7th Level, Inc., Readme Notes Welcome to the All Product Sampler CD. This free CD gives you a sample of 7th Level's upcoming release, Arcade America. Also included are demos of six other exciting programs you'll want to see. INSTALLING THE DEMOS To install these demos, insert the CD in the CD-ROM drive, select the File menu and choose Run from the Program Manager. Type D:\SETUP.EXE (if necessary, replace D: with the letter that represents your CD-ROM drive) in the command line and press ENTER. Choose the CD option in the Setup program. Follow the instructions given in the installation program. The installation program creates program icons for the demos of the exciting products available from 7th Level. The demos available are Arcade America, Battle Beast, The Great Word Adventure, TuneLand, Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time, Take Your Best Shot, and Virgil Reality. JOYSTICK SUPPORT If you have a joystick that already works with other Windows applications, then you do not need to do anything to use the joystick with these demos. If you have not used your joystick with other Windows applications before, you may need to install a joystick driver. You can use the generic Windows joystick driver that is included on the CD-ROM. It is recommended, however, that you first try to use the Windows driver that came with your joystick. To install the joystick driver that is included with the demo CD: 1. Double click the Control Panel icon from the Program Manager to start the Control Panel application. 2. Double click the Drivers icon in the Control Panel. 3. Click the Add button to add a driver. 4. Select the Unlisted or Updated Driver option and click the OK button. 5. Open the JOYSTICK directory (either on your hard disk where you installed Arcade America or on the Arcade America CD). 6. Click the OK button to accept the joystick driver. 7. Select the configuration for your joystick from the Game Adapter Setup dialog box and click the OK button. 8. Click the Close button to return to the Control Panel. 9. Restart Windows. Next, copy the file JOYSTICK.CPL from the Joystick directory (either on your hard disk where you installed the demos or on the CD) to the WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory. Calibrate and test your joystick by double clicking the Joystick icon in the Control Panel. Note: You may need to calibrate your joystick again if you have disconnected it from your computer or if you notice the joystick interfering with the operation of the mouse. RUNNING THE DEMOS To run a demo, double click the program icon of the demo you wish to start. The following sections contain specific information about each program. ARCADE AMERICA GETTING AROUND As you run, jump, and shoot your way through the first level of Alcatraz, watch for the wiggling levers. There are levers for the other levels as well, but you'll have to discover them yourself. You can open hidden doors and get secret rewards if you flip these levers. Don't be disappointed if you don't get an immediate reward. Flipping a lever in one level may give you a reward in another level. OPTIONS SCREEN After you see the introduction to Arcade America, you will see an Options screen. Here you can customize various game options. Select the input method (keyboard or joystick) by clicking on the word beside Input Method. Select the difficulty level (Mondo Weenie or Tough Guy) by clicking on the word next to Difficulty Level. You can turn on and off special effects. Click on the word next to Special Effects to toggle the option on and off. Don't miss out on the neat animation in Arcade America. You can turn on and off foreground and background audio. Click on the word next to Foreground Audio and Background Audio to toggle the option on and off. You'll want to hear all the cool sounds as you make your way through the demo. Click Done to exit the Options screen and save your selections. Press ESC to exit the Options screen without saving your changes. Once you have made your selections, click Start to begin your adventure. STANDARD MOVES Below you will find the joystick and keyboard combinations for getting around Arcade America. You may wish to print this file so that you have these moves in front of you as you make your way through Arcade America. You can play Arcade America using a joystick that works with any Windows application or your computer's keyboard. Simply select the input method for each player in the Options screen. The following list of input commands are for a joystick. COMMON MOVES (GRAVIS GAME PAD) Move Input Walk left Left Walk right Right Jump Button 2 Shoot Button 1 Belly Bounce Button 3 Pull Button 4 KEYBOARD MOVES Move Input Directional controls Up/Left/Right/Down arrows Jump X Shoot Z Belly Bounce Double Up Pull Double Left or Right BATTLE BEAST SETUP SCREEN The first time you open the Battle Beast demo program, you will see a setup screen. Here you can customize various game options. Select the input method for each player (keyboard or joystick) by clicking on the word below Player 1 and Player 2. Select the energy units desired for each player by clicking on the energy units bar. A high number of energy units for a player will require more hits for that player to be destroyed. A low number of energy units will require fewer hits to be destroyed. You can use this option to adjust the game for unevenly matched players. If one player is more experienced, he or she could select a lower