Readme.txt Version 10/26/94
IndyCar Racing v1.05 CD
Contents:
Installation Program
Two Player Racing
Trouble Running IndyCar Racing?
Detail Levels and Computer Speed
Sound Problems
Joystick/Yoke/Wheel Calibration
Time Acceleration (NEW FEATURE)
Miscellaneous Problems
Installation Program
--------------------
1. Insert CD-ROM of IndyCar Racing into CD-ROM drive.
2. Type the name of that drive (e.g. D:), then press <ENTER>.
3. Type CD\INDYCAR <ENTER>.
4. Type INSTALL <ENTER>.
5. Enter the letter of the drive to install to (e.g. C), press <ENTER>.
6. Enter the directory to install to (e.g. \IndyCar), press <ENTER>.
7. Select CD-ROM Installation or Hard Disk installation. If you choose
CD-ROM installation, only a few necessary files will be copied to
the hard disk. If you choose Hard Disk Installation the entire
program will be copied to the hard disk.
8. When you see "Installation Successful Press ENTER", press <ENTER>.
Setup
1. Installation will leave you at the IndyCar Racing Setup Program screen.
You can also run the Setup Program from the game directory (C:INDYCAR>
if you selected the default directory during installation) by typing
SETUP <ENTER>.
2. Select Change Sound Card from the menu.
3. Choose your digital sound card from the list and <ENTER>
4. Enter requested setup information. You will need to know the I/O Port
Address, IRQ, and DMA for your sound card. Refer to your sound card
documentation for this information.
5. Choose your Music/FM Sound card from the list.
6. Enter requested setup information.
7. Choose Make Start-Up Disk if you have only 4MB RAM or less,
or if you have any difficulties running IndyCar Racing. Follow
directions on screen to create the bootable floppy. See the
Troubleshooting section below for more details.
8. Choose View README File to read important update information about
IndyCar Racing.
9. Choose Exit to leave the Setup program.
Starting IndyCar Racing
1. Insert CD-ROM into drive into your CD-ROM drive. (If you chose
Hard Drive Installation, you do not need the CD-ROM in the drive.)
2. From your hard drive, type CD\INDYCAR <ENTER> (or substitute the
name of the directory that you selected in the installation.)
3. Type INDYCAR <ENTER> to start VGA mode.
Two Player Racing
-----------------
IndyCar Racing allows two racers to compete against one another via the
Two Player Race menu. They must be connected over a null-modem cable
or between two modems running at 9600 baud.
Direct Connecting via null-modem cable
The two players should have a null-modem cable.
Connecting via modem
The two players should have modems capable of 9600 baud communication.
Setup Menu
The Setup menu contains various communications settings:
COM PORT: This is the serial port which the computer uses to
communicate with either the modem or the other computer. If you change
the COM PORT, the program will automatically select the normal
IRQ to be used for that port; if you are using a special IRQ,
specify it after selecting the COM port.
IRQ: The computer uses this interrupt to communicate. It should
not be used by anything other than your modem. If you change
the COM PORT, the program will automatically select the normal
IRQ to be used for that port; if you are using a special IRQ,
specify it after selecting the COM port.
MODEM/ This is a toggle between the two connection methods.
Press <enter> to change it.
DIRECT
CONNECT
INIT STRING See below. This is the most difficult and important part.
It is not required for Direct Connect.
DIAL PREFIX This is the command sent to the modem just before dialing.
The dial prefix is normally "atdt", but you may want to have
a commonly dialed number or calling card access number here.
(E.g. "atdt9,555-1212") A comma means to delay for a period
of time, usually two seconds.
It is not required for Direct Connect.
DIAL SUFFIX This is the command sent to the modem just after dialing.
The dial suffix is usually "^m", which completes the dialing.
It is not required for Direct Connect.
Initialization String
***************************************************************************
The most common problem of connection via modem in IndyCar Racing is an
incomplete initialization string.
