Command & Conquer [TM]: Red Alert 2 [TM] LATE BREAKING NEWS FROM THE FRONT Copyright 2000 Electronic Arts Inc. All rights reserved. Westwood Studios [TM] is an Electronic Arts [TM] brand. September 23, 2000 For latest news and updates visit WWW.WESTWOOD.COM - - - - - - - - - - - - - TOP SECRET - - - - - - - - - - - - - Commander: Thank you, for joining up. Your service will not go unrecognized. Please take care to read the following bulletin from Command Headquarters so that you are fully briefed on the current situation. Due to battlefield conditions, certain information must be kept classified until you are ready for action. Good Luck. -- President Michael Dugan 1. WINDOWS 95/98/NT/Millenium 1.1. Microsoft DirectX 1.2. Microsoft Office Toolbar 1.3. Windows NT 4.0 1.4. Windows ME 2. TROUBLE SHOOTING 2.1. Known Video Card Issues 2.2. Known Sound Card Issues 2.3. Known Direct X Issues 2.4. Gateway Computer Users 2.5. Virtual Memory Settings 2.6. Known RealPlayer Issues 2.7. AutoPlay 2.8. 16 bit CD-ROM drivers 2.9. CD-Changers and Multi-Drivers 2.10. Choppy movie performance 2.11. Power Saving Mode 2.12. Periodic Slowdown 2.13. Game Updates and Patches 2.14. Connection Speed Slider 2.15. Dual Network Cards and IPX Issues: 2.16. Firewall Issues 2.17. Network Address Translation (NAT) Games 3. GAMEPLAY INFO 3.1. Engineers 3.2. Rankings for Ladders and Tournaments over Westwood Online 3.3. Quick Match over Westwood Online ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. WINDOWS 95/98/NT/Millenium 1.1. Microsoft DirectX: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 is a Microsoft DirectX application. Version 7.0 of Microsoft DirectX is included on the CD and you have the option to install it when Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 is installed. Under some early versions of Windows 95, DirectX 7.0 cannot be installed directly from the Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 installer. If this occurs, please run DXSetup.exe located on the CD in the DXSetup folder. All Microsoft DirectX drivers are located in the DXSetup folder off of the root of the CD. To reinstall the Microsoft DirectX drivers go into the DXSetup folder and run DXSetup.exe. You can explore the CD by choosing the "Explore the CD" option in the AutoPlay title screen. If you have difficulty running Windows 95/98 after these new Microsoft DirectX drivers have been installed, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary, or write: Microsoft Customer Sales and Service, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399, USA USA telephone: 1-800-426-9400 International telephone: ++1-206-882-8080 1.2. Microsoft Office Toolbar: If you make use of this feature of Microsoft Office and it appears over the game screen when playing Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 you will have to disable the Office Toolbar before playing. 1.3. Windows NT 4.0: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 requires Service Pack 3 or later versions to be installed in order to work with Windows NT 4.0. Please contact your computer manufacturer if you need to get Service Pack 3. 1.4. Windows ME: Windows ME DirectX appears to have hardware conflicts with some 2mb video cards. The cards may work well with Windows ME itself, and even other games, but with Red Alert 2 you may experience black screen lockups when loading the game. The problem may be corrected by updating the video card driver to Windows ME compatible drivers, updating your version of DirectX, or upgrading to a 4mb card or higher. 2. TROUBLE SHOOTING 2.1. Known Video Card Issues: Video monitor settings may need to be adjusted after installing the Microsoft DirectX video drivers. If you screen distorts, or is shifted horizontally or vertically, you can return it to normal by adjusting the controls on your monitor. Most video display problems can be corrected by installing the latest drivers for your particular card. Please consult your video card documentation for details on how to get the latest drivers for your card. If you are using the Microsoft Theme Pack and have selected a custom cursor, video corruption can occur. For best results, please use default cursors while playing Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2. Users with integrated Intel 3D graphic cards (2MB AGP) may experience refresh problems at high resolutions (above 640x480). In order to fix this problem, modify the [VIDEO] section of the RA2.INI file located in the RA2 root directory to include: VideoBackBuffer=no (This also includes any users with low end video cards, experiencing any trails or refresh problems at any resolution) 2.2. Known Sound Card Issues: Old SoundBlaster AWE 