energy number to give an inexperienced player a more even chance at victory. Deselect Auto Turnaround by clicking on the jumping toad. With Auto Turnaround selected your Battle Beast will always turn to face an opponent. With Auto Turnaround deselected, you will need to turn your Battle Beast manually. More experienced players may wish to deselect this option so that they can attack opponents using combination or special moves that can be performed from a reverse position. Select sound and animation options. Turn off some of the extra background sounds and animation to concentrate on the fight itself, or keep these sounds and animation on to experience the depth of Battle Beast. Select a time limit for each fight round. The minimum time allowed is 30 seconds. The maximum fixed time allowed is 2 minutes and 30 seconds. You also can select an unlimited time. With this option the fight will not be finished until one opponent is destroyed. Click Done to exit the Setup screen and save your selections. Press ESC to exit the Setup screen without saving your changes. To view the Setup screen again, press F2 from the Fight Selection Screen. FIGHT SELECTION SCREEN The Fight Selection Screen is where you pick your next round of combat. You will return to this screen after each round is completed and the text screens describing Battle Beast have been displayed. From this screen, select two players, one player vs. the computer or computer vs. computer (to study up on combat techniques). Once you have made your selection, the battle begins. STANDARD FIGHT MOVES Below you will find the joystick and keyboard combinations for combat in Battle Beast. You may wish to print this file so that you have these moves in front of you as you join your opponent in combat. You can play Battle Beast using a joystick that works with any Windows application or your computer's keyboard. Simply select the input method for each player in the Setup screen. The following list of input commands are for a joystick. The list below does not include every move or combination of moves possible for each character. It's up to you to find the special and secret moves that will allow you to conquer any opponent and to defeat the evil Toadman. Good luck, soldier! Remember to perform the key combinations in the order presented and close together. For "quick" inputs, tap the direction by pressing and releasing very quickly. COMMON MOVES Move Input Walk forward Forward Walk backward Backward Hop forward Quick forward Hop backward Quick backward Jump high Up Jump low Quick up Front flip Up+forward Back flip Up+backward Duck Down Turnaround Forward+backward Turnaround Button A+Button A Jump to second level Up+Button A Jump to first level Down+Button A Morph Button B+Button A Block Button A+down Power block Button A+down+forward High punch Button A+forward Low kick Button B+forward NON-MORPHED BEAST MOVES Move Input Toggle hammer Button B+Button B Hammer away Button A+up Away (Z-Axis) Button B+up Towards (Z-Axis) Button B+down Energy grab move Button B+backward MORPHED BEAST MOVES Move Input Select weapon Button B+Button B Grab/Swipe Button A+backward Uppercut Button A+up Special move #1 Button A+Button B+forward Special move #2 Button A+Button B+backward Roundhouse kick Button B+up Leg sweep Button B+down Weapon Button B+backward If you are using the keyboard, the equivalent keys are: Player 1 Number 1 = Button A Player 2 Number 9 = Button A Number 2 = Button B Number 0 = Button B F = Up Up arrow = Up V = Down Down arrow = Down B = Right Right arrow = Right C = Left Left arrow = Left THE GREAT WORD ADVENTURE Join Lil' Howie and Stinky for a great adventure -- a word adventure! Help Stinky launch his missiles in the Stink Gun Game. In this game, you get to shoot the words and letters that fly across the screen. Use the mouse or the keyboard to shoot at the flying targets. Move the mouse from side to side to move Lil' Howie and Stinky, then click the left mouse button to fire. On the keyboard, use the left and right arrows to move Lil' Howie and Stinky from side to side, and press the up arrow to fire the stink gun. TUNELAND While exploring the Farmhouse in TuneLand, you will find songs, sounds, gags, jokes, and magic tricks. Oh, and don't forget to look for Lil' Howie - he'll be hiding! MONTY PYTHON'S COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME This demo is a complete waste of time. So enjoy yourself. Check out the Stage and the ever-popular Loonatorium. Several things to keep in mind while you struggle through this silly thing. One: Clicking once probably won't get you anywhere. Clicking five or six times might be far better. Two: Everything has a proper sequence. Three: Try anything no matter how foolish it may seem. TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT So you want to be a hot shot? Take a shot at this game and you can call yourself a Twisted Hot Shot. It's just one of the arcade games in Take Your Best Shot. To play hot shot: 1. Click the Games button in the main menu. 2. Select Hot Shot and click the OK button. GAME OPTIONS From the Hot Shot selection screen you can customize your Hot Shot game. Options available include the number of players, skill level and the number of paddles. Point to your choices using the mouse and click the left mouse button. The selection screen will remember the settings for the last game you played so you can quickly bypass this screen if you play with the same settings each