Big Mutha Truckers demo

Big Mutha Truckers Readme -------- CONTENTS I. MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS II. UNINSTALLING THE GAME III. STARTING THE GAME IV. DEFAULT GAME CONTROLS V. TROUBLESHOOTING a) General Issues b) Windows 98 Issues c) Windows 2000 and XP Issues d) Performance Issues e) Video Card Issues f) Known Video Card Compatibility Issues g) Audio Issues ------------------------------------ I. MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------------------------ The following are the minimum system requirements for "Big Mutha Truckers" --Microsoft Windows 98 / 98 SE / ME ( Millennium Edition ) / 2000 / XP operating system --500 MHz Pentium III processor (700MHz or above recommended) --96 MB of RAM (128MB or above recommended) --4x CD-ROM (8X or above recommended) --16MB DirectX 8.1 compatible 3D Hardware Accelerator ( 32MB recommended ) --16-bit DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card --Approximately 985 MB of available uncompressed hard drive space This game uses Microsoft's DirectX 8.1 technology, which requires your system to have the latest Windows drivers that fully support DirectX 8.1. When playing "Big Mutha Truckers" on a minimum specification computer, be sure that no other programs are open in Windows, as this will cause the game to play slower than normal. -------------------------------- II. UNINSTALLING THE GAME -------------------------------- To uninstall the game, select ProgramsEmpire InteractiveBig Mutha TruckersUninstall from the Start Menu. NOTE: You should always uninstall the game using the Uninstaller provided. If you manually remove the game from your hard drive by dragging the "Big Mutha Truckers" folder to the Recycle Bin, certain files may be left behind causing problems if you reinstall the game at a later time. --------------------------- III. STARTING THE GAME --------------------------- Make sure that you install DirectX 8.1 if you don't have it, because the game will not run without DirectX 8.1 or greater. The installation process will give you the opportunity to install DirectX 8.1 after the game has been installed After installing "Big Mutha Truckers" you can run the game by choosing Programs Empire InteractiveBig Mutha TruckersBig Mutha Truckers in the Start Menu, by double-clicking the "Big Mutha Truckers" shortcut on your desktop. To play "Big Mutha Truckers", the game CD must be in your CD-ROM drive at all times. --------------------------- IV. DEFAULT GAME CONTROLS --------------------------- -------KEYBOARD CONTROLS------- UP ARROW -Accelerate DOWN ARROW -Brake LEFT ARROW -Turn Left RIGHT ARROW -Turn Right W -Change Gear S -Reverse A -Left Mirror D -Right Mirror C -Change View R -Change Radio Station E -Horn ESC -Pause Game --------------------------- V. TROUBLESHOOTING --------------------------- a) General Issues "Big Mutha Truckers" was designed to run under Windows 98, Millennium (ME), 2000, or XP with DirectX 8.1. If the game unexpectedly freezes up, returns you to your desktop, or if you experience any other severe problems, you should try to properly shut down Windows and reboot your computer. (As a rule, you should never turn off your computer while the hard drive is active.) This will help prevent possible problems related to the error that you have experienced. It is especially important to reboot your computer before trying any of the troubleshooting tips included in this guide or before attempting to restart the game. NOTE: If your computer reboots into Safe Mode, go to Shut Down Windows and choose Restart the Computer. This will put you back into Windows' normal operating mode. If you end up at a black screen or the game appears to lock up, please press ALT-F4 before trying anything else. If these fail, press CTRL-ALT-DEL once and choose END TASK on "Big Mutha Truckers", which should take you back to the desktop. Windows 2000 and XP users will need to click on Task Manager, and then choose END TASK. If you do not see a dialog box after pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL, press ENTER twice and this should take you back to the desktop. Then restart your computer and try running the game again. b) Windows 98 Issues Windows Media Player "Big Mutha Truckers" makes use of Microsoft's DirectShow 8 technology for sound & music playback. Certain file formats cannot be read unless Windows Media Player has been installed on the system. This is usually only an issue on a completely clean install of Windows 98 where Internet Explorer has not been fully updated. Updating Internet Explorer to the latest version will bring Windows Media Player up to the latest version. Internet Explorer can be updated via the Windows Update feature on the Microsoft website. c) Windows 2000 and XP Issues Administrative Rights Some of the steps noted in this Troubleshooting Guide regarding making adjustments to your system, such as setting up your monitor, will not be available for you to modify unless you are logged onto the system with Administrative Rights. Without