Real Games, Rare Games... Amtex Pinball Classics


The Amtex Collector's Series brings you the experience of actual pinball 
games made by the world's leading pinball manufacturers. Games whose sheer, 
white - knuckled fun have launched them to the top of pinball charts.

The rare games, the games  that fans wore out... These are the games 
destined to become Pinball Classics. Now thanks to Amtex Virtual 
Engineering, you've got your own Pinball Classic - and it will last forever.


The first Pinball Classic by Amtex

Why did we chose Eight Ball Deluxe to be the first? Simply because it's one 
of the greatest pinball games ever made. More than ten years after it's 
award-winning release, Eight Ball Deluxe continues to draw new fans and 
remains the favourite of many pros.

But don't take their word it. Check it out for yourself. Follow the 
installation instructions, then...

"Quit Talking and start chalking!"

Eight Ball Deluxe 1981 all rights reserved. Eight Ball Deluxe is a trademark 
of Midway Manufacturing Company (makers of Bally pinball games). Used under
license.

Eight Ball Deluxe 2.0 IBM PC version 1994 by P.A.S. Systems.


Pinball Classics is a trademark of AMTEX Software Corporation. Tristan is a 
trade mark of LittleWing and AMTEX Software Corporation. 

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. IBM is a
registered trademark of International Business Machines, Inc.

This manual is copyrighted by AMTEX Software Corporation. No part of this 
manual or the described software may be copied, reproduced, translated or 
reduced to any other electronic medium or machine-readable form without the 
prior written consent of AMTEX Software Corporation, P.O. Box 572,
Belleville, Ontario, Canada K8N 5B2.

AMTEX is totally committed to bringing you the best of pinball. AMTEX Pinball 
Classics, including Eight Ball Deluxe, are produced in co-operation with, and 
under license by, the original manufacturers and copyright holders.

We ask you to respect yourself as well as the many people who designed, built 
and brought this game to you. Just say no to illegal copies! Help make it 
possible for software publishers to continue bringing you the pleasure of new 
games.


Acknowledgments:

AMTEX would like to thank all the people in the pinball industry who have 
enthusiastically supported us in spreading the pleasure of pinball through 
the medium of computer simulation.

Eight Ball Deluxe, the pinball game, is now brought to life on your computer 
through the innovations of AMTEX Software Corporation.

Bally Design Team:

	VP Novelty Engineering  - Norm Clark
	Senior Designer         - George Christian
	Artwork                 - Margaret Hudson
	Game Programmer         - Rehman Merchant
	Sound Programmer        - Neil Falconer


AMTEX Design and Production Team

EIGHT BALL DELUXE PROGRAM - IBM PC Version2.0

	Executive Producer      - Peter Zuuring
	Production Coordinator  - Ken Dickson
	Producer                - Mark Vange (P.A.S. Systems)
	Software Engineering 
	and Programming         - Mike Pot (P.A.S. Systems)
	Game Artists            - Jeremiah O'Flaherty, J. Popadiuk,
				  Chuck Needham

	MARKETING 
	AND PROMOTION           - Lisa Moore

	PACKAGE AND DOCUMENTATION

	Design                  - Jozef VanVeenen, Darren Catherwood,
				  John A. Popadiuk.
	Writing                 - Ken Dickson
	Contributions           - Peter Zuuring, Lisa Moore, 
				  Elisa Morton Palter

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO:
McLaren Morris & Todd, Roger Sharpe, Dave Hegge, Bruce Wilkins, Laura Howard, 
Christine Brennen-Leigh, and all the AMTEX Beta Testers. 

Table of Contents

Introduction
Pinball Fundamentals
Game Features
Playing Tips
Shoot-Out in New York
Pinball Cafe
Game Play
Technical Notes

Introduction

Congratulations on your choice of Eight Ball Deluxe from AMTEX. You have 
purchased the experience of real pinball !

Many of the innovations that bring Eight Ball Deluxe alive emerged during 
the development of Tristan, AMTEX's breakshot pinball game.

Working out of the love of pinball, our designers and programmers cut loose 
- playing and experimenting, reworking and refining to get the game feeling 
and playing great. Did they succeed ? We think so. As do the many Tristan 
fans, including "MACWORLD", who honored Tristan with their 1992 "Best Sports 
Game" award. 

Now, Amtex Virtual Engineering brings you all the excitement and satisfaction 
of Eight Ball Deluxe, one of  Bally's greatest pinball classics

Sight

Savour the original artwork on the live, 3-D playfield in 256 vivid colors.

Sound

Strike up the orchestra of armatures, coils, solenoids, springs and slingshots 
as your ball careens across the playfield and nails your targets. Check out 
the musical effects; dig that ball roll. All authentic, all original, all 
digital.

And that gritty voice? The original.

Ball Action

Your chips will be humming to crunch the algorithms that trace the flight of 
the silver ball. Everything is factored in: ball mass, gravity, inertia, 
incline, momentum transfer, flipper acceleration, nudging - even the varying 
modulus or "bounce" of different rebound surfaces. Whew!

