Welcome to Dark Side of the Moon We hope you enjoy playing the game as much as we've enjoyed making it for you. SouthPeak Interactive *************************************************** Copyright (c) 1996-1998 SouthPeak Interactive LLC, Cary, NC, USA. All Rights Reserved. *************************************************** CONTENTS -------------------------- I. System Requirements II. Installation III. General Game Issues IV. Troubleshooting V. Contact Information VI. DirectX Information I. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS -------------------------- Pentium 166 MHz processor (or better) Windows 95 or 98 32 MB RAM 8X CD-ROM Drive 16 Bit Windows Compatible Sound Card 2 MB Video Card 150 MB of free Hard Disk space (250 MB recommended) Microsoft Compatible Mouse DirectX 5 or better II. INSTALLATION -------------------------- To install and play Dark Side of the Moon, a minimum of 150 mb of hard drive space is required. For improved performance, a larger install of 250 mb is available, and is recommended if you have the space. If the game does not begin when you insert the CD: • Click the Start button on the Windows task bar and select Run • Type your CD-ROM drive letter, followed by: :\DSOM.EXE • Follow the on-screen instructions The game requires DirectX 5 or better. The first time you run the game, it will check your version of Microsoft's DirectX; if a version older than DirectX 5 is detected it will automatically upgrade your version to DirectX 5. If you encounter video or audio problems, please contact your hardware vendor for updated drivers. III. GENERAL GAME ISSUES -------------------------- 1. Display Settings The game runs in High Color mode. If your display is set for any mode with more than 16 colors, we will attempt to automatically change to High Color mode for you. If you experience a problem running the game, you may need to manually change your display color depth to 16bit High Color. If your display adapter is an older ISA bus card (not a PCI, VL-bus, or AGP card) or if it has less than 2 MB of memory, the game will still run, but the video and audio performance may suffer. 2. Memory and CPU If your computer has less than 32 MB memory, the performance of the game may suffer depending on the speed of the CPU, hard drive, and display adapter. The recommended CPU speed is 166MHz or greater. 3. Sound and Volume To adjust the volume while in the game, go to the menu and select "VOLUME". You will have a volume slider to raise or lower the volume of the sounds in the game. You can also use the Windows volume control located in the Control Panel, the volume controls on your speakers, or a combination of all three. If any one of these volume controls is turned all the way down, you will not hear the audio. 4. CD-ROM Cache settings On some high-performance CD-ROM drives, you may find that you get better performance by reducing your cache size. If the cache is too large, the CD-ROM drive can spin down to conserve energy. Once it is spun down, the next access to the CD may take longer because it needs to spin back up. In many cases, you can actually hear the CD-ROM drive changing speeds. To change your CD-ROM's cache size, perform the following steps: 1. Click on Start on the windows taskbar, select Settings, and then click on Control Panel. 2. Double Click on the System icon in the control panel window. 3. Click on the Performance tab. 4. Click on the File System box under "Advanced settings" at the bottom of the window. 5. Click on the CD-ROM tab. 6. The slider that is labeled "Supplemental cache size" will allow you to adjust the cache size of your CD-ROM drive. 5. Windows NT Users with the Windows NT operating system may notice audio or video breakups and/or slow or choppy video. Although the game runs under Windows NT, it is not supported and we recommend running the game under Windows 95 or 98. IV. Troubleshooting ----------------------- 1. Error message: Could not set cwd to d:\DSOM\bin You installed from the DVD and attempted to start Dark Side of the Moon from a CD other than Disc 1. To solve this problem, run Dark Side of the Moon from Disc 1. Your installation will be updated and you can then start Dark Side of the Moon from any CD or DVD. 2. You may want to exit other applications before starting the game because they will automatically shrink to fit the 640x480 display. They do not return to their original size automatically when the you exit the game, but you can resize them manually. Some applications may misbehave when the screen is resized. 3. Some video cards have a problem which results in a "flashing" of the display every three to five minutes. You can prevent this problem at the expense of some game performance by disabling page-flipping mode in the game. To disable page-flipping mode, perform the following steps: -Put Disc 1 in your CD-ROM drive. -Click on the START button on the Windows taskbar, select RUN, and type D:\DSOM\SETUP\REDIST\SPIOPT.EXE (where D: represents the letter assigned to your CDROM drive) -Click OK to run the program -Make sure the check-box labelled "DirectX page-flipping mode enabled." is not checked and click OK. You can re-enable page-flipping mode at any time by running the same program and making sure the checkbox is checked. 