Star Control 3 Hyper Melee Demo README.TXT September 20, 1996 ********************************** *** Use the UP and DOWN arrow *** *** keys to scroll this text *** *** file and ESC key to return *** *** to the menu. *** ********************************** STAR CONTROL 3 (TM) Hyper Melee Demo README ------------------------------------------- For instructions on how to play the Star Control 3, please consult the MANUAL.TXT file. For more detailed technical help, or information on installing and running Star Control 3, please consult the HELP.ME file. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction II. Quick Start III. Running Star Control 3 A. Installing The Game B. Setting Up Sound C. Running The Game IV. Viewing the Manual V. Hyper Melee Remote Play Notes A. Network Games B. Modem Games C. Serial Games D. Remote Play Tips VI. Technical Tips VII. Known Bugs VIII. Technical Support IX. Legal Stuff ---------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Accolade is pleased to present the STAR CONTROL 3 Hyper Melee Demo. *What is STAR CONTROL? STAR CONTROL is simply the coolest Space-Action-Adventure-Strategy game ever made. Some time after the 20th Century, the vicious, caterpillar-like Ur-Quan showed up in our solar system, and things haven't been the same since. *Is there even more STAR CONTROL? The full version of Star Control 3 is the greatest science fiction action / adventure / strategy ever. The fabric of the universe is crumbling and it's up to you to find the answer somewhere in the unexplored reaches of the Kessarri Quadrant. You're in control of a star fleet searching hundreds of planets. Your quest is to unravel the secret to the universe's oldest and deadliest mystery. If you haven't already got one, you can get ready to learn the rest of the STAR CONTROL story by running out to the store and buying your copy of Accolade's STAR CONTROL Collection available now at almost any computer store anywhere. STAR CONTROL Collection contains STAR CONTROL and STAR CONTROL II. STAR CONTROL Collection--it's value-priced and wholesome! While you are at the Mall, buy the STAR CONTROL novel, INTERBELLUM, now available at finer book stores everywhere, or you can contact Prima Publishing at 800-531-2343 to place an order. Coming soon: the STAR CONTROL 3 Strategy Guide available from Prima Publishing. To order call 800-531-2343. Haven't had enough STAR CONTROL? Check us out at our Web site: http://www.accolade.com/ * What does this mean: ? In this README file, there are numerous references to . This means that in order to get a response from the computer, press the key on your keyboard listed in between the carets < >. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- QUICK START ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copy the SC3MELEE.EXE file to a SC3MELEE subdirectory on your hard drive. Run the SC3MELEE program and then the SETSOUND utility from the SC3MELEE subdirectory. Run the MELEE7 program to play the game. Once the game is up and running, you can delete the SC3MELEE.EXE file to regain hard some space on your hard drive. For more detailed instructions, check out the RUNNING STAR CONTROL 3 section of the README.TXT file. To get help on how to use the game, press F1 from the Hyper Melee Configuration Screen. To find the name of an icon, hold the pointer over it for a moment without pressing any buttons. For more detailed instructions, check out the USING STAR CONTROL 3 section of the MANUAL.TXT file. Have fun! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RUNNING STAR CONTROL 3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTALLING THE GAME ------------------------------- Star Control 3 Hyper Melee Demo needs to be copied to your hard drive, uncompressed, and configured to match your sound system before you play the game. The most common configuration for machines at the time of this document is one or two floppy drives, a single hard drive, and a single CD-ROM drive, so that a reference to: A: refers to the floppy drive that will boot your machine if a system disk is present in the drive when the machine is turned on C: refers to your hard drive D: refers to your CD-ROM drive If the drive specifications are different on your machine, then use the appropriate equivalent drive as necessary. If you are reading this thirty years in the future, and drive devices have been replaced by magneto-neural interfaces, then we cannot help you. From DOS: Access your hard drive and create an SC3MELEE subdirectory. Example: C: MD \SC3MELEE Access the directory where SC3MELEE.EXE file is located and copy it to the SC3MELEE subdirectory. Example: D: COPY D:SC3MELEE.EXE C:\SC3MELEE Once you have copied over the SC3MELEE.EXE file, you will need 8 MB of free