*********************************************************************************************** **************** MICRO MACHINES(R) V3 PC-CDROM HELP.TXT FILE **************** *********************************************************************************************** Thank you for purchasing Micro Machines(R) v3. This document contains information on technical support issues and last minute changes to the game. If you are having trouble running the game please refer to this document for help before contacting our Technical Support personnel. *********************************************************************************************** CONTENTS LAST MINUTE CHANGES 1. SHADOWS REMOVED FROM SOFTWARE MODE GENERAL GAME PROBLEMS 1. SHOULD I SELECT MICRO MACHINES V3 OR MICRO MACHINES V3 (SOFTWARE) FROM THE START MENU? 2. WHEN I START THE GAME THE INTRO SCREENS PLAY AND I AM THEN RETURNED TO WINDOWS 3. THE GAME IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE 48 TRACKS BUT I CAN'T FIND THAT MANY 4. HOW DO I GAIN ACCESS TO THE 32 CARS? 5. WHEN USING THE KEYBOARD FOR 2 PLAYERS SOME OF THE KEYS DON'T FUNCTION CORRECTLY 6. THE GAME RUNS SLOWLY ON MY PC 7. THE GAME SUDDENLY STOPS AND I GO BACK TO WINDOWS 8. THE GAME CRASHES BACK TO WINDOWS WHILST TRYING TO LOAD A TRACK 9. HOW CAN I EXIT A TRACK MID-RACE? 10. I CAN USE THE CURSOR KEYS TO SELECT MY OPTION BUT THE GAME GOES BACK TO THE TOP OR BOTTOM OPTION 11. I GET BLACK BACKGROUNDS WHERE SOME OF THE WALL OR FLOOR SHOULD BE 12. I ALREADY HAVE A DEMO COPY OF THE GAME INSTALLED ON MY COMPUTER 13. THE GAME DID NOT UPDATE MY CHARACTER 14. THE GAME IS RUNNING IN A POOR RESOLUTION 15. HOW DO I CREATE A COPY OF MY SAVED CHARACTERS AS A BACKUP? 16. PRESSING THE HORN BUTTON TAKES ME OUT OF THE DRIVING SCHOOL 17. I GET THE MESSAGE 'NO CD PRESENT' EVEN THOUGH THE CD IS IN THE DRIVE NETWORK PROBLEMS 1. MY PC IS UNABLE TO FIND ANY NETWORK GAMES 2. OCCASIONALLY ONE OF THE NETWORK PLAYERS GETS KICKED OUT OF THE GAME 3. IN NETWORK PLAY MY CONTROLS ARE NOT AS RESPONSIVE 4. I GET THE MESSAGE 'NO CD PRESENT' 5. THERE IS NO MUSIC ON ANY OF THE TRACKS 6. DO I NEED TO PERFORM ANY SPECIAL INSTALLATION TO PLAY THE NETWORK GAME? 7. DO ALL PLAYERS NEED TO BE ON THE SAME NETWORK TYPE? SOUND PROBLEMS 1. THERE IS NO SOUND FROM THE GAME 2. MY SOUNDS APPEAR TO BE CORRUPTED 3. I DO NOT GET ANY MUSIC IN THE GAME GRAPHICS PROBLEMS 1. I HAVE A 4MB GRAPHICS CARD BUT THE GAME WILL NOT RUN IN 3D 2. I GET STRANGE COLOURS THE FIRST TIME A CHARACTER OR COURSE LOADING SCREEN IS DISPLAYED 3. I GET LOTS OF BLOCKS OF GRAPHICS ALL OVER THE SCREEN 4. THE GAME IS RUNNING IN A LOW RESOLUTION 5. MY POWER VR CARD DOES NOT APPEAR TO WORK 6. KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH RENDITION CHIPSET CARDS 7. 3D LABS PERMEDIA 2 CHIPSET CARDS 8. NVIDIA RIVA 128 CHIPSET CARDS GAME CONTROLLERS 1. CONFIGURING GAME CONTROLLERS FOR USE WITH MICRO MACHINES(R) V3 2. CONNECTING MULTIPLE CONTROLLERS 3. DOES MICRO MACHINES(R) V3 SUPPORT MY CONTROLLER? 4. MY STEERING WHEEL RESPONDS POORLY WITH THE GAME 5. PRESSING A BUTTON ON MY CONTROLLER IN MULTIPLAYER MODE CAUSES ONE OF THE OTHER CARS TO PERFORM AN ACTION *********************************************************************************************** LAST MINUTE CHANGES 1. SHADOWS REMOVED FROM SOFTWARE MODE 1. SHADOWS REMOVED FROM SOFTWARE MODE The shadows have been removed from the software version of the game. This means that the F6 key no longer has any function in the software mode. *********************************************************************************************** GENERAL GAME PROBLEMS 1. SHOULD I SELECT MICRO MACHINES V3 OR MICRO MACHINES V3 (SOFTWARE) FROM THE START MENU? 2. WHEN I START THE GAME THE INTRO SCREENS PLAY AND I AM THEN RETURNED TO WINDOWS 3. THE GAME IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE 48 TRACKS BUT I CAN'T FIND THAT MANY 4. HOW DO I GAIN ACCESS TO THE 32 CARS? 5. WHEN USING THE KEYBOARD FOR 2 PLAYERS SOME OF THE KEYS DON'T FUNCTION CORRECTLY 6. THE GAME RUNS SLOWLY ON MY PC 7. THE GAME SUDDENLY STOPS AND I GO BACK TO WINDOWS 8. THE GAME CRASHES BACK TO WINDOWS WHILST TRYING TO LOAD A TRACK 9. HOW CAN I EXIT A TRACK MID-RACE? 10. I CAN USE THE CURSOR KEYS TO SELECT MY OPTION BUT THE GAME GOES BACK TO THE TOP OR BOTTOM OPTION 11. I GET BLACK BACKGROUNDS WHERE SOME OF THE WALL OR FLOOR SHOULD BE 12. I ALREADY HAVE A DEMO COPY OF THE GAME INSTALLED ON MY COMPUTER 13. THE GAME DID NOT UPDATE MY CHARACTER 14. THE GAME IS RUNNING IN A POOR RESOLUTION 15. HOW DO I CREATE A COPY OF MY SAVED CHARACTERS AS A BACKUP? 