If you have playtested your scenarios in AoE3 more than a few times, you would probably have noticed by now that going from the editor into Playtest mode is neither very fast nor easy. You have to click on the menu called "Scenario", and then select the submenu "Playtest Scenario", and then click the "Playtest" button, and then click "Ok".

Basically, going into Playtest mode is a tedious and inconvenient process.

When you're in playtest mode, I believe there is no option to immediately restart the playtest game, which makes playtesting dreadfully tedious and extremely tiring. Fortunately, there is a fast & easy way to Playtest, Restart, and Quit scenario, and that is by using hotkeys (or shortcut keys).

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How To Use These Hotkeys:

Step 1: Go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires III\startup
Step 2: Find the file named editor.con
Step 3: If you've never done any editing before, and this is scaring you... try to stay calm ! It's not very hard... trust me .

Step 4: Right-click on it, and select properties
Step 5: Uncheck the "Read-Only" box, then click OK (see below)

Step 6: Now, open your editor.con file (open it with any text program, such as text document)
Step 7: Take a deep breath . We're almost done.
Step 8: Copy and Paste in the following hotkey commands:

map ("control-t", "editor", "uiStartScenarioTest")
map ("control-r", "game", "restartCurrentGame")
map ("control-q", "game", "leaveGame")

Final Step: Click save, and voila! We're finshed .

In the editor, when you want Playtest your scenario, simultaneously press Control and t.
To restart, simultaneously press Control and r.
To quit, simultaneously press Control and q.

If there is anything unclear or you have any question about this, please let me know.