MacWorld 1996 July/Macworld (1996-07).dmg/Games Demos/Hexen Demo/Demo Readme

Text File | 1996-05-13 | 13.1 KB | 246 lines | [TEXT/ttxt]

Hexen: Beyond Heretic DEMO - Macintosh Version
Released May 10, 1996
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Created by Raven Software (C) 1995
Published by id Software
Distributed by GT Interactive Software
Macintosh port by Presage
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Please direct all bug reports to [e-mail]. Do NOT email
id Software or Raven Software or Presage with bug reports.

This is a 4-level demo of the new action-adventure Hexen: Beyond Heretic,
the sequel to the original Heretic first-person action-adventure. Besides
the storyline, the major differences between Heretic and Hexen are numerous.

  * Three character classes: Fighter, Cleric and Mage. At the start of
    your adventure, you choose which class you want to play through the
    entire game of Hexen. In multiplayer mode, you can choose which
    character you want to use to either inflict punishment (Deathmatch)
    or to help your comrades through the adventure (Cooperative).

    The Fighter's weapons are mostly close-combat weapons, but he does
    the most damage with his attacks.

    The Cleric has two close-combat weapons and two long-range weapons
    since he is a hybrid of the Fighter and Mage classes.

    The Mage has four long-range magical attacks. This is the best
    character for you if you are better at attacking from a distance.

  * No sequential level-to-level game progression. For instance, the
    second level (Seven Portals) contain the gateways to the other three
    levels in the first "hub" of the game. You will revisit Seven Portals
    many times before you complete Hexen's first hub area.  When you are
    on one level, you can pull a switch and open doors or raise stairs
    on a different level to unlock the continuation of your quest.

  * Rich audio environment. Hexen has a dark, brooding background
    soundtrack to create a subtly disquieting mood while you listen to
    animals scrabbling around on rocks, birds screeching or the ambient
    soundscape of a swamp.  All this combined with the enemy's audio
    cues create a rich aural experience while you journey through the
    dark, dangerous world of Hexen.

  * Large range of artifacts. Many of Heretic's artifacts are here along
    with many new ones that prove to be quite interesting in a Deathmatch
    situation!  Sure, Heretic was great fun with the Morph Ovum, but have
    you ever seen a flying pig?  You Will. And we will be the ones to
    bring it to you with the Porkelator!

  * Awesome visual effects. Slog your way through a real swamp, complete
    with a haze of white fog and swamp gas clouds cruising over the ooze.
    Twin parallaxing cloud sky backdrops. A crowd of bats blasting into
    your face as you prepare to descend into a network of caves. These
    and many other effects will surprise and awe you with their brilliance.

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This demo is multiplayer capable.

Requirements for Multi-Player games:
Everyone who wants to play must have a computer running HEXEN. Macintosh
HEXEN players and PC HEXEN players can, subject to certain restrictions,
run Multi-Player sessions, as long as both are using the same version of
HEXEN. (PC users must follow slighly different instructions for
establishing Multi-Player connections, but everything else is identical.)

Players must agree from the beginning how they will connect to each other,
what mode they want to use (Deathmatch or Cooperative), what difficulty
level they want to play in, whether it will be a timed game, what level
they will start on, and so on. If they wish to play a special external WAD
file, all must have this WAD installed on their computer and specify that
they wish to play it. If any settings (besides character class, since anyone
can play any class) do not match, the machines will not connect and a game
will be impossible.

Players must be able to connect using AppleTalk, a serial cable connection,
the Macintosh Communications Toolbox (modem), or IPX (over an Ethernet LAN).
Serial cable and Communications Toolbox conections only allow two players.
AppleTalk and IPX LAN connections allow for up to 8 players, but the
computers must all be connected to the same local area network and running
the same protocol (that is, you can't have some of the computers using
AppleTalk and some using IPX). If any of the computers are PCs you will
need to make sure the MacIPX control panel is installed and configured
on your machine.

While HEXEN supports up to eight simultaneous players, the levels that
come with the game are designed for a maximum of four players. (This is
because the original PC version of HEXEN supported only four players.)
You will need to find add-on WADs to play HEXEN with more than four
players. Such WADs are beginning to become available on the Internet,
online services, computer bulletin boards, and user groups.

NOTE! You cannot save or load Multi-Player games.

Playing Over Appletalk
The simplest and least troublesome way for two or more players to play
HEXEN is over an AppleTalk connection. This, of course, requires that
all players use Macintosh computers with AppleTalk, since the PC version
of HEXEN does not support this Apple network protocol.

If the machines are connected to the same zone of an AppleTalk local
area network (LocalTalk, Ethernet, or Token Ring wiring is acceptable,
as long as no special software is required to use the network), simply
make sure AppleTalk is active on all machines-open the Chooser from the
Apple menu if you aren't sure. Then choose "MultiPlayer Start" from the
File menu on all machines, and make sure the "Connect Via:" popup menu
is set to "AppleTalk" on each. Then choose your class, or specify that
you want HEXEN to choose one for you.

Make sure all players are using the same settings for everything else
(difficulty, level of play, Deathmatch or Cooperative, and so forth)
and click "Start Game." HEXEN will search the network for other
players, and, assuming the network is in working order, the game
will begin.

Keep in mind that game play may be affected if others are using the
network for exchanging files, printing, and so on. This will probably
be annoying, but similarly, your HEXEN game may annoy the other people
on the network trying to get work done! Of course, this won't be an
issue if you have the network to yourselves, which is one reason HEXEN
is so popular after-hours at some companies.

