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Text File | 1994-09-30 | 33.2 KB | 684 lines

(This file is a 'work-in-progress' and still raw. It may have some typos and errors in it. It may have some superfluous or outright incorrect information. Most everything suggested has been tested and works. We wanted this file out and available for everyone to see NOW so that people could see if it helps and to get feedback on areas that are confusing or unnecessary or need improving. I-Motion, Inc. Technical Support 1341 Ocean Ave, Box 417 Santa Monica, CA 90401 Tel. (310) 576-1885 Fax (310) 576-1889 Product Info (800) 443-3386 TechBBS (310) 576-1820 Hintline (900) 884-6684 (310) 576-1821 Hint BBS (Needs Access Software) General setup information and specific problems. Alone in the Dark Alone in the Dark II Jack in the Dark This is a support file to help with general system setup and specific problems. Following is a list of the usual problems or symptoms of a problem, and what heading to look for in this file to correct or help the problem. It's suggested that everyone running the games check the Memory Configuration section. The game is very finicky about how memory is allocated, and other system settings. About 90 percent of the problems encountered running the games are memory related, and pretty easy to fix. If you don't see your problem on the following list, check the 'Unresolved But Working On It' section for problems we're still working on or are so rare that we can't duplicate the problem. General installation problems: * At installation of the floppy disk version of Alone in the Dark, disk #2 reads wrong and the installation fails. You're probably running SHARE.EXE. Check the 'Install Disk Strangeness' section. * At installation of Alone in the Dark II, (floppies... no CD version... coming soon... September 15...) one of the installation disks gives a bad sector or read error of some kind, see 'Install Disk Strangeness'. * The 'Winstall' Windows game installation program won't recognise the sound card installed. There's a bug in the Alone in the Dark CD-ROM and Alone in the Dark II 'Winstall' program. Run the DOS install and it should find your sound card. If not, there's probably a device conflict. Check the 'Sound' section. * 'MCGA' is the only option being given in the Hardware options screen. This is because... MCGA is the only option possible. The games were designed to use the 320x200 pixels with 256 colors MCGA standard. If for some very wacked-out reason you can select something else?... do give us a call. General memory or game freeze and hang problems: * At game start, the screen goes black, and the system hangs. Check 'Memory Configuration'. * The game seems to start OK, but eventually freezes and hangs. Check * '128K EMS Necessaire', '...EMM386 or QEMM...' or some such message pops up, and the game stops. 'Memory Configuration'. * The game seems slow, or the sound is distorted. Usually 'Memory Configuration', maybe 'Sound'. * 'File not found' error pops up and game stops. Check Memory Configuration for info on 'SHARE.EXE', 'FILES=', and 'BUFFERS=' settings. If its Alone in the Dark II and it says : 'Mask11.pak file not found', you've probably hit the "Ship Bug," and can check the 'Ship Bug' section. Miscellaneous problems: * CD-ROM Alone in the Dark runs when you first install it, but when you try to restart the computer and run the game, it can't find the CD. (Usually a Sony CD-ROM drive.) Start the computer and put the CD in the drive. Change to the drive letter of the CD-ROM ("D:", "E:", or whatever...) and do a directory (e.g. "dir".) Change to the game directory on the hard disk (usually "C:\INFOGRAM\INDARK") and run the game ("INDARK".) You may have to do this every time you play the game. (If it still doesn't work, try running the "INSTALL" program from the CD-ROM, but just quit back to DOS immediately, DO NOT reinstall the game, then go to the directory as above and run the game.) * In Alone II, One-Eyed Jack tells his story, the little girl leaves the room, and... nothing happens. One-Eyed Jack just stands there and you can't move in the cell or access inventory. Some people have reported this problem... If you let it sit for a LONG time, (one person waited 45 minutes!) it seems to eventually UN-freeze and continue. You might try setting the CONFIG.SYS file to 'BUFFERS=60' and 'FILES=50' and see if it helps. Also try disabling as many device drivers as you can, (Smartdrv, mscdex, vsafe, etc.) Check 'Memory Configuration' below. * Walking through walls and doors, can't get amulet, pipecleaner won't pick lock, pirate holding little girl and