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1994-11-18
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METALTECH: BATTLEDROME
Version 1.0 Release Notes
Thank you for purchasing Metaltech: Battledrome (BD). While we have
made an effort to provide you with complete documentation, some last
minute additions and changes did not make it into the manual. The
following information should be considered an extension of the
Battledrome Simulation Manual.
I. Manual Errata
CHAT MODE:
On page 16 the artwork for the chat window is incorrect.
The title above this window reads "Chat", not "Communication status."
NEGOTIATIONS:
The "victory terms" SURRENDER option appearing on page 24 has been
removed. In its place is a PRACTICE option. If you choose practice,
all wagering, points, and damage information from the current match
is ignored. This option is useful if you wish to fight multiple
matches against a remote opponent without having to repair your
Hercs.
VIEW/CONTROL STATUS DISPLAY
On page 33 there is an illustration of the control status display
that displays an incorrect "ATT" (attached) message for the COCKPIT
camera view. This area will be blank whenever you are in the cockpit.
BAUD RATE
On page 15 of the manual, the "Baud Rate" button was not included
in the setup menu. You can select speeds of 2400, 4800, 9600, and
14,400 baud. Battledrome will attempt to connect at the highest
speed supported by both modems, however, some modems may require the
baud rate to be stipulated by both players to effect a connection.
The Packard bell 2400 baud internal modem is one modem that requires
this: both players must have the "2400 Baud" button selected or it
will not connect.
GAMMA CORRECTION
A gamma correction feature has been added to Battledrome. Press F8
to toggle gamma correction if your monitor picture is too dark.
Note: if you select or accept the "LOW VISIBILITY" option in
negotiations, you will not be able to see objects until they are
very close to you, even with gamma correction enabled.
ADDITIONAL CREDITS
Rick Overman: Network drivers and additional programming
QUALITY ASSURANCE
Andrew Binder
Scott Gilbert
Chris Medinger
Indra Suryanata
Gary Stevens
II. CONNECTIVITY
General Notes:
Battledrome synchronizes connected computers at the maximum speed
of the slowest machine. A player with a fast CPU attaching to a
slower computer will notice a substantial speed decrease compared to
individual play. Two players with fast computers may notice a slight
decrease in performance when connected via a modem or network
compared to stand-alone play.
Local Area Network:
Only 2 players can connect at a time. You must have an IPX
compatible network (such as Novell) to run a Battledrome net game.
Both players must be on the same network server to run a LAN game.
MODEM CONNECTIVITY
Battledrome performs best on a 9600 baud or higher modem. You must
have at least a 2400 baud modem to make a remote connection.
COM 3 and COM 4
Battledrome supports COM 3 and COM 4 at the following addresses:
COM 3 at 3E8
COM 4 at 2E8
If your internal modem does not match this configuration you may
have to change the port address or reassign it to COM 1 or COM 2.
If you cannot get your modem to connect on COM 3 or COM 4, try
reassigning it to COM 1 or COM 2.
IMPORTANT:
We strongly recommend you disable the error correction features
(e.g., MNP) when attempting a modem game. Battledrome will allow
two modems to connect with error correction, however you will
experience extremely poor performance over a modem connection if
error correction is enabled. You may experience difficulties
connecting if one player has error correction enabled and the other
does not.
For optimum performance we recommend you also disable the data
compression and software flow control features of your modem.
Due to the lack of industry standards for extended AT commands, the
modem init strings needed to accomplish this varies widely by
manufacturer and modem type.
See the appendix at the end of this readme for a list of some common
modem AT commands (init strings). If you cannot locate the init
string for your modem, consult your modem documentation or contact
your hardware manufacturer.
NOTE to 2400 Baud Modem Users:
Most 2400 baud modems do not support special error correction or
data compression protocols. Battledrome will only run at a maximum
speed of 6 frames per second over a 2400 baud connection (provided
you have a clean line and your CPU is powerful enough to run the
game at that speed).
"Screen Locks"
If Battledrome detects an error during a remote connection there may
be a brief pause (3/10th of a second) while it waits for the two
machines to resynchronize. If you experience a large number of
"freezes" it is an indication that you have not entered the correct
init string to disable error correction on your modem, or that you
are experiencing a great deal of line noise due to a poor phone
connection.
Special init string characters:
, (comma). When placed in a dial string, it adds a 2 second pause.
! = Battledrome parses this like a "return" character in a modem
string. It is useful separate individual commands in a modem
string:
e.g.,
AT/N! AT%C0! AT&K0!
