Please NOTE!!! This is a stripped-down demonstration version of the game with limited functionality. We want you to get a feel for the cool gameplay and graphics, but the REAL game has many features and locations unavailable in the demo version. So speak with the citizens, cross swords with the Imperial guards and back-country ruffians, scramble over hill and dale, and treat yourself to the sights and sounds of the island of Stros M'kai.
THIS DEMO WILL ONLY RUN 3Dfx VIDEO CARDS.
Items of note specific to the DEMO:
1. You are confined to the main island of Stros M'kai. You may not enter any buildings or leave the island. The full game includes many other locations. In particular, your friend Tobias, referred to in a letter in your inventory, is only found INSIDE the Draggin Tale Inn, and not accessible in the demo. Additionally, the boatman will not ferry you to the island of N'gasta in the demo; you may, however, pay him to return you to Stros M'kai.
2. Though Redguard features various challenging action and story puzzles, none of these puzzles are showcased in the demo.
3. (This only applies to the downloadable version of the Redguard demo. If you installed this from a magazine CD, the voices will be in the game.) To limit the size of the demo, most spoken dialog is presented as text. Some greetings and combat taunts can be heard in the demo, but to hear the fine voice performances for all characters featured in Redguard, you'll need the full version of the game.
4. The option to replay intro movies has been disabled in the demo.
5. The demo uncompresses to the Windows temp directory before initiating installation. You need about 150 MB of free space on your C: drive to uncompress the demo.
You are Cyrus, a mercenary and adventurer, returning to the island of Stros M'kai to locate your missing sister, Iszara. In the aftermath of a bloody civil war, Stros M'kai is under Imperial occupation, and Governor Lord Richton and his jack-booted guards have brutally suppressed all resistance to their authority. In your search for your sister, you find common cause with the Redguard rebels against the Governor, his Dark Elf assassin, his hideous necromancer ally, his Imperial legions, and his ancient dragon. But force alone will not prevail. Through Dwarven ruins, catacombs, palace hallways, and hidden subterranean passages you'll measure your mental and physical agility against the challenges of beast and man, artifact and sorcery.
Use the keyboard arrows or a game pad to move Cyrus.
ESC Brings up the menu.
CTRL Use active item
Attack with readied sword
Activate object or feature in the environment
Start speaking with another character
ALT [+ arrow] View
ALT Defend with sword
SPACEBAR Jump
LSHIFT [+ arrow] Walk
S Quick Sword [draw or sheathe]
I Inventory
< Prev Item in inventory
> Next Item in inventory
L Logbook
M Map (only if you have the item)
H Quick Health [use healing potion]
TAB Walk Mode On/Off
F1 Version Info
F2 Save Menu
F3 Load Menu
F4 Display Menu
F5 Sound Menu
F6 Controls Menu
F7 Auto-Defend Mode On/Off
F9 Quicksave
EXPLORING
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Use the arrow keys or gamepad to move Cyrus. Whatever is displayed in the lower left corner of the screen is what the USE button will do.
If it is an ITEM, then Cyrus will try to USE the item (draw his sword, use a potion, etc).
If it is a PHRASE, then Cyrus will interact with the world. The phrase is dependent on what your active item is. For instance, a door may activate with "OPEN DOOR", but change to "UNLOCK DOOR" if you are holding a key.
Hold WALK while using the arrow keys to step slowly. You can also hold WALK and side-step left or right.
Hit JUMP to jump up and grab any ledges. You can also do standing jumps and running jumps.
Hold VIEW while moving the camera with the arrow keys to look around.
FIGHTING
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Either USE your sword or hit S to pull it out (S works no matter what your Active Item is).
When you have your sword out:
USE will attack.
VIEW will defend.
WALK with UP or DOWN will run.
WALK with LEFT or RIGHT will sidestep.
JUMP still jumps, but you cannot grab ledges with your sword out.
Hold both USE and VIEW down for a second, or press S, to put your sword away.
The game defaults to Auto-Defend ON, which means if you HOLD defend, Cyrus will time his blocks perfectly, provided you are not moving or attacking. Press F7 to turn this off. With Auto-Defend off, Cyrus will defend only when you press Defend. This makes the fights more challenging and interactive.
Basic Sword moves (A is attack)
A - slash
A,A - double slash
A,A,A - triple slash
A + Forward - thrust
Forward, Forward + A - lunge
INVENTORY
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Press I to open the Inventory screen. Here you can select new items and view everything you are carrying.
