XGames Pro Boarder
ReadMe

Welcome to XGames Pro Boarder. This guide contains installation
instructions and troubleshooting information. To avoid problems, make
sure your machine matches the System Requirements listed on the box and
in this file. 

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
===================
MINIMUM CONFIGURATION
---------------------
* Pentium(tm) 166 (or equivalent) 
* Windows(r) 95 or Windows(r) 98
* 32MB RAM
* 8X or faster CD-ROM drive
* 75MB available hard drive space
* 2MB PCI video card
* 100% Microsoft-compatible mouse
* DirectSound-compliant sound card
* DirectX 5 (DirectX 6 included)

RECOMMENDED CONFIGURATION
-------------------------
* Pentium(tm) 200 MMX (or equivalent) 
* 155MB available hard drive space
* 4MB AGP or PCI Direct3D-capable video card
* DirectInput-compatible gamepad

REQUIRED FOR MULTI-PLAYER GAMES
-------------------------------
Network (2-8 players)
* IPX- or TCP/IP- compliant network
* 1 CD per PC

Serial play (2 players on 2 PCs)
* Null modem cable
* High speed serial port (16550 UART)
* 1 CD per PC

Modem (2 players on 2 PCs)
* Windows-compatible 28800 bps or faster modem
* High speed serial port (16550 UART) for external modems
* 1 CD per PC

SUPPORTED INPUT DEVICES
-----------------------
* Keyboard
* DirectInput-compatible Gamepad
* DirectInput-compatible joystick 
* DirectInput-compatible force-feedback devices

DISK PREPARATION
================
Before installing any software, you have to make sure your hard drive is
in proper working order. It is highly recommended you run the Windows
system utilities ScanDisk and Disk Defragmenter. 

1. First, run ScanDisk. Click the Start button in your Taskbar.
2. From the Start menu, select Run. Then, in the
   Run dialog box, type scandisk and click OK.
3. When the program starts, make sure there is a checkmark in the
   Automatically Fix Errors box and select the hard drive your are
   installing the game to (e.g. C). Once everything is set up correctly,
   click Start to have the program scan the drive and fix any errors.
4. Next, run Disk Defragmenter. Click the Start button in your Taskbar.
5. From the Start menu, select Run. Then, in the Run dialog box, type
   defrag and click OK.
6. As with ScanDisk, select the drive you are installing the game to and 
   click OK.
7. After these two programs have run correctly, you are ready to install 
   the game.

INSTALLATION PROCEDURE
======================
1. Start the Windows 95 or 98 operating system.
2. Follow the Disk Preparation procedure described on page 3.
3. Insert the XGames Pro Boarder CD into the CD-ROM drive. The install 
   screen should appear. (If not, double-click the My Computer icon on the
   desktop. Double-click the icon corresponding to your computer's CD 
   drive. The install screen should appear.)

Experienced users can follow the onscreen instructions after this point. 
For detailed installation instructions, keep reading.

4. You will see the Welcome screen. Click on the Next> button to continue
   If you wish to abort the installation, click the Cancel button.
5. After the Welcome screen, the License Agreement screen will come up. 
   Please read the License Agreement to see if you agree with the terms and 
   conditions listed. If you do, click the Yes button. If you don't agree,
   click the No button and the installation will be aborted.
6. In the Choose Destination Location screen you can select where on your 
   hard drive XGames Pro Boarder will be installed. If you wish to change 
   the default location, click the Browse button and select the new 
   location. Click the Next> button to continue.
7. Next you can select the type of installation:
      Typical 
         Copies all files from the CD to the hard drive. This requires 
         at least 155Mb of free hard drive space.  Use this for fastest 
         loading times and best video playback.
      Compact	
         Copies only the necessary files from the CD to the hard drive.
         This requires at least 75Mb of free hard drive space. Loading 
         times will be longer and video playback might be affected if your 
         CD ROM drive is not properly configured for video playback. 
      Custom
         This allows you to select what will be copied to your hard drive.
   Select your preferred option and click the Next> button.
8. If you selected the Custom option, a screen will appear where you can
   select which components of the game to install. Place a check mark next
   to the components to install. The amount of required hard drive space
   will be displayed at the bottom of the window. Click the Next>
   button to continue. 
9. In the Select Program Folder screen you can specify where in the
   Start menu the game shortcuts will be placed. Click the Next>
   button to continue. 
10. The Install Program will start copying the game files to your hard 
   drive.
11. When the game files have been copied, the Support Components screen
   will come up. Here you can select to install certain components of
   Windows that need to be installed in order to properly run XGames Pro
   Boarder. Setup will scan your Windows setup to determine if these
   components have been installed already. The components are: 

      DirectX Media  Video and audio players necessary to play the movies.
      DirectX6       Drivers for audio and video cards
      Fraunhöfer     Decoder for in-game music
      MP3 decoder

   Note: if you choose not to install any of these components, the game
   cannot run properly and installation will be aborted.
12. After the components have been installed, the Finish Dialog will be 
   displayed. Here you can choose two options:

   View readme	 View this file.
   Add shortcut	 This will add a shortcut to XGames Pro Boarder to your 
                 Windows desktop for easy access to the game.
13. The game has been installed and is ready to be played!

