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Battle Beyond version 1.0 Documentation Scheduled Release date for project: January 18, 1993. This game requires: At least an 80286 or greater equipped IBM/Compatible class computer. 3 megabytes free on your hard drive. 640K Conventional RAM with 600K free for full sound VGA or MCGA card. Sound Blaster (or 100% compatible) card is optional (but highly recommended :) ====================== LEGAL NOTICES ======================================== BATTLE BEYOND Copyright 1994 Robert J. Colbert All Rights Reserved GTDR Battle Beyond and the "Double B" symbol are trademarks of Lucida Group. "Lucida Mini-Movie," as a phrase, is a trademark of Lucida Group. Battle Beyond is a massive project undertaking, consisting of over 11,000 lines of source code, and over 2 megabytes of external data. This set of files, including the executables and data files, are the exclusive property of Lucida Group. You may not sublicense, rent, lease, convey, modify, translate, convert to another programming language, decompile, disassemble, "reverse engineer," or change this package in any way by any means mechanical or electric. If you suspect that you have received a copy of Battle Beyond version 1.0 that appears to be modified in any way, please report this to: Lucida Group 32 Ohio Street McKees Rocks, PA 15136 THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED AS-IS. THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. LUCIDA GROUP DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ALL SUCH WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMED. NEITHER LUCIDA GROUP NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH SOFTWARE EVEN IF LUCIDA GROUP HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL LUCIDA GROUP'S LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF CLAIM. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. Some states do not allow the exclusion of the limit of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Pennsylvania and shall inure to the benefit of Lucida Group and any successors, admin- istrators, heirs and assigns. Any action or proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a STATE or FEDERAL COURT of competent jurisdiction located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The parties hereby consent to in personam jurisdiction of said courts. [ In English: We do offer a money back guarantee for the REGISTERED version of the software if you are not completely satisfied, but we cannot be held responsible for any damages you incur resulting from the use or misuse or inability to use this software ] -=* Other Advice *=- [Virus Infections] Also, in these days of frequent virus infections, we STRONGLY suggest that you run a virus detector/cleaner on this software before you run Battle Beyond for the first time. A good product to handle this task would be McAffee's SCAN.EXE and CLEAN.EXE or Microsoft's MSAV program bundled with MS-DOS 6.0 or later. These softwares are the exclusive properties of their creators, and are in no way affiliated with Lucida Group. This is only for your own protection, as we do not exactly know from where you received this copy of Battle Beyond. -=* Finally (whew) *=- If the shareware copy of Battle Beyond you received does not function correctly when run, please send a diskette to us (3.5" HD preferrably) and we'll send you the shareware version absolutely free. In other words, no matter how you acquired this copy of Battle Beyond, if it does not work correctly, we'll fix it -- FREE. ============================================================================= Battle Beyond v1.0 from Lucida Group Battle Beyond is our first game. We feel that you will spend many hours in front of your computer, enjoying this MultiMedia Blitz of a game. If you have any comments/suggestions/bug reports, please feel free to contact us at: Lucida Group 32 Ohio Street McKees Rocks, PA 15136 Battle Beyond is a "Lucida Mini-Movie" format video game! We have combined every resource currently available for making this game possible in such a small amount of physical disk space. Because of this, please do not tamper with the data files included in this package. We know you may be curious as to how this game was produced, but feel free to ask us!! We will not replace damaged copies of Battle Beyond if it can be proven that you have tampered with the data files. ============================================================================= This unregistered version of Battle Beyond version 1.0 may be freely distributed as long as no more than $10.00 is charged for duplication or other fees, and it may not be included with any commercial package without written consent from the authors. Finally, Battle Beyond version 1.0 IS shareware. This means that you are granted a limited license to use this software for evaluation purposes before you pay for it. Please support this marketing concept by registering Battle Beyond with the authors. Our registered package contains even more Battle for your buck: More sounds, more animation, and more challenge (as if it wasn't already hard enough). We are asking only $20.00 (U.S. currency only, drawn on a U.S. bank) as a one- time registration fee. If you register before September 12, 1994, you will be placed on our "Preferred Customer List." This will entitle you to FREE REGISTERED UPDATES as they are created!! You did read that correctly, FREE REGISTERED UPDATES are yours if you register before September 12, 1994. That means that every time we revise Battle Beyond, or create any sequels (part II, III, etc.), you get the registered version for free. Lucida Group makes every attempt to respond to our foreign customers in as timely a manner as possible, but please understand that the mail is a little slow. If you are a foreign customer, please make sure to give us your entire address as we should write it on the package we ship. Also, foreign customers should include an extra $2.00 for shipping and handling charges in U.S. currency (check/money order), drawn on a U.S. bank. We do understand that if, in some cases, you purchase a money order, you have to spend it or you