MAXOVED is a PILOT file EDITOR for Novalogic's Comanche Maximum Overkill
helicopter simulator. This version supports the ORIGINAL, MISSION DISK SET #1,
OVER THE EDGE, and CDROM packages. It is simple, easy to use, and provides help
for those helicopter pilots (like me) who are unable to successfully complete
some of the Comanche missions.
This pilot editor allows you to change pilot total scores, total kills, total
victorious missions, change the completion/incompletion flags for all missions,
edit awards received at campaign completions, and set default(startup) campaigns
and missions for all pilots. The last item was added because I like to play
some of the Comanche missions repeatedly and this feature lets you get to the
mission you want quickly.
MAXOVED is a DOS-based windowed, menu-driven editor. Rather than forcing the
user to keep track of unique data values and byte offsets into the structured
records, all you do is make menu selections or enter simple numerical values.
MAXOVED supports a mouse device. When MAXOVED starts, it checks your system
for a mouse driver. If a driver is found, a mouse cursor will appear in the
upper left area inside a menu window. If no mouse cursor is seen, a mouse
driver was not found. To use the mouse, simply "point and click" on menu items
using the LEFT mouse button. At present, the right button is not supported.
Please spend a few minutes reading this file before running MAXOVED. If you
garble the information you're putting into the pilot file, just EXIT MAXOVED
WITHOUT SAVING THE PILOT FILE.
INSTALLATION AND USAGE
Installation is easy. Just copy the MAXOVED.EXE file (and this README.DOC file
if desired) to your Comanche directory (\Comanche, usually). This assumes that
your pilot file(s) are located here too. The original Comanche pilot file is
"comanche.nam".
BEFORE you edit ANY pilot file, be sure to make a BACKUP of it. For example, if
you want to edit the file "comanche.nam", copy it to "comanche.org" or some
other name you can remember. MAXOVED does NOT save a pilot file until told to
do so, so if you garble an edit,just exit MAXOVED without saving and start over.
To run MAXOVED, type "maxoved" followed by the name of the pilot file you want
to edit (i.e., "maxoved comanche.nam"). Just enter "maxoved ?" for a brief
usage statement for the program.
If begun with a filename, MAXOVED opens with a logo window. Hit any keyboard
key or the LEFT mouse button to clear the logo. As soon as the logo window
clears, MAXOVED will read your pilot file. If MAXOVED suspects that your file
is somehow corrupted, you will not be allowed to proceed. Better safe than
sorry... If you try to edit a valid file and MAXOVED halts with a file read or
other file error message, please CONTACT THE AUTHOR for a fix.
Editing a file is painless. Just use the keyboard arrows or mouse to hilight
the menu item you want, and press <Enter> or the LEFT mouse button. Some prompts
require you to enter a number value. Enter the number and press <Enter> to log
your change, or press <Esc> to exit the prompt with no change. Menus are
exited by hilighting the "<Esc>" area and pressing <Enter> or clicking the
mouse. To exit the program, just <Esc> out of the menu that opens when the
program is started. When finished with all edits, SAVE your file -- PROVIDED
your edits are what you want and PROVIDED you made a BACKUP of the original
file!
The current pilot total score, number of victorious missions, and total kills
are listed/changed in the PILOT EDITING MENU. For example, if your total kills
is 550, then menu item #3 will be "3) Edit Total Number of KILLS - 550". Select
this menu item to change your total kills.
When flagging missons as completed/uncompleted, select menu item #4 from the
PILOT EDITING MENU. This will bring up the CAMPAIGN SELECTION MENU where you
select the campaign containing the mission flags you wish to alter. Once you've
chosen a campaign, the MISSION SELECTION MENU opens. Missions that are current-ly COMPLETE are marked with a SMALL TRIANGLE TO THE LEFT OF THE MISSION NAME.
These markers will appear/disappear as you change missions to complete and
uncomplete.
