PC Gamer 4.12/1999-06_Disc_4.12.bin/S3DEMO/S3DEMO.EXE/Readme.txt

Text File | 1998-12-18 | 14KB | 305 lines

I. The Multiplayer Game
==================
This readme file contains all the information which is required to create and play a SETTLERS III multiplayer game.


A.) The Startscreen
===============


1. Tutorial
========
The Tutorialmission makes sure that you become familiar with the most important features in THE SETTLERS III.



2. Multiplayer Game LAN
===================
After you've clicked on the "Multiplayer Game: LAN" button, you'll come the multiplayer lobby
screen where you can meet other players. Here you can log into available games and link-up with
fellow players.


a) Log In and Connection
====================

(1) Choose Type of Network
======================
The "Type of Network" window shows all of the available network connections that have been
detected by the game. Depending on the type of connection you choose, you'll have to provide
the appropriate information. If one of the following windows isn't displayed, your connection
doesn't require this information.


(2) Player's Name
=============
Here you'll find the name you entered when you first logged into Settlers III Online. If you're
playing for the first time, or haven't played online yet, you can enter the name which you wish to
use when playing. This may be changed later if you wish.


(3) IP-Address
===========
If this window appears you'll need your computer's IP address. You can find your IP by
choosing "Run" from the Windows start menu, and entering "winipcfg.exe". If your computer
reports that it can't find this file, then go to "Find - Files or Folders" and search your local hard
drives for the file "winicpfg.exe". When you've found it, double click on it. A box will pop up in
which you'll find the IP address of your computer. Enter this number in the corresponding
window of the menu.


(4) Search for Games
================
When you press the "Search for Games" button, the program begins searching for games on the
network. These games, along with a listing of all the players who have already joined, will be
displayed in the "Game" and "Players" windows.


(5) Join Game
==========
When you press the join game button, you are attempting to join the selected game. If you're
successful, you'll be placed into a open slot within the game called the "Meeting Place".


(6) New Game
===========
When you press the "New Game" button, you can create your own game for others to join. More
information about this process can be obtained within the section "Create a Game".


(7) Back
======
If you decide that you don't want to join in any of the multiplayer games offered on the LAN,
you can press this button. You'll then return to the start screen.



3. Multiplayer Game Internet
======================

a) Log In and Connect
=================
At your very first login when you clicked on "Multiplayer Game Internet" you have to enter a
name under which you want to play and a password. The name you enter can be your own or a
pseudonym. You can also create multiple game identities, for example, "Romulus" for playing
the Romans, "Cheops" for playing the Egyptians and "Tai Won Ahn" for the Asians. To create
a new identity, you have to press the button "Create Player" and then enter the new name you
want to create and a password. You can now log into Settlers III Online by pressing the "Log In"
button. If you decide that you'd rather not play online, you can press the "Back" button.


b) In the Lobby
============
After logging in, you'll find yourself in the "Home" area of the Lobby. From the "Home" area of
the Lobby you can enter any of the two other Zones by clicking on the corresponding buttons on
the left-hand side of the screen. These are the ChatZone and the GameZone. The "Log out"
button returns you to the start screen where you can return to Windows.


(1) Home
=======
This is the first page which appears after login. It contains some recent game information.


(2) ChatZone
==========
In the ChatZone you can talk with other players. In a chat group you can talk with the other
people who are also in this chat group. You can also create games from this area by pressing the
button "Create game" in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. Games created from the
ChatZone are displayed to everybody in the chat group in the upper area of the screen. You can
join any of the games listed by clicking on the name of the game. By pressing the "Warp" button
you make the game visible also for people who actually aren't in the Chat Zone but in the Game
Zone.


(a) Public Chats
============
Public chats are open to everyone and are not restricted to any particular subject. For the sake of
simplicity, two public chat groups have been created for you: the "English Chat", for English-
speaking players, and the "German Chat" for German-speaking players.


(3) Game Zone
===========
In the GameZone you can join in a newly created game as long as the game has one player slot
still available. You can see whether any places are still free by looking to the right of the name of
the game. Here you'll see a fraction, 2/4, for example. This would mean that two of four slots are
already filled, 4/4 would mean that all available slots are already filled, but that the game hasn't
started yet. These games will be displayed in red.
Click on the game you want to join; if no games are available, a corresponding message will
appear. You can also make adjustments in the GameZone regarding the types of games that are
displayed. Above the game display you'll find a row of buttons which can be toggled to show the
types of games that are available to join. By default, all these buttons are activated. If you're not
interested in a certain type of game, you can deactivate it by clicking on the corresponding icon.
After doing so this type of game will no longer be displayed.
From left to right the meaning of the buttons are: ranking lists games, free-for-all, one vs. one,
two vs. two, three or four vs. three or four, five or more vs. five or more, three teams, team vs.
computer, other groupings, select all types, select none.


(a) Joining a Game
==============
In order to join a game you only have to click on the name of the game you want to join.


(b) Creating a Game
===============
Please read the chapter: Creating a Game.


(5) Log Out
=========
This button returns you to the start screen and breaks your connection to The Settlers III Online.


4. Load game
==========
Saved games from single player games can be loaded by pressing this button.



B. Creating a Game
===============
When you play THE SETTLERS III on a local area network or on the Internet, you'll come into a
menu where you can make all the necessary adjustments for preparing a game. In the upper part
of the menu you'll find the name of the game you are creating. The default name will be [Your
Name]'s game. You can, of course, choose other names for games that you create.


