Red Storm Entertainment Covert Operations Essentials README July 2000 This document contains information specific to Covert Operations that is not included in the manual or in the Troubleshooting Document. Please refer to the manual, the Troubleshooting Document, and this readme file for helpful information on Covert Operations. Table of Contents 1. General Notes and Troubleshooting 1.1 Installation Notes 1.2 Covert Operations Essentials and Laptop computers. 1.3 Multi-Tasking (Alt-Tab) 1.4 Windows 2000 1.5 Miscellaneous tips for making the game run faster 1.6 DirectX Help 1.7 Updating Drivers 2.Multiplayer Notes and Troubleshooting 2.1 Supported Network Protocols 2.2 Miscellaneous tips for the best Multiplayer gaming experience 2.3 MOD Issues 3.Video Card Notes and Troubleshooting 3.1 General video card troubleshooting 3.2 List of video cards with known issues 4.Audio Notes and Troubleshooting 4.1 General sound card troubleshooting 4.2 If you have more than one sound card installed on your computer 5.Technical Support ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. General Notes and Troubleshooting 1.1. Installation notes You must install Covert Operations Essentials into a valid folder on any of your hard drives. You can only install the game to a C:\, D:\, or any other hard drive by first creating a folder or directory to install the games into. You must create a folder (i.e. C:\Rogue Spear\ or D:\Red Storm Entertainment\) instead of installing directly to C:\ or D:\ without creating a folder. 1.2. Covert Operations Essentials with Laptop computers. Covert Operations Essentials was neither developed nor tested for laptop computers. The reason for this is that most video and sound card companies sacrifice DirectX compliance for miniaturization and portability. As such, these manufacturers do not offer drivers that are optimized for Direct3D gaming, which means that ultimately; you may have limited success in running the game properly. Red Storm Technical Support cannot provide support or optimization help with running Covert Ops on laptop systems. If you own a laptop computer that meets all minimum requirements for this game, please make sure that all of your system components - video card, sound card, cd-rom drive, display, etc - are using the most recent drivers. If a company other than your laptop manufacturer makes your sound and video cards, be sure to download the latest drivers from the card's manufacturer for best results. Once your system is updated, use the game's options screen to lower all settings in the sound and video options. Refer to the manual for more information on which settings to turn down or off. If you continue to experience problems, refer to the Troubleshooting Document for more help. 1.3. Multi-Tasking (Alt-Tab) Covert Operations Essentials does not support multitasking (pressing ALT+TAB). This should not be an issue, as there should not be any open programs running in the background while playing Covert Operations Essentials. For best results, please make sure all open programs are closed before starting Covert Operations Essentials -- this includes any programs running in the System Tray beside the clock on the Windows 9x task bar. If you need to return to Windows while in the game, we recommend that you exit by pressing the ESC key, then selecting Exit from the preceding menu to get back to Windows quickly. 1.4. Windows NT / 2000 Covert Operations Essentials was not developed or tested on Windows NT 4.0 / 2000 Professional. Covert Operations Essentials may or may not run on Windows 2000 Professional. We designed the game to run on Windows 98 or Windows 95 ONLY. Since Windows 2000 Professional is mainly a business operating system, and since many sound card, video card, and other system drivers have yet to be created and optimized for Windows 2000, Using Covert Operations Essentials with Windows 2000 is at your own risk. 1.5. Miscellaneous tips for making the game run faster. There are certain things you can cut off in the game to allow for faster game play. From the main menu, click on the Options Menu. From there you can manipulate the Sound, Graphics, and Advanced options in a trial and error fashion to customize the game's detail and graphics levels for best performance on your machine. For Example, a Pentium II 300 with no 3D acceleration just meets the minimum requirements to run the game. With this setup, start the game and go into the options screen immediately. · Turn the detail level down to low · Turn off Fog, and weather effects in the Advanced Options menu · Turn your resolution down to 320X240 · In the game, reduce your cinema size by pressing the minus key several times · With custom missions, please limit the number of terrorists 1.6. DirectX Help If you are having trouble installing and/or playing Covert Operations Essentials, make sure you have DirectX version 6.1 or higher installed on your computer. You can install DirectX from the Covert Operations Essentials CD by going to the DirectX folder and running DXsetup. The directory path for DX setup is D:\Directx7\dxsetup.exe (assuming your CD-Rom drive is D). You can also get the latest version from Microsoft (www.microsoft.com/directx). These webpages can also provide support with common DirectX problems. For more help with DirectX or driver issues, read the Troubleshooting Document section on DirectX. 1.7 Updating Drivers IMPORTANT: The first step in troubleshooting ANY problem you are experiencing with Rogue Spear: Covert Operations Essentials is to update all drivers for all components in your PC. Most issues reported with Red Storm Entertainment games are related to outdated or incorrectly loaded Drivers. If you are not sure which components are in your system, please read through the "Know Your System" section of the Troubleshooting Document. Please visit your sound, video, and 3D card manufacturer's websites for the most recently available drivers. Once you have downloaded and installed these drivers according to the manufacturer's suggestions, download and install DirectX from http://www.microsoft.com/directx. For more help with this, Visit http://www.redstorm.com/support to search the Red Storm Solution Database for "Updating Drivers" for links to many of the major hardware manufacturer's web sites. 2. Multiplayer Notes and Troubleshooting 2.1. Supported Network Protocols Covert Operation Essentials supports network play over a properly configured TCP/IP network ONLY. Please refer to the Troubleshooting Document for help with setting up such a network. To actually start a Multiplayer game, please refer to the Multiplayer section of the manual. 