CYBERSTRIKE VERSION NOTES VERSION 1.5B -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.5B contains some rules adjustements to Version 1.5; if this is your first time reading the version notes for Version 1.5, then please skip down to the VERSOIN 1.5 version notes first. - Weight The module weight factor has been reduced from the initial 1.5 release. Heavy pods are still slow, but not quite as slow and medium Pods are quite maneuverable. The minimum speed has also been increased. Weight still affects jumping, power consumption and other activities as before, but movement limitations has been reduced. - Shields Shield strength has been increased. Both normal and enhanced now can absorb more hits before going down. - Fixes Some other minor bug fixes were introduced into this version. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- VERSION 1.5 For those of you upgrading from version 1.04 to version 1.5 of CyberStrike, here are some important notes. This new version of CS, although visually quite similar, will play significantly different due to some major rule changes. **** QUICK INFO **** >>>>>>>> AT LEAST READ THIS MUCH <<<<<<<< If you are impatient, here is a brief rundown of the important changes! 1. Rerun SETDRV to setup the new sound driver 2. When entering CyberStrike, press SHIFT-J to calibrate joystick! 3. Modules have weight, but no purchase cost. Weight slows you down, reduces your jump height etc. You can now outfit yourself with a fast, light CyberPod, or a lumbering, weapon-laden CyberPod. 4. There are no more storage bays. 5. Shields are radically different. You can have 1 front, 1 rear and optionally 1 shield enhance module. F1 and F2 are used to charge up the front and rear shield respectively. If they are beaten down, they are destroyed. Charge them as soon as you get them! 6. Modules can be destroyed by incoming fire. Shields help protect from this. 7. Ordering a Tower costs 1 multiplier point. Ordering a Mega-Tower costs 2 multiplier points. You must have enough to order it. 8. Grenades launch at a fixed angle. You cannot aim them except by heading. 9. Some function key reassignments: F1 = Toggle Front Shield ON/OFF F2 = Toggle Rear Shield ON/OFF F3 = Reserve Power F4 = Rocket Pack 10. The above will get you started, but you will WANT to read the rest of this file for all the important details and some other neat things not mentioned here! ******************** RULE CHANGES - Module Weight / Cost The most important difference is that modules no longer cost multiplier points to purchase, but instead are given weight values. Every module has a different weight (which shows up when you go to purchase a module). Installing a module will add its weight to your CyberPod. A heavier CyberPod moves and turns slower, and it will not be able to jump as high, nor go quite as far on a catapult pad or with a rocket pack module. The basic, unencumbered CyberPod is now faster than before and there is a significant difference between a light, fast CyberPod and a heavy, lumbering CyberPod bristling with weapons and armor systems. The weight of your CyberPod also determines how much power it requires to move and jump. The modules have been carefully balanced to allow for a much larger variety of play (especially as you advance towards the higher-level cities). Gone are the days when only one or two module load-outs was a "viable" option. With these new rules, you can choose to be a "scout" CyberPod, for instance, and you will be able to run circles around the heavy "assault" CyberPods. Longer range, faster speed and lower power requirements will allow you to build up power bases faster. When you want some serious firepower, then load up on weapon and shield systems; you won't be able to race around the city but you will be able to inflict some serious damage; and if things get dicey, eject most of your modules and sprint back to home base as a light CyberPod again. Another important aspect of this is that purchasing modules is much faster at home base now. You do not have to wait for multiplier points anymore. So long as you do not purchase more than one per second, you can order as much as you want (a full re-arm can occur in about 15 seconds). These new rules also make CyberPods with less than "full bays" have significant advantages and thus the re-arm time is typically only a few seconds. The weight of your CyberPod is visually indicated on the right side of the HUD as a growing green bar. The higher it gets, the heavier your CyberPod. - Shields Shields have been completely reworked. There are now FRONT SHIELD and REAR SHIELD modules, of which you can have one of each. When this module is activated, it will raise a shield to cover its half of your CyberPod. The shield strength is displayed on the left side of your HUD as a light blue bar. The bar above the word "SHIELD" represents the strength of your front shield, and the bar below it represents your rear shield. As you take damage, the front and/or rear shield will take damage based on the angle of the shot hitting you. For example, a full front hit will lower the front shield some, however getting hit directly on the side will cause 50% damage to both the front and rear shields (if they exist). You do not have to load up with both shields (or any shields for that matter). If you have just a front