will lose your money. We will make every attempt to make sure you are completely satisfied! Your registered package will include: More Enemy Ships to hunt and destroy A long list of helpful tricks and tips. Extremely in-depth documentation on diskette. Membership in Club Lucida (including our bi-monthly newsletter). Access to technical support (including some programming tips) through U.S. Mail or our contact BBS. Again, the nominal $20.00 registration fee will get you all that is listed above -- including free updates if you register before September 12, 1994. To register, type REGISTER at the DOS command prompt and press [ENTER]. You will be presented with a question asking you if you'd like to continue, type the letter 'Y'. Afterwards, you will be presented with a screen displaying several prompts. Type the information requested on each line, the press [ENTER]. The cursor will advance to the next line automatically to allow you to enter more information. Finally, select your payment method from the available choices (including NOT REGISTERING), then verify your information by pressing the letter 'Y' at the prompt "Is this correct (Y/N)?" Print the file REGISTER.FRM on your printer, or hand write the requested information on a piece of anything and mail it to us. Please pay by check or money order only, drawn on a U.S. bank in U.S. currency. Foreign orders are welcomed, and I will respond to any foreign letters the day I receive them. Please do not send cash. ============================================================================= About Battle Beyond. . . . In the year 2034 A.D., communism as it was known throughout the 20th century was abolished and the global community lived in a peaceful, unified state. The global economy had improved since the world leaders agreed to help any country with their problems--a world movement which started with the United States of America in the early 1990's. The unemployment rate for the entire planet dropped to less than two percent, and work was started on space stations using a new shuttle type that allows the pilot to takeoff and land vertically. Everone seemed to be content. The world is finally a great place in which to live. That is--it was. Now it is a vast wasteland with intolerable levels of radiation forcing the human race to venture out into the great void of outer space. It all began after a new spaceship project had been started that was supposed to, when completed, be able to use the power of the nuclei of atoms. Supposedly, a piece of biological material as small as a grape could power this ship for a month with its newly unlocked "nuclei power." The first tests went well, the engine ran smoothly and efficiently. Conventional fuels were no longer needed. Then the first astronauts went up. It worked perfectly, but it moved much faster than the old shuttles -- approaching light speed. A plan was set up, and the ship, now called the "Atomic Archer" was equipped for a trip to our closest stellar neighbor, Mars. The launch was successful, and all went well. Eventually, Earth lost contact with the craft; but that was expected, as the new starship had traveled such a long distance. One day, 2 months after launch, screams and gunfire were heard over the Archer's communications radio. NASA had no idea what it was, but they knew it must have been the craft. Earth's population expected to find these brave nuclear astronauts dead, but they were anything but dead. When the ship entered Mars's atmosphere, a gas leak occured due to a design flaw in the cabin of the Atomic Archer. The astronauts became paranoid and schizophrenic causing them to take hostile actions toward whatever they came into contact with. NASA had no idea of the horror to follow as they directed the craft back into Earth's atmosphere via remote control. As soon as the Archer had re-entered Earth's atmosphere, the entire craft melted due to the intense heat caused during re-entry from the cabin design flaw. The ship exploded, deploying lethal Martian chemicals throughout Earth's surface. The same chemicals that effected the crew of the spacecraft were now unleashed upon the population of Earth. As soon as anyone breathed the toxic air, they became hostile towards anything -- even their friends and family. Earth erupted into a violent civil war of epic proportions, with people fleeing to safety in underground man-made bunkers, praying that it would all be ended soon. Their only escape was to the newly constructed space stations using several "old design" shuttles of the mid 1990's. The year is now 2059 A.D. Humanity exists solely in outer space, as an entirely divided race. Those who managed to escape the breathing of the chemicals on that horrific day now populate space stations throughout the universe and are known as "The Alliance." Those who were less fortunate, now known as "The Hostiles," have been ravaging the surface of Earth and have begun building spacecraft from from military design plans seized from the ruins of Earth. They have also begun to construct space stations of their own. The Alliance is forced to defend itself in a Battle Beyond humanity and the reaches of the universe. As a member of The Alliance, this is your mission. Good luck and God bless. You'll need it! ============================================================================= Installing Battle Beyond. . . . You should have received either one (1) or three (3) archived files. Decompress them all into the same directory of your choice. Refer to your DOS manual and the documentation for your decompression software for help getting everything unpacked. Once you have all of the files unpacked into the SAME directory, the game is ready to go, and you may delete the original archives (if you want to conserve the space on your hard disk). We do suggest that you keep a copy of them somewhere, however, on diskette or otherwise in case of accidental deletion or other hardships (like a hard drive crash, ack). Battle Beyond version 1.0 DOES REQUIRE A HARD DRIVE with three (3) megabytes free space to run. This game generates no "temp" files, and uses your hard disk for reading purposes only. The only writing that