Origin - Tech - Help - Wing Commander Academy

Wing Commander Academy
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.
Boot Configuration	Requirements	Error Messages
Notes	General

DOS EMS Boot Configuration
for use only with shortcuts and boot disks.

| help on modifiying your config.sys and autoexec.bat |

CONFIG.SYS

	device=c:\windows\himem.sys
	device=c:\windows\emm386.exe 3072 RAM i=b000-b7ff
	dos=high
	files=25
	buffers=25
	lastdrive=[enter the drive letter of your CD-ROM]
	devicehigh=[CD-ROM drivers]
	device=[Sound lines (if any)]

AUTOEXEC.BAT

	@echo off
	path=c:\windows;c:\windows\command;c:\dos;
	prompt $p$g
	lh c:\windows\command\mscdex.exe /m:5 /d:[CD-ROM name]
	lh [Microsoft Mouse driver (required)]
	lh [Sound lines (if any)]

Color Code:
BLACK:	Must use the exact lettering provided.
RED:	May need to be modified to reflect the wording in your C:\CONFIG.SYS or C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT, respectively.
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.
If you are still looking at gibberish by the time you read this, visit our ??!! How To !!?? page which has a plethora of Boot Disk makers, Short Cut makers, and easy to read, step by step information on how to make them manually.

Requirements & Other Useful Info

Minimum Requirements

386 SX, 2Mb of system RAM

Memory Requirements

Conventional: 586Kb

High: 1024Kb EMS

Installation Requirements:

Floppy, and CD versions: ~5MB

To Install:

Floppy: A:\INSTALL.EXE

EA Classics CD-ROM: D:\ORIGIN.BAT

Sound Blaster game pack: D:\WCA\INSTALL D: C: Note: you must indicate the "Source" and the "Destination" drives when executing the install program from the Creative Labs Sound Blaster game pack.

To Run:

Floppy and Sound Blaster pack: C:\WCA\WCA.EXE

EA Classics CD: C:\EA\WCA\WCA.EXE

To Quit:

Alt-X

Sound Configuration:

Floppy: C:\WCA\INSTALL.EXE

EA Classics CD: D:\ORIGIN.BAT

Natively Supported Soundcards:

Sound Blaster, Pro

Ad Lib

Roland MT-32, LAPC-1

Hey! My Sound Card isn't listed!!

Savegame File Names

Floppy: C:\WCA\GAMEDAT\AS[my file]

Also look for WCATMP and LASTWIN files.

Input Devices
Keyboard

Joystick

Mouse

NOTE: To Calibrate the joystick, hit CTRL-J while in flight.

Notes

CD Installation Problems
If you encounter error messages during the installation of the game, you will need to create a boot disk (see configuration information above). Reboot your system with a boot disk tailored to meet the memory requirements of Wing Commander Academy and attempt to install the game again. To install properly, you must have more than 500Kb of "Conventional" memory available.

Manual Installation
Should you be unable to install the game using the installation program provided, you may need to do a "Manual Installation."

Change to your CD-ROM drive and type "XCOPY *.* C:\WCAINST\ /E /S"

Roughly 21 megabytes of data will be moved from the CD onto the hard disk.

Change back to the C: drive and change directory to the C:\WCAINST directory.

From within the C:\WCAINST directory, type "ORIGIN" to install the game.

Changing Sound Settings Manually
Generally, it is unnecessary to make changes to your sound card without using the INSTALL program. However, if you need to change your sound settings manually, change to the C:\WCA directory. Type "EDIT WCA.CFG." If you have gone through the install and have selected a sound card and sound settings you will probably see a line that reads something to the effect of: "a904 c25 d1" The number 2 following the "c" is the second number of the sound card's port address, the 5 after the "c" is the IRQ, and the 1 after the "d" is the DMA channel. See our Sound Card Help Page for more information.

Wing Commander: ACADEMY
Common Issues

Error Messages

"Error reading drive D:" during installation.
Try running the install again. This time type "INSTALL -A" to turn off the installation program's 'autodetection' feature. This should allow the installation program to continue normally.

General

My game locks after I type 'WCA.' It says 'expanded memory detected' and then it locks!
Normally, this problem happens when you have a problem with your sound card. Run the install program again and select NO SOUND card. Try running the game again and see if the lockup goes away. If it does go away without the SOUND CARD being set up in the Installer then you know that the problem lies with the sound card configuration. Run the Install program again and input the port address, IRQ and DMA values that are used by your Sound Card.

Note: Wing Commander Academy does not autodetect sound card settings. For example, the listed default setting for a Sound Blaster card's IRQ will appear as 7... while, on most systems the IRQ is actually 5. See our Sound Card Help Page for more information.
























Copyright 1997 Origin Systems, an Electronic Arts Company