Starship Troopers F.A.Q.






	CHOOSE A QUESTION FROM THE LIST BELOW TO JUMP QUICKLY TO THE ANSWER, OR SIMPLY SCROLL DOWN TO READ THROUGH THE ENTIRE F.A.Q.: What are the specifications for the game? Which Graphics cards are supported by the game? How do I install the software? How do I uninstall the Software? What are the default game controls? What settings do you recommend I set within the game options? Are there any issues regarding Multiplayer? Are there any issues regarding Movie Playback? Do you have any locations from which I can obtain updated drivers? What if I experience a crash to desktop or freeze? The game installs but when I start it, it loads, and all that appears on the screen is "Loading..." in the bottom right hand corner. What do I do next? When I start a game, I receive an error message similar to one of the following: Signal out of Range -or- Out Of Scan Range -or- Horizontal frequency is out of range. Why am I getting this error? The flashlight when activated shines into the top left hand corner of the screen and does not illuminate the area or items in front of me. How do I fix this? I understand that the global.settings file found in the My Documents\Empire Interactive\SST\Settings folder holds information regarding the game settings. Can this effect the performance of the game? I've read throught the entire F.A.Q. and I still cannot find the solution to my problem. Is there anyone I can talk to? What are the specifications for the game? Minimum: OS: XP Service Pack 2 (Home or Professional), 2.0 GHz CPU, 512mb RAM, Video Card: 128 MB with hardware vertex and pixel shaders, must be DDI version 9 or higher compatible 4 GB Free Hard Drive Space. Sound: Directx 9.0c compatible, Direct X: 9.0c Keyboard & Mouse DVD-ROM drive Recommended: OS: XP Service Pack 2 (Home or Professional). 3.0 GHz CPU, 1024 MB RAM, GeForce 6800, 4 GB Free Hard Drive Space. Sound: Directx 9.0c compatible, Direct X: 9.0c Keyboard & Mouse DVD-ROM drive To ensure that you have DirectX 9.0c installed and that your Graphics card is DirectX 9.0 compatible please use the following instructions. From your Windows Desktop. - Click on the Start button, - Click on the Run option, - Type dxdiag and press your Enter key or click OK, - The Direct X Diagnostic Tool will load up, - The information displayed will contain all of your system details. - The last line of the system information will be the version of DirectX you have installed. - This should read DirectX 9.0c or higher. - To check the DirectX compatibility of the Graphics Card, click on the Display Tab at the top of the screen, look in the Driver details section on the right hand side and check that the last line reads DDI Version 9. If the version is lower than 9 then the card is not compatible. <back> Which Graphics cards are supported by the game? ‘Starship Troopers’ requires a 128 MB video card with hardware vertex and pixel shader support. ‘Starship Troopers’ ONLY SUPPORTS the following video cards: Nvidia GeForceFX* 5600/5700/5800/5900 series. Nvidia GeForce 6 and 7 series. (* NOT LE versions) ATI Radeon 9600 Pro and XT/9700/9800 series. ATI Radeon X300/X600/X700/X800 series ( NOT the 9700SE or onboard versions) <back> How do I install the software? Insert the DVD into your PC If the disc does not Auto Run then do the following: Select My Computer. Select your DVD-Rom Drive (E.g. D:), Right Mouse click on it, choose the “Open” option, and locate and run the Setup.exe - Follow the onscreen instructions. Run the game by selecting Start > Program Files > Empire Interactive > Starship Troopers or click on the shortcut created on your desktop. <back> How do I uninstall the Software? To uninstall the game select either Uninstall Troopers from Start > Program Files > Empire Interactive > Starship Troopers or from Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs. Follow the on-screen instructions to remove 'Starship Troopers' from your PC. <back> What are the default game controls? W, S, A, D = These control the player’s movement C = Crouch Left mouse button = Primary fire Right Mouse button = Secondary fire R = Reload G = Throw Grenade 1 to 9 = Select specific weapons [ = Previous weapon ] = Next weapon E = Interact\Use F = Flashlight on/off All these keys and more are configurable by accessing the Options > Controls from the front end or while playing the game. Note: ‘Starship Troopers’ does not support game pads or joysticks. <back> What settings do you recommend I set within the game options? We recommend the following settings for ‘Starship Troopers’: Minimum Spec System: Video Mode = 640x480 Terrain Shadows = Low Model Shadows = None Soft Shadows = Off Adaptive Quality = Best Performance Dynamic Light Quality = Off Texture Quality = Low Shader Quality = Low Medium Spec System: Video Mode = 800x600 Terrain Shadows = Low Model Shadows = None Soft Shadows = Off Adaptive Quality = Best Quality Dynamic Light Quality = Med Texture Quality = Med Shader Quality = Med Recommended Spec System: Video Mode = 1024x768 Terrain Shadows = High Model Shadows = High Soft Shadows = On Adaptive Quality = Best Quality Dynamic Light Quality = High Texture Quality= High Shader Quality = High FRAMERATE ISSUES: The options that most effect speed and quality are: ‘Model Shadows’, ‘Video Mode’ and ‘Shader Quality’. ‘Dynamic Lighting’ can also have a big effect on lower spec PCs. If you want to increase the speed of ‘Starship Troopers’ we suggest that you lower these settings first. Texture Quality: We recommended the following settings depending on the ram on your graphics card: 128 MB = Low/Med (depending on the speed of your graphics card). 