Don't miss the whirlpool effect as you sink your ball in the Corner Pocket.

Art of Motion

That "indefinable something" of Amtex pinball, that touch of realism in ball 
play, comes, surprisingly enough, from the subtle twists in the calculations, 
subtle bends of the rigorous laws of physics. We've warped them just enough 
to give your game the touch, the look and the feel of the real thing.

Pinball Fundamentals

"Pinball is 80% skill and 20% luck" - Dave Hegge, 1992 IFPA Champion.

Every falling ball obeys the laws of physics. 

The player has three ways of influencing its motion: 
1) the Flippers  2) the Plunger and 3) the Nudge.

The Flippers

Eight Ball Deluxe features a third flipper that's well positioned for direct 
blasts against the bank of Drop Targets. You may also enjoy using it to slow 
down fast balls or to feed them to the right flipper.

Master the following skills to keep the ball in play and move it through the 
targets. They'll help you reach that thrilling upper atmosphere where the 
high-scores, extra balls and special bonuses seem to go on forever.

Good Flipper Technique

The basic flipper technique will really improve your game. Always flip 
alternately  reducing the space in between the flippers. Think of the flippers 
as individual tools. Anticipate the trajectory of the ball. You'll save the 
ball more often by following this basic premise than you will by flipping 
both flippers at the same time.

Ball Holding Technique

The ball save or hold will teach you to relax and control the frenzied 
pinball. Once cradled you can let the flipper down and aim for key shots on 
the playfield. Also use this technique to save the ball through the Return 
Lane for cool action on the run. Some people capture the ball this way for a 
chance to catch their breath and then take a well considered shot.

Dead Flipper Bounce

This advanced method is used to transfer the ball to the opposite flipper,  if 
you have an important shot or want the ball to slow down the action and take 
a rest. When the ball is falling for the middle of either flipper, just relax 
and let the ball bounce to the other side.

Deflection Post Transfer

Once you have practiced the other 3 techniques, the advanced Deflection Post 
Transfer should be much easier to achieve. Once again, being in control of the 
ball is paramount for a high scoring game. This trick is effective for moving 
the ball around and making all those great shots and SPECIALS.

Top Flipper Control

Slow the ball down or blast it at the targets.

Plunger  Skill Shot

The longer you hold down the plunger key, the more energetic the launch. 
Careful timing will help you to drop the ball into your choice of A or B 
Rollover Lanes. Aim for the one that's lit.

Nudging the Pinball

Nudging or gently pushing the pinball table is the most basic way to alter 
the ball's course when it contacts a solid object. By using the nudge keys 
you can impart  momentum into the ball and accelerate or bounce it in another 
direction on the playfield. 

Nudging can help you score more points or make a rollover lane. Combine 
nudging with flipping for maximum power and skill. If the ball comes to rest 
on the game surface, nudging will dislodge it, but too much nudging will TILT 
the game!

Game Features

Explore your own paths through the following features. Discover what, for you, 
is the most direct route to the electric atmosphere of high scores. 
Experiment. Have fun! Find the strategy that racks up the most points for you.

Bank of 7 Drop Targets

If you're the first or third player, these targets represent the solid balls, 
1 through 7. If you're the second or fourth player, they represent the striped 
balls, 9 through 15. Score 2,000 points each. Knock them all down to light the 
Eight Ball target.

The Eight Ball

Make this shot after sinking all seven drop targets  and you'll activate the 
Deluxe Spot Targets. Sinking the 8-Ball also advances and scores the Right 
Lane. When the target is down, it will not come back up until the ball is 
ejected from the Corner Pocket and comes down through either lane A or B.

DELUXE Spot Targets

They're waiting for you behind the bank of Drop Targets. As soon as you've 
sunk all 7 Drop Targets plus the 8-Ball, you can start knocking the lights 
out of the D-E-L-U-X-E on the table. Score 3,000 points for each Spot Target 
you hit. Nailing the lot wins the Special and resets the Drop Targets.

In-Line Drop Targets and Bank Shot

Shoot for your targets to maximize your bonus points. 

	-  1st target down:  5,000 points and 2x multiplier lights.
	-  2nd target down:  10,000 points and 3x multiplier lights.
	-  3rd target down:  15,000 points and 4x multiplier lights.
	-  4th target down:  20,000 points and 5x multiplier lights.

Once they are all down, you've cleared the way to the Bank Shot. It scores 
50,000 on the first hit,  then SPECIAL!

A-B-C-D Roll Over Lanes

Don't forget your ABCD's. They're worth a lot of points. When you make the A 
and B Rollovers in the top lanes, the top arrow lights will alternate to score 
25,000 points. Catch the C or D Rollovers down in the Return Lanes, left and 
right, to complete the series. This will drop two Bank Targets, advance the 
Corner Pocket value and activate the Right Lane light for 20,000 the first 
time, 40,000 the second, 60,000 the third and so on.

A-B-C-D also flashes the Thumper-Bumpers for 3,000 points each in sequence: 
left, right, bottom.

