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- ------------------------------------------
-
- | Windows-related QuakeWorld information |
-
- ------------------------------------------
-
-
-
- QuakeWorld is a Win32 app, and will run on either Win95 or Windows NT.
-
- It is designed to take advantage of whatever enhanced video and sound
-
- capabilities (such as DirectX or VESA video modes) are present, but has
-
- fallback functionality so it can run on any Win32 system, even if, for
-
- example, neither DirectX nor VESA is installed. You may experience
-
- problems running QW on some systems, because driver and operating-system
-
- support for game functionality are not yet mature, and many bugs and
-
- incompatibilities remain. This document will describe the Windows-
-
- specific functionality (video and sound) supported by QW, and known
-
- problems and workarounds. If you encounter what seems to be a bug,
-
- please fill out and submit the QuakeWorld bug report at
-
- http://www.idsoftware.com/contact/.
-
-
-
- The rest of this document is organized as follows:
-
-
-
- Common problems and workarounds
-
- A bit about how QW video works
-
- Video command-line switches
-
- A bit about how QW sound works
-
- Sound command-line switches
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- -----------------------------------
-
- | Common problems and workarounds |
-
- -----------------------------------
-
-
-
- QW crashes or won't run
-
- -----------------------
-
-
-
- If the QW client refuses to run or crashes on your system, try running
-
- it with the following command line:
-
-
-
- qwcl -nodirectdraw -nowindirect -wavonly
-
-
-
- This will almost certainly solve your problem; however, it may result in
-
- lagged sound (a long delay from action to hearing the sound), and may
-
- result in fewer or slower high-res video modes. If the above command-
-
- line does work, you can try removing each of the command-line switches
-
- until you identify the one that fixes the problem, thereby sacrificing
-
- as little functionality as possible.
-
-
-
- If the above command line does not fix your problems, try:
-
-
-
- qwcl -dibonly -nosound
-
-
-
- which forces QW into silent operation with bare-bones video support.
-
- Again, if this works, try removing switches until you identify the
-
- needed one.
-
-
-
- Both of the above command lines are quick fixes. Often, the problem is
-
- caused by outdated or buggy DirectX drivers or code, and can frequently
-
- be completely fixed simply by installing the latest Microsoft-supplied
-
- version of DirectX, which can be downloaded from
-
- http://www.microsoft.com/mediadev/download/directx.zip; it is a 6.3 Mb
-
- file. (In fact, getting the latest MS-supplied version of DirectX is a
-
- good idea if you have any video or sound problem.)
-
-
-
- One known problem of this sort involves the current SB16 drivers from
-
- Creative Labs, which cause QW to crash on some machines. The
-
- DirectSound drivers from Microsoft, available via the above-mentioned
-
- URL, fix this problem.
-
-
-
- It can also sometimes help to get the latest Windows drivers for your
-
- video adapter or sound card (although as the SB16 example indicates,
-
- this is not always a good idea), and for video boards that have flash
-
- BIOSes, it can help to get the latest BIOS upgrade.
-
-
-
-
-
- How do I select fullscreen or windowed QW operation?
-
- ----------------------------------------------------
-
- Check out QW's new, spiffy Video menu, accessible from the Options menu.
-
- There are now two types of modes listed, windowed and fullscreen. You
-
- can make any of these modes the current and/or default mode, just as in
-
- DOS Quake. If you make a windowed mode the default, QW will still
-
- briefly start up in fullscreen mode, then switch to windowed; if this is
-
- a problem, use the -startwindowed command-line switch. More complete
-
- video control is available through the console, as described in the ôA
-
- bit about how QW video worksö section, below.
