OUTPOST TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1 - HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS SECTION 2 - INSTALLATION PROCEDURES SECTION 3 - COMMON INSTALLATION PROBLEMS SECTION 4 - COMMON WINDOWS PROBLEMS SECTION 5 - COMMON SOUND PROBLEMS SECTION 6 - GENERAL WINDOWS PROBLEMS SECTION 7 - MOUSE PROBLEMS SECTION 8 - OUTPOST BOOTDISK INSTRUCTIONS SECTION 9 - IF YOU STILL HAVE PROBLEMS... SECTION 1 - HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS Floppy disk (3.5") version: REQUIRED 385/25. 4 MEG RAM 20 MEG hard drive space (compressed 42 MEG) MS-DOS 5.0 or higher Windows 3.1 or higher 256 colors in Windows Mouse RECOMMENDED FOR BEST PERFORMANCE 486DX 8 MEG RAM (with 4 MEG free XMS) MS-DOS 5.0 or higher Windows 3.1 or higher Windows compatible sound card CD version REQUIRED 385/25. 4 MEG RAM 1.5 MEG hard drive space (compressed 3.5 MEG) Windows 3.1 or higher MS-DOS 5.0 or higher 256 colors in Windows Mouse RECOMMENDED FOR BEST PERFORMANCE 486DX 8 MEG RAM (with 4 MEG free XMS) 35 MEG hard drive space (compressed 70 MEG) MS-DOS 5.0 or higher Windows 3.1 or higher 256 colors in Windows Windows compatible sound card. SECTION 2 - INSTALLATION PROCEDURE Windows Floppy : Insert the Setup disk into the appropriate drive and start Windows. From Program Manager, click on FILE, then RUN. In the Command Line field, type the letter of the drive followed by \SETUP. Ex: A:\SETUP or B:\SETUP. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation. Windows CD : Insert the CD into the appropriate drive and start Windows. From Program Manager, click on FILE, then RUN. In the Command Line field, type the letter of the drive followed by \SETUP. Ex: D:\SETUP. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation. SECTION 3 - COMMON INSTALLATION PROBLEMS PROBLEM: During the installation of the game, it asks if you have a Roland MT32, CM-333 or LAPC-1. You don't know what that is, or if you have one. SOLUTION: If you don't know, more than likely, you don't have one. Answer "All other sound cards", the game will use the currently installed Windows sound drivers. If you find out later that you do have one of those sound cards, you can re-run the installation and change the settings. SECTION 4 - COMMON WINDOWS PROBLEMS PROBLEM: You can play the game, but the graphics look nothing like the pictures on the box. They are kind of blue, gray, pink and purple. SOLUTION: Sierra's Windows games require that Windows is running in 256 color mode. Even though your monitor and video card may be capable of displaying 256 colors, Windows may not be set up to use this resolution. To check, double-click on Windows Setup in the Main program group. If the Display line reads "VGA" or "16 color", you will need to change to a driver that supports 256 colors. ("VGA" is a default Windows video driver that only supports 16 colors and will not work with Sierra's Windows games.) To change video drivers, select Options, then Change System Settings. Open the Display box to see the list of video drivers that are currently available. You should check your video card documentation for information on what 256 color driver to select. Warning: Be careful when changing video drivers! If you choose one that is not designed for your particular video card, Windows will not display properly. If this occurs, change to your Windows directory, type: SETUP, and choose the "VGA" driver again. You should contact your video card manufacturer for the correct driver. PROBLEM: No animation or speech in Outpost (3.5" Disk Version). SOLUTION: Because of the size of the animation and sound files, there are no animation or AI speech in the disk version of this game. PROBLEM: No animation in Outpost (CD Version) SOLUTION: Go to the Drivers section of Control Panel and remove the [MCI] Autodesk Animation driver. Restart Windows, then reinstall the game. This should give you the animation back. PROBLEM: Restoring saved games takes a long time. SOLUTION: Restore time for saved Outpost games can be quite long, depending on the size of the saved game file. The best way to get around this is to optimize your computer system to make the games restore as quickly as possible. PROBLEM: You can't trade with the rebel colony, build any roads or monorails, or access macro-management. SOLUTION: Please remember to register your game so that you are eligible for the FREE Outpost upgrade now in progress. The upgrade will contain the trade system, macro-management, roads, monorails, and a variety of other new features that were not included in version 1.0 or 1.1 of the game. The new version will also include as many new features suggested by current Outpost owners as possible, while