can't access inventory or move, teddy bear? cannon? big ghost won't die? winged monsters? false book? Check the 'Tech Problems That Aren't Really Tech Problems (Mostly...)' section. * 'Mask11.pak file not found' error in Alone in the Dark II. Check the 'Ship Bug' section. * Sound card not recognized, memory configured fine but still hanging, screen flickering, or bad sound, Doublspace, Stacker, check the 'Unresolved But Working On It' section. ********* Memory Configuration ********** All these games are very finicky about memory setup. Memory requirements are: Conventional Free EMS (Expanded) Free Alone in the Dark > 560k (> 256k)* CD-ROM Alone in the Dark > 520k (> 256k)* Alone in the Dark II > 560k > 256k (Must have) Jack in the Dark > 580k > 128k (Must have) * Not really needed, should run OK without Expanded, and you can probably save some conventional memory by turning OFF Expanded memory. These values can be checked with the 'MEM' command from the DOS prompt. (Check the 'Free' settings, not the 'Total' settings. Also, don't confuse 'Extended, XMS' memory with 'Expanded, EMS' memory. Two different things...) If these values are not high enough, the games will not work properly. Either they will just start up into a blank screen and hang the system, or they will run fine, or maybe slow, but probably eventually hang. (Usually at an important moment...) If your a rank beginner to computers, you should probably jump down to 'CREATING A BOOT-DISK.' You will be able to run the game with a system configuration from a bootable floppy and leave your present configuration alone. You will just have to boot from the floppy disk whenever you want to play the game. If you have some experience tweaking your system and playing with the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, or just want to dive in and find out more about the computer, you can try some of the next suggestions. Whether you ARE a rank beginner or a computer GOD, make sure you make backups of your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files so you can put your system back the way it is now, before you tinker with the next part. (Also, you should make yourself a boot disk of some sort anyway, so that if, in changing settings, your boot-up fails or hangs, you will be able to fix it by booting up with a boot disk and correcting the problem. Without the boot disk, you're stuck. If you've got the MS-DOS or PC-DOS installation disks, you can use those to boot your system. But if you don't, and you don't have a boot disk... MAKE ONE.) As stated above, the games need a pretty good chunk of free DOS memory with Expanded memory enabled. This can be done with the EMM386.EXE memory manager, QEMM, 386MAXX, or others. Also, they need the 'BUFFERS=' and 'FILES=' statements in Config.sys set pretty high. The following are some suggested CONFIG.SYS file settings: DOS 5, 6.0, 6.2 DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS <--- Needed to run EMM386.EXE DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM 1024 <-- Turn on 1024k of Expanded memory. (Make sure there's no 'NOEMS' switch on this line) DOS=HIGH,UMB <--- Load DOS high and turn on upper memory support to load device drivers high. Make as much memory available as possible. BUFFERS=30 <--- A little high, but the game will run better with a lot of them. **** Make sure there's NO ',0' on this line like 'BUFFERS=10,0' this can confuse the games. FILES=40 <--- Also a bit high, but the games do quite a bit of file juggling. If you're "close but not quite" to the memory requirements for the games, set this and the BUFFERS statement to lower values to get back 1 or 2 k. DEVICEHIGH= <--- Put this instead of any more 'DEVICE=' statements OTHER than the ones above. (i.e. change 'DEVICE=C: \DOS\SETVER.EXE' to 'DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE') (Most of the above settings can be reached with Memmaker, which comes with MS-DOS 6.0 and above, or with Optimize, which comes with QEMM. See 'TOO STRANGE!...' below.) QEMM, 386MAX, Etc. Use your memory manager to create 'Expanded' or EMS memory as per the instructions in your manual for it. Then set the other settings above for DOS=, BUFFERS=, and FILES=. (Once we become more familiar with the various switches and setups for these drivers, we will post some suggested settings.) For the AUTOEXEC.BAT file: DOS 6.0, 6.2 Load as many drivers and TSRs high with an 'LH ' (Note the space...) inserted to the left of the pathname. (Not the PATH= statement!) (i.e. change 'c:\mouse\mouse.com' to 'lh c:\mouse\mouse.com') Watch out for 'SHARE.EXE'! If it's loaded it can confuse the games. It