NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 Release Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ August 22, 1997 TABLE OF CONTENTS Game controls.......................... In-game keyboard commands.............. Common questions and answers........... Installation notes..................... Hardware acceleration notes............ - 3Dfx - Rendition Verite - Matrox - PowerVR - S3 Virge - 3D Labs - ATI - nVidia - Number 9 - Cirrus Logic CD-ROM notes........................... MMX SOUND.............................. ********************************** GAME CONTROLS ********************************** All listed controls are the default; the full version allows you to re-map your controller/keyboard. --------------------- GRAVIS GRIP 8 BUTTON: BUTTON OFFENSE DEFENSE GOALIE FIGHTING A Wrist Shot Block Shot/Hook Make Save/Smother B Pass Select Player Select Player Uppercut Faceoff C Slap Shot Poke Check X Flip Pass Backwards Skate Y Fast Skate Body Check/Fast Skate Punch Faceoff Z Drop Pass Select Goalie R1 Line Change Line Change B + C = one timer C twice = deflection A twice = dump in -------------------------- *P.C GRAVIS GRIP 4 BUTTON: BUTTON OFFENSE DEFENSE GOALIE FIGHTING RED Wrist Shot Block Shot/Hook Make Save/Smother YELLOW Pass/ Select Player Uppercut Select Player/Faceoff GREEN Slap Shot Poke Check BLUE Fast Skate Body Check/Fast Skate Punch Faceoff SPACE Line Change Line Change + F KEYS INS/HOMELine Change Line Change + 1-8 Yellow + Green = one timer Green twice = deflection Red twice = dump in ----------------------- *P.C 2 BUTTON JOYSTICK: BUTTON OFFENSE DEFENSE GOALIE FIGHTING FORWARD Shoot Check Punch BACK Pass/Faceoff Select Player Uppercut SPACE + F KEYS Line Change Line Change INS/HOME + 1-8 Line Change Line Change Back + Forward = one timer -------------- RIGHT KEYBOARD BUTTON OFFENSE DEFENSE GOALIE FIGHTING RSHIFT Wrist Shot Block Shot/Hook Make Save/Smother Apostrophe Pass/ Select Player Uppercut Select Player/Faceoff ENTER Slap Shot Poke Check SLASH (/) Fast Skate/ Body Check/Fast Skate Punch Faceoff SPACE + F KEYS Line Change Line Change INS/HOME + 1-8 Line Change Line Change Apostrophe + Enter = one timer Enter twice = deflection RShift twice = dump in ------------- LEFT KEYBOARD BUTTON OFFENSE DEFENSE GOALIE FIGHTING LSHIFT Wrist Shot Block Shot/Hook Make Save/Smother CTRL Pass/ Select Player Uppercut Select Player/Faceoff CAPS LOCK Slap Shot Poke Check ALT Fast Skate/ Body Check/Fast Skate Punch Faceoff SPACE + F KEYS Line Change Line Change INS/HOME + 1-8 Line Change Line Change Ctrl + Caps Lock = one timer Caps Lock twice = deflection LShift twice = dump in * - In the case of any joypad/stick with less than seven buttons passing/shooting/checking will be set to automatic if the hardware can't support those individual actions. I.E. With a two button joystick the Shoot/Check button will perform whichever shot or check the computer deems to be the best for that situation. Similarly for the Pass/Select Player button, the computer will select whichever pass is best for that situation. - In the case of any joypad/stick with less than seven buttons the goalie is simply another player, so you will gain control of him only if the puck is closest to him and you hit the Select Player button. ********************************** IN-GAME KEYBOARD COMMANDS ********************************** '8' - Enable solid fill rendering '9' - Enable wire-frame rendering '0' - Enable point rendering (hardware only) 'M' - Toggle ice texture 'N' - Toggle player name/number 'O' - Toggle player shadows 'Q' - Toggle crowd 'W' - Toggle glass 'E' - Toggle bench 'Y' - Toggle crowd/glass/bench together 'S' - Toggle in-game sprite overlays 'U' - Toggle replay sprite overlays ********************************** COMMON QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ********************************** ============================================================================ What is the difference between "Software", and "Hardware" rendering? Hardware rendering is when the functions of a 3D accelerator card are being used generate the display. Software rendering does not take advantage of any 3D hardware present (nor does it require it). Generally, hardware rendering results in better graphics and smoother gameplay (but not always). The 3D configuration dialog that is displayed before the game is loaded allows software rendering, or hardware rendering (if available) to be selected. ============================================================================ What is AutoPlay? AutoPlay is an ability of Windows 95 to automatically startup a program from the CD-ROM. If after inserting the CD, you do not see a start up box, ensure that you do not have "Auto Insert Notification" disabled under the CD-ROM System Properties dialog. Also check with your CD-ROM manufacturer to ensure that your hardware is AutoPlay compatible and that you are using the latest Windows 95 drivers. ============================================================================ What is Microsoft DirectX? DirectX is a set of Windows libraries that allow a game access to various