shield, for instance, and get hit directly on the side, then the front shield will take half the damage and the remaining amount will hit your CyberPod (causing power loss as usual). There is a level 4 module, called SHIELD ENHANCE, that will cause any shields to charge to a higher level. This module has no use if you do not have front or rear shield modules. Remember, you must ACTIVATE each shield module for it to work. The shield recharge will drain power (by the time it is fully charged, it will have taken twice as much power as it will absorb). Once fully charged it requires no additional power until it must recharge again. As the shield takes damage it will again recharge. You may find that if you are very low in power (say, when retreating from battle) that you should risk turning a shield off so its recharge does not suck up your last power. When you turn off a shield, it provides no benefit and will have to fully recharge once you turn it back on. The FRONT and REAR shields can be recharged independently. If a shield is beaten all the way down by incoming fire, then it will likely be destroyed. Since you can only carry one of each, be sure to avoid this when possible. Firing does not affect shields. Note that the function keys have changed somewhat to accommodate the new shields: F1 Toggle FRONT SHIELD on/off F2 Toggle REAR SHIELD on/off F3 Reserve Power F4 Rocket Pack Although you will not be able to tell if a potential target has any particular shield active or not, you will be able to tell that they have at least one shield on because hits will cause bluish sparks instead of the normal red/orange debris. The "wavy" Pod effect no longer occurs. IMPORTANT PLAY TIP: When playing with the new shields, remember that you want to turn them on as soon as you install them, not when you are getting into a fire fight. The shields must charge, and when they are on they are vulnerable to being destroyed when knocked down. If you activate them as soon as you receive incoming fire, then they will most likely be destroyed immediately. - Reserve Bays The Reserve Bay feature has been removed. You are now limited to the nine bays in all cities. - Module Changes - Raise/Lower Value modules have been eliminated - TRI-SHOT has a tighter focus, however it is heavy and requires more power to use. - Liberator requires a lot of power to use, about one-fourth of a normal full CyberPod power cell charge - The range of Long Shot has been increased about 10%. - Resonator has a more powerful effect - TURRET MODULE This new module allows your main weapon to swivel based on the direction you are looking. This is especially useful for heavy Pods that cannot turn quickly, but is also useful for light Pods that tend to run circles around heavier CyberPods. - Grenades now launch at a fixed (though somewhat unreliable) angle. Although still devastating when massed, they cannot be aimed with pinpoint accuracy, and are therefore a long range weapon again. - SHIELD removed - FRONT SHIELD added - REAR SHIELD added - SHIELD ENHANCE added - All unused modules have been removed from the purchase display - Mines now require 10 seconds to activate once they land. They then strobe their surroundings looking for enemy Pods. If one is close enough it will explode. Prior to this version, the delay before they activated was variable depending on the speed of the computer; it is now constant. - Miscellaneous Rule Changes - A CyberPod exploding causes damage, so don't be too close to an enemy when they bite it! Oh, and if you are doomed, might as well rush your enemy to take him out with you. :) - Exploding towers cause damage to nearby Pods, so watch your distance when blowing one up. Also, if someone is cowering next to their tower, try blowing that up. :) - Installed modules can occasionally be destroyed by incoming fire. Shields will prevent this (until one of them is knocked down). Keep an eye on this, as it can change your tactical position quickly! - There is no more "grace shield," however there is a "grace period" of 2 minutes each time you restart at your home base. This grace period will immediately expire if you move more than a city block away from your home base or launch a grenade. You can drop mines and shoot at will during your grace period, but will take no damage from other sources. - Ordering a Power Tower drop costs 1 multiplier point. Ordering a Mega-Tower costs 2 multiplier points. You must have enough to order in the tower. - Multiplier points increase at 30 seconds times the number of multiplier points you have (with a minimum of 30 seconds). This is slower than before, but because you do not spend multiplier points for modules (only for tower calls) you'll end up with much higher scores than you may be used to (assuming, of course, you are judicious with tower placement). - Control Changes - JOYSTICKS A completely new joystick algorithm is being used. When you first enter CyberStrike (with this new version) you should calibrate your joystick by pressing SHIFT-J and following the instructions on the MFD. You can recalibrate your joystick at any time. This new system should work better with the various joysticks and will eliminate the problem with joystick speed-compensators changing the speed of a CyberPod beyond normal. - ThrustMaster Flight Control System (FCS) If you have a ThrustMaster