PC Gamer 2.9/1996-10_Disc_2.9.iso/timeco/read.me

Text File | 1996-07-19 | 18KB | 489 lines

Table of Contents for Time Commando Demo
----------------------------------------
1. Background Story For Full Version of Time Commando
2. Ordering Information
3. Game Goals For Full Version of Time Commando
4. System Requirements
5. Installation Instructions
6. Keyboard Commands
7. Game Screen Description
8. Difficulty
9. Bonus Description
10. DirectX Information
11. Microsoft SideWinder GamePad
12. Hardware Compatibility
13. Customer Service


1. Background Story For Full Version of Time Commando
-----------------------------------------------------
A deadly virus has invaded the military's top secret computer. Thrust into a
deadly time warp, you must battle your way through history and the future,
racing against time to restore the computer memory before a growing computer
virus becomes invincible. Prepare yourself of the most brutal trip through
time ever. The game includes the following incredible features:

          - Over 45 deadly weapons
          - Over 80 fierce enemies
          - 20 immersive levels
          - Stunningly realistic environments
          - Numerous traps and hidden rooms

FIGHT YOUR WAY THROUGH TIME OR YOU ARE HISTORY!

Category: Action/Adventure
Publisher: Activision
Designer: Fredrick Raynal (creator of Alone in the Dark)
Platforms: Windows(R) /MS-DOS(R) hybrid CD-ROM and Sony PlayStation
Availability: August 1996 for the PC and September 1996 for the PSX version


2. Ordering Information
-----------------------

See your local retailer or in the United States call 1-800-477-3650.


3. Game Goals For Full Version of Time Commando
-----------------------------------------------
Your mission is to destroy the virus that has invaded the
HISTORICAL TACTICAL CENTER's central computer system. The game leads you
through 8 of history's grandest epochs and into the heart of the virus itself.
To do this, you must travel through time while capturing as many non-infected
memory circuits (represented by blue chips) as possible. This way, you will
send all the healthy memory circuits back to the main computer each time
you reach the memory upload terminals.

But watch out! Time is against you, and the virus is progressively
attacking the main computer's memory. When the memory is completely
contaminated by the virus, the game's over. Your work will be slowed down
considerably by the horde of virtual enemies deployed by the virus. You must
combat and eliminate all these enemies as quickly as possible.


4. System Requirements
----------------------
Minimum System Requirements for Windows 95 Demo:
- 100% IBM PC-compatible computer
- 486 DX2/66 MHz processor
- 8 MB RAM
- Double-speed CD-ROM drive (300K/second sustained transfer rate)
- Hard Disk Space: 6 MB of uncompressed hard disk space
- VESA local bus or PCI video with 1 MB RAM
- 8-bit Color (256 Color) VESA-SVGA (640 x 480) Supported (optional)
- 100% Microsoft-compatible mouse and driver
- Microsoft Windows 95 operating system
- A 100% Windows 95-compatible computer system
  (including compatible 32-bit drivers for CD-ROM drive, video card, sound card
   and input devices)
- 100% Sound Blaster 16-compatible sound card

NOTE: Several 8-bit sound cards are supported in the Windows 95 Demo
      version. Please see Section 12. Hardware Compatibility for
      further information.

      The Windows 95 version uses new Microsoft DirectX 2
      technology, and requires that your system have video
      drivers that fully support DirectX.

Recommended System:
- Intel Pentium processor or higher
- 16 MB of RAM or higher
- 4x CD-ROM Drive
- 100% Sound Blaster 16-compatible sound card
- Wavetable music card (Sound Blaster AWE32)


5. Installation Instructions
----------------------------
Windows 95:
1. Insert CD
2. Open TIMECO folder.
3. Double-Click on Setup.exe.
4. Click on Install button to install demo and follow directions.

Note:
ONLY ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS SUPPORTED IN THIS DEMO.

If later you want to run the game again, double-click on TIMEWIN icon
in the TIMECO folder on the CD, and then click on the Play button.

WARNING: Time Commando uses Microsoft(R) DirectX(tm) 2 technology
for Windows 95(tm). You will need drivers for your hardware that support
DirectX 2 to play the Time Commando Demo.

