Sazerac's Help Desk (post your tech-related questions here!)

[Dragonrider]

Hi! Dragonrider here. If you know the name of your cdrom (ie kenwood, creative labs, etc) then you can go to that website and see if they have a software upgrade for your cdrom. What are you running on your computer? Win95,98,SE,or Me. SE and Me should have 32bit drivers for the cdrom already. A good place to go for updates is http://www.worldowindows.com/index.asp

[coachschwartz]

Well I think this is goodbye until I can afford a new computer sniff sniff lol
tried everything except the axe lol

anyone want a good party??????? we are for rent lol

[Wyvern]

coach - AWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Hope you will be able to upgrade soon so you can join in the fun!! You can still enjoy the fun on the board - you know you are welcome!

Wyv

[Dr.Pick]

I noticed recently that I hear NO music anywhere in the game(WOOHOO, I don't want the music)even when the music level was set at 70%. However, I also don't hear ANY talking by NPC's. Is this normal or am I missing something? In addition, I'm upgrading my PC to a P3 900mghz with Sound Blaster audio system. I currently have TB Quadzilla which I like very much. Any prob's assoc. with SB and compatibility? I'm only going w/ the SB 'cause it comes with the deal. INPUT, I desire INPUT. =-) Thank you, this is much appreciated! Dr.Pick

[adam warlock]

what can I do to prevent 'dragging' in the game?

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[Sazerac]

Originally posted by Dr.Pick: I noticed recently that I hear NO music anywhere in the game(WOOHOO, I don't want the music)even when the music level was set at 70%. However, I also don't hear ANY talking by NPC's. Is this normal or am I missing something? In addition, I'm upgrading my PC to a P3 900mghz with Sound Blaster audio system. I currently have TB Quadzilla which I like very much. Any prob's assoc. with SB and compatibility? I'm only going w/ the SB 'cause it comes with the deal. INPUT, I desire INPUT. =-) Thank you, this is much appreciated! Dr.Pick

You are DEFINITELY missing an integral part of the game, and even though it would be playable, is certainly not as much fun.

It does sound like you have a driver problem.

I'd check to see if you have the latest drivers for it. Have you had this problem with other applications or games as well? Check at your manufacturer's website (try the manufacturer's name with .com attached to the end) and see if they have downloadable drivers.

If not...Sound Blaster on your new system should not give any problem. It's the premiere sound card. I dropped a Sound Blaster into my computer recently, and have had no problems hearing the game music or voice.

Hope this helps!

-Sazerac

[Sazerac]

Originally posted by adam warlock: what can I do to prevent 'dragging' in the game?

Are you playing at full install? If not, it's the CD-ROM that's causing the dragging. I had a problem with dragging, and reinstalled the game using the "Full" install and never had a problem again.

Also: running in Hardware mode when you have a small amount of VRAM (less than 16MB) can cause a slight amount of "dragging". If it's annoying, switch back to software mode. Software mode makes the game run faster, but you won't get the better blended graphics and lighting effects that way.

One other hint to help prevent dragging behavior: if you haven't defragged (optimized) your hard drive, do so ASAP. Windows has a built-in defragmentation program called "Disk Defragmenter". You can get to it by following these steps:

1) At the desktop, click "Start"
2) Point to "Programs"
3) Point to "Accessories"
4) Point to "System Tools"
5) Click on "Disk Defragmenter"

Even if it tells you you don't need to do a defrag (Windows is BAD about that), even a small percentage of fragmented files can slow down a drive. Make it go through a full defragmentation.

If you have a 3rd party utility that's better, use it instead. I use Norton Utilities 2000's Speed Disk, and it's far better than Window's version.

I've also noticed that defragmenting your drive on a regular basis (once a week!) helps cut down on the annoying "crash to desktop" behavior. It's a Windows problem more than a W&W one.

-Sazerac

[adam warlock]

Originally posted by Sazerac: Also: running in Hardware mode when you have a small amount of VRAM (less than 16MB) can cause a slight amount of "dragging". If it's annoying, switch back to software mode. Software mode makes the game run faster, but you won't get the better blended graphics and lighting effects that way. One other hint to help prevent dragging behavior: if you haven't defragged (optimized) your hard drive, do so ASAP. Windows has a built-in defragmentation program called "Disk Defragmenter". You can get to it by following these steps: 1) At the desktop, click "Start" 2) Point to "Programs" 3) Point to "Accessories" 4) Point to "System Tools" 5) Click on "Disk Defragmenter" Even if it tells you you don't need to do a defrag (Windows is BAD about that), even a small percentage of fragmented files can slow down a drive. Make it go through a full defragmentation. I've also noticed that defragmenting your drive on a regular basis (once a week!) helps cut down on the annoying "crash to desktop" behavior. It's a Windows problem more than a W&W one. -Sazerac

Done the defrag and it worked! thanks!



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[Fallagar]

After reading this wonderful thread I'm able to run the game in Direct3D-Mode now. What a difference... like day and night, between the software & 3D. And so much colours... why didn't they called it the "LSD-Mode"?

My special thanks to all.

Now I've only some problems with my mouse. There's no contact directly between the cursor and the object. It looks like: be undecided. For example, if i take a sword in the inventory screen it's floating behind the mouse cursor, like magic.

Although loading down the newest mouse-driver, the problem is still remaining.

I use a Microsoft IntelliPoint Explorer Mouse. That's the one which has no ball and the technical function is like a scanner.

GPU: Erazer 3, RIVA TNT 2, 32 MB and the manufactor is ELSA
CPU: AMD, Athlon 600 MHz under Win98SE

Because ELSA has'nt have the actual graphic-driver, I use the driver from the chip-manufactor, nVidia: Detonator 4, ...1240. They are inofficial but works fine.

Fallagar

[Sazerac]

Fallagar: the bit about the object "floating behind the cursor" isn't really a problem. It seems to be a peculiarity about D3D, but the object will "catch up" with the cursor. It's kind of like having "Mouse Trails" turned on in Windows. Maybe a bit annoying, but it will still work.

I think it has something to do directly with how much RAM your video card has.

-Sazerac