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SIMUTRONICS CORPORATION PRESENTS CyberStrike (tm) A David Whatley Design CyberStrike (tm) Documentation Oct 21, 1994 Revision 2.0 CyberStrike Version 1.50 (c) Copyright 1993, Simutronics Corporation 1.0 QUICK OVERVIEW Welcome to CyberStrike, GEnie's most exciting and easy-to-play multiplayer game. CyberStrike has been designed with a few basic concepts in mind: Simple to learn, fun to play, and challenging to master. In CyberStrike, you control a walking CyberPod. You can turn this two- legged armored machine in every direction to look around, up and down, and walk about the CyberCity. It can go everywhere: Up ramps, down streets, through tunnels, and can even jump over obstacles. And it has weaponry which can be used to destroy enemy CyberPods. The only thing your CyberPod needs to keep going, is power. There are no bewildering stats to learn about, and no complicated armor and weapon charts to decide from. In fact, the only resource you need to worry about, is power. You use power to move, power to shoot, and power to stay alive. When you run out of power, your CyberPod will be destroyed, but don't worry, you'll get another one! Power is obtained from a power grid, by means of power relay towers stationed throughout the CyberCity. The closer you are to a power relay tower, the more power you can get from it. The further away you are, the less effective it is, but you can fix this by requesting a new tower at your current location. Building a network of towers throughout the CyberCity is the key to a good strategy. There's one tiny problem though: Enemy teams are also trying to establish a network of their own power relay towers (they can't use yours), and will probably blow up your towers wherever they can. This is the primary conflict of CyberStrike: Control of the CyberCity. If you'd like to get right into the game, we recommend you read Sections 2.2 (RUNNING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME) and 7.0 (QUICK REFERENCE CARD). If you'd like the full details, read all of the sections in order. 2.0 RUNNING THE SOFTWARE This section covers the hardware requirements for playing CyberStrike, and how to get the software up and running on your computer, such as how to set up the sound driver and start the software for the first time. 2.1 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS The minimum hardware requirements for playing CyberStrike are: 386DX/25MHz MINIMUM 1 Meg of RAM (580K Free conventional RAM) 1 Meg of EMS required for sounds (optional) Hard Drive space: at least 2 Meg 2400 or 9600 baud modem VGA graphics Recommended for play (but not required) are: 33 MHz CPU Joystick Sound Blaster compatible sound card (16bit sound card features supported) (most sound cards are supported) 2.2 RUNNING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME This section covers details about configuring your computer to run the software, and then walks you through the procedure to login to the CyberStrike chamber for the first time. 2.2.1 SETTING THE SOUND DRIVER If your computer has a sound card, CyberStrike will probably support it with great digital sound effects. There are two versions of CyberStrike in the software library. The CS15S.EXE file contains the files you need for sound effects, while the CS15.EXE does not. If you do not have the sounds, you may download and extract CSSND.EXE to add them. Most every modern sound card is supported (see section 12.0). 2.2.2 STARTING THE CYBERSTRIKE SOFTWARE Once the software has been loaded onto your hard drive, make sure you are in the correct directory, and type CS to start it up. When you first do so, you will be presented with a settings window for customizing the software to your computer. On-screen instructions in the settings window will tell you how to manipulate the controls. Special things to pay attention to are the COM port setting, the baud rate, and your local GEnie node number and User ID. Once you've set those correctly, press the ESC key to exit the settings window. NOTE: If you have a mouse, it will not function until after you have configured the settings, because the CyberStrike software at that point will not know which COM port controls your modem, and which one controls your Mouse. But as soon you set the COM port and press ESC, the mouse should work normally. Now all you have to do is press the F1 key, or use the mouse to click on the big "Logon to GEnie" button, and CyberStrike will dial GEnie and log you on. If you don't see the button, or the left-hand button says something else than "Logon to GEnie", you probably just need to reconfigure something in your settings screen. If you need help, check the troubleshooting section (11.0) at the end of this manual for detailed suggestions on what could be causing the problem. Note: If you are dialing a 9600 baud line, those modems do not require that HHH be typed upon connect. The CyberStrike logon script is designed such that it will correct for this problem, and log you in anyway. At this point, you will be at GEnie's page 1 banner menu, and the buttons at the top of your screen will change to reflect this. Simply press F1 again (or click on the big "Go to CyberStrike" button), and you will be whisked into the CyberStrike chamber. VERSION 1.50 NOTE: CyberStrike does NOT work with SprintNet connections to GEnie at this time. This problem is being worked on, however until it is fixed CyberStrike must be played by logging into GEnie through a GEnie node, or via the 800 number. Contact GEnie customer service for more information. 2.2.3 CYBERSTRIKE CHAMBER Before you enter the chamber for the first time, you will be prompted for a callsign. Once you choose a callsign, it's yours permanently (unless you decide to start an entirely new CyberPod). After you've chosen a callsign, you'll be in the CyberStrike chamber, which is a simple "chat" environment. To get into the actual game from there, press the F1 function key. The chamber has many other functions, which you can learn about in Section 9.0 (CHAMBER COMMANDS), but for now, let's get right into the game! 2.3 ENTERING THE GAME As you leave the chamber (by pressing F1 or typing /PLAY) to enter the CyberCity, your display will change to show the 3-D environment you're entering. Your CyberPod, with you in it, will be literally dropped into the city from the sky. Once you land, you'll then be able to drive your CyberPod around the CyberCity, and wreak havoc as you see fit. Notice as you enter the CyberCity, that the team color you are on is prominently displayed at the top of your screen. Remember this, because you don't want to shoot your own teammates! CyberStrike has four teams, colored red, green, blue, and black. Each team can have up to four people, for a total of 16 CyberPods in each city. But remember, each CyberPod is being controlled by a real person! 3.0 A STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIAL This section describes basic CyberPod commands, such as how to move the CyberPod, how to look around, how to communicate, and what you should do on your first time out. 3.1 MOVING AROUND Your CyberPod is controlled with both the joystick and a keyboard. If you do not have a joystick, then you may use the numeric keypad keys to simulate what the joystick does, but this is much more difficult to control than the joystick. Throughout this manual, the documentation will assume that you have a joystick. 3.1.1 JOYSTICK MOVEMENT If you are using a joystick with CyberStrike, you must first calibrate it when entering the game for the first time. Do this by pressing SHIFT-J and following the on-screen directions. CyberStrike will remember your joystick settings, however if the calibration drifts you can use the SHIFT-J at any time to recalibrate. To move, simply push forward on the joystick to go forward, pull back to cause your CyberPod to back up, and push left and right to turn. You should realize that your CyberPod is a giant mechanical walking tank, and is thus very heavy. You will notice that it takes time to accelerate, decelerate, and change your rate of turn, because of the large mass of your CyberPod. Most new players have a tendency to overcompensate when trying to aim, because they don't take this into account. With practice, this will become easier. Button 1 on the joystick is used to fire your main weapon. Button 2 is used to jump. CyberStrike also supports the ThrustMaster Flight Control System joystick. You can use the "Coolie" Hat to adjust your view. The 'pinkie' button will center your view. The middle button is used for toggeling TRI-SHOT on and off if you have that module (see Modules). Make sure you have the FCS option ON. Once in a game, SHIFT-F will toggle the FCS feature on and off. 3.1.2 KEYBOARD CONTROL To move your CyberPod with the keyboard, use the numeric keypad. Make sure NUM LOCK is on. Pressing 8 will accelerate you in a forward direction, and pressing 2 will start you moving backwards. 