Wildfire Demo file

Wildfire
Cat Daddy Games

This demo includes the Small Brush Fire and Dry Grass Burn challenges, along
with a level 1 scenario titled Valley of the Standing Stones.

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Troubleshooting Wildfire

Problem A: The game won't start, produces an error indicating it failed to
initialize direct3d, freezes up, reboots the system or drops to the desktop.
Problem B: The game runs slow or choppy.
Problem C: The game looks very blurry, or objects glow white and/or flicker.
Problem D: The window constantly scrolls away.
Problem E: The mouse cursor disappears during play or is invisible.

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Problem A: The game won't start, produces an error indicating it failed to
initialize direct3d, freezes up, reboots the system or drops to the desktop.

Possible Causes:
A1. Hardware acceleration is disabled on your 3D card.
A2. The video card drivers need to be updated. (Most common)
A3. DirectX is not installed properly.
A4. Your system does not meet the minimum hardware requirements.

Solution to A1:
Hardware acceleration must be turned to full, or your system may behave as if
it does not have a 3D card. To ensure your hardware acceleration is turned to
full, do the following:
1. Right-click on your desktop and select 'Properties'.
2. Click the 'Settings' tab.
3. Click 'Advanced'.
4. Click the 'Troubleshooting' tab.
5. Ensure the Hardware Acceleration slider is set to 'Full'.

Solution to A2:
To update your video driver, you need to know what video card you have, and
then we can point you to the proper place to get updated video drivers.

To find out what kind of video card you have:
1. Right-click on the desktop and select 'Properties'.
2. Click the 'Settings' tab.
3. Click 'Advanced'.
4. Click the 'Adapter' tab.

The video adapter type will be displayed. The most common video cards are made
by ATI (Radeon), NVIDIA (Gforce), or Matrox.

To update your video cards, go to the following websites:
ATI video drivers - Ati.com
NVIDIA Gforce - Nvidia.com
Matrox - Matrox.com

If you have a different type of video adapter, search the web for the
manufacturer of your video card.

Once you have downloaded the latest driver for your particular hardware and
operating system, make sure you install it. Most drivers come in the form of a
downloadable executable that you must run. Most of these installations will
require you to restart your system.

After updating your video driver, you could find your desktop screen resolution
has been reset (bigger/smaller looking desktop icons). To set this back, do the
following:
1. Right-click on your desktop and select 'Properties'.
2. Click the 'Settings' tab.
3. Adjust the 'Screen area' resolution slider to an acceptable setting and
click 'Apply'.

Solution to A3:
If the installation program installed DirectX, a full reboot must be performed
in order for it to work properly. Reboot your system, and try the game again.
Alternatively, you can download and install the latest version of DirectX at:

or

Solution to A4:
The most common shortfall in the system requirements is the 3D video card. This
can be difficult to know for sure, as the names of the video cards can be
deceptive. Upgrading your video card is relatively simple and inexpensive.
NVIDIA Gforce and ATI Radeon cards are industry leaders and are highly
recommended. Keep in mind that hardware manufacturers frequently distribute
outdated video drivers, so when installing new hardware, be sure to download
the latest drivers from the manufacturers web site instead of using the ones
that come with your card (A2). The second most common configuration shortfall
is free disk space. Make sure you have plenty of free hard disk space available
when running the game. (At least 200 MB).

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Problem B: Game runs slow or choppy.

Possible Causes:
B1. Game detail settings are too high for your machine to handle.

Solution to B1:
In the Wildfire Main Menu, click 'Settings.. Adjust the music volume to zero,
set the detail to 'Low', select 'High Color', set the screen size to '800x600'
and select 'Vertex Shading'. The game will run at its fastest at these
settings. On many systems the difference between high detail and medium detail
can be very significant, so trying the medium detail option might be
worthwhile.

If the game continues to run slow, even at the start of a new level, upgrading
your video card is the best solution. If the game only runs slow when you have
a very large, developed level, then upgrading your system processor may be the
best solution.

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Problem C: The game looks very blurry, or contains glowing white or flickering
objects.
Causes:
C1. Your video card memory is low.

Solution to C1:
From the Wildfire Main Menu, click 'Settings'. Set the detail to 'Medium' or
'Low', and select 'Vertex Shading'. The game should now run on video cards with
low memory.

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Problem D: The window constantly scrolls away.
Causes:
D1. An uncalibrated joystick or joypad connected to computer.

Solution to D1:
Unplug your joystick, or go to the joystick applet in the Windows Control
Panel, and calibrate it.

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Problem E: The mouse cursor disappears or is invisible.
Causes: Unknown
Solution: While the game is running type 'safemouse' to enable a software mouse
cursor.