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Preliminary Corncob 3d documentation ------------------------------------ Copyright (c) Kevin Stokes, Pie in the Sky Software 1991 Welcome to Corncob, the shareware air combat flight simulator. -------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents ----------------- 1.) Getting Started 2.) Hardware Requirements 3.) What to try if Corncob crashes your computer 4.) Inflight keys 5.) Keyboard Play and how to handle the rudder 6.) Combat Missions: Theaters-of-Operation 7.) Training Missions: Design-your-own 8.) Friendly structures 9.) Enemy structures 10.) How to take off, fly level, and land 11.) $How to turn your plane$ 12.) Running Around - Welcome the Assassin 13.) Scoring/promotion rules 14.) Why is it doing that? (Commonly asked questions and answers) 15.) The Scenario 16.) About the program itself 17.) Notes about the mission builder 18.) Contacting Pie in the Sky Getting Started --------------- Welcome to Corncob-3d! Corncob-3d is an easy game to use. When you exit this introduction, you will be viewing the "main menu". From this menu, you can select various sub-menus in order to take ad- vantage of the many features of Corncob-3d. If you just want to get in the cockpit and fly, then type <CR> at the main menu. Doing so will bring up the Training Missions menu. Just type <CR> again, and you will receive the pre-flight report, which gives information the mission. Just hit <CR> again to begin the mission. Once in the plane, the blinking message reminds you that the F4 key gives inflight help. Hardware Requirements --------------------- Corncob requires an IBM PC/AT-type, 12Mhz or faster, with a color VGA display, 520k free DOS memory. Hardware Recommended: --------------------- A hard disk drive, a disk cache program (Hyperdisk works well), a joystick. NOTE: If running Corncob from a high-density floppy disk: you must install a copy of COMMAND.COM from your computer into the root directory of this floppy disk. What to do if Corncob crashes your computer. ------------------------------------------- Corncob has been tested on a variety of systems and has run reliably with no crashes for weeks of game play. However, Corncob 3D does do some rather unorthodox things which may cause problems with certain TSR programs. To make a long story short, the easiest thing to try is to reboot with no TSR programs loaded into memory, and no 'MENU' programs including the DOSSHELL. We do know of at least one user who has complained of a 'molasses mode' problem, where every thirty to sixty seconds the game would slow down to a snail's pace for about 5-8 seconds. This has to do with a system timer reset failure. Contact us for a possible solution. Inflight Key Definitions ------------------------ F1 - Boss Screen (Customize your own boss screen by editing BOSS.TXT file ) F2 - Intelligence Info F4 - Help F5 - Recenter Joystick escape - end mission now ( for best score, use near your airstrip tower ) cntl-c - abort mission ( end mission, pretend mission never happened ) Keypad arrow keys ( NEVER use cursor keys, use KEYPAD arrow keys only! ) 7,9 - left, right rudder control ( Must use these for taxiing on ground ) ( Tap lightly; Don't hold rudder keys down continuously in flight! ) 8,2 - nose down, nose up 4,6 - roll counterclockwise, roll clockwise numlock - toggle between {keypad arrows = views} or {keypad arrows = controls} left cntl key - use with keypad arrow keys for views left shift key - hold down to switch gun mode to cannons left shift key - apply brakes a - autopilot toggle on/off b - drop bomb now c - fire missiles ( Keyboard control only ) e - eject (must press space bar to pull ripcord) ALSO: (step out of plane) f - flaps toggle g - ground detail dots toggle on/off i - ignite rocket booster (15 second burn, 120 seconds recharge) m - map mode (arrows, pgup=move down, pgup=move up, shft arrows=change angle) p - pause toggle, (use spacebar to go through help screens when paused) r - toggle reverse window on/off s - toggle sound on/off, also use for reseting sound board in case of glitch. t - hold down for accelerated time x,z - left/right rudder ( Tap lightly; Don't hold rudder keys down continuously in flight! ) keypad +/- increase/decrease throttle joystick button 1: fire guns joystick button 2: fire missiles Standing on the Ground Key Definitions -------------------------------------- d - detonate your planted assassin bomb m - go to map mode p - pause (same as inflight) s - toggle sound on/off, also use for reseting sound board in case of glitch. t - hold down for advanced time v - radio for a rescue van j - hold down, release to jump. The longer held down, the higher the jump. keypad 2,8,4,6 - turn your head down, up, left, right keypad 5,0 - run forward, backward in direction you are facing. left cntl - changes function of keypad arrow keys to operate views caps lock - toggles remote control mode: fly plane from ground space bar - fire handgun ( Keyboard control only ) joystick button - fire handgun Keyboard Play ------------- A great deal of effort was put into Corncob in order to make keyboard play work well. The keyboard is interrupt driven, and your key presses are timed to within 1/1000 th of a second. Also, Corncob has no problem detecting keystrokes