Star Wars:¨ Episode I Racerª 
Read Me
© LucasArts Entertainment Co. LLC
Demo Version 1.0
December 13, 1999

We recommend that you read this file to get the most up-to-date information about installing, running, and maximizing the performance of Racer. For the very latest updates related to Racer, be sure to check the LucasArts Website at www.lucasarts.com.

Topics

General Information
Getting Started
Performance
Controllers
Multiplayer
Known Issues/Troubleshooting
How to Contact LucasArts

General Information

The minimum requirements for running Star Wars: Episode I Racer on your Macintosh system are as follows:

COMPUTER: Apple Macintosh and 100% compatibles.
OPERATING SYSTEM: MacOS version 8.1 or higher.
CPU: G3/233Mhz required, iMac or faster system recommended.
CD-ROM DRIVE: 12x (required), 24x (recommended)
MEMORY: 32MB RAM with virtual memory set to at least 64MB
NOTE: 3D Hardware support (OpenGL-compatible) required. iMac and newer machines require no additional hardware.


Getting Started


Memory
Star Wars: Episode I Racer is a memory-intensive product. If you are running on a machine that only has 32MB of memory, you MUST turn on virtual memory. For 32MB systems, we recommend setting your virtual memory setting to at least 64MB before running the game. Before turning on virtual memory however, the more "real memory" you can free up, the better your performance and gameplay quality will be.

You can find out how much memory is available on your system by choosing "About This Computer..." from the Apple menu in the Finder. Look at the value next to the ÒLargest Unused Block.Ó  This value indicates how much memory you have available for running Star Wars: Episode I Racer. Note that if you have other applications running, they will eat up some of your memory, so you should quit them first to determine the maximum available. If it's below what you need to run Star Wars: Episode I Racer, try using the suggestions below.

¥ Quit all applications before running.  Each application that is running takes up some memory that Star Wars: Episode I Racer could be using. If youÕre tight on space, make sure you quit other applications before playing the game.  Some applications are notorious for not cleaning up after themselves, so if there seems to be less RAM available than there should be, it might be a good idea to restart before trying to run Star Wars: Episode I Racer.

¥ Reduce the disk cache size and turn off any RAM disks.  In AppleÕs Memory control panel are options for controlling the disk cache size and for creating RAM disks. If you have created a RAM disk, turn it off and restart your system before running Star Wars: Episode I Racer. If you really want to push your memory to its max, reducing the disk cache to its minimum setting can also help, at the expense of slower disk access.

¥ Turn on virtual memory. It is recommended that all machines that have only 32MB of memory turn on virtual memory.  Before you do, make sure that you have freed up as much memory as you can by following the steps above. The more free memory you have, the better your performance will be with virtual memory turned on. To turn on virtual memory, go into the Memory control panel, and click the ÒOnÓ button next to the Virtual Memory section. Then use the arrows next to the virtual memory control to adjust the amount of memory you wish to have to at least 64MB. 

Performance

If you're experiencing slow performance either in the form of a slow framerate or occasional pausing in the game, the following suggestions may help.

Quit out of other applications, turn off file-sharing, log out of servers, etc. before playing. Running other applications (including background programs like screensavers) at the same time as Star Wars: Episode I Racer can cause pausing or other performance degradation in the game. We recommend quitting out of all other applications prior to running Racer. Occasional pausing during gameplay can also occur if you have file sharing active on your computer, or are logged into a file server. We recommend that you turn file sharing off and log out of any file servers prior to running Racer.

Turn off sound/music. On slower systems, turning off the sound effects and/or music can provide a marked improvement in framerate, especially on notebook systems. These can be toggled by going into the Audio Settings option and turning off the desired audio components.

Controllers

Star Wars: Episode I Racer works with any joystick or gamepad that has support for Apple's InputSprocket controller scheme. (the InputSprocket software is automatically installed by Racer's installer if your system software does not have it installed already) If you are using an HID-compliant USB controller, simply plug in your controller into your computer's USB port, then start the game to use it. Go into the Joystick Settings screen to confirm that your joystick is properly connected. (it will be listed as "detected" in the upper-right portion of the screen with the number of axes and buttons available) You may need to hit the "Default" button in Joystick Settings for the correct button assignments to appear if you plugged your joystick in after having run the game.

If you are using an older ADB joystick or gamepad, you must also have your controller's current driver software installed in order to use it with Racer. See the instructions that came with your controller for details. 

Note for iMac users: If you are running on an iMac machine running OS 8.5.1 or earlier, and are using a USB controller that does not come with its own software (i.e. relies solely on Apple's InputSprocket for support), you will need to install the iMac Update 1.1 in order to get your controller to function properly. The iMac update is available for download from Apple's website at www.apple.com.


Multiplayer

The multiplayer option is only available in the full version of Racer.

