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STAR QUEST I (tmd) in the 27th Century USER'S MANUAL Star Quest I in the 27th Century (tmd) and Copyright (C) 1995 Virtual Adventures Inc. (of Canada) All Rights Reserved Virtual Adventures Inc. Publisher All trade names referenced herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION.....................................1 The Story........................................1 Our Philosophy...................................3 2. GETTING STARTED..................................3 Minimum System Requirements......................3 Recommended System Configuration.................3 README file......................................4 Installation.....................................4 Creating a Boot Disk.............................4 Running Star Quest I from a Boot Disk............5 3. PLAYING THE GAME.................................5 Starting Star Quest I............................5 How to increase game speed.......................6 What you should know to enjoy the Game...........6 SPECIAL KEYS.....................................7 Speed Control Keys...............................7 Tactical Keys....................................7 View Keys........................................8 Miscellaneous Keys...............................8 FLIGHT CONTROLS..................................9 Joystick Controls................................9 Mouse Controls...................................9 Keyboard Controls................................9 COCKPIT INFORMATION.............................10 Star Quest Titles...............................13 Engines Available...............................13 Weapons Available...............................13 Medals..........................................13 4. GAME OPTIONS....................................13 IMAGE DETAIL/QUALITY OPTIONS....................14 Object Texture (on/off).........................14 Planet Texture (on/off).........................14 Color Cycling..(on/off).........................14 Shading.........................................14 Screen size.....................................14 Display Snow Removal (on/off)...................14 Display Flicker Removal (on/off)................14 SOUND & MUSIC OPTIONS...........................15 Sound Output....................................15 Music Output....................................15 Sound Volume (0-100)............................15 Music Volume (0-100)............................15 Music Choice....................................15 User Ship Sound (on/off)........................15 Spaceship Sound (on/off)........................15 FLIGHT CONTROL OPTIONS..........................16 Movement Style..................................16 Movement Controlled by..........................16 Center Stability Zone (0-25)....................16 Max Turn Speed (10-70)..........................16 Turn Acceleration (20-99).......................16 Turn Speed (linear - exponential)..(0-10).......17 Invert Vertical Turn (on/off)...................17 MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS...........................17 Jolt when Hit (on/off)..........................17 Indestructible Ship (on/off)....................17 Collision Detection (on/off)....................17 Weapon Collision (easy/hard)....................17 Cockpit Color...................................17 SEE PILOT PROFILE...............................17 SEE HIGH SCORES.................................17 RECALIBRATE JOYSTICK............................17 5. TROUBLESHOOTING.................................18 Installation Problems...........................18 Memory Problems.................................18 Creating a Boot Disk............................18 Running Star Quest I from a Boot Disk...........18 Image Problems..................................19 Sound/Music Problems............................19 Joystick/Mouse/Keyboard Problems................19 Other...........................................19 Reporting A Problem.............................19 VIRTUAL ADVENTURES SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT......20 Virtual Adventures Limited Ninety-Day Warranty..20 CREDITS............................................21 PROBLEM REPORT FORM................................22 Page 1 1. INTRODUCTION The Story You sit alone on one of the many containers scattered throughout the marina. You glance once more at the docked spaceships before heading home. "Tomorrow", you whisper to yourself, still wondering whether or not you are dreaming. You let yourself slide from atop the container as a smooth hum slowly intensifies in the sky. A deep red, spherical ship suddenly appears between the two suns of Arkalia. Squinting through the everlasting daylight, you