aspects of a PC hardware (sound, video, networking). NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 uses DirectX for graphics, sound effects, and input. ============================================================================ What is Microsoft Direct3D? Direct3D is a component of DirectX which addresses the rendering of 3D graphics. NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 uses Direct3D when 3D acceleration is present. ============================================================================ What is the most optimal resolution I should play the game when using the "Software" rendering mode? If supported by your video card, 512x384 often is a good balance between resolution, and speed. Faster machines (Pentium 200 MHz+) can use a resolution of 640x480 or higher with good results. In software, the game will allow any supported resolution up to 1024x768. ============================================================================ What is the most optimal resolution I should play the game when using my hardware accelerator card? The good resolution is 640x480, although this will depend on your hardware accelerator. Many newer cards can run NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 at 800x600, or even 1024x768 at a good speed. Note that only cards with at least 4 megabytes of video memory are supported by NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98. ============================================================================ Why do the choices on playing resolutions vary from computer to computer? This varies due to differences in the video hardware, and driver versions from one computer to the next. The amount of memory on the video card limits the maximum resolution that NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 can play. ============================================================================ What is Perspective Correction? Perspective Correction enhances the visual accuracy of the rendering. Without it, the rink textures can appear to warp when the camera is near to the ice. Perspective correction removes this artifact at the cost of some frame-rate when software rendering is used. On hardware accelerators, perspective correction can be enabled with no decrease in performance. ============================================================================ What is MMX? MMX is an extension of the Pentium processor which provides additional capabilities tailored towards multimedia applications. NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 will automatically detect a computer with MMX support and utilize MMX features to improve the game's performance. ============================================================================ What can I do to help game performance? System - run the game from a freshly booted machine - close all non-essential programs and tasks - run in the suggested resolutions best suited to your system configuration - ensure that virtual memory is enabled Rendering Options - select a lower resolution - disable ice textures - disable other rendering features (boards, crowd, shadows, etc.) - disable perspective correction Sound - reduce the sound quality - move the sound files from the CD to the hard drive (via the setup utility) ============================================================================ When I play the game the controls feel unresponsive. What can I do? Refer to the "What can I do to increase game performance?" ============================================================================ The sound is very low quality. Is there something wrong? Adjust the sound settings using the configuration program to improve the sound quality. Get the latest drivers for your sound card. Get the latest video drivers for your video card. Some video cards conflict with sound cards resulting in a "warbling" noise. The latest drivers can often fix this problem. ============================================================================ There are no sound effects during the game or during the movies. What can I do? Check for the following: 1. the sound effect volume during the game is set properly 2. the Windows sound volume is not low or muted 3. the speakers are hooked up properly 4. speaker volume is at the right level ============================================================================ The movies don't play back smoothly. What can I do? If you are playing the movies from the CD-ROM, ensure that you have obtained the latest CD-ROM drivers from the manufacturer. Disable the built-in Windows 95 Read-Ahead cache for the CD-ROM. Here's how to do this: 1. Bring up the Control Panel from the Start Menu. 2. Double-click on the System applet. 3. Select the Performance tab. 4. Under "Advanced settings", select the "File System Option." 5. Select the CD-ROM tab. 6. Select the "No Read Ahead" option under the "Optimize access pattern for.." pull down box. 7. Press OK to exit the "File System Option" dialog. 8. Press OK to exit the System dialog. 