Homeworld 2

Version 1.0
Readme File

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About This Document:

Thank you for purchasing Homeworld 2.

This document contains last-minute information about Homeworld 2 and other

information about the program not found in the Help Files. This README file
includes information that pertains to general problems and questions you may have
concerning the game or your computer. Should you experience any problems with
Homeworld 2, please refer to this file for additional help on answering questions
about the game and solving technical difficulties.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
II. GENERAL TECHNICAL ISSUES
III. GENERAL GAME ISSUES
IV. CONTACTING SIERRA / VU GAMES

I. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
-----------------------
i. Homeworld 2 requires a PC running either Microsoft Windows XP, Windows 2000,
Windows 98, or Windows Millennium Edition. It must also meet the following minimum
requirements:
Intel Pentium III 833MHz or AMD Athlon 833MHz
256 MB RAM
32 MB OpenGL supported hardware, GeForce or better (with Transform and
Lighting), ATI Radeon 7500 or better (with Transform and Lighting).
Requires DirectX 9.0 and a compatible driver.
1.2 GB Hard Drive space, plus space for DirectX 9.0 Drivers, saved games, and
Windows SWAP file.
16X or Faster CD-ROM/DVD drive
Windows compatible sound card
Windows compatible keyboard and mouse.
Required for Multiplayer:
56.6K Modem required for 4 player or less MP online (internet) game.
Broadband (DSL, Cable Modem, or faster) required for 6 player multiplayer
online (internet) game.
TCP/IP Compliant Network required for Network Play.

ii. For optimal performance, play Homeworld 2 on a PC that meets or exceeds the
following specifications:
Pentium 4 1.4GHz or higher.
64 MB or faster GeForce 3 or Radeon 8500 that supports Transform and
Lighting.
512 MB RAM or higher.

iii. Supported Video Cards

Homeworld 2 has been tested and optimized to run on the following video cards.
ATI Technologies
-Radeon 7500
-Radeon 8500
-Radeon 9000
-Radeon 9100
-Radeon 9200
-Radeon 9500
-Radeon 9600
-Radeon 9700
-Radeon 9800
nVidia:
-All GeForce class cards and above except the GeForce 256.
Matrox:
-Parhelia

Please ensure you have the latest drivers before running Homeworld 2, or you may
encounter graphical glitches and bugs.

Supported Video Cards

nVidia cards: www.nvidia.com
ATI cards: www.ati.com
Matrox: www.matrox.com

Unsupported Video Cards

Intel: www.intel.com
SiS Xabre: www.xabre.com
3Dlabs: www.3dlabs.com
S3: www.S3graphics.com

Non-standard Resolutions

Homeworld2 has been designed for the standard 4:3 aspect ratio display. However,
you can use other any unsupported resolutions of your choosing, such as those
listed below. Furthermore, We have included a solution for some non-standard
resolutions as listed below. If you're running Homeworld2 on a laptop or other LCD
display, you may experience some distortion or stretching of the game screens if
you're not running in the recommended resolutions for your specific monitor.

To address this, we've included the following work-around using a command line
option switch. In order to specify the resolution that you want to play Homeworld2
in, use the following parameters to set your resolution. Simply cut and paste from
the text below into the Homeworld2 shortcut Properties

For Example, the Target of your windows shortcut should read:

C:\Programs\Sierra\Homeworld2\Homeworld2.exe.

And if you want to run Homeworld2 in 1024 x 768 resolution, using the following
command line switch (typed exactly as):

-w 1024 -h 768

(**note the case sensitive and space sensitive nature of this command line switch
where
-w sets the width value and the -h sets the height value.)

Therefore, if you want to run Homeworld2 in 1024 x 768 resolution, the 'Target'
field of the Windows shortcut for Homeworld2 should read:

"C:\Programs\Sierra\Homeworld2\Homeworld2.exe" -w 1024 -h 768

You can try using this method to run in any one of the resolutions listed below or
others that may not be listed. However, none of them are guaranteed to work in all
cases. Here are several examples. Simply cut and paste from the text below into
target line after the .exe portion of the existing text.

