Planescape: Torment Readme File
Planescape: Torment
Readme and Manual Addenda
Developed By Black Isle Studios
Built with the Bioware Infinity Engine
Release Version 1.0.0
Contents
1. Getting Started
a. System Requirements
b. Installation
c. Registering Planescape: Torment with Black Isle Studios
d. Running Planescape: Torment
e. Visit the Planescape: Torment Web Site
2. Trouble Shooting
a. Tweaking Performance
b. Known Problems
c. Updates
d. Tweaking the Torment.INI File
3. Interplay Customer Service Information (North America)
4. European Information
a. Customer Service Information
b. Limited Warranty
5. Legal Information
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1. Getting Started
1a. System Requirements
Required:
Pentium (or compatible) 200 MHz with MMX
32 MB RAM
Windows 95 with DirectX 5.0 or later
650 MB of Hard Drive Space
8X or faster CD-ROM
DirectX Certified Video Card with at least 4 MB of video RAM
DirectX Certified Sound Card
Keyboard, Mouse
Recommended:
Pentium II (or compatible) 266 MHz with MMX
64 MB RAM
800 MB (or more) of Hard Drive Space
8X (or faster) CD-ROM
DirectX certified Video Card with at least 8 MB of video RAM
Notes on Video Cards:
While you can still run Planescape: Torment with a 2MB video card, we highly
recommend against it - performance may poor depending on the capabilities of
the card. To check if your video card is 2MB, go to the Display folder in
the Control Panel and choose Settings. If your video card can display 800x600
resolution at 24-bit color depth, then it is capable of running
Planescape: Torment. We do recommend that you obtain the latest DirectX drivers
for your video card, direct from the video card company that makes your card.
WINDOWS NT 4.0:
Although Windows NT 4.0 is not supported in an official capacity, Planescape:
Torment can be run correctly under Windows NT 4.0 if the following conditions
are met: You will need at least 32 MB of RAM and must have NT 4.0 Service
Pack 3 installed. Slowdowns during gameplay have been reported under NT. These
are due to the way that Direct Sound and the System Timers interact. This
may be corrected in future version of NT.
1b. Installation
Insert the CD-ROM labeled Planescape: Torment Disc 1 into your CD-ROM drive and
follow the onscreen instructions. If your autorun is disabled, find the
autorun.exe application in the root of Disc 1 and double click to launch
the Installer.
After installing Planescape: Torment, you will have options for installing
DirectX 6.1.
If you do not have DirectX installed, install DirectX 6.1 when prompted
during the installation process. If you obtain a newer version of DirectX,
it is recommended that you use that.
Later versions of DirectX often have driver updates which will make
Planescape: Torment run better on your system. However, Planescape: Torment only
requires DirectX 6.1.
You should regularly defragment your hard drive, as fragmentation can
result in poor performance.
1c. Electronic Registration
Please take a few moments to fill out the Electronic Registration for
Planescape: Torment. Your feedback will make you eligible for special offers and
promotions, and it also provides us with information we need in order to
make better games. We'd appreciate your time.
1d. Running Planescape: Torment
If you use the default installation settings for Planescape: Torment, it will
be installed in a 'Black Isle' Program Group in your Start menu.
1e. Planescape: Torment Web Page
If there is anything that are having problems with or cannot find in the
manual, stop by the Planescape: Torment Web Page at
http://www.planescape-torment.com
Aside from cool game materials and errata, you may be able to find an
answer for whatever question you might have.
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2. TroubleShooting
2a. Tweaking Performance
Increasing Performance:
1. Audio processing. On the Options/Audio Options screen in the game, there are
two buttons for controlling audio processing. Turning off Sound Processing
will halt all sound effects in the game, increasing CPU time for other
activities. The Music Processing button will do the same for all music in
the game.
