Microsoft NBA Inside Drive 2000 README File July 1999 (c) Copyright 1999 Microsoft Corporation ========================================================= This file contains important information about Microsoft NBA Inside Drive 2000. For game-related help, press F1 or click the question mark in the upper-right corner of any pre-game screen, and then click Contents or Index. To get news and product updates for Microsoft NBA Inside Drive 2000 or other Microsoft games, check out our World Wide Web sites at http://www.microsoft.com/games/ and http://www.microsoft.com/sports/insidedrive/. Complete online and right-click Help is available in NBA Inside Drive 2000. If you want to print all the Help topics that are available in online Help, double-click the Goodies folder on the NBA Inside Drive 2000 CD. Double-click Adobe Acrobat Reader setup.exe. When you've finished installing the Adobe Acrobat Reader, double-click topics.pdf in the Goodies folder. You can view or print all the Help topics from there. ----------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: If you are reading this file in Notepad, click Word Wrap on the Edit menu for the best readability. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================= CONTENTS ========================================================= A. Hardware and System Requirements > Requirements B. Installation > Troubleshooting Microsoft NBA Inside Drive 2000 Setup C. Video Troubleshooting > Software mode and 3D acceleration > Higher-resolution conflicts > Resolving other video-driver conflicts > Unsupported higher screen resolutions > List of video-driver web sites D. Audio Troubleshooting E. Game Play Issues F. Other Issues G. Product Support > When you have a question > Standard support within the United States and Canada > Pay-per-incident support > Product Support Services outside the United States and Canada > Support for the Internet Gaming Zone > Information services > Other services ========================================================= A. Hardware and System Requirements ========================================================= Minimum system requirements ========================================================= To play Microsoft NBA Inside Drive 2000, you need: * Multimedia PC with a Pentium II 166 MHz processor * Microsoft Windows(r) 95 or Windows 98 operating system (NBA Inside Drive 2000 will not work with Windows NT) * 32 MB of RAM * DirectX 6.0-compatible 2 MB local-bus video card and sound card * 90 MB of available hard-disk space (50 MB of additional hard-disk space for virtual memory) * 6X CD-ROM drive * Speakers or headphones required for audio * Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device * 16-bit video system This will give you approximately 10-11 fps. Recommended system requirements ========================================================= All the above, plus: * Pentium II 266 MHz or higher processor * 64 MB of RAM * DirectX 6.0-compatible 4-MB 3D accelerator * 8X CD-ROM drive * Gamepad * 150 MB of available hard-disk space (50 MB of additional hard-disk space for virtual memory) If you set all display options to maximum, but with reflections turned off, this will give you approximately 20-25 fps. Optimal system requirements ========================================================= All the above, plus: * Pentium II 350 MHz or higher processor * DirectX 6.0-compatible 8-MB 3D accelerator * 16X CD-ROM Drive * 325 MB of available hard-disk space (50 MB of additional hard-disk space for virtual memory) If you set all display options to maximum, this will give you approximately 30 fps. ========================================================= B. Installation ========================================================= Troubleshooting Microsoft NBA Inside Drive 2000 Setup ========================================================= The setup program will start automatically if you have auto-insert notificaton turned on. If the setup program does not automatically start, click Start on the Windows taskbar, and then click Run. Type D:\Setup.exe, where D is the letter of your CD-ROM drive, and then click OK. If your computer has Mindspring Internet Service Provider software installed, a program called ARMON32.EXE may be running that can cause problems when NBA Inside Drive 2000 verifies tries to verify that its program CD is available. To temporarily disable ARMON32.EXE and avoid the problem, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to open the Close Program window. Find ARMON32.EXE in the list of running programs, click it, and then click End Task. Then launch NBA Inside Drive 2000. ========================================================= C. Video Troubleshooting ========================================================= Software mode and 3D acceleration ========================================================= When you start Microsoft NBA Inside Drive 2000, it will be in software mode. If you have a 3D accelerator on your graphics card, you'll want to turn 3D acceleration on in NBA Inside Drive 2000 in order to take advantage of it. To play NBA Inside Drive using a 3D accelerated card: 1. On the Start Up screen, click Options. 