README.TXT for Crusader: No Regret Demo (TM) ****************************** IMPORTANT NOTE ******************************* Crusader: No Regret Demo is NOT a Windows 95 game and therefore will not run under a window in Windows 95. If you have Windows 95 you will have to shutdown and restart into MS-DOS mode or create a shortcut that will do the same. Please refer to Windows 95 Help to make a shortcut with a MS-DOS configuration. Below is a sample configuration that would be ideal to run Crusader: No Regret Demo: Config.sys:  Autoexec.bat:  DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS  PATH=C:\(DOS OR WINDOWS) DOS=HIGH  PROMPT $P$G FILES=50  C:\(DOS OR WINDOWS)\SMARTDRV.EXE 256 BUFFERS=50  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The README.TXT file is divided into the following sections: Problems Running Hardware Issues Joystick & Gamepad Issues Memory Issues Sound Issues Speed Issues Windows 95 Issues Known Problems Miscellaneous ======================================================================== PROBLEMS RUNNING ======================================================================== Questions & Answers Q: When I run the demo I get the following error: Halted in file\file.c line 61 unable to create file error #3 A: After unzipping the CRUDEMO.ZIP you need to make sure and use the [-d] when you type CRUDEMO. An example of the line you would type is [crudemo -d]. Make sure you are in the directory you want the demo to be installed in. Q: When I try to run the demo I get the following error message: Halted in file DOSFIX32\DESCRIPT.c, line 284 A: This error is caused from running in a DOS window under Windows 95. You can not run the game in a window and wll have to reboot to DOS or create a shortcut. See Windows 95 Help to set up a shortcut that will do this. ======================================================================== HARDWARE ISSUES ======================================================================== Questions & Answers Q: When I get into the game, the Crusader starts to rotate in circles. Why? A1: The mouse driver you are using may not be 100% Microsoft mouse compatible. Update your mouse driver to a 100% Microsoft mouse driver version 9.00 or higher. A2: You have a programmable keyboard which is interfering with the normal keyboard interface. Disable the "programmable" part of the keyboard or simply replace the keyboard with a normal 101-Enhanced keyboard. A3: The Joystick or Gamepad was not calibrated correctly. While you are in the game use the ALT-C key combination to recalibrate the joystick or gamepad. Q: The mouse pointer is stuck in the upper left hand corner of the screen. A: You are running a non-standard mouse driver. Update your mouse driver to a 100% Microsoft mouse driver version 9.00 or higher. ======================================================================== JOYSTICK & GAMEPAD ISSUES ======================================================================== Calibrating in Gameplay To recalibrate the joystick or gamepad in gameplay, use the ALT-C combination to bring up the calibration window. Then follow the directions to recalibrate it. Four-Button Joysticks & Gamepads The joystick routine does not care if it is a four button joystick (like a ThrustMaster, Wingman Extreme, or a Flight Stick Pro) or a gamepad. As long as the device has four buttons, they can all be used in the game. To test which button is which, type JOYTEST at the Crusader: No Regret prompt, then press all the buttons until you see which is the first button, the second button, and so on. (Note: A two button joystick will only have the function of #1 button, #2 button, and their combination.) Programming the Joystick or Gamepad In the CRUSADER.CFG file you can program the buttons on your joystick or your gamepad. You enter in a command like button1=4. Button 1 on your joystick will now perform command 4. All the commands are listed below. You can also program combination buttons, such as button 1 and button 2. Here is an example: button2_4=7 When holding button 2 and button 4 it will perform command number 7, which is the 'Search and Use Items' command. Commands: 0 - Fire weapon. (Spacebar) 1 - Jump (TAB-key) 2 - Crouch/roll modifier (CTRL-key) 3 - Combat movement modifier (ALT-key) 4 - Run/walk modifier (SHIFT-key) 5 - Use current misc. item (U-key) 6 - Grab items on ground (G-key) 7* - Search and use items (S-key) 8 - Use medikit (M-key) 9 - Use energy cell (E-key) 10 - Toggle weapons (Q,W keys) 11 - Toggle usables (I, O keys) * - Once in search mode, use the joystick to select the target item. Button 1 will then be used to select that item. Any other button will abort. ======================================================================== MEMORY ISSUES ======================================================================== Questions & Answers Q: When I try to load Crusader: No Regret, I get an error message reading,"CRUSADER requires at least 6.8 megs of RAM." A1: The game is detecting that you have less than 6.8 megs of XMS memory available. There are three possible solutions to this problem. 