hard drive space to install the Hyper Melee Demo. Access the SC3MELEE subdirectory on your hard drive and run the SC3MELEE.EXE program. Example: C: CD \SC3MELEE SC3MELEE After SC3MELEE.EXE uncompresses the game on your hard drive, run SETSOUND.EXE to configure your MIDI and Digital Sound settings. If you have questions, check out the Setting Up Sound section that follows. Example: SETSOUND Quit SETSOUND back to the operating system. Once you have completed running SETSOUND, run the MELEE7.EXE program to play the game. Once the game is up and running, you can delete the SC3MELEE.EXE file to regain hard drive space. From Windows 95: Click on the My Computer icon. Right Click on your hard drive in the drive list and choose New and then Folder. Name the Folder SC3MELEE Click on the drive and directory in the drive list where SC3MELEE.EXE file is located. Right click on the SC3MELEE.EXE file and choose Copy. Browse to the SC3MELEE folder on your hard drive and choose that as the file's destination. Once you have copied over the SC3MELEE.EXE file, you will need 8 MB free to install the Hyper Melee Demo. Click on the hard drive letter in the drive list and refer to the amount of memory available at the bottom of the My Computer window. Click to open the SC3MELEE subdirectory on your hard drive and double click on SC3MELEE.EXE to run the program. After SC3MELEE.EXE uncompresses the game on your hard drive, click on SETSOUND.EXE to configure your MIDI and Digital Sound settings. If you have questions, check out the Setting Up Sound section that follows. Quit SETSOUND to return to the operating system. Once you have completed running SETSOUND, drag the MELEE7.EXE program to the desktop to create a shortcut. Double click on the MELEE7.EXE shortcut to play the game. Once the game is up and running, you can delete the SC3MELEE.EXE file to regain hard drive space. Right click on the SC3MELEE.EXE file and choose Delete. SETTING UP SOUND ------------------------------- Use SETSOUND to install the correct sound and music drivers for your system. Using the arrow keys, move the highlight over the "Select and configure MIDI music driver" option, then press . Using the arrow keys, move the highlight over the correct sound driver for your sound card, then press . Using the arrow keys, move the highlight over the "Attempt to configure sound driver automatically" option, then press . If the sound driver does not configure automatically, you will have to return to this screen and choose the "Skip auto-detection and configure sound driver manually" option. Once you have returned to the main SETSOUND screen, using the arrow keys, move the highlight over the "Select and configure digital audio driver" option, then press . Using the arrow keys, move the highlight over the correct sound driver for your sound card, then press . Using the arrow keys, move the highlight over the "Attempt to configure sound driver automatically" option, then press . If the sound driver does not configure automatically, you will have to return to this screen and choose the "Skip auto-detection and configure sound driver manually" option. When you are done and have returned to the main SETSOUND screen, using the arrow keys, move the highlight over the "Done" option, then press . If you wish to change these options in the future, access the SC3MELEE subdirectory and run SETSOUND again. RUNNING THE GAME ------------------------------- From DOS: Access the SC3MELEE subdirectory of your hard drive. Example: C:\ CD SC3MELEE (assuming you installed Star Control to the default directory) Type: MELEE7 From Windows 95: Once Windows 95 has loaded, and is operating normally, double click on the MELEE7.EXE shortcut to run the game. If you do not have a shortcut, click on the START icon from the Windows 95 desktop and select 'Run' from the START menu. Select 'Browse' and access the SC3MELEE subdirectory of the hard drive. For example: C:\SC3MELEE (assuming you installed Star Control 3 to the default directory, and where C: is your hard drive). Type: MELEE7 NOTE: If you have problems getting Star Control 3 to run, please consult the HELP.ME file. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VIEWING THE MANUAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The MANUAL.TXT, README.TXT, and HELP.ME files are text files. You can view them with the DOS EDIT program, or the Windows 95 NOTEPAD program. The printed and on-line manuals in the full version of the game include additional information on the various races and star ships in Star Control 3. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HYPER MELEE REMOTE PLAY NOTES ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NETWORK GAME NOTES: ------------------ 1. Both machines must be on the same IPX-compatible network in order for a network game to work properly. 