The installer will also copy an uninstaller to your hard disk, which can be
used by double-clicking on UNINSTALL.EXE in your Time Commando directory.


6. Keyboard Commands
--------------------
The following key commands are those designated by default. You can,
of course, modify these commands (see corresponding menu).

UP             Move forward
(if an enemy is near, Stanley will jump forward slightly).
DOWN           Move backward.
RIGHT          Move clockwise.
LEFT           Move counter-clockwise.

When facing an enemy his "life bar" will be displayed.

HAND TO HAND COMBAT

CTRL + LEFT    Left handed punch
CTRL + RIGHT   Right handed punch
CTRL + UP      Kick
CTRL + DOWN    Protection / Parry

HAND WEAPONS (club, sword, mace, broad blade knife)

CTRL + LEFT    Lateral strike to the left
CTRL + RIGHT   Lateral strike to the right
CTRL + UP      Frontal strike
CTRL + DOWN    Protection / Parry

FIRE ARMS, THROWING ARMS, PROJECTILES (rocks, bows and arrows, pistols,...)

CTRL + LEFT    Turn left and aim
CTRL + RIGHT   Turn right and aim (When an enemy can be attacked with the
                                  weapon you are using, crosshairs will
                                  be displayed over him.)
CTRL + UP      Fire / throw
CTRL + DOWN    Reload             (In case of danger, you can interrupt the
                                  reload phase by dodging right or left.)


ALT + LEFT     Rapid lateral dodge to left
ALT + RIGHT    Rapid lateral dodge to right
ALT + UP       Long forward jump.
ALT + DOWN     Dodge backwards or duck

[SPACE BAR]
    Search / Action
    The Space Bar is the "adventure" key. It allows you to search the
        decor to try to find a bonus, to turn on a mechanism, to open a door,
        or to make Stanley take a particular action if the situation calls
        for it (for example, he can climb, lay down flat, ...).

1 2 3 4 5 6    Direct selection of a weapon
    These keys allow you to select individual weapons - simply chose the
        number that matches the box of your weapon.

+ -     Toggle to next weapon in inventory (right or left respectively)

W X    Rotating weapon selection
    These keys allow you to go from the weapon you're using (highlighted
        by a yellow frame) back to the one before, or on to the next one in
        the list. The selection frame moves directly on to the last / next
        weapon available. (There is no difference in the result if you choose
        a weapon directly by its number. Use whichever method suits you best.)

ESC     Display Menu "Option"

P    Pause
    To momentarily pause the game in progress.
        Music and sound effects are deactivated.
        To resume the game, press another key.

- Move over a weapon or object to acquire it

- The pulsating spheres are memory stations - move close to them and hit
the space-bar to kill off the virus (the virus will be reduced by the
number of blue memory chips that you've acquired).
- Hot spots that have hidden weapons, power ups, controls to gates,
trap doors, etc... should be visually recognizable or will play a unique
audio sequence when you pass near them.


7. Game Screen Description
--------------------------

Your Health Meter:  Gold bar in upper-left corner; Floating red and gold
cubes/cylinders are power-ups.

Enemy Health Meter:  Red bar in upper-right corner (appears only when an
enemy is engaged).

Memory Chip Inventory:  Digital display in lower-right corner, displays
number of chips retrieved.

Weapons Inventory:  Can obtain up to 5 weapons (in addition to bare-hands
fighting mode), displayed along bottom of screen.

Virus Strength:  Center-top bar display.  You'll hear beeping when the
virus approaches invincibility.

Life Continues:  Red-and-gold triangles displayed top-center (just left of
the virus indicator).

When finished with a stage, arcade-style scoring will appear displaying 1)
how well you did in combat 2) memory recovered and 3) hidden objects located.


8. Difficulty
-------------
Three levels (easy, normal, and hard) - select desired level from the main
menu.  Increasing the difficulty will not only increase your vulnerability
and make each enemy tougher, but will change the game altogether
(i.e., multiple enemies will appear in the place of just one at easier levels).


9. Bonus Description
--------------------
Healthy memory (blue chips):
Memory circuits non-infected by the virus. Pick up as many of them as possible.

