Commandos 2: Men of Courage

README file 06/09/2001 Version 1.1

Part 1: Things You Should Know

Please read through the DirectX section of this document. This section has information that is vital to
successfully running Commandos 2: Men of Courage on your system.

1.1 DirectX
This game is optimised for Microsoft's DirectX 8. In order for you to play the game, you must have
DirectX 8-compliant drivers for your video card and sound card. Please note that although DirectX 8 is
installed with the game, your video and sound card drivers will not be upgraded to DirectX 8 drivers.

You will need to obtain the latest DirectX 8 drivers from your card manufacturer or PC supplier. These
drivers cannot be supplied by Eidos.

1.2 Memory and Performance

While the game will run with 64Mb of RAM, your playing experience will be smoother if you have at least
128Mb.

Regardless of how much memory you have, you can maximise your available memory and increase the
overall performance of the game engine by doing the following:

 Closing any open windows

 Shutting down all other programs, including menu-bar programs like ICQ
 Defragmenting your hard drive

Eidos recommends that you have no other programs running at all while playing Commandos 2: Men of
Courage. Other programs, including virus checkers, system utilities and screen savers can cause system
degradation when playing games software and may conflict with the game for system resources,
potentially resulting in instability and crashes.

1.3 Known Issues

Sound Problem:

If user is having issues with the sound with it appearing to be corrupt, then goto `Run` on the Start menu,
type `DXDIAG`. Then go to the Sound tab, and alter the option for `Hardware Sound acceleration Level`

Win2k:

Windows 2000 users will require the relative rights to be able to install/run Commandos 2 correctly.
Please alter your system privileges or see your System Administrator.

Slowdown on Playback of videos:

If you select minimum install videos and music may appear slow and jerky at times, which is solved by a
full install.

Performance and Memory use:

You can only access "Performance" and "Memory Use" from the main menu.

Lower "Performance" (HI/MED/LOW) makes the game use fewer computer intensive processes (2D face
detail, less animation on vehicles). This is especially useful for lower spec machines.

Memory use" LOW makes the game use less memory this is heavily recommended machines with a
lesser amount of memory.

Pyro Studios and Eidos Interactive are committed to providing customer support for our games on a
continuing basis. In that spirit, there may be a patch for Commandos 2: Men of Courage forthcoming;
visit the Eidos website for more information.

http://www.eidos.com/

1.4 Hot Keys

Action/Selection Hot Key

Green Beret 1
Sniper 2
Diver 3
Sapper 4
Driver 5
Spy 6
Natasha 7
Thief 8
Whiskey 9
Wilson 9
Deselect all 0
Select various characters Number and Ctrl

Sniper Rifle A
Grenade A
Syringe A
Spike A
Shovel A
Knife A
Binoculars B
Swimming (Submerge) B
Swimming (Surface) B
First-aid kit C
Officer uniform D
Divers suit D
Snow clothes D
Natasha’s dress D
Wire Trap D
Mine Detector D
Stick to the enemy D
Rope ladder E
Order to go E
Fish Food E
Rifle F
Pistol G
Whistle H
Release Whiskey H
Wire Cutters I
Take off uniform J
Zodiak K
Bazooka K
Smoke Grenade K
Harpoon gun L
Blow Torch L
Sheet L
Sub Machine gun M
Sleeping pills N
Mines O
Poison Grenade O
Hit with bottle P
Trap P
Anti-tank mine P
Hit Q
Look above water Q
Look below water Q
Decoy R
Remote Bomb S
Lockpicks S
Lipstick S
Give orders S
Molotov cocktail S
Grappling hook S
Bury Yourself S
Cigarettes T
Put on uniform U
Tinned food V
Examine W
Attack mode X
Exit from X
Time Bomb Y
Order to look Z
Flame-thrower Z
Reveal and Hide control panel `
Enemy view Tab
Stand up and Crawl Space

