Theme Hospital FAQ V1.0 By Robert Perotti CONTENTS ======== 0 Misc Info 0.1 About this FAQ 0.2 About the author 0.3 About the game 0.4 About the makers 0.5 Revision history 1 Lists 1.1 Diseases 1.2 Rooms 1.3 Trophies 2 Hints, Tips & Cheats 2.1 Money cheats 2.1.1 Hex editing 2.1.2 Programs 2.2 Official cheats 2.2.1 Fax cheats 2.2.2 Other cheat 2.3 Hints & Tips 2.3.1 Big Hints & Tips guide 2.3.2 Litter/rat hole removal 3 Troubleshooting 3.1 Firstly... 3.2 Common Q&A 3.3 EA Tech support 4 Useful info 4.1 Web sites 4.2 Contact Info 4.3 Credits 0.1 About this FAQ =================== First the boring stuff: This FAQ should NOT be used instead of the Theme Hospital manual. It it meant to just increase your knowledge of the game. I am not responsible for any damage this causes to your computer, the game, your brain etc. It is NOT MY FAULT! You may distribute this FAQ as long as it remains unchanged and in its original form. 0.2 About the author ===================== I am a fourteen year old computer game player, programmer, web surfer, etc. I play Theme Hospital and other games on my Windows98 PC. I can be emailed at webmaster@thegamepage.virtualave.net, and my website is at http://thegamepage.virtualave.net. 0.3 About the game =================== "The Health Ministry of Theme World have employed you, wisely or otherwise, to run their Hospitals. You have to make the decisions that ultimately make or break your career. The better you do, the more points you score and the higher your salary goes. Do great and you'll be able to retire to the Bahamas before you reach fifty. Mess up and you won't have a pair of socks to your name." You just have to design, build and run your own hospital. When you do well enough, you can move to a harder hospital. There are lots of diseases, which appear as you progress through the twelve levels. A patch has also been released by Bullfrog, which adds a multiplayer facility to the game! 0.4 About the makers ===================== Theme Hospital was made by Bullfrog (www.bullfrog.com), who also created the excellent Theme Park. The game was published by Electronic Arts (www.ea.com) 0.5 Revision History ===================== 1.0 - First version 1.1 Diseases ============= Bloaty Head ----------- Cause - Sniffing cheese and drinking unpurified rainwater Symptoms - Very uncomfortable for the sufferer Cure - The swollen head is popped, then reinflated to the correct PSI using a clever machine Hairyitis --------- Cause - Prolonged exposure to the moon Symptoms - Sufferers experience enhanced sense of smell Cure - An electrolysis machine removes the hair and seals up the pores King Complex ------------ Caused by the spirit of the King entering the patient's mind and taking overSymptoms - Donning of colourful suede footwear and eating cheeseburgers Cure - A Psychiatrist tells the patient how ridiculous he or she looks Invisibility ------------ Cause - Being bitten by a radioactive (and invisible) ant Symptoms - Patients suffer no discomfort. Indeed, many use the condition to play practical jokes on their families Cure - A colourful liquid drunk in the Pharmacy soon restores the patient to full observability Serious Radiation ----------------- Cause - Mistaking plutonium isotopes for chewing gum Symptoms - Patients with this condition feel very, very unwell Cure - The patient must be placed in a Decontamination Shower and cleansed properly Slack Tongue ------------ Cause - Chronic overdiscussion of soap operas Symptoms - Tongue swells to five times its original length Cure - The tongue is placed in the Slicer Machine, and removed quickly, efficiently and painfully Alien DNA --------- Cause - Face huggers equipped with intelligent alien blood Symptoms - Gradual alien metamorphosis and desire to destroy our cities Cure - The DNA is mechanically removed, cleaned of alien elements and replaced quickly Fractured Bones --------------- Cause - Falling off high things onto concrete Symptoms - Loud crack and inability to use afflicted limbs Cure - The cast is set then removed using a laser-driven removing machine Baldness -------- Cause - Telling lies and making up stories to be popular Symptoms - Shiny-headedness and embarrassment Cure - Hair is seamlessly melded onto the patient's head using a painful machine Discrete Itching ---------------- Cause - Tiny insects with sharp teeth Symptoms - Scratching, leading to body-part inflammation Cure - Patient drinks a pharmaceutical gluey syrup to prevent the skin from itching Jellyitis --------- Cause - Gelatin-rich diet and too much exercise Symptoms - Excessive wobbliness and falling down a lot Cure - The patient is immersed in the Jelly Vat in a special room for a bit Sleeping Illness ---------------- Cause - Overactive sleep gland in the roof of the mouth Symptoms - Overwhelming desire to crash out everywhere Cure - A high dosage of powerful stimulant is administered by a Nurse Pregnancy (not seen in the game) --------- Cause - Power cuts in urban areas Symptoms - Faddish eating with consequent beer gut. Cure - Baby is removed in Operating Theatre, washed and presented to patient. Transparency ------------ Cause - Licking the yogurt from the foil tops of opened pots Symptoms - Flesh is rendered see-through and horrible Cure - A Pharmacy drink of specially cooled and coloured water cures this disease Uncommon Cold ------------- Cause - Small particles of snot in the air Symptoms - Runny nose, sneezing and discoloured lungs Cure - A big swig of uncommon cough medicine made from special ingredients in the Pharmacy will cure this Broken Wind ----------- Cause - Using a gymnasium treadmill after a meal Symptoms - Upsetting the people directly behind the patient Cure - A heavy mixture of special watery atoms is drunk rapidly in the Pharmacy Spare Ribs ---------- Cause - Sitting on cold stone floors Symptoms - Unpleasant feeling of chestiness Cure - These must be taken out by two Surgeons, and given to the patient in a doggy bag Kidney Beans ------------ Cause - Crunching up ice cubes in drinks Symptoms - Pain and frequent trips to the toilet Cure - Two Surgeons must remove the beans without touching the sides of the kidney Broken Heart ------------ Cause - Someone richer, younger and thinner than the patient Symptoms - Weeping and RSI caused by hours of tearing up holiday photos Cure - Two Surgeons open the chest and gently mend the heart whilst holding their breath Ruptured Nodules ---------------- Cause - Bungee jumping in cold weather Symptoms - Inability to sit down in comfort Cure - Two qualified Surgeons must removed the nodules using steady hands TV Personalities ---------------- Cause - Daytime television Symptoms - Delusions of being able to present a cookery show Cure - A trained Psychiatrist must convince the patient to sell their TV and buy a radio Infectious Laughter ------------------- Cause - Classic situation comedy Symptoms - Helpless chortling and repetition of unfunny catchphrases Cure - A qualified Psychiatrist must remind the patient how serious this condition is Corrugated Ankles ----------------- Cause - Driving over traffic calming measures in road Symptoms - Footwear does not fit snugly Cure - A slightly toxic blend of herbs and spices is drunk to straighten out the ankles Chronic Nosehair ---------------- Cause - Sniffing disdainfully at those worse off than the patient Symptoms - Nosebeard a badger could make a nest in Cure - A disgusting hair-removal potion is taken orally, prepared by a Nurse in the Pharmacy 3rd Degree Sideburns -------------------- Cause - Wistful longing for the 1970S Symptoms - Big hair, flares, platforms and glitter make-up Cure - The Psychiatry staff must, using up-to-date techniques, convince the patient that these hairy accoutrements are rubbish Fake Blood ---------- Cause - Patient usually subject of practical joke Symptoms - Red fluid in veins which evaporates on contact with clothing Cure - Psychiatric calming is the only way to deal with this problem Gastric Ejections ----------------- Cause - Spicy Mexican or Indian food Symptoms - Hlf-digested food is emitted from the patient in random clusters Cure - Drinking a special binding solution prevents anything being ejected The Squits ---------- Cause - Eating pizza found under the cooker Symptoms - Ugh. Surely you can guess Cure - A glutinous mix of stringy pharmaceutical chemicals solidify the patients innards Iron Lungs ---------- Cause - Inner-city smog mixed with kebab remains Symptoms - Ability to breathe fire and shout loudly underwater Cure - Two Surgeons operate to remove the cast solid lungs in the Theatre Sweaty Palms ------------ Cause - Fear of job interviews Symptoms - Handshakes with patient are like grabbing a recently submerged sponge Cure - A Psychiatrist must talk the patient out of this made-up disease Heaped Piles ------------ Cause - Standing around by water coolers Symptoms - Patient feels like he/she is sitting on a bag of marbles Cure - A pleasant, yet powerfully acidic drink dissolves the piles from the inside Gut Rot ------- Cause - Mrs. O'Malley's Good Time Whisky Cough Mixture Symptoms - No cough but no stomach-wall lining either Cure - A Nurse can administer a selection of dissolved chemicals to coat the tum Golf Stones ----------- Cause - Exposure to poison gas inside golf-balls Symptoms - Delirium and advanced shame Cure -These must be removed by an operation requiring two Surgeons Unexpected Swelling ------------------- Cause - Anything unexpected Symptom - Swelling Cure - The swelling can only be reduced by lancing during an operation requiring two Surgeons 1.2 Rooms ========== Diagnosis --------- GP's Office ----------- The most important room in the whole of the game. Without it, people would not know what is wrong with them or where to go to be cured. It requires a doctor at all times, and it is advisable to increase the number of these rooms as time progresses with the influx of patients. General Diagnosis Room ---------------------- This is a bog standard room where patients can be diagnosed. It is useful to have, as it can recognize some of the basic diseases, but it is not essential later on when hi-tech equipment is implemented. Always start with one of these as they can help bring in initial revenue. Ward ---- This is equivalent to an NHS hospital ward where people are put in beds which are crammed together in one room, waiting for an operation. This is where people go before an operation, so it is advisable to put it near an operating theatre, and also, it can be used for diagnosis, so is also useful independent of an operating theatre, especially when you do not have one (level 1) A nurse must be here at all times to see patients in and out, and it is good to have as many beds as possible. Psychiatric Room ---------------- The mad people room. This is the room where people with illnesses relating to the mind such as "The King Complex" go. There has to be a trained psychiatrist here at all times, and no ordinary doctor will NOT do. You should always have one of these, as mind diseases always bring in a lot of revenue, and are cheap as there is no long term maintenance charge. Cardiogram ---------- The cardiogram is a useful piece of diagnosis equipment which is like a running machine. A doctor is needed for this room, an it is good at identifying a range of diseases, but will struggle when it comes to the more complicated ones. X-Ray ----- One of my favourite pieces of equipment, as it brings the large full body x-ray machines which are non-existant, except in cartoons, and brings it to life. Very useful, as it is one of the medium technology equipment, so will help later in the game. A doctor is needed to run it, and it has to be maintained. Scanner ------- The most enjoyable diagnosis room to watch, as it has a number of different ways of scanning a patient which are all very amusing and weird to watch. Extremely useful for identifying an illness, as it moves into a hi-tech piece of equipment. However, it need maintenance and a doctor to run. Blood Machine ------------- I gather that this is a glorified way of taking and analyzing blood, but whatever it is, it is fantastic, as it can identify most of the diseases known. Cheaper than the Scanner, and more effective, but a lot less fun to watch, although it is bizarre to see for the first time. It too needs a doctor and need to be maintained. Ultra Scanner ------------- The BEST piece of equipment for identification. There are very few diseases which this machine will not be able to pick up, and you MUST have one. It looks just like an ultrasound machine, which is rather dull, but that does not matter since it allows 90% of patients to pass smoothly through your hospital. Treatment --------- Pharmacy -------- This is the place where all the medicine is given out and it is essential as a number of diseases are cured by a cocktail of drugs. It is good to have this near the helipad, for all those emergencies, and has to have a nurse to function. I would advise having your best nurse here, as queues can form here, which you will want to dispatch of very quickly. Operating Theatre ----------------- This is the place where you go to be hacked to bits by a surgeons knife. A place for the optimist or the incredibly ill. It should be near the ward, and needs 2 trained surgeons to be here at all times, although I find it good to hire 3, as it stops queues getting too long whilst one rests. It need maintaining, but the table, with its fancy gadgets looks wonderful, and is a must in all good hospitals. Clinics ------- Inflation Room -------------- One of the funniest rooms in the game. It's job is to cure the disease "Bloaty Head", and this is achieved in a bizarre way. A need is stuck into he head so that it pops, and then a bike pupe is shoved in your mouth, and your head is inflated to normal size. This is a must as the first few patients are bound to have Bloaty Head as this is the first treatment room you get, so build it. It needs maintaining, and a doctor present to perform the operation. Hair Restoration ---------------- A bald headed mans dream. this little contraption is like a hairdressers dryer which covers the top of