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1996-12-19
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============================================================
MissionForce: CyberStorm v1.1 Patch
Copyright 1996 -- Sierra On-Line Inc.
============================================================
INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
To install the patch, locate the CSPAT11.EXE in the directory where
you have placed the patch file(s), and double-click it. Then follow the
directions (you will be prompted) from there to install the patch and update
your game.
NOTE:
This document is long, but contains some very
important information about using the new features
correctly. Your patience will be rewarded with
information you should not miss!)
Thank you for your support of CyberStorm. To return the
favor, we are offering this CyberStorm v1.1 patch. We hope
this provides many hours of improved game play for you.
Many of these features are a direct result of the great user
requests and early feedback we received. So, keep those
comments coming.
This patch officially updates the English version of
CyberStorm 1.00a to version 1.10a. You may verify your
version of CyberStorm by running it and picking 'About' from
the 'Help' menu. This patch will not update the foreign
language versions of CyberStorm, though many of the bugs
fixed here are already fixed in those releases.
As some of you have noted, this update was originally
intended for a fall `96 release. Due to some extra features
we added and other tasks that were required to fine-tune our
Holiday-products, it released now. We never forgot our
users and our promise of a free update. Once again, we
appreciate your patience.
SIERRA ON-LINE, INC. DOES NOT WARRANTY OR PROMISE THAT
THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL WORK WITH ANY OR ALL
COMPUTER SYSTEMS. SIERRA DOES NOT ASSUME ANY
LIABILITY, EITHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL, FOR THE
USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN, INCLUDING ANY AND ALL
DAMAGE TO OR LOST USE OF COMPUTER HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE
PRODUCTS, LOSS OF WARRANTIES, OR LOST DATA BY THE
CUSTOMER OR ANY THIRD PARTY. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN
INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY SIERRA, ITS EMPLOYEES,
DISTRIBUTORS, DEALER OR AGENTS SHALL CHANGE THE
RESTRICTION OF LIABILITY OR CREATE ANY NEW WARRANTIES.
IN NO CASE SHALL SIERRA'S LIABILITY EXCEED THE PURCHASE
PRICE OF THE SIERRA SOFTWARE PRODUCT.
Important Compatibility notes:
============================================================
* Saved Games:
Because of some internal difficulty level changes,
there has been a change to the single-player-
career saved games. Any old single-player games
loaded will automatically be reset to the `Normal'
difficulty setting. You can change this to suit
your level of play from the HercBase screen under
a new `Special' menu. Select the difficulty for
the game under the new scheme and save it. This
has to be done only once for each saved game you
want to use. We apologize for this
inconvenience.
* MultiPlayer:
Version 1.1 of CyberStorm can only play
MultiPlayer games with Version 1.1 of CyberStorm.
You will not be able to see sessions of Version
1.0 games to join, and the Version 1.0 gamers will
not see your Version 1.1 sessions. Though this is
a minor inconvenience, it was required to get the
features you requested.
* What if I Don't like it:
Though we anticipate this update will be well
received, you can go back to your original
CyberStorm version fairly easily. There are two
files on your original CyberStorm CD (in sub-
directory called CSTORM) that can be used to
restore your game to its original condition.
Copy CSTORM.EXE and CYBDATA1.RBX over the versions
you patched and things will be right back where
you started from.
Patch features:
============================================================
* Difficulty level tweaks:
The first elite military mission has been softened
up, and the final two missions are notably
tougher. We also have a much wider variety of
difficulty levels now. 'Hard' will now mean
something more to those who found the game too
simple before. The wider variety of difficulty
levels should offer more replayability. The final
elite mission can draw from 8 new Cybrid
configurations, which will be a better match for
their human counterparts.
* New Play Modes:
Hotseat and Play-by-EMail modes let you play large
detailed games that can be saved and continued at
your pace. We think this is a feature that suits
CyberStorm very well.
* Cheat codes released!
These codes activate a variety of options through
out the product. Many are purely cheats, though
some codes can turn some new features on/off. See
the CHEAT.TXT file for more information. These
are mostly the same cheat codes released some time
ago, although they have been updated for extra
version 1.1 codes and better documented in places.