gaze at the machine as it slows down, spirals and neatly inserts itself between two rather odd-looking ships. A perfect landing manoeuvre. "Too perfect," you think, shrugging at the couple climbing out of the ship. "Why do they always use these automated sequences?" You tighten your Velcro shoes and start walking towards the lodging area of the colony, passing a row of green public teleportation booths with big yellow signs on their sides reminding you that "Shoelaces Kill." Mechanically, you stray from your path and manage to take one last look at your new prized possession. Behold the Stochastic. Tomorrow, strapped into the Stochastic, you will be tearing through the stars at speeds you can actually feel. You'll soar through nebulae, engage in hairpin manoeuvres, and grip your controls as the G's will threaten to crush you in your seat. You tremble in anticipation. Tomorrow, you'll leave this Godforsaken colony and its aseptic way of life for something so foreign to your times but undoubtedly glorious. What made you give it all up for a spaceship? You can't really put your finger on it but it must have something to do with the all too cozy way of life offered by the 27th century. *** After the Great Galactic War with the xenophobic Centurion Alliance ended four centuries ago, the reopening of the trade routes with the other galaxies gave way to a braver, newer world. The tremendous colonization wave generated by intergalactic commerce had the astonishing effect of easing social tensions on Earth as possibilities of fortune and self-achievement rose once again in human hearts. Slowly, with the passage of time, mankind came to be at peace with its heart and joined the rank of the truly satisfied. Apart from the occasional skirmishes with guerrillas from the remnants of the Centurion Alliance, life was a big galactic bowl of cherries. So what went wrong? Nothing, really; life in the universe was just plain boring--and all of mankind and alienkind seemed to contribute to this dullness. The actual point of no return was reached when a bored scientist somewhere in the SM1092g98 system stayed up late one night and calculated that teleportation could actually be attained. By some sort of mystical desire to actually do something fun, he built the first teleportation booth. Contemplating his work before his esteemed colleagues, he wondered whether this was something from Page 2 which mankind and alienkind could actually benefit or would it just contribute to the everlasting dullness plaguing the universe. Unfortunately, his conclusions were never heard as he stumbled upon his shoelace while pacing and fell into the booth which, sadly enough, teleported him somewhere into deep space. His colleagues were not overly concerned with the issue and credited themselves with this marvelous discovery. Later on in their careers, they promoted Intergalactic Bill 101 banning shoelaces from all footware. At least they had a sense of justice. Since then, teleportation booths have sprung up all over the universe and slowly replaced space shuttles as the main means of transportation. Teleportation was promoted as the cheapest, fastest, safest way to travel the stars. But more importantly, it fitted nicely into the boring life of all human and alienkind. Some dissidents refused to partake of this piece of technology, but could not refuse the installation of the device on their spaceship -- safety was always a concern in open space with the Centurions still around. Gradually, less and less people used spaceships except for the Galactic Guards who, from time to time, warred with some tenacious Centurion Warlord. Nobody in the entire universe has actually had a conversation with a Centurion and perhaps this is why they are perceived as obnoxious, xenophobic dogs. Centurions do not really look like dogs. They are just repulsive, and not at all versed in the art of conversation. Their entire vocabulary relies on the vocalization of a deep routed, upward movement of their stomachs, usually accompanied by the exhalation of foul air through a series of tiny nostrils lined up around an area resembling a homosapien's neck. This "neck" is connected at one end to a pair of another homosapien anatomic area named "buttocks", and at the other end, to a homospien like part named "head", but deprived of its practical sensorial attachments. All of which completes an unfortunate visual combination for a homosapien to entertain thoughts about the latest Galaxina Pizza chili sauce. For the population of the universe (roughly composed of ninety percent homosapien-like lifeforms), the sight of a Centurion evokes profound repulsion and their violent warfaring attitudes have not improved their reputation nor appearance. Nevertheless, the