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▀███▀▀█▄ ▄█
███▄▄█▀ ██ Realms of Chaos v1.0
███▀██▄ ██ Technical Support File
███ ███ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀██ ██ ▄██▄▀██▄▀██ ▄▀
███ ███ ██ ▄█▀ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ▀▀██▄ Apogee Software, Ltd.
███ ███ ███▀ ▄ ██ ██ ██▀ ██ ██ ██ ██ P.O. Box 496389
▄███ ███▄ ██▄▄█▀ ██▄▀▀█▄ ▄▀ ▀█ ▀█ ▀█ ▀▄▄█▀ Garland, TX 75049-6389
(214) 278-5655
▄██▀▀█▄█ ▄█
▄█▀█▄ ▐██▌ ▀█ ██
██ █▀ ██ ▀ ██
▄█▀▀██ ▄██▄ ██ ██▄▀▄ ▄█▀▀██ ▄█▀▀██ ▄▀
██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ▀▀██▄
██ ██ ██ ██▌ ▄█ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██
██▄▄▀ ██ ▀██▄██▀ ▄▀█ █▌ ██▄▀▀█▄ ██▄▄▀ ▀▀▄▄█▀
██ ▐█ (tm)
██ █
██ ▌ Copyright (c) 1995 Apogee Software, Ltd.
█
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
This document gives detailed instructions on how to play Realms of Chaos, as
well as being a troubleshooting guide. Instructions on how to play the game
are inside the game (Press F1 during game play), or are in your printed manual
that accompanied your registered version of the game.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│TABLE OF CONTENTS AND HOW TO USE THIS FILE│
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘
This document is set up with a quick search capability. If you press F7 at
any time, you will get a listing of all the categories to look at in this
file. Press F7 now to look at it. In this menu, you can scroll up and down
the listing of items to read, and then select one by pressing ENTER. You will
be taken directly to that item. If you wish to search for a specific piece of
text, you can hit F3 to enter any text to search for. If you just wish to
scroll up and down, you can use the arrow keys to move through the text. You
can also use the Home and End keys to quickly get to the top or the bottom of
this file. Here is a listing of all the sections in this document. Remember,
you can press F7 at any time to see an interactive listing of them all.
1) Table of Contents
2) System Requirements
3) How to play from the CD-ROM
4) How to use the Setup program
5) ROC Detailed Help & Troubleshooting
6) ROC Command Line Parameters
7) What is the "SET BLASTER" Command, and why do I need it?
8) How to get ROC running under Windows
9) How to get ROC running under OS/2
10) The 640k Barrier
11) Contacting Technical Support
12) Apogee Online
┌───────────────────┐
│SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS│
└───────────────────┘
■ Realms of Chaos' minimum system requirements to play are:
A 386SX/16 with 512k of free conventional memory for the shareware episode,
and 537k of free conventional memory for the registered version. Realms of
Chaos requires 640k of EMS/XMS for sound, but will use up to 2Mb of EMS/XMS
if it is available.
We recommend a of a 486 with 3 megs of memory (2 megs configured for EMS or
XMS) for optimal performance.
■ For game play the following devices are optionally supported:
Keyboard, Joystick, Gravis GamePad.
■ The following sound cards/devices are also optionally supported:
For Music: Sound Blaster, Pro Audio Spectrum, Adlib, General MIDI,
WaveBlaster, Gravis UltraSound
For SFX: Sound Blaster, Pro Audio Spectrum, Gravis UltraSound, Disney
Sound Source (there is no support for the PC Speaker)
┌───────────┐
│CD-ROM PLAY│
└───────────┘
If you are installing Realms of Chaos to your hard drive, you can skip this
section. This section only applies if you will be playing the game directly
from the CD-ROM.
NOTE: For best performance, we recommend installing to your hard drive.
If you decide to play from the CD-ROM, gameplay should be acceptable so long as
you have at least a double speed CD-ROM. Loading time might be a bit slow, but
once loaded, the game should play quite well from the CD-ROM. If it seems slow,
try increasing your computer's CD-ROM cache size.
All the examples in this section will assume that your CD-ROM is your E: drive,
and that you're installing Realms of Chaos to your C: drive. If this is not
what your system is configured as, please substitute your own drive letters.
In order to play ROC directly from the CD-ROM, you will need to follow these
steps after installing the minimum required files as indicated from the CD-ROM
installation program.
1) Go to the C:\ROC directory.
2) Set the APOGEECD environment variable to the directory name that you wish
anything (configuration files, save games) written by ROC to go.
Example: SET APOGEECD=C:\ROC See the accompanying ROC.BAT file for
how this command is used in the provided batch file.
3) Go to the E:\ROC directory.
4) Run SETUP.EXE to configure your system parameters, including sound.
5) Pick the "Save Options" option to quit the setup program and play.