The following features MUST be disabled in modem connection in IndyCar
Racing:
-data compression, error detection, and error correction. You must be sure
that they are off, otherwise you will either not be able to connect or
experience erratic car movement. Use the modem initialization string in
the 2-Player Race/Setup/Init String menu to disable these features. You
must force the modem to connect only at 9600 baud (many modems would try
to connect at a different speed if not otherwise specified).
We have sample initialization strings for several modems. We cannot provide
initialization strings for all modems, but follow these guidelines to set up
your modem if it is not on the list. You must make sure that
1. Data compression is off
2. Error detection is off
3. Error correction is off
4. You are connecting at 9600 baud
Consult your modem manual to find the required modem commands. If you cannot
find the proper commands in the modem documentation, please call the modem
manufacturer for assistance.
*****************************************************************************
Modem Make Recommended Initialization String
---------- ---------------------------------
Gateway Telepath at&f^m~~~atn0s37=9&c1&d2&k0&q0%c0^m
Intel 144/144e at&f^m~~~at&c1&d2%c0-j0^m
Practical Peripherals PM14400FXMT at&f^m~~~atn0s37=9&q6^m
SupraFAXModem at&f^m~~~atn0s37=9&c1&d2&k0&q0%c0^m
USRobotics Sportster at&f^m~~~at&c1&d2&k0&m0&n6^m
Zoom/FaxModem at&f^m~~~atn0s37=9&c1&d2&k0%c0^m
The tildes (~) will appear as down arrows on your screen and function as
a pause between commands. The "^m" in the initialization string completes
a command to the modem, like pressing <enter>, and must be used after each AT
command string, as above.
Modern modem features such as data compression and error correction interfere
with the communications for the simulation because when communicating with
these features on, the roundtrip connection is delayed, and poor gameplay
results.
Connection
One machine should choose 2-Player Race/Answer and the other should choose
2-Player Race/Dial. The dialing machine will dial, then wait for two minutes
for the answering machine to connect with it. When the two modems connect,
a phone icon will appear in the lower right corner of the screen. If it is
blinking, the connection is not perfect. If it disappears for more than five
seconds, the connection will be broken. The transmission delay indicates the
one-way transmission time from computer to computer. A good connection will
have a delay of 0.07 or 0.13 seconds. The longer the delay, the worse the
gameplay will be (cars movements will be more erratic). The delay is caused
by the phone system or by an incomplete (and incorrect) initialization
string. The problem might be solved by redialing.
Hints: You can keep a commonly dialed number in the prefix string.
You can race just against the other player by setting your number of
opponents in Options/Realism/Opponents to 1.
Talk Mode
When connected to another computer, you may attempt to talk with the other
player by pressing the T key. You may be at the race weekend menu (which
has REPLAY/GARAGE/etc. on it), driving, or watching the replay. If the
other machine is ready to talk, the two players' names will appear in the
middle of the screen, with areas above and below for you to type in. When
you are done talking, one of you can press ESC to end talking. If the other
player is not ready to talk, you will receive a message to that effect.
2-Player Play Differences
It is important that the CARS line in the <track>.TXT file be the same for
both the dialer and answerer. If you have not modified this file, this
will not be a problem.
Not all positions of the cars are saved in the replay on the dialer's
machine. Therefore, some cars will disappear when being viewed. We
recommend just watching your own car if you are the dialer.
The smoke and dirt effects on the dialer's machine are shown only for the
dialer's car. The smoke and dirt effects on the answerer's machine are not
shown for the dialer's car.
No RESULTS.TXT file is generated for the dialer.
The answerer's RESULTS.TXT may list Fred Jones rather than the dialer's name.
(If you select another track (but do not race on it) before disconnecting,
the RESULTS.TXT file will have the correct name for the dialer.)
Some options are controlled by the answerer, such as track selection,
weather, yellow flags, pace lap, and number of cars. Some of these
options are saved on the dialer's machine, such as the chosen track
and number of cars.
You will be unable to pause the game while driving in 2-Player Race. You
can ESCape out to the menu.
Troubleshooting 2-Player Racing
1. If when you select Dial the computer responds with "Make sure your
modem is on," check to make sure the comm port setting is
the correct one and that your modem is turned on (internal modems
will always be on).
