The Other Thing/The Other Thing.iso/SURF/README.TXT

Text File | 1996-08-14 | 13KB | 282 lines

             WILD RIDE! BETA 1.9.4.7
           the ultimate 3d surfing game
www: http://www.runandgun.com/wildride/index.html
email: [e-mail]
This version released August 14, 1996.
Please read this entire file before installing.
(c) 1996 RUNANDGUN! inc.

Requirements:

- Windows 95
- A Pentium Based Computer is suggested, although it will run
  (somewhat) on a 486 based machine
- A gradual-response 2-button joystick (suggested - you can also
  use a Game Pad, or the cursor keys and the space bar & control
  key)
- A sound card or some description (not necessary)
- An audio CD to listen to, and something to play it in (not
  necessary)


Game Instructions:

    WILD RIDE is the ultimate real-time 3d surfing game.  It is
scheduled to be released mid-1996, and should contain obstacles,
scoring, opportunities to increase the character's surfing abilities,
play backs of your game from various angles, and perhaps even a
network/modem/Internet playable thrash mode, if possible.
    In this particular demo, you can only select any of the 6
surfers, and surf 'till you puke.  Each surfer has his or her own
style and moves, but the controls are fairly similiar for each.
    Speaking of controls, here's how you play:

- You can move around on the beach by moving the joystick.  You can
  go to the sign and press the button/space to begin.
- When the surfer is paddling to the top of the wave (the word surf
  will appear at the bottom of the screen), press button one or the
  space bar to drop in.
- Pressing left or right steers in that direction, from the surfer's
  perspective.
- Pressing button one or the space bar while on the wave will allow
  you to turn twice as quick.  This is very crucial to staying afloat
  in some situations.
- Pressing button two or the control key actives your surfer's special
  move.  You have to be pressing a direction on the joystick, and to
  do the nose-walk or quasimodo, you have to hold up or down
  respectively.
- You gain speed by 'carving', that is moving up and down the wave
  without going in the air or off the bottom of the wave.  Mastering
  technique is very important to becoming a good surfer.


A few things you might want to take note of before you start:

- Never go off of the bottom of the wave.  You will sink and bail.
- Don't run in to the obstacles, and it is possible to do an air over
  the pier.
- Don't go out of bounds (marked by some bouys with arrows), or you
  will enter shark infested waters.
- Try to land all aerial maneuvers with the front of your surf
  board facing leading the arc of your flight.  If you do not
  succeed in doing this, you will loose speed or wipe out,
  depending on how severe the difference is.
- Your rotation at launch is carried throughout your flight.
  So if you really want to spin, steer to one side and press the
  button before launching.  This is a really important technique
  if you want to break the 900 barrier.
- Don't let yourself run out of speed.  This is bad.  You will drown.
- The bar at the bottom of the screen is actually a speedometer.
  When it is nearing the width of the screen, you
  are going about as fast as you can go.
- The escape key exits fullscreen mode.
- F12 aborts the current game.
- You can use the function keys (f1-f6) to change camera angles.
- The details menu should give you some things to fiddle with.
- You should be in 16 bit (hi color) mode for the game to run.
- If it says HI-SCORE! on the screen, try typing in your name.


Installation instructions and whatnot:

    To play the game, you will need to make sure that you
have installed all of the drivers correctly.  The game requires
the DirectX II Final drivers from Microsoft, which have been
conveniently zipped up in the file directxf.zip.  If you have the
previous version of WILD RIDE (alpha 1.0.2.5), and got it to run,
you not need this file.
    You must remember to unzip the file using the existing
directory structure (-d) and into your ROOT directory.  Then run
the file called install.bat in the DirectX directory.
    Once you have done that, and then run the setup, you can
reboot and load the game!  It is a good idea to close all other
applications before loading the game, and to reboot after playing
if you are going to be doing anything important.  Feel free to put
an audio cd in the drive, you can configure the game to use different
songs for each surfer and the intro screen.

Warnings, Disclaimers, etc.:

    This is BETA software, and is not guaranteed in any way
shape or form.  The Microsoft Drivers it uses are also not
guaranteed either.  It is good advice to close all programs before
loading WILD RIDE BETA 1.0.2.4., and to reboot afterwards if you
do not want any corruption to occur.  We have never had anything
bad happen, but still, this is a precaution.  Also, your video or
sound card may requre special directx drivers which should be
availiable on the manufacturer's BBS or web page.
    If you notice any bizarre things that involve WILD RIDE
itself, please let us know.  You can email a bug report to us, and
in return, we will notify you as soon as the next beta is being
released - Whammo, you're a beta tester.  You won't get paid or
anything like that, but you will have a chance to be a member of
the ultra-elite TEAM ATTACK secret society of beta testers.

What to do if the game does not work:

    If the game never finishes loading (it sits there forever), try
pressing alt after a while (usually at least a minute or 2).  This,
in most cases, will bring the message box with the error message into
view.  Write down the message, and email it to [e-mail]
with a complete description of your system (cpu/video card/sound
card).  I will try to get you up and running as soon as possible.
    If the game stops responding, and doesn't report and error, try
the same trick as mentioned above.
    If the game does report an error, report it as mentioned above.
    If the game works, but does strange and mysterious things, please
report that as well in the same fashion.  I need as much input as
possible, never assume that someone else will report the same error.
    If the error mentions direct sound, you can add the following to
surf.ini in your windows directory (you may need to create it):

[Audio]
SoundFxAllowed=0

    This will disable the sound effects.  MIDI and CD audi can be
toggled via the menu.


