Optimising Your PC for LinksLS99Optimising Your PC for LinksLS99Aim: for you to check that you are doing everything you can to make sure your computer is best set up to run Links without any jerkiness, stuttering, hard disk thrashing etc which will not only ruin your game, but also your enjoyment...if you are having problems check thos out first
Newly
Added : Memturbo program that supposedly fixes jerky swingmeters!
I've tried this myself and it does seem to give a smoother
swingmeter, my snap improved, maybe it was in the mind, but give
it a try, it's free for a 30 day trial at least, so give it a go
This program will cure your problems with the swing
meter in Links LS. Its called MemTurbo. They offer a free trial
version to download at their site. The URL to find the
program is at http://www.golfcom.com/member/index.html. If you decide to purchase
it after your trial, visit http://www.golfcom.com and look for an announcement
about
MemTurbo. We hope to have a discounted rate for you within the
next few days.
Thank you
John Parsons
Golfcom President
GolfCom's original article : This article has been reproduced from an email sent to me by John Parsons from GolfCom. I'm sure most of you will be aware of these things but it's worth including here for those of you that don't know.....For your information I run a P200 MMX with 64Mb RAM, two 5GB hard disks, a 17" monitor with a Matrox Mystique video card and Apocalypse 3Dx accelearator. I have no problems running Links at all so if you are having any problems or jerkiness and your PC is equal or better than mine, you probably have something set up wrongly, or some conflict somewhere....
Getting the most enjoyment
our of playing LinksLS is highly dependent on setting up your
computer properly to minimize crashes to the desktop as well as
getting that crucial smooth
swing meter. To that end here are some recommendations.
1.Processor – LinksLS99 is a resource hog and requires a
fast processor to work properly. Regardless of what Access
Software tells you about minimum
requirements, you will probably not be happy without at least a
266 mhz Pentium II class processor or higher ( AMD K-6 or Cyrix
M-2).
2.RAM
– LinksLS99 keeps most of the game resident in RAM and
therefore needs a lot of it. Our recommended minimum is 64 megs,
but 128 megs is a
reasonable highend amount. Nonetheless, 64 megs is almost the
most important thing you can do to achieve satisfactory game
play.
3.Video
Card – Conventional wisdom might consider your choice of
video card to be important to a graphics intensive game like
LinksLS, but it is not. Most
people run LinksLS in its default 800x600 16 color mode and it
looks fine. The expensive graphics cards with lots of RAM do
nothing but allow you to run
LinksLS in higher resolutions, which does not materially add to
your enjoyment. A plain 4 meg graphics card ( does not have to be
AGP) will do fine.
4.Sound
Card – Again just about any Soundblaster compatible card
will allow maximum enjoyment.
5.Virtual
Memory – Set at minimum and maximum equal to twice your RAM.
Rather than let Windows mange it for you. (ie with 64 megs set it
to a min and
max
of 128 megs) To do this go to "Start" , then
"Settings" and pick "Control Panel". Then
choose "System" then "Performance" and then
"Virtual
Memory". Choose "let me specify my own virtual memory
settings" and type in an amount equal to twice system RAM
for both Min and max. If you can,
pick
a drive different from the one LinksLS is on for the placement of
your vitual memory. In other words if you have two physical (or
partitioned)drives
and
Windows is on C and Links is on D, then put your virtual memory
on C . After applying your new virtual memory settings you will
get all sorts of dire
warnings about Windows not working etc – but pay no
attention to them.
6.Virtual
Cache – If you are experiencing an erratic swing meter (aka
Mouse Farts) you might want to try to limit your virtual cache to
prevent an abnormal
amount of swapping between Ram and your disk drive. To do this
open your "system.ini" file in Notepad. Either revise
or set initially your virtual cache
to :
MinFileCache=8192
MaxFileCache=8192
The
key is to set minimum and maximum cache to equal values.
7.ScanDisk
and Disk Defragmentation – These are two system tools that
come with Windows 95/98. They usually can be found in
"Start, then Programs.
Accessories,and System Tools " Run both of these programs
WEEKLY.
8.Disable
Write-Behind Caching – Use this remedy ONLY if you are
experiencing an unusual number of crashes to the desktop while
playing LinksLS99. To
do
this go to Control Panel, System, Performance, File System, then
Troubleshooting. Check the last box – disable write behind
caching – and then reboot
your
machine for the new setting to take effect.
9.Close
all Programs except LinksLS – Of all the recommendations
this is the MOST IMPORTANT. As stated previously, LinksLS is a
processor and RAM
hog
and any other program that is open while playing will interfere.
This means you have to shut down all programs before launching a
game. Look on
your
system tray ( icons near the clock) Right click on the icons to
get instructions on closing them. This includes all anti-virus
programs, MSOffice Fast
find, ICQ, Kali, Mplayer, Tape Back-up monitors FirstAid,
CleanSweep, Norton Utilities, Browser, Mail program etc. Once you
think you have shut down
everything, use alt-ctrl-del to bring up the menu of remaining
programs. Highlight them one by one except for
"Explorer" and choose "End Task". NOW,
you
are finally ready to play LinksLS.
10.LinksLS
Options – These is a subjective trial and error process but
rarely are people successful in using all the little sound and
graphics goodies that
Access builds into LinksLS 99. The following, in order of
priority, are the options to start turning off if you run into
stability problems with the game.
a.Background Animations
b.Animated Flags
c.Environmental Sounds to off
d.Background
Sounds
e.Crowd
Anticipation sounds
f.Environmental Crowd Sounds
g.Pre-Shot
Sounds
h.Reflections
i.Terrain
Details – start to move one click at a time toward minimum
1.Cameras
– Normally Players will keep two or three Cameras open but
no more. The most popular are "Top". "Reverse
Landing Camera (or Pin)" and Chat
Window ( when playing online) Set the size of these camera
windows to the basic size needed to help you aim and configure
your shot.
I hope that this will help with any problems you have been having
in regards to using Links Ls 99 with any of the launchers
available on the net today.
Top Tips: In my experience the thing most likely to mess up your Links ( apart from not having much memory) is having that bloody FINDFAST program running, which is often installed as part of Microsoft Office...get rid of this from your windows/start menu/programs/startup folder to stop it running completely...it's useless and a pain in the ass.( for your info Findfast is a program that indexes your hard disk contents to speed up file access, but that causes thrashing of the hard disk on regular intervals and to my mind doesnt improve your system performance in normal use either...get rid of it)