2. If when you select Dial the computer responds with "Unable to initialize
modem," your initialization string is incorrect for your modem. Consult
your modem manual or modem manufacturer. Make sure you have "^m" at the
end of the command. See the above sample initialization strings. Also,
be sure to include the three tildes ("~~~") between commands ending in
"^m".
3. If when the modems connect, the transmission delay is large, this
probably means that the initialization strings on one or both of the
modems are incorrect.
4. If you are still unable to connect, a sanity check of the modem
communications is possible using a regular communications package such
as Telix, Procomm, or the Windows' Terminal program. Connecting via
one of these packages does not guarantee that communications will work
in IndyCar Racing, but if you are unable to connect in this fashion,
you will be unable to connect in IndyCar Racing.
5. If both of you have a DOS communications package, it should be possible
to connect using that package, then to run IndyCar Racing and connect
using the Direct Connect option. You must still disable advanced modem
features such as data compression and error correction, and you must
operate at 9600 baud. This is a complex procedure, and is recommended
only for advanced users who are having trouble connecting in the IndyCar
Racing program itself.
Trouble running IndyCar Racing?
-------------------------------
If you see an "Insufficient memory" message when you choose a track or
select Championship Season, or the program will not start, or if the
program crashes (returns to DOS), you probably have a conflict with some
memory-resident software. *** Please try the steps below before calling
technical support. ***
When your computer starts up, it accesses files called CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT on the disk it starts with (usually your hard disk, but if you
have a floppy disk in drive A it would start with that disk).
To avoid the conflict from the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files on your
hard drive, you can make a start-up disk. When your computer starts up,
it will use the AUTOEXEC.BAT file on that disk instead of your normal files,
thus bypassing the possible conflicts.
Creating A Start-Up Disk
From the C:\INDYCAR> prompt, type SETUP <enter> and choose Make A Start Up
Diskette from the Setup menu. You need a formatted, blank disk in your A
drive. It must be placed in drive A.
If you are using DOS 6 (which you can determine by typing "ver" from a DOS
prompt), you should add a CONFIG.SYS file to the Start-Up disk:
1. Insert your previously created start-up disk in drive A:
2. At the DOS prompt, type EDIT A:\CONFIG.SYS <enter>
3. Type DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS <enter>
4. Type DOS=HIGH <enter>
5. Press the <ALT> key, then the <F> key, then the <X> key, then
the <Y> key to save and exit.
Adding Sound Card or CD-ROM Drivers to the Bootable Floppy
Most sound cards do not require drivers to be loaded onto a bootable
floppy. There are a few exceptions to this rule. If you have a sound
card, but are getting no sound in the game when using a start up disk,
you will need to copy some necessary information to the bootable floppy.
To be sure that you have all the necessary information on the bootable
floppy, consult your sound card's documentation. Because different
sound card brands require various things, we are unable to tell you
exactly what to look for.
If you are using the CD-ROM version of IndyCar Racing, you will need
to add the device drivers for the CD-ROM drive to the start up disk.
Look for any mention of the CD-ROM and the directory name that the
CD-ROM software is in. (E.g. MSCDEX) If you are unsure about what
is needed, please consult your CD-ROM drive user's guide or contact
the CD-ROM manufacturer. Because different CD-ROM brands require
various things, we are unable to tell you exactly what to look for.
Here are some hints of what to look for in the config.sys and
autoexec.bat:
Autoexec.bat file
SET SOUND=
SET BLASTER=
C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE
Config.sys file
DEVICE=C:\PROAUDIO\MVSOUND.SYS D:1 Q:7 S:1,220,1,5 M:0 J:1
DEVICE=C:\SC400\DRIVERS\CDMKE.SYS /D:MSCD000 ...
DEVICE=C:\SBCD\SBCD.SYS /D:MSCD001.....
