============================================================================ VANGUARD ACE Copyright (C) 1996-1997 Imaginative Illusions Sdn. Bhd., All Rights Reserved. Homepage: http://www.imaginative.com.my E-Mail : info@imaginative.com.my Phone : +(60)-19-7501975 Fax : +(60)-7-3557729 ============================================================================ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Instructions/Troubleshooting Info ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- System Requirements: * IBM PC or 100% Compatible. * 486 CPU and Above. * MS-DOS or Windows 95. * 8 MB Random Access Memory. Recommended Hardware: * 486DX-100 or faster CPU for 70 fps smooth play at full parallax. * Sound Blaster 16. Also Supports: * Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro, Sound Blaster 16, Gravis Ultrasound, Pro Audio Spectrum, Ensonic SoundScape and 100% Compatible Sound Card. * Keyboard, Gamepad, Joypad, Joystick & Mouse. To Start Vanguard Ace --------------------- 1. Switch to the drive where the game is installed "C:". 2. Switch to the subdirectory where the game is installed "CD\VANGUARD". 3. Make sure your BLASTER environment string are set appropriately as the game relies on it to autodetect your sound card. Gravis UltraSound should have it's ULTRASND environment string set appropriately. 4. Then type VANGUARD and you're home free. Game Features ------------- 1. 70 frames per second smooth screen update. 2. Multiple layer parallax scrolling. 3. Rendered graphics. 4. Mecha style sprites design and bosses. 5. At least 30 fps per sprite. 6. Multiple weapon levels for each ships. 7. You can select from 5 different ships. (Full Version) 8. Over 1000 frames of animated sprites. 9. 6 long and intense levels instead of multiple short boring levels. 10. 8 huge and full-featured non-sissified bosses. 11. One or two player mode selectable. 12. Supports keyboard, gamepad, joypad, joystick and mouse. 13. And last... but not least... probably the 1st vertical shooter with such quality to scroll at such high frame rates. What's In The Menu ------------------ Well... this game is so easy to start playing there's really not much to say. Anyway, here are the descriptions of the menu items. 1. Start Game 2. Difficulty 3. Options ------> 3a. Screen 4. Exit 3b. Sound Volume 3c. Music Volume 3d. Player 1 Device 3e. Player 2 Device 3f. Keyboard Config 3g. Joystick Config 3h. Advance Options ------> 3h1. Frame Rate 3h2. Parallax 3h3. Refresh 3h4. Video Wait 1. Start Game ---------- Press Enter to start the game. Player 1 will choose his ship first. After pressing Enter... Player 2 will be given the chance to choose. Press ESC if Player 2 is not joining. Same vice-versa. Press ESC for Player 1 if not playing. If ESC is pressed at both selection you will be returned to the main menu. Only 1 type of ship can be selected at a time. Once a ship is selected, the other player cannot select the ship again. In the game, press these numbers if either Player 1 or Player 2 wants to join in afterwards or if you're dead. Ships Player 1 Select Player 2 Select ----- --------------- --------------- Charlotte 1 6 Chaos 2 7 Marie 3 8 Wasp 4 9 Phoenix 5 0 To pause game, Press the PAUSE key. To quit game, Press the ESC key and you will be prompted for confirmation. NOTE: There has been reports that 1 of the players cannot join in unless both are dead. This is NOT TRUE. Either Player can join in by pressing the numbers for the ship above. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE MENU to come up in order to join in. Just press the relevant numbers above depending on which side of the player you are. 2. Difficulty ---------- Choose the difficulty of gameplay. 3. Options ------- This is divided into these categories: 3a. Screen = PC or Arcade. PC for full screen. Default is Arcade. 3b. Sound Volume = Adjust the sound volume. 3c. Music Volume = Adjust the music volume. 3d. Player 1 Device = Select Keyboard, Joystick or Mouse for Player 1. 3e. Player 2 Device = Select Keyboard, Joystick or Mouse for Player 2. 3f. Keyboard Config = Configure keys for both Player 1 and Player 2. 3g. Joystick = Recalibrates the Joystick. 3h. Advance Options (Meant For Techines) ------------------------------------ 3h1. Frame Rate = Low,Medium,High. Default is High. Select Low or Medium for slower PCs. 3h2. Parallax = Toggles additional parallax layers. Recommended OFF for slow PCs. Default is ON. 3h3. Refresh = Vertical Refresh rate of the monitor. Default is 70hz. Set 60hz to slow the game by 10 frames if possible. This is useful if you find the game a little too fast. 3h4. Video Wait = Vertical Refresh status. Check OFF if you have really really slow speed. Default is ON. 4. Exit ---- Quit Game. Control And Default Keys ------------------------ Control Player 1 Player 2 ------- -------- -------- Up Up Arrow T Down Down Arrow G Left Left Arrow F Right Right Arrow H Fire Ctrl X Bomb Alt Z For Gamepad, Joypad and Joystick: Button 1 is Fire and Button 2 is Bomb. For Mouse: Button 1 is Fire and Button 2 is Bomb. Move ship with mouse. Description Of The Ships ------------------------ 1. Charlotte 2000 -------------- This ship packs a punch when you call its backup... Its backup bomber is huge and sends a wallop with tons of hydro-bombs. Any ships within the visible distance of the screen gets wallop by it. 2. Chaos EX -------- This ship has very very little recharge time before it's ready to fire its next rounds of stinging lasers on its enemies. Equipped with simultaneous missiles that sends enemies flying to limbo. 