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Text File | 1995-10-25 | 27KB | 576 lines

============================================================================= Radix: Beyond The Void V1.0 On-Disk Troubleshooting and Technical Support (c) Copyright 1995 Epic MegaGames, Inc. ============================================================================= To play Radix: Beyond The Void, you'll need at least: * 486-33MHz or better CPU. * VGA graphics. * 4 megabytes of RAM. * A 14,400 baud modem for modem play. Radix also supports: * Sound Blaster and 100% compatible sound cards. * Gravis Ultrasound. * Joystick or Gravis PC Gamepad. * Mouse. We recommend the following to achieve the full Radix experience: * 486 DX2-66 or faster computer * Local bus VGA graphics * 8+ MB of RAM (more is better) * A Sound Blaster or 100% compatible sound card * Mouse and keyboard controls * A 14.4 or faster modem or an IPX network To play Radix for the first time, you must run the SETUP program. This is accomplished by the following: 1. Switch to the drive where the game is installed (C:) 2. Switch to the subdirectory where the game is installed (CD\RADIX) 3. Type SETUP. Please read the section "HOW TO SETUP RADIX" for exact information on setting up and configuring the game. Once you have setup the game, you can start playing by typing RADIX. NOTE: You only need to run the setup program the first time you play, or anytime you wish to re-configure your settings. ============================================================================= HOW TO SETUP RADIX ============================================================================= Select Sound Card ----------------- This option allows you to select the digital sound card to hear sound effects and music with in the game. You can select from a list of sound cards. If you do not have a sound card you can select none. Otherwise select the card that you have. If you are unsure what your sound card type is or it's compatibility, then try selecting SoundBlaster(tm). Once you have selected the sound card that you have, you must fill in the base address, IRQ and DMA of our sound card. The base address is the address the card is installed on. Most of the time this will be 220. The IRQ of most sound cards is either 7 or 5. Most newer cards are set to 5, and old cards at 7. If you are unsure of the settings try one of these. The DMA is which DMA you want your sounds to play through. Again if you are unsure, select 1. Most of the defaults in these menus are set so that they should work on the majority of standard sound cards. Gravis Ultrasound(tm) owners should note that if you only have 256k memory on the GUS, you probably won't get all of the sounds effects. This is because all of the sounds and music score can't fit in only 256k. Set Controller -------------- When selecting a controller to play Radix, you have several choices. You can use just the keyboard, the keyboard and the mouse or the keyboard with the joystick. Select which combination you would like to use. We HIGHLY recommend using the keyborad/mouse combination. Configure Controller -------------------- You can configure each of the three controller types individually. The keyboard, mouse and joystick can each be configured to act differently from their defaults. Configuring the Keyboard ------------------------ To configure the keyboard you can select which key performs each function. Certain keys are reserved and cannot be configured, examples are Tab, function keys, Esc, PgUp, PgDn etc. Simply move down the menu to the function you want to change, press enter, and then you will be asked to hit the new key to be assigned to that function. The functions you can change include ship movement, firing, acceleration, after burners, back view, and leveling. Configuring the Mouse --------------------- Configuring the mouse is similar to configuring the keyboard. You assign different mouse buttons to perform different functions. Simply move the cursor down to the function you want to change, press ENTER, and select the new mouse button to perform that function. Note that you must have your mouse driver installed to select new mouse functions. For an explanation of the "Auto Leveling" and "Reverse Flight Controls" options, see the sections below labeled "Auto Leveling" and "Reverse Flight Control" respectively. Configuring the Joystick ------------------------ The joystick configuration allows you to assign different buttons to different functions. It will support joysticks with up to four buttons such as the Gravis Gamepad(tm). For an explanation of the "Auto Leveling" and "Reverse Flight Controls" options, see the sections below labeled "Auto Leveling" and "Reverse Flight Control" respectively. Auto-Leveling ------------- In Radix, you can configure the leveling key. This is a key that allows you to momentarily toggle the auto-leveling of the ship. The default setup is that the ship will always level out unless the leveling key is