Copyright: Copyright ©


Contents

Introduction

Playing the Games

Troubleshooting

Error Messages

Precautions

Customer Support

United States

United Kingdom and Australia


Customer Support in the U.S.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about Demos & Previews or any other Activision product, please feel free to contact us through any of the following services.

So that we can better help you, please be at your computer and have the following information ready:

1.	Complete product title

2.	Exact error message reported (if any) and a brief description of the problem

3.	Your computer's processor type and speed (e.g., 486/66, Pentium 90...)

4.	Video and sound card makes and models (e.g., Diamond Stealth 64 video, Sound Blaster 16 sound...)

Online

Services with Activision Forums, E-Mail and File Library Support

• Microsoft Network: From any MSN window, pull down the Edit menu and select Go To and then Other Location. At the prompt, type "Activision" and click OK.

• America Online: MEDIAJAKE or use keyword "Activision" to locate the Activision forum.

• CompuServe: 76004,2122 or [GO GAMBPUB]

• Activision BBS: (310) 479-1335 Up to 14,400 Baud; Settings: 8 Bits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit (8, N, 1)

Services with E-Mail Support

• Prodigy: ACTI10B

• GEnie: ACTIVISION

Internet

• support@activision.com or http://www.activision.com

For information on how to use our listserver, please send e-mail to CSbulletins@listserv.activision.com with the word "help" in the subject line. If you're already familiar with listservers, send e-mail to the same address with the word "index" in the subject line of your message for a list of files available from this service.

Fax	(310) 479-7355, 24 hours a day.

Mail	Activision, Customer Support, P.O. Box 67713, Los Angeles, CA 90067

Phone	Call our 24-hour voice-mail system for answers to our most frequently asked questions at (310) 479-5644. Or contact a customer support representative at the same number between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) Monday through Friday, except holidays.


Customer Support in the U.S. and Australia

For Technical Support:

In the U.K., please call 0990 143 525.

In Australia, please call (61) 2 869 0955.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about Demos & Previews, or any other Activision product, you can contact us in the UK on 0181 742 9400 between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. (UK time) Monday through Friday, with the exception of holidays, or contact a customer support representative through the following online services.

Microsoft Network: From any MSN window, pull down the Edit menu and select Go To and then Other Location. At the prompt, type “Activision” and click OK.

CompuServe: 76004,2122 or [GO GAMBPUB]

Internet: support@activision.com or http://www.activision.com

For information on how to use our listserver, please send e-mail to:

CSbulletins@listserv.activision.com with the word “help” in the subject line. If you’re already familiar with listservers, send e-mail to the same address with the word “index” in the subject line of your message for a list of files available from this service.

For Technical and Customer Support for the rest of Europe, please contact your local distributor.


Error Messages

This demo is optimized for an 8 bit (256 Color) Color palette setting only.

Your system's Color palette is not currently set to 256 Colors. To change it, click on the Start button located on the taskbar, move the mouse to Settings and select Control Panel. Next, double-click on the Display icon. Click the Settings tab. Adjust the Color palette to 256 Color. Click OK, and then click Yes to restart your computer.

Another way to bring up the Display options dialogue is to click the right mouse button while the cursor is on your desktop, and select Properties. Then select the Settings tab and adjust the Color palette to 256 Color. Click OK, and then click Yes to restart your computer.

The video quality is best when viewed in Color palette settings of 16 bit (High Color) or higher.

Your system's Color palette is not currently set to High Color. To change it, click on the Start button located on the taskbar, move the mouse to Settings and select Control Panel. Next, double-click on the Display icon. Click the Settings tab. Adjust the Color palette to High Color. Click OK, and then click Yes to restart your computer.

Another way to bring up the Display options dialogue is to click the right mouse button while the cursor is on your desktop, and select Properties. Then select the Settings tab and adjust the Color palette to High Color. Click OK, and then click Yes to restart your computer.

Warning! Sound Card Not Detected-No Sound Will Be Heard

See "No Sound" in the Troubleshooting section.

Warning! Cannot locate 22-KHz 8-bit mono wave form output device-no sound will be heard.

