In the retail version, the same thing happens in both the regular and expansion. I bought this so I didn't have to enter the codes. It still crashes after I get main screen "play random map". I have dxdiag, tell me what else you need.
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System Information
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Time of this report: 2/2/2010, 22:24:53
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090804-1435)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model: M61P-S3
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory: 3584MB RAM
Page File: 405MB used, 5060MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: None
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

It gives module name "low-level-engine.dll". I'v looked for solutions on the net, nothing so far works. Anyone out there? No tech support after weeks of waiting from gog.

i got the same problem with low-level-engine.dll i can't even run the game crash after 1 sec in the intro movie
was hoping for an answer soon from gog myself

Hey guys, here are a couple of threads about EE and resolving the low-level-engine.dll problem:
[url=]http://www.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?action=ct&f=11,42,,all[/url]
[url=]http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-1878775.php[/url]
Hope it may help.

Changing hardware acceleration has no effect. I'll try the second one. Tech support finally reply after 6 months and 7 emails. :p
They can't duplicate it?? I said for them to contact microsoft tech support. I'm waiting for another email.

The other is designed for windows ME. It's won't work. I'm not buying any more games, until this problem is fixed.

After speaking with microsoft tech support for total of 8 hours, they couldn't fix it. Later I found out, the windows xp system files were corrupted. A few weeks after that, the winxp system crashed on boot. I had to reinstall the OS from blank partition. After that empire earth worked fine. :)