Microsoft KB Archive/194659

Pinball Arcade: Contents of the Readme.doc File

PSS ID Number: Q194659 Article last modified on 05-20-1999

WINDOWS:1.0

WINDOWS

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The information in this article applies to:

 == Microsoft Pinball Arcade, version 1.0 == 

= SUMMARY =

This article contains a copy of the contents of the Microsoft Pinball Arcade Readme.doc file, which is located in the root folder of the Microsoft Pinball Arcade CD-ROM and in the Pinball Arcade folder on your hard disk

= MORE INFORMATION =

Microsoft (c) Pinball Arcade Readme September 1998 (c) & (p) Microsoft Corporation 1998. All rights reserved.

Welcome to Microsoft Pinball Arcade!

This file contains late-breaking information not included in the jewel case leaflet or online Help.

Contents

 Hardware and System Requirements Getting Help Audio Troubleshooting Video Troubleshooting Performance Troubleshooting Other Troubleshooting</li> Online Gaming</li></ol>

A. Hardware and System Requirements

To play Microsoft Pinball Arcade you need:

Multimedia PC with a Pentium 90 MHz or higher processor Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows 98 operating system or later; or Windows NT Workstation operating system version 4.0 or later with Service Pack 3 16 MB of RAM for Windows 95 or Windows 98; or 24 MB of RAM for Windows NT 15 MB hard disk space required for minimum installation; additional 20 MB required for installation process. Swap file must be a minimum of 30 MB Microsoft DirectX[ASCII 174] 6.0-compatible sound card Microsoft DirectX 6.0-compatible 1 MB PCI video card capable of at least a 640 x 480 256 color display Double-speed CD-ROM drive Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device Microsoft DirectX 6.0-compatible joystick or game pad (optional)

B. Getting Help

Complete information about Microsoft Pinball Arcade is in Help. To display Help, on the main menu, click Help. You can also press F1 at anytime when Microsoft Pinball Arcade is running.

C. Audio Troubleshooting

Though audio problems can arise from a variety of circumstances, old audio drivers are usually the cause.

To find out what brand of sound card you have:

Right-click the My Computer icon, and then click Properties.

Click the Device Manager tab.

Double-click Sound, video and game controllers.

The name of your sound card will appear below Sound, video and game controllers.

To get the latest drivers, contact your audio adapter manufacturer.

D. Video Troubleshooting

Though video problems can arise from a variety of circumstances, old video drivers are usually the cause.

To find out what brand of video card you have:

Right-click the My Computer icon, and then click Properties.

Click the Device Manager tab.

Double-click Display adapters.

The name of your video card will appear below Display adapters.

Animated Cursors Animated cursors may cause black areas to appear on the screen behind the cursor. To fix this problem, disable animated cursors.

To disable animated cursors:


 * 1) Click Start.
 * 2) Point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
 * 3) Double-click the Mouse icon.
 * 4) Click the Pointers tab.
 * 5) In the Scheme list box, click None.

Stiletto Task Bar The Stiletto Task Bar may cause your task bar to flash during your game. Contact the Stiletto Task Bar software company for a solution to this problem.

HP Pavilion Keyboard The HP Pavilion keyboard may cause your taskbar to flicker on top of your game when you adjust the sound with the volume knob on the keyboard. To fix this problem, press the spacebar.

Cirrus Logic CL-GD5440 Video Adapters The Cirrus Logic CL-GD5440 video adapters may cause poor performance and/or flashing graphics. To fix this problem, set Graphic Detail to Low and contact your video adapter manufacturer for the latest drivers.

To set Graphic Detail to Low:


 * 1) On the main menu, click Options.
 * 2) Under Graphic Detail, click Low.

Hercules Stingray 128/3D Video Adapters The Hercules Stingray 128/3D video adapter may cause you machine to hang when you return from a game to the main menu. To fix this problem, contact your video adapter manufacturer for an updated driver package. You must run the setup.exe program in the driver package so that you update both the drivers and the display software.

Rendition Video Adapters Rendition video adapters may cause your graphics to blink and to appear dark. Also, you may not be able to use the high graphic setting. To fix this problem, contact your video adapter manufacturer for the latest drivers.

Matrox Millennium II Video Adapters The Matrox Millennium II video adaptor with version 3.6 drivers may not allow you to launch a pinball game. To fix this problem, contact your video adapter manufacturer for the latest drivers.

ATI 3D Rage Pro Video Adapters ATI 3D Rage Pro video adapters may cause your game graphics to deteriorate after you press ALT + TAB to switch from another application to Microsoft Pinball Arcade. These adapters may also cause horizontal lines to appear on your screen, obscuring the game. To fix these problems, contact your video adapter manufacturer for the latest drivers.

E. Performance Troubleshooting

Though performance problems can arise from a variety of circumstances, old sound, video, or game controller drivers are usually the cause.