4 and 6 will let you turn. You can also use 7 and 9 to turn while accelerating, and 1 and 3 to turn while backing up. Unlike the joystick, you do not need to keep pressing the 8 key (forward movement), to keep moving. To stop your pod, press the 5 key. Your main weapon can be fired with the space bar, or the 0 key on the numeric keypad. Press the "J" key to jump. 3.2 LOOKING AROUND You can look up and down, or left and right of your current position. For example, it's possible to move due north while keeping an eye out for what's happening to the west. To look up and down, use the "+" and "-" keys on the numeric keypad. Pressing the key on top (the "-" key) will tilt your view upward, and pressing the "+" key will move your view downward. You can tell how far up or down you're currently looking by watching the horizon indicator on the left side of your screen. To re-center your CyberPod's view, use the numeric "*" key. The left and right arrow keys can be used to look to your left and right in three steps: 45 degrees, 90 degrees, and 135 degrees. Again, if you want to re-center your CyberPod's view, use the numeric "*" key. 3.3 ORIENT YOURSELF The first thing you should do is determine which color team you're on. If you're not sure, press "T" to see a list of who's on which team and then press "T" again to toggle back to communication mode. Each team has a certain amount of power it receives from a network of power relay towers. The amount of power you are receiving is displayed by a horizontal bar graph on the right side of your dashboard. For example, if you are on the green team, you will be most interested in the size of the green bar; the bigger it is, the more power you are receiving. The inverted triangle image in that same area of the dashboard is a measure of how much power is in your CyberPod's storage cell. As you use up power, this indicator will shrink. If it gets too low, a flashing "CAUTION" message will appear. The trick is to make sure you always have enough power coming in, to offset the power you are using. Power is used by moving, firing, and by other onboard systems in your CyberPod. Also, a great deal of power can be used up suddenly if you are hit by enemy fire. In the heat of battle, it is very easy to lose track of how much power you are expending, and you could end up your own worst enemy, so always keep an eye on that triangle indicator! In order to increase the amount of power you are receiving, you must move closer to one of your team's power relay towers. Remember, power relay towers belonging to other teams use a different wavelength, and are generally of no use to you. When no towers are available where you want them, you can send a message requesting that air support drop one at your location, by pressing the ENTER key. Your team's A-12 Guppy pilot will respond with an acknowledgement to your request, if a drop can be made. As soon as possible, the air support will fly to your location, and air-drop the power relay tower. Make sure you get out of the way before it gets there! 3.3.1 GRACE PERIOD When you first enter the game, don't worry about other players immediately attacking and blowing you up. Any time you get a new CyberPod, either from entering the game or because your old one was destroyed, you get a "Grace Period" which lasts for twenty seconds, during which your CyberPod cannot be destroyed. This gives you a chance to look around and dodge any snipers that may be waiting for you (this probably won't be a problem in the training city though). The Grace Period will last for twenty seconds, UNLESS you take some offensive action. This could mean dropping a mine, launching a grenade, or firing at least four times. If you do any of those, your grace period will terminate prematurely. 3.4 COMMUNICATING You can send messages to other CyberPods in the city. If you want, you can send a message which will only be seen by those on your team, or you can send a message which all the other CyberPods will see. Sending a message follows a convention used by most multiplayer games, so is easy to remember: Just type an apostrophe (') followed by what you wish to say, and then press RETURN. This will send a message which all CyberPod pilots in the city will see. To send a message which will only be seen by those on your team, use the reverse-apostrophe (`) instead. 3.5 FIRING This is fairly straightforward. Line up your crosshairs on your target, and press button #1 on your joystick (or the space bar or numeric "0" key). This will fire a projectile at 400 ft/second, which has a range of 600' (a CyberCity block is 600' x 600'). There are expansion modules which can affect your range and rate of fire. Most objects take several shots to kill, so you'll need to keep the crosshairs centered. But don't lose track of your power level (the inverted triangle). Each shot takes power, and if you run out of power, your CyberPod will be destroyed. To help you keep track of this, the crosshairs will turn red if your power goes below 25%. Keep in mind that the crosshairs are calibrated for relatively level firing. If you start to fire sharply up or down, they may not be adjusted properly, so you may need to "eyeball" it. 3.6 DETAIL LEVEL You can control the amount of detail that is visible through your viewscreen. For example, how far off in the distance you can see, and the amount of detail used to draw close-in objects. Having a high level of detail may slow things down, so, depending on how powerful your computer is, you may find it advantageous to switch between different detail levels while you play. When you start out, you are in normal detail mode, which means you can normally see for a distance of two city blocks, and objects are drawn with their normal level of detail. To toggle objects to a simpler form, press the "o" key. To toggle the distance you can see, press the "D" key. The modes are as follows: Combat 1 city block Normal 2 city blocks Extended 3 city blocks To toggle to a setting of more detail (being able to see further), press the "D" key. To toggle back to less detail press "SHIFT-D". Move around and experiment with the different detail settings, until you find a speed that you're comfortable with. You can always toggle back to Combat mode when speed is critical, and then back up to Extended mode when you're looking around for new targets. 3.7 EXPANSION MODULES You can supercharge your CyberPod by adding special expansion modules. These will look like small multi-sided objects on the ground, with a flashing colored beacon on top. Sometimes you'll find these modules just lying around, but you can also purchase them, and have them air-dropped to you. To pick one up, walk over to it and press the "P" key, and your CyberPod will attempt to install it. Each module has a distinct purpose or benefit that it gives you. For example, one module will allow you to shoot faster, another allows you to hide from enemy radar, while another will give you additional weapons. Modules can improve the handling of your CyberPod, give you better armaments, affect your environment, give you better defensive capabilities, and many other interesting abilities. Enhancing your CyberPod with expansion modules can be vitally important to survival on the battlefield. For example, in advanced CyberCities which have weather and day/night cycles, it will be essential to have an InfraRed module so you can see in periods of darkness. There is a wide variety of modules, at five different levels. When you start off, your CyberPod can only pick up a maximum of four level-1 modules, but as you gain more points, you can pick up more, and increasingly powerful modules. The details of how this works are explained below, but are not really needed to play. If you see a module, just walk over it and try to pick it up by pressing the "P" key. If you have the appropriate expansion bay capacity, the module will be installed. For more details on modules and what to do with them, read Section 5.0, MODULES AND EXPANSION BAYS. 3.8 RADAR In the center of your dashboard is your radar display, showing the location of interesting things in your area, such as power relay towers and other CyberPods. It is color-coded, so is fairly easy to read: for example, power relay towers for the green team will appear as small green dots, as will the green team's Guppy aircraft. CyberPods appear as large dots of their team's color. White dots refer to neutral objects, such as Sentinels or Tower Munchers. Loose modules, however, will not appear on radar. Be aware that some modules will give a CyberPod "Stealth" capabilities, which can render you invisible to radar. The range of the radar display can be changed by pressing the "R" key. Pressing "R" will increase its range, and to decrease it, press "Shift-R" (hold down the shift key, and press "R"). The maximum range of the Radar is 2000 feet; however, there is a MKIII Radar Module which can increase that to 4000'. 