ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º INSTALLATION NOTES º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS INSTALLING PIRATES! GOLD, READ THESE NOTES. Topics covered are:  MEMORY  INSUFFICIENT MEMORY ERROR  MEMORY MANAGER  GAME RUNS SLOW  DOS EXTENDERS  VIDEO CARDS  INSTALL "HANGS"  TECHNICAL SUPPORT  MEMORY MANAGER ERROR  GAME PLAY ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º MEMORY MANAGERS º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Pirates/Gold is compatible with a very wide array of PC memory managers. It will run with: HiMem (DOS5/DOS6) HiMem/EMM386 (DOS5/DOS6) QEMM386 (Quarterdeck) 386MAX (Qualitas) It will also run with no memory manager at all, provided there is 2Mb of available memory. ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º MEMORY / DOS EXTENDER º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Pirates/Gold uses a "DOS extender" to allow easy access to the large amounts of memory required for its high resolution graphics. A DOS extender combines all DOS memories (conventional, EMS or XMS) into a common pool for programs to use. Pirates/Gold requires 2Mb of available memory of any type(s). Usually a computer with 4Mb or more of total memory (RAM) will be sufficient. However, if you have used up all of your memory for RAM disks or disk caches, you will have to reconfigure your machine to have 2Mb of memory available for Pirates/Gold to run. For example, you could remove your disk cache program from your "config.sys" or "autoexec.bat", thus freeing up the memory it was using for use by Pirates/Gold. DOS extenders are compatible with an extremely wide array of DOS memory managers (HiMem, EMM386, QEMM386 or 386MAX) and their config switches. There are a few specific configurations that at present can cause problems. These are identified below along with our suggested fix in parentheses.  QEMM with NOEMS  (replace NOEMS with FRAME=NONE)  386MAX with NOFRAME  (replace NOFRAME with EMS=0) ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º INSTALL "HANGS" º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The install program runs a test program to see if your memory manager and configuration is compatible with Pirates/Gold. If you have 386MAX with the NOFRAME option in your "386MAX.PRO" file this will lock up the install. Replace NOFRAME with EMS=0 and it will work. The message "Error: extractor returned status: 6" means that the installer ran out of hard disk space. This is probably due to continuing to install after being warned that there was insufficient hard disk space. ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º *** MEMORY MANAGER ERROR *** º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The install program tests your system to see if Pirates/Gold will run with your current memory manager. If it is not compatible it will display a "*** MEMORY MANAGER ERROR ***" alert box allowing you to abort the install if you wish. If you think that you can modify your memory manager later, prior to running the game, then continue with the install. If you are not sure, quit the install, read this readme completely and try again when you have fixed the problem. If you want to see if your memory manager and configuration is compatible with Pirates/Gold there is a test program on the first install disk called "X32MEM". If this disk is in drive "B" just type: b:x32mem at the DOS command prompt. It will display your available memory and video card information if it is compatible with Pirates/Gold. If it is not it will display one of the following error messages: Previously installed software is neither VCPI nor DPMI compatible Fatal error, DPMI host does not support 32 bit applications Fatal error, 80386 processor is required The first message may be displayed if you have a 486 with QEMM and the NOEMS switch. To fix this, replace the NOEMS switch with FRAME=NONE in your "config.sys". If you have 386MAX with the NOFRAME option in your "386MAX.PRO" file, "X32MEM" will hang! Replace NOFRAME with EMS=0 and it will work. ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º *** INSUFFICIENT MEMORY *** º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The install program tests your system to see if Pirates/Gold will run in your current configuration. If it does not find sufficient available memory it will display an "*** INSUFFICIENT MEMORY ***" alert box allowing you to abort the install if you wish. If you think that you really do have enough memory, but just need to free some up, then continue with the install and adjust your memory usage later, prior to running the game. If you are not sure, quit the install and refer to this readme for help on freeing up more memory. If you want to see how much memory is available to Pirates/Gold with your particular memory manager there is a test program on the first install disk called "X32MEM". If this disk is in drive "B" just type: b:x32mem at the DOS command prompt. It will display your available memory and video card information. Keep freeing up memory until you have at least 2000Kb available. ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º GAME RUNS SLOW º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Pirates/Gold will abort with an "Insufficient Memory" error if you do not have enough available memory (see above). However if you have just barely enough memory, the game will run but VERY VERY slowly. It is swapping data in and out of memory from disk. This is called "thrashing" and as you can see it is not fun. Freeing up a little more memory (usually about 100Kb) will solve the problem. Again, see above for information of providing more available memory. ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º VIDEO/GRAPHICS º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Pirates/Gold uses high resolution graphics (640 by 480) to present its artwork as richly as possible. It will run in either 256 color mode or 16 color mode depending on your video adapter. Normally the install program will automatically select the correct mode for you. However, if you run into problems, the following information may be helpful. The 256 color mode is to be preferred as it allows more graceful shadings with up to 256 different colors in each picture. The game is shipped with 256 color art and the install program will attempt to configure the game for this mode on your computer. However, this mode requires an SVGA (Super VGA) video card. If instead you have a VGA video card you can still run Pirates/ Gold, but you must use the 16 color mode. The install program will detect the VGA card and at install time convert all of the artwork to 16 color art. While this can be a long process on some computers (up to an hour) it is much faster than ordering new disks and less confusing than two different versions of the same product. This conversion of artwork is a one-way process. Should you later upgrade your video system from VGA to SVGA, you must reinstall the game from the distribution disks in order to switch to the 256 color mode. For Pirates/Gold to run in the 256 color mode, it must be able to identify your SVGA card. Pirates/Gold is programmed for most of the popular SVGA cards on the market and will automatically run on those systems. Should you own a video card that we do not support, or for some reason we cannot identify, there is still hope. Pirates/Gold is also programmed to support the VESA standard. ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º VESA º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ VESA is a standard for programming SVGA cards but requires that a "VESA driver" be loaded on your system before using any of the high resolution SVGA modes. Each different SVGA card requires a custom VESA driver which is usually shipped on the diskette that came with your SVGA card. If you can't find a VESA driver for your SVGA card, contact either your SVGA card manufacturer or your computer supplier. A list of SVGA manufacturers with phone numbers follows at the end of this section. To find out what brand SVGA card you have, reboot your computer and note the screen display. Almost all SVGA cards will identify themselves at the beginning of a reboot. For your convenience the following is a list of many popular SVGA card brands and their VESA driver filenames. APPIAN: apvesa.exe ATI: vvesa.com C&T: vesa452.com CIRRUS: crusvesa.com EVEREX: vesa.com GENOA: vesa.com OAK: 67vesa.com ORCHID: orchdvsa.com PARADISE: vesa.exe SIGMA: sigvesa.com STB: stb-vesa.com TECMAR: vgavesa.com TRIDENT: vesa.exe VIDEO7: v7vesa.com To load a VESA driver, first copy it from your video diskette into some convenient subdirectory in your PATH. Then you simply enter its name as you would any other command or program name. The VESA driver is now loaded until you reboot your computer. As a convenience, you could add this VESA command to your "autoexec.bat" so that it would be automatically loaded each time you reboot. For example, if you had a Video7 video card, just enter "v7vesa" on a separate line of your "autoexec.bat" AFTER your path command. If you have an SVGA card that Pirates/Gold does not recognize and you don't have a VESA driver, you can still run the game in 16 color mode. Just say YES when the install program asks if you want to run in 16 color mode. This will use one of the standard VGA video modes that the SVGA card also supports. ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º VIDEO CHIPSETS º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ If you think that you have a video card that supports 640x480x256 and we cannot detect it for some reason, you can force Pirates/Gold to use a particular chipset with a command line switch. When you start Pirates/Gold type: Piratesg V# at the command prompt, where # is one of the following: 1: VESA 2: ATI 3: Everex 4: Compaq 5: NCR 6: Trident 7: Video7 8: Genoa 9: Paradise 10: Chips and Technologies 11: Tseng 3000 12: Tseng 4000 13: Ahead "A" 14: Ahead "B" 15: AcuMOS 16: Oak Technologies For example, if you want to force Pirates/Gold to use the Paradise chipset, start the game by typing: Piratesg V9 at the DOS command prompt. Normally, Pirates/Gold will try to directly use your chipset even if you have a VESA driver loaded. We do this for two reasons. First it gives us faster response to video commands, and secondly we have seen problems with VESA drivers built-in to some video cards. Should you wish to override this, select "V1". This will use a VESA driver if it is installed even if we can detect your chipset. If you want to see if we can detect your chipset there is a test program on the first install disk called "X32MEM". If this disk is in drive "B" just type: b:x32mem at the DOS command prompt. It will display your available memory and video card information. ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º VIDEO MONITOR CLICK º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Many monitors will make a clicking noise when switching into high-resolution graphics modes. This is normal and does not indicate a problem. ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º 16 COLOR ART CONVERSION º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Pirates/Gold will play on a standard VGA video card in 16 color mode. This requires that all of the 256 color art be converted at install time. Should you wish to perform this conversion after the game has been installed, just go to the disk directory where you installed Pirates/Gold and type "CONV". This may take up to an hour on slower machines. This converts all of the 256 color sprites in the "SPR" subdirectory to 16 color sprites in the "SPR16" sub- directory, and all of the 256 color pictures in the "PCX" sub to 16 color pictures in the "PCX16" sub. Normally, the 256 color files are being deleted as the 16 color files are being created to save disk space. However if you wish to keep both versions of the game (to compare or whatever) then type "CONV /NO" to start the conversion. The 256 color files will now not be deleted. To switch between the two versions, use the "CHVER" program. After typing "CHVER 16" at the DOS command prompt, Pirates/Gold will use 16 color art. Typing "CHVER 256" will make it use 256 color art. ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º SVGA card manufacturers º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Ahead Systems Inc. 44244 Fremont Boulevard Fremont, CA 94538 (510) 623-0900 Appian Technology Inc. (206) 649-8086 ATI Technologies Inc. 3761 Victoria Park Avenue Scarborough, Ontario Canada M1W3s2 (416) 756-0711 Boca Research Inc. 6401 Congress Avenue Boca Raton, FL 33487 (407) 241-8088 Chips and Technologies 3050 Zanker Road San Jose, CA 95134 (408) 434-0600 Compaq Conputer Corp. (800) 345-1518 Cirrus Logic 1463 Center Pointe Drive Milpitas, CA 95035 (408) 945-8300 Diamond Computer Systems Inc. (408) 736-2000 Everex Systems 48431 Milmont Drive Frement, CA 94538 (510) 498-1115 Genoa Systems Corp. 75 E. Trimble Road San Jose, CA 95131 (408) 432-9090 Headland Technology Inc. 46221 Landing Parkway Fremont, CA 94538 (800) 248-1850 Hercules Computer Technology Inc. (510) 540-0749 Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. (800) 462-8769 Micro-Labs Inc. (214) 702-8654 Micron Technology Inc. (800) 642-7661 MaxLogic Systems Inc. 48350 Milmont Drive Fremont, CA 94538 (415) 683-2684 NEC Technologies Inc. (800) 388-8888 ext.43 Nth Graphics (800) 624-7552 Number Nine Computer Corp. (617) 674-0009 Orchid Technology Inc. (510) 683-0323 Panacea Inc. (603) 437-5022 Paradise see Western Digital Sigma Designs Inc. (510) 770-0100 STB Systems Inc. 1651 N. Glenville P.O. Box 850957 Richardson, TX 75085 (800) 234-4334 Tecmar (800) 344-4463 Trident Microsystems, Inc. 321 Soquel Way Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (415) 691-9211 TrueTech Inc. 181-B W. Orangethorpe Placentia, CA 92670 (714) 961-0438 Tseng Laboratories Inc. 10 Pheasant Run Newtown Commons Newtown, PA 18940 (215) 968-0502 United Solutions Inc. (800) 365-4995 ViewSonic (213) 944-3041 Video Seven see Headland Western Digital Imaging 800 E. MiddleField Road Mountain View, CA 94043 (415) 960-3360 ZyMOS Corp. 477 N. Mathilda Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (408) 730-5400 ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º TECHNICAL SUPPORT º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Hopefully if you have gotten this far we have been able to solve any problems you might have had and you are now enjoying playing Pirates/Gold. If we have not been able to solve your particular problem, please call our technical support group ASAP at the number listed below. We'll get you into the action of Pirates! Gold. (410) 771-1151 Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm est/edt ÖÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· º GAME PLAY º ÓÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÐÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ COMPLETING GOVERNOR'S MISSIONS A governor may task you with completing one or more missions. These missions include capturing a specific pirate, delivering a letter to a spy in another city, or rescuing a relative of the governor that has been captured. All governor missions end when you next visit that same governor, whether or not you have success- fully completed the mission. Do not return to a governor unless you have completed the mission. To complete the spy mission, you must locate the mysterious stranger hiding in the tavern of the respective city. To complete the roving pirate mission, you must locate the pirate sailing in the approximate area and capture the pirate through sea battle. To rescue a relative of the governor, you must capture the named city by land or sea attack. LAND BATTLE CONTROL KEYS (corrections to manual) Select Unit To Move ................... key, Mouse Move Unit .............................. Arrow keys, Mouse