Other resources: Main Support and Contacts, and General FAQ

• Windows 95/98/ME/XP

• Pentium-II 450MHz is MINIMUM, P3-550 or better suggested

• 64 Meg system RAM minimum, 128 Meg or more highly suggested

• 800 x 600 monitor and video card, with 16-bit (65,535) color and 4Meg Video Ram, AGP port suggested.

• DirectX-8.1 compatible video and sound card.

• Stereo sound card, mouse, etc...

This game uses a standard Windows SETUP program. Simply follow the download instructions then execute the provided installation program. Remember these points:

1. Before installing any sizable game it is a very  good idea to run SCANDISK (in Thorough  mode, with Automatically Fix Errors  enabled) and DEFRAG so that the game receives the best starting environment.
2. Remember where your download has been installed. Some Download Managers provide a easy listing of files recently downloaded.
3. Before starting any download PLEASE select and use a good Download Manager. Click HERE for some relevant information.
4. Be sure other Windows program are not running while the setup is active.
5. Double click the Setup icon (the name for Chapter 1 is SoACH1b.EXE).
6. Follow the on-screen instructions.

  http://www.microsoft.com/directx/homeuser/downloads/default.asp

Uninstall Should you ever need to remove Siege of Avalon from your computer, just follow these steps:

1. Click on the Windows Start button
2. Select Programs
3. Select Digital Tome
4. Select Siege of Avalon
5. Select Uninstall Siege.
6. Use Windows Explorer to delete the base path of the game to remove any remaining files. Use extreme caution in this step, if done wrong you'll remove a lot you should not.

"The game locks up or crashes at the same points (usually when trying to start the game)."

So far  we've traced almost every crash/hang to one of these causes:

1. Failing to enter a valid Private Serial Number (Registration Key) for EVERY downloaded game Chapter (excluding the free Chapter 1) that you have installed on your computer (even if you are not yet playing that Chapter). The various CD versions of the game do not require a Serial Number (the one exception was the "Starter CD," but that product is now out of circulation). If you apply a Download Chapter Update to a CD product then you just broke the game, see our Update for more details and reinstall the game from the CD.
   
2. Cache dirty, use the "Configure Game" tool (in the same program group where you launch the game, see our FAQ in the support page if you need more help) and select Purge Cache. On some versions of the game the "Use Cache" may already be disabled, in which case the Purge Cache is not needed.
   
3. Problems with Movie Player. If you have a game CD (or have downloaded the game movie add-on) then the game will try to play an opening movie. You can disable the movie player to determine if there is any conflict by using the "Configure Game" tool to disable (un-check) the "Play Intro Movie" option.
   
4. Video Driver settings or driver conflict, including the Windows Accelerator settings (this may be the most common source of conflict, and is very easy to resolve). Using Direct-X versions 7.0 or 8.0 instead of 7.0a or 8.0a (or better). Our FAQs cover this.
   
5. Sound Driver setting or driver conflict, especially relating to the use of DirectSound (either in our Configure Game tool or in the DXDiag DirectSound settings). Our FAQs go through this in detail. If you do not test the impact of changing these settings then you can not know if this is the cause of your problem. If you change any settings and it does not help then restore the settings to their prior value before proceeding.
   
6. Disk drive needs maintenance. Run SCANDISK (in Thorough  mode, with Automatically Fix Errors  enabled) and DEFRAG. If any errors are reported you may need to install the game again to repair damaged/missing files. Also note how much free disk space you have on the drive holding the game, you can use the "Configure Game" tool to lower how much disk space is used for the game cache.
   

Follow this list in order, starting with the first step above. Please actually try the suggested changes before dismissing them.

Game freezes on a Black Screen or quits back to the Windows Desktop without any error message

There are several possible causes for this problem. For details on steps that you can take to get the game running, please see our Windows Video Troubleshooting FAQ.

