PC Play 5/PC Play Magazine N°5 - Settembre 1995.ISO/manual.txt

Text File | 1995-05-04 | 14.4 KB | 382 lines

Picture Perfect Golf - Release v1.0f (3/28/95)
(c) 1994, LYRIQ Int'l Corp., All Rights Reserved.

Some versions of Picture Perfect Golf do not include a user's
manual.  Thus, the following is a quick overview of the product.

    Topics
    ------
    30 second quick start
    Quick Tour

    Memory
    Video card support
    Mouse
    Windows - Don't run from within...
    Networks
    Adjusting monitor brightness & contrast
    Sound Blaster support
    PC-Club Support (infrared golf club)
    Misc:
       Hall of Fame - no mulligans allowed!
       Multi-player notes
       LYRIQ BBS

---------------- 30 second quick start

  The Swing - Using the Keyboard:
    1 - tap spacebar to start swing
    2 - tap spacebar at top of meter to set strength
    3 - tap spacebar at bottom of meter for impact & accuracy

  The Swing - Using a Mouse:
    1 - press and HOLD mouse button to start swing
    2 - release mouse button at top of meter to set strength
    3 - press mouse button at bottom of meter for impact & accuracy

  Relative distance on swing meter: Dots are NOT percentages!
  As with a real golf swing, most of the power comes at the
  very top of the swing.  It takes getting used to, but we
  believe it's representative of an actual golf swing.
  Take advantage of the driving range to get the hang of how
  the meter works.

---------------- Quick Tour

Main Menu

    The buttons on the main menu take you to the various portions
    of the game.  We suggest that you spend some time in the
    driving range as you become familiar with the swing meter.

    As a general rule, you "press" a button by either clicking on
    it with a mouse, or pressing the ALT key plus the letter which
    is underlined in the button name (eg., Alt+P to Play Golf).

    Also, as you progress through various screens, OK will continue
    the progression, MENU will return you to the main menu.

Play Golf

    Start a new round; continue a round in progress; or play
    a saved game.  When beginning a round, you will be prompted
    for who is playing (you can add players as needed); then
    you will be able to adjust several factors such as: which
    holes you wish to play, # of Mulligans for the round (note:
    using a Mulligan will keep you out of the hall of fame), and
    the strength of the wind.

        Note: when adding players, the higher the skill level,
            the farther the ball will travel but the less forgiving
            the game is when missing the impact point on the
            swing meter.  Novice players get an additional edge
            in that the swing meter is a little slower.

    Once on the course, you can change clubs, alter the type
    of show (draw, fade, etc), and take the shot.  See the quick
    start above for how to use the swing meter.

    A crosshair appears on screen to show where the shot is
    being aimed.  You can move the target with the arrow keys or
    the mouse.

    Immediately after taking the shot you can take a Mulligan by
    pressing the "M" button next to the swing meter.  You only
    have a few seconds to decide before the next shot.  If the
    "M" button does not appear then you don't have any Mulligans left.

    On the green

        The wind meter changes to a break indicator.  It shows the
        direction of the break.  Underneath is a number indicating
        the severity of the break.  Use these factors in aiming
        your putt.

        If you are within 2 feet of the hole, the "M" button changes
        to a "G" (gimme) button.  Pressing this will automatically
        give you the shot.


Driving Range & Practice Green

    Spend some time in these sections before venturing out on the
    course.  Our swing meter is a bit more challenging than other
    games.

Save Game

    When you return from a round of golf (whether you are done or
    not) you will come back to the main menu.  If you are not
    done yet but need to exit the game, select Save Game and save
    the game into one of the provided slots.  The next time you
    Play Golf you can pick up where you left off.

Player Stats

    Statistics are kept for each player.  Cumulative and "last round"
    stats can be viewed and printed.

Hall of Fame

    The course record and the next ten best scores are displayed in
    the Hall of Fame.  Rounds where Mulligans were used are not
    eligible for the Hall of Fame.

Options

    Sound options (background sounds, game sounds, commentary sounds)
    can be toggled on/off.

    Also, if you're using a PC-Club or ProSwing from Sports Science,
    you can set the comm port for using the club in this dialog.
    Setting this to anything other than None will load the infra-red
    version of PPG and will disable the swing meter... So be careful!


