Introduction to the Lever Brothers Interactive CD-ROM
=====================================================

Welcome to the Lever CD-ROM.  We hope that you will find this CD-ROM
useful and entertaining.

The information in this file should enable you to get started and to
overcome any problems that you may find with your system so that you can
use all the sections of the Lever CD-ROM.

For more information about the CD-ROM and the Max & Sparky game, please visit
our WorldWide Web site on the Internet at:

                      For Ireland -   http://www.persil.ie/
                      For the UK  -   http://www.persil.co.uk/

This file is structured as follows:

1. Machine Specifications
2. Running the Lever CD-ROM
   - Ignoring Drivers
3. Answers to Common Questions
4. The Program Icon
5. Max & Sparky game
6. Video Problems
   - Number of Colours
   - Video For Windows
   - Quicktime
   - Quicktime VR
7. Audio Problems
   - In CD
   - In Game
8. Base Memory - Below 640K


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1. Machine Specifications
   ======================

The Lever CD-ROM is designed to work on an IBM-compatible Personal
Computer with the following specification or higher :

  . 486DX2 or faster  (Pentium(TM) recommended)
  . Windows 95 or 3.1 (Windows 95  recommended)
  . 8MB RAM           (16MB        recommended)
  . Sound Blaster or compatible sound card
  . At least 2X speed CD-ROM Drive


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2. Running the Lever CD-ROM
   ========================

It is very easy to start the Lever CD-ROM:

Windows 95 users:
-----------------
Insert the Lever CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive and close the tray.
After a few seconds the CD-ROM will start automatically.

If it does not start, select START and RUN and enter :
                        CD-ROM Letter:\Lever
where CD-ROM Letter is the letter representing your CD-ROM drive,
e.g. D or E.


Windows 3.1 users:
------------------
Insert the Lever CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive and close the tray.
With Program Manager displayed on the screen, select the File menu and
select the Run option. In the box entitled Command Line, enter :

                        CD-ROM Letter:\Lever

Where CD-ROM Letter is the letter representing your CD-ROM drive,
e.g. D or E.


You are now ready to use the Lever CD-ROM.  You will see a startup
sequence where checks are made to see that your system contains the
drivers that will allow you to view the contents of the Lever CD-ROM.
Ticks and crosses represent the results of these checks.  If you have a
cross against any of the checks, then the Lever CD-ROM will prompt you
for a solution.

If a video driver is not found then an Install button will appear
allowing you to add this driver to your system.  (A driver is a piece of
software that is loaded onto your machine that performs a task.  Within
Windows, a driver usually controls a video or audio device.)  You can
choose to Ignore any of the drivers, but if a driver is not installed,
sections of the Lever CD-ROM will not display all the information that is
available.

Please note that, apart from the video drivers that should already be on
your machine, the Lever CD-ROM will only copy an icon file and INI file
to your hard disk.

Once the drivers are functioning on your machine, the CD-ROM will start
without delay and take you to a screen showing a selection of country
flags on a washing line.  Click on your flag and follow the on-screen
prompts to use the Lever CD-ROM.


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3. Answers to Common Questions
   ===========================

Q. What and how much is the Lever CD-ROM going to install on my machine?
A. The Lever CD-ROM only installs, if these are not already present, the
drivers for Video for Windows, Quicktime and Quicktime VR.  These are
commonly used video drivers that may well already be on your machine.
They use a total of about 3Mb of disk space if you have to install all
three drivers.  Please see section 6 below for more information about
video drivers.  The only other thing that is installed is a program icon
that allows you to restart the Lever CD-ROM easily at any time.

Q. When I click on my Lever CD-ROM icon, nothing happens and an error
message appears.
A. Check that you have the Lever CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive, the tray is
closed and the drive is ready.  Also check that the CD-ROM drive letter
has not changed.  Try restarting the CD-ROM as in Section 2 above,
"Running the LEVER CD-ROM".

Q. I do not have enough colours on my machine and the Lever CD-ROM will
not start.
A. Refer to section 6 below, "Video Problems - Number of Colours".

Q. The Lever CD-ROM wants to change things on my machine.
A. The Lever CD-ROM will only add video drivers to your machine.  These
drivers use the original installation program provided from the vendors.
You may well have already seen this installation program.  It does not
change the settings for your sound card or any other aspect of your
machine.  Refer to section 6 "Video Problems" and section 7 "Audio
Problems".

