Contents
Introduction
Installation
First time Running Panzer Elite
Quick Tour
Last Minute Updates
Manual Errata
Multiplayer
The MOD CD (CD 2)
Troubleshooting
Appendix:
A) Operating Systems
B) Graphics Cards
C) Sound Cards
D) Input Devices
E) Latest Update Information
Welcome to Panzer Elite! We hope you enjoy your stay in the commander’s seat of a World War II tank. This document describes last minute changes and helps you fix technical problems you might encounter running Panzer Elite on your machine.
The installation should be straightforward. If your hard drive has just enough space to contain the game you might run into "Disk Full" messages. This is due to the fact that many files need more space than usual. Try freeing space on your hard drive. For Windows98 users we recommend using Fat32. In order to convert old drives to Fat32 consult your Windows98 manual.
You should run 3D Control Center first to setup your 3D hardware. The game realizes however if you forgot and will launch it for you. Read the manual carefully for settings for your card. For specific video card problems please refer to Appendix A of this read me.
You should start with an instant action scenario to get used to the controls. There are three scenarios the game cycles through; some of them give you more time than others. Experiment. Try to let the AI do its thing first before you try to take over the gun yourself.
Drive the tank first, let the computer gunner fire at will (Ctrl-Space). Learn how to use the MouseTank interface, that is the tank symbol on your top left corner of the screen. You can drag and click a lot of buttons there to make things work in the game.
Then learn how to mark targets and assign them to your gunner (click on target and press space)
Then learn how to control your wingman by point and click
Then on to the advanced controls. The advanced controls are NOT necessary to win the game.
It might be easier to learn the controls by playing a short campaign (we recomend german desert for this) and turn on invulnerability: click on your AIDE, click the HQ tab and turn on invulnerability option.
Calibrate Optics
It is possible to adjust or calibrate the optics by using Alt- "+" and Alt- "-" keys on the numeric keypad.
Historical Optics
Attention: only for experts, ignore if you just started: German optics are usually calibrated on 1000 meters. Due to the performance restrictions of todays computers you rarely engage tanks beyond 2000 meters. So we calibrated the german optics on 500 meters instead. In other words: The height of the large triangle inside your optics represent 4 meters height at 500 meters distance (the small ones half, ie. 2 meters).
How can you use this to judge ranges? You need to know roughly the height of your target. A Sherman is close to 3 meters high, ie. it would fill out 3/4 (three quarter) of your main triangle when its 500 meters away. How far away is the Sherman when it fills half the triangle?
0.75 = 500 meters
0.5 = x meters
ie. x=(500/0.5)*0.75
or x=750 meters)
Do not worry, its easy once you got the hang of it. try reading the article on http://www.simhq.com for more info in the turret talk section.
Aiming rectangle
If your crew spotted a unit but the line of sight is blocked, the rectangle will turn grey (usually its white)
Time Acceleration
You can accelerate the time by pressing the TAB key. As soon as you spot targets or get fired upon the game will revert to normal time.
Continue Campaign
If you left the campaign without saving you can now continue the last campaign as you left it. The name of the current last save will be listed in the campaign menu. Use the continue button to play that status. Any attempt to start another campaign will erase this temporary saved game!
Switching Tanks
If you die and still have an undamaged wingman left you will now automatically switch to that tank to continue playing. To manually switch tanks you need to switch to the camera behind the wingman (use the mouse tank), SELECT the wingman and then press Ctrl-J. This only works with undamaged tanks!
Realism Panel
We now included the realism panel in the options menu in addition to the campaign. This realism panel now lets you change the settings for all game modes, even instant action and single scenario.
Some tank data sheets were upated. Refer to the ingame tank tech sheets for their values (click in the tanks small picture in the campaign->tank exchange menu). Also check the tables in the PDF files on CD 2 if available.
IPX is no longer supported. If you got an IPX network and want to play Panzer Elite install the TCP/IP protocoll. both should work alongside each other.