will interfere with the installation of Alone I on disk #2, and it might cause some problems or hangs with all of the games. Try running with 'SHARE.EXE', but if you have problems, delete the line in AUTOEXEC.BAT, (or 'REM' it out.) If you're on a network, or you know you need it, you should probably follow the instructions below for making a boot-disk. QEMM, 386MAX, Etc. You're probably already running as many things high in AUTOEXEC.BAT as you can if you're using these memory managers, and have used their setup programs. (Like 'Optimize' for QEMM.) Check your documentation for loading TSRs high. TOO STRANGE!, MEMMAKER, OPTIMIZE, Etc. If all the above gymnastics seem confusing or are frightening, try using MEMMAKER (DOS 6.0 or 6.2) or OPTIMIZE (QEMM) or whatever the similar program is with your memory manager package. These programs set up your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files for optimum memory usage. They will prompt you for various settings (Make sure you tell them that you need to USE EXPANDED or EMS memory (They SHOULD ask you...) and let them do their stuff. They'll reboot your machine once or twice checking out the best combination. If, after the process completes, you decide you want to put the files back to the way they were before you started, they will have copied the original files to some other CONFIG and AUTOEXEC files with a different extension ('.BAK', '.QDK', '.OLD', '.000', etc.) * * * Once you've run MEMMAKER, make sure to go back into the CONFIG.SYS file and change the 'BUFFERS=' statement to the above settings. MEMMAKER adds a ',0' to the line. If you've done all of the above and there STILL is not enough conventional memory, you can try tweaking the EMM386.EXE line by adding on to the end of it "FRAME=C800 I=B000-B7FF I=D800-EFFF". So... the whole line would read : DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE MIN=0 RAM 1024 FRAME=C800 I=B000-B7FF I=D800-EFFF This will use the area in upper memory that would be used by a mono- graphics card. Since hardly anyone uses such a thing anymore, it can usually be included (the "I=....") by EMM386.EXE for use as an upper memory area. This will make at least an extra 32k available for loading devices high. Again, MEMMAKER can do this for you. When you run it, choose 'Custom' set up, and make sure Expanded Memory is set to 'YES', and on the Advanced Options screen, make sure the 'Use monochrome region (B000-B7FF) for running programs' item is set to 'YES'. (Also, if the 'Optimize upper memory for use with Windows' item is set to 'YES', you might try setting it to 'NO'. This won't hurt anything, and will increase upper memory.) *** WARNING!! Some Super-VGA cards use this monochrome area for some of their graphic modes. If you use the above settings and your graphics do strange things or your system hangs, you may have to take them off the line and follow the steps for creating a boot-disk below. However, the vast majority of cards don't use this area, so it should be fine for most people to try. ***** CREATING A BOOT-DISK ***** This is often the simplest way to get the games working without having to reconfigure your entire system. You will create a disk that will have the necessary system files to boot the computer and modified versions of CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT that will load as few drivers or TSRs as possible. 1. Get an unused disk that will work with your 'A' drive. 2. Put it in the drive. 3. Type at the C: prompt : FORMAT A: /S Hit the 'enter' key at the end of the line. This will format the disk and transfer the system files needed to boot the disk. 4. Change to the A: drive by typing: A: and 'enter' Then, at the A: prompt type: EDIT And hit 'enter'... (If your using PC-DOS, its either 'ED' or just 'E' and 'enter'.) 5a. You are now (or should be...) in a text editor. Enter the following just as it is here : DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM 2048 D=64 DOS=HIGH,UMB BUFFERS=40 FILES=40 STACKS=9,256 FCBS=4,0 LASTDRIVE=Z If you are making a boot disk for the CD-ROM version of Alone in the Dark, you will have to check the CONFIG.SYS on your C: drive for the DEVICE or DEVICEHIGH statement loading in your CD-ROM driver file, or check the documentation for your CD-ROM drive. (The DEVICE line should be reasonably easy to identify. Just copy the line from the C:\CONFIG.SYS file to the above A:\CONFIG.SYS after the LASTDRIVE=Z statement. If it is a DEVICE statement, make it a DEVICEHIGH statement, to load the driver into upper memory. If you are not using Doublespace or Stacker to make compressed volumes on your hard drive, skip ahead to 6. 