256 MB + = High Adaptive Quality should only be turned off by the advanced user. This allows individual control of model and effects quality by the user. Shadows Note: Shadows are very intensive on hardware. It is advised that you lower the video resolution if you desire shadows. ‘Starship Troopers’ is a very advanced software product and contains graphical scenes of great complexity.'Starship Troopers’ includes options that can be adjusted to improve the performance of the software if you encounter any issues regarding slowdown / sound or graphical errors. If these issues cannot be rectified using the settings / updates that we recommend then you may have to review the available resource on your PC or the hardware specifications / drivers. SOUND / VIDEO ACCELEARTION OPTIONS: Sound Acceleration: - Click on the Start button, - Click on the Run... icon, - Type 'dxdiag' and press either your Enter key or press 'OK', - The Direct X Diagnostic Tool will load up, - Click on the Sound tab at the top, - Under DirectX features is a slider for Hardware Acceleration, lower this to the bottom notch, - Play the game. If the game improves this time you can then repeat the previous statements but increase the notch by one until you find a balance between the game and your system. Video Acceleration: -Right click on your Desktop -Left click on Properties -Left click on Settings tab -Left click on Advanced button -Left click on the Performance Tab Note: (This option may vary depending on the Video card installed, you may have to check the tab options that are available until you find the Hardware acceleration control ) -Adjust the Accelerator slider option in steps indicated by the scale from full to none. -Click on Apply -Click on OK -Try the game again. Note: The adjustments you make are in steps indicated by the scale markings from Full to None so you might have to adjust this more than once. <back> Are there any issues regarding Multiplayer? ‘Starship Troopers’ requires that the Windows Firewall is configured to allow it access to the Internet (by default, Windows blocks all new programs). You can activate ‘Starship Troopers’ in the firewall during install. Alternatively there are 2 other ways to do this: Method 1: Automatic Firewall setup: Step 1: When you first attempt to access the Server List or create a multiplayer game, the Windows firewall will pop up and ask you whether you should block or unblock 'Starship Troopers'. On some systems, the windows message will appear 'behind' the game and you will not have direct access to it (you should hear a Windows error message sound effect). If this is so go to step 2, if you can see the Windows message box then go to step 3. Step 2: Press 'alt' and 'tab' together to return to the desktop, click 'unblock' and maximise 'Starship Troopers' again. If ‘alt’ and ‘tab’ does not return you to the desktop, quit out of the game and follow method 2. Step 3: You should choose 'unblock' to allow you to play multiplayer. Method 2: Manual Firewall setup: Step 1: From your Windows desktop select Control Panel > Windows Firewall. Step 2: Select the 'Exceptions' tab. Step 3: 'Starship Troopers' should be in the list. Highlight it and click 'ok'. The Windows Firewall will now let ‘Starship Troopers’ access the Internet for multiplayer games. If ‘Starship Troopers’ is not in the list then go to step 4. Step 4: Click on ‘Add Program’ and then on 'browse' and navigate to the folder you installed 'Starship Troopers' to (by default this is 'C:/Program Files/Empire Interactive/Strangelite/Starship Troopers'). Step 5: Select the 'STGame.exe' file and click 'open', then 'ok'. 'Starship Troopers' should now be in the list with a tick next to it. Click ‘ok’ and the Windows Firewall will now let ‘Starship Troopers’ access the Internet for multiplayer games. 'Starship Troopers' uses NAT-enabled network code; this means that for most users you should be able to Host and Join games without the need to alter your router settings. If you are having problems then the following ports need to be opened on your router (see your router instruction manual on how to do this): UDP 3304 UDP 3307 Please note the following regarding MULTIPLAYER option. If network problems are experienced, users can try to switch off "protection" features of NAT devices, eg. firewalls, DoS prevention, Intrusion Detection Systems, etc. These are known to interfere with game traffic. Please be aware that doing this will reduce the security of your PC. If you wish to do this then please see your router instruction manual for how to do this. To enhance connectivity, port forwarding can be used in the NAT. It is usually enough to forward UDP port 3074. However, it is safer to forward ports 3074-3080, as the title may end up using these if 3074 becomes blocked for any reason. Please see your router instruction manual for how to do