Boot Disc 18/boot-disc-1998-02.iso/Myth/readme.txt

Text File | 1997-11-04 | 26KB | 585 lines

MYTH: THE FALLEN LORDS DEMO

This demo offers a glimpse of our ground-breaking 3D Real Time Strategy
Game, Myth: The Fallen Lords.  This playable demo includes a Training
Map, two levels from the game, plus one network map.  Some of the
networking features have been disabled for the demo.


THE FULL VERSION INCLUDES:

ò The complete 25 level scenario with animated cut-scenes.
ò All 10 unique network only maps, with unrestricted netplay.
ò Many more unit types, magic, landscapes, and carnage galore.
ò Net games like Capture the Flag, King of the Hill, Territories, Flag Rally,
Steal the Bacon, and more.
ò Free access to bungie.net (You must have your own Internet connection)



HOW TO BUY MYTH: THE FALLEN LORDS

Myth: The Fallen Lords is available through software resellers, mail order
companies, or direct from Bungie! Call (1-800-295-0060) or visit
<http://www.bungie.com> to place your order.

Bungie Software Products Corporation
P.O. Box 7877
Chicago, IL 60680-7877
Orders: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]



SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

- Windows 95 or NT 4.0
- Pentium or 100% Compatible (133 MHz or better recommended
- 16 MB of FREE RAM (32 MB recommended)
- High Color (16-bit color) capable video card (DirectX compatible)
- DirectX 5.0
- supports 3Dfx cards



MAIN MENU

After the introductory animation, Myth's title screen and main menu will
appear.  To choose an option from the menu, move the cursor over it and
click the mouse button.

New Game - Launches a new single-player game.

Multiplayer Game - allows you to play competitively or cooperatively with
other people across via modem or local area network.  Only appears if
your machine is capable of playing network games.

Continue Saved Game - Allows you to return to a saved game.  Only
appears if you have one or more saved games.

Replay Saved Film - allows you to select and view a previously saved
replay.  Only appears if you have saved replays on your hard disk.

Preferences - Allows you to modify various game settings and functions.

Quit - Quit Myth: The Fallen Lords and return to your desktop.


THE INTERFACE

Myth's interface is minimal but extremely powerful, and players who learn
the intricacies of the interface will have a distinct advantage over players
who just jump in.  So before you log on to bungie.net and embarrass
yourself, read this section and join the ranks of the Enlightened.

The Status Bar
When you select a single unit, the name and type of that unit are displayed
in the Status bar, along with a brief description of that unit.

When multiple units are selected, the names, types, and quantity of units
will appear in the status bar.  The brief paragraph of descriptive text will
not appear.

If no units are selected, the Status Bar will provide details of your mission.
In a network game, it lists the rules of whatever net game scenario you are
playing.

On the right edge of the status bar is the Option button.  If you click this
button, you will pause the game and be given a chance to revert to a saved
game, restart the current level, resume the current game or quit entirely.
The Escape key does the same thing.

Also at the right edge of the Status bar is a small triangular button.  This
controls the overhead map.  For more information about the overhead
map, see below.

The Game Area
This window consists of everything underneath the status bar.  This is your
window to the battlefield, and you can look at different parts of the
battlefield by moving the camera.  The Game Area is where all the actual
combat takes place.

The Overhead Map
To the right of the Option button in the status bar is a small triangular
wedge.  Clicking this wedge toggles the overhead map on and off.  You
can also toggle the map by hitting your Tab key.

The overhead map appears in the upper right corner of the Game Area.  It
is a transparent, top-down view of the entire battlefield.  Your units appear
as green dots.  Enemy units appear as red dots.  Friendly units (civilians, or
team members in team network games) appear as blue dots.  A yellow
trapezoid denotes your current camera position.

Clicking a spot on the overhead map will instantly move your camera to
that spot in the Game Area.  Note that you cannot move troops by
selecting them and then clicking a spot on the overhead map; you can only
move units in the Game Area.

Keys
Please note that you can change the commands assigned to the keyboard in
the Preferences menu.  The keyboard commands mentioned in this section
are just the default settings; we like them, but you're free to change them.