Flight Control System, you can now activate it with SHIFT-F (or from the settings screen in the chamber). The coolie hat will control your view. You can use the "pinkie" button to reset your view to center/forward (like the "*" key). The middle, thumb-button will toggle a TRI-SHOT on and off (if you have one, just like the F7 key). Your FCS coolie hat is actually "Joystick B" and you may find that it doesn't respond properly under some hardware configurations. If the Hat doesn't seem to work, or "pulls" up/down or left/right, then check if you are using a Speed Adjustable Game Card of some sort. Try adjusting the settings for Joystick B until the Hat works the way you expect. If you have ThrustMaster Weapon Control System Mark II, you may have to play with the switches so that it doesn't interfere with the FCS. Try switching the Red switch to Calibrate and the black button to the Analog position. - View Keys You can now look left and right in 3 steps, 45, 90 and 135 degrees, so you can look "over your shoulder" now. With the TURRET module, these views can be used to fire your main weapon too. +/= (a/z) pan up/down moves in fine increments, but accelerates as you hold it down. Makes it useful both for rapid view adjustments up and down and also for pin-point up/down aiming adjustments. 'q' key works the same as '*', centering view. This augments the 'a' and 'z' key "left-handed" view controls. Those who use 'a' and 'z' to pan up and down do not need to reach cross-keyboard to the '*' key to auto-center anymore. - The PAUSE key no longer pauses the simulation. Note that some people have computers which cause the numeric-5 key to pause; this is not something we can figure out how to fix. We have noticed it on Dell Dimension XPS P90's when running from Windows (or having once used Windows that day). Rebooting and running from DOS seems to fix this. The numeric 0 key will work as the numeric-5 key if you still have this problem. If all else fails, we suggest a joystick. If you do pause the simulation in any way, it will cause the software to malfunction and exit. You cannot pause a multiplayer game. :) - See new SHIELD information above for FUNCTION KEY changes - Additional Changes - 16-Bit Sound System CyberStrike has always had an awesome sound system. The new version, however, takes advantage of 16-bit sound cards. The 4-channel audio mixer will sound much clearer on a 16-bit sound card. There are a lot of rich basses in our sounds, so you might want to invest in a good pair of speakers. We recommend a true SoundBlaster type card, either a SB16 or better, and higher-end speakers with a subwoofer. The game is a completely different experience with this sort of equipment! And, all your games will sound better. Since we use true stereo-panning on a per-channel basis, you can use the audio cues from the stereo separation to help you in combat. If someone is firing to your right, you will hear it from that side. To get this effect, you need to separate your speakers sufficiently that you can hear the difference. There is an option in the settings panel to swap the Left and Right channel in case your speakers are backwards to what CyberStrike expects. This version of CyberStrike has several new sounds, and some older ones have been redone. Don't let this throw you! This version uses new sound drivers, so make sure you rerun SETDRV.EXE to set up your sound card. The new SETDRV will play a sample sound to make sure your setup is working. You can swap the LEFT and RIGHT channels of the stereo output from the settings panel (ALT-S) in the Chamber. WHAT IF SOUND WON'T PLAY? 1) Make sure you have run SETDRV to set up your sound card. It will play a sample sound. If this does not work, then your configuration is not correct. Check your sound card manual for details on software settings. Also check that your speakers are hooked up and turned on. You may want to try some other software that you know sound works with to make sure there is not a hardware problem. 2) If SETDRV.EXE plays sound, but there are no sounds when you enter CyberStrike, then check the following: When entering CyberStrike you will see the message: Sounds: OFF (X) The "X" is a number which tells you why sounds are not playing. Here are the codes and their meaning: Problem: (1) No EMS detected Solution: You must have about 1.2 MEG of EMS RAM to load the sounds into. This code means that no EMS driver has been found. To use sound, you must have an Expanded Memory Manager running. DOS 5.0 and up comes with EMM386 which will do the job. You can also acquire QEMM, 386^MAX or any other commercial memory manager. From DOS type MEMMAKER to set up the EMM386 memory manager. Problem: (2) No Sound Driver Detected Solution: Rerun SETDRV.EXE from DOS. CyberStrike did not detect a sound driver. Check that SOUNDRV.COM is in the directory after SETDRV.EXE is complete; this is the sound driver itself. Problem: (3) Incorrect Sound Driver Version Solution: You are using an old sound driver. Make sure you have extracted the new CyberStrike into an empty directory and not into the directory where an older version of CyberStrike was located. This will ensure that when you run SETDRV.EXE that only newer sound drivers are available. You may have downloaded the CS15.EXE file instead of the CS15S.EXE file. The CS15.EXE file has no