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To read this file, select Edit/Word Wrap from the menu above Starsiege TRIBES Demo README I: System Compatibility II: If You're New to TRIBES III: Starting the Game IV: Manual V: Real-Time Chat Programs VI: Key Bindings VII: Network Performance Tuning VIII: Troubleshooting IX: Contact Information X: Warranty and Legal Information Thanks for trying the demo for Starsiege TRIBES, the ultimate in on-line squad warfare! This demo contains three individual missions from the game which can be played on the Dynamix Demo Servers. Please note: this demo is unsupported. When you first start the game and search for a server to join, the Join Server screen will list hundreds of servers up and running for TRIBES, but only the ones labeled as Demo Servers will be available for you to select. All the others will appear grayed out and cannot be selected. TO ORDER: Please visit your local software retailer or call Sierra On-line sales support at 1-800-757-7707 I: SYSTEM COMPATABILITY These are the minimum requirements needed to run Starsiege TRIBES: * Pentium 166, 32 MB RAM with 3D Graphics Accelerator * Pentium 200, 32 MB RAM without a Graphics Accelerator * Platforms: Windows 95/98, Windows NT 4 with Service Pack 3 * Hardware Requirements: LAN Card or minimum 28.8 kps modem, 4x CD ROM * 2D Graphics Card: DirectDraw compatible card (minimum SVGA 640x480 @ 256 colors) * 3D Graphics Card: 3Dfx Glide or OpenGL compatible 3D accelerator (recommended) * Sound Support: DirectSound compatible sound cards * Peripheral Support: Mouse, Keyboard * Network Support: Internet, TCP/IP, IPX NOTE: We recommend you get the most current drivers for your 3D Graphics card from the website of that card's manufacturer before playing TRIBES. II: IF YOU'RE NEW TO TRIBES.... Here's some advice. First off, TRIBES combat is different even for the experienced player of first-person shooters. The third dimension of "pseudo-flight" added by the armor jets makes hitting your opponent extremely difficult. Experienced TRIBES players are good enough to make your first taste of combat a frustrating experience. Second, TRIBES is designed to reward and encourage teamplay. As a result, you'll find yourself more effective if from the outset you think of yourself as filling a role on a team. There's a command screen. Try to set up some strategies with other team members. Pick a commander. Follow orders. Don't just be every person out for herself. Get organized. A well-coordinated team works better than a mob of deathmatchers. The armors and weapons are designed to permit a variety of roles: medic/repair, sniper, spotter, bombardment, base assault, defense. And these aren't all. Check out the forums at www.tribesplayers.com to share tactics and get ideas from other players on what's possible. CRUCIAL-CRUCIAL-CRUCIAL! If you're new to first-person shooters, please realize you've a lot to learn before you feel completely comfortable in on the TRIBES battlefield. We've set up Demo servers that should have a higher proportion of new players, so you shouldn't encounter too many hardcore TRIBES vets at first. If you practice and drill with your teammates, there's no reason you shouldn't be ready to bloody some noses when you get the full game and hit the hardcore servers. Be patient while you master the fundamentals (it's still a blast). It's pretty common for new players to have their heads handed to them while they learn under fire. Alright. Here are the promised pointers, the "dirty dozen" to keep in mind as you don your armor and go out into the wide landscapes of TRIBES. 1. Friendly players (on YOUR team!) are those who have a green triangle showing over them. Enemies have a red triangle over them. Don't shoot at your teammates! 2. You start out with no weapon ready. The icons at the left of your screen indicate what your weapons are. Hit the number keys until you see a weapon snap down into ready position. Pressing "1" gives you the blaster, for example. 3. To get new equipment and armor, you need to find the inventory station in your base. It is the free-standing metal thing with "arms" that sports a blue icon in the middle. Go up to that blue icon, and the inventory station will activate, taking you to an inventory screen where you can select new weapons and equipment. 4. You always start out in Peltast armor, the lightest variety. It takes the least punishment, but is the fastest. Heavier armors are slower but offer better protection. When you're killed, you respawn in the default of light armor again, and you'll have to buy your custom gear all over again. 5. Mark your favorite equipment configurations after you've selected them, so you can just "Buy Favorites" when you get into the Inventory station. Your teammates will thank you for being quick and efficient. 6. Some weapons require particular equipment to use. The laser rifle can only be carried by a light armor with an energy pack. The mortar can only be carried by a heavy armor. Be sure you have the right gear for your weapon. 