MicroProse Posts Updated Grand Prix 2 Technical FAQ

MicroProse posted an updated FAQ file on their Web site today. Hopefully this can help any of you struggling to do something with the product.

GRAND PRIX II

Frequently Asked Questions October, 1996

Memory and System Requirements
==============================
Grand Prix 2 requires 8MB RAM (16MB RAM if running under Windows 95). We recommend playing the game in MS-DOS mode and not in a DOS box under Windows 95. SmartDrive and other caching software should be disabled before installing or playing Grand Prix 2. Memory-resident virus checkers (especially those used within Windows 95) can cause Grand Prix 2’s installer to crash. Please disable any memory-resident software (including DOS-based TSRs). Grand Prix 2 should not have any problem with disk compression software, such as DriveSpace. The hardware detection phase may incorrectly identify Pentium Pro, Cyrix 686 and Intel MMX machines as using an “Unknown” processor type. Simply ignore this message, continue with the installation and the game should run fine. If you have the European version, a multilingual boot disc program is included on the CD in a directory called UTILS\BOOTDISC. In the U.S. version, the boot disk option is on the main install menu.

Installation Problems
=====================
If the installation program aborts or fails to copy any files, you may have either a dirty or faulty CD-ROM. Please clean the CD-ROM disc and try again. Make sure you have enough memory before starting the installation as outlined in the hardware detection phase. Disable any virus checkers. Microsoft CD-ROM extensions (MSCDEX) should be reporting a version 2.23 or higher for Grand Prix 2 to work. If you are still having problems, we recommend trying a boot disk.

Sound Card Problems
===================
If the auto-detect program locks up, reset the machine and try reselecting auto-detect from the GP2 directory. If this again produces a lockup or crash, try manually selecting your card’s IRQ, DMA and Port settings. If you are unsure as to what these settings are, try typing “SET” from the command prompt or refer to your hardware manuals. If you have a Sound Blaster card, make sure you have the necessary device drivers loaded in your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.Bat files. It is also important to have a SET line placed in the AUTOEXEC.BAT. If you are experiencing problems with the program locking up or crashing within the 3-D simulation, it could be because the auto-detect has wrongly chosen your sound card. Run the sound setup program again by typing “SETUP” and select “SoundBlaster (original)” or “No Sound.”

Gravis UltraSound
—————–
The playback quality of the sound test sample may sound garbled. This should not affect the playback quality during the game.

ATI Stereo F/X
————–
Grand Prix 2 is not compatible with this sound card. If you have the ATI Stereo F/X, you need to select “No Sound.”

Sound Galaxy Pro and Other Sound Blaster 16 Compatible Cards
————————————————————
The auto-detect program sometimes wrongly identifies the Sound Galaxy Pro as a Sound Blaster 16. You must manually select “SoundBlaster” and then enter the correct Port, IRQ and DMA settings. You can also start the game with no sound by typing the following command line option: “GP2 Nosound.”

Windows 95 Problems
===================
Because Grand Prix 2 was designed and developed to run under MS-DOS, you may experience problems running under Windows 95. To achieve optimal frame rate and performance levels, it is strongly recommended that you reboot in MS-DOS mode. It is important to ensure all necessary CD-ROM and sound card drivers are loaded before attempting to run Grand Prix 2. Failure to do so may result in the game not loading. (We have included the customer service help documents in a directory called UTILS\HELPDOCS on the CD-ROM.)

AutoPlay
——–
Some Windows 95 machines do not support AutoPlay. In this case, please double-click on your CD-ROM icon and then double-click on the install icon.

Windows 95 Keyboards
——————–
On certain video cards, Windows 95 is unable to restore certain DOS-based graphical applications such as Grand Prix 2. This is particularly a problem with the new Windows 95 keyboards containing the new “Start” and “Windows” keys. If you press these keys, Windows suspends Grand Prix 2 to bring up a menu but is then unable to restore the game. The only solution to this problem is to run Grand Prix 2 in MS-DOS mode.

Microsoft Plus
————–
To prevent problems running Grand Prix 2, the System Agent should be disabled.