this. <back> Are there any issues regarding Movie Playback? If you are having troubles with the quality of speed of the film footage included in ‘Starship Troopers’ we suggest that - You defragment your hard drive - Ensure that you are using Windows Media Player 10 (or later) - You can download Windows Media Player here if you are using an earlier version: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/download/download.aspx If you have the FFDShow codec installed then the movies will play in a separate window. To fix this issue you have to remove the FFDShow codec from your PC. <back> Do you have any locations from which I can obtain updated drivers? To ensure that ‘Starship Troopers’ runs smoothly and to maximise your enjoyment we recommend using the latest drivers. The website list below is for some of the major manufacturers but please contact your supplier if you are unsure of the correct drivers required for your machine. Nvidia - http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp ATI - https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&folderID=27 Creative Labs - http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/ DirectX - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/ Information for Customers that have GeForce 6600 and 6200 Graphics cards. Users of GeForce 6600 and 6200 will notice overbright glow shaders when using driver version 81.85. User should either use a different driver or follow these steps to rectify the situation 1. Open the global.settings file found in the My Documents\Empire Interactive\SST\Settings folder using a text editor, such as Windows Notepad. 2. Locate the "Glow" field (located under the "Other" field) 3. Change the value from 1 to 0 (no glow) or 2 (partial glow) Issues regarding the 8185 version drivers for Nvidia cards. We have found out that reverting back to a driver prior to version 8185 regarding some of the Nvidia Cards has resolved issues regarding the software not launching correctly or displaying a black screen. Always create a restore point before updating drivers in case you encounter issues regarding changing drivers. <back> What if I experience a crash to desktop or freeze? In the rare event that you experience a system error (crash to desktop or freeze) it could be that your audio drivers are out of date. You should always ensure that you are using the latest audio drivers for your sound card. If this does not fix the problem you should try the following to disable Sound Hardware Acceleration:- 1) From the Start Menu select Settings then Control Panel. This should open the control panel window. 2) From the Control Panel window double click on Sounds and Audio Devices to open this window. 3) Select the Audio tab on the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties Windows, and click on Advanced to open the advanced dialogue. 4) Select the Performance tab on the Advanced Audio Properties window, and lower the slider for Hardware Acceleration to NONE. <back> The game installs but when I start it, it loads, and all that appears on the screen is "Loading..." in the bottom right hand corner. What do I do next?** This could be linked to a sound issue. First of all, find out what sound card you have and update the drivers. Restart the game and you should be ok. If not, it may be your graphics card, either way, you should update all drivers. Failing that, you can use the "-skipmov" workaround. Type "-skipmov" at the end of the shortcut extension, you can find this by; right-clicking on the games shortcut on your desktop select properties type "-skipmov" at the end of the target edit box. ie: "C:\Program Files\Empire Interactive\Strangelite\Starship Troopers\STGame.exe" –skipmov <back>* When I start a game, I receive an error message similar to one of the following: Signal out of Range -or- Out Of Scan Range -or- Horizontal frequency is out of range. Why am I getting this error? This can be related to the use of LCD or Flat Screen Monitors which cannot always achieve the correct resolution requirements of the game that you are trying to run or the signal from the video adapter exceeds the scan range of the monitor or the video adapter setting for updating the screen (the refresh rate) is incompatible with the monitor. These are possible workarounds that may resolve these issues but due to the new technology of the LCD and Flat Screen Monitors you may not be able to achieve the correct resolution ( due to the specification of the monitor ) for the game to perform correctly. 1. Reduce Display Settings Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Display. Click the Settings tab, and then write down the settings for Colours and Screen area. In the Colours or Colour Palette box, click High Colour (16 bit). Move the Screen area or Desktop area slider to 800 by 600 pixels, and then click OK. If you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes. Test the game again. If the issue is not resolved, continue with the next section. 