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Table of Contents for HyperBlade Demo
-------------------------------------
1. About The Full Version of HyperBlade
2. Ordering Information
3. Game Goals For Demo Version of HyperBlade
4. Game Features For Full Version of HyperBlade
5. System Requirements
6. Installation Instructions
7. Keyboard Commands
8. Heads Up Display Information
9. Drome Objects Description
10. DirectX(tm) Information
11. Known Bugs And Incompatibilities
12. Hardware Compatibility
13. Activision Customer Support
1. About The Full Version of HyperBlade
---------------------------------------
It is the year 2065. You are one of the sporting elite, a player in the
Transnational HyperBlade League, battling for the World Championship
against eleven of the toughest, dirtiest, and deadliest teams ever to
skate onto a Drome. Your opponents will try to stop you any way they
can -- even if it means taking off your head in the process. But you
can get the edge. Skate, pass and score your way to victory. Or simply
fight your way to survival. It's all up to you.
Category: Sports/Action
Publisher: Activision
Designer: WizBang! Software in collaboration with Activision
Platforms: Windows(R) 95/MS-DOS(R) hybrid CD-ROM, Sony PlayStation
and Sega Saturn
Availability: November 1996 for the PC and Spring 1997 for the Sony
PlayStation and Sega Saturn
2. Ordering Information
-----------------------
See your local retailer or in the United States call 1-800-477-3650.
3. Game Goals For Demo Version of HyperBlade
--------------------------------------------
HyperBlade is a futuristic sports game, played in a large drome
with goals at both ends. The object of the game is to score more
goals than your opponent. Each team has three players, two forwards
and a goalie.
You are the Los Angeles Shockwave (the blue team) playing against the
Seattle Fury (the red team) in the Los Angeles Drome.
The game begins at the Startgun, which launches the ball to the right
or left. Players carry the ball in the scoop attached to their right
hand (the Jak). To score a goal, you must throw the ball (the Rok)
into the opponent's goal past his goalie. After every score, the
players return to the Startgun. To launch the rok from the Startgun,
press and hold down the left arrow or right arrow key.
There are 3 five-minute periods in the full version of the game. This
demo version allows you to play one five-minute period.
There are numerous objects you can use to gain an advantage over your
opponent in HyperBlade. A description of the objects currently
implemented follows below (there will be more objects in the final
game). Also, there are no penalties in HyperBlade. To get the ball
from another player, you have to beat it out of him.
If a player is injured until his health rating is 0, he will fall to
the ground and a substitute will be put in at the next start gun. In
the demo, you have as many substitutes as you need to remain at full
strength through the period. The final version of the game will include
a limited bench of substitutes and the ability to control substitutions
in season mode, so you can manage your team's strength over a season.
4. Game Features For Full Version of HyperBlade
----------------------------------------------
This demo version of HyperBlade provides you with a small sample of
the hard-hitting action and scoring excitement of HyperBlade. The full
version of the game provides numerous features not found in this demo,
including:
- Real-time 3D polygon characters with movements based on motion
capture animation
- 12 distinctive teams
- 12 different arenas with varied layouts and designs
- Network play (up to four players)
- Three-man teams, featuring two attackers and one goalie, with the
ability to switch between attackers
- Players react and perform according to their individual
characteristics and rankings
- Spectacular skating moves including half-pipe jumps and inline-
style skating moves
- Ability to run offensive and defensive play sets
- Attack, injure and maim opposing players to knock them out of the
game using fighting moves and specialized weapons
- 10 different arena objects add to the action, providing dangerous
obstacles, weapons caches, scoring multipliers and power-ups
- Heads-up display offers radar, rear view camera, shot-power meter
and health meter
- Season, Tournament and Exhibition modes
- Trackable game and season statistics
- Selectable camera views
- Complete league history, team descriptions and virtual player
trading cards
- Original music soundtrack
- Fully texture-mapped players, arenas and game objects (ONLY
AVAILABLE on systems with Direct 3D-compatible video acceleration
cards)
- Texture mapped players, arenas and game objects
- Bi-linear filtering for smooth texture shading
- Mip mapping for detailed close-up textures
- Anti-aliasing for smooth edge definition
- Perspective correct textures
- Hardware acceleration for polygon drawing provides performance
boost
- Special effects (explosions, particle effects, trail effects,
etc.)
