PC Gamer 2.9/1996-10_Disc_2.9.iso/deadlock/docs/helpme.txt

Text File | 1996-07-19 | 16KB | 396 lines

Deadlock: Planetary Conquest
HELPME file for Demo B v.1.02

Thanks for playing Deadlock and reading this file!  This contains
some common technical problems and solutions for Deadlock.


GET THE PATCH!
--------------
No matter what kind of problem you are having with Deadlock,
there's a good chance it's been fixed in the patch! A patch is a
new version of the program which you can get for free from
Accolade. You download the new version and use it to replace the
version that was previously installed on your hard drive. Poof,
your problems can disappear, and you can get some nifty new
features as well!

The fastest way to get a Deadlock patch is from the World Wide
Web. You can get Deadlock support and patches on the Accolade Web
site at http://www.accolade.com. You also may find patches on any
of the many Web sites of game magazines and game review sites.

If your Web search does not work out, you can also call Accolade
customer service for other ways to get the patch.

Once you get the patch, the first thing you should do is read any
file included with it called README. It's also a good idea, once
you get a patch, to keep it someplace safe on your hard drive or
on a floppy disk. If you ever re-install Deadlock, you should find
and reapply the patch afterwards.


TECHNICAL SUPPORT-- WHO TO CALL FIRST?
--------------------------------------
You are always welcome to call Accolade's customer support line no
matter what your problem.  However, if you are having trouble with
any Internet, network, or modem services you may be using, you
will save yourself time if you contact these other customer
service technicians first.  You can also look for your problem in
the Frequently Asked Questions section below to see who you are
recommended to call.


Accolade's Technical Support:

Accolade provides help by telephone Monday through Friday, 8 AM to
5 PM Pacific Standard Time.  Call 1-408-296-8400 to reach a live
technician or FAX us at 1-408-246-0231.  Here also is our postal
address:

     Customer Service
     Accolade, Inc.
     5300 Stevens Creek Blvd.
     Suite 500
     San Jose, CA  95129

You may also contact us through your modem at the following online
services:

     America Online:      Industry Connection, keyword: Accolade
     CompuServe:          Game Publishers' A Forum, GO GAMAPUB
     Internet:            [e-mail]
     WWW:                 http://www.accolade.com


Modem Problems:

If you have trouble getting your modem to connect to another
modem, you may have to consult your modem's manual or customer
service technicians through the telephone or the Web.


Internet Problems:

If you have any problems getting your Internet connection to start
up, it would be best for you to call your Internet service
provider.  If you are using the free Earthlink sign-up software
included with Deadlock, you can call them at 1-800-395-8410. This
number will be answered 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can
also contact Earthlink through email at [e-mail] and
through the Web at http://www.earthlink.net. (Here's a free hint--
unless you are calling from Southern California, make sure the
characters ELN/ appear before your username when you log in. For
example: ELN/matthewf or ELN/bethw)


TEN's Technical Support:

The TEN game service can be reached by telephone at 1-800-8040-
TEN.  You may also contact them through the Web at
http://www.ten.net, or send any email to [e-mail].
TEN's technicians are available from 10 AM to 9 PM seven days a
week.  They will also help you with any general Internet problems
too!


Mplayer's Technical Support:

Mpath can help you by telephone Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 12
AM (Midnight) and Saturday, Sunday, and all holidays from 9 AM to
12 AM (Midnight).  Call 1-408-342-8844.  They can also be
contacted through your modem at [e-mail] and through
the World Wide Web at http://www.mplayer.com.  They will also help
you with general Internet problems too!


Video and Sound Card Problems:

If you find that your hardware does not work properly with Win32s
(such as video display problems or sound failures), you will need
to contact your video/audio card manufacturer for an updated
driver that works with Win32s. Contact their customer service
through the telephone or the Web.


Here are some Frequently Asked Questions and their answers.
---------------------------------------------------

INSTALLATION:

Q:  Why isn't the Deadlock installation working?

A:  You may not have enough room on your hard drive to install
Deadlock.  This game takes between 22 to 37 megabytes of space to
install.  First remove any programs you do not use and try
reinstalling the game.  Windows 3.1 users also must install Win32s
or Deadlock will not work properly.  This program comes with your
Deadlock software, so please be sure you let Win32s install onto
your system during Deadlock's installation.


Q:  Deadlock is installed, but I can't find it!  Where is it?

A:  Windows 3.1 and Windows '95 have programs which can help you
find the game.  Windows 3.1 users should use File Manager.  This
program will show you everything that is on your computer.
Deadlock should be (unless you changed the directory's name when
you were installing)  at C:\Programf\Accolade\Deadlock.  Windows
'95 users can find Deadlock using Windows Explorer.  Once you are
in Explorer search for the following directory (unless you changed
its name during installation)
C:\Program Files\Accolade\Deadlock.


