Baldur's Gate.

[Mario]

Here is the official Baldur's Gate readme file.

Baldur's Gate
Readme and Manual Addenda


Baldur's Gate (tm)
Release Version 1.0.4309


Contents
1. Getting Started
a. System Requirements
b. Installation
c. Registering Baldur's Gate with Black Isle Studios
d. Running Baldur's Gate
e. Configuration Program - Baldur's Gate Config
f. Visit the Baldur's Gate Web Site
2. Manual Addenda and Corrections
a. Additional Credits
b. Manual Addenda
c. Corrections
d. Design Notes
3. TroubleShooting
a. Tweaking Performance
b. Known Problems
c. Updates
4. Interplay Customer Service Information (North America)
5. European Information
a. Customer Service Information
b. Limited Warranty
6. Legal Information


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1. Getting Started

1a. System Requirements

Required:
Pentium (or compatible) 166 MHz
16 MB RAM
*32 MB RAM for multiplayer
Windows 95 with DirectX 5.0 or later
320 MB of Hard Drive Space (60 meg more required if playing multiplayer)
4X or faster CD-ROM
DirectX Certified Video Card with at least 2 MB of video RAM
DirectX Certified Sound Card
Keyboard, Mouse

Recommended:
Pentium (or compatible) 200 MHz with MMX
32 MB RAM
570 MB (or more) of Hard Drive Space
8X (or faster) CD-ROM
DirectX certified Video Card with at least 4 MB of video RAM

Notes on Video Cards:
While you can still run Baldur's Gate with a 1 meg video card, we highly
recommend against it - performance will be very poor. To check if your
video card is 2 meg, go to the Display folder in the Control Panel and
choose Settings. If your video card can display 800x600 resolution at
24-bit color depth, then it is capable of running Baldur's Gate. We do
recommend that you obtain the latest DirectX drivers for your video
card, direct from the video card company that makes your card.

WINDOWS NT 4.0:
Although Windows NT 4.0 is not supported in an official capacity, Baldur's
Gate can be run correctly under Windows NT 4.0 if the following conditions
are met: You will need at least 32 MB of RAM and must have NT 4.0 Service
Pack 3 installed. If you wish to run multiplayer, then Service Pack 4 is
required. Slow downs during gameplay have been reported under NT. These
are due to the way that Direct Sound and the System Timers interact. This
may be corrected in future version of NT.


1b. Installation

Insert the CD-ROM labeled Baldur's Gate Disc 1 into your CD-ROM drive and
follow the onscreen instructions. If your autorun is disabled, find the
autorun.exe application in the root of Disc 1 and double click to launch
the Installer.

After installing Baldur's Gate, you will have options for installing
DirectX 6.0. Gamespy software is automatically installed. Software for
HEAT.net is also included on Disc 1.

If you do not have DirectX installed, install DirectX 6.0 when prompted
during the installation process. If you obtain a newer version of DirectX,
it is recommended that you use that.

Later versions of DirectX often have driver updates which will make
Baldur's Gate run better on your system. However, Baldur's Gate only
requires v5.0.

You should regularly defragment your hard drive, as fragmentation can
result in poor performance.

Minimum install versus recommended install:
A minimum install represents the base information required to be on the
hard drive to play. A recommended install includes more information that
would otherwise have to be loaded each time - for example, there are more
custom sound sets available for use by your created characters and there is
more music available in the recommended install. You must leave the CD in
the drive at all times when playing with a Minimum Install.

Custom installs:
You choose custom install if you wish to install more than recommended -
all the way up to a full install. The more areas you load to your hard
drive, the shorter the load times while in game.

Note on Full Installations:
Windows 95 does not correctly report the free space on hard drive
partitions larger that 2 gig. Because of this, you may get an
"insufficient disk space" if decide to install everything from the CDs,
even if you do have the disk space available. To bypass this, just choose
to "install anyway" when you receive this error and installation will
proceed correctly.


1c. Electronic Registration

Please take a few moments to fill out the Electronic Registration for
Baldur's Gate. Your feedback will make you eligible for special offers and
promotions, and it also provides us with information we need in order to
make better games. We'd appreciate your time.


1d. Running Baldur's Gate

If you use the default installation settings for Baldur's Gate, it will
be installed in a 'Black Isle Studios' Program Group in your Start menu.


