Game Guru: Game Enhancer (Demo Version)

For the first time on PC, Studio 3DO introduces dedicated game console style cheating with the "Game Guru: Game Enhancer".  Unlike other cheat utilities, Game Guru is EASY to use and sports a completely open architecture.  So, you can download new cheat codes, create your own, and spread cheats and hacks to your friends.

Game Guru requires NO hardware and NO difficult-to-use TSR programs.  It works directly with the files saved on your hard drive.  Once a cheat is applied to a game, you don't even need to re-run Game Guru to keep it working!  (Unless you want to cheat some more.)

Installation

After downloading the GG_DEMO.ZIP file, create a folder anywhere on your hard drive and unzip the contents of the archive into it.

Game Guru requires approximately 1.3 MB of HD disk space to install.

Once the files have been extracted, MS-DOS users should CD to the directory where Game Guru was installed and run GG.EXE.  Windows 95 users can click directly on the GG.EXE icon to launch the product.  Note:  A Microsoft compatible mouse is required in order to run Game Guru.

In this demo version, you have access to a limited portion of Game Guru's Code Library and Knowledge Base.  Other sections of the product are visible, but you will not be able to enter them.

Maneuvering in the Land of the Guru

Game Guru is designed to be as intuitive to use as possible.  Most of the functions work by the point-and-click method, and hot-keys are available throughout.  Whenever you see a scroll bar on the right side of a list, there may be more listings either above or below.  Move up or down the list by clicking on the up/down arrows or by using the arrow keys on the keyboard.  You may also use the Page Up/Down keys and Home/End keys to quickly move around.

It is important to note that the mouse must be over a window region in order for the keyboard commands to apply to that region.

Some Universal Constants

There are a few nifty little tricks available in nearly every area of the Game Guru.  We call them Universal Constants.

The ESC key allows you to abort the current operation or to return to the previous menu.  A good rule of thumb is, "When in doubt, press ESC".

If you leave the mouse idle for a few seconds, Game Guru gives a short text description of whatever function the pointer is positioned over.

Hot-keys are shown by a yellow letter highlighted in any word.

To check out some cool extras, go to the Edit Settings menu and take a look at the credits [esp, those of you in the demo scene].  To see what the advanced menu system will look like, click on the Activate Advanced Features settings box.  Also, if you know what an S3M format song is, you can put one in the Game Guru directory and call it "GAMEGURU.S3M" to have it play!

Ease of Use

The Game Guru: Game Enhancer was designed for both novice and advanced PC gamers.  To cover the widest possible gaming audience, we invested a lot of time in generating a slick graphical interface that runs nicely on 486 class or better machines under either MS-DOS or Windows 95.

Some of the most convenient features which make Game Guru intuitive to use are:

*	Ability to hide/show advanced menus.
*	Balloon style hot-help.
*	Guiding help messages.
*	Hot keys for common functions.
*	Multitasking windows.
*	Ability to open a DOS window and return.

Plus, if you are at all familiar with Game Guru on the 3DO MultiPlayer, you will recognize the cool audio-visual flair that made the product one of the most appealing utilities of '95:

*	User customizable backdrops.
*	Moving/Zooming windows w/ sound F/X
*	Customizable music tracks.
*	Multiple screen resolutions.
*	Screen Savers.
*	Hidden easter eggs.

When Game Guru is first loaded, the default menu system lists only the basic cheating operations.  These include access to the Code Library, which contains unique Game Guru codes, and the Knowledge Base, which is a data base of built-in cheats already widely available for the most popular games.

Users may also manually type in codes that have been posted on the World Wide Web or printed in a game magazine.  Super Nintendo and Genesis owners have long had access to this type of cheat code distribution, so now PC gamers can take advantage of the same simple interface. [This feature is disabled in the demo]

Built-in Cheat Codes

The average first-time user, will probably go straight to the Code Library to see what unique codes Game Guru has to offer.  There they will find never-before released cheats for 50 titles.  On average, there are 5 cheats per game, with some listing many more.  For this demo, we have included a sampling of a few of the hottest games.

You might also notice at the bottom of the window, the Code Manager button, which allows new cheats to be added to your collection.  This is where the real power of the product lies in unlimited expansion and upgradability.

To test out a cheat code, select the Code Library and choose a game from the list in the upper left window.  Try Command and Conquer.  If you haven't done so already, you will need to play C & C and save your game at least once on the hard drive.  If you have the v.1.19 upgrade available from Westwood then you can select a cheat from the Game Guru demo version.

