Hardcore Gamer Resource Kit/Hardcore Gamer Resource Kit - Disc 2.iso/Pc/U_Z/WQ0992.ZIP/WQREADME.TXT

Text File | 1997-02-13 | 36KB | 797 lines

-----------------------------
| WinQuake 0.992 readme.txt |
| update                    |
| 2/12/97                   |
-----------------------------

Implemented force_centerview.

Fixed backspace bug in dedicated console.

Made "player entering game" messages and "say" messages visible
in dedicated console.

Added description of -heapsize (how to change default memory
allocation).

Added description of "net play pauses every few seconds" bug.

Added description of "playdemo fails across multiple levels" bug.

Added hooks for QHost; however, WinQuake won't work with QHost
until a new version of QHost 3.0, which uses the hooks, is
released.  QHost 3.0 will not work with WinQuake.

Fixed bug where savegame descriptions weren't always terminated
properly.

Fixed bug where running -dedicated reset part of config.cfg to
defaults.


-----------------------------
| WinQuake 0.991 readme.txt |
| update                    |
| 2/10/97                   |
-----------------------------

Fixed problem with pre-1.07 (DOS) clients connecting to WinQuake.

Got rid of "Starting Quake..." dialog when running -dedicated.

Added -novbeaf switch to turn off VBE/AF support in case of problems,
and updated documentation.

Corrected Scitech's U.S. Mail address in documentation.

Added joystick bug decriptions and workarounds.


----------------------------
| WinQuake 0.99 readme.txt |
|                          |
| 2/5/97                   |
----------------------------

WinQuake (WQ) is a native Win32 version of Quake, and will run on
either Win95 or Windows NT.  It is designed to take advantage of
whatever enhanced video and sound capabilities (such as DirectX or
VESA video modes) are present, but has fallback functionality so it
can run on any Win32 system, even if, for example, neither DirectX
nor VESA is installed.  You may experience problems running WQ on
some systems, because driver and operating-system support for game
functionality are not yet mature, and many bugs and incompatibilities
remain.  If you encounter what seems to be a bug, first please check
through the list of known problems, below.  If your problem doesn't
appear on the list, please fill out and submit the WQ bug report at
http://www.idsoftware.com/contact/.

NOTE:  This is version 0.99 of WinQuake; it is not a final, supported
release.

The material accompanying Quake is the reference for all
non-Windows-related matters concerning WinQuake; in terms of gameplay,
WQ is the same as Quake.  This file contains Windows-related
information only.

The rest of this document is organized as follows:

Installing WinQuake
Common problems and workarounds
A bit about how WQ video works
Video command-line switches
A bit about how WQ sound works
Sound command-line switches


-----------------------
| Installing WinQuake |
-----------------------

In order to run WinQuake, you must first have Quake installed.  Assuming
Quake is installed in the standard directory, c:\quake, unzip wq099.zip
into c:\quake.  The following files from the zip file must be present in
order for WQ to run:

winquake.exe
pmpro62.dll
pmpro62f.dll
wdir62.dll
wdir62f.dll
wdirnop.com
wdirnop.pif

Then you can run WinQuake by making c:\quake the current directory,
typing "winquake" and pressing the Enter key.  Alternatively, you can
use wq.bat to run WinQuake.  The wq batch file requires one parameter
describing how to configure WQ for performance; just type "wq" to get
a list of the five options.  The first of the five options is

wq fast

This is the same as typing "winquake"; this runs WinQuake in an
aggressive configuration that is likely to yield the best performance
if it runs successfully on your system, but which has a risk of causing
WinQuake or even your system to crash if there are bugs or
incompatibilities in your video or sound drivers.  Alternatively, you
can use

wq safe

to run WinQuake in a conservative configuration, likely to run
on almost all machines with no problems, but possibly with slower graphics,
fewer high-resolution modes, and delayed sound.  Or you can run

wq verysafe

to run WinQuake in a very conservative configuration that is pretty much
guaranteed to run, but will probably have slow performance, and will have
no sound.  Two other options are

wq fastvid

which has maximum video performance, but greater sound latency (delay
until the sound is heard), and

wq fastsnd

which uses more conservative video modes, but low-latency sound.

(One odd note is that DirectSound has much lower-latency sound than wave
sound, but is currently quite a bit slower overall.  Thus you may find that
"wq fastvid" is actually faster, by as much as 5-10%, than "wq fast";
however, it may not feel faster, because the sound will lag.)

