                            Most Common Problems 
                 Wing Commander III : Heart of the Tiger 
 
                               Compiled by : 
 
                           Anthony L. Sommers 
                        Assistant Project Leader 
                       Wing Commander III QA Team 


                              Jeremy Mappus 
                              Todd Wachhaus 
                       Wing Commander III QA Team 

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The Famous Wing Commander III Dots! 
 
Problem Lockups before the intro (after several "dots") 
 
      The "dots" signify the progress of the initialization phases of the 
game. Here are some things to check : 
 
      1)  Set up a boot disk according to the instructions in the install 
          guide. 
 
      2)  VESA driver is current and up to date. Try "UNIVBE", or playing in 
          VGA with "WC3 -V". 
 
      3)  You have a 100% compatible mouse driver. Attempt to REM out your 
          mouse line and see if the problems persist.  
 
      4)  You have a clean hard disk with at least 25MB of free space. 
 
      5)  Check sound card settings and compatibility. 
 
      6)  Make sure your CPU is 100% Intel compatible. 
 
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Problem Error    :  A processor exception has occurred. 
                    Your system may be unstable at this point. 
 
Hardware     :  SB16 
                Mitsumi CD-ROM model FX001/FX001D 
 
CONFIG.SYS   :  DEVICE=C:\<path>\MTMCDAE.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:340 /A:0 
 
WHY this happens : 
      The MTMCDAE.SYS pulls the DMA and IRQ off the sound card for data 
      transfer. The card, when bought, has the jumpers off (for the DMA 
      and IRQ).  If these are not set, then the ERROR will occur.  Also, 
      if the DMA and IRQ are conflicting with something in their 
      computer, the ERROR will also occur. The Mitsumi CD-ROMs are the 
      ONLY ones that use the DMA and IRQ on the SB16 sound card. 
 
HOW to solve : 
      Use the MTMCDAS.SYS driver found in the same directory.  This 
      driver transfers data by software polling.  Although it uses more 
      CPU time, it does not require an interrupt or DMA channel.  If 
      this driver is not in the directory, look on the disks that came 
      with the CD-ROM. 
 
      As an alternate solution, you may try /T:S on the MTMCDAE.SYS 
      line. Use this if the customer does not have MTMCDAS.SYS on 
      his/her hard drive. 
 
      Mitsumi     BBS             408-970-0761 
                  Sales           516-752-7730  
                  Tech Support    408-970-9699/9730 
 
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Problem Random lockups/exceptions for NO reason 
 
      Hardware    :   CYRIX 486 (SLC, DLC, SRX2, DRX2) 
 
           These have been found to be incompatible with the game. They cause 
           random lockups and Exception 13s. The AMD microprocessors seem to 
           function adequately. 
 
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Problem LONG load times 
 
HOW to solve : 
      The following are suggestions to help alleviate long load times : 
 
            1)  Check to see if you are using disk compression. If 
                so, there may not be anything else that can be done. (Of 
                course, suggestions 2-6 may be attempted...) 
 
            2)  CHKDSK and/or SCANDISK to check for hard disk file damage. 
                DELTREE C:\WC3 and the save game directory (if it is 
                different) if any damage is found. 
 
            3)  DEFRAG or SPEEDISK completely before re-installing Wing III. 
                Do a full optimize for the savegame drive. For example : 
 
                     DEFRAG C: /F 
 
                          or 
 
                     SPEEDISK C: /F 
 
            4)  If enough disk space is available, try copying all 42 MB to 
                the HD. Try lower settings if less disk space is available. 
 
            5)  If you have enough memory, you may try to squeeze in a 100K 
                SMARTDrive cache. After SMARTDRV.EXE, specify the savegame 
                drive letter. It is DEFINITELY NOT HELPFUL to have an 
                amount lower than 100K, this will increase load times.  
                For example : 
 
                     C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE C 100 
 
           6)  If SMARTDRV.EXE will not load, try using BUFFERS=99 in 
                CONFIG.SYS. Each buffer uses 532 bytes of conventional 
                memory, so this will use approximately 50K. 
 
