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helpme.doc
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1994-08-15
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325 lines
=============================================================================
Jazz Jackrabbit * Instructions & Troubleshooting Info * Version 1.1
=============================================================================
To play Jazz, you'll need at least:
* A 33-Mhz or faster 80386 processor
* 4 Megabytes of memory
Jazz also supports:
* Joystick, Gravis Gamepad
* Sound Blaster, SB Pro, SB-16, PAS-16, Gravis Ultrasound sound cards
To start Jazz Jackrabbit:
1. Switch to the drive where the game is installed (C:)
2. Switch to the subdirectory where the game is installed (CD \JAZZ)
3. Type JAZZ.
=============================================================================
Windows & OS/2 Notes
=============================================================================
Running with WINDOWS
--------------------
Jazz Jackrabbit works best when run directly from DOS. But, if you must
run it through Windows, please run the file "JAZZ.PIF" (not "JAZZ.EXE").
This will make Jazz work more reliably.
If you encounter any problems running through Windows, please exit and run
Jazz Jackrabbit through plain DOS instead. Here are some of the problems
you may encounter when running Jazz through Windows:
1. The game may not scroll as smoothly, sometimes "jumping" and "skipping".
2. The game may lock up while starting or while loading levels.
3. The game may slow down to half-speed.
4. The music may skip.
Running with OS/2
-----------------
With apologies to OS/2 fans around the world, Jazz Jackrabbit will not
work reliably under OS/2. Please run it from DOS instead.
=============================================================================
HOW TO BOOT YOUR COMPUTER CLEAN
=============================================================================
If you're running into problems running Jazz, you might be able to get it
up and running by "Booting your computer clean". By this, we mean starting
up your computer without loading all of the little memory managers and
device drivers that might interfere with the game. It's a relatively
simple process, so please bear with us.
If you have DOS 6.0 or later
----------------------------
Reboot your computer by pressing RESET or Ctrl-Alt-Del. Wait for the
message "Starting MS-DOS..." to come up. Now press the [F5] key.
This will cause DOS 6.0 to bypass all of your TSR's, memory managers,
and other programs which normally occupy main memory.
Now change into the Jazz directory and begin the game.
If you have DOS 5.0
-------------------
Please skip this section if you have DOS 6.0 or later!
You need to create a "boot disk" to allow you to start your computer
without loading all the TSR's and memory managers that take away
memory. Here's how.
A. Put a blank disk in your A: drive and format it as a DOS disk. (Don't
do this in your B: drive - it won't work!) To do this, type the
following command:
FORMAT A: /S
B. Wait while your computer formats the disk.
C. Label the disk "Boot Disk" and keep it handy. You'll need this
disk whenever you want to start Jazz.
Now, you can reboot your computer and play Jazz:
A. Put the boot disk in your A: drive.
B. Restart your computer, either by pressing CTRL-ALT-DELETE, by
hitting your reset button, or by turning it on.
C. Wait while your computer boots from the boot disk.
D. After a little while, your computer will stop and give you the A>
prompt.
E. Now change to your hard disk by typing "C:".
F. Go into the Jazz directory by typing "CD \JAZZ".
G. Begin by typing "JAZZ".
Note to owners of "Stacker", "Superstor", and other hard disk compression
programs: If your C: drive is compressed and you need a boot disk to
start Jazz, you must install Jazz on a different, non-compressed drive.
See your Stacker or Superstor manual for instructions on doing this.
(This only applies to users of DOS version 5.0 or earlier).
=============================================================================
COMMON PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS
=============================================================================
PROBLEM: When I run Jazz, it tells me I don't have enough free memory.
SOLUTION: Jazz requires that you have at least 2.5 megabytes of free memory.
It doesn't matter whether your memory is conventional, EMS, or XMS. All
that matters is that that the total free memory is at least 2.5 megs.