1e. Baldur's Gate Config

One program of note in your Program Group is the Baldur's Gate Config
program. This application will allow you to set the various hotkeys for
the game as well as set up several other options. The various options are
contained within four tabs. The various Shortcut tabs allow you to modify
the different 'hotkeys' for the game. Refer to your Game Manual for
information about these. The Options tab contains various game settings:
1. Region: This setting is used for Gamespy connections
2. Cache Size: The Cache is Hard Disk space that is reserved by Baldur's
Gate for storing area data. The more cache you make available to the
title, the less loading you will have to do when returning to areas
in the game.
3. Game Speed: The Game Speed setting allows you to speed up EVERYTHING
in the game. Because Baldur's Gate is real time, allowing running
unbalances the game. The Game Speed option allows the user to speed
up the overall play of the game. This option is not officially
supported and could cause problems, especially in multiplayer. The
default setting is 30 AI Updates/Second.
Note: this will result in a performance hit on any machine because the
game is attempting to process all data at a higher speed. This will
cause more slowdown in various places in the game.


1f. Baldur's Gate Web Page

If there is anything that are having problems with or cannot find in the
manual, stop by the Baldur's Gate Web Page at http://www.interplay.com.
Aside from cool game materials and errata, you may be able to find an
answer for whatever question you might have.

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2. Manual Addenda and Corrections

2a. Additional Credits

Black Isle Studios
Black Isle Movie - Gary Platner
Add'l Box Art - Aaron Brown

Bioware
Elben Schafer's name was misspelled in the credits movie. Sorry Elben!

Interplay Productions
Associate Producer (assisting) - Jeff Jirsa
Int'l Traffic Coordination - Richard Barker
Production Assistance - Chris Benson
(more) QA Project Supervisors:
Steve Mclafferty
Darrell "Maestro" Jones
(more) QA Testers:
Jeremy "Sweeney" Seely,
Tony "Wardog" Piccoli,
Herschel Greenberg,
Rick Avalos,
Rob Giampa,
Tim "Cthulhu" Anderson

Special Thanks to the Beta Testers:
Zac Harris, Michael Kaae, Joseph Chang, Milton Fader, Greg Lewis,
Stanley Ho, Joseph Avery, Casey C. Clark, Daniel Yoon, Jeff Smith,
Joe Mauga, Steve Lewis, John Allen, Jason Medders, Joseph Lee,
and Lawrence Bolante


2b. Manual Addenda

Generic Addenda:

Items in the Game World

If you leave items on the ground in the game world, they will disappear
after a period of time (with a few key items as exceptions). Bodies
will begin to decay from the world after about half a day. Items will
begin to decay from the world after a day or two. The decay represents
the effects of scavengers and other folk.

If you want to stash items, put them inside any container; for example,
a chest, bookshelf, or box.

Item prices in stores.

Prices items in stores vary according to how many items of that type
they carry. Prices also vary according to the reputation of your
party (p.146) and the Charisma of the present Leader, who always
represents the group. The leader while in a store is the top-most
character who entered the store (assuming you haven't turned on the
option setting requiring all players to enter the store together in
a multiplayer game).

Multiplayer games without other players.

You can play the game in a multiplayer fashion without any other players
in it. In this way you can create all of the characters in your party,
or some of them, if you like. For this to work, you must have some form
of multiplayer protocol installed on your system. If you do not have
a multiplayer protocol installed, you should be able to start a SERIAL
game. If you are unable to create a new game using SERIAL, try changing
the COM port you are creating the game with.

Custom Portraits

The measurements for player portraits are 38X60 pixels for the small ones
(8-bit color only) and 110X170 pixels for the large ones. Put these in
the Portraits directory (in the install directory for the game) and add a
S to the end of the small portrait name and an L to the end of the large
portrait. The names must be 1-7 letters long, maximum.
For example:
XXXXXXXS.bmp for small (38x60, 8-bit)
XXXXXXXL.bmp for large (110x70, 24-bit)
For multiplayer, each player must have a copy of the portraits, otherwise they will
see a blank icon where the other player's custom portraits would be.