Part 2: Technical Issues

2.1 Installation & Set-up

System Requirements

The minimum system requirements are as follows:

OPERATING SYSTEM:
Win 98/ME/2000
COMPUTER:
IBM PC or 100% compatible
CPU:
PII 266
RAM:
64Mb
GRAPHICS:
DirectX 8 compatible 4Mb Video Card
SOUND:
Windows 98/ME/2000 -compatible sound card (100% DirectX 8-compatible)
CD-ROM:
Quad-speed (4x) CD-ROM drive
HARD DRIVE:
1.5Gb free disk space
INPUT DEVICES:
100% Windows 98/ME/2000 -compatible mouse and keyboard

The recommended system requirements are as follows:

CPU:
PII 450
RAM:
128Mb
GRAPHICS:
8Mb Video Card-100% DirectX 8-compatible
SOUND:
Windows 98/ME/2000 -compatible sound card (100% DirectX 8-compatible)
CD-ROM:
Eight-speed (8x) CD-ROM drive or faster
HARD DRIVE:
2.5Gb free disk space

Preparing Your Hard Drive

To ensure that your installation is trouble free, you should check to see that your hard drive and file
system are both tuned for optimum performance. Windows comes with two utility programs that find and
fix any errors and optimise your hard drive performance. The first of these programs is called scandisk.
Scandisk will check your hard drive for problems and can fix any that it finds. You can run scandisk by
clicking on the Start button from the Windows Taskbar, followed by Programs, then Accessories, then
System Tools, and finally scandisk.

Once scandisk has finished running, you should next optimise your hard drive's performance by running a
program called Disk Defragmenter.. You can run Disk Defragmenter by clicking on the Start button from
the Windows desktop, followed by Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and finally Disk
Defragmenter.

Installing Commandos 2: Men of Courage

Installing Commandos 2: Men of Courage is easy. Simply insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive.

This program will guide you through the remaining process via onscreen prompts. If at any time you are
instructed to restart your computer, do so.

OR

 Click on the Start button.

 Choose Run from the pop-up menu.
 Type d:\setup in the box provided (where d: designates your CD-ROM drive letter).
 Click on the OK button to begin the install program.

You will be prompted to select the path and directory to which you wish to install the game on your hard
drive. The default is

C:\Program Files\Eidos Interactive\ Pyro Studios\ Commandos 2: Men of Courage

You may change this if you wish to.

At some point, the Microsoft DirectX 8 install prompt will appear if you do not have it on your system
already. Please read the on-screen information before selecting an option. You may either choose to
install or not install at this time. If the Commandos 2: Men of Courage installer detects an active version of
DirectX 8 on your system, we encourage you to not reinstall DirectX. If the installer does not detect
DirectX 8, you must install it before you are able to play Commandos 2: Men of Courage (please refer to
the next section of this guide before proceeding).

Starting/Loading The Game

 Click on the Start button.

 Choose Programs from the pop-up menu.
 Drag your mouse to the right and click on Commandos 2: Men of Courage from the list.
 Click on Commandos 2: Men of Courage from the ensuing pop-up menu.

Uninstalling Commandos 2: Men of Courage

If you need to UNINSTALL Commandos 2: Men of Courage, you may do either of the following two things:

 Click on the Start button.

 Choose Programs from the pop-up menu.
  Drag your mouse to the right and click on Commandos 2: Men of Courage from the list.
 Click on UninstallShield from the ensuing pop-up menu and follow the onscreen instructions.

OR

Go to the Control Panel and choose Add/Remove Programs. Click on Commandos 2: Men of Courage
from the pop-up panel to follow, select the Add/Remove button, and follow the onscreen prompts.

2.2 CD-ROM Problems

Commandos 2: Men of Courage requires at least a Quad-Speed CD-ROM drive with 32-bit Windows
95/98 drivers.