1. Additional Adjustments
====================
- With the button "Goods" you can adjust how many goods are available to you and your
opponent(s) at the beginning of the game. You can either choose the default value (unknown to
you) or a small, medium or large number of goods to begin with. Note, that the map in this Demo
has a predefined amount of goods in the beginning, and your settings will have no influence to
them. This switch is mostly for the random maps, which are part of the final version of THE
SETTLERS III
- The button "Game Type" lets you decide what kind of game you want to play. The various
options include "map defaults", "no teams", or "teams". Random maps have no default values
with regard to the type of game. In this case you have to set them by hand. If you choose "no
teams", the following types of game can be chosen: "League", "Free-for-all", "Free alliances" or
"Play alone". If you'd rather play in teams, you can choose one of the options available or skip
over to the next block.
- With the buttons "Number of teams" and "Players per team" you can set these as you see
fit.
In the large window on the right you can then make fine adjustments which allow teams of
different sizes. With the arrow buttons to the right of the team number you can enter exactly how
players belong to each team. There are limits to the number of players who can play on each
team depending on the absolute number of players for the game as a whole.
After you've completed all your adjustments, click on the "OK" button.


2.) The Meeting Place
=================
After you've created a game or have joined a game, the "Meeting Place" menu appears. Here you
may have to wait a while until enough other players join the game to fill all the available slots. In
the upper left of the window you'll see four buttons. With these you can choose which race you
want to play. The three helmets represent each of the three races and the wheel of fortune to the
far left chooses a race at random. This is the default setting, so if you want to play the Egyptians,
for example, you have to click on the Egyptian helmet. To the right of your name you can see
which race you have selected.
Farther to the right you'll see a LED which can vary from green to yellow to red. Green indicates
a good Internet connection, red indicates a poorer connection which can cause serious lag or
even a complete disconnection in extreme cases.
To the right of this LED is the chart window. If you click in the empty space next to the LED, a
cursor will appear. You can use this line for chatting, for sending off a couple messages, or
perhaps even for challenging your opponent.
To the right of the chatline you'll find a smaller red LED. This is the ready button. By clicking on
this button, players can toggle between ready and not-ready modes. Only after all the players
have clicked on this lamp making it green, can the game begin. A bit farther to the right you'll
find another small button called the kick button, which can be used to remove players you don't
want to have in the game. When you're satisfied with the players and everyone has clicked their
ready button to green, the game can begin.


II. Keyboard Commands
===================
F1    Change screen resolution to 640x480
F2    Change screen resolution to 800x600
F3    Change screen resolution to 1024x768

F12    Skip 1 minute playing time (only in single player mode)
-    Sound effects softer
+    Sound effects louder
P    Pause

A. Keyboard Functions
==================
Esc    Exit game
Return key    Activates the chat mode. Enter your message and press the
return key once more to send off your message.
Arrow keys    move the playing area in the corresponding direction.


B. Keyboard Commands for Moving Settlers
==================================
Only certain Settlers and objects can be selected and moved. These include
soldiers, spies, geologists, pioneers, catapults, and some ships.
LMB = left mouse button
RMB = right mouse button
1. Selecting Settlers or Objects - LMB or wrap with LMB depressed.
2. Deselecting Settlers or Objects - LMB anywhere in the playing area where there are no Settlers or objects that can be selected.
3. Special Commands for Selecting
SHIFT-LBM or SHIFT-wrap = add Settlers to group
ALT-LBM on a Settler or Object = select all of the same kind of Settlers in the vicinity
CTRL-LBM on a Settler or Object = select all Settlers in the vicinity
TAB selected Group = All wounded soldiers are selected.


4. Groups
========
- ALT-1 to ALT-9: designate the selected Settlers to groups 1 through 9.
- Keys 1 to 9: select the group corresponding to this number. The playing area will automatically center on this group.


a) Moving Settlers or Objects
======================
- RMB: move to this location.


b) Special Commands for Moving Settlers or Objects
========================================
- CTRL-RMB: move to this location, ignoring the enemy along the way.
- SHIFT-RMB: set additional waypoints. After the Settler or group selected has
reached its goal, it moves automatically to the next waypoint. In addition to the
normal move three waypoints can be set. You can cancel this movement by giving
any other move command.
- ALT-RMB: Patrol between the present position and the new position where you
click.


C. Menu Shortcuts
==============
With the following keys you can get to the functions of the Control Center more
quickly.

Q, W, E, R    correspond to the four icons of the Building menu below the overview map
A, S, D, F    correspond to the four icons of the Goods menu
Z, X, C, V    correspond to the four icons of the Settlers menu


Actual Information
------------------------------------


Troubleshooting
=====================================

Message "out of memory"
=======================
If you get a message reporting that you are out of memory, please check whether enough free
space for your swap file is available on your hard disk (drive C: in most cases)


Intellimouse(r)
===============
Windows Explorer Error Message:
On some machines with the Microsoft(r) Intellimouse(r) wheel mouse an Explorer error might
occur when starting THE SETTLERS III.
Our current understanding is that this is an incompatibility between IntelliPoint 2.2
(the wheel mouse software) and DirectX 6. The error message will disappear if you uninstall
IntelliPoint (thus removing the wheel features). We're still trying to find a workaround
for this.

-------------------------------------
Blue Byte Software