Custom Sound files

The following is a list of the WAV files for the custom sound sets.
Replace each 'XXXXXXX' in the filenames with the name of the sound set
(MAX 7 CHARACTERS). All the WAV files should be 22 khz, 16 bit mono
sounds. Copy the WAV files to the Sounds directory located in the
directory that Baldur's Gate was installed in, and then select this sound
set either in character creation or in the "Customize" button off of the
Character Record page. For multiplayer, merely send your custom sounds
to all of the people you are playing with and have them copy them to the
Sounds directory - if you have installed the sounds to your character in
your game, everyone will hear your sounds once they copy them into the
correct directory.
XXXXXXXa.wav : Battle Cry
XXXXXXXb.wav : Becoming Leader
XXXXXXXc.wav : Tired
XXXXXXXd.wav : Bored
XXXXXXXe.wav : Badly Wounded
XXXXXXXf.wav : Selected 1
XXXXXXXg.wav : Selected 2
XXXXXXXh.wav : Selected 3
XXXXXXXi.wav : Action Acknowledgement 1
XXXXXXXj.wav : Action Acknowledgement 2
XXXXXXXk.wav : Action Acknowledgement 3
XXXXXXXl.wav : Being Hit
XXXXXXXm.wav : Dying
XXXXXXXn.wav : In Forest
XXXXXXXo.wav : In City
XXXXXXXp.wav : In Dungeon
XXXXXXXq.wav : Daytime
XXXXXXXr.wav : Nighttime
XXXXXXXs.wav : Rare Selected 1
XXXXXXXt.wav : Rare Selected 2
XXXXXXXu.wav : Rare Selected 3
XXXXXXXv.wav : Rare Selected 4
XXXXXXXw.wav : Reaction to Party Member Death

AI Scripting

For information on creating custom AI scripts please read the
ScriptCompiler.doc located in the ScriptCompiler Directory located
on CD 1. You can read this file using either Word97 or WordPad.

Modal actions for characters

If your AI button is turned ON you may notice your character's modal
abilities turn OFF occasionally. Modal abilities are those abilities
that you can turn on an leave on (e.g. thieves' detect traps mode).
These modes can be turned off when a script action occurs for that
character. If this is causing problems for you, you can either load
"None" as the script for your character or click the "AI on/off" button
(on the main game screen at the lower right) to toggle this.

The To-Hit Roll

If you have turned on 'To-Hit Rolls' in your Feedback settings, the
game will display the rolls on each attack. The roll will display
X + Y = Z
Where
X = base to hit
Y = any +'s to hit
Z = total to hit roll
Y is the total non-character related bonuses/penalties. These include
spell effects, fatigue and the like. Strength, Dexterity, and magic
weapon bonuses and penalties are applied directly to the character's
THACO.

Reading dialog stored in the buffer

In many cases, you may want to scroll up through the dialog in the
text window. If you find that game messages are interfering with
this (the window will reset to display new messages), hold down
the left mouse button while using the slider thumb. While the
left mouse button is depressed, you will not be returned to view the
new messages.

Dialog window resizing in multiplayer

When another player iniates dialog in a multiplayer game, the window will
resize to fit the text that comes up. When the other player finishes dialog,
the dialog window will resize to what it was before, unless you were typing a chat
message in, in which case it will stay in medium or large mode (in which the chat line
is present).

Reform party button in multiplayer

Only the server can use the reform party panel button - clients can not depress this
button. If a client wishes to remove a character for which he has control and the
server has given the client "Modify Character" permissions, then this character
can be removed via the Character Arbitration page, or the client can ask the server
to remove the character in the Reform Party panel.

Dual Classing - Required Attributes

When you dual class a character, you must possess the attributes required to be able
to dual class to that new class. If you do not see the class that you wish to dual
class to in the available classes (i.e., it is dimmed out), then this means that
your character does not possess the required attribute(s) for that class. However, any
classes to which the character CAN dual class WILL always be displayed as available.

Multiplayer Timeout Settings

The server (and only the server) can adjust the timeouts for all clients in multiplayer
by manually editing the Baldur.ini file. WE DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS FOR THE NOVICE!
however, if you wish to increase or decrease the timeout settings, then adjust the
line "ClientTimeout=X" under "[Multiplayer]" in the Baldur.ini file, setting X to
whatever seconds value you wish (the default is 150 seconds, so X=150 initially).


