_MADrigal_'s Handhelds Simulators - Frequently Asked Questions
--------------------------------------------------------------
V2002.09.06 - September 6th, 2002

site URLs: http://madrigal.retrogames.com
           http://www.madrigal.emuita.it

email:     lucantignano@email.it

Sections
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1. installation
2. sound problems
3. video problems
4. game crashes or strange behaviours
5. games requests



1. installation
---------------
Q: I can't get the "xyz" simulator to work! It keeps on prompting "Sound
   folder unproperly installed. Read instructions then reinstall."

A: 1. All of my simulators' executables search for sound samples into the
      "gamename\sound" subfolder. If the executable can't find such directory,
      the game can't be played.
      Install the game by simply right-clicking on the game icon and then
      selecting the "extract to bla\bla\bla\gamename folder" option from
      WinZip's menu.

   2. Maybe you have no DirectX drivers installed. I heard that my simulators
      sometimes can't run on Win2000 or WinNT4 OSes if there are no DirectX
      drivers installed. This is due to a sort of problem with the fmod.dll
      sound library.



2. audio problems
-----------------
Q: As I select the audio output device, my computer hangs and I have to reset
   it.

A: 1. You may be experiencing some strange uncompatibility between the
      fmod.dll (sound library included in my simulators) and your sound card.
      This especially happens with Sound Blaster Live! cards.
      I heard that there's a way to solve this awful problem: go to the "Sound
      Blaster panel" and lower the "hardware acceleration" spin by one level.
      This should make the game work correctly.

   2. You might also try downloading the latest release of the "fmod.dll" from
      http://www.fmod.org


Q: I'm asked to choose "DirectSound" or "Windows MM" output. What should I do?

A: DirectSound is faster and more stable if you're running the game in Windows
   95, 98 or ME.  Windows MM is better in case you're using Windows NT4, 2000
   or XP (since DirectX is emulated by Multimedia devices driver in those
   OSes).



3. video problems
-----------------
Q: I see cut sprites or I can't see any! Why?

A: 1. This might happen on some video cards (I heard it from some G200 and TNT
      owners) and I suppose it's due to a sort of uncompatibility between the
      24-bit images (the game background) and the 1-bit images (sprites)
      rendering.
      This sometimes causes solid sprites to become "transparent" or
      eventually transparent sprites to appear as solid (so they hide sprites
      behind them).
      I still didn't manage to solve this problem, since I have very few
      beta-testers and they all have similar video cards.

   2. Try changing your desktop settings (colour depth to 16, 24 or 32 bits)

   3. Eventually try installing the game on a different PC, and see what
      happens.



4. game crashes or strange behaviours
-------------------------------------
Q: The game sometimes crashes and prompts many error popup messages, such as
   "canvas doesn't allow drawing" or something similar...

A: Even though my games are quite small, they require a certain amount of
   system resources (I don't mean RAM eh!), so I suggest you to execute them
   after shutting all (or almost all) other applications.
   If the system has no more resources when playing... well the game might
   behave quite strangely: disappearing sprites, paused game and so on.
   Sorry for such an inconvenient, but it's mainly due to a few bugs in Delphi
   4, which I use to compile the games.



5. games requests
-----------------
Q: I noticed that you didn't make the simulator of my favourite game, that is
   "Bla bla bla". Why don't you make that simulator?

A: The reason may be:

   1. I don't have that game in my hands. I can't even think of making a
      simulator of a game I don't have access to or I've never seen before.
      I need at least to play the actual game before starting the simulation
      process, otherwise the simulator won't be accurate at all!
      Also, I can't always afford the expense of buying games to be simulated.
      Since I program "freeware" games, I don't get a single cent from my
      products - and I don't even want to!

   2. ...maybe I'm not interested into that game. =)
      I'm mainly interested into Nintendo, Mattel, Tomy, Gakken, Bandai,
      Casio, Vtech and Coleco games.

   3. If you're willing to contribute, you can lend/present me with your
      favourite game, so I will study it and then make the simulator as
      accurate as possible.
