Computer Buyer 1999 April/dpcb0499.iso/Games/Myth2/myth2.exe/_user1.cab/Language_Independent_OS_Independent_Files/Readme.txt

Text File | 1998-12-30 | 30KB | 699 lines

Myth II: Soulblighter Playable Demo
Version 1.1
(C) 1998 Bungie Software Products Corporation
_____________________________________________________

This demo offers but a taste of the endless 3D Real Time carnage that is,
Myth II: Soulblighter.  It includes a tutorial, two levels from the single
player campaign, and one network map.  This is version 1.1 which fixes a
problem with the installation program.


THE FULL VERSION INCLUDES:
_____________________________________________________

- An epic 25 level single-player campaign complete with animated cut-scenes,
narration, and an original musical score.

- Over 20 unit types for you to command. We've brought back Trow, Soulless,
and Berserks (to name a few) from Myth: The Fallen Lords, plus added new units
such as Warlocks, Mortar Dwarves, and Ghasts. With the inclusion of ambient
creatures (wolves, deer, and others--oh my!) the world of Myth is more alive
than ever.

- 20 network maps configured for all the good ol' Myth TFL net-games ("Steal the
Bacon," "Body Count," etc.) as well as 4 new net-games: "Assassin," "Stampede,"
"Hunting," and "King of the Hill."

- Our campaign editors, Fear and Loathing, so that you can create your own maps
filled with unique objects, sounds, artifacts, and units.

- Free access to bungie.net, our Internet gaming service where you can play
cooperatively, or compete for worldwide ranking.* For owners of the full-version
of Myth II: Soulblighter, bungie.net supports advanced features such as Order-
ranking, Buddy-lists and Personal Bios.

(* You must have your own Internet connection to use bungie.net)


HOW TO BUY MYTH II: SOULBLIGHTER
_____________________________________________________

Myth II: Soulblighter is available through software resellers, mail order
companies, or direct from Bungie. Call (1-800-295-0060) or visit
<http://www.bungie.com> to place your order.

Bungie Software Products Corporation
P.O. Box 7877
Chicago, IL 60680-7877

Orders: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]


3D AUDIO AND GRAPHICS
_____________________________________________________

Myth II supports the 3D audio features of Creative Labs Environmental Audio
Extensions (EAX) and Aureal's A3D. If you have the proper hardware, and would
like to take advantage of Myth II: Soulblighter's 3D audio capabilities, make
sure you check the "3D Sound" box (in the Preferences dialog).

Myth II: Soulblighter uses Microsoft Direct 3D, 3Dfx's Glide and Rendition's
Redline to support 3D hardware acceleration. Myth II: Soulblighter has been
tested on computers with many, but not all, major cards incorporating chipsets
by the manufacturers listed below:

    - 3Dfx (http://www.3dfx.com)
    - ATi Technologies (http://www.atitech.com)
    - Matrox (http://www.matrox.com)
    - nVIDIA (http://www.nvidia.com)
    - Rendition (http://www.rendition.com)

To ensure optimum performance with any 3D graphics card, please be sure to
download the absolute latest drivers from you card manufacturer's website.  Do
not assume that the drivers that shipped with your card are up-to-date. The 3D
fog option in Myth II: Soulblighter especially will not work unless you are
using at least Glide 2.4.5.

Myth II: Soulblighter will not run under SLI.


PERFORMANCE
_____________________________________________________

To optimize Myth II: Soulblighter's performance, run the game on the fastest
computer you can. Regardless of the speed of your computer, never, ever run
another program while you are running Myth II: Soulblighter.

If, by chance, your computer isn't all that fast, try one or more of the
following:

1) Make sure you have a lot of RAM allocated to Myth II: Soulblighter
2) Run the game in "Low Res" mode (see the Preferences dialog)
3) Turn off "Landscape Filtering" (see the Preferences dialog)
4) Turn off modem compression and error correction while playing over a modem.
Turn on TCP/IP header compression (if available).
5) Get a faster CD-ROM drive (Myth II: Soulblighter's movies have been
optimized for 4X drives and higher).
6) Get a 3D graphics card


THE INTERFACE
_____________________________________________________

To begin playing a single-player game of Myth II, click the New Game button on
the main menu.