Freezing on Launching the game
If DirectPlay has difficulties connecting a session it will take a while during the "Loading Screen". This can take up to one minute. If you want to exit though you can press the Esc key to get back to the main menu.
If you leave a multiplayer game DirectPlay will attempt to close down the session and tell all other clients that it quits. If one or more clients are no longer in the game the systems waits for a time out. This can take up to one minute.
Chat Clarification
You might have missed it in the manual, but chat works like this: Press enter to activate the chat line. You can type up to one full line. Pressing enter sends the message to YOUR team only. If you want to send the message globally to ALL players you need to end the line with Ctrl-Enter.
To use the MOD CD 2 just insert the CD into your CD drive. The autorun should start your default internet browser and launch the menu with further information about the contents of the CD. IF it doesnt use the Windows Explorer to manually locate the index.html file on the CD and doubleclick it.
The section below describes common problems which you should try first to solve your problem. If this doesnt help read further down how to email problems to our techsupport. To see what other users report or to ask solutions or questions use the link below to enter our tech support forum. Remember though to supply the information we ask.
Common Problems
· MAKE SURE YOU RUN Directx 7 or later!
· Do NOT overclock your 3D cards for Panzer Elite, it messes up AGP texturing!
Video Problems: Intro/Videos crash
Depending on soundcard you need new drivers. If your manufacturers latest drivers still don't work use the reference drivers instead. Usually those are from aureal (www.aureal.com) if you have a diamond MX300 or Turtlebeach soundcards. For some cards DX7 compatible drivers arent available. Try different settings 3d control center, audio settings!
To find out if the problem is caused by your sound card follow the instruction below (Q1)
Q1) How do I find out if problems are caused by my sound driver?
Turn sound off in the 3d control center. If the game now works its your sound driver.
Q2) How do I find out if problems are caused by my 3D card drivers?
Use 3D control center to set to software renderer. If the game now works its your 3D driver.
Q3) Ok, I got recent drivers and it still doesnt work, what now?
First make sure at least 400MB space is free on your boot drive. This is used for your windows swap file, which is virtual memory used by windows. Also set your windows to handle the virtual memory. To check this just right click on "My Computer", its under performance, virtual memory.
Read the FAQ and Forums on http://www.panzerelite.com, maybe your problem has been answered already
How to report problems
It is best to run the diagnositc tool DXDiag (program files\directx\setup\dxdiag) and use the "Save all information" button and send us that file. Email it with a VERY detailed description of your problem. WHERE is happened, what you did, which gamemode you played etc. For additional info it would help if you send along those files from the Panzer Elite:
· data\Desertfoxlog.txt
· data\Setting.hal
· SndPlayLog.txt
· Version number of Panzer Elite you run (its shown on the main menu start page)
EMAIL this info to: PE@Wingssimulations.com
Appendix
Windows 95 OSR1
If you have the very early version of Windows 95 the game will install Active Movie to run the videos in the game. If the game somehow does not detect this and your game has difficulties showing the intro or videos properly try installing them yourself. Alternatively edit the file data\PE_Menusystem.ini in your Panzer Elite install folder and change the settings Play_intro=Yes and Play_Campaign_Video=Yes both to no. This disables ALL videos shown
Windows95/98/ME
Make sure your virtual memory is set to "Let windows handle virtual memory" if you run into problems running the game. Panzer Elite uses about 400 MB disk space while running for virtual memory, so your boot drive (or whatever drive you assign to be used for virtual memory) must have at least 400MB of available space
Windows NT
Due to the fact we use DirectX7 you will have difficulties using hardware acceleration under WindowsNT. The software renderer works though. We recommend using the latest service packs for directX support. You can find service packs on http://www.microsoft.com.
Windows XP/2000
Testing showed no problems with Windows 2000 if you have certified the latest drivers for your 3D card. Multiplayer does NOT work under Windows2000 currently. As of this time we do not know if we issue a patch for this, check our websites for anouncements.