Installing the Entire Program to the Hard Drive
To free the RAM memory used by the CD-ROM drivers, you may install
the entire program to the hard drive and use a start up disk that
does not contain the CD-ROM drivers. First, follow the installation
instructions, choosing the Hard Disk Installation option. Second,
follow the Create a Start Up Disk instructions, but do not add any
CD-ROM drivers, only sound card ones. This will make te memory used
by the CD-ROM available to the game.
Freeing more memory
If you are still getting "Insufficient memory" messages on some tracks,
you may lower the number of opponents in the Options/Realism/Opponents menu.
Advanced users: The program uses conventional and extended (XMS) memory,
not expanded (EMS) memory. If you are using a memory manager, you may wish
to configure it so it uses no EMS. We recommend against memory managers,
as they can cause conflicts and slow down the program.
Detail Levels and Computer Speed
--------------------------------
IndyCar Racing's texture-mapped 3D graphics will run best on the fastest PCs.
By default, the simulation's "Automatic Detail" feature will display as
much detail as possible while maintaining an adequate frame rate for smooth
graphics. By selecting Options/Graphics from the main menu, you can change
the minimum frame rate in order to customize this trade-off between fast
smooth graphics and fully-detailed 3D objects. You can also switch to
"Manual Detail" using that menu or the F10 key. See the Quick Reference
Card for other manual detail hot keys, or use the Options/Graphics menu for
more selections. You can also improve performance by reducing the number
of opponents using the Options/Realism/Opponents menu.
If the graphics rate seems very choppy, a few things could be wrong.
Make sure you're using a start-up disk (see above). Also, it may be that
you have more than one joystick port activated but a device attached to only
one of them. Check your turbo button to make sure you are running at full
speed.
Papyrus recommends local bus video or PCI video for speed. The minimum
hardware requirements for IndyCar Racing are a 25Mhz DX 386.
During the pace lap, the graphics may be more choppy or lose detail due to
the increased amount of computation required in drawing so many cars. You
could switch to AUTOMATIC DETAIL.
Sound Problems
--------------
Q: No sound or incorrect sound when using the start up diskette to run
IndyCar Racing.
A: You need to copy the sound card driver commands to the start up disk.
The commands should be located in either the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS
files on your hard drive. You can use the EDIT program to examine the
files (type EDIT C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT from a DOS prompt).
For Sound Blaster cards, look for two lines beginning with SET SOUND=
and SET BLASTER= in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
For ProAudio cards, look for a line containing MVSOUND.SYS in the
CONFIG.SYS file.
Note the exact syntax of the commands, then use the EDIT program to
add those commands to the CONFIG.SYS file on the start-up disk (type
EDIT A:\CONFIG.SYS or EDIT A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT from a DOS prompt).
Q: No sound or incorrect sound when not using the start up disk.
A: Make sure that you have a sound card. After starting your computer up
as you would to run IndyCar Racing, run your sound card test program to
verify that the sound card is working and to obtain the settings (I/O
port, IRQ, and DMA, if applicable) needed to use it properly.
Then run the Sound Card Configuration in the Setup menu of the IndyCar
Racing SETUP program. (See Configuring Sound for IndyCar Racing below.)
Q: No sound or incorrect sound using Gravis UltraSound card.
A: The Gravis UltraSound card is not directly supported. You may
obtain some incorrect music and engine sounds using the Gravis card
with IndyCar Racing if you add -o3 to the end of the driver line
containing SBOS (or by typing SBOS -o3 at the DOS prompt). This should
be found in either the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files.
We do have a utility available on the Papyrus BBS called GRAVIS.ZIP.
You will not have any engine noises with this utility, only crash noises
and music.
Q: Game crashes when you hit a wall or when Paul Page begins speaking.
A: There is a problem occurring with the digital sound from your sound
card and IndyCar Racing. The sound card needs to be set up correctly.
Run the test program that came with your sound card to determine the
I/O port address, IRQ, and DMA settings. Make sure the lines in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files relating to your sound card
correspond. Then, configure the sound card setup in IndyCar Racing by
doing the steps below. If the problem persists, you can choose NONE
for digital sound in the Sound Card Configuration menu. This will
disable the digital sound and should avoid the program crash.
