ALT + a View Command View relative to current target
CTRL + a View Command View relative to last missile launched
TARGETING COMMANDS
Normal Targeting
' Visually target contact nearest center of screen
E Visually target next contact
Left-click Visually target object in view
T, SHIFT-T Target next/previous contact (must have radar or FLIR active, Radar Visual Window open)
; Deselect current target
CTRL-Z Display heading of closest enemy aircraft
CTRL-X Display heading of closest enemy ground target
CTRL-A Display heading of closest friendly aircraft
IR/Laser Advanced Targeting Commands
Left-click on target in view Select radar/HARM/visual target
Right-click on target in view Select IR/laser target
T,SHIFT-T Select next/previous radar/HARM/visual target. Must have radar or FLIR active, Radar Visual Window open
E Select next visible target
/ Select next IR/laser target on HUD
' Select radar/visual target closest to center of view
\ Select IR/laser target closest to center of view
; Deselect current radar/HARM/visual target
Sensor Commands
R Switch to active radar (turns off IR or HARM)
,, . Increase/decrease radar range
Y Radar history (toggle)
I Switch to IR Sensor (turns off radar or HARM)
M Switch to HARM seeker (turns off IR or radar)
U Send IFF Squawk to target
J Jamming (toggle)
Weapons Commands
], [ Select next, previous weapon
Z Fire selected weapon
T Fire internal gun
O Weapons bay doors (toggle) (F-22, F-117, B-2, X-32)
SHIFT-J Jettison external fuel tanks
SHIFT-K Jettison air-to-ground ordnance
I Release chaff cartridge
D Release flare
Wingmen Commands
ALT-1 Fly straight for 10 seconds
ALT-2 Break left 180 deg.
ALT-3 Break right 180 deg.
ALT-4 Break low 70 deg.
ALT-5 Break high 70 deg.
ALT-6 Approach current target from left
ALT-7 Approach current target from right
ALT-8 Approach current target low
ALT-9 Approach current target high
ALT-E Engage targeted object
ALT-R Engage targeted object, remain in formation
ALT-W Engage all objects of same class
ALT-P Protect me
ALT-D Disengage
ALT-B Bug out (go home)
ALT-S Radio silence (toggle)
ALT-T Cycle through wing formations
ALT-H Set horizontal spacing
ALT-V Set vertical spacing
ALT-C Set formation control
MULTI-PLAYER
Advanced Tactical Fighters supports network play (up to eight players), and modem and direct serial play (two players). This section describes how to set up all three types of games. If you have problems connecting with another player, refer to If You Cannot Connect below, your network supervisor, or your hardware/modem documentation. You access the multi-player screens by selecting items from the multi-player menu. (Alternatively, use the following keys to activate the screens.)
x Network screen
m Modem Connection screen
e Direct Serial Connection screen
To disconnect from any multi-player game, press D.
Network Play
From the Choose Activity screen, choose network from the multi-player menu. This displays the Network Connection screen. Two to eight players can join a specific game. Multiple sessions of the game can run concurrently on a network without disrupting normal network activity. (During peak network hours, however, the game may run more slowly.) IMPORTANT: You must load your network drivers when you boot your machine. (The game supports Novell IPX or a compatible network. Sample driver names include LSL, IPX, IPXODI and 3c5x9).
Step 1 Setting Up for Net Play
Advanced Tactical Fighters connects network players by placing them in common groups. Up to ten groups can exist concurrently on the same network. The initiating player creates a game, and then up to seven other players join it. Note: All participants must know the group id (see Step 3 below) and how many players plan to join before setting up a network game. The number of players must agree with the number of computers attempting to connect to a particular game. Otherwise, the computers will not find each other on the network. From the Choose Activity screen, left-click on the multi-player menu and select network, or press X. This displays the Network Connection screen. Left-click on text boxes. When you're through with a screen or menu, click ok or press Enter.
1. Click on the box next to callsign. Type in a callsign using the keyboard.
2. Click the box by number of players. From the menu that appears, choose a number from 2-8. (All players in this particular game must choose the same number.)
3. Click on the box by group id. Then, select an entry from the list of available games (0-9). Now, you're ready to connect with other players. All participating players must choose the same group id, so decide on one in advance.
Step 2 Connecting With Other Network Players
1. Once you configure the Network Connection screen for your system, you can find other players. One player acts as a host and calls other machines; the remaining players are slaves and answer the call from the host. (The person with the fastest computer should be the host.)
