DISCWORLD II WIN 95 PATCH #2 - 16 December 1996 ----------------------------------------------- Dear Discworld fan, Thank you for choosing to play Discworld II. We want you to see it running at its best on your machine. To this end we are still improving Discworld II - even after release. These improvements will be in the form of patch programs that automatically update your installed version of Discworld II. Hints on improving performance and troubleshooting will be updated in README.TXT files (such as this one). We had a lot of fun (and sleepless nights) making Discworld II. We hope you have a lot of fun (and sleepless nights) playing it! David Johnston Software Development Manager Perfect Entertainment Ltd. dijit@teeny.demon.co.uk Improvements in this patch -------------------------- This patch is designed to improve the performance of the Windows 95 version of Discworld II including: - Corrects movie synchronisation on specific machines where the sound can drift out of sync. Also improves performance of movies on slower machines. - Speeds up loading and playing of many scenes especially on low-memory machines. - Corrects the system registry so that the game will run from whatever drive you install it to (Simply install to the required drive then run this patch). Note ---- This patch replaces PATCH #1. You do NOT need patch number #1 to run this patch. Instructions ------------ Please install the Windows 95 version of Discworld II first. Run the patch program entitled DW2_WP2.EXE This will ensure your version is up-to-date and files correctly organised. ------------------------------------------------------------ Troubleshooting Hints -------------------- Q. Why won't Discworld II (Win 95) run if I install it to a drive other than C. A. The Windows installation program on early versions of Discworld II set a system "registry key" to "C" regardless of the drive it installed to. To correct this you need to change the registry key to point to the drive you did install Discworld II on (see below). Or you can simply run the patch program to correct it automatically. - Run 'regedit' from the 'Start' menu, 'Run' option. - Expand 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE' (click on the plus symbol) - Expand 'SOFTWARE' - Expand 'PERFECT Entertainment' - Select 'Discworld II' - Select 'Drive' in the right-hand window - Select 'Edit' then 'Modify' from the menu - Enter the new drive letter (where you installed Discworld II) - Close RegEdit and run Discworld II ------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. Why does the game (Windows only) pause briefly whenever Rincewind changes scale? A. The Windows installation program on early versions of Discworld II copied some files to the wrong place on your hard drive. If you move these files (see below) to the correct folder the momentary pauses will disappear. Or you can simply run the patch program to correct it automatically. n.b. this problem may only be visible on machines with the minimum specified amount of RAM. See also the following tip for speeding up CD access generally. - There is a folder called CACHE under the folder you installed Discworld II in. The installation program incorrectly copied 21 files (needed for faster access) into a folder called DW2 within the CACHE folder. Simply move the files back to the CACHE folder and the pauses should vanish. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. My CD ROM drive does not appear to be fast enough to run Discworld II properly. The sound cuts out briefly every now and then. How can I speed the game up on my machine? A. This is a tough one as it depends on the configuration of your machine. If you have a lot of free drive space you can move many files from the Discworld II CDs to your hard drive (see below). Discworld II still requires the presence of the CDs but will check the hard disk first before loading files, this will speed up the game significantly. - There is a folder called CACHE under the folder you installed Discworld II in. Most files can be copied here from the DW2 folders of either CD 1 or CD 2, however, some files (of the same name) are different on CD1 and CD 2. To cater for these specific files you can create folders under the CACHE folder called CD1 and CD2. The files in question relate to text and speech and have extensions of .SMP, .TXT and .IDX (see following hint for details). Any of these files from the DW2 folder of CD 1 can go in CD1 and those from the DW2 folder of CD 2 can go in CD2. n.b. To save space you only have to have files from the CD you are currently playing on your hard drive. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. I only want to copy some files from the CDs to my hard drive to speed it up. What are the various file types on the Discworld II CDs? A. To make your choice of files to copy easier here are some details of the more important file types on the Discworld II CDs. The CACHE folder is found within the folder you installed Discworld II. The CD1 and CD2 folders should be created within the CACHE folder (if required). File Type Description Should I copy to hard disk? Where to copy... --------- ----------- --------------------------- ---------------- .MUS Music data Reduces CD access significantly if CACHE folder copied to hard disk as music is read in regularly. Should improve scenes containing lots of sound effects. .SCN Code and graphics Scene load times reduced if copied to CACHE folder hard disk - no other benefit. n.b. some critical scenes are already copied to hard disk during installation. .CDP Graphic sequences Smoothes out brief pauses while CACHE folder loading extra graphics within a scene. .BMV 'B movies' Only copy to hard drive if the movies CACHE folder are playing badly or sound shuts off. Movie pre-load times are also reduced if the movies are copied. .SMP Speech/Sound FX Only copy to hard drive if you are CD1 or CD2 folder experiencing regular sound glitches. .IDX Speech index Loaded once only - can stay on CD. CD1 or CD2 folder .TXT Sub-title text Loaded once only - can stay on CD. CD1 or CD2 folder ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. Why is the sound in Discworld II distorting when running under Windows 95 on my Packard Bell PC? A. There may be a conflict with the 'Software Wave Table' feature of your sound card. Try turning the option off (See below). - Open the control panel (under 'setting' on the Start menu) - Open 'system' - Select 'Device Manager' - Expand 'Sound, video and game controllers' (click on the plus symbol) - Select 'Sound 16 SRS & Wave Table' - Click on the 'Properties' button - Select 'Settings' - De-select the option 'Software Wave Table Enabled' - Close the control panel windows and run Discworld II ---------------------------------------------------------------------- - End of README.TXT -