even when 3 keys are held down at once. Remember that to apply gentle tweaks to the control, you must press keys on and off rapidly, with the average time spent down being the desired roll/pitch rate. You have three displays on the front panel which show you what you are presently sending to the control stick. These meters are just to the right of the ALT light. NOTE: if the arrow keys suddenly appear to be not functioning properly, perhaps you have bumped the numlock key. See the 'inflight keys' section for the function of the numlock key. Combat Missions: Theaters-of-Operation --------------------------------------- To fly a mission a pilot first chooses which theater of operations he wishes to fly in. A theater of operations is a terrain filled with airports and areas of enemy concentrations. A pilot selects his mission by taking off from an airbase, and flying to one of the enemy areas to engage in combat. ( IE the mission is NOT selected from a menu ). For example, in the milkrun theater of operations, there is a mission called 'Devil's Aquarium'. The intelligence report reports that this gathering of enemy forces is located 3 miles west of Dulles International Airport. Therefore, starting from Dulles airport, take off and turn your plane West, and fly for three miles. After you have completed your mission, you can fly back to Dulles, or any other airfield, or you can fly to another enemy concentration to try to up your score for this flight. Most theaters of operation have 9 airbases from which the pilot can take off and land in. Each airbase has intelligence information about the enemy forces in the vicinity. Intelligence info can be gotten from entering the control tower on foot, or by using your radio (F2 key) when in the air. The information you receive will always be from the last airport you were in. One of the most important things about theaters is that they have a history capability. This means that anything a pilot has destroyed will stay destroyed forever. For example, say that yesterday a mission was flown in which the Devil's Aquarium was demolished. If that same theater is flown in today, the wreckage will still remain. This applies to friendly objects as well as enemy objects. Which brings us to the topic of plane conservation. Planes are a precious resource which should not be wasted. Each time you crash a plane beyond repair, there is one less in your theater. Even a heavily damaged plane can be repaired simply by landing and strolling over to the control tower on foot. If the pilot cannot land, then ending the mission with a low flyby will assume a safe landing with plane intact, and the next time the game is played the plane will be repaired. If desired, some older model planes can be brought out of storage, but this should be used only when desperate. These planes have reduced performance specs, and are a brown color. Of course, if a pilot runs out of planes in a theater, or would like a fresh start, there is always the option of reopening a fresh theater. A pilot can have up to 15 theaters open at one time, so he may fly one mission in MILKRUN theater, then fly a mission in FLATLAND, and so on. Closing an undesirable theater does not affect the pilot's record. In fact even if a pilot is killed in action, he can be resurrected. The only cost of resurrection is the fact that the computer keeps track of how many resurrections you did, and places this number by your name in all records. Each pilot has records kept both for his total career, and his performance in each theater which he has flown in. Training Missions --------------- If you don't want to fight in an actual theater, IE you just want to hop in a plane and shoot at aliens, then the Training Missions are for you. Use the menu to specify the number of enemy KLA sites, AAA batteries, and ground vehicle sites, and you are ready to engage in combat. You will be placed in a universe which is empty except for your airstrip and the enemy field of operations. The basic setup of the enemy territory will always be the same. The fuel storage canisters (or Ticks, as the pilots call them.) are always the primary mission objective. The default is that you are issued an invulnerable plane for training missions. If you wish the mission to add to your pilot's score, you may toggle off the invulnerable plane option. Friendly Objects ---------------- Airplanes --------- On every airstrip is one or more airplanes which you may fly. To get into a plane, simply walk up to it. To get out of a plane, use the 'e' key. There are three different plane types in the game. The blue-winged planes are the standard front-line ground attack planes. The brown-winged planes are older planes which have been brought out of storage in the case of an emergency. These planes have less engine power. Control Tower ------------- Every airstrip has a control tower. This tower contains the radio equipment and intelligence officers. If a pilot enters the door of the control tower on foot, his plane will be repaired if close enough. If a control tower is destroyed, it may be impossible to get intelligence info on future missions. Radar Unit ---------- The radar tower watches for your safe return to home base. If you want to have your plane on the next mission, you must make sure the