Centurion threat has remained and all attempts to eradicate them have been thwarted to this day. The Centurions never quite managed to duplicate the teleportation device. Reduced to a mere hundred by the Great Galactic War, they spread themselves throughout the universe, hiding in undiscovered and uncharted systems, plotting devious attacks on isolated colonies. In recent years, the Galactic Guards reported some dogfighting with mysterious drone ships. Further analysis performed on the the wrecks of these drone ships confirmed they were a new Centurion technology. Instead of actually flying the ships, the Centurions controlled them by remote, thus preserving their almost extinct species. Using kamikaze attacks, the Centurions became even more vicious. As time continued to pass, stories of heroic Galactic Guards maneuvering ultra-sophisticated warships echoed throughout the universe. Space flight became a hobby; a very expensive one too, since space ships were not at all affordable. Besides the Galactic Guards, only a few rich citizens and sons of politicians could enjoy the beauty of the universe as the ancients travelers did. Page 3 Jealousy at this unfairness grew in the hearts of many citizens. Some began to study ancient flight manoeuvres and spread their knowledge, contributing to the mysticism of space flight. Their teachings evolved in a cult-like manner, promoting a dangerous but fulfilling way of life, with laced footware in the black emptiness of space... *** The next day, you pack the Stochastic with the few belongings you haven't sold and, before closing the hatch of your ship, you take one last look out at the colony. A few kids are sitting on containers around the marina, staring at you in awe just as you used to when others gave it all up for the Great Star Quest. Smiling softly, you seal the hatch and head for adventure. OUR PHILOSOPHY We believe playing computer games should be fun, not frustrating... That is why we designed our game to be ergonomic and easy to use. It lets you control your movements in different ways and lets you choose the level of difficulty as well as the type of game you want to play, be it a Space Simulation, Tactical, Shoot-Em Up, or Race type of game. 2. GETTING STARTED Minimum System Requirements An IBM 386 or 100% compatible computer 4 MB RAM A VGA or 100% compatible card 1.44 MB 3.5" disk drive (or CD-ROM drive for CD-ROM version) Hard disk drive Recommended System Configuration 486 DX33 or better A Sound blaster tm card or 100% compatible Joystick Page 4 README FILE General information about STAR QUEST I and installation procedures are described in the readme file, as well as last-minute information that may not be covered in this manual. To access the readme file, At the DOS prompt enter the following: TYPE README | MORE [ENTER] INSTALLATION To install Star Quest I onto your hard disk, start your computer with DOS 3.3 or higher. You should install and run this software from the DOS prompt, not from Windows (tm). To get out of Windows (tm), select File Exit or ALT-F4. For Windows 95 (tm), you can click on the Start button in the the bottom left-hand corner of the Windows 95 Taskbar, select the Shut Down, and choose Restart in MS-DOS Mode. 1. Go to the appropriate drive. 2. At the DOS prompt, type: INSTALL [ENTER]. 3. Follow the on-screen prompts. The install defaults will create a directory called SQ1 in the root directory. If you wish to put Star Quest I in another directory, enter the desired path. note: Some Memory Managers from third party vendors may be incompatible and cause your computer to REBOOT when you run the game. Our game does not require an EMS Manager. Try creating a boot disk and starting Star Quest I from the boot disk if this is your case. CREATING A BOOT DISK Put an EMPTY (or a new) floppy disk in drive A and type FORMAT A: /S. 1. At the DOS prompt, type: copy con a:autoexec.bat [ENTER] prompt=$p$g [ENTER] path=c:\;c:\dos [ENTER] set comspec=c:\command.com [ENTER] 2. Press [CTRL] [Z] at the same time, followed by [ENTER] 3. At the DOS prompt, type: copy con a:config.sys [ENTER] files= 20 [ENTER] buffers=20 [ENTER] 4. Press [CTRL] [Z] at the same time, followed by [ENTER] You also have to recopy the line needed for your CD-ROM driver if you are using the CD-ROM version of the game and want to play from the CD-ROM. Page 5 RUNNING STAR QUEST I FROM A BOOT DISK Put your boot disk in your A drive and boot your computer. Press enter at the time and date prompts. From the A: prompt type the letter of the hard disk the Star Quest I program was installed on. For example: 1. If the Star Quest I is on your C drive, type: C: [ENTER] 2. Go to your Star Quest I directory: CD\SQ1 [ENTER] 3. Start the game by typing: SQ1 [ENTER] 