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- DISCWORLD II PATCH #3 - 26 February 1997
- ----------------------------------------
-
- Includes:
-
- DISCWORLD II DOS PATCH #3 - 26 February 1997
- DISCWORLD II WIN 95 PATCH #3 - 26 February 1997
- -----------------------------------------------
-
-
- Dear Discworld fan,
-
- Thank you for choosing to play Discworld II. We want you
- to see it running at its best on your machine. To this end
- we are still improving Discworld II - even after release.
-
- These improvements will be in the form of patch programs
- that automatically update your installed version of Discworld II.
-
- This is the third of these patches and contains the combined
- features of patches 1 & 2 as well as some new improvements.
-
- Hints on improving performance and troubleshooting will be
- updated in README.TXT files (such as this one).
-
- We had a lot of fun (and sleepless nights) making Discworld II.
- We hope you have a lot of fun (and sleepless nights) playing it!
-
- David Johnston
- Software Development Manager
- Perfect Entertainment Ltd.
- dijit@teeny.demon.co.uk
-
-
- ========================
- Improvements in patch #3
- ========================
- Patch #3 (for both DOS and Windows versions) is designed to fix a
- random bug found to occur in save-game files. It also improves CD-ROM
- access on certain types of machines. The list of fixes follows:
-
- MISSING CHARACTER BUG
- ---------------------
- A bug in the loading of games caused specific characters to
- disappear. This random bug could affect Rincewind's Camel in act IV,
- the appearance of Cassanunda in Djelibeybi and one conversation with
- the Dead Collector. In the case of the Camel in Act IV this can make
- it impossible to continue the game. This problem has been fixed.
- The conditions under which it occurred were random and rare enough
- that, unfortunately, it was not caught by the rigorous testing applied
- to Discworld II - honest, we didn't mean it :)
-
- MISSING CAMEL - REPLACEMENT SAVE GAME
- -------------------------------------
- As this patch cannot correct existing save games we have provided a
- save game for the most common occurrence of the bug - the missing
- camel. The game has been saved at the start of Act IV - with
- Rincewind's camel present. This will allow anyone with the missing
- camel problem to continue the game to it's humorous conclusion.
- The title of the saved game is "Virtual Camel Restored!".
- The file is called SG.1 and needs to be copied to your save game
- directory.
- For the DOS version it should be placed in the \DW2\SAVE directory.
- For Win 95 it should be placed in the
- \Program Files\Discworld II\Save folder.
-
- CD-ROM ACCESS
- -------------
- Some CD-ROM drives (very rare) can have trouble reading the
- Discworld II CD-ROMs and after a while a "file ?????.??? is corrupt"
- message may occur. We have altered the game to try a lot harder to
- wring the data from these drive.
-
- MEMORY USAGE
- ------------
- The game now makes slightly more efficient use of memory during
- startup. This will only affect minimum-spec-memory machines
- (eg. 8Mb DOS, 16Mb Win95).
-
- INVENTORY WINDOW
- ----------------
- A trivial bug causing the inventory window to corrupt graphically
- (and allowing people to be dragged and dropped in the inventory!)
- has been corrected. For those of you that found (and enjoyed)
- this bug, sorry, we've fixed it!
-
- NOTE:
- -----
- This patch replaces both PATCH #1 and PATCH #2.
- You do NOT need patch #1 or patch #2 to run this patch.
-
-
- ========================
- Improvements in patch #2
- ========================
-
- This patch is designed to improve the performance
- of the Windows 95 version of Discworld II including:
-
- MOVIE SYNCHRONISATION
- ---------------------
- Corrects movie synchronisation on specific machines
- where the sound can drift out of sync. Also improves
- performance of movies on slower machines.
-
- SCENE SPEED-UP
- --------------
- Speeds up loading and playing of many scenes especially
- on low-memory machines.
-
- INSTALL BUG
- -----------
- Corrects the system registry so that the game will run
- from whatever drive you install it to (Simply install to
- the required drive then run this patch).
-
- ============================================================
-
-
- ============
- Instructions
- ============
-
- WIN 95
- ------
- Please install the Windows 95 version of Discworld II first.
- Then Run the patch program entitled DW2_WP3.EXE
-
- This will ensure your Win 95 version of Discworld II is
- up-to-date and files correctly organised.
-
- DOS
- ---
- The DOS version only requires the replacement of the main program
- file DWB.EXE. Simply copy DWB.EXE from this patch into the directory
- in which you installed Discworld II.
-
- e.g. if the Discworld II MSDOS installation was installed to c:\dw2, use
- the following command:
-
- >copy dwb.exe c:\dw2
-
- This will ensure your DOS version of Discworld II is up-to-date.
-
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- Troubleshooting Hints
- --------------------
-
- Q. Why won't Discworld II (Win 95) run if I install it to
- a drive other than C.
