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Text File | 1994-11-14 | 24.4 KB | 751 lines

DAWN PATROL READ ME - Last Update: RDH 27Oct94 ================================================= This file is an up to date copy of the main part of the Technical Reference Supplement. Contents: MEMORY requirements Freeing Memory Under 1MB Expanded Memory SUPER VGA DRIVERS notes on universal vesa option (low speed) THRUSTMASTER STICKS =============================================================================== MEMORY ====== 1 Requirements -------------- under 1Mb: 485Kb of conventional memory to load program + 70Kb of conventional or UMB memory for VGA (555K) + 85Kb of conventional or UMB memory for SVGA(570K) (20Kb for sound and music is included above) ems: 2.2 Mbytes for VGA ems: 2.5 Mbytes for the High Speed SVGA & VESA drivers ems: 3 Mbytes for the Universal VESA driver The under 1Mb memory figure given above assumes that the additional conventional or upper memory is available as one continuous block. It is likely that slightly higher figures will be required if the memory comes from 2 or more separate blocks. For example if you have 540K of conventional (485+55K) and 32K of UMBs free (additional=55k+32k=87K) you may find that SVGA mode will pop out during the game with a memory error message even though there would seem be a large enough total. Estimate an addititional 5K overhead per additional region (and ignore blocks under 5K in size) when trying to tune your memory map, or try to merge regions in order to reduce the overhead. Type mem at the DOS prompt to find the memory available on your computer. The figures required are "Total under 1MB" third figure (free), and "Free Expanded (EMS)". For the demo the main program size is a little lower (about 470K) 2 Freeing Memory Under 1MB -------------------------- 2.1 Introduction ---------------- This section describes how you can make enough memory available for Dawn Patrol to run on almost any machine, even with a CD-ROM, SVGA, and MUSIC drivers installed. If you are not using MS-DOS, but are using Novell or DR-DOS then you will have to assume an equivalence when MS-DOS version numbers are mentioned. 2.2 Security boot disk -------------------- To release memory for Dawn Patrol and other games you will have to make edits to your config.sys and autoexec.bat files (set-up files). We suggest that you make a security boot disk now. If your machine stops working as a result of an edit to your set up files, you can use the boot disk to restore your system. If you use Stacker or Superstore and Dawn Patrol is installed onto the compressed drive then you will have to use the instructions provided with the compression software on how to make a boot disk that lets you access the compressed drive. To make a security boot disk, from the DOS prompt: 1) FORMAT /S A: 2) MD A:\OLD 3) COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT A:\OLD 4) COPY C:\CONFIG.SYS A:\OLD 5) remove the floppy To use the security boot disk: 1) Place the recovery floppy in the drive 2) Reboot the machine 3) COPY A:\OLD\AUTOEXEC.BAT C:\ 4) COPY A:\OLD\CONFIG.SYS C:\ 5) remove the floppy 6) Reboot the machine The machine should now behave as it did before you made any edits to your setup files. 2.3 Game boot disk ------------------ Section 2.5 contains advice on how to modify your setup files. It is possible to make these edits on either the setup files in your c: drive or on a game boot disk. Edits made on your c: setup files will effect your machine every time you reboot from the hard drive. Edits made on the game boot disk are only effective when you boot with the game boot disk. Some edits will work with all software and could be included on your c: drive setup files. Other edits will not work with some software. Some experimentation is required once you have successfully configured a bootdisk that runs Dawn Patrol. In the following text, we will assume that a game disk is being used. DOS 6.x users may wish to make alternate boot setups. To make the boot able disk: 1) Place the recovery floppy in the drive 2) COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT A: 3) COPY C:\CONFIG.SYS A: 4) Edit a:CONFIG.SYS 5) All lines starting DEVICE=\something become DEVICE=C:\something 6) Similarly, any DEVICEHIGH=\something becomes DEVICEHIGH=C:\something INSTALL=\something becomes INSTALL=C:\something INSTALLHIGH=\something --> INSTALLHIGH=C:\something SHELL=\something becomes SHELL=C:\something 7) Save the file 8) Edit a:AUTOEXEC.BAT 9) Insert 1 new line at the start which reads: C: 10) Save the file Now, if you reboot the machine with the floppy in the drive, it will boot somewhat slower, but the messages on the screen will look the same. If this is successful then you can move forward. Anytime from now on that we mention AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS we will mean the versions on A: floppy. 