------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------ POPULOUS(TM): THE BEGINNING README DEMO VERSION ------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------ Table of Contents ----------------- I INSTALLATION I.I System Requirements I.II Running the Demo I.III Main Menu I.IV Uninstalling the Demo I.V Winning and Losing II DIRECT3D VERSION - TROUBLESHOOTING II.I General II.II 3DFX Voodoo(TM)1/ Voodoo2 (TM) based boards II.III PowerVR(TM) PCX2 based cards (Matrox(R) m3D, Videologic Apocalypse 3DX/5D) II.IV Riva 128(TM) based cards (ASUS 3DexPlorer 3000, Canopus Total3D 128V, Diamond Viper(TM) V330,etc.) II.V ATI Rage Pro based cards (ATI XPERT@WORK, ATI XPERT@PLAY, ATI XPERT 98, etc.) III DIRECT3D VERSION - SUPPORTED CHIPSETS I INSTALLATION -------------------- I.I System Requirements --------------------------- Minimum Configuration: Windows(R) 95 P133 16MB RAM DirectX 6.0 Recommended Configuration: Windows(R) 95 or 98 P200 16MB RAM DirectX 6.0 Direct3D compliant video card I.II Running the Demo ------------------------ To play the demo, you must have first installed DirectX v6.0 or higher. This is available from the Microsoft(R) Web site, www.microsoft.com. To run the demo, go to Start->Programs\Bullfrog\Populous Demo\Populous Demo. When you first run Populous: The Beginning, you will be asked to select either the Direct 3D hardware or software version of the demo. If you have a 3D accelerator card capable of running Populous, select the hardware option, otherwise select the software version. NB if you have an ATI Rage Pro based card (XPERT@WORK, XPERT@PLAY, XPERT 98, All-in-Wonder Pro) you are advised to run the software version (see II.V). I.III Main Menu ----------------- -New Game Begin the demo. There are three Single Player Levels for you to enjoy. -Tutorial We recommend that all first-time players play the Tutorial to familiarise themselves with the game. -Load Game Loads a previously saved game -Multiplayer There is one two-player multiplayer map for you to play over a network or the Internet. -Options The Options Menu. -Rolling Demo Begins a short rolling demo of the game. -Quit Exits to Windows I.IV Uninstalling the Demo ----------------------------- To uninstall the demo, go to Start->Programs\Bullfrog\Populous Demo\Uninstall Populous Demo I.V Winning and Losing -------------------------- To win through and conquer each world, you must carefully follow the objectives stated in the briefing. On some worlds, you may have to simply destroy the opposition, while on others you may just have to perform some actions without being destroyed yourself. Losing, though, is another matter. If all your followers are killed and the Shaman dies, you will lose the world and the game. This is because you have no people-generated mana flowing to you and your Reincarnation Site will be powerless. PLEASE READ GUIDE.TXT FOR MORE INFORMATION ON POPULOUS: THE BEGINNING II DIRECT 3D VERSION - TROUBLESHOOTING ------------------------------------------- II.I General --------------- Most problems in the Direct3D version are a result of having out of date drivers for your 3d card. If you have a problem, try updating your display drivers first. You can usually obtain the latest drivers from your 3d card vendor's web page or by contacting their technical support directly. If this doesn't solve the issue, read on. - I get a message saying a 3d device with the required capabilities could not be found even though I have a 3d card! If your card is not supported (check the 'Supported 3d Chipsets' list below) you will have to run the software version by selecting the 'Select Software or Hardware' option in the Populous folder of the Start Menu. If your card is supported, but it still says this, first make sure you have the correct 3d device selected (see below). Then make sure you have the latest drivers for that device. - I have two 3d cards in my machine, how do I select between them? After running Populous: The Beginning, go into the 'Options' menu, then the 'Graphics' options and then go