radar tower is flashing before ending the mission with the escape key. The radar tower begins flashing when you get to within a certain distance of the control tower. Ending the mission with the radar tower flashing makes a big difference in the computed pilot score. Runways ------- Runways are the ideal location for taking off and landing. Your plane can do both on the grass also, but the risk of crashlanding is much higher when not landing on the runway. Taxiing on the grass bounces the plane about, and can cause a crashlanding even at low speeds. Rescue Van ---------- When a pilot is downed behind enemy lines, he can be rescued by the rescue van. He must first eject from the plane, and then use his handheld portable radio to call for assistance ( Press the 'v' key. ) A rescue van will be dispatched and will appear shortly. The van will approach you and stop when within a few steps of the pilot. When the pilot enters the van, the mission is over, and the pilot is considered home safe. The rescue van is not indestructible. The van will be destroyed if it collides with another object on its way to pick you up. It is up to the pilot to maneuver himself so that there are no obstructions between the approaching van and himself. Enemy Defenses -------------- 1.) Force Fields ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Force Fields are a passive defense system used to protect resources by shielding them from firepower, and preventing our aircraft from flying through. Some forcefields shimmer, some are solid colors. Some fields appear as a rectangular frame which may or may not vary in size with the passage of time. The solid and shimmering force fields require the most power, and therefore only click on when needed. When a bullet or missile, or a plane itself comes near a solid forcefield, it will pop into existence. Almost all bullets and missiles are stopped by the forcefields, as well as bombs. Do not use missiles when your plane is too close to field, as they will explode in your face when launched. A forcefield will cause damage to a plane at a certain rate during the time in which the airplane is flying too close. If a forcefield must be flown through, then to minimize damage, fly through perpendicular to the surface, and the higher the airspeed, the better. In almost all cases, forcefields are powered by a local generator orb. Therefore when you take out the orb, all the local ff's will drop. Note that the enemy's fire can be stopped by forcefields also. Barrage Balloons ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Barrage balloons are huge membranes filled with a lighter-than-air gas. They float up and down randomly. Their purpose is simply to be in the way. They are organic and self-regenerating, so although they stop all our firepower, they themselves are indestructible. Bee Swarms ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bee swarms are very similar to the barrage balloons discussed above. They float up and down, but they are much harder to see, and are more difficult to determine their exact position due to their indistinct appearance. AAA Batteries ---------------------------------------------------------------------- These are one of the most threatening of the enemy's active defenses. AAA sites track your plane and send up volleys of explosive shells which burst in the air around you. You do not have to be hit directly to take damage from an AA shell. The shells are designed to explode into fragments which tear through your plane, even if you are hundreds of feet from the explosion. The AAA batteries vary wildly from site to site. We have found that there is a correlation between muzzle color and deadliness. Usually the brown AAA is the least threatening, while the white AAA is devastating. Note that enemy AAA shells can enemy KLA's. KLA's Deathballs Spitballs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- These are enemy missiles which lock on to your plane, and attempt to explode when close enough. They are launched either from missile sites or from saucers. These missiles have varying abilities which you can determine from their color. When a KLA becomes active, it will show up as a green dot on your radar screen. When you see one visually you will notice that when it is pointed at you it begins to flash. At this point the KLA has a lock on you. Most KLAs will accelerate forward when they get a lock. Note that deathballs always head directly towards you, and do not lead your plane, like AAA batteries do. Generator Orbs -------------- Generator orbs produce power for force fields, and act as a central (usually) structure to each concentration of enemy activity. The process used by the aliens to generate power has a strange disorienting effect on humans when close to the orb. Usually this effect decreases with distance, but under certain circumstances can become independent of position. When attempting to destroy it, aim for the center of the flashing ball. It takes maybe ten missiles or two bombs and a few missiles to destroy one. When an orb is destroyed all the force fields in the immediate vicinity drop. This makes them of extreme strategic importance on some missions. In some situations it is wise NOT to destroy the orbs, since sometimes the alien's force fields can