Corazon

Hitman: Contracts
README file Version

Part 1: Things You Should Know

Please read through the DirectX section of this document. This section has information that is vital to successfully running Hitman: Contracts on your system.

1.1 DirectX

This game is optimized for and will play best under Microsoft's DirectX 9, but will run on DirectX 8.1 compliant hardware. In order for youto play the game using hardware that supports DirectX 9, you must have DirectX 9 compliant drivers for your video card and sound card. Please note that although DirectX 9 is installed with the game, your video and sound card drivers will not be upgraded to DirectX 9 drivers.

You will need to obtain the latest DirectX 9 drivers from your card manufacturer or PC supplier. These drivers cannotbe supplied by Eidos.

1.2 Memory and Performance

While the game will run fine in 128 Mb of RAM, your playing experience will be smoother if you have at least 256 Mb.

Regardless of how much memory you have, you can maximize your available memory and increase the overall performance of the game engine by doing the following:

q Closing any open windows
q Shutting down all other programs,including menu-bar programs like ICQ
q Defragmenting your hard drive

Eidos recommends that you have no other programs running at all while playing Hitman: Contracts. Other programs, including virus checkers, system utilities and screen savers can cause system degradation when playing games software and may conflict with the game for system resources, potentially resulting in instability andcrashes.

1.3 Known Issues

Audio -

· Latest drivers needed.
· If user receives audio popping or corruption, try reducing number of voices within the game. Alternately within `DXDiag` try setting the `Hardware Sound Acceleration Level` to `Standard Acceleration`. If the problem still persists, try turning option to `No acceleration`.
· On EAX/3D compatible sound cards, ensure thatspeaker configuration is setup correctly within Windows.

Graphics -

· Latest Drivers required - nVidia 56.64 or later, ATi Catalyst 4.3 or later (as of April 2004).

· Post Filter - This Option is designed for graphics cards that have hardware Pixel Shader support. Graphics cards that don’t support at least pixel shader 1.1 will not be able to use this feature. When enabled will cause aperformance hit at higher resolutions.

Options -

· If user alters any options and finds game no longer functions correctly, run `restoredefaults.exe` located in the root of the installation. This will reset all options back to their original installed state.

Io Interactive and Eidos are committed to providing customer support for our games on a continuing basis. In that spirit, there may be apatch for Hitman: Contracts forthcoming; visit the Eidos website for more information.

http://www.eidos.com/

Part 2: Technical Issues

2.1 Installation & Set-up

System Requirements

The minimum system requirements are as follows:

COMPUTER:
IBM PC or 100% compatible
OPERATING SYSTEM:
Microsoft Windows 98SE/2000/XP(admin rights required)
CPU:
Pentium III 800 or Athlonequivalent
RAM:
128 Mb Windows 98SE
256 Mb Windows 2000/XP
GRAPHICS:
100% DirectX 8-compatible 32Mb 3D Accelerated Card
SOUND:
Windows -compatible sound card (100% DirectX 8-compatible)
CD-ROM:
Quad-speed (4x) CD-ROM drive
HARD DRIVE:
2Gb free disk space
INPUT DEVICES:
100% DirectX 8 -compatible mouse and keyboard

The recommended system requirements are as follows:CPU:
Pentium 4 1.6GHz or Athlon XP equivalent
RAM:
256 Mb
GRAPHICS:
64Mb 3D Card -100% DirectX 8-compatible
SOUND:
Sound Card - Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS card recommended
CD-ROM:
Eight-speed (8x) CD-ROM drive or faster
HARD DRIVE:
2Gb free disk space


Preparing Your Hard Drive

To ensure that your installation is trouble free, you should check to see that your hard...