When the level begins, a brief message describing the objective(s) of the level
will appear in the middle of the screen.

STATUS BAR
At the top of your screen is the status bar. When you select a single unit, the
name and type of that unit are displayed in the Status bar, along with some
background information on that unit. When multiple units are selected, the
names, types, and quantity of units will appear in the status bar. The brief
paragraph of descriptive text will not appear.

On the right edge of the status bar is a large square button, often called the
"pause" button. If you click this button, you will be given a chance to revert
to a saved game, restart the current level or quit the game entirely. You can
access this same menu by pressing the Escape key.

Also at the right edge of the Status bar is a small triangular button. This
controls the overhead map. For more information about the overhead map, see
below.

ACTION WINDOW
This window consists of everything underneath the status bar. This is your
window to the battlefield, and you can look at different parts of the
battlefield by moving the camera. The action window is where all the actual
combat takes place.

OVERHEAD MAP
To the right of the pause button in the status bar is a small triangular
wedge. Clicking this wedge toggles the overhead map on and off. You can also
toggle the map by hitting your Tab key.

The overhead map appears in the upper right corner of the action window. It is a
semi-transparent, top-down view of the battlefield. Your units appear as green
dots.  Enemy units appear as red dots. Friendly units (non-player characters
like villagers, or teammates in network games) appear as blue dots. A yellow
trapezoid denotes your current camera position. The arrow in the trapezoid
denotes the direction your camera is facing.

Clicking a spot on the overhead map will instantly move your camera to that spot
in the Action window. Clicking the right mouse button (Option-click on the Mac)
on the overhead map will send your troops to that location. Pressing F9 will
display team colors for units on the map.

CONTROL BAR
The control bar appears at the bottom of the screen. It can be toggled on and
off by pressing shift + F6.

On the left of the control bar is the Whisper button, which you can use to type
private messages to your teammates during network games. The Stop button will
halt a moving unit; the Hold button will cause selected units to stand guard.

The Scatter button sends selected units scurrying away from their current
location; the Retreat button will cause them to run from the nearest enemy. The
Special button will allow the unit to use its Special Ability, if it has one.

To the right of these keys are formation buttons. Clicking one of these buttons
and then clicking on the ground will assemble selected units in the appropriate
formation.

All of these commands have keyboard equivalents. See below.

KEYS
Please note that you can change the commands assigned to the keyboard in the
Preferences menu. The keyboard commands mentioned in this section are just the
default settings; we like them, but you're free to change them.

CAMERA
Myth II's advanced 3D engine allows you to move the camera independently of your
units. Clever players will exploit this feature to see as much of the landscape
(and the enemy's forces) as possible.

FORWARD/BACK
These keys move your camera back and forth in a straight line. The default
Forward key is W. The default Back key is S.

LEFT/RIGHT
These keys move your camera sideways while keeping it pointed straight
ahead. The default Left key is Z. The default Right key is X.

ORBIT LEFT/ORBIT RIGHT
These keys keep your camera trained on a single spot while making a full 360-
degree circle around it. The default Orbit Left key is Q. The default Orbit
Right key is E.

ROTATE LEFT/ROTATE RIGHT
When using these keys, your camera remains in the same spot but your point of
view moves sideways across the landscape.

ZOOM IN/ZOOM OUT
You can zoom the camera in to get a better look at the bloody remains of your
enemies, and zoom back out to get a look at the battlefield around you.

The default Zoom In key is C. The default Zoom Out key is V.

CENTER
You can center the camera over a selected group of units by hitting H.

MOUSE
You can also use the mouse to move the camera back, forward, left and right.
Using the mouse, move your cursor to one of the four edges of the screen; the
camera will move in that direction. You can also orbit the camera by pushing the
mouse to the lower left/right corners of the action window, or rotate it by
moving the mouse to the upper left/right corners.

If you're accustomed to the mouse controls in Myth: The Fallen Lords and don't
want the corners to rotate the camera, go to the preferences and turn off mouse
controlled camera rotation.

FUNCTION KEYS
The function keys at the top of your keyboard have the ability to modify some of
Myth's preferences on the fly, while you are playing the game.

    F1 - Slows the game to half-speed, in case you're feeling overwhelmed
    (this only works in the single player game and while viewing films).