Camera
The camera is your point of view.  Myth's advanced 3D engine allows you
to move the camera independently of your units.  The wily player will
exploit this feature to see as much of the landscape - and the enemy's
forces - as possible.

Back/Forward
Simply put, these keys move your camera back and forth in a straight line.
The default Back key is S.  The default Forward key is W.

Left/Right
These keys move your camera sideways while keeping it pointed straight
ahead.  The default Left key is Z.  The default Right key is X.

Orbit Left/Orbit Right
These keys keep your camera trained on a single spot while making a full
360-degree circle around it.  The default Orbit Left key is Q.  The default
Orbit Right key is E.  Lazy players don't use the orbit keys, and they tend
to lose net games.  Using the orbit keys is an absolute necessity.

Pan Left/Pan Right
When using these keys, your camera remains in the same spot but your
point of view moves sideways across the landscape.  (Stand in one spot
and turn your head from side to side for an idea of how this looks.)  The
default Pan Left key is A.  The default Pan Right key is D.

Zoom In/Zoom Out
You can zoom the camera in to get a better look at the bloody remains of
your enemies or find objects hidden in the debris, and zoom back out to
get a look at the battlefield around you.  The default Zoom In key is C.
The default Zoom Out key is V.

Center
You can center the camera over a selected group of units by hitting H.

The Mouse
You can also move the mouse to move the camera back, forward, left and
right.  Using the mouse, move your cursor to one of the four edges of the
screen; the camera will move in that direction.  Don't rely too heavily on
this; you will need to master ALL of the camera's movements.

Units
While playing Myth, you will command a wide variety of units.  A
complete description of all units, including their individual attacks and
special powers, can be found in section VI.  This section concentrates on
the commands you will use to manage these units.

Selecting Units
Before you can give your forces any orders, you must learn how to select
them.

To select a single unit, click it once.  A yellow box will appear around this
unit; while the yellow box is visible, this unit will actively respond to your
commands.

To select all visible units of a given type (for example, all of your archers),
double-click on one unit of that type.  While these units are selected, they
will respond as a group to any commands you give them.

You can select multiple units of different types (for example, one Dwarf
and two Warriors) by Shift-clicking: hold down the Shift key and click on
each individual unit to select them.  You can also de-select a selected unit
by Shift-clicking on it.

Deselect all units by hitting the Deselect key.  The default Deselect key is
the backquote/Tilde key (~).

You can also select multiple units with a technique known as "band
selection."  Click and hold the mouse button on a piece of ground, then
drag the cursor across the screen.  A yellow box will appear onscreen,
growing and shrinking as it follows the cursor's movement.  When you
release the mouse button, any of your units within that yellow box will be
selected.

You can select all of your units by hitting the Select All key.  The default
Select All key is Enter/Return.  Hit Return again to deselect all units.

To immediately stop a selected unit, hit the Stop key.  The default Stop
key is the Spacebar.

Presets
Myth allows you to easily create custom preset groups of mixed types (i.e.
2 Archer, 2 Dwarves and 6 Berserks).  Select the units and hit Command
on Macs and one of the ten number keys to create a custom preset.  Make
sure you hold the Command and number keys for a second or two for the
preset to "set."  From that point on, you can select all units in that preset by
hitting Command and the number you assigned to it.  You can cycle
through presents using the F key, and clear them using the Delete key.


FUNCTION KEYS

The function keys at the top of your keyboard have the ability to modify
some of Myth's preferences on the fly, while you are playing the game.

F1 - Slows game down
F2 - Speeds game up
F3 - Lowers sound volume
F4 - Increases sound volume
F5 - Toggles between high-resolution and low-resolution.
F6 - Toggles toolbar on/off
F7 - Brings up netgame stats
F8 - Brings up list of keys and their functions
F9 - Decreases Gamma
F10- Increases Gamma
F11- Toggles landscape filtering on/off
F12- Turns on Auto Camera


COMMANDING UNITS

Moving
Select a unit, then click on a spot of ground.  A yellow circle will appear
on the ground, showing the unit's eventual destination.  The unit will move
to that spot and await further instructions.

Attacking
Select a unit, then click on an enemy unit.  Your unit will attack the enemy
unit until he is killed, the enemy is killed, or you give it other instructions.