2.4 Config.sys and Autoexec.bat ------------------------------- This section describes some of the likely contents of the two setup files. Please try and identify the equvalent lines in your setup files so that you will be able to modify them as described in (2.5). First, Config.SYS: 1) A memory manager - one of: DOS: Device=c:\dos\himem.sys Device=c:\dos\emm386.exe or Device=c:\windows\himem.sys Device=c:\windows\emm386.exe QEMM: Device=c:\qemm\qemm386.sys 386Max: Device=c:\386max\386max.sys 2) Memory: files and buffers To get DOS out of conventional memory in Dos5 or Dos6: DOS=HIGH,UMB To minimize the size of DOS and still run Dawn Patrol: FILES=10 BUFFERS=30 <- in DOS 5 or 6. In others BUFFERS=1 FCBS=1,0 STACKS=0,0 The figures above are ideal for Dawn Patrol. Yours may be different. The following lines are in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT. Please go through CONFIG.SYS for points 3,4,5,6,7. Then, if neccessary, edit AUTOEXEC.BAT and check through the points again. 3) Disk cacheing software to speed access to the harddisk and possibly speed up the CD drive as well: CONFIG.SYS may contain DEVICE=C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.SYS AUTOEXEC.BAT may contain SMARTDRV or \DOS\SMARTDRV or \WINDOWS\SMARTDRV or lh SMARTDRV or loadhigh SMARTDRV Cacheing software is also provided in the NORTON UTILITIES and PC TOOLS: CONFIG.SYS: Device=C:\NU\NCACHE-x.SYS or Device=C:\PCTOOLS\PCCACHE.SYS AUTOEXEC.BAT: C:\NU\NCACHE-x or C:\PCTOOLS\PCCACHE 4) A mouse driver - something like: In Config.sys: device=c:\mouse\mouse.sys or In autoexec.bat: c:\mouse\mouse "c:\mouse\" might be "c:\dos\" or "c:\windows\" 5) To run the CD version you need 1 line each in Config.sys and Autoexec.bat to enable your CD: The line in config.sys is provided by your CD manufacturer so it varies a lot. The following sould give you some idea: In Config.sys: Device=c:\cddrv\cddrv.sys /d:"something" The line in autoexec.bat is pretty standard. There are only 3 different styles: c:\dos\MSCDEX /L:r /D:"something" /M:xx or c:\windows\MSCDEX /L:r /D:"something" /M:xx or c:\cddrv\MSCDEX /L:r /D:"something" /M:xx 6) If you run any disk compression then the lines in Autoexec.BAT or Config.SYS associated with the disk compression MUST NOT BE DELETED. 7) If you need to load any device drivers to access the hard disk where Dawn Patrol is installed then the line that loads this driver MUST NOT BE DELETED. 8) If you have an SBPRO, SB16, or AWE32 then you will find additional lines in AUTOEXEC.BAT that reference the C:\SBPRO or C:\SB16 directory. DO NOT DELETE THESE LINES if you want to hear the sound effects and music. Also, do not delete the statement: SET BLASTER= Notes: Whereever DEVICE= is mentioned above, your CONFIG.SYS might say DEVICEHIGH= 2.5 Modifying Config.sys and Autoexec.bat ----------------------------------------- Once you have familiarised yourself with the commands mentioned in 2.4 you can attempt to tune the setup by trying the following modifications. You should try each of these options in turn, and see how much your memory has improved towards the targets listed at the start of this file. A) If you find any lines in the sdetup files that are not mentioned in 2.4, you should be able to delete them. They should not be required to run Dawn Patrol. On the other hand, other software that you run may require the lines. B) Use the optimal values for the following lines in CONFIG.SYS: To get DOS out of conventional memory in MS-Dos5 or MS-Dos6: DOS=HIGH,UMB To minimize the size of DOS and still run Dawn Patrol: FILES=10 FCBS=1,0 STACKS=0,0 In Dos 5 or DOS 6 set: BUFFERS=30 In Dos 4 try: BUFFERS=30 /x In Dos 3 try: BUFFERS=1 C) You can reduce the size of your CD driver (2.4.5). Find the line in AUTOEXEC.BAT for MSCDEX. Search for the parameter /E. If it is not there then add it. You may now wish to increase the /M:xx buffers. D) Some software "grows" when loaded high in UMBs, using more memory than it does when loaded in conventional memory. In particular, some CD drivers have this problem. Try changing "DEVICEHIGH /x =" to "DEVICE =" in config.sys and removing LOADHIGH or LH from the front of commands in AUTOEXEC.BAT. If the total below 1Mb increases, then your only worry is whether there is at least 475K of conventional memory left for loading the program. If you don't have this conventional memory, you will have to selectively reverse these changes and identify which software "grows" when loaded in UMBs. E) EMM386.EXE (2.4.1) can be modified to give DOS users more memory. You should expect MEM to say that the TOTAL UPPER memory is at least 96K. You should ensure that