------------------------------------------------------------ Qin, Tomb of the Middle Kingdom README May 1996 ------------------------------------------------------------ (c) Copyright Learn Technologies Interactive, 1996 This document contains important information that supplements the Qin documentation. Contents * General * Best video mode to use * Optimizing performance on minimum-configuration machines * Before you call Technical Support * System manufacturers *************************************************************************************** General *************************************************************************************** ------------- > Qin screen size ------------- Qin was designed to play in a full screen with a 640X480 256 color Windows video driver. If you have configured Windows to operate in a higher resolution (such as with an 800X600 256 color or 1024X768 256 color driver), the game play area will appear smaller. In order to view the game in the full dimensions of your computer screen, you will need to load a 640X480 256 color video driver. If you are using Windows 3.1 or 3.1.1, make sure that you use a driver that is created for your specific brand of video card. For more information about configuring Windows or obtaining this driver, please contact your video card manufacturer. ------------- > A note on sound ------------- Qin features an original soundtrack and a carefully designed stereo sound environment. We recommend that you use multimedia speakers or headphones while playing. Performance on slower machines may be improved by setting the background music switch to "off" in the Preferences section of the Options screen. ------------- > Can't save a game ------------- If Qin can not save the current game, the working or target directory may be read only, or your hard drive may have insufficient space available. Make sure your target directory is pointing to your hard drive and not the CD ROM drive. Make sure that the drive you are saving your game on has at least 300K free space. *************************************************************************************** Best video mode to use *************************************************************************************** If you are running under Windows 95 with an accelerated video card you will get the best combination of video quality and performance by running in either hi-color or true-color modes. If you are running under Windows 3.1x we recommend that you run in 256 color mode. *************************************************************************************** Optimizing performance on minimum-configuration machines *************************************************************************************** ------------- > Increasing the size of your swapfile (Windows 3.1 only) ------------- In Windows 3.1, Qin requires at least 8 MB of RAM. Increasing the swapfile size to 10MB or more may improve the performance of Qin. Follow this procedure to increase the swapfile if your computer has enough available disk space: 1. In the Main group, double-click the Control Panel. 2. Double-click the 386 Enhanced icon. 3. Click Virtual Memory. 4. Click Change. 5. Increase the size of the swapfile. 6. If you are using a temporary swapfile, change the type to Permanent. 7. Make sure that 32 Bit Disk Access is checked. Follow this procedure to increase the swapfile if your computer is low on disk space and you are running MS-DOS 6.0 or later: 1. In the Main group, double-click the Control Panel. 2. Double-click the 386 Enhanced icon. 3. Click Virtual Memory. 4. Click Change. 5. Under New Swapfile Settings, enter None in the Type box. 6. Click OK in both dialog boxes. 7. Close Windows. 8. From the MS-DOS prompt, run Scandisk, and then Defrag. For information about these two commands, see the MS-DOS User's Guide. 9. Once these commands are completed, restart Windows. Increase the virtual memory using the previous procedure. NOTE: If you are unable to create a 10 MB swapfile using this procedure, you can remove files from the hard disk, and then try the procedure again. ------------- > Increasing the size of your CD-ROM cache (Windows 3.1 only) ------------- For increased performance, modify the MSCDEX.EXE line in your autoexec.bat to change the MSCDEX parameter /M:x to /M:20 or /M:30. ------------- > Increasing the size of your CD-ROM cache (Windows 95 only) ------------- 1. Open the Control Panel. 