2. Virtual Memory. WE DO NOT RECOMMED ADJUSTING YOUR VIRTUAL MEMORY.
Planescape: Torment will eagerly use up any Virtual Memory (hard drive) and
non-Virtual Memory (RAM) you allocate to it. If you choose to add more
memory to your system, or increase the size of your Windows swap file,
the game speed MAY increase. However, as you increase your Virtual
Memory, expect longer clearing times to remove this 'Virtual Memory'
from the hard drive after the game is terminated.
Things that will Decrease Performance:
1. Brightness/Contrast. Adjusting the default settings for these options
(located in the options menu under 'Graphics') will result in a
performance hit. If you find the game is too dark, we suggest
adjusting your monitors brightness.
2. DirectX Hardware Calls. In the options menu under 'Graphics' there are
three toggles for various 'BLTS'. Enabling these will result in a
(sometimes drastic) performance hit. We recommend enabling these only
if you have graphics glitches that you have been unable to resolve.
3. Running the game in Windowed Mode.
Running the game in a Window on your desktop will decrease the
overall game performance.
2b. Known Problems
* Graphic Errors
Some video cards may experience graphics glitches while playing the
game. These problems are caused by DirectX Hardware Calls to your
video card that are not functioning. We have written software renders
for all of these calls to allow people to play even with drivers that are
not 100% compatible with the DirectX standards. You can enable a software
render for these calls if you have the most recent drivers for your video
card and are still experiencing problems. Using the software render will
probably fix the graphic glitches, but WILL result in a performance hit.
IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH THE GRAPHICAL DISPLAY OF PLANESCAPE:
TORMENT, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE LATEST VERSION OF YOUR VIDEO
DRIVERS. DRIVER UPDATES ARE AVAILABLE AT MOST (if not all) HARDWARE
MANUFACTURERS AND CHIPSET MANUFACTURERS SITES ON THE INTERNET.
You may also try installing DirectX 6.0+ if you are experiencing
graphical problems.
If you have the most recent drivers for your video card, and you are
still experiencing problems, you can enable software renders for these
calls. The options are available in the options menu under 'Graphics'.
The following list describes the known graphics glitches and which Call
should be disabled to fix them. If in doubt, try different combinations
and this may help. You can always turn off all software renders to return
to the default settings.
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Glitch Disable
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-green boxes surrounding Software Transparent BLT
any object in the game
-box surrounding mouse cursor
-animations appearing Software Mirror BLT
'reversed'
-Fog-of-War appears in
a 'semi-checkerboard'
pattern
-fog-of-War has edges
that look 'spiky'
-vertical lines down Software Standard BLT
the main game screen
-the game Cursor is
leaving 'artifacts' of
itself on the game screen
-any other non-resolved
graphics problem
Specific Video Cards and Fixes
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Matrox Millenium (1) : Enable Software Mirror and Software
Transparent BLTs.
Permidia : Enable Software Standard BLT.
* Minimizing Planescape: Torment
If you minimize Planescape: Torment using Alt-Tab (and then bring it back
up by left clicking on the minimized application), the sound effects for
the game will stutter, loop, and skip. This is caused by a lack of
resources available to Planescape: Torment after you go from full screen
to a minimized screen, and it will correct itself after a short period of
time.
If you minimize Planescape: Torment and then bring it back up, the game may
run more slowly for a time - this is caused by the game re-accessing
resources that become tied up by minimization.
Running the game in a window may result in lower performance overall.
* The Ubiquitous Zombie
This bug is believed to be fixed in all situations. If you have a
conversation which requires a 3rd person who is not present, The Ubiquitous
Zombie will appear and take the part of the other character.
This keeps the conversation from crashing the game and ensures the
player doesn't miss any critical game dialog. It is a bug, but at least
it's fun!
* NT 4.0: Screen-Saver
While running under Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3, we have
experienced intermittent problems with Screen Savers. We recommend
disabling your Screen Saver while playing Planescape: Torment.
