Big Game Hunter II - README.TXT Version 1.09 Big Game Hunter II is published by Head Games, a division of Activision, Inc. For customer service, contact Head Games Publishing 7646 Golden Triangle Dr. Eden Prairie, MN 55344 612.942.5202 * fax 612.942.5580 www.headgames.net The minimum system requirements for the game are just that, the barest minimum. To enhance performance, bump up your memory to at least 32 megs of RAM. The game will perform much better with a 2 meg videocard. ** Is there a way to get updates or patches to the program? Yes. Any updates or patches to the program will be posted on the Head Games website and can be downloaded directly to your machine. Access the website by clicking on the Head Games button on the Toolbar. ** During installation, I get a warning message saying BGH II has detected a different version of a system file. If you receive any warning messages, be sure to click on the filename displayed and write down the information you see on the screen regarding the filename, the Reference, and the Actual file found. While it may be possible for the game to run with these versions of the files, we recommend that you reinstall BGH II for optimum compatibility. It is possible that the files were overwritten by an older version when a program other than BGH II was installed. Be sure to restart your machine before playing the game. If you are unable to play the game, you may need to reinstall Windows in order to update the older files on your system. Insert your Windows disk. As it reinstalls, Windows should reference the problem file and state that your current file is newer than the one that Windows is going to install. You should indicate that you want the old version of the file. Windows will copy the old version from the CD onto your hard drive. ** My system reports a DirectX incompatability error. If you receive any of the errors below, your system may have a DirectX incompatability problem. Problems: No icon on the Start Menu. Runtime 30013 when the program is run. Error message when the CD-ROM is in the drive: "Insert the Big Game Hunter II CD" Solution: During the BGH II installation, Microsoft's DirectX is unable to locate the correct driver for your videocard. Therefore the installation process is not complete. To correct this problem, run the Dxfix.exe patch file on the root of this disk. On the root of the disk, find the file "Dxfix.exe". Double-click the file and follow any on-screen instructions. You may also refer to the "DXfix.txt" file on the root of the disk for more information. ** I am receiving a Setup Initialization error such as 105. These errors are almost always system related. Common causes and solutions are: Cause: A conflict with a concurrently running program such as a screensaver or virus scanning program. Solution: Shut down any concurrently running program including any virus checking software that may be running in the background. Cause: A corrupt Setup.ins caused by a bad disk. Solution: Try to install the disk in another computer to make sure it is a bad disk. If you get the same error message, e-mail tech support at Head Games for a replacement disk. Cause: A conflict with an installed driver. Solution: Contact your hardware manufacturers to make sure that you have the latest drivers. **When I am playing the game, it sometimes gets interrupted or locks up. Many customers who report gameplay interrupted by a lock-up or "freeze" of the game have found that adjusting their system's hardware acceleration properties has corrected the problem. Minimizing your system's hardware acceleration will often eliminate unexpected errors in any program that uses complex graphic display. Follow these steps to adjust your system's hardware acceleration: 1. From your desktop, click Start, Settings, Control Panel, System. 2. In the System Properties box, select the Performance tab. 3. Under Advanced Settings, click Graphics. 4. Under Advanced Graphics Settings, slide the Hardware Acceleration bar to None. 5. Click OK. Restart Big Game Hunter II using the new setting. If the game plays without error, you can try sliding the Hardware Acceleration bar back towards Full one increment at a time until you find the optimum Acceleration setting for your system. ** On occasion, I have experienced an OLE Automation Error. There are multiple causes for OLE automation errors which are related to the registry keys that are created, modified, or deleted when you install, uninstall, and reinstall programs on your computer. Over time, your registry can become corrupted and cause problems. Microsoft has developed a RegClean utility to clean up the entries in your registry. It can be accessed at this website: http://support.Microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q147/7/69.asp At the website, you will get a detailed explanation of how to use the utility and what it can and cannot do. If you have any questions, call or e-mail Microsoft tech support. ** When I scroll around the stands or fire on an animal, the extremely movement is stiff, jerky and very slow. Most customers reporting sluggish mouse movement or scrolling have been able to fix the problem by adjusting several display and gameplay options to reduce the amount of memory their system needs to run the game. Follow these steps to optimize your system for Big Game Hunter II: Adjust Display Properties 1. From your desktop, click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Display. 2. In the Display Properties Menu Box, select the Settings tab. 3. In the Palette window, use the arrow to select High Color (16 bit). 4. In the Desktop Area window, slide the bar to the left until it reads 640x480. 5. Click Apply. Your system may need to restart at this point. Adjust Big Game Hunter II Configuration Utility 1. From your desktop, click Start, Programs, Headgames, BGH II Configuration Utility. 2. Under Video Size, select Small. 3. Under Reticle, select Crosshair. 4. Click Apply. Your system will not restart at this point. You may find that once you have optimized your settings, you will be able to adjust some options back to their original settings. However, Big Game Hunter II must always run in High Color (16 bit) palette. If you continue to experience slow playback, you might be able to improve gameplay be adding an additional 16MB of physical memory to your computer. Adding physical memory is fairly inexpensive ($20-$30) and will improve the performance of all your software, not just Big Game Hunter II. All of us at Elsinore have enjoyed working on this game and hope you enjoy playing it.