3.9 DYING If you lose a battle with another CyberPod, step on a mine, or perhaps just wander too far from your team's grid, and run out of power -- Boom! Your CyberPod is blown into thousands of tiny pieces, and all you can do is watch helplessly as the modules you've collected go bouncing off onto the ground for someone else to pick up. But don't worry, the game's not over for you. You'll be able to watch as your viewpoint flies up and away from the smoking remains of your last CyberPod, into a new one waiting for you back in the relative safety of a city block which your team still controls. In a moment, you're safely installed into a new CyberPod, and once again will be dropped into the CyberCity from above, from where you can plan your revenge! Remember that whenever your CyberPod is blown up (or when you first enter the game), your new CyberPod will have a temporary grace period installed. This period will last for twenty seconds, or until you start taking offensive action again. 3.9.1 EXPLODING PODS When you die, your pod violently explodes throwing your modules into all directions. As you die, however, the explosion will cause damage to all pods around you! So if you feel death is imminent, then run up close to the attacking cyberpod, and hope your explosion will kill them! 3.10 MULTI-FUNCTION DISPLAY The left side of your dashboard consists of the multi-function display. The default setting is Communications Mode, but it can have several different functions, depending on which mode it is in: 3.10.1 STRATEGIC MAP DISPLAY To get a high score, your team wants to control as many of the "valuable" city blocks of the CyberCity as possible. The Strategic Map display shows the relative value of each city block on an 8x8 grid, and how many each team controls. Each city block represents a block of terrain which is 600' across. In other words, the entire CyberCity is 4800' wide. Pressing the "S" key will display your strategic map. Here you will see the different valued city blocks alternately being outlined in different colors. There are four different levels of value, each worth the following number of points: POINT VALUE OF BLOCK COLOR -------------------- ---------------- 1 Green 2 Yellow 5 Orange 10 Red The strategic map will also show your own location, indicated by a white dot. If you have a special reconnaissance module, you will also see the location of your opponents on this map. Hollow squares on the map indicate unclaimed city blocks, and filled-in squares indicate which team currently controls them. If more than one team controls a city block (known as "disputed"), the city block will be multi-colored. 3.10.2 SCORE DISPLAY This display (accessed by pressing the "U" key) will show a breakdown of how many of the different-valued city blocks your team owns, and how many total points this is worth. You will also see your current score multiplier, and the resulting total number of points per second you are currently earning. Additionally, this display will show you how many seconds until your multiplier increases, and how many points until your next expansion bay will upgrade. At the bottom of this display is a graph showing how close you are to a bay upgrade or downgrade as a result of kills and deaths. For more details, see the Section 6.0, SCORING. For now, the first thing you should check out is your current multiplier. This number affects three very important things: The rate at which your score increases, the types of modules you can purchase, and how quickly you can request a new power relay tower. Each time you successfully request a tower, it will cost you one multiplier point. And modules in the training city can be purchased at a cost of one multiplier point each. In more advanced CyberCities you can purchase more powerful modules, for a higher multiplier cost. You multiplier will increase over time: for example, it will go up from a value of 1, to 2, in 15 seconds, and after several minutes have gone by, will probably be up to a value of 4. 3.10.3 MODULE SUBSYSTEM Pressing "M" will take you to the Module Subsystem. From this display, you can purchase new modules, learn details about your currently loaded modules, eject modules from your CyberPod, or activate certain modules. For more details on modules, see the Section 5.0, MODULES AND EXPANSION BAYS. 3.10.4 COMMUNICATIONS MODE This is the default display, and you can return to here from the other displays by pressing the ESC key. It is here that you can read messages sent to you by other CyberPods, and see other informational messages, such as when the Guppy responds that it has received your request for a new power relay tower. If you are not in Communications Mode, but a communication has come across, a "MESSAGE" indicator will light up on the bottom left corner of the Heads-Up Display (HUD). 3.10.5 TEAM DISPLAY Pressing "T" will bring up the Team Display, which shows you who is on which team, and how to identify them. Each CyberPod is painted with the battle- colors of its team, and also has a unique colored stripe on the side of its legs, which identify exactly who it is. For example, if you were on the red team, you might have a CyberPod which was red with a blue stripe, and you could see that one of your opponents had a yellow CyberPod with a red stripe on the side. 3.11 WHAT TO DO AFTER THE TUTORIAL At this point, you should have all the basic tools you need to play CyberStrike: You can login to the game, move your CyberPod around, shoot, and check out what's going on in the CyberCity. From here on, your strategy is up to you, and your teammates. If you'd like to quit so you can read more of the documentation, press Shift-Q to exit back to the chamber. If you'd like to try working on some game strategy, here are some tips: Start by checking the Strategic Map (press the "S" key) and see how much of the CyberCity your team currently controls. You may wish to start by heading for an "unclaimed" block and requesting that your team's guppy drop a power relay tower there, so your team will get points for it. Or maybe you'd like to wander around and look for something to shoot: Check your radar display for moving targets nearby, and keep an eye out for non-aligned targets, such as the rotating sentinels. Different people will enjoy different aspects of the game: Some may like to concentrate on expanding the team's grid, others may like defending high- value city blocks, while others will want to go out for dogfights so they can add points to their battle counter and advance their module bays quickly. Whichever technique you prefer, or if you like to do a bit of all of them, have fun! If you'd like more details about the other aspects of CyberStrike, then read on.... 4.0 WHAT "ELSE" IS OUT THERE? This section describes some of the other inhabitants of the CyberCity (you didn't think it was just CyberPods, did you?) and how to tell where they are, and what to do about them. 4.1 AIRCRAFT If you look up into the sky, you'll probably see some aircraft crisscrossing above you. These are the A-12 Guppy VTOL aircraft (Vertical Takeoff and Landing). They can rotate their engines downward and stop on a dime. Each team has a Guppy for air support. These aircraft will fly in and drop new power relay towers, deliver modules that you have purchased, and can play a combat role if you have the appropriate module. 4.2 POWER RELAY TOWERS The power relay towers will be the most common things you see. These are tall slender towers, with a horizontal rotating beam on top. The closer you are to one of your own team's towers, the more power you can draw from it. Power Relay Towers can be destroyed by shooting at them and blowing them up, however there are other factors which affect their vulnerability, such as a "Harden" module. There is a special kind of tower called a "MegaTower" which outputs twice as much power as a normal tower, and also cancels power on enemy wavelengths, making itself very difficult to attack. MegaTowers also take twice as many hits as a normal power relay tower. They are similar in appearance to normal power relay towers, but have a different type of rotating beam on top, and are therefore easy to recognize. These also cost two multiplier points to purchase. 4.3 SENTINELS Another denizen you might see is one of the Sentinels. These are floating, rotating machines which hover over one stationary spot, and have no allegiance to anyone. You will find that they have a tendency to shoot anything that moves, and will ask questions neither earlier nor later! Although difficult to destroy, they are killable. 4.4 TOWER MUNCHERS Keep an eye out for other inhabitants of the cyber landscape such as the Tower Munchers. These spidery-looking constructs love to swoop down and eat towers, consuming their power and physical structure in one big slurp! Tower Munchers tend to have behaviors that are unique to different CyberCities. Generally, they tend to go after the towers of the team that controls the most of the city (the reason for this is something the Munchers have never divulged). In the more advanced CyberCities, the Munchers can be much more aggressive, and themselves be one of your most tenacious enemies. You can shoot at Munchers to discourage them from eating power relay towers, and can sometimes even destroy them. There is also a module which can "immunize" your power relay towers, causing them to be very unappetizing to the roving Munchers. 