sounds or sound drivers. Therefore if you downloaded this file into the directory where the previous version of CyberStrike was located, you will have a bunch of old, incompatible sound drivers mixed in. If this is the case, download CSSND.EXE from the CyberStrike software library; this contains all the new sounds and sound drivers. Problem: (4) MIXER Malfunction Solution: You should never see this error. Report to CyberStrike Feedback. Problem: (5) Insufficient EMS Solution: Although you do have an Expanded Memory Manager running on your computer, you do not have enough EMS available to load all the sounds. You need about 1.2 megabytes of EMS to load all the sounds. You can see how much EMS you have from DOS by typing MEM. Or, start CyberStrike and press ALT-M. Check the documentation with your memory manager to learn how to increase this amount. Alternatively, you can delete any of the sounds files from the CyberStrike directory without harm (they are the files with the .SND extension). Deletion of any of these files will simply result in that sound not being played; however less EMS memory is required. Try deleting: CCITY1A.SND, CCITY2A.SND and/or CCITY3.SND since these are just environmental sounds and will not affect important audio combat cues. YOUR OWN SOUNDS You can replace any or all of the sounds in CyberStrike with your own. The sound files all have the .SND extension and are simply RAW sound files, 8-bit, sampled at 11khz. They can be of any length; limited only by how much EMS you set aside for sounds. Attempt to "level" your sounds so they all have the same volume (generally, with peaks reaching full magnitude). The WaveStudio program which comes with most SoundBlaster programs is able to record, load and save RAW sound files (though you'll have to rename them to .SND afterwards). If you wish a sound to occur when a Guppy pilot is unable to make a delivery, then create a sound effect and name it UNABLE.SND in the CyberStrike directory. - CyberPod Performance Your CyberPod will generally respond faster (when unencumbered by modules) than a base-line CyberPod in version 1.04. This includes some significant improvements in jumping and turning. If you have high-speed, fast-turn, high-jump or performance modules, your CyberPod will really fly. This may lead to somewhat more warping problems, but since most CyberPods will carry several mods, and move at or slower than normal, the net effect should be better. The issue here is that you now have many more tactical options, and CyberPods will move at different speeds, making it finally possible to make a getaway or run someone down if you have a faster CyberPod. Light CyberPods with high-jump will be able to leap onto places they never could get to easily before, while heavy CyberPods will be left behind to cool their big guns while the lightly encumbered sprint away. - Bug Fixes - Hangs/Lockups/Crashes The FE software should now be more stable. We've found and fixed many bugs which could lead to hangs and crashes. Some problems are related to hardware and software configurations which we cannot control (such is the nature of MS-DOS), but we do have it to the point where it will run flawlessly for hours on end on many different types of machines at our offices. If you have any problems related to crashes or hangs, please send all system configuration and a description of the problem via CyberStrike feedback (CSHELP$ or CYBERSTRIKE). Any fixes we make will be made available for download in the CyberStrike software library. - Sound System Hiccup Version 1.04 of the FE would sometimes cause the sounds to eventually break up (usually during a thunderstorm) and require you to quit and restart to clear up the problem. This has been fixed. - "Scaling" Walls A bug in the collision system would allow some jumps into walls to "pop" a CyberPod to the top of a building. This has been fixed. - "Tapping" Phalanx Rapidly turning the Phalanx on and off would result in a high rate-of- fire. This has been fixed. Communication Issues - DigiCom Brand Modems We have had reports of CyberStrike not being able to communicate with some (or maybe all) varieties of Digicom modems. We have not been able to determine what causes this, and in fact CyberStrike seems to work with every other modem out there (nor does it do any modem-specific operations). This is a complete mystery. - Carrier Detect CyberStrike REQUIRES that your modem supply a CARRIER DETECT indication so it knows when you are connected and when you are not. Most every modem has this feature, though you must make sure that in the case of an external modem, the serial cable you use passes the CD line (not all do). Most modems can turn on their carrier detect feature with the following AT command: AT&C1 The auto-initialization string sent to the modem when CyberStrike starts up sends this, and some other commands. You can modify this by changing the last line of the INIT.CS file and the appropriate initialization line in the LOGON.SCR file. - Network Delays Since CyberStrike is a fast-paced simulator, network delays can cause all sorts of visual problems. For instance, other CyberPods can appear to "warp" rapidly from time to time. Although we go to great lengths to minimize this, the technology of packet-switched networks (such as that used by nearly any online service, including