16. PRESSING THE HORN BUTTON TAKES ME OUT OF THE DRIVING SCHOOL 17. I GET THE MESSAGE 'NO CD PRESENT' EVEN THOUGH THE CD IS IN THE DRIVE 1. SHOULD I SELECT MICRO MACHINES V3 OR MICRO MACHINES V3 (SOFTWARE) FROM THE START MENU If you possess a 4Mb graphics card it is recommended that you select MICRO MACHINES V3 from the start menu in order to try and get the best performance from the game. Owners of PC's with lower spec graphics cards should select MICRO MACHINES V3 (SOFTWARE). 2. WHEN I START THE GAME THE INTRO SCREENS PLAY AND I AM THEN RETURNED TO WINDOWS This happens if certain components on your system are not able to support the game. It is usually the case if you do not have Direct X5 installed on your system. The game requires Direct X5 in order to run and you will need to re-install the game including Direct X5 when prompted to do so during the installation procedure. 3. THE GAME IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE 48 TRACKS BUT I CAN'T FIND THAT MANY In the game there are 43 tracks and 5 driving school circuits. Unfortunately not all of the tracks are available when you first start to play the game. In order to access the other tracks you will need to complete some of the challenges. The more successful you are at the challenges the more tracks you gain access to. 4. HOW DO I GAIN ACCESS TO THE 32 CARS? As you win races in the challenges or beat record times in the time trials you will be awarded prize cars. There are 31 prize cars and the driving school car in the game. Each prize car has levels from 1 to 255 with each level being progressively better than the last. The type of prize car you win will depend on the difficulty of the track and how well you performed. Each of your prize cars can be used in Test Drive mode and gambled against other peoples prize cars in the Keepsies mode. 5. WHEN USING THE KEYBOARD FOR 2 PLAYERS SOME OF THE KEYS DON'T FUNCTION CORRECTLY Although every effort has been taken to avoid any problems within the game there exists the possibility that on certain keyboards a second player may cause conflicts. If this is the case it is recommended that only one player uses the keyboard. All other players should use gamepads or other similar Windows 95 compatible controllers. 6. THE GAME RUNS SLOWLY ON MY PC If the game performs slowly on your PC this could be due to one of two things. Firstly on some PC's (especially those with an on board graphics card) which are at the lower end of the recommended specifications the game may struggle if other programs use up any of the RAM. Also on all systems, having lots of programs running in the background whilst trying to run the game will seriously reduce performance. It is recommended that all other programs are closed down before you commence playing MICRO MACHINES(R) V3. 7. THE GAME SUDDENLY STOPS AND I GO BACK TO WINDOWS The most likely cause of the game suddenly dissappearing is that another program that you have installed on your machine has suddenly started working or tried to perform a task. In most cases the program causing the problem will be a variety of screen saver and some of these have produced this result under test. If the problem is due to another program you should find a box in the taskbar at the bottom of the screen which says MICRO MACHINES. Clicking on this box with the left mouse button should take you back into the game. 8. THE GAME CRASHES BACK TO WINDOWS WHILST TRYING TO LOAD A TRACK Ensure that the CD is inserted in the CD-Rom drive. You will need a CD to play the game in all modes except if joining a Network game. If your CD is inserted in the CD drive and the game has gone back to Windows check that the CD is not dirty or damaged. 9. HOW CAN I EXIT A TRACK MID-RACE? If you wish to exit mid-race you need to press the ESC key. This will take you back to the option to re-select if you wish to race again. Beware that in a Challenge mode this will result in you having to start the challenge again. 