2. Click the Performance tab. 3. Under 3D Graphics Driver, click anything other than Software, and then click OK. If you have problems running the game with a 3D card, see the section below, "Resolving other video-driver conflicts" to update your drivers to see if this fixes the problem. If the problem persists, or if you click Primary Display Driver and nothing appears under 3D Graphics Device, please run the game in Software mode. If you see the court floor or the crowd warp and change shape, of if you see pieces of any of the graphics missing, this is an unfortunate but natural result of playing the game in Software mode. We suggest you install a good 3D card and play with 3D acceleration turned on. Higher-resolution conflicts ========================================================= NBA Inside Drive 2000 supports two screen resolutions in addition to the standard 640x480 resolution: 800x600 and 1024x768. You'll be able to play the game in these resolutions only if you have a video card installed that supports these two additional resolutions. However, if you set the game to a resolution higher than 640x480 and that resolution is not supported by your card (for whatever reason), the game will be displayed in 640x480. If you go to Options, the Video tab, under Screen Resolution, you may still see a resolution higher than 640x480 selected. Resolving other video-driver conflicts ========================================================= This section is arranged alphabetically by video card or driver. ---2D cards--- Some 2D cards, such at the Matrox Millennium I, may be improperly recognized as 3D cards. If you know you have a 2D card, and you're on the Performance tab of the Options dialog box, don't select Primary Display Driver under 3D Graphics Driver--the game will crash when you try to play it. With 2D cards, you can only play the game in Software mode. ---Multimonitor software--- Don't try to play Microsoft NBA Inside Drive 2000 with your multimonitor software. Just don't. Turn off your multimonitor software: 1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. 2. Double-click Display. 3. Click the Settings tab. 4. At the bottom of the dialog box, uncheck Extend My Windows Desktop Onto This Monitor, and then click OK. ---3Dfx Voodoo II or Riva TNT card--- You might get an increase in performance, particularly in the frame rates, if you turn off anti-aliasing and turn off your sync-to-refresh rate: 1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. 2. Double-click Display. 3. On the 3Dfx tab, click Advanced, and then uncheck anything that looks like "anti-aliasing." 4. Check anything that looks like "disable sync-to-refresh rate." ---Nvidia TNT-based or Riva 128 cards--- Some Nvidia TNT-based cards, such as the Diamond Viper V330 or the STB Velocity 128, may show a problem where black lines appear down the middle of players' faces. The latest Nvidia drivers, ver. 4.11.1.337 or later, may fix the problem. With AGP versions of these cards combined with older drivers, tabbing through the camera views can cause problems when changing from the overhead view to the high slash camera. Updating drivers for these AGP cards can prevent a computer lock up. Certain driver versions used in combination with the Diamond Viper V770 TNT2 card can cause problems during the opening videos. In some cases, updating the drivers will not resolve the problem. Add the command line parameter -NoVideo to your program shortcut to prevent the videos from playing and avoid a lockup. See "Unsupported higher screen resolutions" below for an example of how to use command line parameters. ---ATI Rage Pro-- If you're seeing parts of the court lines disappear, be sure that you don't have the Stadium Detail set to Low: 1. Click Options. 2. On the Performance tab, under Stadium Detail, click Medium. 3. Click OK. You might also see some superimposing of the introduction screens going on when you start NBA Inside Drive 2000. You'll need to get the latest ATI drivers if you want to fix this minor problem. ---ATI Rage Pro 3D driver, version 4.10.1.2266--- You might notice that the basket is flashing while you are playing the game. This problem is fixed if you get the latest driver from ATI. ---ATI Rage Pro 3D driver, version 4.10.2318--- You might not see most game textures. This lack of game textures happens only with THIS driver version. Go get the latest driver from ATI. Their web address is in the section below. ---ATI versions 5.21 or 5.24 drivers--- If you're running Windows 98, certain fonts in the game, especially in larger point sizes, may appear blocky and corrupt. This occurs most frequently with higher color depths, such as 16 bpp, 24 bpp and 32 bpp. To fix this, turn off Windows 98 Font Smoothing: 1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. 2. Double-click Display. 3. Click the Effects tab. 4. Under Visual Effects, clear the Smooth Edges of Screen Fonts check box, and then click OK. If you have the Microsoft Windows 95 PLUS! pack or the Microsoft Font Gray Scaling update in Windows 95, use these steps: 1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. 2. Double-click Display. 