Note that DirectX is not required for WQ to run, but WQ will automatically
take advantage of DirectSound and DirectDraw if they are present.  If
DirectSound is not present, there will generally be considerable sound
latency (sound will become audible several hundred milliseconds after the
event that caused it).  Note also that there are currently no true
DirectSound drivers for Windows NT, so WQ will always run using wave
output on NT, and will consequently have lagged sound.  See below for
information about obtaining DirectX if you do not have it.

Note that VESA modes aren't required for WQ to run, but WQ will automatically
make VESA modes available if they're present.  Your BIOS may already have
VESA (VBE) 2.0 support built in, but most BIOSes don't.  An easy way to get
reliable VESA 2.0 support is by obtaining Scitech's Display Doctor; see below
for further information.  WQ can also use VBE/AF 1.0 and greater modes; again,
Display Doctor is the commonest way to get VBE/AF support.

Note that winquake -dedicated completely replaces the old winded dedicated
Win32 server, which is now obsolete.

WinQuake normally uses half the physical memory in your system for its heap,
but not less than 8.5 Mb and not more than 16 Mb.  You can override this
with "-heapsize xxx", where xxx is the amount of memory to allocate for the
heap, in Kb.


-----------------------------------
| Common problems and workarounds |
-----------------------------------

WQ crashes or won't run
-----------------------

If WQ refuses to run or crashes on your system, try running
it using "wq safe" or "wq verysafe".  Or you can use command-line switches:

winquake -nodirectdraw -nowindirect -wavonly

This will almost certainly solve your problem; however, it may result in
lagged sound (a long delay from action to hearing the sound), and may
result in fewer or slower high-res video modes.  If this does work, you
can try removing each of the command-line switches until you identify the
one that fixes the problem, thereby sacrificing as little functionality
as possible.

If the above command line does not fix your problems, try:

winquake -dibonly -nosound

which forces WQ into silent operation with bare-bones video support.
Again, if this works, try removing switches until you identify the
needed one.

Both of the above command lines are quick fixes.  Often, the problem is
caused by outdated or buggy DirectX drivers or code, and can frequently
be completely fixed simply by installing the latest Microsoft-supplied
version of DirectX, which you may be able to find on
http://www.microsoft.com/mediadev/download/directx.exe, although
availability and location of the DirectX file seems to come and go;
note that at last check, this is a 3.4 Mb file.  (In fact, getting the
latest MS-supplied version of DirectX is a good idea if you have any
video or sound problem.)

One known problem of this sort involves the current SB16 drivers from
Creative Labs, which cause WQ to crash on some machines.  The
DirectSound drivers from Microsoft, available via the above-mentioned
URL, fix this problem.

It can also sometimes help to get the latest Windows drivers for your
video adapter or sound card (although as the SB16 example indicates,
this is not always a good idea), and for video boards that have flash
BIOSes, it can help to get the latest BIOS upgrade.


How do I select fullscreen or windowed WQ operation?
----------------------------------------------------
Check out WQ's new, spiffy Video menu, accessible from the Options menu.
There are now two types of modes listed, windowed and fullscreen.  You
can make any of these modes the current and/or default mode, just as in
DOS Quake.  If you make a windowed mode the default, WQ will still
briefly start up in fullscreen mode, then switch to windowed; if this is
a problem, use the -startwindowed command-line switch.  More complete
video control is available through the console, as described in the "A
bit about how WQ video works" section, below.


Gee, I wish I could use a mouse to play WQ with when running in a window
------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can!  While in a windowed mode, go to the Options menu.  At the
bottom, you'll find a new selection that lets you choose to have the
mouse active when you're in a window.  Of course, if you do this, you'll
have to use the keyboard (Alt-Tab, the Windows key, or Ctrl-Esc) to
switch away from WQ.


WQ crashes when Alt-Tabbing from fullscreen WQ to a fullscreen DOS box
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We are in the process of fixing this problem, but currently you should
never Alt-Tab from a fullscreen WQ session using a DirectDraw or VESA
mode or VGA mode 0x13 to a fullscreen DOS box.  (You can tell whether a
mode is a DirectDraw or VESA mode or VGA mode 0x13 by using
vid_describemodes in the console, as discussed below.)  If this is a
particular problem for you, try running -dibonly.  Apart from switching
to a fullscreen DOS box, Alt-Tab, Ctrl-Esc, and the Windows Key should
work properly.