10. I CAN USE THE CURSOR KEYS TO SELECT MY OPTION BUT THE GAME GOES BACK TO THE TOP OR BOTTOM OPTION If the game reverts back to the top or bottom garage as soon as you take your finger off the cursor keys it is because your gamepad or joystick is not set up correctly. Press F10 to exit from the game and calibrate your controller in Windows. After calibrating your controller in Windows go back to the Micro Machines(R) Control Configuration program and set up your controller there. If your controller is compatible with the game and set up properly in Windows you should now find that the problem is cured. 11. I GET BLACK BACKGROUNDS WHERE SOME OF THE WALL OR FLOOR SHOULD BE On certain tracks you may find that parts of the walls or floor update in a blocky fashion. If you find that on certain parts of the track you get a solid black graphic in place of the wall this is not a fault on your system but due to the game. The game has been converted for the PC from the Sony Playstation and as such is bound to the same graphical constraints. Unfortunately there is no way of changing the code to overcome these restrictions and so there are inherent problems with some of the backgrounds. 12. I ALREADY HAVE A DEMO COPY OF THE GAME INSTALLED ON MY COMPUTER If you have a demo copy of the game installed on your PC you should find an uninstall utility on the disk thst the demo came with. Use Windows Explorer to open the Micro Machines(R) folder on the disk and double-click on the Uninstall icon. This will remove the demo version of the game from your system and you can then go ahead and install the full version of the game following the instructions in the manual. 13. THE GAME DID NOT UPDATE MY CHARACTER When you select a character to play with you must choose to save the character to memory when prompted if you would like to save this character for a future time. Also, after you have finished racing with this character you must return to the front menu screen where you will be prompted to update your character. If you exit from the game without updating your character all the new information since it was last updated will be lost. 14. THE GAME IS RUNNING IN A POOR RESOLUTION If the game is running in a poor resolution this can be cured by pressing the F7 key. This should change the resolution to 640x480 from 320x240. If you have a 4Mb 3d graphics card you should ensure that 3d acceleration is enabled on your machine in DirectX and that you have chosen Micro Machines as opposed to Micro Machines (Software) in the start menu. For more information on enabling 3d acceleration please refer to the Graphics Problems section later in this document. 15. HOW DO I CREATE A COPY OF MY SAVED CHARACTERS AS A BACKUP? The saved characters are stored in the file SAVETEST.BIN which you will find in the MMv3 folder on your hardrive. To keep a copy of this file as a backup you can place a copy of it in a different location on your computer or on a floppy disk. In the event that your saved character file gets corrupted you can then simply place the copy of it back in the MMv3 folder. 16. PRESSING THE HORN BUTTON TAKES ME OUT OF THE DRIVING SCHOOL The horn button also works as the fire button and the start button. The game was designed like this in order to make it compatible with 4-button control pads. At the start of the driving school lessons Cherry tells you to press the start button at any time if you want to quit. Therefore the horn button functions as the start button at all points in the driving school and takes you out of the driving school if pressed. 