5b. If you ARE using Doublespace, DriveSpace, Stacker, or some other disk compression driver, and the game is installed on a compressed volume, then you will have to include those drivers in this CONFIG.SYS file. (If the game is NOT installed on a compressed volume then you can leave this CONFIG.SYS as it is and skip ahead to 6.) Using DoubleSpace or DriveSpace: Add a line after the 'LASTDRIVE=Z' in the CONFIG.SYS as follows: DEVICE=C:\DOS\DBLSPACE.SYS /MOVE ----> for DoubleSpace or DEVICE=C:\DOS\DRVSPACE.SYS /MOVE ----> for DriveSpace This will load the DBLSPACE.BIN or DRVSPACE.BIN driver into high memory and let you access your compressed volumes. Skip ahead to 6. Using Stacker or other compression software: You will have to look at your CONFIG.SYS file in the root directory of your C: drive, or check the documentation of your disk compression software, to see what DEVICE or DEVICEHIGH statements are used to access your compressed volumes. If you check the CONFIG.SYS on C:, generally, the DEVICE or DEVICEHIGH statements with the pathname of your compression utility are the ones you will need to copy to this CONFIG.SYS. i.e. Stacker would look something like the following: DEVICEHIGH=C:\STACKER\STACKER.COM C:\STACVOL.DSK DEVICE=C:\STACKER\SSWAP.COM C:\STACVOL.DSK /SYNC+ etc. Copy these lines over to the CONFIG.SYS on drive A: and you should get access to your compressed drives. (Do check your documentation, though...) 6. Hold the ALT key down and press 'F' to access the file menu. Use the mouse or arrow keys to select 'Save as...' Enter in the file name box 'A:\CONFIG.SYS' and select '<OK>' with the mouse or hit 'enter'. (If you're using the PC-DOS editor, or some other editor, follow the commands for that editor to save this file as 'CONFIG.SYS' to the A: drive root directory.) You have now saved a new 'CONFIG.SYS' file in the root directory of drive 'A:'. 7. Now for the AUTOEXEC.BAT file... Hold the ALT key down and press 'F' to access the file menu again. Use the arrow keys to select 'New', or just hit the N key. (If you've modified the CONFIG.SYS file since the last time you saved it, the editor will ask if you want to save it again. If it's just as it should be, choose OK.) Now you've got another clear screen. Enter the following just as it appears here: PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS; @ECHO PROMPT $P$G LH C:\MOUSE\MOUSE <--- (Or wherever your mouse driver is SET TEMP=C:\DOS located and called.) If you are NOT making a boot disk for the CD-ROM version of Alone in the Dark, skip ahead to 8. If you ARE making a boot disk for the CD-ROM version of Alone in the Dark, you will have to add a line to the above to load the MSCDEX.EXE driver. Check your AUTOEXEC.BAT file on your C: drive and copy the line with MSCDEX.EXE on it to the above lines. It should look something like this: LH C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD000 If there is no 'LH' put one in. You might also add an ' /E' (note the space) after the 'MSCD000', so that it uses Expanded memory for buffering rather than conventional, thus saving memory. (The number might not be 'MSCD000', but it should match a similar number on the CD-ROM driver DEVICEHIGH line in the above CONFIG.SYS.) 8. Hold the ALT key down and press 'F' to access the file menu. Use the mouse or arrow keys to select 'Save as...' Enter in the file name box 'A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT' and select '<OK>' with the mouse or hit 'enter'. (If you're using the PC-DOS editor, or some other editor, follow the commands for that editor to save this file as 'AUTOEXEC.BAT' to the A: drive root directory.) You have now saved a new 'AUTOEXEC.BAT' file in the root directory of drive 'A:'. 9. That's pretty much it. You should now reboot the computer with this disk in drive A:. Watch as the boot-up process loads in files from this disk and look for error messages. If you see any 'file not found' or 'error in line ...' messages, you've probably mistyped a line or a pathname. If it all goes well, type "MEM" and hit the 'enter' key. Check that the FREE conventional and EMS memory is large enough to accomodate your game. If you're using disk compression software, make sure you can access your compressed volumes. If you've set up this boot-disk for CD-ROM access, check that you CAN access it. If there's still not enough memory, check the options under the 'Memory Configuration' heading above for EMM386.EXE and try some of the more advanced settings in the A:\CONFIG.SYS. If you can't access your compressed or CD-ROM drives, check your documentation for these device drivers. If, no