Known Issues

early model Powerbook G3 users
Early models of the Powerbook G3 do not have built-in video support that has 3D hardware acceleration included (which is required to run Star Wars Episode I Racer). Unfortunately since there is no option to add this type of hardware to these machines, Racer will not run on these systems.

multiple-button USB mice
Although there is support for multiple buttons when using gamepad and joystick controllers, mice that have more than one button can only configure any of the buttons to be "button one" in the Mouse Settings menu.

aftermarket 3D video cards
Star Wars: Episode I Racer requires 3D hardware acceleration that is supported by Apple's OpenGL drivers. As of this writing, the following aftermarket 3D video cards are supported:

-ATI NEXUS GA
-ATI Nexus 128
-ATI RAGE ORION
-ATI XCLAIM 3D
-ATI XCLAIM 3D PLUS
-ATI XCLAIM VR
-ATI XCLAIM VR 128

Other 3D video cards that do not have support for Apple's implementation of OpenGL are not compatible with Star Wars: Episode I Racer.

task switching
Task switching is not recommended. We recommend that you do not task switch (pressing CMD+tab) while playing Racer.

Troubleshooting

¥ When I run the game it locks up at a black screen after running the opening cutscene. What's wrong? Star Wars: Episode I Racer generally requires approximately 16MB of free memory available to initialize the program and other software components (noteably OpenGL) to run. On 32MB RAM configurations though you'll need to allocate additional memory by increasing the amount of virtual memory being used. We recommend setting your virtual memory to at least 64MB. (see the Getting Started section under Memory for details)

¥ I'm having trouble controlling my pod racer with the keyboard controls on my PowerBook G3. What should I do?  On older PowerBook G3 systems, it is not possible to read input from more than two normal keys at once. If you attempt to play with the default keyboard settings in Star Wars: Episode I Racer you may have difficulty controlling your pod racer when you are pressing at least three keys. (i.e. thrust, tilt down, and left or right) The easiest workaround for this is to go into Keyboard Settings and reassign the thrust key to a modifier key, such as the control or option key.

¥ I'm having trouble controlling my pod racer with keyboard controls, and keyboard navigation is erratic in the game's interface screens. What's wrong? If you have a joystick or gamepad plugged in, the trim controls used to adjust your controller may adversely affect keyboard controls and navigating the game's interface screens with the keyboard. To avoid this problem, you should temporarily disable joystick controls either by going into the Joystick Settings screen and turning off the "Joystick enabled" option, or using the keyboard shortcut CMD-J to disable your controller within the game.

¥ When I run the game the game interface screens and race area appears in a smaller window. What's wrong? On machines that came with less than 4MB of SGRAM available for video display (iMac rev. A and some first-generation G3 machines) there is not enough texture memory available to run the game at the full 640x480 size. To overcome this, the game runs in a smaller 512x384 "window" to allow you to play.

¥ I'm seeing blank squares instead of medals in the Results screen. What's wrong? On machines with only 32MB of memory, if the virtual memory setting is too low you may see occasional graphic glitches. To alleviate this we recommend that you set your virtual memory to at least 64MB. 

¥ Occasionally I'm suddenly seeing horizontal streaks (lines) when I'm in one of the game's interface screens. What should I do? On machines that use the Rage 128 3D chipset (Power Mac G3 "blue and white", Power Mac G4, and iMac rev.E computers) if you're in one of the game's interface screens that has a large background image, you may encounter graphic corruptions caused by the 3D graphics chip overheating. While this is harmless to your computer, it makes the game difficult to play. To avoid this problem, you can either just avoid spending more than a few minutes on those screens, or you can turn off the background images by using the "no_background_sprites" option in the "Switches.txt" configuration file, located in the data folder of the installed copy of Racer (follow the directions included in the file). 

¥ I'm running MacOS 8.1 on my G3 All-In-One computer and can't get Racer to run. What's wrong? There is a known problem with Star Wars: Episode I Racer and MacOS 8.1 on the G3 All-In-One computer that prevents the game from running. This problem does not occur if a later version of MacOS is run on the All-In-One, so we recommend that you upgrade your system software to MacOS 8.5 or later in order to play Racer.

How to Contact LucasArts LLC


LucasArts has set up a variety of services to provide you with information regarding our programs, hint & gameplay assistance, and technical support.

Hint Line
If you need a hint, you may call our automated Hint Line. The average call length is three minutes. This service requires a touch tone phone. 

NOTE: You must be at least 18 years old or have your parents' permission to call.

U. S.
1-900-740-JEDI (1-900-740-5334)
95 cents per minute
(The option to speak with a live Hint Operator is also available through this number.)

Canada
1-900-677-JEDI (1-900-677-5334)
$1.25 (U.S.) per minute

Where To Find Us Online
We are proud to feature Yoda's Help Desk, which is available in the Technical Support section of the LucasArts Web site at http://support.lucasarts.com. Yoda's Help Desk offers interactive solutions to technical issues based on information you provide. Visitors to Yoda's Help Desk will be able to receive technical support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.



© Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM.
© LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC.

All rights reserved.  Used under authorization.