This readme text contains supplemental information not found in the manual. Some of the information you find may address questions that arise when you play the game. 1.0 3D Accelerators 1.1 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo Rush 1.2 Matrox Mystique, Millennium, and m3D 1.3 Rendition Vérité V1000 1.4 Other 3D Accelerators 2.0 Resolution Setting 3.0 Multi-Player 3.1 Internet Play 3.2 Serial Connection 1.0 3D Accelerators All graphics cards which support DirectX should function with the game in non-accelerated mode. Using a 3D accelerator greatly improves performance and visuals of a game. Refer to the manual on enabling Direct3D acceleration. Accelerators with chipsets supported in the game are: * 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics * 3Dfx Voodoo Rush * Matrox Mystique * Rendition Verite V1000 Cards based on the PowerVR chipset will also function acceptably in accelerated mode. 1.1 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo Rush If you experience crashes during gameplay or when you exit a competition, you may have 3Dfx drivers that are incompatible with the game. Download the latest Direct3D drivers from 3Dfx's or your accelerator manufacturer's web sites and install the drivers. 1.2 Matrox Mystique and Millennium Direct3D acceleration is supported for the Matrox Mystique but since the Mystique does not support alpha blending and bilinear filtering, you won't get transparencies and smoothed textures. If you are experiencing problems with the game using the Mystique, download the latest drivers from Matrox's web site and install the drivers. The game does not support the Matrox Millennium in Direct3D acceleration because the Millennium lacks key 3D features the game requires for acceleration. 1.3 Rendition Verite V1000 If the game crashes when you enter a competition or change the game resolution, you may have old drivers installed for your 3D accelerator. To fix this problem, download the latest drivers from Rendition's or your accelerator manufacturer's web site and install the drivers. 1.4 Other 3D Accelerators The game only supports 3Dfx, Matrox Mystique, and Rendition chipsets. All other 3D accelerator chipsets are not guaranteed to work. It is NOT recommended that you play the game in Direct3D accelerated mode for unsupported cards. If you experience corrupted graphics, erratic gameplay, or lockups, disable 3D acceleration using the configuration program which launches when the CD is inserted. 2.0 Resolution Setting Choosing the highest resolution setting can give the game a crisper, cleaner look, but it requires more memory and processing time. At high resolutions, you may notice the following: * Slow frame rates and choppy sound High resolutions definitely take a large percentage of your CPU's processing time. If you see a turtle at the bottom-left portion of the gameplay screen, the frame rate is less than 12 frames per second. If you experience slow frame rates, you should decrease the screen size or lower the resolution setting. At high resolutions, you may also experience choppy sound. Lower the resolution setting to restore the sound. * Blurry, lower quality textures Higher resolutions require more memory, which leaves less room for textures in modes which use 3D accelerators. Therefore, at high resolutions, the quality of textures lessens due to lack of texture memory. Decrease the resolution to increase texture quality. 3.0 Multi-Player Multi-player game sessions can be played through LAN, modem, and serial connections. However, many factors influence the performance of multi-player games. Slow frame rates seriously affect performance. Listed are recommendations that may increase the performance of your multi-player game. * The host should have the fastest computer. * Modem and serial connections should connect at a rate of 28,000 bps or higher. * Ensure that participating players have matching modem or serial connection settings. * Decrease screen size, detail level, and resolution setting to increase frame rate. * Select the Typical installation type during install (if you have the available hard drive space) to decrease load time. * Close programs running in the background like anti-virus programs. 3.1 Internet Play It is possible to play a multi-player game session over the Internet through your ISP with your modem and TCP/IP protocol. However, it is not advisable that you play through the Internet with a modem connection due to possible Internet latency; since the game has a relatively high packet rate, you may experience dropped packets which will adversely affect your game session. 3.2 Serial Connection If you are playing a multi-player game session serially with a null modem cable, make sure that you and your human opponent have the same serial connection settings. Ensure that in the settings you DON'T have flow control set to XOn/XOff. The computers will fail to recognize each other and a connection will not be established.