5.0 MODULES AND EXPANSION BAYS This section describes the module subsystem, and the CyberPod's bays for holding the various modules. A CyberPod's bay capacity is an important part of the game, as it directly affects how many modules you can pick up, and how powerful they can be. 5.1 MODULE SUB-SYSTEM While in your CyberPod, pressing "M" will toggle the Multi-Function Display to show your Module Sub-System screen. From here, you can purchase new modules, or eject ones you already have. You can also get information about how a module works. Some modules can only be used once and must be activated, or must be turned on and off for optimum results. You can do all this from the module Sub-System. Your CyberPod has nine possible module expansion bays, each of which can be a different level. An expansion bay can upgrade or downgrade to a different level depending on how well you are doing in CyberStrike. The better you do, and the higher your score, the higher your Expansion Bays will upgrade, and the more often you die, the more likely they will be to downgrade. More details on bay upgrading and downgrading can be found below. 5.1.1 MODULE DISPLAY When you first access the Module Sub-System, this is what you might see: 1 1 Fast Turn (I) Info 2 1 (A) Activate 3 + 2 Mega Shot (E) Eject 4 2 (P) Purchase 5 - 3 Phalanx 6 1 2 Rocket Pack 7 3 8 4 9 X ^ ^ ^ ^ | | | | | | | ------ Name of Module | | | | | -------------- Level of that Bay | | | ---------------- Status of Module | ------------------ Bay Number The symbols representing a module's Status are defined as follows: (blank) This module is activated automatically - This module needs to be toggled on and off, it is presently OFF + This module needs to be toggled on and off, it is presently ON 1 This module can be activated one time only. Bay levels can be 1-9, A, or X. An "X" means that there is no bay in that position yet. An "A" means "Automatic." Automatic bays have several advantages. One is that they can hold a module of any level. Another is that, if you wish to purchase a module, you do not have to wait for it to be air-dropped to you -- it will show up automatically if you have an "A" bay available. 5.1.2 MODULE INFO Pressing "I" will allow you to get information on one of your current modules. Select the Bay Number representing the module you're interested in. 5.1.3 MODULE EJECT Pressing "E" will list your modules and allow you to choose which one you'd like to have ejected. Select the Bay Number which is currently holding the module you want to drop. This will cause the module to be ejected from your CyberPod into the immediate vicinity, where it will bounce around a bit. Once it stops bouncing, you can always position your CyberPod over it and try to pick it up again. 5.1.4 MODULE ACTIVATE Some modules need to be toggled on and off, or can only be used once. You will see these modules marked with a "-" "+" or "1" in their Status Column. To activate or toggle these, press the "A" key in the Module Sub-System, followed by the Bay Number of the module you wish to affect. There is a quicker method to activate modules, which is especially useful in combat. Simply press a number on your keyboard (not the numeric keypad), and it will toggle the module in the corresponding bay number. For example, if you have an InfraRed module in Bay #4, you can press the "4" key on your keyboard to toggle it on and off. 5.1.4.1 MODULE QUICK-KEY ACTIVATION The function keys (F1 - F7) are set to some commonly used offensive and defensive module activations. For instance, turning on shields and firing a grenade is something a player often wants to do without hunting around for the correct number to press. The list of function key commands is: F1 Toggle FRONT SHIELD on/off F2 Toggle READ SHIELD on/off F3 Reserve Power F4 Rocket Pack F5 Fire Grenade F6 Drop Mine F7 Toggle TRI-SHOT on/off 5.1.5 MODULE PURCHASE To purchase a module, first enter the module subsystem by pressing "M", then press "P" to enter the purchasing screen. Modules come in several different levels, so you will need to choose which level of module you're interested in, by pressing that number. Then you will get a list of the available modules of that level. In the lower right-hand section of your multifunction display, your current multiplier will be listed. Once you choose which module you would like to purchase, this will send a signal to your team's Guppy aircraft, just as if you had requested a power relay tower. So be careful to only request a module if you know you can wait around in that area for a minute or two! Once you've requested the module, it's a good idea to back up a bit from your previous position, so you can watch for the module's arrival. Eventually you will see the Guppy arrive, and it will airdrop your module to you. Then simply move your CyberPod over to the module and pick it up normally. Note that you must have a bay that's high enough for the module you wish to purchase. Also, the list of modules you can purchase may be dependent on the city you are in. Cities do not always carry the same modules. Each CyberCity has its own price structure, so prices for modules, and level of modules available, may vary. 5.2 MODULE BAYS Each CyberPod has 9 bays for holding expansion modules. There are 5 different levels of modules, and a bay must be high enough to hold a module before you can pick it up. When you start, your bays will look like this: 1 1 1 1 X X X X X Four of your CyberPod's bays will be at level 1, which means they can pick up level 1 modules. The other 5 bays will be inactive. In other words, you would be able to pick the first four level 1 modules you ran across, but wouldn't be able to pick up anything else. In an actual game, though, your bays will continually be upgrading, which will allow you to pick up other modules. A module can only be picked up (or purchased) if an empty bay exists to hold it, which is of an equal or higher level. In other words, a level 2 module could be picked up if you had a bay that was level 2 or higher. A level 5 module could only be picked up if you had a level 5 bay, or an "Automatic" bay. While you are playing, many factors will contribute to upgrade (and downgrade) your bay capacity. For example, as soon as you get 1000 points, one of your inactive bays will be upgraded to level 1. This will probably happen within the first few minutes of playing the game, and you don't need to do anything special for it to happen. 5.2.1 UPGRADING BAYS The following chart shows the number of points required to upgrade your lowest bay to the next highest level: Upgrade to: Each time you earn another ------------------------------------------- Level 1 1,000 Level 2 10,000 Level 3 100,000 Level 4 1,000,000 Level 5 10,000,000 Level A 100,000,000 Note: An inactive bay ("X") is treated as level 0. Level A means "Automatic," which was discussed previously. The amount of points towards an upgrade are saved between games. 5.2.2 BAY CONFIGURATION LIMITS The minimum possible configuration for any CyberPod, is to have four bays at level 1, and 5 inactive: 1 1 1 1 X X X X X The maximum possible configuration is to have all 9 bays at "Automatic" level, but this is very difficult to obtain: A A A A A A A A A Your bay configuration is carried over from game to game. If you log off with four level 3 bays, and five level 2 bays: 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 That's the same configuration you'll have when you next logon to play CyberStrike. 5.2.3 DOWNGRADING BAYS Some things can happen in CyberStrike which will cause one of your bays to downgrade by a level. Usually this is because you are being blown up more often than you are killing other CyberPods, though that's only an approximate way to judge. Just killing another CyberPod may not be enough - - It has to be a fair or "earned" kill. Also, kills vs. deaths is not an exact ratio, but is judged by the relative power of the attacker and victim, and is recorded via the battle marker (explained below). 5.3 MODULE WEIGHT Every module has a different weight (which shows up when you go to purchase a module). Installing a module will add its weight to your CyberPod. A heavier CyberPod moves and turns slower, and it will not be able to jump as high, nor go quite as far on a catapult pad or with a rocket pack module. The basic, unencumbered CyberPod is now faster than before and there is a significant difference between a light, fast CyberPod and a heavy, lumbering CyberPod bristeling with weapons and armor systems. The weight of your CyberPod also determines how much power it requires to move and jump. The modules have been carefully balanced to allow for a much larger variety of play (especially as you advance towards the higher-level cities). Gone are the days when only one or two module load-outs was a "viable" option. You can choose to be a "scout" CyberPod, and you will be able to run circles around the heavy "assault" CyberMeks. Longer range, faster speed and lower power requirements will allow you to build up power bases faster. When you want some serious fire-power, then load up on weapon and shield systems; you won't be able to race around the city but you will be able to inflict some serious damage; and if things get dicey, eject most of your modules and sprint back to home base as a light CyberPod again. Another important aspect of this is that purchasing modules is very fast at home base. As long as you do not purchase more than 1 a second, you can order as much as you want (a full rearm can occur in about 15 seconds). The weight of your CyberPod is visually indicated on the right side of the HUD as a growing green bar. The higher it gets, the heavier your CyberPod. 