Chip 1998 January

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################################################################ LucasArts Entertainment Co. X-WING vs. TIE FIGHTER DEMO ################################################################ We recommend that you read this file to get the most up-to-date information about installing, running and maximizing performance of the X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter Demo. This README file contains pertinent information regarding installation and usage of the game, including key commands and general single player issues. We also recommend you review the MULTIPLAYER GAMING ISSUES to see how to best optimize your Internet multiplayer performance. IMPORTANT: This demo is NOT COMPATIBLE with the retail version of X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and will not work on the Internet Gaming Zone. A NOTE FROM LAWRENCE HOLLAND To all Rebel and Imperial Pilots: Multiplayer and the Internet have been the two biggest buzzwords in the computer game industry for the past year. The two combined have been heralded as the future of gaming. The time for multiplayer Internet gaming has definitely come, but not without the greatest of technical and game design challenges. While many of you have played X-Wing or TIE Fighter or both, you should realize that X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter is not a simple "patch" to these products but required an entirely new game design approach and tremendous amount of new technology. In many ways this product is an experiment, trying to explore some new terrain in the multiplayer internet landscape. We thought it informative to share with you some of the issues and thoughts that surfaced during our development. One of our main design goals for creating X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter has been to create a rich variety of ways in which Rebel and Imperial pilots could come together and do battle. In addition to creating the simple, standard head to head dogfighting arenas, we wanted to place players in cooperative and competitive missions that took place in the midst of large scale battles involving many starships and starfighters. In these engagements the pilotsÆ goals would be defined in the context of the Rebel AllianceÆs or Imperial NavyÆs aim for military supremacy. In our design, great pains were taken to create a continuity of scale in the missions. No matter how many human pilots were flying in the mission, we wanted the same amount of action and activity going on, as well as the same level of challenge. Another aspect that makes the X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter game system unique from other multiplayer Internet games is that in this large scale battle environment, the player is given almost instant access to information about all the other pilots, spacecraft and space objects. This includes visual as well as detailed tactical information. This flow of information is critical to a pilot maintaining his situational awareness in the heat of combat. To achieve this scope and complexity, sophisticated techniques were necessary to coordinate the player and non-player craft that would make these battles possible. This approach places higher demands on the exchange of information over the Internet than usual. We also wanted to achieve this goal without resorting to special game servers, but we wanted the game to run with standard modems on standard machines. We hope that you appreciate the uniqueness of our approach and recognize the difficulties that it entails. The Internet, of course, has great promise for delivering multiplayer gaming. However, not only is the Internet still in its formative stages but it was not originally designed for supporting the needs of a high speed combat simulation such as X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. We have found it to be an exciting but still inconsistent foundation on which to play computer games. The fundamental problems of latency, bandwidth and the unreliability of transmission work against the creation of a fluid action game experience. These problems have been exacerbated as the infrastructure of the Internet has been profoundly overloaded by the millions of new web users. Unfortunately these factors cause a great range of quality of play that can be achieved in X-Wing vs TIE Fighter. The quality of this experience relies heavily on you getting a "good" connection to the Internet. This is not always an easy thing to accomplish given the unpredictability of the Internet. A good dose of patience, perseverance and understanding is needed to achieve success. Much of the information in this document and other LucasArts sources are aimed at helping you achieve this "good" Internet connection. In many ways this game will be a constantly growing and evolving entity just like the Internet that it will be played on. We are committed to creating a series of upgrades aimed at improving the overall quality of play on the Internet. Also much of our effort will be geared to dealing better with poor quality Internet connections. These will be made available on the www.rebelhq.com website periodically. So check this site frequently. May the Force Be With You (and watch your six!) Lawrence Holland and the rest of X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter team ################################################################ 