Imperial Glory Demo SP file

Imperial Glory Demo
README file <05/03/2005> Version <1.0>

Part 1: Things You Should Know

Please read through the DirectX section of this document. This section has
information that is vital to successfully running Imperial Glory on your
system.

1.1 DirectX

This game is optimised for Microsoft\'s DirectX 9.0c. In order for you to play
the game, you must have DirectX 9.0c-compliant drivers for your video card and
sound card. Please note that although DirectX 9.0c is installed with the game,
your video and sound card drivers will not be upgraded to DirectX 9.0c
drivers.

You will need to obtain the latest DirectX 9.0c drivers from your card
manufacturer or PC supplier. These drivers cannot be supplied by Eidos.

1.2 Memory and Performance

If you experience performance problems, this may be due to a lack of memory.
You can maximise your available memory and increase the overall performance of
the game engine by doing the following:

* Closing any open windows
* Shutting down all other programs, including menu-bar programs like ICQ
* Defragmenting your hard drive

Eidos recommends that you have no other programs running at all while playing
Imperial Glory. Other programs, including virus checkers, system utilities and
screen savers can cause system degradation when playing games software and may
conflict with the game for system resources, potentially resulting in
instability and crashes.

1.3 Known Issues

* None at present

Part 2: Technical Issues

2.1 Installation & Set-up

Preparing Your Hard Drive

To ensure that your installation is trouble free, you should check to see that
your hard drive and file system are both tuned for optimum performance. Windows
comes with two utility programs that find and fix any errors and optimise your
hard drive performance. The first of these programs is called scandisk.
Scandisk will check your hard drive for problems and can fix any that it finds.
You can run scandisk by clicking on the Start button from the Windows Taskbar,
followed by Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and finally
scandisk.

Once scandisk has finished running, you should next optimise your hard drive\'s
performance by running a program called Disk Defragmenter. You can run Disk
Defragmenter by clicking on the Start button from the Windows desktop, followed
by Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and finally Disk
Defragmenter.

Installing Imperial Glory

Installing Imperial Glory is easy. Simply insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive.
After a few seconds, the Launch Panel will appear.

This program will guide you through the remaining process via onscreen prompts.
If at any time you are instructed to restart your computer, do so.

In the event the Launch Panel does not appear when you insert the CD:

Double-click on the My Computer icon, then double-click on the CD-ROM icon, and
lastly double-click on the Setup.exe file to bring up the Launch Panel OR:

* Click on the Start button.
* Choose Run from the pop-up menu.
* Type d:\\setup in the box provided (where d: designates your CD-ROM drive
letter).
* Click on the OK button to begin the install program.

You will be prompted to select the path and directory to which you wish to
install the game on your hard drive. The default is

C:\\Program Files\\ Pyro Studios\\Imperial Glory

You may change this if you wish to.

At some point, the Microsoft DirectX 9.0c install prompt will appear if you do
not have it on your system already. Please read the on-screen information
before selecting an option. You may either choose to install or not install at
this time. If the Imperial Glory installer detects an active version of DirectX
9.0c on your system, we encourage you to not reinstall DirectX. If the
installer does not detect DirectX 9.0c, you must install it before you are able
to play Imperial Glory (please refer to the next section of this guide before
proceeding).

Starting/Loading The Game

Once the install has finished and you have opted to run the game, the Launch
Panel will appear on the screen. A list box allows you to choose which graphics
card will be used by DirectX to render Imperial Glory. The option you choose
will stay selected every time you run the game.

Once you are happy with your choices, simply click on the Run button to start
the game.

You may also:

* Click on the Uninstall button to uninstall the game.
* Click on the View Readme button to view the readme file.
* Click on OK to play the game.
* Click on the Exit button to exit the Launch Panel.

If you are going to play the game at a later time insert the CD into the CD-ROM
drive. After a few seconds, the Imperial Glory Launch panel should appear on
the screen via the AutoPlay feature. Now click on the Run button to start the
game. There is also a button present to Exit.

