- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - __ __ _ __ __ _ | \/ | ___ _ __| |_ __ _ _ __ | \/ | __ _ _ _| |__ ___ _ __ ___ | |\/| |/ _ \| '__| __/ _` | '__| | |\/| |/ _` | | | | '_ \ / _ \ '_ ` _ \ | | | | (_) | | | || (_| | | | | | | (_| | |_| | | | | __/ | | | | | |_| |_|\___/|_| \__\__,_|_| |_| |_|\__,_|\__, |_| |_|\___|_| |_| |_| |___/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - v1.0 A game by Pelle Coltau & Jens Juul Jacobsen Official website at: http://mortar.address.com Table of Content: 1. DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT NOTICES. 2. MORTAR MAYHEM FOR DUMMIES. 2.1 Running the game. 2.2 The Main Menu. 2.3 "Start game". 2.3.1 Game Setup. 2.3.2 The Game interface. 2.3.3 Playing the Game. 2.3.3.1 The Controls. 2.3.3.2 The Weaponslist. 2.3.3.3 The Pause menu. 2.3.3.4 Destroying tanks. 2.3.3.5 Ending a round. 2.3.3.6 Winning the game. 2.3.3.7 The winners and awards. 2.3.4 The Statistics. 2.3.4.1 First page. 2.3.4.2 Second page. 2.3.5 The Purchase/Sell menu. 2.3.5.1 The interface. 2.3.5.2 Purchasing. 2.3.5.3 Selling. 2.4 "Options". 2.4.1 Gameplay. 2.4.1.1 Start order. 2.4.1.2 1. Round start order. 2.4.1.3 Economy. 2.4.1.4 Wind. 2.4.1.5 Tracers. 2.4.1.6 Fast shot. 2.4.1.7 Comment delay. 2.4.1.8 "Pass turn" button. 2.4.2 Land generator. 2.4.2.1 Land complexity. 2.4.2.2 Land smoothness. 2.4.3 Audio/Video. 2.4.3.1 Sound. 2.4.3.2 Fading screens. 2.4.3.3 Video resolution. 3. KNOWN PROBLEMS. 3.1 Error messages at start-up. 3.2 Changing graphics mode. 3.3 Having enough free memory. 3.4 Crash when quitting. 3.5 Graphics goes haywire when multitasking. 3.6 Black screen at start-up. 3.7 For WinNT or Win2000 users! 4. WHAT'S NEW. 5. CREDITS. 6. CONTACT. 7. APPENDIXES. 7.1 Plan. 7.2 Frequently Asked Questions. =============================================================================== 1. DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT NOTICES. =============================================================================== This game (Mortar Mayhem) is totally freeware and may be copied freely as long as the game is intact in its original form and distributed without fee of any kind (for non-commercial purposes only). This includes all files associated with the game (graphics, text, encrypted text etc.). This also includes the sourcecode (if released). If you want to use anything from this game (including graphics and sourcecode) in your own distributions, then please contact the authors (see section 6) and ask politely :). The authors take no responsibility if any data is lost or damaged (including hardware) when using this game and should not be held responsible if any physical or psychological damage is caused to the user (that is for example if the user goes out and buys a tank and blows up his neighbourhood - not our fault!). Well, the keywords are: 'Freeware' and 'Use at own risk'. Have fun! =============================================================================== 2. MORTAR MAYHEM FOR DUMMIES. =============================================================================== _______________________________________________________________________________ 2.1 Running the game. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ When you download the game (or where ever you got it from) it should be packet in a zip-file (packet with WinZip). This means that you need WinZip 7.0 to unpack the game (see at http://www.winzip.com). How to unpack and run the game, for Windows users (we feel your pain): 1) Open the Explorer (Windowskey + E). 2) Find the file ("Mortar.zip"), drag the file to your games directory (using the right mousebutton - not left!) 3) Choose "Extract to folder C:\Games\Mortar". 4) Let it unpack. 5) Go to "C:\Games\Mortar" and doubleclick on "Mortar.exe". We have chosen only to explain this to Windows users. For this we would like to apologise deeply and we hope not that our inferior knowledge (on how to port the game to Linux) makes you think lesser of us... _______________________________________________________________________________ 2.2 The Main Menu. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ After you have doubleclicked on "mortar.exe", you should be presented with the Main Menu. If you are not presented with the Main Menu, please see section 3 - Known Problems, especially the part about changing resolution. Now, the Main Menu has four selections to choose from: (You scroll using the up and down keys, and choose with Enter.) Start Game - see section 2.3 Options - see section 2.4 About - just a little reminder of who made this game. Quit - makes you quit the game and return to Windows. _______________________________________________________________________________ 2.3 "Start Game". ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ 2.3.1 Game Setup. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ When you choose "Start Game" you will see a "Game Setup" box. Here you can alter number of players and number of rounds (Choose with the up'n'down keys, and alter the selections using left'n'right keys. Use Enter to finish setup and begin game). That should be simple. There is also a "Points given to:"-choice. When a round is finished there is given points to the best player. The player with the most points (when all rounds have been played) is the winner. "The points given to"-choices are the following: * Survival : The last tank standing gets the most points. * Most Hits : The one with the bets Hits-percentage gets the most points. * Most Frags : The one with the most Frags gets the most points (Frags = Kills - Suicides). * Most Damage : The one with the most Damage caused to other tanks gets the most points (Frags = Kills - Suicides). * Best Dam/Shot : The one with the best Damage per Shot ratio gets the most points. * Most Headshots: The one with the most headshots get most points. When you press Enter to start the game you will first be prompted with the names of all the players. When all playernames have been entered the game will begin. 2.3.2 The Game interface. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ In the middle of the screen there is a landscape with a number of tanks deployed. One of these tanks is yours, and you need to destroy the others. In the top of the screen there is a bar. The items on the bar are the following: * Power : This is the your firepower. It should read 500/1000. The '500' is your current firepower and determines how powerful your shot is going to be. The '1000' is your maximum firepower. If you are hit by a mortar or another bomb it will drain your maximum firepower. If this reaches zero, you will die! * Angle : This is the angle (or pitch) of your cannon. It should read '45 R'. The '45' is the angle, and the 'R' is the direction (R = Right, L = Left). * Name : This is the name of the current active player. * Weapon : This is your current selected weapon. It should read 'Mortar 99'. 'Mortar' is the name of your weapon, and '99' is the quantity of this particular weapon. In the bottom of the screen there is the following items: * Armour : This is your armour (It can be bought at the end a round). If this reaches zero, you will have lost all your armour - for good. * Parachutes : This is the number of parachutes that is available to you. * Mag.Shield : This reads "on" if you have bought a Mag.Shield, and "off" if you don't. * Wind : This is a bar that determines the direction and speed of the wind (if turned on). In the middle of the 'wind-box' there is a little white line. This is the border between a left-wind and a right-wind. If a blue bar is stretched out on the left of the white line, you will experience a left-wind. The speed of the wind is determined by the length of the blue bar. * (Guid.Fuel) : If you have bought and selected the "GM X-#"-missile you will see a "Giud.Fuel" bar between "Mag.Shield" and "Wind". This is the fuel that is described in the description to the "GM X-#"-missile. 2.3.3 Playing the Game. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ 2.3.3.1 The Controls. These are the keys that you use in the game: * Up : Increase Power, rough (+25) * Down : Decrease Power, rough (-25) * Left : Adjust Angle, rough (4 deg. left) * Right : Adjust Angle, rough (4 deg. right) * Num 8 : Increase power, fine (+1) * Num 2 : Decrease power, fine (-1) * Num 4 : Adjust Angle, fine (1 deg. left) * Num 6 : Adjust Angle, fine (1 deg. right) * Home : Full Power * End : No Power * Pg Up : Change Weapon (previus) * Pg Down: Change Weapon (next) * Tab : Weaponslist (see section 2.3.3.2). * Space : Fire Weapon * P : Passes turn to next player (This can be disabled in 'Options' from the main menu - see section 2.4.1.8). * Esc : Pause/Quit (see section 2.3.3.3) 2.3.3.2 The Weaponslist. When you push the TAB-key a weaponslist will appear. This is a list of the weapons that are currently in your inventory. When you select a weapon the description of it will be shown in the box beneath the list (If the description is not displayed then it is because of a lack of memory. The description is removed to save memory). You use the up'n'down keys to scroll or 'Page Up' and 'Page Down' to scroll fast. You can use Enter or TAB to select the weapon or ESC to deselect. You will be able to buy new weapons at the end of each round. 2.3.3.3 The Pause menu. In game you push ESC to invoke the pause menu (This isn't really a pause menu since the game is turnbased and the game then automatically pauses, but who cares..). At this menu you can choose between 4 different choices: * Continue : Continues the game. * Mass kill : This instantly kills all the remaining live tanks (you can use this if the tanks that are left don't have enough firepower to reach each other). * Controls : This displays a list of controls that you can use in the game (the same list as in section 2.3.3.1). * End game : This ends the game and returns you to the Main Menu. 2.3.3.4 Destroying tanks. To destroy the hostile tanks you need to hit them, and preferably with something BIG. To do this you need to set just the right amount of power and the right angle (see section 2.3.3.1 on how to do so). Then hit Space and see the mortar fly. If you hit a tank it will damage his firepower and when he is damaged enough he will explode. The more damage you cause to the other tanks - the more money you get at the end of the round. 