Units that use projectile attacks, such as dwarves or archers, may actually
need to move back if their target is too close.  If you order your dwarf to
attack and he runs in the other direction, he's not flaking out; he's just
trying to give himself some room.

Guarding
When you move a unit to a certain area, he will stay there and await
further instructions - unless he is attacked, in which case he will chase
down his attacker.  If you would like a unit to move to a spot and remain
there as a guard no matter what, use the Guarding function.  That unit will
attack any enemy that moves within range, but will stay put.  Select a unit,
click the spot you want it to guard, then hit the Guard key.  The default
Guard key is G.

Control-Click
Sometimes it's useful to have a projectile unit attack a piece of ground - for
example, if enemy forces are storming right over the carpet of satchel
charges you dropped earlier.  To direct a unit to attack the ground, select
the unit, hold down the Control key and click the spot on the ground you
wish to attack.  A red X will appear on the spot the unit will attack.

Gesture-Click
It's important to control the direction your units face.  Formations are
oriented by the direction in which characters are facing, and units looking
the wrong way will be among the first to die.  For this reason, you can
control the direction your units face using the "Gesture-click."  Select a
group.  Right-click (Option-click on Macs) on a nearby spot of ground you
want them to move to and continue holding down the mouse button.  (A
cluster of yellow circles will appear on the ground.  As you release the
button, flick the mouse in any direction.  When the group gets to the
appointed spot, they will turn to face the direction of your mouse-flick.  If
the units were given a formation, it will be oriented in that direction.  You
can turn units in place by simply right-clicking (or Option-clicking) on
them and flicking the mouse in the desired direction.

The gesture click takes a little practice, but is important to playing well
(especially against someone who doesn't do it).  It means your troops will
face the way you want them to, which vastly decreases the chaos of a
dynamic battlefield situation.

Formations
Formations are incredibly important in Myth: The Fallen Lords.  Orienting
your troops in different formations allows you to strike effectively, rather
than as a mob.  You will need to learn how to use formations if you expect
to hold your own in a network game.

To place units in formation, select a group of units, select a formation with
one of the ten number keys at the top of your keyboard, and click on the
spot you want the formation to move to.  Yellow circles will appear on
that spot, showing the orientation of the formation.

There are ten preset formations which correspond to the ten number keys
at the top of your keyboard.  Below is a list of formations and a description
of each.

1 - Short Line: Units in this formation will line up four abreast.
2 - Long Line: Units in this formation will line up eight abreast.
3 - Loose Line: Units in this formation will line up four abreast, but spaced
widely.
4 - Staggered Line: Units in this formation assume a staggered line.
5 - Box: Units in this formation move in a perfect square.
6 - Rabble: Units in this formation are in a random pattern.
7 - Shallow Encirclement: Units in this formation are in a wide, shallow
arc.
8 - Deep Encirclement: A tighter, smaller arc.
9 - Vanguard: A V-shaped formation.
0 - Circle: Duh.....


Scatter
It is often useful to scatter a tightly clustered group of units when they
come under attack from dwarves or other enemies with massive
destruction potential.  To scatter a group of units, select them and hit your
Scatter key.  The default Scatter key is B.

Retreat
Sometimes fighting to the death is not an option...not a smart option
anyway.  Select a unit or group of units and hit your Retreat key; they will
retreat from the nearest enemy.  The default Retreat key is R.

Special Actions
Certain units have special abilities in addition to their standard attacks, or
may acquire special weapons during the course of the game.  To use a
unit's special ability, select the unit and hit your special action key.  The
default Special Action key is T.  In certain cases, you will also need to
click on another unit, object or piece of ground.  A description of each
unit's special ability can be found in section VI.

Health
When a unit is selected, a vertical bar appears to the right of the yellow
box.  This bar measures the strength of that unit.  A full green bar signifies
a healthy unit.  As these units are attacked, this bar will shrink and turn
yellow (moderately damaged) or red (heavily damaged).  When the bar
disappears, the unit dies.

Journeymen have a Special Ability which can restore strength to damaged
units.  See the description of the Journeyman in Section VI to learn how
this is done.

You can also check the health of enemy units by clicking on them.