-
-
-
-
-
- QW crashes when Alt-Tabbing from fullscreen QW to a fullscreen DOS box
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- We are in the process of adding a VxD to solve this problem, but
-
- currently you should never Alt-Tab from a fullscreen QW session using a
-
- DirectDraw or VESA mode or VGA mode 0x13 to a fullscreen DOS box. (You
-
- can tell whether a mode is a DirectDraw or VESA mode or VGA mode 0x13 by
-
- using vid_describemodes in the console, as discussed below.) If this is
-
- a particular problem for you, try running -dibonly. Apart from
-
- switching to a fullscreen DOS box, Alt-Tab, Ctrl-Esc, and the Windows
-
- Key should work properly.
-
-
-
-
-
- Multiple Alt-Tabs sometimes leave screen blank
-
- ----------------------------------------------
-
- Sometimes, rapidly pressing Alt-Tab multiple times leaves a blank
-
- screen. If this happens, just press Alt-Tab slowly one or two more
-
- times, and the screen will come back.
-
-
-
-
-
- DOS Quake reports unknown variables on startup after running QW
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- QW uses some console variables that do not exist in DOS Quake, and some
-
- of these are automatically archived in config.cfg when you exit QW. If
-
- you then start DOS Quake, DOS Quake will complain that it doesn't
-
- recognize those variables. You will also lose the settings of these
-
- variables when you return to QW. Apart from losing the settings, this
-
- is harmless; ignore it.
-
-
-
-
-
- Can't run fullscreen on NT 3.51
-
- -------------------------------
-
- Unfortunately NT 3.51 doesn't support DirectDraw or any other mode-
-
- setting mechanism. You can run in a window, though.
-
-
-
-
-
- Ctrl-Alt-Del does bad things when running fullscreen
-
- ----------------------------------------------------
-
- We're working on a VxD to fix this one, but it's true that in DirectDraw
-
- and VESA fullscreen modes, Ctrl-Alt-Del on Win95 results in a blank
-
- screen. Try not to do this, and if you do, hit Esc to return to QW.
-
- (DON'T hit Enter, because that kills QW, and then you're stuck there
-
- with a blank screen and no way to get back to the desktop.)
-
-
-
-
-
- QW crashes while switching modes or Alt-Tabbing
-
- -----------------------------------------------
-
- So far, all cases of this seem to be tied to Creative Lab's SB16 sound
-
- drivers, and have been fixed by getting the latest DirectX drivers, as
-
- described above. Alternatively, you should be able to fix this either
-
- by not switching modes or Alt-Tabbing, or by running -wavonly to disable
-
- DirectSound support.
-
-
-
-
-
- Gee, I wish I could use a mouse to play QW with when running in a window
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- You can! While in a windowed mode, go to the Options menu. At the
-
- bottom, you'll find a new selection that lets you choose to have the
-
- mouse active when you're in a window. Of course, if you do this, you'll
-
- have to use the keyboard (Alt-Tab, the Windows key, or Ctrl-Esc) to
-
- switch away from QW.
-
-
-
-
-
- The maximize box on the QW window doesnÆt work
-
- ----------------------------------------------
-
- ItÆs not supposed to; itÆs grayed out. You donÆt want to run a
-
- fullscreen window at your desktop resolution; itÆd be really slow.
-
- ThatÆs why we have all those nifty lower-resolution fullscreen modes in
-
- the Video menu.
-
-
-
-
-
- QW sometimes runs pretty slowly fullscreen
-
- ------------------------------------------
-
- There are several possible reasons for this, starting with ôYou have a
-
- slow computer.ö Assuming that's not the case, if you don't have either
-
- DirectDraw or Scitech Display Doctor installed (see the ôA bit about
-
- how QW video worksö section), it would probably be a good thing to
-
- install one or the other, because slow operation can be a result of slow
-
- copying or stretching of pixels to the screen by a Windows driver,
-
- something that's eliminated by both DirectDraw and Display Doctor. The
-
- -noforcevga command-line switch can also help produce a faster 320x200
-
- mode on Win95 (but may not work on some video cards); you can get the
-
- same result by doing vid_describemodes, then using vid_mode to select a
-
- non-VGA 320x200 mode, as described in the ôA bit about how QW video
-
- worksö section. That's about all you can do to speed up fullscreen QW
-
- on Win95, other than shrinking the active area of the screen.