    F2 - Increases game speed to a maximum of 16 times normal speed.

    F3 - Turns the sound volume up.

    F4 - Turns the sound volume down.

    F5 - Toggles between high-resolution and low-resolution (which works
    well if you don't have a 3D accelerator card or a fast processor).

    F6 - Toggles the status box at the top of the screen on/off.

    Shift + F6 - Toggles the control bar on/off.

    F7 - Brings up stats during multiplayer games.

    F8 - Brings up list of keys and their functions.

    F9 - Toggles team colors on the overhead map (net-games only).

    F10 - Highlights all of your visible units.

    F11 - Turns landscape filtering on/off.

    F12- Toggles the Auto Camera on/off.

Selecting shift while clicking a function key sets that attribute to its maximum
value. For example, shift + F3 turns the sound off, while shift + F4 increases
the volume to 100%.


SELECTING UNITS
_____________________________________________________

Before you can give your troops orders, you must learn how to select them.

SELECTING INDIVIDUAL UNITS
To select a single unit, click it once. A yellow box will appear around this
unit. While the yellow box is visible, this unit will actively respond to your
commands.

SELECTING MULTIPLE UNITS
To select all nearby units of a given type (for example, all of your archers),
double-click on one unit of that type. While these units are selected, they will
respond as a group to any commands you give them.

You can select multiple units of different types (for example, one Dwarf and two
Warriors) by Shift-clicking: hold down the Shift key and click on each
individual unit to select them. You can also de-select a unit by Shift-clicking
on it, or by hitting the Deselect key. The default Deselect key is the
Backquote/Tilde key (~).

You can also select multiple units with a technique known as "band selection."
Click and hold the mouse button on spot on the ground, then drag the cursor
across the screen while holding down the button. A yellow box will appear
onscreen, growing and shrinking as it follows the cursor's movement. When you
release the mouse button, all of your units within the yellow box will be
selected.

You can select all of your visible units by hitting the Select All key. The
default Select All key is Enter/Return. Pressing the select all key again will
deselect all units.

PRESET SELECTIONS
Myth II allows you to easily create custom preset groups of mixed types (i.e. 2
Archers, 2 Dwarves and 6 Berserks). Assigning presets is like setting stations
on a car stereo. Select the units and hit Alt (on PCs) or Command (on Macs) and
one of the ten number keys to create a custom preset. Make sure you hold the
Alt/Command and number keys for a second or two for the preset to "set." From
that point on, you can select all units in that preset by hitting Alt/Command
and the number you assigned to it. You can cycle through presets using the F
key, and clear them using the Delete key.


COMMANDING UNITS
_____________________________________________________

MOVING
Select a unit, then click on a spot of ground. The unit will move to that spot
and await further orders.

MOVING TROOPS USING THE OVERHEAD MAP
You can order your troops to move anywhere on the visible portion of the
overhead map by selecting the units and right-clicking (PC) or pressing option
and clicking (Mac) on the overhead map.

WAYPOINTS
Waypoints are a somewhat advanced technique that lets you tell your troops what
route to take to their destination. With a group of troops selected, designate
waypoints by holding the shift key while clicking on the ground. Yellow circles
will appear, indicating the path your troops will take. You can designate up to
four waypoints before clicking on the unit's final destination.

PATROLLING
You can make your troops patrol waypoints in one of two ways. After setting up
to four waypoints, while still holding down the Shift key, click on the first
point you designated. Units will travel the points of the route and circle back
to the first one, cycling indefinitely. Conversely, after setting the points you
can click on the last point, and units will stop at each end of the route,
reverse direction, and travel back, cycling indefinitely.

STOPPING
To immediately stop a selected unit or group, hit the Stop key. The default Stop
key is the Spacebar.

ATTACKING
Select a unit, or units, then click on an enemy unit. A red box will flash
around the enemy, indicating you have targeted him. Your unit will attack the
enemy unit until he is killed, the enemy is killed, or you give him other
instructions. Units that use projectile attacks, such as Dwarves or Bowmen, may
actually need to move back if their target is too close.

Sometimes it's useful to have a projectile unit attack a piece of ground. For
example, if enemy forces are storming right over the carpet of satchel charges
your Dwarves placed earlier. To do this, select the unit, hold down the Control
key, and click the spot on the ground you wish to attack.

