PC Action 1996 August

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README The Pandora Directive (Demo version) 4/18/96 ------------------------------------------------------------ If you have problems running the install program or the demo, or you have problems once the demo is running, please refer to the information below. INDEX: ------ 1. Installation problems 2. Windows 95 Issues 3. Sound under Windows 95 4. Digital Sound 5. VESA Video Drivers 6. VR Movement Suggestions 7. VR Controls 8. Demo Crashes 9. Running under Windows 3.1 / 3.11 10. Running under OS/2 11. Recommended Configuration 12. How to contact Technical Support 13. Additional Help 1. Installation problems ------------------------ To install the demo under DOS, switch to the drive for your CD-ROM (usually D:) and type INSTALL. To install the demo under Windows 95, click on Start, then Run, then type D:\SETUP.EXE (where D: is your CD-ROM drive). If the install program for the demo crashes or doesn't complete successfully, we have included a secondary text-based install program that will install the demo to your hard drive. To run this, go to the CD-ROM drive (usually D:) and type INSTALL2. The program will step you through the process of installing the demo. 2. Windows 95 Issues -------------------- We have tested the game under a variety of systems running Windows 95 and we have not encountered any problems. However, running the demo under Windows 95 with systems that have less than 12 megs of RAM is not recommended. The reason is that with Windows 95 running in the background, the demo will only have 3-4 megs of RAM available to run. You will see that the graphics in the VR room are quite blocky under this configuration. We highly recommend that if you only have 8 megs of RAM that you create a bootdisk and run the game under DOS. If the graphics in the VR room appear blocky under Windows 95, that means the game is running low on memory. If you notice long pauses or major skipping in the demo, Windows 95 may be trying to swap information from RAM to the hard drive. This can happen if you have other programs running in the background. There are some programs such as System Agent, Microsoft Exchange, screen savers, and other power-saving programs that may conflict with the game. These programs will often kick-in while the demo is running and cause it to quit. When running the demo under Windows 95, we recommend closing all other running programs before starting the demo. Another thing to consider if you choose to run the demo on an 8 megabyte system under Windows 95, is that Video Playback will be affected. We create a 2 megabyte buffer to ensure Video Playback is smooth. However, this buffer may not be created on an 8 megabyte machine under Windows 95. If you receive a low-memory warning under Windows 95, and you feel you should have a sufficient amount of memory available, try shutting down Windows 95 and restarting. If you have problems under Windows 95 that you can't seem to resolve, you should try running the game under DOS. The game will often have more memory available and will run into less overhead when run from DOS. 3. Sound Under Windows 95 ------------------------- You may run into problems with sound if your computer has not been setup correctly for DOS programs. If your computer came with Windows 95 preinstalled, you may not have all of the necessary sound drivers installed correctly. Please check the documentation that came with your computer for instructions on setting up your sound card for DOS programs. If you cannot get the demo to work correctly under Windows 95, we recommend that you create a boot disk to boot DOS before running the demo. If you type AUTOBOOT from the PANDORA directory, it will walk you through the process of creating a boot disk that you can use to run the demo. 4. Digital Sound ---------------- We have found that most sound cards will work correctly with the Auto-Detect option in sound setup. There are some sound cards that do not respond well to the auto detection process. If your computer locks up during this process, reboot your computer and try Auto Detect again, the game will not try the same sound card again. If your sound card is a SOUND BLASTER (SB) compatible and doesn't work as either a SB 1.0 or SB Pro, you might try the No Verify option. At the bottom of the sound card list, there are options for SB 1.0 (No Verify) and SB Pro (No Verify). With these selections, you will need to manually enter the I/O Address, IRQ and DMA Channel for your sound card. The game will normally try to verify that the card that you have selected is the card that is actually installed. With some sound cards, this may cause the card to respond incorrectly. If this is the case, try these No Verify options to see if this resolves the problem. There will be no effect in sound quality or performance when using the No Verify option. If you have a SOUND BLASTER PRO card (or compatible) and you are running under Windows 95, the program will not be able to auto detect the sound card. This is because Windows 95 does not set the SET BLASTER parameter to include the T4 switch that identifies the card as a Sound Blaster Pro or compatible. If you have this card and are running under Windows 95, you just need to manually configure the card for the correct I/O, IRQ and DMA settings. If you have a GRAVIS ULTRASOUND or ULTRASOUND MAX, you will need to start the demo by typing PANGRAV. This is a batch file that loads the necessary MIDI patches before starting the game. If you do not have a Gravis, do not use this batch file. If you are using a NEW Microsoft (or Windows) Sound System Compatible, the program may not be able to properly detect your card. This is due to a recent change in the Plug 'N Play standards, and you will have to select and configure the card manually. Generally: I/O 530 Interupt * DMA 1 If your sound still doesn't work, please check the documentation that came with your computer to see if they give information on particular settings for your sound card. We have also included a file called PROBLEMS.TXT that describes problems and solutions that we have found with particular video and sound cards. This file was NOT installed to your hard drive, it is in the root directory of the demo CD. NOTE: If the sound volume seems too low, check the mixer levels in your sound card setup. You can also check for a Volume adjustment on the back of the card. 5. VESA Video Drivers --------------------- The install program will detect if a VESA video driver is already loaded, if so, the demo will use that driver. If a VESA driver is not detected, the program will attempt to install the UNIVESA video driver. We have found that this driver works with the majority of current video cards. If you have video related problems with the install program or the demo, you should reinstall the demo by typing INSTALL -V. This will force the game to use the UNIVESA driver built into the game and it will ignore any built in VESA drivers on the