In the lower window, highlight a cheat, such as the "All infantry $1".  Click on the "Apply Cheat" button.  Game Guru will automatically search your hard drive for the files to patch.  The Code Library knows exactly which files to update depending on the title, making the whole process extremely simple.

In addition to the Code Library, Game Guru's Knowledge Base also provides a long listing of cheats that have been previously released into the public domain.  In the process of creating codes for our Code Library, we examined retail charts of the top selling games over the past two years.  If cheats were already available for these games, we put them into the Knowledge Base and then fully tested the codes to make sure that they work.  The demo version of Game Guru has a handful of cheats to peruse.

World Wide Cheat Network

Game Guru is designed to take advantage of the World Wide Web by allowing users to post and trade codes freely on any site.  3DO is committed to this philosophy by posting codes on our own web page and by giving away super secret features to all our new games exclusively via the "Game Guru: Game Enhancer".  Here's how easy it is to exchange codes:

*	Every single cheat in Game Guru's Code Library was created using the Game Guru Advanced Features, such as the Code Hunter, Hex Editor, and AI Table.  Advanced users can use the same techniques as the Guru masters to generate their own codes.

*	Once you create a code, you can put it up on your web page, post it to a BBS, contribute it to 3DO, or send it in to a game magazine.  Both novice and experienced Game Guru users can then apply this cheat directly to their game using the Code Entry feature.  Because Game Guru makes it so easy, it won't be long before the entire PC hacker community begins generating codes as fast as games are released.

*	If you are a code collector, you can also enter codes into Game Guru's Code Library and save them using the Code Manager.  All of Game Guru's data files are stored in easy-to-read ASCII text, so advanced users can even use their favorite editor or word processor to add huge lists of codes.

*	Game Guru codes can also be distributed in 'packs', so there will be a strong incentive for collectors to make their code packs available for everyone.

Advanced Features

[These will be made active in the full version of Game Guru]

If you are a hacker type, we provide the tools needed to generate cheats as fast and efficiently as possible.  Even novice users may be able to use the powerful Code Hunter feature to locate their own cheats.  The easiest way to explain the Code Hunting process is to give a simple example:

1)	First, load your favorite game and save your progress at the very beginning.  Make a note of your status at the time.  For example:  3 lives, saved on level 1.
 
2)	Quit the game.  Load Game Guru and activate the Advanced Features from the Edit Settings menu.  Now enter the Code Hunter section.
 
3)	Create a new Code Hunter file, and select the 'Create New' option to add the information about your status into Game Guru's Code Hunter brain.  With the same example, input "lives" of '3' and "level" of "1".

4)	Quit Game Guru and re-load your game from the saved position.  Now advance to the next level and lose one of your lives.  Save the game to a second file.

5)	Return to Game Guru's Code Hunter section and clone the first Code Hunter file, attaching the second save game to it.

6)	Then edit the resulting Code Hunter clone to reflect the new game status.  Change the "lives" to "2" and "level" to "2".

7)	Lastly, choose the Code Hunter Compare function.  Game Guru will analyze the two Code Hunter files and display all locations where values changed from 3 to 2 (lives) and from 1 to 2 (level).  The number of locations found can be reduced by repeating the cloning process with a third save game file and choosing the "Another" button.  The more files compared, the smaller the list of possible matches becomes, until...  *BAM*  you have found the correct locations!

Game Guru also includes a full-featured Hex Editor specifically designed for cheating.  Hackers can load two save game files at once and perform split-screen comparisons.  Game Guru can locate and highlight all positions where the two files differ.  You can also search for specific values in a file and make changes directly to a game to test out your cheats before generating a code.

In addition, Game Guru provides an AI Table function, which uses simple logic to instantly locate possible cheat values.  For example, if Game Guru finds a value that increased by one, this was likely to be a level change or a free life.  If a value jumped by several hundred, this is likely to be a gold or score count.

Still to Come

Why this version of Game Guru is beta software:

*	The final version will be compatible with many more video cards.  If you can not get Game Guru to work with your video card, try running UniVBE/Display Doctor from SciTech software (www.scitechsoft.com).
 
*	Sound effects and moving/zooming menus are to be added.
 
*	A professional installer is to be included.

*	Several new background choices will be enclosed.

*	The music track will be replaced and others added.

*	Full documentation will provide several walk-through examples.

*	Performance optimization will occur for low-end machines.

(C)1995, 1996 The 3DO Company.  3DO, Studio 3DO, the 3DO logos, and Game Guru are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of The 3DO Company.  All other brand or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective holders.  All rights reserved.