Congratulations on choosing to read the README file! INDEO 3.2 SILENT STEEL requires: Windows 3.1 or greater A 486-66 or better CPU 4 Megabytes of RAM A double-speed CD ROM Video For Windows version 1.1D or greater (this is on the CD, too) A working 256 color SVGA driver for your video card SETUP from the Windows 3.1 Program Manager: 1. Insert DISC 1 of SILENT STEEL into your CD ROM drive. 2. Select FILE from the Windows 3.1 or greater Program Manager menu bar. 3. Select RUN from the menu that pops up. 4. Select BROWSE from the dialog. 5. Pick your CD drive from the Drives portion of the file selector. 6. Double-click on SETUP.EXE in the File Name list. 7. Click on Ok button. 8. The Silent Steel Setup will prompt for a path to install into. (Just click on OK if the default path is ok.) 9. SETUP will copy files and create a program group and icons. SETUP from the Windows 95 Desktop 1. Insert DISC 1 of SILENT STEEL into your CD ROM drive. 2. Open (double-click or right click and select Open) the 'My Computer' icon. 3. Open the CD ROM Disc icon. 4. Open the 'Setup.exe'. 5. Pick a path to install into. (Just click on OK if the default path is ok.) 6. SETUP will add SILENT STEEL to your task bar under 'Tsunami'. (Note: it may take several seconds to create the Tsunami group.) If you have problems: SETUP will let you know if the appropriate MCI drivers are not installed properly under Windows. If they're not, run the appropriate SETUP programs, then run ours. If you have additional problems with SETUP, don't hesitate to read the documentation that came with your MPEG player, and your sound card for additional help. The simplest test for the correct operation of Video For Windows or your digital sound card is to run the 'Media Player' in your Accessories program group. We don't call anything special outside of the Windows Media Control Interface (MCI) specifications for AUDIO or VIDEO, so if it fails to work when tested from the 'Media Player', suspect your own sound and video drivers or driver configuration first. The VIDEO1.AVI and SOUNDS1.WAV files are perfectly valid test candidates for testing your Windows system configuration. If the game does not function properly, and the Media Player does not function properly under the same circumstances, you are virtually guaranteed to have an MCI device driver problem. Check your configuration, then get in touch with your card manufacturer for new drivers, as necessary. You may, when attempting to start your session, see an error message stating: "Video not available, cannot find 'vids:IV32' decompressor." This message means that the Video for Windows (INDEO 3.2) video driver was not found. To install the driver, run SETUP from the VFW11E directory on the Tsunami product CD. If you are viewing a session in the default window size with SUB TITLES turned on, and the subtitles are covering too much of the video, open the OPTIONS menu and drop the SETTINGS submenu. Select "Center Unscaled in Window". Maximize the video window using the upper arrow in the video window. This will place the text mostly out of the way of the video. TO REMOVE SILENT STEEL FROM YOUR SYSTEM: * * NOTE: If you installed SILENT STEEL in a directory with OTHER * applications or Windows components (i.e. in C:\WINDOWS), blindly * following these directions may cause horrendous loss of data if * in fact your system is not violently disabled. Follow these * tips ONLY if you understand precisely what you are doing and know * how your system works. Tsunami Media, Inc. is not liable for * any problems that might result from the use of this product. * WINDOWS 3.1 1. Go to the Windows Program Manager. 2. Minimize the Tsunami Program Group to an icon. 3. Highlight the Tsunami Program Group icon. 4. Press the Delete key on your keyboard and answer 'Yes'. 5. Launch the 'File Manager' from the 'Main' group. 6. Call up the drive and directory where you installed SILENT STEEL. The default installation path is C:\MSTEEL for the MPEG version and C:\ISTEEL for the Indeo version. 7. Verify you have selected the correct directory. 8. Under the 'File' menu, select 'Delete', then 'OK', then 'Yes To All' as many times as it takes. Windows 95 1. Go to 'Start', then 'Settings', then select 'Taskbar'. 2. Select 'Start Menu Programs'. 3. Select 'Remove'. 4. Select the 'Tsunami' folder and press the 'Remove' button. 5. Open (double-click or right click and select 'Open') the 'My Computer' icon. 6. Call up the drive and directory where you installed SILENT STEEL. The default installation path is C:\MSTEEL for the MPEG version and C:\ISTEEL for the Indeo version. 