EA GAMES(tm) presents Need for Speed(tm) Most Wanted PC Demo README THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE WHICH ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT WILL ELECTRONIC ARTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM POSSESSION, USE, OR MALFUNCTION OF THIS ELECTRONIC ARTS SOFTWARE PRODUCT. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS AS TO HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS AND/OR EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITATIONS OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND/OR EXCLUSIONS OF LIABILITY MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC RIGHTS, AND YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. ELECTRONIC ARTS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS IN THIS FILE AND TO THE SOFTWARE AT ANY TIME AND WITHOUT NOTICE. THIS FILE AND THE SOFTWARE HEREWITH IS COPYRIGHTED. ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS FILE OR THE SOFTWARE MAY BE COPIED, REPRODUCED, TRANSLATED, OR REDUCED TO ANY ELECTRONIC MEDIUM OR MACHINE-READABLE FORM WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF ELECTRONIC ARTS, P.O. BOX 9025, REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA 94063-9025, ATTN: CUSTOMER SUPPORT. (C) 2005 Electronic Arts Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. WHAT THIS FILE IS ================= This file contains information that explains important demo functionality. NOTE: Content of Web Links within this document may not be under the control of Electronic Arts. ************************************************************ TABLE OF CONTENTS ************************************************************ 1. INSTALLATION 2. BASIC KEYBOARD CONTROLS 3. SETTINGS AND OPTIONS 4. TROUBLESHOOTING 5. ONLINE 6. CONTROLLER INFORMATION 7. UNINSTALLING ************************************************************ 1. INSTALLATION ************************************************************ MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS =========================== Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional, or Windows XP Home operating system Intel Pentium 4 (or equivalent) CPU running at 1.4GHz or higher 32MB DirectX 9.0c compatible video card (Geforce2MX or higher) using a supported chipset (see below) 256 MB RAM DirectX compatible sound card 1 GB of HD space 8X CD-ROM (if using demo disc) To play online a network card is required for broadband connectivity Installation Instructions: Exit all applications. It is recommended that you do not run unnecessary background applications when installing the game. For demo disc installation, insert the demo disc into your computer's CD drive. The Autorun menu will appear as soon as your disc drive recognizes the disc. Select Install to Install the game. ************************************************************ 2. BASIC KEYBOARD CONTROLS ************************************************************ The basic keyboard controls required to play the game are: In Game Controls: Steer Left Left Arrow Steer Right Right Arrow Throttle Up Arrow Reverse Down Arrow Shift Up Shift Shift Down Left Ctrl E-brake Space Speedbreaker Right Ctrl Nitrous Alt Camera C Look Back L Enter Race / Shop Enter World Map M Read SMS Tab Blacklist B Reset Car R Pause Esc Menu Controls Highlight Menu Items Up, Down, Left and Right Arrows Cycle Choices / Move sliders Up, Down, Left and Right Arrows Select / Go to next Screen ENTER or left mouse click on selection Return to previous screen ESC Take Screenshot F12 (Screenshots are saved to My Pictures in the My Documents directory) ************************************************************ 3. SETTINGS AND OPTIONS ************************************************************ VIDEO CARD SUPPORT ================== Although Direct3D is supported, this support is only officially extended to certain 3D accelerator devices. The following major D3D chipsets are supported. ATI Radeon 7500 ATI Radeon 8500 ATI Radeon 9xxx series ATI Radeon Xpress 200 ATI Radeon X300, X600, X700, X800 series NVIDIA GeForce 2 (GTS, MX, Ultra/Ti) NVIDIA GeForce 3 (Ti) NVIDIA GeForce 4 (MX, Ti) NVIDIA GeForce FX series NVIDIA GeForce 6200, 6600, 6800, 7800 Intel 950/i915g S3 GammaChrome S18 Pro While Direct3D supports a wider variety of 3D accelerator devices, the behavior of Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo cannot be predicted in these situations. In extreme cases, running Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo with a Direct3D device that is not officially supported can lead to an unstable PC environment. SOUND CARD SUPPORT ================== Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo supports DirectSound. If your sound card driver does not support DirectSound you may experience choppy or stuttering sound or sound that cuts in and out. If your sound card driver does not support DirectSound, we recommend obtaining updated drivers from your sound card manufacturer. CD-ROM DRIVES and DVD DRIVES (IF USING DEMO DISC) ================================================== Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo requires at minimum an 8x CD-ROM/DVD drive. Disc 1 must be in the CD-ROM/DVD drive when you start the game. If your system has more than one CD-ROM/DVD drive, be sure the game disc is in the same drive from which you installed the game. DEFAULT GRAPHICS SETTINGS ============================== The first time Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo is run, a system check is performed and default levels are set for the various graphics settings. These default levels are set to provide the best game play experience possible based on the hardware detected in your system. These settings can be adjusted in the Video menu of the Options. Resolution: Use the arrows to increase or decrease the game resolution. Increasing the game’s resolution may slow down system performance. Level of Detail: Use the arrows beside the Level of Detail bar to increase or decrease global graphics setting. Increasing the Detail setting to high will improve the game’s graphics but may slow down system performance. Advanced Display Settings: Tweak individual graphics settings. (See