Original PC version developed by Human Head Studios.
Welcome to the Rune Demo for Macintosh. This document contains information about troubleshooting, setting options for maximum performance, and other information.
Table of Contents
-- How to Play the Demo
-- Starting Up the First Time
-- Troubleshooting
-- Gameplay Features
-- Rage Pro Performance Tips
-- Rave Rendering Info
-- Tips for Low-RAM Computers
-- General Performance Tips
-- Rune Web Sites
-- Macintosh Version Credits
How to Play the Demo
The basic controls for Rune are:
W - Move forward
S - Move backward
Space - Jump
C - Crouch
Control - 'Use' key
E - 'Rune power' key
Number keys - Select weapon
Move mouse to turn and look (usually called "mouselook")
Left mouse button - Attack
Right mouse button - Defend
As you play through the demo, on-screen instructions will show you how to perform other actions, such as rope climbing, etc. See the "Controls" option screen for a complete listing of game controls.
A Few Tips
-- Use weapon to smash through wooden doors, barrels, cracks in the wall, etc.
-- Some of the "undead" can only be killed in specific ways.
-- Use the 'Rune power'. It can make your attacks much more powerful.
-- Eat and drink to restore your health.
-- Turn on "Auto-pickup" on the "Game" options screen to have your character automatically pick up weapons, runes, etc.
Starting Up the First Time
Rune will attempt to detect your machine's speed and graphics hardware, and set itself up the first time it runs to play best on your computer. You can change the graphics, sound, and input device options at any time using the "Settings" menus in the game. You can further refine these options by changing settings in the Rune.ini file located in the game folder. However, be aware that changing these options can affect how much memory is needed. You may have to increase the Rune application's memory partition size.
Rune requires 3D video hardware, and supports cards that use the Glide and RAVE API's. Software rendering still works, but is not supported for Rune. This means you can run Rune in software mode, but there may be rendering problems. Rune does not use OpenGL for rendering.
••• VERY IMPORTANT •••
Rune has its application memory size set to 185000K. You must make sure to set your computer's Virtual Memory size so that you have MORE than that amount available to run the game. Before running Rune, choose the "About This Computer" option from the Apple Menu and look at the "Largest Unused Block" amount. It must be at least 190 MB, or Rune will not run properly.
Troubleshooting
The game won't recognize my right mouse button/gamepad/joystick.
In the game, click the "Options" button, then click the "Input" button, then click the "Configure InputSprocket" button. This will bring up the Input Sprocket configuration dialog where you can setup your input device. Make sure you have buttons assigned to both "Click" (usually your normal mouse button) and "Alt-Click" (usually a right mouse button or a command/control-click).
The installer says it has finished, but it keeps copying files for several minutes. What's that all about?
This is a limitation in the user feedback with the installer we are using. Don't worry, it's supposed to do that.
The installer says that not all files were installed.
If you already have the latest version of Game Sprockets installed, the installer will not replace them, and will give you this message. Again, there is no problem.
When I start up the first time, the game doesn't give me an option for RAVE rendering, and I know I have a Rave (ATI Rage Pro/128) capable video card.
See the "Very Important" note at the top of this document. If there is not enough free System memory outside of the Rune application, the Rave drivers can't be loaded and won't appear as an option.
Whenever I start the game, it opens a window and uses slow software rendering.
For some reason, Rune was unable to initialize the 3D renderer. It could be due to a driver problem or a lack of system memory (see "Very Important" above). Make sure you have the latest drivers for your 3D graphics card installed.
Sometimes the game pauses and I hear my CD-ROM drive wake up, making the game hard to play.
This happens if you have not done a "Full Install", and the game needs to get a file (speech, graphics, etc.) from the CD. To remove these pauses, re-install the game and use the "Custom Install" option to install the "Full Install".
I get an "out of memory" error message after playing the game for several hours.
