+---------------------------------------------+ ! SCHIRATTI COMMANDER DEMO VERSION - 30/05/96 ! +---------------------------------------------+ Welcome to the SCHIRATTI COMMANDER DEMO version! With this version you will be able to try the majority most of the features of the commercial version. Here is a list of restrictions as compared the commercial version. Some features will work in the DEMO AREA only (the area in the yellow rectangle): * Any kind of data display (scenery, navaids, runways, etc.) * Scenery design * Routing Other features are missing: * Scenery Delhi * Scenery Budapest * AirLAGO DC-9 (does not require any additional software!) * Scenery MAKER documentation (essential if you want to learn the SM's sceneries programming language) * IPX drivers to connect up to FIVE PCs in a ethernet network (you can try the RS-232 connection anyway) * TEXTURE utility to convert .PCX to .R8 (it to enhances the sceneries quality) * VID2PLT utility to convert standard Flight Simulator videos to .PLT files (needed to display on the screen a track - both horizontal and vertical - of your flights) * SC is sold all over the world in different localized versions: full english, german, italian, french, portuguese and spanish versions are available; in Japan you can buy SC with Japanese manual (and technical support), if you live on the moon please let us know: we are probably about to appoint a distributor there (and a localized version) for you as well! * This manual only contains a few basic instructions on how to setup and start using SC; the commercial version contains a complete manual as well as approach charts for Delhi and Budapest sceneries * Shareware version of UNIVBE VESA driver WE DO ENCOURAGE YOU TO EXPERIMENT WITH SC's MANY CAPABILITIES: YOU WILL FIND VERY EASY TO USE! To order Schiratti Commander please contact: In Canada and the U.S.A. (full english version): The WizardWorks Group 3850 Annapolis Lane, Suite 100 Minneapolis, MN 55447 USA Phone: 612-509-2126 Fax: 612-509-2177 E-Mail: national.sales@wizworks.com Web page: http://www.wizworks.com In Japan (Japanese manual): Twilight Express 3-1-1-301 Takiyama Higashikurume City Tokyo, Japan 203 Phone: 048-481-6316 Fax: 048-481-6364 Compuserve: 100512,1641 E-Mail: 100512.1641@compuserve.com Rest of the world (full english, german, italian, french and spanish versions available): LAGO SNC P.O. BOX 293 22100 COMO, CO ITALY Phone: +39-31-300-174 Fax: +39-31-300-214 Compuserve: 100411,3660 E-Mail: 100411.3660@compuserve.com WE HAVE DISTRIBUTORS ALL AROUND THE WORLD. JUST SEND US YOUR COMPLETE ADDRESS AND WE SHALL DIRECT YOU TO THE NEAREST DISTRIBUTOR. Copyright (c) 1996 ENRICO SCHIRATTI, LAGO SNC Microsoft, MS-DOS, Windows(r) and Windows(r) 95 are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Flight Simulator is a trademark of Bruce A. Artwick. All trademarks and brands are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. +--------------+ ! INSTALLATION ! +--------------+ To install SCHIRATTI COMMANDER DEMO just type INSTALL from the directory where you have found this document and follow on-screen instructions. After the installation process will be completed, the SETUP program will be automatically launched. Here you will set several options: here is a rundown on their function. Use the cursor keys to select the desired function, then activate it using DIRECTORIES: Sets working directory names. Main scenery directory: This is where SC will search scenery files to build its internal database. Alternate scenery directory: Could be used if you keep also some sceneries on the CD-ROM, network, etc. Flight simulator directory: This is where SC needs to find a valid version of Flight Simulator. RESOLUTION: SC can display graphics with various resolutions from 640x480 up to 1280x1024 pixels. You do not have to select a special video board driver as SC tries to find the correct one for you. If you experience any troubles in setting up the resolution try to change the options "Use/Do not use VESA mode" and "Use/Do Not use Alternate mode" and test the changes each time with the appropriate option. If you still have troubles try to load a generic VESA driver (the commercial version of SC includes the shareware version of UNIVBE) before loading SC. LPT PORT: The port your printer is connected: this will be LPT1 for most users. PRINTER: The brand/model of your printer; note that SC knows a lot of printers, including many colour