If you run Jazz and get a message saying that you don't have enough free
memory, here's what to do:
1. Make sure you have at least 4 megabytes of memory installed in your
computer! You'll need this much in order to have 2.5 megs free.
2. If you are trying to run Jazz Jackrabbit from Windows, completely exit
Windows and try running it from DOS.
3. If you are trying to run Jazz Jackrabbit from "DOSSHELL" or any other
menu program, please exit from the menu program. Then, run Jazz
from the DOS prompt. Menu programs often occupy enough memory that
there won't be enough left for the game.
4. If none of the above help, you can solve this problem quickly by
"Booting your computer clean". See above for details!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem: While playing (or after finishing a level), I get dumped back to
DOS with an error message or a "Runtime Error".
Solution: This means that either (1) Jazz is conflicting with your memory
managers and TSR's, or (2) you need more free memory to run Jazz.
Try booting clean and running Jazz.
Several customers have reported "Runtime Errors" when running Jazz with
QEMM or EMM386. We haven't been able to duplicate this problem or
figure out its cause, but booting clean has always solved it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROBLEM: When I run JAZZ, the computer locks up or reboots.
SOLUTION: Run SETUP and verify that your settings are correct. If you are
not using a sound card, make sure that SETUP is set for "No Sound Card".
If you are using a sound card, verify that:
1. The correct options are specified in SETUP. Check your address, IRQ,
and DMA settings (most sound cards operate on DMA 1). If you don't know
your card's address, IRQ, and DMA settings, consult your sound card
manual for details on figuring them out. Wrong settings will cause Jazz
to lock up or crash. If your sound quality is set to "Ultra High
Quality" or "Very High Quality", try setting it to "Medium Quality".
2. Make sure that your sound card has no address, IRQ, or DMA conflicts with
other cards in your system. If your sound card works properly with other
games, you can assume that there are no conflicts. However, if your sound
card does not work with other games, you have a conflict. See your
sound card manual for details on resolving these conflicts.
Run SETUP again and try the "PC Speaker" setting and see if that solves
the problem.
3. Jazz may be encountering a problem with some of the TSR's and device
drivers that you have loaded. Try booting your computer clean and then
running Jazz (see above for details).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROBLEM: The game runs unevenly on my computer, sometimes speeding up and
slowing down.
SOLUTION: Jazz is a very high-performance game, and it's sensitive about
your computer's configuration. So, please check the following:
1. Are you running Jazz through Windows? This may slow the game down
unless you have a super-fast Pentium computer. If you're running
through Windows, exit and run through DOS instead.
2. Do you have HIMEM.SYS and EMM386 loaded? These will slow Jazz down by
10-25% on some computers. To get better performance, please try booting
your computer clean before running Jazz. (See above for details).
3. Run JAZZ, go into the setup options menu, and select "Low Graphics
Detail". This will speed Jazz up quite noticeably on slow computers,
and you'll only lose a small amount of the graphics detail.
4. If Jazz slows down in the bonus stage, press the "F1" key to adjust
the detail level. The bonus stage runs much faster on low detail!
5. If Jazz still runs slowly after you've tried all of the above, your
computer and video card just aren't fast enough to run Jazz at
full-speed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROBLEM: The music sometimes skips like a broken record.
SOLUTION: The "Sound Quality" setting is too high for your computer and
sound card to handle. Please run SETUP again and select a lower
"Sound Quality" setting. The Medium setting will give you okay sound
quality, while avoiding most music problems. If this doesn't cure the
problem, try booting clean -- that will give Jazz extra CPU power to
handle the music and sound.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROBLEM: When running Jazz, sometimes the game's colors go wild or lots
of "snow" appears on the screen.
Solution 1: This problem happens with some combinations of video cards and
fast computers. We've put a setting in Jazz that you can use to solve
this. Run Jazz and go into the "Setup Options" menu, and change the
"Fast Color Animation" setting to either "Slow Color Animation" or
"No Color Animation".
