Dangerous Creatures: README.TXT Contents
  
PSS ID Number: Q118407
Article last modified on 12-14-1995
 
1.00
 
WINDOWS
 

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The information in this article applies to:
 
 - Microsoft Dangerous Creatures for Windows, version 1.0
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SUMMARY
=======
 
The following is the contents of the README.TXT file located in the
root directory of the Dangerous Creatures CD. The text remains as
released in the README.TXT file, and has not been edited by PSS.
 
=====================================================================
                                README.TXT
=====================================================================
 
Microsoft Dangerous Creatures README file
Microsoft Corporation
June 24, 1994
 
This file contains additional information about Dangerous Creatures
not included in the User's Guide.
 
To read this file on-screen, use the Page Down and Page Up keys.  You
can also print the file by choosing the Print command from the File
menu in any Windows word processing program.  If you open this file in
Windows Write, Microsoft Word, or another word processor, it will be
easier to read if you select the entire document and format the text
in 10-point Courier.
 
This README file contains important information on the following
topics:
 
Section   Description
----------------------------------------------------------------
   1      RUNNING IN LOW MEMORY OR RUNNING SLOWLY
           How to make Dangerous Creatures run on low-memory machines.
 
   2      CD-ROM PROBLEMS
           Hints on solving problems accessing CD-ROM drives.
 
   3      PRINTING AND COPYING
           How to print and copy Dangerous Creatures screens.
 
   4      DEMONSTRATION AND MUSEUM MODE
           How to make Dangerous Creatures automatically and
           randomly demonstrate all of its Creatures
 
   5      VIDEO DISPLAY PROBLEMS
           Images don't display properly or video driver errors.
 
   6      AUDIO PROBLEMS
           Some common sound problems and how to fix them.
 
   7      RUNNING UNDER MICROSOFT WINDOWS NT
           Getting the movies to work; video support.
 
   8      DANGEROUS CREATURES MOVIES
           How to run movies in a window or full-screen.
 
1.  RUNNING IN LOW MEMORY OR RUNNING SLOWLY
============================================
Microsoft Dangerous Creatures uses your computer's system memory to
display pictures.  If you find that Dangerous Creatures runs slowly or
if you encounter out-of-memory errors, the program probably doesn't
have enough memory.  Consider doing the following to improve your
computer's performance:
 
* Close all unnecessary applications.
 
* Determine how much total memory your computer has available.
   At the system prompt, type "mem" and press ENTER.  You need a
   minimum of 4MB (4,000,000 bytes) of total memory to use
   Dangerous Creatures.  If you do not have at least 4MB of
   memory, you will not be able to run Dangerous Creatures
   until you add more memory.
 
* Dangerous Creatures needs a minimum of 5,000K free in Windows
   for best movie performance.  To check the amount of free
   memory Windows has available, start Windows, and from
   Program Manager pull down the "Help" menu then choose
   "About Program Manager."
 
* If you are running Windows in Enhanced mode, set up a permanent
   Windows swap file on your hard disk.  A swap file of greater
   than 4MB (4,000K) is recommended.  See your Windows
   documentation for more information.
 
* Defragment ("clean up") your hard disk by running a
   defragmentation program such as DEFRAG, which comes with
   MS-DOS version 6 or higher.
 
* If you are running Dangerous Creatures on a 256 color display try
   switching to the Windows VGA driver.  For instructions on how to
   change your Windows display consult your Windows documentation.
 
2.  CD-ROM PROBLEMS
====================
NOTE - Do not remove the Dangerous Creatures compact disc from your
CD-ROM drive while Dangerous Creatures is in the process of playing a
sound or movie, or is displaying a new picture, or is running in Slide
Show mode.
 
If the Dangerous Creatures program cannot find the data files that it
needs from the Dangerous Creatures compact disc, you'll see a message
that asks you to select the drive containing the files. To find the
source of the problem, do the following:
 
* Make sure the Dangerous Creatures compact disc is correctly
   inserted into the CD-ROM drive.
 
* Make sure that the Dangerous Creatures program is looking
   for the compact disc on the correct drive.  Check to see if
   the drive letter for your CD-ROM drive has changed.  You can
   use the Windows File Manager to determine which drive letter
   is assigned to the CD-ROM drive.  The Select Drive command in
   the Disk menu will say "CD-ROM" next to the CD-ROM drive letter.
 
