The Soundblaster Multimedia Experience 4/The SoundBlaster Multi Media Experience vol 4.iso/__data/bstone21.txt

Text File | 1994-10-31 | 30KB | 547 lines

 ░░▒▒▓▓██ "BLAKE STONE: ALIENS OF GOLD" v2.1 ON-DISK TECHNICAL SUPPORT ██▓▓▒▒░░

           Copyright 1993/1994 Apogee Software, Ltd / Jam Productions
        P.O. Box 496389 ■ Garland, TX 75049 ■ Hints line: [phone]

                     Game designed by JAM Productions, Inc.


                              ===================
                              SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
                              ===================

■ Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold requires a minimum of a 386SX/25 computer, with
  528k of free conventional memory, and MS-DOS v5.0+. Blake Stone also supports
  EMS & XMS for data storage, and is recommended due to greater game speed if
  EMS/XMS are used.  The Sound Blaster & Sound Blaster Pro sound cards are also
  optionally supported.


                            ========================
                            BEFORE RUNNING THIS GAME
                            ========================

■ This game is not designed to be run under MicroSoft Windows.  Windows takes
  up far too many system resources that our programs require for efficient and
  proper operation.  When running this program, DO NOT LAUNCH FROM WINDOWS.
  Run it directly from DOS.  If you are in the Windows environment, quit
  Windows and then run the program.  (NOTE: Using the MS/DOS Icon does not exit
  you from Windows.  That is a shell from Windows. You need to completely close
  down the Program Manager to totally exit from Windows.)

■ Any kind of menu program such as Dos Shell will most likely cause problems.
  We recommend running our programs completely from the DOS prompt.  To test
  this, enter the word "exit".  If nothing at all happens, then you are
  completely at the dos prompt, and not "shelled" from anything else.  If you
  type exit, and return to another program (such as Windows or the MS/DOS
  Shell), then you need to completely exit the program that you returned to
  before attempting to run Blake Stone.

■ Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold (v2.1) requires MS/DOS 5.0 or greater.  Any
  previous version of DOS may be sufficient in order to run the game.  The
  chief reason behind this requirement is that these older versions of DOS are
  sometimes incapable of providing enough conventional memory in order to
  execute Blake Stone.

■ Blake Stone (v2.1) REQUIRES 540,000 bytes of free conventional memory in
  order to execute properly.  See the section on "How do I make more memory
  available?" later on in this document for more help in this area.

■ The music in this game is Adlib music, and all game play sounds are Sound
  Blaster digitized effects.  An example of the digitized effects are the door
  noises, your weapons firing, and the various speech from the people you'll
  meet in the game.

■ Attention Acer/Acros owners!  Apogee had a problem right after the release of
  v1.0 of this game where Acer (and similar) computers would lock up when
  attempting to run the game.  In version 1.0 this was solved by the use of the
  "NONG" parameter.  THIS IS NO LONGER USED IN VERSION 2.1!  This problem has
  been fixed, and this parameter is no longer even in the game.  If you use it,
  nothing will be harmed, but the NONG parameter no longer exists.


                         =========================
                         BLAKE STONE DETAILED HELP
                         =========================

■ If the game crashes with a $81-03 error, then you need to check a few lines
  in your CONFIG.SYS file.  The values listed here may or may not be in your
  file.  If they are not, you will need to add them.  If they are in the file,
  but the values are less than what is stated here, they will need to be
  altered to match what is here.  If they are greater than the values listed
  here, then you can just leave what you have alone.  The four lines are:

  FILES=30
  BUFFERS=30
  STACKS=9,256
  FCBS=16,0

  If, for some reason, the errors still occur after you've added these things
  to your file, try changing the FILES=20 to FILES=99.  If you are unfamiliar or
  are unsure on how to make these changes, please consult your DOS manual, the
  assistance you'll need for this procedure is there.