-
-
-
- NT 4.0 comes with DirectX installed, but doesn't have any resolutions
-
- lower than 640x480. In order to support a lower-resolution 320x240
-
- mode, QW has NT stretch each pixel in both directions to get enough
-
- pixels for 640x480. The extra stretching costs some performance, the
-
- result being that NT can seem sluggish on all but high-end Pentiums and
-
- Pentium Pros. (In fact, depending on the quality of your driver's
-
- stretching code, it can sometimes be faster to run QW at 640x480 than
-
- 320x240-stretched on NT.) One thing that can help is using the Options
-
- menu to shrink the active area of the screen.
-
-
-
- A common cause of slowness running in a window is having the desktop run
-
- in 16- or 32-bpp mode. QW is an 8-bpp application, and it slows things
-
- down if pixels have to be translated from 8-bpp to 16- or 32-bpp. (Note
-
- that this is generally a problem only when running in a window;
-
- fullscreen apps will almost never suffer from this.)
-
-
-
-
-
- Sound is sluggish on NT
-
- -----------------------
-
- NT doesn't have any real DirectSound drivers yet, so there's no way to
-
- do quick-response sound on NT. When DirectSound drivers for NT appear,
-
- QW's sound should automatically be snappier.
-
-
-
-
-
- Sound breaks up or gets choppy, especially in menus
-
- ---------------------------------------------------
-
- This is generally a sign that QW's frame rate is too low on your system.
-
- Try reducing resolution or shrinking the active area of the screen
-
- (getting a faster computer is another, more expensive alternative). In
-
- some circumstances, it may help to set the console variable
-
- _snd_mixahead to a larger value.
-
-
-
-
-
- The color black doesn't change with palette flashes sometimes
-
- -------------------------------------------------------------
-
- DirectDraw lets QW change all 256 colors, so when a palette flash
-
- happens, we can change all the colors, including black. However, on NT,
-
- DirectDraw doesn't allow changing black; likewise, black can't be
-
- changed in a window, either a normal window or fullscreen.
-
- Consequently, some parts of the QW screen (such as the sigils on the
-
- status bar and the spray where a shotgun blast hits) stay black when the
-
- palette flashes. There is no workaround.
-
-
-
-
-
- Problems can result if Office shortcut bar is running
-
- -----------------------------------------------------
-
- Various odd behavior, especially with sound, has been reported if the
-
- Office shortcut bar is running while QW is running. If you experience
-
- odd problems, you might try shutting down the Office shortcut bar and
-
- see if that fixes anything.
-
-
-
-
-
- QW has no sound when another app was playing sound in background
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-
- If another app is playing a sound in the background while QW starts, QW
-
- will be unable to gain control of the sound hardware, and will not
-
- output any sound. If this happens, exit QW, stop the other app from
-
- making sound, and restart QW.
-
-
-
-
-
- Win95 crashes when another app was playing sound in background
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------
-
- There is a report of Win95 crashing when another app starts a sound just
-
- as QW initializes sound during startup. This is rare even for this
-
- person, but if this becomes a problem for you, shut down the offending
-
- app if possible, or try running -wavonly, which will result in less
-
- snappy sound but shouldnÆt cause a crash.
-
-
-
-
-
- QW gets funny colors when itÆs not the active app
-
- -------------------------------------------------
-
- QW is a palettized app, and needs all 256 colors to look right. When it
-
- isnÆt the active app, it loses the ability to get more than 236 colors
-
- (and if thereÆs another palettized app running, QW may not be able to
-
- get any of the exact colors it wants), so it does its best (which is
-
- sometimes not very good) to look right using the current colors. But it
-
- puts everything back again as soon as it is reactivated, and anyway,
-
- when itÆs not active, you canÆt actually do anything in QW, so it
-
- doesnÆt really matter anyway, right?
