Dragon Age: Origins.

[Mario]

Here is the official Dragon Age: Origins readme file.

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Dragon Age™: Origins
ReadMe File - July, 2009
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Welcome.

http://www.dragonage.com/

Contents:
- System Requirements
- Digital Retail Installation
- Installation Instructions
- Uninstalling
- Dragon Age Updater
- Online Features
- Settings
- Optimizing Performance
- Non North-American Keyboards
- Known Issues
- Support & Troubleshooting


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System Requirements
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Windows XP
----------
OS: Windows XP with SP3
CPU: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.6Ghz or greater
AMD 64 (or equivalent) running at 2.2Ghz or greater
RAM: 1 GB or more
Video: ATI Radeon X850 128MB or greater;
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB or greater.

Windows Vista
-------------
OS: Windows Vista with SP1
CPU: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8Ghz or greater
AMD 64 (or equivalent) running at 2.6Ghz or greater
RAM: 1.5 GB or more
Video: ATI Radeon X1550 256MB or greater;
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB or greater.

NOTES: For the best results, make sure you have the latest drivers
for your video and audio cards.

Laptop or mobile versions of the above supported video cards
have not had extensive testing and may have driver or other
performance issues. As such, they are not officially supported
in Dragon Age: Origins.

Intel and S3 video cards are not officially supported in
Dragon Age: Origins.

Hercules Game Theater XP (External), Hercules Gamesurround
Fortissimo III, Hercules Digifire 7.1 and Hercules
Gamesurround Muse XL audio devices are not supported in
Dragon Age: Origins.

Please see the Known Issues section, below, for more details.


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Digital Retail Installation
================================================== ===================

Please contact the digital retailer through whom you purchased this
game for instructions on how to install the game or how to download
and reinstall another copy of the game.

Note: If you would like additional information about your game as
well as tips and patches please visit www.ea.com or www.eastore.com.


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Installation Instructions
================================================== ===================

IMPORTANT: Be sure you have the latest drivers for both your video
card and your sound card installed.

Avoid running any other programs in the background, as this may
conflict with the game or hinder its performance. If you encounter
any problems during installation, try shutting down or disabling
these programs.

To install Dragon Age: Origins:

1. Insert the Install disc into your DVD-ROM drive.

If the disc does not automatically launch when inserted in the
drive, you may have the AutoPlay feature disabled. Browse to the
location of the Dragon Age: Origins DVD-ROM using Windows
Explorer, and double-click the "Setup.exe" application in the
root.

2. Follow the instructions that appear.

If you are having difficulties with the CD Key provided with Dragon
Age: Origins, or require any other type of technical support,
please refer to the "Support & Troubleshooting" section, below.


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Uninstalling
================================================== ===================

To uninstall Dragon Age: Origins under Windows XP:

1. You can access the Dragon Age: Origins uninstaller in a number of
ways:
- via the Dragon Age: Origins Launcher
- from the Dragon Age Start Menu item (if selected at install
time)
- from the Control Panel's "Add/Remove Programs" applet
2. Run the Dragon Age: Origins Uninstaller
3. Follow the on screen instructions.


To uninstall Dragon Age: Origins under Windows Vista:

1. You can access the Dragon Age: Origins uninstaller in a number of
ways:
- via the Dragon Age: Origins Launcher
- from the Dragon Age Start Menu item (if selected at install
time)
- from the Control Panel's "Programs and Features" applet
2. Run the Dragon Age: Origins Uninstaller
3. Follow the on screen instructions.


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Dragon Age Updater
================================================== ===================

The Dragon Age Updater is a Windows service and application that is
installed with Dragon Age: Origins. This service is used to check for
game and content updates and to manage those downloads.

The game communicates with the service and the service communicates
with the Dragon Age servers.

If you would like to change the way the Dragon Age Updater service
behaves on your system, you can adjust these options in both the
Dragon Age Updater application and the Dragon Age Configuration
Utility as well as starting and stopping the service. Details on the
various options are provided in those applications.