matter what you try, you can't get enough memory set up, (which should only happen if you're loading in disk compression AND CD-ROM drivers,) you may have to install the game on an uncompressed drive, and delete the compression DEVICE statements from your CONFIG.SYS on your game boot-disk. If that's not an option, you may be stuck... Call our tech support line. ************ Install Disk Strangeness *************** Something odd is going on with some of our installation disks for Alone in the Dark II... We're not yet sure where the problem is coming from. It may be the production process, the translation process from the French format to American, (the games are originally French,) or some bug in the Install process. First off, make sure you're not running a TSR called SHARE.EXE in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If you are, it may be the culprit. It definitely causes an error on disk #2 of the 1st Alone in the Dark install. It probably will interfere with your installation if its there. If you are running on a network, or you know you need SHARE.EXE running, you should probably leave it in the AUTOEXEC.BAT on drive C: and make a boot-disk without it. (See CREATING A BOOT DISK above...) The other problem is that some disk in the package, usually only one, but ANY one from disk #1 to #9, will give a 'sector not found' error in the install program and quit, with installation incomplete, or the disk is simply not read at all. If this is happening, there are some things you can try. Try to XCOPY the files from the disks directly into the game directory on your hard drive. Try: XCOPY A: C:\INFOGRAM\INDARK <--- (INDARK2 for Alone II) This sometimes works where the install won't. If you have access to another computer, see if that computer can read the disk. If it can, either try a diskcopy program to copy the disk and then use that copy in place of the original and try running the install again; or install the whole game on that second computer, make a backup of the game directory and all the game files with backup software, and restore the game onto the first computer. (You can use the MSBACKUP program with MS-DOS 6.x or the regular BACKUP and RESTORE commands, or whatever else...) If this isn't possible, or doesn't work, try a commercial disk repair program on the disk. MS-DOS SCANDISK apparently won't do it, but PC-TOOLS DISKFIX and Norton's DISK DOCTOR seem to have success in repairing the bad disk so that your computer will read it. (Even if the disk repair seems to fail, check the disk again anyway. I had this happen the first time I installed the game on my home PC and Norton Disk Doctor reported a problem and didn't even try to fix it, but the disk read OK after that... Not sure why, but it did.) If NONE of these options work, or just aren't practical, or you just want to forget about it and get a disk that works, you can return the weird disk (or disks) to us and we'll ship you out a new one. *********** SOUND ************* Sound cards can be a bit of a problem on some systems... Especially for Alone II and Alone CD, the install program tries to identify the card in the system, and with the tremendous number of sound cards and drivers and possible device conflicts, it can get confused. (The DOS 'INSTALL' programs can be run at any time after installation of the game to access and change soundcard settings. Go to the game directory and run 'INSTALL', click on the 'OPTIONS' button and then the 'Hardw. Options' button and click the down arrows of the FM Card and Sample Card windows to change settings.) As stated earlier, the 'WINSTALL' program to install Alone II and Alone CD are easily confused in Windows and may not find your soundcard. Use the 'INSTALL' program from DOS. You can also find a fixed 'WINSTALL' on some online services and on our own BBS. (To be installed late May, '94.) If you've already installed with the 'WINSTALL' and you're trying to change the sound settings in the game directory with the regular 'INSTALL,' it still may not find you're 'FM Card.' You may have to do the install over with the DOS 'INSTALL' program. One general item to try for sound problems, with a Soundblaster or compatible, is to choose 'Soundblaster (no DMA)' in the 'Hardw. Opt.' page of the 'INSTALL' program, though you may not have this option availble. This often avoids some hardware conflicts in some systems. If the DOS 'INSTALL' still can't find the card properly, there may be a hardware conflict in your system, or it may be an older Soundblaster Pro or compatible. The game comes with the sound drivers in the game directory. 