The reason the environment variable is necessary is that Realms of Chaos
writes several files (configuration files, save games, etc), and these files
cannot be written to a CD-ROM. If you do not set this path before attempting
to run Realms of Chaos from the CD-ROM, you will have problems since Realms of
Chaos will attempt to write files to the CD-ROM, and of course, that will fail.
The above five steps are made easier if you use the provided ROC.BAT file.
If you accepted the defaults, this file will be in C:\ROC. Please examine
this batch file before using it, as it assumes some things about your system.
If yours is different (it most likely will be), then you will run into
problems if you do not customize the ROC.BAT file for your system.
If, when running the batch file, you see an error message that says "Out of
environment space", it means that you need to allocate more memory to your
system environment in order to facilitate the use of the APOGEECD variable.
If you get this error, do not attempt to run the game; you will need to correct
the environment space error first. To do this, please examine the /E parameter
of the SHELL command in your DOS manual. An example that should work for most
people would be:
SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM C:\DOS /E:512 /P
If you run the batch file, and you get something like Microsoft's Windows Setup
or WordPerfect's setup, it means that the batch file has either not been altered
to match your system, or it has been incorrectly altered. Please recheck your
directories and try again.
┌────────────────────────────┐
│HOW TO USE THE SETUP PROGRAM│
└────────────────────────────┘
NOTE: If you have a mouse driver available, it will work in the setup program.
However, there is no mouse support inside the game itself.
There is plenty of information available in the ROC setup program. It is broken
down into four screens. The four screens are:
1) Settings Menu - This is interactive, and explained in detail below.
2) Resource Checklist - This shows you what ROC has found on your system.
The first three options are requirements, and if
found, they will be checked off.
3) Current Settings - This will show you what you currently have configured.
4) InfoBox - This is a "Quick Help" type of screen, and will give you real
time descriptions of all the options you can pick.
Here is an explanation of all the options you can select in the Settings Menu.
■ Change Settings - This will allow you to alter your configuration for Realms
of Chaos to match your computer and its configuration.
Select Music Card - Select your music sound card here.
Select Sound FX Card - Select your Sound FX card here.
Select Controller - Select what you wish to play the game with here.
Assign Keyboard Controls - Keyboard layout can be reassigned here.
Assign Joystick Buttons - Joystick button functions can be reassigned here.
Calibrate Joystick - This is where you will calibrate your joystick.
Done - Go back to the Main Setup program Menu.
■ Will ROC Run on my System? - This is an option that will examine the resource
checklist against what you have configured, and will tell you if ROC will run
on your system.
■ I am Using Windows or OS/2 - This gives VERY brief information about running
under Windows or OS/2. Please see the appropriate section in this file for
detailed information.
■ Can I run ROC from CD? - This gives very brief information about running ROC
from a CD-ROM. Please see the "Running ROC from a CD-ROM" section of this
document for detailed information.
■ How do I Order? - Gives ordering information on how to get the full version
of Realms of Chaos from Apogee Software.
■ Save Settings and Quit - Saves all currently settings to disk and quits the
setup program. There is an option to not save your settings if you have made
a mistake, or do not wish to save for some reason. This can also be accessed
by hitting the escape key from the setup Main Menu.
┌──────────────────────────┐
│ROC HELP & TROUBLESHOOTING│
└──────────────────────────┘
■ Apogee strongly recommends that you consult your hardware and software
manuals for your system before you make any suggested changes to your
current system setup. Your manuals will tell you if you are about to
make changes that may irreparably alter your computer or its configuration.
Modifying your system or software can be dangerous if not done properly.
Apogee will not be able to assist you with any problems resulting from such
modifications.
■ If you get any of the following errors, it means you are in a low memory
situation. In order to resolve it, you will have to make more memory
available to the program. Please see the next paragraph for more information
on how to make more memory available.
"Bad SampleName passed to PlaySample()."
"Object allocation failure in InitObj()."
"UserPtr allocation failure in InitObj()."
"XMS buffer allocation failure in MachMemSetup()."
"High Score buffer allocation failure."
"LoadLevel could not allocate memory."
"LoadSprite() failure."
■ If you get an error message that says, "Not enough memory: you need at least
xxxxxx far bytes free", then you are low on conventional memory. You'll need
to make more conventional memory available before you will be able to play.
Realms of Chaos requires 537k of conventional memory (512k for shareware) to
run (although more is better).
The best way around this is to "boot clean." This means to boot your
system without loading any unnecessary memory resident programs. The
easiest way to do this is to create a bootable floppy disk according to
the instructions in your DOS manual (see the FORMAT /S command) and
create a file called CONFIG.SYS and a file called AUTOEXEC.BAT on that
disk. Please refer to your DOS manual for instructions on creating these
files.