VIDEO CARD REFERENCE
====================
This section talks about the various video cards that we know will or
won't work with XGames Pro Boarder. In most cases, we talk about the
chipset used on the cards instead of naming the cards themselves. For
the vast majority of cases, any card based on a given chipset will
perform similarly to any other. There are often minor performance
differences and different top-level drivers, but the rendering is
usually the same. 

To find out what kind of video card your computer has:

1. Click the Windows desktop, then choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
2. Click the Settings tab.
3. Click the Advanced Properties... button.
4. Click the Adapter tab.

The top line should tell you what video card is installed in your computer.

3DFX
----
Voodoo Graphics
Voodoo Graphics-based cards are 3D-only cards, which means they do 2D
rendering very slowly. This may appear in the game as a drop in
performance when an information screen is placed on top of the usual 3D
scene. 

Voodoo Rush
The Voodoo Rush is essentially a Voodoo Graphics with an added 2D
component. However, it may still encounter problems drawing 2D objects. 

Voodoo 2
Voodoo 2-based cards are 3D-only cards, which means they do 2D rendering
very slowly. This may appear in the game as a drop in performance when
an information screen is placed on top of the usual 3D scene. There are
no known additional problems with running in SLI mode. 

Banshee
No known problems.

3DLabs
------
Permedia 2
No known problems. Slightly slower than other supported cards; it might
be wise to turn off some rendering features. 

Permedia 3
As of the date of this document, we have not been able to test XGames
Pro Boarder on this chip. However, we expect to support the chip when it
becomes available.

ATI
---
Rage, Rage II, Rage II+
Cards based on these chipsets are not supported by XGames Pro Boarder.
Use software rendering. 

Rage Pro
If the snowboards appear blocky instead of rounded, install the latest
drivers from www.atitech.com, which will fix the problem.

Rage 128
As of the date of this document, we have not been able to test XGames
Pro Boarder on this chip. However, we expect to support the chip when it
becomes available. 

Intel
-----
i740
Real3D, makers of the Starfighter 3D, have reported problems when trying
to run AGP Starfighters on ASUS motherboards. We have also encountered
those problems and if you do too, consult Real3D and ASUS to see if
upgrades or patches are available. 

The Real3D tab in the Display control panel contains a slider that moves
between Sharper and Faster rendering quality. In XGames Pro Boarder,
moving the slider to Faster will make everything in the game blurrier.
We recommend that you keep the slider closer to Sharper. 

Matrox
------
Mystique, Mystique 220, Millennium II, G100
This family of chips is unique in that they do not support real alpha
blending (translucency), but emulate it by stippling. This is equivalent
to emulating a window using a mesh screen; everything that should be
translucent is actually a mesh of small dots. 

This effect will manifest itself as a variety of rendering artifacts,
showing up in (among other places) lens flares, fog, and snow trails.
The F3 key can be used to turn off fog; F4 key can be used to turn off
lens flares. 

On some machines (really fast ones), using software rendering may result
in better performance than with hardware rendering. 

Millennium G200, Mystique G200
No known problems.

NEC
---
PowerVR, PowerVR2
Cards based on these chipsets are not supported in XGames Pro Boarder. Use
software rendering. 

nVIDIA
------
RIVA128, RIVA128 ZX
Users might encounter z-buffer problems in some model joints (such as
player shoulders). 

Users may encounter XGames Pro Boarder running very slowly (around 1-2
seconds per frame). If this is the case, go to nVIDIA's web site
(www.nvidia.com) and download and install their reference drivers. 

On some 4MB RIVA 128 cards, XGames Pro Boarder may exhibit performance
or image quality problems if the tree detail settings are set to "high"
or "extreme". If this happens, set the tree detail to "low". The problem
relates to a behaviour of the RIVA 128 call "auto mipmapping". When it
is enabled, the trees sometimes look strange. If it's disabled,
rendering performance can suffer. The nVIDIA reference drivers allow the
auto mipmapping behaviour to be adjusted. 

