What PC? 1996 May

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Text File | 1995-09-15 | 25.4 KB | 614 lines

Copyright 1995 Crush! Limited. All Rights Reserved. ********************** * "MORTAL COIL" (tm) * ********************** This is a pre-release version of the forthcoming Action/Strategy game from Vic Tokai Europe. We hope you enjoy playing it. WARNING: The default 'Mature' mode installation may be unsuitable for players aged 15 or under. Installation of the 'Standard' mode is recommended, or password protection of the 'Mature' mode. See 'Context Sensitivity' notes in 'Miscellaneous' section for more details. 1. INSTALLATION & CONTROLS 2. MISCELLANEOUS 3. BEDTIME READING 4. A WORD FROM THE CREATORS 5. CONTACT ADDRESS 1. INSTALLATION & CONTROLS ------------------------------ SPECIFICATIONS This game needs all of the RAM you can give it, so if you're playing on 4Mb or 8Mb, free up as much as you can. Remove HIMEM.SYS, EMM386, any TSR's, SMARTDRIVE etc. (use the same configuration that you use for any other DOS game that has the same requirements as "Mortal Coil"). If you have an 8Mb system but cannot free enough space, the 4Mb version can be loaded, which has reduced graphic detail. This release has been designed to run on a 100% IBM PC or compatible Personal Computer configured to minimum MPC Level 2, including SVGA colour graphics card, MS or compatible mouse, x2 or x4 speed multi-session CD-ROM drive, minimum 4Mb of USEABLE RAM, Soundblaster or 100% compatible digital sound card. The game will also require a minimum of 10Mb of your local hard disk space. If you can make more available during installation the game will operate more smoothly and efficiently. Failure to install on a system with the above configuration is likely to result in errors. In common with most DOS games, this application may be launched from a Windows DOS shell, but this is not a Windows application and is not guaranteed to perform optimally (if at all) when Windows is active. NOTES The player is encouraged to familiarise themselves with the Video View (`W' key), and the functionality of the four video monitors, which can be user configured at any time to show a variety of different views and mission data, such as map and resources. See the `Control During Mission' section for further details. LOADING · The first time you use the game on a system, you should type the following from the \MCOIL directory on your CD: INSTALL This will run a batch file which creates the necessary directories on your local hard disk, which will be used by the game for temporary storage. It also allows you to configure the game for your system (for example Sound Card configuration), and to select 'Mature' (default) or 'Standard' mode play. · To run the PLAYABLE version if you have 8Mb of useable RAM or more, you should type: COIL This will execute the version of the game that you can play, including the graphic sequences. · To run the PLAYABLE version if you have 4Mb of useable RAM, you should type: COIL V4 The 4Mb version differs from the 8Mb version in that it features less detailed graphics and other memory critical changes · To alter any pre-set configuration after installation, you should type the following from the \COIL directory on your local Hard Disk Drive SETUP CONTROL In this version control will be available from keyboard, and keyboard/mouse combinations. ATTRACT MODE The game will self-play after showing the game logo. To skip through the attract mode hold down SPACE BAR for a few seconds. To start the game press ESC key. MISSION BRIEFING When you see text displayed on screen in a list, these are your menu choices. Continue will usually take you forward. Move the mouse pointer over the menu options and BB will describe each option. Select Option - Left Mouse Button Return to Previous Menu - ESC Start Mission - Select `Continue' from menus MISSION GAMEPLAY Weapons Personal - 1 Hand Grenade* - 2 Variable* - 3 Variable* - 4 Thermal Detonator*- 5 Gas Mask* - 7 Radiation Suit* - 8 * = if collected Health Restore (to 100%) if Health Pak in Inventory - 0 Movement - Cursor Keys Run - RIGHT SHIFT Fire Weapon - ENTER Open Door/Use Switch - SPACE BAR Jump - ALT Crouch - CROUCH Strafe - <, > On-screen map & Motion Tracking - M Look Up - A Look Down - Z Waypoint Mode / Map (see Video View for controls) - TAB TEAM CHARACTER to be LEADER Candy (default) - F1 Dan - F2 Dred - F3 Peech - F4 TEAM FORMATIONS Back To Back - F5 V - F6 Flanks - F7 Single File - F8 TEAM GROUPING Tight - F9 Medium - F10 Loose - F11 PRE-DEFINED TEAM ACTIONS (SET-PIECES) (the most appropriate action is chosen by the game code depending upon the current play situation; these send the team off to perform pre-determined `set-piece' actions depending upon the location - such as storming a door (if unlocked), controlled movement around a corner or `T' junction, etc.) Strategic - X, Bullets C, Grenades Reactive - B, Bullets N, Grenades `Go' / Resume - V Explore Auto assigns team with waypoints to extremity markers - E Return (cancel waypoints)- T ENVIRONMENT Detail Level Toggles screen detail to provide faster rendering on slower systems (default is 320 x 200; toggle is degraded to stretched 160 x 200) - D (toggle) Increase Screen Size - + Decrease Screen Size - - Gamma Brightness - G Gamma Darkness - H PERSPECTIVE / PLAYER CAM 3rd Person View - 6 (toggle) Move Camera In/Out/ Left/Right - CTRL/Cursor Keys Move Camera Up/ Down - CTRL/< or CTRL /> Rolling Camera - 6 (toggle) 1st Person View - 6 (toggle) VIDEO VIEW In this mode, the video windows are multi-functional and can display different things. The default is top left monitor displays Candy's view. Enter/Exit Video View - W Move screen pointer - <, >, J, M (or mouse) Change Function - K (Left Mouse Button)with pointer over RIGHT triangle beneath one of the monitors. Each 'click' cycles you through the monitor views or modes (sequence is Candy view, Dan, Dred, Peech, Mission Map, Resources, back to Candy view etc.). The LEFT triangle beneath any monitor cycles in the opposite direction. Thus you can configure the four monitors to show you any combination of information you desire. CONTROL LEADER - K (Left Mouse Button) with pointer on the display of monitor of choice. All usual first-person control functions now operative. MAP MODE - Map is shown (small) simply by cycling through modes until map is displayed. WAYPOINT MODE - K (left mouse button) on monitor displaying Map mode. Map now enlarges to fill entire screen. Zoom in/out - + or - (on num.keypad) Map L/R/U/D - Cursor keys Pointer Movement - < > J M (or Mouse) Select Agent(s) - Function keys F1=candy F2=dan F3=dred F4=peech or K (Left Mouse) with pointer over agent (or agents) of choice (Drop down menu appears with your choice of options - click to toggle selections - includes fight/avoid combat; collect/leave collectibles; investigate/ignore doors; done to confirm selection) Draw Waypoint - After above, move pointer to first waypoint setting and press K (or Left Mouse). A line will be drawn showing path. HINT: Choose small, multiple waypoints rather than long, single paths for greater efficiency. Move pointer to next waypoint and press K (Left Mouse) to confirm. When all waypoint paths are set press L (Right Mouse). (Drop down menu appears with choice of final options - click to choose one of three options: Guard sets up agent frozen in one direction of your choice; Sweep sets agent to patrol the area of the final waypoint destination, and Return commands player to return to Team Leader and formation when reached waypoint. Select Execute to have the command performed at once, or choose Done if you want to issue other waypoints to other agents and have them all commence upon your final agent's 'Execute' command. If Guard selected, move pointer (and in turn a small line (at end of waypoint) to direction you wish agent to face. Then click on `Execute' in the drop down menu to activate agent. To alter a waypoint when set, click on the final waypoint or a sub-waypoint marker, and drag it to the new location. RESOURCE MANAGER - When two or more agents are in the same proximity, you can `trade' weapons, ammunition and other inventory items between them. To do this you click the pointer on an item and drag it to another character. With ammunition, you can also choose to `Spread' an item evenly among the agents close to you (arrows pointing outward icon) or you can choose to give all of an available item to just one agent (arrows pointing inwards on icon). 2. MISCELLANEOUS -------------------- USER VOICE REPLACEMENT Users may substitute their own words or sounds to replace the majority of the spoken words in "Mortal Coil". To do this, first create your phrase as a .WAV sound file. Then name the file to match one of the files in the sub- directory on the CD, located in the directory \SOUNDS\VOICE. Now find the directory on your local hard drive called \CANDYDAT and create a sub-directory called \VOICE (e.g., from the prompt C:\CANDYDAT> type MD VOICE, then CD VOICE so the prompt reads C:\CANDYDAT\VOICE> Copy into your local \VOICE directory your .WAV file. Your sample will play in place of the original file from now on. To restore the game to its former glory, simply remove the sound files from \VOICE that you do not require. For example, Candy saying "At the Waypoint" is contained in the file CANDY2.WAV on the hard disk, so whatever you wish to replace this with, name it CANDY2.WAV, put it in your local \VOICE sub-directory and your own sample will play whenever Candy would usually say "At the Waypoint, Over". CONTEXT SENSITIVITY In this release, the game is supplied in `Mature' mode, which we expect would appeal to an audience of age 15+. The install utility gives you the option to install the game in `Standard' mode, which we recommend for users under the age of 15 years of age, or for those who do not relish occasional harsh language or graphic effects. The main advantage of context sensitivity will be apparent in the full version of "Mortal