Solution 2: If the "Color Animation" settings don't help, you might have a
video card that's not Jazz-Compatible. Here are the VGA cards we've
had problems with:
S3: If you see junk on the screen with your S3 VGA card, contact S3 Inc
to get an updated driver. This will fix the problem!
Trident: Some Trident VGA cards aren't working properly with Jazz.
Playing the game on the "Turbo" difficulty setting seems to fix this.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem: The music and sound effects sound OK when I start Jazz, but
they get cut off several seconds after a song begins.
Solution: Whoops! This is what happens when you select the wrong IRQ for
your sound card! Run SETUP again and pick the correct IRQ.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Problem: Help! I've jumped up and become stuck in a wall or enclosed area!
Solution: This is what can happen when Cliff makes a mistake designing the
levels in Jazz Jackrabbit. Fortunately, we've included a special cheat
code that will get you un-stuck (but will cost a life!) Just press "P"
to pause the game, press the "Backspace" key, then type the word "DDMARK".
(Hint: There are other secret cheat codes that can be activated with
the P-Backspace combination!)
=============================================================================
OTHER SOUND CARD NOTES
=============================================================================
Pro Audio Spectrum:
JAZZ supports the PAS, PAS+, and PAS-16 sound cards directly. You
must have the PAS drivers loaded properly to run JAZZ! See your
PAS manual for instructions on loading the right PAS drivers in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files.
If you encounter any music or sound problems on your PAS sound card,
try running SETUP again. This time, specify "Sound Blaster" as your
sound card.
Gravis Ultrasound:
By popular request, Jazz Jackrabbit supports the GUS! Just specify Gravis
Ultrasound from within SETUP. If you have any problems, check your
address, IRQ, and DMA settings. If you still have problems, boot clean
and try running Jazz without any GUS drivers loaded - these
drivers (such as SBOS) might perhaps interfere with the game's direct,
native GUS support.
Other sound cards:
If you have a sound card that is "Sound Blaster Compatible", but isn't
a genuine Sound Blaster, try selecting the "Sound Blaster" setting from
the SETUP program. This will usually get best results. If the music
doesn't work properly, or if the music is distorted, run SETUP again.
This time, select "Sound Blaster Clone". The "Clone" driver should
be compatible with all cards that claim to be Sound Blaster
compatible.
Since new models of sound cards are always being manufactured and revised,
here's how to contact the top sound card makers for information about
sound card problems and obtaining the latest driver files.
Company Sound Card Phone BBS CompuServe GO
------------- ------------------ ------------ ------------ -------------
Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum 800-638-2807 510-770-0527 MultiVen (12)
Creative Labs Sound Blaster 405-742-6622 405-742-6660 Blaster
Gravis Ultrasound 604-431-1708 604-431-5927 PcVenB (14)
Note: Jazz requires either a Gravis UltraSound, PAS, or a true Sound
Blaster compatible card. If your sound card isn't 100% compatible with
the Sound Blaster, unfortunately it's not going to work with Jazz.
=============================================================================
VERSION HISTORY
=============================================================================
Version 1.0 (8/1/94): First public release.
Version 1.1 (8/15/94): Update and bug fixes.
* Fixed a problem that made some computers freeze in the "Loading" screen.
* Renamed many secret cheat codes. They're still in there, with new names.
=============================================================================
CONTACTING EPIC'S TECH SUPPORT
=============================================================================
If you need further assistance, please call our tech support department
at 301-983-9771 between 9AM and 5PM Eastern Standard Time, or fax us
at 301-299-3841.
If you have a complex question about how to run this game, please call while
you're at your computer and we'll be able to help you more effectively.
You can also contact us online:
CompuServe: GO EPIC
Internet Mail: 70007.1631@compuserve.com
Internet FTP: ftp.uml.edu
America Online: We answer questions posted in the "Games" area.
GEnie: We answer questions in the Games Roundtable.
=============================================================================
That's all. Enjoy playing Jazz Jackrabbit!
=============================================================================