Check the .AVI movie that is included on the HyperBlade Demo to see
a sample of the action-packed gameplay available in the full version of
HyperBlade! Open the HyperBlade_Demo folder and double-click the
HB_3D.AVI file to play the movie. NOTE: You must have Video For Windows
installed in your computer to play the movie.
5. System Requirements
----------------------
Minimum System Requirements for Demo:
- A 100% Windows(R) 95-compatible computer system (including compatible
32-bit drivers for CD-ROM drive, video card, sound card and input
devices)
- Microsoft Windows(R) 95 operating system
- Pentium(R) processor
- 16 MB RAM
- Double-speed CD-ROM drive (300K/second sustained transfer rate)
- 55 MB of uncompressed hard disk space plus 20 MB free for virtual
memory swap space
- 256 color VGA 320 X 200 graphics
(Recommend: SVGA 640 X 480 graphics with a VESA local bus (VLB) or
PCI video card)
- 100% Sound Blaster 16-Compatible sound card (for digital and general
MIDI audio)
IMPORTANT NOTE: This demo requires your system to have the latest
Windows(R) 95 drivers that can fully support Microsoft's DirectX.
NOTE: Several 8-bit sound cards are supported in the Windows(R) 95 Demo
version. Please see Section 12. Hardware Compatibility for
further information.
The Windows(R) 95 version uses new Microsoft(R) DirectX(tm) 2
technology, and requires that your system have hardware
drivers that fully support DirectX(tm) 2.
NOTE: This demo does not include the Direct3D enhanced features of
HyperBlade. The full version supports texture-mapping of all objects,
hardware accelerated polygon drawing, and many more special effect
features on computers equipped with Direct3D-compatible video
acceleration cards (see Section 4).
Recommended System:
- Intel Pentium 90 processor or higher
- 16 MB of RAM or higher
- 4x CD-ROM Drive
- 100% Sound Blaster 16-compatible sound card
6. Installation Instructions
----------------------------
Windows(R) 95:
1. Insert CD into your CD-ROM drive.
2. Double click the system icon on your desktop.
3. Double click the CD-ROM drive icon.
4. Double click to open the "HBDEMO" folder.
5. Double click on SETUP.EXE.
6. On the HyperBlade screen click the "Install" button and follow the
on screen instructions. To complete the installation, you may need
to restart your machine to activate DirectX.
7. Once the demo has been installed to your hard disk, you can just
click the Start button on your taskbar and select Programs/
HyperBlade Demo/HyperBlade Demo. Or, you can open the
HYPERBLADE_DEMO folder on your hard disk and double-click on
the HYPERX icon.
To uninstall - From your desktop, click the Start button and go to
Programs/HyperBlade Demo. Click on the "HyperBlade Demo Uninstall"
option and then follow the on screen instructions.
Note:
ONLY ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS SUPPORTED IN THIS DEMO.
WARNING: HyperBlade uses Microsoft DirectX(tm) 2 technology
for Windows(R) 95. You will need drivers for your hardware that support
DirectX(tm) 2 to play the HyperBlade Demo. If you are not sure whether
your hardware and drivers support DirectX(tm) 2 please consult the
hardware manufacturer.
7. Keyboard Commands
--------------------
Arrow keys on the keyboard steer your movement
Up Arrow FORWARD (You must press and hold to maintain
forward thrust)
Down Arrow STOP
Left Arrow Turn LEFT
Right Arrow Turn RIGHT
Double Up-Arrow JUMP
Double Down-Arrow CROUCH
Double Left-Arrow SIDE PUNCH (left)
Double Right-Arrow SIDE PUNCH (right)
S or CTRL ATTACK/FIGHTING move. S + arrow keys gives you
special fighting moves:
S + UP-ARROW = hip check
S + DOWN-ARROW = leg sweep
D or SHIFT SPEED BURST. Very important. A power bar appears
in the upper right corner of the screen to show how
much speed-burst you have available.
