Mercedes Benz Truck Racing-FLT

Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing

Readme file

29th August 2000

Version 1.04





System requirements

Installing the game

Graphics card configuration

Opening screen/AutoStart

Starting Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing

Uninstalling Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing

DirectX 7

D3D support

Graphics card settings

Optimising your computer's performance

Game functions and options

Additions to the manual

Troubleshooting

Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing websites

Technical support and customer service







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(c) THQ and Synetic. All rights reserved. Developed by Synetic. Published by THQ. "Mercedes-Benz" is a registered trademark of DaimlerChrysler AG.



All trademarks and trade names cited are the property of the respective owner.



Thank you for choosing Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing.

This Readme file contains information that we were unable to include in the printed manual.







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System requirements

Minimum configuration:

Pentium II 333 MHz

100% Microsoft Windows 95/98 compatible computer

(including compatible 32-bit driver)

Windows 95/98 operating system

64 MB RAM

100% DirectX 7.0a compatible AGP 3D graphics card with 16 MB RAM

100% DirectX 7.0a DirectSound compatible soundcard

DirectX 7.0a or higher (included in package)

6-speed CD-ROM drive

100% Windows-compatible keyboard and mouse

170 MB decompressed hard disk memory

plus approx. 100 MB for Windows swap file



Recommended configuration:

AMD Athlon or Intel Pentium III processor

128 MB RAM

3D accelerator with 32 MB VRAM

8-speed CD-ROM drive



Supports 100% Microsoft Windows 95/98 compatible joysticks, steering wheels, e.g. Thrustmaster Racing Wheels



TIP: You need an AGP D3D graphics card to run the game. You may need to update the drivers before you can start playing. Problems can occur if you are not using the latest drivers from the manufacturer of your AGP D3D accelerator card. These problems range from basic graphic distortion to full program crashes.







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Installing the game

Installing Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing is very simple: insert the CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive. After a few seconds, the installation program will begin automatically.



If the opening screen does not appear automatically when you insert the CD, please proceed as follows:



Double-click on the "MY COMPUTER" icon on the desktop and then on the icon representing your CD-ROM drive. Now double-click on the file entitled SETUP.EXE to begin the installation process.



Alternatively:



Click on the START button in the taskbar and select "Run" from the menu that appears. Type e:setup.exe in the input field (where e: represents your CD-ROM drive). Click on OK to begin the installation process.



First of all, a welcome message will appear. Click on "Next" to continue the installation process.



You can now enter the path or directory on your hard disk where you want the game to be installed. The default path is C:TRUCKRACE.



After that, you can select the installation size that you require. For maximum game performance, we recommend that you copy the maximum installation of the game on to your hard disk. Alternatively, if you want to save hard disk space, you can select standard or minimum installation. Click on the option that you want to install.



Multiplayer installation is a special type of installation. Select this if you want to play Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing on a network. The multiplayer installation should be installed on all participating computers (clients). These computers then do not need to have the CD inserted for you to play on the network, although it also means that you can only ever play on the network! The race organiser (host) must perform one of the other three types of installation process anyway!



You can then select the program folder for the Start menu, from which you will call up Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing after installation.



Once all the selected files have been copied on to the hard disk, you will be asked if you want to create a short cut to Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing on the Windows desktop.



To complete the installation procedure, you can choose whether you want to display this file and install DirectX. If you are unsure whether you have DirectX 7.0a installed on your computer, you should install DirectX anyway.



If you are installing DirectX 7.0a, the DirectX 7 installation procedure will start once the game is fully installed. DirectX 7.0a must be installed for Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing to run properly. If you are unsure whether you already have DirectX 7.0a installed, you should install it anyway! Once DirectX 7 has been installed, you will have to restart your computer before you can play Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing.











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Graphics card configuration

If you are starting the game for the first time the MBTR setup screen will appear, so that you can configure the graphics card.



You will need a D3D graphics card to be able to play Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing.



If you have problems running Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing, please update your graphics card drivers. Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing was tested using the latest graphics card drivers.



If you have problems with the graphics configuration, please refer to "Graphics card settings".







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Opening screen/Autostart

When you insert the Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing CD-ROM after installation, the opening screen will appear. If you want to play Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing, click on the "Play" button to start the game.



The following options are available in the opening screen:



Play: Launches Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing.

Setup (Graphics): Opens the Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing graphics card configuration

Install DirectX7: Installs DirectX 7.0a.

Uninstall game: Removes the game from your hard disk.

Install game: Re-installs the game.





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Starting Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing

If you want to play Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing, first insert the Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive. After a few seconds, the opening screen will appear. Click on the "Play" button to launch the game.



If the AutoPlay function is not activated, click on the START button and then select "Synetic/MBTR" from the Programs menu. Click on "Play MBTR" in the submenu that appears.



TIP: You must have the CD in your CD-ROM drive to be able to play Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing.

The only instance where this is not necessary is if you are taking part in a network game when the multiplayer installation procedure has been carried out.







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Uninstalling Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing

If you decide to uninstall Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing, you have the following options:





Go into the CONTROL PANEL, and select "Add/Remove Programs". Click on Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing in the menu that appears and select "Add/Remove".



