Computer required: 100% Windows 95/98 DirectX 6.1 Compatible Computer
Game not compatible with Windows NT, OS/2, Linux or
Windows emulated operating system.
CPU: Pentium 166 MHz required.
Memory: 32MB RAM Required.
Video: 4MB PCI or AGP Direct3D compatible graphics accelerator card.
CD-ROM: Quad speed (4x) or faster CD-ROM / DVD drive required.
Sound Card: 100% Windows 95/98 DirectX compatible 16-bit sound card
Input Device required: 100% Windows 95/98 compatible joystick, mouse and keyboard
Joystick/Gamepad: Recommended.
DirectX
Microsoft DirectX 6.1 is included on this CD and must be installed to play LEGO Racers. Please refer to this Troubleshooting Guide or the Technical Reference Manual for more information about DirectX.
Note
Your system may require the "latest" Windows 95/98 drivers for your particular hardware.
The LEGO Racers CD-ROM has to be present in the CD-ROM / DVD Drive for the Game to run.
Installation
Installation requires 210MB free hard drive space. (Uncompressed)*
* Uncompressed means that the hard drive has not been subjected to any form of file compression that allows the hard drive space to be increased. For example under Windows 98 the option that would usually be used to perform this function would be DriveSpace.
Multiplayer Option
2 player split screen. (No networking / modem option available) Joystick / game pad recommended.
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ABOUT THIS README FILE
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This file contains last-minute information that may not be in the manual.
If you are having a particular problem with the game, please see the section below, "Troubleshooting".
Please note:
LEGO Media International Limited does not accept any responsibility for any problems / issues encountered regarding the use of information contained within this readme file or the Technical Reference Manual.
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BASIC INFORMATION
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Q: How do I install the game?
A: Place the LEGO Racers CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive.
The installation help screen will become active after a few seconds.
Follow the instructions that are displayed and you will be informed when the installation is complete.
Alternate installation instructions are provided in the Technical Reference Manual.
Note: If the autorun option does not active then this could be linked to the "Auto insert notification" function being disabled on your system. See "Troubleshooting" or the Technical Reference manual regarding this.
Q: Should I have other programs running in the background of Windows.
A: Generally, we have found that it is not a good idea to run any other programs while running this game. Please turn off any active screen savers while running LEGO Racers, as they may interrupt the game and cause problems.
Various video, sound, or memory issues may occur if other programs are running, including virus-detection utilities. This includes items that start from your StartUp folder which were added to load programs automatically when Windows is started, such as the Microsoft Office Toolbar. Some of these programs display icons on your taskbar. If you have icons on your taskbar, right-click on each of them and select the option to disable or close them before running LEGO Racers. The next time you start your computer, these items will load once more and the icons will return. If you cannot disable them from the taskbar and you experience problems running LEGO Racers you may want to remove the program shortcuts from the StartUp folder. For information about how to do this, please consult your Windows manual or your computer manufacturer.
Q: How do I run the game?
A: It is advisable to restart your computer if you have been running any other applications, apart from the setup program. The game should always be played with as few other applications running as possible, and it is best to wait for hard disk activity to stop before running the game.
To run the game, click Start, Programs, LEGO MEDIA, LEGO RACERS, LEGO RACERS. CD-ROM has to be present in the CD-ROM / DVD Drive for the game to run.
Q: How do I uninstall the game?
A: It is advisable to uninstall the game using the LEGO Racers Uninstall option.
To uninstall the game, click Start, Programs. LEGO MEDIA, LEGO RACERS, UNINSTALL LEGO RACERS.
Note: Any saved games regarding LEGO Racers will not be removed by using the uninstall option. These will have to be removed manually as follows: -
Double click with left-hand mouse button on "My Computer" icon
Double click on "C Drive" icon with left-hand mouse button
Double click on "Program Files" icon with left-hand mouse button
Double click on "LEGO Media" icon with left-hand mouse button
Double click on "Games" icon with left-hand mouse button
Click on "LEGO Racers" icon with right-hand mouse button
Select "Delete"
Choose "Yes" to confirm delete.
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TROUBLESHOOTING
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Q. How do I check that the Screen Resolution is correct for this game?
A. Place your mouse pointer on a clear area within the Windows desktop screen and using the right hand mouse button click once. A menu will be displayed from which you need to select, using your left-hand mouse button, the "Properties" option. The "Display Properties" option folder is now shown and you need to select the "Settings" tab. Ensure that High Colour 16 bit option is set with the minimum recommended resolution area of 640 x 480. Apply any changes and re-start your machine.