This is usually the result of other applications conflicting with the game. For details on how to fix random lockups and crashes, please see our Windows General Troubleshooting FAQ.

"The colors, textures, and/or objects in the game don't display correctly."

Make sure that you have installed DirectX version 7.0a or 8.0a or higher on your system before playing (Note: 7.0 and 8.0 will not work reliably with Siege of Avalon). Be sure you have read the other Video FAQs on this site (like Windows Accelerator setting). If you have already done this and the problem occurs anyway, then you'll need to update your video card drivers with the latest versions available from the manufacturer. For more information about DirectX, please see our DirectX Frequently Asked Questions. To learn how to update your video card drivers, refer to our How to Update your Drivers FAQ.

Turn down video hardware acceleration in Windows. Windows acceleration may be conflicting with DirectX. If this doesn't work, update your video card drivers. To learn how to adjust Windows video hardware acceleration, refer to our Windows Video Troubleshooting FAQ. To learn how to update your video card drivers, refer to our How to Update your Drivers FAQ.

"The game seems too slow on my computer."

There can be various causes, including: not meeting all the system requirement specifications, other applications active or in memory, need to lower Windows Video Accelerator or DirectX Sound Accelerator, or perhaps you need to tune some advanced game features. You can find detailed information on these issues in these FAQs: Windows Video Driver FAQ, Direct-X FAQ, and Configure Game tool.

"The game starts to install, but then stops partway through."

There are several possible solutions to this problem. Please see our Windows General Troubleshooting FAQ for details.

"I can't hear any sound or music in the game."

1. Make sure that your speakers are turned on and any volume controls on them are turned up.
2. Check your Windows volume settings by clicking on the small yellow speaker icon on your taskbar.
3. If you are running on Windows NT or Windows 2000 then we do not guarantee the playability of this game, and sound won't work reliably.
4. Check to make sure that the options for sound and music are not set to minimum volume in the "options" submenu of the main game menu.
If none of the steps above work, then make sure you have installed DirectX version 7.0a or 8.0a or the latest version available from Microsoft. If you have already tried this too, then you'll need to update your sound card drivers to the latest version available from the manufacturer. For more information about DirectX, please see our DirectX Frequently Asked Questions. To learn how to update your video card Drivers, refer to our How to Update your Drivers FAQ. For additional sound help see Windows Sound Troubleshooting FAQ.

This game uses Microsoft's DirectX for all graphics and sound effects. It cannot run properly unless DirectX version 7.0a or 8.0a or higher is installed on your computer. It may also exhibit problems if the video card and/or sound card in your computer are not 100% DirectX 7.0a (or DirectX 8.0a) compliant. Re-install DirectX from the Microsoft download site, then reboot your computer and try playing the game again. For instructions, see the section near the top of this document labeled "DirectX Installation". If the problem still occurs, then you'll need to update your video and/or sound card drivers with the latest versions available from the manufacturer. For more information on this topic and contact information on a wide variety of hardware vendors, please see our How to Update your Drivers FAQ.

"I've encountered a problem that was not mentioned in this document."

1. Make sure that your system meets the minimum system requirements as listed at the top of this document. If your system does not meet or exceed the minimum requirements, it will run poorly, or not at all.
2. Shut down all other programs that you may have running on your system prior to playing  Siege of Avalon. Other programs, especially music players and video/multimedia presentations can interfere with the operation of the game. For detailed instructions on shutting down all of your other applications, please see our Windows General Troubleshooting FAQ.
3. Try uninstalling, and then re-installing the game.

"What other things on my computer might be incompatible with this game?"

We have not had time yet to directly confirm these reports, but we've been told that X-Drive and the Heat NavBar may both be incompatible with our current game engine.

On some computer peripherals (especially video and sound cards) it can be extremely urgent that the very most current drivers be properly installed, the most current version of Direct-X installed, and your Acceleration Settings for these items properly set. See the other questions above for links to our FAQ pages that provide greater detail on each of these matters.