GEnie) is not really designed for this sort of thing. We do the best with what is there. To help you get an idea of what kind of network delay is going on, a bar in the upper left of the HUD will grow to indicate how long a packet takes to make a "round trip" from your computer to the host and back again. This special "net ping" packet is sent every few seconds and then timed for the return trip. The bar is then updated to show you how long it takes. Usually this should be about one or two in length, though three or four is okay too. Every now and then there may be a 'spike' there, but it should settle down again. The bar will also flash if there is an error in one of the packets being received (thus requiring a retransmission in some cases). If your network delays are significantly worse than this, then here are some things to consider: 1. The performance of the GEnie network can vary based on your geographical location. From St. Louis (where our offices are located), the network delay is almost always 1 or 2. However in some areas, the network traffic can be much heavier and cause delays. Although we do not suggest you move to St. Louis in order to play CyberStrike, we want to point this out so you understand what is going on. Typically, an area with heavy traffic will be getting upgraded network capacity to meet the demand. We have no control over when this happens (and it is driven by GE, not GEnie), but it generally does happen. Although there is a surcharge involved, GEnie does have a direct 800 number you can use to access the service. Call Customer Service for details. This connection should give you superior results. 2. Network traffic will vary based on the time of day. You might try a little later or earlier and see how it is. This can vary over the months as well. 3. Try redialing a few times and see if perhaps it is the particular connection you have. 4. CyberStrike does not seem to work over SprintNet's connection to GEnie. We are working on this problem, but until it is fixed you must use either a GEnie node or the 800 number access. 5. If you seem to be getting a lot of errors (a flashing bar), this will lead to seemingly long network delays. This can be the result of several things: a. If you use an external modem, the link between your modem and the computer is handled by a special control chip called a UART. When data comes in from the modem, the UART translates the signals from the modem cable into something usable by the computer. An IRQ (interrupt) is sent to the software to tell it that there is data available. This happens at a very rapid pace. If the software is unable to service the interrupt fast enough, new incoming data may overwrite what was waiting to be read and thus some data is lost. Newer computers tend to use 16550A (or 16550AFN) UARTs. These have a buffer in them so that if the software does not respond fast enough, there is no loss of data. If your computer has a 16550 type UART, you should have no problems. The reason CyberStrike may not be able to service the interrupt fast enough is because other interrupts may be getting in the way. In version 1.04 of CyberStrike, the sound system would ignore (block) any interrupts while it was doing its 4-channel audio mixing. The new version of CyberStrike fixes this problem and should allow it to service COM IRQs faster. However, if you do get a lot of errors, and you have an older UART you might invest in a "high speed serial port" card. They are not very expensive (say under $40) and will serve you well when doing all sorts of online work at high baud rates. You can also disable sound, and see if this helps. b. You may have a bad connection to the local node. Try redialing and see if it clears up. If you get a lot of "garbage" when logging on, and moving through the GEnie menus, then your CyberStrike connection will be poor as well. If this problem is persistent, contact GEnie Customer Service and they will be able to help you clear up your communication problems. Sometimes a notoriously bad communication link to the local node is due to poor wiring by your local phone company. If you hear static on your data line when dialing normal numbers, then you should probably contact your phone company for advice and possible service. c. MNP4/Error Correction You may be wondering how you can get communication errors if you have a "reliable" link using your modem's MNP4 (or other) reliable communications link. The reason is that the data is only reliable from the modem at the GEnie node down to your modem. Errors can creep in from that point until it reaches CyberStrike. An older UART is a prime example, but a poor cable connection or a bad ISA slot (in the case of an internal modem) is another. In general we do not recommend a MNP4 connection since it adds another layer of error correction which is not needed, thus slowing down communications when in CyberStrike. CyberStrike uses its own 'smart' error correction. For example, if a packet which updates a CyberPod's position is garbled, it does not request it to be retransmitted because another one is on its way anyhow, and it'll be more accurate than the retransmitted one. MNP4 will cause a retransmission and may even increase the "warping" under such circumstances. =============================================================================