==============================================================
                    Troubleshooting
==============================================================

---------------- Memory

We STRONGLY suggest that you use EXPANDED (EMS) memory.  While
Picture Perfect Golf will work with Extended (XMS) memory, you
will need approximately 540K of free conventinal memory to use it,
versus less than 480K free conventional memory required when
using Expanded memory.  Also, XMS memory is somewhat slower than
EMS memory.

If you are unsure of the memory in your system, go to the DOS
prompt (if you are running Windows, exit Windows instead of running
an MS-DOS session).  Type "MEM" <enter>.  This will tell you how
much of the various kinds of memory that your system is using.

If you do not have 2MB free expanded memory and 480K free conventional
memory (or 2MB of XMS and 540K of conventional), you may need to
edit you CONFIG.SYS file to change some system settings.

If you have DOS 6.0 or greater, there is a program called MEMMAKER
which will optimize memory in your system.  If you use MEMMAKER, make
sure that you tell it to use expanded memory.

If you do not have DOS 6, your CONFIG.SYS file should include
one of the following.

  - QEMM.SYS or 386MAX.SYS (these are DOS add-ons from
  other publishers which help manage memory).

    - or -

  - Make sure that your CONFIG.SYS file has (on the first line)
    "DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS", and that after this line
    "DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE", preferably using the RAM option
    (eg. DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM)

    Notes on EMM386.EXE:
    - Make sure that the "NOEMS" option is NOT used (except as
      noted below).
    - We've found that "EMM386.EXE RAM /M5" seems to
      do a really good job on many systems.

After making changes to your config.sys (use EDIT to edit the file,
and don't forget to save your changes) you will need to reboot
your system to have the changes take effect.

---------------- When EMS should not be used...

If you get an intermittant delay of several seconds between the end
of your swing and the flight of the ball, your system is probably
emulating EMS memory with XMS memory.

Picture Perfect Golf will always attempt to use EMS memory before
using XMS.

If, when you run MEM, you get a note (*) that XMS memory is being
used to emulate EMS, this may cause performance problems with
Picture Perfect Golf, since emulating EMS is slower than the
normal EMS support provided by EMM386.EXE.

To overcome this problem, we recommend that you either:

  (a) Edit the PPG.INI file and change the "RAM=Auto" line
      to "RAM=XMS".

  (b) Include the NOEMS option in your config.sys file.
      (eg, DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS)

      -- or --

  (c) Use a 3rd party memory manager such as 386MAX.  While
      we have found that PC's which exhibit the above
      behavior still have some problems even with 3rd party
      memory managers, Picture Perfect Golf appears to work
      better with these programs than with EMM386.EXE.

Note: The game may operate somewhat slower when XMS memory is
      being used than when EMS memory is being used.

---------------- Video card support

This release of Picture Perfect Golf supports VESA compatible
super VGA cards in 640x480 x 256 color mode.  If you experience
problems, first make sure that your card supports 256 colors at
this resolution (the install program should have alerted you if
this is not the case).  Next, check to see if you need to put a
VESA.EXE device driver into your config.sys file (some graphics
cards require this).  PPG comes with a universal VESA driver
called UNIVBE.EXE.  Try running this before GOLF and see if this
solves your problem. (If your system hangs when you run GOLF --
no graphics appear at all -- then you probably need to run
UNIVBE).

If your video goes crazy for no reason while you are on the
course, press F5 to redraw the screen.  This condition appears to
be intermittant and limited to certain video cards which use the
S3 chipset (Orchid, Diamond Stealth, STB).

If your card does not work properly (eg., you get pictures but
no: dash board, crosshairs, or balls while on the green), contact
LYRIQ Int'l for a software update diskette (we will be updating
hardware support on a regular basis).  We apologize in advance
for any inconvenience this may cause you.

Some video cards work fine with PPG but have problems AFTER you
have exited PPG (eg, problems arise when running MS-Windows
after finishing a round).  We have found this on some older SVGA
cards which are not fully VESA compatible.  Fortunately, however,
most of these cards come with mode setting software on a companion
utility diskette.  If you use this software to set the card to VGA
mode after exiting PPG, no further problems should occur.