2a. (Host) Press call. Your computer will attempt to add one or more players to your particular network game (the one you specified earlier with group id).
2b. (Slaves) Press answer. Your computer will attempt to connect to the host player's machine. (If all players click call or answer, the computer assigns one player to be the host.) Once all players have been found, "Successful Connection" appears in the message window, along with the callsign for each joined player. The message window appears in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, giving you connection information and displaying messages from other players.
Step 3 Configuring the Mission
If You Can't Connect ...
If your computer can't find other players on the network, make sure all the appropriate network drivers are loaded. If you're still having problems, you may need to create an address book that sets up network addresses for individual players.
To set up an address book:
1. Click here in the Network Connection screen.
2. Click on the boxes below player name. Type in the name of your opponent(s) using the keyboard, then press ok or Enter.
3. Click on the boxes below his or her network address.
Ask the other players for their network addresses from the Network Connection screen. This is the 20-digit, alpha-numeric code just above the name and address boxes. Type in only the first 8 characters of their network address (the first eight characters on the left side). Press ok or Enter. Your system will save this player ID, and you can access it for future sessions. Try connecting again (by pressing call or answer). If that doesn't work, enter the entire network address.
Modem Play
You can play another player across a 14,400 baud or faster modem. From the Choose Activity screen, choose modem from the multi-player menu, or press m. This displays the Modem Connection screen.
IMPORTANT NOTE
You must deactivate data compression and error correction to play across a modem! Refer to your modem documentation.
Step 1 Connecting with Another Modem Player
1. Click a box below player name and enter your opponent's name in the name field. Then, click the corresponding box below phone number and type in the phone number of your opponent.
2. Click callsign. Type in a callsign using the keyboard (use b, A and S to erase and change letters).
3. Click modem port and select your com port connection (1-4) from the menu window.
4. Click on baud rate and choose your modem's baud rate from the menu.
5. You can enter initialization strings for your modem by clicking the second here, in the last paragraph. This displays an AT Command Strings screen:
6. Now, you're ready to connect from the Modem Connection screen. One player acts as a host and calls the other machine; the other player is a slave and answers the call from the host. (The person with the fastest computer should be the host.)
7a. (Slave) Press answer. Your computer will attempt to connect to the host player's machine.
7b. (Host) Once the slave chooses answer, press call. Your computer will attempt to dial the phone number you specified.
Either player can interrupt the connection attempt by pressing any key. Once the modems connect, "Connection Established" appears on the screen. Then the message window displays in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. This window gives you connection information and displays messages and actions of other players.
Step 2 Configuring the Mission
If You Can't Connect ...
If you're having problems connecting, you may have a hardware conflict. (In other words, two devices may think they're occupying the same com port.) You may need to custom-set one of your serial ports to another com port. If you're using your modem with a different piece of software, identify the settings you're using in that program and then try them with this game.
To set up a custom port:
1. Select custom for the com port in the Modem Connection screen.
2. Click here.
3. Specify the port location by selecting an address from the pop-up address menu.
4. Choose an IRQ address from the pop-up irq menu.
Direct Serial Play
(Null-Modem)
If you and another gamer don't own modems, you can use a serial connector cord to link two computers. Visit your local computer shop and purchase a null-modem connector (sometimes called a file transfer cable).
Step 1 Connecting Your Machines
1. Buy a null-modem cable (you can usually find one at your local computer store). Plug one end of the connector into a serial port on one machine, and the other end into a serial port on the second machine.
2. Remember which com port you plugged the cable into. You'll need to know this when attempting to connect to the other machine. (com 1 is usually used by your mouse.) If you're not sure what port you're using, look on the back of your computer. Most ports have an identifying mark. Now, you're ready to connect.
Step 2 Connecting with Another Player
From the Choose Activity screen, select serial from the multi-player menu, or press e. This displays the Direct Serial Connection screen.
1. Click on the box next to callsign. Type in a callsign using the keyboard (use b, A and S to erase and change letters).
2. Click on the box by serial port. Choose a port (1-4) from the menu (the same port you identified when you plugged in your connector cord). On most machines, com 1 is used by the mouse.
3. Click on the box by baud rate. Select a baud rate from the menu. It doesn't matter which one, as long as you and your opponent both select the same rate if you don't, your computers will not sync correctly.
4a. (Slave) Press answer. Your computer will attempt to connect to the host player's machine.