* Taking a Long Time to Bring Up Save/Load Screen
If you have created more than 20 Save Game files, then the Save/Load Screen
will take an increasingly long time to come up when it is requested. This
will not effect game play. The time can be reduced by deleting Save Game
files that you no longer need.
2c. Updates
If necessary, patches may become available for the product that add
functionality or correct bugs. These updated versions will be made
available at the Interplay site at http://www.interplay.com or you
can connect directly to the Planescape: Torment Files directory by clicking
on the 'Update' button in the Planescape: Torment AutoRun.
2d. Tweaking the Torment.INI file.
The following items can be changed in the Torment.INI file. These options are
not supported. Interplay's Customer Service will not provide information or
assistance for these items. In the case of the product becoming unstable after
editing this file, delete it. The program will generate a default .INI file.
Maximum Frame Rate - This defaults to 30, however it can be increased to a
maximum of 60. This will run Torment at a faster speed than it defaults to.
As was stated above, this feature is not supported and the product may be-
come unstable. It is possible that lowering this number to 24 or 20 will
provide a slower but smoother gameplay experience for those people with
lower end machines such as a Pentium 200Mhz.
Path Search Nodes - This defaults to 4000, however it can be decreased to a
minimum of 1000, and increased to a maximum of 32000. This represents
how indepthly the product creates paths for characters and creatures.
Descreasing the number may cause an increase in performance on slower
systems, but will have characters and creatures move around the world in
less "inteligent" ways. Increasing this number, could see the improvement
in the manner by which creatures and characters walk between two points.
Full Screen - This defaults to 1, which denotes the game playing full screen.
This can be changed to 0, which will make Torment run in a window. This
feature is not supported, because many of the graphical effects in Torment
will not run correctly while the product is running in a window. The
performance of the product will also be less while in windowed mode.
Cache Size - This is the amount of Hard Drive space that Torment will use to
store files from the game CD's on Hard Drive. This is why Torment will
not always ask for CD's after you have returned to certain areas. It
is highly suggested that this number is not reduced below 120, which is
its default number. Increasing it will allow more of the game to be
"cached" and therefore less CD swapping to occur.
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3. Interplay Customer Service Information
This information is only valid in North America.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT TROUBLESHOOTING DOCUMENTS ONLINE!
Interplay Productions Technical Support now offers troubleshooting
guides with complete installation and setup instructions as well as
information that will help you overcome the most common difficulties.
If you have access to the World Wide Web, you can find these at:
www.interplay.com/support/
Here you will find troubleshooting information on as well as
information on regular system maintenance and performance.
DirectX
www.interplay.com/support/directx/ Joysticks
www.interplay.com/support/joystick/ Modems and Networks
www.interplay.com/support/modem/
(For game-specific information and additional troubleshooting,
visit our main page at www.interplay.com)
If you have questions about the program, our Technical Support
Department can help. Our web site contains up-to-date information on
the most common difficulties with our products, and this information
is the same as that used by our product support technicians. We keep
the product support pages updated on a regular basis, so please check
here first for no-wait solutions:
www.interplay.com/support/
If you are unable to find the information you need on our web site,
please feel free to contact Technical Support via e-mail, phone, fax,
or letter. Please be sure to include the following information in your
e-mail message, fax, or letter:
Title of Game
Computer manufacturer
Operating system (Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows 98, etc.)
CPU type and speed in MHz
Amount of RAM
Sound card type and settings (address, IRQ, DMA) Video card
CD-ROM
Mouse driver and version
Joystick and game card (if any)
A copy of the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files from your hard
drive
A description of the problem you're having
If you need to talk to someone immediately, call us at (949)
553-6678 Monday through Friday between 8:00AM-5: 45PM, Pacific
Standard Time with 24 hours, 7 days a week support available
through the use of our automated wizard. Please have the above
information ready when you call. This will help us answer your
question in the shortest possible time. When you call you will
initially be connected with our automated wizard. For information
pertaining to your specific title, press "1" on the main menu and
listen carefully to all prompts. All titles are listed alphabetically.