be used to our advantage. There is a special kind of orb which has an attractive tractor beam which exerts a pulling force on your plane. Some orbs have been designed to be invincible to normal weapons, and the only effective way to take them out is via suiciding the plane into them. Make sure you bail out before contact, or else you will be killed in the ensuing explosion. If you must bail a good way away from the target, hit caps lock to control your plane remotely. TRFRU ----- Tetrahedral Radio Frequency receiving units, or TRFRU, are antenna systems used for spying on all human military communications. They look like small black tetrahedrons spinning in the air. Mortars ------- Mortars are simple devices which are mounted on the ground and spew incendiaries when any human is near. They are used to deny low altitude flying. Mind Benders ------------ Mind benders are small tofu-like structures which have a hallucinatory affect on the human nervous system. These devices blaze with flashing colors, and spin slowly about the ball in their centers. They are extremely tough, and can only be taken out with a bomb. In many missions, they are unreachable from the air. In this case a volunteer must land his plane in enemy territory and proceed on foot to plant an assassin bomb on the device, then blow it up remotely from a distance. Aliens ------ Aliens are very light, and like to be in constant motion. They rarely are seen on open ground, and must be approached on foot most of the time. The hand gun is the weapon of choice for assassinating aliens. Upon death, chemical reactions take place which may cause the body to float up into the sky. If an alien touches you while you are not in your plane, you are captured. Ground Transports ----------------- These ground vehicles look like three wheeled radio controlled cars. They are no threat to the airborne pilot, however it is a different story for the pilot on foot. These shopping carts (unofficial name) can capture an ambulatory pilot. There are two ways to avoid capture while on the ground. One is to use your handgun to destroy approaching carts. The other method is to lead them into some wreckage or other structure which will cause the cart to turn onto it's side and die. Ground vehicles are notoriously stupid. When a shopping cart comes near, a human on foot feels a force inexorably pulling him towards the cart. Flying Saucers -------------- Saucers are the primary vehicle for alien airborne transportation. They vary widely in self-defense capability. Some have AAA built in, some have missile launchers (KLA) aboard. All but the dumbest have the ability to execute evasive maneuvers. All saucers have the ability to make bombing runs against airfields. The color of the top ball on the saucer indicates its intent. Saucers emanate from saucer sites. These sites look like large square cookie tins with an 'x' in the bottom. Portals ------- The aliens have developed a means of instantaneous travel. Portals are small force fields which look like rectangles with the corners clipped. There are a number of different types of portals. Some are used by saucers to appear directly over the home airstrip. These can be used by the clever pilot as a means of getting home when his plane is not serviceable enough to fly back. Other kinds take you to a random place in the theater, depending on whatever the aliens used it for last. Others are placed as traps which result in a destroyed plane, or worse, instant death. How to take off, land, and fly level ------------------------------------ The key to success in Corncob is to become a good flyer. Only when a pilot learns the abilities and limitations of his plane can he make the complex maneuvers required to make it to the rank of General. Takeoffs -------- Pulling your plane up into the air is the easiest part of flying. Merely put the throttle to the maximum, and pull up on the stick when you reach over 150 mph. However, there are some details to be aware of. If your plane is not lined up on the runway, you will have to maneuver on the ground. The joystick controls the tilt of the plane, it cannot turn the plane. Therefore, use the rudder controls to steer while on the ground. To bring the plane to a stop, you must use the brakes. These are the left shift key, the '.' key, or the '0' key on the keypad. The brakes must be used to bring the plane to a complete stop. ( The plane must be brought to a complete stop to qualify as a landing.) Once you are lined up, bring the throttle up to max. When you reach 100 mph, the tail of your plane will rise off the ground. Keep the plane on the runway by tapping the rudder keys if needed. When you surpass 150 mph, pull back gently on the stick. If you pull back too hard, the tail will swing down so quickly that it will slam back down onto the runway, thus kicking down your nose due to the bounce. This can cause a crash, so be careful. Level Flight ------------ When in the air the most important thing is to avoid crashing into the ground. In order to achieve level flight, you must keep your gunsight above the horizon. How high you must keep your nose depends on your airspeed. Near the stall speed of 100 mph, the nose must be kept much higher above the horizon than when you are flying at 350 mph. There is an