Specific Addenda:

p.13 Clock
Note that the Clock, as shown in the screenshot, is also the Pause/Unpause
button. (Spacebar works as well).
p.22 Containers
When using containers, if the character's inventory is full, the item will
not be transferred, and the backpack will be grayed out.
p.22 World Map
Note that sometimes your world map will be updated through dialogue or
events within the game.
p.27-28 New Options
Graphics
Transparent Shadows: This option enables transparent shadows beneath
the characters. Disable this option to increase game
performance.
Sound
Environmental Audio: This option uses the Creative (R) Environmental
Audio (tm) technology to increase the realism of your audio
environment. You must have a sound card with this
technology to enable this option. E.g. SBLive.
Gameplay
Group Infravision: Enables infravision if any character in the selected
group has the infravision ability.
Weather: Disable this to remove all weather effects. This may improve
performance on some lower end machines.
p.28 Select Sounds
In the game Select Sounds are displayed as Character Sounds.
p.70 Auto-Pause
The Auto-pause settings can be found under "Autopause" in the Gameplay
section of the option screen.
p.77 To-Hit Rolls and Melee Combat
In Melee combat, not every swing is intended to hit. A character in
Baldur's Gate may make an "cosmetic" swing during the 6-second round
aside from the actual attempt to deliver damage. This swing represents
the feints and parries that would occur in real combat.
p.99/103/116/118
The following spells create pseudo weapons. For the purposes of combat
they are treated as follows:
Chill Touch (p.99) uses a Blunt Weapon proficiency.
Ghoul Touch (p.103) uses a Blunt Weapon proficiency.
Shillelagh (p.116) uses a Blunt Weapon proficiency.
Flame Blade (p.118) uses a Small Sword proficiency.
p.103 Detect Evil
Detect Evil is missing from the "Mage Spells - Level 2" list. This spell
functions the same as the 1st level Priest Spell of the same name (p.115).


2c. Corrections to the Manual and Quick Reference Card

Quick Reference Card
In the character state icons, 'Nausea' is incorrectly labeled 'Disease'.
Disease does not exist in the game - replace it with "nausea" where you encounter
it in the manual.

Manual Corrections
p.10 Specialization
Note that only Fighters can assign more than 2 points to a given
Proficiency. Rangers, Paladins, and Multi-Classed Fighters are all
limited to 2 points. Dual Class Fighters may only add points above
2 if they are active in the Fighter class.
p.12 R-Click Information
The second bullet under "R-click information" should be "On an item or
spell on inventory page or spell page - item or spell properties screen
brought up."
p.15 Guard/Protect
If the Guard/Protect mode is chosen and a point on the ground is
L-clicked, the character will remain stationary at that point, though he
will respond to attacks.
p.17 Use Item
Should read: If L-clicked, allows you to use any item with usable
properties that you are wearing.
p.20 Reaction Adjustments
Reaction adjustments will be based on the charisma of whichever character
you use to initiate dialogue. NPCs will maintain their current opinion
of the group for a few minutes after dialog is initiated, so make the
first impression count. Stores are the exception, wherein the present
leader always represents the group.
p.26 Dual Classing
The only classes than cannot dual class are the Paladin, Ranger, and
Bard, though others may have restrictions on which classes they can
switch to. The character must also have 15 in all the prime requisites
of his first class, and 17 in those of the second class.
p.32 Characters in Multiplayer Sessions
Once a character is created it can be modified by clicking on the player
name, which brings up a window allowing the player to create or delete
(the active character must be deleted before a new one can be created in
the same slot).
p.87 Fighter/Mage/Cleric
Cleric spells function when wearing armor. Only mage spells cannot be
cast while wearing any armor.
p.87 Mage/Thief
This character can use the abilities of a mage and a thief, though mage
spells cannot be cast while wearing armor.
p.93 Specialization Table
The number of attacks refer to melee weapons only. An extra 1/2 attack
is gained at 7th level in addition to those shown on the table.
p.94 Thieving Abilities
Thief stealing/stealth abilities can go over 100% but this only gives
player 99% chance to succeed.
p.95 Magic and the Spell System
Should say: (only 1st though 4th level spells are learnable, though some
5th-level spells are available for use via scrolls and by NPCs)
p.97 Spell Range
Additional note on spell range: All spell ranges are capped to the visual
sight of the caster.
p.98 Armor
Duration on Armor should be 9 hours.
p.99 Charm Person
Duration on Charm Person should be 17 rounds.
p.102 Protection from Petrification
This spell has been changed to a 2nd Level Mage Spell.
p.106 Vocalize
Duration on Vocalize duration should be 10 rounds.
p.106 Web
Range is correctly listed as 5 yards/level. However, the Range extends
to a maximum of 20 yards at 4th level.
p.107 Clairvoyance
The Clairvoyance spell description should read: The Clairvoyance spell
empowers the wizard to see in his mind the geographical features and
buildings of the region he is currently exploring. It extends to a great
range, but cannot reveal creatures or their movements. This spell does
not function indoors or underground.
The duration of Clairvoyance is Permanent.
p.110 Protection from Normal Missiles
The description should note that the protection extends only to
non-magical projectiles and does not protect against magical arrows,
axes, bolts, etc.
p.115 Detect Evil
Range on Detect evil should be "Sight of Caster". Area of Effect
should be the area visible on screen.
p.115 Magic Stone
Range on Magic Stone should be "Sight of Caster". Area of Effect
should be "1 creature".
p.119 Silence
The saving throw for this spell is made at -5.
p.123 Animal Summoning I
Duration is 24 rounds. Casting Time is 7.
p.123/124 Cure Serious Wounds/Cure Critical Wounds
Note that the damage is permanent only insofar as the character does
not take further damage.
p 124 Animal Summoning II
Duration on Animal Summoning II is 24 rounds.
p.134-5
Resurrection Survival is not used when raising dead. 'Raise Dead' is
always successful.
p.136-7
Magical Defense Adjustment is not used.
p.139
Some spell colors were changed after printing:
Conjuration is Purple, not orange.
Enchantment is gold, not magenta.
Illusion is magenta, not multicolored.
p.143
"(start)" is shown next to Reputation 10 in Table 9b. This is errata.
The Player Character starts with a Reputation based on his alignment
as shown in Table 9a on the same page.
p.144
Table 9c shows a "0" reputation. Reputation cannot fall below "1".
p.146
Stores have been changed so that they sell to parties with Reputations
as low as 1 or 2. These parties are charged +1000%.
Other
Animate Dead has a duration of 8 hours (rather than permanent).