pressed. This setup is recommended for keyboard or Gravis Gamepad control. There is an option called "Auto Leveling," which when set to OFF, will reverse the control such that the plane will not always level out, but will do so when you press the leveling button. This type of setup is recommended for mouse or joystick control. You do not have to worry about this option in the setup program because you can toggle this in the game by pressing F8. Reverse Flight Controls ----------------------- For joystick and mouse support, there is an option to reverse the flight controls from the default flight simulator control (when you pull back on the joystick, the plane pitch goes up) to the reverse where the plane pitch will go down when pulling back on the joystick. We recommend that you leave the Reverse Flight Controls option off, but it's a matter of personal preference. Configure Network/Modem ----------------------- You must select this option if you plan on playing modem/null modem games. See the sections about Configuring Modem and Configuring Null Modem respectively. Configuring the Network ----------------------- The only option you have under "Setting up Network" is changing the socket number that the game is running under. The only reason you might want to change the socket is if there is a conflict with another network program. For instance you get an error "Cannot open network socket." In this case everyone must go through and change the socket in the setup program. Any hexadecimal number between 4000h and 7FFFh is OK. If you don't know what hexadecimal is then a number between 4000 and 7999 is fine. In most cases you won't have to change this number. Configuring the Modem --------------------- First of all you have to fill in which Comm port your modem is on. If you don't know, check your modem to see which one it's set to (your modem documentation should help you do this). If you have an external modem and your mouse is on comm 1 then your modem is probably on comm 2 and vice-versa. Next select which speed you are going to run at. We suggest running at 38400. The options you have are 19200 and 38400. Don't worry about how fast your modem is, this is how fast your port is going to run. You should have at least a 14,400 baud modem. If you only have 9600 baud you can try with compression turned off but you may not have enough bandwidth to run Radix. Most modems are already set correctly, so all you should really require in the way of an init string is ATZ. You should turn on Error Correction and turn Data Compression of,f as doing so will help the game run smoother. NOTE: For most modems, ATZ is a sufficient init string. For USR Sportsters, AT &K0 seems to work best (data compression off) If the standard ATZ init string does not work properly and you don't know exactly how to set error correction and data compression, please consult your modem's manual. There are two additional options you can select. You can change the address and IRQ of your UART. The only reason you would want to do this is if your BIOS does not register them correctly. Most of the time you would only need to do this if you are running on COM3 or COM4. Check your term program for these settings. Configuring null modem ---------------------- Null modem setup is very similar to modem setup. You can select the Comm port and speed as well as the optional UART address and IRQ. ============================================================================= NOTES ON OPERATING SYSTEMS ============================================================================= Running with Windows --------------------- Radix does not work reliably under Windows 3.xx with sound on. Please run SETUP from DOS and select "No Sound Card" under setup if you need to run Radix from Windows. If you still have problems, exit Windows and run Radix from DOS. Radix should work under Windows 95 on most computers. However, if you have any problems running under Windows 95, you'll have to run Radix from MS-DOS Mode instead. If you are running Radix through Windows, make sure you change the keyboard configuration in the options menu, so the ALT and Shift keys will not be used. Windows has specific uses for the Alt key that may interfere with the game. You may also disable these functions in Windows, allowing Radix to use these keys. Running with OS/2 ----------------- Though Radix may work reliably under OS/2 on some computers, we don't recommend this because it might result in the game locking up. Please run Radix through DOS, instead. Multiplayer Note ---------------- When playing a multiplayer game of Radix, all players should be running Radix under the same operating system. Running under different operating systems may cause timing conflicts and/or lock-ups. ============================================================================= HOW TO BOOT YOUR COMPUTER CLEAN ============================================================================= If you're having problems running Radix, you