HEXEN should also work with Apple Remote Access, which will allow remote
users of an AppleTalk LAN to play against local users (as well as other
remote users of the same LAN) but we have not tested this configuration,
and it is not officially supported at the time of this writing.

Playing Over a Modem (Communications Toolbox)
NOTE! Setting up modem connections is notoriously difficult in some
situations. It's not a problem with HEXEN, but with the occasionally
trouble-prone nature of modem connections in general. For some people
they'll work right the first time, and for others a great deal of
experimenting with different settings will be required. If you're
trying to connect your Macintosh to a PC, the problems can multiply.
We generally don't recommend trying to play HEXEN over a modem
connection unless you're already familiar with basic modem operations
or are willing to experiment a bit.

Two people across the street-or across the continent-from each other
can play HEXEN over ordinary phone lines. To set up a Multi-Player
session over the modem, first make sure both machines have 9600 baud
(or faster) modems connected and in working order. (If you can use your
modem to call an online service, a BBS, or the Internet, it's working
fine.)

To begin a modem HEXEN session, start Mac HEXEN and choose
"MultiPlayer Start" from the File menu. Set the "Connect Via" popup
menu at the top of the screen to "Comm Toolbox." Then decide which of
the two players will initiate the phone call (one must dial to initiate
the call, and the other must answer the phone and connect); if you're
to initiate the connection, check the "Initiate Connection" box; if
the other player will call you, make sure this box is unchecked.

Now, decide which character class you want to play, or choose "Random"
if you don't care what class you will be for this session. Then make
sure all other settings (difficulty, Deathmatch vs. Cooperative, etc.)
are the same on both machines, and click Start Game.

Apple's Communications Toolbox settings dialog will appear. If you're
to initiate the call, you'll have to enter the other player's phone
number. Regardless of whether you make the call or answer it, you'll
also need to make sure you've selected a speed of at least 9600 bps
(the faster the better) and that you have Flow Control set to either
RTS & DTS (preferred if you have an internal modem or a hardware
handshaking serial cable connected to your external modem) or Xon/Xoff.
Make sure the settings for your modem are all otherwise correct.

Then make sure the other player is also using the same settings and
is ready to begin. Once you're sure of everything, click OK. (If you
and the second player are already on the phone talking, and you will
be using the same phone line for the modem connection, you should hang
up first.) The first computer will call the second and connect. From
there, it may take a minute for the game to start, so be patient.

Playing over a Serial Connection
Two players can play HEXEN simultaneously over a serial connection,
even if the other player has a PC. You will need a null-modem cable
to connect the two machines. (A null modem cable has the transmit and
 receive lines swapped.) A standard modem cable won't work, although
a serial printer cable often will, since printer cables also require
these same lines to be swapped. If you are connecting two Macs, you
can generally use the same cable you'd use to connect your Mac to a
printer. If you're connecting a Mac to a PC which has a DB-25 serial
connector, try to find the same type of cable you'd need to connect
the Mac to an old-style serial printer like the original ImageWriter
(not the ImageWriter II).

If you can't find a pre-wired null-modem or printer cable with the
connectors you need, you can easily build your own using off-the-shelf
cables and adapters. First obtain cables to connect each of the computers
to standard RS-232 modems using DB-25 connectors. (It is not necessary to
actually have the modems, just the cables that would work with such
modems.) Then, using a "gender changer" adapter with two female
connectors and a null-modem adapter as the "glue," connect the modem
ends of these two cables to each other and the other ends to the
computers. Run a terminal program on both computers (set to the same
communications parameters, of course) and verify that what you type
on one computer's keyboard appears on the other's monitor, and vice
versa. If it doesn't work the first time, try it without the null-modem
adapter s that one of the cables is actually a printer cable).

Once the two computers are communicating, start a Multi-Player game as
described above, making sure to set the Serial communications method
(using the apprropriate port), selecting the appropriate port on both
machines, and ensuring that all options other than the character class
are set the same on both copies.

Playing with MacIPX
To use your Mac version of HEXEN to play against players using the PC
version on a network, or to play multiple Multi-Player games on a
network (even if all players are using Macs), you will need to use the
IPX connection method. Make sure the MacIPX control panel is installed.
If you do not have MacIPX, contact Novell for information on obtaining
a copy.

Begin your Multi-Player game as usual, selecting IPX as the connection
type. All players in the same game must use the same port number (the
default, zero, is fine if only one Multi-Player game will be played on
the network). PC users should follow the instructions that came with
their version of HEXEN to prepare the game. Make sure all parameters
(with the possible exception of character class) are the same on all
computers, then start the game. HEXEN will find the other players,
and the game will begin.

Keep in mind that game play may be affected if others are using the
network for exchanging files, printing, and so on. This will probably
be annoying, but similarly, your HEXEN game may annoy the other people
on the network trying to get work done! Of course, this won't be an
issue if you have the network to yourselves, which is one reason HEXEN
is so popular after-hours at some companies. For best performance, make
sure all players are on the same network segment.

NOTE! If you encounter difficulties with MacIPX, contact your network
administrator for assistance.

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Enjoy the demo. Then rush out and get the game when it hits the stores!
You won't be sorry. But your friends will be when they think they can take
you on in a Deathmatch and they find a Maulotaur you just summoned bashing
their brains into the dirt with you laughing at them behind its back.

id Software, inc.