'ADLIBM.COM' is the FM Card driver for music, and 'DRV_SB.COM' is the Sample Card driver. You can try running these drivers before running the game as follows: For 'No FM Card Available', go into the game directory and type 'ADLIBM' and press return, and then type 'AITD2' and return to run the game. You should then have music. For 'Buzzer 386DX' select 'Do not use' in the Sample Card setting in the 'INSTALL' and click on 'Update' in the first page. Then type 'DRV_SB' and press return (all in the game directory, e.g. 'C:\INFOGRAM\INDARK2\ DRV_SB',) then type 'AITD2' and return to run the game. You may have to get to a point where you're actually playing the game and hit the 'Esc' key and turn sound effects ON to actually hear them. If you get an 'Out of Memory' error when you try to run the game, there's probably a device conflict, or some other driver is already in memory or left the soundcard unrecognizable. Check device conflicts and make sure you aren't loading in any sound drivers before running the game. (Make sure you're system doesn't boot directly into Windows... The Windows sound drivers can leave the soundcard in an unstable state. Put an 'REM ' at the beginning of the 'WIN' line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, e.g. 'REM WIN /3'.) For problems with BOTH, run 'ADLIBM' first, as above, then "DRV_SB' as above and run the game. You will have to do this every time you run the game, though you could write a batchfile to do it for you with one command. It seems that some Soundblaster Pros and compatibles sometimes have the above difficulties, we're working on a solution. Check for fixes on AOL, Compuserve, Prodigy, and our BBS. Most soundcards these days are Soundblaster compatible, and must be properly configured for your system. You may have already seen advice on IRQ settings and conflicts with other cards or devices, but here it is again. The traditional settings for Soundblaster (Basic, Pro, 16) are: IRQ 7, (5 these days,) DMA 1, and interrupt address 220h. Make sure that there are no other devices in your system that have the same IRQ or DMA settings that are likely to be on and used at the same time as the soundcard. Definitely make sure nothing has the same interrupt address. With many soundcards this can be done with a configuration program that comes with the soundcard, but this may not be enough... You should check the physical jumper settings on the card itself by opening the case and pulling out the card and comparing it with the chart in the card's documentation. (If there's no documentation... call the company that makes the card, or who you got it from...) Many soundcards allow you to change the DMA setting on the card. Try setting the DMA to 0 or 3 and see if the game will work. (This is an awkward step as most software expects to find a soundcard at DMA 1... You'll have to run the configuration software for the card and perhaps reconfigure a lot of your other software... It may be easier to simply change the DMA back to 1 when you are done with the game.) * Pro Audio Spectrum / Logitech SoundMan 16 Cards * If the Soundblaster emulation on the card is set to IRQ 5, the card may not be identified in the 'INSTALL' as a Soundblaster. You may just get 'Buzzer 386DX.' If you can set the IRQ to 7, the 'INSTALL' seems to then find the card, but this can involve changing the IRQ on some other device. (Probably the parallel port, see 'Sound,' above.) Often, the PAS16 takes IRQ 7 for itself for 16 bit sound, and gives the Soundblaster emulation IRQ 5. Usually, Alone II and Jack in the Dark won't see any sound card at all with these settings. Most versions of PAS16 come with the driver, MVSOUND.SYS, which is installed as a 'DEVICE=' in your CONFIG.SYS. This driver will have two switches, a 'Q:x' and an 'S:x,x,x,x' switch. The first is the IRQ for PAS16, and the second is the soundblaster emulation settings. Often, they will read 'Q:7' and 'S:1,220,1,5', or something similar. If you simply switch the 7 and the 5, make it 'Q:5' and 'S:1,220,1,7' this is enough to switch the IRQ at boot-up. However, this could mean reconfiguring a LOT of software, inclucing Windows, to look for these new settings. You can just set up a boot disk with the above settings, for playing the game, and keep the original settings in your C:CONFIG.SYS. That way, on your regular boot-up, the IRQs will be set up for the rest of your software, but the boot disk will let the INSTALL for Alone II and Jack find the soundcard. ********** SHIP BUG ************* There is a bug late in the game. Darnby will be on the ship and in a room where some men are on bunks, sleeping. As Darnby walks through the room, the