These files should contain the following lines:
CONFIG.SYS
==========
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DOS=HIGH
FILES=30
BUFFERS=30
STACKS=9,256
<if your sound card requires a line in config.sys, put it here>
<if you use disk compression, make sure to load that driver>
<if you require a driver to access your hard drive, make sure to use it>
AUTOEXEC.BAT
============
@echo off
<your path line>
<your prompt line>
SET BLASTER=<see section on SET BLASTER for more help on this line>
The <your path line> and <your prompt line> items in the sample
AUTOEXEC.BAT file refer to the lines that start with the words PATH and
PROMPT in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file that is on your C: drive. These lines
are optional, but including them will make navigating your hard drive a
little easier.
If you have DOS 5, you will need to create a boot disk and make
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, using the above examples. If you have
DOS 6 or higher, you have two ways of booting clean without the need for
a boot disk.
For DOS 6 and higher, the fastest way is to reboot your computer and
watch for a message that says "Starting MS-DOS" (IBM versions will say
either "Starting PC DOS" or "Starting IBM DOS"). When you see this
message, press your F8 function key. You will then be prompted to
confirm each line of your current CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files.
This will allow you to temporarily turn off the programs that you do not
need or that may be causing problems. ONLY ANSWER "YES" TO THE LINES
SHOWN ABOVE AND THE "OK to process AUTOEXEC.BAT?" QUESTION. When
finished, you will be left at a plain C:\> prompt.
NOTE: Pressing the Left Shift or F5 function key at the "Starting
MS-DOS" prompt will not work properly. Realms of Chaos requires
EMS or XMS memory to play Sound Effects, and doing this will not
allow this to happen. You will need the HIMEM.SYS line (or its
equivalent if you are using a third party program) to be executed,
and this does not happen if you use the F5 key.
NOTE: Windows95 Users - if you wish to boot to just MS-DOS and bypass the
GUI portion of Windows95, you can easily do it. What you'll need to
do is to hit the F8 key when you reboot and see "Starting Windows95".
You are then presented with another menu. Pick "Command Prompt Only".
This will take you to DOS, and will not bring up Windows. Alternately,
you could set up a separate config.sys & autoexec.bat file for Realms
of Chaos in the PIF file, and use that. However, that should not be
necessary unless you have a very low amount of memory.
If you are more familiar with DOS, we strongly recommend that you set up
a multi-boot option. The newer versions of DOS allow you to set up multiple
boot configuration sections in your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, mostly
eliminating the need for boot disks. Again, please consult your DOS manual
for instructions on how to create a boot disk, or a multi-boot configuration
using the parameters stated above.
If you'd like some background information on "real mode" memory, please see
the section entitled "The 640k barrier" later in this document.
■ If your copy of ROC locks up randomly and you have a sound card, you might
be experiencing a DMA conflict. These are caused by having more than one
hardware device sharing a DMA (Direct Memory Access) channel with your sound
card. DMA channels are used by ROC to send sounds to your sound card. When
you have more than one piece of hardware on a single DMA channel, the chip on
your motherboard that controls DMA transfers may become confused and send the
sound to the wrong place. When this happens, your system will lock up.
Devices that usually cause DMA conflicts include CD-ROM drives, older
dedicated FAX boards, tape backup drives connected to an accelerator card
(not including tape drives plugged into your floppy drive controller cable),
and in newer systems, the ECP/EPP parallel port on your I/O card or on the
motherboard itself. If any of these devices are present on your system, they
may be the source of your lockups.
DMA conflicts cannot usually be spotted by diagnostic software (e.g., PC
Tools SI.EXE, Norton Utilities NDIAGS, etc.). Apogee does not recommend the
use of such software to determine if you have a DMA conflict. Instead, if
you suspect a DMA conflict, try the following test:
1. Run the SETUP program and select NONE for your Sound FX card.
2. Play ROC and watch for lockups.
If the game no longer locks up, then you were definitely experiencing a DMA
conflict between your sound card and some other device.
The ONLY way to resolve a DMA conflict is to physically move the conflicting
device to another DMA channel. In all but the rarest cases involving devices
that "download" their configuration at boot-up time, you cannot do this
through software. You also cannot solve the problem by simply unloading the
driver for the conflicting device. Since this is a true hardware conflict,
the problem can persist even if the device driver is not loaded when you boot
your machine. In laymen's terms, booting clean won't solve the problem. You
will most likely have to move a "jumper" (see your manuals for a description)
to physically reconfigure the conflicting device. If you need assistance
with reconfiguring your device(s), please consult your system's manuals or
contact the manufacturer of the device(s) in question. Apogee Software
cannot provide assistance for reconfiguring your hardware.
For best performance, do not move your sound card to a different channel:
leave it where it is (usually channel 1 for 8-bit cards, or channels 1 and 5
for 16-bit cards). Instead, move the conflicting device. After you have
resolved the DMA conflict, you may re-run the SETUP program and re-select
your sound card under the Sound FX setup.