maintaining all of the benefits our current customers enjoy. The upgraded version of Outpost should be available before the end of the year. PROBLEM: I can't get the terraforming to work. SOLUTION: Be warned that "cheaters never prosper." If you use the cheat keys, (SHIFT-F11 unlimited resources; SHIFT-F12 force morale, education and crime levels,) you will not be able to do some of the more advanced functions of the game, such as terraforming, even if you turn off the cheat later in the game. Therefore, ANY colony that has been cheated on will be unfinishable. PROBLEM: Save game option is grayed out in the menu. I can't save my game. SOLUTION: The save game option is only available right after a turn has been run. If a player runs a turn and places a tile or even dozes a site, the save game option will be disabled until the turn button (the circle right- hand lower corner of the screen) is pushed. PROBLEM: I keep dying in the first 150 turns of the game/ I keep running out of mineral ??. SOLUTION: For the first 200 turns of the game, much of the focus is on the proper use and conservation of limited resources. In short, you need to think small. Only build facilities that are necessary until you are better able to extract minerals from your mines and SPEWs. (HINT: Do scientific research to achieve nanotechnology.) Also make sure you are digging your mines down 4 levels (if you are on a planet that can go down 4 levels,) but don't do it all at once. Dig down 1 level wait about 90 to 100 turns and then go down another level. Be careful not to let the mine go off- line (white), or you can not start it up again. This should extend the life of the mine. SECTION 5 - COMMON SOUND PROBLEMS PROBLEM: No Speech from the Artificial Intelligence computer. SOLUTION: The [MCI]Sound driver must be installed in the Drivers section of Control Panel in order for Outpost to play sounds. This can be tested by running Media Player and attempting to play a .WAV file. Media Player can't play .WAV files unless the [MCI] Sound driver is installed, even though Windows can. Problems can also occur if the TIMER applet is not installed in the Drivers section. Reinstall these drivers from your Windows installation disks by choosing the ADD button in the Drivers section. (Note: the 3.5" disk version of this game does not have speech.) PROBLEM: No background music. SOLUTION: There is no music during the game. The Mars symphony plays once during the introduction and does not loop. To hear music during the game you must use the Media Player. During game play, minimize Outpost by toggling to Program Manager using ALT-TAB or choosing Program Manager from the Task List, which is invoked by pressing CTRL-ESC. Once in Program Manager open the Accessories group icon and double-click on the Media Player icon. From the Device menu in Media Player choose MIDI Sequencer. In the Open dialog box that comes up, locate the MARS.MID file in the Outpost directory on your hard drive and click OK. After the music loads, click the Edit menu in Media Player and choose Options. In that window, check the Auto Repeat box, and click OK. Click play (the button with the triangle that points right), and minimize Media Player. Click the minimized Outpost game icon and the music will continue until you close Media Player. Also, the Auto Repeat box will stay checked until you uncheck it, even if you restart Windows. PROBLEM: I don't hear any music at all, even in the introduction. SOLUTION: During the installation of the game, it asked if you had a Roland MT32, CM-333 or LAPC-1. If you clicked on that button, but you do not actually have that device, you will not get any music. Re-run the Outpost installation and this time answer "All other sound cards", the game will then use the currently installed Windows sound drivers. PROBLEM: No Music out of MT-32 SOLUTION: This could be due to an incorrect MIDI Mapper setup. The MPU-401 and Roland MT-32 patches are shipped with Windows but the Midi Mapper might not be set up correctly. You will need to create your own Midi Mapper from scratch. Here are the guidelines to use for creating a MIDI Mapper for the Roland MT-32: a) Since the MT-32 is an Extended MIDI device, Midi Channels 1-10 will need to be active. b) Set the Port Name settings for MIDI channels 1-10 to MPU-401. This is the port that the computer uses to initialize the MIDI device. c) For the Patch Map Name, set the device to MT-32 for MIDI channels 1-9. d) For the Patch Map Name of MIDI Channel 10, select MT-32 Perc for the Percussion patches. If you need more information, please consult the manual or contact the sound card manufacturer for additional help. SECTION 6 - GENERAL WINDOWS PROBLEMS PROBLEM: "____ Has caused a General Protection Fault in Module ____" SOLUTION: A General Protection Fault in Windows is usually a conflict between two programs. The game is probably conflicting with something else that is currently running. Here are some possible solutions to the AAPLAY GPF in Outpost: 1) You should make sure that all screen savers, virus scans, and sound- related Windows programs (IconHear It, Wired for Sound, etc.) are disabled before starting the game. In addition, if you are using an alternate Windows desktop like Norton Desktop or PCTools, try using just plain Program Manager. 