Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition README File March 1998 (c) Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 1998 ========================================================= This file contains information about Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition as well as the Internet Multiplayer capabilities included in Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition. To get news and product updates for Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition or other Microsoft games, check out our World Wide Web sites at http://www.microsoft.com/games/ and http://www.microsoft.com/sports/golf/. ----------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: To read this file in Notepad, click Word Wrap on the Edit menu. For the best readability, maximize this window. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================= CONTENTS ========================================================= A. Hardware and System Requirements > Requirements > Improving Performance on machines with 16 MB of RAM B. Installation > Troubleshooting Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition Setup C. Video Troubleshooting > Displaying 16-bit colors > Resolving Other Video Driver Conflicts D. Audio Troubleshooting E. Game Play Issues F. Multiplayer > Multiplayer Troubleshooting > Multiplayer Tips G. Product Support > When You Have a Question ========================================================= A. Hardware and System Requirements ========================================================= Requirements ========================================================= To play Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition, you need: * A computer with a Pentium 90 MHz processor * Microsoft Windows 95 or later operating system, or Windows NT Workstation 4.0 with Service Pack 3 or later operating system (will not run on earlier versions of Windows) * Quad-speed or faster CD-ROM drive * 16 MB of RAM for Windows 95 or 24 MB for Windows NT Workstation 4.0 with a 60 MB swap file * 55 MB of available hard disk space * A 16-bit sound board and speakers or headphones to hear audio * 28,800-baud modem for Internet or modem play * A Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device * 16-bit video system * An ActiveX and frame-compatible Web browser such as Internet Explorer 3.02 or later for play over the Internet Gaming Zone. Improving Performance on Machines with 16 MB of RAM ========================================================= If performance is slow on your computer with 16 MB of RAM, the following tips may help: * Quit all other applications. * Go to Start Up screen/Options/Game Preferences and click Game Sounds to No. * Go to Start Up screen/Options/Game Preferences and click Shadows to No. * Go to Start Up screen/Options/Game Preferences and click Auto Flyby to No. * Go to Start Up screen/Options/Game Preferences and click Commentary to No. * Add more RAM. * If you didn't use a Full installation to set up Golf '98, uninstall Golf '98 and reinstall it using a Full installation. Consider leaving Commentary on until you've tried turning off other features first. ========================================================= B. Installation ========================================================= We recommend installing Golf '98 in a different folder than Microsoft Golf 3.0. If you are using 16-bit CD-ROM drivers for your CD-ROM drive, Autorun may not work properly. To manually run Setup, use the Windows Explorer to locate the SETUP.EXE on the Golf '98 compact disc. Double-click SETUP.EXE to start installation. If you are using PC Tools Desktop as your Windows shell, you will need to restart Windows manually after installing Golf '98. Just exit Windows and type win at the prompt. Regarding audio, if you choose a Minimum installation and you remove the Golf '98 compact disc from the CD-ROM drive during game play, you will not hear course ambient sounds. To hear all sounds, you must have the Golf '98 compact disc in your CD-ROM drive. Golf '98 has three installations to choose from: Full, Typical, and Minimum. Here is what each type will install to your hard drive and what Golf '98 features will always be run from the Golf '98 compact disc. Full: With a Full installation, Golf '98 installs 10 model types, 4 courses, commentary, and all ambient sounds. Typical: A Typical installation includes 4 model types, 2 courses (Teeth of the Dog and Bay Harbor Golf Club), commentary, and random ambient sounds at various points on the golf courses. Other Golf '98 courses (The Links at Casa de Campo and The Preserve 9) and sounds will run from the compact disc. Minimum: A Minimum installation includes 2 model types. None of the courses are installed; they must be run from the Golf '98 compact disc. Commentary and ambient sounds are not installed but are available from the compact disc. Game sounds and user interface sounds will always be installed to your hard drive, regardless of which installation you choose (Full, Typical, or Minimum). To hear music or see flybys and demos, you must have the Golf '98 compact disc in your CD-ROM drive. To hear ambient sounds that are not installed in a Typical or Minimum installation, you must have the Golf '98 compact disc in your hard drive. Troubleshooting Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition Setup ========================================================= Following are the most common errors encountered while installing Golf '98. Follow the instructions for each error message you encountered when you tried to install Golf '98, and then run Setup again. **Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition does not run under Windows 3.1. You must have Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 or later to run Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition.** You must install Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows NT Workstation 4.0 with Service Pack 3. To purchase a Windows upgrade, see your local retailer. **Golf '98 does not run under Window NT 4.0 with Service Pack earlier than 3. You should upgrade your Windows NT 4.0 system to SP3 or later as soon as possible.