Monster Media 1994 #1/monster.zip/monster/GAMES_C/RAEASY12.ZIP/RAEASY.DOC

Text File | 1994-01-04 | 14KB | 277 lines

                     DOCUMENTATION FILE FOR RAEASY VER 1.2


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PLEASE READ:
This version of RAEASY supports BOTH the ORIGINAL Rebel Assault game as well
as the VERSION 1.4 PATCH.   The 1.4 patch included a new version of the
ASSAULT.EXE file.  Since RAEASY verifies/modifies binary data at specific
locations in ASSAULT.EXE, the new version of ASSAULT.EXE required a new
version of RAEASY to support it.

To implement this version of RAEASY with the 1.4 patch, just place RAEASY
in the same hard drive directory as the patch (usually \rebel), and run
RAEASY.  To run Rebel Assault, follow the patch file's directions which are
given in its readme.txt file.  Do NOT run reb.bat or other batch files if you
are using the 1.4 patch.  Since the 1.4 ASSAULT.EXE file is already located on
your hard drive, there is no need to copy it from the CDROM or modify any batch
files.

If you are running the ORIGINAL Rebel Assault without the 1.4 patch, READ THE
REST OF THIS FILE for information on copying the ASSAULT.EXE executable from
the CDROM to your hard drive.  Information is also given for modifying
the reb.bat or other batch files.  Please note that if you are using RAEASY
to modify the ORIGINAL game's ASSAULT.EXE file, you MUST run Rebel Assault
from a batch file, usually reb.bat (type "reb" to run it) which is created for
you by the game.  DO NOT START THE GAME BY TYPING "rebel" -- THIS RUNS THE
CDROM-BASED REBEL.EXE FILE, AND WILL RUN THE GAME FROM THE CDROM ONLY, WITH NO
RAEASY MODIFICATIONS ACTIVE.  (The author hilights this point because a number
of RAEASY users modified their hard drive version of ASSAULT.EXE, modified
a batch file for calling ASSAULT.EXE on the hard drive, and then typed "rebel"
to run the game.  Sorry for any confusion caused by the RAEASY 1.1 text file.)

Quite a few people reported trouble with RAEASY not being able to open their
hard drive versions of ASSAULT.EXE.  This was caused by the read attribute
bit on ASSAULT.EXE not clearing when they copied ASSAULT.EXE from their CDROM
to the hard drive.  Most computers automatically clear this bit during the copy
process, but some don't and require the user to manually clear it.  The author
has posted a file, RAHELP.ZIP, that will clear the bit for you.  There are
MANY DOS utilites available that will clear the read bit -- Norton Utilities,
the DOS ATTRIB command, etc.

The rest of this file duplicates the RAEASY 1.1 text file.  Please read it
if you want to modify the ORIGINAL Rebel Assault game.
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RAEASY is a "trainer" utility written for Rebel Assault by LucasArts. It
functions by altering the mission data records in the game's executable file,
ASSAULT.EXE. Rebel Assault is distributed only in CDROM format (all files are
read-only).  In order for you to use RAEASY on the ASSAULT.EXE file, these 2
files must be located on and run from the Hard Drive -- this necessitates
copying the Rebel Assault executable from the CDROM to your Hard Drive.
Instructions for doing this copy command and other game execution-related
info is discussed later in this file.

Rebel Assault mission data is stored as 3 groups of data structures.  These
groups are identified by the game difficulty level - Easy, Normal, and Hard.
One data group contains ALL the mission data for the EASY level, another
contains ALL the mission data for the NORMAL level, etc.  RAEASY allows you to
edit INDIVIDUAL or ALL missions at ANY selected difficulty level.  (The author
wrote RAEASY in this manner so you can tailor specific levels. For example,
you can make all the missions VERY EASY at the EASY game setting while keeping
the NORMAL and HARD levels unchanged. Then just choose which level you wish to
play at game run time.)

This version of RAEASY allows you to edit the following mission parameters for
any or all missions at any difficulty level:
    1)    SCORE POINT INCREMENTS FOR GAME PLAY TIME, KILLS, LEVEL
        COMPLETION, AND BONUSES.
        The Score Point Increment for Game Play Time is the point
        increment you get just for surviving.  It is on a system timer
        and automatically bumps your point score.  The Score Point
        Increment for Kills is the number of points you get for making
        a kill.  Level Completion and Bonuses are the points you get for
        successfully completing game Levels and any Bonuses which are
        awarded at that time.