Memory upload terminal (plasmatic demi-sphere):
Each time you near a memory upload terminal, place yourself in front of it and
use the Action key [SPACE BAR]. All the healthy memory circuits you have
collected will then be sent back to the main computer to hold off the
virus' progression. Each time you upload your memory, the game you're playing
is saved. (You can make one save per memory upload terminal and per player at
the difficulty level chosen).

Life points (yellow cubes):
When you step on a yellow cube, you win back a little energy. But the power you
gain is limited by your current number of energy stockpile batteries (1 to 4).

Life Points (red cube):
When you step on a red cube, you gain the equivalent of one battery's worth
of life points. Once again, the power gained is limited by the number of
energy stockpile you have left.

Energy stockpile battery (yellow battery):
Each battery you recuperate is added to your energy stockpile capacity
(points of life) until the maximum number of "batteries" (4) is reached.
Besides, your current energy level will go back up to the maximum level each
time you pick up a new battery.

Extra life:
The game is over when your energy level reaches zero, or when the virus has
contaminated all of the HTC computer's memory. However, if you have an extra
life, you've got another chance... You will reappear, flashing on and off, at
the spot where you died. As long as the flashing continues, you are immortal.
When you use an extra life, part of the infected memory is restored and your
current energy goes back up to maximum; however you lose one of your stockpile
batteries (if you had more than one).


10. DirectX Information
-----------------------
Upon completion of the Time Commando setup, the install process will continue by
determining if Microsoft DirectX 2 needs to be installed on your computer.
If so, the Microsoft DirectX 2 setup program will install the appropriate
files on your computer.  If you choose not to install DirectX 2, and you
find that later you need to install DirectX 2, follow these simple directions.

a. With the disc in your CD-ROM drive, you can force the Microsoft DirectX
   drivers to be installed by double-clicking on the Time Commando CD to get
   the TIMECO folder.
b. Then double-click on the DirectX folder.
c. Then double-click DXSETUP.EXE, and follow the on-screen instructions.


What is DirectX and why do I need it?

Microsoft's DirectX is a set of functions that gives Windows 95 games and
other applications their power. Using these functions allows applications to
perform advanced functions in networking, graphics, sound and input beyond
what's possible on other operating systems; it accounts for much of the
performance gain associated with Windows 95 games. Time Commando uses
DirectDraw, one of the DirectX functions.


Since Windows 95 and DirectX are relatively new in the computer world and
have not achieved compatibility with some older video cards. Many
manufacturers are releasing updated drivers for Windows 95 to meet the
DirectX standard. If you are not sure about your video card's compatibility,
consult the company that makes your video card.


If the Microsoft DirectX Installer does not detect DirectX on your
computer, it will install DirectX for you. After installation is complete,
you will need to restart your computer in order for DirectX to take effect.


If you have other Windows 95 games on your computer, chances are you already
have the initial version of DirectX installed on your computer. In this case,
the Microsoft Installer will write over that version with DirectX 2.  At that
point, the game installation process will be complete. You will need to
restart your computer for the changes to take effect.


If however, you already have DirectX 2 installed on your computer, the
Microsoft DirectX 2 installer will detect that and not overwrite any DirectX 2
files.  You will not need to restart your computer after installation in order
to run Time Commando.


DirectX 2 will remain on your computer and you will be able to run other
Windows 95 games that use Microsoft's DirectX libraries.  DirectX 2 should not
affect any titles designed for the original version of DirectX.  Should you
encounter difficulties with DirectX 2, please contact Microsoft for further
information.


11. Microsoft SideWinder GamePad
----------------------
When in the opening screen to the game, select OPTIONS, then select CONTROL
and then DEFINITON. At the Control Redefinition screen, press the button you
prefer for moving forward (i.e. Up Arrow). After each selection, you will
be prompted to make the next selection. When you are finished, press the
ESC key and select BACK twice, which will put you at the start of the game.