2. Change the Refresh Rate for Your Video Adapter Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Display. On the Settings tab, click Advanced. On the Adapter tab, click Adapter default under Refresh rate, and then click Ok. NOTE: If there is not an Adapter tab, you cannot change the refresh rate for your video adapter. If you are prompted to test the setting, click OK. 3. Change the Refresh Rate Setting in DirectX Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type dxdiag.exe, and then click OK. On the More Help tab, click Override. Click Override Value, type a refresh rate setting in the Override Value box that is supported by both your video adapter and your monitor, and then click OK. Try one value at a time. NOTE: Typical values are 60, 62, 72, and 75. Click Exit. NOTE: If you change the video refresh rate to a setting that is not supported by your monitor, you can damage your monitor. Check the documentation for your monitor or contact the manufacturer of your monitor to determine compatible refresh rates before you change the default refresh rate setting for your video adapter. To determine a refresh rate setting that is supported by both your video adapter and your monitor: Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Display. On the Settings tab, click Advanced or Advanced Properties. On the Monitor tab, make sure your monitor is selected. If an incorrect monitor is selected, or if a standard or unknown monitor is selected, click Change, click the manufacturer and model of your monitor, and then click OK. On the Adapter tab, click the Refresh Rate box. 4. Ensure that you have installed the Monitor drivers. These drivers should have been provided with the monitor or you can download them from the Monitors Manufacturers Website. Your Monitor should be recognised as its make and model or type within your Dxdiag report and not as Default or Plug and Play Monitor. <back> The flashlight when activated shines into the top left hand corner of the screen and does not illuminate the area or items in front of me. How do I fix this? 1.Delete the global.settings file found in the My Documents\Empire Interactive\SST\Settings folder 2. Start the game. 3.Go into the "Graphics Options" and change the "Shader Quality" option to low this will allow the area in front of you to be illuminated with the flashlight. <back> I understand that the global.settings file found in the My Documents\Empire Interactive\SST\Settings folder holds information regarding the game settings. Can this effect the performance of the game? We would suggest that if you encounter issues regarding graphics or game performance a good starting point is to delete the global.settings file found in the My Documents\Empire Interactive\SST\Settings folder. This file is replaced when the game is started refreshing the settings of the game. Global Settings File Guide and modifications that can be made: Note: Empire Interactive does not provide support regarding any issues that may arise from changing these settings. If the game is playing perfectly on your system - and you have no problems running the game - then it is highly recommended that you DO NOT modify any global settings. In such circumstances it is always advisable to change options that are available to you via the in-game Options screens. However, it is often the case that a small number of players experience difficulty when trying to run and play Starship Troopers. This guide aims to provide an overview of a subset of settings that the player can modify with a view to improving their gameplay experience. Global settings file: To locate the global settings file (global.settings) open "My Documents" and browse to the following directory location: ..\Empire Interactive\SST\Settings The directory should contain the global.settings file. This file is a simple text file and can be edited using your favorite text editor. (NOTE: Before making any changes to this file it is always worthwhile making a backup copy first!) First things to try: If you are having trouble running the game there are a few things you can do beforehand. The first thing is to ensure you are running a legitimate version of the game and that you have the latest drivers installed for your system hardware. Additionally it is worth making sure you have the latest version of DirectX installed (v9.0c at the time of writing). If you are happy that you are running the latest drivers, and your system AT LEAST meets the minimum recommended spec, then there is another option available to you. (This is also a good idea if you have installed Starship Troopers and then changed your graphics hardware in the meantime). Simply locate and delete your global.settings file - or rename it to something different. NOTE: you will obviously lose any previous global setting changes you have made. The next time you run the game two things happen. Firstly, the game recreates the global settings file with default values. Secondly, the game then queries your available graphics hardware and attempts to automatically set relevant settings / values for your system. This is done transparently and without requiring any interaction from the user. In some cases this has been known to fix rendering and gameplay issues. Taking it further: If you have tried the steps outlined above and are still experiencing problems with Starship Troopers then the remainder of this guide may be useful to you. It briefly describes some of the settings in the global settings file (global.settings) and