Alright, I've been looking around lately, and I've seen that alot of you are complaining of lag, choppy gameplay, inferior PC specs, viruses etc. So I'm going to throw a list of programs, complete with links at you to help you maximize your computer gaming experience. As well, I'll throw in some game tips to help bring your game strength up to snuff. When I'm through with you, you will have 1337 (Really awesome and efficient) machines. Ready?

Keep in mind that all of the below listed programs are free, or at the very least, have a decent and effective free version. This links will cause the programs to download, it will not take you to the head site. I have done this for convenience purposes.

Here we go.


1. COMPUTER PROTECTION:

Number one! Spyware sucks. It's the number one cause of computer failure and cyber identity theft today. Someone could have this program hit your computer, and you'd never know it, even after it documented your bank information, all your logins and even what you have ON your computer. So to protect against that, I present you with Spybot Search and Destroy. Download Spybot S&D

As well, whatever this program doesn't get, THIS program will. It specializes in the extremely old threats and the brand new ones. AdAware SE, ladies and gentlemen. Download AdAware SE

Now, the virus protection. Viruses are becoming less and less of a threat nowadays, but there's still a few disasters out there. So here's a link to a free and effective virus killer. You must download from THIS LINK ONLY otherwise, there are trojans and worms possibly attached. Download AVG Free

And of course, we wouldn't be complete without a firewall, now would we? This is a program which filters your inbound and outbound internet connection, and this one even filters changes in the registry of your computer and what pops up on the toolbar at startup. It's a firewall that learns progressively according to your actions. The Comodo Firewall. This version is currently incompatible with Windows Vista. Download Comodo Firewall

But here we have a Vista compatible firewall, designed by the geniuses at Kerio. It's every bit as good as Comodo, but Comodo is prettier . I used this until Comodo was released, and at one time, successfully operated both firewalls simulateously. Download Kerio Firewall

Perhaps the most important tool of all... HijackThis! It scans your registry and processes and tells you everything that's going on behind the scenes. You absolutely HAVE to have this program to get rid of SOME scumware, adware, spyware and viruses. Download HijackThis!



2.PROCESSING ASSISTANCE:

Alot of us like to multitask, am I correct? Who here doesn't play on instant messengers or websites while playing TOP? Heck, if you're like me, you mute the repetitive music and turn on your own media player and kill pirates to Back in Black by AC/DC. Well this section is going to help you maximize your PC performance while simultaneously allowing you to run as many fun programs as you like.

First off, a media player. More secure than Windows Media Player, but alot less customizable. But on the bright side, this program plays darn near every type of media file out there. Patched, it even plays Itunes only data. I introduce to you, the VLC media player. Download VLC Media Player

Now, for the instant messenger. Who here uses an IM client? Okay... now who here uses more than one? Then you'll love me for this. Trillian is a most amazing program, using just over the average processing and RAM power of a single IM client, it allows you to communicate with Yahoo IM, MSN IM, AOL IM, IRC Chat and ICQ out of one handy, simple to use, easy setup program. Best of all... it doesn't have the spyware and trojans that ALL the big name IM clients have. Download Trillian Basic

And of course, who doesn't love to go internet surfing while setting their boat on autopilot? Who digs through the forums for help? I would like to introduce to you now, Mozilla Firefox. It's Internet Explorer but much more secure, easier on your processor, updated alot more often, and has so many features, I couldn't list them all here. At the very least, download this and give it a try, because it doesn't come with extra crap to kill your computer, and you can always uninstall it. Download Mozilla Firefox

Now for those of us who are compulsive email checkers, we know how annoying it is to use Outlook Express, hunt down your email provider and log in time after time, or leave it open at all times for privacy reasons. Well, the answer to your prayers is here. Unlike outlook Express, it's less of a processor hog, doesn't take twenty minutes to recieve your messages, and doesn't take forever to open. Another wonderful product from our friends and Mozilla... The Thunderbird Email Client. Download Mozilla Thunderbird



3.TIPS AND FAQS:

Now I've just got some general tips for you, to help improve your gaming experience.


1. This game is meant to look cartoonish. Your graphics settings do NOT need to be at peak level!

In order to eliminate choppy load times between areas/maps, you may need to turn down the display settings for Tales of Pirates. In order to do this, open the Display Settings button in the bottom right hand of your TOP game screen. There will be a cog Icon. Try changing your resolution, first off. An odd resolution will kill any game known to man. After that, try turning off shadows. They don't make much of a difference in game, but they do use a lot of processing power for being... well... incorporeal. If that doesn't work, try changing the quality of your graphics. The default setting is HIGH quality. Switch to medium, then if problems persist, to low.  When all else fails, make sure the game isn't running as 32 bit, because it doesn't make much of a difference. Set it to 16 bit.


2. The audio on this game isn't great by any standards. If you must, you CAN kill the audio to make the game run smoother.

In order to save on precious RAM/Processing Power, we can mute the sound. Again, at the lower right of your TOP game screen, there will be an Icon of a megaphone. Click it, and you will see option for Sound Effects volume, Music Volume and Mute. Mute it, or kill the music or effects volume completely.


3. I know Argent is full of lag. Don't hate on free enterprise.

Before entering Argent, pressing CTRL+B will turn off user character skins, meaning that they will pretty much be invisible. This is an amazingly useful feature, especially on Saturday nights.


4. There's a delay when I switch windows, change maps etc.

Are you playing in windowed mode? If you are, try having everything you aren't using minimized. As well, if your desktop image is a large and/or detailed one, try changing it to a simple pattern. This will free up memory, allowing you to game more smoothly. Worst case scenario, try switching to Full Screen Mode. This will block out everything else, allowing your computer to focus on the game itself, as opposed to the game and everything around it.


5. My game spazzed when I put it in Full Screen or changed the resolution, and now everything is off center OMG***!

Relax, Frankie. Simply exit the game and restart it. This should fix it no problem.


6. I can't see part of my HUD or Game Screen on FullScreen because my toolbar is in the way.

Simple fix. Right click your toolbar in the vacant grey area and uncheck the LOCK TOOLBAR option. Good to go.


7. My game is messing up, and it wasn't before. What do I do after trying all above options?

Go into the Control Panel via your START button on the taskbar. Select Add/Remove Programs (NOT ADD/REMOVE HARDWARE. DON'T MESS WITH THIS!) Find Tales of Pirates after the list of installed programs populates, and remove it. This will uninstall TOP. After it uninstalls, run your virus, spyware etc. programs, then restart your computer. When your computer restarts, goto the OFFICIAL IGG.com TOP download site, and download, then install Tales of Pirates. Good to go.


8. My computer isn't plugged in. What do I do?