If you would like the Dragon Age Updater service to run when your
system starts, follow these steps:
- Run "services.msc" from the Run menu option in Windows. Pressing
the Windows key + "r" will bring this up. (NOTE: services.msc
controls essential components of Windows. Errors in configuration
can prevent the system from operating correctly. Any changes you
make in services.msc are at your own risk.)
- Find the "Dragon Age: Origins Updater" service in the list.
- Double-click on the service to bring up the properties.
- Press the "Start" button if the service is not currently running.
- Change "Startup type:" to "Automatic".
- Close the properties and Services interface.

If you would like to disable the Dragon Age Updater service, follow
these steps:
- Run "services.msc" from the Run menu option in Windows. Pressing
the Windows key + "r" will bring this up. (NOTE: services.msc
controls essential components of Windows. Errors in configuration
can prevent the system from operating correctly. Any changes you
make in services.msc are at your own risk.)
- Find the "Dragon Age: Origins Updater" service in the list.
- Double-click on the service to bring up the properties.
- Press the "Stop" button if the service is currently running.
- Change "Startup type:" to "Disabled".
- Close the properties and Services interface.


If you would like to remove the Dragon Age Updater service from your
system, you can do so in either of two ways:

1. Uninstalling Dragon Age: Origins will remove the service.

2. Manual shutdown and removal.
a. Stop the service
- Run "services.msc" from the Run menu option in Windows. Pressing
the Windows key + "r" will bring this up. (NOTE: services.msc
controls essential components of Windows. Errors in configuration
can prevent the system from operating correctly. Any changes you
make in services.msc are at your own risk.)
- Find the "Dragon Age: Origins Updater" service in the list.
- Double-click on the service to bring up the properties.
- Press the "Stop" button if the service is currently running.
- Close the properties and Services interface.
b. Remove the service
- Open a command prompt by running "cmd" from the Run menu option
in Windows. Pressing the Windows key + "r" will bring this up.
This may require running "cmd" as an Administrator on systems that
require it.
- Remove the service from the Services list with the following
command: "sc delete DAUpdaterSvc"
c. Delete the service files
- navigate to your Dragon Age: Origins install folder
- delete the following files:
"daupdater.exe"
"daupdater.engine.dll"
"daupdatersvc.service.exe"


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Online Features
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BioWare/EA online account
-------------------------
In order to take advantage of the online features of Dragon Age:
Origins you'll need to create or login to a BioWare/EA online
account.

You may already have one of these accounts if you've played other EA
games with online features, joined the web community of some EA
games, purchased from the EA Store, or updated your account
information on the Dragon Age website. In other games or EA sites
this is sometimes referred to as your EA Master account, or Nucleus
account.

Screenshots
-----------
As you play Dragon Age: Origins, the game takes screenshots at many
decision points and other special game moments you encounter during
your play-through of Dragon Age:Origins, such as unlocking an
achievement. This provides you with a unique visual progress of
your experience in Dragon Age: Origins. You can also take
screenshots manually at any time by hitting the PrintScreen key.

If you choose to, you can set the game to notify you when it takes a
screenshot, and even to automatically upload key moment screenshots
to your online profile on the Dragon Age community website. Please
refer to 'Online Options' in this readme, or the manual, for how to
enable or disable these options.

Achievements
------------
As you play Dragon Age: Origins, you will unlock achievements.
Achievements provide you with a badge of honor for accomplishing
certain tasks, and in many cases encourage you to try different
skills or explore off the beaten track.

If you are logged in, the game will automatically upload (or
synchronize) your Achievements record with your online profile on the
Dragon Age community website.

You can view your Achievements record in the Achievements window.

Online Profile
--------------
Clicking the 'Online Profile' button in the Player Profile window
will take you to your personal page on the Dragon Age community site,
where you can review your screenshots and character records, and
share them with other community members.

Your Dragon Age community profile includes information on characters
you have created and played Dragon Age: Origins with - their
attributes, stats, paper doll (full body image), avatar (head image),
and Story So Far progress information. In addition, your player
profile includes information on your Achievements record.