If your copy of ROC still locks up, you may wish to check some settings in
your CMOS configuration as a last resort. If any of these are on, then
switch them off: Hidden Refresh, Hardware Video Shadowing, Turbo Switching.
Also, if you have either of these, turn them on: HD1 Block Mode; IDE HDD
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, resulting in static. For a
Sound Blaster Pro, the program that adjusts these is called 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,
the result may be static and poor sound performance.
■ If you are running a Compaq computer with a VGA card and the game tells
you that you do not have a VGA card, or if you experience lockups on a
Compaq computer with a VGA card, you will need to contact Compaq for a
special video driver. 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. This file used to be available on their BBS
with the filename of SP0117.ZIP, but as of the writing of this document,
it is not available. Please contact Compaq if you cannot locate the file.
■ If you are playing with a joystick, and your performance seems erratic, make
sure to calibrate the joystick inside the ROC setup program. Also, check and
make sure that the joystick port you are using for ROC is speed adjustable.
If it is, then try tinkering with the speed. If it is not, then there may
not be anything you can do to alleviate the problem, short of buying a game
card that provides speed adjustable game ports. Check your port's manual for
more info. Also, make sure you do not have more than one active joystick
port on your machine at any time. If you have a game card that provides two
game ports, make sure that no other game ports (such as those on a sound card
or I/O card) are active.
■ If you are playing with a joystick, everything seems fine, and then the
character starts moving on its own slightly (even if you hold the joystick
totally still), try reducing the number of voices mixed (see setup program
regarding Sound FX). Sometimes, in rare cases, the joystick can be fouled
up by LOTS of sounds attempting to be played at once. This happens most
often when your joystick is plugged into your sound card.
■ If you see any of the following 9 errors, it's possible a saved game you
are attempting to use has become corrupted, or is otherwise unusable. It's
also possible that the game data itself has become corrupted for some
reason. If it's related to a save game, we recommend you either save over
the save game in question, or delete it. If the problem persists, it's
possible the game itself is corrupt. In that case, run a disk repair utility
such as Scandisk or Norton Disk Doctor, delete the game, and reinstall.
"RestoreGame() failure in NewLevelSetup()."
"Animator not found in StoreObjectInfo()."
"OldAnimator not found in StoreObjectInfo()."
"Object allocation failure in MakeObj()."
"MakeObject() failure in RestoreGame()."
"UserPtr allocation failure in MakeObj()."
"LoadLevel could not open file."
"UseTable allocation failure."
"Aopen() failure in GetItem()."
■ If you see any of the following 4 errors, there has been a problem relating
to the sprites in the game. You can try and resolve it either by reducing
the number of channels mixed in the setup program for your sound card, or you
can try playing again. You may also have corrupt game data, in which case
you should try the suggestions listed above for corrupt saved games.
"Object allocation failure in SpawnObj()."
"UserPtr allocation failure in SpawnObj()."
"SoundList element allocation failure."
"Element allocation failed in ParentListAdd()."
■ If you see the error "Could not reload BGMAP.TMP." or "Could not reload
FGMAP.TMP.", this means there is a problem in loading a temporary file that
ROC creates after a game has already been successfully saved. This could
indicate a problem with your hard drive. Run a disk utility program such as
Scandisk or Norton Disk Doctor if this happens, then delete ROC. Once this
check is complete, you can reinstall the game.
■ If you see the error "XMSPAGE MapXMS failure in GetItem().", then there has
been some problem with XMS memory. Try using the NOXMS command line
parameter to resolve the problem. See the section on command line parameters
for more information.
■ If you see the error "EMSPAGE MapXMS failure in GetItem().", then there has
been some problem with EMS memory. Try using the NOEMS command line
parameter to resolve the problem. This error can also manifest itself as
an EMM386 Exception 13 error, or a QEMM Exception error (if you're using
QEMM). If you get one of these memory manager errors, try using the NOEMS
command line parameter. Please see the section on command line parameters
for more information.
■ If you have a GUS and you are not getting sound effects, or if your GUS sound
effects are scratchy or distorted, make sure your GF1 IRQ is set to 7 or
lower. This is controlled by the SET ULTRASND= command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file. A sample of this command line would be:
SET ULTRASND=220,1,1,7,5
The next to last digit on this line (the 7, in this example) is your GF1
IRQ. This number must be 7 or less for ROC to operate properly. If it
is higher than 7, you will need to edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT and change it
to 7 or lower. Save the change, exit your editor, and reboot so that the
change will take effect.
■ If you have a Gravis UltraSound (either GUS, ACE, or MAX) card, and have
a problem where the computer is completely locked up and the sound card
plays garbage and repeats the last sound effect played, then you'll need
to do one of two things to resolve the problem. For an UltraSound or Max
owner, you'll need to load SBOS and select Sound Blaster for Sound Effects.
