Beyond
Time
Setup Walkthrough
by Inferno
Requirements
Windows 98/95
Pentium CPU
8 MB RAM (16 MB preferred)
Double-speed or faster CD-ROM drive
Beyond Time is first person adventure which relies heavily on its video clips for direction and information. Unfortunately it was written utilizing Quicktime 2.1.2 . and also incorporates a "Smart Mouse" which really doesn't sit all too well when you add WindowsXP into the mix. For some odd reason, whenever one of the .mov files is played, the cursor disappears as the video clip ends. (Actually ... it doesn't really disappear, it's still there ... it's just that now it's invisible... Good luck trying to continue on with the game now. Well, don't dishearten too much ... There is a workaround for this unfortunate turn of events. However, before you install the game there are a few things that need mentioning:
The General Drill
First let's take a look at the "General Drill"
Whenever I start a new game, especially an "older one"; I have always made it a habit to make sure my system is clean. (So let's clean house) Our cleaning products?? No, I'm not talking about special Orange Sprays or Pine smelly
disinfectants! I'm referring to the "3
Musketeers" of WINTEL Systems. They are:
"Disk Clean Up", Check Disc (the old Scan Disc in pre XP Windows based systems) and Defrag.
First, Let's do a Disk Clean Up (Don't know how?) GO to-->Start-->All Programs--> Accessories--> System Tools-->Disk
Clean Up. Empty out what you don't need ( you'll be surprised at what you can accumulate!) Shut down all extra
programs. (for those of you who know how to do this part...just skip onto the next area of the "Setup".) For those of
you who don't, the easiest way to terminate your TSRs (terminated but staying resident programs, also known as
background applications") is to right click on each of the little icons in the lower right portion of your
"Tool Bar" (located near your clock), As you right click on each of them you will get the option to either "exit", "close" or "unload". Do this
for each of them. Then, if you have a Screensaver go ahead and disable it.
If you haven't done the "Ole' Scan Disk"...(in XP it's called
"Check Disk") and Defragged recently here is a good time to
do it. Go to-->My Computer-->Local Disc "C" ("C" is mine but your Local Disc maybe assigned another
letter)-->Right Click-->Properties-->Tools-->"Check Now..." ->Make sure that both boxes are checked-->
1.)Automatically fix file
system errors and 2.)Scan for and attempt recovery of bad
sectors.-->Click Start. You can follow this same path to
locate your Defrag program as well or use Start-->All Programs-->Accessories-->System Tools-->Defrag Hard Drive.
Check your system by doing a "Ctrl, Alt &
Delete", this will bring up "The Task
Manager", If you have closed out all Windows Programs, the field under "Applications" will be blank.
(Leave the field marked "Processes" alone. Yep, I know there are lots of interesting files in there...but your really
better off not touching anything in there unless you really know just what you are doing.)
You might want to check on your Video and Audio Acceleration at this time, make sure you set the video at the 2nd notch from the right --> and audio should be set
at full (I find that this is the best
setting for this adventure on MY system. Yours may be different, but this is always a good place to start and you can
increase or lower them as you see fit after the game is installed.)
Change your Display to 800x600 and
32bit Color. (Right Click anywhere on your Desk Top-->Properties-->Settings-->Advanced-->Adapters-->List All
Modes-->Choose 800x600/32bit Color/100Hz. Don't forget to restart
your system.
I know this seems like a bother, but if you take the time to make sure your system is sparkling on the inside, you'll
have less headaches later. Remember a healthy XP is a happy one.