into the 'D3D Options'. In this page, you can left-click on the device selection to select the appropriate device. The 'primary' device is the one that Windows uses. A 'secondary' device is an add-on card, like a 3DFX Voodoo 1 card. Note that if your primary 3d device doesn't have the required features, you won't be able to select it. - After I run Populous: The Beginning, a message tells me that I do not have enough video memory to support the lowest resolution. Can I get it to work? Unless you have another 3D card in your machine, you will have to run the software version. If you do have another 3D card in your machine, select it as detailed above. Alternatively you can upgrade your 3D card or upgrade the memory on your existing 3D card. - The text in messages, Tooltips etc. is very unclear. It appears 'different' from the software version. This is most likely a problem with the driver your 3d card is using. Obtaining and installing the latest driver for your 3d card vendor should cure the problem. If you have a Riva 128 based board (e.g. Diamond Viper 330, STB Velocity 128, etc.), you must make sure you have the latest driver. If you have a Rendition 2200 based board (e.g. Thriller 3D) you must make sure you have the latest driver and bios update if that is what Rendition suggest (see their web page, or contact their technical support) - The 3D version seems slower than the software version. This can be true for certain 3d accelerators, or it could be true simply because you have a slow 3d card in a very fast machine. Just use the software version, if this is the case. II.II 3DFX Voodoo1/ Voodoo2 based boards ----------------------------------------- Voodoo 1 based boards are : Diamond Monster 3D, Orchid Righteous, etc. Voodoo 2 based boards are : Diamond Monster 3D II, Orchid Righteous II, Creative Voodoo Blaster 2, etc. - I get thin lines appearing on the landscape texture. This is a problem with revision 2.13 and 2.14 of the Voodoo1 drivers. Update your the drivers for your Voodoo 1 board. If the latest drivers from your board vendor do not fix the problem, you might have to install the latest drivers from 3DFX (see their web page, http://www.3dfx.com) AT THE TIME OF WRITING,THE LATEST DIAMOND AND LATEST ORCHID DRIVERS DO NOT FIX THIS PROBLEM. INSTALL THE LATEST 3DFX DRIVERS WHICH YOU CAN OBTAIN FROM THE 3DFX WEB PAGE. - I get 'hangs' which occur every so often. How can I fix this? This might be due to the frame-rate independent mouse pointer support. Try running with the command line option '-frameratemouse' (you can do this by creating a shortcut to the executable of Populous: The Beginning, and placing -frameratemouse at the end of the Target field in its properties page) This may make the mouse pointer seem less responsive, but will hopefully cure the problem. Alternatively, you can just run the software version. - I have a Voodoo1 but can't change resolution to 800x600, although I can in the software version! Voodoo 1 based boards cannot physically do 800x600 with zbuffering, and Populous uses zbuffering. If you want this resolution badly, run the software version. II.III PowerVR(TM) PCX2 based cards (Matrox(R) m3D, Videologic Apocalypse 3DX/5D) - I get a crash when I exit the game or at some other time This problem was only discovered during last minute testing, and will not appear in the final game. If you find this happening, you are well advised to run the software version. - I see polygons appear on the user-interface This a problem with the sorting of translucent polygons by the driver. Again, if you experience this, you can run the software version. II.IV Riva 128 based cards (ASUS 3DexPlorer 3000, Canopus Total3D 128V, Diamond Viper V330,etc.) - My text looks a bit funny, it doesn't look the same as software version. Update your drivers to the latest from your vendor. If this does not cure the problem, try installing the NVidia drivers (see their web page : http://www.nvidia.com) - The landscape looks all 'mixed up'. Some of the sea is on the mountains and vice-versa! See