    2)    JOYSTICK-TO-SHIP ROLL, LIFT, SLIDE, AND DRIFT CONTROL
        SENSITIVITIES.
        Alter these values when you want to make your ship more or less
        sensitive to joystick movement.  The game functions by taking
        input from your joystick and mixing it with predefined ship
        movement pathways.  Note that you can set these values to 0 and
        the ship will almost fly itself through missions.

    3)    DAMAGE MONITORING LEVELS FOR MISSILE, COLLISION, AND GUN FIRE
        DAMAGE.
        Sets the amount of damage your ship can sustain before it is
        destroyed.  Rebel Assault uses these 3 damage parameters for
        determining total damage to your ship.  Normally, the game sets
        these values based on the type of mission you are doing, i.e.,
        the Collision Damage setting will be a higher value than the
        other two levels if you are mainly flying through canyons or
        river valleys during a mission.  If you set all 3 levels very
        low (0 or 1), your ship will take little or NO DAMAGE.

    4)    AUTO TARGETING LEVEL.
        Controls how much manual targeting you have to do (with your
        joystick) before getting a "Lock/Fire" indicator for shooting
        your weapons. Setting this value high (over 100) forces the game
        to do ALL the targeting for you -- essentially an AUTO TARGET
        mode. Just pull the trigger and you will auto target and destroy
        enemy both in front of and behind your vehicle.

    5)    COMBAT FINE TUNING SWITCHES FOR TARGET FRAMING, TARGET RETICLE
        DISPLAY, VISIBLE WEAPON FIRE, TARGET EXPLOSIONS, TORPEDO PRIMARY
        WEAPON CONTROL, AND KILL SCORE DISPLAYS.
        Target Framing -- Controls whether or not the enemy currently
          being targeted is "framed" or bracketed by colored lines.
        Target Reticle Display -- Turns the target reticle display on
          and off.  Turning this off makes it hard to target enemy!
        Visible Weapon Fire -- This switch determines whether or not you
          see the laser or torpedo as it fires from your ship.
        Target Explosions -- Determines whether or not an explosion is
          generated when you hit a target.
        Torpedo Primary Weapon Control -- Determines what your primary
          weapon is.  If ON, torpedoes are you primary, otherwise you
          are given lasers.  If you're tired of lasers, try this switch.
        Kill Score Displays -- Activates a special display that shows
          you the points you just received for a kill. The display is
          written to the screen at the location where you just made the
          kill, i.e., when you shoot a TIE Fighter you'll see a number
          come up on the screen at the TIE's last location. This number
          is the score increase you just got for destroying the TIE
          Fighter.

The RAEASY author set up a "demo" game by changing all CONTROL SENSITIVITIES to
0, all DAMAGE LEVELS to 0, and AUTO TARGETING to 32767.  The ships essentially
fly themselves and all you do is pull the trigger.  Of course, play with these
parameters to tailor the game to your flying and combat skills.




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                                  INSTALLATION
Installation is easy.  Just copy RAEASY.EXE, and this text file (if desired)
to your Rebel Assault directory (\rebel, usually). Run RAEASY by typing the
filename, "raeasy".  For program information, type "raeasy ?".

Once RAEASY completes its initial security checks on the ASSAULT.EXE file, you
will be presented with a difficulty level menu.  Select the level you want to
modify and press <Ret>.  The "Mission Alteration Menu" will come up next.
Select items <1> to <21> to alter an individual mission, or select items <22>
to <34> to alter ALL missions at this difficulty level.

Selecting an individual mission for alteration will give you a summary of the
mission parameters at your selected difficulty level.  Alter any parameters
for the mission.  (See below for a listing of the mission numbers and their
associated chapter names.)

Altering ALL missions at your specified difficulty level (items <22> to <34>)
will alter ALL THE MISSIONS, i.e., if you set all the DAMAGE LEVELS to 0, then
you can fly ALL the missions at this level and sustain NO DAMAGE.

Selecting item <4> from the "Difficulty Level Menu" will exit RAEASY and save
your selections in ASSAULT.EXE.  (If you don't like the selections you just
saved, copy ASSAULT.EXE from your CDROM drive and run RAEASY again.)




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                    RUNNING REBEL ASSAULT FROM YOUR HARD DRIVE
For RAEASY to alter the game's primary executable, ASSAULT.EXE, you MUST run
Rebel Assault from your HARD DRIVE. You can easily do this by doing two things:
    1)  Copy ASSAULT.EXE from your CDROM to your HARD DRIVE, and
    2)  run ASSAULT.EXE from your HARD DRIVE, while forcing it to
        access the data files on the CDROM. (Hey, unless you have
        350MB of hard disk space available for copying the entire
        game to your hard drive, this is the best way to do it.)

