7th Level, Inc., Readme Notes Welcome to Battle Beast, the ultimate fight game. This free demo CD gives you a sample of 7th Level's upcoming release. We think you'll agree that it's "Dead On!" MANUALLY INSTALLING THE BATTLE BEAST DEMO PROGRAM You can install a version of Battle Beast to your hard disk so that you will not need to have the CD in the CD-ROM drive to run the program. To install this version, insert the Battle Beast Demo CD in the CD-ROM drive, select the File menu and choose Run from the Program Manager. Type D:\HDSETUP.EXE (if necessary, replace D: with the letter that represents your CD-ROM drive) in the command line and press ENTER. Follow the instructions given in the installation program. This version will require approximately 15 MB of free hard disk space. To conserve hard disk space, you can choose to install a version of Battle Beast that will run from the CD (you must have the Battle Beast CD in the CD-ROM drive to run the program). To install this version, insert the Battle Beast CD in the CD-ROM drive, select the File menu and choose Run from the Program Manager. Type D:\CDSETUP.EXE (if necessary, replace D: with the letter that represents your CD-ROM drive) in the command line and press ENTER. Follow the instructions given in the installation program. To start Battle Beast, double click the Battle Beast icon which was created for you by the installation program. Also available on this Demo CD is a sampling of the other exciting products available from 7th Level. Double click the 7th Level Product Samplers icon and then click one of the orbs to select Arcade, Strategy Role-Playing or Educational products. Next, click one of the product orbs to view a sample and learn more about these acclaimed titles. Press ESC from any product demo to return to the Product Sampler opening screen. Press ESC from the opening screen to exit the Product Sampler. JOYSTICK SUPPORT If you have a joystick that already works with other Windows applications, then you do not need to do anything to use the joystick with Battle Beast If you have not used your joystick with other Windows applications before, you may need to install a joystick driver. You can use the generic Windows joystick driver that is included on the Battle Beast CD-ROM. It is recommended, however, that you first try to use the Windows driver that came with your joystick. To install the joystick driver that is included with Battle Beast: 1. Double click the Control Panel icon from the Program Manager to start the Control Panel application. 2. Double click the Drivers icon in the Control Panel. 3. Click the Add button to add a driver. 4. Select the Unlisted or Updated Driver option and click the OK button. 5. Open the JOYSTICK directory (either on your hard disk where you installed Battle Beast or on the Battle Beast CD). 6. Click the OK button to accept the joystick driver. 7. Select the configuration for your joystick from the Game Adapter Setup dialog box and click the OK button. 8. Click the Close button to return to the Control Panel. 9. Restart Windows. Next, copy the file JOYSTICK.CPL from the Joystick directory (either on your hard disk where you installed Battle Beast or on the Battle Beast CD) to the WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory. Calibrate and test your joystick by double clicking the Joystick icon in the Control Panel. Note: You may need to calibrate your joystick again if you have disconnected it from your computer or if you notice the joystick interfering with the operation of the mouse. THE BATTLE BEAST SETUP SCREEN The first time you open the Battle Beast demo program, you will see a setup screen. Here you can customize various game options. Select the input method for each player (keyboard or joystick) by clicking on the word below Player 1 and Player 2. Select the energy units desired for each player by clicking on the energy units bar. A high number of energy units for a player will require more hits for that player to be destroyed. A low number of energy units will require fewer hits to be destroyed. You can use this option to adjust the game for unevenly matched players. If one player is more experienced, he or she could select a lower energy number to give an inexperienced player a more even chance at victory. Deselect Auto Turnaround by clicking on the jumping toad. With Auto Turnaround selected your Battle Beast will always turn to face an opponent. With Auto Turnaround deselected, you will need to turn your Battle Beast manually. More experienced players may wish to deselect this option so that they can attack opponents using combination or special moves that can be performed from a reverse position. Select sound and animation options. Turn off some of the extra background sounds and animation to concentrate on the fight itself, or keep these sounds and animation on to experience the depth of Battle Beast. Select a time limit for each fight round. The minimum time allowed is 30 seconds. The maximum fixed time allowed is 2 minutes and 30 seconds. You also can select an unlimited time. With this option the fight will not be finished until one opponent is destroyed. Click Done to exit the Setup screen and save your selections. Press ESC to exit the Setup screen without saving your changes. To view the Setup screen again, press F2 from the Fight Selection Screen. THE BATTLE BEAST FIGHT SELECTION SCREEN The Fight Selection Screen is where you pick your next round of combat. You will return to this screen after each round is completed and the text screens describing Battle Beast have been displayed. From this screen, select two players, one player vs. the computer or computer vs. computer (to study up on combat techniques). Once you have made your selection, the battle begins. STANDARD FIGHT MOVES Below you will find the joystick and keyboard combinations for combat in Battle Beast. You may wish to print this file so that you have these moves in front of you as you join your opponent in combat. You can play Battle Beast using a joystick that works with any Windows application or your computer's keyboard. Simply select the input method for each player in the Setup screen. The following list of input commands are for a joystick. The list below does not include every move or combination of moves possible for each character. It's up to you to find the special and secret moves that will allow you to conquer any opponent and to defeat the evil Toadman. Good luck, soldier! Remember to perform the key combinations in the order presented and close together. For "quick" inputs, tap the direction by pressing and releasing very quickly. COMMON MOVES Move Input Walk forward