Games All/Games All - Over 500 Value - All Copyrighted Games - No Registration Fees (Affiliated Software Distribution)(1993).bin/flying/ccow/moag.inf

Text File | 1992-10-16 | 25KB | 522 lines

Bleat
Bleat
Bleat
 Main Menu Info

The main menu allows the user to select what he or she wants to do next
in the game.  To choose a selection from the main menu, use the arrow
keys (\\) to highlight the selection you want, and press \<\C\R\>.  A
quicker way is to press the highlighted letter corresponding to the
desired selection.

To change pilots, activate or deactivate a pilot, create or delete a
pilot, or view pilot records, choose the \("\Duty Roster"\) selection.

The \("\Combat Missions"\) selection allows the user to choose between
various battle scenarios, or Theaters-of-Operation.  This leads to a
great deal of variety in the type and quality of opponents.  A pilot
must prove his proficiency in multiple theaters to advance far in rank.

If you want to brush-up on some specific aspect of your flying and
fighting skills, then you can choose the \("\Training Missions"\) sel-
ection.  This allows you to choose the number and quality of a limited
array of opponents.  By default, a pilot flies an invulnerable plane
during the training missions, and thus they are not counted.  Note
that if a standard plane is chosen, then these missions DO count
toward a pilot's career, and a pilot can still be killed or captured
in these missions.

You can see who the hottest pilots are by choosing \("display \High score\)
\(list"\).

The \("keyboard/\Joystick setup"\) selection allows the user to choose how
the plane will be controled.  The current choices are shown at the
bottom of the main-menu screen.

The \(sounds \Editor\) menu item activates the sound editor, which lets
you modify all the ADLIB(tm) inflight sounds to your personal preference.
More information is available from the sound editor main menu.

\(\Watch a demo flight\) should be self explanatory.

The \("\Music toggle"\) selection allows the user to turn the music on and
off.  The music only plays during the title credits and menus.  If you
want to switch to the next song, just turn the sound off and then on again.
See the documentation to learn how to add your own music selections to
Corncob.

When you have finished playing \(CORNCOB\), you may exit the program
by choosing \("e\Xit to dos"\).  You may also type \<\E\S\C\>.  Note that
this selection does NOT ask for user confirmation, because that would
be silly.

  Duty Roster Menu Info

When \(CORNCOB\) is first run, the pilot flying is considered to be
a trainee.  The trainee does not have a record, and his exploits and
current selections are erased each time the program is run.  The \("\Duty\)
\(roster\) menu allows users to create pilots which can be used in re-
peated missions.  Also the current choices (such as theater of operation)
for each pilot is saved when the program exits.  Building a career without
being killed is a very challenging and satisfying endeavor.

On the left is a list of selections which you can choose from by using
the arrow keys (\\) to highlight the selection you want, and press
\<\C\R\>. On the right is a list of the currently known pilots.  Many of
the selections require the user to choose a pilot from the list on the
right.  Choose the desired pilot with the arrow keys and select with
\<\C\R\>.  While choosing a pilot, the menu on the left will be replaced
by a box summarizing that pilots career.

You create a pilot with the \("\Create Pilot"\) selection.  When you choose
this, a box will pop up prompting you for a pilot's name.  After you type
in the name, the program will ask you if you want to activate the pilot.
The \(active\) pilot is the pilot which is used when a mission is flown,
which is probably what you want so just press \<\C\R\> for yes.

You can change the active pilot with the \("\Activate Pilot"\) selection.
This allows you to set the currently active pilot who will fly on the next
Corncob mission.

You may deactivate the active pilot with the \("\Deactivate Pilot"\) se-
lection.  When you do this, no pilot in the list is considered active,
and the active pilot will be "trainee" as discussed above.

You may delete a pilot with the \("de\Lete Pilot"\) selection.  When you
delete a pilot, his record is permanently removed.

If your pilot is killed or captured during a combat mission, he will be
deactivated, and cannot be activated.  You can override this, and bring
a pilot back to life with the \("r\Esurrect Pilot"\) selection.  Beware
though, the program keeps track of the number of resurrections, and dis-
plays this information prominently in the pilot's record.  It is hard to
brag about what a great career your pilot has when he has been resurrec-
ted several times!

If you don't like the name you chose for your pilot, you can change it
with the \("re\Name Pilot"\) selection.  This changes the pilots name with-
out affecting his career.