your head. However, this one moulds hair to your head so that you can walk out of the room in pride. It needs to be maintained, and a doctor needs to be present for it to operate. Slack Tongue Clinic ------------------- Another hilarious cure awaits with this room. The machine is a glorifies slicer, which glides it's knife gently through the soft flesh of the person's elongated tongue, and is then shaped with a number of other smaller blades. It requires maintenance, and a doctor, but is a very quick operation, so many people can get in and out in a small time periods if the doctor is good enough. Fracture Clinic --------------- This is a machine which manages to take off any bandages which the person may have. They are put in a machine with only their head sticking out, and after a few quick button presses, the machine removes the bandages and empties them into a bucket. It is a very simple piece of machinery, which requires maintenance, but it is a nurse who is required to operate this machine. Decontamination --------------- A shower with a twist. The patients are not sprayed with water, but instead with beams which reduce the half life of the radioactive material ingested by the person to a matter of milliseconds, so the danger is quickly dispersed. It is a very large contraption which requires maintenance and a doctor to run, but looks lovely in a large hospital, as it towers above all its competition. Electrolysis ------------ Frying is the only way to go when it comes to all over body hair, and thousands of volts are pumped into you to break down the hair into its original components which are left scattered on the floor. Very amusing to watch, and great for a center piece to any hospital. It's a wonder that we don't have fried humans every now and them. This hi-tech piece of machinery requires a doctor, and maintenance. DNA Fixer --------- This is the room where people infected with DNA go to be cured. Personally, it is my favourite room, as just to see the way in which the alien gets cured is a laugh, and the green blob, which they call a person suffering from Alien DNA is amusing, as it looks just like it has been taken straight out of Sci-Fi comics. Jelly Vat --------- This is a long round tube, where people suffering from Jellyitis are cured. The jelly of the person is hardened in this vat to form the new human who is cured. It is only found on the later levels, but is definitely worth the wait. Facilities ---------- Toilets ------- What is there to say about them, except when you gotta go, you gotta go. However, the more drinks machines you have, the more people will wanna go, so there has to be a compromise made between the amount of toilets and drinks machine. Generally one will be enough, but if you feel like being especially kind, and have a big hospital, they will be happy. There are cheap, and only require the initial cost to keep. If the loo is full, patients won't wait and will leave, probably emptying their bladder all over your sparkling clean hospital floor. Staff Room ---------- All your staff will need a break at some time in there lives, and what better way to relax yourself than in a staff room. You must have enough sofas, so that everyone can have a seat, else not everyone will be able to recuperate. Also you can add things such as a pool table, a TV, and video game to increase their recuperation rate. Make sure you have one of all the accessories, as you want your staff in and out of this room in the shortest possible time. Without a staff room, staff quickly get tired and don't work well, and often demand a pay rise. Research Room ------------- This is the boffins room, and can have between zero and infinite researchers in here. They all must have the research skill. It is one of the most useful rooms, as without it, you would not be able to progress. I normally have 2 researchers in here at a time, but it is up to your judgement to how many researchers you employ. Pieces of equipment such as a computer and an atom analyzer can help increase the speed at which things are discovered, but these will come on later in the game. Training Room ------------- This rooms requires consultants to teach juniors or doctors the tricks of the trade. The more bookcases and skeletons you put in here, the faster the learning process is, however, the more people you train at once, the slower it is. If the consultant has any skills he will pass them on, so the best trainer would be a consultant surgeon psychiatrist researcher, but these are hard to obtain. 