For more information on the Dragon Age site, and its features, please
visit http://www.dragonage.com/

Online Options
--------------
To reach the Online Options window from gameplay, press the ESC key,
then the Options item from the menu, and then select the Online tab
in the Options window.

To reach the Online Options window from the main menu, press the
Options item on the main menu, and then select the Online tab in the
Options window.

On the left hand side of the window are the 'Connection' options.
This includes the option to 'Upload gameplay feedback'. By having
this enabled you are allowing the game to send usability information
to help us improve the game through future patches and updates.

The information sent cannot personally identify you - we collect
aggregate statistical information only - in other words, we may
collect something that says 'one more game load of this area' and
'one more death in this area' which is then ultimately aggregated to
provide us with something like '75% of players are dying in this
area'. But we do not collect a 'you - joe smith - have died in this
area'.

The information collected adheres to EA's privacy policy guidelines,
is identified in the End-User License Agreement before you enter the
game, and is only done for regions/countries where this is permitted
by law.

In all cases, by de-selecting this option (no checkmark) you can opt
out of sending this information.

We thank all our fans in advance for considering providing us with
this valuable insight and helping us continue to improve Dragon Age:
Origins and our future title - as games get ever more complex (and
especially a massive title like Dragon Age: Origins) this provides us
with real data that we can use for improvement decisions.

On the right hand side of the window are the 'Profile' options. This
includes the option to 'Take achievement and story screenshots',
where at key moments or decision points of Dragon Age: Origins the
game will take a screenshot for your review in the Screenshot
Manager, and if you choose, to share with community members on the
Dragon Age community site.

If you would like to know when screenshots are being taken, you
should select the 'Notify me when screenshots are taken' option. This
will display a small notification in the game when a screenshot is
taken.

The 'Upload screenshots' option will automatically send key story
screenshots only, to your online profile on the Dragon Age community
site. By default, this option is off. This option only works if you
are logged in, so it is recommended that you also enable the 'always
log me in' option in the Login window.

The 'Upload character profile' option will automatically send
progress information for your game character to your online profile
on the Dragon Age community site - this includes the Story So Far
progress, your character record sheet, your character paper doll
image (full body view), your character avatar image (head view), and
your character stats (such as number of kills, etc).

This option only works if you are logged in, so it is recommended
that you also enable the 'always log me in' option in the Login
window.

Downloadable Content (DLC)
--------------------------
You can view a list of additional content available for download in
several ways. One of these is through the Downloadable Content
window.

On the 'Available Content' tab, you can see all the content you have
not yet downloaded. It will display the name of the content, the
price (or free), and an icon identifying whether this content was
made by BioWare or other content creators.

Below the list of content you can review your Points Balance. If you
see "--" for your Points Balance this means you are not logged in,
and your Points Balance cannot be verified. Login to your account to
update your Points Balance.

If you are logged in, but your Points Balance is not updating, you
can click the circle arrow besides the "--" - this will force a
refresh of your Points Balance.

To add Points to your account, click the 'Add Points' button. This
will take you to the secure Dragon Age Store website, where you can
purchase Points for your account. Once you have successfully
purchased points, you can close your browser window, return to the
game and click the circle arrow button to refresh your Points
Balance.

The 'Installed Content' tab works similarly to the 'Available
Content' tab (refer to that section of this readme, or the game
manual), but only lists content that is already installed for your
game, and allows you to enable or disable it.

On the left hand side is the content installed for your game. This
includes the title, and whether it is enabled or disabled. You can
toggle whether this content is enabled or disabled for your game by
clicking the checkbox to the right of the title name. On the right
hand side is a description of the content, as well as instructions
for how to access this content in the game. This is also visible in
your game journal.

For more information about these Online Features, please visit the
Dragon Age website at http://www.dragonage.com/


================================================== ===================
Characters, Screenshots and Settings
================================================== ===================

Windows XP:

Characters, Screenshots and Settings for Dragon Age: Origins are
stored in the "Dragon Age" folder under "My Documents".

