Camera Angles Fastlane Pinball starts up in the default camera angle. If you would like to find an angle that's more suitable to your needs just hit the "backspace" key and check out all the different available angles. Indeo codec related problems If you are using a PC with Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1 installed the Indeo codec is no longer available on your system. Fastlane Pinball requires the Indeo 5.1 codec to be installed on your system. The Microsoft Help and Support website has dedicaded a page on this issue (Microsoft Help and support). To resolve this problem, obtain and install the 327979 recommended update (Windows update). If you are not using XP or do not have Service Pack 1 installed you can download a free version of the indeo codec here. Network functionality not visible in main menu or not functioning properly Windows XP Service Pack 2 has added a new option to your network trafic. This option, called the Windows Firewall, monitors network traffic and blocks possible unwanted traffic. When Fastlane Pinball starts, during the screen resolution select screen you may receive a popup containing the text: "to help protect your computer, Windows Firewall has blocked this program from receiving unsolicited information from the Internet or a network". When this pops up click the "Unblock the program" button to enable the use of the network functionality. This will only allow the network functionality to function. Fastlane Pinball will not submit any data to the internet without asking the user first. When you accidently clicked to block Fastlane Pinball and you still want to use it's global highscore and network functionality you will have to manually add Fastlane Pinball to your Windows Firewall. This will be explained below. If you use any other Firewall software please consult the manual of the firewall software provider. Adding exceptions to your router or modem will not be neccesairy for Fastlane Pinball to function properly. Adding a Fastlane Pinball exception in your Windows Firewall. When the above is not working for you you'll have to add Fastlane Pinball manually to your firewall allowed programs list in Windows. Click Start, click Run, type wscui.cpl in the Open box, and then click OK. Click Windows Firewall in the bottom part of the window. In the Windows Firewall dialog box, click the Exceptions tab, and then click Add Program. In the Add a Program dialog box, either select Fastlane Pinball from the list that appears. After you select your program, click OK. (If a popup appears telling you that Fastlane Pinball is allready in your exception list click OK and then Cancel). On the Exceptions tab, make sure that the check box next to your program is selected, and then click OK. Game crashed The reason a game might crash on PC' s is often not because of a fault in the game itself,but because of third-party driver problems. We found out a clean install of Microsoft's Windows with a download of the latest DirectX and the latest driver for the video card can still cause problems like crashing or even rebooting your PC with some hardware combinations. Sometimes this is due to a missing driver for something else than the videocard (like the motherboard chipset), sometimes it is because even the latest driver still contains bugs. With this guide, we hope with a bit of investigation you can fix the problem, meaning not only Framework Studios games but many other games and software potentially will run faster and with less chance of a crash on your PC. STEP ONE: System Specifications Try to find the system specifications for the game you are playing. The required PC specifications can usually be found in the game manual. Make sure your PC fits at least the required specifications. For example, Framework Studios games will not run on an Operating System older than Windows '2000 or a DirectX version lower than 9. To find out the specifications of your PC, right-click the 'My Computer' icon and select 'Properties'. This will show which Operating System you are using, what type of processor you have and how much RAM (memory) is installed. Also, it shows which Service Pack is installed. To update the Operating System with the latest patches and Service Pack, run “Windows Update” from the Start menu.If your PC does not meet the required specifications, upgrade the PC's hardware before trying to play the game. STEP TWO: DirectX Make sure you have the latest version of DirectX installed. Start DXDIAG (press the START button, choose “Run...” and type DXDIAG followed by the ENTER key). If nothing happens, DirectX is not installed. If DXDIAG starts, it will show you a screen with computer information and DirectX version (example: “DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)”) If you are not sure you have the latest DirectX version, visit Microsofts DirectX site and compare the version available with your version. You can download the latest DirectX (for free) from the said site. STEP THREE: Video Driver In the past the video driver has often been the cause of problems. Video-card manufacturers like Intel, Nvidia and Ati periodically release a new version of their drivers to fix known issues. To be sure you have the latest driver: find out what videocard you have, go to the manufacturers website, seek and download the latest driver. Below is a list containing links of Video card manifacturers: Intel NVidia Ati STEP FOUR: Chipset Drivers Often forgotten when updating drivers, the chipset in the PC-s motherboard also require drivers. In fact, if you have a videocard in the PC-s AGP slot and you didn't install the proper chipset drivers, it (on Windows '2000) could be working in PCI mode in stead of AGP, not taking full advantage of the technology. We found out some Framework Studios games like Fastlane Pinball sometimes reset the PC when the chipset does not have the correct drivers, especially on VIA chipsets. tip: try “Everest” (from lavalys) to get more information about your chipset and it's current status. It can for example tell you if AGP is enabled or not. Just like with the video driver, it is a good idea to download the proper drivers for your Operating System and install it. STEP FIVE: BIOS Settings The BIOS is a chip that helps the computer start itself when the power is turned on. Usually when starting the computer you will see a message telling you how to get access to the BIOS (for example pressing the DELETE key can give access). When all steps so far failed to solve the problem, perhaps changing BIOS settings can give a solution. For example a known problem is for some AGP videocards the “AGP FAST WRITE” setting needs to be disabled. Usually you can also load “Safe Settings” into the BIOS. See which settings you can adjust in the BIOS menu and use Google to find out what the settings do. STEP SIX: Further Investigation If all of the above fail, try finding out if the specific combination of hardware you have might be in conflict. Again, google might help.