1.3 Trophies ============= Treating nearly all patients: Marie Curie Award Cure-A-Lot Trophy No-ill Gargler Trophy Reputation: Cabinet Minister's Award SqueakiKlean Trophy Bullfrog Award Happy staff: Smiley Trophy Adami Institute of Happiness trophy Beam-more Cup Impressing VIPS: Nobel Prize for Impressing VIPs Celebrity Trophy VIP TRIP No deaths: No-Croak Award The Life Goes On Corporation trophy Staying Alive Trophy Rats shooting: Anti-Vermin Trophy Federation Against Rats and Mice trophy Ratblast Trophy Rat shooting accuracy Syndicate Wars Accurate Shooting Trophy Trophy Dungeon Keeper Vermin-Free Trophy Plants: Gro-More Fertiliser Green Trophy of Health Greenfinger Trophy Soft drinks: The Global Dentists Association trophya dn plaque Fizzy-Bizz Trophy for Soft Drink Retailing DK Fillings Inc chocolate-covered trophy Treating all patients: Marie Curie Award Cure-All Trophy 2.1 Money Cheats ================= 2.1.1 Hex editing ------------------ Change Hex offsets 61A95 to 61A97 (400021 to 400023 in decimal) in the saved game file to FF to get lots of money! 2.1.2 Programs --------------- Many programs can be downloaded from the Net 2.2 Official Cheats ==================== 2.2.1 Fax cheats ----------------- On the fax machine screen (when you get epidemic alerts, emergencies, VIP visits etc) press the numbered buttons near the bottom of the screen. The cheats are: 7287 Go to the secret rat-shoot level 24328 Activate the following cheats that you use in the main hospital view: SHIFT + C Get $10,000 CTRL + C Complete all research CTRL + M End month CTRL + Y End year CTRL+SHIFT+C ALL objects available (including litter bombs) 2.2.2 Other cheat ------------------ Run Theme Hospital by typing HOSPITAL -Lxx in DOS, where xx is the level to play (above 12 is the rat and net levels) 2.3 Hints & Tips ================= 2.3.2 Big guide! ----------------- In The Beginning ---------------- The first and most important thing to do at the beginning of every level, when you have a period of time to build your hospital is to set the speed to slowest, just press 1. This will give you as much time as you want to get the layout right, without rushing you. You will then generally open at about the half way stage, giving you a jump start against the opposition. The first thing you want to do it hire 2 receptionists with desks. This is not essential for the beginning, but as the queue of people builds up, it gets harder to cope with one receptionist, and you often find there is not room near the beginning for another desk. It is always good to have 2 GP's office, because as the volume of people increases, you will find you will want another GP near the entrance, and if you only started with one, you will find that you have not left space for another one when needed. Immediately take all the 20% of research out of specialization, and put it in diagnosis, as you only need specialization when you have found a disease, and you do not know how to cure it. However, at the start you will not be able to find out many diseases which are hard to find the cure for, if the diagnosis equipment is not good enough, as you can not detect the disease in the first place. Build as many rooms as possible in the beginning, as it allows for you to get the best positioning, as you do not always think straight with a full hospital. You may need a loan, but do not worry, as long as you do not go too far into debt, you will survive. You want to hire, a lot of doctors and nurses at the beginning, so that you can cope with the patient increase. It would be generally better to increase staff at the same percentage rate as the patients. However, this is quite hard, as you have to be particularly wary of increases, which when happening slowly can deceive you into thinking that there is no trouble. By hiring plenty of staff in the first place, means that you will starts losing money at the beginning, but in my experience, by the time you are wildly in debt, the hospital starts making money, and it pulls you out just in the nick of time. However, I doubt this method will be applicable in the later levels. Have 1 of each accessory in each room, except maybe plants, because they take extra time to look after. For example, a computer in a research room, and a skeleton and bookcase in a training room, so that everything goes faster, so you can get more patients through in a set time. Bookcases are better than skeletons for training Build a training room and train doctors early while the hospital is quiet. It's important to have enough surgeons, probably four if you have one operating theatre. Trained doctors are cheaper than bought in ones at the same skill level. Use a good consultant for the training, he will pass on any skills he has to his pupils but only if they learn them before becoming consultants, it's not possible to train consultants in new skills. Build a research room early with enough space