Q: My mouse does not operate within the game.
A: The game requires a Windows 95/98 compatible mouse and driver. It would be advisable to re-install the mouse using the Microsoft drivers for the mouse supplied with the Windows operating system or contact the mouse manufacturer for compatible Windows drivers.
Q. Autorun installation of game not activated when LEGO Racers CD-ROM is placed in CD-ROM drive.
A. The Auto insert notification for your CD-ROM drive must be set as active.
To check that this option is activated see the following:
Double click using your left-hand mouse button on the "My Computer" Icon
Double click using your left-hand mouse button on the "Control Panel" Icon
Double click using your left-hand mouse button on the "System" Icon
Select "Device Manager" Tab
Double click using your left-hand mouse button on the "CD-ROM Option"
Double click using your left-hand mouse button on the "CD-ROM drive"
Select the "Settings Tab"
Ensure that the Auto insert notification box has a tick in it.
To confirm settings click onto "OK" option with left-hand mouse button.
Q. How do I check to ensure that all of my DirectX 6.1 drivers are certified?
A. Windows 95/98 with DirectX 6.1. With DirectX 6.1, you can check for a successful DirectX set-up by doing the following:
Double click with left-hand mouse button on "My Computer" icon
Double click on "C Drive" icon with left-hand mouse button
Double click on "Program Files" icon with left-hand mouse button
Double click on "DirectX" folder with left-hand mouse button
Double click on "Setup" icon with left-hand mouse button
Double click on "DXDIAG" with left-hand mouse button
(Blue circle with yellow cross within it)
The screen that appears has multiple tabs along the top. You will want to click on the DirectX Drivers tab. All of the drivers are listed separately and you will find a "Notes" field along the bottom. Within the notes field any problems encountered will be listed. If one or more of the items are listed as uncertified, this is most likely causing the problem you are having. Most often, the drivers that are not certified are either the Primary Display Driver and/or the Audio driver. Most manufacturers of video cards and sound cards are releasing updated drivers for Windows 95/98 to meet the DirectX standard. You will want to contact the manufacturer of any component that is not supported and ask them about obtaining drivers that support DirectX.
Q: DXSetup Error -7 or -8
A: You may see the error DXSetup Error -7 or DXSetup Error -8 during the installation of DirectX if you do not have Audio Compression, Sound Recorder or Volume Control installed on your computer prior to installing DirectX 6.0 this could cause this error to appear.
Adding Sound Recorder, Volume Control and Audio Compression. The Sound Recorder, Volume Control and Audio Compression are necessary components of Windows when using DirectX 6.1 If they were not installed when Windows was set up, you will want to add them before installing LEGO Racers. DirectX will ask for your Windows CD during installation if it does not find these components, which may cause the DirectX installation to be incomplete and you may see the error DXSetup
Error -7 or DXSetup Error -8 after changing to the Windows CD. If this happens, reboot your computer and follow these steps.
To add these Windows components:
Double click using your left-hand mouse button on the "My Computer" Icon
Double click using your left-hand mouse button on the "Control Panel" Icon
Double click using your left-hand mouse button on the "Add/Remove Programs"
Select "Windows Setup" Tab
Scroll down to Multimedia and select Details.
Check the boxes next to Audio Compression, Sound Recorder and Volume
Control.
Click OK, then OK again to close both of these windows.
You will be prompted for your Windows CD.
When these steps are complete, you may continue with the installation of DirectX 6.1.
Q: What is DirectX?
A: The DirectX platform provides an environment that allows developers to use a standardised format when programming an application. This makes it easier to support a wide variety of different hardware features. Prior to DirectX, developers were forced to write hardware-specific code (With a specific driver for each different piece of hardware). DirectX is a library provided by Microsoft to run inside the operating system and provide programmers with seamless access to all of the hardware features available today.
NOTE:
We have found that some older systems may contain hardware that may not be fully DirectX compatible. For optimum performance in LEGO Racers, your system must fully support DirectX. Fortunately, many manufacturers are releasing updated drivers.
If you are unsure whether or not your system will support DirectX, please contact the manufacturer of your system for more information.
DirectDraw
DirectDraw allows programmers to directly access video hardware and memory. This improves performance while still maintaining compatibility with Windows.
Direct3D
Direct3D provides direct access to 3D hardware. Direct3D is designed to work with the majority of 3D cards on the market, giving programmers an easier interface to your 3D hardware. Using Direct3D with your 3D accelerator can provide speed improvements as well as better image quality.