2. Double-click on the System icon. 3. Click on the Performance tab. 4. Click on File System. 5. Click on the CD-ROM tab. 6. Select the access pattern that matches your CD-ROM and choose the largest cache size available. 7. Click OK in both dialogs. 8. Click Yes to restart your computer. ------------- > Use SmartDrive (Windows 3.1 only) ------------- If your computer system has 8 or more Megs of RAM and you are using Windows 3.1, make sure that you enable SMARTDRIVE. SmartDrive is a disk caching utility which will greatly improve game performance. *************************************************************************************** Before you call Technical Support *************************************************************************************** If you find a problem with Qin please follow these instructions before calling Technical Support. 1. Using File Manager or the Explorer, select the Qin CD and double-click on the chkcrc16.exe program. 2. Click OK. 3. Chkcrc16 will verify the contents of the Qin CD. Depending on the speed of your CD-ROM drive this process can take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes (as long as the status indicator is in motion, the program is running correctly). 4. If chkcrc16 reports any bad files then you should take your CD back to the store where you bought it and exchange Qin for a new copy. *************************************************************************************** System manufacturers *************************************************************************************** The following is a listing of Technical Support and Customer BBS numbers for system, sound card, video card and CD-ROM manufacturers. Learn Technologies Interactive has made every effort to ensure that these numbers are correct. However, you may want to consult the documentation for your PC, video card, sound card or CD-ROM drive for more up-to-date information about each company. Acer Technical Support (800) 733-2237 BBS (408) 428-0140 BBS (800) 833-8241 AST Research Technical Support (800) 727-1278 BBS (714) 852-1872 Compaq Technical Support (800) 652-6672 BBS (713) 378-1418 Dell Technical Support (800) 624-9896 BBS (512) 728-8528 Epson BBS (310) 782-4531 Gateway Technical Support (800) 846-2301 BBS (605) 323-2224 or (605) 232-2109 Download Service (800) 846-7562 Hercules Computer Technology Inc. Technical Support (510) 623-6050 BBS (510) 623-7449 (V.32 bis) BBS (510) 623-7034 (9600 baud) BBS (510) 623-7142 (2400 baud) IBM Technical Support Multimedia (908) 329-7131 Technical Support PS/1 PRO (800) 765-4747 Technical Support Valuepoint (800) 772-2227 Technical Support Valuepoint (213) 621-5576 Intel Technical Support (800) 538-3373 BBS (503) 645-6275 Leading Edge Technical Support (800) 225-2283 BBS (503) 836-3971 Micronics Technical Support (510) 651-2323 BBS (510) 651-6837 Packard Bell Hardware Support (800) 733-4411 Software Support (801) 579-0161 BBS (801) 250-1600 BBS (818) 773-7207 Tandon Technical Support (805) 523-0340 Tandy Computer Technical Support (817) 878-6875 Toshiba Technical Support (800) 999-4273 BBS (415) 656-5159 Zenith Technical Support (800) 227-3360 BBS (800) 888-3058 Sound Card Manufacturers ------------------------ Advanced Gravis Technical Support (206) 881-6945 ATI Technologies Inc. Technical Support (905) 882-2626 BBS (905) 764-9404 Aztech Technical Support (800) 886-8879 Boca Research Inc. Technical Support (407) 241-8088 BBS (407) 241-1601 Cardinal Technical Support (717) 293-3124 BBS (717) 293-3074 Creative Labs Technical Support (408) 428-6622 BBS (408) 428-6660 Diamond Technical Support (408) 736-2000 BBS (408) 524-9301 Logitech Technical Support (510) 795-8100 BBS (510) 795-0408 Media Vision Technical Support (800) 638-2807 BBS (510) 770-0968 Microsoft Technical Support (206) 637-7096 BBS (206) 936-4082 BBS (206) 936-6735 Reveal Technical Support (800) 473-8325 Roland US Technical Support (213) 685-5141 Turtle Beach Technical Support (717) 843-6916 BBS (717) 845-4835 Video Card Manufacturers ------------------------ Actix Systems Technical Support (408) 986-1625 BBS (408) 970-3719 Advanced Integration Research Technical Support (408) 428-0800 BBS (408) 428-1735 Advanced Micro Technology Technical Support (909) 598-6120 BBS (909) 594-5770 Alpha Systems Lab Technical Support (800) 576-4275 Altech International Technical Support (800) 882-8194 BBS (408) 946-2227 Artist Graphics Company Technical Support (800) 627-8478 BBS (612) 631-7664 ATI Technologies Technical Support (905) 882-2626 BBS (905) 764-9404 Atlaz Intl., Limited Technical Support (516) 239-1854 Boca Technical Support (407) 241-8088 BBS (407) 241-1601 Cache Computers, Inc. Technical Support (510) 226-9922 BBS (510) 226-7486 Cardinal Technical Support (717) 293-3124 BBS (717) 293-3074 Celerite Graphics, Inc. Technical Support (510) 226-6390 BBS (510) 226-7851 Cirrus Logic Technical Support (510) 435-8808 Technical Support (510) 623-8300 (west coast) Technical Support (508) 470-3380 (east coast) BBS (510) 440-9080 Colorgraphic Communication Technical Support (404) 455-3921 BBS (404) 452-8238 Cornerstone Technology Technical Support (800) 562-2552 x306 BBS (408) 435-8943 CSS Laboratories, Inc. Technical Support (800) 966-2771 BBS (714) 852-9231 Diamond Computer Systems, Inc. Technical Support (408) 325-7100 BBS (408) 325-7175 (14400 baud, 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop) BBS (408) 325-7080 (2400 baud, 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop) Edge Technology, Inc. Technical Support (800) 438-3343 ELSA America, Inc. Technical Support (800) 272-3572 BBS (415) 588-6286 Focus Information Systems, Inc. Technical Support (510) 657-4586 BBS (510) 657-9451 Genoa Technical Support (408) 432-8324 BBS (408) 943-1231 Headland (Video Seven) Technical Support (800) 553-1850 BBS (415) 656-0503 Hercules Computer Technology Inc. Technical Support (510) 623-6050 BBS (510) 623-7449 (V.32 bis) BBS (510) 623-7034 (9600 baud) BBS (510) 623-7142 (2400 baud) Identity Systems Technology Technical Support (800) 723-8324 BBS (214) 705-7213 IOcomm Intl., Corp. Technical Support (800) 998-8919 Liberty Electronics USA Technical Support (800) 497-8324 Matrox Electronics Systems Limited Technical Support (800) 462-8769 BBS (514) 685-6008 Metheus Corporation Technical Support (503) 690-1550 BBS (503) 690-1559 MicroStep, Inc. Technical Support (818) 336-8991 BBS (818) 961-9992 Mirage Computer Systems Technical Support (310) 440-1460 National Design, Inc. Technical Support (512) 329-5055 BBS (512) 329-6327 Number Nine Computer Corporation Technical Support (617) 674-0009 BBS (617) 862-7502 Nth Graphics Technical Support (800) 624-7552 BBS (512) 832-1964 Oak Technology Technical Support (408) 737-0888 BBS (408) 524-9014 Orchid Technology Inc. Technical Support (510) 683-0323 BBS (510) 683-0327 Paradise Technical Support (800) 832-4778 BBS (415) 968-1834 Sigma Designs Technical Support (510) 770-0100 BBS (510) 770-0111 SixGraph Computing, Limited Technical Support (800) 561-2892 BBS (514) 336-4169 STB Systems Technical Support (800) 234-4334 Technical Support (214) 234-8750 BBS Phone (214) 437-9615 BBS (214) 237-9615 SuperMac Technology, Inc. Technical Support (408) 245-0646 BBS (408) 773-4500 Swan Technologies, Inc. Technical Support (800) 468-7926 BBS (814) 237-6143 Trident Microsystems Inc. Phone (415) 691-9211 BBS (415) 691-1016 Tseng Labs Technical Support (215) 968-0502 BBS (215) 579-7536 Video Logic, Inc. Technical Support (617) 494-0530 BBS (617) 494-4960 Video Seven Technical Support (800) 553-1850 BBS (510) 656-0503 BBS (415) 656-0503 VidTech Microsystems, Inc. Technical Support (800) 752-8033 BBS (612) 780-3564 Willow Technical Support (212) 402-9500 CD-ROM Manufacturers -------------------- Hitachi Technical Support (800) 241-6558 Mitsubishi Technical Support (800) 344-6352 BBS (714) 236-6286 Mitsumi Technical Support (408) 970-9699 NEC Technical Support (708) 860-0335 BBS (508) 635-6328 Panasonic Technical Support (800) 222-0584 BBS (201) 863-7845 Sony Technical Support (714) 826-6410 (west coast) Technical Support (201) 368-3774 (east coast) BBS (408) 955-5107 Teac Technical Support (213) 726-0303