for later additions. A computer and atom analyzer become available later on. At the start heavily bias research to cure and diagnosis equipment. Watch for when these are 100% researched and move into drug and improvement research. Have plenty of benches and drinks machines in busy areas. A drinks machine pays for itself when it's used twenty five times. Hiring Staff In The Future -------------------------- Always be on the look out for better staff. Replace existing staff by hiring newer, better ones and sacking the existing ones. The staff do not hold a grudge, and if you get someone who is better in a certain area, don't think twice about sacking the other one. Tired Staff Are Bad Staff ------------------------- You want staff to be tired as little as possible, so there are a number of things you can do to reduce this these are:- * Have large rooms with all the accessories. This will stop the staff getting demoralized, and they will not get as tired as quickly. * Block off unused parts of buildings with benches to prevent handymen wandering around them and becoming cold, they will become demoralized and want pay rises. Consider blocking an area with a facility like a staff room or toilet if you aren't allowed to block it off with benches. * Have large staff rooms, and maybe a couple at either ends of the hospital. This will mean that they spend the shortest time tires. Have a pool table, TV, and a video game, when they are available, as they help increase the speed of recuperation. * Take staff out of rooms, where they are doing nothing, because this this will mean that they do not get tired, and will immediately go to any room where they are needed. Change the staff rest level (in the policy screen) to about 60% or under - the staff will hardly ever want pay rises! How To Handle Emergencies ------------------------- The first thing you want to do when you have an emergency is seen how many people there are and what treatment would be needed. If you have one of each treatment, then you will be able to cure 6-8 people at the pharmacy or at a basic place like the slack tongue clinic, 6 people at the psychiatrist, and up to about 4 at the operating theatre. If the number exceeds this, you have 2 options, firstly you can refuse, or you can send x number of patients home. You will still get credit for the ones you treated, but will not have anyone die, so you will be still on for the $10,000 reward for not killing anyone in one year. If the treatment room is close to the helipad, you can increase the number, but if it is farther away, you should reduce it. Also the better your doctor/nurse is, the quicker he/she will be. After a while, you should be a good judge of what you can or can not handle, so this is just a help for when you are starting out. How To Cope With An Epidemic ---------------------------- There are two main ways to handle an epidemic, and this is to put the speed of the game on 1 as soon as the word epidemic is mentioned. You then see what it is, and, click to try a cover up. You then do a scan of all the hospital, and send home anyone who has the contagious disease. Then all you can do is pray. This does not always work, but it normally does for me. If you do have bucket loads of money, then you may prefer the fine, and reputation hit, as it can be a pain to do, and if it goes wrong, can have worse effects. Killing rats also seems to decrease the number of epidemics you get. Secondly, you could try to cure them. If you have the available machines to do this, then it can be quite handy, but you must have an efficiently run hospital, an available staff. There is a handy tip which has come in from Holgar (Holger@neuss.netsurf.de). This is to find out what the disease is when you have an epidemic, and then reload a saved game just before it and kick everyone with it out. Because the emergencies which arise are set into the level files, you will get he same disease, but becasue there is no one in your hospital with it, you will not have to cure anyone, and you will receive compensation. A nice way to earn a bit of cash. In multiplayer, when people are in a queue, you can view their queue status, right click on them, and send them to the other players hospital. A tip that I have thought of but not yet tried is to try to cover it up. If the inspector comes and there are still infected people, place lots of benches around him as he enters the hospital, so he will not be able to find the people as he will be trapped! Let him go when the epidemic has stopped. I will probably put a list of ALL emergencies/epidemics/earthquakes in the next version of this FAQ (if there is one). How to maintain Machines ------------------------ Regularly page handymen