Some RIVA128 drivers incorrectly report the ability to render with
"iterated vertex alpha". If this happens, the fog banks in the game will
appear faceted instead of smooth. The F3 key can be used to turn off the
fog. Alternatively, iterated vertex alpha can be permanently disabled
from the nVIDIA reference driver Control Panel. 

RIVA TNT
No known problems.

Number 9
--------
Ticket to Ride
Cards based on this chipset are not supported by XGames Pro Boarder. Use
software rendering. 

Revolution IV
As of the date of this document, we have not been able to XGames Pro
Boarder on this chip. However, we expect to support the chip when it
becomes available. 

Rendition
---------
V1000
Cards based on this chipset are not supported by XGames Pro Boarder. Use
software rendering. 

V2100, V2200
No known problems.

V3000 family
As of the date of this document, we have not been able to test XGames
Pro Boarder on this chip. However, we expect to support the chip when it
becomes available. 

S3
--
ViRGE family
Cards based on these chipsets are not supported by XGames Pro Boarder.
Use software rendering. 

Savage 3D
As of the date of this document, we have only been able to XGames Pro
Boarder on Rev B versions of this chip with beta drivers. This
combination has shown a variety of rendering artifacts. We are currently
working with S3 to resolve these problems. 

The F4 key can be used to turn off lens flares (one of the current
problem areas). 

PROCESSORS
==========
XGames Pro Boarder requires a Pentium(tm) 166. There are several
Pentium-compatible processors on the market. XGames Pro Boarder has been
verified to work with the following processors: 

AMD K6 and K6-2
XGames Pro Boarder supports 3DNow!, AMD's instruction set intended to
increase frame rate in 3D applications. 

Cyrix
Games run at an acceptable frame rate on an MII 180 and a suitable video
accelerator.

Note: the Cyrix MediaGX processor does not have any L2 cache. This causes 
      XGames Pro Boarder to run slowly. 

IDT C6
We have tested XGames Pro Boarder on a C6 225 with a hardware
accelerator; it works well. C6s will also benefit from 3DNow! 

Intel
XGames Pro Boarder utilizes MMX.

TROUBLESHOOTING
===============
INSTALLATION PROBLEMS
---------------------
If the Setup program aborts with the following message:

"Your system does not have the Windows multimedia components required
for XGames Pro Boarder to run." 

Follow these steps:

1. From the Windows Control Panel, run the Add/Remove Programs applet.
2. Select the Windows Setup tab and select the Multimedia component.
3. Click the Details... button. 
4. Ensure that the Audio Compression component is checked.
5. Click OK.
6. If the Audio Compression component was not installed, Windows will
   now install this component. Follow the on-screen instructions. 

CD PROBLEMS
-----------
A 8X CD-ROM drive is required to run XGames Pro Boarder.

CD-ROM performance problems

* Make sure that you are using a 32-bit native Windows 95 or 98 driver
  to control your CD-ROM drive. These drivers can be configured from the
  Device Manager in the Settings>Control Panel>System. 
* Do not use a DOS-based 16-bit driver (loaded in CONFIG.SYS) to control 
  your CD-ROM drive; this will significantly reduce performance.

Choppy or stuttering video or audio

Adjusting the CD-ROM read-ahead cache may improve the performance of
your CD-ROM drive. To adjust the read-ahead cache:

1. At the Windows desktop, right-click the My Computer icon, then choose
   Properties from the pop-up menu. 
2. Click the Performance tab, then click File System...
3. Click the CD-ROM tab, then click in the Optimize access pattern for: 
   box, and choose the speed that applies to your CD-ROM drive. If you 
   don't know the speed of your CD-ROM drive, contact your computer 
   hardware manufacturer or retailer. 
4. Move the Supplemental cache size slider to Small, then click OK. 
5. Click the Close button. 
6. Windows might prompt you to restart your computer; click Yes if it does 
   and wait for your computer to restart.

Note: Setting the Supplemental cache size to Large will not improve
video playback and may actually hinder performance by reserving RAM that
would otherwise be available for the game.

CD AUDIO
--------
The XGames Pro Boarder CD comes with 12 CD-DA tracks on it. This means
you can put the CD in any CD audio playback device and you will be able
to listen to the music tracks like you would using a regular audio CD.

If your CD player has trouble playing track 1, it does not recognize the
game data. Skip track 1 and the music will start on track 2.

VIDEO PROBLEMS
--------------
XGames Pro Boarder requires a PCI video card capable of 640x480
resolution with 65,535 colors and 2 Mb or more video memory. If your
Windows display driver does not support DirectDraw, you may experience
difficulties installing or playing XGames Pro Boarder.

