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Kompuutteri Kaikille K-CD 2001 #12
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K-CD_2001-12.iso
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Tropico
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data1.cab
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App_Executables
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readme.txt
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2001-04-24
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Tropico Demo
Readme File - 23 April 2001
Version 1.00 F
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 System Requirements
2 Playing the Demo
3 Troubleshooting
A) Performance
B) Crashes involving screen-savers, automatic power-downs, task switching.
C) Hardware 3D, Compatibility
D) Hardware 3D, Performance
E) Hardware 3D, Jittery/Shifting Graphics
F) Hardware 3D, Corrupt graphics on Power VR2 or Power VR3 based card
G) Hardware 3D, Cracks in buildings on TNT & GeForce cards
H) Hardware 3D, Flickering Mouse Cursor and/or Garbage
Underneath Mouse Cursor During Movement
-----------------------
(1) SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
-----------------------
OS: Windows 95/98/2000/ME/NT4
CPU: 200 MHz
RAM: 32 MB
Disk Space: 235 MB
Windows NT4 users must have service pack 4 or higher installed.
You must have Direct X 7 or 8 installed on your computer (Direct X 3 is
acceptable for Window NT 4 users). To preserve space, this demo does not include
Direct X - most people already have it installed. If you do not have it, it can
be downloaded from www.microsoft.com/DirectX
-----------------------
(2) PLAYING THE DEMO
-----------------------
The demo is fairly self-explanatory. Launch it, and you'll be at the main menu, where
you'll be given a bit of overall information about the demo. After going through
this, select 'Tutorial', and you'll be taken through Tropico's interactive tutorial.
When you've finished, you can continue playing the tutorial for 50 years, as a normal
scenario.
For further information, the full manual for Tropico has been included with the demo
and is accessible through the 'Start - Tropico Demo' shortcut group.
-----------------------
(3) TROUBLESHOOTING
-----------------------
A) Performance
The two most important factors in determining how smoothly Tropico plays are your
CPU speed and RAM. Tropico is playable with the minimum specifications listed above,
but plays more smoothly the faster your machine is and the faster your CPU is. In
general, Tropico detects your machines specifications and adjusts certain game
parameters accordingly. If you wish to tweak things yourself, bring up the settings
window (press <F2> in the game world).
If your CPU is slow, try turning down the options in the 'graphics' tab. Turn trees to
stump only mode by pressing the <T> key. Turn off weather animation by pressing <W>.
Don't turn the game speed above 'Normal' late in the game, with lots of people moving
about (nothing especially bad happens, but running the game very fast with lots of
people increases choppiness.
If you only have 32MB of RAM, go into the 'memory' tab in the settings window and uncheck
all the options, and turn max detail to the first or second setting. Avoid rotating
the map (which loads more graphics, using more RAM). If you have more than 32MB of RAM,
it's still not necessarily a good idea to turn all the memory options up - things may
run smoothly early in the game, but slow down later on when more people and buildings
are on the map. Typically, the default settings determined by the game for your system
work best, over the course of a full game.
Also, you are strongly encouraged to shut down other applications before launching Tropico -
other applications can drain resources and slow the overall system down.
B) Crashes involving screen-savers, automatic power-downs, task switching.
Crashes can sometimes result when:
i. A screen-saver saver kicks in
ii. When your system automatically powers-down after a period of
inactivity (as some newer computers are automatically set to do)
iii. When you task-switch to other applications (by clicking on them on your
Windows taskbar or by pressing alt-tab.)
In general, Tropico can handle all of the above properly if it is running in
software 3D mode, but, depending on your video card, can crash or hang if you attempt
any of the above while running in hardware 3D mode. You are encouraged to either avoid
the above activities (by disabling your screen-saver and/or auto power-down, if necessary),
or to run Tropico in software 3D mode if these features must be used.
C) Hardware 3D, Compatibility
Also on the settings window, you can enable hardware 3D acceleration. You must have a
video card with at least 16MB of Video RAM to enable this, and it works better with 32MB
video cards. Certain older, more obscure 3D cards may be unable in the hardware mode even
with sufficient RAM. Number Nine Revolution cards and Voodoo Banshee cards will not run
correctly in hardware 3D mode. Hardware 3D does not work at all in Windows NT 4.