If you want a detailed view of your pilot's record, choose the \("\View\)
\(Pilot Records"\) selection.  Move the highlight to the to the desired
pilot, and press \<\C\R\>.  This will bring up a full screen display of
that pilot's record.  You can then move through the list of pilots with
the arrow keys, or return to the menu with \<\C\R\>.

  Combat Missions Info

\(CORNCOB\) allows a pilot to choose between several different battle
scenarios, or \("Theaters-of-Operation"\).  The theaters vary in dif-
ficulty and in the type of opponent.

You can fly a combat mission in one of the theaters-of-operation by
choosing the \("\Fly mission"\) selection.

Most Theaters-of-Operation consists of 9 airfields.  Surrounding these
airfields are enemy targets, which you must kill.  If you fly from one
airfield to another, then the next time you fly that theater you will
begin at the new airfield.  As you fly in a Theater-of-Operation, the
state of the universe is preserved.  Thus enemy sites and targets that
you kill in one mission will still be dead when you continue in a later
mission.

In the upper-right is a list of the various Theaters-of-Operation.  You
select one of these with the \("\Open a new theater of operations"\) selec-
tion from the Theaters menu.  This highlights one of the theaters, and
you can change the highlighted name with the arrow keys.  Pressing <CR>
chooses the highlighted name.  Pressing <ESC> or <BS> aborts the choice
and returns you to the Theaters menu.  You may open as many different
theaters as you wish.

In the lower-right is a list of the Theaters you have opened.  This
list changes according to the current selected pilot.  Each pilot has
a current Theater-of-Operations. When you fly a mission from the main
menu, you fly in your current Theater-of-Operations.  The current
theater is indicated by a \(\) in the list at the lower-right as well
as being shown at the upper-left of the theaters menu, underneath the
current pilot.

You can change the active theater with the \(\Activate an open theater\) menu
item.  Pressing this item will allow the user to select the desired current
theater from the list of open theaters in the lower-right.

You may choose to play with an invulnerable plane with the \("toggle\)
\(invulnerable \Plane"\) selection.  When flying with an invulnerable plane,
you will not be damaged by any alien forces, or by any collision.  Flights
taken with an invulnerable plane are never counted toward a pilots record.

While you are inflight, Corncob can put text messages up to guide the
new user until he/she becomes familiar with the game.  After the user
learns that you must fly back to the airstrip to get points and so on,
these messages become an annoyance.  Use \(Inflight \Comments\)  menu
selection to turn off these inflight messages.

New pilots who just start playing Corncob tend to fly into the ground
frequently, and have much trouble learning to turn.  Therefore, the
game contains two aerodynamic flight models.   The beginner  flight
model gently pushes the nose to the correct attitude for level flight.
This helps prevent crashes, and also causes the plane to turn without
the player having coordinate the use of the elevators.
  The advanced flight model is much preferred for real combat.  Loops,
flying upsidedown, and dives are much easier with this flight model.
Choose between these two flight models with the \(Flight \Model\) menu
item.


 OLD SHAREWARE VERSION Registration Menu Info

 Keyboard/Joystick Setup Menu Info

This menu allows the user to choose between keyboard control and
joystick control.  If you do not have a joystick, then you must choose
keyboard control.

To choose keyboard control, use the \("choose \Keyboard control"\) selection.
To choose keyboard control, use the \("choose \Joystick control"\) selection.

          Note: Keyboard players should view the Keyboard
                Play chapter in the view documentation
                section of the main menu for helpful info.

Normally, \(CORNCOB\) only asks to recenter the joystick when it
detects a significant amount of drift since the last time this was
done.  You may override this and force the program to re-center the
joystick only when you want by choosing the \("choose \Manual joystick\)
\(centering"\) selection.  The program will then only attempt joystick
recentering when you choose the \("\Force joystick re-centering next\)
\(flight"\) selection.  Of course, this selection is ignored if you have
chosen keyboard control.

In order to return to the default automatic centering, choose the
\("choose \Automatic joystick centering"\) selection.

All of the current choices are displayed at the bottom of the menu.

 Training Missions Menu.

If you want to brush-up on some specific aspect of your flying and
fighting skills, you can design your own mission by choosing the
\("\Training Missions"\) selection.  This allows you to choose the
number and quality of a limited array of opponents.  Note that these
missions still count toward a pilot's career, and a pilot can still
be killed or captured in these missions.