to maintain your machines. You want to leave a gap of 5 or 6 between strength and times it can before you have the machine maintained. Whenever there is an earthquake warning, check all machines are not close to the end, as an earthquake can add up to 6 uses onto a machine, which may destroy it. In an emergency, you may want to replace the machine, just to be safe. Researching improvements increases the strength of new machines you build and ones you replace. If the Times Used it quite low, repairing the machine will not lower the strength, so it is a good idea to go around and fix all your machines every month or so. What Should I Do About Rats? ---------------------------- There are two ways to look at rats. Firstly, you can simply ignore them, and let them go about there business. They should have little effect on your reputation. Secondly, you can try to kill as many, which will give you a chance at winning the rat prize, and going to the secret level. If you do, you should press 1 as soon as you see a rat, so that they are easy to hit. You should then kill them, and if you have killed them indoors, put a handy man over their dead body so people do not throw up when they see their dead bodies. Killing rats also seems to reduce the number of epidemics you get. Famous People Keep On Wanting To Visit, Should I Except? -------------------------------------------------------- Whenever someone famous wants to visit, always let them, as it is very hard not to get their approval, so you will normally always be given a cash grant. If your place is in a total disorder, you may want to turn them down, but by continuing to refuse, will increase the chance of them coming on a surprise visit. When you don't click the top hat icon, it disappears and the visitor comes anyway. 2.3.2 Litter/rat hole removal ------------------------------ Place a bench or other object on top of a piece of litter or in front of a rat hole to remove them. Then pick up the object and move it or get rid of it. 3 Torubleshooting ================== 3.1 Firstly... --------------- If you have a copied/pirated/illegal version of the game, BUY THE PROPER VERSION! Firstly, you'll get all the manuals etc, and secondly you shouldn't have any missing/corrupted files. 3.2 Common Q&A --------------- Here is what I got from the EA technical support place: Q : Where can I get a patch/update for the game ? A : At the time of writing (23.5.97) the patch was still being fully tested by Bullfrog. We are hoping to release the patch by the end of next week. You can also request that EAUK posts the patch out to you or notifies you when the patch is available by sending an Email to UK-CS@EA.COM with the relevant information. Q : How do I select the difficulty level in the game ? A : You will need the update/patch in order to do this, see the queries above and below. Q : How do I get mulitplayer games ? A : You will need the update/patch in order to do this, see the queries above and below. Q : What the patch/update do ? A : This file adds difficulty levels to the game and also adds Multiplayer support for Serial connection (2 players), Modem connection (2 players) and IPX Network connections (4 Players) The file also corrects a number of graphical glitches and common gameplay problems, including crashes in the middle of a game. Q : I have the patch but the game is still failing to work correctly. A : See the DirectX Email if you are running the game from Windows 95. If you are running the game from DOS then make sure you are running the game with a boot disk and see below if there are still problems. Q : I have the Demo of the game and I am trying to run it but I get a message about Heap Error or Reason code2. A : This is due to unzipping the demo file without keeping the directory structure intact. If you are using PKUNZIP then add a space and a '-d' (minus d) to the end of the PKUNZIP command. If you are using WINZIP then click the 'Use Folder Names' box before extracting the files. Q : I have the Demo of the game and I am trying to run it in Windows 95, I keep getting errors about DirectX, DirectDraw/Video or DirectSound/Audio A : To run the game in Windows 95 you need to use DirectX 3a drivers. The full version of the game has these on the CD but due to their size they can not be included in the Demo version. Any other game that uses DirectX 3a will have installed these drivers already but if you do not have them you will need to try the DOS version of the Demo. Q : When I install the game I am told I do not have enough hard drive space when I have enough ! A : This occurs on some PC configurations when trying to install to another hard drive then C: To solve this problem you will need to install to C: drive