README

I: System Compatibility
II: Internet Service Provider
III: Updates And Patches
IV: Hosting A Game
V:  Network Performance Tuning
VI: Changes from Printed Manual
VII: Known Problems
VIII: Troubleshooting
IX:  Contacting Sierra
X:  Technical Support
XI:  Warranty and Legal Information







Thank you for Purchasing Starsiege TRIBES, the ultimate in first-person squad warfare!

I: System Compatibility

These are the minimum requirements needed to run Starsiege TRIBES:

TRIBES does not come with an OpenGL driver.  Check the TRIBES website at www.tribesplayers.com for the latest OpenGL information.

TRIBES requires DirectX6 to run properly.  If you already have DirectX6 you may elect to not re-install it. Should you decide to install it at a later time, run the dxsetup program located in the DirectX6 folder on the CD-ROM.

II: Internet Server Provider

To fully enjoy TRIBES you need to be connected to the Internet via a reliable Internet Service Provider (ISP).  If you do not currently have an ISP, install the AT&T WorldNet (R) Service provided on the CD-ROM by running the TRIBES setup program.

III: Updates and Patches

Running the Auto-Update program from the TRIBES Start menu will check to see if there are any patches or updates to the game.  You must be connected to the Internet for this program to work correctly.  We also recommend that you check the TRIBES website at www.tribesplayers.com for the latest information.

IV: Hosting A Game

Hosting a game with more than a few players takes a fair amount of bandwidth. Hosting over a 28.8 modem connection is not recommended.  By default, all hosted games are visible only to your local network, if you are connected to a LAN.  If you wish to make your server visible to the Internet, check the "Register with master server" box in the Options-Network page.

Those of you with faster Internet connections may wish to run dedicated servers.  Information on how to configure and run a dedicated server is included on our Server Corps website at www.tribesplayers.com/tribesplayers/server.

V:  Network Performance Tuning

If you have a reliable connection to your ISP, but are still experiencing packet loss and lag in the game there are a three parameters that you can modify to help tune the game. These are packet size, packet rate and packet frame. These values can be changed on the Options-Network page.

Packet rate controls the number of packets per second sent from the server to your client game. Packet size controls the approximate size of each packet. So a packet rate of 10 and a packet size of 200 means that the server will be transmitting to you an average of 2000 bytes per second. Reducing the packet rate and size will reduce the amount of data being sent to you and can help keep your modem connection from clogging up.

Packet frame is how often your client sends move information to the server. A slider currently controls this. Adjusting the slider to the left decreases the number of packets sent. Transmitting too much information on a poor connection can cause packet loss & game lag.

VI: Changes from Printed Manual

Since the time of the printing of the manual and the shipping of the game, there have been some changes made to TRIBES, resulting in information in the manual being out of date.  These changes are:

The TRIBES website at www.tribesplayers.com also contains a corrected HTML version of the printed manual.

VII: Known Problems

Here is a list of some of the known problems and interactions with other programs.

VIII: Troubleshooting

We hope that you enjoy playing Starsiege TRIBES. If you are running in any difficulties in getting the game to operate to your satisfaction, please read further. If the symptoms of the problem obviously point to sound or video issues, concentrate on those sections. Otherwise, please spend a couple of minutes reading the entire section. The time you spend here may well help you get TRIBES running and will help you to be prepared with information that will be helpful if you should need to contact Technical Support.

Section 1: Notes on Connection

If you cannot find a game to join, first check that you are connected to your ISP. If you are but still cannot connect, check your Filter settings. It is possible that they may be set so that no game can meet the criteria entered.

Section 2: Notes on Sound Problems

TRIBES uses DirectSound 6.0, which is a part of Microsoft's DirectX programming interface, for sound generation. If you are having problems with distorted or no sound, check to make sure that your sound card drivers are DirectSound-compliant. To do so, run DXDIAG; it will be located in your C:\Program Files\DirectX directory on your hard drive. When running DXDIAG, choose the Sound tab. In the upper right corner of the dialog box, look for the line that reads "Certified:" If this says "No", then you should check with the manufacturer of your system or your sound card to determine if DirectX certified drivers are available. If you contact these companies via the Internet, you can usually obtain updated drivers free of charge.

Section 3: Notes on Video Problems

TRIBES supports hardware 3D video acceleration for 3Dfx-chipset video cards though the Glide API when running in full screen mode. When you start the game (or switch to full screen mode) you should see the 3Dfx logo to show that you are running with hardware acceleration.