See "No Sound" in the Troubleshooting section.

Requires a 486, Pentium or better processor

This message will appear if you have a computer with a NexGen microprocessor. Demos and Previews will not function on computers with this processor. For more information, please refer to your NexGen manual or contact NexGen customer support.

The entire screen turns blue and the following message appears: Error reading CD-ROM in drive

This error message was caused by the CD not being in the CD-ROM drive when Demos & Previews  tried to perform a task. This error will come up because some of the operations which Demos & Previews must perform do not reside in memory; Demos & Previews must acquire this information from the CD. To remedy this situation, insert the Demos & Previews CD back into the CD-ROM drive and hit the return button (you may need to hit the return button several times) and Demos & Previews will automatically return to where it was. In some instances, the CD may activate AutoPlay and the title screen will come back up.

This Program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down

1.	This error message may be caused by the CD not being in the CD-ROM drive when Demos & Previews tried to perform a task. This error message will come up because some of the operations which Demos & Previews must perform do not reside in memory; Demos & Previews must acquire this information from the CD. To remedy the situation, insert the CD back into the CD-ROM drive and click the Close button. Demos & Previews will automatically activate AutoPlay and the title screen will come back up.

If the blue screen described in the error message above comes up, hit the return key (you may need to hit the return key several times) and Demos & Previews will automatically return to where it was. In some instances, the CD may AutoPlay and the title screen will come back up.

2.	This error message may also be caused by a video card that is configured to display more than 256 colors. We experienced this error most commonly with a Paradise Bali 32 ISA card. The display should be reconfigured for 256 colors. Contact your video card manufacturer if your current driver is unable to do this.

3.	On slower machines, this error is often caused by having your graphics hardware acceleration set too high. To change this setting, perform the following steps:

1) Open the Windows 95 Control Panel.

2) Open the System program.

3) Click on the Performance tab.

4) Click on the Graphics button.

5) Lower the acceleration speed until Demos & Previews loads without error.


Introduction

Thank you for taking the time to view Activision's Spring '96 Demos & Previews.  On this CD, you will find previews of 11 of our current and future releases. In addition, we have included five playable demos (which are listed in the Playing the Games section).


Playing the Games

The following tips will help you get started in playing the demos on this CD.  For specific game instructions and information, please refer to each game's respective online help file.

Action Pack Series

Vol. 1–Pitfall

Vol. 2–Keystone Kapers

Vol. 3–Breakout

To play:	Press F2.

To quit:	Press F3 to pause the game and click on the “X” in the upper right corner of the window. You will return to the main Action Pack window.

Commodore 64 15 Pack

Hacker

To play: Press F1.

To quit:  Press the Pause key and click on the “X” in the upper right corner of the window. You will return to the 15 Pack window.

Earthworm Jim

To play:	Select New Game from the File menu.

To quit:	Select Exit from the File menu or click on the “X” in the upper right corner of the window. You will return to the Earthworm Jim window.

Note: When Jim has died, the player has the option to continue. Direct Earthworm Jim in the direction of the desired option by using the cursor keys. Execution of the option will automatically follow upon selection.

MechWarrior 2

To play:	Please refer to the on-screen instructions or press the F1 key.

To quit:	Press the ESC key.

Note: This version of MechWarrior 2 has been optimized for use with the Pentium processor and requires a minimum of 12 MB of RAM to operate.

Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure

To play:	Select New Game from the File menu.

To quit:	Select Exit from the File menu or click on the “X” in the upper right corner of the window. You will return to the Pitfall window.

Shanghai: Great Moments

To play:	The game will automatically start once you hit Play in the Shanghai window.

To quit:	Select Exit from the File menu or press the “X” in the upper right corner of the window. You will return to the Shanghai window.


Precautions

The following are items to consider when running Activision's Spring '96 Demos & Previews:

1.	The Gravis Ultrasound Max sound cared may cause a conflict with Demos and Previews. This is because the Untrasound Max Windows 95 drivers are still beta versions. For further assistance, please contact Gravis at (604) 431-5020.

