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Dirt Track Racing 2
version 1.00
Copyright + 2002 Ratbag, Pty Ltd.
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1. Installation
2. System Requirements
3. Input Configuration
4. Multiplayer
5. Multiplayer Commands
6. Video Options
7. Other Options
8. Troubleshooting - Video Problems
9. Troubleshooting - Sound Problems
10. Troubleshooting - Other Problems
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1. Installation
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Dirt Track Racing 2 (DTR2) can be installed by selecting the "install"
option on the program that runs when the CD is inserted, if Autorun is
enabled. If you do not have Autorun enabled, select Start -> Run, then
type in D:\setup.exe, where D: is the letter of your CD-ROM drive.
After installation, you can run the program by selecting "Dirt Track
Racing 2" from the appropriate shortcut directory (the default is
"Infogrames\Dirt Track Racing 2") on the start menu.
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2. System Requirements
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Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP
CPU: Pentium II 400 MHz or equivalent
RAM: 64 MB
VIDEO: DirectX 8 compatible video card with at least 8 Mb RAM
SOUND: Any DirectX compatible card
DISK SPACE: 200 MB
CD-ROM: 4X
Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows 98/2000/XP
CPU: 800 MHz or higher
RAM: 128 MB
VIDEO: nVidia GeForce, ATI Radeon, or better
DISK SPACE: 520 MB
CD-ROM: 8X
CONTROLLER: DirectX compatible force feedback device
The latest version of DirectX can be downloaded from
http://www.microsoft.com/directx/
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3. Input Configuration
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The input options section of DTR2 allows you to set up your keys or
other input device. If you have a joystick, wheel or gamepad, before
running DTR2 ensure that it is properly set up and calibrated in the
"Game Controllers" application under the Windows "Control Panel". You
should then calibrate the device in the input options of DTR2. It is
only necessary to calibrate a particular joystick once.
The default keys for control are:
left, right - Steer.
up - Accelerate.
down - Brake.
space - Change camera view.
left shift - Half lock steering.
X - Change gear up.
Z - Change gear down.
T - Use tearoff.
[ - Look left.
] - Look right.
Other keys you can use when in a race are:
escape - In multiplayer, quits the race. In single player, pauses
the race and provides a few options, such as exit, resume,
and replay.
F3 - Toggle display of the HUD (race information).
F4 - Toggle display of the rear view mirror.
F12 - Take a screenshot (useable when in a race and when in the
interface). Screenshots are saved to c:\snap*.tga.
When watching a race in multiplayer, the tab key can be used to switch
between the free camera mode and following each of the cars in turn.
While following a car, the normal change camera view key (space by
default) can be used to change views. When in the free camera mode, use
the mouse to aim the camera. Hold down the left button to accelerate in
the direction the camera is facing, and hold down the right button to
slow down.
If you wish to pause the rotation of the car meshes in the interface,
hold down the right mouse button. The rotation will resume when the
button is released.
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4. Multiplayer
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From within the interface, you can create a new game by selecting "new
game" on the multiplayer server list screen. Other players on your LAN
will then be able to see the server in their server list, and will be
able to connect to your game.
For Internet play, the simplest way to connect to other games is to use
GameSpy Arcade. This can be installed either during the DTR2
installation process, or by double-clicking on the .exe file in the
"GameSpy" directory on the game CD. GameSpy Arcade will help you join
multiplayer games on the Internet more easily; you can access it by
either clicking on "Play DTR2 Online with GameSpy Arcade!" in the DTR2
shortcut folder on the Start Menu, by running GameSpy Arcade itself
directly, or by using the server browser in DTR2's multiplayer menu.
Alternatively, you can specify the IP address of the machine to connect
to. This can be done by selecting "Join IP" on the multiplayer server
list screen. The player who hosts the game can determine their IP
address by clicking on "Multiplayer Server" in the DTR2 shortcut folder;
this will display the computer's IP address in the "Interface" box.
DTR2 only supports TCP/IP, so in order to play on a LAN each machine
will need to have TCP/IP networking for the network card set up.
To set up TCP/IP networking, follow these steps:
1. Open My Computer -> Control Panel, then run the Network application.
2. If TCP/IP for your network card is not in the list, then:
a) Click Add.
b) Double-click Protocol.
c) Select Microsoft on the left hand side, and TCP/IP on the right
hand side.
d) Click OK.
3. Select the TCP/IP item in the list, for your network card (not for
dialup networking, if you have that installed).
4. Click Properties.
5. Select the IP Address tab.
6. Click "Specify an IP address", then enter an IP address of
192.168.0.xxx, where xxx is 1 for machine 1 on your LAN, 2 for
machine 2 on your LAN, etc.
7. Enter a Subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.
8. Click OK, then OK on the next screen. You will probably need to
restart your computer.
