Grim Fandango, Version 1.
0
LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC
Thank you for playing Grim Fandango. We recommend that you read this file to get the most up-to-date
information about installing, running and playing this game.
For additional information and in-depth technical documentation about specific hardware, we
recommend reading the Troubleshooting Guide which can be accessed by clicking on "Readme &
Troubleshooting" on the Grim Fandango Launcher.
Be sure to check the LucasArts website at [Link] for the very latest information related to
Grim Fandango.
System Requirements
Computer: 100% Windows 95/98 DirectX compatible computer required.
CPU: Pentium 133 or faster required.
CD-ROM: Quad speed IDE or SCSI CD-ROM drive required.
Graphics Card: 2 MB PCI Graphics card required.
3D Acceleration: Optional 3D graphics support requires a 4MB PCI or AGP 3D accelerator
Memory: 32MB or higher RAM required.
Sound Card: 100% Windows 95/98 DirectX compatible 16-bit sound card required.
Input Device: 100% Windows 95/98 compatible keyboard required. Optional support for joysticks and
gamepads.
DirectX: Microsoft DirectX 6.0 is included on this CD and must be installed to play Grim
Fandango. Please refer to "Installation" and "DirectX Setup" in the Troubleshooting
Guide for more information about DirectX.
Note: Your system may require the "latest" Windows 95/98 drivers for your particular
hardware.
Installation: Installation requires 30 MB free hard drive space. You should also allow for at least
100 MB of free hard drive space for the Windows swap file and saved games.
CAVEATS, WARNINGS, AND THINGS YOU SHOULDN’T DO
Supported Operating Systems
To be able to run Grim Fandango, you must have Windows 95/98 as your operating system and your
system must be 100% DirectX compatible. MS-DOS, Windows 3.1x, Windows NT 3.x, Windows NT
4.0 and OS/2 are not supported. For more information on DirectX, see Section 4 of the Troubleshooting
Guide.
Video Card Requirements: 2MB for your 2D card, 4MB for your 3D card
To run Grim Fandango, you need either a graphics card or chip with 2MB of video memory, or a 3D
accelerator card with 4MB of video memory. If you do not know how much memory your video card or
chip has, you can get a close approximation by running “DirectX Diagnostic”, a program supplied with
DirectX, but it only gives complete results after DirectX is installed. Go to C:\Program
Files\directx\setup, and double-click on “[Link]”. Click on the “Display” tab at the top (if you have
more than one video card, you may have a separate display tab for each card), and in the box on the
upper left of the screen there will be a listing for “Approximate Total Memory”.
If you can’t launch the game, your desktop color palette may need to be set to 16-bit mode
Grim Fandango is generally tolerant of different desktop color settings, but if you experience problems
with launching the game, you may need to switch your desktop color setting to High Color (16-bit mode).
Or check the Troubleshooting Guide under “Video Issues” to see if your card has an updated video driver
that will solve the problem.
Compaq Presarios with On-Screen Display may have problems with the game
If you have a Compaq Presario computer with the On-Screen Display feature (used with the buttons on
the machine to play a CD or go to your favorite programs), the On-Screen Display may interfere with the
game when it comes time to switch CDs or after exiting the game. While we have made every effort to
prevent any tragedies from happening, we recommend that you disable it anyway. We recommend that
you disable the On-Screen Display while playing Grim Fandango. To do so, click on the Compaq Easy
Access icon in your taskbar tray, click on Settings, click on the On-Screen Display tab at the top, then
click on the checkbox marked "Enable On-Screen Display" so that the check is removed from the
checkbox.
Systems with an Eject Confirmation Request dialog box may have problems with the game
If your system puts up an "Eject Confirmation Request" dialog box whenever you eject a CD, that dialog
box may interfere with the game when it comes time to switch CDs. While we have made every effort to
prevent any tragedies from happening, we recommend that you disable it anyway. To disable it, go to the
Device Manager (right click on "My Computer", then on "Properties", then on the "Device Manager" tab
at the top), double-click on "CD-ROM", double-click on the CD-ROM listed, click on the "Settings" tab
at the top, and click on the checkbox marked "Auto-insert notification" so that the check is removed from
the checkbox. However, this will deactivate the auto-play feature (which automatically launches the
game when you insert Disc A).
