Blood FAQ version 1.21


Q: When I start up 3DFX Blood, I receive an error message that says, "fatal error: unable to load Glide DLL". What can I do?

A: Here is the fix for running the Blood 3DFX patch with less than 64 megs or RAM. Right-click on the 3DFX.exe file and then choose properties. Click on the MEMORY tab at the top. At the bottom of the screen is a value called "MS-DOS Protected Mode". In that field, type in "65535" and then click "OK".
 Now, just double-click on the 3DFX.exe file to start the game and play! 
 Thanks to Berk Sahin (also known as "The Man") for the tip! 

If you are still having trouble, you need to get the GLIDE2X.OVL file that is included in the 2.43 runtime drivers from 3DFX. Go here, http://www.3dfx.com/software/download_glidert.html, and then download and install the GRTVGR.EXE file to solve your problem. 

Please keep in mind that this is an Alpha Patch, and that the Voodoo RUSH chipset and the Voodoo 2 chipset are NOT supported and may not work. Good luck! 


Q: When I start up 3DFX Blood, the game is really bright. What can I do? 

A: To change the gamma settings you can use the "Options" menu, or you can also change the 3DFX gamma settings by changing the environment variable BUILD_GAMMA. To do that, click on START, PROGRAMS and MS-DOS PROMPT. Then change to your Blood directory and type: 

 set BUILD_GAMMA=0.9 

You can use different numbers to suit your tastes like 0.7, or 0.85. 

Please keep in mind that this is an Alpha Patch, and that the Voodoo RUSH chipset and the Voodoo 2 chipset are NOT supported and may not work. 


Q: I'm having trouble with patching the Plasma Pack to version 1.11. What can I do?

A: The Plasma Pack CD was released as an early 1.11 version of the game, and not the 1.10 version like we thought. The 1.11 version included on the CD is not the final revision of 1.11. You can tell if you have the early version of 1.11 by looking at the date when you start the game. If the date says, August 19th, 1997,
then you have the old version of 1.11. Go to our web site and download the pCD11.exe patch to bring Blood Plasma to the most recent version available. If the date says September 23rd, 1997, then you have the correct 1.11 version of Blood.


Q: When is the new 1.11 patch coming out?

A: We have the new 1.11 patch available now! Download it, and read the PATCH.TXT file on our web site, to get the freshest Blood!


 Q: Where can I find information about doing specific tasks while using
 the Map Editor?

 A: To find information about using the MAPEDIT program, try linking to these
 sites. You should be able to find all the info you can stand!

 http://files.simplenet.com/beavis53/map_edit_docs/mapedit.htm

 http://www.voodooextreme.com/blood2/beavis53/mapedit/mapedit.htm

 http://www.gameleader.com/blood/maps/map.html


Q: When is the new Blood Plasma Pack coming out? 

A: You can find our new Plasma Pack in the stores right now! Not only will you get new levels, but new powered-up versions of your weapons and new enemies as well! Expect other goodies on the CD, too! Otherwise, check out our web site for links to individual maps, plus the Cryptic Passage add-on episode! 


Q: I'm having trouble running Cryptic Passage multi-player levels. Can you help?

A: To get cryptic to run in multi-player, you need to run Cryptic instead of Blood. To do this, modify the file COMMIT.DAT (back it up first!). Change the line that says:

 LAUNCHNAME = "BLOOD.EXE"

 to say:
 LAUNCHNAME = "CRYPTIC.EXE"

Now, when you run setup and start a network game, you'll be running the Cryptic Passage levels instead of the Blood levels. Keep in mind that this only works for on-line services using the COMMIT drivers (ie, IPX).


Q: How do I get these damn Hands off me??? 

A: You'll need to press the action key (the key that opens doors, activates switches, etc.) as fast as you can to shake off the Hands! Also, I've found that the Shotgun is the most effective weapon in blasting the Hands to pieces! Good Luck! :)


Q: When is the 3DFX patch coming out? 

A: The Alpha version of the 3DFX Patch is out! Go here http://www.blood.com/software/3dfx.asp to download it.


Q: Can I run Blood under Windows NT? 

A: Blood is not designed to run under Windows NT. You're receiving errors because the game is trying to access DOS commands, which are not found in Windows NT. Try using Blood in a DOS or Windows 95 environment and you'll be fine. 


Q: When I start Blood, I get kicked right back to DOS/Windows. What's the deal? 

A: You may have a problem with your IRQ's. Blood can not use an IRQ of 10 or higher as the DOS4G program we use for the game will not support those higher IRQ's. Try and reset your IRQ to a lower setting and try again. Also, make sure that you've run the SETUP program before you start Blood. 


Q: Where can I find the Map Editor? 

A: To find the Map Editor, look in CD #1 in the TOOLS directory and run the INSTALL.EXE program! Make sure to re-run the latest patch to bring the editing tools to the current version. That's all you need to do! 


Q: Where is the Build to Blood program? 

A: The Build to Blood program is now included with the new 1.11 patch. Download the patch to get the latest Blood and the Build converter! 


