================================== Descent: FreeSpace - The Great War Readme for Demo version 1.00 ================================== For more documentation on the FreeSpace demo, please see the additional online documentation at: http://www.volition-inc.com/FSdemo.html For general Demo Feedback, please email us: fsdemo@volition-inc.com ----------------- Table of Contents ----------------- 1. The FreeSpace Launcher 1a. Play FreeSpace 1b. Setup 1c. View Readme 1d. Update FreeSpace 1e. FreeSpace Webpage 1f. Uninstall FreeSpace 1g. Quit 2. Playing FreeSpace 2a. Pilot Registration 2b. The Flight Deck 2c. Barracks 2d. Options 2e. Ready Room 2f. Gameplay Items 3. Gameplay Items 3a. Demo Missions 3b. Hornet Missiles 3c. Comm Menu 3d. Additional HUD info 3e. Capital Ships 4. Demo Feedback 5. Troubleshooting 6. Contacting Tech Support 7. FreeSpace Web Links 8. Credits 9. Legal Stuff ------------------------- 1. The FreeSpace Launcher ------------------------- The Launcher is used to control your hardware acceleration settings, as well as viewing this Readme and contacting the FreeSpace web pages at Volition, Inc. 1a. Play FreeSpace Press this to launch FreeSpace. 1b. Setup Under Setup, you'll see tabs for Video, Audio, Joystick, and Speed. Video - If you have a 3D accelerator, hit "Detect Available Cards" under Video. Then select your card from the list. FreeSpace will now use that card each time you play. Audio - Allows you to choose between "DirectSound" and "No Sound". Other audio selections will be available in the retail version. Joystick - Allows you to change/setup the joystick used by FreeSpace. Also lets you toggle Force Feedback support on/off. Any joystick supporting DirectX 5.0 force feedback may be used. Speed - This setting determines what default Detail Level is used in FreeSpace when new pilots are created. You may manually change this default if you wish, but it may adversely effect your gameplay speed. 1c. View README - Views this file. 1d. Update FreeSpace - This feature is disabled in the demo. In the full release of FreeSpace, this option will contact Interplay and automatically download and install any existing updates for the game. 1e. FreeSpace Webpage - This will take you to the FreeSpace homepage at Volition, Inc. Check this page often for the latest info on FreeSpace and other games from Volition. 1f. Uninstall FreeSpace - self-explanatory. 1g. Quit - Exits the launcher without running FreeSpace. -------------------- 2. Playing FreeSpace -------------------- 2a. Pilot Registration As you enter the game, you will be required to create a Pilot. This Pilot will store your Demo combat statistics as well as your settings for Options, Controls Config, and HUD Config. You may also change your active Pilot in the Barracks screen. Multiplayer and Multiplayer Pilots are not available in the demo. 2b. The Flight Deck This is essentially the FreeSpace Main Menu. Press F1 to receive a help overlay outlining the different areas. In the demo, you may use your mouse to proceed to the Ready Room, Barracks, Options Screen, or Exit. The Tech and Campaign Rooms are not available in the demo. 2c. Barracks This room allows you to change your currently selected Pilot, and to view their combat statistics. You are also able to change the pilot image used by each pilot. Viewing Service Medals is not available in the demo. 2d. Options This screen allows you to change various global settings used in FreeSpace. Use it to adjust your Sound, Music, and Voice volume levels, as well as adjust your Gamma setting. NOTE on GAMMA: To correctly set Gamma on your monitor, use the arrows on the Gamma indicator until the stripes appear to be the same shade/intensity of grey. Multi - Multiplayer options are not available in the demo Detail - This screen allows you to adjust the various detail level settings for FreeSpace. It is recommended that you use the default Preset Level chosen for you at install time. If you wish to change the current setting, use the Preset buttons on the right side of the screen. The Custom button will allow you to modify individual settings. Controls Config - Here you may configure your controls and key bindings to better suit your preferences. A list of functions appears on the left, and their corresponding key/button bindings appear on the right. At the top you'll see four categories of game functions. To change a binding, simply double-click on the appropriate line, and press the new key/button. If two functions reference the same key/button, it will create a conflict. Pressing Clear Conflict will remove the original binding in favor of the new one. You're required to resolve all conflicts before leaving the Controls Config screen. HUD Config - FreeSpace has a highly configurable HUD (Heads-Up Display). This screen allows you to turn individual parts of the HUD on and off. Certain gauges may be set to "popup" mode as well. This will cause the gauge to display briefly when its status changes, but will otherwise not be shown. For a full explanation of each gauge, please visit the Online Demo Documentation at http://www.volition-inc.com/FSdemo.html 2e. Ready Room This door will take you straight to Briefing, and then into the missions. Ship Selection and Weapons Loadout are not available in the demo. Briefing - This screen gives you an overview of the upcoming mission, and delivers your orders. Each Briefing is arranged in stages, which can be navigated using the