______ __ __ _______ __ ____ __ __ ________ ______ ___ | ____|\ \ / / | _____|| | / _ \ | | | ||__ __|| ___|| \ | |__ \ \/ / | |__ | || / \_|| |__| | | | | |__ | D | | __| > < | __| | || | ____| __ | | | | __| | / | | / /\ \ | | | || \__/ || | | | | | | |___ | \ |__| /_/ \_\ |__| |__| \______/ |__| |__| |__| |______||__|\_| F A Q (Frequently Answered Questions) Version 1.1.1 7/18/95 Welcome to the OFFICIAL FX FIGHTER FAQ. Here you can find pointers and answers to the most Frequently Asked Questions about FX FIGHTER. This FAQ provides an up-to-date supplement to the README.TXT included with every FX FIGHTER game. Enjoy, Mal(The README file contains essential information every FX FIGHTER player should read.) The following names mentioned in this FAQ are registered trademarks: FX FIGHTER, Brender, Argonaut, GTE Entertainment, Gravis GamePad, Pentium, Sega, Virtual Fighter, NEXGEN, Nx586, Windows, Windows 95, Helix Multimedia Cloak, IBM, PC-DOS. You are welcome to duplicate and redistribute this document, as long as it is not modified from its original form. (C) Copyright 1995 by GTE Vantage. All rights reserved. 1) Introduction 1a) Who created FX Fighter? 1b) What is needed to run FX Fighter? 1c) Can I play FX Fighter under OS/2? 1d) Can I play FX Fighter under Windows? 2) The Game 2a) The Demo. 2b) What is FX Fighter? 2c) What are the differences in the fighters? 2d) Hints 2d.1) ***The hidden moves are here*** 2d.2) Is there handicapping? 2d.3) Can I change the difficulty level? 2e) Can I ever be Rygil? 3) Other problems 3a) Advice for 4MB setups. 3b) My frame rate is too slow, can I speed it up? 3c) Helix Multimedia Cloak problems. 3d) SX/NexGen chips. 3e) I install the game and it won't recognize the CD in the drive. 3f) Joystick/Keyboard won't work properly. 3g) My Gravis GamePad won't calibrate properly. 3h) Running FX Fighter in Windows 95. 3i) Running FX Fighter in IBM PC-DOS 6.3 or higher. 3j) The music volume control does not work, how come? 3k) It won't install any drive other than C: 3l) When will a patch disk be available? 3m) The camera flies around erratically. 3n) General sound problems. 3o) Playing over a network/modem. 4) How to contact GTE 4a) How can I contact GTE Entertainment on the internet? 4b) How can I contact GTE Entertainment by phone? 4c) How can I contact GTE Entertainment via US (Snail) Mail? FAQ Answers 1) Introduction 1a) Who created FX Fighter? FX Fighter was developed by Argonaut Software and is published by GTE Entertainment. FX Fighter is the first PC product to use Brender 3D rendering technology, developed by Argonaut Technologies, Ltd., to create a true 3D fighting arena. 1b) What is needed to run FX Fighter? You will need a minimum configuration of a 486/DX-33 with 4 MB of RAM to run the game. A floating-point processor is required (designated by "dx" in 486/DX-33. Note: for example, a 486/SX-33 does not have a floating-point processor). However, a 486/DX2-66 with 8MB of RAM is highly recommended. This game will not run on a chip produced by NEXGEN. The Nx586 does not use floating point technology, causing the game to crash. This game screams on a Pentium processor and 16 MB of RAM, so if you are one of the lucky ones, you'll have a great time. 1c) Can I play FX Fighter under OS/2? Yes, although GTE does not directly support OS/2. While we are currently testing FX Fighter under OS/2, we have no specific recommendations on how to run the game under this operating system at this time. The results of our BETA configuration analysis of FX Fighter under OS/2 are included in the readme.txt file on the CD-ROM. 1d) Can I play FX Fighter under Windows? The game has not been designed to run under Windows. We recommend that the game be run from DOS. 2) The Game 2a) The Demo. As per marketing, here's the deal. "Argonaut has recently completed the 18 month task of getting FX Fighter completed and is now working on a demo version for our Web site. But with the demo you will only get a taste of the outstanding 3D, amazing animation, and cool SGI animation's present in the full retail version. As far as the "CD music track" is concerned you will just have to hum to yourself while playing the game; although, the sound effects will be included ... at no extra charge. So if money is tight, or you have been burned by purchasing some of those other so-called PC fighting games, come check out this Web site every once in a while and by July 15 we promise we will have an FX Fighter Demo for you to download." Thanks to Mr. Robert "Mad Dog" Burnett for this insight. 2b) What is FX Fighter? FX Fighter is a heart pounding, fast-paced 3D virtual fighting game, similar to Virtual Fighter by Sega. FX Fighter is the first 3D fighting game to utilize all the PC's capabilities. 