WARNING: If you use a shortcut to the executable to run the game, and your system puts up one of
these dialog boxes when you eject a CD, and you have NOT disabled the auto-insert notification, the
dialog box may be hidden behind the game and the game will appear to be not responding. Just press
"Return" when this happens and you should be on your merry way.
Task Switching not recommended
We recommend that you do not task switch (press Alt-Tab to access another program) while playing
Grim Fandango if your desktop palette is not set to 16 bit color, and even then we recommend that you
limit your task switching. At the time of release of this game, we have seen problems while task-
switching on various video cards that can cause the game to lock up or quit unexpectedly.
Don’t use CTRL-ESC
We recommend that you do not use CTRL-ESC while playing the game.
Don’t eject your CD during gameplay
Just don’t.
If Launcher Screen is Too Large for Screen
If your font size is set to "Large Fonts", the launcher will appear to be twice as large as it should be and
you may not be able to see all of the launcher buttons. We suggest you set your fonts to "Small" to see
the entire launcher. To do so:
• Right-click on your desktop.
• Click on "Properties".
• Click on the "Settings" tab.
• Click on the box under "Font size" near the bottom.
• Click on "Small Fonts".
• Click on the "OK" button at the bottom of the window.
INSTALLING GRIM FANDANGO
Insert Grim Fandango Disc A into your CD-ROM drive. The Launcher screen will open automatically
unless Autoplay is disabled. If it does not, double-click on the My Computer icon, then the CD-ROM
icon. This should bring up the launcher menu. If it does not, double-click on [Link] in the window that
opens. Click on the top button from the following options and the installer will guide you through the
installation process.
The Launcher screen has the following options:
• Install Grim Fandango
• View Documentation
• Analyze Your Computer
• Exit to Windows
Installation requires 30 MB of free hard drive space. You should also allow for at least 100 MB of free
hard drive space for the Windows swap file and saved games.
If you have any problems installing the game, please consult the Troubleshooting Guide (click on the
"View Troubleshooting Guide" button on the launcher).
RUNNING GRIM FANDANGO
To run the game, put either CD into your CD-ROM drive and click on "LucasArts\Grim Fandango\Play
Grim Fandango" in the Start Menu to bring up the launcher; if you have auto-play enabled, the launcher
will automatically appear when you insert Disc A into the CD-ROM drive. The Launcher has the
following options:
• Play Grim Fandango
• Resume Last Saved Game
• Readme & Troubleshooting
• Other Options
• Uninstall Grim Fandango
• Register Grim Fandango
• Exit to Windows
Click on the "Play Grim Fandango" button to start the game. Although it is possible to run the executable
directly off of the CD, we recommend that you use the shortcuts the installer creates. The default
location is C:\Program Files\LucasArts\Grim. Running the executable directly from the CD may cause
the game to run much more slowly and hit the CD much harder.
3D Acceleration
To use 3D acceleration, your 3D card must have at least 4MB of RAM. To turn it on, start the game,
press F1 to get to the Main Menu, press “O” for the Options screen, and press “3” to enable 3D
acceleration.
This is a toggle that automatically selects your 3D-only card (like a Voodoo Graphics or Voodoo2 card)
if you have one. If you do not have this kind of card, the toggle enables 3D acceleration on your primary
video card, if the card is supported by Direct3D. If you do not have a 3D card, the toggle does not do
anything. Please see the Troubleshooting Guide for more details.
Frequently the default brightness setting on 3D cards is higher than when using your 2D card, which can
make the game look washed out or pixellated. To turn down the brightness setting on the card, right-
click on the desktop, go to "Properties", then click on the tabs for your 3D video card and look for a
"gamma" setting. Experiment with the setting until you find one that looks good in the game. You can
also use the in-game brightness setting: press F1 to go to the Main Menu, press "O" for the Options
screen, scroll down to "Brightness", then use the keyboard arrows or gamepad or joystick to turn the
brightness down.
