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General Support
Please note that for all game specific questions, the FAQ presumes that your computer meets the minimum specification. If you are unsure if your PC matches the minimum specification please read the answer to the first question carefully. Region coding All PS2 and Xbox games purchased from ZOO Digital Publishing are PAL region coded and will therefore not work on American NTSC region coded hardware. Windows Vista MS Windows Vista is the latest operating system from Microsoft and comes installed on many new PCs and Laptop computers. We cannot guarantee that any of our older titles will be compatible with Windows Vista. Since MS Windows Vista has implemented the latest DirectX 10, there have been significant compatibility issues with pre-Vista games and software that run on DirectX 9 or older versions. Vista does have DirectX 9.0L to enable some backward compatibility for older titles, but there are no guarantees that this will work on all games. As our older titles are no longer in development, we are unable to release patches or rework our games enabling them to work on Windows Vista. We appologise for any inconvenience caused. Does your PC meet the minimum requirements? The minimum requirements for a game will normally be found on the back of the box or within the game’s manual. If your computer does not meet the minimum requirements then it is likely that you will experience problems playing the game and, in some cases, the game will not load correctly. If you are unsure of your computers specification then you will need to contact your PC supplier or examine your DXDIAG report. Graphics Card Problems A vast majority of the support queries we receive are caused by Graphics Cards and their associated drivers. Click here to view our dedicated Graphics Card page. Background applications Any application that is running in the background will use system resources such as memory and processing power. This can cause stuttering during play and even crash your PC. It is advisable to close down any other applications before running the game; this includes programs such as virus checkers, instant messaging services, email clients and file sharing applications. Most tasks that are running in the background will have icons in the task bar (by the clock), to close them right click on the icon and select close or exit. Alternatively hold CONTROL, ALT and DELETE to bring up the task manager and close any applications that are running aside from ‘explorer’ and ‘system’ which are essential. Task switching and screensavers Task switching by either pressing the windows key or ALT-TAB can cause problems while running some games. If you are unsure if it will cause a problem, always save your game before trying it. Screensavers will automatically task switch, so it is advisable to turn off screensavers before running a game. Ensure you have the latest drivers Some software will not run without the latest drivers for your devices. This can include drivers for graphics cards, sound cards and motherboards. Some manufactures regularly update their drivers and you should keep your computer up-to-date to ensure that you are getting the best performance and software compatibility possible. Please be aware that with some computer manufactures updating your drivers may void any warranty you hold with them. Always contact your manufacturer if you are uncertain. Unfortunatly, ZOO Digital Publishing cannot help with driver problems. See the ‘Drivers and Patches’ page for links to common hardware manufacturers. DirectX DirectX is an interface provided by Microsoft that allows the software you are using to “talk” to the hardware in your computer. DirectX is part of Microsoft Windows, and new versions and information about the product are available from: www.microsoft.com/directx Please note that ZOO Digital Publishing support cannot help with any problems caused by DirectX and you must contact Microsoft directly for support with this product. In general our games will have the version of DirectX that they require available on the disc. If you are uncertain what version of DirectX you are already using you can use the DirectX diagnostic tool to find out. The tool can also be used to establish if there are any problems with any of the input devices such as the graphics, sound and network devices. To open DirectX diagnostic tool, click on START, select RUN, then type dxdiag and press OK. You may be asked if you want to check that your drivers are digitally signed. If you are connected to the Internet then you can select YES, otherwise select NO. DirectX diagnostic tools will then open. It may take a few moments as it checks the hardware on your PC. The following Microsoft site will give you further information on the features of this tool: support.microsoft.com When contacting ZOO customer support by email it is useful to attach the DirectX diagnostic tool report. This is a text file (called DXDIAG.txt) which is created by the tool and contains information about what hardware you are using and what version drivers. To create this text file select SAVE INFORMATION from within the DirectX diagnostic tool. Basic Maintenance Computers require a small amount of basic maintenance to ensure that they run at their optimum speed and compatibility. Microsoft Windows has a number of built-in features which can help. To run these programs open MY COMPUTER on your desktop and then right click on the hard disc you wish to check. Select PROPERTIES, then the TOOLS tab. There will be an option to conduct error checking and one to defragment your hard drive. Error checking will check system files and also for physical defects on the hard drive. As you add new files to your computer and then delete files or move them, files become fragmented. Defragmenting the disc puts the files back together in the appropriate order to ensure that they can be accessed quicker. Hardware Transform and Lighting This is when a graphics card has a chip built into it, which can perform the required calculations onboard and not use the PC’s main processor to do the calculations. This allows for much faster calculations to be performed and doesn’t take up valuable CPU time. For further information read this document. If a game requires transform and lighting and your card does not have this feature it is very unlikely you will be able to play the game. To find out if your graphics card has transform and lighting you will need to visit the manufacturers website, or contact your hardware supplier. The following cards do not support transform and lighting (this list is not definitive): NVidia RIVA TNT 2 NVidia Vanta ATi Radeon 7000 series Any Intel card Matrox Millennium G400 Customer Support You can contact ZOO Digital Publishing's dedicated Customer Support team be emailing customersupport@zoodigitalpublishing.com, please mention the game title in the email subject line.