HOLDING
When you move a unit to a certain area, he will stay there and await further
instructions - unless he is attacked, in which case he will chase down his
attacker. If you would like a unit to move to a spot and remain there no matter
what, use the Holding function. Select a unit, click the spot where you want him
to stay, then hit the Hold key. He will stay rooted to the spot  (although he
will attack any enemy who wanders into range). The default Hold key is G.

If a projectile unit is attacked, he will not stay in place, but will retreat to
a safe distance and open fire.

SCATTERING
It is often useful to scatter a tightly clustered group of units when they come
under attack from dwarves or other enemies with massive destructive potential.
To quickly scatter a group of units, select them and hit your Scatter key. The
default Scatter key is B.

RETREATING
Sometimes fighting to the death is not an option...not a smart option anyway.
Selecta unit or group of units and hit your Retreat key; they will retreat from
the nearest enemy. The default Retreat key is R.

UNIT ORIENTATION AND FACING
It's important to control the direction your units are facing. Formations are
oriented by the direction in which characters are facing, and units looking the
wrong way will die quickly if an enemy approaches from the rear.

For this reason, you can control their facing by selecting a formation and
hitting the left or right arrow key to rotate the entire formation to the left
or right. Even before units have arrived at the area you want them to form up,
you can fine-tune the direction they'll face when they get there.

UNIT FACING
Select a unit, hold the mouse button, and drag in the direction it should face.

FORMATION FACING
Select a unit, or units, then click on the ground with the right mouse button
(PC) or option + click (Mac), and drag in the direction you want them to face.

FORMATIONS
Formations are incredibly important in Myth II: Soulblighter. Orienting your
troops in different formations allows you to strike effectively, rather than as
a mob. You will need to learn how to use formations if you expect to hold your
own in a network game.

There are ten preset formations that correspond to the ten number keys at the
top of your keyboard. Following is a description of each.

    1 - Short Line: Units will line up four abreast.

    2 - Long Line: Units will line up eight abreast.

    3 - Loose Line: Units will line up four abreast, but spaced widely.

    4 - Staggered Line: Units will assume a staggered line.

    5 - Box: Units will move in a perfect square.

    6 - Rabble: Units will spread out in random positions.

    7 - Shallow Encirclement: Units are in a wide, shallow arc.

    8 - Deep Encirclement: A tighter, smaller arc.

    9 - Vanguard: A V-shaped formation.

    0 - Circle: Units form...er...a circle, facing outward.


MULTIPLAYER
_____________________________________________________

Myth II: Soulblighter has two networking options under Windows 95/98/NT 4.0.


BUNGIE.NET
-----------

bungie.net is a free internet-based service which allows players from around the
world to gather in one central location for Myth net games. Please keep in mind
that the demo version contains only one network map and scores are NOT logged
into the rankings.

To start playing on bungie.net you must first connect to your Internet Service
Provider.  Then launch Myth II, and click the Multiplayer Game button. The
Multiplayer Game Setup dialog appears. Near the top on the right-hand side is a
bungie.net icon; select this icon. Fill out the following fields:

PLAYER NAME
Enter the name you will use during gameplay here. It doesn't have to be your
real name; fanciful names like "Ungar The Bloodthirsty" are wholeheartedly
encouraged.

TEAM NAME
Only necessary when playing in a team game. Again, you can name your team
whatever you like, and the more creative your name is, the better.

PLAYER ICON
Each player has an icon that appears beside his or her name in player
lists, making it somewhat easier to differentiate players. Click and hold the
mouse button on the icon to bring up a menu of available player icons. Highlight
the icon you want and let go of the mouse button to select it.

COLORS
You can choose a primary and secondary color for your forces. The clothing or
flesh of your units will take on these colors, making it easy for you to see
which
troops on the battlefield are yours.

To select a color, click that color in the color wheel. You can make the
color lighter or darker by clicking on the color bar to the right of each color
wheel.

If two players in a network game have selected the same colors, the game
will automatically reassign a new color to one of those players.

Click the Login button and you should soon be connected to bungie.net.