Q. I cannot see any video.
A. Refer to section 6 "Video Problems" below.

Q. I cannot hear any sound.
A. Refer to section 7 "Audio Problems" below.

Q. What do the strange bouncing words mean when I leave a level of the
game?
A. These are the passwords that allow you to jump directly to a
particular level of the game.  To use these passwords, write them down
when you see them, select Password from the Games Menu and enter the
password.  The game level corresponding to the password will now start.

Q. The game will not start.
A. Refer to section 7 "Audio Problems" below.

Q. The graphic images take a long time to appear.
A. Refer to section 6 "Video Problems" below.

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4. The Program Icon
   ================

If you exit the Lever CD-ROM at any point, an icon will be created on your
Windows desktop called CD-ROM and will be contained in a folder called
LEVER CD. This icon will allow you to re-run the Lever CD-ROM whenever
the CD-ROM is in your CD-ROM drive.  Remember that in Windows 95 the
Lever CD-ROM will start automatically when you insert it into the drive.
This icon can also be used to restart the Lever CD-ROM after you have installed
a video driver.


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5. Max & Sparky game
   =================

For problems with audio please refer to section 6 of this file.

Should the game encounter any problems initialising your sound card, then
a "no sound" icon will flash on and off in the top left corner of the
main menu for a few seconds after the game has loaded.

To obtain sound within the game, please ensure that your sound card is
correctly installed and functioning (most sound cards come with a
comprehensive set of diagnostic tools) and that you have available as
much Base memory as possible.

If you still have problems running the game with music, then you may need
to remove any power management software you may have installed, and any
disk cache software (such as Smartdrive) installed on your system.

If problems still persist, you may need to create a boot disk containing
a minimal configuration, or try clean-booting the machine by holding
left-shift down at startup (DOS and Windows machines only).

To load the game without sound, change to the "game" directory onto the
CD (Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 users will need to use an MS-DOS prompt or
use the FILE/RUN option of the menu bar) and enter the command:

        MAX     0 0 0 0 0

This will start the game without sound, although you can set up the sound
card from within the game after starting it.

You can find new levels of the Max & Sparky game, plus competitions and
other information, on our WorldWide Web site.  Check it out!


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6. Video Problems
   ==============

With this CD-ROM, as with any complex program on a PC, it is possible
that you may experience difficulties with your video drivers.  Parts of
your machine may conflict, preventing video from being displayed.  This
section may help you resolve some of these problems so that you can gain
the full benefit from the Lever CD-ROM.

You may also experience graphics being displayed slowly. This may be due
to your machine running with a high number of colours (i.e. 64K or above)
when you only have 1MB of video memory.  Try setting the number of colours
that the machine is using to 256.  The Lever CD-ROM is built to allow
people to use it with only 256 colours.  You will find that the images are
displayed much more quickly.

NOTE: You can usually set the number of colours via Change Windows
Settings on the Windows Setup panel under Windows 3.1, or via Windows
Settings under Windows95.


Number of colours
-----------------

The Lever CD-ROM may tell you that you do not have 256 colours or above,
which is needed to view its contents.  This may mean one of the
following:

  . Your machine may not contain the correct video driver -
       You may have to refer to the drivers for your video card that
       came with your machine.  Look for any settings or drivers that
       can be installed that will allow your machine to display 256
       (or above) colours.
       You may have to talk to the manufacturer of your video card for
       the latest video drivers.

  . Your machine is set to display less than 256 colours -
       Using the Display icon in the Control panel of Windows 95 or the
       Windows Setup utility of Windows 3.1, change the video setup to
       256 colours.
       For best visual results set the desktop area to 640x480 pixels.

  . Your machine's hardware cannot handle 256 (or above) colours -
       There is no fix for this problem apart from purchasing a new video
       card that is capable of displaying more colours.

Video For Windows
-----------------

Video For Windows is a video driver that enables your machine to read and
display a specific format of video on your machine.  On a Windows 95
machine this video driver is built in to the operating system so it is
always present.  However on a Windows 3.1 machine the driver is separate
and has to be installed.  It is used extensivley throughout the Lever
CD-ROM.  It enhances the visual qualities of the Lever CD-ROM and
contains important information.  Some of the sections within the Lever
CD-ROM require this type of video and will not continue without it.
If not present, a message will be seen on the screen asking you to
restart the Lever CD-ROM and install the Video for Windows driver.

You may have installed the Video for Windows driver and still not be able
to see any video.  This is more likely to occur if you are a Windows 3.1
user.  This will probably mean that you do not have enough Base memory
available to the video driver.  Please see section 8 on how to increase
your Base memory.