* New Features:
- True Opportunity fire
- Special HercBase menu options
These are some new features we are glad to see.
We hope you will also, but if you decide you do
not like them you can turn them on/off using our
cheat-code mechanism. See the CHEAT.TXT file for
more information.
* New MultiPlayer Gaming area:
You may now play games over the Sierra Internet
Gaming System (SIGS). This provides another
mechanism for meeting players and starting games.
More information may be found in a section below.
* Minor bug fixes wherever possible:
Nothing of real significance here, but several
minor bugs have been fixed. These are things that
you likely never noticed, but now we can be sure
that you are not bothered by them.
* Better Multiplayer-Cheating protection:
When a battle starts, you will be warned if any of
the enemy units look as if they have been altered
illegally. This will help keep battles fair.
* Misc. minor tweaks:
HOG missiles have been reduced to 750 points of
damage. Antigravity devices have also been reduced
in effectiveness. The old AntiGrav units could
make a large unit move so quickly, that there are
less strategic reasons for bringing lighter units.
You can view the exact effects by viewing the
INTERNAL.TXT file and searching for "Anti".
Both of these components were too powerful,
particularly in multiplayer games. These changes
make the battlefield more balanced, since they
expand the strategies and tactics you may try,
rather than focusing on a few small areas. We
hope it expands your enjoyment of the game.
* Enhanced documentation and stats:
See the section below, for explanations of the
files.
Enhanced documentation and stats:
============================================================
With CyberStorm, we made a conscious effort into having a
game with an intuitive interface and abundant help at your
fingertips. However, the choice to not have a paper manual
was not one that many were, shall we say, fond of.
In addition to the lack of heft in the box, many missed
explicitly detailed statistics for the weapons. Some wanted
more things to be able to read off-line. Others had trouble
printing sections of the manual on their printer.
For this patch, we have tried to address this as much as
possible. We have included some very detailed information
about CyberStorm in a basic text format for use in whatever
method you choose. We have also built a very large weapons
Excel spreadsheet ready for you to format however you like.
All the documents will be placed in a DOC subdirectory under
the directory where CyberStorm was installed. If you have
trouble reading some of the tables with your editor, try to
select all the text and pick a `Courier' font that can help
the text stay lined up. A list of files is as follows:
General information:
CHEAT.TXT Information about special cheat codes and
how to turn on/off new optional features.
KALI.TXT Includes notes on how to play CyberStorm
over Kali. This is something that many
people have asked about.
Component information:
CHASSIS.TXT Statistics for all basic chassis types
ARMOR.TXT Statistics for all types of armor
BATTERY.TXT Statistics for all types of batteries
DRIVE.TXT Statistics for all types of drive systems
LIFE.TXT Statistics for all types of life-support
systems
LIMBS.TXT Statistics for all types of legs
REACTOR.TXT Statistics for all types of reactors
SENSORS.TXT Statistics for all types of sensors
SHIELDS.TXT Statistics for all types of shields
TCOMP.TXT Statistics for all types of targeting
computers
TABLES.TXT Includes all the above basic component
files in one file.
INTERNAL.TXT Statistics for every internal device
WEAPONS.TXT Full statistics for all weapons (long text
format)
WEAPONS.XLS Full statistics for all weapons (Excel
table format)
Cybrid Intelligence:
CYBBUILD.TXT Information for every Cybrid building
configuration
CYBHERC.TXT Information for every Cybrid unit
configuration
Also, don't forget about right-click help. This can reveal
all sorts of information. Much of the information relates
to how to use the game interfaces, but some of the
information is unique.
Example: Mid-battle, you may right click on a weapon to
get its statistics.
Example: Right click on the planet bitmap when
configuring a multiplayer or hotseat game to get
its statistics and attributes.
Example: Right click on a pilots face in the
BioFacility to get a background on their
biogenetic source.
Notes on Hotseat or Play-by-EMail (PBEM) play:
============================================================
CyberStorm v1.1 now has Hotseat and Play-By-Email games.