** Service Pack 3 is included on your Golf '98 compact disc in the Goodies folder. Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition high-resolution golf courses require a 16-bit video system. For more on display issues, see Video Troubleshooting, below. If you chose not to install DirectX during Setup, you may receive the following error message. **If you chose not to install DirectX now you will not be able to run Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition when Setup completes. See the Readme file to learn how to install DirectX at a later time.** To install DirectX you can run DXSETUP.exe from the DirectX folder on the Golf '98 compact disc. ========================================================= C. Video Troubleshooting ========================================================= Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition high-resolution golf courses require a 16-bit color video display that supports 800x600 screen resolution. During game play, Golf '98 runs in 800x600 display resolution and 16-bit color. If you set your Windows settings to 800x600 and 16-bit color before starting the game, Golf '98 won't have to switch into this mode when it begins a game. (To select these settings, go to the Windows taskbar, click Settings, click Control Panel, and click Display. In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab.) If you minimize Golf '98 (using ALT+TAB) from some of the dialog boxes, the dialog boxes may not be restored when you return to the game. Clicking anywhere on the screen will bring the dialog box back. If you open a dialog box in the Main View of the game, then press ALT+TAB to minimize the game, you may not be able to see the dialog box when you restore Golf '98. To see the dialog box, click Rotate on the toolbar in the Main View, then click OK. This should restore the dialog box. It is possible to corrupt the Main View of the game when using the Golf '98 Player's Guide and running flybys, or making changes to inset views. The result is that the Main View elements, such as the scenery and the golfer animations, are not redrawn between shots. Follow the steps below to correct the condition without exiting the game: 1. Click Menu on the toolbar, point to Views, and click Main Only to turn all inset views off temporarily. 2. Open the Player's Guide using the (?) button in the upper-right corner of the Main View. Then, close the Player's Guide using the Close button (X) in the upper-right corner of the Player's Guide viewer. 3. Click Grid on the toolbar to turn the grid off. Click Grid again to turn the grid back on. 4. Click Flyby on the toolbar. When the flyby window appears, point the cursor in the window and click the mouse to dismiss it. 5. Click Rotate on the toolbar, the click OK. The graphics in the Main View should be restored, and they should now operate correctly when using the inset views. Displaying 16-bit color. ========================================================= Your computer must display at least 16-bit color to run Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition. To display 16-bit color in Windows 95: 1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. 2. Double-click the Display icon. 3. Click the Settings tab. 4. Under Color Palette, click High Color (16 bit). 5. Click OK. 6. Restart Golf '98. Resolving Other Video Driver Conflicts ========================================================= If you install different video drivers after installing Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition, these drivers may change the performance of the game. If you experience distorted colors, ghosting, or other irregular video problems, you should consult the DISPLAY.TXT or README.TXT files packaged with Windows 95, or Windows NT Workstation 4.0 with Service Pack 3, for hardware-specific display problems. Most video problems can be resolved by updating the operating system's display drivers. Consult your OEM (original equipment manufacturer) for a possible display-driver upgrade. Many OEMs have drivers posted on their Internet Web sites. Some systems may have display problems when used with incorrect or generic Windows video drivers. Be sure you have installed the correct video driver for your video card. To determine which driver is being used when running Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation 4.0: 1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. 2. Double-click the Display icon. 3. Click the Settings tab. 4. Click Display Type (for Windows 95 click Change Display Type) and note the Adapter Type displayed. If your computer has a Diamond Stealth 3D video card with driver version 4.2.12.0, Golf '98 may stop responding. To fix the problem, go the Diamond Stealth Web site and download the latest drivers. Diamond Stealth's Web site is http://www.diamondmm.com/products/drivers/stealth3d-2000.html If your computer has a Matrox video card (with the Power Desk driver) and you want to change your color palette setting from 256 Color to High Color (16 bit) you will need to close Golf '98 before making the change. You may experience video display problems if your computer is using an ET4000 video card. We suggest you visit Tseng Labs' Web site and download the most recent version of its software. The address of Tseng Labs' Web site is http://www.tseng.com Your monitor's energy-saving feature may cause Golf '98 to stop responding if your computer has an S3 trio64V+ video card. If this happens, restart the machine. Contact your video-card manufacturer for verification of the latest video driver and for information about obtaining the latest driver. ========================================================= D. Audio Troubleshooting ========================================================= If Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition does not play sound properly, first verify that: * You've correctly installed the Windows 95 or Windows NT sound drivers. * Your speakers are on, turned up, and properly plugged in. * The Windows 95 volume control is enabled and turned up and the Mute check box isn't selected. * Game sounds are turned on in the Game Preferences dialog box. If the game still doesn't play sound properly, verify that Windows 95 can play .WAV files: 1. Quit Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition, in addition to any other programs that use sound. 2. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. 3. Double-click the Sounds icon. 4. Under Events, click an event that has a loudspeaker icon next to it. 5. In the Name text box, be sure that the three-letter file extension is ".WAV". 6. Under Preview, click the play button to hear the sound. If you don't hear any sound, or if Windows 95 is not able to play a .WAV file, check to see that a sound driver is enabled: 1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. 2. Double-click the System icon. 3. Click the Device Manager tab. 4. Click the plus sign next to Sound, Video and Game Controllers. If you don't see this entry or you have no sound card listed under this entry, contact the manufacturer of the computer or sound card and request help on reinstalling the sound-card drivers. Some 16-bit sound cards may have difficulty playing the advanced sound effects in Golf '98. You might eliminate periodic or random freezes by turning off the Game Sounds and Commentary options in the Game Preferences dialog box. To turn off these options: 1. If you're not playing a game yet, go to the Start Up Screen and click the Options button. If you're in a game, go to the Game Menu on the toolbar, and select the Options. 2. Choose Game Preferences. 3. Click Game Sounds and Commentary to No. NOTE: If you are having audio problems and your computer uses an Awe64 or Awe32 sound card, you may want to download new drivers from the original manufacturer's Web site. Creative Labs' Internet address is http://www.creaf.com/home.html. Or, go directly to this Web page to download the drivers: http://www.creaf.com/wwwnew/tech/ftp/ftp-sb16awe.html#95 Advanced users may want to adjust the volume and frequency of the sound components in Golf '98. From Windows Explorer, open the Goodies folder on the Golf '98 compact disc. Copy the CMTFREQ.TXT file to the Golf '98 folder to your hard drive. Open the CMTFREQ.TXT file with any text editor, such as Notepad, then follow the instructions. If you are playing a Multiplayer game over the Internet Gaming Zone and find you don't have any sound in Golf '98, open the Game Preferences dialog box from the Options menu on the Start Up screen, click Game Sounds to Yes, and then close the dialog box. This should reactivate the sound. ========================================================= E. Game Play Issues ========================================================= Before starting Golf '98, close all other applications, especially other network applications such as Microsoft Outlook or other e-mail programs. We recommend that you do not change screen resolutions during game play and that you do not use ALT+TAB to minimize the screen while playing Golf '98. Golf '98 has 10 player models, but unless you chose the Full installation option, you did not get all 10 player models installed to your hard drive. If you chose the Minimum installation option, two player models are installed to your hard drive. Four models are installed when the Typical installation option is chosen. Here's how to install more player models. 1. Place the Golf '98 compact disc in your CD-ROM drive. 2. Use Windows Explorer to locate the Goodies folder on the Golf '98 compact disc. 3. Open the Models folder. Inside, you'll see player files that are associated with each golfer animation (i.e. MODEL01.PIN through MODEL10.PIN and MODEL01.BMP through MODEL10.BMP). Ten of the files have a .PIN extension and ten have a .BMP extension. Double-click on the .BMP files to view the player models before making your selection. 4. Copy the .PIN file(s) associated with the models you want into the folder where you installed Golf '98. NOTE: These files may have read-only attributes, which need to be removed. Do this by selecting the .PIN files copied to your Golf '98 folder. Choose Properties from the File Menu; uncheck the Read Only attribute; and click OK to close the Properties dialog box. 5. Start Golf '98. 6. Select New Round. 7. On the next screen, the player model file name (example: MODEL05.PIN) will appear in the Available list. 8. Click on the player name to select it. 9. Click the Edit button to see the player model. 10. The following message will appear: "The model for Model05.PIN is not installed on your system, would you like to install it now?" Click Yes and the model will be installed from the Golf '98 compact disc, which must remain in the CD-ROM drive. Repeat this process to add more player models. If you want to play a Scramble with four players on the same team, you must click Teams to No. Otherwise, Golf '98 will automatically set up the game with two, two-player teams. You can play a Scramble with one three-player team. The Cumulative Statistics screen will not display the results of a Bingo Bango Bongo game. Golf '98 uses a different variable to calculate putts per greens hit in regulation. Instead of dividing the number of putts a player took on the greens he or she reached in regulation, Golf '98 uses the total putts a player took in a round and divides that total by the number of greens reached in regulation. If a hole is conceded during a match game in Golf '98, the stroke totals will not be recorded on the scorecard. Using the Natural Swing meter may be easier than using the 2- and 3-click Swing meters on slower machines. You can also try the Sim Swing. If you minimize Golf '98 (using ALT+TAB) during a swing, the screen may be corrupted when the game is restored. To get back in the game, press Enter. If you have two CD-ROM drives on your computer, Golf '98 may not be able to detect your Golf '98 compact disc if it is not in the same CD-ROM drive that was used to install the game. In a Multiplayer game, all players will have a remote icon next to their names, regardless of whether they are computer players or human players. ========================================================= F. Multiplayer ========================================================= Multiplayer Troubleshooting ========================================================= To use the Internet Gaming Zone's Web-based matchmaking services for Golf '98 Multiplayer games over the Internet, you must have Windows 95 and an ActiveX and frame-compatible Web browser such as Internet Explorer 3.02 or later. If you have problems with modem games, reconfigure your modem as a standard 28,800-baud or 14,400-baud modem instead of any modem-specific configuration you may be using. We recommend that all players in a Multiplayer game have different names. If multiple golfers have the same name, the computers may not display the correct golfers. In an Internet game, it's not unusual for a blank screen to appear temporarily after the host clicks Start Game. This is part of the Golf '98 Multiplayer loading process. When trying to join a Multiplayer game, you many need to know your Internet IP address. You can use the F9 key to find out your Internet IP address. However, if you are, or were, connected to a local area network (LAN) with a DHCP server, your network IP address, not your Internet IP address, will be identified when using this option. In that case, use the WINIPCFG.EXE (in your Windows directory) to determine your Internet address when trying to connect directly over the Internet. If you are trying to locate a LAN TCP/IP Multiplayer game session hosted by a specific host and the session you are looking for is not listed in the Game Sessions dialog box, you will need to find out the host's IP address (the host can find out his or her IP address by pressing the F9 key while at the Connection Types dialog box). Once you have the host's IP address, follow the steps below to join his or her game. 1. Go back to the Start Up screen and click Multiplayer. 2. Under Connection Type, click Network, then click Next. 3. On the Network Options screen, select either TCP/IP, depending on which of these network transfer protocols you're using. Click Next. 4. In the Game Sessions dialog box, click Show Games, which will open the Locate Session message box. Enter the host's IP address and click OK. 5. Choose the game in the list and click Join in the Game Sessions dialog box. If you have difficulty connecting to the Internet Gaming Zone from Golf '98, you may need to contact the technical support service for your Web browser. You might also be blocked by a firewall on your proxy server; in this case, you may need an Internet service provider to access the Internet Gaming Zone. Contact your network administrator to resolve the problem. You can also try starting a Multiplayer game by going to the Internet Gaming Zone (//http:/www.zone.com/) before you start Golf '98. Follow the Zone instructions for opening Golf '98 from the Zone. Multiplayer Tips ====================================================================== Do not switch to other applications while playing Multiplayer games. If you have one or more applications running while playing Golf '98, you will be using up virtual memory that Golf '98 might need to run correctly. If you are running another application, or if you minimize Golf '98 for any reason, the operating system (OS) resolution will switch back to the resolution it was before you launched Golf '98. If, for example, the earlier setting was 1024x768, your OS will switch from 800x600 to 1024x768 when you minimize the application and will switch back to 800x600 after you restore Golf '98. On slower computers, it will help game performance to turn off game features such as Game Sounds and Commentary. You can also reduce game display detail features to improve performance. (To change these settings, go to the Start Up screen, click Options, and select Game Preferences. From the Main View in the game, select Menu on the toolbar, point to Options, then click Game Preferences. In the Game Preferences dialog box, change the settings. Add computer players to a Multiplayer game with only two or three players to fill out a foursome and enable additional scoring options. The host should not click through the pregame screens too quickly, doing so will not give the guests enough time to join the game. The host should not rapidly change settings (such as weather, courses, and holes) on the New Round screen because the guests' computers may not register all the choices if the host selects them too quickly. If a guest is taking too long to hit the ball, the host can remove him or her from the game by doing the following: Select Menu on the toolbar, point to Player, and click Remove Player. Play a shorter Multiplayer game by choosing Practice on the New Round screen and selecting only a few holes. Once you become familiar with the courses in Golf '98, you can select just the par 3 holes on a course or the signature holes. If you're having problems connecting to a Multiplayer game, for example not seeing game sessions listed or the game is not launching, quit Golf '98. Check to see if MSGOLF98D.EXE is in computer memory. If it isn't there, select MSGOLF98D.EXE from the list and click the END TASK button before retrying your Multiplayer game. If you are using Windows 98 with multiple monitors, Natural Swing may not work properly. To be sure you have full control of your Natural Swing make your mouse movement horizontal instead of vertical or temporarily disable multiple monitor support. All other swing types work as expected with multiple monitors. ========================================================= G. Product Support ========================================================= When You Have a Question ========================================================= If you have a question about Microsoft Golf 1998 Edition, first consult the online Golf '98 Player's Guide (Help). Tech Support e-mail: uksupport@learningco.com Phone: 09062165432 (Calls cost 25p/min & may be monitored/recorded. Correct at Apr 1999) Facsimile: 09062165433 (All calls cost 25p/min. Correct at Apr 1999) Mail: The Learning Company PO Box 121 Crawley RH11 9YP ENGLAND Attn: We regret that we cannot offer game hints and tips, as the service is provided for technical difficulties only.