This is an update for the PC-CD game Moto Racer (it doesn't apply to the different demos of the game).
If you do not have a 4MB D3D compatible accelerated video board, this patch is totally worthless, so just leave your configuration as it is.
There's no ½ undo ╗ feature so if you want to go back to the original version, you'll have to re-install the game (read ½ How to go back to the original version ╗).
What does this patch/update version change ? :
This version uses only 3D polygons for the whole display during the game instead of mixing 3D polygons and 2D surfaces (for the background or the Heads Up Display -H.U.D.- for example). Consequently, this update is more compatible with 3D boards which deal with 3D only. Examples of these would be boards based on the PowerVR chipset (Apocalypse 3D, M3D). This version better deals with any 3D board to adapt the program's behavior to the board's capabilities. It also achieves better performance on some 3D boards. However, the front end still mixes 2D and 3D, so you might experience some problems with some boards/drivers while navigating in the front end. It also fixes several bugs, mainly related to the bike leaning amplitude depending on the frame rate and resulting in higher racing performance with a higher frame rate. This has been addressed and people running the game with a lower frame rate should no longer be affected (still the higher your frame rate, the better your game's playability).
How to install this patch/update ?
* unarchive the ZIP file into a folder
* simply double-click on UPDATE.EXE. This executable will check your hard drive to see if the game has already been properly installed and will replace some of the original files with new ones.
Problems and fixes :
Depending on the 3D accelerated board and the driver version you have, you might encounter some problems. When the program is not able to get the proper information from the driver, it may not perform properly. To prevent this, we've included many switches in this readme file to inform the program how it should perform when experiencing such difficulties. These switches are communicated to the program through 'command line arguments' (read ½ How to set switches ╗). Here are some of the Frequently Asked Questions and how to fix some of the common problems.
Q :All the bikes are displayed with the same color bike textures.
A :This is usually happening with 3Dfx chipset based board. To fix it, install the most up-to-date 3Dfx driver or use the switch '-NoDuplicateSurfaces'
Drivers fixing this:
Orchid 3.0 drivers
Diamond 1.09 drivers
Realvision Flash 2.43 drivers
Q :Some textures are distorted, especially characters from the H.U.D.
A :If your 3D board is a Riva128 or Rendition VΘritΘ 1000 chipset based board, try the command line argument '-CorrectRatioTextures', it should fix the problem.
Q :Black squares are displayed around some of the game objects such as Palm tree leaves, or smoke.
A :Try the switch '-Alpha'
Q :I get the message ½ WARNING, Not enough video memory, Direct3D not available in this mode ╗.
A :Firstly, your board has to be a 4MB board. Secondly, due to some restrictions with texture memory allocation on some boards, the program can't load all the textures with your board. Consequently, it switches to a software rendered mode instead of using a D3D mode. To prevent this, try to reduce the screen resolution by pressing F2 and the program will try to go back to D3D mode (by lowering the size of the screen, there will be more space for the textures).
Q :I get some flat polygons which blink or disappear.
A :This happened on some ATI boards with early drivers. Just get the latest drivers and everything should be fine (not to be mistaken with the small sort polygon issue noticeable on the rotating bike on the selection screen).
How to set switches ? :
To let the program know you want to use a given switch, simply follow the following procedure :
* open the folder in which you have installed Moto Racer (by default, C:\Program Files\MotoRacer)
* create a MOTO.EXE shortcut by clicking on MOTO.EXE with the right button, then select 'Create Shortcut'
* You might want to move this shortcut to your desktop or just leave it in the Moto Racer folder
* Right click on the MOTO.EXE shortcut and select 'Properties', then select the 'Shortcut' tab
* In the 'Target :' field, type the desired command line argument and confirm by clicking on the OK button (for example, to use the '-Alpha' switch, your Target field must look like ½ C:\Program Files\MotoRacer\MOTO.EXE ╗ -Alpha).
* If you use several switches at a time, leave a blank space between two switches
* To launch the game, double click on the Shortcut.
How to go back to the original version ? :
If you find that you were getting better results with the original retail version and want to remove this patch/update, you just have to reinstall the game completely. However, you may want to backup some of the files to keep preferences, high scores or Time Attack performances.
Here is the list of files to backup before re-installing the retail version of the game :
data\bestscor.dat //high score
data\Config.bpt //preferences
data\ile??\timatak???.bin //time attack file
Advanced Troubleshooting :
* -MinTextureWidth<n> Set minimum texture width to <n> pixels
* -MaxTextureWidth<n> Set maximum texture width to <n> pixels
* -MinTextureHeight<n> Set minimum texture height to <n> pixels
* -MaxTextureHeight<n> Set maximum texture height to <n> pixels
Some 3D cards have minimum and/or maximum in their texture surface height or width. This was introduced with DirectX 5 and since Moto Racer is a DirectX 3 compatible application, it can't get such values. Only DirectX5 DxView.exe program can give you such information (On DxView, look at Direct3d/Hardware/Misc).
