7th Level, Inc., Readme Notes Welcome to Arcade America. This free demo gives you a sample of 7th Level's upcoming release. INSTALLING THE ARCADE AMERICA DEMO PROGRAM You can install a version of Arcade America to your hard disk so that you will not need to have the CD in the CD-ROM drive to run the program. To install this version, insert the Arcade America Demo CD in the CD-ROM drive, select the File menu and choose Run from the Program Manager. Type D:\SETUPHD.EXE (if necessary, replace D: with the letter that represents your CD-ROM drive) in the command line and press ENTER. Follow the instructions given in the installation program. This version will require approximately 20 MB of free hard disk space. To conserve hard disk space, you can choose to install a version of Arcade America that will run from the CD (you must have the Arcade America CD in the CD-ROM drive to run the program). To install this version, insert the Arcade America CD in the CD-ROM drive, select the File menu and choose Run from the Program Manager. Type D:\SETUP.EXE (if necessary, replace D: with the letter that represents your CD-ROM drive) in the command line and press ENTER. Follow the instructions given in the installation program. To start Arcade America, double click the Arcade America icon which was created for you by the installation program. JOYSTICK SUPPORT If you have a joystick that already works with other Windows applications, then you do not need to do anything to use the joystick with Arcade America. If you have not used your joystick with other Windows applications before, you may need to install a joystick driver. You can use the generic Windows joystick driver that is included on the Arcade America CD-ROM. It is recommended, however, that you first try to use the Windows driver that came with your joystick. To install the joystick driver that is included with Arcade America: 1. Double click the Control Panel icon from the Program Manager to start the Control Panel application. 2. Double click the Drivers icon in the Control Panel. 3. Click the Add button to add a driver. 4. Select the Unlisted or Updated Driver option and click the OK button. 5. Open the JOYSTICK directory (either on your hard disk where you installed Arcade America or on the Arcade America CD). 6. Click the OK button to accept the joystick driver. 7. Select the configuration for your joystick from the Game Adapter Setup dialog box and click the OK button. 8. Click the Close button to return to the Control Panel. 9. Restart Windows. Next, copy the file JOYSTICK.CPL from the Joystick directory (either on your hard disk where you installed Arcade America or on the Arcade America CD) to the WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory. Calibrate and test your joystick by double clicking the Joystick icon in the Control Panel. Note: You may need to calibrate your joystick again if you have disconnected it from your computer or if you notice the joystick interfering with the operation of the mouse. THE ARCADE AMERICA OPTIONS SCREEN After you see the introduction to Arcade America, you will see an Options screen. Here you can customize various game options. Select the input method (keyboard or joystick) by clicking on the word beside Input Method. Select the difficulty level (Mondo Weenie or Tough Guy) by clicking on the word next to Difficulty Level. You can turn on and off special effects. Click on the word next to Special Effects to toggle the option on and off. Don't miss out on the neat animation in Arcade America. You can turn on and off foreground and background audio. Click on the word next to Foreground Audio and Background Audio to toggle the option on and off. You'll want to hear all the cool sounds as you make your way through the demo. Click Done to exit the Options screen and save your selections. Press ESC to exit the Options screen without saving your changes. Once you have made your selections, click Start to begin your adventure. STANDARD MOVES Below you will find the joystick and keyboard combinations for getting around Arcade America. You may wish to print this file so that you have these moves in front of you as you make your way through Arcade America. You can play Arcade America using a joystick that works with any Windows application or your computer's keyboard. Simply select the input method for each player in the Options screen. The following list of input commands are for a joystick. COMMON MOVES (JOYSTICK) Move Input Walk forward Forward Walk backward Backward Jump Button B Shoot Button A Belly Bounce Double Forward Pull Double Up KEYBOARD MOVES Move Input Directional controls Up/Left/Right/Down arrows Jump X Shoot Z Belly Bounce Double Left or Right Arrow Pull Double Up Arrow TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND COMMON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS If you have difficulty installing or running Arcade America, please read the section below before calling our Technical Support phone line. By checking the few items listed below, you may be able to solve any difficulty you are having on your own. If you are still having difficulty, call Technical Support at 214-437-5531. Support is available Monday - Saturday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Central Time. You also can reach Technical Support via America Online (keyword Seventh), the Microsoft Network (Go Seventh) or CompuServe (Go Seventh). Technical Support also is available via the World Wide Web on 7th Level’s web page (www.7thlevel.com). By accessing 7th Level’s web page, you can download the latest technical support information along with demos of current and future products, register your products online, and participate in contests and chats with the celebrities and individuals involved with our products. Problem: Arcade America seems to run slow. Solution: As with any program running under Windows, the speed and the smoothness of Arcade America is dependent on the speed of the hardware that it is running on. Hardware configurations that affect performance are: the amount of memory and the speed of the video card, the processor type, the amount of real memory and the transfer rate of the CD-ROM drive. While the minimum system configuration required to run the Arcade America is a 486 33 MHz computer with 8 MB of RAM, a video card capable of running 256 colors and a double-speed CD-ROM drive, the recommended system configuration is a 486 66 MHz computer with 16 MB of RAM. You may be able to improve the performance of Arcade America running on your computer by upgrading one or all of these elements of your computer system, depending on what you already have. If you are running on a computer with the minimum system requirements, here are some things you can do to try to increase your system's performance: 1. Disable the background ambient sounds in the Options screen. 