7. You repair stuff with the repair pack, NOT the repair kit or patch (those only repair you). Like any other pack, the repair pack activates when you press "P." You can repair yourself or other warriors, or you can repair damaged equipment. The repair pack has a very short range. 8. Pressing "V" gives you a list of voice responses and comments you can make to your team or your victims. Remember: Communication is important in teamplay! 9. If you try to deploy stuff and get an error message, it means you're either looking too close to yourself or another object, or that you're looking too far away. 10. Keep your hand on the mouse. It controls your jets and your weapons. Keep moving. That third dimension of movement is incredibly important to master. It's a lot harder to hit a warrior in the air. 11. Know your weapons. Some, like the chaingun, are useless at long range. 12. Use your compass. It's in the upper right of your screen. These maps are really big; it's easy to get lost or disoriented. III: STARTING THE GAME ╖ Dial up your ISP (Internet Service Provider) to get connected to the Internet. ╖ Open TRIBES, either by double-clicking on the TRIBES demo icon on your desktop or by selecting it from your START menu. ╖ Select the PLAY GAME button. ╖ Type in a name for your player and click on DONE. ╖ Click on the NEXT button in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. ╖ Select JOIN MULTIPLAYER. Click on NEXT when done. ╖ Select a Demo Server from the list. Again, those servers that appear grayed out are not available for the demo. The server list may take a few moments to appear. For the best performance, choose a game that has a green or yellow circle in the Connection Quality column. A red circle indicates that you may suffer from "lag" (data lost or slowed due to Internet delay). ╖ Press JOIN GAME to join the server. ╖ Kick some butt. You can disconnect from the server and quit the game at any time by pressing the ESC key and choosing DISCONNECT. IV: MANUAL An .html version of the Starsiege TRIBES manual can be accessed by pointing your web browser to http://www.tribesplayers.com/tribesplayers/manual. V: REAL-TIME CHAT PROGRAMS The Roger Wilco real-time chat program can now be used with TRIBES. For information on how to use Roger Wilco with TRIBES, please consult the Roger Wilco documentation or their homepage at www.rogerwilco.com VI: DEFAULT KEYS The default key bindings are detailed in the manual, but here's a quick reference list if you want to hop right in: A Strafe Left D Strafe Right S Run Backward W Run Forward C Toggle PDA Map (Commander overhead view) I Toggle PDA Inventory (What you're carrying) O Toggle PDA Objectives (What you're supposed to be doing) V Pop up chat menu (calls up the messages you can send) Z Next Zoom FOV E Zoom FOV R Toggle First/Third person Space Jump P Use pack (which includes deploy) T Global chat Y Team chat U Toggle chat window size Ctrl-W Drop weapon Ctrl-P Drop pack Ctrl-A Drop ammo (of selected weapon) Ctrl-F Drop flag Esc To leave mission 1-9 Weapons M Throw mine G Throw grenade K HUD control dialog Tab Score list & Server Menu dialog Alt-Enter Full screen mode VII: NETWORK PERFORMANCE TUNING If you have a reliable connection to your ISP, but still experience packet loss and lag while playing TRIBES, you can modify three parameters to help adjust the game. These are packet size, packet rate, and packet frame. These values can be changed on the Options Network page. "Packet rate" controls the number of data packets per second sent from the server to your client game. "Packet size" controls the approximate size of each packet. So a packet rate of 10 and a packet size of 200 means that the server transmits an average of 2000 bytes per second to your computer. Reducing the packet rate and size reduces the amount of data sent to you and can help keep your modem connection from clogging up. "Packet frame" is how often your client sends move information to the server. A slider controls this parameter. Adjusting the slider to the left decreases the number of packets sent. Transmitting too much information on a poor connection can cause packet loss & game lag. Thus, reducing any or all of these three parameters may help reduce your lag. VIII: TROUBLESHOOTING We hope you enjoy playing the Starsiege TRIBES demo. If you are running into any difficulty getting the game to operate to your satisfaction, please read further. If the symptoms of the problem obviously point to sound or video issues, concentrate on those sections. Otherwise, please spend a couple of minutes reading the entire section. Section 1: Notes on Connection If you cannot find a game to join, first confirm that you are connected to your ISP. If you are but still cannot connect, check your Filter settings. It is possible they may be set so that no game can meet the criteria entered. Section 2: Notes on Sound Problems TRIBES uses DirectSound 6.0, which is a part of Microsoft's DirectX programming interface for sound generation. If you experience problems with distorted sound or no sound, please check to make sure your sound card drivers