4. If you do not hear sounds when playing this game, first check the volume controls on your speakers and in your Windows Control Panel. If this doesn't correct the situation, there may be a problem with your computer's audio settings. The Microsoft IMA ADPCM CODEC must be loaded and enabled for the game to run correctly. To determine if the CODEC is present and enabled: Look in Settings -> Control Panel -> Multimedia -> Advanced -> Audio Compression Codecs (or Settings -> Control Panel -> Multimedia -> Devices -> Audio Compression Codecs, if you are using Windows 98). If the Microsoft IMA ADPCM CODEC is there, make certain that "Use this audio codec" is selected. -or- If the Microsoft IMA ADPCM CODEC is not there, it was never installed or it has been removed. In some cases the operating system does not fully recognize the state of the IMA codec. To correct these situations do the following: 1) Write down what Audio Compression Codecs you do have. 2) Verify that you have either the Windows 95 or 98 cab files locally on your hard disk or that you have the Windows 95 or 98 CD. 3) Go to Settings -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs -> Windows setup. 4) Scroll to Multimedia. Make certain it is checked. 5) Select the Multimedia lines so that it is highlighted; then click on Details. 6) Uncheck Audio Compression. Click on OK , then on the next OK. 7) Repeat Steps 3, 4 and 5. 8) This time check Audio Compression. Click on OK. 9) Now click on Have Disk. Browse to the location of your 95 or 98 cab files (if you have one) or insert the Windows 95 or 98 Installation disk. 10) If you are prompted to select which components to install, select the Microsoft IMA ADPCM CODEC needed for this game along with any other audio compression Codecs you found in Step 1 above. 11) Click on Install, then on OK. 12) Go to Settings -> Control Panel -> Multimedia -> Advanced -> Audio Compression Codecs. 13) Verify that the Microsoft IMA ADPCM CODEC is there, and make certain that "Use this audio codec" is selected. If your sound card allows you to adjust the Hardware Acceleration and Sample Rate Conversion Quality, adjusting these settings may improve or decrease the quality of the sound in Dark Side of the Moon. To find out if your configuration allows you to adjust these settings, go to Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Multimedia -> Audio. If you have a button under the playback section of this screen that is labeled Advanced, then you system may allow you to adjust the settings. This is not recommended unless you are experiencing problems. 5. Please make sure your display is set to support more than 16 colors. Here's how: -Invoke the Control Panel by clicking on the Start button, then selecting Settings, then selecting Control Panel. -Double-click the Display icon to invoke the Display Properties dialog. -Click on the Settings tab and look at the Color Palette box. 256 colors, High Color, 32000 colors, 64000 colors, True Color 24 bit, and True Color 32 bit are all acceptable. 6. If you uninstall the game, but keep your saved games, your previously saved games may not show up in the Restore menu if you reinstall the game. If this happens, start a new game, then save your game once you can get to the menu. After you have saved one game, your previously saved games will be available. 7. If you have a Creative Labs sound card, and you have enabled the Reverb and/or 3D Enhancement features, you may find some of the conversations difficult to understand. These features are disabled by default on many sound cards. If you experience this problem, you should disable the Reverb and/or 3D Enhancement features of your sound card. To disable these features, 1. Click on Start on the Windows Taskbar, then select Programs->Accessories->Multimedia-> Volume Control 2. Click on Options, then select Advanced Controls (this will give you a new button on the volume control in the bottom left of the window that is labeled "Advanced") 3. Click on the "Advanced" button. This will open the Advanced Controls window. 4. Depending on your sound card, this window may contain check boxes labeled "3D Stereo Enhancement" and/or "Reverb." If you have either or both of these boxes, make sure that the boxes are not checked. 8. If you encounter a problem where your cursor "shakes" and anything it passes over starts to shake as well, try the following: 1) Exit the game. 2) Right click on My Computer and select Properties -> Performance -> Graphics. 3) Move the Hardware acceleration slider toward the left to the "None" position. 4) Click on OK and then Close. 5) Restart your computer. 6) If this takes care of the problem and there were intermediate settings between where you found the slider and "None", you can repeat steps 1 - 5 and try one of the intermediate settings to see if you can both solve the cursor "shake" problem and still benefit from some hardware acceleration for graphics. 