If you are experiencing display problems while in full screen hardware mode, you'll want to see if they persist when switching to software mode. Simply hold down the ALT key on the keyboard and press ENTER to switch to windows (software accelerated) mode. If the problems go away when running in a window, the problem is likely related to the device drivers that you are using with your 3D card. Contact the manufacturer of the card to verify that you have the most recent driver with the most current version of Glide.  If the problems persist, try downloading the latest reference drivers from 3Dfx at www.3dfx.com/download/download.html. Should you have trouble connecting or downloading from the 3Dfx site, use the drivers located on the CD in the 3Dfx directory.  The drivers on the CD are current as of Tuesday, December 8th, 1998.
 
FILENAME OS DESCRIPTION
rkvg.exe Win95/98 Voodoo Graphics Reference Drivers
oemrushs.exe Win95/98 Voodoo Rush (Single Board) Reference Drivers
oemrushd.exe Win95/98 Voodoo Rush (Dual Board) Reference Drivers
vbw95a.exe Win95 Voodoo Banshee AGP SGRAM
vbw98a.exe Win98 Voodoo Banshee AGP SGRAM
vbw9xp.exe Win95/98 Voodoo Banshee PCI
rkv2.exe Win95/98 Voodoo2 Reference Drivers
nt40vg.exe NT4.0 Voodoo Graphics Reference Drivers
nt40v2.exe NT4.0 Voodoo2 Reference Drivers
vbnt4a.zip NT4.0 Voodoo Banshee AGP/PCI
The latest information on 3Dfx and Glide can be found at www.3dfx.com.
Copyright © 1997 3Dfx Interactive, Inc.  The 3Dfx Interactive logo, Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo Rush are trademarks of 3Dfx Interactive.

If problems occur while running in windowed mode, changing the color depth may help. To change to 16-bit color, right-click on your Windows Desktop and choose Properties from the pop-up menu that appears. Choose the Settings tab in the dialog box; it should be the one furthest to the right. Select the Color pull-down menu and choose 16-bit color; you may have to reduce your screen resolution if you are raising the color setting.

Section 4: Other Troubleshooting

The following are steps that can be taken to help correct non-game specific issues, such as random game crashes or performance problems.

  1. Verify you have sufficient hard drive space to install the program. Go to My Computer and right click on the drive to which you will install the game. Select Properties from the pop-up menu that appears. You should see a Free Space listing; make sure that it shows that you have enough free space to properly install the game. The System Requirements Label on the bottom of you product box will have this information.
  2. Make sure that all non-vital programs are closed when you run TRIBES. To check what programs are active, hold down the CTRL and ALT keys on your keyboard and press the DEL key. This will bring up a dialog box called Close Programs. Generally, any program listed here besides Explorer and Systray is non-vital and should be closed before running TRIBES. To close a program, highlight it and click on the End Task button. You will need to repeat this process for each listed program. If a program will not shut down by this method, you may have to consult the documentation for that program for instructions on shutting it down. (Note: This is not a permanent change to your computer. Simply rebooting will re-activate all of the programs that you have shut down.)
  3. Run a thorough ScanDisk on your hard drive. You can run ScanDisk by clicking on the Start button and selecting Programs. Inside the Accessories there will be a System Tools group containing ScanDisk. Once you have clicked on ScanDisk, select the drive to scan and put the dot in the Thorough option. Then click on the Start button. This will probably take at least half an hour and as long as several hours. ScanDisk will locate errors on the hard drive and attempt to fix these errors. (Note: Always back up any critical information on your system before running Scandisk. If you have errors in the data on your hard drive, Scandisk will fix them by deleting the corrupted data. After this deletion occurs, some programs on your computer may quit functioning. In this event, you will want to remove and reinstall those affected programs. If you need assistance with that process, you will want to contact the manufacturer of the particular program.)
  4. Try using a boot disk to prevent real mode device drivers from loading. Put a blank, high-density diskette in your A: drive. Then, open the My Computer icon from the desktop and highlight the icon for Drive A: Right-click on the icon and choose Format. In the resulting dialog box, make sure there are checks in the boxes for "Full" and "Copy System Files". Click on OK to start the process. Once the disk is formatted, double-click on the icon for the C: drive in My Computer. Look for the file called MSDOS.SYS in the list of files. If you cannot find it, click on the View menu, choose Options and then the View tab. Make sure "Show all files" is checked and "Hide MS DOS file extensions" is not checked. Once you've found the MSDOS.SYS file, right-click on it and choose Send To 3 ½ Floppy (A). You will be prompted to replace an existing file - click on OK. Once you’ve done this, reboot your system with the disk in the A: drive.
  5. If you are still having problems at this point, try doing a clean installation of the game. Run SETUP from the root directory of your TRIBES CD and choose to uninstall the game. Reboot your computer with the boot disk that you created in step 4. Close all programs as listed in step 2. Then run SETUP from your TRIBES CD again and reinstall the game.
For further information, see the TRIBES webpage at www.tribesplayers.com. IX.  Contacting Sierra

Customer Service, Support, and Sales
----------------------------------
United States

U.S.A. Sales Phone: (800) 757-7707
International Sales:  (425) 746-5771
Hours: Monday-Saturday 7AM to 11 PM CST,
Sundays 8 AM to 9PM CST
FAX: (402) 393-3224

Sierra Direct
7100 W. Center Rd
STE 301
Omaha, NE  68106

United Kingdom

Cendant Software International Limited
Main: (0118) 920-9111
Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Fax:   (0118) 987-5603
Disk/CD replacements in the U.K. are £6.00,
or £7.00 outside the UK. Add "ATTN.: Returns."

