Preview version: ARCHIMEDEAN DYNASTY - Readme This preview contains the first and second of over 20 chapters of the game "ARCHIMEDEAN DYNASTY" THE STORY SO FAR "In the second decade of the 21st century man began to construct stations in the deep sea in order to replenish the dwindling supply of raw materials. Before long a veritable race started, involving all major cultures of the earth. But even the enormous resources of the sea could not satisfy their greed. In a series of wars, mankind destroyed any hope of sensible communication and over time the basis for survival on the planet's surface. When the earth had finally become uninhabitable, the last humans fled into the depths, to shelter from the radioactivity that had killed all higher lifeforms on the earth's surface. All that remained there was a desert, and the poorest of the poor awaiting their inevitable demise - those that had not been able to afford the entrance fee to the underwater world. Humanity then sank into a long phase of darkness, devoid of any history. Meanwhile, a 40 m deep crust formed on the water surface, consisting of dead organic tissue, the so-called POM layer. And yet, once more, one last time, after centuries, mankind awoke to new life, the only life in a dead world. This world is man's creation. And he named it AQUA!" THE GAME That's where "ARCHIMEDEAN DYNASTY", the 3 D action game takes off. All activity takes place under water. The human population lives in gigantic cities under the sea. Amazingly, the old power blocks have reformed, more or less unchanged, over the centuries. There are the waterlands of the democratic Atlantic Federation, those of the Arabic Clansunion who invest their wealth accumulated through commerce in the development of a marvelous architecture, and the Russian-Japanese Shogunate, a type of monarchy. In addition a number of anarchic societies have evolved - and of course there are pirates. Between gigantic so-called jump stars ships commute, 500 meters long, at a speed of 900 km/h . They belong to EnTrOx, a company that has a monopoly on transportation and on the supply of breathing gas. Without it, the whole of AQUA would cease to exist. This is the year 2661, the year of the 600th anniversary of the Atlantic Federation's ocean settlements. A seemingly small light in AQUA is the mercenary EMERALD "Deadeye" FLINT. Once among the best pilots in AQUA, he's been having a tough time ever since the power blocks established a more or less stable peace. He's been keeping himself above water (so to speak) by doing odd jobs here and there. But one of these jobs goes terribly wrong. A female pirate he knows by the name of HONG LONG, attacks the sulfur transport ship which FLINT is supposed to protect. The freighter is captured and FLINT only just manages to save his skin. This is the point at which YOU take over the role of EMERALD "Deadeye" FLINT. The point at which you'll have to learn what it means to be a mercenary and to earn a living by going into battle. It is also the point at which you are still blissfully unaware that you are in the middle of what will turn out to be the biggest adventure of your time. For, after centuries, the surface takes revenge. You might as well believe that this enemy has NOTHING human about it any more. This is "ARCHIMEDEAN DYNASTY". A game which requires more than a good grip on the joystick. You'll encounter more than 100 characters throughout the underwater world of AQUA. Friends, foes and business partners. And you'll need to find out which is which. Clearly, the game is mainly a combat simulation. Battle through 60 missions, displayed with one of the most sophisticated 3 D engines of our time, with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixel (Hi res.) and 65,536 colors (High Color). In your cockpit you are helped by a voxel representation of your environment, intuitive instrument controls and information from your talking onboard computer. 