above. If this doesn't cure the problem, run the software version. II.V ATI Rage Pro based cards (ATI XPERT@WORK, ATI XPERT@PLAY, ATI XPERT 98, All-in-Wonder Pro) - The messages do not appear transparent like they do in the software version. Also, when people are made invisible, they do not appear 'ghosted' Some cards containing this chipset do not get detected properly and as a result this problem occurs. If this happens, run the software version. This will not happen in the final game. III DIRECT3D VERSION - SUPPORTED CHIPSETS ---------------------------------------------- The following chipsets are supported in the demo version. Note that the full version will support even more chipsets. To know if your card is supported you have to know what chipset is on the card. It might be listed below, however. Even though your card's chipset is not listed as supported, it might still work! SUPPORTED Chip Maker Chipset Name(s) 3D Cards which have these ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 3DFX Voodoo 1 Canopus Pure 3D Orchid Righteous Diamond Monster 3D etc. Voodoo 2 Creative Blaster Voodoo 2 Orchid Righteous II Diamond Monster 3D II, etc. etc. Voodoo Rush(TM) Intergraph Intense 3D, etc. 3Dlabs Permedia 2 Creative Graphics Blaster Extreme Diamond FireGL 1000 Pro etc. ATI Rage Pro ATI XPERT@WORK ATI XPERT@PLAY ATI XPERT 98 All-in-Wonder Pro etc. Intel(R) 740 ASUS V2740 Diamond Stealth(TM) II G460 Real3D Starfighter STB System Lightspeed 740 Terminator 2x/i etc. Matrox(R) G200 Millenium G200/Mystique G200/Marvel G200 NEC PowerVR PCX2 Matrox m3D Videologic Apocalypse 3Dx Videologic Apocalypse 5D / 5D Sonic etc. Nvidia(R) Riva 128 / 128 ZX ASUS 3DexPlorer 3000 Canopus Total3D 128V Canopus WitchDoctor Diamond Viper V330 etc. Riva TNT Canopus SPECTRA 2500 Diamond Viper V550 STB Velocity 4400 etc. Rendition 2100/2200 Diamond Stealth II S220 Hercules Thriller 3D/Conspiracy etc. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- UNSUPPORTED Chip Maker Chipset Name(s) 3D Cards which have these ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 3Dlabs Permedia Deltron Technology RealVision Power 3DGL Permedia NT Diamond FireGL 1000 ATI 3D Rage 3D Xpression 3D Rage II+ 3D Pro Turbo PC2TV 3D Xpression + PC2TV All-in-Wonder etc. Cirrus Logic Laguna3D/3D-A Videologic GrafixStar 550/560 Creative Graphics Blaster 3D etc. Matrox MGA 1064/1164/2164 Matrox Mystique/ Millennium / Millennium II Matrox Productiva G100 NEC PowerVR PCX1 PowerVR Apocalypse 3D Number Nine Ticket to Ride Number Nine Revolution 3D Rendition 1000 Canopus Total3D Creative 3D Blaster Sierra Screamin' 3D Intergraph Intense 3D 100 etc. S3 Virge Diamond Stealth 2000 etc. Virge DX Stealth 3D 3000 etc. Virge GX STB Nitro 3D etc. Virge GX2 Number Nine 9FX Reality 334 etc. Virge VX Stealth 3D 3000 STB Velocity 3D etc. Chromatic Research Mpact2 3DVD STB Nitro 3D Diamond DVD Kit etc. Software (c) 1998 Bullfrog Productions Ltd. Bullfrog and Populous, are trademarks or registered trademarksof Bullfrog Productions Ltd. in the United States and/or other countries.Bullfrog is an Electronic Arts company. Electronic Arts and the Electronic Arts logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts in the United States and / or other countries. All rights reserved. © 1998 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. Voodoo Rush, Voodoo 2, Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. in the USA and in other select countries. All rights reserved. Diamond Stealth is a trademark of SPEA Software GMBh. Matrox is a registered trademark of Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. Microsoft is either a trademark or registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Nvidia is a registered trademark of Nvidia Corporation."PowerVR" and the "PowerVR Ready" logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of VideoLogic Ltd. (UK). All rights reserved. Used with permission and under license by NEC.Riva 128 is a trademark of SGS-Thomson Microelectronics, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.