Roll Over Button in the Side Lane

A long, beautiful shot up the left side of the table. Each pass scores 
as follows:

	-  1st: 500 points         - 5th:  EXTRA BALL!
	-  2nd: 10,000 points      - 6th:  70,000 points
	-  3rd: 30,000 points      - 7th:  SPECIAL
	-  4th: 50,000 points      - 8th:  70,000 points

The Corner Pocket

This is where the scoring gets serious. A little complicated? Yes. But well 
worthwhile. First of all, let's look at what happens when you start sinking 
a rack of balls. Perhaps you've already noticed that as you knock down the 
bank of Drop Targets or make the 8-Ball when lit, the large bonus balls on the 
playfield between the flippers will light the same time as the corresponding 
small balls beside the targets go out.

The more times you've completed that set of large ball lights, the more points 
you'll collect each time you sink your pinball into the Corner Pocket. It may 
take you more than one ball to complete the set of large lights, but you can 
never complete it more than once per ball since they won't reset until the 
next ball.

Now for the points: whenever you make the Corner Pocket you'll collect 7,000 
points (times your bonus multiplier) for each large ball currently lit. In 
addition, you'll also get 56,000 points (times your bonus multiplier) for each 
time you've previously completed the set of large ball lights.

For example, let's suppose you complete the set of large pool ball lights for 
the second time of the game during your third ball and then drain. The large 
ball lights reset themselves and your fourth ball is served. While playing 
this ball, you nail four drop targets out of the rack, including the 8-Ball, 
thus re-lighting four large balls on the playfield.

Now, at last, you make a great flipper shot and sink your pinball into the 
Corner Pocket saucer. How much will it score?

	Answer:  8 + 8 ( for each of the two times you previously sunk your 
			 rack) + 4 (for the targets you just dropped) x 7,000  
	       = (8+8+4) x 7,000
	       = 140,000 points

	Bonus: In the event that youd also picked off the In-Line Drop 
	Targets a couple times during the current ball and achieved a 3X 
	bonus level, that plop into the Corner Pocket would score:

	140,000 x 3 = 420,000 points

Not bad for one shot!

Playing Tips from A Pro

"My favourite pinball game? Eight Ball Deluxe!"

Dave Hegge, the International Flipper Pinball Association Champion, tells us 
he likes this game for many reasons, but especially for its variety of great 
shots. "You can work almost any area on the playfield for both points and 
specials... Unlike most games, there's a choice of action."

Enjoy it. Take Dave's advice and vary your strategy from game to game as you 
pursue those elusive high scores.

After his return from Australia, which he'd toured as a guest of the Time Zone 
National Pinball Championships, Dave Hegge gave us some insider tips on 
specific shots. Here's the lowdown on Eight Ball Deluxe from someone who plays 
it often, just for fun, on his own, mint condition machine:

	1. Start off by using the left flippers to go for the bank of Drop 
	   Targets and the the 8-Ball.

	2. Contrary to some experts who feel that the DELUXE Spot Targets 
	   don't pay off fast enough, Dave points out that the DELUXE is a 
	   perfect way for beginners to rack up points and maybe even win a 
	   Special!

	3. Go for the roll over button in that long shot up the left lane. 
	   Scoring builds up fast here. And, by the way, this is a great place 
	   to win Extra Balls.

	4. Drop the In-Line Targets to multiply your Bonus.

	5. Sink your ball into the Corner Pocket to collect that Bonus - over 
	   and over.

Both of the last two shots, however, require deadly accuracy. Miss them and 
you risk a ricochet down the drain. Once your accuracy has come, though, these 
two skill shots will cut holes in your scoring ceiling and rocket you into the 
Pro Zone.

Thanks, Dave. We'll keep practicing.

Shoot-Out in New York City

Eight Ball Deluxe, the Amtex computer edition, had its first public 
competition at one of pinball's biggest and most prestigious tournaments: 
PAPA III. This battle of skill and strategy took place at the Park Central 
Hotel in the middle of February, 1993.

Outside, a wild snowstorm swirled through the canyons of Manhattan, clogging 
roads and pummeling pedestrians. Inside, the best players in the USA battled 
for pinball game glory on the latest machines from the industry giants 
Premier, Bally/Williams and Data East.

Inner Circle of Pinball

That year, by special invitation, AMTEX was there too, marking the first time 
a computer software company was ever invited to this inner circle of 
traditional pinball. It was here that we unveiled our latest game, the Mac 
Edition of Eight Ball Deluxe, and won acclaim from those who know pinball 
best.

The Score to Beat

Hundreds of pinball fans played Eight Ball Deluxe thousands of times that 
weekend. Many hit 1,000,000 points. A few even topped 2,000,000. Three 
actually broke 3,000,000. But the best score of all was claimed by Frank Romeo 
Jr., who racked up an unbelievable 5,511,290 points! 

IBM PC System Requirements:

Eight Ball Deluxe 2.0 runs on IBM PC or compatible with 386 or higher 
processor.