models. If you cannot locate your printer in this list, search in your printer manual for a list of emulated printers and use one of those names here. COM PORT: The serial port you will use to connect to a second PC. BAUD RATE: The speed at which Flight Simulator and SC will communicate. If you have fast hardware choose 4800 or 9600 but the communication will run better at lower speeds. If you use very long cables you might have problems at 9600 baud. IPX NETWORK: Not enabled in the DEMO version. COLORS: This will let you change the colors SC uses to display some items: we have included this option for the notebook/laptop users who may experience some troubles with the default colors. EXIT: Returns to MS-DOS. You can use SETUP at any time to change the settings; to load it, change to SC directory where SC resides (usually c:\sc), type: SETUP and press Now that the configuration has been done you can finally start SC for the first time. +------------------------------+ ! STARTING SCHIRATTI COMMANDER ! +------------------------------+ SC needs to find all your scenery files and build its internal database. So let's start SC and see how it looks like. Please follow the instructions. Windows(r) 3.x users: * Exit to MS-DOS now and follow instructions for MS-DOS users. Windows(r) 95 users: * Open a full screen MS-DOS session and: MS-DOS users: * Make sure you are in the directory where SC resides (usually c:\sc), type: SC and press to start the program. * The startup screen shows some information on your PC configuration, it is useful to double check your settings before contacting our technical support (sorry, there is not technical support for the DEMO version). ALL users: * The first time you load SC you will see a box asking if you want to update the database: click on 'Yes' or press to continue. If you have already pressed click on the [GENERAL/OPTIONS] menu and on the [IMPORT SCENERY DATABASE] in the [DATABASE] section before continue. * As this is the first time you entered the SC world it may take some minutes to build the internal database. This database contains a reference for each scenery found within the "Main" and "Alternate" scenery directories. The main purpose of the internal database is to speed up the redrawing process. * You will see a yellow box: this is the DEMO AREA where you will be able to use all the SC features. On the right there is a grey box - this is the main menu - and finally there is a grey box on the bottom of the screen. * The box on the bottom of the screen holds some information about the actual position which is displayed: > IN the first line you find the current latitude and longitude of the centre of the screen; > DIRECTLY next to it the magnetic variation of that spot; > NEXT to that, the current zoom factor, expressed either in nautical miles (NM) or kilometres (Km). (The zoom factor is the radius from the centre to the top of the screen). Note: if you ADD or DELETE sceneries or if you MOVE them from the ORIGINAL DIRECTORIES you will have to tell SC about the changes. Use the [IMPORT SCENERY DATABASE] option in the [GENERAL/OPTIONS] menu to instruct SC to recreate its internal database. +---------------------------+ ! USING SCHIRATTI COMMANDER ! +---------------------------+ POSITIONING ----------- The basic function of SC is displaying the scenery files you have (BGL). All the other functions use this part of the program as background. First of all the DEMO version will present you the DEMO AREA by default, to see the complete map of the world type <9> (remember that the DEMO version will not show anything outside the DEMO AREA!!). Positioning is just moving the centre of the screen to a different part of the map. This is your focus point. If you zoom in, you will enlarge the area surrounding the focus point. There are different ways to position the focus point in the map. WITH MOUSE: Just point the mouse and left click: the map will shift so that the center of your screen is on the mouse pointer. WITH KEYBOARD: You can use the keys to move on the map. For faster positioning you can also search any string in the database. Select [KEYWORD SEARCH] on the menu or press to activate it. SC will ask for a keyword (you must type at least three letters), type "SAN" in this example because we want to move to San Francisco airport. SC will now show a list with all the database entries that contains "SAN". You will probably see some lines about San Francisco