1.) Unload unnecessary device drivers and drive caching programs. 2.) Purchase more memory. 3.) Use the -x command line option. This option is used to specify to the game how to distribute memory between the shape cache and a dynamic reserve pool via a percentage rating. The default percentage varies depending upon your particular memory configuration. If you are getting this error message, you may try to force the game to let you in by typing "crusader -x 55" (or other numbers higher than the default dynamic number.) The previous would allocate 55% of available memory to dynamic processes (at the expense of the shape cache.) Using this option may therefore cause the game to become unstable and/or slow (stability problems may occur because the game does not have enough dynamic memory, speed problems may occur as a result of the shape cache's size being smaller.) ======================================================================== SOUND ISSUES ======================================================================== Questions & Answers Q: My machine hangs during the install program's Sound Test. A: You may have A) an IRQ, DMA or port conflict, B) the wrong sound card selected or C) an incorrect sound card setting. Use the "AUTODETECT" function of the sound card selection. Verify your sound card settings and make sure there are no IRQ conflicts on your machine. Q: I am not getting any sound when I play the game. A: You may have selected incorrect settings for your sound card during the installation process. Use the "AUTODETECT" function of the sound card selection. First, check your speaker connections and volume. If that does not solve the problem, check your current sound card settings to make sure they match the selections you made when you installed Crusader: No Regret. If you are unsure how to do this, please check your sound card documentation. ======================================================================== SPEED ISSUES ======================================================================== Questions & Answers Q: Would SMARTDRV help the performance of the game? A: Yes. At the beginning of the game, many graphics are loaded into a cache. This caching procedure continues during the game, thus a disk caching program running in the background could increase the performance of the machine. Note that the game requires 6.8 MB of XMS memory, so if you have 8 MB of RAM you will likely not have enough free memory to set up a drive cache. The speed is greatly improved on a system with 16 or more MB RAM. ======================================================================== VIDEO ISSUES ======================================================================== VESA Requirements To play Crusader: No Regret, you must have a VESA BIOS installed. If you do not, the game will not run properly. Most video cards have a VESA BIOS, but some require a driver to provide this functionality. If you do not have VESA drivers, you will need to contact the manufacturer of your video card, or a third party vendor of a universal VESA driver like SciTech. Visit SciTech's web site and download the Display Doctor 5.2.: http://www.scitechsoft.com Number 9 Imagine 128 video card This video card does not support the movie player's 16-bit video resolution and plays the movies as well as the game itself very poorly. This is caused by the low throughput of this particular card in the game's resolution. To make it run with Crusader: No Regret it is highly recommended that you switch to low color movies and small movie size. ======================================================================== WINDOWS 95 ISSUES ======================================================================== Origin's Windows Gateway The Windows Gateway program was shipped with Crusader: No Regret as a front end to the game. In this program you can make a shortcut to DOS, play the game (via a reboot to DOS), read some on-line Crusader Universe fiction, review our catalogue, and see trailers of upcoming games. To use this program put the disk in the CD-ROM drive and wait for Windows 95 to detect the CD. If this does not work, open up your "My Computer" icon, double click on you CD-ROM drive, double click on the GATE directory, and double click on the GATEWAY.EXE icon. Questions & Answers Q: Why is there no icon for the REGRET shortcut? A: Either you have not installed the game yet or you have installed