card. If this does not resolve the problem, you should check to see if your video card came with any VESA video drivers that you can load before starting the game. There is a utility that is included with the demo called SETVESA that can help you to setup and test the VESA video driver. To run this program, type SETVESA from the PANDORA DIRECTIVE CD and follow the on-screen instructions. If the screen is breaking up during play, and small squares appear while running in VR, try playing the game with a switch "J". Example: PANDEMO /J If you are having sound or video problems that you cannot resolve, there is a file called PROBLEMS.TXT that describes common problems and solutions for both video and sound cards. It was NOT installed with the demo, it is located in the root directory of the demo CD. 6. VR Movement Suggestions -------------------------- If you find the game seems to react slowly when walking around in VR there are a few things you can try to remedy the problem. This issue is essentially CPU dependent. The faster your computer, the faster the VR rooms will run. To speed up the refresh rate, you can lower the screen size by hitting the number keys (1-0). #1 is the smallest screen and will yield the fastest frame rate. #7 is full-screen and will probably run acceptably on only the fastest Pentium's with fast video cards. *** NOTE *** The amount of RAM available to the game has nothing to do with rendering speed. Increasing the amount of available memory will only affect the blockiness of the images on the screen. You can use the F2, F3, and F4 keys to switch from SVGA (High Resolution), down to VGA (Low Resolution). VGA will run the fastest, but doesn't look as good as SVGA mode. 7. VR Controls -------------- When walking around in VR, there are several controls that will help you to control movement. -- To stop in the current position, click the right mouse button. -- To "slide" to the left or right, hold down the left mouse button as you move the mouse either direction. -- Use the left shift key to move your eye level up and the left control key to lower your eye level. This is like making Tex taller or shorter. -- The up and down arrow keys on your keyboard will tilt your view up or down. This is like tilting your head up to look at something, or down to look down into something. Also, if you have a middle mouse button, you can use the middle button to switch between Interactive and Movement modes. (If you have a three button mouse and the middle mouse button is not working, you are probably not loading a three button mouse driver. Consult the documentation that came with your mouse.) 8. Demo crashes or other problems --------------------------------- We have found that most problems that occur with the demo are caused by conflicts with other programs. These can usually be resolved by creating a boot disk that loads only the necessary drivers for the demo to run. By creating a boot disk, the game will usually run faster, and have more available RAM for the game to use. You will need to insert a blank formatted disk into your A: drive, go to the PANDORA directory and type AUTOBOOT. This program will create a boot disk that you can use to run the demo. To use a boot disk, insert the floppy disk that AUTOBOOT created into your A: drive and restart your computer. When you are finished running the demo, remove the floppy disk and restart your computer. For problems with sound, please see the section 'Digital Sound' listed above. WINDOWS 95: Should you encounter problems under Windows 95 that you cannot resolve, your best solution is to try running the game under DOS. If you have 8 MB of RAM you can try creating a separate configuration for Windows 95. Follow the steps below: 1) Right click on My Computer 2) Select Properties 3) Select Hardware Profiles 4) Click on Original Configuration 5) Select Copy 6) In the space provided, Create a name for your new configuration 7) Press OK 8) Under Device Manager, double-click on devices you want to remove to conserve memory (Modem and Network are good examples). If the device can be removed, both configuration will be listed under General and Device Usage. Simply Un-check the box for your new configuration. 9) Once complete, restart your computer. You will see your new configuration as an option when you start. If you encounter a READ ERROR while playing the demo this means that the game was not able to get the correct information from the CD. This is usually caused by dirt, scratches or fingerprints on the bottom of the CD. Please use a soft cloth and gently wipe from the inside of the disk to the outer edge. 9. Running under Windows 3.1 / 3.11 / Windows NT ------------------------------------------------ The demo does not work correctly under Windows 3.x or Windows NT. You should exit completely out of Windows and run the program in DOS. The install programs will also not work under these operating systems. 10. Running under OS/2 ---------------------- This demo will not run under any versions of OS/2. 11. Recommended Configuration ----------------------------- The demo will run on a 486-33 with 8 megs of RAM and a VESA compatible video card (640x480 @ 256 colors). We strongly recommend having a VESA Local-Bus or PCI video card. The demo will run optimally on a fast Pentium with 16 megs of RAM and a fast video card. The video speed benchmark in the config screen should be somewhere above 10,000 k/s. 12. How to contact Technical Support ------------------------------------ If you run into problems that you cannot resolve please make sure you have read through and tried the above suggestions. Please, also try running the AUTOBOOT program. We have found that this will help resolve a lot of problems that cause the demo not to work. If these things don't work there are several ways to get help. If you have access to the Internet, we have a Web page at http://www.accesssoftware.com you can send mail to Tech Support, get new video / sound drivers and other helpful information. You can also send mail through the following online services: Service ID # Location ------- ---- ------------------------- America Online Linkspro1 Industry Connection Compuserve 72662,61 GO GAMEPUB Prodigy GBVV20A Email Delphi Linkspro1 Custom 119 Internet -------- World Wide Web http://www.accesssoftware.com E-mail tech@accesssoftware.com To call our Tech Support department directly call 1(800)793-8324. They are open from 7:30 AM to 8:30PM (Mountain Standard Time) Monday through Friday. For Tech Support outside the U.S. please call (801)359-1294. After releasing a new product, we are usually bombarded by a large number of calls. If you have trouble getting through, you might try one of the other options listed above. 13. Additional Help ------------------- A strategy guide is available from Prima Publishing. To order, call 1(800)531-2343. It is also available at bookstores and multimedia outlets nationwide. FM Instrument bank provided by LoudMouth. (Windows 95 is a registered trademark of Microsoft)