In the event the AutoPlay feature does not work, you may click on the My
Computer icon and then click on the CD-ROM icon to bring up the Launch Panel.

OR

* Click on the Start button.
* Choose Programs from the pop-up menu.
* Drag your mouse to the right and click on Imperial Glory from the list.
* Click on Imperial Glory from the ensuing pop-up menu.

Uninstalling Imperial Glory

If you need to UNINSTALL Imperial Glory, you may do any of the following three
things:

Insert the Imperial Glory CD into the CD-ROM drive to activate the AutoPlay
feature. This will bring up the Launch Panel. Click on the Uninstall button,
then click on the Yes button from the ensuing pop-up panel to uninstall the
program

OR

* Click on the Start button.
* Choose Programs from the pop-up menu.
* Drag your mouse to the right and click on Imperial Glory from the list.
* Click on Uninstall Imperial Glory from the ensuing pop-up menu and follow the
onscreen instructions.

OR

Go to the Control Panel and choose Add/Remove Programs. Click on Imperial Glory
from the pop-up panel to follow, select the Add/Remove button, and follow the
onscreen prompts.

2.2 CD-ROM Problems

AutoPlay Issues

Why doesn\'t the AutoPlay feature come up when I insert the Imperial Glory CD
into the CD-ROM drive?

This is usually a configuration issue. There are many different ways to enable
the AutoPlay functions of Windows. The standard method is described below:

1) Enter the Control Panel from the desktop by clicking on the Start
button, followed by Settings, and then Control Panel.
2) Double-click the icon labelled System, usually located alphabetically
towards the bottom of the Control Panel window, to bring up the System
Properties panel.
3) Click on the tab at the top labelled Device Manager and when the new
panel appears, locate the section labelled CD-ROM and click the Plus (+) sign
in front of it. (If there is a minus sign in front, don\'t click it.)
4) Now double-click the CD-ROM drive revealed and the CD-ROM Properties
panel will appear.
5) Click on the Settings tab at the top.
6) Towards the middle of the panel, you should see a few checkboxes within
the Options section. At the bottom of that section, you should see a checkbox
labelled Auto insert notification.
7) Make sure there is a check mark in the box provided and click on the OK
button to complete the process.

If the game Auto Plays multiple times:

Some CD ROM drives cause Imperial Glory to AutoPlay multiple times, which also
may result in lack of control within the game. To remedy this problem click on
the CD ROM properties in the System Properties panel and under settings turn
off Auto Notification.

2.3 Crashes and Lock-Ups

When I start Imperial Glory, my mouse cursor disappears and my computer
locks-up.

Chances are your installed audio card drivers are not compatible with DirectX.
The only solution is to get a DirectX 9.0c-compatible driver from your audio
card manufacturer.

When I start Imperial Glory, I receive the following error message:

\"The application Imperial Glory.exe referenced memory at address xxxx:xxxx that
can\'t be read from.\"

Chances are your installed video card drivers are not compatible with DirectX.
The only solution is to get a DirectX 9.0c-compatible driver from your video
card manufacturer.

The Installer keeps stopping when a certain percentage is complete.

There are three likely causes:

* You may have run out of free space on your hard drive. Please remove unwanted
programs to free up additional space for the game, and then reinstall Imperial
Glory.
* Files are possibly being copied to a corrupted area of your hard drive. If
this is so, you\'ll need to run the scandisk program and make sure to use the
Thorough option (see previous). After scandisk has finished running and has
informed you that your drive is free of errors, try to re-install.
* There may be dirt or fingerprints on the CD-ROM disc itself. Examine the
bottom of the disc; if you see any fingerprints or dirt, carefully clean the
disc using a clean, soft, lint-free cloth by wiping from the centre of the disc
(near the hole) towards the outer edge in a straight line.

Imperial Glory is crashing to the desktop with no error messages.

This problem can be caused by several different things. Here\'s a list of the
most common culprits associated with these crashes:

* Make sure the CD-ROM is clean (check for both scratches and smudges on the
reading surface of the CD).