altimeter and a climb rate meter to help you fly level. A warning light will flash if your altitude drops below 150 feet. When climbing, keep an eye on your airspeed. If this drops below 100 mph, then you may not have enough airspeed to fly. This makes a stall possible. Stalls and advanced aerodynamics -------------------------------- A stall occurs when the air traveling over the wings becomes turbulent. This results in a dramatic loss of lift, and unless corrected, the plane will invariably fall to the ground. Stalling can be brought about by letting your airspeed drop below stall speed, or it can also occur as a result of an imprudent aerobatic maneuver. In a computer sim, the joystick tension does not reflect the flight situation. Therefore, Corncob has in it an automatic stall preventer which limits the stick travel to the maximum attainable without causing a stall. This does not mean that it is impossible to stall. The stall preventer simply limits the control stick from causing a stall which would be the result of pulling back too hard. The most common cause of a stall is simply that the airspeed dropped too low to sustain flight. Another common cause is excessive sideslipping. Also, a damaged plane can be much more likely to stall. Wing damage will lower the lift of the wings, and control damage can make the stick jitter beyond what the automatic stall preventer can handle. Of course engine damage will lower airspeed, and rudder damage will increase level flight sideslip. How to get out of a stall ------------------------- To get out of stall means getting your forward airspeed up. Since your direction of motion is invariably down when stalled, the best idea is to get the nose pointed down. Of course your throttle should be place to maximum also. Note that when the stall is so bad that your airspeed is nil, then you have lost the ability to control the plane with the control surfaces. In fact, it is even possible for your plane to fly backwards with the controls operating in a reversed fashion. Even backwards airspeed is better than zero. If you are falling backwards, pull the stick back to push the nose down. Once the nose is down, hold her there until you get some forward airspeed. The emergency rocket booster can also be useful in getting out of a stall. Landing ------- This is one of the hardest parts of learning to fly. The biggest problem for beginners is to get lined up properly. One point to remember is that you must not fly toward the middle of the runway. Fly towards the close end of the runway, or a point on an imaginary line running the length of the runway and beyond. Once you are over that imaginary line, then turn your nose to point towards the end of the runway. Getting lined up is especially difficult in Corncob, due to fact that the plane may be slipping sideways. When you get close enough to the runway where it starts to switch from being drawn as lines, to being drawn with filled black rectangles, engage the flaps, and drop your throttle to zero. ( But don't let your airspeed drop below 100 mph, you may need to bump it up again.) At this point you should be no higher that 1000 ft. In Corncob your plane has automatic landing gear which pops down as required. Now let the plane drop, shedding that altitude before you reach the end of the runway. When you get to 100 or 200 feet, level the plane out for the final drop to the runway. If you are not perfectly lined up, but are low and over the runway, then drop and steer with the rudder once your wheels touch. The gear of your plane is quite tough, and on the runway surface you can have your rate of climb meter almost pegged negative and still survive. Landing on the grass can be done, but requires a much more sensitive touch down. It is a good idea to be holding down the brake key throughout the whole landing process. The left shift key is situated conveniently for the left hand to operate the brakes and rudder controls. For those that use the left hand on the joystick, use the keypad rudder and brake controls. Once you have solidly touched down you may taxi about using your rudder. Be careful to keep your speed down while taxiing (especially if your flaps are down.) because it may cause you to lift into the air inadvertently, and then cause a crashlanding. Please remember than on the ground, the stick is useless, and you must steer with the rudder keys. Pulling the stick over on the ground may cause your plane to flip and cause death. Crashes ------- There are two different types of crashes. One is a fatal wreck, and the other type is a crashlanding. A crashlanding is where your plane is brought down too hard, and the landing gear fails. The plane then spins to a stop on the ground. When it stops, your plane is dead and will not fly again until repaired. If you were close to your airstrip, the repair crew can fix it. (Do this by entering the control tower through the door on foot.) The other type of crash is the fatal crash. This happens if you slam into the ground too hard, or if your plane is so tilted during landing that your wing tip hits. ( Or if you try to land upsidedown - Sorry, George) Midair collisions ------------------ There many types of objects which will destroy your plane if you collide with them. When this happens your plane