Software of the Month Club 1998 June/Software of the Month Club 1998 June.iso/pc/dos/games/astro3d/readme.txt

Text File | 1998-04-15 | 13KB | 334 lines

                              **Astro3D(TM) v1.00**
                        **Published by Xtreme Games LLC **

                               ** Developed by **
                            **Jarrod Davis Software**
                   **Copyright (c) 1997 All Rights Reserved.**


**Table of Contents**
=============================================================================

1. Getting Started
   A. The Story
   B. Requirements
   C. Installation & Setup
   D. Starting the Program
   E. Navigating the Menu

2. Controlling and Playing the Game
   A. Default Key Controls
   B. Default Mouse Controls
   C. Default Joystick Controls
   D. Weapons
   E. Powerups

3. Tips for beginners

4. Troubleshooting & Technical Support
   A. Common Problems
   B. Contacting Us

5. Registering

6. Reporting Problems


**1. Getting Started**
=============================================================================

**A. The Story**
-------------
In 2025 the planet Earth formed a powerful alliance with neighboring star
systems and became know as the Earth Alliance. For 100 years Earth prospered
and enjoyed more peace than in any time in Her history. In 2125, friction
between rival parties struggling for control of the alliance resulted in Earth
Alliance's breakup. All hell broke loose. This bloody war raged for 10 years.

The year is now 2135 and after much upheaval and destruction, realizing
continued fighting would only result in the total annihilation of all parties
involved, a truce has been made. Earth Alliance will rebuild itself and usher
in a new age of peace, prosperity and discovery.

There is a major hitch though. During the war many different factions rose
up. Some of these factions tampered with all of the major trade routes
through space by planting mines, dumping 'space junk' and a host of other
atrocities. The result of these actions is a large asteroid belt caused by
explosions of small planetoids that came in contact with mines and ships
trying to make passage through the area. This space is littered with ship
debris, unexploded mines, toxic waste and God only knows what else. These
sectors must be cleaned so that major trade routes can once again be re-
established with other worlds in the alliance.",

You're Sed Fransard, interstellar junk man. EA has contracted you to help
perform clean up. They heard about the new high tech weaponry you've out-
fitted your ship with. These weapons pack major fire power, perfect for this
job. It better work, considering it took all of last year's profits just to
make the down payment and you're still working to pay off the rest of it.

You've done cleanup/salvage work before and especially with your new
weapons, this should be pretty much routine right? NOT! Nothing could prepare
you for the aftermath of war. Your sensors are showing much more junk and
debris than EA bothered to mention. Oh, yeah, they also forgot to mention the
HIGH GRADE toxic waste that has been dumped out here or the 'space junk' that
sometimes shoots back. Maybe this is a little more than you bargained for,
but you need the money. If you lose your loan, your business will go under.

Now the mission begins...

**B. System Requirements**
----------------------
To run Astro3D, you'll need the following system:
  -An IBM-compatible, Pentium class, 75 MHz or better computer
  -8MB of free RAM
  -A VGA monitor
  -Hard Drive with 8 MB free

You'll have more fun with these recommended additions:
  -Pentium 133 MHz or higher computer
  -16MB of free RAM
  -16 bit SoundBlaster compatible sound card
  -Mouse and/or Joystick

**C. Installation and Setup**
-------------------------
To get started with Astro3D, do the following:
  1. Create a directory on your hard drive (C:\GAMES\JDS\ASTRO3D, for example)
  2. Change to that directory and copy a backup of the Astro3D archive here
  3. Type the name of Astro3D archive (A3DSW10 for example) and it will
     unzip itself to the current directory. The archive file is no longer
     needed and can be deleted if desired.

**D. Starting the Program**
-----------------------
To start the game, just change to the directory in which Astro3D is installed,
type the name of the Astro3D executable (A3DSW for example) and
press Enter. The game will load, and you should see the opening screen.
After a few seconds, the main menu will be displayed. If you are running A3D
for the first time and a joystick was detected, you will be asked to
calibrate it. If you choose no, you can calibrate it at any time from the
Options menu.

**E. Navigating the Menus**
-----------------------
You can use keyboard to make a selection on the menus. Up and down will
change the highlighted options, and Enter will bring up a sub-menu.
You can change a menu option with the left and right arrow keys. To start the
game, just choose "New Mission" or "Load Mission" from the main menu. Before
doing this, however, you'll probably want to use the other menu options to
configure the game to suit your computer.


**2. Controlling and Playing the Game**
=============================================================================
You can use the mouse, keyboard, or joystick to move yourself through the
game. From the options menu, you can configure the keys and buttons to match
your preferences.

Your objective is the clear all the objects in each sector. You will encounter
various types of resistance such as mines, toxic waste, enemy ships and of
course asteroids. You have a total of 4 weapons (3 shareware) to help you in
your mission.

**A. Default Key Controls:**
------------------------
F1           - Help
F2           - Save Mission
F3           - Load Mission
F4           - Quick Save Mission
F5           - Toggle HUD Display
F6           - Change screen brightness
1            - Select Photon cannon
2            - Select Nuke Blast
3            - Select Seeker Torpedo
4            - Select Cluster Bomb (reg. only)
P            - Pause Game
R            - Select Radar View
T            - Toggle Auto Tracking
I            - Toggle Tactical Computer
A            - Thrust Forward
S            - Reverse Thrust
F            - Fire Weapon
Space        - Hyper Space Jump
Up           - Turn Up
Down         - Turn Down
Left         - Turn Left
Right        - Turn Right
SHIFT+DIR    - strafe up/down/left/right
LSHIFT+ALT+W - Full weapons/shields (reg. only)
LSHIFT+ALT+G - God Mode (reg. only)

**B. Default Mouse Controls:**
--------------------------
Button 1      - Fire Weapon
Button 2      - Thrust Forward
Move Forward  - Turn Up
Move Back     - Turn Down
Move Left     - Turn Left
Move Right    - Turn Right

**C. Default Joystick Controls:**
-----------------------------
Button 1      - Fire Weapon
Button 2      - Thrust Forward
Stick Forward - Turn Up
Stick Back    - Turn Down
Stick Left    - Turn Left
Stick Right   - Turn Right

**D. Weapons:**
-----------
Photon Cannon  - High energy busts of light. Medium range. Unlimited supply.

Nuke Blast     - An atomic device that destroys all objects in a 5000-1000km
                 range. If a nuke explodes close to your ship, your shields
                 will be reduced in half and if it explodes very close to your
                 ship, well you die. You have 2 to start out with and can
                 collect a total of 3.