General Support

Please note that for all game specific questions, the FAQ presumes that your computer meets the minimum specification. If you are unsure if your PC matches the minimum specification please read the answer to the first question carefully.

Region coding
All PS2 and Xbox games purchased from ZOO Digital Publishing are PAL region coded and will therefore not work on American NTSC region coded hardware.

Windows Vista
MS Windows Vista is the latest operating system from Microsoft and comes installed on many new PCs and Laptop computers. We cannot guarantee that any of our older titles will be compatible with Windows Vista.

Since MS Windows Vista has implemented the latest DirectX 10, there have been significant compatibility issues with pre-Vista games and software that run on DirectX 9 or older versions. Vista does have DirectX 9.0L to enable some backward compatibility for older titles, but there are no guarantees that this will work on all games.

As our older titles are no longer in development, we are unable to release patches or rework our games enabling them to work on Windows Vista. We appologise for any inconvenience caused.

Does your PC meet the minimum requirements?
The minimum requirements for a game will normally be found on the back of the box or within the game’s manual. If your computer does not meet the minimum requirements then it is likely that you will experience problems playing the game and, in some cases, the game will not load correctly. If you are unsure of your computers specification then you will need to contact your PC supplier or examine your DXDIAG report.

Graphics Card Problems
A vast majority of the support queries we receive are caused by Graphics Cards and their associated drivers. Click here to view our dedicated Graphics Card page.

Background applications
Any application that is running in the background will use system resources such as memory and processing power. This can cause stuttering during play and even crash your PC. It is advisable to close down any other applications before running the game; this includes programs such as virus checkers, instant messaging services, email clients and file sharing applications. Most tasks that are running in the background will have icons in the task bar (by the clock), to close them right click on the icon and select close or exit. Alternatively hold CONTROL, ALT and DELETE to bring up the task manager and close any applications that are running aside from ‘explorer’ and ‘system’ which are essential.

Task switching and screensavers
Task switching by either pressing the windows key or ALT-TAB can cause problems while running some games. If you are unsure if it will cause a problem, always save your game before trying it. Screensavers will automatically task switch, so it is advisable to turn off screensavers before running a game.

Ensure you have the latest drivers
Some software will not run without the latest drivers for your devices. This can include drivers for graphics cards, sound cards and motherboards. Some manufactures regularly update their drivers and you should keep your computer up-to-date to ensure that you are getting the best performance and software compatibility possible. Please be aware that with some computer manufactures updating your drivers may void any warranty you hold with them. Always contact your manufacturer if you are uncertain. Unfortunatly, ZOO Digital Publishing cannot help with driver problems. See the ‘Drivers and Patches’ page for links to common hardware manufacturers.

DirectX
DirectX is an interface provided by Microsoft that allows the software you are using to “talk” to the hardware in your computer. DirectX is part of Microsoft Windows, and new versions and information about the product are available from: www.microsoft.com/directx

Please note that ZOO Digital Publishing support cannot help with any problems caused by DirectX and you must contact Microsoft directly for support with this product.

In general our games will have the version of DirectX that they require available on the disc. If you are uncertain what version of DirectX you are already using you can use the DirectX diagnostic tool to find out. The tool can also be used to establish if there are any problems with any of the input devices such as the graphics, sound and network devices.

To open DirectX diagnostic tool, click on START, select RUN, then type dxdiag and press OK. You may be asked if you want to check that your drivers are digitally signed. If you are connected to the Internet then you can select YES, otherwise select NO. DirectX diagnostic tools will then open. It may take a few moments as it checks the hardware on your PC. The following Microsoft site will give you further information on the features of this tool: support.microsoft.com

When contacting ZOO customer support by email it is useful to attach the DirectX diagnostic tool report. This is a text file (called DXDIAG.txt) which is created by the tool and contains information about what hardware you are using and what version drivers. To create this text file select SAVE INFORMATION from within the DirectX diagnostic tool.

Basic Maintenance
Computers require a small amount of basic maintenance to ensure that they run at their optimum speed and compatibility. Microsoft Windows has a number of built-in features which can help. To run these programs open MY COMPUTER on your desktop and then right click on the hard disc you wish to check. Select PROPERTIES, then the TOOLS tab. There will be an option to conduct error checking and one to defragment your hard drive.

Error checking will check system files and also for physical defects on the hard drive.

As you add new files to your computer and then delete files or move them, files become fragmented. Defragmenting the disc puts the files back together in the appropriate order to ensure that they can be accessed quicker.

Hardware Transform and Lighting
This is when a graphics card has a chip built into it, which can perform the required calculations onboard and not use the PC’s main processor to do the calculations. This allows for much faster calculations to be performed and doesn’t take up valuable CPU time. For further information read this document.

If a game requires transform and lighting and your card does not have this feature it is very unlikely you will be able to play the game. To find out if your graphics card has transform and lighting you will need to visit the manufacturers website, or contact your hardware supplier. The following cards do not support transform and lighting (this list is not definitive):

NVidia RIVA TNT 2
NVidia Vanta
ATi Radeon 7000 series
Any Intel card
Matrox Millennium G400

Customer Support
You can contact ZOO Digital Publishing's dedicated Customer Support team be emailing customersupport@zoodigitalpublishing.com, please mention the game title in the email subject line.

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