Commands

Age of Empires Command Line Parameters

From Microsoft Support Knowledge Base, Article Q175347:

To add parameters to the command line in the Age of Empires shortcut, follow these steps:

If you are using Windows 95: Click Start, point to Settings, click Taskbar, click the Start Menu Programs tab, click Advanced, and then double-click Programs.
If you are using Windows NT: Right-click Start, click Open All Users, and then double-click Programs.
Double-click Microsoft Games, and then double-click Age of Empires.
Right-click the Age of Empires shortcut, click Properties, and then click the Shortcut tab.
In the Target box, type the name of the parameter after the existing command line text.
For example, if you add the parameters NoStartup and NoTerrainSound, the command line will read:
“C:\Programs\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires\Empires.exe” NoStartup NoTerrainSound

Parameters must be separated by a space; capitalization is not important.

The following are the command line parameters included in Age of Empires:

Parameter	Description
NoStartup	Skips all cinematic sequences before the game starts.
640, 800, 1024	Sets the screen resolution to 640×480, 800×600, or 1024×768. For example, 640 sets the screen resolution to 640×480, 800 sets the screen resolution to 800×600, and 1024 sets the screen resolution to 1024×768. You can also set the screen resolution using the Game Settings option on the Menu button during a game.
Mfill	Fixes horizontal line problem that may occur with some Matrox video adapter configurations.
NormalMouse	Replaces the custom mouse pointer with a standard mouse pointer.
NoSound	Turns off all sounds, except those played in cinematics.
NoTerrainSound	Turns off all terrain sounds.
NoMusic	Turns off all music.
Msync	Fixes lock-up problems that may occur with some SoundBlaster AWE configurations.
MidiMusic	Plays MIDI Music instead of Redbook Audio music from the Age of Empires compact disc.