the game in a non-default directory. Please install the game in the default directory. Q: Will Crusader: No Regret run in Windows 95? A: The game is native to DOS and will not run in a Windows 95 environment. You will need to create a boot disk, as described in the Install Guide, or you can create a shortcut to the game from within Windows 95. It is necessary to reboot your machine, using the DOS prompt within Windows 95 will not work. Q: I follow the instructions and go to a DOS prompt to install the game. But when I try to go to my CD-ROM drive to install, the following message appears, "Invalid drive specification." A: Your system doesn't have the correct CD-ROM driver. Please install the correct driver for your CD-ROM. Q: Why does the Shortcut to DOS maker complain that it cannot find a valid CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file? A: The Shortcut to DOS maker requires CD-ROM drivers in the CONFIG.SYS file. Sometimes the manufacturer of the computer does not install the native CD-ROM drivers in the CONFIG.SYS. You will need to contact your computer's manufacturer for the appropriate CD-ROM drivers. Q: Why do the Gateway movies skip? A: The movie player that is used in Windows 95 cannot always handle the slower speeds of the CD-ROM (as compared to the hard drive) in order to play them smoothly. ======================================================================== KNOWN PROBLEMS ======================================================================== Here are some things to check: 1. Set up a boot disk or a Shortcut to DOS. You can either do this manually or by using the Windows 95 Gateway program that autoruns when you insert the CD. 2. Make sure that you are running a 100% Microsoft compatible mouse driver. You may also attempt to run the game without a mouse driver. 3. Try disabling sound all together. If you can run the game without sound, you might have isolated the problem to the sound card or how it is setup. 4. Make sure that you have 65 MB of hard drive space. Type DIR and check out the bytes free. It should equal 68,157,440 bytes free or higher. 5. Delete the game, SCANDISK your hard drive, DEFRAG your hard drive, and reinstall the game. ======================================================================== ERROR MESSAGES AND EXPLANATIONS ======================================================================== Error Message: "Halted file CRUSYS.C, line 285. You need to have at least 5 megs of hard drive space." Problem: You have less the 5,000,000 bytes free on your hard drive, or you ran the REGRET.EXE program from the CD. Solution: Free up the required amount of memory and run the game from the subdirectory where you have installed the game. Error Message: "Abort, Retry, Fail?" during the install or running of the game. Problem: The program has lost the connection with the CD-ROM sometime during the install. Solution 1: This problem could be fixed by cleaning the game disk or by updating your CD-ROM drivers. Solution 2: Ensure that the disk in the CD-ROM drive. Error Message: "Halted file CRUSYS.C, line 274. Cannot find the Crusader: No Regret CD." Problem: The game could not locate the Crusader: No Regret disk. Solution 1: The game CD is not in the CD-ROM drive. Solution 2: The game CD is either scratched or dirty. Clean the disk carefully with a cotton cloth. Solution 3: The CD-ROM drivers were not loaded properly. Ensure that the CD-ROM lines are loading during boot up, and modify the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT per instructions in the Install Guide. Error Message: "Crusader requires at least 6.8 megs of RAM. See the Readme.txt file for the -x option." Problem: This happens when XMS is below 6.8 megs. Solution: Please remove some unnecessary drivers or disable any disk caching programs. Error Message: "Unable to create directory." Problem: When you attempt to create a multi-level directory or type and illegal directory name during the installation. Solution: Ensure that the subdirectory that you want to install Crusader: No Regret to exists. ======================================================================== MISCELLANEOUS ======================================================================== RETICLE FEATURE: You can select between four different targeting reticles during gameplay by hitting "CTRL-R". CRUSADER.CFG: Below you will find a list of commands found in the CRUSADER.CFG file. To change game options manually add or modify these through any DOS text editor. (If you do not understand these commands you're probably better off leaving them alone and modifying them only through the install program.) sound=x Used to turn sound on or off. x = on - ( Sound on ) x = off - ( Sound off ) music=x Used to turn music on or