Serial/modem menu is missing
----------------------------
WQ does not currently support direct connect serial or modem play.


WQ causes dial-in networking popup to come up
---------------------------------------------
Occasionally, WQ seems to cause the dial-in networking popup to come
up when WQ is run in single-player mode.  We're checking into it.


Multiple Alt-Tabs sometimes leave screen blank
----------------------------------------------
Sometimes, rapidly pressing Alt-Tab multiple times leaves a blank
screen.  If this happens, just press Alt-Tab slowly one or two more
times, and the screen will come back.


DOS Quake reports unknown variables on startup after running WQ
---------------------------------------------------------------------
WQ uses some console variables that do not exist in DOS Quake, and some
of these are automatically archived in config.cfg when you exit WQ.  If
you then start DOS Quake, DOS Quake will complain that it doesn't
recognize those variables.  You will also lose the settings of these
variables when you return to WQ.  Apart from losing the settings, this
is harmless; ignore it.


Can't run fullscreen on NT 3.51
-------------------------------
Unfortunately NT 3.51 doesn't support DirectDraw or any other mode-
setting mechanism.  You can run in a window, though.


Ctrl-Alt-Del does bad things when running fullscreen
----------------------------------------------------
We're working to fix this one, but it's true that in DirectDraw
and VESA fullscreen modes, Ctrl-Alt-Del on Win95 results in a blank
screen.  Try not to do this, and if you do, hit Esc to return to WQ.
(DON'T hit Enter, because that kills WQ, and then you're stuck there
with a blank screen and no way to get back to the desktop.)


WQ crashes while switching modes or Alt-Tabbing
-----------------------------------------------
So far, all cases of this seem to be tied to Creative Lab's SB16 sound
drivers, and have been fixed by getting the latest DirectX drivers, as
described above.  Alternatively, you should be able to fix this either
by not switching modes or Alt-Tabbing, or by running -wavonly to disable
DirectSound support.


The maximize box on the WQ window doesnÆt work
----------------------------------------------
ItÆs not supposed to; itÆs grayed out.  You donÆt want to run a
fullscreen window at your desktop resolution; itÆd be really slow.
ThatÆs why we have all those nifty lower-resolution fullscreen modes in
the Video menu.


WQ sometimes runs pretty slowly fullscreen
------------------------------------------
There are several possible reasons for this, starting with "You have a
slow computer."  Assuming that's not the case, if you don't have either
DirectDraw or Scitech Display Doctor installed (see the "A bit about
how WQ video works" section), it would probably be a good thing to
install one or the other, because slow operation can be a result of slow
copying or stretching of pixels to the screen by a Windows driver,
something that's eliminated by both DirectDraw and Display Doctor.  The
-noforcevga command-line switch can also help produce a faster 320x200
mode on Win95 (but may not work on some video cards); you can get the
same result by doing vid_describemodes, then using vid_mode to select a
non-VGA 320x200 mode, as described in the "A bit about how WQ video
works" section.

You can also try using a primary sound buffer on Win95 (it doesn't work
on NT) by using the -primarysound command-line switch; this can improve
performance by several percent, but does not work on all systems, and
can result in odd sound effects on some systems when minimizing WQ or
switching the focus away from it.  If you use this switch, please don't
report sound bugs; it's in there purely for you to use if it helps you,
and we know it has problems on many systems.  Finally, you can use
-wavonly to select wave sound; this will increase your sound latency
(sounds will be heard later than they should), but allows WQ to run
5-10% faster on some systems.  That's about all you can do to speed up
fullscreen WQ on Win95, other than shrinking the active area of the
screen.

NT 4.0 comes with DirectX installed, but doesn't have any resolutions
lower than 640x480.  In order to support a lower-resolution 320x240
mode, WQ has NT double each pixel in both directions to get enough
pixels for 640x480.  The extra stretching costs some performance, the
result being that NT can seem sluggish on all but high-end Pentiums and
Pentium Pros.  (In fact, depending on the quality of your driver's
stretching code, it can sometimes be faster to run WQ at 640x480 than
320x240-stretched on NT.)  One thing that can help is using the Options
menu to shrink the active area of the screen.

