README file for SCORCH v1.1

Updated 23 NOVEMBER 91.

This file contains trivia, last minute instructions, and changes to SCORCH,
in no particular order.

What's New in Version 1.1?
==========================

   A. Bug fixes.

      The following bugs (and quite a few other minor ones) were fixed:

	 - XT incompatibility
	 - "Save Changes" failed on many systems
	 - Talking tanks didn't talk on some systems
	 - "Simultaneous Mode" missing from menu
	 - FireDelay=0 created a very strong wind
	 - Various crashes of all kinds fixed.  If you still
	   experience these or other bugs, please report them to the
	   author.

   B. New features.

      The following new features have been added.  They are all
      fully documented in the full manual, but described here briefly
      for users of 1.0 who want to get up to speed quickly.  In
      addition, there are a few other minor additions not mentioned here.

      Note that the new manual is almost twice as large as the previous
      manual.

	- Enhanced graphics interface, including push-buttons and
	  faster drawing.
	- Easier initialization of players.  Note that the TAB key
	  is used to switch between Computer and Human players.  The
	  grayed picture of the phone is for Modem support, which
	  is NOT YET IMPLEMENTED, but will be in a future version.
	- Index added to manual.
	- Two new ways to die.
	- Twice as many messages in the talk file (thanks to players!).
	  Also more talk options: you can make all tanks talk, or just
	  the computers talk.  You can also control how often they talk.
	- Play order option.  You can choose from random (as in Scorch 1.0),
	  losers-first, winners-first, and round-robin.
	- Joystick support.  Currently, I use the BIOS to access the
	  joystick... according to my manuals, this may not be
	  supported on older machines, particularly XTs.  If you
	  fall into this category, please let me know.
	- Save/Restore Game from System Menu.
	- Optionally, when computers are playing themselves, the action
	  will speed up until human players become involved again.
	  (This is the "Fast Computers" option).
	- From the buying menu, you can now get an update which includes
	  the total interest you have earned since Round 0.
	- Free Market option under Economics menu.  This creates a
	  supply-and-demand economy where the prices of items vary
	  according to how often they are bought.  This helps to regulate
	  the prices according to the strategies of those playing.  By
	  default, it is OFF.
	- Useless Options toggle under Weapons menu.  By default, items
	  which have no effect (e.g. contact triggers if tunneling is OFF)
	  will not appear on the Buying Menus.  If you want to buy them
	  anyway, turn this option ON.
	- Simultaneous Mode has been enhanced.  The top bar now displays
	  a bar graph of each tank's power, and also show each player's
	  current weapon.  In addition, you may now use batteries in
	  Simultaneous Mode.  Batteries in simultaneous mode will
	  automatically fire whenever your total energy falls blow 91 and
	  is above 0.  This means that if you take damage slowly, your
	  batteries will essentially keep you from taking any damage at all.
	  Batteries will only "Autofire" in Simultaneous Mode.
	- A Restart Game option has been added to the System Menu and at
	  the end of the game.  This puts you back to the main menu, so
	  you can start again.  Some menu options can only be set the first
	  time (such as graphics mode), so they will be grayed.
	- 4 New Weapons:
	     Napalm        - Splashes fiery liquid where it hits.
	     Hot Napalm    - Scaled up napalm. VERY VERY HOT!!!!!!
	     Liquid Dirt   - Pours out dirt where it lands, smoothing the
				terrain.
	     Smoke Tracers - Just like tracers, but they leave a smoke trail,
				even if TRACES aren't enabled.
	- Enhanced "Starry Sky".  The stars now generate many times faster.
	  Also, meteors will often shoot across the sky.  Watch out if they
	  hit you!
	- MEDIUM scale setting.
	- Harmful Environment switch added to Weather menu, by default ON.
	  If you turn this OFF, no tanks will take damage from lightning or
	  other special effects which are caused by the weather/sky type.
	- Ability to change icons from the "Reassign Players" menu.
	- Keyboard interface to "Reassign Players" menu added.
	- Some of the panels can now be "dragged" by holding on the top bar
	  and moving the mouse.
	- Status Bar option added to Play Options menu.  With this enabled,
	  the top bar of the screen is twice as thick, and the second
	  bar displays most of the information of the Tank Control Panel in
	  abbreviated form.  Also, you can use new keyboard and mouse
	  shortcuts to change these options IF the Status Bar is active.
	- Ability to sell back unwanted items.  From the Buying Menu, select
	  "Inventory."  Click on the item you want to sell, and the Selling
	  Panel will appear.  Decide how many you want to sell, and the
	  computer will make an offer.  You can either Accept or Reject
	  the offer.
	- While playing the game, the Inventory panel can also be used as
	  a "short-cut."  Clicking on an item causes the "most likely" thing
	  to happen.  For weapons, this means selecting that weapon as the
	  current one.  Shield will be activated, guidance systems will be
	  activated, etc.  For more info, consult the manual.
	- Right-clicking the mouse when selecting a target chooses center
	  of tank nearest where you clicked.  Left-clicking still chooses
	  exactly where the mouse points.
	- Fast Computers option, so when only computers are playing
	  (presumably because the humans managed to kill each other off),
	  the game speeds up until the next round.