Configuring Sound Card for IndyCar Racing
1. From the C:\INDYCAR> prompt, type SETUP <enter>
2. Choose S for Setup and <enter>
3. Choose Sound Card Configuration <enter>
4. The first option is for digital sound. Choose your sound card from the
list. <enter>
5. If you select Sound Blaster, enter the I/O port address, IRQ,
and DMA. Most sound card selections do not offer these options.
6. The second option is for music. Choose your sound card from the list.
<enter>
7. Exit the SETUP program.
8. Type INDYCAR <enter> to execute the program.
NOTE: IndyCar Racing cannot use an IRQ above 7.
NOTE: You must have a sound card in order to have sound in
IndyCar Racing. The program does not support the PC speaker.
Joystick/Yoke/Wheel Calibration
-------------------------------
Q: Menu highlight is scrolling through the options.
A: If the Y-axis of your joystick/wheel/yoke has not been calibrated, it
cannot control the menus and causes the scrolling. The program uses the
device 1 Y-axis to control the menus; if one is not present, the
keyboard must be used to navigate the menus.
Press <CTRL><j> on your keyboard when on the main menu (or at the single
race menu, the championship season race menu, or the 2-player race menu)
to bring up the calibration screen(s). Move the joystick around in a
circle to move it to all extents, and let it come to rest in the middle.
Align the triangles using the trim dials (if provided) on the joystick.
Move the joystick around in a circle again, let it come to rest, and
press <enter>.
If you have a steering wheel or yoke with a locked steering column (such
as the Suncom G-Force), unlock it before calibrating. Move the steering
column in and out (or backwards and forwards) during calibration. This
is the Y-axis which controls the menu options.
If you are still unable to calibrate your device 1 Y-axis, you can press
the J key when on the main menu to disable the program's use of that axis
during the menus. It will not affect driving.
If the problem persists, delete the file CALIB.VAL from your INDYCAR
directory (type DEL CALIB.VAL from the C:\INDYCAR prompt) and re-run the
program.
Q: Joystick not working when driving.
A: If the joystick works in the menus, but does not control the car
while driving, you need to tell the program to use your joystick to
control your driving. (This may happen if you run the program when the
joystick is not plugged in.) From the main menu, select Options/
Controls/Set Controls. Highlight each option and press <enter>.
Choose your steering control for each option, following the directions
on the screen.
Q: Car goes left when you steer right.
A: The steering control has been set backwards under Set Controls. Go
to the Set Controls menu (found under the Options/Controls menu)
and set the steering again. Highlight Steering and press <enter>.
Be sure to steer to the left first and then to the right.
Time Acceleration
-----------------
If you are in a single player or championship season race, the computer
can continue the race in an accelerated time mode. If you wish to accelerate
time, press the A key while in the standings menu (e.g. "Laguna after 6
laps"). Your car will finish the race at that point. It will be removed
from the track and you will receive a DNF (Did Not Finish). The remaining
cars will race around the track at six times the normal speed (so a three
hour race would take thirty minutes to run). "Accelerated Time" will blink
on the standings menu. You will not be able go race, but you will be able
to press the ESC key and then go to see a replay of the action that has
transpired. A RESULTS.TXT file will be generated as normal, and the race will
count in a championship season.
Miscellaneous Problems
----------------------
Q: Cannot get the Pit menu to appear.
A: Brake while you are in the pit to bring up the pit menu. If you
do no know which key or control is your brake, you can find it
under the Options/Controls/Set Controls menu.
Q: Cannot save game.
A: There is no option to save the race. You must complete the race,
pause it (press the P key), or escape to the menu and resume racing
when you are ready. If you wish to have the computer complete the race
without you driving it, you can use the time acceleration feature
(see above).
Q: Problems with Colorado Spectrum Notebook Gameport.
A: If you are trying to use the Colorado Spectrum Notebook Gameport,
use the /n option when you run the program ("indycar /n").
This will probably not work on Acer-manufactured computers.
