Welcome to F1 Championship Season 2000!

This ReadMe file accompanies version 1.0

F1 Championship Season 2000
Developed by: Electronic Arts, Inc.
Ported to the Macintosh by: Exitdata Software Ltd.
Published for the Macintosh by: Feral Interactive Ltd.

Contents

  1. Latest information and updates
  2. Technical Support
  3. System Requirements
  4. Installation
  5. Configuration
  6. Getting Started
  7. Copy Protection
  8. FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
  9. Performance Issues
  10. Missing Extensions
  11. Video issues
  12. Driver Updates
  13. Memory issues
  14. Steering Wheel Support in Mac OS X
  15. Force Feedback
  16. Replays
  17. F1 Multiplayer
  18. Printing the Screen
  19. About the Extras Folder
  1. For the latest information and updates
    For news, hints, and community visit the following home page on the web: www.feral.co.uk


  2. Technical Support
    The quickest and easiest way to solve problems and get questions answered is to visit the web sites listed above. Feral deals with specifically Macintosh issues and is probably the best place to start if you need more information or have a problem.

    Before contacting us for technical support please make sure that you have read the manual and/or checked the technical FAQs on this disc and/or the Feral website: www.feral.co.uk

    If the FAQs on our site do not solve your problem then please feel free to contact us as follows. Please follow the procedure outlined on page 47 of the manual. This makes the task of helping you much easier for us and consequently much quicker for you.

    e-mail: support@feral.co.uk
    fax: (0044)-208-875-1846
    tel: (0044)-208-875-9787


  3. System Requirements

    Minimum Configuration (under Mac OS 9/10):
    • Mac OS 9.1 / Mac OSX 10.1.3
    • Mac PowerPC processor running at 333 MHz
    • 128 MB RAM (with virtual memory set to at least 256 MB)
    • 500 MB free hard disk space
    • 4x CD-ROM drive
    • 8 MB 3D graphics accelerator (OpenGL compatible)
    • 800x600 monitor running in 16-bit (thousands) mode
    • OpenGL 1.2.1
    • CarbonLib 1.6
    • Keyboard & mouse
    • Ethernet connection (for networked play)

    Recommended Configuration (under Mac OS 9/10):
    • Mac OS 9.2.2 / Mac Osx 10.2 or later
    • Mac PowerPC processor running at 600 MHz or faster
    • 256 MB RAM
    • 1GB MB free hard disk space
    • 24x CD-ROM drive
    • 32 MB 3D graphics accelerator (OpenGL compatible)
    • 800x600 monitor running in 16-bit (thousands) mode
    • Latest version of OpenGL
    • Latest version of CarbonLib
    • Steering Wheel
    • Ethernet connection (for networked play)

    Network Play Requirements
    • 1 - 8 Mac players may join in F1 Championship Season 2000 via a Local Area Network (LAN), providing each player has a Mac F1 Championship Season 2000 CD. Note: It may be possible to play F1 Championship Season 2000 over the Internet. However this is not supported by the developer or the publisher.


  4. Installation
    1. Insert the F1 Championship Season 2000 (F1 CS 2000) CD into the CD drive and wait for the 'F1 CS 2000' icon to open on your desktop.
    2. Before doing anything else, read the file called 'Read Me'.
    3. Double-click on the 'F1 CS 2000' icon.
    4. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the game to your hard disk.
    5. Once installation is complete, an alias of F1 CS 2000 will appear on your Mac desktop.

    Installation is a one-time process that will only take a few minutes.

    If, for whatever reason, you should wish to uninstall F1 CS 2000, simply drag the folder called 'F1 CS 2000' from your hard drive to the Trash and from the Finder's Special menu select Empty Trash. If you are running OSX, select 'Empty Trash' from the Finder menu.

    To remove all of the saved games and other preferences, delete the folder called 'F1 CS 2000' located inside your system folder's 'Preferences'.


  5. Configuration
    F1 CS 2000 sets the default keyboard and mouse controls upon its first launch. If you would like to change these controls, you can do so via the 'Controls' button in the main menu.


  6. Getting Started
    Once in the game, we strongly recommend you play through the Driving School, whether you're an experienced gamer or a novice - the tutorial quickly teaches you the basics of the game.


  7. Copy Protection
    When you start a new game, or resume a saved game, a dialog will appear asking you to insert the F1 CS 2000 CD then click the 'OK' button. When you insert the CD, the operating system may take a few seconds to notice! If you click OK before it has noticed, the dialog will not go away. Simply wait a few seconds and then click the OK button again.


  8. FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
    Please see the separate document called FAQs, which you will find in the documentation folder.


  9. Performance Issues
    When it launches for the first time F1 checks your system and configures itself to give you the best combination of speed and display quality - trading off the speed at which the game displays against the colour depth and detail of the game's images. You may find that you prefer a higher frame rate than the default setting. (Be sure to read 'F1 Multiplayer' in this Read Me before changing the setting).

    In order to improve the frame rate you will have to turn off some features of the game. The features which have the biggest impact on the frame rate are as follows:

    1. Turn off mirrors (via the Display button in the main menu)
    2. Turn off sound effects (via the Audio button in the main menu)
    3. Turn cockpit resolution to low (via the Display button in the main menu)

    Other ways to improve the performance of the game on your computer without sacrificing frame rate or graphical detail are listed under 'Memory issues'.