In the \("\Training Missions"\) scenario, you have a single simple
objective:  destroy a field of 15 alien fuel dumps.  A force-field
protected orb is also present.

The design-your-own aspect enters in the number and quality of alien
defenses.  The tick field is protected by KLA's and AAA batteries, as
well as a swarm of enemy ground vehicles and a flying saucer.
You may choose the number and quality of each of these defenses.  The
more and higher quality you choose, the higher the potential score.

You can fly a training mission by choosing the \("\Fly mission"\)
selection.

To choose the quality of the enemy defenses, select \("modify \Wicked-\)
\(ness of enemies"\).  This will bring up a menu allowing you to change
the "wickedness" of the three defenses.  Wickedness values range from
1-8 inclusive, with 1 representing really stupid opponents, and 8 being
deadly.  A special wickedness value of 0 is reserved to select a random
spread of wickedness.

To choose the number of enemy defenses, select \("choose \Number of\)
\(enemies"\).  You may choose between 0 and 25 inclusive of each.
(Note that choosing a large number (>~5-10 will put a strain on your
CPU.  If you experience too slow of a frame rate, cut down on the
numbers.)

There is always one enemy saucer directly above the mission's center.
The wickedness of this saucer is always the same as the KLA quality.

The default values are as follows:
           5 KLA sites        Random spread of Wickedness
           6 AAA batteries    Random spread of Wickedness
           2 vehicle sites    Wickedness 4

The beginner should especially beware of the danger of plowing his plane
into the turf when strafing the fuel dumps.  You can restore these default
settings at any time with the \("choose \Default values"\) selection.

You may choose to play with an invulnerable plane with the \("toggle\)
\(invulnerable \Plane"\) selection.  When flying with an invulnerable plane,
your plane cannot be damaged.   Flights taken with an invulnerable plane
are never counted toward a pilots record.

 Hiscore Menu

Obviously, no combat game is complete without a high-score list, and
\(CORNCOB\) maintains three separate lists:  the High-Score list,
the Top-Career list, and the Fast-Career list.

The High-Score list, shown by choosing the \("see list of high \Scores"\)
selection, is a list of the top 10 best missions, sorted by points,
along with the pilot, theater-of-operation, and number of kills.  Pilots
with a strong showing in this list are the true hot-shots of the game.

The Top-Career list, shown by choosing the \("see list of top \Careers"\)
selection, is a list to the top 10 best careers, sorted by points,
along with the pilot, number of missions, number of resurrections, and
number of kills.

The Fast-Career list, shown by choosing the \("see list of \Fastest\)
\(careers"\) selection, is a list of the "rising star" pilots.  This is
a career list sorted by average points per mission.  Thus, you can
usually see which pilots got off to the best start with this list.
There is a requirement of three missions to appear on the Fast-Career
list.

The first two of the lists show number of kills.  This is a three
number field, showing, from left to right, number of missions objec-
tives accomplished, number of primary kills, and number of other kills.
Primary kills are defined as TETS, Fuel Dumps, AAA batteries, Missile
or Vehical Sites, and Orbs.  Other kills are KLA and vehicals.

When pilots are deleted from the roster, their careers are frozen,
and their names are marked in all the lists with an \*.  Thus, the
same name could appear repeatedly in the career lists, if a pilot is
deleted, and recreated.

Each of the lists can be independantly deleted by choosing the \("\Delete\)
\(one of the above lists"\) selection.

 Delete a high score list menu

Each of the High-Score lists can be deleted independantly from the others.

To delete the top score list, choose the \("delete the list of top\)
\(\Scores"\) selection.

To delete the top score list, choose the \("delete the list of top\)
\(\Careers"\) selection.

To delete the top score list, choose the \("delete the list of \Fastest\)
\(careers"\) selection.

Each of these choices will require confirmation by pressing <CR>.


 NEW SHAREWARE VERSION Registration Menu Info

\(Sound Editor Help\)

  This editor will let you edit the sounds in Corncob to your liking.
Corncob stores all its sound parameters in a text file called 3.ADL.
This editor will provide you with an easy way to modify this 3.ADL file,
thus changing the character of the sounds.  You make distribute your
version of Corncob's sound to other Corncob users simply by giving them
your 3.ADL file.  The original default 3.ADL file is called DEF3.ADL.
You can always recover the original Corncob sounds by copying DEF3.ADL
to the file 3.ADL.  ( This is what the Restore option does. )

  The main sound editor menu is self-explanatory.