1) INSTALLATION AND GAME CONTROLS a) System Requirements b) Starting the Game c) Joystick Issues d) Keyboard Commands 2) MULTIPLAYER GAMING ISSUES a) Starting a Multiplayer Game b) Optimizing Internet Performance c) Evaluating Your Internet Connection d) Playing on a LAN e) Modem Connection 3) GAMEPLAY ISSUES a) Craft Selection Option and Its Affect on Mission Balance b) Human Pilots vs. AI Opponents c) Pilot Waves d) Entering the In-flight Map with SHIFT-M e) Warhead Speed 4) GENERAL ISSUES a) DirectX Issues b) Task Switching (using CTRL+ALT+DELETE or ALT+TAB) c) Laptop Systems d) Game Crash Issues ################################################################ 1) INSTALLATION AND GAME CONTROLS a) System Requirements OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 95 required. CPU: Pentium 90 or faster required. MEMORY: 16 MB RAM required. CD-ROM: 2X CD-ROM required. 4X CD-ROM or faster recommended. GRAPHICS CARD: PCI graphics card required. SOUND CARD: 16-bit sound card required. INPUT DEVICE: Joystick required. DirectInput compatible devices also supported. MULTIPLAYER REQUIREMENTS: Pentium 100 or faster recommended for LAN or modem play. Pentium 133 or faster for Internet play. LAN: Supports 8 players on IPX or TCP/IP LAN INTERNET: Supports 4 players via 28.8Kbps or faster connection to the Internet. MODEM-TO-MODEM: Supports 2 players vie 14.4Kbps or faster modem. DIRECT SERIAL: Supports 2 players via Null Modem Cable. b) Starting the game Once you have started the game from the DEMO launcher, you will be asked to create a Pilot. You will need to create a pilot before proceeding to the Pilot Records screen. From this screen you may review your Pilot's records and awards, fly a solo mission, join or host a multiplayer game, or review the craft database. Also from this screen you may access the configuration options for the game. The DEMO version includes one cooperative mission, and one melee mission. Both of these can be flown solo or with other players. The craft database reflects only the starships that appear in these missions. After choosing to fly either solo or multiplayer, you will notice a button in the lower left hand corner of the interface. This "fly/ready" button will progress you from mission selection, through briefing, to craft selection and finally, into the actual game. Each screen in the interface has clearly marked jewel buttons that allow you to navigate throughout all the different game options. NOTE: On the mission selection screen, the two jewel buttons on the left side of the interface allow you to switch between the melee and cooperative mission. c) Joystick Issues You need to have a Joystick connected to your computer's gameport in order to play the X-Wing Vs. Tie Fighter DEMO. d) Keyboard Commands This is a complete list of keyboard commands that you will need in order to play the game: A: Target attacker of target B: Beam weapon on/off C: Fire countermeasure D: Toggle damage assessment popup E: Cycle through fighters targeting you F: Toggle friendly craft popup G: Toggle mission goals popup H: Engage/abort hyperspace I: Target nearest incoming warhead J: Jump to new craft if available K: Toggle scoring popup L: Toggle message log popup M: Map w/o AI taking over craft O: Target nearest objective craft P: Target nearest player craft Q: Quit mission R: Target nearest fighter S: Cycle shield settings T: Next target U: Target newest craft V: Toggle S-Foil W: Cycle weapon settings X: Cycle firing settings Y: Previous target Z: Toggle threat display 9: Use power redirect preset #1 0: Use power redirect preset #2 Shift-A: Assign target to wingmen Shift-B: Signal re-supply ship Shift-C: Order wingmen to cover you Shift-E: Order targeted craft to evade Shift-F: Toggle enemy craft popup Shift-G: Order waiting craft to go Shift-H: Order targeted craft to go home Shift-I: Order wingmen to ignore target Shift-M: Map with AI taking over craft Shift-P: Target next player Shift-R: Order wingmen to report in Shift-S: Call for reinforcements Shift-W: Order craft to stop/wait Alt-B: Cycle brightness settings Alt-C: Clear CMD Alt-D: Cycle graphics detail settings Alt-E: Eject Alt-I: Toggle interlace on/off Alt-P: Pause game Alt-V: Displays game version # Alt-1: Pick target in sight Alt-2: Fire weapon Alt-3: Roll/Target ship in sights Pad-0: Toggle high angle view Pad-1: Left shoulder view Pad-2: Rear view Pad-3: Right shoulder view Pad-4: Left wing view Pad-5: Straight up view Pad-6: Right wing view Pad-7: Left forward view Pad-8: Forward view Pad-9: Right forward view F1: Target next friendly craft F2: Target previous friendly craft F3: Target next enemy craft F4: Target previous enemy craft F5: Select target preset #1 as target F6: Select target preset #2 as target F7: Select target preset #3 as target F8: Adjust beam recharge rate F9: Adjust laser recharge rate F10: Adjust shield recharge rate SHIFT-F5: Save target in target preset #1 SHIFT-F6: Save target in target preset #2 SHIFT-F7: Save target in target preset #3 Tab: Toggle chat line to other players Escape: Cancel chat line to other players Space: Confirm critical orders Backspace: Full throttle Enter: Match targeted craft's speed =(Equal): Increase throttle -(Minus): Decrease throttle \: Zero throttle [: 1/3 throttle ]: 2/3 throttle ;(Semicolon): Transfer shield energy to lasers '(Apostrophe): Transfer laser energy to shields "(Quotes): Transfer all laser energy to shields .