Hotseat play will let several people play a mission against
each other on a single computer. Play-by-EMail play will
let people play a purely turn-based game across the world at
their own leisure. Each person takes their turn, and gives
a saved-game file to the next person in line to continue.
You may start such a game by selecting "Multi Player" and
then "Hotseat game" from the game menu. After selecting
the desired number of players you will be in the Hotseat
launch screen. This startup screen is similar to the screen
used to configure a multiplayer game, with some notable
differences:
1) You can enter a name and color for each player.
Tip: It is easiest to set the colors from top-down
in the list. People higher in the list have
priority in color choices.
2) You can specify a force to use for each player by
clicking on the large button to the right of their name.
This force can be either a custom force of your own building
or one of 130 default forces that shipped with CyberStorm.
You can even adjust the sliders before loading each force,
so that each user can use a different default force.
After finishing adjusting all the options and launching the
game, you have the choice to activate an automatic-save
option that is useful for Play-By-EMail games. If you
select the Play-By-EMail option, the game will be
automatically saved at the end of your turn and you will be
given some brief instructions on whose turn is next. You
can attach that saved-game-file to an EMail message to the
next player. The recipient can transfer this file from the
EMail to their disk, load it into CyberStorm (from the Menu
bar: "Load Game"), and play their turn. This cycle repeats
until the battle is complete. NOTE: All Play-By-EMail game
participants must have the updated CyberStorm v1.1, or they
will get an error trying to load that saved game.
The rest of the game will proceed much like a normal
CyberStorm game with a few exceptions:
Exceptions:
For fairness, you cannot watch the Cybrid turn if
you have the Fog-of-War activated. This was done
because we have no way of knowing who is or is not
watching the screen at any time, and having one
player know the exact Cybrid locations and force
strength was unfair. The Cybrid turn can be
viewed only if you set the Fog-of-War to `None'.
Unlike CyberStorm on-line multiplayer games, you may
save your game at any time through the normal
'Save Game' menu option. You may reload your game
and continue through the normal 'Load Game' menu
option. This lets you run the game at your own
pace and schedule.
Notes on Opportunity Fire:
============================================================
Opportunity Fire (OpFire) is a feature that lets you
automatically fire on an enemy who advances into your range.
They will only fire if they have saved energy for shots and
if the shot is a smart one. In the original rules for
CyberStorm, when it wasn't your turn you could only fire
back when fired upon. This upgrade improves CyberStorm to
allow your targeting computer to auto-fire at an enemy
whenever it sees a good `opportunity' to make a shot.
For multi-player and Hotseat games, a new option is
available on your launch screen to turn OpFire on or off.
This affects the OpFire settings for that game only.
Normally we think you want this option ON, though during a
team-play game you may want it off to avoid having your
computer auto-fire on your allies. For single-player games
OpFire is turned ON by default, though if you like you can
turn it off. (See the CHEAT.TXT file for more information.)
CyberStorm uses some intensive 3D line-of-sight computations
to determine weapon AI. Having the OpFire option turned on
may slow the game down at times, as it runs this logic to
decide who gets to fire as you move. This is included as an
option, since it changes the nature, tactics, strategies,
and difficulties of the game somewhat. Some may choose to
stick with the 'Return-fire' approach, for speed and
simplicity.
When you are firing at a moving target, as with OpFire, you
are charged a penalty on your chance to hit. Because of
this, your units may choose to hold their OpFire until they
have a very good shot. If you have a good shot during your
turn, you may have better luck taking the shot yourself
rather than just letting the OpFire handle your firing.
Also, note that Cybrids sometimes do not use OpFire -- if
they see a good shot during their turn, they tend to take it
immediately and not save the shot for later.
Notes on playing over the Sierra Internet Gaming System
(SIGS):
============================================================
You can play CyberStorm v1.1 through the Internet with
players around the world by using the Sierra Internet Gaming
System (SIGS). To use SIGS itself, only a PPP internet
connection with WinSock32 support is required. Players need
only a web browser to view SIGS on-line help.