the parameter ON is on the line, not OFF or AUTO. Unless running the UNIVERSAL VESA SVGA driver DOS 5 and 6 users will also have a RAM parameter. First, any X= statements for network cards or scanner scan be removed, as Dawn Patrol will not access this hardware. Do not remove any X= statements required by your DISK CONTROLLER. Of course, you will need to use the normal boot for other programs to access this hardware! Second, you can add the statement I=B000-B7FF to give Dos5 and Dos6 32K extra memory. Note that normally Dos 5 users will be unable to run WINDOWS with this parameter set. Dos 5 users of PCs (not PS2) may also add I=E000-EFFF to get 64K extra. It is good to place the page frame at one end to provide contiguous memory. The parameter FRAME=C800 or FRAME=E000 will do this. F) Disk caches (2.4.3) really speed up disk access, but can take a lot of memory. SMARTDRV.EXE provided in dos 5 and 6 takes 20K. Removing this line will save memory, but slows the game down a little. Norton's NCache-s.EXE will only take 5K if you use EMS. G) It is convenient to use a mouse (2.4.4) with Dawn Patrol, but not essential. removing your mouse driver may free up to 15K. There are special mouse drivers that take very little memory and work mainly from EMS. H) Sounds and Music High quality sound effects requires a 20K buffer Low quality sound effects requires 10K Music requires a buffer of 13K At the start of the game 1 buffer is declared to the largest of these sizes. Thus, by using low quality sound effects and music 7K is saved compared to high quality sound effects. 3K more is saved by having no music, and the whole 20K is saved by having no sound effects or music. I) The following modifications to EMM386.EXE will make even more memory available to Dawn Patrol, but should only be attempted after all else fails: In order to use the UNIVERSAL VESA SVGA driver many users will already have had to insert the statement I=A000-AFFF. If you don't mind the danger of Dawn Patrol crashing when you exit, but running fine, then you can also add the parameter I=B800-BFFF. If you are NOT using the UNIVERSAL VESA driver, but are still desparate for memory then you may have to remove the RAM parameter and add the parameter I=B800-BFFF. Note that Dawn Patrol will still find your UMBs in this configuration even though DOS couldn't, so you only have to ensure that there is 490K available at the DOS prompt with all your device drivers and TSRs loaded low. Dawn Patrol is also able to help users of DOS versions 3 and 4 who's EMM386.SYS will accept I= arguments, or users of hardware EMS cards by generating UMBs in the included areas. Try some of the following: FRAME=E000 I=C800-DFFF or INCLUDE=C800-DFFF - this is worth 96K I=B000-B7FF or INCLUDE=B000-B7FF - this is worth 32K I=B800-BFFF or INCLUDE=B800-BFFF - this is worth 32K These are not guaranteed to work, but may work with some vendor versions. J) Quarterdeck's QEMM can greatly increase available UMBs, and hence free more main memory by moving and hiding the ROMs. However this 'stealth' technique is not compatable with that certain Video cards such as CIRRUS. We have found that the CIRRUS and some other cards will work OK under stealth in two different ways which will maximise your UMBs: 1) ST:M FRAME=C000 means that the video ROM is hidden, but not moved. UMBs are available from D000-FFF0 giving 190K 2) ST:M XST=C000 FRAME=C800 un-stealths the video, but stelths the system. The region from D800 to FFF0 is UMBs giving 170K If ST:F works with your machine then try disabling shadowing in the boot-up bios options, and try OPTIMIZEing again. We have found that it is often better to stealth over the video ROM using ST:F FRAME=C000 than the system ROM using ST:F FRAME=EC00 as QEMM will often map over parts of the system ROM anyway. QEMM Stealth version 7 is also able to 'hide' DOUBLESPACE, and move lumps of DOS. I have seen 650,000 bytes at the dos prompt! (640K=655,360 bytes). I don't expect users of QEMM or 386 MAX to have major problems finding enough memory, especially with the QEMM stealth features. 