BATTLECRUISER:3000AD READ ME ---------------------------- [10.12.97] A WORD FROM THE SUPREME COMMANDER ================================= Most of you are no doubt aware of the controversy surrounding the premature release of BC3K a year ago. Yes, the product was not ready for release and regardless of whose fault it was, I have worked very hard this year to complete this development and bring this whole saga to an end. You will no doubt agree that the game has come from totally unplayable to a complex and enjoyable experience. All of you have waited patiently while some of you have opted to ridicule myself, my team and my life's work in the online forums. Nevertheless, I have stuck to my game, to my dream and to my goals always hoping that one day the world would see what it is I have created. You are all witnesses to the hard work that my team and I, including my dedicated testers, have put into this development. We could all have quit when we had the chance. We didn't. In April, I realized that patching the game to completion would most likely take it into the holiday season and that, once again, graphics technology would pass me by. I did not believe that you folks would want to wait an entire year to play a game that sported old technology considering the recent crop of advanced games currently on the market. Some of you, disappointed, have already stopped playing, saving the game for that day when it would be completed. My thoughts led me to sanction the upgrade of the graphics technology in order to keep up with recent trends. Once you start the game, these updates will be immediately evident. You will NOT believe that you are playing the same game. All the renderers have been updated. The graphics enhancements alone are too numerous to list but consider that the BC3K core consists of over 25 independent renderers with more being added to support 3D accelerators. External planets now have high definition maps even though only the solar system has been updated for this. To include maps for the entire galaxy would mean a 100MB patch. The final v2.0 cd-rom will have high res map support for the entire galaxy. The cloaking system now uses a renderer with advanced transparency routines. You will also notice the beautiful lens flare effects in space and on the planet, the cloud cover on planets as well as the new collision detect routines which is still work in progress. The most significant gameplay feature you will notice is Xtreme Carnage. It now supports the advanced ACM scripting technology and is more streamlined and a lot of fun. You may want to start your adventures here, once you apply the patch. The explosions have also been updated and timed based on frame rate. Missiles are now more deadly, the flight engine on the surface has been slowed down and enemy ai has been updated. Significant optimizations have also be done to the kernel itself upon which BC3K runs. All in all, you will notice some significant improvements in v1.01D6 over v1.01C5.3 and certainly the original v1.00 release. In order to keep the series alive there was no way that I could continue development in order to release a final v1.1 without financial support. It has been extremely difficult to fund this development on a shoe string budget and it is your support of v2.0 that I am counting on in order to continue supporting the title. As a result of this and other developments, I have decided to bypass v1.1 entirely and do a commercial re-release of the title for retail sales and distribution in 1998. This title has now been dubbed, Battlecruiser 3000AD v2.0. and will include the v1.1 patch and all the enhancements that have been done and which you will now see when you apply the included patch. Existing owners of the original v1.00 will be charged a minimum fee for the upgrade which will include a new cd-rom and on-line manual. Plans are underway to include a printed manual if possible. New users will be able to purchase the full repackaged v2.0 directly from 3000AD or via the retail channel. Some of you have expressed concern over being charged for a game that you paid for a year ago. I understand those concerns but unfortunately, there is nothing that I can do. I have plans to do a non-enhanced v1.1 patch for those who request it but I can only do this once v2.0 is completed and released. I am counting on you to understand my position on this matter. With advancements in 3D accelerator technology, you can expect to see a FREE 3Dfx patch for v2.0 once it is completed next year. I also have plans to do a Rendition and PowerVR patch once the 3Dfx one is completed. I have also announced a sequel to the title, Battlecruiser Commander (working title), as well as several add-ons for it. As existing owners of BC3K, you can expect to purchase these titles at significantly reduced prices. If you missed the press release, you can catch it on www.game-wire.com. Anyway new titles in the series are as follows: [Battlecruiser Commander] A tentative working title for the sequel due out next year. All new galaxy, new class of Battlecruiser with the ability to carry a variety of fighters, 3Dfx, Rendition, MMX support as well as over 30 new features including the much awaited ship to ship comms and direct first person control of deployed personnel (as if you were controlling one of your ships). Support for buying components to build your own bases and cities on planet surfaces is also planned! [BC3K: Strike Pak] This is already in development and will allow you to board, in first person perspective, ships that you target. You will also be able to walk around inside your own Battlecruiser. The first pak will probably have 2-3 ships from each class, ie carrier, cruiser, transport, station, base. More will be done based on the success of the add-on. This add-on can be played stand-alone or linked to Battlecruiser Commander. Now you can board Gammulan ships, stations and bases and kick some serious butt. The Level Infinity team (splinter group from BPD, the guys who brought you The Gate conversion for Duke3D) are already on-board and will be working on designing all the ship interiors as 'levels'. Expect a demo of the Battlecruiser model which you can walk around in, sometime soon. [BC3K: Skirmish Pak] A multi-player add-on for Battlecruiser Commander supporting TCP/IP, modem & direct connection. Like Xtreme Carnage, this add-on will have a smaller unique galaxy but will support all the features in BC3K and BC. You can enter as any alien nation, caste with any ship type. Trade, mine, invade, hijaak etc. Everything you can now do in BC3K and in BC, you will be able to do in the Skirmish Pak. TECHNICAL SUPPORT INFO ====================== There are several files included in the patch README.TXT - This file BC3KHELP.TXT - Installation assistance BC3KVER.TXT - Version control file. Lists new features and changes BC3KBUGS.TXT - Master bug list. Lists fixed and pending bugs. PLEASE check this file before reporting a bug. For more technical support, please visit the official BC3K web site COMMLINK area at www.bc3000ad.com. If you are not already registered, please do so and re-enter using the password provided. Updates will be available in the FTP section of the Cargo Bay. The site is undergoing siginificant upgrades so please excuse the mess. Here, you can download the preview manual in a file called BC3KMAN.ZIP. You will need the Adobe Acrobat 3.01 reader (www.adobe.com) for it. A new file, called BC3KNDX.ZIP is also available. It contains all the manual appendix data in MS Word format complete with screen shots. You NEED this file! If you don't have MS Word, you can download the latest version of the MS Word Viewer at www.microsoft.com. These files were created using MS Word '97 so you need the latest version and NOT the one which ships with the WIN95 cd-rom. Have fun and PLEASE post your feedback at the site. Let us know what you think of the D patch and perhaps, I may just release another version with the final changes to the orbital model, tacOPS and surface ops Regards Derek K. Smart, Ph.D. President, Lead Developer 3000AD email: support@bc3000ad.com CSI : 76704,162