-
-
-
-
-
- Desktop redraws a lot when QW runs windowed
-
- -------------------------------------------
-
- We're fixing this, but right now when QW runs windowed and the palette
-
- changes, the other stuff on the desktop often redraws, sometimes
-
- flickering as it does so. Apart from being ugly, the extra redrawing
-
- can cause a noticeable slowdown. The best fix is to run fullscreen;
-
- otherwise, minimize as much stuff as possible to reduce redrawing.
-
-
-
-
-
- Fullscreen QW sometimes drops the connection when switched away from
-
- --------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- If QW is running in a fullscreen mode thatÆs not a fullscreen window
-
- mode (that is, if itÆs a DirectDraw mode, a VESA mode, or 320x200 VGA
-
- mode 0x13), then if you switch away with Alt-Tab, Ctrl-Esc, or the
-
- Windows key, QW will be suspended. Not pausedùcompletely suspended,
-
- doing nothing. After about 30 seconds, your net connection to the
-
- server will be dropped. WeÆre really sorry about this, but right now we
-
- canÆt change it. One workaround is to change to a windowed video mode
-
- when you want to switch away; thereÆs no connection dropping if youÆre
-
- running in a normal window. You could also try running -dibonly, which
-
- uses fullscreen windows for fullscreen modes; QW is not paused when you
-
- switch away from fullscreen in this case. The downside to -dibonly is
-
- that it can be significantly slower than normal fullscreen modes,
-
- especially at low resolutions.
-
-
-
-
-
- High-resolution modes donÆt work on the Intergraph Reactor
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------
-
- Sad but true. Working on it, but for now try -nowindirect and see if
-
- that fixes things. Or maybe their latest BIOS upgrade fixes the
-
- problem.
-
-
-
-
-
- Sometimes Permedia boards crash unless -nowindirect is used
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------
-
- Still working on this one too; for now, use -nowindirect.
-
-
-
-
-
- Keys whacked during mode switches sometimes go to other apps
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-
- During a mode switch, there is a small period when QW doesnÆt have any
-
- window, and if you hit keys then, they will go to the next app on the
-
- desktop, possibly doing things you wonÆt like. So please donÆt whack
-
- keys during mode sets.
-
-
-
-
-
- Problems if an autorun CD is inserted while QW is fullscreen
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-
- If you insert an autorun CD, then exit its window, youÆll switch back to
-
- the QW window, but input wonÆt be going to QW properly for some reason.
-
- Just do an Alt-Tab and youÆll be fine.
-
-
-
-
-
- Right-click|close on QW button in system bar to close doesnÆt work
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-
- This specific problem only happens running -dibonly (with fullscreen
-
- windows); right-click doesnÆt work at all when minimized in other
-
- fullscreen modes. Working on it; for now, donÆt do it.
-
-
-
-
-
- Quake turns system sound down to zero
-
- -------------------------------------
-
- This happens occasionally, although we have no idea why yet. If it
-
- happens to you and you see any potential causative event, please let us
-
- know.
-
-
-
-
-
- Screen saver never kicks in when running fullscreen
-
- ---------------------------------------------------
-
- Actually, it doesnÆt kick in if youÆre running windowed with the mouse
-
- enabled, either. The mouse code does stuff that convinces Windows weÆre
-
- never idle. WeÆll fix this in the future if people think itÆs a
-
- problem.
-
-
-
-
-
- QW doesnÆt work in a window in 16-color mode
-
- --------------------------------------------
-
- ThatÆs 16 *colors*, not 16-bpp. If youÆre still running 16-color mode,
-
- only run QW fullscreen.
-
-
-
-
-
- ThereÆs no joystick support
-
- ---------------------------
-
- Not yet. Sorry about that.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- ----------------------------------
-
- | A bit about how QW video works |
-
- ----------------------------------
-
-
-
- QW has the built-in ability to draw into windows, both normal, framed
-
- desktop windows and fullscreen, borderless windows. It also has built-
-
- in support for VGA 320x200 graphics, and supports both DirectDraw and
-
- VESA graphics modes if those are available.
