Thanks for checking out the Deadly Games playable demo! Inside this demo, you'll get a chance to learn and play around with Deadly Games' combat system - shooting guns, tossing grenades, and blowing up the enemies. You'll also get a chance to try your skills against a human opponent via direct connect, modem, or network connection. In the single player scenario, you'll be able to explore and fight your way through a sample challenging and enemy filled mission. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Speech ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- While we wish you could all be playing the demo with speech, we've made it possible to play it without to minimize the download time. We have sample MERC speech available should you wish to download it - it's available as DGSPEECH.ZIP on our website (approx 7.8 MB) If you want even more speech, you can download Gus Tarballs' speech as well. His speech file is GTSPEECH.ZIP (approx. 4.2 MB). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starting the Demo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- We recommend that you read this document before playing the demo. You may also find it useful to print out this file, for reference during the game. When Deadly Games begins, you'll see a menu with six choices on it: -Single Player- -Multiplayer- -Scenario Editor- -Campaign Editor- -Exit to DOS- The Scenario and Campaign Editors are disabled in this demo. If you select "Single Player" you can play the demo single player scenario. Picking "Multiplayer" will let you play a modem, direct connect, or network game of Deadly Games with the demonstration multiplayer scenario. Although we're sure you'll never want to do it, you can also quit from this screen. To start the single player demo scenario, select "Single Player". After this you'll choose your team name, team color, and game options before playing. Many of the single player options will be unchangeable, such as choosing a mission or campaign or being able to hire mercs instead of having them randomly assigned to your team. You will be able to change these in the full game! You can change the quality of equipment your mercs get, whether bloodstains are left on the ground after people are wounded, and the amount of action points mercs will have available (We'll get into the mechanics of action points later). You can also change the quality of enemy AI, to make the scenario easier or harder. Once you click on "Start Solo Game" at the bottom of the screen, the fun will be about to begin. You'll have the chance to equip your mercs (which we'll get into in the next section). To begin the mission, click on the "Start" button. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Playing the Demo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once all the getting-ready stuff has been taken care of, you'll be able to send your mercs into the fray. The portraits of Mercenaries you see on the left and right sides of the screen are in your command. SELECTING MERCS: To select a mercenary......................................Click on merc, OR Double click on portrait, OR Press F1-F6 To locate a merc in the field.....................Left click on portrait To identify merc by name..............Move the cursor over merc in field To see merc's statistics values.........Click and hold on statistic bars To see all mercs' statistics at once. .........................Press 'S' To change merc's personal options................Right click on portrait MOVING MERCS AROUND: To move a merc..........................Double click on desired location To sneak..............................Hold down SHIFT during normal move To back up..............................Hold down CTRL during normal move To crouch..............................Hold down ALT and left click with cursor over merc, OR right click then left click on merc To look in a particular direction..........Hold right button down & left click To exchange places with another merc.......Hold cursor over merc to swap with, press 'X' MERCENARY PANELS: * Health (Red): The member's health. If hurt, it lowers and leaves an "injury tracker" in its place. Untreated injuries are yellow, and may continue to hurt the merc (bleeding) if not treated. A bleeding character will leave bloody footprints if bloodstains are on. Treated injuries show pink. * Breath (Blue): Breathing rate and energy. Lowers as member exerts energy. Rises as they rest. * Action Points (Orange): This is the number of action points you have remaining. PERSONAL OPTIONS (ON FLIP SIDE OF MERCENARY PANELS): * MAX AIM: When on, the merc will always take extra time and action points (APs) to target the enemy to the best of his ability. You can still vary the APs spent. * RSV PTS: When on, the merc will always stop with enough action points remaining to use the item in their Main Hand. Use this to make sure you have enough APs to shoot or throw a grenade after moving as far as possible to your destination. * MUTE: When on, the merc's speech and sound effects will not be heard. USING ITEMS: Items that are in the mercenary's main hand may be used at any time. Some items, like a medical bag for instance, have specific uses. To use an item in the merc's main hand, right click in the main play field, and the cursor will change to signify his or her intent. If a medical bag is in that hand, for instance, you'll get a "healing cross" cursor. Next, you need to select the target of the item's use. Where you left click is that target. If some items don't seem to have an apparent