\(The Yamaha Synthesizer Chip Parameters\)

  Sound boards which are compatible with ADLIB(tm) sound boards use the
Yamaha synthesizer integrated circuit.  Details on exactly what these
various parameters are available in both the ADLIB Programmers Manual
booklet, or the information on the Yamaha chip.  A general description
of typical synthesizer parameters will be given below.

  The ADLIB card is capable of producing 11 simultaneous independant
sounds.  Thus we say the card has 11 \(voices\).  Each voice can be
programmed to make a different kind of sound.  In Corncob, the board
is put into 'Percussion' mode, where six of the voices are general
synthesizer voices, and the other 5 are special case percussion noises.
For example, the stall warning uses melodic voice #6, while the missles
and the wind noises both use the fixed snare drum voice.

  To explain the various parameters used to create a sound, some
general information about how the sounds are generated is needed.

  A typical synthesizer will use an oscillator to make a pure tone.  An
oscillator is just a device which generates a continous single-frequency
tone.  Since it is desireable to have other sounds than just pure tones,
multiple oscillators are connected together in various ways to make
interesting sounds.

  In the Yamaha IC, the melodic voices use two oscillators per voice.
One is called the modulator, and the other is called the carrier.  The
carrier generates the basic pure tone, while the modulator perturbs the
carrier in some fashion.  Thus if we turn down the modulator strength,
the resulting voice will be generating a pure tone.  As we bring up the
modulation strenght, the sound will become odder as the modulation
increases.

Voice Parameters
----------------

  These parameters adjust characteristics of a voice.

\(Connection\)

  Most of the voices in Corncob are in \(FM\) mode.  This means that the
modulator output modifies the carrier's frequency.  Thus if the modulator
oscillating very slowly, we would hear the voice's pitch rising and
falling continously.  As we sped up the modulator's frequency, the rising
and falling rate would speed up until the sound turns into a continous
warble.

  The voices that are not in FM mode have the oscillators connected in a
different way.  In \(Additive\) mode, the outputs of oscillators are
simply overlayed, so that each voice consists of two pure tones added
together.  These sounds typically sound organ-like.

  You can change the mode used for each voice by changing the parameter
labeled \(Connection\) in the sound editor.  Note that when 'Additive'
mode is specified, the modulator and the carrier are renamed to 'Op1',
and 'Op2', since in additive mode, they no longer function as modulator
and carrier.

\(Feedback\)
  Feedback is just a way of distorting a pure wave by feeding its output
back into its input (like EGR anti-pollution devices in an automobile).
The result is that with feedback set to zero, you will get a pure tone
from that voice, while at the higher feedback settings the voice may
get so distorted that it may stop operating altogether.

Operator Parameters
-------------------

  Both types of oscillator are refered to as \(Operators\).  Most
of the adjustable parameters affect way that these operators produce
their tones.  The following parameters affect only one of the operators
that make up a voice.  For each voice, you must specify the parameter
for both the modulator and the carrier.

\(Tremolo\)
  This effect is common in electric guitar amplifiers.  It simply makes
the pitch of the note warble at a low frequency.

\(Vibrato\)
  This effect is also common in electric guitar amplifiers.  It simply
makes the loudness of the note warble at a low frequency.  The effect is
most audible when used with the carrier.

\(Sustain\)
  On a synthesizer this makes the key produce a tone as long as it is held
down, without limit.  In Corncob, some sounds like the engine, need sustain
to be enabled to function properly, while other sounds like the missle
swoosh need to have sustain off.

\(Envelope Rate\)
  Every sound one hears has a definite beginning and end.  Moreover, each
sound has a definite loudness pattern which starts at 0 volume, then builds
to a peak, an then drops off.  This loudness progression is called the
\(envelope\).  How fast the sound goes from nothing to full strength is
called the \(attack\).  How long it takes to drop back to its steady state
level (assuming sustain is on) is called the \(decay\).   The time spent
while the signal is finally fading away after the key is released is
called the \(release\).
  This parameter called \(envelope rate\) is a parameter which make the
attack an decay rates go faster for higher notes.  This is to make
the mimicking of real instruments like the guitar more realistic.  IE,
the plink of a high note is much tighter than the blong of a low note.

