Joystick Mode: Selecting this option changes the way that Avara takes input from your pointing device. With this option selected, Avara interprets the starting position of your mouse to be “home” or “center”. Deflecting your mouse from its home position will cause the pod of the HECTOR to begin moving in the direction of the deflection. Returning your mouse (or other pointing device) to the home position stops the pod from moving. In technical terms, your mouse normally controls the position of the pod. With this option selected, it controls the velocity of the pod.
Flip Vertical (Airplane Style): By default, Avara raises the head of your HECTOR when you push the mouse “up” or away from you. Selecting this option changes the way that Avara interprets mouse input so that pushing the mouse “up” tilts the head of the HECTOR downward. Users who are familiar with flight simulators may prefer this mode.
Sensitivity: Select Low, Normal, or High to set Avara’s sensitivity to the movements of your mouse.
Processing Power Options
Selecting these options will increase the load on the processor of your Macintosh. Users with less powerful computers should consider leaving these options unselected to improve gameplay.
Allow Background Processing: When this option is selected, Avara will allow other applications that may be running on your Macintosh to share the processor. On less powerful Macs, selecting this option can make gameplay “jerky” if you are running other applications. You will almost always want to leave this option off when you play Avara as it is the one thing that can make Avara slow on any Mac. This is particularly important when you play Avara over a network.
IRC users should note that if this option is not selected when playing Avara, their client may ping out.
Update Roster During Games: When this option is selected, Avara will update the display in the Roster window while the mission is running.
Ambient Holograms: When this option is selected, Avara will draw any ambient holograms that are included in a mission.
High Explosion Details: When this option is selected, Avara will increase the detail of explosions in the game.
Horizon Detail: Higher levels of detail will give a smoother color gradation between the ground and the sky. At the Simple Horizon setting, no gradation is shown.
For more information, see Chapter 14, Optimization and Troubleshooting.
Sound
Avara allows you to determine where and how the audio output of the game is played. To control where Avara sends the audio output of Avara, select one of the first four options in the Sound menu. These are:
Mute: Turns off all sound. Selecting Mute can help improve the performance of Avara. This option should be considered a last resort, as there are less drastic ways to reduce the additional load that sounds place on your Mac’s processor
Monophonic: Sets sound to be monophonic, rather than stereo
Stereo Headphones: Selecting this option will decrease the stereo speration to suit listening with headphones.
Stereo Speakers: Selecting this option will provide increased stereo seperation to allow for more realistic sound over stereo speakers.
For more information, see Chapter 14, Optimization and Troubleshooting.
Sound Options
 
Additional sound options can be set in the Sound Options dialog window. To set these options, select Sound Options from the Sound menu.
Sampling Rate
This pop-up menu allows you to set the sound sampling rate Avara will use. Higher sampling rates produce higher quality sound, but also increase the load on you Macintosh’s processor. On slower Macs, we recommend 11kHz as the sampling rate. If you have the sampling rate for your Mac set in your Sound control panel, be sure not to set Avara to a higher rate. For best performance, use a whole fraction of the rate that is set in your Sound control panel.
Max Channels
This pop-up menu allows you to set the maximum number of sound channels that Avara will use. Using more channels will increase the load on your Macintosh’s processor.
Sound Quality
16-Bit Sound (Recommended): When this option is selected, and if your Macintosh supports it, Avara will use 16-bit sound to offer higher fidelity. If not selected, Avara uses 8-bit sound.
Sample Interpolation: When this option is selected, Avara uses sample interpolation to increase the quality of the sound in the game.
Sound Effects
Each of the options below provides a richer sound environment when playing Avara, but also increases the load on your Macintosh’s processor. If you are having performance problems, consider unselecting some or all of these options.
Ambient Sounds: When this option is selected, the ambient sounds contained in a mission are played. This option provides a richer sound environment in Avara.
Music: When this option is selected, any music that is included in a mission will be played. None of the missions that come with Avara contain music, but Avara allows third party mission designers to include music in their missions.
Missile Sound Loops: When this option is selected, Avara will continue to play missile sounds as long as the missile is still flying. When this option is not selected, you will hear a shorter duration sound effect.
Footstep Sounds: When this option is selected, Avara will play the sound of the HECTOR’s footsteps.
For more information, see Chapter 14, Optimization and Troubleshooting.
