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Text File | 1994-11-30 | 28KB | 520 lines

░░▒▒▓▓██ BOPPIN v1.0 ON-DISK TECHNICAL SUPPORT ██▓▓▒▒░░ Copyright 1994 - Accursed Toys Distributed by Apogee Software Ltd. P.O. Box 496389 ■ Garland, TX 75049 ■ Hints line: (214) 278-5655 ================== A NOTE FROM APOGEE ================== This game is an intellectual product of Accursed Toys, and the developers who work for that company. There are images within this game that do not reflect the judgement and game design philosophy of Apogee, namely the Accursed Toys' bloody teddy bear logo, and the suicide animations of the two main characters. We apologize if you find these images offensive and out of place for a puzzle game. =================== SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS =================== ■ Boppin requires MS/DOS 5.0 or greater. It also requires a 386 computer with a minimum of 2 megabytes of memory. A sound card is also recommended. The list of Sound cards supported in Boppin are: Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro, Sound Blaster 16, Sound Blaster AWE32, Roland Sound Canvas, Ensoniq SoundScape, Gravis UltraSound, Pro Audio Spectrum 16, Logitech SoundMan 16, WaveBlaster, Adlib, Disney/Tandy Sound Sources, and any General MIDI device. NOTE: If you have a Gravis UltraSound, this game requires you have your IRQ set to either 7 or less. The GUS default is 11, and that IRQ is not supported at this time. ======================== BEFORE RUNNING THIS GAME ======================== ■ This game is not designed to be run under MicroSoft Windows. Windows takes up far too many system resources that our programs require for efficient and proper operation. When running this program, DO NOT LAUNCH FROM WINDOWS. Run it directly from DOS. If you are in the Windows environment, quit Windows and then run the program. (NOTE: Using the MS/DOS Icon does not exit you from Windows. That is a shell from Windows. You need to completely close down the Program Manager to totally exit from Windows. To test this, type the word exit. If nothing happens, then you're at the DOS prompt. If you return to Windows, then you were only shelled.) ■ Any kind of menu program such as Dos Shell will most likely cause problems. We recommend running our programs completely from the DOS prompt. To test this, enter the word "exit". If nothing at all happens, then you are completely at the dos prompt, and not "shelled" from anything else. If you type exit, and return to another program (such as Windows or the MS/DOS Shell), then you need to completely exit the program that you returned to before attempting to run Boppin. ■ Boppin is a protected mode game, which means that it doesn't really care about how much conventional memory you have, it looks at your TOTAL memory. Boppin requires a minimum of 2 meg of memory, but 4 megs is really recommended. If you only have two meg of memory total on your computer, you will have to boot clean in order to get the game running. Read further on in this file for a more detailed explanation of what a protected mode program is. ■ As with all of our other shareware games, Apogee encourages the copying of the shareware episode to hand out to friends. That's how shareware works! However, if you give a copy of the shareware episode to a friend, please make sure to delete the BOPPIN.CFG file before doing so. This file contains information that is specific to your computer, and if you run it on the new computer with your config file, your friend will run into problems! ==================== BOPPIN DETAILED HELP ==================== ■ Apogee strongly recommends that before you make any suggested changes to either your hardware or software setup, that you consult your manuals to make sure that any changes will not irreparably alter your computer, or its configuration. Modifying your system or software can be dangerous, and we will be unable to assist with any resulting problems from such alterations. ■ If your copy of Boppin locks up, you may wish to check some settings in your CMOS configuration. If any of these are on, then switch them off: Hidden Refresh, Hardware Video Shadowing, Turbo Switching. Also, if you have this one, make sure it is enabled: HD1 Block Mode. ■ If you have a Diamond SpeedStar video card, disable Zero Wait State. ■ If you hear static when you are playing with a Sound Blaster or compatible card, make sure to turn the MIC and LINE volumes to zero. Your card may be seeing input from these, and it would cause static. (For a Sound Blaster Pro, this program is SBP-SET; see your card's manual for precise instructions on how to do this.) If you still continue to hear static after doing this, try disconnecting any parallel port devices. IRQ5 and IRQ7, which are used by sound cards, are often frequently used by printers as well. If you have both plugged in, it may cause static, and poor sound performance. ■ If you are running a Compaq computer, and the game tells you that you do not have a VGA card, and you know for a fact that you do, or you