airport but also about San Diego, Santa Monica, Santa Catalina, etc. Now click on the line you want to move to and the item you have chosen will be at the center of the screen. You can search for airports and navaids in the database. You name it, SC will find it, as long as it is in the database. Note: the results from [KEYWORD SEARCH] will show only the first THIRTY objects found in the database: if you cannot locate the object you are looking for, just do a new search with a longer string (try "SAN FRAN" instead of "SAN"). If you press while in the selection menu, you will be automatically taken the first list's entry. There is also another way to position within SC. Press and you will be requested to type Latitude/Longitude coordinates where you want to place the focus point (please note this version works only in the following LAT/LON coordinates: N40 W125, N30 W114). ZOOMING ------- Now that we have the region of interest in the centre of the screen you might want to zoom in. As for the position menu there are several ways to do this. WITH MOUSE: If you left click on a spot on the screen you will zoom in with a level of about 10% greater. Using the right mouse button will zoom the scenery out. Using key while clicking with the mouse will increment the zoom factor by 20% (in or out) the actual zoom level. WITH KEYBOARD: The keys <1> to <0> on your keyboard are predefined zoom levels: press <9> and you will see the whole world, press <1> and you will zoom in, the screen width is now about 3 NM (5.556 Km). Pressing <0> you will see the whole world and all settings are set to off. You can also zoom in with the <+> key and out with the <-> key: for your best convenience, try to use the <+> and <-> keys on your numeric keyboard. WITH MENU: Select [WINDOW] from the menu (or press ), the cursor will change into a rectangle: left click on one of the corners of the 'region of interest', now WITHOUT keeping the mouse button pressed move your cursor to the opposite corner of the 'region of interest'. Left click again and SC will display the selected area over the entire screen. If you select [ZOOM] on the menu (or press ) SC will ask for a value: enter a valid number and it will become the radius expressed in nautical miles (NM) or kilometers (Km) from the centre to the top of the screen. GETTING HELP ------------ Select [HELP] on the menu or press and you will get a simple help screen. It will show you all the one-key commands that can be used in SC. CREATING YOUR FIRST SCENERY --------------------------- One of the most interesting features of SC is its ability to generate standard Flight Simulator 5 sceneries. For your reference we have already included a sample city - called Sampleville - created from scratch in the south-east DEMO AREA. To convert Sampleville from SC internal format (.SCO) to a standard Flight Simulator scenery file (.BGL): * Click on [DESIGN] * Click on the [OPTIONS] item under the [DESIGN] menu * Click on [LOAD] and select from the list SMPL_51 (or SMPL_50a depending on the Flight Simulator version you are using) * A box stating "SMPL_5xx.SCO loaded" appears: press * Now the screen will be redrawn to show you all the contents of Sampleville; just play around with the zooming options to see more in detail how the drawing looks like * When you are ready to create the Flight Simulator scenery, click on [COMPILER] item under the [DESIGN] menu * A box asking "Start FS5?" appears: click on 'Yes' or press to continue * The Scenery MAKER compiler is then automatically invoked and, after the compilation process is completed, SC will automatically load Flight Simulator for you * To place your airplane on the Sampleville 10 runway press to open the [WORLD] menu, select [AIRPORTS] and press to select a different scenery area. Select "SC SAMPLEVILLE" and you will see just one entry "SAMPLEVILLE RWY 10": double click on that item and you will be placed at Sampleville! Slew around the area just to see how many details we have included. Exiting Flight Simulator will take you back to SC in design mode: exactly where you have left it! Try experimenting by adding any kind of objects and recompiling to see how easy could be creating sceneries with Schiratti Commander/Scenery Maker! EXIT SCHIRATTI COMMANDER ------------------------ Clicking on this option is like pressing . You will be prompted for a confirmation and then SC will return to the MS-DOS prompt. ***END OF DOCUMENT***