Installing SIGS:
The SIGS drivers should have been installed when you
installed the patch. If you did not install them at that
time, you may run SIGSINST.EXE located in the CyberStorm
directory. If you had any problems installing that are
not solvable by rebooting & retrying, you might consider
downloading the SIGS-BlackJack program from the Sierra
web site since it has a larger, more robust installation
program.
Connecting to SIGS:
1. SIGS should work with any Internet Service Provider
with true 32-bit access. Because of this requirement,
SIGS will not work with: America On-Line, Prodigy,
WOW, and some others.
2. Start a multiplayer game normally. However, if
you have SIGS installed you will see a new `SIGS'
option after your old Modem / IPX / TCP options.
Select the SIGS option to connect to SIGS.
3. Your system will establish an internet connection,
if necessary, and link to the SIGS game servers. SIGS
itself is free. (Your costs for Internet connect time
to SIGS depends on your Internet provider.) If you are
a NEW MEMBER, you will be asked to enter your name, a
password, and other information the first time you
visit and download the SIGS software. Either write down
your user name and password somewhere, or tell SIGS to
remember them for you by checking the `Save password'
option.
Joining or Starting a Game:
1. After you sign into SIGS, you will see the "Gaming
Rooms" screen. Here you can join a room for the type
of game you want to play, or Create a Room if you want
to start something on your own. Use the SIGS Chat
window to find out about games that are starting.
2. When you see a game you want to join, simply click on
it and then click `Join Game'. That Game's Master will
decide if you can join or not. (Don't be hurt if
you're not let in -- some folks just want to keep
their games private.) You can also choose to `Create
Game,' and invite others to join.
3. When the game has enough players, the Master clicks
`Start Game' to get things rolling.
4. The rest of CyberStorm should proceed normally.
5. When you leave a battle under normal conditions,
CyberStorm will escort you back to the SIGS waiting
rooms where you can chat or join another battle. In
some cases, such as when a connection was lost, you
may be placed back at your HercBase. If this happens,
you can click on your HercBase launch-pad to connect
back into SIGS and continue as you please. If were
placed back in SIGS, but would rather be at your
HercBase to adjust your forces, simply close the SIGS
window to see your debriefing and return to your base.
Important SIGS Notes:
When you replay several SIGS games in a row, you keep
the forces left from the previous battle. This is a
feature to let you keep existing forces and work on
building your pilot's experience and ratings.
However, if your force is mostly destroyed in a
battle, you will probably want to reload some fresher
forces when you get to the launch options screen.
SIGS Help and Support:
SIGS is a product that is constantly improving. It
represents the direction that Sierra is going with on-
line gaming, not a final destination. Whenever you
use SIGS, your computer will automatically be updated
with the latest features and improvements from the
SIGS team.
For further information about using SIGS, see the
`Online Help' option in the SIGS screens (for this you
need a web browser). Other useful information,
answers to frequently-asked-questions and technical
support may be found through the Internet at:
http://www.sierra.com/sigs
Coming Soon!
============================================================
CyberStorm will be on the next generation of the Imagination
Network 3.0. You may get information at:
http://www.inngames.com/
Other interesting sites you should check out and bookmark:
Sierra On-Line:
http://www.sierra.com/
Sierra's MissionForce: CyberStorm Home Page:
http://www.sierra.com/cyberstorm/
Sierra's MissionForce: CyberStorm Message Forum:
http://www.sierra.com/messages/cyberstorm/index.html
Sierra Internet Gaming System (SIGS) Home Page:
http://www.sierra.com/sigs
Official CyberStorm Page:
http://www.techline.com/~outlaw/guns/cs/
(Lots of information, including Internet
tournaments, and FAQs)
Herc Base Alpha:
http://www.uncg.edu/~jsrobard/cs_index.htm
(All-around great site)
CyberStorm RP (Role-Playing) Home Page:
http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~gaastra/CSRP/CSRP.html
(Information on playing CyberStorm in a
unique role-playing context)
StormWatch:
http://stallion.jsums.edu/~redmax/
(Was Sierra's official tournament site)
We hope this update keeps our CyberStorm fans happy until
the release of our CyberStorm sequel, which will be cool
indeed! So, stay tuned.
-- The MissionForce:CyberStorm team