2.3.3.5 Ending a round. Ending a round is very simple: If there is less than two tanks left the round is finished. You will then be presented by the statistics for this round and the overall statistics. 2.3.3.6 Winning the game. You win the game if: * All rounds have been played. * You are the player with most overall points. You can see the points on the statistics board that are displayed at the end of each round. The points are given out accordingly to the option that you have selected at 'Game Setup' (section 2.3.1). 2.3.3.7 The winners and awards. When you have played all rounds and viewed the statistics page for the last time, you will be presented with "The winners and awards" screen. This screen is a summary of the achivements in the game. These are the items on the screen: * The Winner : This is of course the winner and the amount of points he got. * The Mayhem Award : This is the player who has caused most damage to the other tanks. * The Assassin Award : This is the player with the most frags. * The Sniper Award : This is the player with the best hit percentage. ( Hit%=(Hits/Shots)*100% ) If there is more than one player with the same amount of points/damage/frags/hit%, then all the players will of course be displayed. Just press a key when you are finished and you will be sent back to the Main Menu. 2.3.4 The Statistics. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ There are two different statistic pages than you can browse between (using space). Both these pages are divided in to two different windows. The upper window displays the statistics ('stats' from now on) for the current round. The lower window displays the overall stats. Both the windows have the same categories. 2.3.4.1 First page. Both pages display the rank number for each player and their names. The first page displays: * Points : These are the points that are given out accordingly to the option that you have selected at 'Game Setup' (section 2.3.1). * Income/Balance : Upper window: The amount of money given awarded. Lower window: You current balance - including this rounds income. * Shots : The number of shots fired (If you fire a weapon that releases more than one shot, then all the shots/explosions are counted). * Hits : The percentage of hits (this is direct hits on a tank - not just removing the dirt under the other tanks). * Misses : The percentage of misses. * Frags : The number of frags (Frags = Kills - Suicides). 2.3.4.2 Second page. * Damage in % : The amount of damage each player has caused on the other tanks in percents. Damage caused on a players own tank is not included. * Damage : The amount of damage caused in clean numbers. * Dam/Shot : The amount of damage caused per shot. * Headshots : The amount of headshots achieved. To continue the game (or end it, if it's the last round) then press ESC. You will now be presented with the Purchase/Sell menu... 2.3.5 The Purchase/Sell menu. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ Here you can spend some of the cool cash that you have been awarded. 2.3.5.1 The interface. The main window is divided into to columns: The left column is a list of the weapons and items that are available to you. If the item is white then you can afford it. If it is gray you don't have enough money to buy it. In each row in the column there is displayed an item. First the item name and then the quantity. If the quantity says '3' it means that you get 3 units of this particular item when you buy it. The last number is the price of X units of this item (Cost = 'Price per unit' * 'Quantity'). The right column is a list of the weapons and items in your inventory. First comes the name of the item and then the amount of each items. In the bottom window there is displayed a description of the currently selected item and some technical data. If the description says: "Unknown", it is because you can't afford the selected item. The controls: Up'n'Down keys is for scrolling in the lists. Use the Left'n'Right keys to shift between the left and right column. Enter to Purchase/Sell the selected item. Space to let the next player do his shopping ESC to end the whole shopping mania and begin on the next round of MORTAR MAYHEM! Determining in which column you are active: To determine in which column you are active you can look for a green bar. This green bar (as in all other menus in this game) tells you which item is selected. If the green bar has selected an item in the left column it means that you want to purchase this item. If it is the right column it means that this is the item you want to sell. 2.3.5.2 Purchasing. To purchase an item or a weapon you need to select it at the left column. If the item is white you can purchase it, if it is gray you can't. Then just press Enter and it will be yours. The item will now be moved to you inventory, if you already have this item, then the 'amount' of this item will then be increased. The limit of items to be stored in your inventory is: Weapons: 99 units. Armour: 1 armour (either Light, Medium, Heavy or Titanium - you can't combine them). Mag.Shield: 1 shield. Parachutes: 9 units. Armour Repair Kit: as long as you have armour and it is damaged - as many as you can afford. 