2c) What are the differences in the fighters? *Sheba is of the Feran race, a cat-like species. The Feran are extremely ruthless, and specialize in shredding their enemies with their long claws. *Venam is from the Manti race of beings. The insectoid Manti use the carcasses of Humans and Ferans as food for their larval offspring. The Manti also can spray a deadly venom at their victims. *Cyben 30 is a member of the Cyben empire. The Cyben, a mechanical species, seek to dominate the galaxy and populate it with artificial life. Cyben 30 uses his Shock and superior strength to annihilate bio-organisms. *Tropis is the home planet of Kiko, a warrior of the rebellious Kanti people. The technology and weaponry of the Kanti is primitive. But what Kiko lacks in hi-tech, she makes up for with deadly skill. *The oldest civilization belongs to that of the Karlakians, the home of Ashraf. He appears to be a harmless monk, but don't be fooled. His Chakra can render an opponent helpless and vulnerable to attack. *The planet Ursae, a long dead world, was once the home of Siren. Her motive is obvious, to conquer the galaxy. Be careful of her telekinetic powers. *Jake is a government agent from the Human Alliance of Planets. His tactical training and brute strength prepare him for victory. *The Magmen are a mysterious race. Though there is ample myth about them, to this day no evidence of their existence has been found. Magnon, thought to be one of the Magmen, is renowned for his strength, toughness, and durability. Reputedly, Magnon can kill easily with his Lava Breath. 2d) Hints 2d.1) THE HIDDEN MOVES!!!! (which marketing authorized for release) ASHRAF: Back break throw = f,d,p/d+p Energy Push = f,d,f+p Fireball = b,f+p Heavy uppercut = b,p VENAM: Swipe Punch = f,p Knee strike = b,k Twirling punch = f,b,p Poison spit = b,f,p SHEBA: Heavy claw slash = b,p Jumping spin kick = b,f+k Frank n steiner = f,f,k CROUCHED MOVES (SHEBA) Heavy claws = p,p MAGNON: Forward elbow = F+P Roll attack = D,F+P (When ducked) Mid kick = F/D+K Lava breath = B,F+K KIKO: Knee throw = B,D+P Triple kick = K+K Two fisted punch = F+P Throwing star = B,F+P CYBEN 30: Blastoff throw = U+P (Up close) Rotor arm attack = F,F+P Rocket punch = B,F+p Roundhouse kick = D+K JAKE: 2x Punch+kick = F,B+P Face pounder = F,F+P (Up close) Shoulder charge = F+P Twisting uppercut = B,F+P SIREN: Levitation throw = U+P (Up close) Back throw = B/D+P (Up close) Knee to groin = F+K 2d.2) Is there handicapping? Yes. You can raise or lower the character's handicap in the Character Select Screen by pressing Up or Down on the gamepad, or pressing A (up) and Z (down) for Player One, and L (up) and "," (down) for Player Two. The higher your handicap, the more damage your punches will inflict. 2d.3) Can I change the difficulty level? Yes, the difficulty level can be changed in the Bout Options screen. Move the cursor down to "difficulty" and either lower or raise the number (1-7) to decrease or increase the difficulty. 2e) Can I ever be Rygil? Thanks to David Sisselman@AOL, everyone can now be Rygil. David wrote a small batch file which enables the user to convert Magnon into Rygil. The patch can be found at the Games Domain web page (http://wcl-rs/bham.ac.uk/gamesdomain/). Special thanks to David for sharing his awesome patch with the rest of the world! 3) Other Problems 3a) Advice for 4MB setups. FX Fighter will run on a 4 MB machine, however some additional configuration may be required to get the memory needed. (3.5 mb total memory free) Memory Type Total = Used + Free ---------------- ------- ------- ------- Conventional 640K 23K 617K Upper 123K 51K 72K Reserved 128K 128K 0K Extended (XMS) 3,205K 217K 2,988K ---------------- ------- ------- ------- Total memory 4,096K 419K 3,677K ***Total memory needs to be above 3,500----^*** Total under 1 MB 763K 74K 689K Largest executable program size 617K (631,696 bytes) Largest free upper memory block 72K (73,312 bytes) MS-DOS is resident in the high memory area. Try the following config.sys and autoexec.bat for basic requirements. Config.sys Autoexec.bat DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS PATH=C:\DOS;C:\ DOS=HIGH,UMB PROMPT $p$g FILES=30 (Sound Card and CD-ROM drivers) BUFFERS=30 (Sound Card and CD-ROM Drivers) Make sure that you back up your original config.sys and autoexec.bat before making changes. 3b) My frame rate (game speed) is too slow, can I speed it up? You can increase the frame rate (and speed up the game) by lowering the detail levels in the game to a minimum (see Detail Levels in the Options screen). Basically, the more detail (texture) you add to the characters, the slower the game plays: Flat (fast), Gouraud shading (slower), Texture (slowest). 3c) Helix Multimedia Cloak. This product is not compatible with FX Fighter It's modified MSCDEX.EXE and MOUSE.COM drivers lower conventional memory, however, lower conventional memory is not needed. The game will run with conventional memory around 550K, but needs at least 3.1K of XMS memory. If you are using this product, FX Fighter will not detect the CD-ROM in the drive, and ask you to insert the proper FX Fighter CD-ROM in the drive. Reboot your system with the MSCDEX.EXE that comes with MS-DOS to remedy the problem. 3d) SX and NexGen processors. This game will not run on a chip produced by NEXGEN. The Nx586 does not use floating point technology, causing the game to crash. Also, the game will not run on an SX type chip. The game requires a floating point processor, or a math coprocessor to to the complex calculations required by BRender's technology. GTE cannot guarantee compatibility with a system using a separate math coprocessor or an Intel Overdrive processor. 