2d. Design Notes

* NPCs are sometimes removed from the game world.
NPCs in the game often need to become inactive to preserve the
integrity of the storyline. These characters will attempt to leave the
current area they are in via an exit. If they cannot find one, we
remove them from the map and they effectively vanish. This is not a
bug - just how we have dealt with the need to remove them.
* Magic Resistance
Magic Resistance affects all spells and magic. A character with this
resistance is as likely to resist a healing spell as they are to
resist a Fireball. We have chosen not to differentiate as selective
magic resistance proved too powerful in the Baldur's Gate environment.
In Baldur's Gate, Magic Resistance is both a curse AND a blessing.
Used correctly, you will still find it quite powerful.
* Spells not affecting Party Members and Neutrals
Several spells are completely ineffective against party members or
neutral characters. These spells are Sleep, Hold Person, and
Entangle. These spells do not affect these characters because they
are area affect spells and in testing we found that they were
extremely frustrating. In order to make these spells worthwhile, we
have made them only affect hostile characters.
* NPCs initiating dialog with Invisible/Stealthed characters.
You will find that some NPCs in the game will initiate dialog when you
should not be seen by them. In order to ensure that the player
receives all critical game dialog, all game critical dialog will be
received.
* Unjoined NPCs not worth XP.
NPCs who can join your party are not worth XP if killed.
This is not a bug.
* Items transferred to the ground.
If your character's inventory is full, and an NPC gives you an item,
you will receive the message about the party receiving an item. The
item will, however, be at the feet of the PC and must be picked up
to use.
* Multiplayer: Stores, Inns, Taverns, Temples, and Dialog
In multiplayer games, all players must see all dialog. This is to
ensure that all players don't miss any critical portions of the game.
Also, this prevents disturbing occurrences, such as player 1 killing
the merchant while player 2 is bartering. During dialog mode all
players are paused.


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3. TroubleShooting

3a. Tweaking Performance

Increasing Performance:
1. Weather. In the options menu under 'GamePlay', turn off Weather. The
graphic effects that rain and snow use can cause large performance drops
on lower end machines. This does not affect gameplay in any way.
2. Translucent Shadows. In the options menu under 'Graphics', turn off
translucent shadows. Turning this off will cause all shadows to appear
solid, rather than blending a dark shadow onto the background.
3. Character Movement Sounds. In the options menu under 'Sound/Character
Sound', turn off Character Movement Sounds.
4. Other Audio. Turning off any of the audio may result in a performance
increase. Moving the sliders in the options menu under 'Sound' all the
way to the left will completely disable the playing of these sounds.
5. Virtual Memory. WE DO NOT RECOMMED ADJUSTING YOUR VIRTUAL MEMORY.
Baldur's Gate will eagerly use up any Virtual Memory (hard drive) and
non-Virtual Memory (RAM) you allocate to it. If you choose to add more
memory to your system, or increase the size of your Windows swap file,
the game speed MAY increase. However, as you increase your Virtual
Memory, expect longer clearing times to remove this 'Virtual Memory'
from the hard drive after the game is terminated.