might be able to get it up and running by "Booting your computer clean." By this, we mean starting your computer without loading all of the memory managers and device drivers that might interfere with the game. It's a relatively simple process, so please bear with us. If you have DOS 5.0 ------------------- Please skip this section if you have DOS 6.0 or later! You need to create a "boot disk" to allow you to start your computer without loading all the TSR's and memory managers that take away memory. Here's how. A. Put a blank disk in your A: drive and format it as a DOS disk. (Don't do this in your B: drive - it won't work!) To do this, type the following command: FORMAT A: /S B. Wait while your computer formats the disk. C. Label the disk "Boot Disk" and keep it handy. You'll need this disk whenever you want to start Radix. Now, you can reboot your computer and play Radix: A. Put the boot disk in your A: drive. B. Restart your computer, either by pressing CTRL-ALT-DELETE, by hitting your reset button, or by turning it on. C. Wait while your computer boots from the boot disk. D. After a little while, your computer will stop and give you the A> prompt. E. Now change to your hard disk by typing "C:". F. Go into the Radix directory by typing "CD \RADIX". G. Begin by typing "RADIX". If you have DOS 6.0 or later ---------------------------- MS-DOS 6.00 and greater has a special built-in function that makes it very easy to boot your computer clean. When first booting your computer, MS-DOS will display the message "Starting MS-DOS...". When you see this message, hit your F5 key. This will bypass your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS thereby allowing your computer to boot without memory managers and TSRs. Now change into the RADIX directory and begin the game. ============================================================================= COMMON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS ============================================================================= General Problems ---------------- If the computer dumps you to the command line and gives you an error message, see the section below describing these messages. PROBLEM: I can't seem to get ANYTHING on the screen. I type Radix and the system "hangs." What now? SOLUTION: Make sure you have the system requirements mentioned earlier in the manual. If you do, you may have TSR's that conflict with Radix. Remove the TSR's and try running Radix with a "clean boot" from a DOS diskette. Also try running Radix without sound, to determine if there is a sound-related conflict. PROBLEM: Radix runs slowly on my 386 or 486 computer and sometimes gets very "choppy." What can I do? SOLUTION: Your computer or VGA card isn't as fast as the game would like. You can speed up the game by changing the Detail setting to a lower value and/or decreasing the view size (for full-screen mode) by pressing the PAGE DOWN key. Note that the Cockpit view causes the greatest slowdown, so this view is only recommended on fast (486-66 local bus or Pentium) computers. Also see the section near the end of this document called "OPTIMAL RUNNING." PROBLEM: I can't find any way to recalibrate my joystick. How do I do that? SOLUTION: The joystick will automatically prompt you to recalibrate if the calibration is off, or if you do something which invalidates the calibration (such as change joysticks from a gamepad to a flight stick). If you must recalibrate though, you can hold the joystick to one side during Radix's startup procedure - this should "invalidate" the current calibration and force you to recalibrate the joystick. PROBLEM: My computer locks up or times out during modem games. SOLUTION: Here are a few possible causes and solutions: 1. Make sure both players are running under the same operating system. If you experience problems under Windows, reboot into a DOS session. 2. Make sure that "call waiting" is disabled. If the phone line you are using has call waiting and receives an incoming call while you are playing, you will be disconnected. To disable call waiting, you can type *70 in front of the number you are dialing (Note that only the "dialing" person can disable call waiting.) 3. Your modem may not be fast enough to keep Radix in sync. Radix requires a 14.4 connection or faster. Sound Problems -------------- PROBLEM: When I start the game, I hear music for just a short time, but then it cuts off. SOLUTION: You have chosen an incorrect soundcard IRQ. Please re-run the setup program and verify your IRQ setting. You may want to consult that manual that came with your soundcard for information on figuring out the correct setting. The most command IRQ settings are 5 and 7. PROBLEM: I don't here any sound at all when I play Radix. SOLUTION: During your sound card selection, you must have chosen an incorrect IRQ and/or DMA channel. Please re-run the setup program and select the proper settings. You may want to consult your soundcard manual for details on figuring out the correct settings. PROBLEM: When I run the program, it does not recognize my soundcard. SOLUTION: This problem can be caused by 1 of 3 things: 1. You may have selected the wrong soundcard IO port address. You must re-run the setup program and verify that you have selected the proper address. You may want to consult your soundcard manual for details on figuring out the correct base address. Also, if you are using a Sound Blaster 16 or Sound Blaster compatible card, please ensure that the proper drivers are loaded in your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. 