DirectSound
DirectSound is the wave-audio part of DirectX, which provides full functionality and hardware acceleration to the sound device. This allows for all the features of audio hardware to be used, including support for 3D positional and interactive sound.
DirectInput
DirectInput provides support for input devices including mice, keyboards, joysticks and other game controllers. Direct Input gives faster access to input data by communicating directly to the hardware driver rather than relying on Windows to do so.
DirectPlay
This is the multiplayer gaming module in DirectX, which provides access to networking functionality for gaming. DirectPlay supports direct serial connections, modem play, LAN play and Internet Play.
DirectX Driver Issues
We suggest using the DirectX 6.1 drivers that are recommended during the installation of DirectX unless you experience problems after installing DirectX. The only time that this does not apply is when a section in this troubleshooting guide that pertains to your hardware specifically tells you to use a different driver. This is particularly true for video card drivers.
Effects of Video Card Driver Installation by DirectX
When DirectX is being installed, some video card utilities may be disabled, such as Diamond Multimedia's In Control Tools, STB Vision95, or Creative Labs Graphics Control utilities. You may no longer be able to access them through their taskbar icon and the options for changing your video properties may change back to stock Windows options.
DirectX may not recommend changing the driver for your card at all because you may be using these utilities to customise your desktop display and removing them may have adverse effects on your computer.
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3D-HARDWARE DRIVERS
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Q: What is a 3D-hardware driver?
A: Also known as a 3D-card driver, it is part of the software interface that this game uses to communicate with the 3D-hardware in your computer. You may need to update your driver if the game is not running properly, e.g. if you see an error box when running the game, or the game doesn't run very smoothly, or the graphics appear to flicker.
Q: I need the latest driver for my 3D-hardware. How do I get it?
A: The best way is to download it using the Internet. Alternatively you could contact your 3D-hardware manufacturer, and they should be able to send you a disk containing the latest driver.
Some sites for 3D-hardware drivers are:
http://www.drivershq.com
http://www.download.com
http://www.3dfx.com (for 3dfx based cards)
More site information is shown under "Web Site Addresses"
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SUPPORTED 3D-HARDWARE
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This game uses Direct3D to support most recent 3D-hardware chipsets.
All of the following 3D-chipsets have been tested:
3DFX I, II, III
PowerVR
Your card must have at least 4Mb of memory on your 3D card.
Most recent cards qualify for this, although for details you will have to refer to your system documentation or 3D-hardware documentation.
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GRAPHICS CARDS.
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LEGO Racers has been tested against the following graphic cards.
Note:
All of these cards had the latest manufacturers drivers installed.
See web site addresses for manufacturer Internet address.
ATI Graphics Pro (Mach 64) PCI
Cirrus Logic 5434
Tseng 4000/W32P
S3 Trio 64+
S3 Virge
ATI Graphics Xpression
Voodoo Banshee PCI / AGP 16MB
Cirrus Logic Laguna GD5465
Diamond Fusion 16MB
ViewTop Permedia 2 8MB
Asus V2740 (Intel 740i)
Matrox Productiva G100
Matrox Millenium I
Diamond Stealth 64
Matrox Millenium II
STB Velocity 128 (PCI)
Viewtop Permedia 2 8MB
Number 9 Revolution 3D
ATI Rage Fury 32MB
ATI Xpert at Play
SiS 6205
Cirrus Logic 5446
Tseng 6000
Diamond Viper 550
Matrox Mystique
Video Logic GrafixStar 700
Trident 9750 4MB
Diamond Speedstar A50 AGP
Videologic Power VR
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NETWORK GAMES
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No Networking / Internet option available within this game.
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OTHER ISSUES
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If you are having a major difficulty with the game:
1) Please make sure you have tried:
- Restarting your PC
- Closing as many other applications as possible
- Waiting for hard disk activity to stop
- Ensure that you have all of the latest drivers
- Ensure that all of your DirectX drivers are all certified
- Uninstall and reinstall the Game.
2) Please make sure you have thoroughly read the "TROUBLESHOOTING" section above.
3) If you are still having problems, please see the "TECHNICAL SUPPORT" section below.
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KNOWN ISSUES 06/10/99
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Grainy Graphics - some cards that we support do not have the capability to do transparency. They "fake" it by stippling the transparencies. This happens by drawing every other pixel on a transparency to emulate the effect. This means that what you see may look 'grainy' if your card emulates the transparency effect.
