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GAMERUNNER 3.0 README FILE ========================== This file includes information on what's new in this release of GameRunner, and tips to help you get the most out of the package. For that reason alone it is worthwhile reading! It also contains last-minute information that did not make the manual and few corrections to the manual. If you want to print this file for future reference, be sure you are in the GAMERUNR directory and type "COPY READ.ME PRN:" at the DOS prompt. Alternatively, you may print this file from the Windows Notepad by clicking on File, then Print. Although this file includes information on all components of GameRunner, it concentrates on QEMM 8 Game Edition and the Quarterdeck GameCheater. You should also read the READ.ME file in the CACHE86 subdirectory for further information about Cache86. CACHE86 AND WINDOWS 95 ====================== Windows 95 comes with 32-bit file access, a disk cache, and Cache 86 therefore disables itself automatically when the Windows 95 graphical interface starts up. It is re-enabled when you leave the graphical interface (for example, when you enter DOS Mode). If you don't wish to use Windows 95's 32-bit file access, you can have Cache 86 active at all times by checking the "Override default Win95 caching" option in the Cache 86 Setup program. However, choosing this option is NOT RECOMMENDED. THE QUARTERDECK GAMECHEATER =========================== HOW TO GET UPDATED GAME CHEATS As new cheats are developed and discovered, Quarterdeck will make new or upgraded Game Enhancement Modules available to registered GameRunner owners. The simplest way to obtain these GEMs is to contact Quarterdeck electronically. * Quarterdeck's BBS number is Ireland 353 1 2844381 or UK 01245-496943. * Quarterdeck's forum on CompuServe can be reached by typing GO QUARTERDECK at any system prompt. * On the Internet, Quarterdeck's FTP site is qdeck.com * The URL for Web users is http://www.qdeck.com/ RUNNING DOS GAMES FROM WINDOWS The Quarterdeck GameCheater for Windows is pre-configured to run all DOS games by temporarily exiting Windows. Many games have an additional option to launch the games in a Windows DOS box. However, we do not recommend enabling this option as DOS games tend to run poorly when inside Windows. CHEATING 32-BIT GAMES The Quarterdeck GameCheater cheats Windows 32-bit games only in Windows 95, which is a 32-bit environment. SLIPSTREAM 5000 AND AVIL OF DAWN HANGING ON EXIT You may find that upon exiting Slipstream 5000 or Anvil of dawn a Page Fault error occurs. Do not be concerned. Continue and you will be free to continue using your machine. The error emanates from SlipStream 5000 Anvil of Dawn, and currently appears unavoidable. REBEL ASSAULT II AND VIDEO MODES The Quarterdeck GameCheater does not support the high resolution video mode for Rebel Assault II. You must run in low, or normal resolution when running Rebel Assault II from the Quarterdeck GameCheater. ERRATA IN THE DOCUMENTATION =========================== As documentation is produced often several months in advance of a product release, certain inconsistencies can occur in the natural product development cycle. Below are four corrections to the printed documentation. On page 29, the screen shot of QEMM Setup is incorrect. Since the time of printing the buttons displayed in the screen shot have been updated to "property pages" to provide quicker access to setup options. The description of each button on pages 29 and 30 now describe QEMM Setups' property pages. On page 30, the QEMM User Guide describes the buttons on the bottom of the QEMM Setup screen. It does not describe the buttons on the right side of the window. The Reset button restores your settings to the values that were in force when you entered that page. The Help button provides context-sensitive online help for the displayed property page. Page 154 incorrectly states that you can use three- or four-key combinations for cheat hotkeys. For example, ALT-SHIFT-S or CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-F10. In