PC/CD Gamer UK 41/PCGAMER41.bin/readme.txt

Text File | 1997-01-31 | 12KB | 290 lines

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                                FLYING CORPS(tm)
                       P C  G A M E R  E X C L U S I V E
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History.
--------
v1.00b This Demo (Contains a fraction of the landscape available in the  full
game)
v1.00a Patch to include fixed views and various other view problems.
v1.00  Big Momma Demo


THIS  IS  THE DOS VERSION OF THE GAME. THE FULL FLYING CORPS GAME IS DESIGNED
FOR BOTH DOS AND WINDOWS 95.

IT  IS  A  CUT-DOWN  VERSION OF FLYING CORPS, WITH A  REDUCED  LANDSCAPE,  NO
CAMPAIGNS, FEWER AIRCRAFT AND ONLY ONE OF THE MANY UP'N'AT'EM MISSIONS.

THE  DEMO  MISSION IS FROM THE GAME, CALLED SQUADRON ENCOUNTER,  WHERE  THREE
FLIGHTS  OF FOUR AIRCRAFT HAVE TO TAKE ON THE SAME NUMBER OF THE ENEMY  IN  A
HEAD-TO-HEAD GAME OF CHICKEN.

CHOOSE  YOUR CRATE, EITHER THE ALBATROS OR THE SOPWITH CAMEL, AIM TO SEE  OFF
THE ENEMY AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, SURVIVE.

FLYING  CORPS HAS FOUR SEPARATE, STAND-ALONE CAMPAIGNS, TAKING IN THE NUANCES
OF   EARLY  FLIGHT AND COMMAND FROM A CHOICE OF AMERICAN, BRITISH AND  GERMAN
PERSPECTIVES.


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                                    CONTENTS
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                                 HANDY KEYGUIDE
                  NOTES ON VERSIONS (Includes view patch help)
                                JOYSTICK SUPPORT
                            FAQ's (Technical Issues)
                    FAQ's (In-Flight & Other Gameplay Issues)
                          CUSTOMER SERVICE INFORMATION
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HANDY KEYBOARD GUIDE FOR FREQUENTLY USED FLYING CORPS COMMANDS.

u                  cheat (rise 500 feet)
I                  extra information (3 levels)
CTRL-d             change the detail levels
backspace/return   toggles inside/outside - padlock/lock views
F12                configure options (and resolution change in game)
k                  increase keyboard sensitivity
SHIFT-k            decrease keyboard sensitivity
CTRL-F1            padlock nearest enemy
F1                 padlocks next nearest enemy
F2                 padlocks next nearest friendly
CTRL-F2            padlocks nearest friendly
F3                 padlocks nearest waypoint
F4                 padlocks nearest ground target
ESC                padlock off
F6                 outside view
F7                 inside view
F8                 fullscreen target view
F9                 fly-by and chase view
F10                satellite view

ALT-x              Quit

arrow keys         movement (or joystick)
spacebar           machine gun

block above arrows outside view 'sticky keys' tm
numeric keyboard   camera views (+ - are zoom controls. 5 centres)

m                  map
p                  pause

. (full stop)      100% thrust
, (comma)          0% thrust
1 through 0        10% to 100% thrust


NOTES ON VERSIONS

v1.00a view patch

This version contains the following additional view keys;

Home               Front inside cockpit view
Page Up            Right front inside cockpit view
Page Down          Right rear inside cockpit view
Delete             Left rear inside cockpit view
Insert             Front left inside cockpit view

The  camera  will only remain on these views while the keys  are  held  down.
Releasing the keys will cause the camera to revert to the previosly  selected
view.

Holding down the Num Lock key in conjunction with the above keys will produce
a version of the view with the camera pitched upwards.

Left and right views from the cockpit are available by holding Alt-4 and Alt-
8 respectively.

The versions of these views with the camera pitched upwards are duplicated on
the following key combinations;

Ctrl-8             Front cockpit view
Ctrl-9             Right front cockpit view
Ctrl-6             Right cockpit view
Ctrl-3             Right rear cockpit view
Ctrl-1             Left rear cockpit view
Ctrl-4             Left cockpit view
Ctrl-7             Left front cockpit view


JOYSTICK SUPPORT

Basic  2-direction,  2-button joysticks are suported. In addition,  Throttle,
rudder  and 4 buttons can be supported through the full PC joystick  port.  A
coolie  hat  compatible with Thrustmaster or Flightstick  standards  is  also
recognised.

If you have more advanced joystick and throttle hardware which plugs into the
keyboard port then you should use the software provided with the hardware  to
program the coolie hats and additional buttons.

We   have  provided  the  files  ROWAN.B50  and  ROWAN.M50  to  program   the
Thrustmaster F-16 and F-22 sticks. These are text files that can be converted
for  use  with  similar  hardware. We advise you to continue  to  access  the
throttle through our
analogue interface.



FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (TECHNICAL ISSUES):

Q. What level of install is recommended?
A.  The MEDIUM level is recommended. The SMALL does use less hard disk  space
but you will encounter delays as sound effects are loaded in from the CD.

Q.  Sometimes  after flying straight and level for a period the  game  pauses
while the CD is accessed. Can the pause be eliminated?
A.  On  some machines the cache-ing of the CD can interfere with the spooling
of  the  landscape data. Experience has shown that this effect can be reduced
or eliminated by one or both of the following actions:

                   reduce the size of the CD cache,
                   disable SmartDrv cache-ing of the CD.

The  size of the CD cache can be reduced by editting the MSCDEX line in  your
autoexec.bat file. Find or add the /M parameter. Try /M:1. You  may  also  be
able  to  modify  the  CD  cache by editting the  appropriate  line  in  your
config.sys file.