Q: Why is Single/Multi-player Blood so slow? 

A: Try this to speed up your game. Go into your SETUP and set the screen resolution to the normal 320x200 mode. Also, set your sample rate for your sound setup to 11. This may free up additional memory for your game to use.


Q: When can I use my Simuleyes glasses with Blood? 

A: Simuleyes is working on a patch for their product. Check out their web site and contact their support department, SE-Supt@crystaleye.com, for any information concerning Simuleyes support. 


Q: I'm having trouble hearing the Midi music on my AWE32/64 sound card. Can you help? 

A: To fix the AWE32/64 MIDI music playback problems, do this: 

In Setting up Blood, select General MIDI as your music playback device. 

In Windows:

      1.Click the Start button. 
      2. Press on Programs submenu, click on Sound Blaster AWE submenu
      and select AWE control panel. 
      3. Click on the Synth tab 
      4. Select the \Program Files\Creative\ctsnd\sfbank subdirectory. 
      5. Select one of the GM patches - If you have 2-4 megs on your card,
      install 2gmgsmt.sf2 or 4gmgsmt.sf2. Also, synthgm.sbk and synthgs.sbk
      should work fine as well for < 1MB cards. 
      6. Press the Apply button. 
      7. Press OK 
      8. Press the Start button again 
      9. Click on Settings 
      10. Click on Multimedia 
      11. Click on the MIDI tab 
      12. Select "Creative Advanced Wave Effects Synthesis for AWE 32" 
      13. Click on Apply, and then on OK

Now, launch Blood and enjoy! :)


Q: I'm receiving a MPU-401 error. What's that?

A: The MPU-401 error refers to the chip on your sound card necessary for audio playback. Blood does not generate the error you mentioned, however the sound library we use might. My guess is that

 1) Blood's SETUP is configured wrong for the sound card, or
 2) your sound card is not configured correctly, or
 3) you have a defective sound card.

Try this to solve your problem...turn your computer totally OFF, wait about 5-10 seconds, and then turn it back on again. Delete the BLOOD.CFG file from your game's directory, then run the SETUP.EXE program again and try reselecting your music/SFX. This error is caused by picking the incorrect settings during the
 setup of Blood. If you pick the wrong settings for an AWE32, you need to power down and retry, not just reboot. Refer to your sound card manuals for the correct configuration for you to use.


Q: Every time I pick up a Reflective Shot power-up, or dive underwater, the game crashes on me. What's going on?

A: Blood uses a special 3D sound when you grab the Reflective Shot power-up and when you go underwater. Some soundcards, the Ensoniq in particular, doesn't react well to the sound. That card will react so badly to the 3D sounds, weather on or off, that it sometimes causes the game to crash. After exhaustive testing with the Ensoniq sound card, we will not be able to solve your problem with a patch. Your sound card has to be 100% compatible with the SoundBlaster standard, or will you receive problems. The Ensoniq sound cards and the SoundBlaster PCI sound cards are, unfortunately, not compatible. The only way to get around this, is to use another sound card.


Q: I just patched Blood and now my saved games won't work! What's going on? 

A: Unfortunately, saved games will not transfer when you patch-up to a new version, so you'll have to start a new game again. If you still have saved files in the Blood directory, delete them, as they're no good anymore. 


Q: Every time I use the quick-save/quick-load, the game says it found old saved game files, even though I don't have any old saves! What's up? 

A: To solve your saving problem, use the menu save and not the quick-save. We also have a new 1.11 patch that will solve your problem! 


Q: I can't save my multi-player game! Why not? 

A: It's not possible to save your games during a multi-player match. Blood was not designed to do that. 


Q: How does the Auto-Aim feature work? 

A: The auto-aim feature works like this. The game sends out a "cone" from you, going outward. Any enemy within that "cone" will be targeted by the game. If you fire, and if the enemy is within the "cone", the game will automatically adjust your aim to home-in on the enemy. Don't rely on this though! Hit the "I" key to turn the crosshairs to help you out. 


Q: I'm receiving a DOS error #11 message. What can I do to fix this? 

A: Check your CONFIG.SYS file and look at your FILES and BUFFERS. You will want it to read, FILES=80 and BUFFERS=50. Change it to these numbers if the number is smaller, or add the lines in if it's not listed. This should help with your problem.


Q: I ALT-fired the Voodoo Doll and it disappeared! What the hey? 

A: If you use the Alt-Fire with the Voodoo Doll, it's supposed to disappear. The Alt-Fire will drain all the charges out of the Voodoo Doll and damage any enemies you're looking at. It does damage in a first-come-first-served basis. So, if you have an enemy in front of you and enemies behind him, the Doll will inflict
 damage on the nearest enemy until the enemy is killed, or the power in the Doll is used up. Any extra power would then be directed at the next closest enemy, and so on. Hope this helps! 


Q: How do I start a user map? 

A: To start a User Map, go to the MS-DOS PROMPT. If you don't know how to get to the DOS Prompt, do this. In Windows 95, click on START, then PROGRAMS, then MS-DOS PROMPT. 