17. I GET THE MESSAGE 'NO CD PRESENT' EVEN THOUGH THE CD IS IN THE DRIVE If you get this message you may need to clean your CD. Take the CD out of the drive and check for any finger prints or matks on it. If the CD has not long been placed in the drive you may get this message. This is because modern, fast CD-Rom drives take a short time to get up to speed before they can read the data on the CD. *********************************************************************************************** NETWORK PROBLEMS 1. MY PC IS UNABLE TO FIND ANY NETWORK GAMES 2. OCCASIONALLY ONE OF THE NETWORK PLAYERS GETS KICKED OUT OF THE GAME 3. IN NETWORK PLAY MY CONTROLS ARE NOT AS RESPONSIVE 4. I GET THE MESSAGE 'NO CD PRESENT' 5. THERE IS NO MUSIC ON ANY OF THE TRACKS 6. DO I NEED TO PERFORM ANY SPECIAL INSTALLATION TO PLAY THE NETWORK GAME? 7. DO ALL PLAYERS NEED TO BE ON THE SAME NETWORK TYPE? 1. MY PC IS UNABLE TO FIND ANY NETWORK GAMES If your PC can't find any network games firstly make sure that a game has been set up. In order to set up a network game the options chosen will take longer to select than to join a network game. Therefore make sure you give the host of the game time to set it up. If you know that there is a network game available but you are still unable to join contact your network administrator as some of the settings on your PC may need to be altered. 2. OCCASIONALLY ONE OF THE NETWORK PLAYERS GETS KICKED OUT OF THE GAME Network games are run through a component of DirectX called Direct Play. When each track is selected the hosts machine transfers the data for that track from their CD to the network. Each of the other players machines then tries to read that data from the network. The game will try several times to read the data but if it is still unable to find it after this it will transfer that player to the waiting room. The reason it automatically transfers that player to the waiting room is because if it did not then that players machine would freeze up and it would need to be reset. Obviously this also means that any data not saved on that players machine would be lost. Any player that gets transfered to the waiting room can rejoin the action after the race has finished. 3. IN NETWORK PLAY MY CONTROLS ARE NOT AS RESPONSIVE All of the movements in network play have to be transferred over the network to each of the players machines and dependant on the quality of the network and the number of players this can cause slight delays in players control responses whilst the PC reads the incoming information. 4. I GET THE MESSAGE 'NO CD PRESENT' If this message appears you are hosting a network game! In order to host a network game you must have a Micro Machines(R) v3 CD in your CD-Rom drive. 5. THERE IS NO MUSIC ON ANY OF THE TRACKS The music and background effects that are played in the non-network modes of the game are played directly from the CD. In order for the host to be the only player requiring a CD the option of having these sounds in network play is not available. 6. DO I NEED TO PERFORM ANY SPECIAL INSTALLATION TO PLAY THE NETWORK GAME? No. To play network games simply follow the instructions for installing the game and joining network games as detailed in the manual. Only the host of a network game will require a copy of the CD in order to play. 7. DO ALL PLAYERS NEED TO BE ON THE SAME NETWORK TYPE? All players need to be on either an IPX or TCP/IP network. Players with different primary network logins may experience some problems with machines failing to load up track data from the host and this in turn will lead to them being transferred back to the waiting room. *********************************************************************************************** SOUND PROBLEMS 1. THERE IS NO SOUND FROM THE GAME 2. MY SOUNDS APPEAR TO BE CORRUPTED 3. I DO NOT GET ANY MUSIC IN THE GAME 1. THERE IS NO SOUND FROM THE GAME If you are getting no sound from your speakers check that they are connected to the PC correctly and that they are turned on and the volume is turned up. If there is still no sound check that the speakers are working correctly in Windows 95. 2. MY SOUNDS APPEAR TO BE CORRUPTED If your sounds appear to be corrupted it may be due to the drivers being used by your sound card. The game uses Direct X5 and you should check with your soundcard manufacturer that the card is compatible with Direct X5. If the card is compatible with Direct X5 check the manufacturer for any driver updates that they may have available and enquire about any problems that your current driver files may have with Direct X5. 