Tribes 2 Build 25034 Readme File November 1, 2002 *************************************************** About This Document: Thank you for purchasing Tribes 2. This document contains last-minute information about Tribes 2 and other information about the program not found in the Help Files. This README file includes information that pertains to general problems and questions you may have concerning the game or your computer. Should you experience any problems with Tribes 2, please refer to this file for additional help on answering questions about the game and solving technical difficulties. *************************************************** TABLE OF CONTENTS I. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS II. GENERAL TECHNICAL ISSUES III. GENERAL GAME ISSUES IV. CONTACTING SIERRA I. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS ----------------------- Hard Disc Space Required: ~650 Mb Recommended swap space for gameplay: 300 Mb Suggested Specs: 500Mhz CPU 128MB RAM **REQUIRED** Peripherals: 4X CD-ROM drive DirectSound-Compatible Sound Card (DirectInput game controllers are supported) Supported Operating Systems: Win95B Win98 Win2K WinNT Service Pack 4.0 WinME WinXP Supported Video Cards: (ALL Cards must be have at least 12MB VRAM) TNT2 GeForce GeForce2 ATI Rage Series Matrox G400 and G450 Diamond Viper II Permedia 3 Kyro Radeon Series II. GENERAL TECHNICAL ISSUES ---------------------------- 1. WINDOWED MODE DISABLED ON WIN NT FOR ALL 16-BIT CARDS If you are running Windows NT and have a 16-bit card such as a Voodoo 3 in your machine, you will not be able to run TRIBES 2 on windowed mode. Only full screen mode works with this combination. 2. TNT2 DRIVER PROBLEM WHILE TRYING TO ALT-TAB OUT OF FULL SCREEN GAME UNDER WIN NT With a TNT2 on NT, some driver versions (NVIDIA Detonator 3 6.50) crash when you attempt to alt-tab out of a full screen game. This is an internal driver problem not triggered by TRIBES 2 code. It does not occur with the 6.31 drivers, nor with any of the newer NVIDIA cards. However, the NVIDIA Detonator 3 driver Version 6.31 is known to have graphical oddities related to fog; polygons originate at the horizon from the haze layer and obscure the player's view. (This problem seems to be worse on maps featuring water.) If you want the ability to alt-tab out of a full screen game on NT with any of the cards listed below, you may want to revert to the 6.31 drivers (or the TNT-specific drivers for NT). Otherwise, we still recommend the 6.50 drivers for the best visual quality. NVIDIA RIVA TNT NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Pro NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Ultra NVIDIA Vanta NVIDIA Vanta LT NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64 NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64 Pro NVIDIA Aladdin TNT2 3. VIDEO CARD ANTI-ALIASING PROBLEMS: Your video card's anti-aliasing function may create artifacts around GUI items in the shell. If this happens, you may want to disable the 4x/2x full screen anti-aliasing. (To do so, go to Advanced Options off the Display Properties control panel item in Windows). 4. AGP APERTURE: SOME SYSTEMS DELIVER LOWER FRAME RATE UNTIL THIS FEATURE IS CORRECTLY ADJUSTED. Please see the documentation for your video card for instructions on how to correctly set your AGP Aperture. 5. GAMMA SLIDER REQUIRES FREQUENT ADJUSTMENT. In Settings - Graphics, accessed from the Launch Menu, the Gamma Slider does not reset itself. If you change your gamma setting and leave T2, the slider reverts to its default setting. The easier way to fix this is to make adjustments via your Advanced Options for your video card. 6. PRESET DEFAULT CONFIGURATIONS ARE READ ONLY. In Settings - Controls, the international configurations and the WASD configuration are read-only and cannot be written over, though you can make changes and save to a different name, e.g., ALT German Config. 7. WARNING - DO NOT SAVE YOUR LOGIN PASSWORD ON A PUBLICLY ACCESSED SYSTEM! When a TRIBES 2 user toggles on the button to Save Password on the login screen, the program saves the registry entry. That registry entry shows the user's password verbatim, without encryption. Dynamix strongly suggests that a player should not toggle the save if there is public access to the machine on which the player uses TRIBES 2. This situation occurs wherever computers are shared, such as a University computer lab. Even if TRIBES 2 is deleted from that computer, it may be possible for an individual to access the registry and obtain the player's login information and password. 