Alternatively:



Use the START button to call up the Start menu, select "Synetic/MBTR" from the Programs menu and then "Uninstall MBTR".



Alternatively:



Insert the Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive, wait until the opening screen appears and select the "Uninstall game" button.





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DirectX 7

You must have DirectX 7.0a installed on your system to be able to play Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing. You also need DirectX 7.0a compatible sound and graphics drivers. Remember that you may need to update your sound and graphics drivers after you have installed DirectX 7.0a. We strongly recommend that you update your graphics drivers regularly. If you have problems with sound or graphics when you are running Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing, please update your drivers before contacting our customer service team.



You will find a list of major soundcard and graphics card manufacturers' websites in the section entitled "Websites". These pages will contain the latest drivers for your hardware.





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D3D support

Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing ran satisfactorily with the following 3D chipsets in our tests:



3Dfx

Voodoo 3

Voodoo 5



ATI

Rage 128

Rage Fury

Rage Fury Maxx



Matrox

G200

G400



nVidia

TNT

TNT2

GeForce

GeForce2



S3

Savage 4

Savage 2000



General

At the time of publication, the graphics card setup was pre-set to the optimum settings for the relevant graphics card! So please do not alter any of the individual settings for the graphics cards!!! Please just select your graphics card in "Configuration", provided that it is listed. You can then use the benchmark to check whether you can further increase the resolution or if you need to reduce it. Please view the benchmark as a worst-case scenario - in other words, as the worst view in the game itself. These situations will only occur very rarely in the game, so don't worry too much if the benchmark does not run completely smoothly.



3Dfx Voodoo 3

We do not advise running the game with the reflections switched on if you are using this graphics card.



Matrox G200

We do not advise running the game in 32-bit mode if you are using this graphics card.





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Graphics card settings





What do the settings in the MBTR setup mean?



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Configuration

This is where you select your graphics card for Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing.

The graphics cards are identified by their chip in the setup.

If the relevant chip is not listed, please select the generic Direct 3D. In most cases, no further configuration is necessary, as both the device and the setup resolution are pre-set. The other parameters are for adjusting any 3D cards to be used in the future.



Device

This is where the relevant graphics card device is registered. In most cases, this tends to be the "Primary display driver" for modern 2D/3D cards. The setting "Secondary display driver" must generally be selected for add-on cards installed alongside the actual graphics card (e.g. Voodoo Graphics).



Resolution

This is where you select the resolution for Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing.

Tip: These values are just the standard values! There may be significant variations in the resolution depending on the graphics card used. It is best if you work towards the best resolution using the options in the drop-down list.



Display correction

Activate this checkbox if displays appear blurred in the game.



Triple buffering

Enables more free-flowing image structure. The graphics card "Sync to refresh" option must be activated for this.



Alpha adjust

Alters the format of textures using Alpha channel.



Reflections

Activates visible reflections (painted effect) on the trucks.



Anisotropic filter

This option can improve the mip-mapping display quality.



Mip-mapping

Draws more distant textures using softer lines!



Bright mode

This option generates a bright image with plenty of contrast.



Hires textures

Activates high-resolution textures (only recommended for cards >16 MB).



24bit textures

Activates textures with more intense colours (only recommended for computers with more than 128 MB RAM and graphics card >32 MB).



Alpha textures

Option for transparent textures, e.g. fences.



Sound configuration

Deactivate this parameter if your soundcard is not 100% compatible with DirectX. There will then be no sound output.



Force Feedback

Off = no force transferred even if FF devices are connected

Steering wheel = setting suitable for FF steering wheels

Joystick = setting suitable for FF joysticks



Multiplayer

This is where you specify how many bundles are to be sent per second in a network game. The default setting is 15*, which should generally be adequate. If you are using connections that are slower than a 10Mbit connection (e.g. modem), a lower setting could be advantageous. This setting only ever needs to be configured on the host (race organiser's) computer!



Low bandwidth

Activate this checkbox if you are using connections that are slower than a 10Mbit connection (e.g. modem). This setting only ever needs to be configured on the host (race organiser's) computer!



OK

Click on this button to save your settings and exit the setup screen.



Cancel

Click on this button to exit the setup screen without saving your settings.



Play!

Click on this button to start Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing immediately.



Benchmark

Click on this button to test the settings for the graphics card and take a benchmark reading.





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Optimising your computer's performance

The game performs much better with 128 MB RAM, although 64 MB RAM is adequate for playing Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing.

Regardless of the amount of memory you have, you can maximise the allocated memory and make the game engine run at optimum performance, by:



Closing all Windows applications that are open.

Closing all other memory-resident programs.

Defragmenting your hard disk regularly.

Ensuring that you have enough available memory on your hard disk.

The game runs more smoothly if you install all the game components. If you subsequently find that you want to alter the installation type, uninstall Mercedes-Benz Truck Racing and then re-install the game.





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Game functions and options



Controls/keyboard functions

The keys below have been pre-assigned and cannot be assigned/modified in the options or the game control section:



F1: Change camera/view

F2: Top vi