PLAYING GRIM FANDANGO
General Tips
• The main character, Manny, acts as your interface between you and the objects in the game. When
there is a nearby object you can interact with, Manny's head will turn toward that object.
• When there are several objects close together that Manny can look at, you can use the period key (or
the Numpad Delete key) to make Manny look at each one in turn.
• While most objects can be picked up with the "Use" control, some will require you to use the "Pick
up" control.
• In the Petrified Forest, you can use the Enter key and hold it down to continually use the fire
extinguisher.
• In Manny’s Office in the Calavera Café in Year2, you can access a roulette panel at his desk; to close
it back up, you need to press the ESC key.
• The manual states that you can double-tap the "forward" key or the forward direction on your
gamepad or joystick to make Manny run; the double-tap has been removed, but you can still use
the shift key to make Manny run.
• The manual also states that you can pull out inventory items using the keyboard numbers 1 through
0. This is incorrect: you can use the keyboard numbers 1 through 9 to pull out inventory items.
Main Menu
Press the F1 key to bring up the Main Menu. This gives you access to the following selections:
• Control Help - lists all keyboard and controller commands
• Options - change settings for volume, text & voice, text speed, movement mode, 3D acceleration
• Save Game - save a game
• Load Game - load a saved game
• Erase Saved Game - erase a saved game
• View Dialog Transcript - view a log of all dialog heard so far in the current game; if you have not
started playing the game yet, or have not encountered any dialog, this log will not display
anything.
• View Cutscenes - view all cutscenes seen so far in the current game
• Credits - view the credits for all the fine people who worked to bring you this game
• Return to Game
• Quit
You can use the page up/ page down/ Home/ End keys to navigate through all the menus. You can also
use the highlighted letters (“hotkeys”) in the menus to use the functions listed, and to confirm or cancel
requests. Using a hotkey will immediately activate the request - you do not need to press Enter after
pressing a hotkey.
Keyboard Commands: Movement
Move forward Numpad-8
Move backwards Numpad-2
Turn right Numpad-6
Turn left Numpad-4
Run Shift-Numpad-8
• You can also use the cursor (arrow) keys on your keyboard to move around in the game.
• If you’re in camera-relative mode (see “Movement Modes” below), you can also use the 1-3-7-9
keys to move diagonally.
Keyboard Commands: Actions
Keyboard Keyboard
Numpad Mnemonic Left-hand
Examine item 5 E S
Pick up item, put item away + P A
Use item/ Talk to character Enter U (or Enter) W
Inventory 0 (Ins) I D
- Scroll through inventory 4&6
- Put item in hand Enter Enter
Look at next nearby item Numpad Delete
Pause Pause
Skip dialog line Numpad Delete or Period
Skip cutscenes ESC
Quit game Alt-X or Alt-Q
Enable/Disable joystick/gamepad Ctrl-J
Text/Voice mode toggle Ctrl-T
Gamma Control Ctrl-B
Movement mode toggle:
"character-relative"/ "camera-relative" Ctrl-M
GamePad/Joystick Commands
Examine item: Controller Button 1
Use Item/ Talk to character Controller Button 2
Pick Up item/ Put item away Controller Button 3
Inventory Controller Button 4
Run Controller Button 5 & 8
Skip cutscenes Controller Button 6
Skip dialog line Controller Button 7
Scroll through dialog choices Joystick POV hat (up/down)
Scroll through items in inventory Joystick POV hat (left/right)
Warning: Users of Microsoft’s Freestyle Pro Gamepad may find there are a couple of places in the game
that are very hard to get through using just the gamepad. It appears that the input from this gamepad is
not your standard gamepad input; you may need to use your keyboard in a few situations. We apologize
for any inconvenience.
