Age of Empires :International Gaming Zones

1.What is International Gaming Zones?
IGZ or International Gaming Zone provides a client oriented method to play many online games(including Age of Empires).

2.How to Play Age of Empires?
First and foremost you need to sign up for an account with International Gaming Zones.Then you need to download the client.

3.Joining a game
After downloading the client provided from International Gaming Zones just connect using your username and pwd.Then join a lobby of your choice according to the type of game you want to play(RM,DM or CS).After you have joined a lobby,you will see many players already playing a game or waiting to launch a game.You can join any game of choice or host a game by clicking on quick host.

4.Ranking
When you start playing on International Gaming Zones you are given 1600 points.As you keep on losing or winning games points are added or subtracted according to the rating calculator.As you can see,different points are given for different types of games.The Best player in IGZ currently is L_Clan_Chris with 2504 points.

5.Connection Problems
Common connection problems encountered are
a)Firewall Problems:-If you have this type of problem then you cannot even connect to the International Gaming Zones.To tackle this check the ISP to see if it has an integrated firewall.If yes then disable it by contacting the ISP.Some anti-virus also consist of firewalls which can be configured in order to allow International Gaming Zones manually.

b)Launching Problems:-This problem occurs when you press the launch button of a game or when the game is not launched.It occurs due to non registered version of AoE or older version of AoE.Download the latest version of AoE i.e. AoE1.0e and launch the SETUPREG.EXE file to register the Age of Empires to your computer.

c)Unable to connect:-This problem occurs when the router through which you connect blocks the ports required open by Age of Empires.To solve this problem you need to know something called as port forwarding. You need to specifically know your router name and model to perform this.Once you get this info then go to portforward.comand identify your router model.Then select Age of Empires II and do as said by the site to open the specific ports.

d)Lag:-Lag either occurs due to a slow internet connection or busy connection due to downloading.Do not download anything else while playing and close unnecessary processes to tackle this problem.

e)Connection lost:-While playing the game might hang and you get disconnected to the other players.You should always choose the option save n exit or else you will lose points.This happens when you have lost your internet connection in between.

6.Why is it better than hamachi?
Unlike hamachi where you need to connect to a specific server to play a game,International Gaming Zones allows you simultaneous access to many lobbies.Also you can join a game of your choice and play with players of your level.The popularity of IGZ has steadily increased over the previous years with more than 1000 players playing at peak hours.

Any more queries regarding International Gaming Zones are most invited.

Age of Empires: Getting your hands wet(The Good Old Days)

This post is about one of my favourite pass times i.e. gaming.I first came across Age of Empires when I was in 10th standard.Those days one of the older versions of the game was in stores i.e.Age of Empires :The Rise of Rome.I was an amateur then and used to play the easiest level for hours.I didnt have any strategies then ;I just played because I liked to rule a civilization.What interested me was the characters;the villagers,the army and the navy.I just played,not to win but to rule,taking my time like any king building a beautiful kingdom.It was funny in a way that I wouldnt fell large amount of trees,I would leave some gold for future use and then build an extensive system of towers to protect my land and then finally, surround my kingdom with fortified walls.Then I would build a large structured army consisting of every unit in a balanced fashion.The next step would be sending a group of knights for spying purposes and then finally attack with a huge battalion.It was fun playing like that.I never knew then what were the special units and things like hit points and armour were alien to me.Played without any sense of counters and strengths.My games would go for hours and days.

But, my attitude towards Age of Empires changed when I came to college and saw how the game was to be played.I was amazed at the pace with which these people played,like pros;strategy ,counters,timing all were top class.The game would be finished within half an hour.Then I realized what was wrong with my game.
These days I am working a lot to improve upon my game.Here are my tips for improving upon your game in general:-

1.Recorded games:-Watching recorded games will help improve your game to a large extent.It helps you to know about what to do at what time ,the various strategies,the counters and the strengths.Also, record the games played by you for future reference so that you can go back to them to view your mistakes and take some tips from the opponent's game.Some of the good quality recs can be downloaded from this link aocgroup
Note:This game will run only in the 1.0e patch.You can download this patch from this Rapidshare link

2.Shortcuts or keywords:-Its a very good idea to know the keywords of the buildings,creating villagers and make them work.It not only improves your speed but gives you time to choose which thing you want to do at what time.The shortcuts can be found in the options of Age of Empires.

3.Timing:-This is probably the most important parameter of Age of Empires.You need to keep track at what time you do what.If the time doesnt appear in your game screen just press F11.See the recs and try to achieve the milestones in the fastest time.For example,with 25 vils the fastest time to reach feud is about 10:30 mins.

4.Strategy:-Strategy and planning also play a key role in Age of Empires.There are as such many strategies to follow but according to experts there are certain special strategies for certain civs.For more details visit this site http://www.salamyhkaiset.org/aoe2.An excellent site which has tutorials,strategies and even some videos for Age of Empires.

5.Practice:-Last but not the least;practice is a must for Age of Empires.First,just try to build a firm economy by achieving milestones.Play against easiest comp. for this.The next level would be attack.Try to do some experiment with special units and counters.I will talk about counters in detail later.

Thats it.You do these things over and over;then one day while watching an old rec of yours you will realise that your game has improved quite a lot.This is such a beautiful game that you can spend hours on just discussing it with your friends and never get tired trying new things.
Last thing I want to say is ,14.