20-25 highly individually programmed combat units make sure that boredom doesn't creep in. And if you need a break, enjoy a little expedition to view the breathtaking views of the AQUA underwater scenery. If the enemy will let you. Installation instructions Minimal configuration 486DX2/66 Local Bus with 16 MB RAM (for this Preview. For the final release, 8MB RAM will suffice), Double-speed CD-ROM, a commercially available sound card and a good graphics card (with VESA-UNIVBE support). With this configuration it is recommended to choose Half-line mode and flat shading in the Options / VGFX menu within the game. Recommended: P90 PCI Bus, 16 MB RAM, SB16, Graphics card with 2MB VRAM, Quadspeed CD-ROM. ARCHIMEDEAN DYNASTY supports CIRCLE SOUND (Dolby Surround compatible) INSTALLATION UNDER WINDOWS 95 Insert the CD in your CD ROM drive and click on the appropriate drive letter in "My Computer". Double-click the application "INSTALL". This will install ARCHIMEDEAN DYNASTY on your hard disk. You may of course choose where you wish it to be installed. Then setup your soundcard. Follow the instructions of the setup program. Then calibrate your joystick. If necessary, you can play ARCHIMEDEAN DYNASTY without a joystick. In this case, use the arrow keys as controls and space for FIRE. We strongly recommend the use of a joystick. INSTALLATION UNDER DOS Insert the CD in your CD ROM drive and type: "[drive letter]:" [Enter]. Example: D:[ENTER] Then type: "Install" [Enter]. This will install ARCHIMEDEAN DYNASTY on your hard drive. Of course, you can choose where exactly you wish it to be installed. Then setup your soundcard. Follow the instructions of the setup program. Then calibrate your joystick by using the CALIBRATE program from the main directory. If necessary, you can play ARCHIMEDEAN DYNASTY without a joystick. In this case, use the arrow keys as controls and space for FIRE. Should you experience any problem, call our technical hotline on: US: (001)-847-534-7934 UK and Europe (0044)-1604-259-090 Germany: (0049)-0208-450-8888 THE DIALOG ENGINE ----------------- Initially, you are in Magellan, a station in the Argentinean Basin, taking a call from PERRY LASALLE, the secretary of your boss, EL TOPO, whose sulfur transport ship you have managed to lose. Clearly, this conversation is less than amicable and you may wish to go and relax in the crew room (by clicking on the appropriate building). There you might have a little chat with whoever is around. JUST CLICK ON THE NAME ABOVE THE PERSON. For the dialogs, the utterance of your partner appears at the top. Below it there are one or more possible responses from which you can select. CAUTION: WITH MOST OF THE PEOPLE YOU CAN TALK ONLY ONCE. SO BE CAREFUL. WHAT YOU SAY. AN INSULT IN THE WRONG PLACE MAY LOSE YOU AN ORDER, BUT POLITENESS CAN BE FOOLISH, TOO. As a rule, it is not possible, as in most adventures, to simply experiment with all responses till you find the correct one. You've got to use your brain. On the other hand there are no one-way streets from which you cannot find an exit. Unless that is, you really get everyone mad. When you leave the crew room, EL TOPO calls you, ordering you to accompany his secretary to his fortress, the ASYLUM. But first you've got to go and get him from another station, the VESPUCCI. So, go to the dock, open it, and select VESPUCCI on the TASKBOARD. On your arrival there, go and look for LASALLE. First check out the hangar. You won't find LASALLE there, but instead will bump into CROSSHEAD. If you have previously had the pleasure of talking to LINDA KRULL, CROSSHEAD won't mind having a chat. Then proceed to the crew room where you'll meet LASALLE and tell him about your order. Then return to the dock. Instead of taking off straight away, make sure you equip your ship properly. To do this, you'll need to have a word with the guy from personnel. Tell him you wish to equip your ship, and he'll let you have a look around the weapons store. THE INTERCOM In Dialog mode you will see the Intercom in the left bottom corner. The TASKBOARD contains a summary of the missions you have been given, and tips you have received. Moreover, you can enter game options (e.g. the half-line mode which will allow the 3 D engine to work on a DX2/66), you can save your game positions and view a sea map of your current environment. The Intercom is the device that enables your superiors to get in contact with you when you are needed. THE WEAPONS STORE ----------------- Before each battle, make sure your ship is properly equipped. This requires cash of course, cash that you've got to earn by carrying out missions. For the purposes of this PREVIEW version we are giving you plenty of CREDITS (that's the currency in AQUA). So go get what your heart desires! In the center to the left of the weapons screen you'll see a 3D representation of your ship. Sure, it's a bit tatty, but this is only the beginning of your adventure. Click twice on the two circular arrows. This will give you a view of the weapons on board. It's quite good stuff for the beginning. Maybe you wanna have a better gun? Click on the word "gun" (on your boat). Now click on the hand with the up-arrow. You just sold your old gun. Now choose the one named "Vendetta 