Coil" rather than this demo release. It is the intention of the designers that the game is aimed at a more mature player, and as such, is not restricted in the scope of its content; that the player is not nannied at the expense of the effect. Equally, players who may be offended by some of these inclusions have the option to turn them off, or password protect them from other family members. It is hoped that by providing options to our players, we will be seen as taking seriously our content responsibilities, at a time when the interactive industry seems to be under more pressure on this subject than Hollywood! By providing these options, we are providing helpful gameplay switches for users, and hopefully encouraging players that might otherwise not have considered products of this nature. 3. BED-TIME READING ----------------------- THE STORY SO FAR... "Mortal Coil" is set in the year 2005, but relates to a man-made problem more than two hundred years thereafter. You see, the European Union is just the beginning of a much larger move by the `first world' powers to create a much larger political, economic and military group - the first world government. It joins together to colonise space. At first it mines the planets around Earth for valuable minerals, with the intention one day of colonising each planet for each G7 nation - for example, Planet Germany, Planet Japan, etc. Man can achieve this because as we all know, mankind is the only life in space. We're just surrounded by dead rocks. It was this complacent thinking that led to the problem. Three hundred years after man took a small step onto the moon, in 2269 mankind took a giant leap onto Alpha Centurai and started drilling there. An indigenous lifeform had survived under the crusty planet surface there for centuries - a lifeform not unlike ants on planet Earth; they built intricate nests and served colonies. Highly intelligent they saw man as an aggressive alien invader. They had one advantage over man. They could travel in time. And so a nesting group was sent back in time to 1995, to establish colonies close by to key installations, and just in case, they would poison the food chain. Man would slowly die, and by the time it realised it was under attack it would be too late. Mortal Coil was the name of the government agency set up in the late 20th century by the burgeoning first world power to investigate unusual attacks on key military installations. If terrorists were making the attacks, they weren't making any demands, but had succeeded in causing massive devastation to an otherwise top secret plan (the `Space Colonisation Programme'). Mortal Coil employed only the best, smartest special agents. Part mercenary, part spy. Smart, tough, ruthless. Candy was the best the agency had. As was usual, agents for Mortal Coil were treated like mushrooms. The agency considered that the less they really knew the more effective and focused they would be. They underestimated Candy. The world had never seen anything like the events on 2005. If it hadn't been for Candy and her team, the World may never have seen anything again. The mission included with this release is Mission 5, the UnderSea Nuclear Dumping Station. The invading Shatarian race are sabotaging the station, stealing nuclear waste in their own underwater vessel, and them releasing toxic waste into the sea. Unless you can stop them, that is. If you fail, the sea is polluted and the food chain irrevocably damaged. The full release includes missions in a hot, steamy jungle, aboard a space construction platform in Earth's orbit, inside an abandoned germ warfare research and storage installation in the Nevada Desert, around an air filtration farm in Tokyo, and around the streets of London. If you succeed in completing those within a set game time, you get a special bonus mission aboard the Shatarian's space craft! Phew! THE CHARACTERS CANDY 25 years old, female, English. Real name Emma Monroe. Head strong, very tough, very fit, attitude with a capital `A'. Deep, sexy voice. Likes a laugh, despises most of the men she has ever met. The main focus of the game storyline, Candy has worked for Mortal Coil for some years. She knows too much to ever be allowed to leave. Clearly a problem for her superiors, she is nonetheless the most effective agent they have. DAN 28 years old, male, American. Full name Daniel R. Malone. A sensitive yet tough former marine with a conscience. He's tall, he keeps himself fit, enjoys a laugh with the lads. Troubled by a messy divorce, he moved to Europe for a new start, and was `between jobs' when the Shatarians attacked his apartment block (Unihab). Candy rescued him; the two became friends and she persuaded him to join her team at Mortal Coil (previously she had only ever worked alone). DRED 32 years old, male, Jamaican. Real name Joseph Hodge. Married with three children. A lot of brawn but not overly blessed with brains; but that doesn't mean he's stupid. A life in the military has proven to be an ideal career for