off. x = on - ( Music on ) x = off - ( Music off ) port=x Digital port used by the Asylum Sound System x = 0x200-0x290 - ( Sound card port ) x = 534, 608, E84, F44 ( for Ensoniq ) irq=x Sound card IRQ x = 0-15 - ( IRQ vector ) dma=x Sound card DMA x = 0-7 - ( DMA channel ) soundcard=x Sets the sound card type for the sound system. x = 0 ( None ) x = 1 ( Sound Blaster ) x = 2 ( Sound Blaster Pro ) x = 3 ( Sound Blaster 16 / AWE 32 ) x = 4 ( Ensoniq Sound Scape ) x = 5 ( Gravis Ultra Sound ) limitblasts=x Area limiting for explosions. Setting this option to "true" will limit the density of the explosion sprites (and thus make the game run faster). x = true/false mixrate=x This sets the mixrate for the sound system. The default is 22050. cdletter=x Drive letter of CD-ROM x = a-z flicpath=x Path to video. x = PATH ( ex. flicpath=\FLICS ) bigvideo=x Double sized video option x = true/false filter=x Digital filtering x = true/false animation=x Pause game animation x = 0-1 ( 0 - anims, 1 - anims paused ) mousespeed=x Mouse sensitivity x = 0-3 ( 0 being least sensitive ) musicvolume=x Digital music volume setting x = 0-48 soundvolume=x Digital sound effects volume setting x = 0-64 tune01...tune21=x Path to mission music files. (.AMF files) x = PATH to tune (ex. tune05=C:\MYTUNES\MYTUNE.AMF ) subtitles=x Video subtitles setting x = true/false frameskip=x Frame skipping level (0=none, 3=maximum) x = level (0=none, 1=skip explosion frames only, 2=skip explosion frames and frames of other NPCs, 3=skip explosion frames, other NPC frames, and your character's frames) moviehicolor=x 16-bit color for movies x = true/false lowresmovies=x Video is played in high or low resolution x= true/false ======================================================================== PLAYGUIDE ERRATA: ======================================================================== The Crusader: No Regret playguide mentions that the A+C button on the gamepad will shift the CAPS-LOCK on and off. This function does not work. ======================================================================== INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE ======================================================================== ORIGIN now has customer service centers all over the world. Australia (EA Australia) P.O. Box 432 / Southport QLD 4215 / Australia, or call (1) 5528-0800. This call is $.95 per minute, ITM. Lines are open 7 days a week, between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. If you are under 18 years of age, parental consent is required. England (EA UK) P.O. Box 835 / Slough SL3 8XP, or call 01753 549 442. France (EA France) Centre d'Affaires Telebase / 9 Rue Claude Chappe / 69771 Saint Didier au Mont d'or Chedex / Lyon, or call 72 53 25 00. Germany (EA GmbH) Pascalstraáe 6 / 52076 Aachen, or call 02408/940 0. Spain (Drosoft) Edificio Arcade / Rufino Gonzalez 23 bis. Planta 1. Local 2 / 28037 Madrid, or call 1304 7091. Japan (EA Victor) 2-4-12 Jingumai / Sibuya-Ku, Tokyo 150, or call 813 5410 3111. ======================================================================== ORIGIN TECHNICAL SUPPORT ======================================================================== If you would like to contact Origin Technical Support, please call 512-434-HELP (4357) M-TH 9:00am to 1:00 pm, 2:00pm to 5:00 pm, F 9:00am to 1:00pm, 2:00pm to 4:30pm. Internet at support@origin.ea.com. Internet Web site http://www.ea.com/origin.html. Our BBS number is 512-346-2BBS (2227). AOL : Mail to ORIGINCS. When you call, your problem can be resolved much faster if you have the following information : * The EXACT error message displayed (very important!) * A copy of your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files * A detailed list of the hardware and who the manufacturer is * The results of a MEM/C statement * Information on your sound card including the manufacturer and settings * Information on your video card and the manufacturer * Any information you feel would be helpful CRUSADER: NO REGRET (c) 1996 ORIGIN Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Crusader: No Regret is a trademark of ORIGIN Systems, Inc. ORIGIN and We create worlds are registered trademarks of ORIGIN Systems, Inc. Electronic Arts is a registered trademark of Electronic Arts, Inc. MS-DOS, Windows, Windows 95, DoubleSpace and DriveSpace are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. UNIVBE is a trademark of SciTech Software. NEC is a trademark of NEC Technologies. Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro, Sound Blaster 16 and Sound Blaster AWE 32 are trademarks of Creative Labs, Inc. Ensoniq Soundscape is a trademark of Ensoniq, Inc. Gravis Ultra Sound is a trademark of Gravis, Inc. Pentium is a trademark of Intel Corporation.