9. Restart the computer. ============================================================================ Will NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 take advantage of my 3D accelerator? NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 is designed to utilize the features of a 3D accelerator through the Microsoft Direct3D interface. Most cards that have Direct3D drivers with a few exceptions. As Direct3D is a somewhat ill-defined standard, compatibility problems are bound to occur. See the section on "Hardware Acceleration" for details on specific cards. Often many problems can be fixed by acquiring the latest video drivers from the video card company. If all else fails, software rendering can be enabled. ============================================================================ NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 doesn't allow hardware acceleration on my video card with 2MB of memory. Why not? There is not be enough memory on a 2MB card to support the game's texture maps. A minimum of 4MB is required to play NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 under hardware acceleration. Note that software rendering is available on 2MB video cards. Card Memory Maximum Hardware Resolution Maximum Software Resolution 2MB Not supported 1024x768 4MB 800x600 1024x768 8MB 1024x768 1024x768 ============================================================================ Why can't I run NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 in a window when 3D hardware rendering is selected? The game can run in a window only when software rendering is selected. When hardware rendering is selected, the game takes over the entire display to insure that enough video memory is available to load all of the game's texture maps. ============================================================================ I am using 3D acceleration, but the game runs slowly. What's wrong? Not all 3D cards are built alike. Some cards may actually exhibit lower performance than the software rendering. Try adjusting some of the graphics detail and sound settings and see if there is an improvement in frame-rate. If all else fails, use the software driver. Some cards may exhibit a large performance decrease when ice texture or player shadows are enabled. To toggle player shadows during a game press 'O'. To toggle ice texture, press 'M'. Use these keys to examine the performance impact of various rendering options on a particular machine. ============================================================================ There are strange texturing artifacts on the screen when using 3D acceleration. What's happening? Some cards exhibit problems when using older Direct3D drivers. Contact your manufacturer of your video card for the latest drivers. If problems persist, look at the above notes for information about particular accelerators. If all else fails, disable the 3D acceleration, and use software rendering. ============================================================================ I have a machine with a MMX processor. Will NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 take advantage of it? Yes. NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 is optimized for a processor with MMX extensions and will automatically make use of MMX if available. MMX extensions are available on newer Pentium, Pentium II, AMD K6, and Cyrix 686MX (M2) processors. ============================================================================ ********************************** INSTALLATION NOTES ********************************** After installing NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98, you are allowed to install again at any time. However, you must install in the same directory of your first install. You might want to install a second time to ADD some game components that might improve the performance of the game. In the CUSTOM installation dialog, you will notice that there are four options to choose from. Installing these options will have various effects: 1) Front-End Screens The Front-End screens are the screens in the game where you can select different game options. Installing this component will speed up moving from one screen to the next, since accessing each screen from the CD-ROM is slower than off your hard drive. 2) Player Data and Photos Installing this option will speed up loading the players' photos at certain points in the Front-End. It will also help speed up loading the game. 3) Game Art Installing this option will speed up loading the game. When you start a game of NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98, you will notice a progress bar that indicates how long it will take before you can play the game. Installing the game art will speed up this process. 