these rights, you may be unable to select the option because it is grayed out. You will be unable to install DirectX unless you are logged on with Administrative Rights. Keyboard Functionality In Windows 2000 and XP When playing "Big Mutha Truckers" on a Windows 2000 or XP system, pressing ALT, CTRL or SHIFT multiple times may bring up a Windows dialog box while playing the game. This is a function of Accessibility options. For information regarding disabling this feature, please consult Windows Help. Out Of Virtual Memory Error In Windows 2000 or XP When playing "Big Mutha Truckers" on a 128MB system with Windows 2000 or XP, you may see an Out of Virtual Memory Error while playing or when exiting this game. This occurs in part because the minimum memory requirement for Windows 2000 and XP is 64MB, leaving only 64 MB to run the game. If this occurs, we recommend that you exit the game and reboot your computer to clear the memory before playing again. If the problem persists, you may want to adjust your Page file settings to allow Windows to start the game with more virtual memory. Consult Windows Help for information on how to modify your Page file settings. d) Performance Issues When running "Big Mutha Truckers" on the minimum required system, you may experience the following issues: - There may be stuttering in the voice and sound. - There may be pauses or hitching during the opening movie. - Transitions may take a long time. - There may be slow downs or stuttering during gameplay. This occurs most frequently when other programs are running or if your system resources are below 70%. Freeing up system resources may improve performance in the game. Improving Performance In "Big Mutha Truckers" The following are a few suggestions that may free up system resources and improve performance in "Big Mutha Truckers". - No other programs should be running in the background. - System resources should be at least 85% free. - There should be at least 200 MB of free hard disk space after installation. - Set the display options to the lowest possible in the setup program. - Set the video options to the lowest possible within Video Options screen in the game. - Close all other programs before running "Big Mutha Truckers". This includes virus scanning, word processing and Internet programs. Simply disabling these programs will not always help, as the programs will still use resources that are needed to run the game. If you experience problems completely closing programs that are running, consult the documentation for those individual programs. This is a common problem when trying to completely disable virus-scanning software. e) Video Card Issues Drivers "Big Mutha Truckers" has been designed to take advantage of recent 3D accelerators. Please make sure that your video card drivers are up to date or you may experience problems. Consult your manufacturers website for the latest drivers. Compressed Textures "Big Mutha Truckers" makes heavy use of DirectX 8.1 compressed texture formats. If your video card supports these then the game will use them throughout. If not then you will experience longer loading times and occasional stuttering during gameplay. Frame rates may also be slower due to the increased video memory requirements that uncompressed textures require. 16-bit vs. 32-bit Resolutions "Big Mutha Truckers" is designed for 32-bit color. We have provided the option to play in 16-bit color in order to accommodate users with lower end systems or graphics cards to enhance performance. When playing in 16-bit color, you may experience various graphical issues in the game. These issues include: - You may see unsatisfactory color blending or blocky graphics, particularly in textures. - There may be corruption at the seams of adjacent textures. - Volumetric shadows do not display correctly in 16-bit display modes. "Big Mutha Truckers" defaults to a 16-bit color depth because some video cards will not display 32-bit color. For best results go into the Setup program and select a 32-bit display mode. f) Known Video Card Compatibility Issues Older video cards that do not support DirectX8.1 drivers are not supported in the game. Below is the known list of Video Cards that are NOT compatibile with "Big Mutha Truckers". - 3dlabs Permedia 3 - Diamond Stealth III S540 Xtreme - Diamond Viper II - Matrox Millennium G400 and Matrox Millennium G450 - SIS 730 onboard card - ST Kyro - Voodoo (Entire range) g) Audio Issues Some audio cards can cause the game's sound to stutter. Usually to rectify this issue, you have to disable the hardware acceleration by setting it to 'None'. Windows 98/ME:Go to "Control Panel/ Multimedia/ Audio/ Playback/ Advanced Properties/ Performance". Set "Hardware Acceleration" to "None". Windows 2000: Go to "Control Panel/ Sounds and Multimedia/ Audio/ Sound Playback/ Advanced/ Performance". Set "Hardware Acceleration" to "None". Windows XP:Go to "Control Panel/ Sounds and Audio Devices/ Audio/ Sound Playback/ Advanced/ Performance". Set "Hardware Acceleration" to "None".