3e) I install the game and it won't recognize the CD in the drive. This is a problem that we have been having on some systems. A number of users have been able to get the game running under Windows (although not directly supported) with few problems. This error could be caused by a number of things. If you are encountering this problem, you can try the following to remedy the situation. 1) Update your sound and CD-ROM drivers. Many systems have old and outdated drivers. However unlikely this may seem, it is recommended that you use the latest drivers to run the game. 2) Try running the game in Windows. Windows uses its own set of drivers for such devices. If Windows recognizes the CD in the drive, but DOS does not, it is a good indication that your drivers need to be updated. 3) Set up FX Fighter to run with no sound. If the game functions properly (without sound), you will need to update your sound card drivers. 4) Lastly, try making a boot disk. I know many of you will scoff at this idea, but many problems have been fixed by users making a boot disk. If all else fails, try the basics. 3f) Joystick/Keyboard won't work properly. If you choose to play the game in two player mode and have your joystick plugged in, the keyboard will not be detected. To solve this problem, you must unplug your joystick from the game port located on the back of your computer and re-run FX Fighter. The keyboard will not reset if you do not restart the game. Currently, The game is not playable in 2 player mode with a joystick plugged in. If you have 2 joysticks or gamepads, you can purchase a Y-Cable. This device will enable you to run 2 gamepads off one joystick port. However, not all Y-Cables are the same. Make sure you purchase a high quality cable, preferably one manufactured or recommended by your sound card manufacturer. The developer has been told of this problem and is currently working on a solution. 3g) My Gravis GamePad won't calibrate properly. There have been some reports about the GamePad not calibrating properly (it only calibrates on half of its range of movement.) We are taking reports for this problem to remedy it. 3h) Running FX Fighter in Windows 95. The game is currently not supported in Windows 95 and GTE cannot offer support on how to get the game running properly in Windows 95. 3i) Running FX Fighter with IBM PC-DOS 6.3 or higher. The game was not tested on IBM DOS and there could be problems. Some users have called the technical support line while running IBM DOS and have had some of the above mentioned problems. We cannot rule out IBM DOS as fully compatible with FX Fighter. 3j) The music volume control is not working, and here's why. FX Fighter uses the volume control in the CD ROM drive and not the sound mixer on the sound card. Unfortunately, not all CD ROM drives have internal variable sound control. If you are experiencing non variable music control it is because your CD ROM has an on/off switch and not a variable sound control option. An alternative for this is the following. You can take a sound cord and plug it in the front of your CD ROM drive. Run that cord around the back of your computer and plug it in the LINE IN on your sound card. In theory, you should be able to control the volume by the knob/dial located on the CD ROM drive. 3k) FX Fighter will only install to the C: drive. To fix this, you can install to the C: drive and XCOPY the game to another drive. Example: XCOPY C:\FXFIGHT D:\FXFIGHT /S. You will be asked if the destination in a file or directory, select directory, and you will be set. You will also need to edit the fxfight.cfg file located in the FXFIGHT directory. Type edit fxfight.cfg and change the game path, the second line in the file. 3l) The Patch. We are working on a patch to fix some of the above mentioned problems and should be out in approximately 4 weeks of this posting. 3m) The camera flies around erratically. This is a known bug and there are a couple simple fixes. If this problem is occuring, try turning down the detail levels on the characters and arena. If the problem still occurs, you can hit the HOME key to disable the camera. The page up/page down keys will zoom in/out, and the arrow keys will rotate the camera. 3n) General sound problems. We have had several problems that have led to sound card/driver incompatibility. If you are experiencing problems, please try running the game with NO SOUND, and see if the game will run. 3o) Playing over a network/modem. FX Fighter is not a modem/network game and will not be playable with either of these devices in future versions. If there is to be an FX Fighter 2, modem/network support will be addressed. 4) How to Contact GTE 4a) How can I contact GTE on the Internet? To reach GTE Interactive Media on the World Wide Web, contact URL http://www.im.gte.com. The Web Page is where to look for the most up-to-date FX Fighter information, artwork, demos, and special moves. 4b) How can I contact GTE Entertainment by phone? GTE Technical Support can be reached at 619-431-4264, Monday-Friday, between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm. Please note: No game play hints will be given out over the phone. The Technical Support E-Mail address is gtechsup@imagitrek.gte.com. 4c) How can I contact GTE Entertainment via US (snail) Mail? You can contact us via snail mail at Technical Support Department GTE Entertainment PO Box 4358 Carlsbad CA 92018