
Overlord Playable Demo
======================

Copyright 1994 Rowan Software Ltd


There are two missions on the playable demo.  In the first mission, the player
starts a few miles to the north of Cherbourg.  There are some E-boats below
that are returning from cross channel raids.  The aim is to shoot up the
boats before they can reach the safety of the port.  Inland there are a
number of other targets to attack including a train that has just left
Cherbourg.  If the player hangs around too long, he may be attacked by some
unfriendly aircraft.

In the second mission, the player starts in the same place as before, however
this time there are some unfriendlies on his tail.  These will have to be dealt
with before attacking the boats.  The boats are likely to be in a much safer
position by the time the player can get round to them.

This demo is provided in standard VGA mode only.  Overlord can also be
played in super VGA.  The test program, SVGATEST, on the demo disk can be
used to see if the player's machine is supported by our drivers.  More about
this later.


Installation

From the floppy drive:
                         install drive: directory
               e.g. a:
                         install c:\overdemo


Memory Requirements for Demo

     Hard Disk:     3.5MB

     RAM:           500KB of conventional memory to load program
                 +  100KB of conventional or umb memory to run

                    2.2MB EMS


Program Configuration

After typing "Overlord", you will be presented with the standard Overlord
program configuration:

     Colour Options:     Choose 1 for 320.200 VGA
                         The other options are not available on the demo.

     Music Options:      Choose any of the options presented.

     SFX Options:        Choose any of the options presented.  If
                         SoundBlaster is chosen, the program will inspect
                         your autoexec.bat for the necessary setup data.  If
                         the information is not available, you will have to
                         input it manually.

     Sound on Ground:    
     Sound in Air:       We offer the choice of 5.5KHz sound and 11KHz
                         sound.  The 11KHz ones sound better but they take
                         up more RAM.  Also, for any SFX option choice,
                         apart from the SoundBlaster, the 11KHz sound will
                         slow down the game.

If you would like to reconfigure the program at a later date, at the DOS
prompt, type:

          overlord  ?


Menu Options

Exit Demo           You've guessed!

Configure Demo      This game configure option allows you to configure the
                    following:

                         Control Type:  keyboard or various types of
                                        joysticks
                         Separate Rudder
                         Sound
                         Music
                         Detail level

Playable Demo       The game itself


User Interface

1.   The keyboard controls are always available:

          Tab            to move selection forwards
          Shift Tab      to move selection backwards
          Enter or Space to select

     Hot keys as indicated.

2.   Mouse control will be available provided that a driver has been
     previously installed.

3.   The joystick can only be used for flight.  It cannot be configured to
     work the user interface.


Manoeuvring

     The default is keyboard, using the arrow keys.  For joystick selection
     and calibration, choose the configure option (on menu or f10 in game).

          +         revs up   (keypad gives bigger effects)
          -         revs down (as above)
          ,         minimum revs
          .         maximum military revs

          /         combat boost
                    Leaving combat boost on for more than a few seconds
                    will result in engine damage.
          ins,del   rudder
          end,PgDn  max rudder


Ground Attack Mission

   - Nose down to attack the E-boat in front
   - PgUp to select rockets
   - Home for ripple rockets
   - Space for trigger

     After the initial attack is successful:

   - Shift f9 to view nearest ground target on inside lock view
   - f6 to move to outside view of ground target
   - f1, f2 & f3 keys with/without alt for zoom and rotate, ctrl f1,f2 & f3 to
     reset
   - alt f to move from one target to the next
   - on selecting target required, f9 to move to inside lock.  The target will
     now always be at centre screen.  Manoeuvre aircraft until you are
     pointing at it.  If this is disorientating try f8 (outside lock) first.
   - hold tab to accel if required


Air to Air Mission

   - Enter to move to outside lock
   - manoeuvre aircraft until pointing at enemy
   - backspace to move to inside lock to make the kill


Other Keys

There are many other keys available in the demo, but we would need a
manual to describe them all.  Here are some important ones:

     alt D     to toggle auto detail
     ctrl D    to manually select a detail level
     P         pause


View Matrix

There are a very large number of views available in Overlord: so who needs
radar!

To help avoid confusion, it is worth bearing in mind that, with only a few
exceptions, you need to press two keys to get any particular view.  Hence
the title, "View Matrix".  One group of keys defines the viewee and the other
group of keys defines the view type.


So, say you are on the track view (f6) of your aircraft (piloted aircraft). 
Pressing shift f3 changes the viewee to the nearest enemy.  Because a view
type key hasn't been pressed yet you see the track view of the nearest
enemy.  Press f8 to change the view type to outside lock.  This will show the
piloted aircraft in the foreground and the nearest enemy, centre screen, in
the background.  Manoeuvre to point at the enemy and then press f9 to get
to inside lock for the kill.

Here are some exceptions that are really just shortcuts to make it all a bit
easier:

     enter:         outside lock of nearest enemy.  This is equivalent to
                    pressing shift f3 and f8 as described above.

     backspace:     inside lock of nearest enemy

     escape:        return to piloted aircraft


Graphic Support

The game, as opposed to the demo, can be played in 3 different setups:
          
               VGA mode
               mixed mode
               SVGA mode

In VGA mode, both the ground and flying sections are presented in 256
colours and standard resolution.  This mode will work on 386 and more
advanced machines.  On some 386 machines, it may be necessary to go to the
lowest level of detail.  This provides:

               no imagemapping of the landscape
               imagemapping on aircraft and some targets

In mixed mode, the ground section of the game is presented in SVGA and the
flying section is presented in standard VGA resolution, both using 256 colours. 
This mode is recommended for 486 machines up to and including 486-DX50.

In SVGA mode, both the ground and flying sections are presented in 256
colours and high resolution.  To run the flying section with full detail
requires at least a 486-DX66 local bus machine.  Of course, it is possible to
run the flying section on a slower machine at lower detail levels.


SVGA drivers

The following drivers are supplied:

               ET4000
               Trident
               Vesa A
               Vesa B


The comments above in the section on Graphic Support concerning the SVGA
mode, apply to the ET4000, Trident and Vesa A drivers.  The Vesa B option
is not as good as Vesa A, but should work for most graphic cards.  Vesa B is
slower than Vesa A and will only be adequate for local bus machines.  Vesa A
will not work on S3 cards.

The conclusion then is:

       1. If you don't have an ET4000 or Trident card, try Vesa A.

       2. If Vesa A doesn't work, try Vesa B if you have a local bus
          machine.

       3. If all else fails, use the VGA mode.


Copyright 1994 Rowan Software Ltd