4) Sound Samples This will help reduce possible stalls in the game that might be caused by a slow CD-ROM. Sound and music that are accessed during the game can be accessed off the CD, or your hard drive. Accessing sound off your hard drive is faster than your CD-ROM, so installing sound files is the most recommended option of these four. If you have done a "typical" install most of the in-game sound effects have already been installed on your hard drive. So if you are considering installing the sound samples and you haven't installed using a "typical" install, you should re-run the setup program and select "typical" if the you are low on hard drive space (sound samples are in total around 100+ MB!). ============================================================================ ********************************** HARDWARE ACCELERATION NOTES ********************************** NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 has been designed to take advantage of the acceleration features of many currently available 3D graphics cards. This following section gives details about specific manufacturers' cards. ============================================================================ 3Dfx Voodoo, Voodoo Rush (Orchid Righteous 3D, Diamond Monster 3D, Hercules Stingray 128) When using these cards, sound and music may sound broken and not smooth. New drivers to fix this problem are available. Contact the manufacturer for the latest drivers. Even with new drivers, the sound may still break up when running the game at 800x600. If this is the case, run the game at 640x480. 3Dfx is currently working to fix this problem. ============================================================================ Rendition Verite 1000, 2100, 2200 (3D Blaster, Intergraph Reactor, Canopus Total 3D, Diamond Stealth II) Rendering the ice texture, and player shadows may cause a significant decrease in performance on some Verite 1000 based cards. If the game runs slowly, try adjusting these rendering options. ============================================================================ Matrox Mystique, Mystique 220, Millenium II Very early versions of the Mystique driver have problems with applications that use a large number of texture maps under Direct3D. If there are problems loading the game with hardware acceleration under the Mystique, contact Matrox to acquire a driver update that will fix the problem. Video cards equipped with 2MB of video memory do not have enough RAM to run NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 with hardware acceleration. On 2MB cards, only software rendering will be available. Translucent objects, such as glass will have a "dotty" appearance. This is the result of how the Mystique implements translucency, and is normal behavior. For best performance, make sure that the "Use bus mastering" field is checked in the Matrox PowerDesk performance settings from the display Control Panel applet. For a small increase in performance, it may be desirable to enable the "Page flip during vertical blank" option from the Matrox PowerDesk performance settings Control Panel applet. This may produce some "tearing" artifacts, but can increase the frame rate. ============================================================================ NEC Power-VR PCX1, PCX2 (Videologic Apocalypse 3D) The latest version of the Power-VR drivers must be installed to operate correctly. With some versions of the Power-VR drivers, a black rectangle may appear around the rink lines and player shadows. If this happens, enable the "Ice Texture" rendering option. This will fix the rendering artifact, and should have little impact on the game's performance. The ice texture can be toggled on and off during the game by pressing the 'M' key. Enabling the "auto mip mapping" feature of the PCX2 may cause rendering artifacts in the game. If this is the case, disable the feature from the Control Panel. The 3D configuration screen will give results similar to "Your system is: 4861169" if the user is using a Cyrix microprocessor. In some cases, the configuration will inform the user to switch to a lower resolution and to disable almost all of the display and audio options. This is despite the fact that the game will run properly on many systems with all of the display and audio options selected. The NEC Power-VR series of 3D accelerator cards will not support PP98 unless it's control panel (in display menu) is selected to "Maximum Performance" and NOT "Maximum Compatibility." If the game still fails to recognize the 3D hardware, it may require the user to select between "Maximum Compatibility" and "Maximum Performance" several times before attempting to run the game again. If the user attempts to run PP98 with 3D acceleration while the Power-VR control is set to "Maximum Compatibility," the user may experience severe system crashes. ============================================================================ 3D Labs Permedia/Delta, Permedia 2 Ensure that the "Disable Direct3D HAL" option is not checked in the PERMEDIA Direct3D Control Panel applet. For a small increase in performance, it may be desirable to enable the "No VBlank Wait" option from the PERMEDIA Direct3D Control Panel applet. This may produce some "tearing" artifacts, but can increase frame rate. ============================================================================ S3 Virge (Diamond Stealth 3D 2000, #9 Reality 332) Playing NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 on older versions of the Virge chipset with Direct3D rendering may exhibit rendering artifacts, or slow performance. If