SmartDrv  cache-ing of the CD can be disabled by either removing the SMARTDRV
line in your autoexec.bat file or placing it before the MSCDEX line.


Q. Why do my aircraft numbers change from mission to mission?
A.  We  change the number to be appropriate for each mission. The player  can
then go to the squadron screen to override these defaults.

Q. If I am not in command, which position do I fly?
A.  This  depends on how many aircraft are flying on the day. Until  you  get
squadron command you will be in flight B. However if only one flight is going
up  on  the  day, then you will be bumped into Flight A. Select the  squadron
icon to see the flight
details for the day.

Q. What does the Assigned aircraft message mean?
A.  This means that the computer has information about the aircraft that  the
ai  has assigned to the player. The assigned aircraft is the best option  for
the  player to  attack, however the player can please himself whether or  not
he takes the advice.
To  padlock  on  the assigned aircraft press f5 when the "Assigned  Aircraft"
message is displayed in yellow.

Q.  Why  does  the second line of messages on the info line  get  printed  in
different colours?
A.  The  messages to the left are brighter because they are the  most  recent
messages. Messages to the right could be very old.

Q.  Why  doesn't the aircraft fly straight and level when I take my hand  off
the  joystick?  The aircraft will fly straight and level when under  keyboard
control.
A.  WW1  aircraft  were tail heavy and forward pressure was required  on  the
stick. In particular, on the Camel this pressure was not necessary at the end
of a patrol because the centre of gravity changed as fuel was used up.

On  our  model,  you  will  find that the effect is most  noticeable  at  low
altitudes and disappears at high altitudes.

Trying  to fly an aircraft from the keyboard is tricky. The pilot needs  help
and  so  most  of  the  time we automatically trim the aircraft  whenever  he
releases a control key. This trim is disabled when the aircraft is at a steep
roll or is about to stall.

If  you  want  to try keyboard control without the trim, then  configure  the
joystick as normal but fly using the keyboard.

Q. Take-off: Sometimes I pull back on the stick and don't go up.
A.  Possibly you are trying to drag the aircraft into the sky by pulling hard
on  the  stick. The aircraft tail is probably digging into the ground and  so
the aircraft is being slowed down.

Q. How does the inside padlock view work?
A. If enemy aircraft are not in view, then there will be a red flashing arrow
indicating the direction to turn. Most of the time you can manoeuvre so  that
the arrow is at the top of the screen and pull back on the stick. This is not
always possible in WW1 fighters because of their low power.

If  you get disorientated then swop to the outside padlock view.  The buttons
on  4  button  joysticks have been programmed to allow you to  flick  between
inside and outside padlock views.

Q. Pressing tab when flying gives accelerated time.  The display changes to a
map  which  shows the route, waypoints and an aeroplane icon  indicating  the
progress of my aircraft. Why does the aeroplane icon sometimes not follow the
route?
A.  The  icon  will move away from the straight line route  if  there  is  an
interesting  item  nearby. An example would be for the aircraft to  follow  a
railway  line that runs parallel  to the route rather than follow  the  route
itself.

Q. Why can't I do a snap or flick roll in any of the aircraft?
A.  This manoeuvre consists of pulling back on the stick until the wings  are
nearly  stalled  and  then applying full rudder. If  the  joy  stick  is  not
correctly  calibrated  it is sometimes not possible  to  move  the  elevators
sufficiently to generate the stall. You can see if this is the cause  of  the
problem by trying the following test:

go to a scramble mission and get straight and level
get the angle of attack indicators up on the top line of the screen (press  I
key)
roll the aircraft into a 90 degree roll
pull back on the stick as far as it will go

One  or both of the angle of attack indicators should go red and the aircraft
should  enter  a  spin. Release the stick to recover. You  can  use  opposite
rudder to exit the spin quicker.

If you don't get a red indicator then you need to recalibrate the stick.

We have found that it is possible to get false readings during calibration if
the  stick is moved quickly and bangs against the stops. When you recalibrate
try moving the stick slowly.

Also,  check that the joystick position icon covers the whole box area during
the final test phase of calibration.

Q.  Why  do I start to roll quickly when I push the stick forward when  in  a
steep dive?
A.  When trying to maintain a steep dive it is likely that you will be flying
with a negative angle of attack. Push too far and it is possible to stall the
wings and if there is any difference between the lift on the two wings a spin
is induced.


Q. Why can't I do a snap roll on the Camel when Gyroscope effect is enabled?
A.  Possibly you haven't done 180 degrees of the roll before the nose  starts
to  come  down. The gyroscope effect will then oppose the roll. One technique
used  by WW1 aviators was to remove power just before entering the manoeuvre.
The  gyroscope effect is then reduced and also the asymetric rigging designed
to oppose the engine torque helps the roll.

Q.  Why  does the aircraft icon on the in-flight map sometimes cycle  between
two waypoints?
A. The two waypoints will be the beginning and end of the patrol.



CUSTOMER SERVICE DETAILS

In the United Kingdom -

Customer Service Hotline: [phone] (Mon-Fri 9:30-6:00)
Fax: [phone]
email: [e-mail]
Our  Address: EMPIRE INTERACTIVE, 677 High Road, North Finchley  LONDON,  N12
0DA

In the U.S. -

Customer Service Hotline: [phone] (Mon-Fri)
Fax: [phone]
email: [e-mail]
Our  Address: EMPIRE INTERACTIVE, 13220 Wisteria Drive, Bay N-2,  Germantown,
MD 20874