Readme for Mplayer 1.02
Mplayer is currently available in the continental United States and the metropolitan areas of southern Canada.
Mplayer is accessible from Alaska and Hawaii if you have a T1 connection, but a modem connection may be 
inadequate for satisfactory game play.

We encourage and appreciate your feedback to help improve and refine Mplayer.  Please report problems and 
request support through the Technical Support Form on our Web site or email support@mplayer.com. For non-technical 
issues, send email to  feedback@mplayer.com.

Here are the latest tips on configuring your PC and troubleshooting for Mplayer 1.02:

1. Automatic online upgrading of Mplayer software 
2. Tips for configuring your PC for voice using a Sound Blaster or compatible sound card 
3. Use Mplayer Internet Service for the fastest connection to Mplayer 
4. Configuring email and news programs for your Mplayer Internet Service account
5. Windows 95 patches for improving your Internet connection 
6. Mplayer and Firewalls 
7. Adding Microsoft Internet Explorer after set up is complete
 
1. Automatic online upgrading of Mplayer software
From the time it takes to produce and distribute software for a CD-ROM or download, we usually make many upgrades.
When you first connect to Mplayer to create an account, and each time you connect to play games or use chat rooms, 
our server will download updates to make your Mplayer software current.  Depending on your connection to the Internet,
some updates can take up to fifteen minutes. 

2. Tips for configuring your PC for voice using a Sound Blaster or compatible sound card 
If you have a Creative Labs Sound Blaster or fully compatible sound card properly installed in Windows 95 and your
microphone plugged into the right jack, these hints will help your voice sound clearer to others on Mplayer. 

a. Double-click on the speaker symbol located in the lower right corner of your screen on the Windows 95 Task Bar. 
   This should bring up a Volume Control Dialog Box.  If you only see a volume dial, you didn't double-click fast enough.

b. From the Options Menu, select Properties.  You can control the volume for Playback, Recording, and Other. You'll 
   switch among all three.

c. Make sure 'Recording' is selected, and under 'Show the following volume controls,' make sure 'Microphone' is checked.
   Click OK.

d. On the Recording Control panel move the Microphone volume temporarily to the middle and make sure the checkbox 
   underneath it is checked. 

e. From the Options Menu, select Properties again.

f. Make sure 'Playback' is selected, and under 'Show the following volume controls,' make sure 'Microphone' is also 
   checked. Click OK.

g. On the volume control panel at the bottom of the Microphone volume control, make sure 'Mute' is checked. This does
   not prevent others from hearing you, it prevents your speakers from feeding back into your microphone.

h. Under the Options menu, look at the Advanced Controls option and make sure it's checked. If it's not checked, select
   it, otherwise leave it alone. 

i. Move the Microphone Volume bar to its highest setting. Click on the button underneath labeled 'Advanced.'

j. At the bottom of this dialog box may be a checkbox labeled 'AGC for WaveIn' or 'Microphone Boost.' Check this box,
  and Select Close.

k. From the Options menu, select Properties again.

l. This time, make sure 'Other' is selected, instead of Recording, and click OK to show the Voice Commands panel.

m. Again, move the Microphone Volume slider to its highest setting. Click on the button underneath labeled Advanced.

n. Check the 'AGC for VoiceIn' or 'Microphone Boost' box, then click on the Close button.

o. On Mplayer, enter the Help Desk lobby and create a test Room such as 'Mike test.'

p. Position the microphone where you'll normally use it and press the Push to Talk button.  Speak at a normal distance
   from the mike. 

q. Observe the simulated VU meter under the 'On the Air' button. The VU meter should peak in the yellow area, but never
   reach the red zone, or your speech will sound distorted or unintelligible.

r. To make adjustments, open the Mixer panel again, select Properties and Recording to show the Recording Control 
   panel.

s. Use the Volume slider while you are speaking to keep the VU from reaching the red zone. 

t. That's it. You've adjusted your microphone volume settings.  Close the dialog box and start talking on Mplayer.

3. Use Mplayer Internet Service for the fastest connection to Mplayer
   If you're finding too few green Game Rooms, your connection to the Internet is not adequate for fast game play on 
   Mplayer. We recommend Mplayer Internet Service as your Internet Service Provider, for the lowest latency and fastest
   action on Mplayer.  Built especially for online game play, Mplayer Internet Service ties into the most advanced
   nationwide network available. Get a low latency connection and play fast-action games like you never thought possible. 
   To install Mplayer Internet Service from your Mplayer CD-ROM, run the Setup program again and install Mplayer Internet
   Service.

4. Configuring email and news programs for your Mplayer Internet Service account
   You'll want to configure an email package, such as Microsoft Exchange, or Eudora, and possibly a news reader 
   program, for use with Mplayer Internet Service.  If you use Netscape Navigator, Mplayer Internet Service automatically
   configures email and newsgroups for you.

	Your Mplayer Internet Service email address is in the form of your log on name
	@mplayer.com, such as theking@mplayer.com (omit spaces).
	
	Your password for receiving email is the same password associated with your
	user name that you use to log on to Mplayer Internet Service.
	
	Your POP server for receiving mail is mail.mplayer.com.

	Your SMTP server for sending mail is mail.mplayer.com.

	Your news server is news.mplayer.com.

   If you need help during this process, contact Mplayer: 
	Email: support@mplayer.com
	Phone: (408) 342-8844 

   If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer, be sure to configure it to use the email and news software you just set up as the
   default programs.

5. Microsoft Windows 95 Service Pack 1 improves TCP/IP support
   Microsoft has released update patches to Windows 95 that makes Mplayer more reliable. For example, one patch
   corrects a memory leak problem in Dial-Up Networking that can cause Mplayer and other Internet applications to fail
   after an unpredictable period of use. We recommend downloading and installing three patches before using Mplayer. 

   Kernel32 update
   Service Pack 1 

   These updates are located in the Mplayer CD-ROM in a sub-folder called msupdate. Users who obtained the
   Mplayer software on Deadlock game CD-ROM or an Mplayer demo CD-ROM can download these patches from 
   Microsoft's Web site. 

6. Mplayer and Firewalls
   Mplayer game play is usually fastest over a direct Internet connection. If you want to use Mplayer through a LAN
   that has a direct Internet connection, you need to confirm that your LAN's firewall is not blocking access to the
   Mplayer game servers. A firewall is a system that acts as a gateway monitoring all traffic between your company's
   LAN and the Internet, to prevent unauthorized traffic in either direction. Many firewalls can selectively block access
   on certain ports, and disable certain protocols. Mplayer requires access to ports 8000-8999 and uses the TCP/IP 
   and UDP protocols. If a firewall is blocking access, you may find that you can reach the Mplayer Web site, but 
   when performing an action that starts Mplayer (to play a game or enter a chat room for example), you can not.
   Ask your system administrator if the blocks to Mplayer ports and protocols can be removed. 

7. Adding Microsoft Internet Explorer after set up is complete
   To add Microsoft Internet Explorer after Mplayer is already installed, or to reinstall it later, find and run the program
   MSIE30.EXE located in the \Mplayer\Mise directory on your Mplayer CD-ROM.