the values that you can specify for that particular setting. NOTE (AGAIN!): It's a good idea to make a backup copy of this file before you go ahead and start making any changes. [ Graphics ][ ScreenXRes ] This setting is used to set your screen x-axis resolution. For example, this value would be set to 1024 if you were running the game at 1024x768, or 640 if you were running the game at 640x480. Be aware that - if you set this value to a non-recognised value or a value that your hardware / monitor cannot handle - it is likely you will be presented with a black screen when you try and run the game. If this happens then set this value back to 1024 (and ScreenYRes to 768). [ Graphics ][ ScreenYRes ] This setting is used to set your screen y-axis resolution. For example, this value would be set to 768 if you were running the game at 1024x768, or 480 if you were running the game at 640x480. Be aware that - if you set this value to a non-recognised value or a value that your hardware / monitor cannot handle - it is likely you will be presented with a black screen when you try and run the game. If this happens then set this value back to 768 (and ScreenXRes to 1024). [ Graphics ][ ScreenRefreshRate ] This setting is used to determine the refresh rate at which the game is running. If this is set to a value that your monitor cannot handle it is likely that your monitor will switch off or shutdown, and you will be presented with a blank screen. Available values are 60, 72, 75 and 85. These values are in Hz. [ Graphics ][ TextureQuality ] This setting determines the texture fidelity (or texture quality) that you see in the game. This setting can take the folowing numeric values: 1 - Highest quality textures (requiring the highest amount of available video memory) 2 - Medium quality textures 4 - Low quality textures 8 - Ultra low quality texture (requiring a minimum amount of video memory) If you find the game runs slowly and occasionally pauses (with a lot of disk accesses) then it might be worth trying to lower this value and seeing if that fixes any problems. [ Graphics ][ Shadows ] This setting determines the presence (and quality) of any shadows displayed in the game. High quality shadows can require a significant amount of resources and processing power so lowering the quality of the shadows is usually one of the first things to try if you desire higher framerates. This setting can take the following numeric values: 0 - Shadows OFF 1 - Shadows on terrain only (using lower quality texture atlas maps) 2 - Shadows on terrain only (using higher quality stencil buffer shadowing) 3 - Shadows on game models only (using higher quality stencil buffer shadowing) 4 - Shadows on terrain (using texture atlas maps) and on game models (using stencil buffer shadowing) 5 - Shadows on terrain and game models (using higher quality stencil buffer shadowing) The stencil buffer shadowing methods require signficantly more processing power... but supports self-shadowing and generally look more visually appealing. [ Graphics ][ SoftShadows ] This setting determines whether or not the shadows (if enabled) have a soft edge to them. The softened edges simulate a more natural looking shadow but at the expense of increased processing requirements. This setting can take one of two values: 0 - Soft shadows off 1 - Soft shadows on This setting only takes effect if shadows are enabled in the game. [ Audio ][ AudioQuality ] This setting is used to determine the quality of audio playback within the game. The setting can take the following values: 0 - Low quality audio playback 1 - Medium quality audio playback 2 - High quality audio playback If you are experiencing sound issues it is recommended you try lowering this value if possible. [ Other ][ Glow ] This setting is used to determine the type / quality of glow used in the game (for example, to simulate over-brightness and HDR bloom effects). This setting can take the following values: 0 - glow off 1 - glow on 2 - partial glow If you are having problems with overbright glows (or 'white-out' type rendering issues) it is worthwhile enabling the partial glow (or turning off the glow) to see if it fixes the problem. ----- Remember: If you change any other values in your global settings file the behaviour and presentation of the game may be undefined or compromised. ANY CHANGES YOU MAKE (EITHER THOSE OUTLINED ABOVE OR CHANGES OF YOUR OWN) ARE AT YOUR OWN RISK. <back> I've read throught the entire F.A.Q. and I still cannot find the solution to my problem. Is there anyone I can talk to? Should you encounter any problems with this product, always check here first. It contains the most up to date information as well as any patches or downloads that may be available. Live support is available most weekdays between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm Central Time. We may be closed on major holidays. Before calling for technical support, please be at your computer and have the following information available: Processor type and speed Operatng system version Memory (RAM) DirectX version Video card Error messages encountered and when/where you saw them. Technical Support: 763-231-8055 Support Email: support@destineerstudios.com Customer Service: 763-231-8100 <back>