2". A click on the question market shows you the penetration of it. It's not very powerful, but you have to earn better weapons. Torpedoes and guns may have two different values of penetration. "KIN" means kinetic penetration, "EMS" means electromagnetic shock. When you are satisfied with the equipment or your money ran out, click on the cross at the top left of the window frame. This takes you back to the dock. Have no fear, you'll be glad you upgraded your weapons while on your way to TOPO'S ASYLUM. THE BATTLE ENGINE ----------------- After a short while (loading!) the cockpit of your ship will appear. To get a better range of vision, press "Q". This will activate your active sonar, which allows you to detect potential enemies at a greater distance, while risking detection yourself. Use the joystick to change direction and the "A" and "Y" keys for moving forward and backward. Releasing the keys will decelerate. To maintain a constant cruising speed use "S" and "X", "C" will deactivate cruising. Here are a number of general tips and hints: * ARCHIMEDEAN DYNASTY is not a flight simulator, though there are some similarities. The most important difference is that a boat moves much more sluggishly than a plane. If you go into a curve at high speed, your boat is going to drift sideways for a while, before moving in the new direction. Moreover, a boat is subject to underwater currents which can occasionally be very strong. Torpedoes too, can be affected. * The best way to achieve a quick turn while moving forward is to put the rudder to the side and press "Y". * Currents are signaled by a current symbol which appears in the cockpit window. When it starts blinking you are in a strong current which is affecting your ship. Observe the air bubbles to ascertain where the current is coming from. * Check your depth. The upper water layers are polluted by nuclear waste, down to about 100 m depth. If you notice a radioactivity symbol, make sure you dive. * In the center at the bottom you see a representation of your vicinity. You are the yellow band. Green bands are friendly units, red bands are known enemies. Amber areas are buildings. Strong currents will be shown as a blue area. * In the center at the top you have the weapons monitor. This gives you an idea about your weapons. For details, check the table "Keyboard assignment". * When you've targeted an enemy, press "L" for "Lock" (or the second button on your joystick). This will lock your target systems to the enemy and direct the firing mechanism. Remote controlled torpedoes "know" what the target is, remember your onboard cannon can only fire straight ahead. Be careful to always shoot towards the red crosshairs. This is your reference point, since some time will elapse before your weapons can reach the target. * The rest of the displays do not need much explanation, or their description would go beyond the scope of this short introduction. We should mention one other display; it indicates the energy level of the onboard cannon (the vertical band on the right). Its energy is enough for a few short, extremely quick rounds, after which it needs re-charging. A short pause will re-charge the battery. KEYBOARD ASSIGNMENT IN COMBAT ----------------------------- ESC Quit program F1 Status of the fixed cannon on monitor / Toggle weapon status F2 Status of the torpedo magazine on monitor / Toggle weapon status F3 Status turret cannon 1 (if mounted) / Toggle weapon status F4 Status turret cannon 2 (if mounted) / Toggle weapon status F5 Command to turret cannon 1: Attack my target F6 Command to turret cannon 1: Fire simultaneously with me F7 Command to turret cannon 1: Locate targets and attack independently F8 Command to turret cannon 1: No further action (default) F9 Command to turret cannon 2: Attack my target F10 Command to turret cannon 2: Fire simultaneously with me F11 Command to turret cannon 2: Locate targets and attack independently F12 Command to turret cannon 2: No further action (default) a Accelerate. Remains activated while key is depressed z Decelerate. Remains activated while key is depressed s Increase speed by 10km/h x Decrease speed by 10km/h q Active sonar on/off i Display armor state in monitor r Change radar range (circular displays bottom left and right) f Activate free control g Activate ground control h show help screen j Activate ceiling control l Lock object in target range y Autopilot menu p Pause function u Turret cannons selection/commands c Stop boat at once n Select next way point o Capture screen to 24bit TGA picture (about 1MB in size!!!!) ALT Fire torpedo