Keep an eye on the health bars of your various units.  Relying on badly-
damaged units is a recipe for disaster.

Experience
Individual units gain experience for every enemy unit they kill.  When an
experienced unit is selected, every kill that unit has made will be
represented in the Status bar by a shield (or a skull, if the unit belongs to
the Dark).  Experienced units attack more rapidly and with greater
accuracy.

Weather and Its Effect on Battle
As you progress through the game, you'll be forced to fight in what might
politely be termed "adverse conditions."  Sometimes there is no choice but
to fight in rain or snow, and these conditions will have a powerful effect
on your chances of survival.

Rain has a way of putting out fire - especially the fires that make your
dwarves' grenades work.  If you're caught in a snowstorm, you'll find that
gusts of wind have a tendency to blow your archers' arrows off-course.
You'll need to take into account the possible effects of severe weather if
you expect to survive.

Names
Each unit has a name, which you can change by selecting the unit and
hitting the N key.

Playing the Training Map
We have included a training map which allows you to acclimate yourself
to the controls without the tension of a normal Myth game.  To play the
raining map, click New Game, select "Training Map" and click OK.  From
that point on, all you need to do is follow the directions that appear at the
bottom of your screen.

Note that the instructions you are given in the training map are based on
the default keyboard settings.  If you change these settings in the
Preferences menu, you will need to use the keys you have chosen, not the
ones mentioned in the Training Map instructions.

Saving and Viewing Replays
At the end of a game, when you return to the main menu you will have the
option to View a replay.  Viewing a replay allows you to move your
camera around freely while a complete record of your game plays out.
Replays are an excellent tool for studying the strategies your opponents
have used against you.  They also allow you to gloat when you destroy a
segment of your opponent's army in a particularly gruesome or amusing
fashion.

When you click on the Replay Saved Film option, you'll be taken to the
Replay Options screen.

Saved Films: A list of all the films available for viewing.
View Film: View a replay of the selected game.
Delete Film: Deletes the film from your hard drive.
Replay Last Film: Replays the film of your most recent game.
Save Last Film: Saves the most recent film to disk under the filename of
your choice.

While watching a film, you can speed up the action by hitting F2 or slow it
down by hitting F1.



MULTIPLAYER
When you first launch the game, click Multiplayer Game from the main
menu.  This will bring up the Multiplayer Setup dialog, which allows you
to configure certain basic aspects of your multiplayer game.

Player Name
Enter the name you will use during gameplay here.  It doesn't have to be
your real name; fanciful names like Ungar The Bloodthirsty are
wholeheartedly encouraged.

Team Name
Only necessary when playing in a team game.  Again, you can name your
team whatever you like, and the more creative your name is, the better.

Player Icon
Each player or team has an icon which appears beside his or her name in
player lists, making it somewhat easier to differentiate players.  Click and
hold the mouse button on the icon to bring up a menu of available player
icons; highlight the icon you want and let go of the mouse button to select
it.

Colors
You can choose a primary and secondary color for your forces.  The
clothing or flesh of your units will take on these colors, making it easy for
you to see which troops on the battlefield are yours.  To select a color,
click that color in the color wheel.   You can make the color lighter or
darker by clicking on the color bar to the right of each color wheel.

If two players select the same colors, the game will automatically reassign
a new color to one of those players.  In a team game, players take on the
primary color of the team Captain and use their own secondary colors.



NETWORK OPTIONS
You have three ways of hooking up with other players for a network game:
bungie.net,, or Other (which includes LAN and Appletalk).  Each of these
services is described below.


Playing via bungie.net
bungie.net is a free internet-based service which allows players from
around the world to gather in one central location for Myth net games.
Please keep in mind that the demo version contains only one network map
and scores are NOT logged into the rankings.

Update bungie.net Appearance
Checking this box will update your appearance on bungie.net if you
change your player name, team name, player icon, and colors. By default,
this button will automatically check itself if you change any of the above.

Logging Onto bungie.net
After logging onto bungie.net, you'll arrive in one of bungie.netÆs rooms.
Here you can chat with other players and define the parameters of your
network games.