HINT: If you tap Speedburst while down, you get up
more quickly.
C or Z PASS -- while on Offense.
CHANGE PLAYER -- while on Defense.
Spacebar SHOOT or THROW Rok. Hold Spacebar to power up
shot, then let go to release.
HINT: If you shoot while jumping, you can get a
trick shot.
F9 Switch between altenate keyboard configurations.
ESC Quit the demo.
8. Heads Up Display Description
-------------------------------
TIMER
The Period Timer displays in the top center of the screen, along with
the period indicator.
RADAR
The Radar in the lower-right of your screen shows the location of the
Rok and the players (the Rok is yellow, your teammate is blue).
Rok Finder/Goal Finder
A white line drawn from the center of the Radar shows you where the
Rok is. If you have the rok, you'll see an arrow rotating around the
radar that points to the goal.
TEAM SCORE/HEALTH
The Score and the Health Indicators are displayed in the lower-left of
your screen. The Health bars get lower as you take hits and lose
health. When your Health rating is reduced to zero, you will be knocked
out of the game until the next score. You can change players after you
are knocked out of the game. At the next Startgun, a substitute will
come in for the injured player.
SHOT CAM
A Shot Cam appears when you are in position to take a shot, along with
a Shot Power Meter. The cross hairs in the Shot Cam indicate where
your shot will go when it is released. The Shot Power Meter indicates
how much velocity your shot will have when it is thrown. Hold down the
spacebar to increase the shot power, and then release the spacebar to
throw the Rok.
PASS METER
The Pass Meter appears when you press the pass button, and can be used
to locate your teammate, and to center your pass.
REAR VIEW CAM
The Rear View Camera appears to show if an opponent is coming up
behind you.
9. Drome Objects Description
----------------------------
RAMP Used for spectacular jumps, and to elude your
opposition.
TURNSTILE Used to elude your opposition. Skate through the
arm to make it swing, and watch it hit the players
who try to follow you through! Be careful if your
health level is low - you may lose your head if
you run into the spikes.
HURDLE Don't run into these -- you'll regret it.
MULTIPLIER The Multiplier looks like a spiky flagpole rising
out of the drome floor. Use the multiplier to
change the next score by multiples of 2. To use
the multiplier you must be in possession of the
Rok. Skate through the Multiplier and touch it with
the Rok. The multiplier acts like a switch,
changing the value of the next score x 2, up to 4
points per goal scored. The Multiplier effect lasts
for the entire period, unless it is changed by the
opposition. If the opposition grabs the Rok and
touches the Multiplier, they will reduce your
multiplier advantage until it is nullified - each
subsequent time the Rok is multiplied, their score
will be multiplied x 2 up to 4 points per goal
scored.
KILLBALL CHARGER The Killball Charger is an arch-shaped object. When
carrying the Rok, skate through the Killball
Charger to charge the Rok. You'll see the Rok
change shape to indicate its electrically-charged
nature. You can now throw the Rok at an opponent by
pressing the Spacebar. Your opponent must
be in front of your player. When the Rok hits the
opponent, he will receive an electroshock and
sustain health damage.
ARMORY The Armory is a large cone that has opened into a
crown-shaped set of spikes. Inside the spikes are
two weapons, a land mine and a swarf. (The final
version of the Armory will open and close, as well
as containing four different weapons.) Skate
through the Armory to pick up the weapon.
MINE: A red cone-shaped object. To drop the mine,
press the S button. The next player who skates over
the mine will set off the explosion. Otherwise the
mine will self-detonate after ten seconds.
SWARF: A green object that looks like three balls.