are DirectSound-compliant. To do so, run DXDIAG; it will be located in your C:\Program Files\DirectX directory on your hard drive. When running DXDIAG, choose the Sound tab. In the upper right corner of the dialog box, look for the line that reads "Certified:" If this line says "No", then you should check with the manufacturer of your system or your sound card to determine whether DirectX certified drivers are available. If you contact these companies via the Internet, you can usually obtain updated drivers free of charge. Section 3: Notes on Video Problems TRIBES supports hardware 3D video acceleration for 3DFX-chipset video cards though the Glide and OpenGL APIs when running in full screen mode. If you are experiencing display problems while in full screen Glide mode, you'll want to see if the problems persist after you switch to software mode. To switch to Windows (software-accelerated) mode, simply hold down the ALT key on the keyboard and press ENTER. If the problems go away when running in a window, the problem is likely related to the device drivers you are using with your 3D card. Contact the manufacturer of the card to verify that you have the most recent driver with the most current version of Glide. If the problems persist, try downloading the latest reference drivers from 3Dfx at http://www.3dfx.com/download/download.html. FILENAME OS DESCRIPTION rkvg.exe Win95/98 Voodoo Graphics Reference Drivers oemrushs.exe Win95/98 Voodoo Rush (Single Board) Reference Drivers oemrushd.exe Win95/98 Voodoo Rush (Dual Board) Reference Drivers rkv2.exe Win95/98 Voodoo2 Reference Drivers nt40vg.exe NT4.0 Voodoo Graphics Reference Drivers nt40v2.exe NT4.0 Voodoo2 Reference Drivers The latest information on 3Dfx and Glide can be found at http://www.3dfx.com. Copyright (c) 1997 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. The 3Dfx Interactive logo, Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo Rush are trademarks of 3Dfx Interactive. There is an existing problem with the gamma correction on Voodoo2 cards with TRIBES. If you adjust your gamma, do not click on Apply when done. If your video card supports accelerated OpenGL, it should be availablein the Options/Video dialog. If it does not appear, check the troubleshooting tips below. Select OpenGL as the fullscreen device, and set the "Setup OpenGL for:" combobox to your card type. TRIBES has selections for the TNT/TNT2/TNT2 Ultra and i740 chipsets, and a "Generic" setting for other cards. (G200/G400, Rage 128, etc.) If you are using OpenGL as your hardware accelerator, running in 32-bit mode will improve your z-buffering (thus eliminating the effect where you could see through buildings at a distance), however, you may take a framerate hit as compared to 16-bit mode. Switching between 32- and 16-bit modes can only be done by changing your desktop resolution in Windows. TNT issues ---------- The latest "Detonator" driver set is required. Available at http://www.nvidia.com At the time of the release of this demo, the latest version of the TNT drivers was 2.08. We recommend using this version. Riva128 issues -------------- There are some problems with the z-buffering of artifacts. This does not affect gameplay, but can be visually annoying. To get the correct additive blending effects for projectiles, weapons, etc., open the console.cs file and change: $pref::OpenGL::NoAddFade = false; to $pref::OpenGL::NoAddFade = true; i740 issues ----------- Switching from fullscreen software mode to fullscreen OpenGL on an i740 will crash TRIBES. You can work around this by switching to windowed software mode before entering OpenGL mode. Visit your card suppliers website for the latest version of the card's drivers. You can find links to manufacturers' drivers at http://developer.intel.com/design/graphics/740/solutions/index.htm. Reference Intel drivers can be found at http://developer.intel.com/design/graphics/drivers/index.htm. OpenGL Troubleshooting Tips --------------------------- TRIBES no longer filters OpenGL drivers that return the name "GDI Generic." This means that if you do not have the proper drivers installed, TRIBES will use the software implementation provided by Microsoft. If you notice that your application is running unreasonably slow, first try checking that your desktop resolution is set to 16 bits. Next, make sure that you have the correct drivers. This should resolve the problem. If problems occur while running in windowed mode, changing the color depth may help. To change to 16-bit color, right-click on your Windows Desktop and choose Properties from the pop-up menu that appears. Choose the Settings tab in the dialog box; it should be the one furthest to the right. Select the Color pull-down menu and choose 16-bit color. Remember that you may have to reduce your screen resolution if you are raising the color setting. Section 4: OpenGL with Windows 95 Some early versions of Windows 95 shipped without OpenGL support. Microsoft released a patch to address this problem. Point your web browser at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/opengl95.exe to download the patch. Section 5: Other Troubleshooting The following are steps that can be taken to help correct non-game specific issues, such as random game crashes or performance problems. 