(c) Copyright 1995-1997 Kali, Inc. All right reserved.
Although still in its infancy, this document will eventually grow to become a comprehensive(?) list of frequently asked questions related to Kali for the Macintosh. This FAQ will eventually be posted (in HTML format) and available for download (in plain text format) at the Kali For Mac Unofficial Home Page <http://ww2.dixie-net.com/jnaron3/kali.html>
Q: Does Marathon/Abuse/Insert Name of Game here work with Kali?
A: In order to find out if a particular game supports Kali, your best bet is to contact the manufacturer and determine
their game supports the IPX networking protocol. If it does, chances are good that it will work with Kali. If it doesn't,
chances are good that it won't. I will do my best to keep an up-to-date list of the Kali-compatible games currently
available at <http://ww2.dixie-net.com/jnaron3/kali.html>. If you know of a game that works with Kali that
isn't listed there, please let me know about it by contacting me at jnaron3@mac.lover.org.
Q: Why do my games run so slowly?
A: Depends. All games will run fast if your connection is fast enough and your Mac is fast enough (with enough
memory). Even a 28.8 modem and a 200 Mhz Powermac won't run Doom fast enough in most cases because
of the specific game design, but a 6100 with a 14.4 modem might play a good game of Descent (one-on-one).
Some versions of FreePPP have been reported to run abnormally slowly under OT with Kali. Try getting the
latest version.
Tips for improving speed:
1. Faster modem. Upgrading from a 14.4 to a 28.8 modem makes a world of difference in almost all cases.
Do not use anything slower than 14.4.
"When ya lag ya lose, you start paying your dues." -- Too Short, "It's your life"
2. A Faster Mac. Kali has some processing overhead that might require more CPU. A PowerMac is highly
recommended. Generally, however, the overhead is small. Sometimes a slow Mac won't be able to run
the game as fast as it should run, though.
3. Pick a different game. Descent runs much faster than Doom, and Warcraft II runs very well too. The
original Descent normally runs faster than Descent 2 because Descent 2 is more complicated.
4. When hosting a game of Descent 2, select the "Short Packets" option and lower the packets-per-second
to 5 or 6. This might make the other ships jump a little more on the screen, but this will reduce the
lag.
Q: Why don't I get the list of games or servers or sometimes get an incomplete list?
A: You are losing packets. The Internet isn't very dependable. Messages are dropped all the time. Kali does
not keep trying to get the list until it succeeds. You just need to select the command again.
Q: Kali reports a duplicate or invalid serial number. Why?
A: You may have entered the serial number, skey or tkey value incorrectly. Please check all the numbers
carefully. We get about 10 messages every day from users who claim the numbers we sent will not work.
They insist that they have checked and re-checked these numbers, when they show me what they entered
it always turns out to be a typo. Always. Please check carefully. Both numbers are 12 digits. The letter O
(capital o) is not used. If it looks like this, 0, then it's a zero. The letter l (lower case L) is not used. If it
looks like this, 1, then it's a one.
The best course of action is to copy and paste, so you don't make typos (though things can still be entered into
the wrong box of course.)
If the problem goes away after a couple of minutes don't worry. This is normal. The server is confused.
Q: People in Descent appear to be doing impossible things! Going through walls. Jumping
around. I can't even seem to hit them and yet they hit me all the time! What causes this?
A: Either lag, packet loss, or cheating. Actual cheating is quite rare, but possible. If this happens all the
time to lots of different people then I suspect that you either have a packet loss or lag problem. If you fly
around in circles, do people tend to shoot in the right direction to hit you or do they tend to aim behind you?
If behind, then your packets are taking too long to go from user to user and both yours and the other
player's shots are missing the target. When you fire at someone, if you never hear the damage then
you're suffering from packet loss. A slow connection will cause either of these effects.
Q: Will Kali work with AOL, Prodigy, Pipeline, GNN, or WOW?
A: No. As far as we know none of these works with Kali.
• There is an exception to this answer, however... The upcoming 3.0 version of AOL (presently in beta) should
support Kali, as it allows for the use of any external applications over the 'net. However, because your data is
having to go through the AOL protocol, speed might suffer.
Q: This stupid document didn't help. What do I do now?
A: If the answer to your question is not listed here, please take just a few minutes and send your question (be as detailed
as possible, especially if it's a technical issue) to jnaron3@mac.lover.org, and I will consider adding it to the FAQ. If I
can't answer your question personally, I will do my best to track down someone who can.
However, if you are having a problem that you believe to be a bug in Kali-Mac, that information should be sent to
<mailto:mackali-bugs@vitalsoft.com>, so that Jay and his cohorts can address the problem.
***NOTE*** Please be sure to include ALL of the following information:
1. What version of Kali are you using? (In the Finder, select Kali then Get Info, and it will display version number)
2. What version of MacOS are you using?
3. What brand/model of modem and speed?
4. A description of the problem and what steps you have taken to try to resolve the problem. I want to know
at what point in the instructions you are getting stuck. If you just send me a message stating that you are
having difficulty connecting to Kali Central, I will be unable to help you.