STUFF That we know about already (so don't tell us about it unless
you have a really good idea/comment/solution):

- The game takes forever to load.  This is partially due to the
  current "x" file format, there should be a compiler for these soon.
- The mouse shows and/or the clock or CD player on the task
  bar during fullscreen mode.  We know about this, and have a good
  idea of how to fix it.
- Once in a while, semjase's pleadian space vehicle has weird colors,
  which can be fixed by resizing the window.  Weird.  I'll get right
  on that.
- The same happens, on occasion, when entering the game screen, or the
  character selection screen.
- 16 bit (high color) modes are the only graphics modes that the game
  fully supports right now.  Higher modes should work, but there is
  absolutely no advantage to using them.  Modes less that 16 bit don't
  work properly at all.
- The animations for some of the characters are not complete.
- The Networking menu still does nothing.

Tweaking the game to fit your system:

    Make sure you are in 16 bit (high color) mode before loading the
game.  You can download quickres from the microsoft web page which
makes switching display modes incredibly easy if you need other modes
for other applications.
    You can edit the CD audio playlist in the surf.ini file to
have your favorite songs play for your favorite surfers, etc.
    You can add the line "Fullscreen=1" to surf.ini in the
[ScreenMode] section if you want the game to default to fullscreen
upon launch.
    There are various options in the details menu that you can play
with that may or may not enhance the game speed.  Here is a rundown
of them:

current fps: displays a fairly innaccurate frame per second rate.
breaking wave: toggles an early test of the wave break on and off.
foam: just a test of a proposed foam idea.
gore: toggles blood splat when obstacle collision occurs.
horizon: toggles an early test of the horizon on and off.
normal navigation: toggles a different navigation method for the
    beach sequence.
sky map: toggles the sky, either scrolling bitmap or single color.
speed-o-meter: toggles the shark/fish speed-o-meter at the bottom.
spray: toggles the spray and splash prototype 3.
summon semjase: try it.  not usefull but fun.
wave textures: toggles texture mapping for the wave and the break.
tron mode: try it.  not usefull but fun.
halfres: toggles rendering to a smaller surface and then stretches
    to fit the screen/window.  usually provides a speed increase.
fullscreen: pops up a menu of varios screen modes for fullscreen

Note: after resizing the window or changing some of the options, it
takes a few seconds before the game gets going at full speed.

Oddity Note: try a lot of different window sizes and screen modes
before you settle on the one that you like best.  I have noticed that
resizing the window to be LARGER than it was sometimes causes a speed
increase, and the smallest fullscreen mode is not always the fastest.

For example, 800x600 on the #9 video card I am testing on runs faster
than 640x480 for the choice screen, and definitely faster for the game
if I use halfres mode.

Stuff to look forward to (likely, but not for certain):

The full version will quite likely include:
- A complete interface, including a story line, and opportunities
  to improve your surfboard, etc.
- Animations for the interface.
- Playbacks of your run.
- Movies that show hints, tricks and tips.
- Wave break and tube (for tube rides).
- A THRASH mode where you have to be aggressive to survive, in a
  good old fashioned surfing brawl.
- Network/Modem playable modes are a possibility for future
  enhancements.
- A full CD audio soundtrack, and a full MIDI soundtrack for the
  shareware versions.
- More tricks and other assorted craziness.
- More secrets and other wholesome goodies.


Stuff that is new in this version (BETA 1.9.4.7):
- More MIDI songs
- An announcer
- Obstacles
- More work done on interface
- Blood splats
- More secret-like things
- Oddity fixes
- Semjase does something new
- Auto Camera mode for over/under the pier
- a little of that optimization type stuff
- New (faster) splash/spray with better depth

Stuff that is new in the previous version (BETA 1.0.6.4):
- MIDI music has returned...
- Some new graphics (incomplete)
- Some new tricks (Lee's quasimodo, nose ride, and walkaround (shovit))
- Spray/splash prototype
- A horizon prototype
- Networking stub (THIS DOES NOT WORK IN THIS VERSION - INCOMPLETE!!!)
- User interface prototype
- More letters and numbers for hi-score entry, display, etc.
- Better scoring
- Some slight speed optimizations
- Ability to disable sound fx completely for people without sound cards
- Some oddity fixes
- Semjase chases the surfer

Stuff that was new in the version before that (ALPHA 1.0.2.5):
- Windows interface.
- Sky mapped.
- Surfer mapped.
- Back to 1 surfer for testing, due to a terrible file accident :(
- No tricks, due to the same accident :(
- Primitave wave break test.
- Tonnes of fixes for bugs and oddities.
- Tonnes of useless stuff, like tron mode.
- Halfres mode.
- More cameras.
- Tonnes of optimizations for speed.

Stuff that was new in the version before that version(COMDEX):
- Slight fixes for some small oddities.
- Scoring.
- High scores are saved, but you can not enter your name yet.
- Slight optimization for speed.

Stuff that was new in the version before that(E3):
- An early selection interface to choose your surfer.
- A limit of 3 runs per game, then you go back to the choice screen.
- More moves, sounds, and tricks.
- No MIDI crap sounds! YEEHAW!
- Better physics and controls.
- CD Audio.
- More painfull wipe-outs.
- Better wave object and animations.

-Jeremy Evers
 cranial logic modifier
 RUNANDGUN! Inc.
 [e-mail]