Ashes To Ashes README Contents ============================== Welcome to Ashes To Ashes for Microsoft Windows 95! This title is part of the Corel CDHOME series. Please read this document. It provides important information regarding Ashes To Ashes that wasn't available when the jewel case insert was printed. If you have any suggestions or questions about this product that your distributor can't answer, please contact Corel Multimedia Technical Support: Telephone: (613) 728-1010 CompuServe: GO COREL Internet: http://www.corel.com Contents ======== (A) Game Notes 1. Accessing different levels 2. Joystick Hat Switch functionality 3. Using a three button mouse 4. Headphones (B) Improving the performance of Ashes To Ashes 1. Video performance (C) Troubleshooting 1. DirectX Driver Notes 2. Sound 3. Video 4. Joystick Not Functioning Properly 5. Out Of Memory Error starting game 6. No background music 7. Mouse leaves squares on intro screens (A) Game Notes ============== 1. Accessing different levels ----------------------------- In order to access the different levels and worlds, you must play and win the levels. If you exit the game, and then start a new game, the levels and worlds that were completed previously will be automatically saved. The completed areas will now be accessible in the Goto Level menu and you can then begin a game at any level up to the last one that was attempted. 2. Joystick Hat Switch functionality ------------------------------------ There has been a slight change to the way the joystick "hat switch" functions since the documentation was printed. Please note that if your joystick is equipped with a "hat switch", it will be auto programmed to adjust the gun view up and down, when it is pushed, rather than move you forward or backwards as the documentation suggests. Please consult the online help for additional details. 3. Using a three button mouse ----------------------------- Ashes To Ashes takes full advantage of the Windows 95 operating system to control the mouse. If you are having trouble using your three button mouse, be sure that it is properly installed using the Mouse Properties icon in the Windows 95 Control Panel, and verify that you are using a mouse driver that supports three buttons. For further information please consult your Mouse documentation and Windows 95 online help and documentation. 4. Headphones ------------- For a really great game experience, you might try playing Ashes To Ashes while using headphones. You may find it awesome!! (B) Improving the performance of Ashes To Ashes =============================================== The performance of any CD-ROM application is greatly affected by the speed of your computer, the speed of your CD-ROM drive, and the amount of RAM your system has available. To enjoy Ashes To Ashes at its very best, Corel recommends running it at least on a Pentium P90 machine. 1. Video performance -------------------- If Ashes To Ashes seems to be running slowly, performance may be improved by setting your video driver to 256 color mode. For more information about setting color mode, see the documentation provided by your video card manufacturer. (C) Troubleshooting =================== In order to display and play the sophisticated sounds and animations, this application makes use of Microsoft DirectX drivers for sound and video functions. If you seem to be having troubles such as stuttering sounds or bad screen refresh, please try reinstalling the DirectX drivers. (see below for further information) 1. DirectX Driver Notes ----------------------- To reinstall DirectX: -Locate and double click the REDIST directory on your Ashes To Ashes disk. -Double click on the DIRECTX subdirectory -Locate and double click the DXSETUP.EXE file to start the reinstall of the DirectX driver files. Note that when the main DirectX setup dialog box appears on screen, it will display information regarding your systems compatibility with DirectX drivers. If you require technical support for sound or video related issues, please make note of the information displayed in this box. 2. Sound -------- If you're experiencing any sound problems with Ashes To Ashes, contact the manufacturer of your sound card to make sure you have the latest drivers for your sound card. Note that your sound drivers should be Microsoft DirectX compatible. If you still have difficulties after installing the latest drivers, and your sound card is working with other Windows 95 applications, please contact Corel Multimedia Technical Support. 3. Video -------- If you're experiencing any problems with graphics or animation's with Ashes To Ashes, contact the manufacturer of your video card to make sure you have the latest drivers for your video card. Note that your video drivers should be Microsoft DirectX compatible. If you still have difficulties after installing the latest drivers, please contact Corel Multimedia Technical Support. 4. Joystick Not Functioning Properly ------------------------------------ Ashes To Ashes takes full advantage of the Windows 95 operating system to control the joystick. If you are having trouble with your joystick, be sure that it is properly installed, calibrated, and tested using the Joystick Properties icon in the Windows 95 Control Panel. For further information please consult your Windows 95 online help and documentation. 5. Out Of Memory Error starting game ------------------------------------ The sophisticated nature of this Win95 game can sometimes cause your system to display out of memory errors when starting or playing the game. The reason for these messages can be due to the fact that your system may not have enough free hard drive space available for Windows 95 to use as a virtual memory swap file. If you have the minimum required RAM memory installed on your system, this temporary swap file that Windows 95 creates and manages can sometimes require upwards of 30MB of free hard drive space while the game is running. If you are experiencing this type of problem, please make sure that you have adequate free space available on your hard drive while the game is in use. For further information please read the Virtual Memory Settings section in your Windows 95 online help. 6. No background music ---------------------- If you are having problems with background music not playing, please verify that your Sound Card is capable of playing MIDI music files properly, and is setup for 100% Sound Blaster compatibility. Please consult your Sound Card documentation for further details. If you determine that your system can play MIDI files properly in Windows 95, you should try reinstalling Ashes To Ashes to verify that all files were properly copied to your system during the installation. If you still cannot hear background music after attempting the above steps, please contact Corel Multimedia Technical Support for further assistance. 7. Mouse leaves squares on intro screens ---------------------------------------- If you are using animated mouse cursors in Windows 95, there may be times that a small square portion of the video display around the initial mouse position may not refresh properly when the mouse is moved. This will only occur during display of the introductory screens and will not affect game play in any manner. If you wish to avoid this, please refrain from using animated mouse cursors during game play.