him. He joined Mortal Coil when Candy and Dan rescued him - he had been trapped by the Shatarians his unit had been trying to overthrow. They enlisted his help at that time, and Candy was so impressed by his courage, she invited him to join the elite team. PEECH 20 years old, female, European. Real name Nena Pietreich. Born in Germany, she travelled with her military family throughout Europe when younger and has an undetermined accent. Despite her young age, she rose very quickly through the military ranks on leaving school. A determined, loyal, quick-thinker, Peech doesn't suffer fools gladly. She was rescued alongside Dred by Dan and Candy, and likewise, proved so effective in supporting them at that time, that she earned a place on Candy's MC squad. BB Highly intelligent, self-aware robot device, called a `Military Recorder'. These units are built from the same material that flight recorders - or black boxes - are made of (hence the nickname `BB'). Military Recorders are sent out with agents on undercover assignments to provide on-the-spot intelligence and additional fire- power. It also records the actions of the agents, and in the event an enemy wipes out the agents, the recorder can be recovered for subsequent analysis. Speaks with an educated human-like-voice, but slightly stilted. Sounds like a tall person. PROFESSOR SHATARIAN Male, early 50's. The stereotypical mad scientist, as honest as the day is long. Has no real comprehension of everyday matters, but an incredible capacity when it comes to science and technology. He is a genius. He was the government scientist that first analysed the samples of goo the Mortal Coil team collected, and espoused the theory of an alien life-form. The prospect of communication with a higher life-form excites him greatly, and the aliens get named after his research, discoveries and theories; they are known collectively as "The Shatarians". The Prof. stumbles and mumbles a lot. More of the background to the characters and how they meet is played out in the graphic sequences in the full release of "Mortal Coil". 4. A WORD FROM THE CREATORS ------------------------------ This CD contains a special version of one of the game missions, and should give you a good flavour for the end product. At the time we finished this version for you, the overall game was not complete, and we still have some tidying up to do... `tarting up' some texture maps, character animations, game map puzzles, and finalising some features such as network play, load/save game, difficulty levels, and `sub-titles' for those that don't have digital sound cards. At Crush! we see ourselves as creators of interactive entertainment, and hope you enjoy the game as an overall product rather than `just' for the technology or the graphics. We have created an enjoyable story, and with the mix of rendered sequences and spoken words from the characters, the game atmosphere should play an important part in your enjoyment. Next stop the movie! Offers please ;-) Credit where credit is due, and this has been a team effort. So, `big how' to the Crush! crew, plus we would like to thank all those people that have contributed in some way, and you'll see them listed in the credits page. Special thanks to the voices for our characters - Dani Behr, Ed Bishop, Fiona Allen and Brian Bowles. Details on how to play the game are above, and if you have any problems please contact Vic Tokai Europe at the address below. If you enjoy playing this demo release, please buy the full release of the game. It will be a more improved version of this, featuring 6 main game missions, plus a special bonus mission for those that complete the first 6 within record time. The rendered sequences will feature `interactive' sections, allowing you to examine the storyline (rather than just sit and watch the same thing each time). There are also play options not included on this demo version, plus a smashing manual, nice box and a free jewel case. Oooh! Suit you Sir! From the team that gave up many nights in order that you could spend yours in our game fantasy -- a big thanks for playing the demo, and a big hope that you'll buy the full game. Do we have to beg or what? -- Crush! Newbury, England, September `95 5. CONTACT ADDRESS ---------------------- In the unlikely event that you experience any difficulties please contact the supplier of this Demo Release for assistance. If you would like more details of the full release of "Mortal Coil" or would like to contact the Publishers, write to: Vic Tokai Europe Department MC Tokai House 9 Duncan Close Moulton Business Park Northampton NN3 1WL United Kingdom DO NOT SEND YOUR CD TO VIC TOKAI UNLESS INSTRUCTED TO DO SO! All trademarks in above text acknowledged. "Mortal Coil" is an original work of fiction. Any similarities to any persons events or places living dead or otherwise in Newbury is unintentional. "Mortal Coil" (tm) Copyright (c)1995 Crush Limited. All Rights Reserved. PC CD ROM version produced under license by Vic Tokai Europe Ltd