■ If the game crashes with an error that reads "Can't open MAPTEMP.BS1 (It
  could also be MAPTEMP.BS6 if you have the registered version)", you will need
  to check the values of a few lines in your CONFIG.SYS file. The values listed
  here may or may not be in your file.  If they are not, you will need to add
  them.  If they are in the file, but the values are less than what is stated
  here, they will need to be altered to match what is here. If they are greater
  than the values listed here, then you can just leave what you have alone.
  The four lines are:

  FILES=30
  BUFFERS=30
  STACKS=9,256
  FCBS=16,0

■ If the game crashes with any other error that begins with $81 or an $8F, this
  is usually the result of some sort of corruption of your copy, or a conflict
  with your upper memory manager.  Try reinstalling your game, and if you're
  running on a compressed drive such as Stacker or DoubleSpace, try moving the
  game to an uncompressed drive, and playing without the compression driver
  loaded.  You can also try running the game like this; it might help your
  problem..  BSTONE NOEMS NOXMS

■ If the game crashes with any one of the following errors, it means your
  SET BLASTER line is set up improperly.  Run the supplied utility program
  called SETBLAST.EXE for assistance in properly setting this up.  The errors
  to watch out for here are: $9104, $9105, and $9106.

■ If, when you start the game, you get the error screen saying that you have
  insufficient memory in order to play the game, go to the "How do I make more
  memory available?" section later on in this document.  There is help for this
  issue there.

  If, however, you are running DR-DOS, then there is a separate issue to be
  addressed.  DR-DOS preallocates 64k of conventional memory to any .EXE file
  that it believes to be compressed.  Since the Main Blake Stone executable
  file *IS* compressed, DR-DOS is allocating 64k of conventional memory from
  whatever you have to begin with, almost certainly leaving you with
  insufficient memory in order to play the game.  There is a fix for this
  available from Novell.  You need to contact Novell and obtain "DR-DOS Patch
  326".  This will optionally allow you to eliminate the preallocation that
  DR-DOS is doing.  At the time of the writing of this document, Novell DOS 7
  was not released, and we do not have any idea if this will still apply to
  that version of DOS.  Check with Novell for more information.

  This patch is available in several places online as well.

   ■ Software Creations BBS -> 1-508-368-7036 with filename DRDOS326.ZIP
   ■ Novell BBS             -> 1-408-649-3443 with filename PATCH326.ZIP
   ■ Internet               -> Email "[e-mail]"
   ■ CompuServe             -> GO NOVLIB, File Area 12, Filename PAT326.EXE
   ■ America Online         -> Do keyword search for "DR-DOS",
                                                and get filename PAT326.ZIP.

■ If you're playing the game, and it locks up when loading a level, (or locks
  up at any other time), there are a few things that you can try to resolve
  this problem.  First, try running the game using the NOEMS NOXMS parameters.
  See the section on "Command Line Parameters" for more detailed information
  on how to do this.  Another idea here would be to check your sound card
  settings.

■ Not all clone sound cards properly emulate the Creative Labs Sound Card.
  This program was written for a Creative Labs Sound card, and functions
  properly on all Creative Labs cards.  During the testing of this game, it
  was made to work on these following cards with very little effort.  They are:
  Pro Audio Spectrum 16 and the Gravis UltraSound Card.  Other clone cards
  should work, but if you're having problems, make sure to run the SETBLAST.EXE
  program, as it sets up an environment variable in your system that is
  required for proper execution.

  We get a lot of questions from people wanting to know why they have to use
  this if they don't have a Sound Blaster.  Well, it's simple.  This command
  has NOTHING to do with what type of card you use.  Apogee games that use
  digitized sounds expect a sound card to be at specific settings.  If they are
  not, then the game needs to be told where to send it's sound output to.  The
  way to do this is with the environment variable BLASTER.  Apogee has provided
  a program with this archive called SETBLAST.EXE.  This will assist in
  properly setting up the SET BLASTER line in your autoexec.bat file.  There is
  online documentation explaining this further.  Consult that documentation for
  more assistance.

■ If you are having lockup problems, or sound problems, you can run the
  supplied utility program called SETBLAST.EXE. This program will check your
  system's sound settings, and ensure that they are properly set.  This program
  will let you pick IRQ's, DMA's and port addresses until you get one that is
  correct.  When you get one that is correct (the program will alert you if
  what you are trying to use is incorrect), it will modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT
  file by placing the correct SET BLASTER line at the end.  Once you have quit
  the SETBLAST.EXE program, you need to reboot your computer, and then your
  sound problems should go away. An improperly set sound card can often cause
  system lockups.