1152x864 -w 1152 -h 864

1920x1440 -w 1920 -h 1440
2048x1536 -w 2048 -h 1536

II. GENERAL TECHNICAL ISSUES

----------------------------

i. Multiplayer Issues
Modem users may experience connectivity problems when playing Homeworld 2 on
Gamespy while running a personal firewall (such as ZoneAlarm or Norton Personal
Firewall). Disabling the firewall during play may solve those problems.

If you want to play a multiplayer game of Homeworld 2 and you are behind a router,
you may need to do one of the following:
a) Disable your router so that your machine is connected directly to the internet.
b) Unblock port 6073 and ports 2302 to 2400 (these are the default DirectPlay
ports used by Homeworld 2).
c) Force Homeworld2 to use a given port number by using "-port ####" at the
command line, where #### is between 1 and 65535.

If you still encounter difficulty in connecting to GameSpy, please allow traffic

for at least the following TCP ports.
6667 (IRC)
80 (HTTP)
27900 (Master Server UDP Heartbeat)
28900 (Master Server List Request)
29900 (GP Connection Manager)
29901 (GP Search Manager)
13139 (Custom UDP Pings)
6500 (incoming, UDP, default roomquery port; can be customized with
roomqueryport=<port #> in svc.cfg)

ii. Dual Monitor Setup

You will not be able to play Homeworld 2 on your secondary monitor unless both are
running from the same supported video card. If you have two video cards, the
primary card must be supported by Homeworld 2 or the game will not run.

iii. Troubleshooting
You may experience various display problems depending on your system
specifications. Below are the current known issues.
a) Alt-Tabbing out of and back into Homeworld 2 may cause certain ships to render
improperly.
b) Homeworld 2 does not run on Windows 98 SE systems that use CMI 8738 Onboard
Sound Card. Playing with a different sound card or by disabling sound entirely (by
using the -noSound command line parameter) will allow the game to run.

III. GENERAL GAME ISSUES

----------------------------

i. CD Keys
Please remember, no one from Sierra will ever ask you for your key. If someone logs
onto GameSpy using your CD key while you are in a GameSpy lobby or game, you will
be kicked out.
Remember, do not give out your CD key to anyone or you will not be able to play
multiplayer games!

ii. Graphics Settings

Homeworld 2's default graphics quality settings are set to low. If you want to
experience the full visual experience of Homeworld 2, you will need to set these
values to high.

iii. Installation of DirectX9.0

Homeworld 2 requires DirectX9.0 or higher in order to run. You will be prompted to
install DirectX9 during the installation process. If you have already installed or
want to install DirectX9 later, please select no.
Note: If you select no during the installation process, you must install DirectX9.0
manually before Homeworld 2 will run.

iv. Gamespy Arcade

While Homeworld 2 provides Gamespy Arcade as an optional part of the installation
process, Homeworld 2 is not supported by it. If you want to play a multiplayer game
on Gamespy, please select the GameSpy option provided in the front end.

v. Content Download
Unique player Badges must be placed in your bin/profiles/badges/ directory. Badges
downloaded from other players will be placed in this folder as well.

Levels will be downloaded to your bin/profiles/levels folder and be placed in a

folder with a unique id. If you want to host a game with a downloaded map, please
ensure that you copy it to your data/leveldata/multiplayer/deathmatch/ folder

------------------------

IV.CONTACTING SIERRA

A) Customer Service, Support, and Sales

B) Technical Support
C) Sierra Warranty and Legal Information

A) CUSTOMER SERVICE, SUPPORT AND SALES

United States
U.S.A. Sales Phone: (800) 757-7707 or (310) 649-8008
Hours: Monday-Friday 8 AM to 4:30 PM PST

International Sales: (310) 649-8008

Hours: Monday-Friday 8 AM to 4:30 PM PST
Fax: (310) 258-0744

Sierra Entertainment, Inc.