3. PLAYING THE GAME Starting Star Quest I Change to the drive and directory into which you installed the game, for example: 1. If Star Quest I is on your C drive, type: C: [ENTER] (If Star Quest I is on another drive, type that letter instead) 2. Go to your Star Quest I directory: CD\SQ1 [ENTER] (If you installed Star Quest I on another directory type: CD\"directory name" [ENTER]) 3. Start the game by typing: SQ1 [ENTER] Page 6 HOW TO INCREASE GAME SPEED If you find the game is rather slow here are some options that you can set to: Weapon Collision EASY Collision Detection OFF Planet Texture OFF Shading FIXED Object Texture OFF Color Cycling OFF Sound Output NONE Music Output NONE Spaceship Sound OFF User Ship Sound OFF Some options will have more or less effect, depending on your machine and the mission. If you find the game loading or the menu selection too slow and you don't have smartdrive installed on your PC, try adding a smartdrive from DOS (please refer to your DOS manual). WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW TO ENJOY THE GAME 1. The game is designed in a way that you should acquire weapons, engines, title & energy before playing more difficult levels. You can complete a mission at the same level many times and obtain a different weapon, engine or energy every time. The top weapons & engines may be earned only on some of the last missions. If you wish, you can complete the entire game by playing at level 1. 2. You can play only the highlighted games from the ones listed in the game selection menu. As you earn engines, titles, weapons and energy, the other games will become available. 3. You are automaticaly indestructible at level 1 and 2, you can set yourself indestructible at all the levels by setting the option in the miscellaneous page of the game options menu. 4. The default flight model has an automatic roll back to the horizon, you can set it to manual by choosing the flight style 'Spaceship (Man)' in the flight control page of the game options menu. 5. Your spaceship jolt on weapon hit and other collisions. On higher difficulty levels, this may make the game difficult to play. Just set the jolt option off in the miscellaneous page of the game options menu. 6. You should try to get your target in the middle of your front radar screen. Use the increase speed key to get close to your target. Once you get within firing range, use the match speed key to keep your target in range. If you get too close (this can happen if he is zigzagging and you are going straight) just depress your decrease key a couple of time, once you are at an acceptable distance, press the match speed key again. 7. If you are low on energy, you can recharge your spaceship by going close to the nearest sun. The spaceship is equipped with a solar energy converter. 8. Some weapons are faster than others and you must adjust your firing range accordingly. 9. If you find it too easy to hit your targets, select Weapon Collision to 'hard' in the miscellaneous page of the game options menu. The reverse is also true, It will be also harder for enemies to hit you. 10.If you set Collision Detection to OFF, the game may look strange since you and your enemies may pass through objects or planets. 11.The radar has a limited range beyond which objects are not detected. This is intended to add a coefficient of difficulty to the missions. Page 7 SPECIAL KEYS Speed Control Keys 0,S, Ins Set your speed to zero + Add 1 unit of speed - Subtract 1 unit of speed *, F Add 25 units of speed /, D Subtract 25 units of speed 1 - 5 Select percentage of maximum speed (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%) 6 - 9 *Select light speed 1-4 F9 Add 25 units of speed / *Jump to light speed F10 Subtract 25 units of speed / *Jump to light speed Enter *Jump to Light speed Backspace *Decrease light speed / Negative light speed Tab Invert your current speed M, G, Del Match your target's speed * if your ship's engine supports it Tactical Keys W Select next active weapon (if your ship has more than one) Q Select previous weapon (if your ship has more than one) R Select next target E Select previous target Y Select closest target T Select closest target to your crosshair ALT-T Select your targeted object's attacker (if any) C Take an incoming Communication (when communication light flashes) Alt-A Alternate between crosshair and arrows display modes Alt-F1,F9 *Ask the wing ship assigned to the key to attack your current target Ctrl-F1,F9 *Ask the wing ship assigned to the key to cover/follow you Shift-F1,F9 *See the corresponding wing ship location Alt-(1-5) Assign your current target to corresponding target memory 1-5 Shift-(1-5) Select previously assigned target from corresponding target memory 1-5 * Wing Ship 1 is F1, 2 is F2 ... 