2.6 Example Configurations -------------------------- The highest memory requirement for Dawn Patrol is 622k. 2.6.1 Hard Disk user -------------------- A hard disk user's machine under dos 5 or 6 can easily have the following configuration: 630K at the DOS prompt 96K of UMBs (+64K page frame) filled with: EMM386.SYS 2K SMARTDRV.EXE 20K mouse 15K === 40K leaving 56k free available memory: 630+56 = 686k Of course, a further 40K would have disappeared if DOUBLESPACE was installed. The config.sys will look something like: DOS=HIGH,UMB DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE ON RAM FRAME=E000 2500 STACKS=0,0 FILES=10 BUFFERS=30 FCBS=1,0 devicehigh=c:\mouse\mouse.sys (for the universal driver line 3 might read: DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE ON FRAME=E000 I=A000-AFFF 3000 ) The autoexec.bat will look something like: @echo off c: PATH=C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS c:\mouse\mouse LH C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE 2.6.2 CD users -------------- For a CD user, the following configuration is easily achieved: 610K at the DOS prompt with MSCDEX loaded low. 128K of UMBs (I=B000-B7ff and page FRAME=E000) filled with: EMM386.SYS 2K CDDRV.SYS 30K SMARTDRV.EXE 20K mouse 15K === 70K leaving 58k free available memory: 610+58 = 668k - so the I= is not necessary A further 40K would disappear if DOUBLESPACE was installed then the I= may be necessary, or SmartDrv may have to be removed. For the CD user the config.sys will look something like: DOS=HIGH,UMB DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE ON RAM FRAME=E000 I=B000-B7FF 2500 DEVICEHIGH=C:\cddrv\cddrv.sys /D:"name" STACKS=0,0 FILES=10 BUFFERS=30 FCBS=1,0 devicehigh=c:\mouse\mouse.sys (for the universal driver line 3 might read: DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE ON FRAME=E000 I=A000-AFFF I=B000-B7FF 3000 ) For the CD user the autoexec.bat will look something like: @echo off c: PATH=C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\cddrv c:\mouse\mouse MSCDEX /L:r /E /M:30 /D:"name" LH C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE 3 Expanded Memory ----------------- You will be reading this if mem does not report enough Free Expanded (EMS). If you have no "Total expanded" or the section does not exist, then you need to put the line DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE ON RAM 3000 near the top of your CONFIG.SYS on a new line after DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS. If The line DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386 is already there then see if there is the parameter OFF or AUTO on the line. If there is then you need to remove that parameter and replace it with ON. This will reduce your UMBs, and you may then not have enough memory under 1Mb. If you have less than the required amount of Free Expanded then take the following steps in turn until your problems are solved (we hope!): 1) Look at the line Extended (XMS). If the total XMS is much more than the total EMS and the free XMS is enough to make up the amount you need then edit Config.sys and find the line with DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.SYS or DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE or DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE and increase the number by the difference in K. Reboot, and see if you have gained enough EMS to run Dawn Patrol. QEMM, 386MAX, DR-DOS and DOS6 treat EMS and XMS as a common memory pool, unless you have configured with a maximum EMS, so the figures for EMS and XMS will be approximately the same. 2) Either Total Expanded or Total Extended should be over the figure you need, i.e. 2,500K or you will have to fit more memory to your machine. A 4MB machine should provide 2,900K of expanded memory, or 3,000K XMS. 3) You will have to remove a driver that is using your Expanded or Extended memory in order to make room for Dawn Patrol. These include RAM disks and disk caches. Edit your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files and look for lines starting with the following: DEVICE=c:\dos\RAMDRIVE.SYS or DEVICEHIGH=c:\dos\RAMDRIVE.SYS: Dawn Patrol does not make use of RAM disks, so this line should be disabled by inserting REM in front (i.e. REM DEVICE=c:\dos\RAMDRIVE.SYS) DEVICE=C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.SYS SMARTDRV lh SMARTDRV loadhigh SMARTDRV \DOS\SMARTDRV \WINDOWS\SMARTDRV Dawn Patrol can be speeded up by using a disk cache, but they can use a lot of memory. To reduce SMARTDRiVe's memory look for a number after the text listed above. If there is a number reduce it by the amount of EMS you need (in K). If there is no number then try putting 256 (The default is 2,000K). If this does not give enough EMS then comment out the line by putting REM in front (eg REM \DOS\SMARTDRV) Your RAM disk or disk cache may be provided by some-one other that microsoft. The NORTON UTILITIES and PC TOOLS both contain cache and ram disk utilities. There are other ways you could be using up your XMS or EMS - a printer buffer for example, or a network cache. After making these edits save out and reboot. Type MEM again to see the gain in free XMS and EMS memory. The result may have freed either XMS or EMS, depending how the ram disk or smartdrv was configured. If there is now enough XMS, but not enough EMS free then you need to repeat step (1) above. =============================================================================== SUPER