          *7) More RAM will definitely shorten load times 

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Problem Movies "streak", or are of poor quality 
 
      If "streaks" are seen, either your gamma correction or monitor 
      brightness is TOO high. Adjust the brightness of your monitor and/or 
      gamma correction so that "Origin Presents" and "A Chris Roberts Game" 
      fades to complete darkness. This should lessen the "streak"ing effect. 
 
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Problem malloc () failed 
 
      This error may occur if you MANUALLY flew toward the way point. 
      ALL (not most, not some, ALL) nav points should allow you to auto-pilot 
      to the next nav allowing you to complete the nav area task. This may 
      involve killing fighters, linking with transports, mining jump buoys, 
      etc. For example : 
 
           If the you must escort transports, the you MUST auto-pilot 
           link with the transport by flying within 1000 units of the 
           transport to establish the link. The auto-pilot light will then 
           light up, and auto-piloting is possible. 
 
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Problem No descriptions in gameflow 
 
      A 100% Microsoft compatible mouse driver must be installed in order to 
      get gameflow descriptions.  
 
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Problem No Flightstick Pro or Thrustmaster documentation 
 
      There is no mention how the Flightstick Pro or Thrustmaster FCS Mark I 
      is supported in the documentation for the game. They are supported as 
      follows : 
 
      Flightstick Pro 
           Coolie Hat  UP      F1 (Forward View, Toggle Cockpit On/Off) 
           Coolie Hat  LEFT        F2 (Left View, Pan Left -it DOES pan) 
           Coolie Hat  RIGHT       F3 (Right View, Pan Right -it DOES pan) 
           Coolie Hat  DOWN        F4 (Rear/Turret View) 
 
           Trigger         FIRE Guns 
           Left TOP Button     Joystick Button 2 
           Middle TOP Button       "Y" - Lock target and Match Speed 
           Right TOP Button        Fire Missiles 
 
      Thrustmaster (w/o the programmable Mark II) 
           Coolie Hat          NOT SUPPORTED 
 
           Trigger         FIRE Guns 
           TOP Thumb Button        Joystick Button 2 
           BOTTOM Thumb Button Fire Missiles 
           Pinky Button        "Y" - Lock target and Match Speed 
 
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Problem WING3.ADV compiler errors 
 
HOW to solve : 
      Edit the WING3.ADV file and remove the ( and ) (open and close 
      parentheses) from the lines w/ LALT and LCTL. Recompile, and it 
      should work fine. 
 
 
REM                WING COMMANDER THREE by ORIGIN SYSTEMS 
REM                   Written and Tested November 1994 
REM ************************************************************************ 
REM  Base Switch Settings 
REM  Black Hat switch = Digital 
REM  Red Switch       = Digital 
REM  Game Settings: Regular Joystick if FCS is plugged into WCS 
REM 
GAME 1 70               REM  DIGITAL CONTINUOUS 70 MS Delay 
BTN UB ENT              REM  WEAPON FIRE 
BTN MB TAB              REM  AFTERBURNERS 
BTN LB Y                REM  TARGET AND MATCH SPEED 
BTN HU F1               REM  FRONT VIEW/COCKPIT TOGGLE 
BTN HR F3               REM  RIGHT VIEW 
BTN HD F2               REM  REAR VIEW 
BTN HL F4               REM  LEFT VIEW 