RAM
3 MB for full game experience; 2 MB without sound card.

Hard Disk
3MB of hard disk space required.

Graphics

	For the hi-res Stationary Playfield:
	SVGA Monitor and Video Card with at least 512K VRAM.
	VESA driver for your Video Card or VESA equipped 
	Video Card.

	For the Scrolling Playfield:
	VGA or MCGA Video Card and Monitor.

Sound

Internal PC speaker or Sound Blaster compatible sound card.

Laptops

Works on most IBM PC compatibles equipped with either colour or mono VGA, 
provided they meet the CPU and RAM requirements. Action may blur on passive 
matrix displays, but plays hot and sharp on newer, active matrix machines.

Unleash the Power!

In order to bring you pinball action that's as realistic and and exciting as 
possible, we've designed Eight Ball Deluxe 2.0 to take full advantage of the 
power rippling  beneath the surface of your computer system.

To unleash it, you must first ensure that the sound, video and RAM of your 
system are configured for action. There's no room for TSR "cobwebs" or 
multitasking memory flab.

So wipe down your palms. Take a few deep breaths. One of the best games ever 
designed by the pinmasters of Chicago is about to pulse into life on your 
desktop.
	  

Configuring Your Computer

The following three components of your computer system must be set  correctly 
before running Eight Ball Deluxe:

	-  RAM Memory Setup
	-  Audio Card
	-  VESA Video Driver

Ram Memory Setup

Minimum 1712K of Expanded (EMS) Memory or 912K without sound card.
Minimum 520K of Conventional Memory. 
No re-allocation of any part of Video Memory.

If you're not sure how to accomplish this, please read the RAM  Memory Setup 
section of TECHNICAL NOTES, below. 

Audio Card

If your Sound Blaster or compatible audio card is already installed and 
working properly with other programs, you probably don't have to change 
anything here. 

Please refer to the Sound Card section of TECHNICAL NOTES, below, if your 
equipment includes any of the following:

	-  ATI Stereo VGA/FX video/sound card
	-  Media Vision sound card
	-  Pro Audio Spectrum
	-  CDPC XL

If you have no audio card installed, you'll still hear basic game sounds 
through your PC's speaker, though the full realism of Eight Ball Deluxe 
requires a Sound Blaster or compatible card and speakers.

VESA Video Driver

VESA video drivers are small, memory resident programs that enable different 
video cards to respond properly to VESA standard commands in SVGA mode. 

Unless you have a newer video card with VESA compatibility built into its 
hardware, the VESA driver supplied by your cards manufacturer must be loaded 
prior to running Eight Ball Deluxe in SVGA high resolution.

If you're not sure how to do this, please read the VESA Video Drivers section 
of TECHNICAL NOTES, below.

No SVGA?

Eight Ball Deluxe plays well in 256 color, scrolling-screen VGA mode without 
any VESA video  drivers or SVGA equipment.


Microsoft Windows 3.1

Microsoft Windows places a heavy load on a computer's CPU. Even with a fast 
486 it is not possible to experience optimal performance from a processor-
intensive game while Windows is active. Exit Windows before installing or 
playing Eight Ball Deluxe.

IBM OS/2

Eight Ball Deluxe can be run as a DOS application under OS/2 v2.1.  For setup 
information, please refer to the Operation Under OS/2 section of TECHNICAL 
NOTES, below.

Networks

Eight Ball Deluxe has been tested successfully on network servers.  However, 
it would be wise to go off line until after you've installed and played your 
first game.

Customizing Start Up

While you're waiting for the game to load the first time and take you to the 
Pinball Cafe, check out the following two ways of customizing your game play:

Command Line Options

Note that you can change the nudge keys, match up to an old, cranky VESA 
driver and more, by adding parameters to your start-up command. Read all about 
it under Command Line Options in the TECHNICAL NOTES section.

Easy Start

Combine all start-up instructions into one simple command! See Easy Start, in 
the TECHNICAL NOTES section. 


The Pinball Cafe

Welcome to the hub of Amtex computer pinball! Always open.

Explore the Cafe with your mouse or else press the <Tab> key to cycle through 
the options, then hit <Enter> to select. To return to the Pinball Cafe from 
any feature, press <Esc>. Press <Esc> again to exit Eight Ball Deluxe.

Game Start      

Yes! Press"S" from anywhere in the Pinball Cafe to go directly to a new game 
of Eight Ball Deluxe. 

Multi-Player Option

Before launching the first ball, you can set up the machine to keep track of 
as many as 4 players. Press the "S" key once for each player.

Top Ten Board

Look here for the best scores achieved on your machine under tournament 
settings. 


Magnet Ball

Click your mouse cursor on the red magnet hanging over the pinball machine to 
enable this incredible feature and start the game. Then use your mouse as a 
powerful magnet to draw the pinball around and explore the game at will. 
Pressing the left mouse button activates the magnet; releasing it allows 
gravity to take over.

All game features and scoring work just like in the regular game, except that 
high scores are not recorded. 