VGA DRIVERS ================= After you have installed the DAWN PATROL program disk set you will be able to run the game in standard VGA mode. You can then run SVGATEST. This program will attempt to set up an SVGA library for your graphics card. If it is successful, then a high resolution version of the title screen will be displayed. This indicates that you will be able to run DAWN PATROL in high resolution. At this stage you should install the SVGA graphics disk set. We have provided custom SVGA drivers, a High Speed VESA driver and a Universal VESA driver. The Universal driver should work on most cards but is slower than the other two options. Please run SVGATEST to decide which driver to use. At the beginning of SVGATEST a list including the following chipsets will be displayed: Cirrus ET4000 Trident #9 GXE ATI Mach 32 - requires that the provided VESA TSR has been run. There are a number of manufacturers' brand names. In the following list, brand names are matched with their driver: Hercules Dynamite ET4000 Genoa 8500VL Cirrus Genoa 3989VL-12 ET4000 Trident 8900 Trident Trident 9000 Trident Cirrus Logic GD-54xx Cirrus Older Diamond Stealth Vision Newer Diamond Stealth ET4000 If you don't know which chipset you have, then select "OTHER" , then "Technical Information" in the SVGATEST. The following cards have been tested and work with the High Speed VESA driver: Cirrus Logic GD-54xx ET3000 ET4000 Trident #9 GXE Older Diamond Stealth Newer Diamond Stealth ATI Mach 32 The following cards have been tested and work with the Universal VESA driver: S3 cards including Orchid Fahrenheit S3 Pegasus Paradise - still working on high speed driver (Sept '94) Note that to use the UNIVERSAL VESA driver the card must be LOCAL BUS (VLB or PCI) to get an acceptable framerate during the ground section, and a DX2/66 or Pentioum 66 MINIMUM is needed to fly using the UNIVERSAL VESA drivers. Please contact Entertainment International for the latest information on these drivers: In Europe: Customer Services: 0181 343 9143 In US: Technical Support: (301) 916 9303 notes on universal vesa option (low speed) ------------------------------------------ You must make ONE of the following edits to your C:\CONFIG.SYS file, depending on the memory management software you are using: On DOS versions before DOS 5 on the line starting DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.SYS: Add the parameter: i=A000-AFFF On DOS versions 5 and after on the line starting DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.SYS: Find, and remove, the word: RAM And add the parameter: i=A000-AFFF Also, find the line saying DOS=HIGH,UMB and change to DOS=HIGH or, find the line saying DOS=UMB and insert REM in front. For Quarterdeck QEMM 386, on the line starting DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS: Add the parameter: VREMS -If you do not have a monochrome monitor you can avoid rerunning OPTIMISE by also adding the following parameter: RAM=B000-B7FF We have not managed to get WINDOWS to accept this unless you insert X=B000-BFFF -in which case you will have 32K less UMBs, and you will have to re-run OPTIMIZE. For 386 MAX, on the line starting DEVICE=C:\386MAX\386MAX.SYS: Add the parameter: I=A000-AFFF I don't know what effect this has on Windows :-> After the "DOS 5 and after" edit some software won't work until the edit is reversed. You may wish to make a bootable floppy especially for Dawn Patrol. See the section above on memory optimisation to do this. Then, perform the edit described above on A:\CONFIG.SYS =============================================================================== THRUSTMASTER STICKS =================== The Thrustmaster option on the preferences screen refers only to the Mark I joystick. If you have the F16 stick then select the standard joystick option. The coolie hat and switches can be programmed using the Thrustmaster utilities. If you connect a Weapons Control System to your Mark I stick then you can either: set the hat switch to analog and the red switch to digitial or calibrate. In this case the coolie hat will function in the same way as if the WCS was not connected. or: set the hat switch to digital and the red switch analog or calibrate. In this case the coolie hat will not function but the WCS throttle will be available. To calibrate select the "Joy-Throttle" option on the Preferences page. In both cases, if the red switch is set to calibrate, all the red buttons are disabled. Otherwise the buttons can be programmed using the Thrustmaster utilities. We have provided the file ROWAN.M50 which is a macro list of all the keys in the game. Your can use this file to produce your own button file. The file ROWAN.M50 can be renamed to ROWAN.MDF for use with the WCS mark II