Red Orb Zone (tm) Client ReadMe Windows 95 Version 1.06 - US March 4, 1998 To help you quickly locate any information you need, here is a list of what is included in this ReadMe, so you can scroll down to the appropriate section. Table of Contents 1. Installation 2. General Recommendations for Use 3. Troubleshooting 4. How to Contact Technical Support 5. Standard Hardware Requirements 6. Copyright Information Note: Before starting WarBreeds for play on Red Orb Zone, you must be connected to your Internet Service Provider. 1. Installation The Red Orb Zone client is installed either during the install process of the game application with which it came or by installing it from the context menu of the CD-ROM of the game. To access the context menu, double click My Computer to view the contents of your computer. Right- click on your CD-ROM drive to open the context menu of the game CD and select Red Orb Zone Client Setup. Follow the onscreen instructions to install the Red Orb Zone client. The Red Orb Zone client requires that you use the Red Orb Zone Access Configuration utility. This gives Red Orb Zone some information about your Internet connection. The utility is run during the Red Orb Zone client setup or by accessing it from the context menu of the Red Orb Entertainment CD-ROM game. To access the context menu, double click My Computer to view the contents of your computer. Right-click on your CD-ROM drive to open the context menu of the game CD and select Red Orb Zone Access Configuration. Follow the onscreen instructions to run the Red Orb Zone Access Configuration utility. 2. General Recommendations for Use Have your connection to the Internet open and active before you try to connect to Red Orb Zone. The Windows 95 Taskbar may remain on the screen if the Always on Top option is selected. Unchecking this option will remove the taskbar and any artifacts from the screen. To uncheck this option, right click the Taskbar, select Properties and de-select Always on Top. Make sure your modem speed and connection information matches your connection to your ISP (Internet Service Provider). For example, if you are using a 28.8Kbps modem, make sure your connection settings are not higher than the 28.8Kbps setting. Other than the game application, please make sure you are not running any other applications in the background, including Power Management software, Screen Savers such as After Dark (tm), or Disk Utilities such as Norton Utilities (R). Check with your computer hardware or software manufacturer for information about properly disabling these utilities. Three products are currently supported on Red Orb Zone: Warbreeds (tm) Take No Prisoners (tm) and Warlords (tm) III: Reign of Heroes (tm). Red Orb Zone is a game matching and chat service. It serves only to connect players in multiplayer games and does not facilitate or enhance multiplayer performance. Ping times are calculated every time a new user joins a game. It is the time it takes the host to ping each respective client. Once you start a multiplayer game through Red Orb Zone, game and player names will be truncated in the host game. When updating the Red Orb Zone client for Take No Prisoners for the first time, you will be required to re-start Red Orb Zone from the Multiplayer menu of Take No Prisoners. The Assassin game type for Take No Prisoners is not available in this version of Red Orb Zone. For Take No Prisoners, Red Orb Zone allows you to begin an internet multiplayer game and have other users join your game in progress. For Take No Prisoners, when the host starts a game from Red Orb Zone with a client ready, it is important that the host maintain a connection to the client. If the host does not, the client may experience technical difficulties. For Take No Prisoners with DirectX 3.0, after hosting or joining a game, players must restart Take No Prisoners and then reconnect to Red Orb Zone. Users with DirectX 5.0a will be able to host and join games without restarting Take No Prisoners. 3. Troubleshooting We have made every effort to ensure that your experience using Red Orb Zone will be simple and trouble free. However, Red Orb Zone relies on the Internet, which is not always reliable. We request that you do as much troubleshooting as possible before contacting Red Orb Entertainment (tm) Technical Support. Q. I have already run the Red Orb Zone Access Configuration utility. However, every time I log on it tells me to run it again. What does this mean? The Red Orb Zone Access Configuration utility tells Red Orb Zone the name, type, and location of your Internet access. If you change your ISP or use different ISPs at different times, run the Red Orb Zone Access Configuration utility prior to launching Red Orb Zone to provide the information to Red Orb Zone. ***** NOTE: If you are unsure what connection to select in the Configure Your Connection dialog, click the help button for more information on the type of connection avaialable. Red Orb Zone supports Microsoft Windows 95 Winsock 1.1 or above. You may not be able to contact Red Orb Zone or play Red Orb Zone games if you are not using the Windows 95 Winsock. Q. Why does it tell me that I need to register before signing