March 20, 1997 **** Front Page Sports: Golf DEMO **** ------------------------ORDERING INFORMATION------------------ Please call Sierra On-line sales support at 1-800-757-7707. ----------------------------INTRODUCTION---------------------- In this Demo, you are taken to the 6th, 7th, and 8th holes of the Pete Dye Golf Club, located in the hills of North Central West Virginia. Completed in 1993 by esteemed golf architect Pete Dye, this course promises to be recognized as one of the great golf courses of the world, with its unique terrain, located on top of the great Appalachian coal beds. Pete Dye himself refers to it as "18 of the most exciting and memorable holes that I have ever built on one course." FEATURES AND ENHANCEMENTS AVAILABLE IN THE FULL VERSION: Remote Play: FPS: Golf will provide LAN, Modem, and Serial connection capabilities via DirectPlay. Large multiplayer tournaments will be possible using the IPX and TCP LAN options, along with the traditional head-to-head modem and serial connections. Internet play will be provided via Sierra's free Internet gaming system, SIGS, which currently supports up to 8 players per game. Sound: The full set of golfer comments, ambient background sounds, etc. will be available in the full version of Front Page Sports: Golf. Save Shot: The full version will allow you to save those spectacular shots (that your friends would never believe you made otherwise) using the Save Shot feature, which allows you to play back your saved shots from 4 different camera angles. Golfer Clothing: How about plaid pants and the lime green shirt your mother made you wear to the reunion that summer? How about pants so yellow that you get lightheaded when you look at your shoes? More than double the player options available in the demo version will be found in the full version. Improved Rendering: Expect to find some improvements to the realism of the courses with some new rendering enhancements such as a true-to-life haze effect. Improved Playability: Also expect to find improvements to the responsiveness of the player to your mouse movements and improved playability in general for that "day on the course" experience that that you just can't get anywhere but Front Page Sports: Golf. ------------------------SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS------------------- MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR RELEASE VERSION: *Pentium(tm) 60 processor *16Mb RAM *Windows 95 (256 Color) *Mouse or other pointing device *2x CD-ROM drive RECOMMENDED SYSTEM FOR DEMO VERSION: *Pentium(tm) 90 processor *16Mb RAM *Windows 95 (High Color) DISPLAY Only the High Color course graphics have been included with this Demo version. 256-color course graphics will be available with the release version. To run this Demo version, your system must have its Color Palette set to at least High Color. If your system is set to 256 Color, you will receive an error message when you attempt to run the game. To change the Color Palette for your system, go to the Display Properties dialog, and on the Settings tab sheet, change the Color Palette field to "High Color (16 bit)". An easy way to access the Display Properties dialog is to right-click on the Desktop and select Properties from the menu. You can also access it from the Control Panel (from the Start menu on the Taskbar, select Settings, and then Control Panel; from the Control Panel window, double-click on the Display item; from the Display Properties dialog, select the Settings tab; change the Color Palette option to "High Color (16 bit)". Note: Some display drivers will modify the options on the Display Properties dialog; they may have their own specific Settings tab. It should be apparent which tab contains the Color Palette option, however.) WINDOWS NT Front Page Sports: Golf requires DirectX 3 to install and run correctly and give optimum performance. Until Windows NT 4.0 fully supports DirectX 3 (with the Service Pack 3 release), Front Page Sports: Golf will not install properly or run under Windows NT. ---------------------------INSTALLATION---------------------------- DIRECTX DirectX 3 must be installed on your computer for FPS: Golf to run correctly. If Setup warned you to install DirectX, you can download the correct version from our web page. The URL (web page address) is listed below. http://www.sierra.com/archive/demos/ The file you want from this demo page is Directx3.exe. ---------------------------------HELP-------------------------------- On-line help has been provided with the Demo version. The on-line manual can be accessed from the Start Menu or from within the game. To access it from the Start Menu, select Start from the Taskbar, then Programs, then Sierra; then select the FPS Golf Help option. Please refer to the on-line manual for tips on how to play the game, how to configure the game to allow it to perform well on your system, as well as for trouble-shooting tips. -----------------------------IMPORTANT!!----------------------------- When controlling a player using TrueSwing(tm), it is important the player be calibrated to best suit your style of mouse control. We have provided two ready-made players with the Demo version--one with the TrueSwing(tm) control, the other with the conventional Tri-click. Prior to starting a game with the TrueSwing(tm) player, we recommend that you calibrate your swing. (Please refer to the on-line manual on how to calibrate your swing.) The Swing Power setting for the provided TrueSwing(tm) player is 50. Increasing the Swing Power setting makes it easier to hit the ball further, but it will be more difficult to hit the close, "touch" shots (especially close putts). The first time you create a TrueSwing(tm) player you will be forced to calibrate your swing to establish a default Swing Power value. ------------------------------PERFORMANCE---------------------------- Performance can be improved by lowering the course detail settings, found on the Course tab of the Game Options dialog. ----------------------------TROUBLESHOOTING-------------------------- PROBLEM: When I try to launch the Demo, I receive an error message that says, "Error Starting Program: A required .DLL file, DPLAYX.DLL, was not found." (Note: It may also have DDRAW.DLL or DSOUND.DLL instead of DPLAYX.DLL.) SOLUTION: The proper version of DirectX is not installed on your system. You will need to manually install it using Microsoft's own DirectX Setup program. Instructions on how to do this are listed above in the Installation section. PROBLEM: When I try to launch the Demo, I receive an error message that tells me I need to switch to Hi-Color mode, and to consult this file on how to do it. Okay, how do I do it? SOLUTION: Detailed instructions are listed above in the System Requirements/Display section. --------------------------------------------------------------------- SIERRA ON-LINE, INC. DOES NOT WARRANTY OR PROMISE THAT THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL WORK WITH ANY OR ALL COMPUTER SYSTEMS. SIERRA DOES NOT ASSUME ANY LIABILITY, EITHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL, FOR THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN, INCLUDING ANY AND ALL DAMAGE TO OR LOST USE OF COMPUTER HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE PRODUCTS, LOSS OF WARRANTIES, OR LOST DATA BY THE CUSTOMER OR ANY THIRD PARTY. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY SIERRA, ITS EMPLOYEES, DISTRIBUTORS, DEALER OR AGENTS SHALL CHANGE THE RESTRICTION OF LIABILITY OR CREATE ANY NEW WARRANTIES. IN NO CASE SHALL SIERRA'S LIABILITY EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE SIERRA SOFTWARE PRODUCT. Copyright 1997, Sierra (Headgate)