Press the S button to throw the Swarf at an
opponent. It will hit him and toss him in the air,
causing health damage.
RANDOMIZERS Along the lips of the drome are a series of
Randomizer poles. When you carry the Rok and skate
through a Randomizer pole, you will receive a
random power-up. The Randomizer will change color
and a sound will play to indicate the powerup.
Some of the available powerups include:
LONGSHOT: Enables you to shoot the rok farther.
IMMUNITY: Gives you immunity from damage for a
short time.
TUNE: Plays your team's fight song.
SLOWDOWN: Slows down opposing players for a short
time.
LONGPASS: Enables you to pass the rok farther.
RE-ENERGIZER: Restores your health rating, either
10% or all the way back to full strength.
MULTIPLIER: Multiplies the score of the rok.
10. DirectX(tm) Information
---------------------------
Upon completion of the HyperBlade setup, the install process will
continue by determining if Microsoft DirectX(tm) 2 needs to be
installed on your computer. If so, the Microsoft DirectX(tm) 2 setup
program will install the appropriate files on your computer. If you
choose not to install DirectX(tm) 2, and you find that later you need
to install DirectX(tm) 2, follow these simple directions.
a. With the disc in your CD-ROM drive, you can install the Microsoft
DirectX(tm) drivers by double-clicking on the CD, then
double-clicking the HBDEMO folder.
b. Double-click on the DirectX(tm) folder.
c. Double-click DXSETUP.EXE, and follow the on-screen instructions.
What is DirectX(tm) 2 and why do I need it?
Microsoft's DirectX(tm) 2 is an API (Application Programming
Interface) set that increases the speed at which games play under the
Windows(R) 95 operating system. These APIs allow direct access to the
enhanced features of hardware under Windows(R) 95. With DirectX(tm) 2,
a program has instant access to the hardware, allowing for great
advances in graphics, sound, video, 3-D, and network capabilities of
games.
Since Windows(R) 95 and DirectX(tm) 2 are relatively new in the
computer world and have not achieved compatibility with some older
video cards, many manufacturers are releasing updated drivers for
Windows(R) 95 to meet the DirectX(tm) standard. If you are not sure
about your video card's compatibility, consult the company that makes
your video card.
If the Microsoft DirectX(tm) Installer does not detect DirectX(tm) 2
on your computer, it will install DirectX(tm) 2 for you. After
installation is complete, you will need to restart your computer in
order for DirectX(tm) 2 to take effect.
If you have other Windows(R) 95 games on your computer, chances are
you already have an earlier version of DirectX(tm) installed on your
computer. In this case, the Microsoft Installer will write over that
version with DirectX(tm) 2. At that point, the game installation
process will be complete. You will need to restart your computer for
the changes to take effect.
If however, you already have DirectX(tm) 2 installed on your computer,
the Microsoft DirectX(tm) 2 installer will detect that and not
overwrite any DirectX(tm) 2 files. You will not need to restart your
computer after installation in order to run HyperBlade.
DirectX(tm) 2 should not affect any titles designed for the original
version of DirectX(tm). Should you encounter difficulties with
DirectX(tm) 2, please contact Microsoft for further information.
11. Known Bugs And Incompatibilities
------------------------------------
PROBLEMS PLAYING SOUNDS AND MEMORY ERROR MESSAGES
- If you are not hearing sounds or getting memory error messages
(For example, "Cannot open streaming sound file," or "Streaming
sound buffer creation failed," or "Warning! In C++ new method:
memory pool empty," or "Not enough storage to process this command"),
you may need to free more hard disk space for use as a virtual
memory swap file. Check your hard disk and try to free up more disk
space. Under most circumstances, having 50 MB or more free space on
your hard disk will solve this problem.
GRAVIS GAMEPAD
- We have experienced problems using the Gravis Gamepad with the
demo. Specifically, the dromer tends to pull left or right and
circle around a spot in the drome. There is no fix available at
the present time. We will fix this problem for the final version.