-
- A. The Windows installation program on early versions of
- Discworld II set a system "registry key" to "C" regardless of
- the drive it installed to. To correct this you need to change
- the registry key to point to the drive you did install Discworld II
- on (see below). Or you can simply run the patch program to correct
- it automatically.
-
- - Run 'regedit' from the 'Start' menu, 'Run' option.
- - Expand 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE' (click on the plus symbol)
- - Expand 'SOFTWARE'
- - Expand 'PERFECT Entertainment'
- - Select 'Discworld II'
- - Select 'Drive' in the right-hand window
- - Select 'Edit' then 'Modify' from the menu
- - Enter the new drive letter (where you installed Discworld II)
- - Close RegEdit and run Discworld II
- -------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Q. Why does the game (Windows only) pause briefly whenever
- Rincewind changes scale?
-
- A. The Windows installation program on early versions of
- Discworld II copied some files to the wrong place on your hard
- drive. If you move these files (see below) to the correct
- folder the momentary pauses will disappear. Or you can simply
- run the patch program to correct it automatically.
- n.b. this problem may only be visible on machines with the minimum
- specified amount of RAM. See also the following tip for speeding up
- CD access generally.
-
- - There is a folder called CACHE under the folder you
- installed Discworld II in. The installation program incorrectly
- copied 21 files (needed for faster access) into a folder called
- DW2 within the CACHE folder. Simply move the files back to the
- CACHE folder and the pauses should vanish.
- -------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Q. My CD ROM drive does not appear to be fast enough to run
- Discworld II properly. The sound cuts out briefly every now
- and then. How can I speed the game up on my machine?
-
- A. This is a tough one as it depends on the configuration of your
- machine. If you have a lot of free drive space you can move many
- files from the Discworld II CDs to your hard drive (see below).
- Discworld II still requires the presence of the CDs but will
- check the hard disk first before loading files, this will speed
- up the game significantly.
-
- - There is a folder called CACHE under the folder you
- installed Discworld II in. Most files can be copied here from
- the DW2 folders of either CD 1 or CD 2, however, some files
- (of the same name) are different on CD 1 and CD 2. To cater for
- these specific files you can create folders under the CACHE folder
- called CD1 and CD2. The files in question relate to text and speech
- and have extensions of .SMP, .TXT and .IDX (see following hint for
- details). Any of these files from the DW2 folder of CD 1 can go in
- CD1 and those from the DW2 folder of CD 2 can go in CD2.
- n.b. To save space you only have to have files from the CD you
- are currently playing on your hard drive.
- -------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Q. I only want to copy some files from the CDs to my hard drive
- to speed it up. What are the various file types on the Discworld II CDs?
-
- A. To make your choice of files to copy easier here are some details
- of the more important file types on the Discworld II CDs. The CACHE
- folder is found within the folder you installed Discworld II. The CD1
- and CD2 folders should be created within the CACHE folder (if required).
-
- File Type Description Should I copy to hard disk? Where to copy...
- --------- ----------- --------------------------- ----------------
- .MUS Music data Reduces CD access significantly if CACHE folder
- copied to hard disk as music is read
- in regularly. Should improve scenes
- containing lots of sound effects.
-
- .SCN Code and graphics Scene load times reduced if copied to CACHE folder
- hard disk - no other benefit.
- n.b. some critical scenes are already
- copied to hard disk during installation.
-
- .CDP Graphic sequences Smoothes out brief pauses while CACHE folder
- loading extra graphics within a scene.
-
- .BMV 'B movies' Only copy to hard drive if the movies CACHE folder
- are playing badly or sound shuts off.
- Movie pre-load times are also reduced
- if the movies are copied.
-
- .SMP Speech/Sound FX Only copy to hard drive if you are CD1 or CD2 folder
- experiencing regular sound glitches.
-
- .IDX Speech index Loaded once only - can stay on CD. CD1 or CD2 folder
-
- .TXT Sub-title text Loaded once only - can stay on CD. CD1 or CD2 folder
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Q. Why is the sound in Discworld II distorting when running
- under Windows 95 on my Packard Bell PC?
-
- A. There may be a conflict with the 'Software Wave Table'
- feature of your sound card. Try turning the option off
- (See below).
-
- - Open the control panel (under 'setting' on the Start menu)
- - Open 'system'
- - Select 'Device Manager'
- - Expand 'Sound, video and game controllers' (click on the plus symbol)
- - Select 'Sound 16 SRS & Wave Table'
- - Click on the 'Properties' button
- - Select 'Settings'
- - De-select the option 'Software Wave Table Enabled'
- - Close the control panel windows and run Discworld II
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Q. I have just reached the start of Act IV and Rincewind's camel has
- disappeared! Where is he and how do I get him back?
-
- A. A random bug in the loading of games can cause Rincewind's camel
- to disappear in Act IV. Use the saved game provided with this patch
- to continue the game from the start of Act IV, with the camel.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- - End of README.TXT -
-