Strategy First and Introversion Present Uplink Demo -------------------------------------------------------------- - Epilepsy Warning - System Requirements - Installation - command line options - Troubleshooting How to Contact Technical Support -------------------------------------------------------------- EPILEPSY WARNING PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE BEFORE PLAYING THIS GAME OR BEFORE ALLOWING YOUR CHILDREN TO PLAY. Certain individuals may experience epileptic seizures or loss of consciousness when subjected to strong, flashing lights for long periods of time. Such individuals may therefore experience a seizure while operating computer or video games. This can also affect individuals who have no prior medical record of epilepsy or have never previously experienced a seizure. If you or any family member has ever experienced epilepsy symptoms (seizures or loss of consciousness) after exposure to flashing lights, please consult your doctor before playing this game. Parental guidance is always sugggested when children are using computer and video games. Should you or your child experience dizziness, poor eyesight, eye or muscle twitching, loss of consciousness,feelings of disorientation or any type of involuntary movements or cramps while playing this game, TURN IT OFF IMMEDIATELY AND CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE PLAYING AGAIN. PRECAUTIONS DURING USE -Do not sit too close to the monitor. Sit as far as comfortably possible. -Use as small a monitor as possible. -Do not play when tired or short on sleep. -Make sure there is sufficient lighting in the room. -Be sure to take a break of 10-15 minutes every hour. -------------------------------------------------------------- SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Minimum: Windows 98/NT/XP/2000 Pentium II 300Mhz 32Mb RAM 30Mb HD space OpenGL 3D Graphics Accelerator Recommended: Windows 98/NT/XP/2000 Pentium II 350Mhz 64Mb RAM 32Mb OpenGL compatible 3D Graphics Accelerator -------------------------------------------------------------- INSTALLATION After downloading the demo, double click on Uplink_Demo_Setup.EXE then follow the instructions on screen. once installation is complete, you can start the demo by going through the program file menu or double clicking the icon on your desktop -------------------------------------------------------------- COMMAND LINE OPTIONS Uplink Demo can be started with a variety of command line options. Each option begins with either a '+' or a '-', to enable or disable an option. For example, starting uplink Demo with the command uplink -graphics_fullscreen would start the game with fullscreen DISABLED, while starting it like this: uplink +graphics_fullscreen will start the game with fullscreen ENABLED. Here is a complete list of options: graphics_fullscreen sets the game to run fullscreen (default is on) graphics_buttonanimations enables or disables moving buttons (default is on) graphics_safemode runs slower but should be more compatible (default is off) graphics_altlargemap use this to correct problems with the large map (eg all white) (default is off) graphics_softwaremouse renders a software mouse. Use this to correct problems with the mouse cursor (default is off) graphics_screendepth Changes the colour depth to what you specify (eg 16, 24, 32) If set to -1, the depth is not set (Your desktop depth will be used) (default is -1) graphics_screenrefresh Changes the refresh rate to what you specify (eg 60, 85, 100) If set to -1, the refresh rate will not be set (Your desktop refresh will be used) (default is -1) sound_musicenabled enables or disables music (default is on) game_debugstart Prints debugging info during start up (default is off) ---------------------------------------------------------- TROUBLESHOOTING GETTING THE GAME TO RUN If the game simply refuses to run (ie a command prompt box appears, spits out some garbage then dies) then try looking at the file uplink/users/debug.log This file has loads of debugging information about the game. Take a look and see if you can see any obvious error messages. Alternativly, send a copy of that file to uplink@introversion.co.uk and we'll look into the problem as soon as possible. It would help if you mentioned what kind of graphics card you have, and what operating system you are running. Its worth mentioning that most problems at this point (ie startup) are probably graphics related - i'd always advise you get the newest drivers for your card before giving up. CRASH PROBLEMS If Uplink crashes or just stops running suddenly, then its a good bet that something has gone wrong. The first thing to do is to open up the file uplink/users/debug.log and scroll to the bottom of the file. You will see some information on the most recent running of the game. Hopefully there will be some information there. GRAPHICAL PROBLEMS If the graphics appear slow and jerky, try removing the file opengl32.dll from the Uplink directory. This allows your local openGL drivers to take over and hopefully do a better job. This has fixed