-
-
-
- In order for DirectDraw modes to be available, you must have DirectDraw
-
- installed; some systems come with it preinstalled, but if it's not on
-
- your system, you can download it from
-
- http://www.microsoft.com/mediadev/download/directx.zip (it is a 6.3 Mb
-
- file), and install it.
-
-
-
- In order for VESA modes to be available, a driver must be installed; a
-
- VESA driver can either be built into the BIOS, or loadable software.
-
- The most common VESA driver is Scitech Display Doctor, from Scitech
-
- Software. The latest version of Display Doctor can be obtained from the
-
- following locations:
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- www: http://www.scitechsoft.com
-
- ftp: ftp.scitechsoft.com
-
- CIS: GO SCITECH
-
- AOL: Keyword SciTech
-
-
-
- SciTech can be contacted at:
-
-
-
- email: sales@scitechsoft.com
-
-
-
- SciTech Software
-
- 5 Governors Lane, Suite D
-
- Chico, CA 95926-1989
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
-
- What all this means is that on Win95, QW will always be able to run in
-
- the following modes:
-
-
-
- 1) in a window
-
- 2) fullscreen 320x200 VGA mode 0x13 (unless -noforcevga is used)
-
- 3) fullscreen high-resolution of some sort
-
-
-
- Category #3 can be any of several configurations. On Win95, if either
-
- DirectDraw or VESA modes are available, then all the DirectDraw and VESA
-
- modes will be presented as high-res choices. (320x200 will always
-
- default to VGA mode 0x13 unless the -noforcevga command-line switch is
-
- used.) In the case that a given resolution is supported by both
-
- DirectDraw and VESA, the VESA mode will be used. (However, the command-
-
- line switch -nowindirect can turn off VESA modes entirely.) If neither
-
- DirectDraw nor VESA modes are available, then high-resolution modes will
-
- be provided by using fullscreen, borderless windows in whatever
-
- resolutions the Windows driver supports, usually starting at 640x480 and
-
- going up.
-
-
-
- NT is similar but not identical, because neither VESA modes nor VGA mode
-
- 0x13 are available. On NT, QW will always be able to run in the
-
- following modes:
-
-
-
- 1) in a window
-
- 2) fullscreen high-resolution of some sort
-
-
-
- On NT, category #3 can be one of two configurations. If DirectDraw
-
- modes are available, then those will be the high-res choices; otherwise,
-
- fullscreen, borderless windows will be used in whatever resolutions the
-
- driver supports, usually starting at 640x480 and going up. Because
-
- there is normally no low-resolution mode such as 320x200 or 320x240 on
-
- NT, a pseudo low-res mode is created by rendering at 320x240, then
-
- stretching the image by doubling it in each direction while copying it
-
- to a 640x480 screen. However, stretching performance depends on the
-
- driver, and can be slow, so sometimes 640x480 is actually faster than
-
- 320x240 on NT.
-
-
-
- The bottom line here is that you can generally just use the Video menu
-
- and pick one of the modes and be happy. In some cases, though, you may
-
- need to use command-line switches (described next) to get the types of
-
- modes you want. One useful tip is to go into the console and do
-
- vid_describemodes, which lists all the modes QW supports on your machine
-
- given the command-line switches you've used. Each mode is followed by
-
- the name of the internal QW driver that supports it, so you can tell
-
- which modes are DirectDraw, VESA, and so on, as follows:
-
-
-
- WINDOWED: QW runs in a normal window
-
- FULLSCREEN VGA8.DRV: VGA 320x200 mode
-
- FULLSCREEN ACCEL8.DRV: VESA mode
-
- FULLSCREEN DDRAW8.DRV: DirectDraw mode
-
- FULLSCREEN DIB: fullscreen borderless window
-
-
-
- You can use vid_mode from the console to set any of these modes. So,
-
- for example, if you see that there are two 320x200 modes (such as one
-
- VGA mode 0x13, normally mode 3, and one VESA mode, normally mode 4), you
-
- can choose the VESA mode, which will often be faster, with vid_mode 4.