Things that will Decrease Performance:
1. Brightness/Contrast. Adjusting the default settings for these options
(located in the options menu under 'Graphics') will result in a
performance hit. If you find the game is too dark, we suggest
adjusting your monitors brightness.
2. DirectX Hardware Calls. In the options menu under 'Graphics' there are
three toggles for various 'BLTS'. Enabling these will result in a
(sometimes drastic) performance hit. We recommend enabling these only
if you have graphics glitches that you have been unable to resolve.
3. Running the game in Windowed Mode.
Running the game in a Window on your desktop will decrease the
overall game performance.


3b. Known Problems

* Graphic Errors
Some video cards may experience graphics glitches while playing the
game. These problems are caused by DirectX Hardware Calls to your
video card that are not functioning. We have written software renders
for all of these calls to allow people to play even with drivers that are
not 100% compatible with the DirectX standards. You can enable a software
render for these calls if you have the most recent drivers for your video
card and are still experiencing problems. Using the software render will
probably fix the graphic glitches, but WILL result in a performance hit.

IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH THE GRAPHICAL DISPLAY OF BALDUR'S
GATE, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE LATEST VERSION OF YOUR VIDEO
DRIVERS. DRIVER UPDATES ARE AVAILABLE AT MOST (if not all) HARDWARE
MANUFACTURERS AND CHIPSET MANUFACTURERS SITES ON THE INTERNET.

You may also try installing DirectX 6.0+ if you are experiencing
graphical problems.

If you have the most recent drivers for your video card, and you are
still experiencing problems, you can enable software renders for these
calls. The options are available in the options menu under 'Graphics'.
The following list describes the known graphics glitches and which Call
should be disabled to fix them. If in doubt, try different combinations
and this may help. You can always turn off all software renders to return
to the default settings.
------------------------------------------------------------
Glitch Disable
------------------------------------------------------------
-green boxes surrounding Software Transparent BLT
any object in the game
-box surrounding mouse cursor

-animations appearing Software Mirror BLT
'reversed'
-Fog-of-War appears in
a 'semi-checkerboard'
pattern
-fog-of-War has edges
that look 'spiky'

-vertical lines down Software Standard BLT
the main game screen
-the game Cursor is
leaving 'artifacts' of
itself on the game screen
-any other non-resolved
graphics problem

Specific Video Cards and Fixes
------------------------------------------------------------
Matrox Millenium (1) : Enable Software Mirror and Software
Transparent BLTs.
Permidia : Enable Software Standard BLT.


* Minimizing Baldur's Gate
If you minimize Baldur's Gate using either Alt-Enter or Alt-Tab (and
then bring it back up by left clicking on the minimized application),
the sound effects for the game will stutter, loop, and skip. This is
caused by a lack of resources available to Baldur's Gate after you
go from full screen to a minimized screen, and it will correct itself
after a short period of time.
In you minimize Baldur's Gate and then bring it back up, the game may
run more slowly for a time - this is caused by the game re-accessing
resources that become tied up by minimization.
Running the game in a window may result in lower performance overall.
* Biff the Understudy
This bug is believed to be fixed in all situations. If you have a
conversation which requires a 3rd person who is not present, Biff
the Understudy will appear and take the part of the other character.
This keeps the conversation from crashing the game and ensures the
player doesn't miss any critical game dialog. It is a bug, but at least
it's fun!
* Strange Characters Joining Party
However unlikely, it is possible that some NPCs may attempt to join
your party when you have not even spoken with them. This is caused
by an unlikely situation in which NPC 'pairs' find each other after
one of the pair has been kicked from the party and rejoined. To
preserve the integrity of these pairs, we have allowed this.
You will not be able to keep one of the pair without the other. This
only happens if both of the characters who normally leave and join together
are in the same area when you ask one to rejoin.
* Quick Weapon Switching
If you use Range scripts for your characters, they will switch to
their most powerful melee weapon. This may cause your character to
change from one melee weapon to another under certain circumstances.
Most powerful melee weapon is the one delivering the most damage.