2) Disable Tile Animations in Preferences at game start-up 3) Disable Music in the game in Preferences 4) Make sure you have a swap file set up that is at least 4 megs permanent or 8 megs temporary. You can check your swap file settings in the 386Enhanced icon in the Control Panel. In the Virtual Memory module, turn off 32-bit Disk Access. 5) Check with the video card manufacturer to make sure you have the latest version of their Windows video drivers. 6) Make a Windows Boot Disk to work around memory conflicts. The steps to create a boot disk are included with this document. SECTION 7 - MOUSE PROBLEMS PROBLEM: Unable to save games in Outpost, restore games, basically everything on page 18 and 19. Right mouse button does not seem to be functioning. SOLUTION: Check to see if the Right Mouse Button has been reassigned to a different key command. This message especially holds true for Track Ball devices. Many allow you to program macros for the right mouse button. Track Ball devices usually come with a Control Panel utility that allows you to disable the macro button assign feature which should restore the right track ball button to the standard button function. SECTION 8 - OUTPOST BOOTDISK INSTRUCTIONS OUTPOST BOOT DISK INSTRUCTIONS for IBM Compatibles using MS-DOS 5.0 or above revised 11/01/94 The following instructions have been prepared by Sierra's Technical Support Department as an added service to our customers. PLEASE NOTE: SIERRA DOES NOT MAKE ANY CLAIMS, GUARANTEES, AND/OR PROMISES THAT THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS WILL WORK ON ANY AND/OR ALL COMPUTER SYSTEMS. IMPORTANT NOTE: Please read the entire instructions prior to starting at Step 1. You can skip Steps 2 and 3 if you are not playing a CD game. STEP 1 FORMATTING THE DISK PLEASE NOTE: It is necessary to format the disk even if the disk is already formatted. The /S switch will transfer files to the boot disk which are necessary for the disk to work correctly. To make a CD-ROM Boot Disk, format a high density diskette in the A: drive. (Use /F:360 or /F:720 parameter if using a low density diskette) For more information on using the FORMAT command, consult your DOS manual. Note: This will not work in the B: drive. Type the command as follows: FORMAT A:/S If after entering this command the system responds with a "Bad command or file name" error, then type: PATH=C:\DOS Now retype the FORMAT command above. If you still receive the same error, the MS DOS FORMAT command may not be on your system or it may have been renamed. Programs such as PC Tools and Norton Disk Utilities can rename the format command to prevent accidental loss of data. If you are using a program like this, check your documentation to find out how to format a SYSTEM DISK, then proceed to Step 2. STEP 2 LOCATING THE MSCDEX CD ROM EXTENSION (skip if not playing a CD game) MSCDEX is the Microsoft extension for CD ROM drives. It must be loaded in order for your CD ROM drive to operate. The following steps should assist you in locating this file on your system To locate MSCDEX, at the C:\> prompt, type: TYPE AUTOEXEC.BAT | MORE NOTE: The | is called a "pipe" command and is created by pressing \ (backslash). Now look for the line which loads "MSCDEX". This line should look something like this: : C:\DOS\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001 LH C:\DOS\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001 LOADHIGH /L:14429 \DOS\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001 Your line may differ from the ones listed above. Please write down the entire line following the drive letter in the space provided below. Be sure and include the full drive and path to your MSCDEX file. For example, any of the above lines should appear as follows: LH C:\DOS\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001 LH STEP 3 LOCATING THE CD ROM DEVICE DRIVER (skip if you're not playing a CD game) Along with MSCDEX, the CD ROM also needs a device driver. This driver is loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file. To determine the correct CD ROM device