2.2. Miscellaneous tips for the best Multiplayer gaming experience -Make sure the host is the fastest computer participating in the game. If the server is bogged down, it will distinctly affect the gameplay for all players. -More memory improves performance. More than 64MB of RAM in the server improves Multiplayer performance and stability for all players. -The more players in the game, the more bandwidth is required. -For small two player games, you may experience better performance with a 28.8k modem connection than with a 56k modem connection. 2.3. MOD Issues NOTE: Red Storm Entertainment can only provide support for the software we create. For this reason, we will not be able to provide support for third-party Modifications. Please do not contact Technical Support for issues relating to these Modifications. The first step with troubleshooting MOD related problems is to ensure you have installed the MOD correctly. Check the Covert Operations Essentials manual and the site where you downloaded the MOD for proper installation. You may need to remove the MOD and ensure Covert Operations Essentials runs correctly without the mod. If you continue to experience problems with Covert Operations Essentials after removing the MOD, Try uninstalling the game completely and reinstalling Covert Operations Essentials without adding the MOD. A few notes on using MODS: - To fully return the Mods settings to the default state after joining a server, you need to return to the main menu. If you do not return to the main menu, you will enter a new game with the previous MOD settings. 3. Video Card Notes and Troubleshooting 3.1 General video card troubleshooting If you experience Video problems while you are playing Covert Operations Essentials, contact your video card's hardware manufacturer for the latest certified DirectX 6.1 or higher drivers for your video card. Most manufacturers maintain web sites that offer updated drivers and troubleshooting advice for their products. Visit http://www.redstorm.com/support to search the Red Storm Solution Database for "Updating Drivers" for links to many of the major video card manufacturer's web sites. If you have more than one video card installed on your computer: Use the Configure Covert Operations Essentials option from the Autorun menu that pops up when you put the CD in the drive to designate which video card you wish Covert Operations Essentials to use. To turn on Software Rendering 1.From the main menu in the game click on "options" menu 2.Make sure the "Force Software" option is selected (you should see a check mark). 3.Restart Covert Operations Essentials Or Use the Configure Covert Operations Essentials option from the Autorun menu that pops up when you put the CD to choose software rendering. 3.2. List of video cards with known issues If you are using any of the video cards listed below, you may experience problems Covert Operations Essentials. Known workarounds, when available, are included below. Video cards with known issues when running Covert Operations Essentials: · Nvidia Riva 128 based cards Riva 128 users may need to hit V to extrude the plan map, and then hit V again to unextrude it, due to a performance slowdown on the plan map screen of the planning phase. · Nvidia Riva TNT based cards (TNT, TNT2) The latest Nvidia reference drivers for TNT and TNT2 disable fog in our game. The only known workaround is to revert to previous versions of Nvidia's drivers. · The Voodoo 3 and Productiva G100 Cards based on these chipsets will not run the game in software mode. · Permedia 2 You may experience a brief flash of pink around the title when the game first starts. If you are not seeing appropriately sized text in the menus, you will need to get the latest reference drivers from 3D Labs. · Rage II cards You may have the windows cursor appear over the reticle in the game. · S3 Virge / SIS / Trident These cards are NOT supported cards for the game. If your system has either of these cards in your system, you will need to run the game using the force software option turned on. These cards may work with the latest DirectX 6.1 or higher drivers installed, but have been found to be very problematic with DirectX 6.x based games, such as Rogue Spear and Covert Operations Essentials. These cards are simply not powerful enough to run either game properly in 3D mode. The best solution for problems with these cards is to upgrade to one of the supported 3D cards listed visiting the Covert Operations Essentials site at www.redstorm.com. 4. Audio Notes and Troubleshooting 4.1. General sound card troubleshooting If you experience Sound related problems while you are playing Covert Operations Essentials, contact your sound card's hardware manufacturer for the latest DirectX 6.1 or higher certified drivers for your sound card. Many manufacturers maintain web sites that offer updated drivers and troubleshooting advice for their products. Visit http://www.redstorm.com/support to search the Red Storm Solution Database for "Updating Drivers" for links to many of the major sound card manufacturer's web sites. 4.2. If you have more than one sound card installed on your computer: Use the Configure Covert Operations Essentials option from the Autorun menu that pops up when you put the CD in the drive to designate which sound card you wish Covert Operations Essentials to use. 5. UBI SOFT UK TECHNICAL SUPPORT On-line Support Options Ubi Soft offers several on-line support options for their software products. One of these is our website at: http://www.ubisoft.co.uk/support/ If you have a specific problem that is not addressed on our site, you can send your question to us via e-mail at: techsupport@ubisoft.co.uk Please be as specific as you can be about the problem you are experiencing. Also include in the body of your e-mail: the name of the manufacturer of your computer system; the brand and speed of the processor; how much RAM you have, the version number of Windows you are using (if you aren't sure, right-click on the My Computer icon on your desktop and select 'Properties'), and the manufacturer name and model number of your video card, modem, and sound card. Other Support Options You can also contact Ubi Soft Customer Support by phone and fax. When you call, please have all of the above mentioned information ready. Phone: 020 - 8944 9000 Fax: 020 - 8944 9300 Hours: Monday through Friday 9.30am - 5.30pm GMT Mailing Address: Ubi Soft Entertainment Ltd. Vantage House, 1 Weir Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 8UX, UK