2. Make sure you have a permanent swap file of at least 5 MB set up in Windows. 3. Do a full hard disk installation, if you have the space available on your hard disk. Problem: When I try to run Arcade America, I get a "Not enough memory" message. Solution: On an 8 MB system, Arcade America requires 5 to 10 MB of virtual memory. For instructions on setting virtual memory, please consult your Windows documentation. Problem: The program does not display properly. Solution: Make sure you have a video card running in 640x480 or 800x600 mode with 256 colors. Also, make sure that you have the proper display driver installed. A display with more colors or running at a higher resolution also will work with Arcade America. Problem: The program is working, but I don't hear any fight sounds. Solution: Make sure your sound card is installed and working properly. You can check the sound from your sound board by using the Sound utility in the Control Panel. Choose one of the WAV files in the Windows directory and click Test. Problem: The sound or video skips during the program. Solution: Make sure you have at least 8 MB of RAM. Also, make sure that an expanded memory manager (such as EMM386, QEMM or 386MAX) is not reserving memory that Windows and Arcade America will need to run correctly. Problem: I can't get the MIDI files to play. (I'm not getting any music.) Solution: Most sound cards are not set up to play MIDI files unless you have a MIDI peripheral device attached to your computer. To set your sound card so that MIDI files will play without a MIDI peripheral device attached, follow the steps below. To change your MIDI settings under Windows 3.1: 1. Double click the MIDI Mapper icon in the Control Panel. 2. Make sure the Setups radial button is selected. 3. Click the down arrow in the Name list box. 4. Select a MIDI setup file. You should select either General MIDI or All FM. (Check your sound card documentation for the correct setup file. If you have the SoundBlaster 16 card, select All FM.) 5. With the correct setup file selected, click the Edit button. 6. Confirm that the correct driver is displayed for at least channels 1 through 10. (Check your sound card documentation for the correct driver name. If you have a SoundBlaster 16 sound card, each channel should be set to the Voyetra Super Sapi FM driver.) 7. Click the OK button to exit the MIDI Setup dialog box. As you exit, click the Yes button to save any changes you’ve made or the No button to cancel any changes. 8. Click the Close button to exit the MIDI Mapper. To change your MIDI settings under Windows 95: 1. Select the Start Menu. 2. Choose Settings and open the Control Panel. 3. Double click the Multimedia icon and select the MIDI tab. 4. Select the MIDI setup file. (Check your sound card documentation for the correct setup file.) 5. Click the OK button and exit the Control Panel. Problem: The sound and video are not synchronized properly. Solution: Make sure that you are running Arcade America on a 486 33 MHz or better IBM-compatible computer with at least 8 MB of RAM. Problem: The sound breaks up or has a lot of static. Solution: You may need to change the DMA setting on your sound card. Please check the documentation for your sound card for the proper settings and how to change the settings. Problem: The volume is too low or too high. Solution: You can adjust the volume using the + and - keys within Arcade America. Problem: The program seems to run extremely slow. Solution: Make sure that you have a permanent swap file of at least 5 MB set up in Windows. Please consult your Windows documentation for instructions regarding your swap file settings. KEYBOARD FUNCTIONS The following keyboard combinations can be used to replace mouse movements for certain activities and functions. ALT F4 Exit the program SHIFT ESC Exit the program ESC Exits back to the main menu one level at a time + Raises the master volume - Lowers the master volume SHIFT + Raises the WAV volume (speech and sound effects) SHIFT - Lowers the WAV volume (speech and sound effects) CONTROL + Raises the Midi volume (music) CONTROL - Lowers the Midi volume (music) * (keypad) Toggles the sound on/off PAUSE Pause/restarts the animation SPACEBAR Stops the current ambient animation HELP WITH YOUR HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE QUESTIONS If you have questions about your computer's hardware or other software applications, please contact the manufacturer before contacting 7th Level Technical Support. The manufacturer will be able to answer any questions you may have on the installation and specific settings for your needs. Listed below are the Technical Support and BBS phone numbers for several manufacturers. Manufacturer Tech. Support BBS Number ATI Technologies 905-882-2626 416-764-9404 Creative Labs 405-742-6622 405-742-6660 NEC 800-388-8888 none Orchid Technology 510-683-0323 510-683-0327 Media Vision 510-770-9905 510-770-0527 Roland Corp. 213-685-5141 none Turtle Beach Systems 717-767-0279 717-767-5934 Ensoniq 610-647-3930 none Tseng 215-968-0502 215-579-7536 Philips LMS 800-777-5674 719-593-4081 Diamond Multimedia 408-325-7000 408-524-9301 Logitech 510-795-8100 510-795-0408 Advanced Gravis 604-431-1807 604-431-5927 CH Products 619-598-2518 619-598-2524