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Chapter 25 ✦ Understanding Multimedia together to conquer another community or storm a castle. MMOG games include spaceships, superheroes, knights, drag racing, historical figures, and many other characters and worlds. Understanding high-performance gaming Most online and multiplayer computer games have fast and furious action. Action is continu- ous. Game delays or slow-running games can really ruin the gaming experience. You need high performance in both the network and your computer. Network performance relates to how fast the network connection is to both other gamers and the network server. Computer performance relates to how fast your computer is and how the computer is configured. To improve game performance, follow this advice: ✦ Disable any programs that might take up your extra bandwidth, such as chat programs, messaging systems, and file sharing software. ✦ Don’t download files while playing games, even from other computers on your LAN. ✦ Ask your Internet service provider how much bandwidth they provide and if the ISP can increase the bandwidth to your computer. Many ISPs will sell a larger Internet ser- vice subscription package that provides greater bandwidth. ✦ On your computer, check the minimum system requirements for the game. If your com- puter has only the minimum requirements, consider upgrading memory or processor, a new video card, and such. ✦ Anytime you install a game, use the full installation option; using all of the game’s files often makes the game run faster than using some files off of the CD or DVD drive. ✦ Make sure you turn off any applications that run in the background while playing the game. ✦ Install any and all Windows updates, patches, DirectX drivers, or other performance- and security-enhancing features to your operating system. ✦ Make sure you have the latest updates for video and sound cards in your system. ✦ You can also adjust the video settings in the game itself. Screen resolution, color depth, and texture size can all affect game performance. Lower graphic settings might give you more power for playing online. Sound quality might also affect performance. Strike a balance between the very best and the very lowest settings so play is enhanced. Creating games You can also use different programs to create your own multiplayer games. Many of these programs are expensive and for professionals; however, you might want to look into them. ✦ Softimage XSI is a 3D program that enables you to create content and pipeline deploy- ment needs. You use modeling and character animation tools in a dotXSI file format. Building the pipeline is done in C++ programming. www.softimage.com ✦ 3D Developer Studio Pro is a shareware program that adds 3D capabilities to any of these compilers: Microsoft Visual C++2, Microsoft Visual C, Borland C++ Builder 4, Borland Delphi 5, Visual Basic 6, and Visual Basic .NET. www.tucows.com Part VII ✦ Adding to Your Home Network Managing Multimedia in Windows 98 Windows enables you to view streaming content — including audio, video, and other data used in multimedia applications. Windows also provides some controls to help you manage your multimedia devices, including audio, video, MIDI, CD music, and others. In Windows 98, all multimedia controls are located in one dialog box — the Multimedia Properties dialog box. To open the Multimedia Properties dialog box, open the Control Panel and double-click the Multimedia icon. Figure 25-1 illustrates the Multimedia Properties dialog box. Figure 25-1: Windows offers some control for your multimedia devices. Using the Audio tab The Audio tab of the Multimedia Properties dialog box enables you to set options for audio playback and recording features. You should check with your hardware documentation to make sure of any special requirements before adjusting any options. You can choose your preferred devices, if you have more than one playback or recording device attached to your computer. You also can fine-tune device performance. Playback Use Playback to set your preferred audio device. The drop-down list of devices describes any that are attached to your computer — a game device, your sound card, or voice recognition devices, for example. Your sound card should be listed as the preferred device as a default. You can set other options for any selected device by clicking the Advanced Properties button in the applicable section of the Audio tab. Figure 25-2 shows the Advanced Audio Properties dialog box. In the Speakers tab, you indicate how your speakers are set up. You might have stereo speakers attached to your monitor or speakers sitting on stands beside your monitor. By choosing the speaker setup, you tell Windows how best to adjust the sound.