(Period): Toggle cockpit on/off ,(Comma): Cycle through target's components <: Reverse cycle through target's components Pad-/: External camera mode Pad-*: Reposition camera in external mode (: Save power redirect preset #1 ): Save power redirect preset #2 2) MULTIPLAYER GAMING ISSUES a) Starting a Multiplayer game From the configuration button in the "Pilot Records" screen you may enter the "multiplayer" protocol configuration screen. In this screen you may choose the type of multiplayer game you would like to play. You may choose to play IPX or TCP/IP over a Local Area Network. You may also play a TCP/IP Internet game by entering the IP address in the field provided to the right of the "TCP/IP" selection button. There is also a field for entering the phone number next to the "Modem" selection if you choose to play a modem to modem game. The host does not need to enter this information. Only the clients will need to enter the IP address or phone number of the host. Once the appropiate protocol is selected you my go back to the "Pilot Records" screen and click on "host" or "join." This will progress you into the desired game. These protocol selections can only be done from the "Pilot Records" screen. b) Optimizing Internet Performance There are many factors that will affect the performance you experience when playing on the Internet. The time of day you connect, the quality of your Internet connection, the proximity of the other players (regionally), or the number of players in the game can all affect your Internet game experience. Time of day is an important factor due to the changing amount of Internet traffic that can fluctuate during the day. At times of higher Internet traffic, game performance can suffer. Although not always possible, there is generally better performance if players are using the same Internet Service Provider (ISP). If your flight performance is choppy, try setting lower detail levels on the Configuration screen under Multiplayer Flight Engine Options. If you are interested in playing a two player game, and your opponent or partner is local, we recommend using the Direct Modem connection option. Many of the above issues will not apply when playing over a Direct Modem. c) Evaluating Your Internet Connection When playing a multiplayer game over the Internet, you will see two rows of lights next to each player's name, except the host. They will give you a quick visual idea of each person's Internet connection. The lights range from green to yellow to red. The fewer lights that are on, the better the connection is and therefore the better your gameplay experience may be. The top row of lights represent the amount of latency that exists between you and the host. Latency is the amount of time it takes for information to travel from your computer to the host and back again. The bottom row represents the amount of information being lost during communication between the host and each player. We use the term "dropped packets" to describe this information loss. The higher the number, the poorer the connection quality. By using the CHAT feature, players can send many messages to each other to determine how often packets are being dropped. Both of these indicators are constantly updated and reflect averages while connected to the host. The more important of these two indicators is the dropped packets percentage because a higher dropped packet percentage will have a greater negative impact on Internet play than high latency. The latency indicated by the top row of lights is measured in milliseconds. Each single light represents 125 milliseconds of latency. Generally if three lights or less are on, your latency is good. Each light in the second row indicates 1% dropped packets. If two or less lights are on, your connection quality is good. If either of the indicators show poor levels you should try reconnecting to the Internet. You may also move the pointer over the lights and you will see more information on each player's connection quality. From left to right these are latency, dropped packet percentage and connection quality rating. The connection quality rating uses the latency and dropped packet numbers to arrive at an overall rating value from 0 to 100. A rating above 80 is condidered good and a rating of 90 and higher is excellent. A rating below 80 is poor and you should try reconnecting to the Internet. The host can use this information and the indicators to determine how each player may affect the overall game experience. d) Playing on a LAN When playing on a Local Area Network (LAN) you can use two protocols; TCP/IP and IPX. If you have the choice, we recommend choosing IPX. e) Modem Connection If you are playing X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter modem-to-modem, a connection should be made within about four rings. If no connection is found, the modem may continue ringing. If this occurs, cancel the connection and try redialing. 