BTN 1 /U S              REM  SHIELDS VDU 
      /M G              REM  TOGGLE GUNS 
      /D (LALT W)       REM  "WHAT'S YOUR STATUS"   <- This line here 
BTN 2 /U D              REM  DAMAGE VDU 
      /M M              REM  CONFIGURE MISSLE 
      /D (LALT A)       REM  "ATTACK MY TARGET"     <- This line here 
BTN 3 /U P              REM  POWER VDU 
      /M L              REM  LOCK TARGET 
      /D (LALT B)       REM  "BREAK AND ATTACK"     <- This line here 
BTN 4 /U ]              REM  INCREASE CURRENT POWER SYSTEM 5% 
      /M T              REM  NEXT TARGET 
      /D (LALT T)       REM  RANDOM TAUNT           <- This line here 
BTN 5 /U [              REM  DECREASE CURRENT POWER SYSTEM 5% 
      /M a              REM  AUTOPILOT 
      /D W              REM  FULL MISSLES 
BTN 6 /U (LCTL ])       REM  TOGGLE LOCK CURRENT SYSTEM <- This line 
      /M E              REM  DROP DECOY 
      /D F              REM  FULL GUNS 
RKR UP |                REM  NULL FUNCTION 
RKR DN |                REM  NULL FUNCTION 
THR 30 1 = - \ \ \ \    REM  THROTTLE CHARACTERS 
BTN MT /P /N BSP  /R =  REM  THROTTLE CONTROL FROM IDLE TO OFF 

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Problem Crackling sounds from sound card in SVGA 
 
Hardware     :  Cirrus Logic GD-542x 
                Orchid Kelvin 64 
 
WHAT happens : 
      In SVGA, you hear crackling/static/popping sounds from the sound 
      card. 
 
HOW to solve : 
       The following are possible suggestions : 
 
       1)  If the you have the Cirrus Logic GD-542x video card, 
           you may download 542XVGA.EXE from the Cirrus Logic BBS. 
           It upgrades the video BIOS from 1.2 to 1.41. 
 
           Cirrus Logic    BBS             510-440-9080  
           General         510-623-8300 
 
       2)  If you have the Orchid Kelvin 64 there is currently 
           no solution for this problem. 
 
           Orchid Technology BBS           510-683-0327  
                             General       510-683-0300 
                             Sales         800-767-2443 
                             Tech Support  510-683-0323 
 
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Problem Reboots when (R)eplaying/switching disks 
 
Hardware     :  BUSLogic 542S SCSI Host Adapter 
 
      HOW to solve : 
           You will need to use EMM386.EXE and exclude DC00-DFFF. 
           The address range is used by the host adapter and may conflict 
           with Wing III. You must consult your documentation for 
           specific information on which range to exclude. For example : 
 
           DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM X=DC00-DFFF 
 
           BusLogic        BBS                 408-492-1984  
                           Tech Support FAX    408-492-1542 
                           Tech Support        408-492-9090  
                           Tech Support        408-988-7338 
 
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Problem Exception 13 (or reboot) when switching disks 
 
Hardware     :  PAS 16 
                A SCSI CD-ROM Drive connected to the PAS 16 
 
CONFIG.SYS   :  DEVICE=C:\<path>\TSLCDR.SYS /D:MVCD001 /R 
 
      HOW to solve : 
 
      1)  Some video cards reboot if in SVGA when this occurs. We are 
           currently researching this, but a solution at this time is to go 
           into the Options menu and make sure "Frame Rate Switch" is off, 
           and the video mode is set to VGA. If you want to play in SVGA, you
           can manually switch to SVGA with ALT-3 or ALT-4. 
 
       2)  You will need to download 316.EXE or 318S-MV.EXE from the 
           MediaVision BBS to upgrade TSLCDR.SYS to version 3.16 or 3.18. 
           316.EXE should be sufficient. 318S-MV.EXE is only needed if you 
           have a Sony 55S or a Sanyo 94S CD-ROM drive. 
 
           316.EXE contains : 
 
                  MSCDEX   EXE        25,377 02-12-93   6:00a 
                  README   DOC         1,344 10-04-93   4:04p 
                  TSLCDR   SYS        35,201 04-26-94   3:36p 
 
           318S-MV.EXE contains : 
 
                  MSCDEX   EXE        25,377 02-12-93   6:00a 
                  TSLCDR   SYS        35,425 11-11-94  10:53a 
                  README   DOC         1,372 12-06-94   4:50p 
 
           NOTE : MSCDEX.EXE included in this executable is version 2.21. 
                  Version 2.23 is a requirement for the game. If you do not 
                  already have Version 2.23 (it is shipped w/ DOS 6.2 and 
                  up), you will need to contact Microsoft for the latest  
                  version. 
 