My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age

To access this folder, navigate to My Documents via My Computer or
the Start Menu.


Windows Vista:

Characters, Screenshots and Settings for Dragon Age: Origins are
stored in the "Dragon Age" folder under "Documents".

Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age

To access this folder, navigate to Documents via Computer or the
Start Menu.


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Non-North American Keyboards
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If you are playing in English, the keyboard labels referred to in
game apply to North American keyboards. If you have a non-North
American keyboard, the game may refer to some keys differently than
they are labeled. Notably, on a standard UK keyboard, the default
shortcut for the combat tactics screen (the "\" key in North America)
is actually the key labeled "#" just to the left of the Enter key.


================================================== ===================
Optimizing Performance
================================================== ===================

We recommend you close all running programs before launching Dragon
Age: Origins.

Always make sure you have the latest video drivers from your video
card manufacturer.

If you experience performance issues while playing the game, try
changing the following settings one by one until performance
improves. These settings can be found under the Video section of the
configuration utility or the Video section of the in-game Options
menu:

- Lower the resolution: the game will run the fastest at 800x600
- Lower the Graphics Detail: Lower settings offer less graphics
detail and lower quality shadows, but will run faster
- Anti-Aliasing: Disable this for best performance
- Texture Detail: Lower texture detail will help if your system
does not have a lot of system or video memory. Only select high
texture detail if you have a video card with at least 512 MB
of video memory
- Frame-Buffer Effects: Disabling framebuffer effects will
significantly improve performance on certain older video cards
- VSync: For best performance, leave this to disabled. Only enable
it if you notice excessive tearing artifacts

Especially if your video card has 128MB of video RAM, or your system
has 1 GB of memory, we highly recommend you select "Low" for both the
graphics detail and the texture detail options.

If you have an nVidia series 7 video card and notice significantly
lower performance in fullscreen mode, try enabling the "Disable
Multiple Render Targets" video option on the configuration utility.
This option should stay disabled in all other cases.

Note that if your graphics card does not support the Shader Model 3
model, all graphic detail levels other than "Low" will be
unavailable.

Aspect-ratio correction:
For the best graphics quality it is recommended that you run the game
in the native resolution of your monitor. If you select a lower
resolution and the image appears to be distorted, either compressed
horizontally or vertically, try checking the "Disable Aspect Ratio
Correction" option in the Dragon Age: Origins Config program.

If you experience long loading times or hitches during gameplay, we
recommend you defragment your hard drive. You can find information on
how to defragment your hard drive by searching for "disk
defragmenter" on the Windows Help and Support center.


================================================== ===================
Known Issues
================================================== ===================

The ATI Radeon X1800 mobile version has graphical problems in the
main game. We are currently investigating this issue.

The Hercules Digifire 7.1 does not play audio on quadraphonic, 5.1,
and 7.1 speaker settings. We are currently investigating this issue.

The Hercules Game Theater XP (External) and the Hercules Gamesurround
Fortissimo III 7.1 audio devices will sometimes not play audio in the
main game. We are currently investigating this issue.

The Hercules Gamesurround Muse XL will sometimes play audio from the
rear speakers in a two speaker setting. We are currently
investigating this issue.

The following audio cards do not properly support the "Force Stereo"
option in game under Windows XP and Vista:

Asus Xonar D2X 7.1 (PCI-Express)
Audiotrak Maya EX 5.1
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy LS
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 NX
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy II
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy II ZS
Hercules Muse Pocket
HT Omega Claro 7.1
TerraTec Aureon 5.1 Fun
Zalman Tech ZM-RSSC

We are currently investigating this issue.


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Support & Troubleshooting
================================================== ===================

U.S. & Canada
http://support.ea.com/

United Kingdom:
http://support.electronicarts.co.uk/

Australia:
http://www.electronicarts.com.au/en-au/support/

Europe:
http://eusupport.ea.com/