3. Click the PLUS! tab. 4. Under Visual Effects, clear the Smooth Edges of Screen Fonts check box, and then click OK. ---Creative Labs Graphics Blaster Exxtreme--- If you see flashing multicolored lights in the black area between and behind the spectators, upgrade your driver to at least version 4.10.1.2111. ---Creative Labs Graphics Blaster 3D--- If you see reflected lights in the game as just white blobs on the floor, change the level of Stadium Detail: 1. Click Options. 2. On the Performance tab, under Stadium Detail, click Medium. 3. Click OK. ---Creative Labs Graphics Blaster RIVA TNT--- If you notice that the player names and/or positions next to the players in the game are not displayed correctly, this problem is fixed with the latest drivers, version 4.10.1.2109. ---Creative Labs Voodoo II & Diamond Stealth II G460--- If you have both these cards on your computer, and you switch between them with your display resolution at 1024x768, you'll see nothing but a black screen when you click Play Game after having switched. This problem is fixed with the latest drivers: Creative Labs Voodoo II, ver. 4.10.1.94; Diamond Stealth II G460, ver. 4.10.1.1346. ---Diamond Monster Fusion--- If you see a corrupt screen when you try to install NBA Inside Drive, first download and install the most recent drivers from Diamond's web site. If you still have a problem, try this: 1. Right-click on the Windows desktop, and then click Properties. 2. Click the Settings tab. 3. Under Colors, select 256 Colors, and then click OK. 4. Restart your computer. If that doesn't work, try this: 1. Right-click on the Windows desktop, and then click Properties. 2. Click the Settings tab. 3. Click Advanced. 4. Click the Performance tab. 5. Under Graphics, drag the Hardware Accleration slider to None or, at the most, about one-third of the way between None and Full, and then click OK until all dialog boxes are closed. 7. Restart your computer. ---Older Diamond Stealth 3D 2000 (S3 Virge) drivers--- If you receive an error message about creating video memory texture surface, the problem doesn't occur with the latest S3 Virge web drivers: ver. 4.03.00.2111-3.12.01, so upgrade your drivers if you have this problem. ---Diamond Stealth 3D 2000--- If the court floor looks corrupt from some angles, with multiple floors drawn on top of each other, or if you are seeing player textures randomly disappearing and the problem is not fixed by installing driver version 4.10.1.69 (you can download it from www.S3.com), run the game in Software mode rather than using Direct3D HAL: 1. Click Options. 2. On the Performance tab, under 3D Graphics Driver, click Software. 3. Click OK. If you task switch (ALT+TAB) or press ESC during the opening video of NBA Inside Drive 2000 and the game crashes, upgrade to the latest driver. ---Older Diamond Stealth S220 drivers--- The game may crash. This problem doesn't occur with the latest S220 driver, version 4.10.1.110. Get the latest Diamond Multimedia System drivers. ---Diamond Stealth II G460--- If the game crashes while you are playing it, upgrade to the latest driver. ---Diamond Viper V330--- If you are using this card with the latest drivers, ver. 4.10.1.130, you may notice that you are not able to select this card on the Options>Video dialog box. This driver does not support 3D rendering. If this is your only 3D display device, you should not download this version from Diamond's web site. All other drivers, however, work for this card. ---Diamond Viper V330, V550--- See above, "Nvidia TNT-based cards." ---Hercules Terminator Beast--- With certain drivers for this card, the backboard may flash. Updating to the latest drivers for this card should fix the problem. ---Hercules Stingray 128/3D Series--- If you are running the game in software mode with 1024x768 resolution, you may notice that there are two mouse pointers on the screen. This problem is fixed with the latest drivers, version 4.10.1.2072. ---Matrox MGA Mystique PowerDesk--- If you notice that the shadow of the basketball is a black circle surrounded by a white square, turn off shadows in the game: 1. Click Options in the upper-right corner of any setup screen. 2. On the Performance tab, under Shadow Type, click None. 3. Click OK. ---Matrox Millennium 3D--- If reflections and shadows don't seem to be displaying correctly, upgrade to the latest driver. If updated drivers don't resolve situations where the reflected arena spotlights are corrupted, you can force the spotlights off by add the command line parameter -nospotlights to your program shortcut and relaunching the game. See "Unsupported higher screen resolutions" below for an example of how to use command line parameters. ---Millennium MGA--- If you see that the reflections of the lights or the players in the game are too strong, here's how to fix that: 1. Click Options in the upper-right corner of any setup screen. 2. On the Performance tab, under Display, click Reflections to Off. 3. Click OK. ---Permedia PCI--- If you see that the reflections of the lights or the players in the game are too strong, here's how to fix that: 1. Click Options in the upper-right corner of any setup screen. 