I receive a "xxxxxx.xxx not found" error message when installing or running Commandos 2: Men
of Courage

This error message is usually the result of your computer using MS-DOS (16 bit) drivers instead of
Windows (32 bit) drivers for your CD-ROM drive. You can easily check to see if this is causing problems
by opening the Control Panel (either click on the My Computer icon or click on the Start button followed
by Settings, then Control Panel).

In the Control Panel window, double-click on the System icon then click on the Performance tab. You
should now see a summary of the performance status of your computer. One of the lines should say “File
System: 32-bit” and the last line should say "Your system is configured for optimal performance." If you
see a message saying "Drive X is using MS-DOS compatibility mode," then you will need to contact your
system vendor to obtain and install 32-bit drivers for your CD-ROM drive.

2.3 Crashes and Lock-Ups

When I start Commandos 2: Men of Courage, my mouse cursor disappears and my computer
locks-up.

Chances are your installed audio card drivers are not compatible with DirectX. The only solution is to get
a DirectX 8-compatible driver from your audio card manufacturer.

When I start Commandos 2: Men of Courage, I receive the following error message:

"The application Commandos 2: Men of Courage.exe referenced memory at address xxxx:xxxx that can't
be read from."

Chances are your installed video card drivers are not compatible with DirectX. The only solution is to get
a DirectX 8-compatible driver from your video card manufacturer.

The Installer keeps stopping when a certain percentage is complete.

There are three likely causes:

 You may have run out of free space on your hard drive. Please remove unwanted programs to
 free up additional space for the game, and then reinstall Commandos 2: Men of Courage.
 Files are possibly being copied to a corrupted area of your hard drive. If this is so, you'll need to
run the scandisk program and make sure to use the Thorough option (see previous). After
scandisk has finished running and has informed you that your drive is free of errors, try to re-
install.
 There may be dirt or fingerprints on the CD-ROM disc itself. Examine the bottom of the disc; if
you see any fingerprints or dirt, carefully clean the disc using a clean, soft, lint-free cloth by wiping
from the centre of the disc (near the hole) towards the outer edge in a straight line.

Commandos 2: Men of Courage crashes to the desktop with no error messages.

This problem can be caused by several different things. Here's a list of the most common culprits
associated with these crashes:

 Make sure the CD-ROM is clean (check for both scratches and smudges on the reading surface
of the CD).

 Make sure the game has been installed properly.

 Make sure DirectX 8 has been installed properly.

 Make sure you have the latest drivers for your video card and that they are DirectX 8-compatible.

 Make sure you have the latest drivers for your sound card and that they are DirectX 8-compatible.

 Make sure Virtual Memory is enabled on your system.

 Run Scandisk.

 Run Disk Defragmenter.

 Clean out old temp (.TMP) files from the C:\WINDOWS\TEMP or C:\WINx\TEMP directory on
your hard drive (from Windows Explorer).

 Make sure you do not have any Anti-Virus utilities (like Norton's AntiVirus) running resident prior
to playing Commandos 2: Men of Courage.

 Make sure you do not have any third-party Windows memory management utilities (like
QuarterDeck's QEMM) running resident prior to playing Commandos 2: Men of Courage.

 Make sure you do not have any 3rd party Windows disk caching utilities running resident prior to
playing Commandos 2: Men of Courage.

 Make sure you do not have Norton's Crash Protector running resident prior to playing
Commandos 2: Men of Courage.

 Try uninstalling and then reinstalling the game.

 Try exiting the game, rebooting your machine, and re-entering the game.

Note that if your system crashes to the desktop while playing Commandos 2: Men of Courage, you
should probably reboot your computer before starting a new play session. Otherwise, DirectDraw or
DirectSound may be in a locked state, and the game will be unable to use your sound or video
hardware.
2.4 DirectX-Related Questions
DirectX has become the new standard in Windows application development. Nearly all high-performance
software will be geared around this technology, so we do not normally recommend that customers attempt
to alter its installation on their system

Undoing Changes To Your System

Help! Commandos 2: Men of Courage has caused my system to become unstable, and I suspect
that DirectX is the culprit. How can I restore my original drivers?