Forward Walk backward Backward Hop forward Quick forward Hop backward Quick backward Jump high Up Jump low Quick up Front flip Up+forward Back flip Up+backward Duck Down Turnaround Forward+backward Turnaround Button A+Button A Jump to second level Up+Button A Jump to first level Down+Button A Morph Button B+Button A Block Button A+down Power block Button A+down+forward High punch Button A+forward Low kick Button B+forward NON-MORPHED BEAST MOVES Move Input Toggle hammer Button B+Button B Hammer away Button A+up Away (Z-Axis) Button B+up Towards (Z-Axis) Button B+down Energy grab move Button B+backward MORPHED BEAST MOVES Move Input Select weapon Button B+Button B Grab/Swipe Button A+backward Uppercut Button A+up Special move #1 Button A+Button B+forward Special move #2 Button A+Button B+backward Roundhouse kick Button B+up Leg sweep Button B+down Weapon Button B+backward If you are using the keyboard, the equivalent keys are: Player 1 Number 1 = Button A Player 2 Number 9 = Button A Number 2 = Button B Number 0 = Button B F = Up Up arrow = Up V = Down Down arrow = Down B = Right Right arrow = Right C = Left Left arrow = Left KEYBOARD FUNCTIONS The following keyboard combinations can be used to replace mouse movements for certain activities and functions. ALT F4 Exit the program SHIFT ESC Exit the program ESC Exits back to the main menu one level at a time + Raises the master volume - Lowers the master volume SHIFT + Raises the WAV volume SHIFT - Lowers the WAV volume CONTROL + Raises the Midi volume CONTROL - Lowers the Midi volume F7 Toggles the sound on/off PAUSE Pause/restarts the animation SPACEBAR Stops the current ambient animation TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND COMMON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS If you have difficulty installing or running the Battle Beast Demo, please read the section below before calling our Technical Support phone line. By checking the few items listed below, you may be able to solve any difficulty you are having on your own. If you are still having difficulty with your program, please call our Technical Support line at 214-437-5531. Technical Support is available Monday through Saturday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Central Time. You can also reach Technical Support via CompuServe by typing GO SEVENTH at any ! prompt or via Internet mail at support@7thlevel.com. Problem: Battle Beast seems to run slow. Solution: As with any program running under Windows, the speed and the smoothness of Battle Beast is dependent on the speed of the hardware that it is running on. Hardware configurations that affect performance are: the amount of memory and the speed of the video card, the processor type, the amount of real memory and the transfer rate of the CD-ROM drive. While the minimum system configuration required to run the Battle Beast is a 486 33 MHz computer with 8 MB of RAM, a video card capable of running 256 colors and a double-speed CD-ROM drive, the recommended system configuration is a 486 66 MHz computer with 16 MB of RAM. You may be able to improve the performance of Battle Beast running on your computer by upgrading one or all of these elements of your computer system, depending on what you already have. Problem: When I try to run Battle Beast, I get a "Not enough memory" message. Solution: On an 8 MB system, Battle Beast requires 5 to 10 MB of virtual memory. For instructions on setting virtual memory, please consult your Windows documentation. Problem: The program does not display properly. Solution: Make sure you have a video card running in 640x480 or 800x600 mode with 256 colors. Also, make sure that you have the proper display driver installed. A display with more colors or running at a higher resolution also will work with Battle Beast. Problem: The program is working, but I don't hear any sound. Solution: Make sure your sound card is installed and working properly. You can check the sound from your sound board by using the Sound utility in the Control Panel. Choose one of the WAV files in the Windows directory and click Test. Also, test to make sure the sound has not been muted by clicking the Test button in the Battle Beast Setup screen. Problem: The sound or video skips during the program. Solution: Make sure you have at least 8 MB of RAM. Also, make sure that an expanded memory manager (such as EMM386, QEMM or 386MAX) is not reserving memory that Windows and Battle Beast will need to run correctly. Problem: I can't get the MIDI files to play. Solution: Most sound cards are not set up to play MIDI files unless you have a MIDI peripheral device attached to your computer. To set your sound card so that MIDI files will play without a MIDI peripheral attached, open the MIDI Mapper in the Control Panel and select an FM driver from the Names list box. Consult your sound card documentation for the name of the specific driver that your sound card needs. Problem: The sound and video are not synchronized properly. Solution: Make sure that you are running Battle Beast on a 486 33 MHz or better IBM-compatible computer with at least 8 MB of RAM. Problem: The sound breaks up or has a lot of static. Solution: You may need to change the DMA setting on your sound card. Please check the documentation for your sound card for the proper settings and how to change the settings. Problem: The volume is too low or too high. Solution: You can adjust the volume using the + and - keys within Battle Beast. Problem: The program seems to run extremely slow. Solution: Make sure that you have a permanent swap file set up in Windows. Please consult your Windows documentation for instructions regarding your swap file settings. HELP WITH YOUR HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE QUESTIONS If you have questions about your computer's hardware or other software applications, please contact the manufacturer before contacting 7th Level Technical Support. The manufacturer will be able to answer any questions you may have on the installation and specific settings for your needs. Listed below are the Technical Support and BBS phone numbers for several manufacturers. Manufacturer Technical Support Fax Number BBS Number ATI Technologies 905-882-2626 none 416-764-9404 Creative Labs 405-742-6622 405-742-6633 405-742-6660 NEC 1-800-388-8888 none none Orchid Technology 510-683-0323 none 510-683-0327 Media Vision 1-800-638-2807 510-252-4430 510-770-0527 Roland Corp. 213-685-5141 x770 213-722-0911 none Turtle Beach Systems 717-767-0279 717-767-6033 717-767-5934 Ensoniq 610-647-3930 610-647-8908 none Tseng 215-968-0502 215-860-7713 215-579-7536 Philips LMS 1-800-777-5674 719-593-4597 719-593-4081