3. I DO NOT GET ANY MUSIC IN THE GAME On certain tracks within the game you should be able to hear a music track within the game or the sounds corresponding to the environment in the background. These audio tracks are played directly from the game CD. If you do not get any of these tracks firstly ensure that the CD is being accessed correctly. If this is all okay go to your soundcard control box and check that your CD audio volume is turned up to an audible level. If this is okay check that your CD is actually connected to your soundcard. To do this simply place an audio CD into the CD Rom and from the start menu select PROGRAMS - ACCESSORIES - MULTIMEDIA - CD PLAYER. If the CD Rom light flashes on and off and the volume control is set correctly you will need to speak to your PC manufacturer or supplier about your problem. *********************************************************************************************** GRAPHICS PROBLEMS 1. I HAVE A 4MB GRAPHICS CARD BUT THE GAME WILL NOT RUN IN 3D 2. I GET STRANGE COLOURS THE FIRST TIME A CHARACTER OR COURSE LOADING SCREEN IS DISPLAYED 3. I GET LOTS OF BLOCKS OF GRAPHICS ALL OVER THE SCREEN 4. THE GAME IS RUNNING IN A LOW RESOLUTION 5. MY POWER VR CARD DOES NOT APPEAR TO WORK 6. KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH RENDITION CHIPSET CARDS 7. 3D LABS PERMEDIA 2 CHIPSET CARDS 8. NVIDIA RIVA 128 CHIPSET CARDS 1. I HAVE A 4MB GRAPHICS CARD BUT THE GAME WILL NOT RUN IN 3D If your graphics card does not have 4Mb of dedicated texture memory the game will resort to running in software mode. In particular this will effect people with S3 based graphics cards that were the first generation of '3d' cards. Check that you have selected Micro Machines V3 and not Micro Machines V3 (Software) from the start menu. You should also check that hardware acceleration is enabled in DirectX - to do this follow the instructions in the game manual. 2. I GET STRANGE COLOURS THE FIRST TIME A CHARACTER OR COURSE LOADING SCREEN IS DISPLAYED This is indicative of a palette problem. The drivers of your graphics card may need to be updated. This has been known to effect some NVidia and 3d Labs Permedia 2 cards. In a majority of cases this should not affect the race screens or the game performance. 3. I GET LOTS OF BLOCKS OF GRAPHICS ALL OVER THE SCREEN This is a problem with the texture handling properties of the graphics card. In test it has been known to affect the ATI Rage II and ATI Rage II+ cards. The only solution with these cards is to play the game in software mode. 4. THE GAME IS RUNNING IN A LOW RESOLUTION If this is the case you will either need to turn on 3d acceleration or increase the screen resolution. If you have a 3d graphics card which is compatable with the game follow the instructions in the manual to enable 3d acceleration. If you do not have such a card then you simply need to use the F7 key to change game resolution. 5. MY POWER VR CARD DOES NOT APPEAR TO WORK Users of Power VR cards (Apocalypse 3Dx, Apocalypse 5D etc.) should enable Power VR HAL in their graphics card tab of Display Properties. To open Display Properties right click the mouse on your Windows 95 desktop background and select Properties. 6. KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH RENDITION CHIPSET CARDS There are known problems in the game when using graphics cards based on the Rendition Verite chipsets. Users may find some graphical corruptions in the main menu screen. There is also a problem with some of the objects shadows within the game. 7. 3D LABS PERMEDIA 2 CHIPSET CARDS There is a known problem with the drivers for Permedia 2 based graphics cards. If your card produces strange colours on the character 'press start' or the loading track screen you will need to update your drivers. The newer drivers also produce a problem in the game where some parts of the graphics that are supposed to be transparent are drawn over shadows. This produces the effect of a hole missing from the shadow. At the time of writing, just prior to release of the game, 3D Labs were aware of the problem and in the process of creating a new set of drivers for these cards. For information on updated drivers please contact your PC supplier or graphics card manufacturer. 