Normally, if you enter an incorrect AT command, the entire
string will be discarded. If you add an "!" at the end of each
command, Battledrome will send each one individually to the
modem. If an error is generated by a single command, Battledrome
will still be able to send the remaining commands to your modem.
MAKING A MODEM CONNECTION:
We have found that some modems types will connect immediately with
little or no configuration necessary while others may require you
to enter special AT commands (init strings) in Battledrome's
communication SETUP window to effect a connection. Here is a three
step process you can try to connect your modem to another user.
1) Attempt a remote connection with no special init string. If you
can dial up and connect, then go ahead and optimize your remote
connection by disabling error correction, data compression, and
flow control with the appropriate AT command (init string) in
Battledrome's communication SETUP window (described on page 15 of
the manual).
2) If you cannot get the modems to connect, make sure that both
players have specified the same connection speed (baud rate) in
the "Setup" menu and that this speed is supported by both modems.
3) If you have tried steps 1 and 2 and still cannot get the modems
to connect you may have to use a special AT command (init string)
to force a modem connection at a baud rate supported by both
modems. Refer to your modem documentation or contact your
hardware manufacturer for the correct AT command for your modem
type.
LAN CONNECTIVITY (IPX)
The simulation portion of Battledrome is very sensative to
lost packets over a network. Theoretically, a network should not
lose ANY packets, however, we have found a few instances where
this has happened. So far these have all been traced to flaky
network cards, incorrectly configured LAN software and problems
in the LAN server. If your network goes "down" on a regular basis
you are likely to have difficulty with a Battledrome NET connection.
If you can connect up in the shell, but get a "REMOTE CONNECTION
FAILED" message when you enter combat, it is a strong sign that
your network is losing packets.
III. INCOMPATIBILITIES
TSR VIRUS DETECTION PROGRAMS AND "UNDELETE" UTILITIES:
When installing or operating Metaltech: Battledrome, we recommend
that you disable any "undelete" utilities including Norton
Smartcan or Mirror. You will also want to disable any TSR Virus
Detection programs as each of these utilities might cause install
problems or random lockups during game play. An easy and effective
way to accomplish this is to create a boot disk using the install
program's boot disk creator. For more information, please refer
to your simulation documentation.
MEMORY MANAGEMENT:
Metaltech: Battledrome runs in 32-bit protected mode and may
suffer from incompatibilities with older memory managers including
QEMM 6.02 and early versions of EMM386. If you experience lockups
or other problems when running the simulation, try the following
suggestions:
a) Make a boot disk using the boot disk creator option in the
install program. This option will create a custom boot-up
configuration on a floppy disk and allow BD's own
memory manager to better utilize all of your computer's
available memory. Once the BD install routine has
successfully created the boot disk, restart your computer
with this disk in your A drive.
b) Try an updated or newer memory manager. Many of the updated
memory managers work more effectively with 32-bit protected mode
applications. Check with your memory manager manufacturer for
upgrade information.
MOUSE DRIVERS
In order to insure complete mouse compatibility within BD, we
recommend that you use one of the following mouse drivers:
- Microsoft Mouse driver version 8.20a or above
- Logitech Mouse driver version 6.23 or above
The above mentioned mouse drivers have been tested and found to work
effectively within this simulation. Other drivers may cause program
lock-ups, video distortion (in the form of white lines on the
screen), or mouse control problems.
SOUND BLASTER 16 AND BOOT DISK CREATOR:
On occasion, the boot disk creator might not copy the SBCONFIG.EXE
line onto the AUTOEXEC.BAT file of the boot disk. This may result
in the introduction and the game running without any sound or music.
If this occurs, you will need to manually insert the SBCONFIG.EXE
line from your standard boot-up configuration into the AUTOEXEC.BAT
file on the boot disk. Below is an example of how the line should
look:
C:\SB16\SBCONFIG.EXE /S
NOTE - the above line should appear immediately after all other
Sound Blaster statements within the AUTOEXEC.BAT file of your
boot disk. For assistance or more information about completing
this step, please refer to your sound card documentation or call
Creative Labs Technical Support.
IV. MISCELLANEOUS
SOUND CARD PROBLEMS
While we have made every effort to support as many sound cards as
possible, there are a few sound cards that are not supported
directly within Battledrome. You may have to configure your card
for Sound Blaster emulation if you have a card that is not
directly supported by the game drivers. Some Sound Blaster
emulation utilities might not work properly with Battledrome.