fact, only two-key combinations can be used, and they cannot be any combination of ALT, SHIFT or CTRL. For example, you can use ALT-C, but you cannot use ALT-SHIFT. Page 169 discusses Quickboot, a feature of QEMM 8 not included in the Game Edition. (Additional note: Both the DOS and Windows QEMM Setup programs provide inactive controls to enable or disable Quickboot. These are simply placeholders for the full QEMM 8 version.) QEMM INSTALLATION AND COMPATIBILITY NOTES ========================================= QEMM TECHNOTES There are several helpful technical notes in the TECHNOTE subdirectory of the directory into which you installed GameRunner. All of the QEMM technotes may be viewed by running QEMM Setup (QSETUP) either from DOS or from Windows; QEMM Setup incorporates a file viewer that allows you to read these notes easily. The Windows version of QEMM Setup features a Windows Help file that also incorporates versions of these notes. PRODUCTS.TEC contains a list of compatibility issues between QEMM and other hardware and software products. Please read this technote before beginning any troubleshooting. Other online documents, including QEMMUTIL.TEC, TESTPRGS.TEC, and QPI.TEC, describe utility programs and technical information for programmers and advanced users of QEMM. Still others provide background information, compatibility notes, or tips and tricks related to various types of hardware and software. SAVING DISK SPACE FOR WINDOWS-ONLY USERS If you work exclusively in Microsoft Windows, you can delete the contents of the GAMERUNR\TECHNOTE subdirectory, at a savings of about 400K of disk space. All the QEMM technotes are also included in the Windows Help file, and can be read by selecting Technotes from the QEMM Setup Help menu. OPTIMIZE'S CONVENTIONAL MEMORY REQUIREMENTS It is possible to load so many TSRs and device drivers on your system that you may run out of memory during the OPTIMIZE process! Please refer to the technical note MAXMEM.TEC in your GAMERUNR\TECHNOTE directory for suggestions on improving your pre-OPTIMIZE configuration. In cases where OPTIMIZE does not complete successfully, you may wish to try taking advantage of expanded memory by skipping the hardware detection phase as noted above. OPTIMIZE, DOS-UP AND BUFFERS In versions of MS-DOS up to 6.22, up to 48 DOS BUFFERS could be loaded into the High Memory Area (HMA) along with the DOS kernel. In DOS 7 (the version of DOS that accompanies Windows 95), it is possible for other parts of DOS to be loaded into the HMA, reducing the amount of space available for BUFFERS, and causing them to be loaded below the HMA. This may result in a conflict during the OPTIMIZE Software Detection phase, such that not enough memory is available to determine accurately the memory needed by DOS-Up to load BUFFERS above 640K. If you are using Windows 95 or the underlying version of DOS that accompanies it, and if you are using the DOS=LOW setting in CONFIG.SYS, Quarterdeck recommends that you set your BUFFERS= value to 30 or less. DOS-UP OPTIONS AND WINDOWS 95 If you are using real-mode Novell Netware drivers in Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft recommends that you set the LOADTOP=0 option in the MSDOS.SYS text file. (Note that Windows 95's text-based MSDOS.SYS is NOT the same as the MSDOS.SYS DOS component in previous versions of DOS.) If you choose Windows 95's default LOADTOP=1 setting to load the command processor at the top of conventional memory, you may experience corruption of the DOS environment, which includes values for PROMPT, PATH, and SET statements. This happens irrespective of the presence of Quarterdeck software. However, for similar reasons, if you are using Novell Netware real-mode drivers with Windows 95, you should configure the DOS-Up option to load COMMAND.COM low, rather than high. DOS-UP, WINDOWS 95, AND PREVIOUS DOS VERSIONS If you wish to use DOS-Up and the Windows 95 feature that allows you to boot into your previous version of DOS, you should create a Windows 95 Boot Menu as described in the technical note W95BOOT.TEC, found in your GAMERUNR\TECHNOTE