9 is F9. Depending on mission, you may have 0 or up to 9 wing ships at your command. Page 8 View Keys V Alternate between views F1 Cockpit view F2 Back view F3 Full screen view F4 Full screen view with radars F5 See your ship from behind (Chase view) F6 See your ship from behind with radar (Chase view) F7 See Targeted ship's view from behind (Chase view) < Zoom out, widen the view angle > Zoom in, reduce the view angle [ Reduce viewing distance from ship (on chase views) ] Increase viewing distance from ship (on chase views) Miscellaneous Keys Alt-X End current game & exit for debriefing Esc Go to main menu without ending game Page 9 FLIGHT CONTROLS Joystick Controls Front Nose down Back Nose up Left Bank left Right Bank right Button 1 Fire weapon Button 2 Activate side roll (Spaceship (Man) & (Auto) flight model only) Turn yourself to be aligned with the horizon Speed up the up/down turning Mouse Controls Up Nose down Down Nose up Left Bank left Right Bank right Left Button Fire weapon Right Button Activate side roll (Spaceship (Man) & (Auto) flight model only) Turn yourself to be aligned with the horizon Speed up the up/down turning Keyboard Controls Up arrow, I Nose down Down arrow, K Nose up Left arrow, J Bank left Right arrow, L Bank right Home, U Roll yourself towards the left to be aligned with the horizon (Spaceship (Man) & (Auto) flight model only) PgUp, O Roll yourself towards the right to be aligned with the horizon (Spaceship (Man) & (Auto) flight model only) End, H Stop turning PdDn, ';' Invert turning Space Fire weapon Page 10 Cockpit Information ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ │ 1 │ 3.1 9 │ 14 │ │ ┌───────────┐ │ ┌───────────┐┌───────────┐ │ 15 │ │ │ │ │ 3 │ ││ │ ▄ 10 │ 16 │ │ │ 2.1 │ │ │ ││ │ ▄ 11 │ 17 │ │ └───────────┘ │ 4 ▄ │ 2.2 ││ 2.3 │ ▄ 12 │18 19 │ │ │ 5 ▄ └───────────┘└───────────┘ ▄ 13 │ 20 21 │ └───────────────┘ 8 - - - └───────────────┘ ┌────────────────────────┐ ▄ 6 7└────────────────────────┘ 1. Time [Minute:Second] Time elapsed since the beginning of the mission. 2. Radar 2.1 Range Radar The leftmost is a top view radar centered at your current position. All objects around you are scanned and projected from a top view onto the radar. Be careful since objects that are higher or lower may appear closer then they really are. For example, an object may be very distant below you but seem close to you when viewed from a bird's-eye-view. Page 11 2.2/2.3 Center Left and Right Radar The center left radar displays a front view. The center right displays a back view. These radars scan the 3D universe at a 180 degree angle and project it onto a 2D plane. Again, you should be careful when evaluating the distance of the objects. To select a target, either: - Cycle through the available targets using: E (for previous) or R (for next) - Aim at a vessel and press T to make it your current target; - Press Y to select the closest target to you (it is selected even if it is behind you). Once a target is locked-on it is yellow bracketed. To help center a target in front of you, just move the hailed target to the center of the front radar area (shown by a white cross). Information on the current target (distance, type, speed, energy) is shown at the right of the cockpit area. Radar Color Codes and their meaning: COLOR OBJECT White Cross User Ship Green (Allies) Ally Base, Ally Ship, Convoy, Cruiser, Generator, Transport Ship, Wing Ship Red (Enemies) Guard, Patrol, Racer, Cruiser, War Ship, Base, Cannon, Container, Satellite Red Explosion Orange Weapon, Energy Source Blue Race Pole White Asteroid, Building, Generator, Moon, Planet, Satellite, Space Station Yellow Sun Note: Stars are not shown on radar 3. Current Digital and Analog Speed 3.1 Light Speed 1 through 4 4. Teleportation Light Lights up when auto-teleport is in progress 5. Energy Transfer Lights up when close enough to the sun for recharging 6. Communicator Flashes for an incoming message. Press [C] to initiate communication. 7. On board computer display 8. Present Condition Green Everything OK Yellow Approaching enemy ship Red You are under attack Page 12 9. Shield Shows the shields condition. Shields will go down gradually as you loose energy. 10. Hit/Collision Warning 11. Warning: Enemy ship or Cannon is aiming at you 12. Your target is in viewing window when this light is on 13. Your target is in firing range when this light is on 14. Target Type 15. Target's Speed 16. Target's Distance 17. Target's Energy 18. Energy Warnings Flashing red indicates Low Energy. Light speed may not be available. 19. Energy Bar Your current energy status, a percentage of your total power generator in GigaWatts. 20. Weapon Shows active weapon. 