THE MAIN BUNGIE.NET SCREEN
After logging on to bungie.net, you'll arrive at the main bungie.net screen.
Here you can chat with other players and find opponents for network games.

ROOM BANNER
At the top left corner of your screen is the room banner. Click on this banner
and hold down the mouse button for a list of all available rooms. To change to
another room keep the mouse button down and move the cursor so that it
highlights another banner. Release the mouse button and you'll be taken to the
selected room.

To the right of the room name there are two numbers- the top number (next to the
skull) is the total number of players in the room. The bottom number (next to
the axe) is the total number of open and closed games being hosted in the room.

PLAYER LIST
Beneath the room name is a Player List with three tabs.

(1) ROOM : This tab shows all the players present in your current room.

(2) BUDDY: The Buddy tab shows a list of players you've personally selected as
your buddies. It's useful for quickly finding your friends online. Each player
is limited to eight buddies. (*** Not active in the Demo)

(3) ORDER: The Order tab shows all the other players online who are in your
Order. Similar to the buddy list, it is useful for quickly finding members of
your Order. (*** Not active in the Demo)

To the right of the room name are three buttons:

NEW
Click New Game to create a new network game. It will appear in the list of
available network games directly beneath the four buttons. If you'd like to
change the parameters of a game, click Options.

PREFS
This button is you link to the game searching function. Select the prefs button
to define which types of games you prefer. Games from any room on bungie.net
that match the settings in this dialog will appear under the Preferred tab in
the game list, sorted by similarity to your preferences.

Every game has a time displayed in the upper right hand corner in the game list.
If the game hasn't started yet, the time is the host's response time in
milliseconds. If the game has begun, the time is the approximate minutes
remaining until the game is over. Sudden death overtime and post game chat can
make a game last longer than the displayed time.

JOIN GAME
Select a game from the list of available games directly beneath these four
buttons and click Join Game to enter that game.

When you join a game the buttons under the player list will change to:

JOIN TEAM
Highlight a player name and click this button to join that player's team.

LOCK/UNLOCK TEAM
Click Lock Team to prevent any other players from joining your team. The
button will change to Unlock Team, which you can click if you change your mind
later.

BOOT FROM TEAM
Click on a player and use this button to remove him from your team.

MULTIPLAYER GAME OPTIONS SCREEN
If you create a game, you will be taken to this screen to set the parameters of
the game you're about to play.

NAME
The name that will appear in the list of available games.

PASSWORD
If you only want certain people to the game you're, enter a here and that
password to the players of your choice by whatever means you prefer.

LEVELS
The menu on the far left side of the screen allows you to select the map you'll
play on. If you check the Use Single Player Levels checkbox, you'll also be able
to play cooperatively on the maps from the single-player scenario.

GAME TYPE
Allows you to choose what kind of multiplayer game you'll play. You are only
allowed to play 2 network games in the Myth II demo: "Territories" and "Last Man
on the Hill."

DIFFICULTY LEVEL
This menu lets you set the difficulty of the game. This only affects games
played on the single player (or cooperative) levels.

HOST IS OBSERVER
Enabling this check box will allow the host to watch the entire battle without
controlling any troops, and without affecting his rank.

PLAYER LIMIT
Allows you to set the maximum number of players in your game. The most players
you can have is 16.

TIME LIMIT
Allows you to set the length of the game. Multiplayer games can be a of 90
minutes.

PLANNING TIME
If this box is checked, players will have an additional amount of time to scope
out the map and plan their strategy. You can increase or decrease the length of
the planning time using the arrows to the right of this option. The maximum
planning time is ten minutes.

ALLOW UNIT TRADING DURING PLANNING TIME
If this box is checked, players will be allowed to exchange the units they start
with for more desirable units. See the Unit Trading section for info.

ALLOW VETERANS FROM LAST GAME
If this box is checked, surviving units from your most multiplayer game will
join your force in the next multiplayer game. This can be a real boon if
the units have built up a great deal of experience. Veteran units will only be
allowed if the map and players stay the same as the previous game.

ALLOW ALLIANCES
Checking this box gives you the ability to ally with players during the course
of the game.

To ally with another player, hit the + key while playing. A numbered list of
other players appears; type the number of the player you wish to ally with. To
break an alliance hit the key again and select the number corresponding to your
ally (yes, backs-tabbing an ally is acceptable...and wholeheartedly encouraged).
Allied units will not appear as enemies to your own units.