SPACE Fire onboard cannon RETURN Select next torpedo CRSC-UP Ship control, nose down CRSC-DOWN Ship control, nose up CRSC-LEFT Ship control, left turn CRSC-RIGHT Ship control, right turn JOYSTICK ASSIGNMENT IN COMBAT (for Logitech's WingMan EXTREME) -------------------------------------------------------------- STICK-UP Ship control, nose down STICK-DOWN Ship control, nose up STICK-LEFT Ship control, left turn STICK-RIGHT Ship control, right turn Trigger Fire onboard cannon Button2 Lock object in target range Button3 Fire torpedo Button4 Select next torpedo Features (ARCHIMEDEAN DYNASTY) ------------------------------- A) Game -------- - ARCHIMEDEAN DYNASTY takes place in a densely packed and immensely fascinating underwater world in the not too distant future. - This underwater world, by the name of AQUA, is populated by various groups and power blocks, inspired by existing political and religious groups. - The geological aspects of the world's oceans were carefully researched and integrated into the scenarios. This includes, for example, natural resources, geological features (hot springs off the Galapagos islands - hot vents), currents (Gulf of Mexico), ocean depths, structure of the ocean floor, seaquake areas, shelves and continental slopes. - Engulfed in a dense and thrilling background story with more than 100 different characters, scattered around the entire deep sea world, the player takes on the role of a mercenary of AQUA. - In order to affirm their position in AQUA, players must acquaint themselves with the existing structures and power struggles, the various relevant and irrelevant places and personalities, thus enabling them to accept missions, to develop their skills and to penetrate further and further into the story of AQUA. - The player becomes totally absorbed in the game world, thanks to the detailed, atmospheric graphic representation of 60 different underwater stations as well as freighters and cruisers with a variety of rooms and people. - The story which the player experiences and develops is accompanied by approx. 30 film sequences with full environmental sound effects and speech. - The missions the player accepts lead to real-time missions which are represented by means of sophisticated 3 D techniques. This part of the game is an optimal mixture of simulation and action (physical simulation of the motion of all swimming and drifting objects, action-oriented missions, full stereo sound, HI-Color (64535 colors), HI-Res., rendered 3 D objects, etc.). (see Technical data below). B) Game characteristics ----------------------- 1) Game 1.1) STORY - 4 power blocks - approx. 60 different underwater stations - approx. 130 rooms with sound and dialogues - approx. 100 characters throughout AQUA - approx. 30 story films with full sound - approx. 60 flight arrivals from stations 1.2) 3D MISSIONS - approx. 60 vector graphics missions - approx. 26 3D torpedoes (rendered, illuminated) - approx. 30 3D ships (rendered, illuminated) - approx. 10 3D weapon types (rendered, illuminated) - approx. 20 explosion types - approx. 30 3D buildings (small, medium, gigantic) - approx. 5 big battle ships - Mines, buoys, alga, plants, bubbles....etc. - 4 player ships (with realistic cockpits) - external views - camera views C) Technical data ------------------- 1) DESKTOP 1.1) MASSIVE Animation CODEC Performance data of the compression procedure for representing video data for the minimal configuration (486/66, double-speed CD ROM): - 10 frames per second at 640x240 svga with simultaneous replay of stereo digital audio data with 8bit / 22kHz 1.2) MASSIVE GUI - HI-Color / Hires - windowing system / (640x480 pixel / 65536 colors) 1.3) MASSIVE Dialog Engine - Character linking through messaging system - Dialog branching depending on user input 2) REAL-TIME MISSIONS 2.1) MASSIVE 3D Engine Currently implemented features: - HI-Color / Hires - vector graphics system (640x480 pixels / 65536 colors) - different shading models (none, flat, gouraud) - Half-line-/ Full-line-display (half-line-mode / full-line-mode) - any number of light sources - any number of (diffuse) shadows - Depth shading - Polygon depth sorting Envisaged for the final release: - Perspective correction of polygon textures (distortion-free textures) - Error-free depth sorting - Speed increase (yes, we will do that !!) 2.2) MASSIVE AI Engine - Motion simulation of enemy objects on the basis of the laws of physics - Current effects - Influence of mass - Current fields exist - visual, passive and active location systems ENJOY! 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