■ If your IRQ is set to 10, you will not get proper sound performance, and your
  computer may also lock up.  Blake Stone requires that your IRQ be set at 7
  or less.  IRQ10 is a 16 bit sound IRQ, and since the sounds that Blake Stone
  makes are 8 bit, IRQ10 is unusable.  Please run the SETBLAST.EXE program for
  some more detailed assistance in properly setting up your sound card.

■ If you are running a Compaq computer, and the game tells you that you do not
  have a VGA card, and you know for a fact that you do, or you experience
  lockups, this is what you'll need to do.  You'll need to contact Compaq for
  an update.  The reason for this is that Compaq has some video cards that do
  not conform to all proper detection methods.  There is a device driver
  available from Compaq that will fix this problem.  The driver's name is
  FINDVGA.SYS.  Compaq does have this file available for download on their BBS
  with the filename SP0117.ZIP.

■ If you notice the game running slowly on your system, here are a few
  suggestions on improving game performance.

  » Disable your disk cache.  Blake Stone does it's own internal caching, and
    sometimes external caches such as SmartDrive can get in the way, and slow
    things down.

  » Try disabling the ceiling and floor textures during game play.  This can
    be done by using the [C] & [F] keys respectively.

  » Reduce the window size.  You can do this during game play by pressing F5 or
    from the OPTIONS menu under CONTROL.

  » Increase the amount of free memory your system has before running the game.
    See "How do I make more conventional memory available?"

  » If you are a Sound Blaster or compatible sound card user, try disabling
    the Digitized sounds.  Press F4 during game play to bring up the sound
    menu, or use the "SOUND" menu under "GAME OPTIONS" when in the menu system.

  » If you are an AdLib or compatible sound card user, try disabling the
    Background Music.  Press F4 during game play to bring up the sound menu, or
    use the "SOUND" menu under "GAME OPTIONS" when in the menu system.


                      ===================================
                      BLAKE STONE COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS
                      ===================================

■ There are a few command line parameters you can try to use to help other
  things that might turn up when playing the game.  A command line parameter
  is something that you type on the command line after the name of the program
  you're running.  The /NOJOYS switch will be used as an example.  To use
  that one, you would need to start the game like this...

  BSTONE NOJOYS  (or BSTONE -NOJOYS, or BSTONE /NOJOYS)

  The command line parameters for Blake Stone are stackable, which means
  that you can use more than one at a time, if you need to.  An example of
  a stacked set of command line parameters would look like this...

  BSTONE NOJOYS NOMOUSE

  Here is a list of the common command line parameters you can use with
  Blake Stone, and what they are used for.

  VERSION    » Displays the compile date and version of your copy of Blake
               Stone: Aliens of Gold.

  SYSTEM     » Displays and other information technical information about
               your system.  This is primarily used if you would need to
               contact Technical Support.  If you do contact Technical
               Support, please have this information ready.  This shows such
               information as if the game detects a mouse, a joystick, etc.
               Please note that the memory available figure here IS NOT the
               amount of conventional memory you have available on your
               computer.  This figure is only how much is left over after the
               game has been loaded.  If you need to know your conventional
               memory figure, go to DOS and execute the "MEM" command.  The
               figure you're looking for will be in the "Largest Executable
               Program Size" line.

  NOEMS      » Used to disable checking for EMS memory.  Useful in helping
               to solve memory manager conflicts.  Is almost always used
               in tandem with the NOXMS switch.

  NOXMS      » Used to disable checking for XMS memory.  Useful in helping
               to solve memory manager conflicts.  Is almost always used
               in tandem with the NOEMS switch.

  NOJOYS     » Disable Joystick detection.   If for some reason the game is
               moving you in one direction, and you can't get it to go any
               other way, it might mean the game thinks you have a joystick,
               when you don't. When using the "SYSTEM" parameter, if the
               program detects a joystick and you don't have one, use this
               parameter.

  NOMOUSE    » Disable mouse detection.  This will disable the use of your
               system's mouse during game play.

  HIDDENCARD » This switch overrides the video card detection routines if the
               program seems to be improperly detecting your video card and not
               letting you play the game.