Press USE to select the item and close inventory.
Press VIEW to view a detailed model of the inventory item.
While VIEWING an item:
Arrow Keys will rotate
JUMP and arrow keys will zoom in and out
WALK and arrow keys will slide left and right or up and down
Press F7 to switch defend modes. Auto-Defending will make you defend if you HOLD the defend button. While the defend button is held, any incoming attacks will be blocked, provided you are facing the attacker and not in the middle of another action. If the fights are too hard for you, or the speed of your computer cannot keep up with the pace of combat, we recommend using this option. Auto-Defend defaults to ON.
2. HEALTH STATUS DISPLAY OPTIONS
Press F8 to toggle the way REDGUARD displays the status of Cyrus's health. The three options are:
a. Candle and Health Score: In the top left corner of the screen, a candle and a health score are displayed. The height of the candle indicates relative health. At a health score of 100, Cyrus is completely healthy. At a score of 0, Cyrus has perished.
b. Candle Only: Only the candle is displayed, with height of candle indicating relative health.
c. No Health Display: No indication of current health status is displayed on screen.
3. QUICK HEALTH KEY
Press the H key to use a health potion or other healing item in Cyrus's inventory. You can also use healing inventory as you use any other items -- through the Inventory menu.
4. THE MAP
The M key uses the map of Stros M'kai, but only if you have found it in the game. You can also use it as you use any regular item. The red "X" marks your location on the map. If you are not on the island, or the Isle of N'gasta, the map will mark your last known location.
5. THE LOG
Press L to view your the LOG. Whenever somebody says something important, or you do something important, it will be noted in your log. You will see an icon appear on the top of the screen when this happens. FORWARD and BACK scroll it up and down. Use RUN to scroll it faster. You can also write in the log yourself. While viewing the log, press VIEW to enter your own notes. Anything you write yourself will appear in gold.
6. WALK MODE
Press TAB to switch your default movement mode to WALKING. When ON, this option will make you walk always, and SHIFT will make you run.
7. ROPE TURNING
By holding down WALK you can turn left or right when hanging from a rope that is NOT swinging. Some ropes will automatically turn you 180 degrees if they go to specific locations.
8. DELETING SAVE GAMES
If you wish to delete a save game, press DELETE with the save game selected from either the Save or Load menus, and you will be asked if you wish to remove it. Save games can also get large (up to 5MB near the end of the game), so you may want to limit how many you save.
9. CAMERA GLIDE
In the OPTIONS menu of the Redguard Launcher, you will see a section labeled "Camera Glide". This controls how much the camera "glides", or the amount of inertia it has while moving. The higher the setting the more the camera will glide. You can set it separately for the x, y, and z axes.
10. CAMERA COMBAT ANGLE
In the OPTIONS menu of the Redguard Launcher, you will see a section labeled "Camera Combat Angle". The H slider sets the combat camera on the Horizontal axis; at the center of the five marks, the camera is directly behind Cyrus. To either side of the center mark, the camera is 45 degrees or 90 degrees behind Cyrus, left or right, during combat. The V slider sets the combat camera on the Vertical axis; at the bottom of the three marks, the camera is directly behind Cyrus, while the other two marks set the camera at a higher angle down on Cyrus from behind.
11. FAST SOUND
In the OPTIONS menu of the Redguard Launcher, you will see a checkbox labeled "Fast Sound". This will make the game use a faster process for sound, and will speed up gameplay, especially on systems with slower hard drives. NOTE: Turning this ON may cause sound stuttering on some systems. It is defaulted to OFF.
If REDGUARD is running slow on your computer there are several things you can do to speed it up.
3Dfx Tips
1. You can adjust the size of the textures that are loaded by selecting OPTIONS from the game launcher. Smaller textures will make the game run faster.
If you are running your video card with older Win95 drivers, you may experience a black or blank screen when the game begins. If this happens you can do one of two things:
1) Hit ALT-TAB to switch applications, and ALT-TAB back to Redguard. This will reset your video display.
2) Get the latest Win 95 video driver from your manufacturer.
Specific Card Notes:
Number 9 771 (S3)
The driver dated 7-14-1997 has a problem. It is better to run with the 8-24-1996 version.