2 Beacontree Plaza,
Gillette Way,
Reading, Berkshire
RG2 0BS United Kingdom

France

Cendant Software International Limited
Phone: (01) 46-01-46-50
Lundi au Jeudi de 10h à 19h
Vendredi 10h à 18h
Fax: (01) 46-30-00-65

Parc Tertiaire de Meudon
Immeuble "Le Newton"
25 rue Jeanne Braconnier
92366 Meudon La Forêt Cedex
France

Germany

Cendant Software International Limited
Tel: (0) 6103-99-40-40
Montag bis Freitag von 9h - 19Uhr
Fax: (0) 6103-99-40-35

Robert-Bosh-Str. 32
D-63303 Dreieich
Germany

On-Line Sales

CompuServe United Kingdom:GO UKSIERRA
CompuServe France:   GO FRSIERRA
CompuServe Germany:     GO DESIERRA
Internet USA:    http://www.sierra.com
Internet United Kingdom:  http://www.sierra-online.co.uk
Internet France:     http://www.sierra.fr
Internet Germany:   http://www.sierra.de

Disk and or Manual Replacement

Product Returns:
Sierra On-Line Returns
4100 West 190th Street
Torrance, CA  90504

Sierra On-Line Fulfillment
4100 West 190th Street
Torrance, CA  90504

NOTE: To replace your disk(s) please send only Disk #1 (or the CD) and copy of your dated Receipt, if less then 90 days.  After 90 days please include a $10 handling fee along with Disk / CD #1.  For Documentation, please include a $ 5.00 handling fee and a photocopy ONLY of disk #1.  Payment should be made at the time of your request.  Sorry, no credit cards.

* Returns to this address valid in North America only.

X: Technical Support

North America

Sierra On-Line offers a 24-hour automated technical support line with recorded answers to the most frequently asked technical questions. To access this service, call (425) 644-4343, and follow the recorded instructions to find your specific topic and resolve the issue. If this fails to solve your problem, you may still write, or fax us with your questions, or contact us via our Web site.

Sierra On-Line
Technical Support
P.O. Box 85006
Bellevue, WA 98015-8506

Main: (425) 644-4343
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.- 4:45 p.m.  PST
Fax:   (425) 644-7697

http://www.sierra.com
support@sierra.com

United Kingdom

Cendant Software International Limited offers a 24-hour Automated Technical Support line with recorded answers to the most frequently asked technical questions. To access this service, call (0118) 920-9111, and follow the recorded instructions to find your specific topic and resolve the issue. If this fails to solve your problem, you may still write, or fax us with your questions, or contact us via our Internet or CompuServe sites.

Cendant Software International Limited
2 Beacontree Plaza,
Gillette Way,
Reading, Berkshire
RG2 0BS United Kingdom

Main: (0118) 920-9111
Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Fax:   (0118) 987-5603

http://www.sierra-online.co.uk

France

Cendant Software International Limited
Parc Tertiaire de Meudon
Immeuble "Le Newton"
25 rue Jeanne Braconnier
92366 Meudon La Forêt Cedex
France

Téléphone: 01-46-01-46-50
Lundi au Jeudi de 10h à 19h
Vendredi de 10h à 18h
Fax: 01-46-30-00-65

http://www.sierra.fr

Germany

Cendant Software International Limited
Robert-Bosh-Str. 32
D-63303 Dreieich
Deutschland

Tel: (0) 6103-99-40-40
Montag bis Freitag von 9 - 19Uhr
Fax: (0) 6103-99-40-35
Mailbox: (0) 6103-99-40-35

http://www.sierra.de

Spain

Cendant Software International Limited
Avenida de Burgos 9
1º-OF2
28036 Madrid
Spain

Teléfono: (01) 383-2623
Lunes a Viernes de 9h30 a 14h y de 15h a 18h30
Fax: (01) 381-2437

Italy

Contattare il vostro distribotore.

XI:  Warranty and Legal Information
Sierra's end user license agreement, limited warranty and return policy is set forth in the EULA.txt, found on the CD, and is also available during the install of the product.

Copyright (1998 Sierra On-Line, Inc.)