* Multiplayer: Failure to Connect
Baldur's Gate will sometimes display a "Connection Failed" message
when you are attempting to connect and are suffering from slow ping
times. This could happen as often as 1 in 4 times if your ping time
is greater than 500ms. Try again and you will connect.
* Multiplayer: Proxy Servers
If your Internet connection is through a Proxy Server, Baldur's Gate
may not be able to connect to other Multiplayer games. Try disabling
Winsock 2 support (use Winsock 1.X instead) and this MAY help.
* Multiplayer: Running under 16MB
Baldur's Gate multiplayer will function running with only 16MB of RAM
on Win9x. However, this is not officially supported and WILL lead
to game abnormalities including crashes. Baldur's Gate officially
requires 32 MB RAM for multiplayer.
* Multiplayer: Minimizing BG During Loading
Using Alt-Tab to minimize Baldur's Gate during Game Creation or Area
Loading may cause the application to either hard lock or terminate.
If possible, don't do this.
* Multiplayer: Character Doesn't Appear
In a multiplayer game, if the host is controlling more than one
character(s), and Alt-Tabs during an area transition, the secondary
character(s) will not appear until the host restores the game. This
cannot be resolved as the character data cannot be transferred to
other game machines if the host machine is not active.

* NT 4.0: Screen-Saver
While running under Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3, we have
experienced intermittent problems with Screen Savers. We recommend
disabling your Screen Saver while playing Baldur's Gate.


3c. Updates

If necessary, patches may become available for the product that add
functionality or correct bugs. These updated versions will be made
available at the Interplay site at http://www.interplay.com or you
can connect directly to the Baldur's Gate Files directory by clicking
on the 'Update' button in the Baldur's Gate AutoRun.


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4. Interplay Customer Service Information

This information is only valid in North America.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT TROUBLESHOOTING DOCUMENTS ONLINE!
Interplay Productions Technical Support now offers troubleshooting guides
with complete installation and setup instructions as well as information
that will help you overcome the most common difficulties. If you have
access to the World Wide Web, you can find these at:

www.interplay.com/support/

Here you will find troubleshooting information on as well as information
on regular system maintenance and performance.

DirectX www.interplay.com/support/directx/
Joysticks www.interplay.com/support/joystick/
Modems and Networks www.interplay.com/support/modem/

(For game-specific information and additional troubleshooting, visit our
main page at www.interplay.com)

If you have questions about the program, our Technical Support Department
can help. Our web site contains up-to-date information on the most common
difficulties with our products, and this information is the same as that
used by our product support technicians. We keep the product support pages
updated on a regular basis, so please check here first for no-wait
solutions:

www.interplay.com/support/

If you are unable to find the information you need on our web site, please
feel free to contact Technical Support via e-mail, phone, fax, or letter.
Please be sure to include the following information in your e-mail message,
fax, or letter:
Title of Game
Computer manufacturer
* Operating system (Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows 98, etc.)
CPU type and speed in MHz
Amount of RAM
Sound card type and settings (address, IRQ, DMA)
Video card
CD-ROM
Mouse driver and version
Joystick and game card (if any)
A copy of the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files from your hard drive
A description of the problem you're having
If you need to talk to someone immediately, call us at (949) 553-6678
Monday through Friday between 8:00AM-5: 45PM, Pacific Standard Time with
24 hours, 7 days a week support available through the use of our automated
wizard. Please have the above information ready when you call. This will
help us answer your question in the shortest possible time. When you call
you will initially be connected with our automated wizard. For
information pertaining to your specific title, press "1" on the main menu
and listen carefully to all prompts. All titles are listed alphabetically.
After you have selected your title, the most common difficulties will be
listed. If the difficulty you are having is not listed or you need
additional assistance, you may press "0" on your games main menu, and you
will be transferred to a Technical Support Representative. No hints or
codes are available from this line. You must call Interplay's HINT Line
for hints, tips, or codes at 1-900-370-PLAY (1-900-451-6869 $1.25 in
Canada only). You must be 18 years +, have a touch-tone phone, and the
cost is $0.95 per minute.