After you have selected your title, the most common difficulties will
be listed. If the difficulty you are having is not listed or you
need additional assistance, you may press "0" on your games main menu,
and you will be transferred to a Technical Support Representative.
No hints or codes are available from this line. You must call Interplay's
HINT Line for hints, tips, or codes at 1-900-370-PLAY (1-900-451-6869
$1.25 in Canada only). You must be 18 years +, have a touch-tone phone,
and the cost is $0.95 per minute.
Interplay Productions Support Fax: (949) 252-2820
Interplay Productions Technical Support
16815 Von Karman Avenue
Irvine, CA 92606
* HOW TO REACH US ONLINE
INTERNET E-MAIL: support@interplay.com
WORLD WIDE WEB: www.interplay.com
FTP: ftp.interplay.com
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4. European Information
This information is not valid in North America.
5a. Customer Services Information
Write to: Customer Support
Interplay Productions, Ltd.
Harleyford Manor
Harleyford
Henley Road
Marlow
Buckinghamshire
SL7 2DX
ENGLAND
tel: +44 (0) 1628 423723
Fax: +44 (0) 1628 423777
5b. Limited Warranty
If within the first ninety days of purchase you have any problems
with the product please return it to the retailer. After ninety days,
you may return the software program to Interplay Productions,
provided the fault is not due to normal wear and tear, and Interplay
will mail a replacement to you.
To receive a replacement, you should enclose the defective medium
(including the original product label), in protective packaging, accompanied by:
1) A cheque or postal order for Ten (10) Pounds Sterling (to cover
postage and packaging).
2) A brief statement describing the defect.
3) The original receipt or address of the retailer.
4) Your return address.
Registered mail is recommended for returns. Please send to:
Warranty Replacements
Interplay Productions, Ltd.
Harleyford Manor
Harleyford
Henley Road
Marlow
Buckinghamshire
SL7 2DX
ENGLAND
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6. Legal
* SOFTWARE USE LIMITATIONS AND LIMITED LICENSE
General Product License. This copy of Planescape: Torment (the Software)
is intended solely for your personal noncommercial home entertainment use.
You may not decompile, reverse engineer, or disassemble the Software, except
as permitted by law. Interplay Productions and Bioware Corp. retain allright,
title and interest in the Software including all intellectual property rights
embodied therein and derivatives thereof. The Software, including, without
limitation, all code, data structures, characters, images, sounds, text, screens,
game play, derivative works and all other elements of the Software may not be
copied, resold, rented, leased, distributed (electronically or otherwise),
used on pay-per-play, coin-op or other for-charge basis, or for any commercial
purpose. Any permissions granted herein are provided on a temporary basis and
can be withdrawn by Interplay Productions at any time. All rights not expressly
granted are reserved.
* ACCEPTANCE OF LICENSE TERMS
By acquiring and retaining this Software, you assent to the terms and restrictions
of this limited license. If you do not accept the terms of this limited license,
you must return the Software together with all packaging, manuals and other
material contained therein to the store where you acquired the Software for
a full refund.
Planescape Torment & Design: (c) 1999 Interplay Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Bioware Infinity Engine (c) 1999 Bioware Corp. Portions (c) 1999 TSR, Inc.
Torment, Planescape, the Planescape logo, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,
the AD&D logo, and the TSR logo are trademarks of TSR, Inc., a subsidiary of
Wizards of the Coast, Inc., and are used by Interplay under license.
All Rights Reserved. Interplay, the Interplay logo, Black Isle Studios and
the Black Isle Studios logo and "By Gamers. For Gamers." are trademarks of
Interplay Productions. All Rights Reserved. Bioware, the Bioware Infinity
Engine, and the Bioware logo are trademarks of Bioware Corp. All Rights Reserved.
Creative, Environmental Audio, and the Environmental Audio logo are trademarks
of Creative Technology Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Windows (r) 95/98 are registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks
and copyrights are property of their respective owners.