If you have a GUS ACE, you can just select Sound Blaster, as the emulation
is not software based.
■ If you have an AWE32 Sound Card, and get the error "MPU-401 Initialization
Error", you will need to turn your computer totally OFF, wait about 5-10
seconds, and then turn it back on again. Delete ROC.CFG, and try reselecting
your music/sfx again. This error is caused by picking incorrect settings; if
you pick the wrong settings for an AWE32, you need to power down and retry,
not just reboot.
■ If you notice the game running slowly on your system, here are a few
suggestions on improving game performance.
» If you have the memory to spare, and aren't already loading a disk caching
program, load a disk cache such as Smartdrive. ROC is a real mode program,
and can benefit from a disk cache. However, too large of a disk cache can
take away memory needed to run, so be careful how you allocate memory here.
» Try reducing the amount of digital channels that you have set for sound
effects. Some system configurations have problems with having ROC set
for higher than 4 digital channels.
┌───────────────────────────┐
│ROC COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS│
└───────────────────────────┘
■ There are a few command line parameters (also known as "switches") you
can try to use to alter game performance. Some of these will help speed up
the game on slow computers, and others will help game play. A command line
parameter is something that you type on the command line after the name of
the program you're running. The 'NOEMS' switch will be used as an example.
To use that one, you would need to start the game like this... ROC NOEMS
Here is a list of the command line parameters you can use with ROC.
FORCEMEM - This causes ROC to disregard the memory check at startup. The game
will actually run at around 520K, but music and sound will suffer
very badly. If you use this, bad things can happen.
NOEMS - Turn off all use of EMS. EMS is the default for loading sound
effects and sprites into expanded memory. If you get an EMS memory
error from the game, this should be used.
NOXMS - Turn off all use of XMS. If you get an XMS memory error from the
game, try using this.
NOTE: It is not recommended to use both the NOEMS and NOXMS parameters at the
same time. ROC requires use of either EMS or XMS for Sound effects, and
if you shut both EMS and XMS off with these switches, you're effectively
telling the game to not have sound effects played. If you do this and
have a sound card defined for SFX, it will generate an error.
QUEST: - This lets you warp right into any level. QUEST: should be followed
with _no_ spaces by Ex (where x is 1-3) Ly (where y is 1-9) and Dz
(where z is 1-5). These select episode, level, and difficulty
respectively. They can be in any order and all three are optional.
Example: QUEST:E2L5D1 would start you in Episode 2, Level 5, on
Super Easy difficulty. Typing in QUEST: by itself will
start you at Episode 1, Level 1, on Normal difficulty.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│WHAT IS THE "SET BLASTER" COMMAND, AND WHY DO I NEED IT?│
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
ROC (and any other Apogee game that uses the Sound Blaster) uses the SET
BLASTER command to figure out where to send its 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 (if your card is not natively
supported by this game).
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. If you are using a Gravis UltraSound, you must have
an IRQ of 7 or less. The Apogee Sound System used in this game does not
support the GUS default of 11.
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. Quite often, CD-ROM's
are the culprit. Check your CD-ROM to make sure it's not using the same DMA
channel as your sound card.
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. In the majority of cases, it will be a 1 if
you are not using a "true" Sound Blaster. If you do have a "true" Sound
Blaster, then the variable is one of these...
1 or 3 for a plain Sound Blaster.
2 or 4 for a Sound Blaster Pro.
6 for a Sound Blaster 16 or an AWE32.
The factor in choosing between the two numbers shown for plain Sound Blaster
and Sound Blaster Pro is the age of the card. If it's an older card, then
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 for most cards, 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
paramter 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 have. 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 (ROC, ROTT, Hocus Pocus) have specific setup programs which let you
set up this information manually, but they still require the SET BLASTER line
to operate at 100% efficiency.
Please remember to add this to AUTOEXEC.BAT, save the file back to disk,
reboot your computer, and make sure to delete the game's sound config file
(ROC.CFG) before running again. If you have any further questions, please
drop Apogee a line.
┌────────────────────────────────────┐
│HOW TO GET ROC RUNNING UNDER WINDOWS│
└────────────────────────────────────┘
■ This game was designed to be played from pure DOS, and runs best there.
We have tested Realms of Chaos under Windows95, and it does run from there.
It does NOT run from Windows v3.11, however. If you have a version of
Windows before Windows95, then you MUST boot to DOS before attempting to
play.
For Windows 3.11 and earlier:
-----------------------------
This game is not designed to be run under Microsoft Windows 3.11. Win3.x
takes up far too many system resources that our programs require for
efficient and proper operation. When running this program, DO NOT LAUNCH
FROM Win3.X. Run it directly from DOS. If you are in the Win3.x 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, you are completely out of Windows.
If you return to Windows, then you were only shelled.) This would also apply
to anything like MS-DOS's Dos Shell program, or other menu program, as well
as Windows itself.