(The following examples assume your HARD DRIVE IS DRIVE C: AND YOUR CDROM IS
DRIVE D: -- substitute other drive names for your system.  These examples also
assume your Rebel Assault HARD DRIVE directory is \rebel.)  Do the file copy
using a command such as:
    COPY D:\ASSAULT.EXE  C:\REBEL

Next, you need to modify the batch file that Rebel Assault provides for you,
REB.BAT, to make the game run from the HARD DRIVE while reading data from the
CDROM.  This version of RAEASY includes a file, REB-EXAM.BAT, that is a copy
of the author's batch file for running the game.  It is duplicated here with
comments.  Of course, do whatever alterations are necessary for your system.

************   REB-EXAM.BAT BATCH FILE  ***************
echo off
REM    THIS IS AN EXAMPLE BATCH FILE FOR RUNNING REBEL ASSAULT USING
REM    THE CDROM AS THE WORKING DRIVE & DIRECTORY (D:\), WHILE THE
REM    ALTERED EXECUTABLE, ASSAULT.EXE, IS RUN FROM THE \REBEL DIRECTORY
REM    ON YOUR HARD DRIVE (C:).
REM
REM    YOU MUST COPY THE ASSAULT.EXE FILE FROM THE CDROM DRIVE (ROOT
REM    DIRECTORY) TO YOUR HARD DRIVE REBEL ASSAULT DIRECTORY (\REBEL)
REM    PRIOR TO RUNNING RAEASY.
REM
REM    EXAMPLE COPY COMMAND:  "COPY D:\ASSAULT.EXE  C:\REBEL"
REM
REM    RAEASY MUST BE LOCATED IN THE SAME HARD DRIVE DIRECTORY AS ASSAULT.EXE
D:    ***  make the CDROM drive the WORKING drive  ***
cd \    ***  make the CDROM drive root dir the WORKING DIRECTORY ***
C:\rebel\assault /x3 /c5 /b388 /i7 /d3 /s1500000 /f15 /t300 /u0 /J ** run game**
c:    *** make the hard drive the WORKING DRIVE once the game is done ***
cd \    *** make the root dir the WORKING DIRECTORY once the game is done ***
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                 GAME CHAPTERS AND THEIR ASSOCIATED MISSION NAMES
RAEASY references missions using the game's internal reference names. Since
these names differ from the "Chapter" names seen during the game, the following
list gives the correlation between these two name types (it also includes a
set of Passcodes received while playing at the NORMAL difficulty level):
    MISSION NAME    CHAPTER NAME            PASSCODE ENTRY
    1A        Flight Training    - Part I
    1B        Flight Training - Part II
    2        Asteroid Field Training
    3        Planet Kolaador
    4A        Star Destroyer Attack        BIGGS
    4B
    5A        Tatooine Attack
    5B
    6        Asteroid Field Chase
    7        Imperial Probe Droids        KAIBURR
    8        Imperial Walkers
    9A        Stormtroopers
    9B
    10        Protect Rebel Transport
    11        Yavin Training            MYNOCK
    12        Tie Attack
    13        Death Star Surface
    14A        Surface Cannon
    14B
    15A        Death Star Trench        DAGOBAH
    15B
    GAME END (Not a Chapter)            MIMBAN




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                                FINAL COMMENTS
RAEASY was not written to allow one to cheat his/her way through Rebel Assault.
It is intended as a tool to allow your progression through Rebel Assault in a
shorter-than-normal time span while still giving you LOTS of enjoyment and fun
with experimentation.  Please use it with this attitude in mind.

If you have any questions or comments concerning this program, or YOU WISH TO
MAKE A DONATION of $5 (please make any checks payable to WAYNE SIKES), please
contact me at:

Wayne Sikes
435 Sego Lily
Bosque Farms, NM  87068

CompuServe:    70733,1562
Phone:         [phone] (home)
           (505)-844-8658 (work)

Feel free to distribute copies of this program. The only thing I ask is
that you DO NOT MODIFY this text file or the RAEASY.EXE program.  When
distributing, PLEASE ALWAYS INCLUDE A COPY OF THIS TEXT FILE ALONG WITH
THE EXECUTABLE.  If you include this program in any retail or wholesale
software packages, compilations, libraries, archives, etc. please contact
me.  As with all my analysis and engineering software, this program is
copywritten by K & W Computer Works.

Thank you for using RAEASY and enjoy Rebel Assault!
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