DirectX
Panzer Elite uses Microsoft’s “DirectX” for: a) Displaying it's picture, b) Input devices like Keyboard, Mouse and Joystick and c) Sound. Panzer Elite requires DirectX 6.1 to fully operate. The Panzer Elite installer checks for DirectX and offers to upgrade if it finds older versions. If you cancel the upgrade or do not want to install the version on our CD please make sure you have the latest release of DirectX. Versions and patches for DirectX can be found on http://www.microsoft.com/DirectX/
Generally speaking, please visit your 3D-card manufacturer’s website and look for DirectX 6 certified drivers.
We do NOT recommend overclocking cards; this has lead to difficulties running Panzer Elite. Use your adapter's default setting to run Panzer Elite.
We also recommend you disable the following settings (if your card supports those):
- Automatic Mipmapping
- Automatic Texture Compression
Using two 3D cards
If you have two 3D cards in your system Panzer Elite defaults to the 2nd card. If you want to use your primary launch 3D Control Center, click advanced and changed the primary device driver to your other card.
If you own a 3d card with TV or Video Out, or a notebook (they usually have Video Out), make sure that you DISABLE TwinView. TwinView is the mode where the Videocard has two separate screens shown on the internal 3d display (your monitor) and your external screen (which is connected to your TV/Video Out). This can confuse the 3d driver and Panzer Elite could crash.
3D Control Center Issues
If 3D Control Center won't let you choose "Hardware Accelerated" its due to the fact that it couldn’t verify that you are running DirectX 7 drivers for your 3D card. If you have recently changed the card whilst Panzer Elite was installed or have updated the drivers please re-launch 3D Control Center to update your settings for Panzer Elite. If that doesn't help please delete the following files:
data\settings.hal
data\hwconfi.ini
data\cpu.ini
and re-launch 3D Control Center.
Savage 4 (Creative Labs, Diamond etc.)
We recommend disabling the automatic texture compression of the card; otherwise you get performance hits with Panzer Elite. Consult your card’s manual for how to change these settings.
Most Savage 4 boards let you overlock the memory or speed of the card. At certain levels this causes Panzer Elite to crash. We recommend using default performance settings.
Voodoo 1, 3Dfx 1, Voodoo Rush cards
Panzer Elite should work on these first generation cards. If you get graphic glitches try to reduce the texture detail in the 3D Control Center.
Voodoo2 co-cards
No known problems with this card. Software cursor is enabled automatically by the 3D Control Center. Due to no hardware mouse cursor support the mouse might lag behind on this card, this is normal.
Voodoo Banshee cards (2d/3d solutions)
No known problems.
Voodoo 3
No known problems with Voodoo 3's. Overclocking your Voodoo3 is not recommended which might cause Panzer Elite to crash.
TNT 1
Use the latest drivers. Cards like STB's 4400 do not have recent drivers. Use nvidias reference drivers instead (www.nvidia.com) Pixel Center alignment should be set to top left corner. Refer to your card's manual for how to do this. Automatic Mip Map Levels should be set to zero. Otherwise no known problems.
TNT2
Pixel Center alignment should be set to top left corner. Refer to your card’s manual for how to do this. Automatic Mip Map Levels should be set to zero. Otherwise no known problems.
GeForce Chipsets
No problems known. Some drivers display horizontal lines around the target markers, thats a problem with some drivers we couldn't fix yet but it doesn't affect gameplay.
Intel740 chipsets
The shipped drivers for Intel740 cards are usually DirectX5, which won't work with Panzer Elite. Visit your card manufacturer’s website for updates. If you can’t find the updates you might want to use Intel’s reference drivers which can be found at: http://developer.intel.com/design/graphics/drivers/index.htm
ATI Cards
No known problems have been encountered with ATI cards if you use the latest drivers. If you get texture corruption use one texture detail level lower than the default setting.
Generally speaking please visit your soundcard manufacturer’s website and look for DirectX 7 certified drivers. We use DirectSound hardware acceleration if available. If not available we switch to software emulation of ‘Qsound’, which is a very fast 3D Sound emulation giving you 3D sound even on normal soundcards (see http://www.qsound.com for more info about this library)....
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