use, they may need to be merged with other items. In fact, many items in Deadly Games can be merged with others to create new items. INVENTORY CONTROLS: To move any item to another location...............Left click on item to pick it up, left click again to drop it To swap item from secondary to main hand........Right click on secondary hand position (bottom right) To put item in main hand into free pocket.......Right click on main hand position (bottom left) To view merc's complete inventory...........Right click on a vest pocket, OR Click on the INV button, OR Press 'I' INSIDE INVENTORY SCREEN: To move any item to another location...............Left click on item to pick it up, left click again to drop it To equip items..........................Place guns/grenades in main hand, vests in vest position, helmet in helm position,etc. To trade items between mercs............Left click on item to pick it up, Click on another merc's portrait, Left click on slot to place item To drop an item......................Move it to slot beneath merc's feet To drink from a canteen...................Pick up canteen, left click on merc's face in inventory area To camouflage a merc..................Pick up camouflage kit, left click on merc's body in inventory area To attempt merging two items...............Place first item in main hand, place second item in the attachment position (directly below) To exit inventory screen.................Left click over merc's portrait in inventory area INVESTIGATING & CHECKING THINGS OUT: You check things out in Deadly Games with (surprise) your hands and your eyes. So, the Hand Cursor is all important. When your merc sees something, he'll tell you, and a white circle will flash around the object. Things that are hidden, though, may require a bit of searching. To get hand cursor....................Press CTRL at any time to force it, OR Hold cursor still for a couple of seconds over an object, OR Left click on an object where the cursor is an "X" Picking up items.............Get hand cursor (above), left click on item Opening doors.......................Place cursor over "Door", left click Magnifying items..................Hold cursor over it, and press 'Z', OR press CTRL plus right click Looking for land mines............Place mine detector in main hand, then left click on a destination. Merc scans for nearby mines along the route Blue flags...................When a merc detects a buried object, a blue flag will be placed at that spot. Left click on the flag to disarm or dig up the object ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACTION POINTS: Everything in a combat situation is governed by action points. Action points are a numerical representation of how many actions a mercenary can perform in a single turn, and are based upon the experience and overall statistics of the mercenary, including his or her health. Mr. "Hyper on Sugar" can run to every corner of the map several times, host a beachside infomercial on psychic haircare products and still have time to raise his gun to shoot someone. Mr. "Slower than Death", on the other hand, would have just figured out that something was going on in that same period of time... For instance, a mercenary who can run 20 feet in one second would have 20 action points (he can move quickly). A mercenary who can only run only 5 feet in one second would have 5 action points (and be pretty darn slow). The more the mercenary can physically do in a set amount of time, the more action points he or she has. So, in combat, where physical actions cost action points, a faster mercenary can do more. Some actions, though, take a set amount of time no matter how fast the mercenary is. For instance, if a fast mercenary and a slow mercenary pull the trigger of identical guns at the same time, both bullets will fire at the same time and take the same amount of time to head down the barrel. So, the faster mercenary would expend more points to perform the action than the slower mercenary. Just because one mercenary is fast doesn't mean he can make a bullet go down the barrel of a gun faster. In general, though, action points determine how much your mercenary can do when it's his or her turn in combat. Since their action points are limited, be careful not to run slower mercenaries all over the place. An action that takes 10 points might not be much to a guy who has 20, but it's sure a lot to a merc with 12. There's only so much he or she can do in the space of seconds, and it would be a pity to have a merc bravely run up to an enemy, eagerly draw his gun but have no time left to shoot. Leave the marathon stealth runs to the fast guys. For whatever you choose to do, though, Deadly Games will continually alert you to the action point cost. You'll see the amount in the center of your cursor. If you don't use all of your action points in a turn, up to 5 points will roll over to the next turn. If you have more than that left over, the extra is lost. FIRING GUNS/THROWING GRENADES: To target an opponent...........................Have weapon in main hand, right click in to get crosshairs then left click on target . . . then (optionally) . . . To improve the merc's aim.......Once targeted, right click for desired level of extra accuracy; more points = better aiming . . . then . . . Fire the bullet / Throw the grenade.....................Left click again ENDING TURN: WHEN YOU'VE USED UP ALL YOUR ACTION POINTS OR DON'T HAVE ENOUGH LEFT TO DO ANYTHING, CLICK DONE (OR PRESS 'D') TO PASS THE TURN OVER TO THE ENEMY FORCES. Sometimes, however, you may prefer to end your turn earlier, keeping some extra action points available to be able to react as the enemies come to you... TREATING WOUNDED: Get a medical or first aid kit in a medically-trained merc's main hand, use it (right click), and select the wounded merc as the target. (Note that mercs are also able to treat themselves this way). This serves to clean and bandage the wounds sustained, and prevent additional bleeding. A merc whose health drops below 15 falls down, and will die unless he or she receives prompt treatment (which will restore health back to 15). A merc whose health drops to 0 or below is DEAD! The actual healing of wounds (regaining of health) takes more time and is beyond the scope of this demo. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miscellaneous ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOP-OF-THE-SCREEN BUTTONS: DONE........................End your turn, let opponents have theirs INV.........................Display selected mercs' inventory screen OPT......................Enable/disable sound, music & other options MAP............................Lets you see the overhead mission map CHAT...............Send a message to an opponent in multiplayer mode TAUNT...............Annoy and insult an opponent in multiplayer mode SCREEN VIEWS: Display overhead sector map..............................Press 'Ins', OR Hold down right mouse button and drag mouse downward until "MAP" appears, OR Click on MAP at top of screen Show "automap" (which areas mercs have seen).................Press 'Tab' (ONLY while in overhead mission map) Cycle through other main view field sizes...........Press 'PgUp', 'PgDn' GENERAL CONTROLS, KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS: Select merc (1-8)...........................................F1-F8 Select merc (1-8) without relocating view...................ALT + F1-F8 Select next merc............................................Spacebar Show only enemies seen by selected merc.....................F9 Relocate view to next enemy.................................Enter Done (in combat)............................................D Inventory of selected merc..................................I Options menu................................................O Restart Mission.............................................R Show all mercs' stats.......................................S Magnify items (cursor over item)............................Z Repeat last message.........................................L Pause.......................................................P Cancel action in progress...................................ESC Show Options Menu...........................................F10 Increase Music Volume.......................................+ Decrease Music Volume.......................................- Increase Sound FX Volume....................................Comma Increase Sound FX Volume....................................Period Allies (Multiplayer Only)...................................A Chat (Multiplayer Only).....................................C Taunt.......................................................T ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deadly Games: Multiplayer ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you're looking for intense fun, this part of Deadly Games is what you'll want to see. This demo supports two player play; the full game supports up to four players on a Network. Click on "Multiplayer", and you'll have a choice of Modem, Direct Connect, or Network. Both players will need a copy of the demo. Modem Connection: You'll need to know the port of your modem and the baud rate you'll want to connect at. You can change advanced options, too, if your modem is not working with the default options. After that,all you'll have to do is enter your opponent's number and click on CALL. Your opponent should configure his modem and click on ANSWER. Direct Connection: This is easy. Connect two computers via a null modem cable (not just a serial cable). You'll have to know which port the cable is attached to, and then one player will be 'host' and the other one 'guest'. Network Play: One player will be the "Leader" and will pick that option when connecting by network. When the other player joins him, he will be able to start the mission. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- System Requirements ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Required: 486DX-33 Double Speed CD-ROM Drive 8MB RAM PC/MS-DOS 5.0, 6.0+, Win '95 Mouse 256-color VGA graphics Sound Support: Sound Blaster/Pro/16/AWE32 and 100% compatible Pro Audio Spectrum (PAS) Gravis Ultrasound (GUS) MPU401-interface General MIDI ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trouble Shooting ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've played the two player scenario over an IPX network and want to play it again immediately, you may find that the second player cannot JOIN the leader's game. Have both players exit the demo and restart it, and that should clear up the problem. Pro Audio Spectrum 16: If the sound configuration does not correctly detect your PAS 16 for music, select PAS 16 for digital sound and Sound Blaster for music instead. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to get in touch with us... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sir-tech Software Inc. Ogdensburg Business Center, P.O. Box 245 Ogdensburg, NY 13669 (315) 393-6633 Compuserve: 76711,33 Internet: 76711.33@CompuServe.COM On the World Wide Web: http://www.sir-tech.com