Last update: 10/01 2000

The latest version of this document is always available on

the official homepage, at http://www.longestjourney.com/update/

1. Table Of Contents:
======================
1. Table Of Contents
2. Introduction
3. Installation
4. Keyboard Shortcuts
5. Playing the Game
6. System Requirements
7. Troubleshooting
7.1. Installer / Startup-problems
7.2. Graphic-related problems
7.3. Sound-problems
7.4. General problems
8. The "Advanced" dialog - for advanced troubleshooting
9. Contact information

2. Introduction
===============
This ReadMe file contains last-minute updates that didn't make it
into the manual. For the latest on potential hardware and software
problems, and for bug-fixes and patches, point your browser to
http://www.longestjourney.com/update/ to read the latest version of
this document.

3. Installation
===============
The full installation instructions are included in the manual.
Insert the CD labeled "Disc One" into your CD-ROM drive. The
Launcher program should run automatically unless you've disabled
Autorun. In case of the latter, open the disc by double-clicking
the CD-ROM icon in your "My Computer" folder, and then double-click
the launcher.exe file.
Click "Install" to install TLJ to your hard disk, and select the
destination and installation size. A full installation will ensure
smoother and faster gameplay.
After the installation is complete, the Launcher will reappear if
you selected that you wanted to launch "The longest journey". Click
"Play" to begin the game. Enter a player name, and select your
preferred video card, render mode, colour depth, and low or high
polygon character model.
Unless you're experiencing problems with the game, don't change the
"Advanced" settings. Please see the troubleshooting section of this
document for more information.

4. Keyboard Shortcuts
=====================
The following keyboard shortcuts are available:
F1 Diary Index (Game Menu)
F2 Save game
F3 Restore game
F4 Conversation log
F5 Diary
F6 Video playback
F7 Game Settings
F8 Saves a screenshot in TARGA format to the main
game folder
F9 Subtitling on/off
F10 Quit to main menu
I Show/hide inventory
ALT+X Quit game
ESC Skips dialogues and video sequences
1..9 Dialogue selection
X Show/hide all exits on the current location
P Pause/resume the game

5. Playing the Game

===================
The left mouse button is used for interacting with the environment
in a number of ways. Left-clicking anywhere on the screen moves
April as close to that point as possible. Double-clicking the left
button makes April run. Clicking on a highlighted spot on the
screen usually brings up a floating menu. Clicking on one of the
icons on that menu prompts April to interact with the object.
Double clicking on the same icon forces April to run (if necessary)
to the object before interacting with it.
In addition, the right mouse button (RMB) is used for the following
actions: move the mouse inside the dialogue window and click RMB to
skip the current sentence. Clicking the RMB in the game window opens
or closes the inventory. If you are holding an item and click RMB,
the item will be put back in your inventory.

6. System Requirements
======================
Minimum system requirements:
Windows(r) 95 or Windows(r) 98
Pentium(r) 166 MMX
32MB RAM
4X CD-ROM drive
Mouse and keyboard
640x480 SVGA high color (16-bit) DirectX compatible video card
with 2MB RAM
Windows-compatible sound device
200MB free hard drive space

Recommended System Requirements:

Pentium(r) II 266
64MB RAM
3D accelerator card (DirectX/Direct3D compatible) with 4MB RAM
8X CD-ROM drive
1GB free hard drive space

7. Troubleshooting
===================
This section assumes that your computer is plugged in (like, duh!),
that the power is on, and that you are running one of the operating
systems listed in "System Requirements". In other words, time to
upgrade from DOS. It also assumes that your computer hardware
equals or surpasses the minimum requirements listed in "System
Requirements".
The most common reason why a game doesn't work properly is due to
old drivers. Make sure you're using the latest drivers for your
video- and sound-card, and that you've installed the latest version
of DirectX (included with the game).