8. VOODOO FOG APPEARANCE: If the fog effect on trees, etc., looks wrong on your Voodoo 3 card, we suggest you try switching from palletized textures (the default) to 16-bit. Since the Voodoo3 is a 16-bit card, the appearance of the textures may improve, but the change to 16-bit may diminish your machine's performance slightly. TROUBLESHOOTING NOTE: For up-to-date online troubleshooting information, go to the following URL: www.tribes2.com. This URL is accessible directly from the game. If you cannot access the game, use your Internet browser to reach the URL. - If the game does not install properly, reboot your machine and try again. - If the game installs properly but does not boot up, make sure you have the latest software drivers for your video card. You can launch the “OpenGL Setup” executable to check your current drivers. TRIBES 2 hardware requirements can be found in the Readme document on the CD. - If the game boots up but the frame rate is slow, first check to see whether you have the most current software drivers for your video card. Then go to SETTINGS and adjust your Video and Graphics settings to improve performance. - If you have low system RAM (less than 96MB), and you are experiencing virtual memory access during the game, you should make sure that a) there are no other applications running in the background while you play Tribes 2, and b) that your Texture Resolution slider (in Graphics Options) is set to its lowest setting. This should resolve the problem. - If you have your AGP aperture set incorrectly, the game will run slowly -- but so will every other 3D game. If this issue is of concern to you, we suggest you consult your machine's manual for guidance on how to adjust your AGP aperture. We have provided a link to some information on AGP aperture settings: http://members.tripod.lycos.nl/Erado/HW_Guide/General/AGP_Aperture.htm. - If your keyboard gets "stuck": The keyboard sometimes gets stuck when you press 3 or more keys at the same time. To fix this, press the 'Esc' key twice. III. GENERAL GAME ISSUES ------------------------ For general help with gameplay, you can consult the Tribes 2 Manual. You can do so via the "Tribes 2 Manual" shortcut located in the Tribes 2 program group on your Start Menu. NOTE: Adobe Acrobat is required to open and view the manual. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your system, you can manually install it by running the "ar505enu.exe" installer program available in the Manual folder on the Tribes 2 CD. 1. ADDED COMMAND SHORTCUT: You can now place reticle on an object and hit voice bind to issue a command, e.g., "Repair our generators!" when your reticle is on a generator will issue a command to the team. 2. FORCEFIELD COLORS SIGNIFY DIFFERENT DEGREES OF ACCESS. - GREEN = Team Slow. The team that owns the force field goes slowly through it but no other team can pass. - ORANGE = All Slow. All teams can pass slowly through this field. (no I'm not color blind) - GRAY = Enemy Pass. All teams can pass except for the one that the field is assigned to. - BLUE = None May Pass. No team can ever pass this one. 3. SENSOR JAMMER PACK REVEALS CLOAKED WARRIORS: When activated, the Sensor Jammer Pack will decloak any cloaked warriors in its field of effect. 4. GRAYED OUT MISSION NAME MEANS MISSION IS UNAVAILABLE: When you choose to host a game, some mission names turn gray if you enable Bots for your server. These missions lack navigation mapping to support Bot AI and are therefore unavailable for "Bot matches." IV. CONTACTING SIERRA ======================= A) Customer Service, Support, and Sales B) Technical Support C) Legal Information A) Customer Service, Support, and Sales ---------------------------------- United States U.S.A. Sales Phone: (800) 757-7707 Hours: Monday-Friday 8AM to 5PM PST International Sales: (310) 649-8008 Hours: Monday-Friday 8AM to 5PM PST Sierra Entertainment 6060 Center Drive 6th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90045 http://www.sierra.com United Kingdom Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing UK Ltd. Main: (0118) 920-9111 Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Fax: (0118) 987-5603 Disk/CD replacements in the U.K. are £6.00, or £7.00 outside the UK. Add "ATTN.: Returns." 