Rise of Nations: Known sound issues (820091)

MORE INFORMATION

General sound issues

• When you try to play Rise of Nations, the in-game sounds and music may stop playing. To resolve this issue, add the -sws3Dsound parameter. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. On the desktop, right-click Rise of Nations, and then click Properties.
  2. In the Target box, locate the end of the existing text, type -sws3Dsound, and then click OK.
     
     For example, "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Rise of Nations\rise.exe" -sw3Dsound
• When you play Microsoft Rise of Nations, you receive no sound after the introduction movie.
  
  For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  893681 You receive no sound after the introduction movie in Rise of Nations

Specific sound issues

• Audigy 2
  
  When you try to play Rise of Nations with this sound card, you may experience problems during game play. This issue occurs because this sound card interferes with SafeDisc, a utility that is used to help protect Rise of Nations. To resolve this issue, turn off the Audigy 2 splash screen. Also, if you play a DVD, restart your computer before you start Rise of Nations.
• Aureal Vortex
  
  When you try to play Rise of Nations with this sound card, Rise of Nations may not start or function in any way. To resolve this issue, turn off the Hardware Acceleration feature. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Click Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices, click Sounds and Audio Devices, and then click the Audio tab.
  3. In the Sound Playback pane, click Advanced.
  4. Click the Performance tab, and then drag the Hardware Acceleration slider bar to None.
  5. Click OK to close the Advanced Audio Properties window, and then click OK to close the Sounds and Audio Devices window.
  6. Quit Control Panel.
• SoundBlaster Live!
  
  When you try to play Rise of Nations with this sound card on a Windows XP-based computer, the game performance may be decreased. To resolve this issue, turn off the Hardware Acceleration feature. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Click Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices, click Sounds and Audio Devices, and then click the Audio tab.
  3. In the Sound Playback pane, click Advanced.
  4. Click the Performance tab, and then drag the Hardware Acceleration slider bar to None.
  5. Click OK to close the Advanced Audio Properties window, and then click OK to close the Sounds and Audio Devices window.
  6. Quit Control Panel.
• SoundBlaster Live! Wave
  
  When you try to play Rise of Nations with this sound card, the in-game sounds may only come from one speaker. To resolve this issue download and install the most recent drivers for this sound card. To do this, visit the following Web site:

  http://www.soundblaster.com

  Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.