Terminus README File May 2000 Thank you for purchasing Terminus. This Readme file includes the most recent information concerning Terminus that may not found in the manual. Contents (A) Minimum Requirements (B) Gameplay Issues (C) Using GameSpy 3D (D) Hardware Configuration Issues (E) Software Configuration Issues (F) 3D Card Issues (G) 3D Card Drivers and Manufacturers (H) Online Answers to Your Questions (I) Legal Information (A) Minimum Requirements Windows OS Required: Windows 95/98 DirectX 6 or later P2-300 or greater At least 64 Megs of RAM Direct3D or Glide compatible video card 4x or faster CD-ROM Recommended: Sound card Joystick TCP/IP network connection (for multiplayer only) Linux OS Required: Linux kernel 2.2.0 or greater X Windows glibc 2.1 or later pthread library 0.8 or later P2-300 or greater At least 64 Megs of RAM Glide or OpenGL/DRI compatible video card 4x or faster CD-ROM Recommended: Sound card Joystick TCP/IP network connection (for multiplayer only) Mac OS Required: G3-400 mhz CPU or faster At least 96 Megs of RAM OpenGL compatible video card OpenGL 1.1.2 or later Game Sprockets 1.7 or later Virtual Memory (at least 128MB) Mac OS 8.6 or 9.0 4x or faster CD-ROM Recommended: Joystick TCP/IP network connection (for multiplayer only) (B) Gameplay Issues Question: The game play slows down during large battles, what can I do? Solution: You may have to lower the visual quality to improve game speed. Question: I want to upgrade my system to improve performance, what do you recommend? Solution: a)Terminus is a CPU intensive game. Upgrading your CPU will give better results than upgrading your Video card. b)Increasing your System RAM will also show improvement Question: After playing the cutscene I insert the music CD into my drive but the music does not play properly. Why? Solution: On Windows and Macintosh systems, audio CDs are frequently played automatically by the OS. Consult your OS documentation if you wish to disable this feature. (C) Using GameSpy 3D You can use the GameSpy program to find multiplayer Terminus games on the Internet. The GameSpy program only works with the Windows OS. To install GameSpy, insert Terminus CD #1 and run the file GameSpyInstaller220STD.exe from the CD. After the program is installed make sure to update the program to the latest version. Support for GameSpy can be found at http://www.gamespy.com. (D) Hardware Configuration Issues Graphics: Terminus allows you to alter many different rendering options. You may want to experiment with the settings to improve performance and suit your personal taste. Some 3D cards may require that you lower or raise the visual settings to clear up any visual problems that you may have. Sound cards: You must have a full duplex sound card to take advantage of the Real Time Voice communication. Joysticks: Linux OS: Make sure your drivers are installed properly. http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~vojtech/joystick Mac OS: USB joysticks have no known issues Win OS: Terminus supports force feedback joysticks, such as the Logitech Wingman Force or the Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro. Make sure you calibrate your joystick in Windows through the Game Controllers control panel before starting the game. 3D glasses: While some 3D glasses take advantage of glide drivers Terminus does not fully support them. (E) Software Configuration Issues Mac OS: Terminus requires Game Sprockets. If your computer does not have this software it can be found at http://www.apple.com. Win OS: Terminus requires DirectX 6.0 or later. If your computer does not have this software you can find at http://www.microsoft.com/directx. Terminus is designed to run with both Windows 95 and Windows 98. Limited testing has been performed with Windows 2000. Make sure you have the latest video drivers. Windows NT is not supported. Linux OS: To install the Terminus movies on your hard disk, run Linux_Install from the movie CD. Using OpenGL requires XFree86 4.0. This software can be found at http://www.xfree86.org. When Terminus is installed, a symbolic link is created either in /etc/TerminusPath or ~/Terminus/TerminusPath to the Terminus data files. You may change this link manually at your convenience. (F) 3D Card Issues Some 3D cards display flashing white polygons when lens flares are enabled. Use the Lens Flare option in the Graphics Options menu of Terminus to correct this problem. Mac OS: ATI Rage Pro is not recommended. Win OS: Only Direct3D and Glide are supported. Intel I740 - Early versions of this card perform poorly. NVidia Riva 128 - Not supported Voodoo Based - Under Direct3D, palettized textures may not work. Linux OS: Glide is supported. OpenGL is supported when running XFree86 4.0 or higher with DRI. NVidia - Under OpenGL, mipmapping may not work. Voodoo - Under OpenGL, the starfield does not always draw properly. To use Glide, start Terminus with the following command line: ./terminus +gfx_renderer glide To use OpenGL, start Terminus with the following command line: ./terminus +gfx_renderer opengl (G) 3D Card Drivers and Manufacturers Make sure that you have the latest drivers from the manufacturer of your video card. Many of the issues you encounter will be resolved if you install your video card's latest drivers. Listed below are some common video card manufacturers' Web sites. Please note that some or all of the cards produced by a particular manufacturer may not be supported by Terminus. 3dfx Interactive -- http://www.3dfx.com/ *-->(Linux users) -- http://linux.3dfx.com/ 3Dlabs -- http://www.3dlabs.com/ Asus -- http://www.asus.com/ ATI -- http://support.atitech.ca/ California Graphics -- http://www.calgraph.com/ Canopus -- http://www.canopuscorp.com/ Creative Labs -- http://www.creativelabs.com/ Diamond Multimedia -- http://www.diamondmm.com/ Elsa Technology -- http://www.elsa.de/ Gateway 2000 -- http://www.gw2k.com/ Genoa -- http://www.genoasys.com/ Guillemot -- http://www.guillemot.com/ Hercules -- http://www.hercules.com/ I/O Magic -- http://www.iomagic.com/ Intergraph -- http://www.intergraph.com/ Jazz Multimedia -- http://www.jazzmm.com/ Leadtek -- http://www.leadtek.com/ Matrox -- http://www.matrox.com/ Metabyte -- http://www.metabyte.com/ Number Nine -- http://www.nine.com/ NVIDIA -- http://www.nvidia.com/ Orchid -- http://www.orchid.com/ Quantum3D Obsidian -- http://www.quantum3d.com/ Real3D -- http://www.real3d.com/ S3 Incorporated -- http://www.s3.com/ Skywell Magic 3D -- http://www.magic-3d.com/ STB -- http://www.stb.com/ Tseng Labs -- http://www.tseng.com/ VideoLogic -- http://www.videologic.com/ (H) Online answers to your questions Please visit the official Vicarious Visions site - http://www.vvisions.com for any new or updated information on Terminus. Visit http://www.stationterminus.com - a fan site dedicated to Terminus. If you still find that your problem cannot be resolved you may contact the Terminus Development team at tech@vvisions.com. (I) Legal Information Terminus is a registered trademark of Vicarious Visions, Inc. Terminus (c) 2000 Vicarious Visions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks and tradenames are the property of their respective owners. THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. **** ADDITIONAL DISCLAIMER**** No Monkeys were harmed during the creation and testing of Terminus.