Quicktime
---------

Quicktime is a video driver that enables your machine to read and display
a specific format of video on your machine.  It is used in one section of
the Lever CD-ROM to display the Virtual Gallery, a series of images that
show the history of washing.

If you have installed Quicktime and still cannot see the Virtual Gallery
then you may not have enough Base memory available to the video driver.
Please see section 8 on how to increase your Base memory.


Quicktime VR
------------

Quicktime VR is a very small add-on to Quicktime that enables a Quicktime
movie to become an interactive Virtual Reality experience.  You can
manipulate the image to look in any direction and pan in or out of the
shot.  Please note that you MUST have both Quicktime and Quicktime VR
installed to view a Quicktime VR movie.

If you have installed Quicktime and Quicktime VR but still cannot see the
Virtual Gallery then you may not have enough Base memory available to the
video driver.  Please see section 8 on how to increase your Base memory.


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7. Audio Problems
   ==============

When you have started the Lever CD-ROM and the flags of the countries are
being displayed, music should be heard.  Audio is used throughout the
Lever CD-ROM.  Please remember that the music on the flags screen only
lasts about 20 seconds so the audio may have finished by the time you get
your sound working.  It will restart after a few minutes.

If you have a sound card installed but cannot hear any audio then try
using the following hints:

   - Check the connections between your sound card and your speakers.
   - Make sure the speakers are powered on and turned up.
   - Make sure that any software-based volume controls are turned up.
   - If your machine has an MWave card (e.g. if it is an IBM Aptiva)
      then you may need the line MWGAMES=ON in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
      Refer to your MWave documentation.
   - Make sure that your WAV drivers for your sound card are working and
      enabled for output.  If not, then please refer to your sound card
      manual for drivers / advice.  Any sound card that supports WAV
      files should function correctly.  See the machine specification in
      section 1.
   - Check that you have enough Base memory for your sound card driver.
      Please see section 8 on how to increase your Base memory.

The Max & Sparky game contains sound effects and also background music.
It is written to support any 100% SoundBlaster compatible sound card.

Sound settings in games can cause problems. This is due to the fact that
if a sound card is initialised with the wrong settings it may cause the machine
to 'Crash' or stop working. The game will attempt to pick up the BLASTER
line that is in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The Base address, IRQ number and DMA
value should be contained in this BLASTER line and should have been set up
when you installed your sound card. If these settings are incorrect you may
experience the following (always refer to your sound card manual so you can
work out what your settings should be):

   - When you start to play the Max & Sparky game from the Lever CD-ROM, the
     game starts the animation of Max & Sparky walking along, but you cannot
     hear any sound. This may mean that your IRQ or Base address settings are
     Wrong.

   - When you start to play the Max & Sparky game from the Lever CD-ROM, the
     game starts the animation of Max & Sparky walking along, music is playing
     but when you play the game there are no sound effects. Check your Base
     address and DMA values are correct.

   - The game does not start at all and you only see a flash of black before
     you are returned to the Lever CD-ROM. This happens as a result of the game
     trying to start your sound card with the wrong sound settings. This will
     probably mean that your sound card is either not set up correctly or your
     BLASTER environment line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file is incorrect or
     missing. Refer to your sound card manual for configuration and settings.


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8. Base Memory - Below 640KB
   =========================

Multimedia drivers installed on your machine use an area of your memory
called Base Memory.  This is the first 640KB block of the memory.  It is
a fixed size and does not increase even if you have 96MB of memory in
your PC.  This Base Memory is used by both DOS-based drivers and Windows
drivers.  The DOS drivers are able to take the 640K block first due to
being loaded first.  Then the Windows drivers take some more of this 640K
block and by the time the video drivers or sound drivers request some of
this memory, it may all have been used.  This will mean that the driver
fails, indicated either by displaying an error message or by not
displaying the video or by not making the sounds.

If you have a problem at any time with a multimedia driver that is being
used by an application, then check that the driver is working correctly
by playing the media through the Media Player.  This is a simple piece of
software that allows you to open the file that you want to play.  If the
Media Player cannot play or fails while trying to play the piece of
media, then the device driver is conflicting or not set up correctly.
Please refer to the manual for this driver.

To increase the Base Memory you can run utilities such as MemMaker and
Ramboost.  These utilities put drivers into areas of memory higher than the
initial 640K, which frees up Base memory for other drivers.  Please refer
to your DOS or memory manager manuals for advice on using these
utilities.

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