occurs is in the registered version of Battle Beyond, which does keep a "Top Ten" list of pilots. ============================================================================= Playing Battle Beyond. . . . Playing Battle Beyond is rather simple. After loading the game, and viewing some introductory animations, you will be presented with a Main Menu. This shareware version of the game is fully functional; nothing has been "crippled." We have, however, left out a few animations to reduce the file size for telecommunication purposes and costs. Pressing the letter "P" from the Main Menu will load the game and get you started. Pay very close attention to every picture you see during this apparent introduction. This is actually a lot of information your first time through, but you'll get used to it. You will eventually be presented with a Local Sector "DataGrid." This is the scope of the current level, and should be paid a great deal of attention. You will see a 16 x 16 grid of blocks. These are each a sub-sector of the current sector, and contain their own dangers. Each sub-sector may also be "blank," displaying no icons. This means that this is an empty sub-sector. You may fly through empty sub- sectors at top speed, as nothing will get in your way. To control your starship, the S-22 Silver Fox, use the following keys: Up arrow -- Accelerate Down arrow -- Decelerate Left arrow -- Turn ship left Right arrow -- Turn ship Right Space Bar -- Fire a missle Letter "B" -- Power boost (speed to max 5). Tab Key -- Game Pause (any key) -- Game Resume (after Pause) Escape Key -- Game Menu Do not hit anything on the screen. If you do, your starship will be completely destroyed. The S-22 is strictly an offensive fighting machine, with no defensive systems or armor. You can shoot everything you can see on the screen. That is the object of this game. Keep your starship from hitting on-screen objects while destroying "Hostile" ships and other space debris. Select the "(R)ead about Lucida" Main Menu selection for the cast of characters and scoring information. At the beginning of each level, you will be presented with a few text screens. These will inform you of your current level, and how many targets must be destroyed in order to complete that level. More targets will be on the screen, but you must successfully destroy the displayed number of targets before passing on to another level. Valid targets are: All Enemy Ships Space Mines Energy Modules Enemy Radio Transmission Beacons Invalid targets are: Meteors/Asteroids Space Debris You will receive points for destroying the targets listed as "Invalid," but they will not count towards your total of destroyed targets. Upon the successful completion of every three levels, you are awarded another starship (if one is needed). You have a maximum of four starships at your disposal during game play, and the game is over when you run out of starships. Successfull completion of level 30 is the victory of this game. Try to make it and watch the victory animations. You will be kept in constant VOCAL communication with Alliance Base One (Sound Blaster users only). Users without a Sound Blaster card will not have this communication. You will hear two distinctly different voices: Male and female. The Male voices are the fleet command back at Alliance Base One. The female voice is your onboard navigational computer. Listen closely to every word. Sometimes, the voices will be "cut off" from finishing their message. Deep space communication is not a specialty of the Alliance. They didn't plan for this to happen to them, and were not quite ready to venture into space. Pressing Escape during game play will pop up the "Game Menu." This allows you to make several choices during game play: (Q)uit to Main Menu -- Will abort the current game and return you to the Main Menu. If your score is high enough, you will be placed into the Top Ten. (S)ave Current Game -- Will ask for a filename to use. You have 8 characters, spaces and periods (.) are not valid characters. (L)oad a Saved Game -- Will ask for a filename to use. You have 8 characters, spaces and periods (.) are not valid characters. (N)evermind Self-explanatory, I thought, but will simply shut the menu and return you to the game play. Be prepared, there's no delay. You just get thrown back into the game. There are several tricks in the game, but we'll let you discover them on your own. One point we will give you is that The Hostiles will always fly straight for you, without regard for their own life, or others around them. Have fun!! Robert J. Colbert (Linc) Steve Heintz (Mantis) Again, if you have any questions/comments/bug reports you can contact us in two ways: 32 Ohio Street McKees Rocks, PA 15136 or Call the Polaris 2000 BBS (In Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A.) (412) 457-3197. We are known as Linc and Mantis on the board. Game registrations are not possible on the board, only chat and latest shareware versions of our productions. We have our own file base on Polaris 2000. You will always be able to download the latest shareware versions of our software from this BBS, as well as get involved in active discussions with us and the other members of the board. NOTE: We do not operate the Polaris 2000 BBS, so you will have to abide by their rules and regulations as we do. ============================================================================= Closing remarks. . . . If enough interest is shown in Battle Beyond v1.0 (i.e. registrations), we may create a sequel. Steve and I are currently working on the story line as you read this. We also have several other projects "under construction." Video game writing is extremely difficult stuff, but we enjoy doing it. We are also more than willing to accept ideas from YOU! Your feedback is extremely important to us, please fill out the COMMENTS section of the registration form as honestly as you can after running REGISTER.EXE. Even if you're NOT going to register the game, send us some comments anyway. We'd like to know why you're not registering the game with us, but hope you will decide to! Thank you for showing interest in a Lucida Group production. [END OF BATTLE.DOC]