7.1. Installer / Startup-problems:

PROBLEM: The installation aborts during the DirectX installation,
reporting that an internal error has occurred.
CAUSE: You don't have enough memory/swap-space available on your
computer.
SOLUTION: Reinstall the game, click "No" when asked if you want to
install DirectX. After installing the game, select
"Install DirectX" from the Launcher. DirectX should now
install properly.
PROBLEM: The game does not start. A message pops us telling me that
one or more files are missing and that I need to re-install.
CAUSE: The paths pointing to the game data have not been set or
are incorrect.
SOLUTION: You need to re-install the game to correct this problem.
PROBLEM: I insert disc two as prompted during installation and press
the OK button, but the installer keeps insisting it's the
wrong disk.
CAUSE: The installer is either asking you for one of the other
discs, or you've inserted the wrong disc.
SOLUTION: Pay close attention to which disc the installer is asking
for. When performing a minimum installation, you will not
need all the discs during installation.
PROBLEM: During the installation process a message pops up, telling you that
the game doesn't necessary work with windows NT.
CAUSE: The Longest Journey needs DirectX 6.1 or better and control over the
sound hardware to run. This is usually not supported in windows NT.
SOLUTION: Run the game on a computer with Windows 95 or Windows 98. If you think
you
can make the game run on NT anyway, you are welcome to try it, but we
will
not give any support on it...
SYSTEM: Any machine running on Windows NT.
7.2. Graphic-related problems:
PROBLEM: The shadows cast by the characters in the game flicker or
look strange.
CAUSE: Your 3D hardware has very high Z-buffer resolution.
SOLUTION: Make sure you have the latest drivers for your 3D video-card
installed. On the Hardware Setup menu, press the "Advanced"
button. Under "Troubleshooting" turn on the "Force Single
Buffer" option.
HARDWARE: Creative Graphic Blaster Riva TNT; Creative 3D Blaster Riva
TNT2/TNT2 Ultra.
PROBLEM: The 3d characters dissapear, or are only paritally rendered.
For instance Aprils legs dissapear
CAUSE: Your new drivers for the 3d hardware card does things
differently than the drivers we tested the game with.
SOLUTION: Turning off shadows in the in game options menu should remove
the problem as well as the shadows.
Alternative solution: Reinstall older drivers.
HARDWARE: Creative Graphic Blaster Riva TNT; Creative 3D Blaster Riva
TNT2/TNT2 Ultra.
PROBLEM: No characters cast shadows, even if this option has been
enabled from the Game Settings screen.
CAUSE: Your selected video-card is reporting that it supports
W-buffer, even though it doesn't.
SOLUTION: Update your video-card driver by visiting the card vendor's
homepage. If this doesn't help, click the "Advanced" button
in the Hardware Setup dialogue, and deselect the checkbox
labeled "Enable W-Buffer" under "Troubleshooting".
HARDWARE: Creative 3D Blaster Savage 4
PROBLEM: April has no face.
CAUSE: The video-card you're running "The Longest Journey" on
doesn't support texture-mapping.
SOLUTION: Select another video-card from the Hardware Setup dialogue
that appears automatically every time you start "The Longest
Journey". If there are no other 3D video-cards on your
computer, try running the game in software mode by deselecting
the "Enable 3D Acceleration" checkbox. Warning; this may
make the game appear choppy and slow, and you should
consider upgrading your video-card.
HARDWARE: Older 3D graphics accelerator cards.
PROBLEM: Characters in the game look like they have been turned
inside out.
CAUSE: Your selected video-card is reporting that it supports
W-buffer, even though it doesn't.
SOLUTION: Update your video-card driver by visiting the card vendor's
homepage. If this doesn't help, click the "Advanced" button
in the Hardware Setup dialogue, and deselect the checkbox
labeled "Enable W-Buffer" under "Troubleshooting".
HARDWARE: 3Dfx Voodoo 3
PROBLEM: The game runs in a small rectangle in the upper left of your
monitor.
CAUSE: The game is not able to switch to full-screen mode in a
 proper fashion.
SOLUTION: Update your drivers.
HARDWARE: 3Dfx Voodoo 3
PROBLEM: 32-bit colour depth is not available from the list in the
Hardware Setup dialogue.
CAUSE: Your video-card doesn't support 32-bit true color mode, or
it doesn't have enough memory to run "The Longest Journey"
in 32-bit true color.
SOLUTION: Select another video-card (if available) from the Hardware
Setup dialog, or run the game in 16-bit colour instead.
HARDWARE: 3Dfx Voodoo 1, 2 and 3
PROBLEM: The trains and the flying cars are flickering, and appear in
front of everything else on the screen when they shouldn't.
CAUSE: Double-buffering doesn't work properly with your currently
selected 3D video-card.
SOLUTION: Click the "Advanced" button in the Hardware Setup dialogue,
and turn "Force Single Buffer" on by enabling the checkbox.
HARDWARE: Matrox Millennium G200 AGP, Hercules thriller 3D
PROBLEM: When I move the cursor around, it leaves a trail on the
screen.
CAUSE: Your video-card has been set up to ignore the "Wait for
VSYNC" command.
SOLUTION: This may differ from card to card, but one example solution
(for the Creative Graphics Blaster Riva TNT) is as follows:
Open Display Properties (Control Panel\Display), select
BlasterControl-> Tweak-> Advanced Settings, and make sure
that the check-box "Wait for VSYNC" is enabled. If you are
using the Nvidia RIVA TNT Detonator Drivers, you might not
be able to turn on "Wait for VSYNC". To fix the problem,
either change back to the official Creative Labs drivers,
or run the game in software rendering mode. Alternatively,
contact your card's vendor and ask them how to enable "Wait
for VSYNC".
HARDWARE: Creative Graphics Blaster Riva TNT
PROBLEMS: The text on the main-menu and/or in the game have a magenta
colour, and look garbled.
CAUSE: Window's automatic font-smoothing isn't perfect.
SOLUTION: Go to Display Properties, select the "Effects" tab and
uncheck "Smooth edges of screen fonts".
HARDWARE: No particular hardware.
PROBLEM: When I click on "End the Journey" in the main menu, the game
seems to lock up, and the display looks messed up. Similarly,
this also happens when I click "Begin the Journey" and do
not have Disc One in the CD-ROM drive.
CAUSE: You're using two video-cards in SLI (Scan Line Interleave)
mode, and the driver for your cards isn't able to display
the message-boxes.
SOLUTION: Turn off the SLI mode in Display->Properties->[GfxCard]->
Advanced Settings. You should now be able to see the
message-boxes.
HARDWARE: Graphics cards that run in SLI mode (Voodoo 1 / Voodoo 2).