2.3.5.3 Selling. To sell an item you need to select it in your inventory (the right column). Then press Enter and the deal should be in order. (You won't have any luck trying to sell a "Mortar" since you have an infinite supply and they are therefore worthless). _______________________________________________________________________________ 2.4 "Options". ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ You get to the options via the Main Menu. You are then presented with a list of options that are divided into 3 categories. The controls that you use are: Up'n'Down keys : Lets you select the different parameters. Left'n'Right keys : Lets you change the settings for each parameter. Enter : Confirms the changes (if any) and returns to the Main Menu. ESC : Cancels the changes and returns to the Main Menu. 2.4.1 Gameplay. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ 2.4.1.1 Start order. The 'start order' is the order in which the tanks begin at the start of each round (except round 1 - see section 2.4.1.2). This parameter has 4 different settings: * Losers first : The loser from last round begins, the winner comes last. * Winners first : The winner from last round begin, the loser is last. * Random : Random start order. * By playernumber : This means: First blue, then red, then green etc.. - the order in which you enter the playernames. 2.4.1.2 1. Round start order. If you in the 'Start order' parameter select 'Loser first' or 'Winner first', then you also have to select a '1. Round start order', because there is no winner or loser in the first round. This parameter is disabled if you have selected 'Random' or 'By playername' in the 'Start order' parameter. This parameter has 2 settings: * Random : Random start order. * By playernumber : This means: First blue, then red, then green etc.. - the order in which you enter the playernames. 2.4.1.3 Economy. The 'Economy' parameter determines the amount of money that are awarded at the end of each round. This parameter has 4 settings: * Poor : A little amount of money is awarded. * Normal : A fair amount of money is awarded. * Rich : A lot of money is awarded. * Wealth : This setting lets the winner get his hands on all the big guns! 2.4.1.4 Wind. Do you want the wind to affect your shot when fired? This parameter has an on/off setting. 2.4.1.5 Tracers. This is the trace of your shot, it has 3 settings: * Off : No trace. * Gray : A dark gray trace. * Tank color : The trace color is the same color as the tank which fired the shot. 2.4.1.6 Fast shot. The 'Fast shot' parameter is for the slower computers to get some action too. It determines the amount of delay between each movement of the shot. This parameter has an on/off setting. 2.4.1.7 Comment delay. Comments are the little notice that sometimes are displayed at the top of the screen (in game), when a tank hits another tank (or itself): "Player 1 annihilated Player 2". This parameter determines the number of seconds that go from the message is shown to it's removed. It has an 'off' setting or a 'X.X sec.' (0.1 - 2.0) setting. 2.4.1.8 "Pass turn" button. The "Pass Turn" button the button with which you can pass a players turn to the next player and thereby avoid firing a shot (It is recommended to use the 'off' setting when playing by 'Most Hits' and certainly 'Best Dam/Shot' - see section 2.3.1 'Game Setup' if you don't know what this is). This parameter has an on/off setting. 2.4.2 Land generator. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ 2.4.2.1 Land complexity. The 'Land complexity' parameter determines the amount of segments that the landscape is divided into. An example: This landscape has 5 segments: 3 / \ / \ 1 / \ 5 / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / 2 \ / \ / 4 \ / \ / \ This parameter has these settings: '5 segments' -> '50 segments' with a step of 5 seg. per setting. 2.4.2.2 Land smoothness. This parameter determines the smoothness of the landscape. It has 4 settings: * Alpine : Very steep mountains. A mountain can reach from the bottom to the top of the screen. * Mountainous : Mountains are spread out over the landscape. * Hilly : Small hills here an there. * Dunes : Small dunes throughout the landscape. 2.4.3 Sound/Video. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ 2.4.3.1 Sound. Well, sound is a bold word to use. It's through the PC-Speaker and not much to talk about. We are working on better sound at the moment... This parameter has an on/off setting. 