After playing through many levels of the game, your computer's memory may become too fragmented to be used by Rune. Quitting the game and restarting it should let you continue to play. To increase the length of time you can play in one session, you may need to increase the Rune application's memory partition size. It starts at 185000K. Increasing this to 200000K or 225000K will increase the time the game will play without fragmentation considerably. Make sure you still have enough free memory in your computer to leave 5000K or so outside of Rune, so the System will have memory (see "Very Important" note above).
If you set the audio quality to "High", or set "Skin Detail" or "World Texture Detail" to "High", then you must increase the application's memory size.
I can't get the game to start up. The screen goes blank and the computer just sits there.
Rune requires at least 96 MB of actual RAM. If you're trying to run the game with 64 MB or less, the game will not work properly.
Gameplay Features
QuickSave and QuickLoad
You can use the F5 key to "QuickSave" a game without having to go through the menus, and then use F7 to "QuickLoad" the last quicksaved game.
Gore Level
Rune is by nature a violent game, set in a time when swords and axes where the preferred method of settling a dispute. It is intended for mature audiences, aged 17 and above. For younger players, or for any who wish to play the game with a reduced level of violence, we have included a control so you can adjust the Gore level. In the main menu, click the "Options" button, then click the "Game" button. The control at the top of the screen lets you choose the Gore Level. The settings are:
Normal: Full animated gore and violence. Blood splatters on the walls and ground, arms and heads can be cut off, bloody footprints are left behind.
Low Gore: No blood splats, no bloody footprints, no severed limbs. You still see blood spray from hits, and there are still "painskins" for opponents and blood on weapons.
Ultra Low: No gore or blood shown at any time.
Rage Pro Performance Tips
If you are running Rune on a Rage Pro 3D chip, you may want to try some of the following tips to increase performance. Most of these tips reduce VRAM usage, which is the best way to help the Rage Pro. Most of these settings can be changed in the game with the "Options" menu, in the "Video" screen.
• Run in 16-bit color mode. 32-bit color is very slow on the Rage Pro.
• Set "World Texture Detail" and "Object Texture Detail" to Medium or Low. This will drastically reduce VRAM usage, but also makes the textures appear blurry.
• In the Rune.ini, under the [RaveDrv.RaveRenderDevice] section, set "MipMapping" to False. This will also drastically decrease VRAM usage, but textures in the distance will not look as good.
• Set the resolution to 640x480.
RAVE Rendering Info
The following items are not performance tips, they are just more information about RAVE rendering in Rune.
• RAVE does not draw Detail textures, so the "Detail Textures" setting has no effect.
• The "Brightness" slider has no effect in RAVE mode.
Tips for Low-RAM Computers
For Rune, a "Low-RAM" computer is any machine with less than the recommended amount, which is 128 MB of RAM. The following tips will help reduce that amount of RAM that Rune uses or accesses:
• In the Rune.ini file, under the [Galaxy.GalaxyAudioSubsystem] section, change the "UseDigitalMusic" to False. This will turn off background music, but will decrease memory usage and improve performance slightly.
• Keep "LowSoundQuality" set to True (also in the same section). As the name implies, the sound quality will be low, but it will reduce the amount of RAM used for sound effects by 75%.
• Turn off "DetailTextures" if you're using Glide rendering.
• Set "World Texture Detail" and "Object Texture Detail" to Medium or Low. This will help increase performance, but also makes the textures appear blurry.
• Make a custom extension set (with the Extensions Manager control panel) that contains the minimum amount of extensions and control panels required to run Rune.
General Performance Tips
If your computer is close to the minimum requirements for this game, you will probably want to do some of the following tweaks to increase the performance of Rune.
• Do a full install for smoothest performance and fastest loading times.
• In the Rune.ini file, under the [Galaxy.GalaxyAudioSubsystem] section, change "UseReverb" to false.
• In the Rune.ini file, find the text "VolumetricLighting" and set it to False. Volumetric lighting is used for effects like fog, but turning it off reduces computation and texture memory usage.
• Set "World Texture Detail" and "Object Texture Detail" to Medium or Low. This will help increase performance, but also makes the textures appear blurry.
• Probably the best thing you can do to help Rune is increase the amount of physical RAM in your computer. 128 MB is recommended. More would be even better.