DISPLAY PROBLEMS
- In most cases, display problems are related to your video card
drivers not being fully compliant with DirectX 2. The game will
display in neon rainbow colors instead of the correct color palette,
and will be compressed into the left side of the screen.
The problem can usually be solved by setting your Display to 256
color mode. To set your color display, right-click on your desktop
and select Properties. Click the Settings tab and change the Color
Palette to 256 Colors. Click the Apply button. You will need to
restart your computer for the settings to take effect.
If this does not work, check with your video card manufacturer
for the latest driver updates.
SCREENSAVER
- If a Windows screensaver is activated while playing the game, the
game may crash. If this happens, you will return to your Desktop
with the HyperBlade Demo automatically be minimized to the Windows
taskbar. You may need to press CTRL-ALT-DEL to activate the Close
Program menu. Select HYPERX and click the End Task button.
12. Hardware Compatibility
--------------------------
- Matrox MGA PowerGraphics 64. The HyperBlade demo does not work with
this video card at present because the current Matrox video card
driver does not support DirectX 2. Contact Matrox for more
information about driver updates.
This software was tested for hardware compatibility with:
Sound cards
- [QA needs to list SOUND CARDS]
Video cards
- [QA needs to list VIDEO CARDS]
CD-ROMs
- [QA needs to list CD-ROM drives]
Joysticks & Gamepads
- [QA needs to list JOYSTICKS and JOYPADS.]
PLAYING WITH A GRAVIS GAMEPAD
The Gamepad does not work consistently with the demo and is not
recommended for gameplay. See Known Bugs And Incompatibilities,
above, for more information. We plan to resolve this problem for the
final release of HyperBlade. If you would like to try the Gravis
Gamepad, you should set it to work in four-button mode. The default
configuration is:
Top: Pass/Change Player
Left: Shoot
Right: Attack
Bottom: Speedburst
13. Activision Customer Support
-------------------------------
NORTH AMERICA:
Online Services:
Services with Activision Forums, E-Mail and File Library Support:
Microsoft Network:
From any MSN window, pull down the Edit menu and select Go
To and then Other Location. At the prompt, type "Activision"
and click OK.
America Online:
Use keyword "Activision" to locate the Activision forum.
CompuServe:
76004,2122 or [GO GAMBPUB]
GEnie:
ACTIVISION (E-mail support only)
Prodigy:
ACTI10B (E-mail support only)
Activision BBS:
310-479-1335 Up to 28,800 baud; Settings: 8 Bits, No
Parity, 1 Stop Bit (8, N, 1)
Internet E-mail:
support@activision.com
World Wide Web:
http://www.activision.com
Fax:
310-479-7355, 24 hours a day
FaxBack:
310-473-6453, 24 hours a day
Mail:
Activision
Customer Support
P.O. Box 67713
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Telephone:
Call our 24-hour voice-mail system for answers to our most
frequently asked questions at 310-479-5644. Contact a Customer
Support representative at the same number between the hours
of 9:00AM and 5:00PM (Pacific Time) Monday through Friday,
except holidays.
UNITED KINGDOM AND AUSTRALIA:
For Technical Support:
- In Australia, please call 1902 962 000.
- In the U.K., please call 0990 143 525.
If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about this
game, or any other Activision product, you can contact us in the
U.K. on 0181 742 9400 between the hours of 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM
(UK time) Monday through Friday, with the exception of holidays.
Online Customer Support
You may contact a customer support representative through the following
online services (available in English only):
Microsoft Network:
From any MSN window, pull down the Edit menu and select Go
To and then Other Location. At the prompt, type "Activision"
and click OK.
CompuServe:
76004,2122 or [GO GAMBPUB]
Internet:
support@activision.com
World Wide Web:
http://www.activision.com
Activision is a registered trademark and HyperBlade is a trademark of
Activision Inc. (C) 1996 Activision, Inc. Wizbang! is a registered
trademark of Wizbang! Software Productions, Inc.