3) GAMEPLAY ISSUES a) Craft Selection Option and Its Effect on Mission Balance The Craft Selection option allows you to choose different craft and weapons configurations before each mission. Missions have been tuned to be more balanced if flown with all of the default settings. Keep in mind that this is a DEMO version, not all starfighters and their modifications are available. The Full Retail version of X-Wing Vs. Tie Fighter includes 9 different pilotable Imperial and Rebel starfighters, all of which may be equiped with a multitude of warheads and countermeasures. b) Human Pilots vs. AI Opponents In multiplayer Combat Missions when all players are on the same side, the AI controlled craft will automatically increase their skill level to create a more balanced mission. c) Pilot Waves Certain missions are designed to give you a preset number of waves. This is the number of times you may have a flight group of your ships replaced if they all are destroyed. If your waves are coming from a home base, such as a capital ship or platform, and that home base is destroyed, you will no longer be afforded any of the remaining waves. d) Entering the In-flight Map with SHIFT-M The SHIFT-M key used to enter the map with the computer AI taking control of your ship will not work during any melee mission. e) Warhead Speed Along with a base speed, a warhead's speed is affected by the speed of your starfighter. In other words, the faster your craft is travelling, the faster the warhead will travel when launched. 4) GENERAL ISSUES a) DirectX Issues This DEMO requires DirectX 3.0a drivers. You can obtain these drivers from the LucasArts Website at www.lucasarts.com. If you are installing this DEMO from a CD-ROM, DirectX drivers may already be included on the CD. b) Task Switching (using CTRL+ALT+DELETE or ALT+TAB) We highly recommend that you avoid using the CTRL + ALT + DELETE combination during the game. It is possible to cause lock-ups, crashes, or other problems. We also recommend that you avoid tasking out of the game (ALT+TAB). This may cause disconnections during multiplayer games. c) Laptop Systems We did not test X-WING vs. TIE FIGHTER with laptop systems and therefore we cannot guarantee compatibility. The reason that we do not test with laptop systems is, because of the wide variety of hardware configurations that ship with the laptop systems of today, it would be impossible to configure a game that would work with all of them. Many laptops are limited in their ability to be used as a gaming machine because of memory configurations, their microchannel architecture, port configurations (i.e. no place for a joystick) and "sound systems" that are primarily designed to be used with productivity software. The other common problem is that laptop systems will attempt to compress the traditional version of the standard 101 function keyboard (found on almost all desktop systems) into a much smaller key configuration. This is usually done by relying on multi-function keys that allow the user to assign different functions to the same key. Unfortunately, this has been known to cause problems with our games. d) Game Crash Issues If at any time during the game, you experience a crash, you MUST reboot your system before you restart the game. If you do not reboot your system, you may encounter problems related to the original crash. ⌐1997 Lucasfilm, Ltd. and LucasArts Entertainment Company. All Rights Reserved. Star Wars, X-Wing, TIE Fighter and the LucasArts logo are registered trademarks of Lucasfilm, Ltd. Used Under Authorization. Totally Games is a trademark of Totally Games. DOWNLOADING, COPYING AND USE OF THE DEMO ARE SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING LICENSE AGREEMENT TERMS. PLEASE READ THIS LICENSE CAREFULLY BEFORE DOWNLOADING, COPYING OR USING THE DEMO. BY USING THE DEMO, YOU ARE AGREEING TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE, DO NOT DOWNLOAD, COPY OR USE THE DEMO, AND DELETE THE DEMO AND ALL RELATED FILES FROM YOUR COMPUTER. The software, artwork, music, and other components included in this demonstration program (the "Demo") are the copyrighted property of LucasArts Entertainment Company ("LEC"). The Demo is licensed (not sold) to you, and LEC owns all copyright, trade secret, patent and other proprietary rights in the Demo. LEC hereby gives you permission to make copies of the Demo (only in its original form as provided by LEC) to give to other persons and to distribute the Demo to others electronically, provided that in all such cases you may not charge or receive money or other consideration from any person or entity for the receipt or use of the Demo or any disc or materials containing the Demo. Except as may be permitted by applicable law, you may not decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise reduce the Demo or its components to a human-perceivable form. You may not rent, modify, add or delete components or files, or create derivative works based upon the Demo in whole or in part. You expressly acknowledge and agree that use of the Demo is at your sole risk. The Demo and any related documentation or materials are provided "AS IS" and without warranty of any kind. LEC EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS AND IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. LEC DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE DEMO WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE DEMO WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE DEMO WILL BE CORRECTED. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE DEMO IS ASSUMED BY YOU. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, SHALL LEC, OR ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE DOWNLOADING, COPYING OR USE OF THE DEMO OR RELATED FILES AND MATERIALS, EVEN IF LEC OR AN LEC AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. _______________________________________________________________ This DEMO was tested by Tim "SergiO" Longo, John "Pitchfork" Kathrein and Jeff "Dude" Sanders!