A common cause of slowness running in a window is having the desktop run
in 16- or 32-bpp mode.  WQ is an 8-bpp application, and it slows things
down if pixels have to be translated from 8-bpp to 16- or 32-bpp.  (Note
that this is generally a problem only when running in a window;
fullscreen apps rarely suffer from this.)


Sound is sluggish on NT
-----------------------
NT doesn't have any real DirectSound drivers yet, so there's no way to
do quick-response sound on NT.  When DirectSound drivers for NT appear,
WQ's sound should automatically be snappier.


Sound breaks up or gets choppy, especially in menus
---------------------------------------------------
This is generally a sign that WQ's frame rate is too low on your system.
Try reducing resolution or shrinking the active area of the screen
(getting a faster computer is another, more expensive alternative).  In
some circumstances, it may help to set the console variable
_snd_mixahead to a larger value.


The color black doesn't change with palette flashes sometimes
-------------------------------------------------------------
DirectDraw lets WQ change all 256 colors, so when a palette flash
happens, we can change all the colors, including black.  However, on NT,
DirectDraw doesn't allow changing black; likewise, black can't be
changed in a window, either a normal window or fullscreen.
Consequently, some parts of the WQ screen (such as the sigils on the
status bar and the spray where a shotgun blast hits) stay black when the
palette flashes.  There is no workaround.


Problems can result if Office shortcut bar is running
-----------------------------------------------------
Various odd behaviors, especially with sound, have been reported if the
Office shortcut bar is running while WQ is running.  If you experience
odd problems, you might try shutting down the Office shortcut bar and
see if that fixes anything.


Other apps fail to play sound while WinQuake is running
-------------------------------------------------------
The sound hardware is not a fully shareable resource on Win32 currently.
Consequently, while WQ is running, it always has the sound hardware in
use, to make sure that Quake sound is never lost to another app.  This
means that normally, other apps that use wave sound (most non-game apps)
will not be able to play sound while WQ is running, even if WQ is
minimized or not the active app, although other DirectSound apps will
be able to play sound when WQ is not the active app.  If WQ is using
wave sound (either because -wavonly is used on the command line, or
because there is no DirectSound driver, as is always the case on NT),
then no other app will be able to play any sound while WQ is running.


WQ gets funny colors when itÆs not the active app
-------------------------------------------------
We're working on fixing this.  But WQ puts everything back again as soon
as it is reactivated, and anyway, when itÆs not active, you canÆt
actually do anything in WQ, so it doesnÆt really matter anyway, right?


Desktop redraws a lot when WQ runs windowed
-------------------------------------------
We're fixing this, but right now when WQ runs windowed with 256-color
wallpaper and the palette changes, the other stuff on the desktop often
redraws, sometimes flickering as it does so.  Apart from being ugly, the
extra redrawing can cause a major slowdown.  The best fix is to run
fullscreen or to change to 16-color wallpaper; otherwise, minimize as much
stuff as possible to reduce redrawing.


Desktop is weird colors when WQ runs windowed
---------------------------------------------
WQ needs all 256 colors to look right, which causes it to have to change
the 20 colors used to draw the desktop.  We may fix this if people think
it's important enough, but for now, if this is really a problem, run
fullscreen.


Fullscreen WQ sometimes drops the connection when switched away from
--------------------------------------------------------------------
We're working on fixing this, but right now, if WQ is running in a
fullscreen mode thatÆs not a fullscreen window mode (that is, if itÆs
a DirectDraw mode, a VESA mode, or 320x200 VGA mode 0x13), then if you
switch away with Alt-Tab, Ctrl-Esc, or the Windows key, WQ will be
suspended.  Not paused--completely suspended, doing nothing.  After about
30 seconds, your net connection to the server will be dropped.  WeÆre
really sorry about this, but right now we canÆt change it.  One workaround
is to change to a windowed video mode when you want to switch away; thereÆs
no connection dropping if youÆre running in a normal window.  You could
also try running -dibonly, which uses fullscreen windows for fullscreen
modes; WQ is not paused when you switch away from fullscreen in this case.
The downside to -dibonly is that it can be significantly slower than normal
fullscreen modes, especially at low resolutions.


