Common Questions and Problems With BassTour
The following represents the most common questions and problems
encountered with BassTour. Before calling or writing us, please
read the instruction manual thoroughly. We have found that many
problems can be answered right there.
[1]
PROBLEM: "I cannot make the program scroll to another section of
the lake".
SOLUTION: First, make sure the NUM LOCK is not set on your
keyboard. Then, be sure you are using the NUMERIC
KEYPAD ARROWS, not the separate cursor control arrows
on 101 key enhanced keyboards. Remember to press the
SHIFT key while you press the arrow keys.
On many computers, in particular the early Tandy
machines, there was an incompatibility with the
keyboard. These machines would not generate a
different keycode when the NUMERIC KEYPAD arrow keys
were shifted. This problem occurs on some 'clone'
machines too. This can usually be remedied by using
the 2,4,6 and 8 keys in the top row of your MAIN
KEYBOARD. Do not use the SHIFT key when using this
method.
[2]
PROBLEM: "Sometimes 'garbage' appears when I try to scroll the
screen or select a rod or bait".
SOLUTION: BassTour needs lots of FREE memory. Just because your
computer has 640k or more of memory does not mean it's
all free for BassTour to use. We have found that memory
resident programs (TSR'S) are one of the main causes of
this problem. Programs like RAM DISKS, PRINTER BUFFERS,
KEYBOARD ENHANCERS and MENU programs should not be
loaded before running BassTour. These programs occupy
memory space even when not running, thus making it
unavailable to BassTour.
Another occasional cause of this problem is lack of
sufficient memory on your EGA card (if you are using
one). Many of the older EGA cards only had 64k or 128k
of video memory. They should have 256k to properly run
BassTour.
[3]
PROBLEM: "The program tries to start, but then stops."
SOLUTION: One of the main causes of this problem is too many open
files. DOS only allows 15 open files per process. Check
your CONFIG.SYS file to be sure it contains the
following two lines:
FILES=20
BUFFERS=20
BassTour tries to open several files when it starts. It
then assumes they were open for its use. If in fact
they were NOT opened, the program may hang waiting for
them to be available. The two lines described above
will help prevent this from happening.
[4]
PROBLEM: "I cannot save a game to the disk."
SOLUTION: Many people try to save games (to be played later) on
the original distribution diskette. A saved game uses
about 60k of disk space, and the distribution diskette
must have at least that much free if you expect to save
a game. Also, make sure you're not in CAST MODE when
trying to save a game with the ALT-S key combination.
Sometimes, people have a clock or some other interrupt
driven program running at the same time they're running
BassTour. Since these programs use interrupts, they can
'steal' time from BassTour. If one of these prrograms
decides to 'steal' its time while BassTour is writing
to the disk, the resultant file may be damaged. This is
because DOS itself is inherently non-reentrant, and
BassTour uses DOS facilities to write to the disk. See
#3 above as well.
[5]
PROBLEM: "I cannot restore a saved game."
SOLUTION: See #3 and #4 above. Also, make sure ALL files that are
supplied on your BassTour distribution disk are in the
same directory as BassTour.EXE.
[6]
PROBLEM: "BassTour does not always save my record catches
properly!"
SOLUTION: See #3 above. Also, some people thought they were
clever, and tried to edit the LAKERECS.TXT and/or the
STRINGER.TXT files. Don't try it! One misplaced
space or deleted/added line can mess the files up beyond
repair.
[7]
PROBLEM: "I get a RUNTIME ERROR 002 then the program stops!"
SOLUTION: This means that BassTour cannot open a file it
needs. This can happen if you do not have all the files
that are supplied on the original distribution diskette
in the same directory as the main program,
BASSTOUR.EXE. It can also happen if you are missing a
file altogether. Also, refer to item 3, above.
[8]
PROBLEM: "I get a runtime ERROR 004 then the program stops!"
SOLUTION: This means that access to a file needed by BassTour has
been denied by DOS. Make sure there is no write-protect
tab on your diskette, and see item 3 above.
[9]
PROBLEM: "I have an IBM PS-2. The program reports that it
detects a VGA card then stops, hanging up my machine".
SOLUTION: Some models of PS-2 computers have the MCGA video mode.
This mode (320 x 200 x 256 colors) is a subset of the
VGA specification. These computers reports VGA when
queried by BassTour. BassTour then assumes that since a
VGA card was detected, that it should use the maximum
screen resolution it can, which is 640 x 350, 16
colors. You can force BassTour to run in either
standard CGA mode (320 x 200 x 4 colors) or in the MCGA
mode by using one of these command lines when you start
the game:
BASSTOUR -C (for CGA Mode)
BASSTOUR -M (for MCGA mode)
[10]
QUESTION: "I have a VGA card in my machine, yet the program seems
to run in 16 color EGA mode. Why, and how do I make it
utilize the 256 colors of my VGA?"
ANSWER: See item 9, above. BassTour runs in the EGA mode of your
VGA card. It does not support true VGA (640 x 480 x 16
colors) at this time. You can use the MCGA mode of VGA
(320 x 200 x 256 colors) as described in item 9.
[11]
QUESTION: "I have a Tandy machine that supports 16 color CGA
mode. Is there a way I can run BassTour in this mode,
or am I stuck with the four color CGA mode?"
ANSWER: No, at least not at this time. The 16 color 'Tandy' mode
is a non-standard video mode currently only supported by
Tandy machines. I'm afraid you're stuck with good ol'
CGA. Why not upgrade to VGA if you want great color and
screen resolution in BassTour?
[12]
QUESTION: "Why did you choose such awful colors in CGA mode? Why
not blue for the water, brown for land, or something
more realistic?"
ANSWER: We didn't choose those colors! In CGA, we have a choice
of Palettes (groups of colors), NOT the individual colors
within those palettes. If you think these colors are bad,
take a look at your CGA card manual and see what the
alternatives were!
[13]
QUESTION: "I have added disks LAKES #1 and LAKES #2 to BassTour.
Having 20 lakes to choose from is great, but why do
I set lakes records with such small fish? I find it
annoying to wait for the 'Record Fish Ceremony' each
time!"
ANSWER: You won't for long. As supplied, BassTour only has record
information for the original six lakes. When you add new
lakes, records need to be established for those lakes. At
first, a one pound fish will be a record. Gradually, as
the sizes of the record fish increase, record setting
will occur much less often. Why not just get it over with
quickly and catch an 8 or 10 pound fish right away!
[14]
QUESTION: "On some lakes, my boat doesn't appear on the screen when
the game begins. How do I know where my boat is!"
ANSWER: This occurs mostly on CGA or MCGA video displays, but may
happen on lakes of your own creation as well. It simply
means that the boat is in a section of the lake that is not
currently visible. Press the M key to show the contour map.
The blinking block you'll see is where your boat is. Scroll
the screen and your boat will come into view.