bounces, and the damage indicators immediately max out. The screen border turns dark red, and the eject light begins to flash. At this point you should bail out, since it is likely that you will die if you try to land the plane. Don't bother trying to make it back to base. (Although landing such a plane has been done on occasion, it most often proves to be a fatal mistake.) Some of the objects which will destroy your plane in a collision are: Saucers, fuel dumps, TRFRU, generator orb How to turn your plane in Corncob --------------------------------- Please note that Corncob's advanced flight model makes turning different than on many commercial flight games which have simpler models. With a little practice however, you will find the plane is just as manuverable. To turn your plane, simply move the stick left or right. The plane will begin to bank. Don't be too shy, give the plane a nice 45 degree bank. Now that wing's lift is no longer pulling straight up, your will lose some lift, and your nose may drop. Pull back on the stick to keep the nose above the horizon. You will notice that as you pull back on the stick, your nose will be pulled into the turn. To make a typical combat turn, place the plane on its side, so that the horizon froms a vertical line. Then pull all the way back on the stick, and hold it there until you have the compass reading you desire. Then simply flatten your plane back to the level. Be careful not to let the nose drop during the turn. You can alway bring it up by unbanking the plane a little, and the nose will lift since you are holding the control stick back. This method of turning is actually easier than a slow coordinated turn. The price for the fast turn is airspeed. The fastest turns are done with the flaps engaged, since this greatly increases the lift from the wings. Be careful not to let your airspeed drop too much. Flaps increase drag also. Note that the amount of time required for the turn depends very much upon your airspeed. ( Just like in an automobile, when moving fast you cannot make tight turns. ) Running Around - Welcome the Assassin ------------------------------------- Part of your job as a pilot will be special forces missions. In these missions you may have to land your plane in enemy territory and engage the enemy on foot. When you leave your parked plane, and venture into enemy territory on foot, you are taking the risk of being captured or killed. You can be killed by AAA shells or KLA's. You can be captured by shopping carts or aliens themselves. To defend yourself, you take a handgun with 20 rounds of ammo, and one assassin bomb. The plane has an inexhaustible supply of these, so you may always go back to the plane to resupply yourself. You can even retrieve handgun ammo and bombs from crashed planes. To move around when standing, turn yourself with the keypad arrow keys, and move the '5' key and walk in reverse with the '0' key on the keypad. If you want to go far, hold down the advance time key 't' simultaneously. You also have the capability to jump. Hold down the 'j' key, and you will see a magenta bar on the side of your screen. The longer you hold down the 'j' key, the higher you will jump when you release the key. Jumping is a capability which is necessary for some mission which take place on air- based structures, and you have to jump from one pad to another at 20000 ft. You have the unique capability of changing direction or stopping and starting horizontal movement while in the air. When jumping off something down to the ground, be careful not to jump too high, or else you may be killed. Some objects will support your weight, and others won't. Horizontal forcefields, fuel dumps, platforms, and control towers will support your weight. Enemy ground transports seek you out, and when they are close, will start to drag you towards them. You can evade them by defensive gunfire, hopping to safety, or by luring them into your crashed plane or perhaps one or their own structures. Aliens just bumble about randomly and are not much of a threat, but watch your back. Your assassin bomb is planted with the ';' key. When you plant a bomb it will remain where you planted it until it is time to detonate with the 'd' key. The bomb will stay suspended in the air if that is where you have placed it. The 'd' key will not directly detonate the bomb, however it will be armed, and it will begin to drop when the 'd' key is pressed. The most common use for assassin bombs is against mindbenders. These devices are vulnerable only to bombs. Adjust your position until you are standing in the center of the device. Then plant the bomb, and walk away. When you are satisfied that you are far enough away, detonate the bomb with the 'd' key. Scoring and medals/promotion details ------------------------------------ Scoring algorithm ----------------- Your score for a mission is determined by a formula outlined below. Your raw score which depends on how much stuff you killed is multiplied by 3 factors. These three factors depend on what happened during your mission. For example say your raw score for a mission was 1000. Further suppose that you returned from your mission, and landed your plane safely at an airstrip. Then your final mission score would be: 5 * 5 * 1 * 1000 = 25000 But say you ejected