Age of Empires II: Certain Commands for Selected Unit or Building Are Missing (256091)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings 2.0
  • Microsoft Age of Empires II Expansion: The Conquerors
  • Microsoft Age of Empires II Gold Edition
This article was previously published under Q256091

SYMPTOMS

When you select a unit or a building in Microsoft Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings or Microsoft Age of Empires II Expansion: The Conquerors, some of the command buttons for that unit or building may not appear in the bottom left corner of the screen.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if the any of the following conditions is true:
  • The advanced commands are turned off.
  • More commands are available for the unit than the game can display on one screen.
  • You have not yet researched the technologies or advanced to the required Age or level for that command, or your civilization does not support that command.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use the following methods in the order in which they are presented.

Click the Advanced Commands Button

To make advanced commands such as Kill Your Unit (the skull) and Flank Formation (two pairs of white dots under a red triangle) available, click the Turn Advanced Commands On button located to the right of the mini-map in the bottom right corner of the screen.
Turn Advanced Commands On button

Click the Red Arrow

If you see the More button (the red arrow) at the bottom of the command list when you select a unit or building, click this button to view additional commands for that unit or building.

Research Technologies or Advance Your Civilization

Certain advanced commands for your buildings do not appear until you research certain technologies or advance your civilization to a particular Age or level.

Note Certain technologies, units, and commands are not available for all civilizations by default. If you want to use a specific technology, unit, or building, make sure that your civilization supports that technology, unit, or building before you start the game, or enable the full technology tree for all civilizations before you start the game.

For information about the requirements and limitations for the civilizations, technologies, units, and buildings in Age of Empires II, refer to the technology tree. To view information about the technology tree, use one of the following methods.
  • When you start a single player game or host a multiplayer game, click the Technology Tree button (the tree of folders) located just above the Cancel button on the game configuration screen.
  • When you are playing a game, press the F2 key to open the Technology Tree screen.
  • Refer to the fold-out card included with Age of Empires II. This card includes information about the following subjects:
    • The technology tree
    • Unique attributes for each civilization
    • Technologies, units, and buildings available for each civilization
    • Unit strengths and weaknesses
To enable the full technology tree for all civilizations:
  1. Start a new game in Age of Empires II.
  2. On the game configuration screen, click All Techs.
  3. Select any other game settings that you want to use, and then click Start Game.
Note When you enable the full technology tree for all civilizations, you also disable the unique attributes for all civilizations.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:6/17/2005
Keywords:kbdisplay kbgraphxlinkcritical kbprb KB256091
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