High-resolution modes donÆt work on the Intergraph Reactor
----------------------------------------------------------
Sad but true.  Working on it, but for now try -nowindirect and see if
that fixes things.  Or maybe their latest BIOS upgrade fixes the
problem.  Or you can get Scitech Display Doctor (see below), which
fixes this problem.


Sometimes Permedia boards crash unless -nowindirect is used
-----------------------------------------------------------
Still working on this one too; for now, use -nowindirect.


Keys whacked during mode switches sometimes go to other apps
------------------------------------------------------------
We're working on this, but right now during a mode switch, there is
a small period when WQ doesnÆt have any window, and if you hit keys
then, they will go to the next app on the desktop, possibly doing
things you wonÆt like.  So please donÆt whack keys during mode sets.


Problems if an autorun CD is inserted while WQ is fullscreen
------------------------------------------------------------
If you insert an autorun CD, then exit its window, youÆll switch back to
the WQ window, but input wonÆt be going to WQ properly for some reason.
Just do an Alt-Tab and youÆll probably be fine.  We're doing our best
to fix this one.


Right-click|close on WQ button in system bar to close doesnÆt work
------------------------------------------------------------------
Right-click doesnÆt work at all when minimized WQ is minimized in
fullscreen modes.  Working on it; for now, donÆt do it.


Quake turns system sound down to zero
-------------------------------------
This happens occasionally, although we have no idea why yet.  If it
happens to you and you see any potential causative event, please let us
know.


Screen saver never kicks in when running fullscreen
---------------------------------------------------
Something about being fullscreen convinces Windows that the machine isn't
idle.  WeÆll fix this in the future if people think itÆs a problem.


WQ doesnÆt work in a window in 16-color mode
--------------------------------------------
ThatÆs 16 *colors*, not 16-bpp.  If youÆre still running 16-color mode,
only run WQ fullscreen.


Can't minimize window while mouse active
----------------------------------------
When running in a window with the mouse active as a WQ input device,
there is no easy way to minimize the window, because the system menu
can't be brought up from the keyboard (because some of you use Alt
and Spacebar for playing the game), and the mouse can't be used to
manipulate the window because it's controlling WQ.  Even if you switch
away with Alt-Tab to get the mouse back and then click on the Minimize
box of the WQ window, WQ doesn't minimize.  This is a bug, and we hope
to fix it, but for now, if you really need to minimize WQ, enable the
mouse and use it to minimize the window.


WQ behaves oddly if Scandisk starts defragmenting
-------------------------------------------------
If WQ is running fullscreen on Win95 when Scandisk starts an automatic
defragging, WQ is minimized, and when it is brought back up, may either
be in a strange mode where it runs one frame for each keystroke (in
which case Alt-Tab generally fixes things), or may hang the system.  We
don't know what the problem is right now, but you may want to make sure
you don't leave WQ sitting there fullscreen overnight if you have
automatic defragging.


Changing desktop resolution on Win95 can cause problems
-------------------------------------------------------
Changing desktop resolution on Win95 can cause problems when running
WQ in a window.  We're checking into it.  If you encounter this
problem, don't change the desktop resolution while WQ is running.


Hang reported with zero sound volume
------------------------------------
When sound is turned all the way down via the WQ menus, hangs have
been reported.  We're looking into it, but don't know any more
yet.


WQ runs very slowly when it has the focus under NT
--------------------------------------------------
In one case, WQ ran very slowly when it had the focus, but fast when
it didn't (obviously this is only visible in windowed modes).  The
problem turned out to be that NT had a Sidewinder 3D Pro joystick
driver installed; when the driver was removed, things were fine.
If you see a similar problem, check whether WQ is detecting that
your system has a joystick when you don't think it should; if so,
try doing "joystick 0", or -nojoy on the command line, and see if
that fixes it.  If so, there's something flaky in your system
joystick setup.


Joystick doesn't seem calibrated properly
-----------------------------------------
WQ relies on the information about your joystick stored in the
registry.  If the joystick seems miscalibrated, run the joystick
applet and recalibrate and see if that fixes things.


Net play pauses every few seconds
---------------------------------
Not as in the Pause key, but as in stopping briefly as if the net
connection were glitching.  All we have is a report of this--no
details.  If you experience something like this, please send info.


Playdemo fails across multiple levels
-------------------------------------
If "record" is used to record a client-side demo, bad things will
happen on playback via playdemo if a level change is recorded.
(Timedemo works fine.)  This is unfortunate, but WinQuake
internals make this not fixable without a good chance of
breaking something more important, so it'll have to stay this way.