arrow buttons on the bottom of the map display. The text for each stage appears at the bottom, and will also be read to you by your commanding officer. If this is your first time playing FreeSpace, you will begin in a training mission. It is STRONGLY recommended that you complete the training mission before proceeding to the combat missions. Training will familiarize you with different parts of the HUD display, and the basics of flight and combat. NOTE: Several more training missions are included in the full release of FreeSpace. They provide an easy-to-use way of learning basic controls as well as more advanced techniques. The last stage in the Briefing will show you your Objectives. Primary Objectives are very important to the mission's success. If you fail one or more Primary Objectives, you may be forced to replay the mission before continuing. Secondary Objectives are less important, but it is always wise to complete them. Press Commit to accept your orders and begin the first Training mission. Your instructor will take you through the basics and you will then be able to fly your first two combat missions. ----------------- 3. Gameplay Items ----------------- 3a. Demo Missions There are four missions included in this Demo. Mission one is training, and will familiarize you with the basic combat controls. Mission two is an escort mission where you protect a damaged cruiser. Depending on how well you protect that cruiser, you will then proceed to one of two additional missions. The main difference being that if you performed well, you will be granted use of the Hornet swarm missiles for the following mission. 3b. Hornet Missiles If you've received permission to use the Hornets, you will notice that their target locking behavior is different from the MX-50's. Unlike the heat-seeking MX-50's, the Hornets require an "aspect" lock. To gain aspect lock, arm your Hornets and try to keep your target centered in your reticle. The Aspect Diamond indicator will chase it around the screen, attempting to gain aspect lock. The more your target jinks around, the longer lock will take. Once you gain lock, fire away! 3c. Comm Menu Comm Menu - You should familiarize yourself with the Comm Menu in the game (default key 'C'). With this menu you can order wingmen to attack or protect a target, cover you from enemy fire, or leave the battle area. You may also use the Comm Menu to request Rearming/Repairing from a Support ship. 3d. Additional HUD info For additional information on the HUD system displayed in the FreeSpace demo, please visit the following site: http://www.volition-inc.com/FSdemo.html 3e. Capital ships There are no capital ships in the Demo version of FreeSpace. The GTC Orff is a cruiser/frigate level ship, measuring about 250 meters in length. The full release version of FreeSpace contains capital-level ships like the Orion and the Typhon, measuring 10 times bigger than the Orff! ---------------- 4. Demo Feedback ---------------- One reason to do a game demo is to get player feedback from all over the Earth. Tell us what you think of the game! Simply contact us at one of the email addresses below: General feedback, comments & bug reports: fsdemo@volition-inc.com Technical questions/problems support@interplay.com (Also see section 3 below) Non-technical questions: fsinfo@volition-inc.com ------------------ 5. Troubleshooting ------------------ If you do not find the answers to your problems in this section, please refer to section 6 on contacting Interplay Customer Service. Common Questions & Answers 3a. Audio Q: I get a warning about not having the Audio Compression Manager (ACM) installed. A: You need to install an ACM on your machine. Follow these steps for installing it: 1) First check if you have the Microsoft ADPCM installed: a) Click on the 'Multimedia' icon in your Control Panel b) Click the Advanced Tab, and expand the Audio Compression Codecs list c) If you see 'Microsoft ADPCM Codec', then you have the required ACM codec 2) If you see the correct ACM codec installed, there are two possible reasons why the ACM is not working in the game: a) You don't have mascm32.dll in your path b) Your ACM version is not 3.5 or higher 3) If see the ACM codec is not installed, then follow these steps to install it: a) Click on the 'Add New Hardware' icon in your Control Panel b) Select 'No' when asked if Microsoft should search for new hardware (Click Next) c) Select 'Sound, video and game controllers' from the Hardware Types list (Click next) d) Select 'Microsoft Audio Codecs' from the Manuf. list e) From the list of codecs on the right, select 'Microsoft ADPCM CODEC' (Click Next) f) Reboot for the changes to take effect Q: I have a 3DFX card, and it says "Expected VXD version 1.2, got V1.1". What do I do? A: This is caused by one of the following: 1) Your \windows\system\fxmemmap.vxd file is out of date. Getting and installing the latest Glide drivers *should* fix this according to 3DFX. Or, simply copy the fxmemmap.vxd into your windows\system directory. 