Unfortunately, there are some systems or hardware devices that just don't work with DirectX, and
installing DirectX on these systems might cause driver-related problems. You cannot remove DirectX from
your system, but you can restore the original audio and video drivers which the installation of DirectX will
have replaced.

If you currently have DirectX 8 installed either by Commandos 2: Men of Courage or previously installed,
you should be able to restore the original drivers by going to the Add/Remove Programs section in the
Control Panel.

If you enter the Control Panel and click on the Add/Remove Programs icon, you should see a list of all
of the programs that are registered with Windows in the Add/Remove Programs Properties panel.

If you see a listing for "DirectX Drivers", double-click it to open the DirectX Set-up panel. At the bottom of
this panel, there should be a button labelled Restore Display Drivers. Clicking on this button should
restore the original video drivers.. After that, click on the other button labelled Restore Audio drivers.
Though DirectX will remain on your system, the restoration of the older drivers may then allow you to run
the program. If not, you may want to consider contacting your system vendor for 100% DirectX-
compatible drivers for your video and/or sound cards OR visit the web site of the respective hardware
manufacturer[s].

Can I Run Without DirectX?

I cannot use DirectX on my computer! Is there any other way to run Commandos 2: Men of
Courage?

If you do not have DirectX installed on your computer, you will not be able to run Commandos 2: Men of
Courage.

2.5 Technical Support

If you need further technical assistance after reading the Readme file please do not hesitate to contact us
using any of the methods listed below.

When contacting us, please be sure to provide us with as much information as possible. Make sure to
note the exact type of hardware that you are using in your system, including: your sound card, CD-ROM
drive, amount of RAM present, speed and manufacturer of your processor. Also, make sure to include the
title and version of the game, and a detailed description of the problem.
It will also help if you prepare by creating a “DXDiag” diagnostic file in Windows before you call us. Simply
follow these instructions:

 Click on Start
 Click on Run
 Type dxdiag
 Click on OK
 Click on the Save Information button and save the file to your computer.

When you call our Technical Support line either have this file open or have a printed copy. If you send an
e-mail query you may attach the file to the e-mail.

Technical Support Contact Details (United Kingdom)

Address Unit 2
Holford Way
Birmingham
B6 7AX.
E-Mail [email protected]
Phone 0121 356 0831
Web http://www.eidosinteractive.co.uk/support/index.html

Technical Support Contact Details (United States of America)

Address Eidos Customer Services

651 Brannan Street
San Francisco
CA 94107
E-Mail http://www.eidosinteractive.com/support/techsupport.html
Phone 415 615-6220
Fax 415 547-1201
Web http://www.eidosinteractive.com/support/index.html

Technical Support Contact Details (Australia)

Web http://www.ozisoft.com/extra/help.asp

NOTE: Hints and tips will not be given out over the Technical Support lines.

Alternatively, you may find help with hardware problems on one of the websites maintained by the
supplier, some of which are listed below:

3DFX: www.3dfx.com
3D labs: www.3dlabs.com
ATI Technologies: www.atitech.com
Creative Labs: www.creaf.com
Diamond Multimedia / S3: www.diamondmm.com
Hercules: www.hercules.com
Matrox: www.matrox.com
nVIDIA: www.nvidia.com
Intel support.intel.com
Terratec: www.terratec.net

Eidos Interactive maintains a web page with links to all major video and audio card manufacturers, which
is a good first stop if you are looking to upgrade your drivers. You can reach this page at:

UK: http://www.eidosinteractive.co.uk/support/index.html
US: http://www.eidosinteractive.com/support/index.html
AUS: http://www.ozisoft.com/extra/help.asp

Further technical information and drivers for Windows-based PCs can also be found at
http://www.windrivers.com/