----------------------------------
| A bit about how WQ video works |
----------------------------------

WQ has the built-in ability to draw into windows, both normal, framed
desktop windows and fullscreen, borderless windows.  It also has built-
in support for VGA 320x200 graphics, and supports both DirectDraw and
VESA (VBE) 2.0 graphics modes if those are available.

In order for DirectDraw modes to be available, you must have DirectDraw
installed; some systems come with it preinstalled, but if it's not on
your system, you can download it from
http://www.microsoft.com/mediadev/download/directx.exe (the exact
may vary), and install it.

In order for VESA (VBE) modes to be available, a driver must be
installed; a VESA driver can either be built into the BIOS, or loadable
software.  The most common VESA driver is Scitech Display Doctor, from
Scitech Software.  Display Doctor is also the commonest VBE/AF driver
(VBE/AF is similar to VESA, but adds support for accelerated hardware
features, although WQ does not use such acceleration); WQ supports
VBE/AF 1.0 and later.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
**************************
* Scitech Display Doctor *
**************************

The latest version of Display Doctor can be obtained from the
following locations:

www: http://www.scitechsoft.com
ftp: ftp.scitechsoft.com
CIS: GO SCITECH
AOL: Keyword SciTech

SciTech can be contacted at:

email: [e-mail]

SciTech Software
505 Wall Street
Chico, CA  95928
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

What all this means is that on Win95, WQ will always be able to run in
the following modes:

1)  in a window
2)  fullscreen 320x200 VGA mode 0x13 (unless -noforcevga is used)
3)  fullscreen high-resolution of some sort

Category #3 can be any of several configurations.  On Win95, if either
DirectDraw or VESA modes are available, then all the DirectDraw and VESA
modes will be presented as high-res choices.  (320x200 will always
default to VGA mode 0x13 unless the -noforcevga command-line switch is
used.)  In the case that a given resolution is supported by both
DirectDraw and VESA, the VESA mode will be used.  (However, the command-
line switch -nowindirect can turn off VESA modes entirely.)  If neither
DirectDraw nor VESA modes are available, then high-resolution modes will
be provided by using fullscreen, borderless windows in whatever
resolutions the Windows driver supports, usually starting at 640x480 and
going up.

NT is similar but not identical, because neither VESA modes nor VGA mode
0x13 are available.  On NT, WQ will always be able to run in the
following modes:

1)  in a window
2)  fullscreen high-resolution of some sort

On NT, category #3 can be one of two configurations.  If DirectDraw
modes are available, then those will be the high-res choices; otherwise,
fullscreen, borderless windows will be used in whatever resolutions the
driver supports, usually starting at 640x480 and going up.  Because
there is normally no low-resolution mode such as 320x200 or 320x240 on
NT, a pseudo low-res mode is created by rendering at 320x240, then
stretching the image by doubling it in each direction while copying it
to a 640x480 screen.  However, stretching performance depends on the
driver, and can be slow, so sometimes 640x480 is actually faster than
320x240 on NT.

The bottom line here is that you can generally just use the Video menu
and pick one of the modes and be happy.  In some cases, though, you may
need to use command-line switches (described next) to get the types of
modes you want.  One useful tip is to go into the console and do
vid_describemodes, which lists all the modes WQ supports on your machine
given the command-line switches you've used.  Each mode is followed by
the name of the internal WQ driver that supports it, so you can tell
which modes are DirectDraw, VESA, and so on, as follows:

WINDOWED: WQ runs in a normal window
FULLSCREEN VGA8.DRV: VGA 320x200 mode
FULLSCREEN LINEAR8.DRV: VESA (VBE) 2.0 mode
FULLSCREEN ACCEL8.DRV: VBE/AF 1.0 or later mode
FULLSCREEN DDRAW8.DRV: DirectDraw mode
FULLSCREEN DIB: fullscreen borderless window

You can use vid_mode from the console to set any of these modes.  So,
for example, if you see that there are two 320x200 modes (such as one
VGA mode 0x13, normally mode 3, and one VESA mode, normally mode 4), you
can choose the VESA mode, which will often be faster, with vid_mode 4.