2.4.3.2 Fading screens. The 'Fading screens' parameter has an on/off setting and determines whether to fade between each screen-shift or make a hard translation. The fading takes a half a second, but can still annoy many people, so we made it possible to turn it off. 2.4.3.3 Video resolution. There might be some problems involving when changing the resolution (see section 3 which handles many of the problems). You can either change it here or change it with a parameter to the 'mortar.exe' file (see section 3.2 on how to do so). This parameter has 4 settings: * 640x480 * 800x600 * 1024x768 * 1280x1024 If you change this setting and then return to the Main menu you will first be presented with a box that tells you this: "Your screen will now be resized. If the screen acts weird, then wait 10 sec. and the original mode will be restored. Do you wish to apply the new mode (y/n)?" Press 'y' and the resolution will be changed. If you then are presented with the following message: "Your screen has now been resized. Do you want to keep this setting (y/n)?", then everything works fine, and you can proceed without problems. If you are not presented with this message, if you press 'n' or if you do not press 'y' within 10 seconds, then the resolution will return to the previous mode. As written in section 3.4: Your graphics card and screen might very well be capable of resolutions up to 1280x1024, but you might still have to play the game in 640x480. This is because the graphics driver does not recognise your hardware. =============================================================================== 3. KNOWN PROBLEMS. =============================================================================== _______________________________________________________________________________ 3.1 Error messages at start-up. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ - "Could not install graphics drivers." or - "Could not detect your graphics hardware." ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ Something went wrong when trying to shift to graphics mode. The problem could be one of two: 1) The graphics mode (resolution) is not supported by your graphic card. 2) The graphics driver (svga256.bgi) doesn't recognise your graphic card. Solution: 1) Try changing the mode. See section 3.2 on how to do this. 2) Well there ain't much to be done. Try e-mailing us and ask if something has changed since this text was written. - "Could not find the graphicsfile (svga256.bgi)." or - "Your graphics driver (svga256.bgi) is invalid." ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ Well, the file svga256.bgi is missing or invalid. Please e-mail us to get a copy or go searching on the web. Try: www.programmersheaven.com - "There was not enough free memory to load the graphics driver." ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ Then you just have to think: 'Damn I hate DOS and its darn low memory!". Please see section 3.3 for a solution. - "BGI Error: Graphics not initialized (use InitGraph)" ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ This is an unkonwn error (or at least it is an unkown error to the computer). This is most likely a WinNT or Win2000 problem (if you do not use any of those then please mail us). You need to make a shortcut to 'mortar.exe': 1) Open explorer and find the mortar-directory. 2) Drag 'mortar.exe' (using right mousebutton) to a place in that directory. 3) Choose 'Create Shortcut(s) Here' from the rolldown menu. Then you have to make the program start in fullscreen (for some reason this doesn't work directly on the exe-file only on the shortcut): 1) Click on the shortcut (right mousebutton) and choose 'Properties'. 2) Find the 'Screen' tab and click on it. 3) Choose 'Full screen' instead of 'window', and press OK. Now you should be able to start the game via the shortcut. _______________________________________________________________________________ 3.2 Changing graphics mode. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ If you are having problem with the current resolution then run the game using this parameter: -m[1-4] to change resolution. 1) 640x480 2) 800x600 (default) 3) 1024x768 4) 1280x1024 ex.: Mortar.exe -m3' All the modes are working with 256 colors. _______________________________________________________________________________ 3.3 Having enough free memory. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ This is one of the big problems when using DOS - having enough free memory. How to check you free memory in DOS is easy, just type 'mem' and you will get a list of the memory usage in you system. Then look for the 'Largest executable program size' value, it should be larger than 450k (atleast that's what mine is). The free memory problem shouldn't really be a problem when playing the game, but if you get a hold of the sourcecode and try to compile it (using Turbo Pascal 7.0), you might get a 'heap overflow'-error. To get rid of this problem has its share of tweaking involved: * Try compiling to disk instead of to memory, or... * Set the 'High heap size' to 655360 or as high as possible and 'Low heap size' to 0, or... * Set the 'Stack size' to 12288, or... * Don't do whatever it is you do to cause the error :) _______________________________________________________________________________ 3.4 Crashing when quitting. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ When you quit from the main menu the program might crash. This is because of an error in the graphics driver. The error occurs when changing from graphics mode to textmode. Windows (if you are using that cr*p) will report a generel protection error and shut the game down. No data is lost and windows will run perfect (if ever able) afterwards - its just an unusually way to quit, but we are waiting for a new driver... _______________________________________________________________________________ 3.5 Graphics goes haywire when multitasking. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ In short: Multitask at own risk! The graphicsdriver is very likely to screw up if you multitask. I must again sadly put the blame on the graphicsdriver, still waiting for an update... _______________________________________________________________________________ 3.6 Black screen at start-up. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ If you start the game, and there's nothing but a black screen, then try a different graphics mode (see section 3.2 on how to do this). Your graphics card and screen might very well be capable of resolutions up to 1280x1024, but you might still have to play the game in 640x480. This is because the graphics driver does not recognise your hardware. This is the same problem as in section 3.4. _______________________________________________________________________________ 3.7 For WinNT or Win2000 users! ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ There is a problem when using WinNT and Win2000: You need to make a shortcut to the 'mortar.exe' and make it run in fullscreen. If you do not know how to do this, then please see section 3.1 where it is descriped (the last error message). Another problem (if you get the game started): You might experience some lagging (pausing), this is a very wierd bug, but if you just press shift or another key it should work fine again. =============================================================================== 4. WHAT'S NEW? =============================================================================== In version 1.0: ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ Released the 7th March 2001 New: Well, the whole game :) =============================================================================== 5. CREDITS. =============================================================================== For the PCX-read unit: Includes portions of SHOW_PCX, now renamed to SPCX_New. Used by permission of ZSoft Corporation. Beta testers: * Ajmagard * Erain * George * Ironman * Janis * Pumpkin * Skywalker =============================================================================== 6. CONTACT. =============================================================================== For questions, comments, bug-reports or just a chat, please e-mail: pcoltau@hotmail.com or ironman_@worldonline.dk If you want to see when a new version of the game is released, then please check out the official Mortar Mayhem website at: http://mortar.address.com Here you can download the newest version of the game, and see a lot of other cool stuff. =============================================================================== 7. APPENDIXES. =============================================================================== _______________________________________________________________________________ 7.1 Plan. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ These are some ideas that might or might not be added in a later version of the game. If you have anything to add or a comment, then feel free to email us. * Animated explosions. * Better sound. * Friendly fire (option). * A 'Save Game' option. * Ingame backgrounds. * Tank repair kit. * A plastic weapon that can't affected by the magnetic shield. * A titanium deluxe armour. * The player who drew first blood in a round gets a bonus. * A jetpack-thingy for the tanks. * Different game types ("King of the Hill" etc.) * Different amount of items in inventory (option). * Team play. * A "Laser". _______________________________________________________________________________ 7.2 Frequently Asked Questions. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ If you think you might have a common question, or you couldn't find an answer anywhere else, then this is the place to look. Game play questions. ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ Q: "My tank was hit and there was a big hole under it. Luckily I had a parachute, but it didn't open! Is it a bug?" A: Probably not. When you where hit your maxpower got below zero and you where already dead, so there was no need for a parachute to open. Q: "All the remaining tanks don't have enough firepower to reach each other. It's pretty boring, what can we do?" A: Invoke the pause menu (ESC-key) and choose "Mass kill". This instantly kills all the remaining live tanks and ends the round. Q: "At the statistics page I can see that I have caused 1234 damage, but I have 0% hits. Is it a bug?" A: Nope. A hit is a _direct_ hit. The damage you have caused may be fall damage on the other tanks. You probably removed a lot of dirt under a tank and he lunged towards hell, that is still a miss, but it counts in your 'damage'. There will added questions as they come to us.... =============================================================================== The concept of freeware: "Why should people pay for something I wouldn't even buy?" - the coders. Ż