* Make sure the game has been installed properly.

* Make sure DirectX 9.0c has been installed properly.

* Make sure you have the latest drivers for your video card and that they are
DirectX 9.0c-compatible.

* Make sure you have the latest drivers for your sound card and that they are
DirectX 9.0c-compatible.

* Make sure Virtual Memory is enabled on your system.

* Run Scandisk.

* Run Disk Defragmenter.

* Clean out old temp (.TMP) files from the C:\\WINDOWS\\TEMP or C:\\WINx\\TEMP
directory on your hard drive (from Windows Explorer).

* Make sure you do not have any Anti-Virus utilities (like Norton\'s AntiVirus)
running resident prior to playing Imperial Glory.

* Make sure you do not have any third-party Windows memory management utilities
(like QuarterDeck\'s QEMM) running resident prior to playing Imperial Glory.

* Make sure you do not have any 3rd party Windows disk caching utilities
running resident prior to playing Imperial Glory.

* Make sure you do not have Norton\'s Crash Protector running resident prior to
playing Imperial Glory.

* Try uninstalling and then reinstalling the game.

* Try exiting the game, rebooting your machine, and re-entering the game.

Note: That if your system crashes to the desktop while playing Imperial
Glory, you should probably reboot your computer before starting
a new play session. Otherwise, DirectDraw or
DirectSound may be in a locked state, and the game will be unable to use your
sound or video hardware.

2.4 DirectX-Related Questions

DirectX has become the new standard in Windows application development. Nearly
all high-performance software will be geared around this technology, so we do
not normally recommend that customers attempt to alter its installation on
their system

Can I Run Without DirectX?

I cannot use DirectX on my computer! Is there any other way to run Imperial
Glory?

If you do not have DirectX installed on your computer, you will not be able to
run Imperial Glory.

2.5 Technical Support

If you need further technical assistance after reading the Readme file please
do not hesitate to contact us using any of the methods listed below.

When contacting us, please be sure to provide us with as much information as
possible. Make sure to note the exact type of hardware that you are using in
your system, including: your sound card, CD-ROM drive, amount of RAM present,
speed and manufacturer of your processor. Also, make sure to include the title
and version of the game, and a detailed description of the problem.

It will also help if you prepare by creating a “DXDiag” diagnostic file in
Windows before you call us. Simply follow these instructions:

* Click on Start
* Click on Run
* Type dxdiag
* Click on OK
* Click on the Save Information button and save the file to your computer.

When you call our Technical Support line either have this file open or have a
printed copy. If you send an e-mail query you may attach the file to the
e-mail.

Technical Support Contact Details (United Kingdom)

Address Wimbledon Bridge House
1 Hartfield Road
Wimbledon
SW19 3RU
E-Mail www.eidos.co.uk/support/index.html
Phone 0870 9000222
Web www.eidos.co.uk/support/index.html

Technical Support Contact Details (United States of America)

Address Eidos Customer Services
651 Brannan Street
San Francisco
CA 94107
E-Mail www.eidos.com/support.html
Phone 415 615-6220
Fax 415 547-1201
Web www.eidos.com/support.html

Note: Hints and tips will not be given out over the Technical Support lines.

Alternatively, you may find help with hardware problems on one of the websites
maintained by the supplier, some of which are listed below:

3D labs: www.3dlabs.com
ATI Technologies: www.ati.com
Creative Labs: www.creative.com/worldwide.asp
Matrox: www.matrox.com
nVIDIA: www.nvidia.com
Intel support.intel.com
Terratec: www.terratec.net

Eidos Interactive maintains a web page with links to all major video and audio
card manufacturers, which is a good first stop if you are looking to upgrade
your drivers. You can reach this page at:

UK: www.eidos.co.uk/support/index.html
US: www.eidos.com/support.html

Further technical information and drivers for Windows-based PCs can also be
found at Windrivers.com

12/12/2003

Version: 1.5 Approved Page 7 of 7