2. It is not possible to manually choose a network node. The game simply finds the first open node, then grabs the next Player who tries to play a network game. So, if you set up a network game and are waiting for your friend Ernie to hook up, but Agnus (who also wants to play a network game) hooks up before Ernie, then you have to play with Agnus. 3. If you are running IPX over an Ethernet network, are running Windows(R) 95, and your mail service works, but you cannot setup a network game, try going into Control Panels/Network/IPX/SPX Compatible Protocols/Properties/Advanced and see if your frame type is set to AUTO. If it is, try setting your Ethernet Frame Values to match your opponent's (both with Ethernet 802.2 or both with Ethernet 802.3). MODEM GAME NOTES: ---------------- 1. Some modem compatibility problems depend on which modem makes the call and which modem receives the call. If you have problems making a modem connection with another person's computer, try having the other person call you, instead of you calling them. SERIAL GAME NOTES: ----------------- 1. If having cable troubles in Windows 95, click on the START icon in the lower left-hand corner of the screen, click on SETTINGS, then go to the Control Panel, then open the SYSTEM icon. Click on the DEVICE MANAGER tab. Under ports, make sure that you can see that you have a COM 1 port and a COM 2 Port. Make sure that neither have a conflict indicator (black exclamation mark in a yellow circle). If you do have a conflict, you need to contact your hardware vendor in order to correct this problem. NOTE: certain cards conflict with COM ports (such as a network card set on IRQ 3 when your COM port 2 is also set on IRQ 3). REMOTE PLAY TIPS ----------------- The following tips can make your remote play sessions play better. 1. Player 2 will always be the remote player on both machines. 2. Do not press . 3. Do not try to start "Lightning Mode". Make sure that both players in remote melee have the same sound and music settings (both on, one on and one off, or both off) or the game can become unstable. Try having both users play the game from the overhead view (Press F5 to switch views). Not only can this improve your frame rate, but it is easier to aim! If you have problems establishing a modem connection after using other communications software, try power cycling your modem to reset it to its default settings. If you have an internal modem this may require powering down your computer. Some communications programs can leave your modem in a non-standard configuration which can interfere with the game establishing a modem connection. Try having both players click on the Fight icon at about the same time. Having one computer "on hold" for a long time, waiting for a connection or a node, can reduce the chance of establishing a remote connection. In remote melee, the two users can occasionally go out of synch. The game will try to recover by bringing the ships back into the melee. If this fails several times, both ships will be destroyed and both players pick new ships and go on. This can result from high network traffic, "dirty" phone lines, or an uncertain serial connection. If the game gets out of synch repeatedly, try exiting from the game, restarting and re-establishing communications. Pressing the or key in remote melee may cause the games to go out of synch. Hitting the planet in remote melee may cause the games to go out of synch. You should try not to hit the planet anyway! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TECHNICAL TIPS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- LOW FRAME RATE IN MELEE ----------------- In melee, your frame rate depends upon the speed of your CPU and your video card. If you are getting slow melee performance, try switching to the overhead view (press F5 to switch views in melee). This view requires less processing and should have a higher frame rate on slow systems. JOYSTICKS ----------------- If you find that Player 2's joystick is not as responsive as player 1's, try turning off the music in melee. The music and sound controls are in the Control screen of the adventure game. Under some circumstances, this can improve the responsiveness of Player 2's joystick. If you are using 2 Gravis Game pads on a "Y" splitter, make sure both pads are in 2 button mode. Otherwise, the pads will interfere with each other. SETTING SOUND VOLUME ----------------- You can set the sound volume using the DOS or Windows 95 mixer application that came with your sound card. You can also permanently change the sound volume by editing the LEGEND.INI file. The sound volume is controlled by the fifth and sixth numbers in the line that reads: CONFIG=1 1 1 1 127 127 127 | | | -------Sound Effects Volume -----------Music Volume You can view and edit the LEGEND.INI file from within the DOS EDIT program, or the Windows 95 NOTEPAD program. For Example: To slightly reduce the Sound Effects Volume and drastically reduce the Music Volume, edit the CONFIG= line to read: CONFIG=1 1 1 1 32 100 127 You can turn off the sound and/or music completely by setting either or both these values to 0. Hint Line ----------------- For Star Control 3 Hints & Tips, call Accolade Direct 1-900-454-HINT $.99/minute - If you are under 18 get your parents' permission before making this call. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- KNOWN BUGS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- On some keyboards, some key combinations cancel each other out. If Player 1 and Player 2 key combinations are canceling each other out, choose different key configurations. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TECHNICAL SUPPORT ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can contact Accolade for technical support from the following places: World Wide Web: http://www.accolade.com/ Internet: techelp@accolade.com America Online: Keyword: Accolade CompuServe: Game Publishers A Forum (GO GAMAPUB) Phone: (408) 296-8400 (Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm Pacific) Fax: (408) 246-0231 Mail: Accolade Customer Support 5300 Stevens Creek Boulevard, Suite 500 San Jose, California 95129 For Star Control 3 Hints & Tips, call Accolade Direct 1-900-454-HINT $.99/minute - If you are under 18 get your parents permission before making this call. If you are having problems with the game, we can best help you if: 1) You are at your computer when you call. 2) You have the following information handy: Date and size of the game executable file (MELEE7.EXE) Your computer's brand and model Your computer's BIOS brand and version number Processor Type and Speed Total RAM installed in your computer Name and version number of your operating system (such as MS-DOS or Windows 95) Name and version number of your memory manager (such as QEMM, EMM386 or 386Max) CD-ROM brand and model name Video card brand and model name Mouse brand and version number of mouse driver Sound card brand and model name Contents of AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files At the DOS prompt (or if you're running Windows 95, select "Run" from the Start menu), type "MEM /C [Enter]" and copy down the on-screen listing When sending Tech support e-mail, cut and paste the following into your e-mail message and fill in the blanks: Date: Name: Phone number: E-mail address: Game Title: Date and size of the game executable file (MELEE7.EXE) Your computer's brand and model: BIOS date: BIOS version: Processor type: Processor speed: Operating system: Name and version number of your memory manager: CD-ROM brand and model name: Video card brand and model name: Mouse brand and version number of mouse driver: Sound card brand and model name: Contents of AUTOEXEC.BAT: Contents CONFIG.SYS: Results of MEM /C: Please state the problem you encountered: Please state how to reproduce the problem: If the program crashed with nasty indecipherable techno-garbage, please look for the hex number which comes after "Adjusted Crash Address" and write it down here: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- LEGAL STUFF ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Accolade and STAR CONTROL 3 are registered trademarks of Accolade, Inc. Copyright 1996, Accolade, Inc. All rights reserved. Created by Legend Entertainment and based upon characters created by and used under license from Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford. Prima Publishing is a trademark of Prima Communications, Inc. Edit is Copyright (c) Microsoft Corp. 1995. Notepad is Copyright (c) 1981-1995 Microsoft Corp. Microsoft, Windows, and MS-DOS are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. DOS4GW Professional used under license agreement with Rational Systems Inc. PKUNZIP Reg. U.S. Pat. and TM. Off. WATCOM C/C++ used under license agreement with WATCOM, Inc. MSS 3.5 portions of the game code used under license agreement with Miles Design, Inc. Adobe Acrobat Reader is Copyright (c) 1987-1995 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, Acrobat, and the Acrobat logo are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated which may be registered in certain jurisdictions. ********************************** *** Use the UP and DOWN arrow *** *** keys to scroll this text *** *** file and ESC key to return *** *** to the menu. *** ********************************** **********************************************************************