21. Quantity of Weapons Page 13 STAR QUEST TITLES The only way to acquire titles is to play the different games. You will move up in rank after you have completed some missions. The ultimate title is the GRAND MASTER Pilot or Racer. To view your current titles select the See Pilot Profile page in the Game Options Menu. Available titles are: Novice, Experienced, Talented, Good, Very Good, Super, Top Notch, Master, Grand Master ENGINES AVAILABLE Prototype # Max Speed Light Speed 1 400 - Default 2 450 1 Earn upon mission success 3 500 2 Earn upon mission success 4 550 2 Earn upon mission success 5 600 3 Earn upon mission success 6 700 3 Earn upon mission success 7 800 4 Earn upon mission success 8 990 4 Earn upon mission success WEAPONS AVAILABLE Laser Torpedo Default/Unlimited Ammo Plasma Bomb Earn upon mission success Photon Bomb Earn upon mission success Electric Detonator (guided missile) Earn upon mission success Anti-Matter Bomb Earn upon mission success MEDALS Medals are awarded to you when you succeed a mission at level 10. The following can be earned: Heroic Wings, Mercury Star, Cyber Ring, Ruby Unicorn, Lexter Crown, Lake of Jade,Star Cross, Honor/Glory, Gold Legion, Formula 2700, Saturnus 4, Cybernia 8, Andromeda,Centurius 1 4. GAME OPTIONS You can choose the different options using a mouse, keyboard or joystick. Mouse Click on the + or - buttons to change the corresponding field, then click on the OK button to accept or the CANCEL button to discard you changes. Keyboard Use the arrows to select the field you want to change, then press the '+' or '-' key to change it. Then go to the OK button and press [ENTER] to accept the changes or press the [ESC] key to discard your changes. Joystick Move to the option you want by putting your joystick up or down, then use the joystick buttons to change it. When done either go to the OK button and press one of the joystick button to accept your changes or to the CANCEL button to discard them. Page 14 IMAGE DETAIL/QUALITY OPTIONS Object Texture (on/off) Add texture mapping to objects e.g. spaceships, buildings. To improve game speed, turn this option off. Planet Texture (on/off) Add texture mapping to planets & moons. To improve game speed, turn this option off. Color Cycling (on/off) Add real time color changes e.g. atmosphere simulations and flashing lights on vessels, etc. To improve game speed, turn this option off. Shading Allows you to choose the desired shading. For more realism, choose Real time shading (moving objects are shaded by sun light). To improve game speed, choose Fixed Shading. Fixed Lower quality Real time Higher quality Screen size Small (Increases game speed) Medium Full Display Snow Removal (on/off) If you have an occasional line of snow on your screen, turn this option on. Display Flicker Removal (on/off) If your display flickers, turn this option on. If you still have the problem, turn the color cycling option to off. Page 15 SOUND & MUSIC OPTIONS Sound Output Choose the option according to your system. None PC Speaker Sound Blaster or compatible Music Output Choose the option according to your system. None PC Speaker Sound Blaster or compatible General MIDI (for General MIDI synthesizer hooked up to the Sound Blaster MIDI Out, refer to your original manuals for further instructions) Sound Volume (0-100) 0 Turn the Sound Off 100 Maximum volume Music Volume (0-100) 0 Turn the Music Off 100 Maximum volume Music Choice Choose a musical choice other than the default. User Ship Sound (on/off) Hear your space ship engine. Spaceship Sound (on/off) Hear other spaceship engines as they pass by. You can turn this option off to gain a little speed. Page 16 FLIGHT CONTROL OPTIONS Movement Style Spaceship (Man) In this mode you get the maximum degree of liberty and, of course, difficulty. Turning left or right will bank (or roll if you hold button 2) your spaceship left or right. Turning up or down will rotate your spaceship vertically down and up on itself (if you hold button 2, it will rotate faster). To roll back to a 0 degree angle with the horizon, just turn left or right while holding button 2. Spaceship (Auto) This is the default. Same as above, except rolling is automatically done to align your spaceship with the horizon (no need to use button2). Simpler (UFO) This flight mode allows you to control your spaceship in a 2D fashion. Moving your joystick up or down will move your ship straight up or straight down. Turning left or right will rotate the spaceship on itself keeping a zero angle view point on the horizon. This movement style is not recommended for dogfighting or racing. It is primarily used for exploring. Turn & Speed Only (for racing only) This mode is used only in race games and it allows you to control your right and left turns. Turning up and down