NOTE - not all sound cards are compatible with the Sound Blaster
card. Check your hardware documentation to determine if your
card is compatible.
SOUNDSET SOUNDCARD DETECTION
Soundset's autodetection feature is highly dependent on having
the correct environment variables set and device drivers loaded in
your autoexec.bat file for some kinds of cards. If soundset
does not detect your card make sure that you have installed your
soundcard properly in your machine and that you have run the
installation software that came with your soundcard. If all else
fails, you can set the parameters for your soundcard manually in
soundset.
GRAVIS ULTRASOUND
Gravis Ultrasound and Ultrasound Max cannot be detected from
Soundset. There is a utility called GRAVBD.exe in your
BattleDrome directory that will properly configure your
resource.cfg for the Gravis cards. At this time the Gravis
drivers only supprt digital effects not MIDI music.
CREATIVE LABS AWE-32
You cannot adjust the volume of the midi music on an AWE-32.
ROLAND MT-32
The SRL on Battledrome's box is incorrect. Battledrome does not
directly support the ROLAND MT-32. However, you can still use the
MT-32 as your music output device. To configure Battledrome for
the MT-32, select MPU-401 for your MIDI music driver in Soundset.
This sets MIDI music output to go to a General MIDI output device.
Because the MT-32 is not a true General MIDI device, you may
experience some missed or substituted instruments in the MIDI music
track, however most tracks will play fine.
SCSI DRIVERS
If your system is equipped with a SCSI hard drive, you will need to
make sure that you are loading the appropriate SCSI driver in your
CONFIG.SYS file. For additional information or instructions on
how to accomplish this task, please refer to your hard drive or
SCSI controller documentation or manufacturer.
To run BD on a 4 Meg machine, you will most likely need to
make a boot disk or remove your high memory driver from your
config.sys file. BD doesn't require a high memory driver, and
such drivers can take up enough memory to cause BD not to run.
CONFIGURING YOUR JOYSTICK
The first time you run Battledrome after installing it onto
your computer, you must manually select and calibrate your
joystick. Once you have done this, the computer will
automatically remember your settings.
THRUSTMASTER DEVICE SUPPORT
We have added additional key combinations that Thrustmaster users
may wish to use in .adv files for the WCS Mark II or in .B50 files
for the FLCS. BD does not support the WCS MK I.
Thrustmaster throttle keys:
Ctrl-9 toggle fwd/reverse gears
Ctrl-8 max fwd throttle
Ctrl-7 3/4 fwd throttle
Ctrl-6 1/4 fwd throttle
Ctrl-5 all stop
Ctrl-4 1/4 rev throttle
Ctrl-3 3/4 rev throttle
Ctrl-2 max rev throttle
There is a default BD.ADV file for the WCS Mark II shipped with
Battledrome. A .B50 file for the FLCS was not available at the
time of duplication.
You can reach Thrustmaster technical support at (503) 968-3400
9-5 Pacific time weekdays if you have questions about Thrustmaster
controls.
GRAVIS GAME PAD
We have found that BD works well with the Gravis Game Pad. To
use this device, select and calibrate the pad as 1 Standard
Joystick. Make sure you set the game pad to ANALOG rather than
DIGITAL. Check your game pad documentation for instructions on
how to accomplish this.
CONTACTING SIERRA CUSTOMER SERVICE:
Since the manual was printed, the customer support and direct
sales address has changed. The new contact information is:
Sierra On-Line Direct Sales Sierra On-Line Customer Service
P.O. Box 3404 P.O. Box 3404
Salinas, CA 93912 Salinas, CA 93912
Phone: (800) 757-7707 Phone: (800) 743-7725
Fax: (408) 644-2018 Fax: (408) 644-2018
NOTE - Sierra On-Line Technical Support, Patch Disk Dept.,
Refund/Exchange Dept., and Disk/Doco Replacement Dept. is
correctly documented in the game manual.
CUSTOMIZING YOUR BOOT DISK
Because Metaltech: Battledrome uses a 32-bit DOS extender,
you do not need to load a memory manager as outlined in the
game documentation on page 68. The automatic boot disk
creator in the install program will create a boot configuration
that is optimized to run this game. It will allow BD's built
in memory manager to optimize your full computer's memory to run
the game as effectively as possible.
