Microsoft KB Archive/155664

Games: Video Troubleshooting

PSS ID Number: Q155664 Article last modified on 05-17-1999

WINDOWS:1.0

WINDOWS

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The information in this article applies to:

 Microsoft Monster Truck Madness, version 1.0 == Microsoft Hellbender for Windows, version 1.0 == 

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The following article discusses ways to troubleshoot video problems you may encounter when running games listed at the top of this article. This information is from the Monster Truck Madness Readme.txt file.

MUST DISPLAY 256 COLORS

Your computer must display at least 256 colors to play the games listed at the top of this article.

To display 256 colors in Windows:

Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Double-click the Display icon.

Click the Settings tab.

Under Color Palette or Colors, click 256 Color.

Click OK.

Close and restart the games listed at the top of this article.

If you don’t have the necessary 256 color driver, or if you aren’t sure that your video card supports 256 colors, contact your video card manufacturer.

DISPLAY PROBLEMS WHILE PLAYING GAMES

If you experience display problems while playing one of the games listed at the top of this article, you may have a problem with your video driver. You can still play the games listed at the top of this article, but may not be able to play in full screen view without a menu bar.

To continue playing, click Graphics on the Options menu, and then clear the Automatic Full Screen check box.

If you continue to experience display problems, contact your video card manufacturer for the latest DirectX 2.0 drivers.

3-D ACCELERATED GRAPHICS

The games listed at the top of this article support 3-D accelerated graphics cards via Direct 3D. However, many of these cards were still in preproduction when our games were released, and therefore, you may experience problems when using these cards. For updated drivers, please contact your hardware manufacturer.

The games listed at the top of this article need DirectX 2.0 technology to run. DirectX is installed on your computer when you install one of the games listed at the top of this article. In some cases, the video driver that DirectX uses may cause problems when it interacts with your old video driver.

If you experience display problems after you install DirectX 2.0, try these troubleshooting steps:

Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Double-click the Display icon.

Click the Settings tab.

Click Change Display Type to display the Advanced Display Properties dialog box.

Click the Adapter tab. If there is no Adapter tab, see the next set of steps.

In the Refresh rate box, change the refresh rate, and then click OK.

If your screen is unreadable and you are unable to follow the preceding steps, try the following troubleshooting steps:

Restart your computer in safe mode. Press F8 when you see the message “Starting Windows 95,” and then choose Safe Mode.

Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Double-click the Display icon.

Click the Settings tab.

Click Change Display Type.

Click Change.

In the Select Device dialog box, select the DirectX-compatible video driver suggested by your video card manufacturer. If you do not have a DirectX-compatible video driver, contact your video card manufacturer for an updated video driver.

Restart your computer to apply the change you have made.

NOTE: If you have a 3-D accelerated video card and you receive an error message saying that your display adapter is missing features when you select the Use Hardware Accelerator check box (Options menu, Graphics command), you need to obtain the latest driver from your hardware manufacturer. To continue playing without an updated driver, clear the Use Hardware Accelerator check box.

GAME MINIMIZES WHEN YOU SELECT USE HARDWARE ACCELERATOR

The games listed at the top of this article automatically disable the Use Hardware Accelerator check box in the Graphics Options dialog box if the games do not detect a video driver with 3-D hardware accelerator support.

Some video drivers incorrectly report that they support hardware acceleration. In this case, the games enable the Use Hardware Acceleration check box. Then, if you select this check box and click OK, the games minimize and display an error message. The warning message does not take focus and so may appear behind another application.

Press ALT+TAB to bring the dialog box to the front of all open windows, or minimize or close your other open applications.

DIRECTX 2.0 AND THE MATROX IMPRESSION VIDEO CARD

DirectX 2.0 does not currently support the Matrox Impression video card. If you play the games (listed at the top of this article) using the Matrox Impression card, you may experience problems. Please contact Matrox for updated drivers for this card.

DIRECTX 2.0 AND MATROX ULTIMA VIDEO CARD

If you are using this video card, the games listed at the top of this article are unable to switch to full screen view. Contact Matrox for updated drivers for this card.

DIRECTX 2.0 AND MATROX MILLENIUM VIDEO CARD

Windows 95 did not ship with a driver for the Matrox Millenium. If after running setup, you do not have the correct DirectX 2.0 video driver for your Millenium card, then you probably did not have a Millenium driver installed on your system. Please contact Matrox, and ask for updated drivers for this card.

If you get an updated driver for your Matrox Millenium card, you should install the new driver and then reinstall Monster Truck Madness.

RENDITION VIDEO DRIVER NOT WORKING

The latest video driver for Rendition was not available at the time the games listed at the top of this article were released. Please contact Rendition for an updated DirectX video driver.