\(Frequency Multiplier\)
  This parameter is one of the more useful.  Since one of the parameters
one cannot directly set is the voice frequency, (that must be done by the
program Corncob at run time) this is away to change the base voice
frequency multiplier.  Example:  Say the carrier operator's frequency
multiplier for the stall sound is set at 3.  If you change this multiplier
to 6, then the stall indicator noise will sound twice as high.
  The way the synthesizer is set up, both operators are always run at the
same base frequency.  But since you typically want the carrier to be
running at a pitch higher than the modulator, one will usually specify a
low value for the modulator, and a medium or high value for the carrier.

\(Low Pass Filter\)
  Usually, the higher notes are more piercing, and we always want the
lower notes to be turned up, so we can hear them.  This option allows
and automatic adjustment of loudness which will increase the sound level
for the low notes.

\(Total Level\)
  On most of the sounds in Corncob, this parameter will specify how loud
to make the sound.  Some sounds such as the KLA, Orb, Saucer, and big Boom
sounds are not adjustable, due to the fact that their sound levels are
adjusted dynamically in the game, and therefore the initial board settings
are irrelevant.
  The sound level increases as the db number increases.

\(Attack, Decay, and Release Rate\)
  As explained in the \(envelope rate\) heading above, these parameters
will affect how quickly a sound builds up, and drops off.  See the
description above as to specific meanings of each term.

\(Sustain Level\)
  This is the sound level that a voice levels off to if the key is held
down.  In a usual sound, the peak loudness occurs shortly after the sound
begins, and then it relaxes down to the sustain level.  When the key is
released, then the sound decays to zero.
  \(Important Note:\)
     These levels run from 0 to 15, where \(0\) is the \(LOUDEST\),
     and \(15\) is the \(softest\).   If you choose a sustain level of 15,
     you will have no sustain at all, the signal will instantly decay to 0.

\(Waveform Select\)
  Each operator can put out 4 different kinds of oscillations.  Here is a
short description of their properties.

\(Sine\)
  This is the most pure of the possible waveforms.  It is the least harsh
sounding.  In general, this is the best one to use for low frequency
modulators.

\(Half-Sine\)
  This is a sine wave with the bottoms cut off.  This sounds a little
harsher that the sine.

\(ABS-Sine\)
  This is a sine wave with bottoms folded up to the top.  This effectively
doubles the base frequency, and adds more harshness.

\(Pulse-Sine\)
  This is the harshest and most piercing of the waveforms.  This wave is
closer to a square wave than a sinusoid.  Use this for a buzzer effect.



Special Notes on the Corncob Voices
-----------------------------------
  The authors of Corncob believe in clean living, and scrupulously avoid
the major voices of everyday life.  However, the demands of the market
pressure forced us to reconsider our ways, and have with this version of
2.00 introduced ADLIB inflight sound support.
  Here are some specific facts about some of the quirks with the
implementation done in Corncob.

\(Screech\)
  The screech sound which occurs when the wheels of the plane touch the
runway, is turned both on and off by the program, so the envelope
adjustments may not reflect the usual flexibility.

\(Missile, Crash, and Wind\)
  The whoosh of the missile leaving your plane is done with a percussion
sound, and therefore it does not operate exactly like a typical
melodic voice.  In particular, it has only one operator, and most of the
parameters will have no effect on the sound.
  Sound level, and envelope may be the only useful parameters.  All three
of these sounds are done with the same voice.  (You will never hear
missiles in the wind in Corncob, since a voice can only make one sound at
a time.)

\(Big Boom from Bombs\)
  These sounds are generated by the percussion voice, bass drum.  As
of now, the parameters for this sound are not kept in the 3.ADL file,
and therefore cannot be edited with the sound editor.


\( Orb, KLA, and Saucer noises \)
  These sounds vary in loudness during game play, so that the initial
sound level programmed into the card before play is immediate lost.
Therefore, adjusting the sound levels of these voices is useless.
However, by changing the character of the sound, you may be able to
make it more or less obnoxious.  For example if you wanted to tone down
the KLA noise, simply lower the frequency multiplier of the carrier.
The lower frequency sounds will always be quieter, and less irritating.