* -NoTextureSizeMax256
Most of the boards do not allow textures over 256 pixels width/height. However, if your board allows for larger textures, use this switch to override the default maximum size and give the actual size that your board can use by using the above switches.
* -OpaqueBlackLevel<n> : Set <n> in the transparency range [1..3]
Most of the boards use a pure black color for transparency (color keying). However, a few ones (such as Permedia) use a range of blackness to do their color keying. If you notice pixels becoming transparent where they should be black, use this switch with a value from 1 to 3.
* -Pal16
Some boards support 16 colors textures. If you experience lack of memory, you might try this switch to reduce the space used by some textures (especially for the fonts).
* -TextureSquareOnly
Some boards require square only textures. If the driver does not communicate this clearly to the program, try this switch.
* -ZBuffer
On some boards, you can use the hardware Z buffer to solve polygon sorting issues. It often results in a small loss of performance but with a nicer render.
* -DoRealLock
Any write access to DirectDraw surfaces has to be done within a Lock/Unlock sequence. The boards are more or less sensible to violation of this rule resulting in possible crash on particularly strict boards. This switch reinforces this mechanism. This is particularly true in the front end of the game where a lot of Lock/unlock are done. This command line argument must be used with boards based on the 546x Cirrus Logic chipset for now.
* -NoBlitAsync
If during the opening movie you experience redraw problems, you might try this switch. However, it might adversely affect the HUD of the game.
* -NoPowerVr
We've noticed that the PowerVR detection routine sometimes identify other boards as PowerVR where it shouldn't (noticeable on the info screen under the Video item). In such a case, gross graphic anomalies (display problems) would appear. Use this switch to prevent the PowerVR detection.
* -AskDirectDraw
Force a DirectDraw CAPS query and display the info which will be used by the program.
* -BlitTimeOut<n>
When running in software rendering mode, bitmap surfaces (such as the sky) are copied to the screen by using ½ blit ╗ command. This has to be done after having queried the board if the blit can be drawn. In some cases, the board doesn't communicate with the program properly that the blit could be drawn. In this case, the result can be an important slow down or loss of performance. Try this command line argument to override what the board communicates.
* -DontWaitBlits
Completely ignore the query mentioned above.
* -InfiniteZBuffer
Let the program know the size of the Z buffer has to be not taken in account for on board memory size evaluation.
* -NoFlick
Try this switch for old Matrox Millenium or Mystique drivers if the front end screens are not stable. Should be obsolete now.
Switch summing-up :
* -fullscreen Start game in fullscreen mode
* -windowed Start game in windowed mode
3D hardware
* -3DFX Use 3DFX if available
* -NoPowerVr Disable PowerVr auto-detection
* -OnlyPrimaryDisplay Don't use 2nd 3D hardware display (such as 3Dfx)
* -PowerVr For PowerVr chip if auto-detection fails with a PowerVr chip
Direct3d
* -D3D Use 3D hardware acceleration (if a card supports D3D but no the textures)
* -Alpha Enable texture format 4444
* -CorrectRatioTextures . .If problems with fonts
* -MinTextureWidth<n> Set minimum texture width to <n> pixels
* -MaxTextureWidth<n> Set maximum texture width to <n> pixels
* -MinTextureHeight<n> Set minimum texture height to <n> pixels
* -MaxTextureHeight<n> Set maximum texture height to <n> pixels
* -NoD3D Do not use 3D hardware accelerator.
* -NoDither Do not use dither capabilities
* -NoPal256 Disable 256 colors palettes
* -NoTextureSizeMax256 To optimize size texture in video memory
* -OpaqueBlackLevel<n> Set <n> in the range [1..3] if transparency bugs appear in fonts
* -Pal16 Enable 16 colors palettes (to get more memory)
* -TextureSquareOnly All textures must be square
* -Zbuffer Use hardware Z-Buffer (slower)
DirectDraw
* -AskDirectDraw Display DirectDraw information
* -BlitTimeOut<n> Set max blit waiting loops to <n>
* -DoRealLock Really use DirectDraw lock/unlock
* -DontWaitBlits Disable Blit waiting
* -InfiniteZBuffer For special Z-buffering system (i.e PowerVr chip)
* -NoFlick Disable flick
* -NoBlitAsync Disable Blit Async
* -NoDuplicateSurfaces Disable duplicate surfaces of the bikes
MotoRacer
* -D Run the non-playable demo
* -J<XXXX> Set joystick threshold to XXXX (default=2000, max=7000)
* -NbComp<X> Set the number of computer players to X
* -NoCpuDetect Disable CPU detection.
* -NoGouraud Disable gouraud shading
* -NoMMX Disable MMX support
* -NoSound Disable Direct Sound
* -ScanOtReverse For ZBuffer Front to Back
* -SnapShot Enable screen copy in directory Data\Shoot when using Shift-Ins
* -ThreadHighest Set thread to highest priority
* -ThreadTimeCritical Set thread to time critical mode