2. 	The MechWarrior 2 demo requires the use of Microsoft DirectX. Please verify that your system is 100% compatible with DirectX before playing MechWarrior 2.


Troubleshooting

The following information is intended to help you resolve any difficulties which may occur when running Activision's Spring '96 Demos & Previews.

15 Pack - Windows® 95 Troubleshooting

Most problems you encounter in Windows® 95 can be solved quickly and easily. We test our games thoroughly on a variety of systems before they are released. However, it is virtually impossible to test on all possible combinations of software and hardware. Many of the problems you might encounter in Windows® 95 are caused by device drivers for video cards, sound boards or CD-ROM drives that are not fully compatible with the Windows® 95 operating system. The following troubleshooting tips are intended to assist you in solving some of the common problems that can occur with the Windows® 95 operating system. If, after trying these solutions, you are still having difficulties, please contact our Customer Support department.

AutoPlay Does Not Function

1.	Make sure your Demos and Previews CD is clean and positioned properly in the CD-ROM drive.

2.	Your CD-ROM driver may not be optimized for use with Windows® 95. To verify this, perform the following steps:

1) Open the Windows® 95 Control Panel.

2) Open the System program.

3) Click on the Performance tab.

Note:If any of your hardware drivers are not fully optimized for use with Windows® 95, they will be listed here, along with an explanation of what the exact problem is and suggestions on how to fix it.

3.	Click on the My Computer icon. In the My Computer folder, select Refresh in the View menu. When the Activision icon appears, double-click on it. This should bring up the Demos and Previews title screen. If it does not, but gives you a list of the files on the CD instead, perform the following steps to start the CD manually:

1) Select Run... from your Windows® 95 Start menu.

2) Type "D:\Demos\Actvstrt.exe" where D: is the drive letter for your CD-ROM drive.

Creating a Shortcut

If your CD-ROM drive is not optimized for Windows® 95, perform the following steps to add Activision's Spring '96 Demos & Previews to your Start menu:

1.	Select Settings from the Start menu and click on Taskbar....

2.	Select Start Menu Programs and then click Add.

3.	Type "D:\Startup.exe" where D: is the letter of your CD-ROM drive. Click Next.

4.	Select a folder to place your shortcut in or create a new one. Click Next when finished.

5.	Give the shortcut a name, e.g., Activision's Spring '96 Demos & Previews, click Finish, and close the Taskbar Properties window.

Activision's Spring '96 Demos & Previews, is now listed under Programs in your Start menu. Make sure your Demos & Previews CD is in the drive when you start the program.

No Sound

1.	There must be a 100% Windows® 95-compatible sound card in your computer.

2.	Make sure your speakers are plugged in correctly, turned on and the volume is turned up to an audible level.

3.	Open the Windows® 95 Volume Control program and verify that none of the various channels are muted or turned all the way down. You can do this by double-clicking on the Speaker icon next to the clock on your taskbar or by selecting Programs - Accessories - Multimedia - Volume Control from the Start menu.

4.	Make sure that Sound under the Settings menu is checked and that Enable Sounds in the Game Options section under the Settings menu is checked.

5.	Adjust the volume setting in the Game Options section screen to the desired sound level.

6.	Close all other applications. Applications that run in the background may not release Windows® 95 sound resources.

7.	Your sound drivers for Windows® 95 may require updating. Check your audio card's installation and its setup parameters within the Device Manager of Windows® 95 to determine if this is the case. To do this, perform the following steps:

1) Open the Control Panel and double-click on the System icon.

2) Click on the tab labeled Device Manager.

3) Click on the plus sign next to the Sound, Video and Game Controllers icon.

4) Highlight your sound card, then click on the Properties button.

5) If there are any conflicts they will be listed here with instructions on how to fix it.

8.	Make sure that your sound card is mapped for MIDI sound. You can do this by performing the following steps:

1) Open the Control Panel and double-click on the System icon

2) Click on the tab labeled MIDI.

3) Select single instrument from the top and select the sound cards installed in your system. If you are not sure, consult you computer manuals or try the different options until you hear sound in the game.

4) Click OK.

For additional help, please refer to your sound card manual and your Windows® 95 manual.