Interactive Entertainment 11/EPISODE_11_MAR_1995.iso/patch/fpropt.exe/README

Text File | 1994-01-20 | 14KB | 266 lines

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR FOOTBALL PRO PATCH DISK VERSION 1.01


*---- ROSPLYR.CPP:1779 FIX

Some users have experienced a problem with the game abruptly
exiting to DOS with the error message "ROSPLYR.CPP:1779".  This
message indicates a corrupted league that must normally be deleted
and restored from a backup (if one has been made).

Our attempts to duplicate the error (running hundreds of seasons)
have, until now, been unsuccessful.  We have been able to duplicate
this error by shutting off (or resetting) the computer with the
program running.

This patch will close all league files immediately after they are used
rather than leaving them open until normal program termination or
until another league is loaded, thereby preventing the corruption from
occurring again.  Additionally, it should be able to recover a league
that has the error, although some of the most recent roster moves may
not be incorporated.

The computer-managed teams will automatically sign free agents to fill
any roster slots left from the league repairing procedure.  Human-
owned teams must be reviewed for completeness and free agents must be
signed by the human player before continuing game play.

THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURES MUST BE USED TO ENSURE THAT YOUR VERSION OF
FBPRO IS PROPERLY UPDATED:

1.  Backup all user created data.  This includes the league files and
all plays, plans and profiles.  The league files are all the ones in
the FBPRO directory that start with the name you used when you created
the league.  The plays, plans, and profiles will usually be found in
the CUSTOM directory using the name you gave them when they were
created.  Assuming you have the program installed to the default drive
and directory C:\DYNAMIX\FBPRO, you are using the NFLPA93 league and
you are backing up to a floppy disk in drive A:, the following steps
should be used:

        a)  Type: C: <Enter>
        b)  Type: CD\DYNAMIX\FBPRO <Enter>
        c)  Type: COPY NFLPA93.* A:\ <Enter>
                  [Repeat this for each league you have created.]
        d)  Type: CD CUSTOM <Enter>
        e)  Type: MD A:\CUSTOM <Enter>
        f)  Type: COPY *.* A:\CUSTOM <Enter>

2.  Use the UNINSTAL program included with FBPRO to completely delete
the existing installation:

        a)  Type: C: <Enter>
        b)  Type: CD\DYNAMIX\FBPRO <Enter>
        c)  Type: UNINSTAL <Enter>

3.  Reinstall FBPRO using the procedures found in your game manual.

4.  Copy your league files back into the FBPRO directory:

        a)  Type: C: <Enter>
        b)  Type: CD\DYNAMIX\FBPRO <Enter>
        c)  Type: COPY A:\NFLPA93.* <Enter>
                  [Repeat for each league backed up.]
        d)  Type: CD CUSTOM <Enter>
        e)  Type: COPY A:\CUSTOM\*.* <Enter>

5.  Install this patch.  Using the same assumptions as in step 1 and
assuming you are installing the patch from a floppy disk in drive A:

        a)  Type: A: <Enter>
        b)  Type: INSTALL C:\DYNAMIX\FBPRO <Enter>
        c)  Follow the instructions on screen

Note: If you have installed FBPRO to a directory other than the
default C:\DYNAMIX\FBPRO, use the appropriate directory in the above
steps.  If you are installing this patch from a drive other than A:,
use the appropriate drive letter.  If you wish to backup your files
to a location other than a floppy disk in drive A:, use the
appropriate location.



*---- FREE GAMEPLAY ENHANCEMENTS

The programmers have been tweaking a few aspects of gameplay in
response to user feedback.  This patch also includes some changes
that we hope will improve play balance and increase your enjoyment
of the game. The following changes have been made:

1.  Long distance running fatigue effect has been reduced slightly.
        On long runs, the ball carrier won't slow down as much as
        before. (Fatigue is amended after the play instead of during.)
2.  Fumbles recovered by a punting team will now result in a first
        down for that team, regardless of recovery field position,
        since it was a change of possession (we checked this with the
        NFL office).
3.  The passing "accuracy error" zone has been reduced.  This should
        make passing a tad easier.  Many people have suggested that
        passing is too difficult.  This will increase the receptions
        slightly.
4.  Kickoff distance has been increased.  You should see more out of
        the back of the endzone.  Kickers in the NFL are really
        booming the ball this year!
5.  Blocking time has been increased for kickoffs.  Blockers will
        block a little smarter and longer.  (Yes, it is very possible
        to run a kickoff back for a TD, we have at least 3 a week in
        our league in the office.)
6.  Increased chance of blocked FG/Punts.
7.  Improved logic for computer downing the ball in the endzone (Basic
        action mode).  You can still down the ball in Standard and
        Advanced by simply pressing the B button AFTER the return man
        has caught the ball in the endzone.  In BASIC mode, the
        return man will down anything in the back half of the endzone,
        and will try to return kicks in the front of the endzone based
        on his IN and also how close the nearest defender is.
8.  Retirement algorithm has been improved.  Although there is still a
        chance of early retirements for some players, most players
        will be retiring somewhere between there 10th and 15th season,
        depending on injuries, how well their team did the previous
        season, etc.
9.  All Pro games with conference names > 16 characters should work
        properly now.  If your conference names were longer than 16
        characters, the All Pro game might have had trouble generating
        rosters.
10.  Drafting AI has been tweaked so that Kickers & Punters are NOT
        drafted during round 1 of the college draft.
11.  Potential injury point error.  If an injury from the arcade game
        returned an invalid value to the shell, the game may have
        locked up in the shell during the updating for stats and
        injuries.  Although we received no reports of this, it could
        have happened in extreme circumstances.
12.  Can no longer change SIM type of games AFTER the first game of a
        week has been started. (i.e., can't go from regular to FAST
        sim after week has started).  Some people were using normal
        SIM for the first game, then switching to FAST sim.  This
        trashed some of the data in the league.  Switching to FAST
        sim once the first game STARTS (instead of finishes) is no
        longer possible.
13.  Remote play has been enhanced.  Now you can pass a drive letter
        to allow people to use other logical drives.  For example,
        start the game with "HIKE -XP D:" if the game is on D:.  The
        directory must still be the same, however.
        For example, your commissioner can have his league on C: in
        \DYNAMIX\FBPRO, and you can have your league on D:, but you
        must still have it in \DYNAMIX\FBPRO.
14.  The OFFRB2 profile has been changed to fix the punting problem
        within the defensive 5-35 field position while down by 10
        points on 4th down.  They will now kick FG's like they are
        supposed to.  If you have already changed this yourself, when
        the patch installs it will give you a message that this file
        was not changed.  Don't worry about it.
15.  All Pro game roster generating:  no more 'not enough memory to
        determine all pro teams' message.  If there isn't enough low
        memory to do a database analysis, then players are selected
        solely by their attributes (as if no games have yet been
        played and that season's performance is not measured.)
16.  F6 key prints .lbm file of screen in the shell as well as the
        arcade game now.
17.  CEI's have been slightly reduced.
18.  The "phantom load box" on the VCR screen from camera #1 has been
        fixed.
19.  FG % has been pushed down slightly (along with PAT's).  The best
        kickers in the league should be getting about an 80% success
        rate and the worst kickers will be getting about 40%.  Because
        the ratings on the stock DYNAMIX league are much lower than
        the ratings of the NFLPA leagues, kickers are getting about a
        20-50% range on FG success.  This can be improved by increasing
        the STrength and DIscipline ratings of the kickers using the
        built in player editor.  Players generated for the College
        Draft will have normalized ST and DI ratings so the problem is
        only with the initial league configuration.  If you are using
        NFLPA players in a Career League this will never be a problem
        for you.
20.  There is a lower chance of broken tackles for RB's against LB's
        now.
21.  Fair catch interference is 15 yards from the spot of the foul
        now, instead of a re-kick. This properly implements the
        1993 rule change.
22.  Offensive pass interference was sometimes called on a forward
        pitch, which is technically a forward pass.  However, due to
        differences in the ratings and players' speed, etc., on some
        stock plays the pitch is behind, and some ahead of the QB.
        Forward pitches do not have pass interference called for
        blocking by eligible receivers now.
23.  Coach's name:  You can change a coach's name during the season
        now.  Fire yourself and get a new coach!
24.  Substitution in advanced mode.  On some occasions, the FIRST
        players substituted in advanced mode would stay in (modifying
        your depth chart on the fly) while the second or later
        substitution would work for only one play.  This has been
        fixed so in advanced mode, any sub you make stays in until you
        remove him (regardless of fatigue, so be careful.  Players who
        get below about 50% fatigue are MUCH more susceptible to
        injury).
25.  Command line option for advanced substitution during Standard
        Playcalling mode (with standard diagrams).  Start the program
        with "hike advsub" (no dash or commas, and this is in addition
        to the other command line options. For example, you can start
        with "hike -s -na -l advsub") and you will be able to have the
        substitution methods from advanced mode (modify your depth
        chart on the fly) but have the Standard mode play diagrams on
        the playcalling screen.  This is in Standard Mode.  In
        Advanced mode, you will still have the play number (1-1, 1-2,
        etc.).
26.  Double games have been eliminated for remote leagues when you have
        two teams with passwords and you intentionally fail the password
        check to sim both teams.  Remote league commissioners on
        Compuserve know what this obscure error is about, but it has
        been fixed per their request.



*---- NEW TECHNICAL SUPPORT INFORMATION

If you continue to experience any problems, or if you have any
questions concerning any of the above steps, our Technical Support Team
will be more than happy to assist you.  Please call [phone]
between 8:15 am and 4:45 PM Monday through Friday Pacific time.  We
can also be reached by fax at [phone] or by mail at the
following address:

                         SIERRA ON-LINE
                          P.O. BOX 800
                   COARSEGOLD, CA  93614-0800
                    ATTN:  TECHNICAL SUPPORT

You can also reach the Technical Support Department on the following
services:

Sierra BBS..........[phone] (Settings 8,N,1 & up to 9600 bps)
                    CompuServe Access: GO SIERRA
Compuserve..........GAMCPUB (Technical Support ID 72662,1174)
PRODIGY.............(Technical Support ID WBWW55B)
GEnie...............Private E-Mail: SIERRA.SUP
America Online......Keyword: Sierra

Please outline the problems along with specific information about
your computer system, and we will gladly respond to your fax,
letter or BBS message as soon as possible.

            New "800" Technical Support Service

Why not try it...it isn't going to cost you a dime!  In Sierra On-Line's
continued commitment to providing the highest caliber of service, we have
developed a 24 hour, "800" automated Technical Support line with every
"frequently asked" question.  To make it worth your time to try this new
service, we've even added the capability for you to fax back to yourself
a copy of the answer to your technical problem!  Just think...no "on hold"
time...just to the point SERVICE!!!

We really hope that you will give it a try.  We've made the menu structure
very simple to follow and we are committed to keeping the issues current.
Let's face it, the worst that could happen...you may not find the answer
you need, and you will call our Technical Support Department and speak
with a Technical Representative.  And the best that could happen...you
will find your answer and it won't cost you a dime.    So what have you
got to lose?  Try it...you will like it!!

                1-800-376-2683

If you do not find the answer to your specific technical issue, you can
call our Technical Support Department at [phone] and speak to a
Technical Support Representative Monday through Friday,
8:15 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. Pacific Time.