2 Beacontree Plaza, Gillette Way, Reading, Berkshire RG2 0BS United Kingdom France Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing France Vente par Correspondance 32, Av de l'Europe Bât Energy 1 (2e étage) 78 941 VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY CEDEX France Téléphone : 01 30 67 90 53 Du lundi au jeudi, de 9h00 à 18h00 Le vendredi, de 9h00 à 17h00 Fax : 01 30 67 90 94 Germany Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing Deutschland GmBH Tel: 018050 / 774353 Montag - Freitag von 8.30 Uhr - 22.00 Uhr sowie Sa. von 9.30 Uhr - 19.00 Uhr Fax: 018050 / 32936 Postfach 1111 55253 Budenheim Deutschland On-Line Sales CompuServe United Kingdom:GO UKSIERRA CompuServe France: GO FRSIERRA Internet USA: http://www.sierra.com Internet United Kingdom: http://www.sierra-online.co.uk Internet France: http://www.sierra.fr Internet Germany: http://www.sierra.de Disk and or Manual Replacement: Product Returns*: Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing International Sierra Warrantee Returns 4247 South Minnewawa Ave. Fresno, CA 93725 Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing International Sierra CD/Doco Replacement 4247 South Minnewawa Ave. Fresno, CA 93725 NOTE: To replace your CD(s) please send only the damaged CD and a copy of your dated receipt, if less then 90 days. After 90 days please include a $10.00 handling fee along with the CD(s). For Documentation replacement, please include a $5.00 handling fee and a photocopy ONLY of either your disk or CD. Payment should be made at the time of your request. Sorry, no credit cards. * Returns to this address valid in North America only. B) TECHNICAL SUPPORT ------------------------- North America Sierra On-Line offers a 24-hour automated technical support line with recorded answers to the most frequently asked technical questions. To access this service, call (310) 649-8033, and follow the recorded instructions to find your specific topic and resolve the issue. If this fails to solve your problem, you may still write, or fax us with your questions, or contact us via our Web site. Sierra Entertainment Technical Support 4247 South Minnewawa Avenue Fresno, CA 93725 Main: (310) 649-8033 Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. PST Fax: (310) 258-0755 http://support.vugames.com United Kingdom Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing UK Ltd. offers a 24-hour Automated Technical Support line with recorded answers to the most frequently asked technical questions. To access this service, call (0118) 920-9111, and follow the recorded instructions to find your specific topic and resolve the issue. If this fails to solve your problem, you may still write, or fax us with your questions, or contact us via the Internet. Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing UK Ltd. 2 Beacontree Plaza, Gillette Way, Reading, Berkshire RG2 0BS United Kingdom Main: (0118) 920-9111 Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Fax: (0118) 987-5603 http://www.sierra-online.co.uk France Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing France Support Technique 32, Av de l'Europe Bât Energy 1 78 941 VELIZY VILLACOUBLAY CDEX France Téléphone : 0 891 670 800 (0,22 euro/mn) Serveur vocal 24H/24 et 7J/7 Techniciens du Lundi au Vendredi de 8H00 à 21H00 Samedi, Dimanche et jours fériés de 10H00 à 18H00 Fax : 01 30 67 90 65 Courrier électronique : support@sierra.fr http://www.sierra.fr Germany Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing Deutschland GmBH Technischer Kundendienst Paul-Ehrlich-Straße 1 D-63225 Langen Deutschland Tel: (0) 6103-99-40-940 Montag bis Freitag von 10 - 19Uhr Fax: (0) 6103-99-40-188 Mailbox: (0) 6103-99-40-35 http://www.sierra.de Spain Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing España C/ Nuestra Señora de Valverde, 23 28034 MADRID España (Spain) Teléfono: 91 735 34 37 Lunes a Viernes de 9:30 a 15:00 y de 16:00 a 18:30 Fax: 91 735 32 34 Soporte@vup-interactive.es www.vup-interactive.es Italy Contattare il vostro distribotore. C) Sierra Warranty & Legal Information ----------------------------------- Sierra's end user license agreement, limited warranty and return policy is set forth in the EULA.txt, found on the CD, and is also available during the install of the product. Copyright (2002 Sierra Entertainment, Inc.)