5.4 SHIELDS Some of the most important modules for many players are the Shield modules, which can be purchased for pod which can hold level 3 bays or higher. There is both a FRONT SHIELD and a REAR SHIELD module, of which you can have one of each. When this module is activated, it will raise a shield to cover its half of your CyberPod. The shield strength is displayed on the left side of your HUD as a light-blue bar. The bar above the word "SHIELD" represents the strength of your front shield, and the bar below it represents your rear shield. As you take damage, the front and/or rear shield will take damage based on the angle of the shot hitting you. For example, a full front hit will lower the front shield some, however getting hit directly on the side will cause 50% damage to both the front and rear shield (if they exist). You do not have to load up with both shields (or any shields for that matter). If you have just a front shield, for instance, and get hit directly on the side then the front shield will take half the damage and the remaining amount will hit your CyberPod (causing power loss as usual). There is a level 4 module, called SHIELD ENHANCE, that will cause any shields to charge to a higher level. This module has no use if you do not have either a front or rear shield module. Remember, you must ACTIVATE each shield module for it to work. The shield recharge will drain power (by the time it is fully charged, it will have taken twice as much power as it will absorb). Once fully charged it requires no additional power until it must recharge again. As the shield takes damage it will again recharge. You may find that if you are very lower in power (say, when retreating from battle) that you should risk turning a shield off so its recharge does not suck up your last power. When you turn off a shield, it provides no benefit and will have to fully recharge once you turn it back on. The FRONT and REAR shields can be recharged independently. If a shield is beaten all the way down by incoming fire, then it will likely be destroyed. Since you can only carry one of each, be sure to avoid this when possible. Firing does not affect shields. 6.0 SCORE This section concerns the details on scoring. This is all taken care of automatically, so is not required reading for the beginning player, but experienced players will probably want to learn the nuances of this system. There are two types of score you should be concerned with: One is your total point score; and the other is your battle marker, which affects your expansion bay upgrades and downgrades 6.1 POINT ACCUMULATION Points are gained every second you are in a CyberCity, but the amount of points you earn per second depends greatly on how well you and your team are doing. The points you earn are based on a formula involving which city blocks your team currently controls, and a multiplier which increases over time. As a general rule of thumb, the more of the CyberCity that your team controls, and the longer you play, the faster your score will increase. 6.2 MULTIPLIER Aside from the number of city blocks your team currently controls, you also have a personal multiplier which affects your score. Your multiplier is directly tied to your own performance, and is not affected by anything which your teammates or opponents may do. Your multiplier will always start at 1, and increase over time. The higher your multiplier, the more points you will accumulate. The multiplier takes the normal score you earn per second (which is determined by the city blocks which your team controls) and multiplies it by the value of the multiplier. For example, if your team controls sufficient city blocks to be earning 32 points per second, and you have a multiplier of 5, you will instead be earning 160 points per second. As you can see, the higher your multiplier, the faster your score will increase. And since your multiplier increases over time, you will find that you get more point value the longer you play a game. Your multiplier will reset at the beginning of every game, so if you quit, it will be reset to 1 the next time you play. There are two things which affect your multiplier: It will go UP over time, and DOWN when you call for relay towers. The intervals at which it will increase are as follows: Multiplier Time until Increase ---------- ------------------- 1 20 seconds 2 40 seconds 3 1 minute 4 1 minute, 20 seconds ...etc... The formula is: Time to increase = (multiplier * 20 seconds) You can see the number of seconds remaining until the next multiplier increase by looking on the Score Display, by pressing the "U" key. There is a maximum multiplier attainable, which will be dependent on the CyberCity you are playing in. Some CyberCities will have a higher maximum than others. 6.3 CONTROLLING CITY BLOCKS Your second-by-second score increases according to a formula involving the CyberCity blocks which your team controls, and a multiplier. Your team is considered to control a city block if you have at least one power relay tower there, and no other team has towers there. If a city block has no power relay towers in it, no one gets points for it. If a city block has towers from two or more different teams in it, no one gets points for it either. This determination is very fluid, and updated second by second, which makes for a very fast-paced game. Just because you control a city block now, doesn't mean you'll still have it a few seconds from now! Cities are always broken down into an 8-by-8 grid of city blocks. Some city blocks are worth more than others, and you can tell which are which by looking at your strategic city map. The blocks which are outlined in different colors have the following values: POINT VALUE OF BLOCK COLOR -------------------- ---------------- 1 Green 2 Yellow 5 Orange 10 Red 6.4 BATTLE MARKER The Battle Marker is an indication of how well you are doing, based on your deaths and earned kills (defined below). It can go up or down (actually it moves left and right), and its position can have an effect on your module bays, and how quickly they upgrade or downgrade. As a general rule, your battle marker INCREASES when you get an earned kill, and DECREASES when you die. Generally it will stay in the range of -5 to +5. If your battle marker equals the level of your minimum bay, then that bay will upgrade by one, and the battle marker will return to zero. Example: You have five level 1 bays, and four inactive bays: 1 1 1 1 1 X X X X You then get an earned kill on an opponent's CyberPod. This increases your battle marker to +1, which triggers one of your inactive bays to upgrade to level 1: 1 1 1 1 1 1 X X X The battle marker then drops back down to zero. If your battle marker goes negative, and equals your highest bay level, that bay will downgrade by 1. Example: You have six level 3 bays, and three level 2 bays, and the battle marker is zeroed: 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 You then die from lack of power. This decreases the battle marker to -1. Through an extraordinary run of bad luck, you die twice more without getting any earned kills, and this drops the battle marker down to -3. At this time one of your level 3 bays will downgrade to level 2, and the battle marker will re-zero: 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 NOTE: You may have enough stored points to automatically re-upgrade your bay, even if the battle marker downgrades it. So you may see a bay downgrade, and then immediately re-upgrade itself to its previous level. 