Use Magnet Ball to explore the game rules and formulate your own strategy. 
Discover the many ways to rack up points. Make the most of each game, no 
matter how it develops.


Behind the Back Glass

Use your mouse to click on the Back Glass of the pinball machine, or else 
<Tab> to the Back Glass and press <Enter>. It will swing open. 

Now use your mouse or <Tab> through the controls until you get to the one you 
want, then use your "+" and "-" keys to adjust its value.

Pitch 

Vary the incline of the playfield and thus the speed of the game. 

Voltage 

Raise or lower game voltage to affect the power of the flippers, thumper and 
slingshot bumpers.

Reset

Punch "+" here to reset all variables for Tournament Play.  Only Tournament 
scores make it to the Top Ten Board.

Sound Source 

Cycle between Sound Card, PC speaker or OFF.

Mouse

Switch your mouse ON (+) or OFF (-).


SELECTING YOUR PLAYFIELD DISPLAY

Here, behind the Back Glass, you may select your playfield option by clicking 
on the arrows of the Resolution switch.

If your hardware supports SVGA, and your VESA driver is working, you'll have a 
choice of resolutions up to 1280x1024. Selecting 800x600 will fill your screen 
from top to bottom with a stationary playfield, while 320x240 will fill your 
screen from side to side with a scrolling playfield.

For the playfield to be completely stationary, your video card and monitor 
must be able to support a resolution of at least 800x600 in 256 colors. At 
640x480, the playfield extends a little above and below the screen, but will 
scroll slightly to keep the ball in view. This option, combining a large 
playfield display with a clear view of flippers and targets, is the choice of 
many pros.

Game Play On The PC

Control Keys  

Like most pinball games, Eight Ball Deluxe has one plunger knob, two flipper 
buttons and a start button:

	-  Start New Game:      "S" key
	-  Add a player:        "S" key (before the launch of  ball one)
	-  Pull back plunger:   <Alt> key 
	-  Left Flipper:        Left <Shift> key
	-  Right Flipper:       Right <Shift> key

Additional computer commands:

	-  Synchronize playfield display (SVGA only): 
		 <Crtl-V> toggles through 4 VESA modes
	-  Score Display Bar (Scrolling Screen only):    
		 <Enter> key toggles on/off
	-  Audio: "A" key toggles on/sound card/off
	-  Game Pause: "P" key toggles on/off
	-  Return to Pinball Cafe: <Esc> key
	-  Exit Cafe to DOS: <Esc> key

Nudging or "Body English"

Once the ball is in play, you can give it extra speed by nudging the playfield 
at the moment the ball collides with any object, such as a bumper or rail. But 
watch out or you'll TILT!

	Nudge Up                <spacebar>
	Nudge 45 Degrees Right  "Z" key
	Nudge 45 Degrees Left   "/" key

Using the Mouse to Play Pinball

Launching the ball:
	Hold down the left button, draw back the mouse, then  release.
	
Flippers: 
	Once the ball is in play, the left and right mouse buttons operate the  
	flippers.


High Score Registration

Rung up a high score while on Tournament settings? Go on, take credit for it! 


Technical Notes


Command Line Options

You can start Eight Ball Deluxe using extra parameters, in any order. Use as 
many as you like.

For example: 

8balldlx nosb notitles oldvesa <enter>

help      - Summary.

nosb      - Tells the game to ignore the Sound Blaster or 
	    compatible sound card entirely.

nosound   - Start silently. The PC speaker can be re-enabled
	    inside the game.

notitles  - Go directly to the pinball cafe (no intro)

nomouse   - Ignore mouse.

pause     - Pauses the game after execution. May be useful for catching error                
	    messages.

ball1     - Use default ball.

ball2     - Use slightly smaller ball.

ball3     - Use huge ball.

nudgeXXXX - Configure the Nudge keys. 
	    Default is nudgezZ/?.

oldvesa   - Used to gain compatibility with older SVGA cards.  
	    Run your VESA driver, then enter 
	    8balldlx oldvesa. While at the playfield, press 
	    <Ctrl-V> to toggle through VESA modes until you 
	    get the best display. If it doesn't  help in one
	    resolution,  try another (lower) resolution.

vesascrolling   - Uses the VESA driver for scrolling and
		  nudging instead of relying on (faster) direct  hard
		  ware access. Apply if  nudging doesn't appear to 
		  work, or if the 640x480  mode won't scroll.

RAM Memory Set-Up

To see how DOS is currently allocating your RAM memory, at the DOS prompt 
type:
	  mem <enter>

At least 1712K of Expanded (EMS) Memory and 520K of Conventional Memory must 
be available to run Eight Ball Deluxe.  If you do not have a sound card 
installed, you can get by with only 912K Expanded Memory and 520K of 
Conventional Memory.

Expanded Memory can be created by the use of a memory manager such as 
EMM386.EXE, which is included with DOS. EMM386.EXE is used as a device driver 
within your CONFIG.SYS file.