The "Multiplayer Server" icon installed in the start menu can also be
used to start a dedicated server, which other players can connect to.
When the server program is run, it will prompt for some values. If
desired, you can select to register the server with GameSpy, meaning
that other players on the Internet will be able to connect to the server
using GameSpy Arcade. Note that the server executable does not require
the data in order to be able to run.
When installing the game, you have the option to install the game as a
"Multiplayer Spawn". This option is the same as a full installation,
except that it installs a cut-down version of the main executable. The
cut-down version will run without the CD, but will only be able to join
multiplayer LAN games. In this way, many players can race together on a
LAN with only one CD. Note that at least one player with a CD must be
present to start the race, and that this player must host the game.
If your system is running behind a firewall, you will need to go through
several steps to allow DTR2 to run properly. Refer to the game manual
for details.
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5. Multiplayer Commands
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DTR2 contains multiplayer commands which can be typed in the chat room
entry box. Note that some of these commands do not work unless everyone
is chatting.
These are:
/gethost [password]
If a dedicated server is set up with a password, you may obtain host
status with this command. Note that password is case sensitive.
/listids
Displays a list of players and their IDs.
/givehost [id]
Makes the specified player the host. This command can only be issued by
the host.
/setplayerlimit [limit]
Prevents more than [limit] players from joining the server (can be
1-10). This does not kick out existing players if there are already
more than the limit. The limit is reset to 10 when the server empties
of all players. This command can only be issued by the host.
/resetlimit
Resets the player limit to 10. This command can only be issued by the
host.
/playerlimit
Displays the current player limit.
/resetpoints
Sets all currently connected player's points to zero. This command can
only be issued by the host.
/setplayerpoints [id] [points]
Gives player [id] the number of points specified by [points]. This
command can only increase the player's points, and you cannot assign
points to yourself. This command can only be issued by the host.
/setgridmode [gridmode]
Specifies the way the cars are ordered on the starting grid. Grid modes
are "random", "rank", and "reverserank" (don't include quotation marks).
For example, "/setgridmode reverserank" will make players with the least
points start at the front of the pack. The default is random. The grid
mode is reset to random when the server empties of players. This command
can only be issued by the host.
/gridmode
Displays the current grid mode.
/kick [id]
Removes the specified player from the server. However, the player can
connect again immediately. This has the same effect as clicking the
kick button alongside the player in the chat room. This command can
only be issued by the host.
/kickban [id]
Removes the specified player from the server and prevents that player
from connecting to the server again until bans are cleared or the server
empties of players. You can not kickban yourself. This command can
only be issued by the host.
/clearbans
Allows any banned players to connect to the server again. This command
can only be issued by the host.
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6. Video Options
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When you first run the game, DTR2 will set the video options to some
values that are appropriate for your video card. You may wish to change
some of these to improve performance at the expense of visual quality,
or vice versa.
Note that the user interface is not affected by most of these options,
and changes to the few that do (e. g. specular) will only take effect
after starting a race and returning, or exiting and restarting the game.
Device - If you have multiple video cards, you can choose which to run
the game on by changing this setting and clicking on the "Apply" button
that appears.
Resolution - The screen dimensions to display races at. Note that the
modes listed are supported by your video card, but some may not be
supported by your monitor.
Colour Depth - Choose 32 bit (if available) for higher visual quality,
but much slower performance.
Filtering - This smooths out the "sparkling" of textures. Higher
settings look better, but decrease performance.
Multisampling - This smooths out the final screen image. It improves
visual quality noticeably, but can slow down the game a lot.
Monitor Refresh Sync - This synchronises the screen drawing to the
refresh rate of your monitor. Turning it off will reduce problems with
inconsistent frame rates, but you may occasionally notice a slight
"tearing" of the image. This also causes problems on a few video cards.
High Resolution Textures - When enabled, some game textures (e. g. the
player's car) will be loaded at a higher resolution, which makes the
image look sharper. Some cards do not support this option.
32 Bit Textures - When this option is on, alpha textures will be loaded
in 32 bit colour instead of 16 bit, improving visual quality. Some
cards do not support this option.
Shadow Detail - Higher settings use more complicated methods of
rendering car shadows, which look better and run more slowly.
Particles - This changes the amount of dust and grass that is thrown
up behind the cars. Having this set to high can cause frame rates to
become inconsistent.
Skidmark Detail - This sets the amount of skidmarks drawn at a time.
Lighting Detail - The normal setting uses four lights for calculating
the lighting on the cars, and the high setting uses seven. Cards with
Hardware Transformation and Lighting capability (generally those at or
above the recommended specifications) can set this to high with no
noticeable performance penalty.
Specular - Turns specular lighting (car shininess) on or off.
Alpha - Turning this option off means that no objects with alpha
textures will be rendered, so things like fences, light glows, and
crowds will disappear. This makes the tracks look very empty, and is
only recommended for systems with serious performance problems.
