Rise of the Robots manual - readme file

Rise of the Robots Help File  -  Version 1.0    Oct. 27, 1994
=============================================================

This help file is designed to help you get Rise of the Robots running to
the maximum ability of your machine as quickly as possible.



Section 1. Game Configurations.
===============================

Rise of the Robots runs in Super VGA mode.  Type RISE to run the game.  
If you don't have at least 512Kb on your video card or your video card 
has problems working with the Super VGA mode, we apologize.  This game 
will not work with your system.

When running the Super VGA version of the game, be sure that your video
card either has built-in VESA compatibility, or a VESA driver has been
loaded.

If you don't have a VESA driver for your video card, we have supplied you
with UniVBE Lite version 5.0 licensed to us by SciTech Software.  This is
a universal VESA driver that works with most Super VGA cards including the
following:

    Ahead A & B
    ATI Technologies 18800, 28800, Mach 32
    Advanced Logic AL2101 Super VGA
    Chips & Technologies 82c451/452/453/450
    Cirrus Logic CL-GD 5402/20/22/24/26/28/29/30/34
    Genoa Systems GVGA
    Hualon HMC86304
    MXIC 86010 Super VGA
    NCR 77C20/21/22E/32BLT
    OAK Technologies OTI-037C/067/077/087
    Paradise PVGA1A, WD90C00/10/11/20/21/26A/30/31/33
    Primus 2000 Super VGA
    RealTek 3106 Super VGA
    S3 86c911/924/801/805/928
    Trident 8800, 8900, 9000
    Tseng Labs ET3000, ET4000, ET4000/W32
    UMC 85c408
    Video 7 VEGA, HT208/209/216
    Weitek 5186/286 (on P9000 based boards)

Type UNIVBE in the game directory to load the driver before running either
the SETUP program or RISE.  The complete UniVBE Lite software package
(including UNIVBE.EXE, UNIVBE.DOC, and VBETEST.EXE) is in a subdirectory
called UNIVBE50 on either DISK1(Floppy versions) or the CD-ROM.  Thanks to
SciTech Software and TR Consulting for supplying the UniVBE Lite driver.



Section 2. Getting the game to run.
===================================

There are several reasons why Rise may not run on your machine.  Rise will
try to tell you why it did not run, so please read its messages carefully.

General problems.
-----------------
1) Not enough memory.
Rise needs ALL of a 4 megabyte machines memory to run, so if you are
running on a 4Meg machine, you will have to set up your machine carefully.
If you have more than 4 megabytes, you should never have memory problems.
Rise will try to use as little base memory as possible (Approximately
400Kb).

Things to remove are...
a) SMARTDRV - this utility is a prime candidate for eating your memory.
   Remove this before playing on a 4Meg machine.

b) TSRs - any TSRs except CD-ROM drivers can be removed while playing
   Rise.  This includes the mouse driver.  Rise doesn't need it to run.

c) Memory Managers - it is advised that you remove ALL memory managers
   (EMM386.SYS, QEMM386.SYS, etc.) except for HIMEM.SYS, if your system
   still doesn't work.
   Note:  If you remove QEMM386 or any other memory managers that do not
   use HIMEM.SYS, you must add HIMEM.SYS to your CONFIG.SYS file.


2) Sound effects don't work or cut in and out during play.
Rise sound effects work on Soundblaster cards and 100% compatibles.
Assuming you have one and have sound switched on, there are two further
reasons why sound won't work properly.

a) The BLASTER environment variable hasn't been set.
   This is a standard laid down by Creative Labs to tell an application
   about the way a sound card is configured.  This should be set by a
   command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file similar to

   SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T4

   See you sound card manual for details on how to set this variable up.

b) There isn't enough base (REAL) memory.
   Rise needs 200Kb of base memory for sounds.  The only solution for this
   problem is to have at least 400Kb of base memory.  See above (Not
   enough memory).


3) Keyboard control problems.
Any control problems you may experience when using the keyboard can be
resolved by redefining the control keys you have chosen.  To change the
keyboard controls run the SETUP program from the DOS prompt.