The windowed modes are more interesting than they seem.  320x240 is just
what youÆd think, but 640x480 is actually rendered at 320x240 and
stretched up to 640x480, because most machines canÆt handle real 640x480
rendering.  Likewise, 800x600 is a stretched 400x300.  Actually, though,
vid_mode 2 (the 800x600 mode) is a user-configurable mode.  By setting
the following console variables, you can change the characteristics of
vid_mode 2:

vid_config_x: width of window

vid_config_y: height of window

vid_stretch_by_2: whether to render at half-resolution in each direction
and stretch up to the specified size, or render at full resolution

After setting these variables in the console, do a vid_forcemode 2, and
youÆll have the window you specified.  Note that after making these
changes, the new resolution will show up as the third windowed mode in
the Video menu.



-------------------------------
| Video command-line switches |
-------------------------------

The full list of video-related command-line switches is:

-dibonly: WQ will use only windows (both normal, framed windows on the
desktop and fullscreen, borderless windows), not any direct hardware
access modes such as DirectDraw or VESA modes, or even VGA 320x200 mode.
This is the closest thing to a guaranteed-to-run fullscreen mode WQ has.

-nowindirect: WQ will not try to use VESA (VBE) 2.0 modes, or VBE/AF 1.0
or later modes.  Note that if there are both DirectDraw and VESA modes for
a given resolution, WQ will normally use the VESA mode; -nowindirect
allows DirectDraw modes to be the preferred choice for all resolutions
except 320x200 (see -noforcevga below).

-nodirectdraw: WQ will not try to use DirectDraw modes.

-novbeaf: WQ will not try to use VBE/AF 1.0 or later modes.

-startwindowed: WQ will come up in a windowed mode, without going
fullscreen even during initialization.

-noforcevga: normally, WQ uses VGA mode 0x13 for the default 320x200
mode, even if a DirectDraw or VESA 320x200 mode exists.  However,
DirectDraw and VESA modes can be considerably faster than mode 0x13,
because they can set up a linear framebuffer with higher memory
bandwidth.  If you specify -noforcevga, the default 320x200 mode will be
a DirectDraw or VESA mode if one exists.  The downside to this switch is
that DirectDraw and VESA modes can cause problems in some systems, due
to driver bugs or hardware incompatibilities; if you experience problems
with this switch, don't use it.

-noautostretch: don't stretch windowed mode selected with -startwindowed
to double resolution.

-nofulldib: don't use fullscreen, borderless windows, even if there are
no DirectDraw or VESA modes available.

-allow360: allow listing of 360-wide modes in the video mode menu.  These
are normally filtered out to make sure the menu doesn't fill up, which
would cause high-res modes not to be displayed.



----------------------------------
| A bit about how WQ sound works |
----------------------------------

WQ can use either DirectSound or Windows wave output to generate sound.
If DirectSound is available, it is used; if not, if wave sound is
available it is used; and if neither is available, there is no sound.
DirectSound results in the best sound quality, and also the lowest-
latency sound; use it if you can, because you will be happier with the
results.  (Note, though, that no NT sound drivers yet support
DirectSound.)  Wave sound will often have high latency, lagging the
events that generate sound by hundreds of milliseconds on some machines.

You can tell what kind of sound WQ uses on your system by looking at the
startup portion of the console; you will see either "DirectSound
initialized" or "Wave sound initialized" (neither message is printed if
there's no sound).  Any sound failure messages will also be printed in
the startup portion of the console.

Note that WQ generates sound only when it is the active app, the one
with the input focus.



-------------------------------
| Sound command-line switches |
-------------------------------

The full list of sound-related command-line switches is:

-wavonly: donÆt use DirectSound, but use wave sound if available.  Note
that wave sound is generally faster than DirectSound, but has considerably
greater latency.  This switch is redundant on NT, because all sound output
on current NT drivers is wave sound.

-nosound: donÆt output any sound

-primarysound: use DirectSound primary buffer output.  This is generally
faster than normal secondary buffer output, but does not work in some
systems, and produces odd sound glitches on minimization and focus
switching in other systems.  Use it at your own risk, and please do not
report sound bugs if you're using this switch.

-snoforceformat: WQ will not create a primary buffer and try to force
the sound hardware to 11 KHz, 16 bits per sample.  This may be useful if
DirectSound is failing for no apparent reason, but generally WQ will
produce better sound and better performance if this switch is not used.

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End of Document 2/5/97
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