This program is only a pre-release demo -- not the finished game -- but it's fun exploring anyway. The final version of ChaosVR will be released at the beginning of 1996 as a 20$ shareware, check out the "ChaosVR" paragraph below to find out all about it.
ChaosVR started life as the working model for our proprietary technology: the 3D Game Machine. 3DGM is a very easy-to-use C/C++ commercial library for creating lightning-fast 3D arcade games and interactive multimedia applications. To find out more, see the "3DGM ReadMe" document.
Controls
Mouse/Joystick:
mouse control ship
mouse button fire laser
option/control throttle up/down
Keyboard (capslock must be released):
4/6 or left/right left/right
5/8 or down/up up/down
space fire laser
x/z throttle up/down
tab toggle spaceship view
l lock-on target
u unlock target
w back to initial position when lost
command-S toggle sound on/off
command-Q Quit
By pressing command-E you can enable the event loop, and take a snapshot with shift-command-3 (interlace should have been turned off), press the mouse button to return to the game.
Options
- change the atmosphere by selecting Day or Night.
- choose the game's Size by selecting one of the predefined sizes. If you have a big monitor (like 21 inch) try the "Full Screen" option -- it really rocks on a PowerMac.
- Textures can be turned off on PowerMacs for better performance.
- turn the Interlace option on for better performance.
- turn the Precise rendering option off on 68030 Macs for better performance.
- turn the Sound option off on slower Macs for better performance.
- once you are done select Run in the file menu, or press command-R or return.
If you're experiencing problems, try rebooting your Mac without extensions (reboot with the shift key down), or send us a bug report with as much technical information as you can (thanx). We haven't experienced any problems with "clean" systems, so make sure it's not an extension-linked bug.
ChaosVR
Your home planet is threatened by an evil alien force. To save it you need to disable the enemy's military, industrial and urban constructions throughout the galaxy. To accomplish this you must seek and destroy all the key targets inside these installations.
The final version of ChaosVR will be a fast-paced 3D arcade-style shoot ’em-up. You'll be racing through exciting and futuristic 3D landscapes, heading towards your target, diving under bridges, slaloming between storage tanks, plunging into caves, bouncing off a towering skyscraper as you miss a corner and, of course, you'll have to blast all the defense centers, canons, enemy ships and ground tanks that'll attack you.
This version is only an alpha demo, it has limited graphics and sound, no plot, aggressive enemies or scoring system -- the final version will be much more fun, and not all levels will look like your grandmother's kitchen floor. Also, don't try to kill all of the little yellow drones/vegetables, they don't die but regenerate all over the level.
The final version will be released as shareware in the first quarter of 1996. It will be even faster than this alpha (yes!), providing fluid animations on 68k Macs while pushing PowerMacs to their limits.
Among other things, ChaosVR will feature:
• challenging gameplay with many increasingly difficult levels (each level will be ~200 times bigger than this alpha mini-level)
• large, beautiful urban, industrial and natural 3D scenery
• immersive atmosphere enhanced by dynamic sound effects
• thousands of highly detailed 2D & 3D graphics
• intelligent enemy behavior
• high-speed shaded 3D with color fog, even on 68030 Macs
• texture mapping on 68040 or better
• native PowerPC performance
ChaosVR uses adaptive technology -- owners of fast Macs will be able to access higher frame rates with increased detail settings and larger display sizes. It will require a minimum system with a 25 MHz 68030 (or better), 4 Mb of free RAM, 256 colors, and 3 Mb of free disk space.
A few noticeable bugs in this alpha will also be corrected -- they're linked to Chaos, and not 3DGM itself, like when the ship does the "pinball" or when it's digging through the mountains. Texture mapping was temporarily turned off on 68k machines because it still needs some assembler optimizing. The final game will also initialize *much* faster.
If you'd like to receive a personal notification of the final release of ChaosVR, send us an empty e-mail to chaos@virtually.mcnet.ch with the title "chaos mailing".
For more information about The Chaos Project, contact Timothy O'Hear at tim@virtually.mcnet.ch or check our web site at http://www.mcnet.ch/virtually".
To find more information about Virtually Unlimited or 3DGM (technical & ordering), you can save documentation from ChaosVR's "3DGM" menu. If you'd like to see other demos check our web page & FTP site, or contact us at:
Virtually Unlimited, SNC
24 Château-Banquet
CH-1202 Geneva/Switzerland
Internet: main@virtually.mcnet.ch (send to tim@virtually.mcnet.ch for ChaosVR)
Compuserve: 100423,2721
Web: http://www.mcnet.ch/virtually
FTP: ftp.virtually.mcnet.ch/virtually
phone&fax: (+4122) 310-0806 (central European time)
You should also check out Anark's home page at http://www.anark.com, their new game called "Galapagos" is the first commercial game written with 3D Game Machine.
Legal stuff
This demo can be freely copied provided it is not modified in any way, and all documentation and text files are copied along with it, it may not be sold.
For publications and organizations that wish to include this demo on a disk or CD-Rom, we request you send us a copy of the magazine with the CD-Rom (and a friendly greeting). Send us a quick e-mail if you'd like to be kept informed of our developments, this way you'll always get the latest version of our demos.