System Setup Example (DOS 5 or higher)

To allocate enough of the right kind of memory (EMS), you may have to change 
your usual setup. Here is an example of what to include in the two key files 
that determine your system's operating environment whenever you turn on your 
computer. 

CONFIG.SYS:

	  Device = c:\dos\himem.sys
	  Device = c:\dos\emm386.exe 1712 ram
	  DOS = HIGH, UMB
	  DeviceHigh=c:\dos\setver.exe

AUTOEXEC.BAT:

	  LoadHigh c:\dos\smartdrv a b c

In this case HIMEM.SYS provides High Memory, and EMM386.EXE provides Upper 
Memory and EMS.  

Note that loading memory resident programs (TSRs) into Upper Memory using 
DeviceHigh and LoadHigh, as in the example above, leaves more "Conventional 
Memory" or workspace free for your main programs.

Norton Anti-Virus

Avoid any TSR's that are not absolutely necessary. For example, some versions 
of the Norton Anti-Virus memory resident program are incompatible with Eight 
Ball Deluxe 2.0 and prevent it from running.


Video Memory Re-Allocation

Do not allow the DOS 6.x MEMMAKER or other memory optimization program to take 
away any part of your video BIOS memory, not even the "monochrome region". 
Eight Ball Deluxe 2.0 employs advanced video programming and requires full use 
of this area.

QEMM

While Quarterdeck's QEMM is an excellent memory manager, do NOT use its 
"Stealth" option because this re-allocates important parts of video BIOS and 
other memory addresses normally reserved by DOS and vital to Eight Ball Deluxe 
2.0. 
 
Otherwise QEMM should work very well, provided you are using a stable release. 
If you are running QEMM 7, make sure you've upgraded to 7.03 or higher. 
Versions 7.0 - 7.02 have proven unstable.  Free upgrades are available from 
Quarterdeck.

Creating a Start-Up Disk

DOS 5

If you do not want to modify your permanent CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files, 
you can create a "clean" start-up or boot disk with special CONFIG.SYS and 
AUTOEXEC.BAT files that carry no unnecessary baggage.  The two previous 
examples are a good starting  place.  To create a clean boot disk, begin by 
using the format command with the /s /v parameters (e.g. format a: /s /v), 
then add your two lean start-up files.  For more information on this topic,  
refer to the file CLEAN.TXT included on your program disk.  

Also, please refer to the "Optimizing Your System" chapter of your DOS 
instructions, particularly the sections "Making More Memory Available" and 
"Running Programs in Upper Memory", for a thorough explanation of memory 
management.  A little research here will give you valuable insight into the 
operation of your computer.  Otherwise, have an experienced computer user help 
you with this process. 

DOS 6

If you have DOS 6.x with DOUBLESPACE and are switching drive names, use your 
DOS 6 Setup disk to create a startup disk, then add those lean, mean 
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. 

The preferred method, however, would be to take advantage of a powerful new 
feature of DOS 6 and create a Startup Menu Option for your Eight Ball Deluxe 
sessions. That way, pinball will always be handy but never in the way. 

Once again, see your DOS instructions for details. It's worth it.


Sound Cards

Sound Blaster

Creative Labs, the makers of Sound Blaster, tested Eight Ball Deluxe in their 
Test Labs and found that all of their sound cards with a DSP chip of 2.0 or 
higher support the advanced sound programming of Eight Ball Deluxe 1.0. Now, 
Eight Ball Deluxe 2.0 extends this compatibility to earlier versions of Sound 
Blaster as well. 

Sound Blaster cards work well with their default (factory) settings or when 
configured as follows:

	I/O Port
	220 or 240
	
	Interrupt (IRQ)
	2, 5 or 7
	
	DMA
	1

Sound Blaster 16 Series

To enable these high end cards to play digitized sound, the blaster 
environment string must be set.  A program usually called "sbconfig.exe" must 
also be run to configure the card to the settings in the environment string. 
These lines are normally installed in your autoexec.bat file. For further 
details, please see your Sound Blaster documentation.  Other Sound Blaster 
cards do not require a blaster environment string.

ATI Sound Card

The ATI Stereo VGA/FX video/sound card has a special feature called 
"buffering" This is intended to improve sound quality, but unfortunately it 
requires close attention of the CPU, which has to wait for the card to accept 
new sample data. This feature dramatically slows down game play. You can check 
this when running the game by turning the sound off and on using the "A" key.

The setup program of the card (usually \vgautil\vinstall.exe) includes an 
option to turn this feature off.  The sound may be a bit "clicky", but still 
operational.  This setting can improve performance of other software suffering 
from the same problem.

Sometimes the ATI Stereo VGA/FX and other sound cards hang up internally. 
Reset the card by using a program that comes with it.  In the case of the ATI 
card, it's most likely c:\sfx\reset.exe. You may want to include this reset 
command within your autoexec.bat file for automatic execution on computer 
start up.

Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum Sound Card and CDPC XL

This board often starts up very quietly.  You can change its volume by holding 
down the <CTRL> and <ALT> keys simultaneously with the U and D keys to move 
volume Up or Down. 