directory, and a DOS 6 multiple-path CONFIG.SYS as described in your DOS 6 reference materials. On systems where the previous DOS version is DOS 5, however, the OPTIMIZE process run from DOS will not recognize multiple configurations, and will not create a DOS-UP.DAT file with multiple paths. The workaround for this problem is to begin OPTIMIZE in the DOS 5 environment, and to reboot into DOS 5 at every stage of the OPTIMIZE process. When OPTIMIZE is complete, copy your DOS-UP.DAT file to another name (e.g. DOS-UP-5.DAT). Then edit the DOS-UP.SYS line in your CONFIG.SYS file to specify DOS-UP-5.DAT as your DOS-UP configuration file: DEVICE=C:\GAMERUNR\DOS-UP.SYS @C:\GAMERUNR\DOS-UP-5.DAT QEMM'S STEALTH D*SPACE AND DRIVESPACE QEMM supports all versions of DoubleSpace or DriveSpace that accompany MS-DOS version 6.00 through 6.22. QEMM does not currently support the version of DriveSpace that comes with Windows 95 (or DOS 7), nor the DriveSpace that comes with the Microsoft Plus Pack. IF LESS MEMORY IS AVAILABLE WITH THIS VERSION Some customers may observe less conventional memory available with QEMM 8 Game Edition than with previous versions. In many cases, this is because QEMM attempts automatically to EXCLUDE a byte in the F000 region, in order to support better Microsoft Windows' MaxBPS= SYSTEM.INI setting. If you have set MaxBPS set to a value greater than 200, QEMM's default behavior will likely be preferable to you. If you have MaxBPS set to a value of 200 or less, you might wish to try adding the SRBP:N parameter to the end of the QEMM386.SYS line in CONFIG.SYS. QEMM's superior detection of Plug and Play BIOS and other forms of adapter RAM and ROM may cause QEMM to EXCLUDE automatically more address space than previous versions. This is safer than including these regions by default, but can result in less High RAM or less conventional memory than before, or can result in the EMS page frame being placed in conventional memory. The QEMM Analysis procedure, detailed in the manual, may allow you to reclaim this High RAM. You may also wish to check Manifest's Hints screen to confirm that Analysis will be helpful. Finally, QEMM may have increased extended memory overhead in this version on some systems, which may result in a net loss in available extended or expanded memory. There is no remedy for this situation. QEMM SETUP AND THE CONFIG VARIABLE MS-DOS 6 and PC DOS 6 support multiple paths of execution through CONFIG.SYS. DOS 6 can use the CONFIG environment variable and the GOTO %CONFIG% batch statement to support separate paths of execution in the AUTOEXEC.BAT that correspond to the different CONFIG.SYS configuration paths. When you use QEMM Setup to add a new path to your DOS 6 multiple configuration CONFIG.SYS file, QEMM Setup does not create an entirely new branch in the AUTOEXEC.BAT to correspond to your new CONFIG.SYS path. Instead, QEMM Setup makes sure that the new configuration path and the existing one that it was based on will execute the same commands in AUTOEXEC.BAT. If you want the new path to execute different AUTOEXEC.BAT commands than the path from which it was created, you must edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to create two separate branches to replace the common branch that QEMM Setup creates. See the DOS 6 manual for more information on the CONFIG variable. MS-DOS 6.22 AND MISSING LABELS IN AUTOEXEC.BAT If you have a command in AUTOEXEC.BAT in the form GOTO <LABEL>, where there is no corresponding <LABEL> in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, the OPTIMIZE process may simply terminate. Ensure that all GOTO statements in AUTOEXEC.BAT refer to valid labels. BATCH FILES AS THE LAST LINE OF AUTOEXEC.BAT The OPTIMIZE process will fail if the last line of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file is a batch file that is not "CALLed" (i.e., a batch file without a CALL command in front of it). OPTIMIZE AND WINDOWS IN MULTIPLE CONFIGURATION PATHS In most cases, OPTIMIZE will disable Microsoft Windows during the OPTIMIZE process. However, if you are using a multiple-path CONFIG.SYS