will control the speed of your spaceship. The vertical angle is adjusted automatically for the next race gate. Movement Controlled by (Joystick, Mouse, Keyboard) Select the game input for your spaceship movement. For best results, a joystick is highly recommended. Center Stability Zone (0-25) Helps remove jittering when the joystick/mouse is close to center. Some joysticks and most mouses are very stable and do not need any zero centering, in this case, set it to zero. Bank/Turn/Roll Speed (10-70) Depending on your level of play, adjust the Max Turn Speed to your liking. Increase the value if you have difficulty turning fast enough in order to follow your targets. Decrease it if you have difficulty keeping your movement from oscillating. 10 Very Slow 70 Very Fast Page 17 Bank/Turn/Roll Acceleration (20-99) This option controls the inertia of your turn movement. High inertia is like having a bigger ship, it takes longer to achieve the Max Turn Speed (Available only for joystick). 20 High Inertia 99 No Inertia Bank/Turn/Roll Style (linear - exponential) (0-10) Linear (0) Turn speed increases in a linear fashion from the center to the sides of your joystick. Exponential (10) Turn speed increases in an exponential fashion from the center to the side of you joystick. A higher value gives you more control and precision on small movements. Invert Vertical Turn (on/off) When using a joystick, pulling it down will cause your spaceship to turn upwards. With a mouse, this may feel awkward for some people. Turn this option ON if you wish to invert the up/down movement. MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS Jolt when Hit (on/off) Turn this option on or off depending if you want your spaceship to shake when your are being hit. Indestructible Ship (on/off) Allows you to be completely indestructible. Collision Detection (on/off) Allows you (and other spaceships) to pass through objects when set to off. Weapon Collision (easy/hard) Hard Weapon must touch to hit Easy Weapon must pass close to target to hit (or touch its shield if you prefer) Cockpit Color Choose your favorite color. SEE PILOT PROFILE Displays your current titles, spaceship configuration, weapon system, medals and levels of difficulty for each completed mission. Your pilot profile is automatically saved when you exit the game. SEE HIGH SCORES Display the best scores sorted by level of difficulty and completion time. RECALIBRATE JOYSTICK This option prompts you to determine the center, the upper left corner and the lower right corner positions of your joystick in order to enhance your game play. You do not need to do this every time you play since the data is stored. Some joysticks however, tend to disadjust faster than others. Page 18 5. Troubleshooting Installation Problems - Make sure that you followed all the installation procedures correctly. If in doubt, try again, it won't do any harm. - Check if you have enough disk space for the installation. - Some Memory Managers from third party vendors may be incompatible and cause your computer to REBOOT. If this is your case, you can disable the EMS Manager (see you DOS manual for disabling EMS memory) if you do not require it, or create a boot disk and start Star Quest I from the boot disk. MEMORY PROBLEMS Terminate unnecessary memory-resident programs to free up as much RAM as possible. These programs are often called from the autoexec.bat or config.sys files. To save memory space without affecting your autoexec.bat and config.sys files try starting your computer from a boot disk. CREATING A BOOT DISK Put an EMPTY (or new) floppy disk in drive A and type FORMAT A: /S. 1. At the DOS prompt, type: copy con a:autoexec.bat [ENTER] prompt=$p$g [ENTER] path=c:\;c:\dos [ENTER] set comspec=c:\command.com [ENTER] 2. Press [CTRL] [Z] at the same time, followed by [ENTER] 3. At the DOS prompt, type: copy con a:config.sys [ENTER] files= 20 [ENTER] buffers=20 [ENTER] 4. Press [CTRL] [Z] at the same time, followed by [ENTER]. You also have to recopy the line needed for your CD-ROM driver if you are using the CD-ROM version of the game and want to play from the CD-ROM. RUNNING STAR QUEST I FROM A BOOT DISK Put your boot disk in your A drive and boot your computer. Press enter at the time and date prompts. From the A: prompt type the letter of the hard disk the Star Quest I program was installed on. For example: 1. If the Star Quest I is on your C drive, type: C: [ENTER] 2. Go to your Star Quest I directory: CD\SQ1 [ENTER] 3. Start the game by typing: SQ1 [ENTER] Page 19 IMAGE PROBLEMS Some VGA card shows a flickering screen with dark bars if you have the COLOR CYCLING option set to ON in the page IMAGE DETAIL/QUALITY of the GAME OPTIONS menu. You can turn this option OFF to eliminate