Readme.Txt

CONQUEST EARTH
August 27, 1997

I.   System Requirements
II.  Important Recommendations and Troubleshooting
III. Multiplayer Tips
IV.  Hardware Issues
V.   Mplayer/Internet Issues
VI.  Technical Support
VII. Copyright Information



I. System Requirements

Conquest Earth is a VERY hardware intensive game. It is one of the first 
games to take full advantage of the `new breed' of hardware available. 
As such, some older machines may see a performance hit during some of 
the animations or intense battle sequences. The system requirements are 
as follows:

Minimum Requirements-
CPU: Pentium 100 MHz or faster
Memory: 16 Megabytes
Hard Disk Space: 208 Megabytes
4x Speed CD-ROM Drive
Video Card Capable of displaying 16 bit (`High') color with at least 2 
MB of RAM on board.
Mouse Required

Strongly Recommended-
CPU: Pentium 150 MHz or faster
Memory: 32 Megabytes
Hard Disk Space: 280 Megabytes
8x Speed CD-ROM Drive or higher
Video Card Capable of displaying 16 bit (`High') color with at least 4 
MB of RAM on board.
Mouse Required

Optimal-
CPU: Pentium 200 Pro or MMX*
Memory: 64 Megabytes
Hard Disk Space: 950 Megabytes
12x Speed CD-ROM Drive
Video Card Capable of displaying 16 bit (`High') color with at least 4 
MB of RAM on board.
Mouse Required
*CE does not use Intel's MMX calls, but the MMX chip is an overall 
faster chip than a normal Pentium.



II. Important Recommendations and Troubleshooting

CE can sometimes have a problem initializing the color palette if your 
display is set to 256 colors. The solution is to switch the Color 
palette setting to 16 Bit (High Color) in Display Properties.

CE can be very taxing on your system resources,  especially on slower 
machines. Microsoft's Direct X enables certain features in the Windows 95
version of CE, but you may notice a performance drop. We include icons for
the DOS version of Conquest Earth in the Start Menu in Win 95, so that you
can play the game under DOS. This will not restart your computer, and you
will be technically running `DOS Under Windows'. You may notice that this
version of the game is faster and/or smoother and may be to your liking. If
this is true, we recommend playing CE under this option for best performance.

You will also notice 2 different executables for DOS & Win 95. These are 
a 16 Meg version and a 32 Meg version. The game will use a single, high-
color bitmap for the battlefield on the 32 Meg version. The largest 
drawback is that it eats up a lot of you system's available RAM. The 32 
Meg version will run on a 16 Meg machine, BUT you will notice a lot of 
Hard Disk access. This is due to the game using Virtual Memory (it uses 
your Hard Disk as extra RAM). Most of the maps will not require Virtual 
Memory on machines with 24 Megs or higher, so machines that have more 
than 16 Megs of RAM should be able to play the 32 Meg versions without as
much hard disk access.

If the game keeps sending you back to the Play Intro/Play Game screen, you
should try running the game in another mode. If you were running the Win 95
version, try using the DOS icon to start the game. If that doesn't work, try
restarting your computer in MS-DOS mode and running the CE16 or CE32 files in
the directory you installed the game to. If none of these solutions work,
please contact EIDOS Interactive's Technical Support as listed below.

Should you encounter any problems with the game, please check the 
Conquest Earth web site to see if any patches or updates have been made 
available to fix your problem. The web address is:
http://www.conquestearth.com



III. Multiplayer Tips

The Windows Multiplayer game uses Microsoft's new Direct X 5.0 to enable 
the network code. You may experience some difficulties running the game
in this mode. On most systems, the network game will run faster while
using the DOS executables in Win 95. This is the best way to increase
network performance. Please note that the only network protocol available
with the DOS version is IPX.  

If you are still having difficulties with the network game, we recommend 
that you update your Network card drivers (if possible), to make your card
more compatible with DirectX 5.

During multiplayer games, the more players you have, the slower your games
will be. On every player's computer, the game will run at the speed of the
slowest computer joined in the network game. Each computer has to handle
running the game itself, while receiving and calculating all the data being
sent by all the other computers.

Here are the recommended speeds:
2 Players- Pentium 100 or higher
3 Players- Pentium 120 or higher
4 Players- Pentium 133 or higher
5 Players- Pentium 150 or higher
6 Players- Pentium 166 or higher
7 Players- Pentium 200 or higher
8 Players- Pentium Pro/MMX or Pentium II

Q] When I play a network game with a couple of my friends, some of us aren't
able to build anything! What is going on?
A] CE takes a different approach to multiple commanders on the same side.
Since each battle is "Humans vs. Jovians", things are kept balanced by one
person acting as "General" and the others of the same side as his
subordinates. Only the General is able to build things right off the bat,
but he can assign buildings and troops to his subordinates by hitting the
Function key that corresponds to the player number of the person you wish
to give it to. (Check player numbers by hitting "?" in the game). The first
Human and first Jovian players to enter the game will be the Generals.


IV. Hardware Issues

We have tested Conquest Earth on a multitude of different machine 
configurations, but as you are well aware, there are a near infinite 
combination of machine components available out there. Data Design has 
fixed any hardware incompatibilities we have come across, but we were 
unable to test every type of video card, CD-ROM drive, motherboard, and 
network card available and in every configuration. If you have any 
issues with your hardware, please bring it to the attention of EIDOS 
tech support (the contact information is in the manual), and we will do 
our best to get Conquest Earth working on your machine.



V. Mplayer and the Internet

Conquest Earth is currently being optimized for play on the Mplayer 
Gaming Network. From the Intro Screen in the game, you will be able to
install the Mplayer software, log into the Mplayer network and set up an
account. The game enabler for Conquest Earth will automatically be downloaded
the first time you try to play Conquest Earth on Mplayer.

The Internet version of the game (TCP/IP) is currently being improved as 
well. Hopefully by the time you read this, a patch will be available to 
improve the game's performance over the inherently slow Internet.



VI. Technical Support

Please read the following section before calling technical support:

Because of the millions of different hardware and software combinations
possible with today's Personal Computers, you may still have to refer
to your computer manufacturer or software publisher in order to properly
configure their product to run with our game.  If at all possible, be near
your computer when you call.  The technical support representative will need
specific information about your computer and may need you to access or change
some files while you are on the phone.  If it is impossible for you to be at
your computer, be sure to have the following information:

-A listing of your computer's hardware and their settings from Device Manager,
 including what sound card and video card you have.
-What version of Windows 95 you are using.
-What version of Direct X is currently loaded on your computer.
-How your game is currently configured.

Our Technical Assistance phone number is 415-547-1244.  Our representatives
are available Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Pacific time).

You may also reach us by e-mail at:   techsupp@eidos.com
Or through our web site at:           http://www.eidosinteractive.com



VII. Copyright Information
Conquest Earth is a Trademark of Data Design Interactive of Birmingham, 
England.
Conquest Earth is Copyright 1997 Data Design Interactive.
EIDOS Interactive is a Registered Trademark of Eidos, plc. of London, 
England.
You've Been Warned is a Trademark of EIDOS Interactive.
Pentium is a Registered Trademark of Intel, inc.
Windows and Windows 95 are Registered Trademarks of Microsoft, inc.
This file is Copyright 1997 EIDOS Interactive. HFCIT



