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Text File | 1991-11-22 | 11.8 KB | 258 lines

README file for SCORCH v1.1 Updated 23 NOVEMBER 91. This file contains trivia, last minute instructions, and changes to SCORCH, in no particular order. What's New in Version 1.1? ========================== A. Bug fixes. The following bugs (and quite a few other minor ones) were fixed: - XT incompatibility - "Save Changes" failed on many systems - Talking tanks didn't talk on some systems - "Simultaneous Mode" missing from menu - FireDelay=0 created a very strong wind - Various crashes of all kinds fixed. If you still experience these or other bugs, please report them to the author. B. New features. The following new features have been added. They are all fully documented in the full manual, but described here briefly for users of 1.0 who want to get up to speed quickly. In addition, there are a few other minor additions not mentioned here. Note that the new manual is almost twice as large as the previous manual. - Enhanced graphics interface, including push-buttons and faster drawing. - Easier initialization of players. Note that the TAB key is used to switch between Computer and Human players. The grayed picture of the phone is for Modem support, which is NOT YET IMPLEMENTED, but will be in a future version. - Index added to manual. - Two new ways to die. - Twice as many messages in the talk file (thanks to players!). Also more talk options: you can make all tanks talk, or just the computers talk. You can also control how often they talk. - Play order option. You can choose from random (as in Scorch 1.0), losers-first, winners-first, and round-robin. - Joystick support. Currently, I use the BIOS to access the joystick... according to my manuals, this may not be supported on older machines, particularly XTs. If you fall into this category, please let me know. - Save/Restore Game from System Menu. - Optionally, when computers are playing themselves, the action will speed up until human players become involved again. (This is the "Fast Computers" option). - From the buying menu, you can now get an update which includes the total interest you have earned since Round 0. - Free Market option under Economics menu. This creates a supply-and-demand economy where the prices of items vary according to how often they are bought. This helps to regulate the prices according to the strategies of those playing. By default, it is OFF. - Useless Options toggle under Weapons menu. By default, items which have no effect (e.g. contact triggers if tunneling is OFF) will not appear on the Buying Menus. If you want to buy them anyway, turn this option ON. - Simultaneous Mode has been enhanced. The top bar now displays a bar graph of each tank's power, and also show each player's current weapon. In addition, you may now use batteries in Simultaneous Mode. Batteries in simultaneous mode will automatically fire whenever your total energy falls blow 91 and is above 0. This means that if you take damage slowly, your batteries will essentially keep you from taking any damage at all. Batteries will only "Autofire" in Simultaneous Mode. - A Restart Game option has been added to the System Menu and at the end of the game. This puts you back to the main menu, so you can start again. Some menu options can only be set the first time (such as graphics mode), so they will be grayed. - 4 New Weapons: Napalm - Splashes fiery liquid where it hits. Hot Napalm - Scaled up napalm. VERY VERY HOT!!!!!! Liquid Dirt - Pours out dirt where it lands, smoothing the terrain. Smoke Tracers - Just like tracers, but they leave a smoke trail, even if TRACES aren't enabled. - Enhanced "Starry Sky". The stars now generate many times faster. Also, meteors will often shoot across the sky. Watch out if they hit you! - MEDIUM scale setting. - Harmful Environment switch added to Weather menu, by default ON. If you turn this OFF, no tanks will take damage from lightning or other special effects which are caused by the weather/sky type. - Ability to change icons from the "Reassign Players" menu. - Keyboard interface to "Reassign Players" menu added. - Some of the panels can now be "dragged" by holding on the top bar and moving the mouse. - Status Bar option added to Play Options menu. With this enabled, the top bar of the screen is twice as thick, and the second bar displays most of the information of the Tank Control Panel in abbreviated form. Also, you can use new keyboard and mouse shortcuts to change these options IF the Status Bar is active. - Ability to sell back unwanted items. From the Buying Menu, select "Inventory." Click on the item you want to sell, and the Selling Panel will appear. Decide how many you want to sell, and the computer will make an offer. You can either Accept or Reject the offer. - While playing the game, the Inventory panel can also be used as a "short-cut." Clicking on an item causes the "most likely" thing to happen. For weapons, this means selecting that weapon as the current one. Shield will be activated, guidance systems will be activated, etc. For more info, consult the manual. - Right-clicking the mouse when selecting a target chooses center of tank nearest where you clicked. Left-clicking still chooses exactly where the mouse points. - Fast Computers option, so when only computers are playing (presumably because the humans managed to kill each other off), the game speeds up until the next round. C. Miscellaneous changes. - "Impact Damage" was removed from the menus. By default, this is ON. If you want it off, you can edit scorch.cfg using any plain text editor. This option