3. Marie FX (Registered Version Only) ---------------------------------- This ship has very powerful pair of boosters and its speed beats all the rest of the ships. Its special bomb is a hybrid of the napalm bomb but able to reach the skies as well. 4. Wasp 4000-N2 (Registered Version Only) -------------------------------------- Heavy laser assault. Its laser packs a wallop and its special bomb is a laser with incremental increase in area coverage. Its special lasts the longest among all the ships and packs a painful and burning destruction upon contact with enemy. 5. Phoenix GX (Registered Version Only) ------------------------------------ Originally meant as a physics research aircraft. Modified to be a fighter to aid in the destruction of the "VISITORS". Its laser also takes very little time to recharge, just like Chaos EX. Although its laser is subsequently slower, but packs a punch when it levels ups. Its special ability is its scientific ability to stop time temporary in a particular region that's close to the ship's radius. During the freeze, the Phoenix can take its sweet time walloping the frozen enemies. VERY USEFUL to give bosses more fatal hits. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Common Problems And Solutions ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Running With Windows -------------------- Vanguard Ace will run under Windows 3.xx without much problem. The only small problem will be some delay of music during menu redraws. Other than that the game will run fine just like in DOS. Vanguard Ace will work under Windows 95 just like in DOS without any problems. Runing With Windows NT ---------------------- Vanguard Ace has not been tested under Windows NT and it is very unlikely that you'll get it to run with sound. Running With OS/2 ----------------- Vanguard Ace has not been tested under OS/2. If you can get it to run without problems, please don't hesitate to contact us. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Memory Issues ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- You should have no problem with Vanguard Ace if you have at least 8 MB of RAM. If you receive a warning of insufficient ram... You should remove smartdrive or any other cache program in memory to free up more memory. Booting without EMM386.EXE will free up at least 256K of memory. You can boot without anything in memory and Vanguard Ace will still run. As long as the appropriate environment string is set, Vanguard Ace will be able to play sound and music. 'BLASTER' for SB cards, 'ULTRASND' for Gravis UltraSound cards and 'SNDSCAPE' for Ensonic SoundScape cards. These environment strings are the only ones you need to play Vanguard Ace. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contacting IMAGINATIVE ILLUSIONS' Tech Supports ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- IMAGINATIVE ILLUSIONS SDN. BHD. can be contacted at: Homepage: http://www.imaginative.com.my E-Mail : support@imaginative.com.my Address : 6, Jalan Molek 2/5, Taman Molek, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. Phone : +(60)-19-7501975 Fax : +(60)-7-3557729 DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS". IMAGINATIVE ILLUSIONS SDN. BHD. MAKES NO WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THIS PROGRAM OR ANY FILES, DOCUMENTATION OR ELEMENTS THEREOF OR RELATING THERETO OR ANY MEDIUM THE PROGRAM MAY BE ON (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR OF QUALITY OR PERFORMANCE). IN NO EVENT WILL IMAGINATIVE ILLUSIONS SDN. BHD. BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING FROM THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM OR ANY FILES, DOCUMENTATION OR ELEMENTS THEREOF, INCLUDING FROM NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, EVEN IF IMAGINATIVE ILLUSIONS SDN. BHD. IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN PARTICULAR, IMAGINATIVE ILLUSIONS SDN. BHD. IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY COSTS OR EXPENSES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THOSE INCURRED AS A RESULT OF LOST PROFITS OR REVENUE, LOSS OF USE OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS, LOSS OF DATA, THE COST OF A SUBSTITUTE PROGRAM, OR CLAIMS BY THIRD PARTIES. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE LIABILITY OF IMAGINATIVE ILLUSIONS SDN. BHD. FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE PROGRAM, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF CLAIM. THE USER OF THE PROGRAM BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM AND ALL OTHER RISKS RELATING TO THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM. BECAUSE SOFTWARE IS INHERENTLY COMPLEX AND MAY NOT BE COMPLETELY FREE OF ERRORS, ALL USERS ARE ADVISED TO VERIFY THEIR WORK AND TO MAKE BACK-UP COPIES. Notice: All registered brand names and trademarks are the property of the respective owners. VANGUARD ACE is COPYRIGHT (C) 1996-1997 IMAGINATIVE ILLUSIONS SDN. BHD. (399941-V), All Rights Reserved. ____________________________________________________________________________