experience lockups, this is what you'll need to do. You'll need to contact Compaq for an update. The reason for this is that Compaq has some video cards that do not conform to all proper detection methods. There is a device driver available from Compaq that will fix this problem. The driver's name is FINDVGA.SYS. Compaq does have this file available for download on their BBS with the filename SP0117.ZIP. ■ If you notice the game running slowly on your system, here are a few suggestions on improving game performance. » Disable your disk cache. Boppin does its own internal caching, and sometimes external caches such as SmartDrive can get in the way, and slow things down. » Disable your upper memory manager (QEMM, 386Max, EMM386, etc). Since Boppin is a protected mode game, the services of these programs are not needed. If you only have 2 (or 4) meg of ram, this may be necessary to get your game to run in the first place. » Try reducing the amount of digital channels in the setup program. Some system configurations have problems with having Boppin set for higher than 4 digital channels. ■ If you are running a compressed drive such as DoubleSpace or Stacker, this can also cause problems. Boppin has been tested under MS-DOS's new DriveSpace, and it does work. It also has been tested under Stacker (v3.0, v3.1, & v4.0), and it works there, too. However, we have logged an incompatibility with MicroSoft's old DoubleSpace compression utility. If you are running DoubleSpace, it most likely will not work for you. To try and get it running, move Boppin to an uncompressed portion of your hard drive, and do not load your compressed disk driver in your config.sys and/or autoexec.bat files. That should also help. It may be possible to totally bypass the driver during the boot-up process (depending on which version of DOS, and which driver you're running). See your manuals for information on how to boot without your driver (if possible). ============================ HOW TO USE THE SETUP PROGRAM ============================ Before you run Boppin, you must run the setup program. This is a separate program that cannot be called from within Boppin; so all changes must be made outside the game. This program lets you set up your sound card settings for both music and sound effects. Since this is the only thing you can change in the setup program, you should never need to run this game again unless you alter your sound card settings, or change sound cards in your computer. When you run the program, it will first ask you for what sound device you wish to use for sound effects. Move the arrows to your selection, and then press enter. Next, you'll be asked to select the device you will be using for music. Again, move with the arrows, and press enter when you get to the sound card in the list that you have in your computer. Once you've done that, it's time to get hoppin' and play Boppin! ============================== BOPPIN COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS ============================== There are no command line parameters that are available in Boppin. Anything that you would need to alter in the way of Game parameters can be altered either with the setup program, or via one of the options on the game menus. ==================================== HOW TO GET BOPPIN RUNNING UNDER OS/2 ==================================== Unfortunately, Apogee has been unable to get this game running under OS/2 v2.11. (It was not tested under Warp) Our OS/2 guru at Apogee was unable to come up with settings that would allow it to run. If you happen to get the game running under either OS/2 v2.11 or OS/2 Warp v3, please contact Apogee at one of the electronic mail addresses mentioned at the bottom of this document. We would be very eager to hear from you. ======================================= HOW TO GET BOPPIN RUNNING UNDER WINDOWS ======================================= You can't. At least you can't without extreme difficulty or with any kind of reliability. Apogee strongly recommends that you not attempt this, and run the game directly from DOS; shutting down Windows' Program Manager. Running from the MS/DOS icon is only shelling from Windows, it is not running from DOS. Running our games under Windows is more like running them AGAINST Windows, and you will save yourself a lot of trouble if you not attempt this. Apogee does not support running under Windows, and cannot help if you try. ======================================================== WHAT IS THE "SET BLASTER" COMMAND, AND WHY DO I NEED IT? ======================================================== Boppin (and any other Apogee game that uses the Sound Blaster) uses the SET BLASTER command to figure out where to send it's sound output. A Sound Blaster card can have many different sound outputs, and since there are zillions of computers out there, a way needs to be used in order to tell the game where your sound card is located. The SET BLASTER line is how we do it. Check to make sure that you have the SET BLASTER line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. This