If you'd prefer to start automatically with a higher sound level, you can 
modify the MVSOUND.SYS Device Driver in your CONFIG.SYS file to include the 
V:# parameter, with # being a value between 1 and 100. This sets the initial 
volume. V:65 works well for us.  See your Media Vision documentation for more 
information.


VESA Video Drivers

Why You Probably Need One

VGA was the first popular IBM video display standard to be considered "high 
resolution".  Making its debut in a market that was hungry for finely 
detailed, colorful graphics, VGA spread quickly.  Since its specifications had 
been blueprinted in detail by IBM, there was no ambiguity.  In fact, VGA still 
provides both software and hardware developers a universal and extremely 
stable means of handling 256 color displays at resolution of 320x240, or 16 
color displays at 640x480. 

Unfortunately, VGA had barely hit the streets before people began demanding 
more.  Video manufacturers, responded by scrambling in all directions to give 
them what they wanted.  It wasn't long before the first "Super VGA" cards 
arrived, delivering 256 colors and more at resolutions of 640x480 and higher. 
Trouble was, none of these SVGA cards did things the same way.  Each new 
improvement seemed to make the nightmare worse, until finally, an evolving set 
of standard resolutions and command sets was hammered out by the Video 
Electronics Standards Association (VESA) in cooperation with major 
manufacturers. 

To enable their cards to comply to this VESA norm, manufacturers now supply 
little patches called "drivers" which must be run prior to a VESA application. 
For this reason, in order to use the SVGA options of Eight Ball Deluxe 2.0, 
you must first load the VESA driver that matches your video card.

Why You Might Not: Built-in VESA

Today, many new SVGA cards have VESA compatibility built in.  To find out if 
yours is among them, simply run Eight Ball Deluxe without loading any VESA 
driver. Then go into the Back Glass and check to see if any resolutions higher 
than 320x240 are available. 

If they appear you're in luck and won't have to worry about VESA compatibility 
any more.  None of the instructions for loading a VESA video driver apply to 
you.

VESA Local Bus Video

VESA has also laid down standards for "local bus" high speed data transfer 
between CPU and video card (or hard drive, or other peripheral).  This is an 
entirely different feature that has nothing to do with the video drivers 
required for VESA SVGA display.


Locating your VESA driver

Some computers are sold with their video card's drivers already loaded into a 
directory on the hard drive (i.e. \MACH32).  Alternatively, the video drivers 
may be on a floppy drive provided by the manufacturer.  Some clone computers, 
unfortunately, are sold without any video drivers except the one that provides 
the most basic Microsoft DOS and Windows capability.

If you can't find a VESA driver for your computer's video card, you have three 
choices:

	1. Call your computer dealer and ask for it.

	2. Phone your video card's manufacturer and get one sent to you by 
	   mail, or download it by modem from CompuServe or your 
	   manufacturer's BBS.

	3. Use the UNIVBE universal VESA driver included on the CD in the
           UNIVBE directory.

UniVBE

UniVBE is designed to work with a wide variety of video cards. It may be
the quickest solution for users who cannot locate the VESA driver native
to their own video card.

This driver is provided by Amtex for the convenience of our customers.
It has been independently developed by SciTech Software and is included
with 8 Ball Deluxe under license from SciTech.

You may use it freely on your own computer, but it is not shareware or
freeware.

For more information about UniVBE, please refer to SciTech Software's
documentation, which is located in the UNIVBE directory of your
program CD. View the univbe.txt file using any DOS text editor.

If, after reading univbe.txt, you wish to proceed with the installion of
UniVBE, please make sure you're in DOS. Then change to the univbe directory
of your installation CD and type:

	install <Enter>


STB Video Card

This VESA driver must be installed before loading your mouse or any other 
video driver.  The best way to accomplish this is to call it on the first line 
of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  Copy the driver itself into the root directory of 
you hard drive, or any other directory named in your PATH statement.

Other Video Cards

Unless your video card, like the STB, specifically requires you to install its 
VESA driver ahead of other drivers, you may run the VESA driver whenever you 
decide to play Eight Ball Deluxe.

Old SVGA Video Cards

Your card may have been manufactured during the time when VESA standards were 
still unsettled, especially if you cant find a drivers disk for your video 
card.  There are three Trident VESA drivers, for example, included in 
VESADRV2.ZIP: vesa.exe, oldvesa.exe and oldrvesa.exe.  If necessary, try them 
all.

It may be that your card is almost, but not quite, compatible with the VESA 
standard. To facilitate a match with one of these cards, include the oldvesa 
parameter on the command line when you start Eight Ball Deluxe, i.e.:

	8balldlx oldvesa <enter>

From the Pinball Cafe, open the Back Glass, choose the least aggressive SVGA 
option to start with (640x480), then press "s" to begin playing.

In the event that you have several VESA drivers to choose from, reboot your 
computer before trying each new version.

Stabilizing Your Display

Does your SVGA playfield flicker when you hit a nudge key? Is it possibly 
even totally scrambled? Fear not.  Help is at hand.