4b. (Host) Once the slave chooses answer, press call. Your computer will attempt to connect with the other player.
If You Can't Connect ...
If you're having problems connecting, you may have a hardware conflict. (In other words, two devices may think they're occupying the same com port.) You may need to custom-set one of your serial ports to another com port.
To set up a custom port:
1. Select custom for the com port in the Direct Serial Connection screen.
2. Click here.
3. Specify the port location by selecting an address (from 1-4) in the pop-up address menu.
4. Choose an IRQ address from the pop-up irq menu.
5. Select a baud rate from the baud rate pop-up menu. (Make sure the baud rate setting is the same for both machines.)
Multi-Player Missions
Once everyone has connected and pressed ok, all players' screens return to the Choose Activity screen. You're now ready to configure the mission. As the host, you get to select a single mission or set mission parameters for a quick mission.
Disconnecting
If you change your mind and want to disconnect from the game, press Ctrl-C (to exit to DOS) or select disconnect from the multi-player menu (to un-join the game so that you can join a different one). When the host does this, however, he will disconnect all players. If the host disconnects for any reason, so does everyone else. A slave, however, can disconnect using Ctrl-C without affecting the game.
You can disconnect from a multi-player game in several ways:
¿ Press any key during the connection process.
¿ Select disconnect from multi-player menu.
¿ Exit to DOS (Ctrl-C).
¿ Exit the mission (Ctrl-Q). This ends the game for everyone, and can be used by either the host or a slave.
Setting Up Mission Parameters
Once the host player selects a mission type, each participant selects friendly or enemy from a dialog window that appears. All players see what the host is doing onscreen.
Single Mission
Once the host scrolls throughs the mission list and selects a mission from the menu list, all players must press fly to start the mission.
Selecting the Aircraft
Multi-player games allow you to fly any aircraft that exists in the game, including those not available in single-player missions. However, you don't use the Aircraft Selection screen to select which airplane you'll fly. Instead, you choose it from the Mission Map screen. Click on an aircraft icon, then click the text button on the right side of the screen to view a menu. Highlight the aircraft you want to fly.
Communicating with Other Players
Before Flight. You can communicate with other players once you're connected. However, send to all is the only option immediately available.
During Flight. As long as you activate show target info under the view menu, the callsign and aircraft type for each player appears below his or her aircraft. This allows you to recognize friendlies and enemies in the air. You can talk to any aircraft you see, whether it's friendly or enemy. Messages appear in the bottom of the cockpit unless you activate
the menu bar (this suspends message-sending).
To Talk to Other Players
1. Press ~ to activate communications. Type message, then press Enter. If you want to abort the communication, press q.
Dying in Multi-Player Combat
Any player that dies can rejoin the fray. However, the host can designate how many "lives" you get.
To re-enter battle, press Enter. You'll be placed in the same aircraft you were flying before, and you'll be positioned just outside the battle zone.
Pausing
Any player can pause a multi-player game by pressing Ctrl-P or q.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
RAM
Advanced Tactical Fighters requires 8 Mbytes to run. The exact memory requirements are as follows:
CONVENTIONAL
You must have 490Kb of conventional memory free to run U.S. Advanced Tactical Fighters.
XMS
You must have 6,900Kb of XMS free to run Advanced Tactical Fighters.
HARD DRIVE SPACE
TOTAL HARD DRIVE SPACE
A total of 8mb of hard drive space is required.
VIDEO
Advanced Tactical Fighters requires you to have a video card that supports the VESA SVGA standard because Advanced Tactical Fighters uses Super VGA graphics. In addition to having a VESA compliant video card you must also have VESA driver and at least 1 Mb of video memory. Please consult your video card manual or contact your video card manufacturer to find out more information about your video cards capabilities.
CPU
Advanced Tactical Fighters requires a 486-DX/66 or other Intel processor to run.
TROUBLE SHOOTING
There are several problems that you may run into when attempting to run ATF. The most common problems are lockups and error messages that appear before entering the game. All of these can be fixed as long as you are using the proper hardware supported by the game.
If You Are Getting Error Messages
If you are receiving an error message when running the game, you can generally solve the problem by making a boot disk. Please refer to the 'CREATING AN MS-DOS BOOT DISK' section of the INSTALL GUIDE for detailed instructions.
If You Are Getting a Black Screen Lockup
There are several possible causes for a black screen lockup. Most of these problems are caused by an incorrect sound card set up, though they may also be caused by a non-Microsoft mouse driver or a video card that has not been properly set up to run in SVGA mode.