6.5 DEATHS This is very simply defined. It doesn't matter if you died because someone blew you up, or a Sentinel got you, or you just got too far from one of your team's power relay towers. When you run out of power, your CyberPod blows up. This counts as a death. Of course you'll immediately be moved to a new CyberPod though, so you can get right back into the fray! 6.6 EARNED KILLS You can try to blow up any CyberPod that crosses your path, of course. But only "earned" kills will affect your battle marker. An earned kill is defined as follows: Any situation where your victim's HIGHEST bay is equal to, greater than, or one less, than your own LOWEST bay level. Here are some examples: Think of each CyberPod as being rated by the lowest and highest of its Expansion Bays. In other words, these CyberPods would be rated as follows: Player Bays Low High --------------------------------------------------- Clueless 1 1 1 1 X X X X X X 1 Slasher 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 Jumper 6 6 6 9 5 5 5 3 5 3 9 CyberWarrior A 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 9 7 A Jumper, with a low bay level of 3, could only get earned kills for anyone with a high bay of 2 or more. CyberWarrior, with a low bay of 7, could get earned kills for anyone with a high bay of 6 or more. To cross-reference the examples above, Clueless could kill anyone and get an earned kill. Slasher could also kill anyone on the list for credit. Jumper could kill Slasher, or CyberWarrior, but would get no credit for killing Clueless. CyberWarrior could kill Jumper for credit, but would gain no bonus by killing Slasher or Clueless. This system is designed to credit you only for winning a battle against another Cyber pilot whose skill is similar to your own (or better). Because any type of death will have a negative impact on your battle marker, you will find engaging in combat with lesser-skilled players means you are undertaking a needless risk of a bay downgrade, because there is no chance for you to improve your battle marker position. After playing for a little while, you will realize which players are in your general skill range, and which you should probably leave alone. 7.0 QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE ENTER Key : Requests power relay tower Space Bar : Fires / : Toggles Fine Turn Mode C : Toggles Heading Display from degrees to Compass directions J : Jump R : Expand radar range Shift-R : Decrease radar range D : Increase detail on screen display Shift-D : Decrease detail o : Toggle object detail level (complete/simplified) P : Attempt to pick up module V : Toggle between CyberPod view and drone view (requires module) Shift-V : Toggle between control of CyberPod, and drone control Shift-Q : Quit the game, and return to the chamber. Shift-J : Recalibrate the Joy Stick Shift-F : Toggle FCS support (Flight Control Stick) Multi-Function Displays (Re-pressing the key, or pressing ESCAPE, will toggle you back to communications mode). M : Module subsystem S : Strategic Map Display T : Team display U : Score display ' : Send a message on open channel (everyone in game sees it) ` : Sends message on closed channel (goes to your team only) Arrow Keys: Up: Look up 45 degrees Down: Look down 45 degrees Left: Look left 90-degrees from current position. Right: Look right 90-degrees from current position. Numeric Keypad: --------------------------------------- | | / | * | - | | NUM | Fine | Center | Look | | LOCK | Turn | View | Up | |---------------------------------------| | | | | | | 7 | 8 | 9 | | | Left | Forward | Right | + | | Forward | | Forward | Look | |------------------------------ Down | | | | | | | 4 | 5 | 6 | | | Left | Stop | Right | | | | | | | |---------------------------------------| | | | | | | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | Left | Reverse | Right | ENTER | | Reverse | | Reverse | | |-----------------------------| Request | | | | Tower | | 0 | . | | | Fire Weapon | Pick Up | | | | Module | | --------------------------------------- 8.0 DESCRIPTION OF SCREEN DISPLAY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | Heading Indicator | | | | | | | | | | OUTSIDE VIEW | | | | | | Suspension | | Indicator | | | | |-*-| | | | | | | _ _ | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | -SCORE- | | | | ................ | | Multi-Function Display | . . | Power . Power . | | | . . | Input . Indicator. | | | . . | ===== . . | | | .. | == . . | | | | ====== . . | | | RADAR | ==== . . | | | | .. | | |----------------- | | | | | | Bays 1 1 1 1 X X X X X | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- There are only a few sections of the screen that require additional explanation. The largest portion of the display, the outside view, is what you see through the canopy of your CyberPod. Your CyberPod projects certain images onto the canopy plexiglass itself, which superimpose over the objects seen outside. This is called a "Heads-Up Display" (HUD), and it allows you to keep your eyes on the action. 8.1 SUSPENSION INDICATOR The actual structure of the CyberPod is a two-legged robot. It therefore "walks" across the CyberCity, up ramps, and through tunnels, and can also jump. Usually it can move wherever you wish to go, but sometimes it might get itself into a situation where it gets stuck, such as where you're trying to go up a ramp, and one leg is on the ramp, while the other isn't, or if you get too close to a wall, and one leg gets "wedged" and can't move. You can see a graphic representation of this by looking at the suspension indicator, in the lower right-hand corner of the HUD. If one leg is stuck, a red slash will appear across it on the indicator. You will also hear an alarmed beeping sound, telling you that the CyberPod is stuck. If this happens, usually the best thing to do is to let go of the joystick, and then carefully try to extricate yourself. Gently pull backwards on the joystick, to back away from the problem, or try turning left or right to get away from the wall. When the red slash disappears, you'll know you're "clear" and can move again. 8.2 POWER INDICATORS By far the most important part of the display is the inverted power triangle. As long as it is completely lit up, your CyberPod is at full power. If it starts dropping, though, be careful what you're doing. You may need to call in another power relay tower immediately, and conserve energy until it arrives, or else head back to a better part of your team's grid. You can tell how strong the grid is in your area, by looking at the Power Input Bar Graph. Each bar on the graph will represent the strength of one team's grid, so look for your team's color to see how close you are to a good source of power. In general, you cannot tap into another team's power relay towers, but you can use the bar graph to see how solid their grid is in the same area. 8.3 BAY INDICATORS These indicators will give you continual updates on the capacity of your CyberPod's Expansion Bays. If the bay is empty, the number that is displayed in each indicator shows the highest-level module which that bay is capable of holding. An "A" means Automatic, and can hold any module. An "X" means the bay is not currently active, and cannot hold any modules. If the bay has a module installed, it will light up with that module's icon. 9.0 CHAMBER COMMANDS While in the chamber, before entering the actual CyberCity, there are some commands you can use to get information about what to do next. To get a complete list, type /HELP. 9.1 /STATUS COMMAND This command will give you a list of everyone that is currently playing CyberStrike, and where they are. You may remember that each CyberCity can have up to 4 teams, with 4 members on each team. But this does not mean that only 16 people can play CyberStrike at one time! There can be several cities at once, with different teams playing in each CyberCity. 9.2 /CITY COMMAND This command lists all the CyberCities available for play. 9.3 /PLAY COMMAND The easiest way to play, is just to press the F1 key. This will issue the /PLAY command, which will put you into the first available CyberCity appropriate to your skill level, on a random team. However, you can also use the /PLAY command to choose which CyberCity you want to go to, and which color team you would like to play on. For example, if you want to play on the green team in City B (assuming that there's room for you), you would type /PLAY B GREEN. Just typing /PLAY with no options (or pressing the F1 key) will send you into a CyberCity based on your ranking. The higher your rank, the more advanced the CyberCity you will enter. When you first start out, you will enter the cities on the Training Planet. These cities limit your play options (such as which modules are available), so you can learn the ropes more easily. As you progress to more advanced CyberCities, you will have to deal with things such as weather variations, day/night cycles, and changes in power relay tower output. But higher cities will allow you to reach a higher multiplier value, and purchase more powerful expansion modules. 10.0 OBTAINING A GENIE ACCOUNT If you have a friend that would like to try playing CyberStrike, and has the minimum hardware requirements, here is how they can get a GEnie account: Have them set up their modem for half duplex (local echo) at 300, 1200, or 2400 baud. Then dial toll-free, 1-800-638-8369, and upon connection, enter HHH. At the U#= prompt, type SIGNUP and press <RETURN>. They should have a major credit card or their checking account number handy. The signup routine will then query them for account information, and they should be able to logon to GEnie with their verified account within a couple business days. To speak directly to GEnie Client Services, dial 1-800-638-9636. 