Joy Games/ShareGames.iso/doswin_2/gamma/gamma.doc

Text File | 1994-05-15 | 10KB | 253 lines

                    GAMMA Wing
              Space Combat Flight Simulator
                Unregistered Version 1.2
                (C) Copyright 1993, 1994
              Rockland Software Productions


Description:
    GAMMA Wing is a space combat flight simulator for the IBM PC. In GAMMA
Wing, you are part of an elite force defending mankind from a hostile alien
race. You fly missions against the enemy, and complete campaigns. As you
complete more missions, your ship gets better. As your combat victories
increase, your marksmanship increases. GAMMA Wing features bitmapped and
rendered graphics in the simulator its self, and digital sound effects.

System Requirements:
    1. 286 or better.
    2. 640K conventional RAM.
    3. VGA graphics.
    4. 3 Meg disk space.
    5. Sound card required for FM soundtrack.
    6. 200K XMS memory required for sound card digital sound effects.

Installing from zipfile:
    1. Chances are you've allready unzipped GAMMA Wing in its own
       directory. If not, do so now.
    2. Change to your GAMMA Wing directory.
    3. Run Setup to select sound options.

Archive contents:
    *.bgi - video drivers
    *.chr - fonts
    *.voc - digital sounds
    *.exe - program files
    *.gfx - graphics
    *.grf - graphics
    *.pal - palettes
    *.tgt - target data files
    *.cpn - campaign data files
    *.mis - mission data files
    *.wpn - weapon data files
    *.ani - animation data files
    *.mid - soundtrack data files
    *.cmf - soundtrack data files
    *.ibk - soundtrack data files
    gamma.doc - GAMMA Wing documentation
    support.doc - support information
    catalog*.doc - Rockland Software Productions catalog

Running:
    1. Change to your GAMMA Wing directory.
    2. Enter "gamma" at the DOS prompt.
    3. You'll be asked if you want sound. Press y for yes or n for no.
    4. If a gameport is detected, you'll be asked if you want to use a
       joystick. Press y for yes, or n for no. If you say yes, you'll be
       asked to move the joystick to various positions and then press its
       button.
    5. The opening sequence will then begin. You may skip any sequence
       by pressing a key, or mouse or joystick button.
    6. After the opening, you'll be asked to enter your pilot's name. Type in
       a name and press enter. Next you'll be asked to select a starting
       skill level. Select a starting skill level.
    7. You will then enter the lobby of the GAMMA Wing base.

The Base:
    The GAMMA Wing base consists of a series of rooms. Selecting a door in a
    room takes you to a different part of the base. You may use the mouse,
    joystick, or arrow and enter keys to select doors.

The Lobby:
    When you start GAMMA Wing, you begin in the lobby of the GAMMA Wing base.
    The lobby takes you to other parts of the base. Select a door to go to
    that part of the base. Doors are as follows:
    Hangar - takes you to the hangar.
    Pilots - takes you to the pilots area.
    R&D - takes you to the R&D area.
    Config - takes you to the configuration room.
    Help - shows this help file.
    Exit - quits to DOS.

The Hangar:
    The hangar lets you fly missions and train. Doors are as follows:
    Fly - lets you fly a mission.
    Train - lets you run the training simulator.
    Lobby - takes you back to the lobby.

The Pilots area:
    The pilots area lets you do a variety of things with pilots. Doors are
    as follows:
    Stats - shows your pilot's statistics.
    New - lets you start a new pilot.
    Save - saves your pilot to disk.
    Skill - lets you set the pilot's skill level. Valid values are 0
        through about 22 (depending on the max speed of the fastest
        target). The highest valid skill level is the max speed of
        the fastest target + 3. Skill level effects are as follows:
              Skill level:     Effects:
              0           Your ship's climb, dive, turn, and speed
                  are doubled.
              1           Your ship's climb, dive, turn, and speed
                  are increased 50%.
              2           None
              3           Targets evade when fired at.
              4+          Targets evade when fired at. Targets
                  adjust their speed to yours when
                  following you. Targets acceleration and
                  deceleration rates equal your skill level
                  minus three.
    Lobby - takes you back to the lobby.

The R&D area:
    The R&D area lets you do a variety of things with targets and weapons.
    Doors are as follows:
    Info - shows information on targets.
    Lobby - takes you back to the lobby.

The Config room:
    The config room lets you configure GAMMA Wing. Doors are as follows:
    Setup - runs Setup. You must restart GAMMA Wing for changes in sound
        setup to take effect.
    Stick - lets you calibrate the joystick.
    Music - toggles soundtrack on/off.
    SFX - toggles sound effects on/off.
    Delay - Lets you set the amount of delay in the simulator. Use this
        with fast PCs.
    Lobby - takes you back to the lobby.