To find out what brand of drivers you have:

Right-click the My Computer icon, and then click Properties.

Click the Device Manager tab.

Double-click the type of device you want to know about. For example, double-click Sound, video and game controllers.

The name of your device will appear below the device type. For example, Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro may appear under Sound, video and game controllers.

Laptops and Older Processors Older processors may cause your game to run very slowly, and in some cases may not allow you to start a pinball game. To fix this problem, switch to a lower screen resolution and then try again.

To switch to a lower resolution:


 * 1) On the main menu, click Options.
 * 2) Under Graphic Detail, click a lower screen resolution.

Low Disk Space A full hard drive may cause the video to pause intermittently during a game. To fix this problem, increase the amount of hard-drive space available to the swap file by clearing at least 40MB on your hard drive.

Sidewinder Game Device Software V2.0 and V3.0 The Sidewinder Game Device Software may cause your game to pause and slow down if you unplug you Microsoft Game Controller while your computer is running. To fix this problem, display the game controller name in the Control Panel.

To display the game controller name in the Control Panel:


 * 1) Click Start.
 * 2) Point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
 * 3) Double-click Game Controllers.
 * 4) Click OK.

Cirrus Logic CL-GD5440 Video Adapters The Cirrus Logic CL-GD5440 video adapters may cause poor performance and/or flashing graphics. To fix this problem, set Graphic Detail to Low and contact your video adapter manufacturer for the latest drivers.

To set Graphic Detail to Low:


 * 1) On the main menu, click Options.
 * 2) Under Graphic Detail, click Low.

Matrox Millennium Video Adapter The Matrox Millennium Video Adapter may cause your desktop to default to the wrong screen resolution. Also, it may prevent you from closing some dialog boxes. To fix these problems, contact the video adapter manufacturer for the latest drivers.

Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro Joystick The Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro Joystick may cause your game to slow down when your are playing on Windows NT 4.0. To fix this problem, contact Microsoft for the latest NT4 Service Pack.

F. Other Troubleshooting

Microsoft NT version 4.0 Microsoft NT version 4.0 may not allow you to enter your name in the Spirit of 76 High Scores dialog box while music is enabled. To fix this problem, before you start a new game of Spirit of 76, click Options on the main menu, and then clear the Music check box.

Cropped Text If you are unable to see all of the text in the pop-ups in your Help file, display Help from the main menu instead of from within the game.

Custom System Colors Custom system colors may cause the text in the Help file to be unreadable. To fix this problem, change the default system color of your text.

To change the default system color of your text:


 * 1) Right-click the desktop.
 * 2) Click Properties.
 * 3) Click the Appearance tab.
 * 4) Under Scheme, click Windows Standard.
 * 5) Click Apply.

Sticky Keys Enabling sticky keys may cause your computer to display an alert message after you repeatedly press the SHIFT key. To fix this problem, change your game controls so that you don’t need the SHIFT key to play the game, or disable sticky keys.

To find out how to change your game controls, see the Controls topic in the Settings section of Help.

To disable sticky keys:


 * 1) Click Start.
 * 2) Point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
 * 3) Double-click the Accessibility Options icon.
 * 4) On the Keyboard tab, clear the Use StickyKeys check box.

Laptops and Older Processors Older processors may not allow you to start a pinball game. To fix this problem, switch to a lower screen resolution and then try again.

To switch to a lower resolution:


 * 1) On the main menu, click Options.
 * 2) Under Graphic Detail, click a lower screen resolution.

Slick Chick Free Games The Free Games information in the Slick Chick Tips topic is incorrect. You win a free game for the following scores: 1100, 1300, 1500, 1700 (not 1000, 1200, 1300, or 1400).

G. Online Gaming

WELCOME TO THE BEST IN ONLINE GAMING!

The Microsoft Pinball Arcade CD includes FREE software for installing the Internet Gaming Zone.

To install the Internet Gaming Zone

In Explorer, click your CD drive.

Double-click Setup.exe.

Click Game Previews.

Click the Internet Gaming Zone graphic.

Click Install Software.

Check out the Internet Gaming Zone, and play games online against friends from around the world! We feature the best in FREE multiplayer card and board games, like Spades and Backgammon, and matchmaking support for popular retail CD-ROM titles. Build a great army from a lowly tribe in the award-winning Age of Empires. Race a motorcycle across desert dunes in Motocross Madness. Or dogfight other WWII pilots in the spectacular Fighter Ace. With thousands of members online at any time of day, you’ll always find a worthy opponent on the Zone!

Additional query words: 1.00 msgame readme 1.0 pb pba readme.txt readme.rtf

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========================================================= Keywords : kbreadme kbimu msgame Version : WINDOWS:1.0 Platform : WINDOWS Issue type : kbinfo ============================================================================= Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1999.