problems under win2000. If you can't see the mouse in game, or if the mouse is causing problems in any way, start the game like this: uplink +graphics_softwaremouse The higher the colour depth of your desktop, the better Uplink will look. There is a noticable difference in dithering qualtity between 16bit colour and 32bit colour. If the graphics in game appear corrupt, the first thing to try is to get the newest OpenGL drivers for your graphics card. The drivers used by Uplink are opengl32.dll and glu32.dll. Download the newest drivers and install them. You should then delete those 2 files from the uplink directory, so that it is forced to use your new drivers. If that doesn't work, try changing the Windows colour depth. We've found on some systems that one colour depth will work, but another won't. Try 16bit, 24bit or 32bit colour. If that doesn't work, try running in a Window - by starting uplink with the command uplink -graphics_fullscreen If that doesn't work, try running in safe mode - uplink +graphics_safemode If that doesn't work, try disabling any hardware acceleration if you have it. If you are having problems with the large world map (eg it may appear all white) then run like this uplink +graphics_altlargemap P.S: there seems to be certain issues with the matrox G450 video card. CONTROLLER PROBLEMS If the mouse doesn't appear in game or appears corrupted, try starting the game like this: uplink +graphics_softwaremouse This will render a software mouse on screen for you. SOUND PROBLEMS If the sounds in game are causing any problems, you can disable them by running uplink with the command uplink -sound_musicenabled NETWORK PROBLEMS The networking system in Uplink is currently untested and experimental. If you have any problems, please send a report of what went wrong to Strategy First technical support SPEED PROBLEMS Uplink uses openGL - so it should work fine on pretty much any system you choose to run it on. However, it will run better on some. If the graphics appear slow and jerky, try removing the file opengl32.dll from the Uplink directory. This allows your local openGL drivers to take over and hopefully do a better job. This has fixed problems under win2000. Voodoo cards are pretty notorious for bad openGL support - anything up to a Voodoo3 won't help very much as the game will still be using software rendering. People who have Voodoo1/2/3 cards will need reasonably fast processors to get Uplink to run well - at least a Pentium 300. The best graphics cards are those with excellent openGL support, like the Matrox G400 or the GeForce2 (these are excellent). Some Win98 systems that use split-screen (ie two monitors) have been seen to run Uplink in software mode very slowly. This can be fixed by temporarily disabling the second monitor (from display properties->settings) If the game is running too slowly (ie the moving icons are jerking around the screen) you can disable the moving animations by starting Uplink with the command uplink -graphics_buttonanimations WINDOWS 2000 Uplink has been heavily tested on Windows 2000 (in fact, it was developed on this system). We have found only one problem - on some Windows 2000 systems the game runs very slowly. This can be fixed by deleting the file opengl32.dll from your Uplink directory. WHAT TO DO IF YOU FIND A PROBLEM If something is going wrong for you, you should follow these steps. The first thing to do is to check out the bug report forums on the following website: www.introversion.co.uk (click on Forum) You will find information there about existing bugs that people have found. -------------------------------------------------------------- TECHNICAL SUPPORT Troubleshooting Tips Before installing the game, please try the following: - Close all other applications. - Verify that your system meets the minimum system requirements. If you are experiencing difficulties getting the game to run, please try the following: - Obtain the latest drivers for your video and sound card. - Obtain the latest version of Direct X at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx - Install the latest game patches available at http://www.strategyfirst.com/en/downloads - Please refer to the readme.txt included on your game cd. - Run scandisk and defrag your drive. Before contacting us, please have the following information available: - Computer brand and processor speed - System Memory - Operating System - The make and model of your video and audio hardware - Version of Direct X installed on your system. Contacting Customer Support For assistance you can reach Strategy First Customer Support staff by: Phone: (514)844-2433 – Monday – Friday 9am-6pm EST Fax: (514)844-4337 – Attn: Support For fast and efficient solutions to your technical issues, please use our Web Support Form: http://www.strategyfirst.com/Support/ContactForm.asp For all other comments or suggestions you may contact us by email at support@strategyfirst.com technical support is available at: http://www.strategyfirst.com --------------------------------------------------------------

Uplink (3.71MB)