Q:  I have Windows 3.1.  Since Deadlock installed this "Win32s"
thing, my whole computer system has been acting weird. What do I
do?

A:  There are several different versions of Win32s; Accolade has
given you the most recent version.  Some applications that once
worked with your older Win32s program may not run as well now.  If
you are having problems using other applications, you may want to
contact the company that developed this older software to get
their latest version.  Hopefully they will have developed a patch
that will let your application run with this new Win32s program.


DURING GAMEPLAY:

Q:  The opening movie's sound stutters and the image breaks up.
How can I improve it?

A:  If you use Windows '95, you can adjust the memory of your
system to play the opening movie.  First, click on your Start
button.  Next choose Settings and then Control Panel.  Now select
System.  In the System dialog box choose the Performance tab.  In
this Performance tab section, choose File System.  Once you are in
this box, choose your CD-ROM tab.  This tab brings up a box that
lets you adjust the Supplemental cache size, so change it from
small to large.  The movie should now run properly.  Please note,
however, that your CD-ROM may not be fast enough to run the large
version of the opening movie.  Deadlock also comes with a smaller
version that will play on most systems.  Change to this smaller
version by first starting a Deadlock game.  Under your FILE Menu
select Personal Settings.  Unselect "Use Large Cinematics" and the
smaller movie will play.


Q:  The game crashed! I haven't been saving my game! What can I
do?

A:  Deadlock automatically saves the game every turn!  Restart
Deadlock and choose Load Game.  Scroll through your list of saved
games until you find autosav.sav.  Load this file and your game
will be restored!


Q:  The game seems awfully slow to respond. How can I speed it up?

A:  When Deadlock is running on its minimum memory requirments (8
MB of RAM), the game can often slow down.  You can free up more
memory by changing a few settings.  Go to Personal Settings under
your FILE Menu.  Set the graphics to no detail; this will make it
faster for you to see the settlement view.  Next under the MAP
Menu choose the Top Down World command.  This makes it easier to
see the planet map.  Also you can save more memory by holding down
your <Shift> key while Windows is loading.   This prevents the
programs in your StartUp folder from launching.


Q:  My hard drive is continually running.  What can I do to stop
it from doing this?

A:  If you are using Windows 3.1 Deadlock may continually access
your hard drive.  You stop this by either shutting off or
adjusting your SmartDrive program.  Exit Windows.  At your DOS
prompt type EDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT <Enter>.  Next scroll through this
file until you see the command line for SmartDrive.  If you want
to keep SmartDrive on, you can change the command line slightly to
free up memory.  At the end of your command line change its cache
size by typing 512 512.  (Be sure to put a space between the two
numbers)  This will free up more memory for Deadlock.  You can
also temporarily disable SmartDrive by typing the command REM in
front of this line.  Here are some examples of these command
lines:

C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE 512 512

or

REM C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE


Q:  My videos and music sometimes stop playing in the middle of
the game. How do I start them again?

A:  Occasionally Deadlock cannot find a video or sound file due to
random CD-ROM errors.  There is nothing wrong, as this problem
occurs on all CD-ROM drives from time to time.  When this happens
the program automatically shuts off your video or sound.  Turn
these features back on by going to Personal Settings under your
FILE Menu.  Select these features again and gameplay will resume
as normal.


MULTIPLAYER/NETWORKING

Q:  We want to play Deadlock on a LAN. How do we use NetBIOS?

A:  You turn on NetBIOS differently if you are using Windows 3.1
or Windows '95.  Windows 3.1 users must turn on NETBIOS in DOS
before starting Windows -- but after logging onto your LAN.  At
your C: prompt, change to your Deadlock directory.  Type NETBIOS
and press <Enter>.  You should receive confirmation that this
program has been started successfully.  Windows '95 users turn on
NETBIOS from the Start menu.  From this Start menu, go to Settings
and then Control Panel.  Double-click Network.  You will see a
list of network protocols available on your machine.  Click on any
line in the network components list that has the world "protocol"
in it.  In the resulting box, look for a "NetBIOS" tab.  If there
is no tab, close this box and look on the network components list
for another item with "protocol" in it, and repeat this process.
If you find a NetBIOS tab, click it and check the box that says "I
want to enable NetBIOS".  Close all boxes, restart your computer,
and start the network game.


Q:  We are trying to play Deadlock on a LAN. Some of us have a
blank "Join Game" box, even though we know there's a Deadlock game
to join. Why can't we see the game to join?

