American Idol (2003) – Windows Readme – English

Pop Idol ReadMe Version 1.0

Introduction:

Thank you for purchasing Pop Idol.  This file contains detailed 
technical information so please read it through carefully.
	

1)  System Requirements 

Minimum Requirements 

        Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP 
        DirectX 9.0b 
        Pentium 3 or Athlon at 700Mhz 
        128Mb RAM 
        Supported 32Mb Graphics Card 
        DirectX 9 Compatible Sound Card 
        1.5GB Hard Disk Space (950MB for Game, 500MB after installation) 

Recommended Requirements 

        Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP 
        DirectX 9.0b 
        Pentium 3/4 or Athlon at 1.2Ghz or above. 
        256Mb RAM 
        Supported 64Mb Graphics Card 
        DirectX 9 Compatible Sound Card 
        1.8GB Hard Disk Space (1.2GB for Game, 500MB after installation) 

Supported Graphics Cards 

        ATI Radeon 7xxx, 8xxx, 9000, 9100, 9500, 9600, 9700 & 9800 
        nVidia nForce 1 & 2, GeForce, GeForce 2, GeForce 3, GeForce 4, 
	GeForce FX 5200, 5600, 5800 & 5900 

Not compatible with all integrated sound/graphics solutions (inc. 
Laptops)



It may be necessary to update your hardware drivers before playing.

2)  Installation 

Insert the Pop Idol Disc 1 CD into your CD/DVD ROM drive. After a few seconds, 
the Autorun Menu will appear. Click on Install to run the installer and follow 
the on-screen prompts.

In the event the Autorun Menu does not appear after inserting the CD: 
Double-click on the My Computer icon, then double-click on the CD/DVD 
ROM icon, and lastly double-click on the Autorun.exe file to bring up the 
Autorun Menu.

You will initially be prompted to select the install path and directory.  The 
default install path is C:\Program Files\Codemasters\Pop Idol.  If the 
installation program detects that DirectX 9 or a later version of DirectX is not 
installed on your system, DirectX 9 will be installed during the installation 
process. 

You should now be able to play Pop Idol. 

Note: If you are using Windows XP or Windows 2000, you must have 
administrator rights to install and run Pop Idol. 
  
3)  Autorun Menu 

The Autorun Menu will appear any time the Pop Idol CD is inserted into the 
CD/DVD ROM drive. The menu has several options:

*	Play - only available after you have installed the game, click to start 
	playing Pop Idol. 
*	Install - only available if you don't have Pop Idol installed on your 
	system. Click to install the game. 
*	Uninstall - remove Pop Idol from your hard drive. 
*	Exit - close the menu. 
 
4)  Starting Pop Idol

To begin playing Pop Idol insert Pop Idol Disc 2 CD into the CD/DVD ROM drive 
and select Play. Alternatively, click on the Pop Idol icon found within the 
Codemasters\Pop Idol program folder. (Start bar - Programs - Codemasters -  Pop Idol). 

Please ensure Disc 2 remains in your CD/DVD ROM drive during play.
 
5)  Uninstalling Pop Idol

If you need to uninstall Pop Idol, you may do any of the following: 

*	Insert the Pop Idol Disc 1 CD and select Uninstall from the Autorun Menu 
*	Click on the START button, choose Programs, Codemasters, Pop Idol and 
	click on Uninstall Pop Idol
*	Click on the START button, go to Control Panel, Add/Remove 
	Programs and choose Pop Idol to uninstall the game. 
 
6)  Memory and Performance 

Pop Idol requires at least 64 MB of RAM and a Pentium(r) III 700 MHz 
processor; the performance of the game will improve if you have more RAM, a 
faster processor and graphics card.   Regardless of your machine specs, you 
can maximize your available memory and increase the overall performance of 
the game by doing the following: 

*	Shut down all non-essential Windows programs especially online chat 
	programs, virus checkers and screen layout utilities. 
*	Regularly defragment your hard drive. 
*	Increase your amount of free hard drive space 

7)  Graphic and Sound cards
 
Pop Idol requires a graphics card with 3D hardware acceleration and at 
least 32 MB of RAM. The drivers for your graphic card must support DirectX 9 
or higher.  If you are having any problems running the game, please ensure 
you have updated your graphic card drivers before contacting technical 
support.

ATi cards  - under certain circumstances problems may arise when using the catalyst 3.8 drivers.  If this is the case, using the catalyst 3.7 drivers should resolve these graphical issues.

3Dfx cards  - 3Dfx cards are not officially supported.  Unfortunately, 3Dfx no 
longer releases updated drivers for their chipsets and do not support certain features of DirectX 
8 or 9.  Known issues include the appearance of light and dark patches and lines on the game interface. However, you may be able to find an updated driver at the following web 
site: http://www.voodoofiles.com/ 
 
PLEASE NOTE:  If you choose to install new 3Dfx drivers, you do so at your 
own risk!

TNT2 cards - Please note that the TNT2 card does not draw shadows in 32 bit colour mode. Please change to 16 bit colour mode in video options to allow rendering of shadows.


SOUND CARDS 
If you are experiencing sound abnormalities such as clicking and Popping, you 
may need to turn off sound hardware acceleration.  Go to Start, Control Panel, 
Sound, then find the sound/audio hardware acceleration setting and turn it off.

Creative Soundblaster AWE 32 and AWE 64 known issues: These older cards do not perform hardware mixing and are particularly prone to poor performance with sound hardware acceleration turned on. Go to Start, Control Panel, 
Sound, then find the sound/audio hardware acceleration setting and turn it off.

Occasionally, some users may experience poor audio quality when using an onboard nForce sound card in conjunction with certain graphics cards. Please update your nForce drivers and if the problem persists, switch over to the on board graphics card.

8) Peripherals

If you have more than 1 peripheral (joypad, joystick, steering wheel) connected to your PC at the same time, you may not be able to choose your preferred peripheral from within the game. Please disconnect any such device that you will not be using should you experience this problem.

 
9)  Pop Idol Web Sites 

Codemasters

http://www.codemasters.com

Hothouse Creations Website
http://www.hothousecreations.com 

 
If you are having problems running the game, you may want to try updating 
your graphic card drivers before contacting technical support:

3D labs
www.3dlabs.com

ATI Technologies
www.atitech.com

Creative Labs
www.creativelabs.com

ELSA
www.elsa.com

Hercules
www.hercules.com

Matrox
www.matrox.com

NVIDIA
www.nvidia.com

PowerVR
www.powervr.com

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