For Windows95:
--------------
A pretty good rule of thumb for Windows95 and Realms of Chaos is that if you
can run Win95, you can run Realms of Chaos, too. Whether or not you can run
it FROM Win95 is dependant on how you have your system configured. Apogee's
test machine for Windows95 was a 486/50 with 8 megs of memory, and a very
slow video card. ROC appears to run correctly under Windows95. YOUR ACTUAL
PERFORMANCE WILL BE BASED ON HOW YOU HAVE YOUR SYSTEM CONFIGURED.
You will still need to meet the requirements at the top of the document in
the DOS window that you are playing in. If you run Realms of Chaos, and get
the out of memory error on startup, check the PIF settings. The defaults
should be OK, but here is what we have on our test Win95 machine at Apogee:
Conventional Memory: Auto
Protected: Unchecked
Initial Environment: Auto
Expanded (EMS) Memory: Auto
Extended (XMS) Memory: Auto
Uses HMA: Unchecked
MS-DOS DPMI Memory: Auto
THESE SETTINGS ARE FROM OUR BENCHMARK MACHINE - YOURS WILL VARY. THESE MAY
WORK, BUT THERE IS NO GUARANTEE. IF THEY DO NOT WORK, YOU WILL HAVE TO TWEAK
THE SETTINGS UNTIL THEY DO WORK, OR BOOT TO MS-DOS MODE IF THEY DO NOT.
APOGEE WILL BE UNABLE TO ASSIST WITH PIF SETTINGS.
Two simultaneous DOS windows cannot be accessing the sound card at once. It
is STRONGLY recommended that you not attempt to task switch between Realms
of Chaos and other applications.
If, you run into problems with Windows95, we recommend you play in MS-DOS
mode. You can accomplish this two ways (by default).
1) Shut down the system, and choose "Restart in MS-DOS Mode"
2) When you start the computer, and see "Starting Windows95", hit F8. You
will be given a menu. Pick "Command Prompt Only", and then you'll be
in DOS.
If you've installed third party software, the second option may or may not
work depending on what the software does. Please check your manuals.
┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│HOW TO GET ROC RUNNING UNDER OS/2│
└─────────────────────────────────┘
IMPORTANT: Sound FX will not work under OS/2 with this release of Realms of
Chaos. If you have a sound card and you are using Sound FX under true DOS, you
will need to run the SETUP.EXE program in a DOS Full Screen session under
OS/2 and select NONE for your sound card before you run the game.
If you experience problems with the music not playing, quit the game and try
running the MIDI Player program from your Multimedia folder. Play a song for a
couple of seconds, then quit and exit the player. This will usually get the
sound card to behave so that you can get music in the game.
**** Setting up the Settings ****
Create a program reference object for the ROC.EXE (or ROCSW.EXE) program. You
can also set up a program reference for SETUP.EXE using the same settings
shown below. You may use any method you wish to create the object: the most
common is to drag a Program template from the Templates folder to the desktop or
to another open folder.
If your method of creating an object doesn't automatically open the settings
notebook, go ahead and manually open the settings for the object. On the first
page, type in the full path and name of the program in the "Path and file name"
field (example: C:\ROC\ROC.EXE (or C:\ROC\ROCSW.EXE)). Go to the "Working
directory" field and type the path name for the program (example: C:\ROC).
Next, click on the Session tab. On the Session page, select "DOS Full Screen".
On that same page, click on the "DOS Settings" bar. If you are presented with
a "DOS Settings - Categories" window, select "All DOS settings" and click on
OK.
There are two ways you can set the required settings. First, if you are using
any flavor of OS/2 Warp v3, you can load the settings using the ROC.OS2 (or
ROCSW.OS2) file that is located in the same directory as your copy of the game.
To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click on "Load" at the bottom of the DOS Settings window.
2. In the "Encoded File:" field of the "DOS Settings - Load" window,
erase the path shown and type in the full path and filename of the
settings file you wish to load (ex.: C:\ROC\ROC.OS2) and click on
"Load".
3. Once the settings are loaded, double-check the DOS_AUTOEXEC.BAT
and DOS_SHELL settings. These point to your C: drive by default.
If you are using a different drive as your OS/2 boot drive, point
both of these files to that drive.
You may see the following message when you try to run the game:
SYS3145: Bad or missing command interpreter. Press Enter to close
the DOS session.
Don't panic. You simply have the DOS_SHELL setting pointed to the wrong place.
For Dual Boot systems, the settings provided should work. If you have a Boot
Manager system, you will need to point this to the proper directory of your
OS/2 boot drive.