in combat, and had to be rescued by the rescue van. 4 * 1 * 1/2 * 1000 = 2000 Here you can see that bringing your plane home increased your score by 10 times. Now let's say you brought your plane back, but didn't have the guts to try and land it. 5 * 1 * 1 * 1000 = 5000 So you can see it is worth it to learn how to land the plane. It may be impossible to get a Stellar Cluster without landing your plane. If you make multiple flights during your mission, the multiplier reflects the worst thing which you did. For example, if you crashland a plane, but then take another into the air,( without quitting the mission) and do a great job, and even land beautifully, your multiplier will reflect the fact that you crashlanded; The fact that you also landed will not affect your score. Therefore you can see that flying against multiply mission objectives may raise up your score, but you are jeopardizing the points you have already earned by flying more without ending the mission. Of course you'll never top the high score list without taking some chances... Why is it doing that? (Commonly asked questions, and their answers) -------------------------------------------------------------------- > When first lifting off the ground, why does the nose lift for a second, >and then seem to knock back down? If you pull back too hard on the stick while lifting off, your tail wheel will be slammed back down onto the pavement, and when it bounces upward, your nose appears to bounce downward. It is possible to crash and burn as a result of this, so pull back on the stick gently. > Why does the stall light go on sometimes when I'm taxiing on the runway? The stall detector is looking at the airflow over the wings. It is calibrated to detect stalls when the plane is flying. When on the ground, the weight of the plane is held by the landing gear, thus making the stall detector give incorrect readings. Just ignore it. > Why doesn't the plane steer worth a bean when I'm on the runway? Don't try to use the joystick to steer a grounded plane. The control stick left/right controls mostly only the roll (left/right tilt) of the plane. You must use the rudder controls to steer on the ground. These are the 'x' and 'z' keys, or the '7' and '9' keys on the keypad. > Why don't the brakes appear to work? In Corncob, the brakes do NOT toggle on/off. To stop you must hold down the brake key until the plane comes to a complete stop. For joystick play, this is the left shift key, or keypad '0'. For keypad play, it is '.' or keypad '0'. > Why doesn't the 't' key appear to work? In Corncob, the advanced time mode does NOT toggle on/off. To fly in advanced time, hold down 't', and release it to return to normal flight. Note that the time compression is directly related to your computer speed. To advance time to the fastest, increase the frame rate by using 'r' and 'g' to turn off ground detail and the rear view. > Why does using the rudder in flight just make me stall? Unlike other flight sims, Corncob's flight model includes the capability of your plane sliding sideways through the air. The rudder causes your nose to flip to the side, without necessarily changing the direction of motion of the plane. Using too much rudder (by holding the key down too long), will cause the plane to turn to the point where it is hurling sideways through the air. Note that as soon as you release the rudder, the sidewind makes the nose tend to flip back into the sidewind, thus restoring the original orientation of the plane. The rudder is useful for flipping the nose a little to the side for a quick shot at a side target without the need of negotiating the slow process of turning the plane. > How do I know when to end the mission? A large part of Corncob is bringing your plane back to the base. Therefore you must bring your plane to a friendly airstrip, or else when you go to fly again, you will have one less plane in that theater. In order to exit without losing a plane, exit the program with escape when you are flying low over your airfield (with the radar tower flashing white), or else land on the air strip. Landing on the airstrip will give you a much higher score multiplier, so it is worth an attempt if you think you can do it without crashing. To find an airfield, use the map which is brought up with the 'm' key. > How do I zoom down closer when in map mode? When in map mode, the KEYPAD 9 key will zoom down, and the KEYPAD 3 key will zoom up. Use the joystick or keypad arrow keys to move around. To make the map jump back to your present position, hit the KEYPAD 7 key. > Why do I die every time I eject, regardless of altitude? Ejecting successfully from a flying plane requires two keys. 