A:  Be sure to wait at least sixty seconds in the Join Game
screen.  The new game may eventually come up.  If after sixty
seconds the game does not appear, press Cancel.  Next select the
Join Game box again, the game's name may reappear.  If this still
does not work, you may also want to try hosting the game on a
different computer.


Q:  We are playing Deadlock on a LAN.  Mid-game, some of us are
told we have disconnected, but we have not. What's wrong?

A: It is best to play Deadlock when there is less network traffic.
If you are playing during a network's prime working hours it can
often cause the game to disconnect.  Also Deadlock works better
when the computers you are playing on are about the same speed.
Connecting Pentium and 486 processors can sometimes cause
disconnection problems.


Q:  My friend and I are trying to play Deadlock by modem or direct
connect. Why isn't it working?

A:  You should get the Deadlock patch.  We are constantly
improving our network and modem code for Deadlock and will have a
better version available soon.  You can download our latest patch
at our Web site or contact Customer Service to have it sent to you
through postal mail.  To improve modem play right now, read the
modem.txt for more specific help.


Q:  I want to play Deadlock on the Internet using Mplayer or TEN.
How can I get it to work?

A:  Mplayer and TEN will only work in Windows '95 systems for now.
If you are using Windows '95, you will first need an Internet
provider.  Both Mplayer and TEN have Internet providers you can
use when you sign up for these services.  Deadlock also comes with
Earthlink Networks software which lets you access the Internet as
well.  Earthlink Networks offer you a very competitive price and a
free trial period.  Double-click the Earthlink icon in your
Deadlock folder to join this Internet provider.


Q:  I want to play Deadlock on the Internet using a free service.
How can I do this?

A:  There are a number of programs you can use to play LAN games
over the Internet.  However, most of the programs that we have
seen depend on the game being played in DOS and also using IPX.
Deadlock is a Windows game that uses NETBIOS.  If such a program
comes out that works with Deadlock, go for it!  Otherwise,
consider using Mplayer or TEN.  These are paid services, but offer
a reliable, fast, populated, and fun way to play multiplayer
Deadlock.


APPENDIX: GENERAL ISSUES
------------------------

MEMORY ISSUES
Deadlock will try to tell you if there is not enough memory
available to play the size of world you have chosen.  If there is
just barely enough memory, Deadlock may warn you that though you
can play, it might be slowed down. If you bypass this warning, you
will notice lots of hard drive activity while you play. This is
because Windows is using "virtual memory" on your hard drive to
make up for the lack of RAM.

There are a few ways to avoid both of these warnings and make
available more RAM.


Booting Windows 3.1 and Windows '95 "Clean"

As Windows starts up hold down <Shift> until it is done loading
onto your system.  This prevents the programs in your StartUp
folder from launching.  This may save you some memory.


Adjusting SmartDrive (Windows 3.1 users only)

If you are using Windows 3.1, you probably are using "SmartDrive".
Try setting this program to use less memory than usual or even
shut it off completely.  Do this by exiting Windows.  At your DOS
prompt type EDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT <Enter>.  Next scroll through this
file until you see the command line for SmartDrive.  If you want
to keep SmartDrive on, you can change the command line slightly to
free up memory.  At the end of your command line change its cache
size by typing 512 512.  (Be sure to put a space between the two
numbers)  This will free up more memory for Deadlock.  You can
also temporarily disable SmartDrive by typing the command REM in
front of this line.  Here are some examples of these command
lines:

C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE 512 512

or

REM C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE


Changing Your Screen's Resolution

Deadlock will need less memory if you set your screen resolution
to be 640 by 480. You usually do this by adjusting your "Display"
item in your Windows control panel.  Every computer's
configuration is different, so how to do this varies depending
upon your system.  To be safe, contact your computer's
manufacturer to find out how to change your screen resolution.


MODEM/DIRECT CONNECT ISSUES
---------------------------
Please consult the document MODEM.TXT, which should be right next
to this README document on your hard drive or CD.


RUNNING EMM386 WITH DEADLOCK (WINDOWS 3.1 USERS ONLY)
-------------------------------
It is recommended that you shut off EMM386 before playing
Deadlock.  This game does not need EMM386 and so often can cause
the game to crash.  Shut off EMM386 by first exiting Windows.  At
your C: prompt type EDIT CONFIG.SYS. <Enter>.  Look for the EMM386
command line.  Type REM in front of this command line and EMM386
will be temporarily shut off.

REM  DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE

WARNING:  Shutting off this program may cause other applications
not to run!  If you experience any problems with other programs,
remove REM from this command line.