                  Media Vision    BBS             510-770-0968 14400bps 
                                  BBS             510-770-0527 
                                  General         800-684-6699 
                                  Tech Support    800-638-2807 
 
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Problem CVMManager::GetPtr () Requested: 397984, Available: 379932 
 
Hardware     :  Generally 8MB machines 
 
      CONFIG.SYS   :  DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE 7168 RAM 
                      DEVICE=C:\<CD-ROM Driver> /M:<Large number> 
 
      AUTOEXEC.BAT :  C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE <Large number> 
                      C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /E /M:<Large number> 
 
      Why this occurs : 
           You will find this error code on mission J003 on disc 3. 
           Basically, you have just barely enough extended memory to run 
           the game, but not enough to load the mission data. 
 
      HOW to solve : 
           You will have to load all drivers possible into conventional, 
           and try not to use as little extended memory as possible. 
 
           1)  REM out EMM386.EXE and DOS=UMB. This will load all drivers 
               into conventional memory, freeing upper memory. 
 
           2)  On the CD-ROM driver line in the CONFIG.SYS, remove the 
               switch or lower the amount of CD-ROM buffers allocated (if 
               this is what the /M switch for that particular driver does). 
 
           3)  REM out SMARTDRV.EXE from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. 
 
           4)  Remove the /E switch from the MSCDEX.EXE line and lower the 
               buffers from the number specified after the /M: to 5. 
 
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Problem Write failed on file SWAPFILE.$$$ 
 
Hardware     :  Badly fragmented hard drives 
 
      Try : 
 
            1)  Make sure you have enough free space on the drive you're 
                trying to run the game on. You should have at least 25MB of 
                uncompressed space. If the hard drive is compressed, the 
                size should move up to 50MB. 
 
            2)  Make sure there are NO lost allocation units, cross- 
                linked/truncated files, bad sectors, etc. Use SCANDISK 
                or CHKDSK to check for the presence of file damage and 
                repair accordingly. 
 
           2)  DEFRAG completely with "DEFRAG C: /F" 
 
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Miscellaneous Notes 
 
 
1)  Media Magic 16 sound cards (MAGICS20 and ISP16) work great with the
    game, but in the installation program, should be set as Sound Blaster
    Pro. Sound Blaster/Compatibles will cause lockups. The following lines
    will appear in AUTOEXEC.BAT if the customer has any of these cards : 
 
    AUTOEXEC.BAT :  SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4 
                    SET SOUND16=C:\MAGICS20 
                    C:\MAGICS20\SNDINIT /B 
 
    AUTOEXEC.BAT :  SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4 
                    SET ISP16=C:\ISP16 
                    C:\ISP16\ISPINIT /B 
 
2)  It is very important that 100% Microsoft-compatible mouse drivers are 
    used. It has been noted that non-100% Microsoft-compatible mouse drivers
    will cause lockup during game initialization or during the movies. 
 
3)  The Media Clips MAD 16 sound card has been found to be incompatible with 
    the game. It will not work with any options other than FM Music (no 
    sound works fine). You can recognize a MAD 16 by spotting the following 
    lines in the configuration files : 
 
    CONFIG.SYS   :  DEVICE=C:\MAD16\CDSETUP.SYS /T:S /P:340 /I:5 
 
    AUTOEXEC.BAT :  SET MAD16=C:\MAD16 
                    SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4 

4)  The HERCULES Graphite video card will not work with our game unless the 
    following line is used before running the game : 
 
    C:\HERCULES\VESA C:\HERCULES\HG_OLD1.CRT  
 
5)  If CPU Speed is rating slower than normal, make sure that both internal 
    and external CPU caches are enabled. Also, check to see that the turbo 
    button is on. 
 
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