or request the new Install program batch file. Send an Email to UK-CS@EA.COM asking for the new install program for Theme Hospital and this will be sent to you within one working day. Q : I am trying to run the DOS version of the game and I get an error message about memory with 49000 in the message. A : This is due to there not being enough XMS memory for the game to use. This usually occurs on PC's with 8MB of RAM, if there is a memory manager called EMM386.EXE running in DOS then EMS memory will be setup, this does not leave enough XMS memory for the game to use. To solve this you need to make a boot disk as described in the games manual or using the BOOTDISK Email in AUTOHELP. In the CONFIG.SYS file on this boot disk you will need to make sure that any lines that have EMM386 in them are removed. NOTE : If your PC is made by AST then the EMM386 line MUST be changed to the following :- DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM NOEMS NOVCPI (Change the word WINDOWS to the word DOS if you have Windows 3.x) This avoids the BIOS settings on these PC's being overwritten by the game. Q : When I run the game from DOS I am being told I need to insert the games CD, it is already in the CDROM drive ! A : This is due to the CDROM drivers not being loaded in DOS. If they are not loaded the game can not access the CDROM drive at all. For help on loading these drivers see the Dos Mode Icon Email in AUTOHELP or make a boot disk as described in the games manual. Q : When I install the game in Windows 95 and then try to run it the game it crashes straight away sometimes with an error about DirectDraw or DirectSound. A : This is due to the drivers you are running on your PC not being compatible with DirectX. See the DIRECTX Email in AUTOHELP for a full description of DirectX and how to overcome this problem. Q : When playing the game through Windows 95 it crashes at the end of a level. A : Try the patch first, see the section above on finding and installing this. If the game still crashes then see the DIRECTX help from AUTOHELP as this will help you track down the drivers on your PC that are causing this problem. You can also try running the DOS version of the game as this does not use the DirectX drivers that may be causing this crash. Q : When I quit the game in Windows 95 I get a KERNEL error or I get told that an Illegal Operation has occurred. A : This error is just the game being unable to quit correctly and restore your Windows 95 desktop perfectly. It does not do any permanent damage to the game or Windows 95 and once your machine has been restarted your desktop will be fully restored. Q : When playing the game a machine has blown up and I can't use the room it was in anymore. A : This is because the explosion of the machine has wrecked the whole room. Try the level again and make sure the machines in your hospital are maintained by the HandyMen that you employ and that they are fixed and updated very often. Q : I can't reload a saved game I made when I last ran the game. A : This is because you are using a different Nickname when you re-loaded the game. Always use the same Nickname and you will be able to reload your saved games correctly. Q : What are the cheats for the game ? A : To enter the cheats, just start the game and wait for a fax message. The easiest way to get one is to build a receptionist and a GP Room and wait for the first patient. This will then bring up a fax message because there are no other diagnosis or cure rooms. Enter one of the numbers below by clicking on the relevant numbers on the fax machine. Then click on the white send button to enter the cheat. There is no confirmation of the cheat until it occurs. Answer the fax as normal. Try the money cheat quickly to check it has worked. 7287 - Go onto a rat shoot level after you win the level 24328 - Enable the cheat mode in-game which is: Shift C - +$10,000. CTRL C - All research completed. CTRL M - Go to the end of the month. CTRL Y - Go to the end of the year 4.1 Web Sites ============== www.bullfrog.com Bullfrog's official site www.ea.com Electronic Arts' site www.gamesages.com GameSages(THE best site to find game cheats on the net!) 4.2 Contact Info ================= Send any comments, contributions, etc to webmaster@thegamepage.virtualave.net. For the latest version, e-mail me. This is only the first version though, so I don't have much in here yet 4.3 Credits ============ 4.3.1 FAQ Credits ------------------ TMH for the hex info Spanky for the fax and command line cheats Bullfrog for making the game EA for publishing it SPECIAL Thanks goes out to my pals Orcle_Kat, QuakeMon, and Quaff for their contributions to the Hints and Tips, Disease, and Trophie list. Thanks guys =)