If you experience any other problems, you can always try the second way of
setting up the settings. In short, you can set them up manually. Here are
the settings that you will need:
AUDIO_ADAPTER_SHARING = REQUIRED
COM_DIRECT_ACCESS = OFF
COM_HOLD = OFF
COM_RECEIVE_BUFFER_FLUSH = NONE
COM_SELECT = ALL
DOS_BACKGROUND_EXECUTION = OFF
DOS_BREAK = OFF
DOS_DEVICE =
DOS_FCBS = 16
DOS_FCBS_KEEP = 8
DOS_FILES = 20
DOS_HIGH = ON
DOS_LASTDRIVE = Z
DOS_RMSIZE = 640
DOS_UMB = ON
DPMI_DOS_API = DISABLED
DPMI_MEMORY_LIMIT = 0
DPMI_NETWORK_BUFF_SIZE = 8
EMS_FRAME_LOCATION = AUTO
EMS_HIGH_OS_MAP_REGION = 0
EMS_LOW_OS_MAP_REGION = 384
EMS_MEMORY_LIMIT = 2048
HW_NOSOUND = OFF
HW_ROM_TO_RAM = ON
HW_TIMER = ON
IDLE_SECONDS = 60
IDLE_SENSITIVITY = 100
INT_DURING_IO = ON
KBD_ALTHOME_BYPASS = OFF
KBD_BUFFER_EXTEND = ON
KBD_CTRL_BYPASS = NONE
KBD_RATE_LOCK = OFF
MOUSE_EXCLUSIVE_ACCESS = OFF
PRINT_SEPARATE_OUTPUT = ON
PRINT_TIMEOUT = 15
VIDEO_8514A_XGA_IOTRAP = OFF
VIDEO_FASTPASTE = OFF
VIDEO_MODE_RESTRICTION = NONE
VIDEO_ONDEMAND_MEMORY = OFF
VIDEO_RETRACE_EMULATION = OFF
VIDEO_ROM_EMULATION = OFF
VIDEO_SWITCH_NOTIFICATION = OFF
VIDEO_WINDOW_REFRESH = 1
XMS_HANDLES = 0
XMS_MEMORY_LIMIT = 0
XMS_MINIMUM_HMA = 0
If you have any settings categories other than those shown here, leave them
at their defaults. The only one that you may want to fiddle with would be
the SESSION_PRIORITY setting: if the game runs too slow, try setting it at
a higher number.
NOTES: All of the above settings were tested under OS/2 Warp v3, using the
"Fullpack" release (with WIN-OS/2 built in: a.k.a. "Blue" Warp). It should
work just as well under OS/2 Warp v3 "Halfpack" (without WIN-OS/2: a.k.a.
"Red" Warp) or OS/2 Warp Connect (either "Fullpack" or "Halfpack"). No
testing has been done under earlier versions of Warp.
These settings are not officially supported by Apogee. Your mileage may vary.
┌────────────────┐
│THE 640k BARRIER│
└────────────────┘
This section isn't actually needed in order to get our programs running. What
is contained in here is for the most part background information to better
assist our customers in understanding why they need to make more conventional
memory available.
When Microsoft first made DOS 1.0, 640 kilobytes (KB) was set aside as the
highest amount of memory that a computer could have. The 640KB of memory is
what is called "conventional memory". To maintain compatibility with older
versions, this was never changed. Advances in memory management have made
access to memory beyond 640KB, but this memory can only hold data; the program
actually has to run in the first 640KB. This first 640k is called
"Conventional Memory".
Here is a brief discussion of the different types of memory available on your
computer. The most important one is Conventional memory.
■ CONVENTIONAL MEMORY starts at 0k and normally ends at 640k. (The cases
where this is not true are EXTREMELY rare) If you are not using some
sort of memory manager (such as DOS's EMM386, Quarterdeck's QEMM, or
Qualitas' 386MAX), this is the only type of memory you have. Conventional
memory is used by DOS as well as device drivers and TSRs (Terminate and
Stay Resident Programs). A TSR is a program that is loaded into your
computer's memory (usually from the CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files) and
stays there. Most programs remove themselves from memory after execution:
a TSR does not. Device drivers and TSR's are programs that enable the
computer to use additional hardware such as a mouse, scanner, CD-ROM,
expanded or extended memory, etc. A program such as an Apogee game is NOT
a program that can be loaded as a TSR. If all you have is conventional
memory, anything that you would load as a TSR would come out of this
section of memory. Take too much away, and you're not left over with
enough memory to run our product.
If you are getting an out of memory error from our program, it is this
memory that you are running out of. Whether you have 1 meg, 8 meg of
memory, or 32 meg of memory, it's irrelevant. Only the first 640k of
memory is available for program execution. Please do not confuse this with
hard drive space. Your hard drive space is not memory, and is not relevant
nor should it be considered in this example.
■ UPPER MEMORY starts at 640k and ends at 1024k. Normally, this area is used
for things such as system ROM, video and hardware cards, and the like. On
most PCs, hardware does not use the entire upper memory area, and with the
use of the aforementioned memory managers (EMM386, QEMM, FnordMem, etc.),
you can move some TSRs into this memory area. These unused areas are
called Upper Memory Blocks (UMBs), and this where some TSRs can be
loaded.