code is an example, and isn't exactly what you need to put in your system, make sure to read the entire explanation of this command. NOTE: Some of these parameters (P, H, & E) are dependant on certain types of cards. For example, the E is only needed if you have an AWE32. The minimum requirements are to have the A, I, D, & T parameters. The other three may or may not be needed depending on what type of card you have. Please read this entire section to see if you need any of them. If you are using a clone card, or some card that's not a "true" Sound Blaster, then you will most likely only need A, I, D, & T. SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T3 P330 H6 E620 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |_______ AWE32 Only Parameter | | | | | | | |__________ "High" DMA Channel | | | | | | |_______________ MIDI Port | | | | | |__________________ Type of Card | | | | |_____________________ DMA Channel | | | |________________________ Interrupt | | |_____________________________ Port Address | |___________________________________ Environment Variable |________________________________________ DOS Command NOTE: There can be no spaces between the word BLASTER and the equal sign (=). If you have a space in there, your system will read the parameter incorrectly, and it will not be recognized by our games. Now, these may not (most likely not) be the same for your board, because the Port Address, Interrupt and DMA Channel can be set by adjusting "jumpers" on your sound board. Some newer cards have this information controlled by software, please consult your card's manual for more information on how to set these things. You should also check your manual if you are unclear as to how to tell what settings your card is set at. The information *IS* important, so it's recommended that you know precisely what the settings are. If you are using a card that "emulates" the Sound Blaster (such as the Gravis UltraSound through software, or the PAS16), you should check your card's manual on how to set the card for Sound Blaster emulation. For PORT ADDRESS, it's almost always 220. That seems to be the default for most sound cards out there, and unless you know you've switched it away from 220, it's a safe bet it's still there. The INTERRUPT is something that varies from system to system. Apogee does not recommend using IRQ2. Most of the people we run into who use IRQ2 have difficulty getting their programs to run properly, unless they switch to a different IRQ channel. The DMA CHANNEL is one that causes some people problems. By default, this is almost always set at 1. Unless you have a specific need to change this, it's probably still at 1. If you're running into lockups using digitized sounds with Apogee games, this is probably where your problem lies. If you get lockups with an Apogee game that has digitized sounds, and this variable is correct, try turning off the digitized sounds, and if the game plays right, you probably have a DMA conflict. Adjust the DMA channel on your sound card, then reflect said change in this variable in the SET BLASTER line. The TYPE OF CARD is something that is fairly easy to check out. If you're running a non-Creative Labs sound card, then you want this to either be 1 or 3, depending on which card it is. It's usually 1. For a genuine Sound Blaster card, it's one of these... 1 or 3 for a plain Sound Blaster. 2 or 4 for a Sound Blaster Pro, or a 6 for a Sound Blaster 16 or an AWE32). The factor in choosing between the two numbers here is the age of the card. If it's an older card, than choose the smaller number (1 or 2). Clone cards, or cards that emulate the Sound Blaster usually have a T variable of 1. Experiment to see what works best for you. The MIDI PORT parameter will only be needed if you are using a card that has MIDI capabilities. If so, this is where you define what MIDI port you are using. 330 seems to be the default, so if you have a MIDI card, and you haven't changed anything from factory defaults, this is probably where it still is. The HIGH DMA CHANNEL is something that is used primarily on Sound Blaster 16 cards. This is not the same as the standard DMA channel, this is a different one. This is only used if you're using a 16 bit sound card capable of playing 16 bit Sound Blaster sounds. By default, this is usually 5, so unless you know that it's something else, it's probably still 5. The E620 parameter is something that is needed _only_ if you have a Creative Labs AWE32 sound card. If you have one of these, this parameter will have been set up properly assuming you've installed the software that came with the card. Check your AWE32 documentation for a more thorough explanation of what this parameter is used for. I get a lot of questions from people wanting to know why they have to use this if they don't have a Sound Blaster. Well, it's simple. This command has NOTHING to do with what type of sound card you use. Apogee games that use digitized sounds expect these cards to be at specific settings. If they are not, then