1. When you first run the game it will ask you to set up your sound card. Before we do this we will need to find out what your sound card is and what settings it has. The way to do this is to find the SET BLASTER line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file that is loading off your boot disk or hard drive. If you don't know how to check this, type in SET and hit the enter key. This should bring up a small list of lines, including one that starts BLASTER=. This should be followed by a letter A, I, D, and T (there may be other letters, but we don't need to worry about them). The number after the A is your I/O port address, the number following the I is your IRQ (also known as your interrupt) channel, the number following the D is your DMA channel, and the number following the T is the type of Sound Blaster (or emulator) that you are using. For example, the line might read: BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4. This would mean that you are using a Sound Blaster type 4 at address 220, IRQ 5, and DMA 1. These numbers are important for choosing your sound card settings so you may want to write them down before starting the game.
2. When you run first run the game and it asks you for the type of sound card you are using you should enter "Sound Blaster or Clone" for Sound Blaster cards and clones IF THE NUMBER AFTER THE "T" ON THE SET BLASTER LINE IS 1 OR 2. If the number is 3 or 4 you should choose Sound Blaster Pro. If the number is a 6 you should choose Sound Blaster 16. If you don't see a selection that fits, or if you don't know what to choose, try "Sound Blaster or Clone". After you choose the card, the game will ask you for the port address (the number after the A), the IRQ (the number after the I), and the DMA (the number after the D). Choose the numbers you looked up on your SET BLASTER line EVEN IF YOU THINK YOUR SOUND CARD SETTINGS ARE DIFFERENT or the GAME thinks the settings are different.
3. If you are getting a lockup and setting up the sound card correctly doesn't fix it, it may be related to your mouse. Advanced Tactical Fighters requires a Microsoft mouse driver to run. This does NOT mean that you must have an actual Microsoft mouse, but the software that runs it must be from Microsoft. Microsoft mouse drivers should work with any 100% compatible mouse, and can be found on your original Windows or DOS disks. To see if you have a true Microsoft driver, try running the mouse manually at the DOS prompt. If it is a Microsoft driver, it will say "Microsoft (r) Mouse Driver Version". If it does not say this, or if it says Microsoft MODE, then you are NOT running a Microsoft mouse driver. If you need any help expanding your mouse driver off of a Windows or DOS disk, or if you need any help figuring out if you HAVE a Microsoft driver, please contact ORIGIN Product Support or a local technician in your area.
4. If your sound card is set up properly, you are running a Microsoft mouse driver, and your game is still locking up, you may have a video card that is not set up properly for SVGA. This game, like many coming out now, runs in super VGA graphics mode. This allows the game to run in high resolutions like 640 x 480. In order to run in this mode, you must have what's known as a VESA driver running. A VESA driver is a piece of software that will tell your video card to run in high resolution. Windows, for example, automatically runs one of these when it boots up. The driver for Windows is different from the one for DOS however, so you may be able to run in 640 x 480 in Windwos, but not in DOS without running a separate driver. Fortunately, many video cards are now coming with the VESA driver built in so you don't have to do anything to get SVGA graphics. There are still many cards that require a VESA driver, however, such as the Diamond Viper, ATI Mach 32, and other cards. If you can't find your VESA driver you should contact your video card manufacturer and ask if they have a VESA driver specifically for your card. This should fix the problem. Many times the card will come WITH the driver so may want to check your video card documentation first. For example, if you have a Diamond Viper, you will have to type in "C:\VIPER\VPRMODE VESA" before running the game so that the card is ready to run in SVGA mode. If you have an ATI Mach 32, you will have to type in "C:\MACH32\VVESA".
5. If none of this has worked to fix the lockup, you should try making a boot disk as described in the 'CREATING AN MS-DOS BOOT DISK' section of the INSTALL GUIDE. This is an important step in trying to get rid of a lockup. For example, you may be changing the refresh rate of your video card, which can often cause it to fail to run properly in the game. If you explicitly follow the directions above, you should be in great shape.
If You Are STILL Having Errors or Lockups
If you are still having trouble, or just want some help with any of the above steps, please do not hesitate to contact ORIGIN Product Support. We are more than happy to help you at any step along the way. There are several ways to get a hold of us, including by phone, fax, BBS, or mail. A detailed list of how to contact us can be found below.