  NOAL       » This will turn off detection of an Adlib sound card, and will
               essentially prevent you from hearing any of the background
               music. (You will be unable to turn on background music from
               the game menus if you use this parameter.)

  NOSB       » This will turn off detection of a Sound Blaster card.  This
               parameter will essentially cease any digitized sounds from
               being generated from the game. (You will be unable to select
               any digitized sounds in the game menus when you use this
               parameter.)

  NOPRO      » This will disable the stereo effect of the game.  If you are
               running a Sound Blaster Pro or 16 card, you will get the benefit
               of stereo sounds, and depth sounds.  What this means is that a
               character further down the hallway will not sound as loud as a
               character standing right in front of you.  If you wish to have
               all the characters speak at the same volume, use this parameter.

  ENABLEGP   » If you are attempting to run Blake Stone on a laptop, and are
               having problems with your gameport detection, use this
               parameter.  NOTE TO ACER OWNERS ->  Do not use this parameter
               on your computer, as it will lock up your computer!  If you had
               version 1.0 of Blake Stone, and had to use the NONG parameter,
               you do NOT want to use this.  The NONG parameter is not in v2.1
               of Blake Stone.  If you had to use NONG in v1.0, and you use
               ENABLEGP on v2.1, you will lock up your computer.  Do not use
               this parameter unless you know for sure you need it.

  NOSS       » Disable checking for the Disney Sound Source.  If you have one
               of these products, and are having problems, this parameter may
               be useful in tracking down problems.

  SST        » Disable checking for the Tandy Sound Source.
  SS1        » Disable checking for the Sound Source on LPT1
  SS2        » Disable checking for the Sound Source on LPT2
  SS3        » Disable checking for the Sound Source on LPT3


                      ====================================
                      HOW DO I MAKE MORE MEMORY AVAILABLE?
                      ====================================

If Blake Stone returns a message that says you do not have enough memory to
run the game, or the program behaves erratically when it is executed, you
will need to make more conventional memory available.

We get a lot of questions like "I have 8 meg of memory, what do you mean I need
more memory?" If this sounds like a question you might ask, then read the
section called "The 640k barrier".

There are virtually millions of ways a config.sys file can be arranged to
provide memory, and you'd be reading this document forever if we tried to
explain them all, so we'll just give you one simple example that will work.
It is a simple setup, and will provide you with enough memory in order to
run the game.  Furthermore, there are also several versions of DOS out there.
We will provide examples that use MS/DOS commands.  If your version of DOS is
not MS/DOS, you would need to use the appropriate substitute commands for the
MS/DOS counterparts.  If you are unfamiliar with editing your configuration
files, or are uneasy about it, get a friend of yours that is familiar with the
procedure to help, or check your DOS manual on how to use the Text (ASCII)
editor that comes with your version of DOS.

SAMPLE CONFIG.SYS
-----------------
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=C:\DOS\DRVSPACE.SYS /MOVE

The fourth line should only be used if you're using MS/DOS's DriveSpace
utility.  (That would also most likely be the place you have a Stacker,
SuperStor, or other some disk compression driver).  Other things that would go
in here would be sound drivers (SoundBlaster 16, Pro Audio Spectrum 16, etc..).

SAMPLE AUTOEXEC.BAT
-------------------
@echo off
SET BLASTER=Aw Ix Dy Tz
LH C:\DOS\MOUSE.COM

You would only put the mouse line in there if you use the mouse to play the
game, and you would only use the SET BLASTER line if you are playing with a
sound card.  See the supplied SETBLAST.EXE program for more assistance on
setting up your SET BLASTER line.  If you do not have a sound card, then the
SET BLASTER line, and the SETBLAST.EXE program are not needed.

If you are running MicroSoft DOS v6.0 or later, you can also try this to get
your game running.  When you start your system, you will see a message that
says "Starting MS/DOS".  If you press the F5 key during this time, you will get
a message that says "MS-DOS is bypassing your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT"
files.  This is what's more commonly known as "booting clean", since you've
bypassed your system startup files.  At this point, you can change to the
directory you've installed Blake Stone to, and the game should run fine.