1. Verify you have sufficient hard drive space to install the program. Go to My Computer and right click on the drive to which you will install the game. Select Properties from the pop- up menu that appears. You should see a Free Space listing; make sure that it shows that you have enough free space to install the game properly. See "System Compatability" earlier in this document. 2. Make sure all non-vital programs are closed when you run TRIBES. To determine which programs are active, hold down the CTRL and ALT keys on your keyboard and press the DEL key. This command will bring up a dialog box called Close Programs. Generally, any program listed here besides Explorer and Systray is non-vital and should be closed before running TRIBES. To close a program, highlight it and click on the End Task button. You will need to repeat this process for each listed program. If a program will not shut down by this method, you may have to consult the documentation for that program for instructions on shutting it down. (NOTE: This is NOT a permanent change to your computer. Simply rebooting will re-activate all of the programs that you have shut down.) 3. Run a thorough Scandisk on your hard drive. You can run ScanDisk by clicking on the Start button and selecting Programs. Inside the Accessories, you will find a System Tools group containing ScanDisk. Once you have clicked on ScanDisk, select the drive you wish to scan and put the dot in the Thorough option. Then click on the Start button. This operation will probably take at least half an hour and can be as long as several hours. ScanDisk will locate errors on the hard drive and attempt to fix these errors. NOTE: Always back up any critical information on your system before running Scandisk. If you have errors in the data on your hard drive, Scandisk will fix them by deleting the corrupted data. After this deletion occurs, some programs on your computer may quit functioning. If such an event occurs, you will want to remove and reinstall those programs affected. If you need assistance with that process, you will want to contact the manufacturer of the particular program. 4. Try using a boot disk to prevent real mode device drivers from loading. Put a blank, high-density diskette in your A: drive. Then open the My Computer icon from the desktop and highlight the icon for Drive A. Right-click on the icon and choose Format. In the resulting dialog box, make sure the boxes for "Full" and "Copy System Files" is checked. Click on OK to start the process. Once the disk is formatted, double-click on the icon for the C: drive in My Computer. Look for the file called MSDOS.SYS in the list of files. If you cannot find it, click on the View menu, choose Options, and then choose the View tab. Make sure "Show all files" is checked and "Hide MS DOS file extensions" is not checked. Once you've found the MSDOS.SYS file, right-click on it and choose Send To 3 1/2 Floppy (A). You will be prompted to replace an existing file - click on OK. Once you've done so, reboot your system with the disk in the A: drive. For further information, see the TRIBES webpage at http://www.tribesplayers.com. THANKS! ENJOY the Game! IX: Contact Information CONTACTING SIERRA Customer Service, Support, and Sales ---------------------------------- United States U.S.A. Sales Phone: (800) 757-7707 International Sales: (425) 746-5771 Hours: Monday-Saturday 7AM to 11 PM CST, Sundays 8 AM to 9PM CST FAX: (402) 393-3224 Sierra Direct 7100 W. Center Rd STE 301 Omaha, NE 68106 United Kingdom Havas International Main: (0118) 920-9111 Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Fax: (0118) 987-5603 Disk/CD replacements in the U.K. are ú6.00, or ú7.00 outside the UK. Add "ATTN.: Returns." 2 Beacontree Plaza, Gillette Way, Reading, Berkshire RG2 0BS United Kingdom France Havas International Phone: (01) 46-01-46-50 Lundi au Jeudi de 10h α 19h Vendredi 10h α 18h Fax: (01) 46-30-00-65 Parc Tertiaire de Meudon Immeuble "Le Newton" 25 rue Jeanne Braconnier 92366 Meudon La ForΩt Cedex France Germany Havas International Tel: (0) 6103-99-40-40 Montag bis Freitag von 9h - 19Uhr Fax: (0) 6103-99-40-35 Robert-Bosh-Str. 32 D-63303 Dreieich Germany On-Line Sales CompuServe United Kingdom:GO UKSIERRA CompuServe France: GO FRSIERRA CompuServe Germany: GO DESIERRA Internet USA: http://www.sierra.com Internet United Kingdom: http://www.sierra-online.co.uk Internet France: http://www.sierra.fr Internet Germany: http://www.sierra.de Disk and or Manual Replacement Product Returns: Sierra On-Line Returns 4100 West 190th Street Torrance, CA 90504 Sierra On-Line Fulfillment 4100 West 190th Street Torrance, CA 90504 XI: Warranty and Legal Information Sierra's end user license agreement, limited warranty and return policy is set forth in the EULA.txt, and is also available during the install of the product. Copyright (1999 Sierra On-Line, Inc.)