101 OnLy ThE BeSt GaMeS 10/101 OnLy ThE BeSt GaMeS 10.iso/Tigerb/README.TXT

Text File | 1998-08-13 | 19KB | 310 lines

                                                        Introduction

     Welcome to Tiger's Bane, a game of modern helicopter combat. The action takes place on multiple
side-scrolling maps, but is slightly more realistic and tactically oriented than your average shoot-em-up.

     Tiger's Bane has been in development for around 4 years, in one form or another. It started life as
"Flying Tigers" under the Dark Unicorn Productions label, before finally ending up as "Tiger's Bane"
from Longbow Digital Arts. It was first released for the Amiga« computer at the end of 1997, and now is
available for Microsoft« Windows 95« and NT 4.0«. There's nothing technologically ground breaking
about the game now, but we think it is still fun to play, and hope you will think so too!

     Inspirations for the game were numerous, including Choplifter«, JetStrike«, Gunship 2000«, and
Desert Strike«. I wanted a game that could capture some of the realism of multi-helicopter air combat
and combined-arms ground combat in a side-view environment without being overly fast and furious, and
also without hurting the gameplay with too much hard core simulation realism.

     The Operations in Tiger's Bane are designed first to be fun, and second to be replayable. Most
Operations (except Training) contain about twice as many missions as you will actually get to play in one
game. They are usually chosen randomly, but some branches in the mission tree are based on your
performance up to that point. Within each mission there are also random factors at work, so one time
there might be an air threat, and another time there might be an extra mobile SAM launcher.

     Have fun, and I hope you enjoy the game!

                                                                Seumas McNally
                                                               Lead Programmer




                                                          Quick Start

     Use either the mouse, joystick, or cursor keys and CTRL to navigate the pointer around the menus.
On the Main Menu, first go to the options screen to configure your controls and audio/video settings. Full
screen is recommended for the best play experience (note that hitting the "Maximize" button on the title
bar while in windowed mode is not the same as switching to full screen mode). If your desktop only has
256 colors, windowed mode may look ugly. If you are using Windows NT, you will probably have to
select Wave-Out instead of DirectSound for proper sound operation.

     Once you're through the options screen, select Start a New Game to get under way. If you have
never played Tiger's Bane before, you should start with the Training Operation to get a feel for the
controls. On the next screen, select a skill level, and then choose Fly Operation to begin. Remember that
you can click the little "Help" bubble icon that appears over most menus for additional information.

     Once on the Mission Briefing, note the Primary, and if present, Secondary Targets, along with any
other pertinent information. The "Sightings" report which Enemy and other Friendly forces are known to
be present in the mission area (sometimes the report will be inaccurate though). Selecting Arming will
allow you to choose your helicopters and weapons for the fight. Selecting Skip will bypass the current
mission, most likely failing it.

     The first helicopter you select on the left hand roster is the one you will fly. You can have up to 2
extra Wingmen, and one Air Support Jet Aircraft along for the ride (you can only fly helicopters). The
number beside the Aircraft is its current condition, with 100% being fully repaired (damaged Aircraft will
be repaired a small amount each day they are at base). To change an Aircraft's weapons loadout, select it
on the right hand list (if it isn't already selected) and modify its armaments in the lower right panels. To
select a weapon type, click on it in the Stores area on the left. To place a weapon system on the Aircraft,
click on one of the Hardpoints in the right panel. The type of weapon that was previously there, if any,
will then be selected. Once done, put on your flight suit and helmet, and click Fly Mission to go kick
some butt.

     The Flight Controls section contains information on flying the helicopters in Tiger's Bane, and the
Tactics and Tips section contains general pointers and combat strategies. To get information on the
friendly units, enemy units, and helicopters that are available, please see the in-game help on the Mission
Briefing and Arming screens while playing the game.

     Once you're armed and at your base, you can proceed to take off, complete the mission objectives,
and land back where you started. If your helicopter gets too damaged to return to base, try to make an
emergency landing on something flat, or eject if all else fails. Breaking a bird and surviving is better than
breaking a bird and getting killed in the process. To be able to get to the end of the combat operations
you may have to swallow your pride now and then, and get out of a dying bird early rather than going
down in flames trying to take out that one last enemy unit.

     After the mission, you will see the Debriefing screens.





                                                    Flight Controls

     First a word of warning. The controls in Tiger's Bane are NOT those of your average side-scrolling
shooter. They will likely take some getting used to, but that shouldn't take too long. Some points to
remember:

         Your helicopters have lots of mass, and lots of inertia to go along with it. Especially in windy
conditions, it may take a little time for your helicopter to start moving in the direction you want it to.
Think ahead.

         The controls don't auto-center by default, so to stop moving you have to bring them back to center
yourself. (This IS handy in combat, once you get the hang of it.) Watch the little green HUD pips around
your chopper, they show you how your controls are currently set. You can have the controls center
when using a joystick by turning on Absolute mode in the options screen.

         Some helicopters have Fly By Wire systems installed, which will assist you by making it easier to
level out your rate of climb, and by (trying) to help you avoid collisions with structures and the ground.
The system can become damaged, though, so you should learn to fly choppers that don't have it. Without
Fly By Wire, you will lose vertical thrust as you start accelerating horizontally, and must compensate by
pulling up so as to not hit the ground.

     In all methods of control, your main joystick, joypad, or keys move your helicopter. Up and down set
your collective, or rate of climb and descent, and left and right control your pitch forward and backward,
which dictate your horizontal movement. In general, most weapons require you to press and then let go
of the key or button associated with them, however Chainguns will auto-fire. The Evasive manouvre can
sometimes be used to dodge past missiles and bullets that are flying your way.

     Keyboard controls are always active, whether or not joystick controls are also selected. The four
arrow keys act the same as the joystick in relative mode, with the CTRL key acting as a fire button.
There are two ways to fire weapons with the keyboard, either by holding down CTRL while pressing an
arrow key, or by hitting one of the configured instant weapon keys. You can configure these keys on the
Options Screen. Tapping in the reverse direction twice will turn around (the same as the key configured
for turning around), and tapping up or down twice will evade. (Note, these are the classic controls.
They're still available, but the best method is to use specific keys or joystick buttons for weapons and
turning with one hand, and flight control with the other hand.)

     When using a joystick withou