Menu item #5 from the PILOT EDITING MENU selects your default campaign and
missions. You can select one mission from each of the campaigns as the default
"startup" missions. One campaign can be chosen as the default. The default
campaign and the 10 default missions (one from each of the 10 campaigns) are
marked with a check-mark character. This character will appear/disappear as you
change the default settings.
Menu item #6 from the PILOT EDITING MENU selects your campaign completion
medals. This selection brings up the MEDALS SELECTION MENU which lists the 10
campaigns and the medals awarded. For example, if you've just finished your
second campaign (play campaigns in any order) and you are awarded medal 6,
item #2 in this menu will show "2) Campaign 2 Completion Medal - 6". See the
following discussions on medal numbering.
SPECIAL NOTE TO MOUSE USERS: MAXOVED gives the mouse cursor priority over the
menu item selection routines which use the keyboard arrows. Using this
technique, the hilighted menu selection bar moves automatically with the
movement of your mouse cursor. This avoids having to click twice on the menu
item you want - once to hilight a menu item and once again to select the item
for execution. The down side of this approach is that when you place the mouse
cursor on a menu item and it becomes hilighted, the keyboard arrow keys cannot
be used to move the hilighted menu bar. Therefore, to use the keyboard arrow
keys and a mouse simultaneously, PLACE THE MOUSE CURSOR AWAY FROM ALL MENU
SELECTION ITEMS WHEN USING THE KEYBOARD ARROW KEYS.
The following list contains several things to be aware of when changing pilot
file data:
1) The maximum value you can enter for a total score is 94967295.
2) The maximum number of pilot kills is limited to 9999.
3) The maximum number of missions completed is 999.
4) Do NOT use a pilot name beginning with a SPACE character. All
new pilots are created by the game. Empty slots in the pilot
file are flagged with a SPACE character as the first character
of the pilot name.
5) The option for selecting "default" campaigns and missions
for each pilot is used by the game to keep track of where
each pilot leaves off at the end of a session. This editor
uses the same data area as a "memory" to recall preselected
campaigns and missions when you first begin a Comanche session.
Personally, I like this option because there are a few
missions I enjoy replaying, and the "default" settings I give
my pilot file enable me to quickly go to these missions.
6) Note that there are TEN possible TYPES of medals, and MAXOVED
lets you assign any one of these medals to any campaign.
Campaigns can be played in any order, thus they are labeled as
"Campaign 1 Completion Medal..." in the MEDALS SELECTION MENU.
ANY campaign can be considered "Campaign 1". I never found a
reference to the individual names for the ten types of medals,
so I simply numbered them 1 to 10.
FINAL COMMENTS
MAXOVED was not written to allow one to cheat his/her way through Comanche. It
is intended as a tool to allow your progression through the game when
confronted with an impossibly-difficult mission or to give yourself a little
credit for attempting a mission several times with no success. Please use it
with this attitude in mind.
If you find MAXOVED to be a useful tool, a DONATION or CONTRIBUTION of $5 will
be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or comments concerning this
program, or YOU WISH TO MAKE A DONATION (please make any checks payable to
WAYNE SIKES), please contact me at:
Wayne Sikes
435 Sego Lily
Bosque Farms, NM 87068
CompuServe: 70733,1562
Phone: (505)-869-3522 (hm)
(505)-844-8658 (wk)
Feel free to distribute copies of this program. The only thing I ask is that you
DO NOT MODIFY this readme file or the MAXOVED.EXE program. When distributing,
PLEASE ALWAYS INCLUDE A COPY OF THIS README FILE ALONG WITH THE EXECUTABLE. If
you include this program in any retail or wholesale software packages,
compilations, libraries, archives, etc. please contact me. As with all my
analysis and engineering software, this program is copywritten by K & W Computer
Works.
Thank you for using MAXOVED and enjoy Comanche Maximum Overkill!
********************* END OF README.DOC FILE ***********************