* If you have an external CD-ROM drive, make sure that the drive
   is connected to your computer, plugged in, and turned on.  If
   you still see the error message after checking the points
   above, check the documentation that came with your CD-ROM
   drive or contact the company that supplied the drive.
 
* Make sure that your CD-ROM drive is MPC-compatible.
  MPC-compatible drives meet the following criteria:
     1. An average seek time of less than one second;
     2. A transfer rate of 150KB per second while using less than
         40% of the CPU bandwidth.
 
Check the documentation that came with your CD-ROM drive to make sure
it meets these requirements. A CD-ROM drive that does not meet the MPC
specifications will exhibit slow performance and/or "Audio
blips/Interruptions" when sound is played.
 
3.  PRINTING AND COPYING
=========================
The screens in Dangerous Creatures are large color pictures. Depending
on the type of printer you have, printing a picture of the screen may
take several minutes.  Also, screen resolution and printer resolution
are often not the same, so the resulting printout may not match the
quality you see on the screen.
 
You should be able to print grayscale images from Dangerous Creatures.
If you have a black and white laser printer you might need to upgrade
your printer driver.  Call the dealer from whom you bought the printer
or the printer manufacturer. It is also possible to print Dangerous
Creatures screens in color on a color printer.
 
Some Dot-matrix printers may not print pictures properly with the "Low
/ Faster" quality setting in the Print Dialog. On these printers
change the quality setting in the Print Dialog to "High / Slower".
 
Because the pictures can be quite large, you may have difficulty
copying or printing in low-memory conditions.  In this case, close all
other unnecessary running applications and try again.
 
4.  DEMONSTRATION AND MUSEUM MODE
===================================
 
Dangerous Creatures has both a demonstration mode, for use in stores,
and a museum mode.  Both begin an automatic random "slide show" of the
Dangerous Creatures pages if you haven't used the program for a
specified number of minutes.  Museum mode has special features for
standalone operation.
 
You can select either of these modes by pressing Ctrl+Alt+D after
starting Dangerous Creatures.
 
5.  VIDEO DISPLAY PROBLEMS
===========================
Dangerous Creatures will run in 16-color or 256-color screen mode. The
program will automatically detect which mode you are running and
display pictures accordingly.  If your computer is running in 16-color
mode, and the video card will support 256 colors, you can run the
Windows Setup program to change the video driver.  This will enhance
the image quality of Microsoft Dangerous Creatures.  For more
information on changing video drivers, check your Windows
documentation.
 
DANGEROUS CREATURES IMAGES APPEAR BLACK AND WHITE
====================================================
Some color video cards display Dangerous Creatures images in black and
white.  This problem can be solved by updating your color video
driver. Contact your video card manufacturer for these updated Windows
video drivers.
 
ATI PROBLEMS
============
Microsoft Dangerous Creatures is incompatible with some advanced
features used by some video cards such as the Mach32 chip set running
the ATI drivers.  For Dangerous Creatures to run on the ATI driver,
the "256 color palette" control in the "Advanced features" of the "ATI
Control Panel" needs to be set to ON.  For more information, see the
documentation for your video card.
 
PROBLEMS WITH THE DISPLAY IN DANGEROUS CREATURES
=================================================
If you encounter problems displaying images or videos when running
Microsoft Dangerous Creatures, check the currently installed video
driver:
 
1. Run the Windows Setup application.
2. Locate the Display driver item in the application window.
 
If the Display driver item is VGA:
   Try running Windows in Standard Mode by typing "WIN /S" from the
   system prompt.
   If standard mode Windows works, try starting Windows in enhanced
   mode with the following command:
 
          WIN /D:XV
 
If this solves the problem, make the following modifications to your
SYSTEM.INI file in the [386Enh] section:
 
   EMMEXCLUDE=A000-EFFF
   VIRTUALHDIRQ=OFF
 
If the Display driver item is NOT VGA:
 
1. Run the Windows Setup application.
2. Choose Change System Settings from the Options menu.
3. Change the Display setting to VGA.
4. Choose OK and restart Windows.
5. Run Microsoft Dangerous Creatures and determine if the display
    problems still occur. If the problem still exists, follow the
    suggestions described for VGA drivers, above.
 