At the top left corner of your screen is the name of the "room" you're in.
There are two numbers next to this name: the upper number is the number
of players in the current room; the lower number is the number of games
taking place in the current room.  If you're on bungie.net, you can click the
room name to switch to another room.
Beneath the room name is a list of all the players in the room.  Next to
each players name is an icon which denotes their ranking.  Each player
starts off with a dagger icon and works upwards from there.

To the right of the room name are four buttons:

Mute/Unmute
Even though everyone who plays Myth is inherently cool, sometimes you
just don't want to get any messages from one of them.  Select a player in
the player list, then click the Mute button.  You will no longer receive any
messages from that player.  Click the button again to Unmute the player.

New Game/Options
Click New Game to create a new network game.  It will appear in the list
of available network games directly beneath the four buttons.  If you'd like
to change the parameters of a game you've already created, click Options.
See the Multiplayer Game Options section for more information.  (Note:
only the player who created a game can change its parameters.)

Join Game
Select a game from the list of available games directly beneath these four
buttons and click Join Game to enter that game. You can only join games
that are NOT greyed out.

Chatting
The bottom half of the Game Setup screen is a chat area.  To send
messages to all the players in your room, simply type your message into
the text field at the bottom of your screen and hit Return/Enter or click the
Send button.  To send a private message to an individual player, select that
player's name in the Player List and type your message as usual.  Private
messages will appear on a red background.

Leave
Leave bungie.net and return to the main menu.



Playing via TCP/IP (Internet)
Selecting this option brings up a dialog with the following options:

Name
The name which will appear in the list of available games.

Password
If you only want certain people to join a game, type a password in this box
and only give the password to the people you would like to include in your
game.

Create Game
Clicking this will create a game using the Name and Password supplied.

Port
The port on which the game will be created.  Unless you know what you're
doing, it's usually best to leave this set to 3453.

Games on the local network
A list of multiplayer games you can join.

Join
Select a game in the list of available games and click this button to join it.

Join by address: by checking this box, you'll be able to link up over the
Internet for network games with a machine that is not on your local
network.  Enter the host machine in the field below.  Note that you must
set up a connection to your ISP before launching Myth for this to work.
This option my be difficult to use with dialup net connections, since many
dialup accounts dynamically give you a new hostname/IP address when
you sign on.  If you don't know the hostname of other players, make things
easy on yourself and play via bungie.net.


Single Player Game Tips

ò Save often, and rename saved games regularly. It can happen that you
find your strategy for a level was flawed from the beginning.

ò Hitting Escape will Pause the game, and give you options to Save, Quit,
Restart the level, Revert to the last saved game, and Return to the game.

ò You can increase the game speed by hitting F2, up to 16x normal, and
lower it to normal with F1. You can only slow down the game while
watching replays.

ò When you have no units selected, the mission objective of the current
level will appear in the Status Bar.


Multiplayer Game-Play Tips

ò Myth: The Fallen Lords is a dynamic game of ebb and flow of forces on
the battlefield. In general, keeping your units moving as they charge and
retreat, feint, flank and flush will keep you safer than parking a group in
one location and waiting for the enemy to figure out how to take them out.

ò Units who do explosive damage can be as much a threat to your forces as
to the enemy's. Wights are typically kept a good distance from friendly
formations, and Dwarves need to be maneuvered carefully lest they throw
too near your forces, or explode upon dying and cause friendly casualties.

ò Keep your missile units on the highest ground possible. A line of Archers
at the crest of a hill firing down have a distinct advantage over a line at the
bottom of the hill, firing up.

ò Use fast units like Gh⌠ls to rush and disrupt enemy missile formations,
allowing your slower units to advance in safety. Keeping missile units
moving away from danger is a great way to neutralize them.

ò Use Thrall as a living wall to protect units while they advance. A
vanguard of Thrall makes a great protective barrier for safely moving
Dwarves forward. Thrall and Wights can also be hidden under water
indefinitely.

ò Journeymen can heal units. Keep them near your troops so you can heal
the wounded. Remember that once the Journeyman uses up his roots, he
won't be able to heal troops. However, he can pick up roots from other
dead Journeymen. Also remember that the Journeyman can instantly kill
undead units like Thrall and Wights by "unhealing" them.