11.0 TROUBLESHOOTING This section contains a list of some possible problems which you might encounter while trying to run the software or play CyberStrike. If this section is not helpful to you, but you are at least able to enter the CyberStrike chamber, then please look for help there, such as from a Simutronics representative or Cyber Strike Operator (CyberOp). If no one is readily available, please leave Feedback to Simutronics from the CyberStrike menu at page 1380, and we will reply as soon as possible. 11.1 TROUBLE LOGGING ON The following are some suggestions to deal with possible problems while logging on: 11.1.1 HOW TO STOP THE LOGON SCRIPT If there is a problem logging on, the logon script may not recognize that there was a problem. To abort the logon, simply press the ESC key. 11.1.2 SPECIAL LOGON PROCEDURES If you require a special logon procedure, you may edit the LOGON.SCR file to include any additional steps that may be required. 11.1.3 NO MENU BAR One of the options in the settings window is called Easy Menu. If this option is not on, then the big menu bar at the top of the screen will not appear, and F1 will not log you on either. To correct this, press Alt-S to access the settings window, and toggle the Easy Menu option to "on". 11.1.4 WRONG MENU BUTTONS APPEAR The CyberStrike Front End uses the modem's Carrier Detect line to determine whether it is on or offline. When online, a different set of buttons will appear at the top of the screen. Some modems are configured so that the Carrier Detect line is either always on, or its meaning is reversed. If this is the case with your modem, then the CyberStrike Front End will not work until you correct the modem's settings. See your modem manual for more information. The file INIT.CS included with CyberStrike contains a set of startup commands that are executed immediately when you run CyberStrike. The default for this file contains a line which outputs a special sequence of characters that the CyberStrike chamber can recognize, in order to resynchronize the Front End software with the Back End. After this, however, you can place any modem commands that you need to initialize your modem to work with CyberStrike. For example, the included INIT.CS file contains AT&C1, which is the general standard for turning on the Carrier Detect line on most modems. You can add other options if necessary, into this file. 11.2 MEMORY PROBLEMS CyberStrike requires a lot of memory to run. In general, you should have at least 600K of free conventional memory and 1 Meg of EMS or XMS memory. The most difficult challenge is to free up conventional memory, since almost everything uses it. If you are having difficulty freeing up sufficient memory, please leave CyberStrike Feedback to ask for assistance. 11.3 JOYSTICK PROBLEMS As soon as you enter a CyberCity, CyberStrike will test your joystick to calibrate its center position. It is important that when you go into a CyberCity, you leave your joystick centered until your CyberPod lands. Once this happens, swirl the joystick around once or twice, so CyberStrike can see the full range of your particular joystick. If your joystick seems to pull to the left or right unexplainably, there are three possible reasons: (1) Your joystick was calibrated incorrectly. Simply quit back to the chamber and then come into the game again to recalibrate. (2) Your joystick is plugged into a game port that is not adjusting for the speed of your computer. The only solution to this is to either adjust the settings on your game card, or to get a better game card suitable for the speed of your machine. (3) If you are using sound on a non-DMA-based sound card (Direct Memory Access), then every time a digital sound is played the horrendous CPU time required will interfere with the joystick timing and cause your CyberPod to pull to the left or right very consistently. The only thing you can do about this is (a) get a better sound card, such as a Creative Labs Sound Blaster, which uses DMA technology; (b) unplug your joystick and use keyboard control instead, or (c) disable sound entirely. The reason this happens with CyberStrike and perhaps not with some of your other games, is because CyberStrike uses digital sounds rather than the tinny FM-synthesis sounds that other games use. 11.4 FRAME-RATE PROBLEMS If your computer runs at 20MHz or slower, you may experience a slower frame- rate than is desirable for play. The best thing to do is to adjust the CyberStrike detail level to the situation. Decrease it for close-in fights, and increase it only when you need to see things which are far away. Also, use the low "object detail" setting (press the "o" key). If the slow frame rate affects your aiming, you can toggle on a "fine turn" mode by pressing the "/" key. When this mode is on, the turning range will be reduced so you can better fine-tune your aim. Press the "/" key again to turn this mode back off. 11.5 SOUND PROBLEMS Included with the sound files download, is a file SOUND.TXT which contains complete instructions and troubleshooting for using sounds with CyberStrike. 11.6 NETWORK PROBLEMS 11.6.1 NETWORK DELAYS (WARPING) CyberStrike is played over a packet-switching network which gathers information from each Front End, sends them to a mainframe in another state where they are processed, and then sends them back over the network to your Front End. This roundtrip can take anywhere from one to several seconds to complete. Because of this, the position of other CyberPods on your screen will not be exactly accurate. This can depend on the amount of the delay, which can vary from day and/or node to node. This inaccuracy can cause the following undesirable effects: 11.6.1.1 WARPING This is when a pod seems to be moving in one direction and then suddenly "skips" off to one side or possibly even changes direction unexpectedly. Certain techniques are used to smooth out this effect but it will still happen. It should be understood that CyberStrike IS meant to play under these conditions and although a warp may unfairly change the tactical situation as you see it, on occasion, this problem will be seen or will affect everyone equally. Although we make every effort to minimize the effect of warping, you should expect that this will happen and that, on occasion, it may mean the other guy getting the upper-hand in a fight. 11.6.1.2 DELAYS Since CyberStrike is fast-paced simulator, network delays can cause all sorts of visual problems. For instance, other CyberPods can appear to "warp" rapidly from time to time. Although we go to great lengths to minimize this, the technology of packet-switched networks (such as that used by nearly any Online service, including GEnie) is not really designed for this sort of thing. We do the best with what is there. To help you get an idea of what kind of network delay is going on, a bar in the upper right of the HUD will grow to indicate how long a packet takes to make a "round trip" from your computer, to the host and back again. This special "net ping" packet is sent every few seconds and then timed for the return trip. The bar is then updated to show you how long it takes. Usually this should be about one or two in length, though three or four is okay too. Every now and then there may be a 'spike' there, but it should settle down again. The bar will also flash if there is an error in one of the packets being received (thus requiring a retransmission in some cases). If your network delays are significantly worse than this, then here are some things to consider: 1. The performance of the GEnie network can vary based on your geographical location. From St. Louis (where our offices are located), the network delay is almost always 1 or 2. However in some areas, the network traffic can be much heavier and cause delays. Although we do not suggest you move to St. Louis in order to play CyberStrike, we want to point this out so you understand what is going on. Typically, an area with heavy traffic will be getting upgraded network capacity to meet the demand. We have no control over when this happens (and it is driven by GE, not GEnie), but it generally does happen. Although there is a surcharge involved, GEnie does have a direct 800 number you can use to access the service. Call Customer Service for details. This connection should give you superior results. 2. Network traffic will vary based on the time of day. You might try a little later or earlier and see how it is. This can vary over the months as well. 3. Try redailing a few times and see if perhaps it is the particular connection you have. 4. CyberStrike does not seem to work over SprintNet's connection to GEnie. We are working on this problem, but until it is fixed you must use either a GEnie node or the 800 number access. 