If you do find that you need some sort of modified config.sys and autoexec.bat
files in order to run this game, you might wish to explore what is about to be
said.  Later revisions of DOS (MS/DOS 6.x+, and DR-DOS 6+) have built into them
the capabilities of "Multiple Boot Configurations".  If you are familiar with
these procedures, it will be a snap to do.  If you are unfamiliar, you need to
consult your DOS manual.  The process varies greatly from computer to computer
depending on how you have your system set up, so this will not be explained
here.  However, the time spent learning this procedure from your DOS manual
will benefit you greatly elsewhere, in addition to this game.

If you are running DR-DOS, then there is a separate issue to be addressed.
DR-DOS preallocates 64k of conventional memory to any .EXE file that it
believes to be compressed.  Since the Main Blake Stone executable file IS
compressed, DR-DOS is allocating 64k of conventional memory from whatever you
have to begin with, almost certainly leaving you with insufficient memory in
order to play the game.  There is a fix for this available from Novell.  You
need to contact Novell and obtain "DR-DOS Patch 326".  This will optionally
allow you to eliminate the preallocation that DR-DOS is doing.  This issue was
more of a factor in v1.0 of Blake Stone, but may still apply for v2.1 depending
on how you have your system configured.

This patch is available in several places online as well.

 ■ Software Creations BBS -> 1-508-368-7036 with filename DRDOS326.ZIP
 ■ Novell BBS             -> 1-408-649-3443 with filename PATCH326.ZIP
 ■ Internet               -> Email "[e-mail]"
 ■ CompuServe             -> GO NOVLIB, File Area 12, Filename PAT326.EXE
 ■ America Online         -> Do keyword search for "DR-DOS",
                                              and get filename PAT326.ZIP.

This document does not pretend to be your DOS manual, but it does give you a
basic explanation as to why you may not have enough memory in order to run a
program of ours.  If you are still having trouble getting this program to run
after attempting the steps outlined above, you need to consult your DOS manual
on "How to make more conventional memory" available.  Your DOS manual has far
more exhaustive examples on how to do this than we could possibly document
here.  Apogee Technical Support is unable to assist beyond what is documented
here.  If you are still having trouble getting the program to run, it is not a
fault of our game, it is a limitation of DOS.  Please check your DOS manual, or
call MicroSoft's Technical Support Department.


                                ================
                                THE 640K BARRIER
                                ================

This section isn't actually needed in order to get our programs running.  What
is contained in here is for the most part background information to better
assist our customers in understanding why they need to make more conventional
memory available.

When MicroSoft first made DOS 1.0, 640 kilobytes (KB) was set aside as the
highest amount of memory that a computer could have.  The 640KB of memory is
what is called "conventional memory".  To maintain compatibility with older
versions, this was never changed.  Advances in memory management have made
access to memory beyond 640KB, but this memory can only hold data; the program
actually has to run in the first 640KB.  This first 640k is called
"Conventional Memory".

Here is a brief discussion of the different types of memory available on your
computer.  The most important one is Conventional memory.

  ■ CONVENTIONAL MEMORY starts at 0k and normally ends at 640k.  (The cases
    where this is not the case are EXTREMELY rare)  If you are not using some
    sort of memory manager (such as DOS's EMM386, Quarterdeck's QEMM, or
    Qualitas' 386MAX), this is the only type of memory you have.  Conventional
    memory is used by DOS as well as device drivers and TSR's (Terminate and
    Stay Resident Programs).  A TSR is a program that is loaded into your
    computer's memory (usually from the CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files) and
    stays there.  Most programs remove themselves from memory after execution,
    a TSR does not. Device drivers and TSR's are programs that enable the
    computer to use additional hardware such as a mouse, scanner, CD-ROM,
    expanded or extended memory, etc.  A program such as an Apogee game is NOT
    a program that can be loaded as a TSR.  If all you have is conventional
    memory, anything that you would load as a TSR would come out of this
    section of memory.  Take too much away, and you're not left over with
    enough memory to run our product.

    If you are getting an out of memory error from our program, it is this
    memory that you are running out of.  Whether you have 1 meg, 8 meg of
    memory, or 32 meg of memory, it's irrelevant.  Only the first 640k of
    memory is available for program execution.  Please do not confuse this with
    hard drive space.  Your hard drive space is not memory, and is not relevant
    nor should be considered in this example.