below.) Default Settings: Reset your graphics settings to the default for your hardware configuration. Selecting Advanced Display Settings in the Video menu takes you to the Advanced Display Settings menu. The following individual settings are available to tweak to change the game’s graphics output and game performance. Turning all the settings to on may slow down system performance. Full Screen Anti-Aliasing: Adjust slider to increase/decrease pixel smoothing. Texture Filtering: Adjust the slider to increase/decrease the Quality of the textures. Vsync: Updates the screen based on the refresh rate of your monitor. World Level of Detail: Increase the amount of detail visible in world geometry. Decreasing world geometry detail may increase overall system performance. Road Reflection Detail: Increase or decrease reflections visible in the road. Shadow Detail: Increase/decrease car shadow detail. Decreased shadow detail may improve system performance. Car Geometry Detail: Setting this to High increases geometry details on the car. Car Reflection Detail: Setting this to High increases the detail of reflections visible on the car. Car Reflection Update Rate: Increase or decrease how quickly reflections are visible on the car update. Rain Effect: Rain splatter effect on/off. Over Bright: When on it increases brightness of bright areas in the game. Visual Treatment: Increase or decrease the effect of the visual treatment in the game. Not all graphic details are available for all video cards due to hardware limitations. ************************************************************ 4. TROUBLESHOOTING ************************************************************ FAST USER SWITCHING =================== You will not be able to run two versions of the game using two different windows accounts via the fast user switching (windows key + L). DEVICE DRIVERS ============== It is highly recommended that the latest versions of all device drivers (i.e. video and sound card drivers) be obtained and installed. Please consult your card manufacturer for their newest drivers. Also, keep in mind that video chip manufacturers sometimes provide drivers in addition to the card manufacturer. If you are experiencing issues with an unstable PC environment please make sure your Motherboard drivers (AGP, miniport) are up to date. For further information please contact your Motherboard manufacturer. VIDEO & GRAPHICS PROBLEMS ========================= If you are experiencing performance problems on the default graphics settings, try lowering some of the settings or the game resolution. This game requires DirectX 9.0c It is available for download by going to: www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/ Graphic Cards: Graphical settings and features available in-game are dependant on Graphics Card capabilities. Settings not supported by your Graphics Card hardware are disabled in the Options Menu to prevent adverse effects on the game and your computer. NVIDIA Cards: All supported NVIDIA cards were tested using ForceWare driver version 81.84 beta (Win2k/XP). It is highly recommended this driver or a more recent version be used when running Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo. ATI Cards: All supported ATI cards were tested using Catalyst driver version 5.10 (Win2k/XP). It is highly recommended this driver or a more recent version be used when running Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo. BACKGROUND PROGRAMS =================== Avoid running other programs in the background. Programs starting up automatically can cause Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo to lose control of the screen and keyboard, possibly causing an unstable PC environment. We strongly recommend that you shut down or suspend applications that start up automatically or programs that automatically run other applications at specified times before running Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo. These include, but are not limited to: - Windows System Agent - Windows Task Scheduler - Windows "Disk Cleanup" utilities Similarly, message boxes and dialog boxes from other programs or from Windows itself can also cause Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo to lose control of the screen and keyboard, possibly causing an unstable PC environment. We strongly recommend that you shut down all other applications before running Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo. These include, but are not limited to: - Email programs - Calendar, appointment, or contact applications - Network or Internet chat programs - Automatic Update on Anti Virus software Also, connections to/from non-dedicated servers can be disrupted when background programs or screen-savers launch. We recommend that you shut down other applications (including virus scanners) and run Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo by itself whenever possible. POWER MANAGEMENT SUSPEND/SLEEP MODES ============================================ Systems (i.e. laptops or other portables) that automatically power down into "sleep" or "suspended" modes can cause Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo to lose control of the screen and keyboard, possibly causing an unstable PC environment. We strongly recommend that you disable these features before running Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo. WINDOWS VIRTUAL MEMORY ISSUES WITH 256MB RAM ================================================== If you experience any Virtual Memory issues while running the game, try increasing the page file size on your hard drive. Please consult the Microsoft Windows help pages to determine how to tweak your virtual memory settings. CHOPPY PLAYBACK DURING VIDEO SEQUENCES ================================================== If you experience choppy playback during video sequences, try increasing the page file size on your hard drive. Please consult the Microsoft Windows help pages to determine how to tweak your virtual memory settings. SAFE MODE ========================= The safe mode option can be found under the game directory in the Start Menu. If this option does not appear, go to www.microsoft.com/downloads and install the .NET Framework. Then re-install the game. ************************************************************ 5. ONLINE PLAY ************************************************************ To avoid poor performance during Internet play, be sure that you close any file sharing, streaming audio, or chat programs prior to entering gameplay. These applications can monopolize your connection’s bandwidth, causing lag or other undesirable effects. Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo uses the following TCP and UDP port(s) for Internet play: TCP ports: 80, 13505, 30900-30999 UDP port addresses: 3658-3658 Please consult your router or personal firewall documentation for information on how to allow game related traffic on these ports. If you are attempting to play on a corporate Internet connection, contact your network administrator. NOTE: Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo supports only broadband connections for online play. When logging in to play Online you are logging into the EA.com servers. If you already have one, you may use your existing online EA.com account to play or you can create a new one. Setting up an account: An EA online account is required for online play. At the account log-in screen choose Create New EA online account . You will be taken to menus where you enter account information and choose your online user name. NOTE: If your existing EA online account contains a space, you won’t be able to use it due to a limitation in the game. Personas: Persona's are part of your EA online account and are used for any EA online product you play. Deleting a persona that has been used in other EA Products will also delete the persona and all associated stats/rewards earned with that persona across all EA products. The Online Lobby ================ The Online Lobby is where all created games will be displayed. Select a game from the list to join that game. The games list will be fluctuating all the time as new games are created and players join those games. To keep the list of games as recent as possible click the refresh button. Performance Matching ensures that no matter what car others have selected they will all equal the same performance. This is an option during the game setup and something designated by the host. Game Room Options ================= Game Room Countdown: Once the minimum number of racers has entered the Game Room the countdown timer will begin to ensure the race will be started. The timer can not be stopped and will only pause if a new racer enters the room. The timer will accelerate if no changes are being made by any player for a moment. In the last few seconds the positions are locked and no more changes can be made. Client/Host Options: When in another player's/or your own game room you will have access to extra options. Select a player name from within the game room to view the menu of available selections. Send Private Message - This will enable you to send a private message to the selected player. ************************************************************ 6. CONTROLLER INFORMATION ************************************************************ CONTROLLER CONFIGURATIONS ================================ Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo can be played with many popular gamepads and controller devices. If your device is not recognized, or if you'd like to modify the configuration the game has pre-assigned to your controller, enter Controls under Options in the Main Menu. The re-mapping tools in this menu are useful for tweaking your controller for optimal play. CONTROLLER PROBLEMS ======================= To correct these problems, properly configure and calibrate the device from the Windows Control Panel. If problems continue to persist, disconnect the device from your computer before playing Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo. Ensure the latest manufacturer drivers are installed for your device. - The mouse pointer automatically scrolls through the buttons on menu screens. - Your car makes erratic movements that are not intended (i.e. continually turning). - Certain movements do not occur when the proper direction is pressed. - Sluggish response on slower machines. FORCE FEEDBACK SETTINGS ============================= Force Feedback is not enabled on the Customize Controller screen of the Options menu until proper, device-specific drivers are installed for that controller. The default generic drivers provided by Windows do not provide access to Force Feedback features. KEYBOARD PROBLEMS ======================= To adjust the feeling\sensitivity of the steering in gameplay when using the keyboard, enter the Keyboard option in the Windows Control Panel (Start - Settings - Control Panel). By adjusting the Repeat Delay and Repeat Rate the user can adjust the controls to feel more analog or digital depending on their preference. Some newer keyboards do not allow certain combinations of more than two keys to be depressed simultaneously. For example, if you were pressing both the up arrow key to accelerate and the left arrow key to turn, and you pressed the key to change your view, the view may not change. Unfortunately, this problem is due to a limitation of the hardware. While it is possible to bind game controls to the F12, Print Screen and Windows keys, these keys will also retain their original function and can interfere with gameplay. The Windows key is not locked out during gameplay and it will bring up the start menu during gameplay. This may interfere with gameplay. ************************************************************ 7. UNINSTALLING ************************************************************ The simplest method of uninstalling the Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo is to use the "Uninstall Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo" shortcut in the Start Menu (usually "Start Menu/All Programs/EA Games/Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo/Uninstall Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo"). Windows also has an "Add/Remove Programs" Icon in the Control Panel that you can use to uninstall the game. (C) 2005 Electronic Arts Inc. All rights reserved. END OF Need for Speed Most Wanted PC Demo README