64 and AWE 32 sound card drivers can cause skipping and repeating sound that may cause your computer to run Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 much slower than normal. If you have one of these sound cards and are experiencing these symptoms, please contact your card manufacturer for latest drivers. Audio may stutter on certain systems running Windows NT. To correct this problem you must install the latest audio driver for your sound card. Most sound card problems can be corrected by installing the latest drivers for your particular card. Please consult your sound card documentation for details on how to get the latest drivers. If you are using USB speakers, do not turn off the speakers during gameplay. Doing so may cause your system to become unstable and even crash. 2.3. Known DirectX Issues: If another application is using the sound card while trying to install or run the game, a "DXSound Error" will appear. If this error occurs, please close all applications and run the install or game again. 2.4. Gateway Computer Users: If you are using a Gateway computer with "Gateway GoBack" software by WildFile running in the background, you may experience lockups in Red Alert 2. GoBack is loaded in the Windows system tray (by the clock) and represented by two yellow arrows. To close out GoBack, right click on the double yellow arrows in the system tray, and select close. It is recommended that you close all programs running in the background before starting Red Alert 2. 2.5. Virtual Memory Settings: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 may need to use more RAM than is present on your system. Windows 95/98 automatically takes care of this by using what is known as "Virtual Memory" - which uses space on your hard disk to simulate the memory it needs and swaps data back and forth from your hard disk as required. Windows 95/98 allows you to manually set the amount of hard drive space it uses for Virtual Memory: WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT DO THIS! To let Windows 95/98 manage the Virtual Memory, go to the Windows 95/98 start menu, select `settings\control panel', then double-click `system', click `performance\file system\virtual memory' and then select `Let Windows manage my virtual memory settings (recommended).' 2.6. Known RealPlayer Issues: RealPlayer seems to have a conflict with the movie player used in Red Alert 2. With RealPlayer's "Start Center" feature enabled (which seems to keep RealPlayer resident in some form) we have found stability issues when exiting Red Alert 2 as it goes to the desktop. 2.7. AutoPlay: If your CD does not AutoPlay when inserted in the drive, you may have this feature disabled. To Enable AutoPlay, right click on 'My Computer' and select 'Properties' then 'Device Manager'. Select your CD-ROM drive and click 'Properties'. Select 'Settings' and check the 'Auto insert notification' box. 2.8. 16 bit CD-ROM drivers: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 may fail to start if there is a 16 bit CD-ROM driver loaded from the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS. If you have references to MSCDEX or equivalent drivers then try removing them from your autoexec.bat and config.sys files. Windows 95/98 does not generally need these drivers to work and in most cases will actually perform better without them. 2.9. CD-Changers and Multi-Drivers: Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 does not support multiple CD-ROM drives or CD-changers and assumes that you only have one CD-ROM drive. If you have more than one CD-ROM drive, you should insert the Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 CD in the first CD drive letter. For example, if you have CD drives E:, F: and G:, your Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 CD should be inserted into the E: drive. 2.10. Choppy movie performance: If you find that the movie performance is choppy or jerky, try reducing the Windows 95/98 CD caching by going to the Start/Settings/Control Panel and double-clicking the System applet. In the System Properties dialog, click the Performance tab and then click the File System button. From the File System Properties dialog, click the CD-ROM tab and note the Supplemental Cache Size setting (so that you can reset the cache size if need be). Now set the Supplemental Cache Size to Small. This should have a marked effect on movie performance. You can also try adjusting your detail settings in the Options Menu. Low Detail will remove effects like water wakes behind ships, smoke and effect lines. Red Alert 2 will also dynamically remove animations in certain situations on low...
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