12. Hardware Compatibility
--------------------------
This software was tested for hardware compatibility with:

        Sound cards

        - Adlib Gold (music only)
        - Sound Blaster (sound effects only)
        - Sound Blaster Pro
        - Sound Blaster Pro 2
        - Sound Blaster 16
        - Sound Blaster 16 + Wave Blaster
        - Sound Blaster AWE 32
        - Sound Blaster 32 Plug & Play
        - Microsoft Sound System
        - Microsoft Sound System (Crystal chipset)
        - Maxi Sound 32 FX
        - Sound Galaxy NX Pro 16
        - Gravis UltraSound Classic
        - Gravis UltraSound Max
        - Pro Audio Spectrum 16

        Video cards

        - Matrox MGA Millenium PCI
        - Diamond Stealth 64 Video PCI
        - Diamond Stealth 64 968 PCI
        - Diamond Stealth 64 964 PCI
        - Diamond Viper Pro Video PCI
        - ATI Graphics Pro Turbo Mach 64 PCI
        - ATI Graphics Pro Turbo Mach 32 PCI
        - ATI 3D Rage PCI
        - Virge (S3) PCI
        - Cyrrus Logic 5430 PCI
        - Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM VLB
        - Orchid Fahrenheit VA VLB
        - Trident TGUI 9400Cxi VLB
        - Tseng Labs ET4000/W32 VLB
        - ATI Graphics Pro Turbo Mach 32 VLB
        - Cyrrus Logic 5424 VLB
        - Paradise 90C033 VLB

        CD-ROMs

        - Wearnes (8X)
        - Mitsumi FX600S (6X)
        - Plextor SCSI (6X)
        - TEAC 56-E (6X)
        - Toshiba XM-5302-TA (4X)
        - Mitsumi FX400D (4X)
        - Panasonic CR-562 B (2X)
        - Pioneer (4X)
        - Sony CDU 76-S (4X)
        - NEC (2X)

        Joysticks & Joypads

        - Creative Blaster Pad (DOS, Windows 95)
        - Analog Joysticks (Windows 95)
    - Gravis Pad (Windows 95)
        - Microsoft SideWinder Game Pad (Windows 95)
        - Microsoft SideWinder 3D Pro (Windows 95)


13. Customer Service
--------------------

NORTH AMERICA:

Online Services:
Services with Activision Forums, E-Mail and File Library Support:

Microsoft Network:
     From any MSN window, pull down the Edit menu and select Go
     To and then Other Location. At the prompt, type "Activision"
     and click OK.
America Online:
     Use keyword "Activision" to locate the Activision forum.
CompuServe:
     76004,2122 or [GO GAMBPUB]
GEnie:
     ACTIVISION (E-mail support only)
Prodigy:
     ACTI10B (E-mail support only)
Activision BBS:
     310-479-1335 Up to 28,800 baud; Settings: 8 Bits, No
     Parity, 1 Stop Bit (8, N, 1)
Internet E-mail:
     [e-mail]
World Wide Web:
     http://www.activision.com

For information on how to use our listserver, please send e-mail to
[e-mail] with the word "help" in the
subject line. If you're already familiar with listservers, send
e-mail to the same address with the word "index" in the subject
line of your message for a list of files available from this service.

Fax:
310-479-7355, 24 hours a day

FaxBack:
310-473-6453, 24 hours a day

Mail:
Activision
Customer Support
P.O. Box 67713
Los Angeles, CA 90067

Telephone:
Call our 24-hour voice-mail system for answers to our most
frequently asked questions at 310-479-5644. Contact a Customer
Support representative at the same number between the hours
of 9:00am and 5:00pm (Pacific Time) Monday through Friday,
except holidays.


AUSTRALIA AND PACIFIC RIM:

Telephone:
Technical Support: 1902 962 000
Customer Service: 612 9869 0955

Mail:
Activision
P.O. Box 873
Epping, NSW 2121
Australia

Online Services:
Services with Activision Forums, E-Mail and File Library Support:

Microsoft Network:
     From any MSN window, pull down the Edit menu and select Go
     To and then Other Location. At the prompt, type "Activision"
     and click OK.
CompuServe:
     76004,2122 or [GO GAMBPUB]
Activision BBS:
     310-479-1335 Up to 28,800 baud; Settings: 8 Bits, No
     Parity, 1 Stop Bit (8, N, 1)
Internet E-mail:
     [e-mail]
World Wide Web:
     http://www.activision.com

For information on how to use our listserver, please send e-mail to
[e-mail] with the word "help" in the
subject line. If you're already familiar with listservers, send
e-mail to the same address with the word "index" in the subject
line of your message for a list of files available from this
service.