If the problem is solved, this indicates that your original video
driver selection was experiencing problems rendering images in
Dangerous Creatures.  You might want to consider choosing another
video driver (if available) provided by your video card manufacturer.
To do so, run the Windows Setup application.  If the problem persists,
contact your video card manufacturer for updated video drivers.
 
6.  AUDIO PROBLEMS
===================
Audio problems can have many causes.  Other applications that play
sounds may interrupt sounds in Dangerous Creatures, because your
computer cannot play two sounds simultaneously.  This is generally a
temporary clash that will resolve itself.  However, a few applications
that play sounds, such as some screen savers, may remove audio
capability from all other Windows applications.  If you suspect you
have such an application, deactivate it or do not run it while running
Dangerous Creatures.
 
SOUNDS PLAY, BUT NOT VERY WELL
===============================
Sounds that are distorted or "fuzzy" have several possible causes.
The most likely one is simply that your speakers are not of high
quality.  Low frequency sounds may not reproduce well on some
equipment.
 
It is also possible that the software settings on your sound board are
causing distortion.  For example, if the sound card volume or "WAVE
file input" is set to near its maximum, it will produce amplification
distortion, just as it would on a stereo system.  To find out how to
change your sound board settings, check the documentation that came
with your sound board.
 
Your CD-ROM drive should be MPC-compatible.  MPC-compatible drives
meet the following criteria:
 
1. An average seek time of less than one second;
2. A transfer rate of 150KB per second while using less than 40% of
    the CPU bandwidth.
 
Check the documentation that came with your CD-ROM drive to make sure
it meets these requirements.  An incompatible CD-ROM drive may work;
however, it may produce low-quality audio or cause the sound to be
interrupted while playing.
 
SOUND DOESN'T PLAY AT ALL
==========================
If you don't hear any sounds, make sure that the volume is set to an
audible level.
 
If the volume is set to an audible level and you still hear no sounds
at all, something may be wrong with your sound board setup.  Check to
see that the drivers are installed correctly and, if necessary,
reinstall them.  To determine if the sound drivers are installed,
check the Drivers section of the Windows Control Panel.  For more
information on installing your sound drivers, refer to the
documentation that came with your sound card.  If you have any
problems, contact your sound board manufacturer for assistance.
 
Please note that Dangerous Creatures requires an MPC-compatible sound
board and is not intended to run with drivers which use the PC
speaker, such as the unsupported "PC Speaker" driver.  Such a driver
will in most cases not play any sounds, and if the driver setup option
"Enable Interrupts" is not checked, the system may lock up.  Check the
"Drivers" configuration in your Windows Control Panel.  If you have
both a sound board and the PC Speaker driver installed, it is
recommended that you remove the PC Speaker driver.
 
MEDIA VISION CARDS
===================
A small number of Media Vision sound card drivers (Pro Audio -
Spectrum cards) may have problems with sound in Dangerous Creatures.
If you have a Media Vision card and do not hear sounds or are having
other sound problems, you might require updated drivers.  Contact
Media Vision for current driver information.
 
If you are running Microsoft Dangerous Creatures on an EISA machine
and experience "scratchy" audio, try changing the DMA channel on the
sound card to DMA 7.
 
7.  RUNNING UNDER MICROSOFT WINDOWS NT
=======================================
There is one potential problem with Dangerous Creatures running under
Windows NT version 3.1.  Because there is no VGA support for Dangerous
Creatures under Windows NT version 3.1, you need to be using a 256-
color VGA or better display to use Dangerous Creatures.
 
8.  DANGEROUS CREATURES VIDEOS
===============================
The Dangerous Creatures video clips play automatically when opening a
video popup.  To play the video again after it has finished, click the
video frame on the screen.
 
If your system has a 256-color VGA display or better, the Dangerous
Creatures videos play in a small frame.  However, due to the limited
resolution of 16-color VGA displays, videos play in full screen mode
on those displays.  To play videos in a small frame on a 16-color VGA
display change the following line in the MSDANGER.INI file found in
your Windows directory.
 
VideoInWindow=0
 
to:
VideoInWindow=1
 
KBCategory: kbreadme kbmm
KBSubcategory:
 
Additional reference words: kbhowto 1994multi media multimedia multi-media
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Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1995.