2. 3DFX DRIVERS
If the game does not start in 3dfx or you get strange flashes and fade ins and outs, you may need to update your 3dfx driver. Contact your video card manufacturer for the latest GLIDE drivers for your card. You can also visit the 3Dfx website at www.3dfx.com. You can also find the latest Glide drivers on your Redguard INSTALL CD in the DRIVERS directory. These drivers are from 3Dfx and may not work with all boards, but if you have problems, give them a try.
3. 3DFX BANSHEE
With the current Banshee drivers, you can only run the game in the 640x480 resolution.
Q: I have a 3DFX card, and have installed the 3DFX version. After I click "Play Redguard" the game screen goes black and then returns me to Windows. I never even see the 3DFX logo.
A: First, make sure you have a 3DFX Voodoo compatible card and that you have installed the latest drivers from your video card manufacturer. If that still does not work, try the drivers on the Redguard Install CD. (In the DRIVERS directory). These are reference drivers from 3DFX and many times are more up to date then certain manufacturer's drivers.
Q: How do I uninstall the old drivers and re-install the reference drivers?
A: First, if you have an uninstall program for your 3DFX card, use that. If you don't have one, go to Device Manager and remove the card itself.
A) To access the 3DFX card in Device Manger, go to Device Manager by right clicking on the "MY COMPUTER" icon on the Windows Desktop and left clicking on properties. Go then to Device Manager and double-click on the SOUND, VIDEO, AND GAME CONTROLLERS device. Find your card, highlight it and then click on the "REMOVE" button.
B) Now you want to delete any reference to 3DFX, Voodoo2, etc. in the C:\Windows\INF and the C:\Windows\INF\Other directories.
C) Go to your Redguard Install Disc and access the "Drivers" directory. Find which Voodoo Card you have and run the installer program for your specific card (The installer will unzip a couple of files to a directory of your choice, all you have to do now is to restart the computer and have Windows detect your new hardware. After it has detected your card, pinpoint Windows to the location of the new drivers.)
Q: I have a Canopus 3DFX card and Redguard will not start on my computer.
A: See the above question. The Canopus drivers are not up to date. Use the drivers on the Redguard Install CD.
Q: I have a 3DFX Banshee based video card and Redguard does not start.
A: The Creative Labs Voodoo Banshee and Monster Fusion has been tested, and will work with Redguard. Redguard has not yet been tested with any other Voodoo Banshee based board. Either way, make sure you get the latest drivers and bios from your video card manufacturer. 3DFX does not yet have reference drivers for the Banshee based Video Cards.
Your joystick or gamepad will automatically be calibrated when the game begins, so make sure not to touch the controls while the game is loading.
Also, if you are having problems with your joystick being too jumpy, or not responding well, use the "Joystick Threshold" slider in the OPTIONS menu from the Redguard Launcher. The lower the setting, the smaller the dead zone on your joystick will be, and will make small movements have a large effect. The Microsoft gamepads require a low threshold level. If you see Cyrus running or turning by himself, you may have the threshold too low.
1. GRAVIS GAMEPAD PRO
Make sure the gamepad is set to "1" and not "Grip" mode. You can switch it on the bottom of the gamepad.
2. MICROSOFT SIDEWINDER FREESTYLE PRO
Make sure you turn off the "Sensor" button on your joystick. You can also use the REDGUARD.SWX preference file in your Redguard directory for increased control with the game.
Q: Redguard gives me an error when it detects my sound card from the install program.
A: Occasionally, the install program may not detect your sound card due to screen savers or WIN98 themes using sound. If this happens, it is best to set your sound card after installation, through Game Options on the Redguard Autorun screen. Click on Game Options in the Redguard Autorun screen. Then, click on Autodetect in the Sound section. This should detect your sound card successfully. If your sound card is still not detected, disable your screen saver or Win 98 theme.
Q: When I start the game, I get no sound.
A: Check the sound settings from within the Redguard Launcher, under OPTIONS. Press TEST and make sure the sound is working correctly. You can also use the AUTO-DETECT button to have Redguard detect your sound card, or manually select it.
Q: I hear no music in the game.
A: The Redguard demo does not include music, only voices and sound effects.
Q: Redguard will not detect my Sound Blaster Live or Creative Ensoniq PCI card.