Control Method
==============
Included on the Grand Prix 2 CD-ROM is a directory called GPFILES that contains predefined controller files for the ThrustMaster T2 and GP500 race systems. You can use these as examples to set up your own units. The joystick port built into the Ensoniq Soundscape has a known compatibility problem recognizing the GP500 race system (which may affect other sticks). There’s nothing we can do but suggest the use of a game card. Before calibrating a nonstandard joystick, it is important to select “Control Driven Calibration.” Make sure you select the correct joystick axis. If the red calibration dot fails to move, it is more than likely that you selected the wrong joystick port. Be sure to save the controller file.

T2 OWNERS:
*********************************
DO NOT USE THE WIN 95 ADAPTER THAT CAME WITH THE WHEEL. THIS IS NOT A WIN 95 GAME.

How to Set Up a ThrustMaster T2
——————————-
From the main menu of Grand Prix 2: 1) Select “Control Method.” 2) Select “Not Used.” 3) Select “Advanced Menu.” 4) Select “Joystick A Horiz” for Steering Device. 5) Select “Analog” for Steering Mode. 6) Select “Joystick B Horiz” for Acceleration Device. 7) Select “Analog” for Acceleration Mode. 8) Select “Joystick B Horiz” for Brake Device. 9) Select “Switched” for Braking Mode. 10) Select “Control Driven Calibration” for Control Method. Do not touch any other settings. You can edit the set name to say “T2” or “TMaster” and then save the file. Now calibrate the device, and your T2 should work.
**********************************************************************************
Or, you can load the File Directly from the CD. 1.) Select Control Method. 2.) Choose “Not Used”. 3.) Select “Advanced Menu” 4.) Click on “Load Control Set” 5.) Select your CD-ROM drive letter (D,E,F, etc.) 6.) Click on the “GPFILES” subdirectory. 7.) Click on “T2.CON” 8.) Select O.K. 9.) Select O.K. again 10.) Select “Calibrate Joystick” 11.) Calibrate the wheel.

How to set up a CH Steering wheel and Pedal Configuration
——————————————————–
1) Select “Control Method”. 2) Select “Not Used”. 3) Select “Advanced Menu”. 4) Select “Joystick A Horizontal” for Steering Device 5) Select “Analog” for Steering Mode 6) Select “Joystick B Vertical” for Acceleration Device 7) Select “Switched” for Acceleration Mode 8) Select “Joystick B Horizontal” for Brake Device 9) Select “Switched” for Brake Mode 10) Select “Control Driven Calibration” for Control Method. Now Calibrate the device, and your wheel should work.

How to set up a VR Pilot and CH Pedals Configuration
—————————————————-
1) Select “Control Method” 2) Select “Not Used” 3) Select “Advanced Menu” 4) Select “Joystick A Horizontal” for Steering Device. 5) Select “Analog” for Steering Mode 6) Select “Joystick B Vertical” for Acceleration Device 7) Select “Analog” for Acceleration Mode 8) Select “Joystick B Horizontal” for Braking Device 9) Select “Switched” for Braking Mode 10) Select “Control Driven Calibration” under Control Method Now calibrate the device, and it should work.

Modem/Serial Link Problems
==========================
In order to successfully connect Grand Prix 2 via modems, it is necessary to know the correct modem initialization strings to turn error correction and compression off. We have included some modem initialization strings within the game, but these are not guaranteed to work. Look for a newer list of modem strings at the end of this FAQ. Symptoms of incorrect strings are a slow frame rate and possibly a lockup or crash. Linking within Windows 95 can cause the system to momentarily pause. We recommend running Grand Prix 2 in MS-DOS mode. The highest baud rate can cause some systems to momentarily “hang” or “freeze.” Try selecting a lower baud rate such as 19200. While linked, the background music will automatically be turned off. You may find that you need to significantly reduce the detail level in order for the game to run at an acceptable frame rate. This is because the link takes up some processor power.