5. If you seem to be getting a lot of errors (a flashing bar), this will lead to seemingly long network delays. This can be the result of several things: a. If you use an external modem, the link betwen your modem and the computer is handled by a special control chip called a UART. When data comes in from the modem, the UART tranlates the signals from the modem cable into something useable by the computer. An IRQ (interrupt) is sent to the software to tell it that there is data available. This happens at a very rapid pace. If the software is unable to service the interrupt fast enough, new incoming data may overwrite what was waiting to be read and thus some data is lost. Newer computers tend to use 16550A (or 16550AFN) UARTs. These have a buffer in them so that if the software does not respond fast enough, there is no loss of data. If your computer has a 16550 type UART, you should have no problems. The reason CyberStrike may not be able to service the interrupt fast enough is because other interrupts may be getting in the way. In version 1.04 of CyberStrike, the sound system would ignore (block) any interrupts while it was doing its 4 channel audio mixing. The new version of CyberStrike fixes this problem and should allow it to service COM IRQs faster. However, if you do get a lot of errors, and you have an older UART you might invest in a "high speed serial port" card. They are not very expensive (say under $40) and will serve you well when doing all sorts of online work at high baud rates. You can also disable sound, and see if this helps. b. You may have a bad connection to the local node. Try redailing and see if it clears up. If you get a lot of "garbage" when loging on, and moving through the GEnie menus, then your CyberStrike connection will be poor as well. If this problem is persistant, contact GEnie Customer Service and they will be able to help you clear up your communiction problems. Sometimes netoriously bad communication link to the local node is due to poor wiring by your local phone company. If you hear static on your data line when dialing normal numbers, then you should probably contact your phone company for advice and possible service. c. MNP4/Error Correction You may be wondering how you can get communiction errors if you have a "reliable" link using your modems MNP4 (or other) reliable communications link. The reason is that the data is only reliable from the modem at the GEnie node down to your modem. Errors can creep in from that point until it reaches CyberStrike. An older UART is a prime example, but a poor cable connection or a bad ISA slot (in the case of an internal modem) is another. In general we do not recommend a MNP4 connection since it adds another layer of error correction which is not needed, thus slowing down communications when in CyberStrike. CyberStrike uses its own 'smart' error correction. For example, if a packet which updates a CyberPods position is garbled, it does not request it to be retransmitted because another one is on its way anyhow, and it'll be more accurate than the retransmitted one. MNP4 will cause a retransmission and may even increase the "warping" under such circumstances. 11.6.1.3 DISCONNECTS Occasionally you will be disconnected from the network unexpectedly. When this happens, log back into CyberStrike as quickly as possible. If you return within 10 minutes, and then type "/RESUME" you will be placed back in the game you were playing (if there is space) with your score, multiplier, and modules intact. Every so often the Front End will report your current score situation to the Back End so that if you do disconnect, or crash, or even if the Back End software would crash, you will be able to use this /RESUME feature to get back into the game with minimal loss of points. It should be noted that this feature will not work if the disconnect occurs in the middle of a fight you are about to lose. So please do not attempt to hang up to avoid an inevitable death, thinking you can come back in with your score intact. It won't work. 11.6.1.4 MODEM PROBLEMS CyberStrike REQUIRES that your modem supply a CARRIER DETECT indication so it knows when you are connected and when you are not. Most every modem has this feature, though you must make sure that in the case of an external modem, the serial cable you use passes the CD line (not all do). Most modems can turn on their carrier detect feature with the following AT command: AT&C1 The auto-initilization string sent to the modem when CyberStrike starts up send this, and some other commands. You can modify this by changing the last line of the INIT.CS file and the appropriate initilization line in the LOGON.SCR file. 11.6.1.4.1 DIGICOM BRAND MODEMS We have had reports of CyberStrike not being able to communicate with some (or maybe all) varieties of Digicom modems. We have not been able to determine what causes this, and in fact CyberStrike seems to work with every other modem out there (nor does it do any modem-specific operations). This is a complete mystery. 11.7 CYBERPOD PROBLEMS This section covers possible problems which may occur as you try to move your CyberPod around, retrieve modules, and fire your weapons. 11.7.1 HELP! I CAN'T MOVE! If your CyberPod seems to be stuck somewhere (there is a red slash across one of the legs on the suspension indicator, and a rapid beeping sound), it has probably gotten one of its legs jammed somewhere, such as half on and half off a ramp, or wedged against a wall. Here are some things you can try to get yourself unwedged (watch the Suspension Indicator to see when the problem is cleared -- the red slash will disappear): (1) First, let go of the joystick, and then gently pull backwards, to try and back out of the situation. (2) Wiggle the joystick back and forth, and try to extricate the CyberPod. (3) Press the "J" key to try and jump out of the situation. 12.0 SUPPORTED SOUND DRIVERS All of the sound drivers on this list are supported by CyberStrike. However, if you are using a driver which is not DMA-based, the sound may interfere with the operation of your computer's joystick. You can still play CyberStrike with non-DMA-based sound drivers, but you may need to use keyboard control instead. This table lists the sound drivers which CyberStrike supports, and whether or not, to our knowledge, they are DMA-based. If you have a sound driver which is not on this list, or know whether any of the questionable ones are DMA-based, please let us know through CyberStrike Feedback at page 1380. SOUND DRIVER DMA-BASED? ----------------------------------------------------- AdLib Gold Yes AdLib or compatible No ATI Stereo FX Yes BigMouth, Talking Technologies Unknown Covox SoundMaster 1 Unknown Covox Speech Thing Unknown Covox Voice Master and SoundMaster II Unknown DigiSpeech DS201 Speech Adapter Unknown Echo 2, Street Electronics Unknown IBM Internal Speaker Background No IBM Internal Speaker, 1 bit No IBM Internal Speaker, Foreground No Lantastic Voice Adapter Unknown Life Size Enhancer Unknown MediaMaster or compatible Unknown ProAudio Spectrum, MediaVision Yes Sound Blaster or compatible Yes Sound Blaster Pro Yes Sound Source, Walt Disney Unknown Tandy 2500XL Unknown Tandy SL/TL Unknown Tandy TX/EX/HX/SX and PCJr Unknown Ultrasound Gravis (not supported yet) Yes 12.1 16-BIT SOUND SYSTEMS CyberStrike uses a 4-channel audio mixer with sound that is much clearer on a 16-bit sound card. There are a lot of rich-bases in our sounds, so you might want to invest in a good pair of speakers. We recommend a true SoundBlaster type card, either a SB16 or better, and higher-end speakers with a subwoofer. The game is a completely different experience with this sort of equipment! And, all your games will sound better. Since we use true stereo-panning on a per-channel basis, you can use the audio cues from the stereo seperation to help you in combat. If someone is firing to your right, you will hear it from that side. To get this effect, you need to seperate your speakers sufficiently that you can hear the difference. There is an option in the settings panel to swap the Left and Right channel in case your speakers are backwards to what CyberStrike expects. 13.0 CAMPAIGNS CyberStrike is played with a multi-campaign system. No matter when you are playing, you are participating in four different campaigns, and possibly one additional optional one: Campaign Cutoff (when winner is declared) ------------------------------------------------------ Daily Daily at 12 noon Weekly 12 Noon each Monday Monthly 12 Noon on the 1st of the month Yearly 12 Noon on the 1st of the year Tournament To Be Announced Because of the variety of campaigns, more people can be winners. For example, a big player may put in a lot of time to win the monthly campaign, but not necessarily win all of the daily or weekly campaigns -- those would be open to individuals who like to play hard in shorter bursts. Winning a certain amount of campaigns in each category will apply towards prizes, such as free time online (this may not apply during beta testing). More information on prizes will be announced later. 14.0 COPYRIGHT/TRADEMARK INFORMATION CyberStrike Software (c) Copyright 1994, Simutronics Corporation. All Rights Reserved. No unauthorized use permitted. CyberStrike, CyberPod, and CyberCity are trademarks of Simutronics Corporation. 15.0 CREDITS CyberStrike (tm) A David Whatley Design Programming Team: David Whatley, Mark Vicuna, Nick Mincoff Graphics and Sound: David Whatley Documentation: Elonka Dunin, John Donham