on to the service? Red Orb Zone requires that you register electronically using our Electronic Registration program. If you dial into an ISP using a modem, it is preferred that you use the modem option for registration. If you have an active Internet connection, then the Internet registration is preferred. Q. I get an error message telling me that I can't make a connection. Why? If you can make a connection to the World Wide Web, then check our Web site at www.redorb.com/roz. You will find the current status of Red Orb Zone and additional troubleshooting information. If you are having problems making contact with Web sites, it is most likely a problem with your ISP and/or internet connection. Q. The Red Orb Zone client tells me it is "Searching for Server..." but never makes a connection. What do I do? The Red Orb Zone Access Configuration Utility may not recognize your internet connection. It will likely recognize your settings if you launch your Internet connection before you try to launch Red Orb Zone. Q. Why can't I double-click on the RedOrbZn.exe to start the application? Red Orb Zone can only be launched from within the game application. You should not attempt to launch it as a stand- alone application. Q. I try to log on to Red Orb Zone from my LAN connection to the Internet and it doesn't let me. What does this mean? It is likely that your LAN connection to the Internet is routed through a proxy server. At this time we do not support access or game matching through proxy servers. Q. After I start the game, I have problems playing. What do I do? Consult the documentation that came with the game that you are trying to play. It is most likely addressed either in the User's Manual or product ReadMe. Q. When I am in the middle of an upgrade, why does my connection seems to slow down to a standstill? Configuring your modem is very important. Make sure your modem is configured properly, and that you are using the latest drivers. You should check your setting by going to Start\Menu\Settings\ControlPanel\System\DeviceManage r\Modem\Properties\Connection\Advanced\click on Use error control and click on Compress data. In addition, check to make sure your modem driver is the right driver and the latest driver for your modem. You may check with the hardware manufacturer of your modem to get information on the latest drivers for your modem. If you can make a connection to the World Wide Web, then check our Web site at www.redorb.com/roz. The most current version of the Red Orb Zone client will be available for download at this web address. Q. The Red Orb Zone seems to be down and I want to play a multiplayer game. Is there any other way to play Red Orb Entertainment multiplayer games over the Internet? Yes. Red Orb Entertainment also provides Mplayer (tm) software on each of its products that support Red Orb Zone. Mplayer typically supports larger scale games than non-server mediated games like those on Red Orb Zone. If at any time Red Orb Zone becomes completely inaccessible, please try to play using the Mplayer software. 4. How to Contact Technical Support If you have worked through these troubleshooting suggestions and still need assistance, you can contact Red Orb Entertainment Technical Support by using the options listed below. It will be very helpful if you can tell us your computer make and model, and the brand names of both the video card and sound card you are using. If possible, have the computer positioned near your phone and turned on. Please also be prepared to give us a detailed description of what happens when you try to run the program. You can contact us in any of the following ways: Internet - Online support is available through our World Wide Web site at http://www.redorb.com America Online - Use the Keyword: RED ORB to find our Product Support Boards, or address your questions to BBund Tec1 or BBund Tec2 using AOL's electronic mail. Mail - Send your questions to Red Orb Entertainment Technical Correspondence, P.O. Box 6125, Novato, CA 94948-6125. Phone - Call us at (415) 382-4777 from Monday through Friday between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Pacific Time. ..Call 1-900-7REDORB (1-900-773-3672) for Hints and Tips. You must be at least 18 years old or have your parents' permission to call. The hint line costs $0.95 per minute. 5. Standard Hardware Requirements Red Orb Zone is designed to work within the environment of the game application from which you launch it. For hardware requirements of the individual games, please consult the game's documentation. 6. Copyright Information Copyright (c)1997 Red Orb Entertainment. All rights reserved. Red Orb Entertainment, Red Orb Zone, Reign of Heroes, Take No Prisoners and Broderbund are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Broderbund Software, Inc. Red Orb Entertainment is a division of Broderbund Software, Inc. Warlords is a trademark of Strategic Studies Group. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation, Inc. Mplayer and Mpath are trademarks of Mpath Interactive, Inc. All other company and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective manufacturers. We really hope that you enjoy our service. End of ReadMe.