7. Verify you have selected the correct directory. 8. Delete the directory. Helpful Windows 3.1 Hints & Tips: * * NOTE: Follow these tips ONLY if you understand precisely * what you are doing and know how your system works. Tsunami Media, * Inc. is not liable for any problems that might result from the * use of this product. * * * NOTE: Some of these items do not apply to Windows 95 * 1. The Virtual Memory Gambit If you have 8+ megs of RAM and you do not run heavily memory intensive applications that NEED virtual memory, a simple trick that will speed up most of your Windows applications and free up hard drive space is to turn off Virtual Memory: 1. Open your 'Main' icon in the Program Manager. 2. Open the 'Control Panel' icon. 3. Open the '386 Enhanced' Icon. 4. Click on 'Virtual Memory'. 5. Click on 'Change>>'. 6. Write down the information under 'Current Settings' in case you have to turn Virtual Memory on again.(If a particular application you use fails later on due to a lack of memory, you may need to restore your virtual memory settings.) 7. Under 'New Settings' select the 'Type' drop down item, select 'None'. 8. Click on 'OK', then 'Restart Windows'. Explanation: By default, Windows 3.1 will install virtual memory. This allows programs to transparently access Hard Disk space as if it were RAM. This essentially makes it appear to Windows that you have lots of free RAM. Unfortunately, hitting the hard drive is much slower than hitting real RAM, and as Windows runs, more and more resources wind up somewhere in the swap file instead of the RAM on your motherboard. Turning off the Virtual Memory will allow Windows to cache more information in RAM, where it is always 'instantly' available. The trade-off is that applications that require lots of RAM all at once will fail. This is mainly true only for advanced rendering or image processing applications. Most applications will simply purge and reload components as needed while they run. SMARTDRV.SYS/SMARTDRV.EXE should be disabled while in Windows unless you use application(s) which specifically require it. Some newer versions of SMARTDRV allow you to do this from the 'Control Panel' (under the 'Main' program group), some older versions do not. This particular TSR is only a boost to performance for 16-bit overlaid DOS applications or applications which repeatedly read/write a particular file. Under Windows (especially with virtual memory disabled) and most 32-bit DOS extended applications, all it does is eat memory you could have used to keep resources in RAM. In other words, keeping SMARTDRV (or other disk caching programs) loaded is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your application will 'thrash' to the hard disk because there is no memory since SMARTDRV is eating the memory your applications required to remain comfortably in memory. 2. Multitasking While other applications may run at the same time as SILENT STEEL, it isn't recommended that the other applications be doing anything while SILENT STEEL is trying to run video. Other applications should at least be minimized while you are actively playing SILENT STEEL for best results. Even when an application is minimized, it is still taking up RAM. This is more of a concern when you have virtual memory off, but not generally a really big deal. Accessories such as a Terminal program (which are servicing a Modem real-time), or the Recorder (which can be hoarding resources or hitting the hard disk) are not recommended. 3. Video Drivers (Indeo version only) While many new video cards are 'Windows Accelerated', the video driver that was installed when your computer was assembled might not be the most efficient available for that video card. The newest graphic accelerated cards have 'DCI' capabilities, and even some older cards have been extended to this capability. Make sure you have the newest video driver available and have it installed by reading the manual that came with your video card and contacting the video card manufacturer as necessary. 4. MPEG MCI Drivers (MPEG version only) Sigma Designs (and other MPEG card makers) are constantly upgrading and updating their Windows and DOS drivers. Some older drivers may actually crash during a session of SILENT STEEL. Get the latest and greatest drivers, but keep a copy of the older drivers to be safe. Software MPEG drivers are just over the horizon, but even so, they generally require hardware assist from a video card capable of handling hardware scaling and YUV color space conversion. If you are trying to run SILENT STEEL using a software MPEG driver, make absolutely sure you follow all of the installation and performance guidelines in its manual before expecting good results. 