4) Joystick problems.
As with most joystick games, joysticks should be centered to insure
their proper function.  This game automatically centers the joystick(s)
when you start the game.  If they weren't, or the joystick(s) start
misbehaving, press 'J' at any point during the game.  This should
re-calibrate them.  Also, some joysticks are not well suited to be used
with fighting games.  The best controllers are the ones designed like the
arcade or console game systems.  If you are looking for a joystick that
will work well with this game, we recommend the "Gravis PC GamePad" from
Advanced GRAVIS.

This game supports up to two joysticks.  In order to use two joysticks,
you will need a joystick splitter to put in the 15 pin connector, to allow
both joysticks to be plugged into the one port.  There is a standard to
which joystick splitters should adhere.  Some splitters are not full
implementations of this standard, and therefore, you may get incomplete
two joystick access.  We recommend the "Gravis Y Adapter" also from
Advanced GRAVIS, part # 7120-1 (or 7120-6 if you order it directly from
Advanced GRAVIS).  We have tested it, and it works correctly.

Additional problems may occur if your joystick card (sound card) doesn't
follow the joystick port standard.  Symptoms include everything working
except player 2 block button (button 2).  If this is true, you might want
to disable your current joystick port and add a new joystick card.

Note: There is a known problem with running the Soundblaster 16 SCSI board
with joysticks due to poor joystick port design.


5) Speed problems.
If your machine is 486DX or above and you are still finding Rise runs
slowly with a fast video card, you should check that you have Internal
Caching on in your CMOS setup.  Check your machine manual for this.



Section 3. Super VGA Specific problems.
=======================================

1) VESA compatible video card was not found.
   Basically, you need a Super VGA card with VESA drivers loaded to play
   Rise.  If you don't have a Super VGA card, you have two options:  buy
   one, or return this game to the place you purchased it from.  If you 
   HAVE a Super VGA card and you get this message, you will have to load 
   the UniVBE driver (See Section 1 above).

2) VESA found but no suitable mode found.
   This is serious.  It means that although you have a VESA compliant
   Super VGA card, it does not support a suitable video mode for Rise.
   Rise requires the 640x400x256 (mode 100h) or 640x480x256 (mode 101h).
   If your card doesn't have either, you can't play.  This is a hardware
   limitation.

   For technical people:
   Rise works on cards with a graphics base address of 0A0000h only, and
   64k windows (single or overlapping).

3) VESA mode found but failed mode initialization.
   This is probably caused by the wrong VESA driver being installed.  Use
   the UniVBE driver that is included with the game.

4) VESA initializes but the game flickers when run.
   This may mean you only have 256Kb onboard memory (Rise needs 512Kb to
   run flicker-free), or the video card is too slow in its Super VGA mode
   for the game.  Certain Windows accelerator video boards were not
   designed to work fast in Super VGA modes, and therefore may have this
   problem.

5) You own a Diamond Viper or an ATI Graphics Pro Turbo board.
   We apologize for the fact that the Diamond and ATI people designed their
   board NOT to be compatible with anything that we are doing.  If you have
   this board, this game will not work.  Sorry.



Section 4. Tech support.
========================

Aside from the tech support number and America OnLine support area
identified by the manual, Time Warner Interactive is pleased to introduce
its new bulletin board system, First Class(r) Server by SoftArc Inc.
First Class is a unique bulletin board system that offers access to both
Macintosh and IBM PC computers.  Users can log in using a command-line
interface, or download the optional First Class(r) Client software for
either the Windows or MacOS, which provides a graphical interface similar
to a Macintosh Desktop.  Users may also download the optional TWIBBS
settings file for the Macintosh, and experience customized pictures,
sounds and icons, specifically designed for our BBS.  Users can read
technical information on TWI games, hints, FAQs (frequently asked
questions), download files, chat, and much more.

The Time Warner Interactive Bulletin Board System's phone number is
(818) 295-6730 (8N1, up to 14.4K baud).  It is open 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week.  The System Administrator, Michael Rusak, can be contacted at
(818) 295-6669  9:00AM-6:00PM PST Mon.-Fri.



Thank You for buying this game.  I hope you enjoy it.



Time Warner Interactive & Mirage Technologies (Multimedia) Ltd.