This inconvenience sometimes occurs because several incompatible variations of 
VESA compliance emerged from video card manufacturers before standards finally 
settled. If you own an early SVGA video card, your hi-res display may thus 
come up looking pretty weird.  Fortunately, Eight Ball Deluxe is capable of  
syncing up to 4 different variations of VESA with a simple toggle from the 
keyboard.  All you have to do is press <Ctrl-V> to cycle through the 4 main 
flavors.  Wait up to 30 seconds between key presses for the display to 
stabilize. 

Nudge Doesn't Seem To Work

If your display is too stable, i.e. the playfield doesn't move when you nudge 
it, use the vesascrolling parameter when starting Eight Ball Deluxe.  Please 
see the Command Line Options section of TECHNICAL NOTES for details.

Don't have VESA SVGA?

Don't despair. You can still enjoy all the action of Eight Ball Deluxe in 
scrolling screen mode. 320x200 resolution is always available to fill your 
screen with 256 beautiful colors.  All the targets, strategies, bonuses and 
specials of this great game are available to challenge you.

VGA Problems

Screen Appears Black

On some older VGA boards connected to a monochrome or even color VGA monitor 
the screen may appear black and stay black when starting up Eight Ball Deluxe. 
In that case, try typing mode co80 before you run Eight Ball Deluxe, which 
should switch your VGA card into color mode.  Press <Esc> several times to 
return to DOS.  Your screen should return to normal.

Some really old VGA cards won't work at all; these are not 100% VGA 
compatible.  Refer to your VGA manual for switch and jumper settings.  Try 
every possible combination as long as your VGA manual indicates that what 
you're doing is safe.  Also, turn your computer OFF and UNPLUG it BEFORE you 
open your computer to look for jumpers!

Choppy Movement

VGA boards are normally AT boards that go into an AT slot.  Because of this, 
all VGA graphics movement slows down the system.  This, in combination with a 
slower computer, such as the 386 SX/16, may result in the appearance of choppy 
animation when you activate the flippers.  Eight Ball Deluxe automatically 
slows down the frame rate as necessary in order to maintain a realistic game 
speed.

Operation Under OS/2

Eight Ball Deluxe operates in a DOS shell much better under OS/2 than it does 
under MS Windows.  For optimal performance, the following parameters should be 
modified from the OS/2 Default configuration.

	HW_TIMER                       ON
	IDLE_SENSITIVITY               100
	INT_DURING_IO                  ON
	VIDEO_8514A_XGA_IOTRAP         OFF
	VIDEO_RETRACE_EMULATION        OFF

This game was tested under OS/2 v2.1

Error Messages

If the installation is incomplete, or if after installation you accidentally 
delete one or more files, the program will exit and display a message. If the 
first message refers to a filename, simply reinstall Eight Ball Deluxe on top 
of its existing directory.

Fll Sprs

This message is usually caused by insufficient available space on  your hard 
disk drive.  Eight Ball Deluxe issues this message if there is not enough room 
to build its data caches.  Should it  appear on screen, make some room on your 
hard drive, delete all files within the \8balldlx\caches subdirectory, and 
start the game again.


Not Enough Memory Available

Eight Ball Deluxe needs about 520KB of conventional memory to run.  Some 
drivers or TSR's loaded by config.sys or autoexec.bat take away too much 
conventional memory.  If you have DOS 5 or higher and  are not familiar with 
the technique of loading devices and TSR's into upper memory, please refer to 
your DOS manual to help you set up your system more efficiently.  Also take a 
look at the Memory Set-Up section, above.

If you still can't run Eight Ball Deluxe, REM out some device drivers or TSR's 
until the game plays successfully.

Allocation Failure

There are several memory allocation failure messages.  Usually this indicates 
a lack of sufficient conventional memory.  See preceding section.

Other Messages

If you get other error messages, or if the program does not seem to run 
properly, double check to make sure your system meets the minimum 
requirements, then check your computer's configuration and installation 
procedure.  Most mysterious crashes are due to insufficient Conventional or 
EMS Memory.

Scan this document carefully for any references that apply to your system or 
its components and take appropriate action.  Also look for a README.TXT file 
included with Eight Ball Deluxe.  Late-breaking announcements are posted 
there.  Chances are very good that the answer to your problems can be found 
either within these pages or inside README.TXT. 

Pinball Cafe

You walk out of the brilliant, clay-cracking Nevada sun into a cool, quiet, 
Western bar.  It's dark in here.  At first, all you can see is a red and blue 
neon sign curving over the bar, and then, glowing in the corner, a pinball 
machine.  It's Eight Ball Deluxe.

Your quarter drops.  The machine chimes into life.  Features flash over the 
playfield and the score resets with a series of chunks that burst through the 
stillness like a Gattling gun ringing the bells of the Alamo.

Smiling as she brushes past you, the pretty bartender clicks an ice cold beer 
onto the top glass.  You take a sip and smile at her.  You pull back the 
plunger.

The game is on.