the game needs to be told this. The way to do this is with the environment variable BLASTER. That's why this is needed. Some of our newer programs have specific setup programs which let you set up this information manually, but they still require the SET BLASTER line to operate properly. Please remember to add this to your AUTOEXEC.BAT, save the file back to disk, reboot your computer, and make sure to delete the game config file (BOPPIN.CFG) before running again. If you have any further questions, please drop Apogee a line. ======================= WHAT IS PROTECTED MODE? ======================= As promised earlier in this document, here is an explanation of Protected mode. This information is not necessary to get the game running, but it's included as background information for the curious. Historically, DOS programs have always required that you run them in the first 640k of ram. This was a limitation imposed on DOS back when v1.0 was the only thing around. For compatibility's sake, this is the way things have remained. Any memory above 640k could only be used for data storage, not for program execution. That's why you always saw those dreaded "Out of Memory" messages. As time went on, certain programs, (and later DOS itself) gained the ability to load part of themselves "high", leaving more conventional (the first 640k) of memory available. You still had the limitation of the 640k barrier, but some more breathing room was made by these memory advances. More recently, advances were made in memory management so that programs could run in protected mode. Protected mode is a special way of programming so that your program doesn't have the 640k barrier. Depending on how the program is written, the entire thing is in protected mode, or it requires the use of a DOS "Extender" to run that way. Boppin is such a program. Boppin uses a DOS extender to access much more memory than it would have been able to if it were written the old way. A game of this complexity would have never been able to have been written if the old 640k barrier method of programming was used. Well, you might be asking, what about my older programs? Can't I just use a DOS extender, and have that run something like "Wolfenstein 3D", and never get those out of memory errors? Well, it's not as simple as that. If a program is using a DOS extender, it has to be written a special way. A DOS extender isn't just a magic wand that you can use to wipe away your memory problems for non-protected mode programs. The program has to be written a special way to make use of the DOS extender. To summarize, Protected mode (sometimes referred to as "flat memory") is a way for a DOS program (either by itself, or through the use of a DOS extender) to access more than just the first 640k of memory for program execution. Because of this, more complex programs (such as Boppin) are able to be written. If using the old 640k barrier method (sometimes referred to as "segmented memory"), this type of program would not have been possible. If you're still confused, don't worry about it. As I said above, this information is not necessary for the proper play of Boppin. It's in here for background information only. If you're still inclined, check out some DOS programming books available at your library or a book store. They have far more verbose explanations of this than would be possible in this document. ========================== THANKS TO THE BETA TESTERS ========================== Apogee wishes to extend a heartfelt thanks to the Apogee Beta Team. Without them, it would be far more difficult to produce the quality games we do within a reasonable amount of time. Thanks guys (and Gals). ========== CHEAT KEYS ========== Here are some cheat keys you can use when playing Boppin'. ■ These keys are available only on the Main Menu. They do not require any password to activate, and will work in both the shareware and registered versions of Boppin. » Control-V: This starts a slide show of all levels of all episodes in the game, starting with the last played episode. During the slide show, the following keys are in effect (escape will exit the slide show): PageUp, left arrow, backspace, or pushing the joystick left will take you to the previous level. PageDn, right arrow, return (enter), pushing the joystick button, or pushing the joystick right will take you to the next level. » Control-T: This displays a sound test dialog. You can listen to all the sound effects in the game from here. ■ During the game, these keys are available at any time, and without any special password. These cheat keys will work in the shareware episode. » Control-B: This will display the Mystery Spot. Pressing a key or button will remove the spot. » Control-L: Moves you to the next level. This is particularly useful if you get stuck in a level. This will not work during the final battle, and this will cost you one life to use. » Control-Shift-L: Moves you backwards to the last level played. This will not work if you're on the first level of an episode. This is not available during the