAC prompt on every start-up.
And so I got Rise of Nations and Thrones & Patriots back up and running on Windows 8. I hope these settings will work for you as well. Good luck!
Patch the Game (2015-05-06) — James Wyper commented that you need patch version 1.03 for the above tips to work. I was unaware of this, as my DVD edition was likely pre-patched to that version. If you cannot find rise2.ini you should first check that you’re running version 1.03 and not an older release.
Repairing MS XML (2013-03-13) — Uninstalling Age of Empires 3 Complete seems to destroy the MS XML library required by Rise of Nations. Fortunately, it’s easy to get back. With my multilingual DVD edition of Rise of Nations Gold, all I had to do was run RONUKREDISTMSXMLENU.MSI and select “Repair.” Change paths and/or language codes as needed. This should help whenever the game complains on startup that something’s wrong with MS XML.
Download rise[2].ini (2013-12-02) — Some commenters said they found the directory for rise2.ini but it doesn’t contain the file itself, for whatever reason. First, check that your game is patched to version 1.03 as noted above. As a workaround if you still cannot find the files I have put both rise.ini and rise2.ini from my installation up for download, as RiseIni.zip.
I added rise.ini just in case it’s also involved in Rise of Nations not working. I lowered the screen resolution in rise2.ini to a safe 1024×768, otherwise both files are unchanged. They don’t seem to contain any user data and only relative file paths, so hopefully they’ll work on other systems.
Relocation Notice (2014-02-16) — This post originally appeared on the companion weblog. Due to its consistently high traffic, I changed it into a static website page. All comments were moved here as well, although Disqus cannot import avatars or author links – see the original comment thread for those.
A Whole New World to Explore
Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots is a new episode in the very popular Rise of Nations series. Gamers are given more to do than ever before as they create and explore their own world. Check out the review to discover if this game is as exciting as the other Rise of Nations titles.
Technically, Thrones and Patriots is an expansion pack for Rise of Nations rather than being a whole new game. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a bad thing. The new addition brings plenty of extra features to the game that will keep gamers playing for hours. All of the familiar features are present, which means that people who are already experienced in playing Rise of Nations will be able to get into the game straight away.
Players are invited to explore more than six thousand years of history and develop their very own society. They design and build prosperous cities that provide them with the strength and points they need to establish their army. The acts of diplomacy require plenty of skill that adds a fun element to the game.
Six new nations are introduced to the game this time around and there is plenty to keep track of. Eight realistically created historical epochs are presented, which take players all the way from the Ancient Age through to the wonders of the Information Age. There is a thrill as players race against time to put all their elements in place and create the strongest empires before the other nations can rise against them.
There are lots of campaigns and skirmishes to keep track of and this can be done easily through the zooming scale. Changing the view of the game can be done in an instant and this presents players with other elements that are at their control. This truly gives gamers the chance to play God and decide what they want to focus on and develop.
There are more than fifty different technologies to research and this will allow players to accrue knowledge that will help them to further develop. Of course, all of this takes time and energy, which adds a strategy element to the game as players have to plan in advance what they want to devote their resources to and what they can set aside for later in the game.
There are now eighteen different historical nations, and each nation has their own special attributes that sets them apart. Some of the nations that are represented in Thrones and Patriots include Aztec, Egyptians, Romans, Koreans and Japanese. All of these nations change significantly as the game progresses and watching their unique development is like an instant visual lesson in history.
One of the most interesting campaigns for single players to embark on is the Conquer the World Campaign. As the name suggests, the aim of this conquest is to take over different territories until you have enough territories to become the strongest nation and leave the other nations cowering with fear. Citizens are smart in this campaign and there is no need to micro-manage them.
Gamers who enjoy playing Rise of Nations will now have more to do than ever before. Thrones and Patriots offers plenty of unique elements and extras that make this a worthwhile addition to the saga. Gamers are sure to love the new campaigns, even though the graphics leave a little to be desired.
Pros
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- The game offers four single player campaigns
- There are lot of different levels
- New types of government
Rise Of Nations Download Full Game
Cons
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- The graphics are a bit basic