file, and separate paths of execution in AUTOEXEC.BAT, OPTIMIZE will allow Windows to run during certain phases. To ensure that the OPTIMIZE process is complete, make sure that you enter and exit Windows for every step of the OPTIMIZE process, until you see OPTIMIZE's report on the amount of memory gained. Alternatively you should, for the duration of the OPTIMIZE process, remove any line in AUTOEXEC.BAT that launches Microsoft Windows. OPTIMIZE AND MULTICONFIG INCLUDE STATEMENTS QEMM 8.0 Game Edition's OPTIMIZE program does not support more than one level of INCLUDE statements in a CONFIG.SYS with multiple configurations. You can use INCLUDE statements with OPTIMIZE, but you cannot use an INCLUDE statement inside a CONFIG.SYS block that has already been included in another block. If you have more than one level of INCLUDE statements, you must edit your CONFIG.SYS file before running OPTIMIZE and make sure that all INCLUDE statements below the first level are replaced with the actual CONFIG.SYS lines which the INCLUDE statement formerly invoked. FIXINT13.SYS AND ULTRAFIX.SYS FIXINT13.SYS is designed to assist in resolving problems with certain disk controllers that hang because they use stacks that are too small for the work that they do at the time that they do it. It replaces ULTRAFIX.SYS, which was formerly distributed on the Quarterdeck bulletin board and other electronic forums. If you use ULTRAFIX.SYS, replace it with FIXINT13.SYS. FIXINT13.SYS is documented in the file QEMMUTIL.TEC, located in the GAMERUNR\TECHNOTE directory. PCMCIA (PC CARD) HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE There is a technical note in the GAMERUNR\TECHNOTE directory on the subject of maximizing memory while using PCMCIA (PC Card) adapters. This and other technical notes are readable via the QEMM Setup program. In Windows, choose Help from the menu bar, and then "Technotes"; in DOS, from the QEMM Setup main menu, choose "View QEMM hints, technotes and READ.ME", and then "View QEMM technical notes". VIDEO CARDS AND EXCLUSIONS While manufacturers of video cards often recommend EXCLUDEing large regions of address space -- for example, A000-C7FF -- this is almost never necessary, and these recommendations should be taken with a good deal of skepticism. QEMM is intelligent enough to recognize the addresses used by video cards, and makes the appropriate exclusions automatically. QEMM INCLUDEs the B000-B7FF region by default, and EXCLUDEs video RAM and ROM automatically when appropriate. A few video cards require that the address space between B000-B7FF be EXCLUDEd when using Microsoft Windows high-resolution video drivers. However, it may be possible instead to use QEMMExclude=B000-B7FF in the [386Enh] section of the Windows SYSTEM.INI file. This parameter is documented in the Technical Reference section of the QEMM manual. DESQVIEW/X SERVER AND QEMM'S VCPISHARE PARAMETER QEMM's VCPISHARE:Y (VS:Y) is not compatible with the DESQview/X SERVER module. Do not use the VS:Y parameter if you are using DESQview/X. OPTIMIZE'S STEALTH TESTING PROCESS OPTIMIZE's Stealth Testing process is the best way to ensure both maximum memory and maximum compatibility with your system. To take advantage of this feature, make sure that you're starting from a stable, bootable QEMM configuration. Typically the line DEVICE=C:\GAMERUNR\QEMM386.SYS ON will allow you to boot your system safely. From this, you may run OPTIMIZE's Stealth Testing procedure in the following way: 1) At the DOS prompt, type OPTIMIZE /REMOVEALL This will remove LOADHI commands and parameters from all of the lines in CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, and any batch files called from AUTOEXEC.BAT. 2) Edit CONFIG.SYS and remove all parameters except ON from the QEMM386.SYS line in CONFIG.SYS. 3) At the DOS prompt, type OPTIMIZE /ST The Stealth Testing process provides maximum compatibility with your system, at the possible expense of some High RAM or conventional memory. If this is the case, see the section above, "IF LESS MEMORY IS AVAILABLE WITH THIS VERSION". The Quarterdeck GameRunner Team.