The Help room:
    The help room lets you access the on-line help for GAMMA Wing. Doors are
    as follows:
    Gamma - lets you view the help for GAMMA Wing.
    When viewing help, use the arrows to page up and down, press p to print,
    or press escape to exit help. Help also has a find option. Press f to
    find a word, then enter the word. Help will scroll to the 1st occurence
    of the word. You may repeat the last find by pressing r. Help will scroll
    to the next line (from the last occurence found) that contains the word.
    If the word is not found, Help will not scroll.

Flying a mission:
     You fly a mission by selecting the Fly door in the hangar. First
    you'll be shown your mission orders. Press a key to continue. Then your
    ship's stats will be shown. Press a key to continue. You will next see an
    animation sequence of you leaving the hangar, followed by an animation
    sequence of you taking off from base. Then the cockpit of your ship will
    be displayed.

The Cockpit:
     The cockpit screen shows the view out the front window of your ship.
    The bottom of the screen shows your instruments. Instruments from left to
    right are:
    Left CRT display.
    Sideview display - this display shows a side view indicating your
               climb angle. The line points in the direction your
               ship is angled at. To the right is level, and
               to the left is upside down.
    Radar display - this shows a top down radar view around your ship.
            You are in the center. Forward is towards the top of
            the display. Your current target is shown in yellow.
            All other targets are shown in red.
    Right CRT display.
    The CRT displays can be toggled via the "D" key to show either combat
    or navigation information. Left CRT combat information:
    Spd - your speed.
    Wpn - your current weapon.
    Ammo - ammunition for current weapon.
    Semi/Fullauto - firing mode for current weapon.
    Right CRT combat information:
    Tgts - Total number of targets.
    Target ID - this shows the target number (0-9) and targettype (base,
            gammaship, enemyship etc.) of your current target.
    Rng - range to your current target.
    Autop - shows if autopilot is on.
    Left CRT navigation information:
    X - your x position.
    Y - your y position.
    Z - your z position.
    Enrgy - your energy. Energy is used to move, and for shields. If you
        run out of energy, you fail your mission.
    Right CRT navigation information:
    Heading - your compass heading in degrees.
    Mark - your angle of climb in degrees. 0=up, 90=level, 180=down,
           270=upsidedown.
    Shlds - your shields. If your shields go to zero you start taking
        damage.
    Dmg - your damage. If your damage = max damage for your ship, you die.
    The window above your instruments shows the stars outside your ship.
    Targets in visual range (<=500) will also be shown. Targets beyond visual
    range will be shown as small crosshairs, yellow for your current target,
    and red for other targets. The green crosshars in the middle of the
    window are for aiming your weapons.

Keyboard Controls:
    A - Toggles autopilot on/off. When on, autopilot flys you to your current
    target.
    Esc - Quit mission (counts as mission failure).
    F1 - Shows this help file.
    Plus - Speed up.
    Minus - Speed down.
    R - Toggle radar range. Only works when current target is 0 (your ship).
    Up arrow - Dive.
    Down arrow -  Climb.
    Left arrow - Turn left.
    Right arrow - Turn right.
    Spacebar - Fire current weapon.
    S - Diverts energy to shields.
    ? - Shows your pilot's statistics.
    ! - Self destruct.
    Enter - Toggle current weapon.
    P - Pause game.
    R - Toggle's radar zoom.
    M - Shows map of target locations.
    O - Shows your mission orders.
    PgUp - Zoom radar out. Only works when current target is 0.
    PgDn - Zoom radar in. Only works when current target is 0.
    Tab - Toggles current target.
    J - Calibrate joystick.
    W - Toggles full auto/semi auto weapon fire.
    H - Hyper. Set your speed to 3x max speed.
    Home - Maximum speed.
    End - Miniumum speed.
    D - Toggles CRT displays between combat and navigation information.
    L - Toggles Autolanding on/off. When on, the ship automatically lands
    at base.

Joystick Controls:
    Forward - dive.
    Back - climb.
    Left - turn left.
    Right - turn right.
    Button 1 - fire current weapon.
    Button 2 - toggle current weapon.

Ending a mission:
    A mission ends when you land at a base (by flying into it), when you
    run out of energy, when you're shot down, when you self destruct, or when
    you quit by pressing Escape. When your mission is completed successfully,
    a "Mission completed" message will appear. If you fail your mission, a
    "Mission over" message will appear. If you complete a mission, you must
    end the mission by landing at a base to get credit for completing the
    mission.

Ending a campaign:
    When you successfully complete the last mission in a campaign, a
    message will appear telling you so. Your skill level will be raised by
    one.

Training Simulator:
    The training simulator allows you to practice flying your next
    mission. Its just like you're flying, but you don't die if you're shot
    down. Kills and missions completed in the simulator don't count towards
    your pilot's missions completed or combat victories.