IMPROVING PERFORMANCE
To increase performance, try the following:
-Use a smartdrive if you have enough memory in your machine
-Decrease the arena detail in the simulation (F12 or Control-P)
-Avoid selecting arenas with "Many" obstacles or blaster turrets
-Take only 1 or 2 camera probes into combat
-Select "None" for sound and music in the install program
V. APPENDIX
****PARTIAL LIST OF MODEM INIT STRINGS****
IMPORTANT NOTE: These init strings represent the best
information available to us at the time of duplication. Not all
modem models were available for testing. This information was
provided to us by the modem manufacturers. If you cannot get the
initialization strings to work, consult your modem documentation
or contact your modem manufacturer directly for updated
information. We have provided the tech support numbers several
of the major modem manufacturers in addition to the init
strings.
Vendor Model Init string Notes
AT&T 4024 \n1
800-222-0400 Dataphone II \n1
DataPort %c0 \n1
Bestdata SmartOne 2400 i - DC,EC, and FC not supported.
818-773-9600 SmartOne 2400e -
SmartOne 9624FQi -
SmartOne 9642b &k0 &q0 n0
SmartOne 2442b &k0 &q0 n0
Boca 2400E MNP5 \n %c0 &k0
407-241-8088 2400I MNP5 \n %c0 &k0
2400E v.42bis \n %c0 &k0
2400I v.42bis \n %c0 &k0
14.4E v.42bis/fax \n %c0 &k0
14.4I v.42bis/fax \n %c0 &k0
14.4I (alternate) \n %c0 &k0
Cardinal 2400i &k0 Does not support EC
or DC
717-293-3124 9600 v.42bis &k0 &q6 &q6 Turns off EC and DC
Compaq 9696 MNP5 %c0 \g0 %m0
800-345-1518
Comp. Periph. HI-FI hookup 2400s - Tech claims these models
805-499-6021 Viva 24i - do not support DC,EC,or FC
Viva 24e -
Viva 24i/fx -
Viva 2400 MNP5 n0 \n1 &k0
Viva 2442ef v.42bis n0 \n1 &k0
Viva2442if v.42bis n0 \n1 &k0
Viva 14.4 v.42bis ext n0 \n1 &k0
Viva 14.4 v.42bis int n0 \n1 &k0
Digicom Connection+
800-833-8900 Eagle+ v.42bis/fax *E *F0
Scout+ v.42bis/fax
Gateway 2000 Telepath 2400 &k0 EC0 &q0
800-248-2031 Telepath v.32 &k0 EC0 &q0
Hayes Accura 2400ext
404-446-6336 Smartmodem 2400B i
404-441-1617 Smartmodem 2400B e
Smrtmdm Optima9600 &q6 &k0
Smrtmdm Optima14.4 &q6 &k0
Personal Modem 2400
PersonalModem2400+ &q6 &k0
VSmartmodem2400 &q6 &k0
VSmartmodem9600 &q6 &k0
Infotel 9600 %c0 \n0 &k0
800-972-8822 9600 v.42bis %c0 \n0 &k0
FM144/144HVI int fax %c0 \n0 &k0
Intel 2400EX &f \n0 \g0
503-629-7000 9600ex &f \n0 \g0
14.4ex &f \n0 \g0
SatisFAXion 100 &f Does not support EC or DC,
default is FC=off.
SatisFAXion 200 &f \n0 \q0
SatisFAXion 400 &f \n0 \q0
14.4 (alt) &f \n0 \q0
Logicode QUICKTEL 2400 int &k0
805-388-9000 QUICKTEL 9624 &k0
QUICKTEL 9600 v.42 \n1 %c0 &k0
Packard Bell 2400 No Error correction or data
800-733-4411 2400/fax compression supported
Practical 2400 ps/2 &k0
805-496-7707 2400 &k0
2400 v.42bis &q0 s46=0 &k0
2400EFX s46=0 &k0
2400EFX SA &q0 s46=0 &k0
All others &q0 s46=0 &k0
Supra All Supramodems &k0
503-967-2400 All SupraFAXmodems &k0 \n
Telebit t1000 s58=0
408-734-5200 t2500 s97=0 s106=0s58=0
Trailblazer s97=0 s106=0s58=0
Trailblazer+ s97=0 s106=0s58=0
t1600 s190=0 s106=0 s58=0
t3000 s190=0 s106=0 s58=0
Qblazer s190=0 s106=0 s58=0
WorldBlazer s190=0 s106=0 s58=0
US Robotics All models &k0 &m0 &h0
708-982-5151
Wang 2400i %c0 &k0 Tech says that error
correction can not be
800-323-9264 9600v.42bis %c0 &k0 turned off
14/14 %c0 &k0
Zoom All models &f &c1 &d2 &q0 %c0 &k0
617-423-1076