ALLOW TEAMS
Checking this box allows players to team up and fight cooperatively against
other teams or another player, rather than pitting all against all.

SHOW ENEMY ON MAP
When this is turned on, enemy units will appear on the map as usual. When it's
off, you're flying blind.

MAXIMUM NUMBER OF TEAMS
If this box is checked, you can set a limit of how many teams are allowed.

PLUGINS
If you have any additional maps for Myth II, you can simply drop them in
your plugins folder (inside your Myth II directory) and they will show up in
your map list. (*** Not active in the Demo)

THE PRE-GAME CHAT
After creating a new game, or joining an existing game, you'll be transported to
a screen similar to the main bungie.net screen, also known as the pre-game chat.
The list of players is still on the left, but now there are only those players
who have joined the game. To the right, the list of available games is replaced
with a map of the level and a description of the game parameters. The chat
function at the bottom of the screen works the same as on the main bungie.net
screen. The buttons at the top of the screen are different:

BOOT PLAYER
Select a player from the list and click this button to kick him out of the game
and onto the main bungie.net screen.

JOIN TEAM
Select a player, and click this button to join that player's team.

CLOSE GAME
Remove the game from the list of available games to prevent additional players
from joining. The button then changes to Open Game in case you change your mind
later.

OPTIONS
Allows you to change the parameters of the game.

START GAME
Begins gameplay, after all players who want to join have hit the Ready button.

LEAVE GAME
Delete the game from the list of available games and drop everyone back to the
main bungie.net screen.


TCP/IP
-------

At the Multiplayer Game Setup dialog, click the "Other" box. Beneath it,
highlight the "TCP/IP (Internet)" option and click the OK button.

You will now see a screen that allows you to create or join TCP/IP games. On the
left side is a list of games available for you to join; double-click a game name
to join it. If you'd like to create your own game, fill out the following fields
on the right side:

NAME
This name will appear in the list of available games.

PASSWORD
If you only want certain people to join a game, type a password in this box and
only distribute it to the people you would like to include in your game.

CREATE GAME
Clicking this will create a game using the Name and Password supplied.

PORT
The port on which the game will be created. Unless you know what you're doing,
it's usually best to leave this set to 3453.

JOIN BY ADDRESS
By checking this box, you'll be able to link up over the Internet for network
games with a machine that is not on your local network. Enter the host machine's
IP address in the field below. Note that you must set up a connection to your
ISP before launching Myth II for this to work. It works best with dedicated
Internet connections (cable modems, T1 lines, etc.).

Once you have created or joined a TCP/IP game, the game progresses as described
above.


COMMUNICATION DURING MULTIPLAYER GAMES
_____________________________________________________

THE WHITEBOARD
During network games - especially team games - you may find it useful to draw up
a battle plan on the overhead map. Small pencil and eraser icons will appear
beside the overhead map during multiplayer games. Clicking on the pencil puts
the map in draw mode. Click on the pencil icon with your mouse, then click and
hold the mouse button to draw on the overhead map. Clicking on the pencil again
turns off draw mode. Clicking the eraser icon clears the map.

YELLING
YOU CAN SEND MESSAGES TO TEAMMATES AND OPPONENTS DURING A GAME. HIT THE YELL KEY
THEN TYPE YOUR MESSAGE AND HIT RETURN/ENTER. YOUR MESSAGE WILL APPEAR AT THE
BOTTOM OF EVERY PLAYER'S SCREEN. THE DEFAULT KEY IS SHIFT-Y.

WHISPERING
You can also whisper to your teammates during team games using the Whisper key.
The default Whisper key is Y.

UNIT TRADING
If you have clicked the Allow Unit Trading checkbox in the Game Options screen,
you can exchange some of your units for others at the beginning of a multiplayer
game. Trading can only occur before any of a team's units have moved. To trade,
consult the scoreboard that will appear at the top of the screen during planning
time. Each unit is worth a certain number of points. Click the down arrow next
to a unit type to remove one of those units from your force. Your available
points will increase accordingly. You spend points by clicking the up arrow next
to another unit. If you have enough points, you will add another of those units
to your force.