Environment Mapping - This turns on or off the reflections of the track
on the car.
Brightness - Sets the overall brightness of your display.
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7. Other Options
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Various options for DTR2 can be selected by using the "Options Editor"
on the Start Menu. These options can also be entered by adding the
command line option to the shortcut used to run the game, if you prefer.
A description of each of these options can be found in the Options
Editor, by clicking on the various "Help" buttons.
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8. Troubleshooting - Video Problems
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Always make sure that you have the latest drivers for your video card.
Some older drivers may not support all features used in the game, run
more slowly, or cause bugs.
DTR2 has been tested on the following cards with the latest drivers:
- nVidia: TNT to GeForce 4. No known problems.
http://www.nvidia.com
- ATI: Rage 128 to Radeon 8500. On Radeons with some driver versions,
textures very near to the camera may appear to "wobble". Updating may
help.
http://www.ati.com
- 3dfx: Voodoo 3 to Voodoo 5. Many driver versions will cause DTR2 to
display in incorrect colours. 3dfx are no longer releasing drivers;
we recommend you try downloading unofficial third party drivers from
links on one of the following sites, which may peform more correctly:
http://www.voodoofiles.com/3dfxhelp.asp
http://www.x3dfx.com (Drivers section)
- Diamond Stealth III S540, Viper II Savage 2000: these cards are not
fully DirectX 8 compatible, and are not supported.
You may experience some slight discolouration of particles in certain
situations. If this occurs, running in 32 bit colour will fix the
problem; decreasing the number of particles may also help.
Some cards may also have problems when you press Alt+Tab within DTR2;
this is most likely a driver issue.
If you continue to have problems, reinstalling the latest version of
DirectX may help in some cases. Also, downloading the latest drivers
for your motherboard (particularly for AMD Athlons on operating systems
earlier than Windows XP) may help improve performance and stability.
See your motherboard manual for details, but the following sites may
prove useful:
AMD - http://www.amd.com
VIA - http://www.viahardware.com
Intel - http://www.intel.com
If you are having trouble with low frame rates and have already updated
your drivers, try turning some options to lower settings on the two
Video Options screens. If the frame rate is inconsistent - speeding up
and slowing down a lot during a race - then turning down the number of
particles displayed may help.
For users with video cards that support multisampling (or "full scene
anti-aliasing") we recommend that you choose this option within the
game, rather than turning it on in your video card settings in Windows.
Having multisampling on all of the time may cause the game menus to
display incorrectly.
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9. Troubleshooting - Sound Problems
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Always make sure that you have the latest drivers for your sound card
installed.
If you do not hear sound while the in-game movies are playing, this may
be because you do not have an ADPCM audio codec installed. To install
the codec, go to Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs. Click on the
Windows Setup tab, and then double-click Multimedia. Tick Audio
Compression, and then click OK.
Make sure that you do not have hardware acceleration turned off. On the
Control Panel, click on Multimedia (Windows 95, 98, ME; click on Sounds
and Audio Devices in Windows 2000 or XP) -> Audio -> Advanced ->
Performance. Make sure that the Hardware Acceleration slider is at
least one stop from the left end, or preferably at the far right.
("Full")
If you have a Yamaha sound card, look through the FAQ on
http://www.ratbaggames.com for a number of things you can try to fix
game crashes.
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10. Troubleshooting - Other Problems
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If the movies crash or do not play at all, it is possible that the Indeo
5 video playing codec has not been correctly installed. To check if it
is installed in Windows 95, 98 or ME, go to Control Panel -> Multimedia
Properties -> Devices -> Video Compression Codecs, and look for "Indeo
video 5.10" (or greater). In Windows 2000 or XP, the codec can be found
under Control Panel -> Sounds and Multimedia -> Hardware -> Video Codecs
-> Properties -> Properties. If the codec has not been installed, you
will need to reinstall the game.
Close down any unnecessary applications before running DTR2. In
particular, some virus checkers will decrease the game's performance,
and some older versions may even cause the game to crash. Note that
some virus checkers are still active even when not visible in the system
tray.
Look through the options available in the Options Editor. Some of them
may help you fix specific problems with the game.
If you have added data to the game, e. g. custom skins, try removing
these and see if it helps.
If you edit your original game files, we cannot predict what might
happen. We highly recommend that you do not do so.
Finally, if you experience a CRC error when installing from the CD-ROM,
copy the CD's contents onto your hard drive and run Setup.exe from your
computer. This problem only seems to occur on NTFS drives in Windows
2000 or XP, so installing onto a FAT32 partition would also help.
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Dirt Track Racing 2 + 2002 Ratbag Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Dirt Track Racing 2, Ratbag, the Ratbag logo, and the Difference Engine
are trademarks.