149 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
149 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
Command Adventures: Starship Version 1.0
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Technical Reference Guide
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Minimum Hardware Requirements
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* '386SX-33 IBM PC or 100% compatible
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* 2 Megabytes of RAM, with 575K free low RAM
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* Hard drive with 26 Megabytes free space
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* VGA graphics
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* Microsoft or 100% compatible mouse
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Installing Starship on your Hard Drive
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--------------------------------------
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Before you attempt to install Starship, you should ensure that your system
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meets the minimum requirements listed above.
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To install Starship onto your harddrive, place the Starship Disk 1 in any
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floppy drive and log onto that drive. You will then type: install [floppy
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drive] [destination drive and directory]. For example, if you placed the disk
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in drive A: you would type:
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a: [ENTER]
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install a: c:\starship [ENTER]
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Then, follow the on-screen directions for completing the hard disk installation.
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The installation will "flash" the appropriate number of the required disk. When
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prompted for the next disk, insert the correct disk and press any key to
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continue. The installtion requires 26 Megabytes of free hard disk space to
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install properly.
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NOTE: This installation will last approximately 20 to 30 minutes, depending upon
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your computer system.
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Sound Configuration
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-------------------
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After the hard disk installtion is completed, the sound configuration screen
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will appear, enabling you to select the sound support which is best suited to
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your system. Select items 1 and 2 from the configuration menu to select the
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sound support option of your choice. Choose item 3 from the menu when you are
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done. The next time your play Starship, the program will default to your sound
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configuration selection.
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NOTE: If you wish to modify your sound configuration after the initial install,
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simply run CONFIG.EXE from the Starship directory:
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config [ENTER]
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If your select a sound support option other than 1) None, 2)PC Speaker or
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3)Adlib, you will need to enter additional information regarding the IRQ, Base
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address, and the DMA channel settings for your sound card. On many sound cards,
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the default IRQ setting is 7, the default Base address is 220, and the default
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DMA channel is 1. Enter the settings of your choice, and then choose item 3 from
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the configuration menu when you are done.
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If you are not sure which IRQ, Base address and DMA channel settings are right
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for your sound card, please check the instructions that came with your sound
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card for the correct settings.
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NOTE: Many sound cards, including Sound Blaster Pro, use IRQ 5 as the default
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Interrupt setting.
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Starting the Game
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-----------------
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To start Starship once it is installed to your hard drive, select the drive
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partition which contains the Starship subdirectory (Example C:); then type the
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following:
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cd\starship [ENTER]
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starship [ENTER]
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Once the program is loaded, you may press any key to exit the opening animation
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sequence and begin playing the game.
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Not Enough Low DOS Memory?
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--------------------------
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If you do not have 580,000 bytes (575K) of low DOS memory available when you
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launch Starship, the program will display the following message:
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At least 580,000 bytes of free RAM are required to run STARSHIP.
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You will then be returned to the DOS prompt. If this message appears, you should
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use the MAKEDISK.BAT utility included with Starship to create a "boot disk"
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which will boot up your system but will bypass "CPU-hogging" TSR's that are part
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of your hard-drive's autoexecution sequence.
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The MAKEDISK.BAT utility is located in the root directory of the Starship
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subdirectory on your hard drive. To create a boot disk, simply put a blank
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formatted or unformatted floppy in disk A:. Make sure you are in the Starship
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subdirectory on you hard drive, and type: makedisk followed by your memory
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manager's name, or type normal if you are not using QEMM386 or 386MAX.
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EXAMPLES:
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makedisk normal - Makes a boot disk for use with HIMEM.SYS
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makedisk qemm - Makes a boot disk with use with QEMM386.SYS
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makedisk 386max - Makes a boot disk with use with 386MAX.SYS
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MAKEDISK.BAT will format the floppy disk in drive A: and will copy the necessary
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system information for making the disk self-bootable. When this step is com-
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pleted, the message, Format another? Y/N will appear. Be sure to answer N for
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No. At this point, MAKEDISK will copy the appropriate AUTOEXEC.BAT and
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CONFIG.SYS files, depending upon the memory management option you have selected.
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NOTE: You must edit one of the starup files on your boot disk to include a line
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which loads your mouse driver, as Starship requires a mouse. Please refer to the
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READ.ME file, insert Disk 1 into your floppy drive. Log onto that drive and
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type:
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type read.me [ENTER]
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To use your new boot disk, reboot your computer with the boot disk in drive A:,
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and load Starship from your hard drive.
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EMM386.EXE Users
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----------------
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Starship does not use or require EMM386.EXE during the execution of the program.
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EMM386.EXE users should use a boot disk with MAKEDISK.BAT (makedisk normal), or
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should remove EMM386.EXE from their CONFIG.SYS file.
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NOTE: If you must run EMM386.EXE in order to load DoubleSpace, Stacker or other
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device drivers into the high memory area, use the NOEMS switch and set the
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sound card selection 1 (None), in the Starship sound Config program.
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ADDITIONAL NOTE: Starship will operate with a sound card and the NOEMS switch
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set, but performance may be erratic, and this is not recommended.
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DoubleSpace and Stacker Users
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-----------------------------
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Please refer to the READ.ME file on Starship Disk 1 for detailed instructions
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about running Starship with DoubleSpace or Stacker.
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Mediavision Pro Audio Spectrum Users
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------------------------------------
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If your sound card is an older version (approx. 2 years), the music portion of
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Starship may not function properly. To correct this problem, you will need to
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obtain an older music driver called PASFM.ADV. Please call Merit Software's
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Technical Support Line for more information.
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Addendum to the Starship User's Guide
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-------------------------------------
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Should you wish to exit Starship without returning to the main menu, you may
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return to the bridge of your starship and press X. This will immediately end
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the game and return you to the DOS prompt.
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Troubleshooting
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---------------
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1. Problem: The mouse cursor "freezes" periodically during gameplay.
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Solution: Please ensure that your Microsoft mouse driver is version 8.0 or
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later.
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2. Problem: The music and/or sound does not play or plays incorrectly.
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Solution 1: Check the settings in the CONFIG.EXE program. make sure your
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settings match your audio card.
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Solution 2: Check to see if EMM386.EXE is installed in your CONFIG.SYS. If
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present, follow the instructions for using MAKEDISK.BAT (makedisk normal) to
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create a "clean" boot disk.
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