Black Blocks - some cards do not support the transparency effect at all and will leave a black block behind various graphics on the screen. Most card manufacturers have developed or are developing drivers that emulate the transparency effect that may resolve this problem. Please consult your card manufacturer for further details. Using the command -transalpha in the same manner as noted below in Blocky Graphics may fix this problem.
Blocky Graphics - some cards may not be recognised by LEGO Racers and the game may attempt to emulate the accelerated version. To force the game to recognise your video card, an extra command can be added which will call up a video card selection menu. Create a shortcut from the LEGO Racers.exe file and add the command -select3d to the end. To create a shortcut, right click on the LEGO Racers.exe file and select Create Shortcut. Right click on the Shortcut you have just created and select Properties. In the text box titled Target add the -select3d command as shown in the following example.
Click on Apply and then exit the Properties window. Double Click on the LEGO Racers shortcut and after the videos have been displayed, the video card selection menu will appear. Select the card you wish to use and set it to run in Microsoft D3D Hardware acceleration.
Video Intros won't play - If the program is not running the introduction videos, and you recive an error message or get a blank screen, they can be deactivated by adding the command -novideo in the same manner as described for the -select3d command noted above.
ATI Rage Pro - It has been noted that some cards are losing textures when firing projectile power ups. The latest drivers from ATI Technologies fix this problem.
S3Virge - It has been noted that some cards are not being recognised by the game which is switching into hardware emulation. This can currently be resolved by following the 'Blocky Graphics' solution text noted above.
Keyboards locking up - Some keyboards have been noted to briefly lock up when multiple keys are pressed simultaneously. This is a hardware limitation found on various keyboards. It is recommended that you redefine your control setup in the Options menu of LEGO Racers. Certain keys work better with others although this is dependant on your type of keyboard. It is recommended that you experiment until you find a configuration that suits you best.
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WEB SITE ADDRESSES
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3Dfx Interactive www.3dfx.com
Acer www.acer.com
Alliance Semiconductor www.alsc.com
Asus www.asus.com
ATI Technologies www.atitech.com
Aureal Semiconductor www.a3d.com
Aztech Labs www.aztechca.com or www.aztech.com.sg
Canopus www.canopuscorp.com
Cirrus Logic www.cirrus.com
Compaq www.compaq.com
Creative Labs www.creativelabs.com
Crystal Semiconductor www.crystal.com
DELL Computer www.dell.com
Diamond Multimedia www.diamondmm.com
Elsa www.elsa.com
Ensoniq www.ensoniq.com
ESS Technologies www.esstech.com
Gateway 2000 www.gateway2000.com
Guillemot www.guillemot.com
Hercules www.hercules.com
Hewlett Packard www.hp.com
IBM www.ibm.com
Intel www.intel.com
Intergraph www.intergraph.com
Jaton www.jaton.com
Matrox www.matrox.com
Media Vision www.svtus.com
MediaSonic www.mediasonic.com
Number Nine www.nine.com
Oak Technology www.oaktech.com
OPTi www.opti.com
Orchid www.orchid.com
Packard Bell www.packardbell.com
Real 3D www.real3d.com
Rendition www.rendition.com
STB Systems www.stb.com
Trident www.tridentmicro.com
Turtle Beach www.tbeach.com
Yamaha www.yamaha.com
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TECHNICAL SUPPORT
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Technical Support: 800-366-6062
Fax: 860-763-7850
Email: help@america.legomedia.com
Support Times: Monday - Friday - 8:00am - Midnight (EST)
Saturday - Sunday - 8:00am - 8:00pm (EST)
(Excluding Major Holidays)
World Wide Web: www.legomedia.com
Mailing address: Technical Support
LEGO Media International Inc.
P.O. Box 1650
Enfield, CT 06083-1650
In the unlikely event of a software fault or incompatibility with your hardware please return the complete package, with your receipt, to the original place of purchase.
If you do telephone, please be sitting in front of your computer and be sure to provide us with as much information as possible. Make sure to note the exact type of hardware that you are using in your system, including but not limited to:
- Speed and Manufacturer of your Processor.
- Make & Model of your Sound Card.
- Make, model and RAM of your video card/graphics accelerator card.
- Make & Model of your CD-ROM or DVD Drive
- Amount of RAM in your system.
- Any additional hardware and Peripherals.
- And the exact error (if applicable).
Note: If you have any problems in obtaining any System Information please consult your System supplier.