  ■ UPPER MEMORY starts at 640k and ends at 1024k.  Normally, this area is used
    for things such as system ROM, video and hardware cards, and the like.  On
    most PC's hardware does not use the entire upper memory area, and with the
    use of the aforementioned memory managers, (EMM386, QEMM, 386MAX, etc.) you
    can move some TSR's into this memory area.  These unused areas are called
    Upper Memory Blocks (UMB'S), and this where some TSR's can be loaded.

  ■ EXTENDED MEMORY (XMS) is the memory addressed above 1024k.  Extended memory
    requires the use of a memory manager, such as MS/DOS's HIMEM.SYS.  This
    region of memory is not usable for standard program execution; it can only
    be used for data storage.  Apogee programs that use this type of memory
    (such as Wolfenstein & Blake Stone), only use this to store level or
    graphic data.  The actual program itself is running in conventional memory.

  ■ HIGH MEMORY AREA (HMA) is the first 64k of extended memory.  This is a
    special region of memory that is most commonly used to load DOS high.  When
    you issue the DOS=HIGH command in your config.sys file, the amount of
    conventional memory that was previously being occupied by DOS itself is
    moved into this region.

  ■ EXPANDED MEMORY (EMS) is another type of memory that some MS/DOS programs
    can make use of.  Like XMS, this memory is not available for program
    execution, it's only used for data storage due to it's nature.  An
    explanation of this type of memory is rather technical, so it will not be
    delved into here.  If you're curious, check your DOS manual, or your memory
    manager manual.

When you first start up your computer, there are two files that your computer
looks at: CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT.  These two files contain lists of device
drivers and TSR's that are automatically run when starting your computer.  Each
of these takes up space, and it is taken away from the 640k of conventional
memory.  As more and more programs are loaded from the autoexec.bat and
config.sys files, you have less and less available from the original 640k.
Since it is this memory that programs run in, you can see that the amount taken
away from the programs executed in config.sys and autoexec.bat would want to be
kept to a minimum.  This can be accomplished by either reducing the amount of
programs loaded in from config.sys and autoexec.bat, or moving them to high
memory via the use of EMM386, QEMM, 386MAX, or some other memory management
program.


                          ============================
                          CONTACTING TECHNICAL SUPPORT
                          ============================

Apogee thanks you very much for playing our games.  Customer satisfaction is a
high priority of Apogee's, and we strive to please everyone.  Our Technical
Support staff is available to assist all of our customers in solving any
technical problems that may be experienced.  Our Technical Support Department
is available to answer your questions Monday through Friday during the hours of
8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Central Standard Time.  The phone number for the Tech
Support Department is [phone].

However, the voice line isn't your only channel of contact.  We are also
reachable via a fax machine at [phone], (24 Hours a Day) or you can
write to us.  Our mailing address is:

Apogee Software
POB 496389
Garland, TX 75049-6389
United States of America

Apogee Technical Support can also be contacted via a variety of electronic
medium.  Several major online services are monitored, and Apogee's E-Mail
addresses are listed below.   Also, a variety of Bulletin Board networks are
monitored as well, and those are also listed.

If you do contact our Technical Support department, please be at your computer,
and have it ready for assistance.  If you can't be at your computer, please
have printouts of the following things available, so that we may assist you
better.  It may be possible do provide technical support without these things,
but it will be much more difficult.

The needed files are CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT, plus what happens when you
execute the "MEM /C" command (or just MEM if you get an error using MEM /C).

■ Major Online Services

America Online -> APOGEE              CompuServe     -> 74200,553
Delphi         -> APOGEE              Genie          -> APOGEE
Prodigy        -> CXVP94A             FidoNet        -> 1:124/9006
                  Internet -> [e-mail]

■ Bulletin Board Networks

There are several BBS networks that are monitored for Apogee messages.  Our
Online Support Representative monitors all of the following BBS networks.

Fidonet, Relaynet (Rime), Intelec, Ilink, U'NI-Net, Smartnet, & City2City.
All of these BBS networks have Games, Shareware, and Apogee conferences.

And of course, we can be reached on Software Creations, the Apogee BBS!

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