the problem. SOUND/MUSIC PROBLEMS - Make sure your sound card is 100% compatible with Sound Blaster tm. - If you don't have a Sound card select the 'PC speaker' or 'none' option in the Sound/Music page of the game options menu. - Check to see if you have any IRQ or DMA conflicts with other cards such as a scanner or modem. - See the reference manual of your sound card and check your autoexec.bat file for the correct configuration. Line "set blaster= A220 I2 D1 T1" means: base address= 220H, IRQ=2, DMA=1, TYPE=1. Make sure yours reflects your current sound card configuration. - Try running the diagnostic software that came with your card. Most sound card problems are due to configuration errors. - If you are running a sound card in emulation mode, your sound may not perform optimally. JOYSTICK/MOUSE/KEYBOARD PROBLEMS See if you have selected the correct input in the Flight/Control page of the game options menu. If you are using a mouse, check if the mouse device driver has been installed and loaded properly. Windows tm and other software packages often have bu OTHER If you accidentally hit Ctrl-S while playing the game, your screen may freeze. Just press Ctrl-Q or Ctrl-S again to continue. REPORTING A PROBLEM Should you still have some problems after troubleshooting, send us a detailed description of the problem using the Problem Report Form at the end of this manual. For modem owners call our BBS line at (514)430-4611 to upload your problem report or to consult our problem solving text files. Page 20 VIRTUAL ADVENTURES SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT (FOR SHAREWARE VERSION ONLY) Virtual Adventures Inc. reserves the right to make improvements to the product described in this manual at any time and without notice. Everyone can copy, upload to BBS, FTP, etc. and generally pass around this shareware version without charging for it. YOU MAY ONLY SELL AND/OR DISTRIBUTE THE GAME COMMERCIALLY AFTER OBTAINING A WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM Virtual Adventures Inc. (of Canada). Fax or write to obtain a copy of the license. The Star Quest I software and documentation are provided "as is" without guaranty of any kind. The Star Quest I software product and this manual are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by Virtual Adventures Inc. You may not reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the software. No consequential damages: Virtual Adventures shall not be liable for special, incidental, consequential or other damages. This means that Virtual Adventures shall not be responsible or liable for lost profits or revenues, or for damages or costs incurred as a result of loss of time, data or use of the software, or from any other cause except the actual cost of the product. In no event shall Virtual Adventures' liability exceed the purchase price of this product. Star Quest I in the 27th Century TMD and Copyright (C) 1994-1996 Virtual Adventures Inc. Sound Blaster is a registered trademark of Creative Labs Inc. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. Windows is a registered trademark of MicroSoft Corporation. All other trademarks are of their respective companies. Virtual Adventures Inc. P.O. Box 60091 Boisbriand, P.Q. CANADA J7G 3G4 Fax: (514) 430-5860 BBS: (514) 430-4611 Page 21 Credits Design/Programming Paul Lauzon Sound Drivers Paul Lauzon, Kroum Savadjiev Installation Software Daniel Anderson, Paul Lauzon Graphic Tools Software Alain Auger, Patrice Gervais, Paul Lauzon, Francois Paulhus Graphics Alain Auger, Annie Chaput, Yves Gagnon, Paul Lauzon, Sébastien Martel, Hélène Sirois, Sylvain Kemp Tactical Scenarios Alain Auger, Paul Lauzon, Sébastien Martel, Karim Metwalli Race Scenarios Alain Auger, Annie Chaput, Yves Gagnon, Paul Lauzon Storyline Sébastien Martel Music Karim Metwalli Sound Paul Lauzon, Karim Metwalli Manual Annie Chaput, Yves Gagnon, Paul Lauzon, Sébastien Martel, Hélène Sirois, Michael Zimmerman Page 22 Problem Report Form Name _________________________ Address ________________________________________________________ City ________________________________________________________ Prov/State _____________________ Postal/Zip______________________ Country _____________________ TEL/FAX _______________________ Fax __________________ System: [ ] 386 [ ] 486 [ ] Pentium Other_______ [ ] SX [ ] DX [ ] DX2 Other_______ [ ] 33 mhz [ ] 40 mhz [ ] 66 mhz Other_______ Make of VGA Card ________________________ Make of Sound Card _________________________ Description of problem __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Mail to: Virtual Adventures Inc. P.O. Box 60091 Boisbriand, P.Q. CANADA, J7G 3G4 or E-Mail to: info@virtuadv.com or Fax to:(514) 430-5860 or Upload to our BBS at (514) 430-4611