5. Video Concerns (MPEG software and Indeo playback only) A note about factory installation: Just because a computer comes out of the box with everything installed and "ready-to-run", doesn't mean it is set up for optimal multimedia playback. Generally, the video playback must be 'unscaled' for the game to operate properly. If you have a DCI capable video card which supports hardware scaling and have the video driver software configured in a correct manner, scaling the video is not an issue. If you have a WAY cool motherboard with (typically) a 100Mhz Pentium processor, full-screen scaled playback may be possible without hardware scaling support. The game will operate in 'any' Windows resolution. We have had the most success running in an 8-bit palettized mode. Some clones may be able to run in a 16-bit 'high' color, or 24-bit 'true' color resolution, and the video player will even attempt to display to that resolution, but on many machines there is a performance problem which will cause the video playback to slow down as it attempts to move around more bytes per pixel. The main suggestion here is to tinker with the video settings until you find something that you find satisfying, or at least acceptable. Playback quality of software video varies widely from machine to machine. Even two PCs which have 'equivalent' specifications may play the video with different results. The abridged contents of the HELP file: This is an interactive cinematic experience in which you direct the story. At each point where a SELECTION is required, the video will stop and a dialog will appear containing three choices, numbered 1, 2, and 3. Select a choice (by clicking on the number, pressing the same number on the keyboard, or clicking on the line with your mouse) to continue the story. The following items control the execution of your session: File New (Ctrl+N) Begins a new session. If a session is in progress, it prompts before destroying the current one. Load Saved (Ctrl+L) Loads a previously saved session. If a session is in progress, it prompts before destroying the current one. Save (Ctrl+S) Saves a session currently in progress for future Loading, or playback as a movie.(View Saved As Movie) View Saved As Movie Loads A Saved Session, then from the very beginning, each selection you ever made is replayed automatically with the appropriate responses. This essentially plays a saved session as your own custom movie. Exit (Ctrl+X or Alt+F4) Prompts for confirmation, then exits to the Program Manager. The following items control appearance and behavior: Options Settings (Ctrl+E) Pops up a dialog which contains miscellaneous audio and video settings: Scale Viewer To Window If selected, video playback is scaled to the size of the application window. Center Unscaled In Window If selected, video playback is NOT scaled to the size of the application's window. It is centered in the application window no matter how the window is stretched. Video Volume Slide the thumb on the bar to set Video Volume. Subtitles If selected, subtitles will appear at the bottom of the video playback window, where appropriate. Play Speech If selected, choices will be spoken when selected. Speech Tracking If selected, each choice will be spoken when the mouse passes over its text. Replay Last (Ctrl+R) Replays the last video segment of the game. Stop Clip (Esc) Ends current video clip and advances you to the next selection or video clip. Hide Menu (Ctrl+H) Select this item to hide the menu bar at the top of the window. The menu may be displayed by either double-clicking on the title bar on top of the application window, or by holding down Ctrl and pressing H. The hot keys are always active. Pause Video (Pause) Select this item (or press Pause on the keyboard) to pause playing video. To resume playback, close the 'PAUSED' dialog. The following items provide general help and information: Help About... Pops up a dialog describing this Tsunami Product. Credits Shows the end credits. Glossary Describes terms used throughout the game. Help (F1) Provides General help in a Windows Help Dialog. Indeo is a trademark of Intel, Inc. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders. Copyright 1995 Tsunami Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Made in the USA.