2. You have selected the wrong soundcard. For instance, you may have selected a Sound Blaster 16 when you have a Gravis Ultrasound. 3. If you are using a Sound Blaster clone, you must choose only the regular Sound Blaster as your soundcard in the setup program. If this problem persists, your Sound Blaster clone may not be 100% register level compatible. PROBLEM: I can only hear the sound effects. SOLUTION: If you are using a Gravis Ultrasound, you must have chosen an improper sound card IRQ. Please, re-run the setup program and verify your IRQ. You may want to consult your soundcard manual for information on figuring out the correct settings. If you are not using a Gravis Ultrasound, you must have your Music Volume turned down too low. Use the in-game option to increase your Music Volume. PROBLEM: I hear music, but it skips like a broken record. SOLUTION: Sometimes this proble occurs on slower systems running in Windows 95. Try rebooting into an MS-DOS MODE to correct the problem. ============================================================================= SOUND CARD NOTES ============================================================================= Since new models of sound cards are always being manufactured and revised, sometimes a new sound card will come out that's not compatible with Radix. To determine whether you are having a sound-related conflict, try setting up Radix for "No Sound Card" or run Radix by typing: RADIX -NOSOUND If Radix works without sound, but locks up with sound on, chances are that you are having a sound-related conflict. Here's how to contact the top sound card makers for information about sound card problems and obtaining the latest driver files. Company Sound Card Phone BBS CompuServe GO ------------- ------------------ ------------ ------------ ------------- Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum 800-638-2807 510-770-0527 MultiVen (12) Creative Labs Sound Blaster 405-742-6622 405-742-6660 Blaster Gravis Ultrasound 604-431-1708 604-431-5927 PcVenB (14) ============================================================================= ERROR MESSAGES ============================================================================= Memory Error Messages --------------------- Here are some common memory error messages and the solutions to resolve them. Just a quick note about "low memory" situations. Many DOS programs require you to have a relatively large amount of DOS memory (<640k) available to run. They also may require EMS to be loaded, etc. Radix does not require any memory related drivers to be run. In fact, if you have DOS 6.00 or greater, you can just hold down the F5 key when booting (see "Booting Your Computer Clean," above), load your mouse driver and run Radix. See the section on optimal running of Radix found below. > Memory Error: (InitMemory) Not enough memory available. This error is due to the fact that Radix cannot allocate enough memory to run properly. There are 2 memory sizes printed above this error message: high memory available and low memory available. These two must add up to be at least 1,250,000 bytes to run radix properly. This does not mean that you can run Radix with 1.25 Mb of memory; Radix requires 4Mb of RAM, and the values printed are residual memory available for each level. To free up more memory, you can try to create a boot diskette where only those drivers required to run Radix are loaded in. See the section on "Booting Clean." > Memory Error: (Malloc) [###] Failed on allocation of * bytes. If you encounter an error of this type it most probably means that the high memory available and low memory available is really close to 1.25 Mb and that there is not enough memory available in either the low block or the high block to allocate memory. The solution to this is to free up more memory by creating a boot diskette with only those drivers required to play radix to be loaded. See the section on "Booting Clean." Common Error Messages --------------------- > Error: (InitJoy) Joystick Calibration Failure. This error is caused by an improper calibration of the joystick. There may be a number of causes. Here is a list of items to check if you encounter this error. 1. Make sure your joystick is plugged firmly into the gameport. 2. Check the vertical/horizontal fine-tuning adjusters found on many joysticks. These adjusters should be centered, if they are far off to one side, this error will occur. 3. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully when calibrating the joystick. 4. If you have a Gravis gamepad, make sure that if the "left/right hand" switch is in the right hand position, that you are holding the gamepad upside-down. > Error: (LoadGame) CRC Failure! Level not compatible! This error occurs when you try to load a game when the level that you have saved under has changed! This could only occur if you modify the resource file or add an external resource file. DO NOT phone for technical assistance if you have modified your resource file or added and external resource file. Multiplayer Error Messages -------------------------- > NET ERROR: (Fatal) Cannot open IPX socket. This error is an indication that the default IPX socket is being used by another network program. If this occurs, change the socket value in the setup program. > Malformed Packet, Bad Checksum, Bad Packet Errors These are network/modem based errors indicating that there was a problem with the connection. If you are using a modem connection, try changing your init string to have error correction on and data compression on. Resource Error Messages ----------------------- > Error: (GameInit) Cannot read resource file. This error is usually caused by running radix.exe while outside of the directory containing radix.dat. Change your directory prior to running radix.exe to the Radix game directory. If this problem persists, see the comment below. If you get an error message starting with "Resource Error:", this usually means that there is a problem with the RADIX.DAT resource file. If you have any of these errors and suspect corruption of radix.dat, try running CHKDSK /f. If any lost clusters or cross-linked entries involved radix.dat, you should re-install the game. ============================================================================= OPTIMAL RUNNING ============================================================================= This section discusses the optimum memory/machine configuration for Radix. Radix uses Rational System's DOS extender, so it is usually not necessary to free up DOS memory by loading drivers, etc to high memory. If you want to create a boot diskette, or optimize your system config, here is what you should consider: 4Mb Machine ----------- 1. Do not run Smartdrv. Running Smartdrv will speed up the loading process of the game, but it will steal memory that the game requires. If you have more than 4Mb, say 6Mb, you can try a 512K Smartdrv that will increase loading time performance dramatically. 2. Do not run EMM386 or QEMM. The expanded memory manager will consume memory and will also deteriorate the performance of the game. 3. Load a mouse driver. It does not have to be loaded high. 4. Load any sound drivers required. 8Mb+ Machine ----------- 1. Run at least a 512K smartdrv. This will dramatically improve the loading of the game and each level. We have found that a 512K to 1Mb Smartdrv is a good balance for an 8 meg machine. On most 8Mb machines, Smartdrv defaults to 2Mb. To switch this to 1Mb, change your AUTOEXEC.BAT to have SMARTDRV.EXE 1024. 2. The more memory the better! :) ============================================================================= VERSION HISTORY ============================================================================= Version 1.0 (10/30/95): First public release (registered and shareware) NOTE: The registered and shareware versions are not compatible with each other for multiplayer games. All players must have the same version of Radix to play a multiplayer game. ============================================================================= CONTACTING EPIC'S TECH SUPPORT ============================================================================= If you need further assistance, please call our tech support department: In the USA: voice: 301-983-9771 fax: 301-299-3841 In the Europe: voice: +44 (0) 1767-260903 fax: +44 (0) 1737-262043 In Germany: voice: 0130 822887 fax: 0130 822886 You can also contact us online: CompuServe: GO EPIC WorldWide Web: http://www.epicgames.com/ Internet Mail: help@epicgames.com Internet FTP: ftp.uml.edu Internet News: We answer questions in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action America Online: We answer questions posted in the PCGames (keyword) area MicroSoft Network: We answer questions in the Computer Game Forum GEnie: We answer questions in the Games Roundtable EXEC-PC BBS Contact: Epic MegaGames 2400 Baud: 414-789-4210 14.4K Baud: 414-789-4360 ============================================================================= Epic's Email list: To subscribe to Epic's email list and receive late-breaking news from Epic every month or so, just send an Internet message to list@epicgames.com with the subject: SUBSCRIBE EPIC ============================================================================== That's all. Enjoy playing Radix: Beyond The Void ==============================================================================