Interplay Productions Support Fax: (949) 252-2820
Interplay Productions Technical Support
16815 Von Karman Avenue
Irvine, CA 92606
HOW TO REACH US ONLINE
INTERNET E-MAIL: support@interplay.com
WORLD WIDE WEB: www.interplay.com
FTP: ftp.interplay.com

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5. European Information

This information is not valid in North America.


5a. Customer Services Information

Write to: Customer Support
Interplay Productions, Ltd.
Harleyford Manor
Harleyford
Henley Road
Marlow
Buckinghamshire
SL7 2DX
ENGLAND

tel: +44 (0) 1628 423723
Fax: +44 (0) 1628 423777


5b. Limited Warranty

If within the first ninety days of purchase you have any problems with the
product please return it to the retailer. After ninety days, you may
return the software program to Interplay Productions, provided the fault
is not due to normal wear and tear, and Interplay will mail a replacement
to you.

To receive a replacement, you should enclose the defective medium
(including the original product label), in protective packaging,
accompanied by:
1) A cheque or postal order for Ten (10) Pounds Sterling (to cover
postage and packaging).
2) A brief statement describing the defect.
3) The original receipt or address of the retailer.
4) Your return address.

Registered mail is recommended for returns.
Please send to: Warranty Replacements
Interplay Productions, Ltd.
Harleyford Manor
Harleyford
Henley Road
Marlow
Buckinghamshire
SL7 2DX
ENGLAND


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6. Legal

SOFTWARE USE LIMITATIONS AND LIMITED LICENSE

General Product License. This copy of Baldur's Gate
(the Software) is intended solely for your personal
noncommercial home entertainment use. You may not
decompile, reverse engineer, or disassemble the Software,
except as permitted by law. Interplay Productions and
Bioware Corp. retain all right, title and interest
in the Software including all intellectual property
rights embodied therein and derivatives thereof. The
Software, including, without limitation, all code, data
structures, characters, images, sounds, text, screens,
game play, derivative works and all other elements of
the Software may not be copied, resold, rented, leased,
distributed (electronically or otherwise), used on
pay-per-play, coin-op or other for-charge basis, or
for any commercial purpose. Any permissions granted
herein are provided on a temporary basis and can be
withdrawn by Interplay Productions at any time. All
rights not expressly granted are reserved.

MODEM AND NETWORK PLAY. If the Software contains
modem or network play, you may play the Software via
modem transmission with another person or persons
directly without transmission through a third party
service or indirectly through a third party service
only if such service is an authorized licensee of
Interplay. For the purposes of this license, a third
party service refers to any third party service
which provides a connection between two or more
users of the Software, manages, organizes, or
facilitates game play, translates protocols, or
otherwise provides a service which commercially
exploits the Software, but does not include a third
party service which merely provides a telephonic
connection (and nothing more) for modem or network
play. Authorized licensee services are listed on
the Interplay Productions World Wide Web Site located
at http://www.interplay.com. This limited right to
transmit the Software expressly excludes any
transmission of the Software or any data streams
thereof on a commercial basis, including, without
limitation, transmitting the Software by way of a
commercial service (excepting those specific
commercial services licensed by Interplay) which
translates the protocols or manages or organizes
game play sessions. If you would like information
about obtaining a pay-for-play or commercial
license to the Software, please call Interplay
Productions in the US at +(949) 553-6655.

ACCEPTANCE OF LICENSE TERMS. By acquiring and
retaining this Software, you assent to the terms
and restrictions of this limited license. If you
do not accept the terms of this limited license,
you must return the Software together with all
packaging, manuals and other material contained
therein to the store where you acquired the
Software for a full refund.

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BALDUR'S GATE: Developed and (c)1998 BioWare Corp. All Rights Reserved.
Baldur's Gate, Forgotten Realms, the Forgotten Realms logo, Advanced Dungeons
& Dragons, the AD&D logo, and the TSR logo are trademarks of TSR, Inc., a
subsidiary of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., and are used by Interplay under
license. All Rights Reserved. BioWare, the BioWare logo and The BioWare
Infinity Engine are the trademarks of Bioware Corp. All Rights Reserved.
Interplay, the Interplay logo, Black Isle Studios, the Black Isle Studios
logo, and "By Gamers. For Gamers." are trademarks of Interplay Productions.
All Rights Reserved. Exclusively licensed and distributed by Interplay
Productions. All other trademarks and copyrights are property of their
respective owners.
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EOF