Saving and Loading a Game
To save a game, press F1 to get to the Main Menu, then press "S" for "Save game". Scroll down to the
line that says "(Empty)", then press "Enter" and type in a name for your savegame, and press "Enter"
again. Savegames will take a little under 1MB each of hard drive space, so plan accordingly.
To load a savegame, press F1, then "L", then scroll down to the savegame you want to load and press
Enter. (Note: any time you load a savegame, this savegame is then considered to be your most recent
game for the purposes of the “Resume Last Saved Game” button on the launcher.)
Mouse Support
There is no mouse support in this game!
Movement Modes
Grim Fandango supports two different movement modes: character-relative and camera-relative. You
can switch between these on the Options screen. Character-relative movement is the default mode; your
left and right on the keyboard is the same as Manny's left and right. Camera-relative movement means
that your left and right on the keyboard is the same as left and right on the screen, independent of the
direction that Manny is facing. If you’re in camera-relative mode, you can also use the 1-3-7-9 keys to
move diagonally.
CONTACTING LUCASARTS
LucasArts has set up a variety of services to provide you with information regarding our programs, hint
& gameplay assistance, and technical support.
HINT LINE: U. S.
If you need a hint, you may call our automated Hint Line. This service costs 95 cents per minute, requires
a touch tone phone, and you must be at least 18 years old or have your parents’ permission to call. The
number is 1-900-740-JEDI (1-900-740-5334). The option to speak with a live Hint Operator is also
available from this number. (Average call length is three minutes.)
HINT LINE: Canada
Our Hint Line is also available to our Canadian customers. This service costs $1.25 (U.S.) per minute,
requires a touch tone phone, and you must be at least 18 years old or have your parents’ permission to
call. The number is 1-900-677-JEDI (1-900-677-5334). (Average call length is three minutes.)
Where To Find Us Online
Visit the LucasArts Web site at [Link] From there, you will have the option to
receive online technical support through Yoda's Help Desk, browse technical documents, or leave a
message for an online representative.
Yoda's Help Desk
We are proud to feature Yoda's Help Desk, which is available in the Technical Support section of the
LucasArts Web site at [Link] Yoda's Help Desk offers interactive solutions
to technical issues based on information you provide. Visitors to Yoda's Help Desk will be able to receive
technical support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Technical Support Phone Number
This number is for technical assistance only. Hints will not be given out over the Technical Support line.
If you need technical assistance, please don't hesitate to contact us after reading the Troubleshooting
Guide and the Readme file. For your convenience, if you cannot get through to a representative by phone
and you have access to a fax machine or any of our online areas, please consider contacting us through
one of these alternate means.
When contacting us, please be sure to provide us with as much information as possible. Make sure to note
the exact type of hardware that you are using in your system, including: your sound card, CD-ROM
drive, amount of RAM present, and the speed and manufacturer of your processor. Also, make sure to
include the title and version of the program, and a detailed description of the problem.
You can reach our Technical Support department by calling 1-415-507-4545. We are available to help
you Monday-Thursday from 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and on Friday from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (Pacific
Standard Time).
Technical Support Fax
For your convenience, we also offer the option of faxing us with your technical questions at: 1-415-507-
0300.
When sending us a fax, please include your name, return fax number with the area code, and a voice
phone number so we can contact you if we experience any problems when trying to fax you back.
Technical Support Mailing Address
LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC
P.O. Box 10307
San Rafael, CA 94912
Attn: Product Support
LucasArts Company Store
Visit the LucasArts Company Store at [Link] The Company Store offers the
complete line of LucasArts games, hint books and logo gear.
©1998 LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC. All rights reserved.
Special thanks from the Grim QA team to: Rage Against the Machine, Caesar III, Brak & Space Ghost,
Far’s “Water and Solutions”, Mountain Dew, Carmageddon 2, The Police’s “Live”, Blair and Chelsea,
The Beatles’ “Revolver”, The Regiment, SPI London, Daniel Bodiford, Pepsi, LEC-Hockey, Zimbo the
Magnificent, Phyllis’s Giant Burgers, and CompUSA.