Origin - Tech - Help - Wing Commander III MAC

Wing Commander III:
Macintosh
t e c h n i c a l i n f o r m a t i o n

General Troubleshooting. i.e. This is way too much information.
Startup Configuration	Requirements	Error Messages	General
Controller	Sound	Hints	Notes

MAC Startup Configuration
for use only with shortcuts and boot disks.

Required EXTENSIONS

	CD-ROM
	Sound Manager 3.1 (on CD)
	Finder Update or PPC Finder Update[if present on your system]
	Joystick Manager [if present on your system]
	SCSI Manager[if your system uses any SCSI devices]

Required CONTROL PANELS

	Memory
	Sound Manager  [except for System 7.5.3] 
	Extensions Manager
	Joystick [if present on your system]

Color Code:
BLACK:	Required.
RED:	May need to be modified to reflect the wording in your Extensions manager.
GREEN:	Optional. These are not required to run the game. However you may like to have sound with your game, so leaving these out may not be helpful.
[ITALICIZED]:	Comments and are not to be entered as is. Upper or lower case doesn't matter.
Unfortunately, there is no way to automatically configure the Macintosh Power PC with our configuration-creation software. Locate your Extensions manager and allow ONLY the necessary components to be "on" prior to running Wing Commander 4.

Requirements & Other Useful Info

Minimum Requirements

Power PC, System 7.1.2 or higher, 8Mb of RAM

Memory Requirements

Free: 5150K

For Sound: 5700K

Note: you MUST enable 32-bit addressing or 'Modern Memory Manager' for the game to run properly.

Installation Requirements:

Minimum: ~23 MB

Maximum: ~63 MB

To Install:

Put the game disk in the CD-ROM drive, click on the Wing Commander Installer program.

To Run:

Click on the WC3 icon located within the WC3 folder on the hard drive.

To Quit:

Command-Q

Sound Configuration File:

There is no separate sound configuration. For sound trouble, check the troubleshooting section below.

Natively Supported Soundcards:

All hardware supported by Sound Manager 3.1

Savegame File Names

The names of Saved Game files for Wing III Macintosh default to "Wing Commander Save Game"

Input Devices

Keyboard

Macintosh Joystick

Mouse

Calibration:

Calibrate joystick in the Macintosh Control Panel

Notes

Configuration Help and Tips:

Memory Information

If you are having problems related to memory, be sure to check your system memory. To accomplish this, click on the APPLE icon, and then choose "About this Mac." The amount of RAM on the computer is listed under "Built-in Memory" while the amount of available memory is listed as "Largest Unused Block." Compare these values to the required values listed above.

Lockups or Error Messages:

If you receive a lockup or a fatal error message while running Wing III for the Mac, DELETE the Wing Commander III preferences before restarting the game. Here's how: Double-click on the system folder, and then double-click on the preferences folder. Highlight "Wing Commander III" and drag it to the Trash can. Click on the 'special menu' and select "Empty trash." You're now ready to restart the game. Ensure that your extensions match the required (above).

Optimizing: Setting Minimum and Preferred

Highlight the WC4 executable program and then press COMMAND-I. This will bring up the WC4 Information screen. Under "Memory Requirements" MINIMUM should be set to 5150 Kb while PREFERRED should be set to 5150 on Mac systems with 8MB of Built-in RAM. If you have 10Mb of built-in RAM, set MINIMUM to 5700Kb. PREFERRED can be set to 200Kb less than the "Largest Unused Memory Block."

Optimizing: How to turn Virtual Memory OFF:

Click the Apple icon and then choose "Control Panels."
Double-click on Memory.
Under "Virtual Memory," click OFF

Wing Commander III for Macintosh
Common Issues

Error Messages

"Error type 11" or ;"Unimplemented Traps;"
This memory can appear if the minimum memory available is less than 5150K. Consult the 'About this Mac' information for more details about your system memory. Also, be sure to set the size of Preferred and Minimum memory to at least 5150K. Disable all non-essential Extensions and Control Panels and re-start the game. If this does not solve the problem, you may need to run a Hard Disk utility to check for problems with your main harddrive.

"Seek Error" or ;"Read Error on file DARKGAL1;"
To solve this problem, you'll need to re-start your Macintosh. Once your system has re-started, you'll need to re-install Wing Commander III from Disk #1. Be SURE you select the 'Install Data Files' option. Run Wing Commander III and load a saved game from before where the error occurred. Note: This option will require an additional 40Mb of disk space.

General

I have slow frame rate!" or "My movies pause!" or "Movie sound is choppy!
To help speed performance of the game (and alleviate problems with movies) we suggest that you make sure the Virtual Memory is turned OFF (in the Memory control panel) and that File Sharing is OFF (in the Sharing Control panel). Also, set the Disk Cache to 256K (in the Memory Control panel) and set AppleTalk to 'interactive' in the "Chooser." Defragmentation of the harddrive is also recommended.

My game locks at the winning endgame movie!
The endgame movie simply *stops* at the end. If you press the mouse button or the joystick button, you will be able to see the credits. The patch (W3MPATCH.HQX) solves this problem.

Controller

My mouse pointer jumps back to the middle of the screen at random!
We have found that certain joystick drivers are responsible for this problem. Elect to use your joystick as the pointing device while in gameflow, or contact the joystick manufacturer for a more recent driver.

Sound

I'm having trouble with my music!
Music for Wing Commander III requires an additional 550K of available memory. Check "Get Info" and check minimum size: it must be greater than 5700K. Ensure that the "Music" option is checked in the Options menu and that the volume setting is turned up (high) in the Sound Options menu. If the music is choppy, check the Slow Frame Rate issue listed in General Issues, above.

I'm not getting any sound in spaceflight!
Make sure that the Sound option is checked in the Options menu and that the Volume is turned up (high). Note: If you are Low on memory, some sounds may not play. Use "Get Info" to check your minimum memory.

In some cases, if the Max Sounds setting is on '8' certain sound effects will not play (as higher priority sounds are being played instead.

I'm only getting sound out of one speaker!
Unfortunately, this problem happens on certain Macs. A patch has been developed to address this problem. Download the file W3MPATCH.HQX and upgrade Wing Commander III to version 1.0.2.

Sound effects and music are garbled in the credits!
On some systems, the sounds and music in the end movie and the credits movie sequence are garbled. Try re-playing these movies by flying through the final mission again. If the credits and endgame movie continue to be garbled, you may need to increase the minimum available memory on your system. (See General Issues, above)

Hints

I'm at Kilrah and there is an endless wave of fighters!
The 'cloaking' mission at the end of the game is pretty tricky. Follow these steps:

Go to Nav-point 1 and kill all enemies. Autopilot to Nav 2.

Kill all enemies at Nav-point 2, and then send your wingmen home.

Autopilot to Nav-piont 3, kill all of the enemies and then CLOAK.

Autopilot to the final Nav-point and face Thrakath and Hobbes.































Copyright 1997 Origin Systems, an Electronic Arts Company