   C. Miscellaneous changes.

	- "Impact Damage" was removed from the menus.  By default,
	  this is ON.  If you want it off, you can edit scorch.cfg using
	  any plain text editor.  This option may vanish in future versions
	  of Scorch unless somebody lets me know they use it.
	- The "Invisible Shots" menu item has been removed.  You can use
	  this option by setting "Bomb Icon" to be invisible.
	- The "Scoring Mode" option "EXPERT" has been renamed "STANDARD".
	- The "Tank Options" menu has been rename "Play Options".
	- To access the System Menu, use Alt-S.  Pressing just the 'S'
	  key will no longer pop up this menu.
	- Other options have moved around somewhat, hopefully to make things
	  more intuitive.
	- IF YOU PLAYED 320x200 MODE FOR THE LARGE EXPLOSIONS... you will
	  need to set the "Scale" option to large to get the same size
	  used in Scorch 1.0.

Distribution List:
==================
The full distribution of Scorched Earth consists of the following files:

	Filename           Size     Description
	-------------   -------     --------------------------------------
	FIX     .BAT         83     Utility to remove bad .cfg files
	ORDER   .FRM       1782     Order form for Scorched Earth Password
	README  .         12035     This file
	SCORCH  .CFG       5135     Scorched Earth Configuration File
	SCORCH  .DOC     127460     Scorched Earth Documentation
	SCORCH  .EXE     274466     Scorched Earth, The Game
	SCORCH  .ICO        766     Scorched Earth Icon for Windows 3.0
	TALK1   .CFG       1021     Comment File used for Talking Tanks
	TALK2   .CFG       1115     Another Comment File used for Talking
				      Tanks

Printing the Documentation:
===========================
Make sure your printer is on, online, and has paper.  SCORCH.DOC takes
about 60 pages.  Then type COPY SCORCH.DOC PRN.  Then hit Enter, of course.
Or use any program that will print files, such as your favorite word
processor.

VGA note:
=========
Scorched Earth (SCORCH) is a VGA only game. It will not run on any other
type of system.

Fixing Problems:
================
If you have a problem with SCORCH when changing settings, you can just
delete the SCORCH.CFG file and run SCORCH.  It will return to the default
settings.  Or, just run FIX.BAT, and it will get rid of the bad SCORCH.CFG
file.

Floating Point Coprocessors:
============================
This is in the manual, but is mentioned here for emphasis.  If Scorch
is running VERY FAST, it may be because you have a floating point
coprocessor (8087/80287/80387/80486).  By default, Scorch will use a
coprocessor if present, as some systems are greatly benefited by this.
If it is making things run too fast, though, you can type
      set 87=N
from the DOS prompt before running Scorch, to disable to coprocessor.
(To those familiar with Turbo C, you might recognize this as the Borland
convention for disabling coprocesser support.  I mention this, because
it means that any other programs you run which were compiled with Turbo C
will also ignore the coprocessor if this switch set!)

Useless Statistics:
===================
For those who are interested, Scorched Earth was written using Borland C++
2.0 and Turbo Assembler 2.5.  There are approximately 89 C files and 6
assembly files, totalling over 631K of source code.

Sticky Keys:
============
Many people have noticed the SHIFT, ALT, and CONTROL keys sticking
occasionally.  If you exit Scorch and see garbage when you type,
just press the SHIFT/ALT/CONTROL keys a few time and things should
straighten themselves out.  This seems to be a BIOS problem.

Acknowledgments:
================
There are far too many people who have contributed to the success of
Scorch to mention here.  Thanks to all who have sent letters pointing
out bugs and offering suggestions.   Keep 'em coming!

I would especially like to thank those who playtested version 1.1,
in an effort to reduce the number of bugs BEFORE it was released.
Richard Kaszeta and his group were particularly helpful.  Also,
thanks to Matt Tyler for designing the new Free Market economic model;
Dave Krider for optimizing the assembly drivers; Scott Dolim and Steve
Palm for helping out on the falling dirt; Jason Medesto for helping
with 'J' guidance (since renamed Ballistic Guidance); Art Hicken for
helping out with GEnie support and formatting the original manual; and,
of course, many thanks to all those who play and enjoy Scorch.  My
apologies to all those I didn't mention.

Deluxe Registration!!
=====================
As a special bonus, I am making a "Deluxe Registration" option available
until January 1st, 1992.  Deluxe Registration includes the most recent
copy of Scorch on disk and a 70 page looseleaf copy of the enhanced manual.
The enhanced manual contains the same text as the file "scorch.doc", but
is illustrated with tables, icons from the game, and keys for all the
options.  Deluxe Registration costs $20 instead of $10.  Deluxe
Registration is available in the U.S. only.

Scorch Fans Outside the U.S.:
=============================
To register Scorch, all you need to do is figure out some way to get
$10 to me.  Try going to your local bank and asking for a "U.S. Dollar
World Money Order".  Versions of Scorch in Polish and German should
be available soon...  other languages will follow if their is interest,
and someone willing to translate.

Other problems/suggestions:
===========================
If you have any ideas or bug reports, please contact the author.
All comments are welcome, whether or not you are a registered user.

Wendell Hicken
59 Esperanza Apt. M
Sierra Madre, CA 91024

HCBN64A   on Prodigy

70671,606 on CompuServe

W.Hicken  on GEnie

whicken@parasoft.com on internet

============================================================================
Most of all, Don't forget that Scorched Earth is Shareware.  The game is
good, if somewhat addictive.  The price is cheap.  So why not support the
game, its further development, and the whole shareware concept by sending
in your $10.

As they say on T.V. "Thank you for your support."