2) There is an out of date fxmemmap.vxd somewhere beside windows\system directory. You should find all versions of this file on your drive and put the latest one in windows\system. Delete all other versions of it. ------------------------------- 6. Contacting Technical Support ------------------------------- United States ------------- Interplay Customer Service Telephone: (949) 553-6678 (714) 553-6678 Fax: (949) 252-2820 (714) 252-2820 Attn: Customer Service E-Mail: support@interplay.com World Wide Web: http://www.interplay.com BBS: Telnet to bbs.interplay.com BBS: Modem Phone Number: (949) 252-2822 (714) 252-2822 America Online: E-mail IPTECH Compuserve: GO GAMBPUB or E-mail 76702,1342 FTP Site: ftp.interplay.com US Mail: Interplay Customer Service 16815 Von Karman Irvine, CA 92606 United Kingdom / Europe ----------------------- Interplay Customer Service in the UK and Europe: Write to: Customer Support Interplay Productions, Ltd. Harleyford Manor Harleyford Henley Road Marlow Buckinghamshire SL7 2DX ENGLAND Tel: +44 (0) 1628 423723 Fax: +44 (0) 1628 487777 Email: Europe@interplay-uk.com ---------------------- 7. FreeSpace Web Links ---------------------- If you're interested in FreeSpace-related web sites and information, here are some great places to start. Volition, Inc. homepage http://www.volition-inc.com Parallax Online http://www.parallaxonline.com Interplay Productions http://www.interplay.com FreeSpace Command http://freespace.questgate.net Terran Tactical Database http://freespace.logicquest.com Descent Network FreeSpace page http://www.descent-freespace.com Strobe http://www.sentry-tech.com/arsentia/strobe Descent: FreeSpace - Central Intelligence http://home.ica.net/~wave/descent Descent: FreeSpace webring homepage http://www.geocities.com/~genshepd/freespace/webring FreeSpace HQ http://www.free-space.com ---------- 8. Credits ---------- FreeSpace Demo developed by Volition, Inc. for Interplay Productions Volition, Inc. -------------- Original Design Adam Pletcher & team Programming John Slagel Mark Allender Mike Kulas Alan Lawrance Jason Hoffoss Dave Baranec Dave Andsager Sandeep Shekar Art Adam Pletcher Jasen Whiteside Frank Capezzutto III Peter Han Mike Comet Mitri Vanichtheeranont Mission Design Sandeep Shekar Duncan McPherson Brad Johnson Jim Boone Audio Dan Wentz Interplay --------- Executive Producer Trish Wright Producer Jim Boone Director of Quality Assurance Chad Allison QA Managers Colin Totman Steve Victory IS Manager Frank Pimentel QA IS Technicians Bill Delk Chris Peak QA Project Supervisor Jeremy Ray Testers Chad Nicholas Chris English Ian Wall Austin Coulson Rafael Lopez Dennis Presnell Rodney Smith Edward Hyland Director of Compatibility Phuong Nguyen Compatibility Technicians Louie Iturzaeta Derek Gibbs John Parker Marc Duran Special Thanks Kyle Shubel -------------- 9. Legal Stuff -------------- SOFTWARE USE LIMITATIONS AND LIMITED LICENSE This special 4-mission preview version of Descent: FreeSpace - The Great War (the Software) is intended solely for your personal noncommercial home entertainment use. You may not decompile, reverse engineer, or disassemble the Software, except as permitted by law. Interplay Productions and Volition, Inc. retain all rights and title in the Software including all intellectual property rights embodied therein and derivatives thereof. You are granted a revocable, nonassignable limited license to create derivative works of this Software solely for your own personal noncommercial home entertainment use and may publicly display such derivative works to the extent specifically authorized by Interplay in writing. A copy of this authorization, if any, will be provided on Interplay's World Wide Web site, located at http://www.interplay.com, or by contacting the legal department Interplay Productions in the US at (949) 553-6655. The Software, including, without limitation, all code, data structures, characters, images, sounds, text, screens, game play, derivative works and all other elements of the Software may not be copied (except as provided below), resold, rented, leased, distributed (electronically or otherwise), used on pay-per-play, coin-op or other for-charge basis, or for any commercial purpose. You may make copies of the Software for your personal noncommercial home entertainment use and to give to friends and acquaintances on a no cost noncommercial basis. This limited right to copy the Software expressly excludes any copying or distribution of the Software on a commercial basis, including, without limitation, bundling the product with any other product or service and any give away of the Software in connection with another product or service. Any permissions granted herein are provided on a temporary basis and can be withdrawn by Interplay Productions at any time. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. Acceptance of License Terms. By downloading or acquiring and then retaining this Software, you assent to the terms and restrictions of this limited license. If you acquired the Software and do not accept the terms of this limited license, you must return the Software together with all packaging, manuals and other material contained therein to the store where you acquired the Software for a full refund and if you downloaded the Software, you must delete it. Copyright Information --------------------- Descent: FreeSpace - The Great War Demo (and release version) (c) 1998 by Volition, Inc. All rights reserved. Portions (c) 1998 Interplay Productions. All rights reserved. Descent, Descent: FreeSpace - The Great War, Interplay, the Interplay Logo, and "By Gamers. For Gamers." are trademarks of Interplay Productions. Windows(r) 95 is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Exclusively licensed and distributed by Interplay Productions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ---- End of file