time. With one player, you can play to improve your skill level by trying to better your score each time. With two players, you can alternate play with a friend. Each player will play one ball. When the first player loses that ball, it will be the next player’s turn. The skill level determines the size of the paddles and bricks in each wall. The lower the skill level the larger the paddles and bricks. As the skill level increases, the size of the paddles and bricks decreases. With two paddles you are protecting the two side walls. With four paddles you are protecting all four walls. If you leave the mouse or the keyboard idle for 60 seconds while in the selection screen, the game will begin a self-play mode. To exit self-play, simply press ESC and you will return to the selection screen. Once you have made your selections, press ENTER or click the Play button to begin a game. GAME PLAY Begin play by launching the ball with the cannon. Use the cursor keys to position the cannon. Press the LEFT or RIGHT ARROW keys to change the direction the ball will fire. Press and hold the LEFT or RIGHT ARROW keys to move the cannon across the screen. Pressing ENTER or the left mouse button will launch the ball. The object of Hot Shot is to clear all the bricks in each wall without losing the ball. To clear a brick, let the ball hit it once. Be careful, the next time the ball hits that area you’ll lose it. Protect the empty spaces in the walls by moving the paddles with the mouse. Obstacles you’ll encounter on your way to clearing the bricks include heads and posts. The ball will simply bounce off the posts. If the ball strikes a head directly in the face, he’ll spit the ball out at a faster speed and in a different direction. Each time the ball hits a head in the face, it will continue to speed up. Hitting the ball with a paddle will slow it down. Each skill level has seven rounds. When you make it through the seventh round of one skill level, you will automatically move to the first round of the next skill level. For example, when you finish the seventh round of the novice level, you will move to the first round of the pro level. You get five balls to make it through as many rounds as you can. When you lose all five balls, the game is over. Clearing each wall will end the round you are playing and begin a bonus round. The longer you keep the ball in play, the more bonus points you’ll earn. Watch out! The ball will continue to speed up throughout the bonus round, making it harder to keep up. You will be awarded a shield after each wall you clear. You can keep a maximum of four shields at one time. Use these shields to help you keep the ball in play. One shield will protect all the walls you are defending. For example, if you are playing with four paddles, one shield will protect all four walls at one time. Press the SPACEBAR to invoke the shield. It will last for ten seconds. When the shield is about to expire, it will begin flashing and an alarm will sound. That means time is running out and you’d better be prepared to keep the ball in play. Pause the animation at any time by pressing your keyboard’s PAUSE key. Press the PAUSE key again to restart the animation. Exit the game by pressing ESC. When you lose all five balls, the game will exit to the selection screen. If you have one of the five highest scores, that score will be flashing. Type your initials and press ENTER. Exit the game by clicking the Exit button or begin a new game by clicking the Play button. VIRGIL REALITY Double click the program icon to see a self-running demo of Virgil Reality. TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND COMMON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS If you have difficulty installing or running the demos, please read the section below before calling our Technical Support phone line. By checking the few items listed below, you may be able to solve any difficulty you are having on your own. If you are still having difficulty, call Technical Support at 214-437-5531. Support is available Monday - Saturday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Central Time. You also can reach Technical Support via America Online (keyword Seventh), the Microsoft Network (Go Seventh) or CompuServe (Go Seventh). Technical Support also is available via the World Wide Web on 7th Level’s web page (www.7thlevel.com). By accessing 7th Level’s web page, you can download the latest technical support information along with demos of current and future products, register your products online, and participate in contests and chats with the celebrities and individuals involved with our products. Problem: The program seems to run slowly. Solution: As with any program running under Windows, the speed and the smoothness of the program is dependent on the speed of the hardware that it is running on. Hardware configurations that affect performance are: the amount of memory and the speed of the video card, the processor type, the amount of real memory and the transfer rate of the CD-ROM drive. While the minimum system configuration required to run a demo is a 486 33 MHz computer with 8 MB of RAM, a video card capable of running 256 colors and a double-speed CD-ROM drive, the recommended system configuration is a 486 66 MHz computer with 16 MB of RAM. You may be able to improve the performance of Arcade America running on your computer by upgrading one or all of these elements of your computer system, depending on what you already have. If you are running on a computer with the minimum system requirements, here are some things you can do to try to increase your system's performance: 1. Disable the background ambient sounds in the Options screen. 