If your video card driver does not support DirectDraw, DirectX will
attempt to install a new version of the driver. This may conflict with
any special features of your video card that were supplied by the
manufacturer. It is recommended that you check with your manufacturer
and obtain the latest DirectDraw compliant drivers to ensure 
compatibility.

Refer to the Video Card Reference section of this document for
more information about specific video cards.

SOUND PROBLEMS
--------------
XGames Pro Boarder requires a sound card that has DirectSound support.
If your sound card driver does not have DirectSound support you may
experience choppy or stuttering sound, or sound that cuts in and out. If
your sound card driver does not have DirectSound support, we recommend
obtaining updated drivers from your sound card manufacturer.

Installed sound card but there is no sound
------------------------------------------
* Make sure your speakers or headphones are plugged into the appropriate
  jack and the volume control is turned up. Check the Windows sound volume
  settings by accessing the Control Panel from the Start Menu and running
  the Multimedia applet. Click on the Audio tab and check the Playback
  volume.

General sound card information
------------------------------
* During DirectX installation, the DirectX setup program will attempt to
  install a sound driver that has DirectSound support for your sound card.
  If your sound card driver does not have DirectSound support, the DirectX
  setup program will attempt to replace your existing sound card driver.

* Please consult your sound card manufacturer for updated drivers if
  DirectSound drivers are not available for your sound card in DirectX 6.

MEMORY PROBLEMS
---------------
XGames Pro Boarder requires 32 MB RAM and Virtual Memory enabled. It is
highly recommended that you let Windows manage the Virtual Memory size
automatically (the default setting) and that you have at least 50 MB
free hard drive space after installation.

CONTROLLER PROBLEMS
===================
Joystick calibration
--------------------
You must calibrate your joystick from the Control Panel for the joystick
to be recognized within the game. To install or calibrate your joystick,
access the Control Panel and start the Game Controllers applet. Note
that some controllers use their own applets for installation and
calibration. Refer to the manual for your controller for more
information.

Keyboard problems
-----------------
Some PC keyboards can't recognize certain combinations of 3 or more 
simultaneously pressed keys.  IF you are experiencing a lose of controls,
try remapping the keyboard or using a gamepad.

Default Joystick Control Mappings
---------------------------------
	Gravis Gamepad (4 Button)
	=========================
	Front End			
	Action						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Scroll through game modes and options		D-Pad
	Accept selected item				Red
	Cancel Selection				Blue

	Riding Controls (Amateur and Professional)
	Action 						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Jump/trick prep					Yellow
	Speed up / slow down				D-Pad Up/Down
	Turn right / left				D-Pad right/left
	Quick Ollie					Red
	180 Switch					Greeen
	Hard left					(on keyboard)
	Hard right					(on keyboard)
	Reverse camera					(on keyboard)
	Switch camera					Blue

	Amateur Trick Controls
	Action 						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Trick 1						Red
	Trick 2						Blue
	Trick 3						Green
	Front flip					D-Pad up
	Back flip					D-Pad down
	Left spin					D-Pad left
	right spin					D-Pad right

	Professional Prep Controls
	Action 						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Jump/trick prep					Yellow
	More inital front flip power			D-Pad up
	More inital back flip power			D-Pad down
	More left spin power				D-Pad left
	More right spin power				D-Pad right
	Adjust left					(on keyboard)
	Adjust right					(on keyboard)

	Professional Trick Controls
	Action 						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Nose grab with...				D-Pad up
	Tail grab with...				D-Pad down
	Left side grab with...				D-Pad left
	Right side grab with...				D-Pad right
	...left hand					Red
	...right hand					Blue
	I WANNA LAND!					Release buttons
	Rewind left					(on keyboard)
	Rewind right					(on keyboard)


	Gravis Gamepad Pro (10 Button)
	==============================
	Front End			
	Action						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Scroll through game modes and options		D-Pad
	Accept selected item				Yellow
	Cancel Selection				Blue

	Riding Controls (Amateur and Professional)
	Action 						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Jump/trick prep					Yellow
	Speed up / slow down				D-Pad Up/Down
	Turn right / left				D-Pad right/left
	Quick Ollie					Red
	180 Switch					Greeen
	Hard left					L1
	Hard right					R1
	Reverse camera					L2
	Switch camera					R2

	Amateur Trick Controls
	Action 						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Trick 1						Red
	Trick 2						Blue
	Trick 3						Green
	Front flip					D-Pad up
	Back flip					D-Pad down
	Left spin					D-Pad left
	right spin					D-Pad right