may vanish in future versions of Scorch unless somebody lets me know they use it. - The "Invisible Shots" menu item has been removed. You can use this option by setting "Bomb Icon" to be invisible. - The "Scoring Mode" option "EXPERT" has been renamed "STANDARD". - The "Tank Options" menu has been rename "Play Options". - To access the System Menu, use Alt-S. Pressing just the 'S' key will no longer pop up this menu. - Other options have moved around somewhat, hopefully to make things more intuitive. - IF YOU PLAYED 320x200 MODE FOR THE LARGE EXPLOSIONS... you will need to set the "Scale" option to large to get the same size used in Scorch 1.0. Distribution List: ================== The full distribution of Scorched Earth consists of the following files: Filename Size Description ------------- ------- -------------------------------------- FIX .BAT 83 Utility to remove bad .cfg files ORDER .FRM 1782 Order form for Scorched Earth Password README . 12035 This file SCORCH .CFG 5135 Scorched Earth Configuration File SCORCH .DOC 127460 Scorched Earth Documentation SCORCH .EXE 274466 Scorched Earth, The Game SCORCH .ICO 766 Scorched Earth Icon for Windows 3.0 TALK1 .CFG 1021 Comment File used for Talking Tanks TALK2 .CFG 1115 Another Comment File used for Talking Tanks Printing the Documentation: =========================== Make sure your printer is on, online, and has paper. SCORCH.DOC takes about 60 pages. Then type COPY SCORCH.DOC PRN. Then hit Enter, of course. Or use any program that will print files, such as your favorite word processor. VGA note: ========= Scorched Earth (SCORCH) is a VGA only game. It will not run on any other type of system. Fixing Problems: ================ If you have a problem with SCORCH when changing settings, you can just delete the SCORCH.CFG file and run SCORCH. It will return to the default settings. Or, just run FIX.BAT, and it will get rid of the bad SCORCH.CFG file. Floating Point Coprocessors: ============================ This is in the manual, but is mentioned here for emphasis. If Scorch is running VERY FAST, it may be because you have a floating point coprocessor (8087/80287/80387/80486). By default, Scorch will use a coprocessor if present, as some systems are greatly benefited by this. If it is making things run too fast, though, you can type set 87=N from the DOS prompt before running Scorch, to disable to coprocessor. (To those familiar with Turbo C, you might recognize this as the Borland convention for disabling coprocesser support. I mention this, because it means that any other programs you run which were compiled with Turbo C will also ignore the coprocessor if this switch set!) Useless Statistics: =================== For those who are interested, Scorched Earth was written using Borland C++ 2.0 and Turbo Assembler 2.5. There are approximately 89 C files and 6 assembly files, totalling over 631K of source code. Sticky Keys: ============ Many people have noticed the SHIFT, ALT, and CONTROL keys sticking occasionally. If you exit Scorch and see garbage when you type, just press the SHIFT/ALT/CONTROL keys a few time and things should straighten themselves out. This seems to be a BIOS problem. Acknowledgments: ================ There are far too many people who have contributed to the success of Scorch to mention here. Thanks to all who have sent letters pointing out bugs and offering suggestions. Keep 'em coming! I would especially like to thank those who playtested version 1.1, in an effort to reduce the number of bugs BEFORE it was released. Richard Kaszeta and his group were particularly helpful. Also, thanks to Matt Tyler for designing the new Free Market economic model; Dave Krider for optimizing the assembly drivers; Scott Dolim and Steve Palm for helping out on the falling dirt; Jason Medesto for helping with 'J' guidance (since renamed Ballistic Guidance); Art Hicken for helping out with GEnie support and formatting the original manual; and, of course, many thanks to all those who play and enjoy Scorch. My apologies to all those I didn't mention. Deluxe Registration!! ===================== As a special bonus, I am making a "Deluxe Registration" option available until January 1st, 1992. Deluxe Registration includes the most recent copy of Scorch on disk and a 70 page looseleaf copy of the enhanced manual. The enhanced manual contains the same text as the file "scorch.doc", but is illustrated with tables, icons from the game, and keys for all the options. Deluxe Registration costs $20 instead of $10. Deluxe Registration is available in the U.S. only. Scorch Fans Outside the U.S.: ============================= To register Scorch, all you need to do is figure out some way to get $10 to me. Try going to your local bank and asking for a "U.S. Dollar World Money Order". Versions of Scorch in Polish and German should be available soon... other languages will follow if their is interest, and someone willing to translate. Other problems/suggestions: =========================== If you have any ideas or bug reports, please contact the author. All comments are welcome, whether or not you are a registered user. Wendell Hicken 59 Esperanza Apt. M Sierra Madre, CA 91024 HCBN64A on Prodigy 70671,606 on CompuServe W.Hicken on GEnie whicken@parasoft.com on internet ============================================================================ Most of all, Don't forget that Scorched Earth is Shareware. The game is good, if somewhat addictive. The price is cheap. So why not support the game, its further development, and the whole shareware concept by sending in your $10. As they say on T.V. "Thank you for your support."