A: Redguard will read both of these cards as a Sound Blaster 16, provided you have all the drivers installed. Check Creative Labs website and make sure that you are running their latest drivers. For both cards you should have a device labeled "Creative Multimedia" under which you will find "Sound Blaster 16 Emulation". If you do not have this device, check the install documentation for your sound card. You can check your devices by right clicking "My Computer" and selecting "Properties". If you do have this device, Redguard should read it. If it still does not work, manually setup the sound from OPTIONS under the Redguard Launcher and choose Sound Blaster 16. If that does not work, try setting the card as a Sound Blaster Pro. You may also want to get the latest drivers for your card from Creative Labs Website at www.soundblaster.com.
Q: Sound is not detected on my Diamond Monster Sound card.
A: Download the latest drivers from www.diamondmm.com. The 1.07 patch that you find there will add Sound Blaster emulation for your card, which Redguard will then use.
Q: Sound does not work on my Sound Blaster AWE64 or SoundBlaster 128 PCI card.
A: Make sure you installed the DOS drivers that came with your sound card. You may also want to download the newest drivers from www.soundblaster.com.
Q: Sometimes during the game, my sound will begin to develop static, or stutter.
A: This is not sound card related, but a memory related issue. You can alleviate it by changing the "Fast Sound" option from OPTIONS in the Redguard Launcher.
1. Make sure you're running the latest sound card drivers. If you're not, contact the company that makes your card and get the latest ones. Uninstall the old ones and install the new ones.
A) To uninstall the old drivers, do the following:
Remove the card from device manager and also remove its INF file, usually located in the C:\Windows\INF and the C:\Windows\INF\Other directories ---> just delete any reference to your card in those directories).
B) Install your card's newest drivers. Also make sure that you're running your card's DOS Audio drivers or have them loaded up. You can find instructions on how to load up these drivers in your card's Instruction Manual or you can contact your card's Tech Support and ask them how to load up your DOS Audio drivers or you card's Sound Blaster Emulation drivers.
2. Uninstall Redguard. Reinstall it, you have to make sure that everything concerning Redguard is completely gone from your hard drive. (If you don't want to do this, go to the SOUND directory in the Redguard folder and delete the "dig.ini" file).
A) Run the SETSOUND file in the Sound directory of Redguard (i.e. C:\Program Files\Redguard\sound) and configure the Digital Audio Device to a CL Sound Blaster or 100% compatible. (Do not worry about the MIDI, as it is not used).
B) Configure the card manually using the settings that you can find in your Sound Card's properties.
(To access the Sound Card properties, go to Device Manager by right-clicking on the MY COMPUTER icon on the Windows Desktop and left-clicking on properties. Go then to Device Manager and double-click on the SOUND, VIDEO, AND GAME CONTROLLERS device. Double-click on your sound card and go to Resource settings, write down the Input-Output (I/O), the Interrupt Request (IRQ), and the Direct Memory Access (DMA) for your card. In most cases they are: I/O=220 IRQ=5 DMA=1 (However, if you have something like a "xxxxx Legacy Device, where xxxxx is the name of your card, in your SOUND, VIDEO, and GAME CONTROLLERS, go to that device's resource settings).
3. Run the "test sound" program in the Game Options screen and see if Redguard notices your card. If you can't hear any sound, just start the game anyway, as many users have reported that the sound in the game works fine even though the "test sound" program didn't work.
4. One final thing, if you still can't get your sound working, disable any Windows Sound Scheme or Theme, as these programs may cause some conflicts with Redguard and your Sound Card.
A. Right Click on the "MY COMPUTER" icon on your desktop (use your right mouse button) and then left click on properties. It should bring up a "System Properties" screen, just click on the "Device Manager" tab to access it.
Q. How do I tell if I have a 3DFX card?
A. If you have a card based on Voodoo, Voodoo Rush, Voodoo banshee, or Voodoo2 technology, you have a 3DFX card. 3DFX cards usually don't come with computers unless you have one custom built (some major retailers such as Gateway, Falcon Northwest, and etc., come with 3DFX cards, but these are specified on the order sheet). Look on the box of your Video Card -- if you see the 3DFX logo on it, you also have a 3DFX card. To see what the logo looks like, you can find the 3Dfx logo on the back of the Redguard box, in the lower right hand corner.
Every right-thinking Redguard knows that a "pace" is a single step, or a half-stride. Or, in other words, "Left-right-left-right" is FOUR paces, not two. Only running-dog lackeys of the warmongering Imperials accept the Imperial usage of "great pace" as the distance between the places at which the same jack-booted heel of an Imperial guardsman rests on the ground when marching [approximately one-and-a-half meters].