	Professional Prep Controls
	Action 						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Jump/trick prep					Yellow
	More inital front flip power			D-Pad up
	More inital back flip power			D-Pad down
	More left spin power				D-Pad left
	More right spin power				D-Pad right
	Adjust left					L1
	Adjust right					R1

	Professional Trick Controls
	Action 						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Nose grab with...				D-Pad up
	Tail grab with...				D-Pad down
	Left side grab with...				D-Pad left
	Right side grab with...				D-Pad right
	...left hand					Red
	...right hand					Blue
	I WANNA LAND!					Release buttons
	Rewind left					L1
	Rewind right					R1


	Microsoft Sidewinder Game Pad(10 Button)
	========================================
	Front End			
	Action						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Scroll through game modes and options		D-Pad
	Accept selected item				Button A
	Cancel Selection				Button B

	Riding Controls (Amateur and Professional)
	Action 						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Jump/trick prep					Button A
	Speed up / slow down				D-Pad Up/Down
	Turn right / left				D-Pad right/left
	Quick Ollie					Button Y
	180 Switch					Button X
	Hard left					L1
	Hard right					R1
	Reverse camera					Button C
	Switch camera					Button Z

	Amateur Trick Controls
	Action 						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Trick 1						Button B
	Trick 2						Button C
	Trick 3						Button Z
	Front flip					D-Pad up
	Back flip					D-Pad down
	Left spin					D-Pad left
	right spin					D-Pad right

	Professional Prep Controls
	Action 						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Jump/trick prep					Button A
	More inital front flip power			D-Pad up
	More inital back flip power			D-Pad down
	More left spin power				D-Pad left
	More right spin power				D-Pad right
	Adjust left					L1
	Adjust right					R1

	Professional Trick Controls
	Action 						Joystick
	----------------------------------------------------------
	Nose grab with...				D-Pad up
	Tail grab with...				D-Pad down
	Left side grab with...				D-Pad left
	Right side grab with...				D-Pad right
	...left hand					Button B
	...right hand					Button C
	I WANNA LAND!					Release buttons
	Rewind left					L1
	Rewind right					R1

GRAPHICS PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS
-----------------------------
XGames Pro Boarder supports a variety of 3D rendering options and a wide
spectrum of 3D rendering technology. Your particular machine
configuration may not be able to run at an acceptable speed with some of
these options turned on. If you are experiencing speed problems, here
are some things to try, listed in the order the options have on game
speed:
 
In the Options/Graphics menus
- Lower the terrain quality
- Lower the display resolution
- Set Tree and/or Object quality to "low"
- Set particles to "low" or turn them off entirely

In the game:
- Reduce the display area (F10/F11)

Software Rendering

When using software 3D rendering (as opposed to a hardware 3D
accelerator) performance can be even more significantly degraded by the
video resolution than under hardware. Try running in the lowest
resolution available on the Options/Graphics menu (usually 320x200) or
decreasing the size if the drawing window (F10 / F11).

Hardware Rendering

There are some older 3D accelerators (ATI Rage/Rage II, Matrox
Mystique/Millennium II) will run XGames Pro Boarder but will actually be
slower than software rendering on some machines. Some hardware cards
have performance problems with particular features. Look at the Video
Card reference section for you card.

MODEM PROBLEMS
--------------
Modems that use your computer's CPU to do the signal processing
(generally known as WINMODEMs) can cause a significant drop in frame rate
on slower machines. The only solution is a better modem with its own
signal processing hardware or a faster CPU.

You may be able to increase modem performance in the game by
changing the initialization strings for your modem. This information
can be obtained from your modem manufacturer.

NETWORK PROBLEMS
----------------
Users with old single-buffer network cards may experience slow
updates of the position of other players, who will appear to be
"jumping" on remote players views. This is due to timing problems
between the network card and the operating system. Similar
problems will be observed with bad network cables or broken
network repeaters. The solution in these cases is fix or replace
faulty network components.

Some local area networks use hubs that do not forward IPX or IP
broadcast requests. Users attached to such hubs may not be able to see
games hosted in IPX mode and will only be able to join TCP/IP games by
entering in the IP address of the host computer.

Play across the Internet may have difficulty in connecting, maintaining
connections, or may experience random drops in the rate at which the
player location is sent to remote players. These problems are due to the
fluctuating nature of the Internet at large. Often problems can be
corrected by playing at a less busy time of day or by finding an ISP
with more reliable connections to the Internet. Also, problems can be
minimized by playing against people who are close to you on the network.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT
-----------------
If the installation procedure fails, or you have any other problems with
the game, contact our Technical Support Department for help.