6060 Center Drive
6th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Phone: (800) 757-7707 or (310) 649-8008
Fax: (310) 258-0744
http://www.sierra.com

On-Line Sales
Internet USA: http://www.sierra.com

B) TECHNICAL SUPPORT

North America

Sierra Entertainment offers a 24-hour automated technical support line with

recorded answers to the most frequently asked technical questions. To access this
service, call (310) 649-8033, and follow the recorded instructions to find your
specific topic and resolve the issue. If this fails to solve your problem, you may
still write or fax us with your questions, or contact us via our Web site -
http://support.vugames.com

Sierra Entertainment
Technical Support
4247 South Minnewawa Avenue
Fresno, CA 93725

Main: (310) 649-8033

Monday-Friday, 8:00 A.M. - 4:45 P.M. PST
Fax: (310) 258-0755
http://support.vugames.com

C) SIERRA WARRANTY AND LEGAL INFORMATION

PC:
You are entitled to use this product for your own use, but may not copy, reproduce,
translate, publicly perform, display, or reduce to any electronic medium or
machine- readable form, reproductions of the software or manual to other parties in
any way, nor sell, rent or lease the product to others without prior written
permission of Sierra. You may use one copy of the product on a single computer.
YOU MAY NOT NETWORK THE PRODUCT OR OTHERWISE INSTALL IT OR USE IT ON MORE THAN ONE
COMPUTER AT THE SAME TIME.
UNAUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIONS: SIERRA WARRANTS ONLY THAT THE PROGRAM WILL PERFORM AS
DESCRIBED IN THE USER DOCUMENTATION. NO OTHER ADVERTISING, DESCRIPTION, OR
REPRESENTATION, WHETHER MADE BY A SIERRA DEALER, DISTRIBUTOR, AGENT, OR EMPLOYEE,
SHALL BE BINDING UPON SIERRA OR SHALL CHANGE THE TERMS OF THIS WARRANTY.
IMPLIED WARRANTIES LIMITED: EXCEPT AS STATED ABOVE, SIERRA MAKES NO WARRANTY,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS PRODUCT. SIERRA DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY THAT THE
SOFTWARE IS FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF
MERCHANTABILITY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE NINETY (90) DAY DURATION OF THIS LIMITED
EXPRESS WARRANTY AND IS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMED. SOME
STATES DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, SO THE ABOVE
LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
NO CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES: SIERRA SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL,
CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES, EVEN IF SIERRA IS ADVISED OF OR AWARE OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS MEANS THAT SIERRA SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR
LIABLE FOR LOST PROFITS OR REVENUES, OR FOR DAMAGES OR COSTS INCURRED AS A RESULT
OF LOSS OF TIME, DATA OR USE OF THE SOFTWARE, OR FROM ANY OTHER CAUSE EXCEPT THE
ACTUAL COST OF THE PRODUCT. IN NO EVENT SHALL SIERRA'S LIABILITY EXCEED THE
PURCHASE PRICE OF THIS PRODUCT. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR
LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR
EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Disk and/or Manual Replacement:

Product Returns*:
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing International
Sierra Warranty Returns
4247 South Minnewawa Ave.
Fresno, CA 93725
* Returns to this address valid in North America only.

Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing International

Sierra CD/Doco Replacement
4247 South Minnewawa Ave.
Fresno, CA 93725

NOTE: To replace your CD(s) please send only the damaged CD and a copy of your
dated receipt, if less then 90 days. After 90 days please include a $10.00
handling fee ($15.00 handling fee for console media returns) along with the CD(s).
For Documentation replacement, please include a $5.00 handling fee and a photocopy
ONLY of either your disk or CD. Please include a letter explaining the problems
you are experiencing in order for us to determine how we may best resolve them.
Payment should be made at the time of your request. Sorry, no credit cards.

Sierra's end user license agreement, limited warranty and return policy is set
forth in the EULA.txt, found on the CD, and is also available during the install of
the product.

Copyright (�2003 Sierra Entertainment, Inc.)

�1998-2003 Sierra Entertainment, Inc.
Sierra and the Sierra logo are trademarks of Sierra Entertainment.