---------------- Mouse

Don't forget to load a DOS mouse driver in your AUTOEXEC.BAT.
Windows auto-detects mice, whereas DOS apps require that MOUSE.EXE
be loaded in order to use the mouse.

---------------- Running from MS-Windows

Exit Windows to run PPG.  Don't run it from a Windows DOS box.

---------------- Running while on a network

PPG will run on a network if you can get enough conventional
and EMS memory.  Our tests have shown that many setups which include
both CD-Rom drives and network software end up with less than 490K.
In these cases, you must use expanded memory with PPG.

---------------- Adjusting monitor brightness & contrast

The closer graphic images get to photographic quality, the more
important the monitor used to view them becomes.

We have found that the photos in Picture Perfect Golf look different
depending upon: (a) the monitor used, and (b) the brightness & contrast
settings of that monitor.  For best results (i.e. picture quality), we
suggest that you adjust the brightness and contrast controls on your
monitor manually at the beginning of the game.  While this is by no
means required, we believe it will result in the most pleasurable
golf experience.

---------------- Sound Blaster support

If you experience problems using PPG with your Sound Blaster compatible
sound card, check to make sure that the card's port and IRQ settings
are correct.  The defaults are usually: port=220, IRQ=5 (or 7).

  - NOTE: some recent cards support a "Wave" interrupt in addition
    to the Sound Blaster interrupt.  VOC files require the use of the
    Sound Blaster option on your card.  Successful playback of wave
    files does not necessarilly mean that VOC files will play.

PPG auto-detects your sound card's settings.  However, if you experience
problems, you can override the auto-detection by editing the PPG.INI
file and changing the line which reads "BLASTER=Auto" to:

    BLASTER=<port>,<irq>

where <port> is the port setting, such as 220, 240, etc., and IRQ is
2,5,7 or 10.  In general, we have found that auto-detection works over
95% of the time.

  WARNING: Be careful when changing the port or IRQ settings as an
  improper setting may crash your PC.

As for the DMA setting, it shouldn't matter except that if your card
supports both 8 and 16 bit sounds, the DMA channel should be the same
for both.

You can run the program STEST.EXE in the PP_GOLF subdir to test your
sound card's settings.  It will read the current setting in the PPG.INI
file and play a sample file.

Oh yea, it's also a good idea to make sure the speakers are plugged in
and turned on...

---------------- PC-Club Support

This release of PPG supports the PC-Club infrared golf club (from
Sports Sciences).  After attaching the club to your PC, run PPG and
select the OPTIONS button from the main menu.  Set the INFRARED CLUB
setting to the proper serial port.  Now when you see the dashboard
on the screen, instead of using the swing meter, just swing the
PC-Club.

If you only have one available serial port on your PC you may need
to disconnect your mouse in order to use the PC-Club.

We have found that the PC fails to recognize the Club hardware
from time to time.  Disconnect the base unit and reconnect it, then
try again.

---------------- PPG.INI

This file contains various settings for the game.  They can be changed
by editing this file using DOS EDIT.  The options are:

    Syntax                      Notes
    -----------                 -------------
    CDROM=<drive> letter        CD ROM drive letter (eg, CDROM=D)

*   BLASTER=Auto                Auto detect
    BLASTER=OFF                 Disable sounds
    BLASTER=<port>,<irq>        Force settings  (eg, BLASTER=220,5)

*   RAM=Auto                    Auto detect
    RAM=XMS                     Force use of XMS

*   VIDEO=Auto                  Auto detect
    VIDEO=VESA                  Most compatible

*   EFFECTS=ON                  Use visual transitions
    EFFECTS=OFF                 Turn off transitions (some cards are slow)

    (*=default if option not specified in file)

---------------- Other things

If game locks up after hitting a shot:

  - Turn off commentary sounds.  (This happens on fewer than 1% of
    machines tested.  We're working on a permanent fix).

Mulligans:

  - Your score will not be recorded in the hall of fame if you took
    ANY mulligans in the round!

Multi-Player notes:

  - When on the green, the player furthest from the hole
    starts, and then holes out before the next player putts.
    This speeds up play (note: the PGA is considering this
    change as well).

LYRIQ BBS:

    Software updates (bug fixes and hardware support updates) can
    be downloaded from LYRIQ's BBS at 203/250-2073.

*****