COM Ports 3 and 4
—————–
During testing, we found that some machines (but not all) failed to recognize the presence of COM ports 3 and 4. To help solve this, we included a small program called COMSETUP in the UTILS\COMSETUP directory on the Grand Prix 2 CD-ROM. To run the program, type “COMSETUP /H” at the DOS prompt. This will bring up a list of available COM ports, their various port addresses and some help text. You will need to find out what the hex address for COM ports 3 and 4 are. (This information can be obtained by running MSD or Windows 95.) Once you have this info, you need to enter the values to the end of the COMSETUP line and rerun Grand Prix 2. COM 4 may now be available. Also make sure a mouse isn’t plugged into the corresponding COM ports. For example, if a mouse is plugged into COM 1, you will be unable to select COM 3 (likewise for COM ports 2 and 4). If this is the case on your system, try linking without a mouse or use the command line option: “GP2 linkonmouseport.” Grand Prix 2 has known problems detecting PCMCIA cards. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Software Questions
——————
There is no rain or different weather conditions. It is not possible to control the car using a mouse. Grand Prix 2 does not support the specific use of 3-D accelerator cards such as the 3D Blaster from Creative Labs. Grand Prix 2 does not support local area networks for head-to-head play. If the game displays the message “Can’t start Grand Prix 2. F1system.dat file damaged or not found,” you need to either reinstall the game or try running the game with the option “GP2 Nostateload.” If the game does not have enough extended memory to run, the SVGA detail option will be greyed out. You need to free up more memory. If the game cannot find a VESA driver, the game will run in 16 colors and the SVGA option will be greyed out. You need to load a TSR such as UNIVBE or get a specific VESA driver for your video card. Windows 95 machines with slow (double-speed) CD-ROM drives may experience “jumps” or “stutters” in the background music. We recommend running Grand Prix 2 in MS-DOS mode. Remove any video card exclusion zones used at the end of the EMM386 line.

Modem Initialization Strings
============================
The following list contains the initialization strings for all the modems that have been tested. If your modem is not listed in this list, please refer to your modem’s manual and enter the appropriate initialization strings. We suggest the factory defaults for your modem. If that does not work, we recommend turning off data compression, error correction and software flow control.

MODEMNAME=DEFAULT
INITSTRING=
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=9600

MODEMNAME=Boca 28.8 FaxModem EXT
INITSTRING=AT&F1
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=38400

MODEMNAME=Cardinal 14.4 FaxModem EXT
INITSTRING=AT&F1
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=19200

MODEMNAME=Cardinal 28.8 FaxModem INT
INITSTRING=AT&F
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=38400

MODEMNAME=Compaq Presario Data/Fax/Voice 14.4
INITSTRING=AT&F
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=19200

MODEMNAME=Gateway Telepath II 14.4 FaxModem INT
INITSTRING=AT&F
HANGUPSTRING=ATH
BAUDRATE=19200

MODEMNAME=Generic Rockwell 14.4 FaxModem INT
INITSTRING=AT&F
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=19200

MODEMNAME=Hayes Optima 14.4 FaxModem EXT
INITSTRING=AT&F
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=19200

MODEMNAME=Hayes Ultra 14.4 SmartModem EXT
INITSTRING=AT&F
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=19200

MODEMNAME=Mitac 14.4 FaxModem EXT
INITSTRING=AT&F1
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=19200

MODEMNAME=Motorola Lifestyle 28.8 FaxModem INT
INITSTRING=AT&F1
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=38400

MODEMNAME=Packard Bell 14.4 FaxModem INT
INITSTRING=AT&F
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=19200

MODEMNAME=Practical Peripherals 14.4 EXT
INITSTRING=AT&F1
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=19200

MODEMNAME=SupraExpress 28.8 FaxModem EXT
INITSTRING=AT&F1
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=38400

MODEMNAME=USR Courier 28.8 FaxModem INT
INITSTRING=AT&F1
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=38400

MODEMNAME=USR Sportster 14.4 FaxModem EXT
INITSTRING=AT&F
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=19200

MODEMNAME=USR Sportster 14.4 FaxModem INT
INITSTRING=AT&F
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=19200

MODEMNAME=USR Sportster 28.8 FaxModem EXT
INITSTRING=AT&F1
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=38400

MODEMNAME=USR Sportster 28.8 FaxModem INT
INITSTRING=AT&F1
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=38400

MODEMNAME=USR Sportster 28.8 DSVD w/Voice INT
INITSTRING=AT&F1-SSE=1
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=38400

MODEMNAME=USR Sportster 28.8 DSVD w/c Voice INT
INITSTRING=AT&F1
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=38400

MODEMNAME=Zoom 14.4 FaxModem EXT
INITSTRING=AT&F
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=19200

MODEMNAME=Zoom 28.8 FaxModem EXT
INITSTRING=AT&F
HANGUPSTRING=ATH0
BAUDRATE=38400