Seeker Torpedo - High speed torpedo that automatically locks onto any enemy
                 object and follows it until it collides and explodes. It
                 packs a high energy explosive charge. Long range. You have
                 50 to start with and can collect a total of 50.

Cluster Bombs  - A weapon that ejects a cluster out to a distance of about
                 5000km. When it explodes, it disperses high energy phased
                 plasma charges that seek out an enemy object and destroys it.
                 You have 1 to start with an can collect a total of 2. This
                 weapon is in the registered version only.

**E. Powerups:**
------------
During game play, you must collect powerups to replenish your weapons and
shields. They're emitted when you destroy an object.

  1. Nuke Blast Powerup (Red):
     You have 2 to start with and can collect up to 3. Nuke powerups will only
     show up when your shields are on or below 20%

  2. Seeker Torpedo Powerup (Brown):
     You have 50 to start with and can collect up to 50. Each powerup gives you
     5 torpedoes. They will be plentiful throughout the mission.

  3. Shield Powerup (Green):
     You have 100 to start with and can collect up to 200. Each one gives you
     10 shields units. They are plentiful throughout the mission.

  4. Full Shield Powerup (Yellow):
     This powerup increases your shield power to the Max of 200. This powerup
     only shows up when your shield level is on or below 20%


**3. Tips for Beginners**
=============================================================================

  1. Don't sit still. Remember you are in 3D space so enemy ships can and will
     get behind you. So stay on the move.

  2. Learn to switch quickly between your various weapons. Use the photon
     cannons on rocks/waste and the torpedoes on ships/mines.

  3. The computer displays messages through out the mission that can help
     you avoid problems.


**4. Troubleshooting & Technical Support**
=============================================================================

**A. Common Problems:**
-------------------

  1. THE PROGRAM RUNS SLOW FROM MY WIN95 DOS BOX:
     When you are working from a DOS box and exclusive mode is not set,
     then WIN95 will continue to work in the background. If too much back-
     ground activity is occurring, the game will run more slowly. Astro3D
     is a native DOS game so the best performance will be achieved when you
     run it from DOS mode.

  2. I DON'T HEAR SOUND, BUT I HAVE A SOUND CARD:
     Astro3D requires a SoundBlaster or 100% compatible sound card for sound.
     Some cards are not fully SB compatible and are only compatible when a
     software driver is loaded. If this is the case, then this driver must be
     already installed. Also, the sound engine checks the BLASTER environment
     string to get the information it needs to initialize the sound card.
     If you are getting sound in Windows and not when you run the game, then
     the BLASTER string is most likely not setup when working from a DOS box.
     Consult your sound card reference manual for specific details on setting
     up your sound card

  3. I HAVE A MOUSE AND IT WORKS IN WIN95 BUT NOT IN THE GAME:
     Make sure your mouse driver is installed. This program does not use the
     Windows mouse driver. You have to have also have the mouse driver that
     would be loaded if Windows was not installed on your machine.

  4. WHY CAN'T I USE TWO JOYSTICKS:
     Astro3D only reads the joystick from joystick port 1. If you have more
     than one joystick, you have to use the one connected to the first port.

  5. I CALIBRATED THE JOYSTICK AT PROGRAM START, BUT IT DOES NOT WORK RIGHT:
     Some times when you calibrate the stick, all the extremes are not reached
     so it's not calibrated properly. You can recalibrate during game play
     at any time by pressing ESC and bringing up the game options menu. Go to
     calibrate joystick. You may have to do this a few time until it feels
     right for you.

  6. THE RADAR SYSTEM IS CONFUSING:
     The radar system in Astro3D is a 3D God view of the game universe. You're
     located at the center. All objects at the top are in front of you and all
     objects at the bottom are behind you. By default view shows all objects,
     but you can change the view to show only show specific objects. The
     default key to select different views is <R>.

**B. Contacting Us:**
-----------------

You can reach us at:

  **[e-mail] (fastest)**

or write to:

  **Xtreme Games LLC**
  **P.O. Box 641744**
  **San Jose, CA 95164-1744**

Always include as much information about the problem and any thing
relating to it.


**5. Registering**
=============================================================================

This is the shareware version of Astro3D. Share it with everyone you know!
Buy the full commercial version of Astro3D with 9 new levels, more digital
music and awesome sound effects and more of the incredible, intense action
that you love. You can order on-line by logging onto our web site at:
**http://www.xgames3d.com** or send payment to the address below. We accept all
major credit cards, check, money orders or cash. Make checks payable to
"Xtreme Games LLC."

Mail to:

  **Xtreme Games LLC**
  **P.O. Box 641744**
  **San Jose, CA 95164-1744**

**6. Reporting Problems**
=============================================================================

If you encounter a problems using Astro3D, fill out the **PROBLEMS.TXT** form
and send it to:

  **[e-mail] (fastest)**

or mail to:

  **Xtreme Games LLC**
  **P.O. Box 641744**
  **San Jose, CA 95164-1744**