9. After using the VDA to replay the clip of the Claims Clerk in the Gravity Dice room, you may find that you cannot exit the VDA. To close the VDA click on the portion of the main video window visible behind the VDA. 10. ESS1888 Audio Chipset: Users with the ESS1888 audio chipset may encounter problems with some audio breakups, please contact your hardware manufacturer for driver updates. Compaq users may log onto Compaq's web site for ESS1888 audio driver updates. 11. Creative Labs 'Graphics Blaster 3D' If you experience problems with DarkSide of The Moon loading please check your hardware manufacturer for the latest drivers. Note: Some models may require driver updates from the video chipset manufacturer's web site. 12. Symptoms of DirectX problems If your DirectX drivers are not configured correctly, Dark Side of the Moon may not run or perform properly. The most common result is that you will not be able to start the game. For more information on DirectX, please see the section titled "VI. DirectX INFORMATION" below. VI. DirectX INFORMATION -------------------------- -What is DirectX? Microsoft's DirectX is a set of software components and drivers designed to create faster hardware performance in Windows based applications. DirectX is comprised of five components: DirectDraw, DirectInput, DirectPlay, DirectSound, and Direct3D. Along with these components, DirectX includes a set of compatible drivers for the computer's video and sound cards along with input devices such as mice, joysticks and game pads. When installing Dark Side of the Moon, the program checks to see whether DirectX is installed on your system. If the installer does not detect a standard, current set of DirectX drivers, it installs new ones. However, a handful of video and sound cards use DirectX drivers which do not conform to Microsoft standards. These non-standard drivers cannot be detected during the Dark Side of the Moon installation, and new drivers may be installed in their place. The drivers Dark Side of the Moon installs may not work with such hardware and the end result may be that Dark Side of the Moon fails to load. This may be true even if you have used other DirectX-based products in the past. -If Dark Side of the Moon will not run on you computer due to DirectX problems, you may be able to correct the problem by following these steps: 1. Update your hardware drivers IMPORTANT: If you have never updated your drivers before, you may want to consult your system/hardware vendor and get their recommendation. If you choose to update the drivers yourself, follow the installation instructions provided with the driver very carefully. -Notes on obtaining drivers Hardware manufacturers post new drivers on their web sites regularly that have enhanced performance and stability. Please check with your hardware manufacturer for an update as some difficulties may be related to drivers. 2 Reinstall DirectX -Manually Installing DirectX 1. Close all applications and save your data. 2. Click on 'Start' and select 'Run' 3. In the 'Run' box type in d:\DSOM\Setup\redist\directx\dxsetup (Note: Substitute d:\ for the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive.) 4. Select 'OK', this will begin the DirectX install. -If you need to restore your display or audio drivers after installing DirectX: 1. Close all applications and save your data. 2. Bring up the control panel and click the Start button. Then click Settings. Then click Control Panel. 3. Bring up the DirectX Setup applet. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon. Click DirectX Drivers. Click the Add/Remove button. 4. Click the "Restore Audio drivers" button if you want to restore your audio drivers, or click the "Restore Display drivers" button if you want to restore your display drivers. You can only restore one driver at a time, not both. 5. Press "OK" to restart your computer. Note: If DirectX did not install new display or audio drivers (or if you have already restored them), then pressing the "Restore Audio drivers" or "Restore Display drivers" button will just result in a dialogue that says "DirectX setup has completed successfully." You can then press the other button, or exit. V. CONTACT INFORMATION -------------------------- Please visit SouthPeak Interactive's web site at http://www.southpeak.com to obtain additional information or contact our Technical Support team. Email: support@southpeak.com Phone: 919-677-9775 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. Eastern time Monday thru Friday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time Saturday & Sunday We will be able to help you more quickly if you have the following information available when you contact us: - The brand name of your computer - The type of CPU and its operating speed (e.g. Pentium-166mhz) - The operating system and version (e.g.. Windows 95) - The amount of RAM in your computer - The brand name and model of sound card in your computer - The brand name and model of video card in your computer - Speed of CD-ROM Drive - The amount of video memory (VRAM) in your computer