This page contains commonly asked support questions about the Independence War Deluxe Edition demo. Please read this page if you're having problems running the demo.

If you're still having problems then email our support address:

support@particle-systems.com

Please give all relevant information (e.g. video card, processor, etc) and a complete summary of the problem when sending support email.

Technical Support Questions

1. The Demo exits back to the desktop when I run it in software mode.  How can I fix this?
   
   
2. I can't get the 800x600 mode to work on my 3Dfx board. Why is this?
   
   
3. The game's 800x600 mode isn't full screen / is off center. How can I fix this?
   
   
4. The contacts list keeps scrolling all the time. How can I fix this problem?
   
   
5. When I start the game the ship continually rolls. How can I fix it?
   
   
6. I can't get my joystick to work. How can I fix this problem?
   
   
7. Why is the cursor flickery and difficult to see?
   
   
8. The game crashes when my Screen saver / power save function activates. How can I fix this?

Technical Support Answers

Q. The demo exits back to the desktop when I run it in software mode. How can I fix this?

A. First ensure you have the latest DirectX 6 compatible drivers for your video board.

However, some video cards are unable to run the game's software mode full screen, due to incompatible DirectX drivers. As this is a driver issue we are unable to offer a fix, but you should be able to run the game full screen by adjusting the hardware acceleration slider in the Display Properties control panel:

1. Open the display properties control panel by right clicking on a blank area of screen, and  selecting Properties from the menu.
2. Click on the Display Properties Settings tab
3. Click on the Advanced button
4. Click on the Performance tab.
5. Then move the Performance slider two steps to the left, so that only basic accelerator functions are enabled.
6. Then click on ok.
   
   Note: Windows will have to be restarted for the changes to take effect.

The game should then run full screen. However the mouse cursor will  flicker, and there may be occasional (very brief) screen glitches.

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Q. I can't get the game's 800x600 mode to work on my 3Dfx board. Why is this?

A. If you have a Voodoo 1 based 3Dfx board you can only run in 640x480 mode. Select that option from the game launcher instead.

For other voodoo boards, or if you can't even get the 640x480 mode running the best solution is to re-install the latest 3Dfx reference drivers for your board. You can download them from www.3dfx.com.

Another problem may be that your monitor is not configured for 800x600 mode, or that the refresh rate on your 3Dfx board's 800x600 mode is set too high for your monitor to cope with.

Try changing the refresh rate on your 3Dfx board for 800x600 mode to 60hz or 75 hz. You can do this using the 3Dfx control properties tab, in your display control panel. If you do this you may have to re-adjust your monitor screen settings to get a proper full screen mode.

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Q. The 3Dfx 800x600 mode isn't full screen / is off center. How can I fix this?

A. There will be a black border around the menus and movies in 800x600 mode - this is normal. 

When flying the ship the screen should be full screen. If it isn't then there are two ways to adjust this:

1. Adjust your monitor controls so that the game runs full screen, and save the preset.
   
   (make sure you do this when you're in the game and viewing the workstation consoles to get a proper full screen)
   
2. Open the 3Dfx control panel (It's a tab on the display properties control panel), and adjust the refresh rate for 800x600. 60 or 75hz normally works fine.

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Q.  The contacts list keeps scrolling all the time. How can I fix this problem?

A. This problem is caused by an incompatibility in the mouse driver, normally - but not always - with mousewheel capable mice. The solution is to edit one of the game's files, the keybind.ini file.

The file is located in <install directory>\psg\resource\keybind.ini

Edit the file using notepad or another text editor and look for the two lines:

BINDKEY    KEY_MOUSE_WHEEL_UP,     R_PREV_CONTACT,0
BINDKEY    KEY_MOUSE_WHEEL_DN,    R_NEXT_CONTACT,0

These lines are located together in the script file.

Comment the lines out by adding a semicolon to the beginning of each line, e.g.

       ;     BINDKEY    KEY_MOUSE_WHEEL_UP,     R_PREV_CONTACT,0
       ;     BINDKEY     KEY_MOUSE_WHEEL_DN,    R_NEXT_CONTACT,0

Then save the file. This should fix the problem by disabling mousewheel support in the game. You might want to make a backup of the keybind.ini file first.

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Q. When I start the game the ship continually rolls. How can I fix it?

1. A. Install the latest drivers for your joystick. Some earlier joystick drivers are not entirely compatible with Windows 98, which causes the rolling.
2. Install the joystick as a custom joystick without rudder control in the Windows Game Controllers Control Panel. See the section below for details of how to do this.

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Q. I can't get my joystick to work. How can I fix this problem?

A. The game relies on the Windows joystick setup - the game itself doesn't have any joystick configuration features. It uses the joystick that Windows  tells it is there, and relies on the joystick being set up correctly using the Windows Game Controllers control panel.

If you have a Microsoft« Sidewinder™ Joystick then please check the Sidewinder ReadMe that came with your joystick drivers, as there may be incompatibilities with certain types of sound cards or joystick ports.   (The ReadMe file is normally installed in your start menu: Start/Programs/Microsoft Hardware/Sidewinder Game Devices/Sidewinder Game Device ReadMe).

If your joystick came with a Windows driver disk, then follow the instructions you got with the stick to install the driver software. Make sure you read any documentation that came with the joystick as this will often help you to solve problems that may be associated with it.Often downloading and installing the latest drivers from the joystick manufacturer's web site will fix many problems.

If the stick didn't come with a driver disk, or if the driver disk doesn't seem to work you should be able to configure it as a custom joystick using the Windows 95 Game Controllers control panel.

1. Go to the Start menu and select Settings, then select Control Panel. Double click on the Game Controllers Icon.
2. You might see your joystick listed in the game devices window If so click on it and then click on the Remove button. If there's no joystick there then you need to add one.
3. To add a joystick click on the Add button and select [custom...] from the top of the window.
4. You'll see a new control panel. Select the number of axes (2 for a normal stick, 3 for one with a throttle)
5. Select the number of buttons (normally 4)
6. Click on the Special Characteristics box, and select 'is a flight yoke/stick.' If your joystick has a 'hat' switch. click on 'has a point of view control'.
7. Enter a name for the stick in the box at the bottom of the window and click on the OK button.
8. You should then see the joystick listed in the joystick window with Ok next to it. Click on the Properties button, and then click on the Calibrate button and follow the on-screen instructions to calibrate the stick.

This should (hopefully) set up your Joystick to work with the demo..

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Q. Why is the cursor flickery and difficult to see?

A. This problem occurs only in software mode when custom mouse pointers are selected. Open the Mouse control panel, and select the Pointers TAB. Click on the Precision Select cursor and then click on the Use Default button. This will fix the problem.

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Q. The game crashes when my Screen saver / power save function activates. How can I fix this?

A. We recommend you disable all Windows screensaver programs and power saving features before playing the game, otherwise the game may not restart properly when the system starts after a screensaver / powersave.

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