2. Make sure you have a permanent swap file of at least 5 MB set up in Windows. 3. Do a full hard disk installation, if you have the space available on your hard disk. Problem: When I try to run a demo, I get a "Not enough memory" message. Solution: On an 8 MB system, the program requires 5 to 10 MB of virtual memory. For instructions on setting virtual memory, please consult your Windows documentation. Problem: The program does not display properly. Solution: Make sure you have a video card running in 640x480 or 800x600 mode with 256 colors. Also, make sure that you have the proper display driver installed. A display with more colors or running at a higher resolution also will work with Arcade America. Problem: The program is working, but I don't hear any sounds. Solution: Make sure your sound card is installed and working properly. You can check the sound from your sound board by using the Sound utility in the Control Panel. Choose one of the WAV files in the Windows directory and click Test. Problem: The sound or video skips during the program. Solution: Make sure you have at least 8 MB of RAM. Also, make sure that an expanded memory manager (such as EMM386, QEMM or 386MAX) is not reserving memory that Windows and Arcade America will need to run correctly. Problem: I can't get the MIDI files to play. (I'm not getting any music.) Solution: Most sound cards are not set up to play MIDI files unless you have a MIDI peripheral device attached to your computer. To set your sound card so that MIDI files will play without a MIDI peripheral device attached, follow the steps below. To change your MIDI settings under Windows 3.1: 1. Double click the MIDI Mapper icon in the Control Panel. 2. Make sure the Setups radial button is selected. 3. Click the down arrow in the Name list box. 4. Select a MIDI setup file. You should select either General MIDI or All FM. (Check your sound card documentation for the correct setup file. If you have the SoundBlaster 16 card, select All FM.) 5. With the correct setup file selected, click the Edit button. 6. Confirm that the correct driver is displayed for at least channels 1 through 10. (Check your sound card documentation for the correct driver name. If you have a SoundBlaster 16 sound card, each channel should be set to the Voyetra Super Sapi FM driver.) 7. Click the OK button to exit the MIDI Setup dialog box. As you exit, click the Yes button to save any changes you’ve made or the No button to cancel any changes. 8. Click the Close button to exit the MIDI Mapper. To change your MIDI settings under Windows 95: 1. Select the Start Menu. 2. Choose Settings and open the Control Panel. 3. Double click the Multimedia icon and select the MIDI tab. 4. Select the MIDI setup file. (Check your sound card documentation for the correct setup file.) 5. Click the OK button and exit the Control Panel. Problem: The sound and video are not synchronized properly. Solution: Make sure that you are running the program on a 486 33 MHz or better IBM-compatible computer with at least 8 MB of RAM. Problem: The sound breaks up or has a lot of static. Solution: You may need to change the DMA setting on your sound card. Please check the documentation for your sound card for the proper settings and how to change the settings. Problem: The volume is too low or too high. Solution: You can adjust the volume using the + and - keys within the demo. Problem: The program seems to run extremely slow. Solution: Make sure that you have a permanent swap file of at least 5 MB set up in Windows. Please consult your Windows documentation for instructions regarding your swap file settings. KEYBOARD FUNCTIONS The following keyboard combinations can be used to replace mouse movements for certain activities and functions. ALT F4 Exit the program SHIFT ESC Exit the program ESC Exits back to the main menu one level at a time + Raises the master volume - Lowers the master volume SHIFT + Raises the WAV volume (speech and sound effects) SHIFT - Lowers the WAV volume (speech and sound effects) CONTROL + Raises the Midi volume (music) CONTROL - Lowers the Midi volume (music) * (keypad) Toggles the sound on/off PAUSE Pause/restarts the animation SPACEBAR Stops the current ambient animation HELP WITH YOUR HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE QUESTIONS If you have questions about your computer's hardware or other software applications, please contact the manufacturer before contacting 7th Level Technical Support. The manufacturer will be able to answer any questions you may have on the installation and specific settings for your needs. Listed below are the Technical Support and BBS phone numbers for several manufacturers. Manufacturer Tech. Support BBS Number ATI Technologies 905-882-2626 416-764-9404 Creative Labs 405-742-6622 405-742-6660 NEC 800-388-8888 none Orchid Technology 510-683-0323 510-683-0327 Media Vision 510-770-9905 510-770-0527 Roland Corp. 213-685-5141 none Turtle Beach Systems 717-767-0279 717-767-5934 Ensoniq 610-647-3930 none Tseng 215-968-0502 215-579-7536 Philips LMS 800-777-5674 719-593-4081 Diamond Multimedia 408-325-7000 408-524-9301 Logitech 510-795-8100 510-795-0408 Advanced Gravis 604-431-1807 604-431-5927 CH Products 619-598-2518 619-598-2524