If installing gives you a pop-up with "Severe" and "Error Reading Install Configuration" (happens most often on 64bit machines I hear) then here's how to get around it and get the game running! This guide applies to the original UK 2 CD-ROM version of the game. If you have a different version (or DTM Race Driver or Pro Race Driver) then the guide below may help, but you might have to do things a little differently and I can't help with that, as I only have the UK edition here.
Installation:
There's two ways to install the game. If you have another PC or a virtual machine that the game will install on, simply copy the game's install folder over onto your current PC (where it won't install). If you can do this route then do so, and skip to step 4 below.
If you can't do the above, then it's time to do a manual install! This is a bit time-consuming but relatively straightfoward, just follow these steps:
1. Create a folder on your hard disk to put the game in. For this example I'll use c:\games\tocard1
2. Inside the c:\games\tocard1 folder, create the following folders and sub-folders (note the 4 sub-folders inside the "sound" folder). We'll be putting files in these in a minute:
c:\games\tocard1\GameData
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\anim
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\cardata
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\cars
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\chamship
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\dll
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\frontend
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\shaders
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\sky
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\sound
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\sound\cars
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\sound\collamb
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\sound\frontend
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\sound\ptspech
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\trakmod0
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\trakmod1
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\traktex0
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\traktex1
3. Now it's time to populate the folders above with contents. To do this requires the extracting of the many .cab files on the DISC 2 CD-ROM (the Data CD). You can use Windows to open these .cab files, but it's rather slow, so I recommend opening them in 7zip, which is fast and free (
http://www.7-zip.org/). Here's what to extract to each folder (please follow this carefully to avoid errors!):
c:\games\tocard1\
Firstly, in the root tocard1 folder, put the following files from the CD-ROM's "program files\Codemasters\Race Driver" folder:
binkw32.dll
GameSpy
HardwareSetup.exe
RaceDriver.exe
rd.bmp
Register
test.exe
Additionally you can add the readme.txt of the language you prefer from the eng/fre/ger/ita/spa sub-folder on the CD-ROM.
Next up, the content for the other folders. These seem straightforward, but some have a few files from different locations and some that need renaming (notably the "dll" and "frontend" folders), so follow this carefully:
c:\games\tocard1\GameData <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM root.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\anim <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM anim.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\cardata <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM cardata.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\cars <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM cars.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\chamship <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM chamship.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\dll <- this folder needs 3 .dll files. Two need extracting from the MATHCP~1.cab and MATHPI~1.cab files, whilst the third is located in the CD-ROM sub-folder "program files\Codemasters\Race Driver\GameData\dll\"
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\frontend <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM frontend.cab folder here. Once you have done this, go into this frontend folder and rename two files as follows:
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\frontend\_dfe.big <- rename to 3dfe.big
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\frontend\_dfe.ini <- rename to 3dfe.ini
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\shaders <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM shaders.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\sky <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM sky.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\sound <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM sound.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\sound\cars <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM SOUNDC~1.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\sound\collamb <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM SOUNDC~2.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\sound\frontend <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM SOUNDF~1.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\sound\ptspech <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM SOUNDP~1.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\trakmod0 <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM trakmod0.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\trakmod1 <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM trakmod1.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\traktex0 <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM traktex0.cab folder here
c:\games\tocard1\GameData\traktex1 <- extract the contents of the CD-ROM traktex1.cab folder here
4. The next step is to set up the Registry strings, so the game can work properly. The Registry lines included below are for use on a 64bit machine, hence they include the Wow6432Node\ part. If you're installing on 32bit (for some reason; the installer *should* work for you!) then remove this part. The following lines you may wish to change (remember to use double-slashes \\ instead of single ones when giving the path to the files):
LANGUAGE = could try other values (eng/fre/ger/ita/spa), but not tested this, so it might fail!
PATH_MAIN and PATH_APPLICATION = change these to the correct path to where the GameData and game folder are located, if you didn't use the c:\games\tocard1 mentioned originally.
PATH_CD = change this to your CD-ROM drive, if it's not the E:\ drive
The other values are specific to the UK verson of ToCA Race Driver, so change them at your own risk!
To use these lines, copy them out into NotePad, then edit as necessary, and save as ToCARD1.reg somewhere. Locate this .reg file and double-click it to install the Registry settings.
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Codemasters\Race Driver]
"LANGUAGE"="eng"
"SKU"="eur"
"PATH_MAIN"="C:\\Games\\tocard1\\GameData"
"PATH_APPLICATION"="C:\\Games\\tocard1"
"PATH_CD"="E:\\"
"NAME_APPLICATION"="ToCA Race Driver"
"NAME_CD"="ToCA Race Driver Game Disc (Disc 1)"
"TITLEBAR"="ToCA Race Driver"
"NO_DRIVE"="Please insert the disc labelled ToCA Race Driver Game Disc (Disc 1) into your CD drive."
"NO_DISC"="Please insert the disc labelled ToCA Race Driver Game Disc (Disc 1) into your CD drive."
"WRONG_DISC"="Please insert the disc labelled ToCA Race Driver Game Disc (Disc 1) into your CD drive."
5. Before you run the game, there's a couple of other steps necessary. Firstly, install EAX sound extensions, so you can have surround sound (if you use a card that supports EAX, for example any recent SoundBlaster with the Creative ALchemy software included). Do this by opening the CD-ROM, going into the EAX folder, then double-click Setup.exe - this works fine on 64bit I find.
6. If you do use Creative ALchemy, set up a path in it to the game's install folder, so that the EAX can be enabled in-game.
7. Next it's time for the official 1.1_120 patch to be applied. You can get this from the Patches Scrolls site. Download it and double-click to install it. You should note that all the patch updates are supplied successfully.
8. Go into the c:\games\tocard1 folder and double-click HardwareSetup.exe to set up the hardware. Note: with the patch applied, the maximum refresh rate available under "Graphic -> Advanced Settings..." might not be the highest your monitor can take. So once you've applied the settings you with, click "Save and Exit", then open the pchardwareconfig.ini file and change the "FullScreenRefresh=" to the maximum refresh rate you wish to use (on my monitor it would only let me select 120hz in the settings, but I changed this to 144hz in the .ini file, which my monitor can take). Note: with regard to resolution, widescreen resolutions can be set, but the game will be stretched (fat looking images!), so best to run with a 4:3 resolution, as the game was made for that!
9. Finally, right-click and drag a shortcut to the RaceDriver.exe file, if you wish to have a shortcut to launch the game from somewhere else on your PC.
10. Insert the DISC 1 CD-ROM to play (the DISC 2 one can be left in the box). Note: the game may briefly open in a window then minimise to the taskbar. If it does, just click the icon in the taskbar and it'll pop-back up!
Note: I haven't tried network modes, as it used GameSpy, which is now dead!