-
-
-
- The windowed modes are more interesting than they seem. 320x240 is just
-
- what youÆd think, but 640x480 is actually rendered at 320x240 and
-
- stretched up to 640x480, because most machines canÆt handle real 640x480
-
- rendering. Likewise, 800x600 is a stretched 400x300. Actually, though,
-
- vid_mode 2 (the 800x600 mode) is a user-configurable mode. By setting
-
- the following console variables, you can change the characteristics of
-
- vid_mode 2:
-
-
-
- vid_config_x: width of window
-
-
-
- vid_config_y: height of window
-
-
-
- vid_stretch_by_2: whether to render at half-resolution in each direction
-
- and stretch up to the specified size, or render at full resolution
-
-
-
- After setting these variables in the console, do a vid_forcemode 2, and
-
- youÆll have the window you specified. Note that after making these
-
- changes, the new resolution will show up as the third windowed mode in
-
- the Video menu.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- -------------------------------
-
- | Video command-line switches |
-
- -------------------------------
-
-
-
- The full list of video-related command-line switches is:
-
-
-
- -dibonly: QW will use only windows (both normal, framed windows on the
-
- desktop and fullscreen, borderless windows), not any direct hardware
-
- access modes such as DirectDraw or VESA modes, or even VGA 320x200 mode.
-
- This is the closest thing to a guaranteed-to-run fullscreen mode QW has.
-
-
-
- -nowindirect: QW will not try to use VESA modes. Note that if there are
-
- both DirectDraw and VESA modes for a given resolution, QW will normally
-
- use the VESA mode; -nowindirect allows DirectDraw modes to be the
-
- preferred choice for all resolutions except 320x200 (see -noforcevga
-
- below).
-
-
-
- -nodirectdraw: QW will not try to use DirectDraw modes.
-
-
-
- -startwindowed: QW will come up in a windowed mode, without going
-
- fullscreen even during initialization.
-
-
-
- -noforcevga: normally, QW uses VGA mode 0x13 for the default 320x200
-
- mode, even if a DirectDraw or VESA 320x200 mode exists. However,
-
- DirectDraw and VESA modes can be considerably faster than mode 0x13,
-
- because they can set up a linear framebuffer with higher memory
-
- bandwidth. If you specify -noforcevga, the default 320x200 mode will be
-
- a DirectDraw or VESA mode if one exists. The downside to this switch is
-
- that DirectDraw and VESA modes can cause problems in some systems, due
-
- to driver bugs or hardware incompatibilities; if you experience problems
-
- with this switch, don't use it.
-
-
-
-
-
- ----------------------------------
-
- | A bit about how QW sound works |
-
- ----------------------------------
-
-
-
- QW can use either DirectSound or Windows wave output to generate sound.
-
- If DirectSound is available, it is used; if not, if wave sound is
-
- available it is used; and if neither is available, there is no sound.
-
- DirectSound results in the best sound quality, and also the lowest-
-
- latency sound; use it if you can, because you will be happier with the
-
- results. (Note, though, that no NT sound drivers yet support
-
- DirectSound.) Wave sound will often have high latency, lagging the
-
- events that generate sound by hundreds of milliseconds on some machines.
-
-
-
- Note that QW generates sound only when it is the active app, the one
-
- with the input focus.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- -------------------------------
-
- | Sound command-line switches |
-
- -------------------------------
-
-
-
- The full list of sound-related command-line switches is:
-
-
-
- -wavonly: donÆt use DirectSound, but use wave sound if available
-
-
-
- -nosound: donÆt output any sound
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- End of Document 12/10/96
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