'E' to eject, and <space bar> to pull your ripcord. If you don't pull your ripcord, you will die when you strike the ground. If you bail out at 20000 feet, wait until you get closer to the ground before pulling your ripcord, otherwise you will be stuck in the air for a long time. > Why are some generator orbs seemingly indestructible? Some orbs have been designed to be invincible to normal weapons, and the only effective way to take them out is via suiciding the plane into them. Make sure you bail out before contact, or else you will be killed in the ensuing explosion. If you must bail a good way away from the target, hit caps lock to control your plane remotely. The indestructable orbs are a light shade of blue/green. > Why does the complete light refuse to go on, even though I know > the mission is completed? The mission objectives have to be given some geometric scope via the mission builder when the mission is created. Almost all mission complete sensing is done via the generator orbs. IE, if you have completed a mission, but the complete light doesn't go, make a flyby of the mission's generator orb, (or it's remains) and many times the complete light will belatedly light up. Note that if your complete light never lights, you will not get credit for accomplishing an objective. > Sometimes my plane goes into a weird mode where my keypad arrow > keys stop working, and something weird happens. Numlock toggles the keypad arrow keys between views, and control of the plane. Note that the numlock light on the keyboard will not change. If you would like to use the views without changing the mode of the arrow keys, hold down the left control key to temporarily change the function of the arrow keys to view, the normal function of the keys returns when you release the left control key. > I can't find any way to put down the landing gear! The plane has landing gear that comes down automatically. From a game standpoint, it seemed unnecessary to have something which doesn't add to the fun of the game, and can cause pilots to be killed. We all get punished in life enough for being absent-minded, why be punished when playing a computer game? > Why can this Corsair do a loop directly after take off? Because the number one priority in this game was to have fun. That meant increasing the thrust of the engine by a factor of four. For those sim buffs who will criticize that, how many flight games keep the realistic figure of 10-15 minutes just to climb to 17000 feet? Who wants to spend 1/4 hour of their life just sitting there watching your computer plane climb? The scenario ------------ The date is August, 1949. This is not the 1949 that we remember, though. In this 1949, WWII never happened ( this is because among other factors, Adolf Hitler was killed at the age of 19 when hit in the head by a thrown beer bottle ), but all was not peace in this alternate age. In 1939, aliens swept down out of the skies, and began to set up struc- tures. Although many attempts were made to communicate, the aliens did not respond. It soon became obvious that these creatures simply were not interested in us, or any other life on the planet. When human dwellings or cites were in their way, the aliens simply destroyed them and continued their seemingly random construction plans. So in 1941, the world governments agreed to band together in an alliance for humanity. No attacks were launched until November, 1941. The plan was a simultaneous all out blitz against the extraterrestrials in every part of the globe. The Corncob program itself -------------------------- Corncob was written by Kevin Stokes, with a lot of additional programming done by George Welch. It has taken about one year to write, and this process is still continuing. Most of the program is written in assembler for compactness and speed. The game is somewhat modular, as the advanced user can tell from the directory listing. 3.exe and Rimg.exe are written in assembler, with some use of an assembler library called Spontaneous Assembly. The rest are written in Power C. Here is a listing of the modules and their function: Corncob.bat: Batch file which calls 3.exe, and moag.exe. 3.exe: Main code. This is the program which is running during flight. cctitle.exe: Title screen program. moag.exe: Menu/pilot scorekeeper/theater accounting is done from moag. rimg.exe: This reads dashboard files and help screens during flight. tower.exe: All intelligence information is reported via tower.exe Notes about the mission builder ------------------------------- All 130 of Corncob's missions were created with the mission builder. The mission builder allows you to create new theaters of operation complete with mission intelligence reports. With the mission builder you have the same tools the author of Corncob used to make all the theaters. When you order Corncob deluxe for $15, you get the mission builder along with an advanced version of Corncob with many new features. Please note however, that the mission builder is a programmer's tool; It was never intended to be offered to customers. The MB is very powerful, but difficult to master. This mission builder is not recommended for use by any but the most enthusiastic user who has DOS expertise and the patience to learn a non-user friendly setup. To contact Pie in the Sky Software: ( Email Preferred ) ----------------------------------- Pie in the Sky Software BBS ( This is the best method until July, 1992 ) --------------------------- Call our 24-hour BBS (2400,n,8,1) and download the latest version of Corncob on the first call. Also this is the best way to get technical help etc. (919)489-6900 Prodigy: DWHC72A Internet: kds@phy.duke.edu Compuserve 74040,3526 Genie: K.STOKES1 US Mail: ( Address valid through Dec 1992 ) -------- (Only letters with a self-address stamped envelope enclosed will be answered!) Pie in the Sky Software PO Box 4742 Durham, NC 27707