final battle. ■ During the game, these keys are available, but you must first activate them with a special password before you can use them. The password you will need to enter is "TOYSS". These cheats are not available in the shareware episode, you must have one of the registered versions to use these keys. » Control-F: Go immediately to the final battle for that episode. » Alt-H: During the final battle, this delivers one maximum hit. » Control-F5: Adds one credit to Player 1 (9 is the limit). » Control-F8: Adds one credit to Player 2 (9 is the limit). » 1 (or !): Sets lives and credits of Player 1 to zero. This may not be available if the shift key is used for a button. This isn't really a cheat, this was one of the debugging parameters used by the programmer during beta testing. » 2 (or @): Sets lives and credits of Player 2 to zero. This may not be available if the shift key is used for a button. This isn't really a cheat, this was one of the debugging parameters used by the programmer during beta testing. ============================ CONTACTING TECHNICAL SUPPORT ============================ Apogee thanks you very much for playing our games. Customer satisfaction is a high priority of Apogee's, and we strive to please everyone. Our Technical Support staff is available to assist all of our customers in solving any technical problems that may be experienced. Our Technical Support Department is available to answer your questions Monday through Friday during the hours of 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Central Standard Time. The phone number for the Tech Support Department is (214) 278-5655. However, the voice line isn't your only channel of contact. We are also reachable via a fax machine at (214) 278-4670, (24 Hours a Day) or you can write to us. Our mailing address is: Apogee Software POB 496389 Garland, TX 75049-6389 United States of America Voice: (214) 278-5655 Fax: (214) 278-4670 (24 hrs) If you do contact our Technical Support department, please be at your computer, and have it ready for assistance. If you can't be at your computer, please have printouts of the following things available, so that we may assist you better. It may be possible do provide technical support without these things, but it will be much more difficult. The needed files are CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT, plus what happens when you execute the "MEM /C" command (or just MEM if you get an error using MEM /C). ============= APOGEE ONLINE ============= Apogee Technical Support can also be contacted via a variety of electronic medium. Several major online services are monitored, and Apogee's E-Mail addresses are listed below. Also, a variety of Bulletin Board networks are monitored as well, and those are also listed. ■ Major Online Services Internet -> joe.siegler@swcbbs.com Internet -> apogee@metronet.com CompuServe -> 74200,553 America Online -> APOGEE GEnie -> APOGEE Prodigy -> CXVP94A See the appropriate instructions for these various services on how to send private mail to these addresses. All of these services have Internet E-Mail gateways, but please, if you're sending Internet E-Mail, use the swcbbs.com address. ■ Internet Services Join the Apogee mailing list! The Apogee mailing list is a list where we send press releases, general Apogee info, new game release notifications, and other miscellaneous items out on. Drop us a line at one of the above Internet addresses, and we'll put you on. Just say the word! Apogee also has a "finger" plan set up for the most up to date online information about Apogee Software. Finger "apogee@fohnix.metronet.com" for the most up to the second info about our releases! If you are unsure if you can do this, or don't know what "finger" access is, please check with your local Internet service provider for more information on this Internet service. Apogee has an official FTP site for our shareware episodes. The latest stuff is always available for anonymous FTP by ftp'ing to "ftp.uml.edu" in the directory "msdos/Games/Apogee". ■ Software Creations & other Bulletin Board Networks We can be reached on Software Creations, the Apogee BBS. Software Creations can be reached by calling 1-508-368-7036. Software Creations is our #1 file site. Our games are released there before anywhere else in the world, so if you want the latest stuff, take a trip over to Software Creations, the BBS voted #1 two years running by the readers of BoardWatch Magazine! There are several BBS networks that are monitored for Apogee messages. Our Online Support Representative monitors all of the following BBS networks. Fidonet, Relaynet (Rime), Intelec, Ilink, U'NI-Net, & Smartnet. All of these BBS networks have Games, Shareware, and Apogee conferences. Fidonet -> 1:124/9006 Rime -> APOGEE (or 1674) Apogee also has a FDN on the Fidonet Filebone. Check with your local Fido Filebone administration for more info on how to get Apogee's shareware delivered right to your BBS! Check FILEBONE.NA (available from your local Fido administration) for more info. [ END OF FILE ]