Cards and/or chipsets that have been successfully tested in hardware 3D mode in Tropico
(with 16 MB of video RAM or more), include:
Nvidia TNT 1/2 (See Troubleshooting tip G)
NVidia GeForce 1/2
3DFX Voodoo 3 (See troubleshooting tip E)
3DFX Voodoo 4 and 5
ATI Rage 128 (aka ATI Rage Fury)
ATI Rage Fury Maxx
ATI Radeon
Matrox G400
S3 Savage 4
3DLabs Permedia 3 (See troubleshooting tip E)
NEC Power VR2 / Power VR3 (See troubleshooting tip F)
If, in the process of switching to hardware mode, Tropico crashes, and then is unable to
run thereafter, launch the game in 'Safe Mode', which will reset Tropico to use software
3D mode. In general, if you aren't sure if your system can run in hardware 3D mode, try
it, and fall back to software 3D mode if the results are unsatisfactory. We have tested
Tropico on a wide variety of video cards (including many not listed above), and Tropico
works in software 3D mode on all of them.
D) Hardware 3D, Performance
Hardware 3D works well early in the game, with relatively few units and buildings, but
in some cases can actually increase choppiness late in the game with more people and
buildings in play, as all available RAM on the video card is used. The options in the
memory tab may also be useful for you if you're using hardware 3D - using fewer and
lower detail images can result in smoother 3D acceleration.
E) Hardware 3D, Jittery/Shifting Graphics
On some video cards, in Hardware 3D mode, the game's graphics can appear to shift around
or jitter by a few pixels at times. This has been reported on Voodoo 3 cards and
Permedia 3 - based cards. This problem can usually be eliminated by enabling the
'Reduced Graphics Shifting' option, in the settings window (press <F2> in the main game
world to bring this up.) The downside to this is that it can reduce graphics performance
(i.e. frame rate), by 5-25%.
F) Hardware 3D, Corrupt graphics on Power VR2 or Power VR3 based card
On NEC Power VR2 and Power VR3 based cards, switching to Hardware 3D will result in graphics
that are highly splotchy, possibly with most of the screen blackened and only splotches
of graphics visible. This can be resolved by enabling 'Reduced Graphics Shifting', in
the settings window (press <F2> in the main game world to bring this up.)
G) Hardware 3D, Cracks in buildings on TNT & GeForce cards
If you're using hardware 3D with an NVidia video, particularly the TNT 1 or TNT 2,
but conceivably also on GeForce cards, you may see jagged cracks or seams in buildings,
where the terrain behind the building can be seen through the building itself. This
is most noticeable if you're zoomed in close on a large building. This is because the
buildings in Tropico are composed from a number of separate layers, and the NVidia cards
sometimes introduce small errors when drawing these layers, causing gaps to show
through the buildings. Here is a workaround found to usually work:
1) Make sure you have at least the Detonator 6.50 drivers or higher, previous versions
do not have the necessary options enabled (go to www.nvidia.com for drivers)
2) Go into Display Properties (Right Click on an open area of the desktop, then
select 'Properties')
3) Click the 'Settings' tab
4) Click the 'Advanced' button
5) Click on the tab that says TNT2, GeForce, or whatever the name of your card is
6) Click the 'Additional Properties' button
7) Click the 'Direct3D Settings' tab
8) Click the 'More Direct3D' button
9) Adjust the Texel Alignment slider. The default is 3, but the cracking problem is
often resolved on the values of 7, 5, and 0
Note: This is not the same issue as faint, straight horizontal and vertical lines sometimes
seen in buildings and trees while using ATI Radeon cards. The ATI Radeon problem is rare,
and there is no resolution for the issue (fortunately, the effect itself is slight and seldom
seen).
H) Hardware 3D, Flickering Mouse Cursor and/or Garbage Underneath Mouse Cursor During Movement
If your mouse cursor flickers throughout the game, or if the mouse sometimes leaves
patches of garbage underneath as you move it around, this is typically a problem with your
mouse drivers, sometimes seen on older computers using the original Windows 95. Update your
mouse drivers and the problem will often diminish or disappear completely. Also, consider
using software 3D mode, which usually resolves the problem. Finally, if you're using a color
or animated mouse cursor on your desktop, try switching to the Windows default black and white,
unanimated cursors.