8. NVIDIA RIVA 128 CHIPSET CARDS On NVidia Riva 128 based graphics card there may be a problem with a shimmer in some areas of text. Also, when playing network games, users of NVidia Riva 128 based cards will find that there is a problem with the colours on the game loading screen unless they are hosting. This does not effect the tracks in the game and so the game can be played as normal. *********************************************************************************************** GAME CONTROLLERS 1. CONFIGURING GAME CONTROLLERS FOR USE WITH MICRO MACHINES(R) V3 2. CONNECTING MULTIPLE CONTROLLERS 3. DOES MICRO MACHINES(R) V3 SUPPORT MY CONTROLLER? 4. MY STEERING WHEEL RESPONDS POORLY WITH THE GAME 5. PRESSING A BUTTON ON MY CONTROLLER IN MULTIPLAYER MODE CAUSES ONE OF THE OTHER CARS TO PERFORM AN ACTION 1. CONFIGURING GAME CONTROLLERS FOR USE WITH MICRO MACHINES(R) V3 Before you can use a controller with Micro Machines(R) V3 you will have to configure it. Firstly you will need to configure your controller to work with Windows 95. For help on doing this please refer to your controllers documentation or contact the manufacturer of the control device. After your controller has been set up in Windows 95 you will be able to configure it to work with the game. From the START menu go to PROGRAMS - CODEMASTERS - MICRO MACHINES V3 - CONTROL CONFIGURATION. You should now be presented with a controller set-up box. Your controller should have the status OKAY written against it (J01, J02 etc). Use the panel at the top right of the configuration box to test your controllers buttons and thereby establish which button corresponds to which number. Now simply select which button you would like to use for each feature within the game by clicking on the arrows to the right of each function button number to open a drop down menu. If you have more than one controller attached you will have to repeat this operation for each controller. To select each controller simply click on it in the top left section of the panel. Once you have finished configuring all of your controllers simply click on the X in the top right of the panel and your selections will be stored for future use. At any point in the future you may return to this panel to add more controllers or alter your current settings. 2. CONNECTING MULTIPLE CONTROLLERS The CONTROL CONFIGURATION screen can be used to set up a whole multitude of controllers. If you want to connect more than one controller to your PC you will need to refer to your control manufacturer for advice on adapters etc. The game will support the use of multiple controllers and has been tested with the following set ups :- 4 Gravis gamepads connected through a Gravis Multiport. 4 Microsoft Sidewinder gamepads linked together. 4 Thrustmaster Rage 3D gamepads linked together. Any other type of gamepad or controller that can be linked together should work okay with the game providing that it functions correctly with Windows 95 after being linked. 3. DOES MICRO MACHINES(R) V3 SUPPORT MY CONTROLLER? Micro Machines(R) V3 supports Windows 95 compatible controllers. If you have problems configuring your controller with Windows 95 or for details on connecting more than one controller to your PC please contact your game controller manufacturer. 4. MY STEERING WHEEL RESPONDS POORLY WITH THE GAME The game works best with digital controllers. Turning your steering wheel in either direction will give a continuous input and therefore the car will continue to turn in that direction. The game will work with steering wheels but for the best results it is recommended that either the keyboard or a gamepad are used. 5. PRESSING A BUTTON ON MY CONTROLLER IN MULTIPLAYER MODE CAUSES ONE OF THE OTHER CARS TO PERFORM AN ACTION Check that your controller does not have it's own game configuration program. If it does you do not need a game configuration for Micro Machines(R) V3 and should remove any reference to it. Having a button map set-up for the game will cause operation of the controller buttons to send a keyboard signal to the computer and so perform an action on one of the other cars. *********************************************************************************************** Thankyou for taking the time to read this document. If you are still having problems with the game or require technical support please ring our Customer Services Department whose number can be found in the game manual. Quality Assurance Department Codemasters Software Company Ltd