this is the case, select "software" rendering from the 3D configuration dialog. Newer Virge chipsets (GX2 and higher) might have better success running the game (as always, get the latest drivers for your video card). Video cards equipped with 2MB of video memory do not have enough texture memory to run the game at 640x480 resolution. On 2 MB cards, only resolutions of 640x400 and below will be available. ============================================================================ ATI Rage, Rage II, Rage II+, Rage III (Graphics 3D Xpression, 3D Pro Turbo, Rage Pro AGP) Playing NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 on older versions of the Rage chipset with Direct3D rendering may exhibit rendering artifacts, or slow performance. If this is the case, select "software" rendering from the 3D configuration dialog. Newer versions of the Rage chipset (Rage Pro and higher) should have fewer problems running the game. Video cards equipped with 2 MB of video memory do not have enough texture memory to run the game at 640x480 resolution. On 2 MB cards, only resolutions of 640x400 and below will be available. ============================================================================ NVidia Riva 128 (Diamond Viper 330) The "auto mip mapping" feature of this card may interfere with the rink, and referee artwork in PowerPlay '98. If problems are seen, attempt to disable "auto mip mapping" from the video Control Panel applet for the video card. Some drivers may not provide the ability to disable this feature. In this case, contact the card manufacturer for details. In some cases, rendering player shadows may cause a significant decrease in performance on the Riva 128. If this is the case, disable player shadow rendering (this can be done in-game with the 'O' key). ============================================================================ Number 9 Revolution 3D This card does not support alpha-blending, so glass will be rendered opaque on this device. On this card, glass rendering should be turned off from the 3D configuration dialog. ============================================================================ Cirrus Logic 546x (Laguna 3D) Early versions of the drivers for the 546x based cards report the amount of free video memory on the card incorrectly. For example, 1024x768 resolution may be available for selection on a 4 megabyte card even though the card doesn't have enough memory to play at that resolution. The game may crash if a resolution is selected that is too high for the amount of memory on the card. If this happens, select a lower resolution. A 4 megabyte card should be able to run PowerPlay '98 up to 800x600. Some versions of the Cirrus Logic 546x drivers will crash the machine if player shadows are enabled. To fix this game, disable player shadows from either the 3D configuration dialog, or from the pre-game front end. ============================================================================ ********************************** CD-ROM NOTES ********************************** For users of the Toshiba 12x CD-ROM drives: Users of high-speed CD-ROM drives (such as the Toshiba XM5302 and XM5702) that "spin down" after periods of inactivity might encounter brief pauses in gameplay and/or overlapping announcer sound samples. What happens is NHL POWERPLAY (TM) 98 has to wait for the CD-ROM drive to spin up to operating speed every time it accesses a sound sample. CD-ROM drives like the Toshiba 12x have very short time-outs before they spin down, thus increasing the frequency they are forced to spin up again. There is a shareware utility available that allows you to lengthen the spindown time-out and minimize spin up accesses. Spindown by Jim McLaughlin is available at http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aa571/. ============================================================================ ********************************** MMX SOUND ********************************** 1) MMX sound driver options: Since MMX is a new technology, not all sound cards will have proper MMX drivers. If this is the case, and a new one isn't available yet from your sound card vendor, you can disable the MMX sound driver by copying the file "MMXoff.con" from your PP98 CD "SOUND\" directory into your "SOUNDTMP\" directory where you installed PP98 on your hard-drive. This will disable the MMX driver. 2) There are some new sound cards that claim to fully support DirectX but sometimes these cards are not fully compatible. If a new sound driver is not available from your sound card vendor, try putting your sound card into SoundBlaster (tm) emulation mode (most sound cards have this mode). 3) Sound quality: You should always attempt to have the highest sound quality for PP98. The Recommendation Engine does a good job of determining your system's capabilities but don't be afraid to try a higher sound quality, and switch it back if you find that it is affecting the game's performance. 4) You might want to shut off the MMX driver if you notice a lot of "skipping" in the music in the front end. Some MMX drivers aren't behaving well with non-MMX CD drivers.