  10. Missing Extensions
    F1 CS 2000 requires both CarbonLib 1.6 and OpenGL 1.2.1 or later to be installed in your computer's system folder. If either of these extensions is not present F1 CS 2000 will fail to launch and you will be shown a dialog telling you the reason.

    If you should see this dialog then you can find the missing extensions in the Extras folder on the F1 CS 2000 CD. Alternatively, you can get the latest versions of CarbonLib and OpenGL from Apple by using Software Update or downloading from: http://www.apple.com/updates.


  11. Video issues
    When running F1 CS 2000 we recommend that your video card setting in the Monitors Control Panel (or Control Strip) is set to 16-bit (thousands) colour depth.

    If you are experiencing video problems with F1 CS 2000, then the most likely cause is outdated video drivers. In that case you will need to download the latest drivers from the web. You can do this from your video card manufacturer's website:
    http://www.ati.com

    If your Macintosh computer came fitted with a video card, which you have not changed or upgraded, then you will find the latest drivers on Apple's website:
    http://www.apple.com/support

    Also check that you have the latest version of OpenGL. You can download this from:
    http://www.apple.com/updates

    Note: F1 CS 2000 does not support Voodoo cards or any other 3dfx products. While the game may run on a Voodoo card we are unable to offer support because 3dfx is no longer in business.


  12. Driver Updates
    Before playing F1, you must ensure you have installed the latest drivers for your video card.

    The latest nVidia drivers can only be obtained by updating your operating system.

    The latest ATI drivers can always be found at http://www.ati.com/

    As of writing, the latest drivers are the October 2002 Retail Update. If you have a Radeon 8500 or higher, these drivers are required for F1 to run under Mac OS 9 and Mac OS 10.1 and can be downloaded directly from
    http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/mac/macos-october-2002-update.html

    If you have an older ATI card, the download is not necessary, but is recommended.


  13. Memory issues
    The three most important factors in determining how smoothly F1 CS 2000 plays are your CPU speed, the amount of VRAM available on your Video card and the amount of built-in RAM in your computer. F1 CS 2000 is playable with the minimum specifications listed above, but it is memory hungry and plays more smoothly on faster computers with more RAM and more powerful video cards. However, if you are dissatisfied with the performance of the game on your computer there are several things you can do to that are likely to improve performance:

    1. Increase virtual memory: we recommend that you ENABLE virtual memory if your computer has 128 MB of RAM or less. If you don't know what virtual memory is, that's ok - it's on by default, but some users manually disable it. A good setting is twice the amount of installed physical RAM, but make sure it is at least 256 MB. To do this, open the 'Memory' control panel, turn virtual memory on, and set the box on the right to at least 256 MB (preferably more). Now restart your machine.

    2. Turn off all unnecessary extensions. Having lots of extensions running on your system is a burden on its processing. Before launching F1 CS 2000 reduce the number of extensions your system is using. This is most easily done by selecting the 'base set' of extensions. From the extensions manager choose the base extensions set in the selected set drop down menu. Now restart your computer.

    3. Close all other applications: You are strongly encouraged to quit all other applications before launching F1 CS 2000 - other applications will drain resources and slow the overall system down.

    4. Make sure File Sharing is turned off.

    5. Clear Disk Space: Ensure that your main hard-disk has a lot of spare disk space.


  14. Steering Wheel Support in Mac OS X
    Under Mac OS X, the defaults for brake and accelerate on your steering wheel/input device are incorrectly configured. So if you are running on OS X and want to play with a wheel or other custom input device, you must reverse the values for brake and accelerate in the General controls screen before entering a race. To reset any value for an input device simply double-click the existing value in the Controller column in the General controls screen - a Control Configuration screen will appear, follow the instruction on this screen to reset the value.

    Note that this does not affect keyboard or mouse input.


  15. Force Feedback
    F1 CS 2000 includes a button for Force Feedback. At the time of release there is no support for force feeback controls on the Macintosh platform. However this is likely to change in the near future so we have left this button in the game with the intention of releasing a patch at a later date in order to activate it.


  16. Replays
    Not all visual or audio events are saved when replays are recording. Furthermore, viewing the same replay multiple times may lead to visual inaccuracies particularly with regards to damage.

    If you have problems with saving and recording replays, it's possible that you will need to free up some hard drive space to accommodate the data saved as you play the game. For best performance, it is recommended that there is at least 500MB free hard drive space available.


  17. F1 Multiplayer
    In multiplayer games, whilst higher data rates provide smoother looking races, the amount of data being transferred can lead to games losing synchronisation more easily, especially on slower networks. If you experience synchronisation problems, try reducing the data rate setting.


  18. Printing the Screen
    If you want to print a copy of the screen (or save to file), then run the game in full-screen mode, and press F12. This will save a picture file onto your desktop, which you can open and print using PictureViewer or any image processing application.


  19. About the Extras Folder
    The Extras folder contains various extra goodies including the following:
    Latest versions of OpenGL, CarbonLib and Acrobat Reader