Technical Information
It had very high hardware demands for 1996: at least a 90mhz "Pentium" grade CPU, and recommended 120mhz or higher (but quite frankly, you probably won't be happy with your framerate unless you run it on at *least* a Pentium 133).
Although rumored to support graphics acceleration using the original 3D Blaster from Creative Labs, this alleged feature has not been verified on the game box, accelerator card box, nor any other accredited source -- and is thus highly unlikely. In fact, the "original" 3D Blaster is a VLB board, which usually won't even meet the publisher's stated minimum requirements for Rocket Jockey of Pentium processor and Direct3D compatibility.
Six person LAN multiplayer was advertised on the original box but was not included with the game. When sent to many reviewers, most were told by SegaSoft that a patch would be available by the time the game hit store shelves, and therefore this missing feature was not noted in some early reviews. When the game was finally released and LAN play was still missing, it upset many in the gaming community. The much promised patch did not appear until several months after the launch and was never included in any retail version. These later versions included a slip of paper providing the website address for the patch. Many blamed SegaSoft for not delaying the release date and/or dragging their feet on finishing the patch. This was typical of SegaSoft, who were known for releasing games without extensive testing to meet deadlines.
Because of a quirk of the installer supplied with the game, a specific DirectX 3 component (d3dhalf.dll) must be present in the Windows\System directory (on Windows ME and before) in order to complete normal installation. This file can be found in the DirectX directory of the Rocket Jockey CD, has been provided on Rocket Jockey fansites in the past, and can still be found on many general Windows and DirectX troubleshooting sites.
The installer also fails to install the game on Windows 2000 and XP systems, requiring either:
- a complete dump of the CD onto the hard disk, as well as movement of some sound files, and a modified registry key, or
- a specially made installer made by fans
Once installed, Rocket Jockey runs without reported problems under these newer versions of the Windows OS.
Read more about this topic: Rocket Jockey
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