driver, at the C:\> prompt type: TYPE CONFIG.SYS | MORE NOTE: If you have a SCSI CD ROM drive, there may be an additional driver in your CONFIG.SYS that must be run for the CD ROM device drivers to load correctly. Check your CD ROM drive documentation for more information. Now look for the line that contains CD ROM device name which immediately follows the same "/D:" switch as the MSCDEX line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Using the example above, we would be looking for a line containing "MSCD001". This line should look something like one of the following lines: DEVICE=C:\DRV\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:220 DEVICEHIGH=C:\DRV\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:220 DEVICEHIGH /L:14652 =C:\DRV\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:220 Your line may differ from the ones listed above. Please write down the entire line following the drive letter in the space provided below. Be sure and include the full drive and path to your CD ROM device driver. For example, any of the above lines should appear as follows: DEVICEHIGH=C:\DRV\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:220 DEVICEHIGH= STEP 4 CREATING THE CONFIG.SYS FILE Now switch to the A: drive and type the following: COPY CON CONFIG.SYS (The cursor will drop down one line and blink) DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS FILES=30 BUFFERS=20 STACKS=9,256 DOS=HIGH,UMB LASTDRIVE=Z SPECIAL NOTE: MS DOS 6.0 users who have compressed the hard drive using DoubleSpace or Stacker 3.1, add the appropriate line listed below. For DoubleSpace, add: DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\DBLSPACE.SYS /MOVE For Stacker 3.1, add: DEVICEHIGH=C:\STACKER\STACHIGH.SYS Now add the CD ROM driver line as you wrote it down in the "Locating the CD ROM device driver" section above.Complete the file by pressing the F6 Function key STEP 5 CREATING THE AUTOEXEC.BAT FILE Now create an AUTOEXEC.BAT file by typing: COPY CON AUTOEXEC.BAT (the cursor will drop down one line) ECHO OFF SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM C: PROMPT SIERRA CD BOOT DISK $_$P$G PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS; If you're playing a CD game, add the MSCDEX line as you wrote it down in the "Locating the MSCDEX CD ROM extension" section listed above. Complete the file by pressing the F6 Function key STEP 6 REBOOT THE SYSTEM Reboot your system by depressing the button on your computer or by using the , , key sequence on your keyboard. When you are at a C:\ prompt, type WIN /3 to start Windows. STEP 7 CREATE A CLEAN WINDOWS ENVIRONMENT You should make sure that all screen savers, virus scans, and sound- related Windows programs (IconHear It, Wired for Sound, etc.) are disabled before starting your game. In addition, if you are using an alternate Windows desktop like Norton Desktop or PCTools, disable this and use standard Program Manager. Also, make sure you have a swap file set up that is at least 4 megs permanent or 8 megs temporary. You can check your swap file settings in the 386Enhanced icon in the Control Panel. SECTION 9 - IF YOU STILL HAVE PROBLEMS... If you continue to experience any problems with King's Quest VII, or if you have any questions, our Technical Support Department will be more than happy to assist you. Please call (206) 644-4343 between 8:15 am and 4:45 PM Monday through Friday. We can also be reached by fax at (206) 644-7697, by BBS at (206) 644-0112, or by mail at the following address: Sierra On-Line P.O. Box 85006 Bellevue, WA 98015-8506 ATTN: TECHNICAL SUPPORT You can also reach our Technical Support Team on one of the following services: Sierra BBS (206) 644-0112 (settings 8, N, & 1, up to 38,400 baud) Compuserve Sierra: GAMAPUB (ID 76004,2143) Dynamix: GAMCPUB (ID 72662, 1174) America Online Keyword: SIERRA If you decide to E-mail, write or fax, please be sure to include the following information: * CPU type (386, 486, etc.) * Type of graphics (VGA, SVGA, etc.) and brand of video card * DOS version (MS-DOS 6.2, MS-DOS 5.0, PC DOS 4.0, DR DOS 6.0, etc.). * Total RAM memory in your system (2 MEG, 4 MEG, 8 MEG, etc.). * Whether or not you have tried using a boot disk. * Type of of sound card (Pro Audio Spectrum, Sound Blaster, etc.) and the sound card settings. * Copies of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS * Version of Windows Also, please let us know if are you using any of the following programs: * DoubleSpace, Stacker, DriveSpace, or any other disk compression program. * Alternate Windows desktops like Norton or PC Tools And finally, please state in detail the situation you are experiencing, including any error messages. Thanks!