■ EXTENDED MEMORY (XMS) is the memory addressed above 1024k. Extended memory
requires the use of a memory manager, such as MS-DOS's HIMEM.SYS. This
region of memory is not usable for standard program execution: it can only
be used for data storage. Apogee programs that use this type of memory
(such as XXXXXXXXXXX & Hocus Pocus), only use this to store level or
graphic data. The actual program itself is running in conventional memory.
■ HIGH MEMORY AREA (HMA) is the first 64k of extended memory. This is a
special region of memory that is most commonly used to load DOS high. When
you issue the DOS=HIGH command in your config.sys file, the amount of
conventional memory that was previously being occupied by DOS itself is
moved into this region.
■ EXPANDED MEMORY (EMS) is another type of memory that some MS-DOS programs
can make use of. Like XMS, this memory is not available for program
execution: it is only used for data storage due to its nature. An
explanation of this type of memory is rather technical, so it will not be
delved into here. If you're curious, check your DOS manual, or your memory
manager manual.
When you first start up your computer, there are two files that your computer
looks at: CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT. These two files contain lists of device
drivers and TSRs that are automatically run when starting your computer. Each
of these drivers and TSRs take up space in the 640k of conventional memory
area. As more and more programs are loaded from the autoexec.bat and
config.sys files, you have less and less available from the original 640k.
Since it is this memory that programs run in, you can see that the amount taken
away by the programs executed in config.sys and autoexec.bat should be kept to
a minimum. This can be accomplished by either reducing the amount of
programs loaded from config.sys and autoexec.bat, or by moving them to upper
memory via the use of EMM386, QEMM, FnordMEM, or some other memory management
program.
┌────────────────────────────┐
│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 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. Please allow
one full working day for a reply, and please include a number that we can fax
the reply to in your message.
You can also 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 the following information available:
1. Printouts of your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files.
2. A printout of the results when you type the command MEM /C
(or just MEM, if MEM /C gives you an error).
3. The name and revision level of your operating system (i.e.,
MS-DOS 6.22, PC DOS 7.0, Windows 95, OS/2 Warp v3, etc.).
4. Information about all hardware in your system (sound cards,
CD-ROMs, etc.) and the IRQ/DMA settings on them.
It may be possible to provide technical support without these things, but it
will be much more difficult. If the problem is rather complex, we may need
you to call back when you can be at your computer.
┌─────────────┐
│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
Apogee has forums on both CompuServe and America Online! Both of these
forums have all of our shareware (as well as 3D Realms', too!) available
for download. They also have other helpful files, as well as some user
submitted files as well. If you are on these services, and haven't checked
out our forum, why not try 'em today?
CompuServe: Type "GO APOGEE" at any ! prompt
America Online: Use the keyword 'APOGEE' to get to our forum.
■ Internet Services
Apogee has it's own World Wide Web Site! Point your Web Browser to the URL
http://www.apogee1.com, and you'll reach us on the Web! We have all kinds of
cool files and information here, so if you like Apogee, and you're on the Web,
you need to be here!
We also have a "finger" plan set up for the most up to date online info about
Apogee Software. Finger "apogee@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. (If you get an error or no
response at the above address, try fingering "apogee@fohnix.metronet.com").
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 apogee.software@apogee1.com, and
we'll put you on. It doesn't cost anything, and all we need is your Internet
E-Mail address! Your friends are probably on the list, are you?
Apogee has two official Anon FTP sites for our shareware downloads.
#1: ftp.apogee1.com (Coming December 1995)
#2: ftp.uml.edu in the directory /msdos/games/apogee
Both are standard Anon FTP sites. If you're getting an error like Anonymous
Access Denied, or cannot access file, or something like that, you're probably
just running into the limit. All Anon FTP sites have limits to the number of
people that can access it at once. Think of it as a busy signal, and try
again later. We also recommend talking to your local Internet Service provider
(or the author of your FTP software) about how to properly use the Internet
program you're trying to use.
We also have two E-Mail accounts available. You can E-Mail us at either of the
following two addresses. apogee.software@apogee1.com or apogee@metronet.com.
Also, as long as you're already on the Internet, check out the Software
Creations Web BBS. It's a whole new concept for the Internet! Point your web
browser to http://www.swcbbs.com!
■ 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!
Again, make sure to check out the Software Creations Web BBS. If you're on the
World Wide Web, point your browser at http://www.swcbbs.com. You'll be glad
you did!
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. All of these BBS networks have
Games, Shareware, and Apogee conferences. Private mail can also be sent to
Apogee on Fidonet and Rime with the following addresses:
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.
This document written by Joe Siegler with help from Lee Jackson. Fnord.