Now, go to the Blood directory and type this: 

Blood (map name) 

This should start that map in a single player game. If you are still having problems, change the UserPath variable in the Blood.CFG file to read: UserPath = ".\"


 Q: When I opened Blood, there was only one CD instead of 2! What gives? 

A: Did the box say that you were supposed to receive 2 CD's? If you were supposed to receive 2 and only received one CD, contact GT Interactive support at: support@gtinteractive.com and they will be able to help you out. 


Q: I'm receiving an error that says I'm missing the blood.pal file. What's going on? 

A: Make sure you installed the Tools into your Blood directory and then applied the latest patch to upgrade your Tools and game at the same time. Both the editor and the game have to be the same version or you'll receive errors.

You may also have the Special Edition of Blood. Try this to fix your problem. Uninstall Blood and delete the Blood directory. Go to our web site and download the Bloodless patch and the 1.11 patch. Install Blood and apply the Bloodless patch. Now, apply the 1.11 patch and run your setup program. This should help you out! 


Q: I've installed the movies to my hard drive, but now I'm receiving a "drive not ready" error! What's going on? 

A: You need to change your blood.ini file and tell Blood not to look to your CD drive, but to the Blood directory to play the movies correctly. See the Readme file for further information about changing your .ini file. 


Q: Moving left & right with my joystick is much slower than in Duke or Redneck. Is there a way to speed this up? 

A: Go into your SETUP.EXE and select your controller type. Then select advanced and set the scale to what you want. The lower the number the slower the movement. This works for mouse users as well. 


Q: What does Beast Vision do? 

A: Beast Vision is an inventory item that, when activated, allows players to see opponents at full brightness, even in the darkest rooms. Beast Vision also renders invisible foes fully visible for a short period of time. Beast vision can be enabled or disabled from the inventory bar or using the Beast Vision key assigned in the SETUP.EXE


Q: If you save a game while moving, the movement continues in the game so that when you get out of the save screen you are up against a wall or in the water or worse. Why is it doing this? 

A: The game doesn't stop when you view the menu screen, even in a multi-player game. If you want to save quickly, use Quick-Save key (F6). 


Q: When I load a game in Blood the "Load" screen doesn't go away! What's happening? 

A: Just hit the ESC key to make the menu go away, or get the new 1.11 patch to make it go away for good! 


Q: I'm receiving some weird errors like these: error 203 Src\asound.cpp: missing sound#35 used in ambient sound generator 4, or Artfile #X missing or corrupted. What's the problem? 

A: It sounds like your files are corrupted. If your problem is with the shareware, then re-download the game, preferably in its entire form from ftp.blood.com. If you have the registered version then uninstall Blood and delete the directory. Reinstall from the CD and then apply the latest patch. This often happens when the registered version is installed over the shareware w/out uninstalling it first. 


Q: Will you continue to support shareware Blood? 

A: Yes. Patches are released at the same time as the Registered patches. Check our web page at www.blood.com for the latest information and versions. 


Q: How do I restart in Bloodbath after I die?

A: Just press your action key (the same one you use to open Doors with) and you will spawn again. In co-op and team play you will spawn in the spot where you started the level. In Bloodbath you will randomly spawn in one of several different places. So it is possible to spawn in the center of a firefight...ouch! 


Q: When I end the level, I get sent back to a previous level, E1M2! How do I stop this? 

A: We have a new 1.11 patch for this and other problems, which is out now. If you don't have the current patch, or refuse to use the patch, then delete the .dem files from your Blood directory and then start a new game. Your saved game files may be corrupted as well. If they don't work, delete them and start a brand new game. 


Q: When I start the Phantom Train level, E1M3, the game crashes! What's going on? 

A: We have a new 1.11 patch for this and other problems, which is out now. The crash you are receiving may be due to memory limitations. Try this...just before you end the second level (E1M2), turn off all the sound effects and music in the game, set your display to the lowest possible settings, and then hit the exit switch to go to E1M3. As soon as you begin, turn around and face the train. Wait for about 30 seconds, until the train hits the three enemies, and then jump up and destroy the light above you. Enter the train car and defeat the enemy in the next car. Now, save your game so that you will not have to do all this again, and you should be able to set everything back to normal and continue your game. This level is a HUGE level, and can really drain your resources on your computer. By setting everything down to the minimum settings, you are freeing memory that can be used by the game, and by destroying the lights and enemies, you are helping the game because it no longer has to keep track of those things anymore.


Q: When Blood quits, the music still plays! What's happening? 

A: Your computer still thinks you're playing Blood. There are two ways stop the music from playing. Re-boot your system, or start-up a new game again, which will re-initialize the midi music. Then all you need to do is to quit your new game and everything will be alright. 


Q: I can't eject the Blood CD!! What's the deal? 

A: The reason that your CD may be locking on you is that Blood will not release the CD if any part of the game is still running. If this happens again, press CTRL+ALT+DEL and see if there are any Blood programs running. If there is, SHUT DOWN the program and then try and eject the CD.
