README file for "Surfin' Sam" Copyright 1995, Spice Interactive ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // // // Welcome to Surfin' Sam! // // // ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ================ INSTALLATION ================ To install, use File Manager to run the setup.exe program in the root directory on the CD-ROM. Or from Program Manager, type: ALT-F (for File) ALT-R (for Run) D:\setup (Assuming your CD-ROM drive is D:) The setup program will create a program group called "Surfin' Sam," along with two program items: "Surfin' Sam" and "Surfin' Sam Readme." If you do not already have QuickTime 2.01, the setup program will also copy the QuickTime files (approx 2 MB) to your hard drive. ======================= RUNNING THE PROGRAM ======================= To start "Surfin' Sam," simply double-click the "Surfin' Sam" program group, then double-click the "Surfin' Sam" icon. Once running the program, if you need help at any time, click on the "?" help button. For optimal performance, we recommend disabling any screensavers before running the program. We also highly recommend setting your color depth to 16-bit (64,000 colors). Running the program with only 256 colors is likely to produce odd color changes effects during screen transitions. However, these color changes will not affect actual gameplay. ========================== QUICKTIME REQUIREMENTS ========================== You should have a 386 or better CPU with 8-bit (256 colors), 16-bit (64,000 colors), or 24-bit (millions) graphics, a sound card, Microsoft Windows 3.1 and DOS 5.0 or 6.x, and a mouse. Some high-resolution video cards require updated driver software for operation of QuickTime for Windows. If you experience color display problems, please contact your video board manufacturer to see if newer driver software is available. Make sure you are using the most recent versions of HIMEM.SYS, EMM386.EXE, and SMARTDRV.EXE. The copies that came with DOS 6.x are the most recent, and Windows 3.1 files are better than DOS 5.0 files. Your config.sys should have something like the following: DOS=HIGH,UMB DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM NOEMS Your autoexec.bat should have something like: C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE 1024 1024 (for 8 MB or more memory) C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE 1024 512 (if you have less memory) ======================= DISK CACHE SOFTWARE ======================= Some disk cache software will cache the CD-ROM drive. For optimal playback of video, we suggest that you turn this feature off. If you are using SMARTDRV, add a /U to the command line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. For example: C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE 1024 512 /U Optionally you can keep the cache active. On some machines this will cause the video to pause, then play great, then pause. The pause happens while the cache software loads the next series of frames from the CD-ROM. Some people like this effect. =================== MEMORY PROBLEMS =================== QuickTime for Windows and Windows 3.1 is very memory hungry. The best way to speed up video quality and display is to have at least 8 MB RAM. If you have less, make sure you do not have EMM386 allocating any expanded memory. Also, you should have SMARTDRV using as little memory as possible (512K cache). The biggest performance improvement other than upgrading to a 486 is to have more memory. You can also use the 386 enhanced Virtual Memory settings to create a permanent swap file. This seems to improve performance slightly, but more RAM is better. ================== VIDEO PROBLEMS ================== Some high-resolution video cards require updated driver software for operation of QuickTime for Windows. If you experience color display problems, please contact your video board manufacturer to see if newer driver software is available. If the video display is slow, you may not have enough memory. You can also try adjusting the colors to 64K colors rather than truecolor (16.7 million). This results in faster video display and doesn't affect picture quality. Ahead Systems Inc. Main- (510) 623-0961 Appian T.S.- (408) 730-5400 ATI Technologies Inc. T.S.- (905) 882-2626 Boca Research Inc. T.S.- (407) 241-8088 Cardinal T.S.- (717) 293-3124 Creative Labs T.S.- (408) 742-6622 Diamond Computer Systems Inc. Main- (408) 736-2000 IBM T.S.- (800) 517-0001 Media Vision T.S.- (800) 638-2807 Microsoft T.S.- (800) 772-2227 Orchid Technology Inc. T.S.- (510) 683-0327 Roland Main- (213) 685-5141 Sigma T.S.- (510) 770-0100 Trident Microsystems inc. Main- (415) 691-9211 Tseng Labs Main- (215) 968-0502 Turtle Beach Systems Main- (717) 767-0200 Western Digital T.S.- (717) 932-4900 ========================== ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ========================== As with any product, you may need to tweak your system to get optimal performance. The most important considerations are improper configuration of EMM386 giving too much Expanded memory (Windows doesn't need any, but DOS apps do), and simply not enough memory. If you are running Windows with 4 MB RAM, you will see a REAL performance boost by upgrading. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// CREDITS and COPYRIGHT NOTICES: "Surfin' Sam" is copyrighted by Spice Interactive, 1995. QuickTime and QuickTime for Windows are copyrighted by Apple Computer, Inc.