FIRST OFFENSE by SAW TOOTH DISTORTION version / bug fix text file ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE TO WIN95 USERS: Do a HARD boot of your system prior to running the demo. Especially if you have already run it once, and it crashed. It will crash again for sure if you do not perform a HARD boot. This is the result of a test on a Pentium-120. The demo crashed when we pressed ESC on the name zoom (which the demo didn't handle properly [it does now]), and continued to crash on every run until the machine was HARD booted. Don't ask why. Also make sure you are not running any Expanded Memory Managers (EMM386). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.4: RE-RELEASE WITH PROPER GROUP AND MEMBER NAMES, MINOR BUG FIXES. - (v1.42) Corrected occasional problem with the speed test portion before the dots show up on the screen. The '3D Sierpinski Triangle' text used to appear in the middle of the screen in red for unknown reasons. - (v1.41) The detail level in the voxel terrain refuses to switch to high detail on fast computers, as the increased frame rate is more desirable than a higher detail setting. - Our real name is Saw Tooth Distortion. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.3: TIMING BUG FIX ON SUPER-FAST PENTIUM (OF WHICH I DON'T OWN) AND FIXED ROAD SIMULATION FOR SOUNDBLASTER OWNERS. HIGHER QUALITY MUSIC (UNCOMPRESSED SAMPLES). - (v1.31) Fixed a mistake in the credits screen, and also added one... - Added parameter option list in SETUP program, so you can select the parameters you prefer there, instead of entering them manually in the 1STOFF.VTO file. - Added 320x200 Square pixel mode disabled parameter (/Q) since the mode shrinks the screen too much on some monitors. This will only effect the 3D Fractal effect and the credits screen. - Added Pentium Mode (/P parameter) to show road simulation in 320x400 resolution. Try it if you got a Pentium. - Maxed out the rate of the dot explosion, because a P-120 produces 282,000+ dots at the refresh rate, and it quite frankly looks like shit. I had no idea the pentiums were so damn fast! Now the dots travel no more than 2 pixels per retrace, so you can see what's going on. The effect will simply take longer on fast machines, but you'll enjoy it more! (Hopefully.) - Fixed the road simulation problems with the SB. Upon detection of an SB, the intro runs extra code to avoid missing the vertical retrace. You can use the /F parameter to force this extra code to be used, even if you don't have an SB. This extra code may cause some minor shearing, but it's better than what the SB used to do to it. - The voxel terrain automatically changes detail levels depending on the current frame rate (if the user isn't in control by pressing 'U'). - Post-Release Version 2 MOD added. The samples of the Compo-Version MOD were re-sampled to a lower quality in Fast Tracker 2 and shortened to meet the 100k restrictions of the Intro Compo. The original (higher quality) samples have been placed back in due to the fact that DemoVT uses it's own software mixing for Sound Blasters (of course). (The Gravis Ultrasound has it's own GF1 hardware mixing and interpolation on which the original MOD was created for.) The samples are the same, just recorded at different qualities. The "Get Down" Marky Mark voice was also fully restored. This, along with the exchange in sample quality, brings the song from 56,514 bytes to 121,584 bytes. Some of those bytes are end pieces to samples that are NEVER played. The song sounds the same on a Gravis Ultrasound. I'm just giving DemoVT all the help I can for you Sound Blasters owners. - Added more stats to the /S parameter, like frames per second. - Attempted bug fix for super fast computers (Pentium 120 with killer video card). The fractal part underestimated the number of points to use. A value of 700 is used when it should be around 2500. The effect runs at about 150-200 fps making it impossible to even see what's going on. It SHOULD be fixed, but I don't really know, as I only have my 486-66 to test this on. Also the name of the effect is shown, to indicate what it actually is. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.2: DECIDED TO RELEASE THE ROAD BUG FIX IN V1.1 - Press U during voxel part, and you gain control: NUMPAD 5 - Stop All Movement LEFT/RIGHT Arrows - Turn Left and Right UP/DOWN Arrows - Accelerate / Decelerate NUMPAD + / - - Increase / Decrease Height < / > - Strafe Left / Right 1,2,3 - Low / Normal / High Detail This was in before, but was taken out to reduce the intro size to under 100K. But now, who cares about the size. I certainly don't. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.1: ATTEMPTED ROAD BUG FIX (not released) - Fixed bug in road effect that prevents it from working on a machine that goes to fast (486/DX4-100). Strange that it worked fine on the P-100 during the Best FX compo. - Added a few command line parameters, and key sequences: /R - randomize the voxel terrain generation. /S - show stats at the end of the demo. /VGA - assume vga compatibility, in case the detection fails. /C - skip some beginning credits. During the demo itself: ESC - ends current effect immediately. QUITS during a credit scroll. SPACE - scroll the credits faster. In all cases of exit (including run-time errors, should any ever occur), the XMS memory is released back to the system. The exception is a system crash, which should never happen. :) Or if your system does not support flat mode addressing, in which the program will tell you that your computer has hung. There have been known conflicts with flat mode and network cards. I don't have one, so I don't know. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.0: COMPO POST-RELEASE (released for about a day before accidently deleted) - Added a system speed test to determine the proper amount of points for the fractal effect, so that it will go ÷ 70 fps. The explosion effect also tests how many dots it can print within a screen refresh. These may be buggy when used with a sound blaster, as it uses up precious CPU time. Run the demo in silence to see the effects properly, or buy a GUS. Run the demo on the fastest machine you can get your hands on, as the effects are much more impressive. - Added SETUP.EXE to auto detect (via environment variables) your sound card. If you pick a sound card that doesn't have a corresponding environment variable, the defaults are the factory defaults (i.e. they are not auto detected, so don't depend on them!). - Modified voxel terrain colors to look smoother and more realistic. Also the terrain generation initializes the map with one high section, and the rest low. This is to force few mountain tops, as the viewpoint movement is random. The viewpoint also follows the terrain (i.e. moves up and down). I may put the user control option back in (it was taken out to reduce the size to under 100K). - Removed the compression code, as I realized the intro will no longer be under 100K once I add the SETUP program, and added more user-friendly(?) error handling. Besides, the compression was handled via batch files. Ugly. - Post-Release Version MOD added. The Compo-Version got hacked to hell in the last five minutes before the deadline. Tracks were cut out like crazy and the song didn't sound liked planned. "Drum rolls" were added back in, which meant adding extra tracks. The Compo-Version MOD was 47,298 bytes, and this version is 56,514 bytes.