VIDEOS DO NOT PLAY CORRECTLY ON SOME DIRECT3D CARDS

Some Direct3D video cards do not play the opening movies or victory movies correctly. The games listed at the top of this article are unable to switch the video display to full screen view. On the Options menu, click Graphics, and then clear the Automatic Full Screen check box.

FLICKERING AFTER MINIMIZE ON ORCHID FAHRENHEIT 64PRO PCI 4MG

If you are running the games listed at the top of this article on a computer with an Orchid Fahrenheit 64Pro PCI 4mg video card and your Windows resolution is set to 800 x 600 or higher, you may experience screen flickering when you minimize the games. To correct the problem, follow the steps below.

Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Double-click the Display icon.

Click the Settings tab.

Under Desktop Area, drag to select 640 by 480 Pixels.

Click OK.

Restart Windows, and then restart the game.

HANGS ON DIAMOND SPEEDSTAR 64 WHEN 640 X 480 SIMULATION SELECTED

The games listed at the top of this article require a minimum of 1 megabyte (MB) of video memory to run in a simulation resolution of 640 x 480. Your video card may not have sufficient memory.

On the Options menu, click Graphics, and then select a Simulation Resolution of 320 x 400 or 320 x 200.

GRAPHICS DISTORTED IF TEXTURE IS CHANGED

Changing the texture while the Draw screen is displayed distorts graphics in the next race.

When Use Hardware Acceleration is selected, do not change the texture resolution during the middle of a drag race or while the Draw screen is displayed. Doing so distorts the texture and causes the games listed at the top of this article to close.

PALETTE DISTORTION WHEN RESUMING A GAME

Resuming a game while another game is loading causes palette distortion.

If you click Race on one of the race event screens and then press CTRL+R, the Resume Game dialog box appears after the game has loaded but before game play has started. If you select a saved game at this point, and then open it, the palette is severely distorted.

It is strongly recommended that you use the Resume Saved Race command on the Race menu to resume a saved race. If you use the palette-distorting method described in the previous paragraph, press F4 to return to full screen view.

VERTICAL WHITE LINES APPEAR

Vertical white lines appear in both full screen view and movies with the Imagine 128 video card.

If you have set your Windows 95 screen resolution to 640 x 480, and your game simulation resolution to 320 x 400 or 320 x 200, you may experience some vertical white lines across the top of your screen. To correct this problem, set your simulation resolution to 640 x 480 and your Windows 95 screen resolution to greater than 640 x 480.

To change your simulation resolution:

On the Options menu, click Graphics.

In the Simulation Resolution list, click the 640 X 480 resolution option.

To change your Windows 95 screen resolution:

Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Double-click the Display icon.

Click the Settings tab.

Under Desktop Area, drag the slider to select a resolution greater than 640 x 480.

Click OK and follow the instructions on the screen to adjust your display settings and keep the new setting.

DISPLAY STUCK IN 640 X 480, 16 COLORS

After installing one of the games listed at the top of this article, the ATI Graphics Pro Turbo PCI card that uses Mach64 drivers is stuck in 640 x 480 screen resolution, 16 colors.

DirectX is a system component that allows for more efficient hardware access. To run, the games listed at the top of this article require DirectX 2.0 or later. DirectX is installed on your computer when you install one of the games listed at the top of this article.

DirectX 2.0 Setup updates your Windows 95 drivers and your DirectX 1.0 drivers automatically. In some cases, the latest video drivers from your video card manufacturer have additional functionality that is specific to your video card. If these drivers are marked as DirectX 1.0 drivers, DirectX Setup replaces them with a generic DirectX 2.0 driver. In some cases, this may result in a loss of the features that are specific to your video card.

DIRECTX 2.0 AND HERCULES DYNAMITE POWER VIDEO CARD

The games listed at the top of this article may hang your system on a Hercules Dynamite Power video card if you select 640 x 480 in the Graphics Options dialog box and switch to full screen view (press F4). Please contact Hercules for updated drivers for this card.

“UNABLE TO DISPLAY GRAPHIC” ERROR MESSAGE: MONSTER TRUCKS

When attempting to play a Monster Manual (online Help) video, the message “Unable to display graphic” displays.

If you try to play a video in the Monster Manual (online Help), and you see the message, “Unable to display graphic,” try the following:

First, confirm that the Monster Truck Madness compact disc is inserted in the CD-ROM drive. If you chose the Typical or Compact option during setup, you need to have the CD in the drive to play the videos.

If inserting the CD in the drive doesn’t help, run Setup.exe off of the Monster Truck Madness CD. Setup will check and update your settings.

Additional query words: 1.00 Monster Truck Madness improve video performance increase not playing correctly display images hell-bender hell bender

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========================================================= Keywords : kbfaq Version : WINDOWS:1.0 Platform : WINDOWS Issue type : kbinfo ============================================================================= Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1999.