game stops and the message 'MASK11.PAK file not found' is displayed. There is a fix available on the major online services and on our BBS, but this bug will not prevent you from finishing the game. Just stay away from that part of the room. If you're stuck at this point see the section 'Tech Problems That Aren't Really Tech Problems (Mostly...)' below. ********** TECH PROBLEMS THAT AREN'T REALLY TECH PROBLEMS (MOSTLY...) ********* Alone in the Dark II: Darnby, in some areas, can "squeeze" through walls and doors. (Usually with the sword in his hand.) Sometimes he'll get stuck somewhere or find some guys frozen. This is an aspect of the 3D shapes used in the game. It is NOT meant to be part of the game. If you had to do this to get somewhere, you've missed something. Along the same lines, Grace can get stuck in some spots. At the top of the stairs in the house, she can get into a spot she just can't get out of. Be careful, and save often. Are there two closed doors on the first floor of the house that you can't open? One will... The other is the front door, and it should never open, though you might be able to "squeeze" partway through it (see above...) The other has a service window in it... If you were a waiter, what would go in a service window? (Think French... It's a French game...) The cook in the kitchen says something about this, too, though you might have killed him before he could tell you. The little girl is being held up in the air by a pirate; Darnby's in the background in chains; can't move or access inventory or actions. The game just keeps looping! You've switched characters. It's easy to spot when you become the little girl, but the switch back to Darnby can be a stumper. You won't be able to access your inventory or actions, because Darnby has nothing and is still in chains. Use the arrow keys and keep trying to do something. Eventually he will. You're the little girl and you've done everything you can in the house, you go back to the ship, and two little cooks catch you. You wind up back in the cell with a pirate holding you up in the air... You've actually switched characters again, back to Carnby. Press the right arrow key a few times and watch him. There's a cannon on the ship in a room accross from the barracks, (see Ship Bug, above,) in which the 'Push' command doesn't seem to work. When you press the space-bar to make Darnby push, he just stands there. If he's in the right spot, (and has done something first,) it WILL work and he'll go through a special sequence setting something up. Just keep trying to push something from all sides. There's a REALLY big guy who comes up from the floor on the ship, who shakes the whole ship when he walks, and you can't kill him... Don't even bother trying, just run away from him. *********** UNRESOLVED, BUT WORKING ON IT ************ There are still some problems people have reported that we haven't worked out yet. Some have partial solutions, some don't... Most of the following suggestions seem to work, or have worked enough to offer here. But don't forget the Tech-Support number, (310) 576-1885. This file doesn't put us out of a job... * QEMM * When QEMM is running with 'Stealth' turned on, it will swap the ROM BIOS area of upper memory into extended, or expanded memory, and use that area as more available upper memory for TSRs and device drivers loaded high. This is a very nifty trick and works most of the time, UNLESS some device or TSR tries to access these areas directly without a legitimate BIOS call. Then things can get messy. Since enabling EMS memory eats up 64k of upper memory, it's often desirable to have 'Stealth' turned on to be able to fit everything into upper memory. If you're experiencing problems with one of the games, (hanging, video flickering, sound,) try taking the 'ST:x' parameter off of the QEMM line in you're CONFIG.SYS. (Although, we should say we have had virtually no direct problem with QEMM, all of our software works fine with it. It's usually some TSR or driver doing something a little screwy.) * Still Won't Work! * Some systems have hardware (SVGA Cards, Soundcards, Networks, Etc.) that use areas in upper memory that are mapped by EMM386, QEMM, or 386MAX as free upper memory. Often things seem to work fine, but sometimes something conflicts and... You know the rest. You can try loading device drivers and TSRs low; making a boot-disk with hardly anything on it; try excluding portions of upper memory in blocks starting with C000-C7FF and go up from there. If it suddenly all works with some exclusion, try to narrow it down to as small a segment as you can and then just exclude that.