2. On the Performance tab, under Display, click Reflections to Off. 3. Click OK. ---Rage Pro Turbo--- Some software configurations in Hewlett Packard computers with Rage Pro Turbo display adapters running Windows 95 or 98 may prevent NBA Inside Drive 2000 from running. This might be caused by one of the custom add-on software packages that Hewlett Packard includes to enhance the functionality of these computers. When Windows 95 or 98 is freshly installed on these same computers, the problem is resolved. Contact your original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for support if you want to reinstall Windows. ---Rendition Verite 1000--- If you're seeing the crowd textures surrounded by white, or white squares under players instead of shadows, driver version 4.10.0.1555 fixes this problem. If you are seeing problems with the arena lights being displayed improperly, try installing the latest drivers. If that doesn't work, try this: 1. Click Options in the upper-right corner of any setup screen. 2. On the Performance tab, under Display, click Reflections to Off. 3. Click OK. If that doesn't work, try this: * On the Performance tab, under Stadium Detail, choose Medium or High. --Revolution IV HawkEye-- If you find that the crowd textures are switching between low and high resolution, try setting you stadium detail level to low: 1. Click Options in the upper-right corner of any setup screen. 2. On the Performance tab, under Stadium Detail, click Low. 3. Click OK. ---STB Velocity 3D--- If you find that the court textures look flattened and stretched, this problem is fixed with the new driver, version 4.3.0.2111. The introduction videos may cause problems with this card and older drivers. In some cases, updating the drivers will not resolve the problem. Add the command line parameter -NoVideo to your program shortcut to prevent the videos from playing and avoid a lockup. See "Unsupported higher screen resolutions" below for an example of how to use command line parameters. ---STB Velocity 128--- See above, "Nvidia TNT-based cards." ---STB Velocity 4400--- If you task switch (ALT+TAB) out of the game during gameplay, and then task switch back to the game, you may see that the court floor is slightly corrupted (you may see small, random textures that look like bits of a basketball). This problem is fixed if you install the latest drivers. To temporarily fix this problem, task switch out of the game, and then task switch back to the game. ---Verite--- If you see that the reflections of the lights or the players in the game are too strong, here's how to fix that: 1. Click Options in the upper-right corner of any setup screen. 2. On the Performance tab, under Display, click Reflections to Off. 3. Click OK. ---Virge Gx2--- If you see that the reflections of the lights or the players in the game are too strong, here's how to fix that: 1. Click Options in the upper-right corner of any setup screen. 2. On the Performance tab, under Display, click Reflections to Off. 3. Click OK. ---Voodoo2 cards--- On some Voodoo2-based cards, with reflections turned On, the basket reflection on the Charlotte Hornets court may flash strangely in some camera views when a shot is missed. If you see this problem, either turn off reflections or try another camera view. 1. Click Options in the upper-right corner of any setup screen. 2. On the Performance tab, under Display, click Reflections to Off. -or- On the Camera tab, under Camera Settings, choose a different camera. 3. Click OK. Unsupported higher screen resolutions ========================================================= NBA Inside Drive 2000 is capable of running in resolutions higher than 1024x768 on certain video cards. Although this feature isn’t supported by Microsoft Product Support for NBA Inside Drive 2000, you can try to force the higher resolution by creating a special shortcut to the program. Don't attempt this for video cards with less than 16MB of onboard RAM or cards that are known to not support 16-bit color at the resolution you want. How to create the shortcut for a higher resolution: 1. Navigate to the Release folder where NBA Inside Drive 2000 was installed. 2. Right-click NBA2000.EXE, and then click Create Shortcut. 3. Right click on the shortcut, and then click Properties. 4. In the Target text box, at the end of the text, press SPACEBAR, and then type: -xres 1280 -yres 1024 Here's an example of how the Target line should look: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\NBA Inside Drive 2000\Release\NBA2000.exe" -xres 1280 -yres 1024 5. Click OK, and then start NBA Inside Drive 2000 using this modified shortcut. Alternatively, you can use an xres value of 1600 (horizontal resolution in pixels) and a yres value of 1200 (vertical resolution in pixels). To return to normal operation, start NBA Inside Drive 2000 using one of the original program shortcuts, click Options on the Startup screen, click the Video tab and, under Screen Resolution, choose either 640x480, 800x600, or 1024x768. If you have problems, do not call Microsoft Product Support. Resolutions higher than 1024x768 are not a supported feature. If you cannot force NBA Inside Drive 2000 to a higher resolution, play the game with one of the supported resolutions. List of video-driver web sites ========================================================= To get the latest information about video drivers and NBA Inside Drive 2000, as well as being able to download