7.3. Sound-problems:
 PROBLEM: The sound is choppy at the beginning of a dialogue.
CAUSE: The game CD has to "spin up" before sounds can be
read from your CD-ROM drive; the faster your CD-ROM, the
longer the delay.
SOLUTION: Set the spin-down delay of your CD-ROM drive to a larger
value. If you're unable to do this, try reinstalling the
game, and choose "Full Install". The game should run a lot
smoother.
HARDWARE: High-speed CD-ROM drives.
PROBLEM: The sound is choppy all the time.
CAUSE: Loading and streaming the sounds from the CD-ROM drive on
your system may be too slow.
SOLUTION: Try reinstalling the game, and select "Full Install", or
upgrade your CD-ROM drive.
HARDWARE: Older IDE CD-ROM drives.
PROBLEM: A message pops up when the game starts, saying you may
experience degraded sound quality.
CAUSE: The drivers for your soundcard are not DirectX certified.
SOLUTION: The game may still run flawlessly, but if it doesn't,
contact your sound-card's hardware vendor and inquire about
updated drivers.
HARDWARE: Very new or very old soundcards.

7.4. General problems:

PROBLEM: The game is really choppy.
CAUSE: Your system may not fulfill all hardware requirements.
"The Longest Journey" requires a 166-MMX Pentium to run at
all, and it prefers a much faster CPU to run optimally.
SOLUTION: A 3D graphics accelerator may help performance, as will
more RAM, a faster hard-disk or CD-ROM, or a faster CPU.
Performance will also be increased if you choose a full
installation.
HARDWARE: Slow systems.
PROBLEM: The game stops with the message "Out of Memory".
CAUSE: You don't have enough space on the hard-drive where the
Windows swap-file resides.
SOLUTION: Free up some space on the drive where the Windows swap-file
is located (normally the C:\ drive) and start the game again.
HARDWARE: No specific hardware.

8. The "Advanced" dialog - for advanced troubleshooting

When you start the game, you can activate a fine-tuning dialog by
clicking the "Advanced" button. This dialog lets you set your 3d-
card to use only one buffer for display (solves problems with some
cards), and you can also make your card use W-buffer instead of
Z-Buffer (Solves problems with shadows).
In the SoundTweak section there are some bars/boxes that lets you
tweak the sound (only if you have problems with the sound):
Worstcaseframerate: This specifies the size of the soundbuffer in
frames per second. If worstcaseframerate is 15 this means that the
soundsystem allocates a buffer big enough to hold sounddata to be
mixed even though the graphical framerate drops to 15 fps. Note that
a low number here might cause the sound to be badly timed to
animation etc. A too high number might cause skipping in the sound
because there is not enough time for the soundsystem to do all its
stuff.
BlockSupplyLength: This number specifies the number of blocks to
be read from the soundfile.
DecompressedBlockSize: The size of the blocks to be decompressed
by the soundsystem (compressed data is unpacked to 4 times original
size)
StreamBlockSize: The size of the blocks to be stream from each
soundfile.

9. Contact information
======================
If any of the above troubleshooting tips don't work out, please don't
hesitate to contact us immediately. Contact information is available
in the game's manual, or through our official web-page at:
http://www.longestjourney.com