Maybe this site AoE heaven will help...
After installing it, click on the icon on the desktop or under the start menu and when it loads, click on the "play campiagn" or Random map. If it is a campiagn you will be given 3 or 4 choices on which to play, clickon the 1st one, and then press start or whatever, now it will give you instructions on what to do on this level, and at the bottom it has a menu for hints to the level or history, click on the start or whatever means "go" then you will be on the playing screen. Do what it told you to do on the instructions screen, here is the basics...
Click on the Town Center building and click the build villager button afew times the more you clcik it, the more villagers you get, but you will run out of food, which is the picture of meat in the upper left hand corner, one villager cost 50 food. Now select the villagers and build some houses, anywhere, one house can hold 5 people, I think. After you have built some houses then click on the villagers to go get wood, food or gold and stone.
To get a villager to do a task:
click on him, then right click on the trees, gold,stone or berry bush, or if abiulding needs repair from an attack you can also click a villager and right click on the building. After your bushes run out, you can build farms.
After that build a barracks, army people can be trained there, and make afew, maybe 5 or 6+
When you get enough rescources you can go to the next age, the ages are Stone,Tool,Bronze and Iron, each time the buildings get stronger, more nice and the units more powerful, but upgrading units cost rescources and at differant buildings upgrades do differnat things....
To upgrade to the next age:
Click on a Town Center and click on the icon by the picture at the bottom of the screen, this goes for all buildings with units that can be upgraded.
NOTE:This is the genral rules for city biulding, these rules may not be on the level you are playing.
Once you are to the Iron Age, the game goes no ferther, upgrade everything, and build atleast one of every building.
You will learn many things by playing over and over.
Here is the differance between a Campaign and Random Map and Death Match..
Campaign= historical campaigns form many nations
RM=A map, chosen at random on the specifications you chose, in the trial and in the real version you can play I think, 7 civilizations each with differant things, examples;;;;
Roman- Has very good seige
Carthage- Has poor seige
Roman- Has Juggernaughts as ships
Carthage- Has Fire Galleys
DM= You and the computer start out like RM just with many more resources.
Of the choices, Random Map is the most like Multiplayer, even in the demo.
Here, the link for the Age of Empires Heaven, Academy: http://www.heavengames.com/age/ac3 /
P.S. incase you don't know the differance of Age of Empires and the Rise of Rome, the Rise of Rome is the expansion pack with some new things in it Caesar Constantine ruler from the Nile to the Danube, from the Po to the Rhine, from the Mississippi to Toledo Bend, from Achafilia to the Pantchartrian
[This message has been edited by Caesar Constintine (edited 05-14-2000).]