the most recent video drivers, visit our web site at http://www.microsoft.com/sports/insidedrive/ You should go to your video-card manufacturer's web site to get the latest drivers for you video card. ATI - http://www.atitech.com/ Canopus - http://www.canopuscorp.com Creative Labs - http://www.creaf.com Diamond - http://www.diamondmm.com/ Hercules - http://www.hercules.com Matrox - http://www.matrox.com/ Number Nine - http://www.nnine.com STB - http://www.stb.com/ You may also be able to find drivers from these chipset manufacturers: 3Dfx - http://www.3dfx.com/ 3D Labs - http://www.3dlabs.com/ Cirrus Logic - http://www.cirrus.com/ Intel - http://www.intel.com NEC - http://www.nec.com/ Neomagic - http://www.neomagic.com/ nVidia - http://www.nvidia.com/ Rendition - http://www.rendition.com/ S3 - http://www.s3.com/ Trident - http://www.trid.com/ Video Logic - http://www.videologic.com/ ========================================================= D. Audio Troubleshooting ========================================================= ---No sound with opening video--- If you don't hear the sound track during the opening video, you might not have Windows Audio Compression turned on: 1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. 2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs. 3. Click the Windows Setup tab. 4. Under Components, select Multimedia (don't uncheck the box), and then click Details. 5. Under Components, check the Audio Compression box, and then click OK. 6. In the Add/Remove Program Properties dialog box, click OK. ---Loss of commentary--- Should you experience a loss of commentary during the game, there is a method for restoring it. 1. Pause the game. 2. In the upper-right corner, click Options, and then click the Sound tab. 3. Drag the commentary volume slider all the way to the left, and then click OK. 4. Resume the game, and then pause it immediately. 5. Repeat step 2. 6. Drag the commentary volume slider to where you want it. 7. Resume the game. You should now be able to hear the commentary. ========================================================= E. Game Play Issues ========================================================= ---Don't use the PAUSE BREAK key--- If you use the keyboard as your user controller, and you're customizing controller assignments, don't use the PAUSE BREAK key; it will crash the game. ---Consistent statistics--- In order to keep the statistics in simulated games consistent, statistics calculated are based on 12-minute quarters. Although you can change the length of the quarters anywhere from one to twelve minutes, all statistics in simulated games are based on 12-minute quarters. So if you simulate games in a season with, for example, five-minute quarters, and then check the statistics on your players, don't be surprised if you see some players playing more than 20 minutes in a game. ========================================================= F. Other Issues ========================================================= ---Task switching--- We don't recommend task switching (ALT+TAB) away from NBA Inside Drive 2000, particularly when you have Online Help displayed. If you do happen to press ALT+TAB, and see that the mouse pointer is frozen, try these steps: 1. With your mouse, left click on the screen. 2. Press ALT+TAB. NBA Inside Drive 2000 will minimize to the taskbar. 3. Click the NBA Inside Drive 2000 icon on the taskbar to restore the game. ---Loss of mouse pointer or two mouse pointers--- There are certain cases when a mouse cursor can be lost or two cursors can be made to appear in the game. To resolve this, ALT+TAB out of the game and back again. It is recommended that you don't do this when online Help is displayed. ---Changing desktop display settings while the game is running--- Don't try to change or confirm desktop display settings with the Windows control applet while NBA Inside Drive 2000 is running. If you need to make changes to desktop settings, exit the game first. ---Mouse clicking as game is launching--- If you click a mouse button after you've launched NBA Inside Drive 2000, the mouse pointer will be frozen when the Start Up screen is displayed. The solution here is to not click the mouse button anywhere until NBA Inside Drive 2000 fully launches and is at the Start Up screen. ---Taking the CD out of the computer while playing the game--- Don't do this. You will run into all sorts of problems. Make sure the Microsoft NBA Inside Drive 2000 CD is in the CD tray, and the CD tray is closed, while you are playing the game. ---Non-U.S. keyboard layouts--- The keyboard controls for NBA Inside Drive 2000 are based on the U.S. keyboard. Go to www.kinesis-ergo.com/us-intl.html for a good graphic of a U.S. keyboard. Or, if you don't have Internet access, here is the layout of a U.S. keyboard: ` 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - = BACKSPACE TAB Q W E R T Y U I O P [ ] \ CAPS A S D F G H J K L ; ' ENTER SHIFT Z X C V B N M , . / SHIFT CTRL ALT SPACEBAR ALT CTRL ========================================================= G. Product Support ========================================================= See Support.txt in the root of the NBA Inside Drive 2000 folder for complete product-support information.