                    -----------------------------------------

                    Star Fighter - Version 1.04 Playable Demo

             Copyright 1996, The 3DO Company & Krisalis Software Ltd

                    -----------------------------------------



 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

 **** IMPORTANT:

         * A CD MUST be in the drive to run.. try your favorite audio CD !

         * To hear sound, you must set up the audio card by

           pressing and holding a SHIFT key while Star Fighter loads.

         * C:\GAMES and C:\KRISALIS.CD must be on the root level of the HD.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------



Game Notes

----------

You are now looking at the first playable preview of Star Fighter for the PC!

This game was designed to take advantage of a Pentium processor [The

programmers at Krisalis hand-coded each line in assembly from the original

3DO version].



To see the true power of the graphics engine, try it out on a P133 or better

with a PCI graphics card.  Of course, Star Fighter supports all ranges of

machines down to a 486, but nothing can beat the experience of flying around

and destroying massive chains of buildings in hi-res 640x480 at 24 frames

per second.  Just compare Star Fighter against the competition to see the

superior graphics quality in hi-resolution.



If you own a 486, Star Fighter will run extremely fast in low-resolution

mode, plus we will soon be supporting Creative Labs' 3D Blaster!





History

-------

If you are at all familiar with the 3DO version of Star Fighter, you will

notice right away that the PC edition bears as little resemblance to its

predecessor as it did to the Archimedes classic.  For one, the game engine

now utilizes a natural fogging technique to bring terrain into view without

pop-up.  We have also added realistic textures to every object among the 8

planet types, ranging from photographic quality grass, water, ice, and rock

to steel and glass skyscrapers.  All 60 maps have been updated and all

fighter craft enhanced with additional polygon and texture detail.



Best of all, we have retained the same playability that made the original

game so great.  A few logical loopholes have been closed here and there,

and the mission objectives have been tweaked to provide an extremely

challenging game with plenty of hidden features.  Hunting for crystal

combinations is now more convenient with the addition of a ship-board

analytical computer, and an altimeter makes cockpit control easier for

flight simulator enthusiasts.





Game Tips

---------



Here’s how to rapidly get into the game and see all the new features:



First, you should experiment with the detail and fog settings for your

machine.  Star Fighter makes its best guess at default settings based on

your processor speed, but you will want to override these to see the

maximum extent of the game engine.  These settings should be adjusted

every time the program is exited and re-started.



· Press F8 several times to increase game detail to the highest level.

  Detail settings can range from flat shaded polygons all the way up to

  fully fogged and shaded textures with transparency effects for explosions 

  and engine flames.  F7 reduces detail.

 

· Press and hold F6 down to reduce fog and extend the viewing region further

  into the distance.  F5 increases fogging.

 

· If you want to see what a difference a high resolution 640x480 display

  can make, just press F9 to toggle between lo-res 320x200 and high.



Wicked things to check out:



· Every single item in the game can be destroyed.  For some particularly

  good effects, use air-to-ground (ATG) missiles to take out a large

  collection of buildings.  Towers that look like a space needle with a

  revolving restaurant on top provide very satisfying explosions.

  Look for pipelines and glass bridges, where destroying one link can set

  off a massive chain reaction that ripples down the entire line.

 

· Terraform the planet surface by firing your lasers into a hill or

  mountain.  This can actually be used as a tactical advantage when

  destroying hillside gun installations by blowing the ground out from

  underneath.

 

· Check out the multiple camera settings.  You can view the Star Fighter

  from any or distance.  The complete freedom of camera movement in this

  game is unparalleled.  You can play from a flight simulator cockpit view

  down to a Zaxxon ¾ perspective if you desire.  Test out the missile-cam

  for a mad effect.





Minimum Requirements:

---------------------

 Processor:  486/33 MHz minimum, Pentium 90 MHz or better suggested.

    Memory:  6 MB RAM minimum (5.5 MB extended memory XMS, 400K conventional),

             8 MB RAM suggested (required for Windows 95).

 Hard Disk:  1 MB of uncompressed space available.

    CD-ROM:  Double-speed (300 K/s transfer rate).

       O/S:  MS-DOS 5.0 or later or Windows 95.

Video Card:  VESA local bus or PCI video supporting 256 color

	     SVGA (320x200 / 640x480).

Sound Card:  Creative Labs Sound Blaster or 100% compatible.

             Supports Sound Blaster (Basic, Pro, ASP, 16, and AWE 32),

             Ensoniq SoundScape (8 and 16), Microsoft Sound System

             (8 and 16 Mono/Stereo), Pro Audio Spectrum (Basic and 16),

             Gravis UltraSound (Basic and Max), ESS Audio Drive (488 and 688),

             Roland RAP-10, and Adlib Gold (1000 and 2000).



Although Star Fighter will run on any 486 processor, the minimum

realistic requirement is a 486 running at 33Mhz.



StarFighter will run nicely in MS-DOS or Windows 95.





Re-configuring your sound card

------------------------------

After installing Star Fighter, to change the sound card settings,

press either one of the shift keys while Star Fighter loads.  This will

display the sound configuration screen.





640x480 Mode (High resolution)

------------------------------

High Resolution mode (640x480) is not recommended for machines slower than

a Pentium running at 90Mhz (or equivalent).  You may press the F9 key within

Star Fighter to toggle between low and high resolutions.





Windows 95

----------

When running Star Fighter in high resolution (640x480) mode in a DOS box

under Windows 95, it is not recommended that you switch between full-screen

and a window, as the testing we have done has shown that display is not

always restored correctly.



Keyboard

--------

StarFighter responds to the keyboard at all times in addition to input from

control pads or joysticks.  Use the directional arrows, space bar, enter key,

and escape key to navigate the various menu systems.  The default keyboard

configuration is described below:



General



Up:			P or Up Arrow

Down:			L or Down Arrow

Left:			Z or Left Arrow

Right:			X or Right Arrow

Select Item:		Space or Enter

Previous Menu:		Escape or Left Control

Skip Movie:		Space or Enter

Toggle Resolution:	F9 (Toggle low (320x200) and high (640x480) res)

Increase View:		F6 (Less fog - decrease frame rate)

Decrease View:		F5 (More fog - faster frame rate)

Increase Detail:	F8

Decrease Detail:	F7



Aboard Ship



Fire Weapon:		Enter

Select Weapon:		Left Alt

Thrust:			Space

Toggle Camera:		Right Shift

View Map:		B

E. C. M.:		Left Shift

Pause Menu:		Left Control



Strategic Map



Lock on Target:		Space

Status/Target Info:	B

Mission Briefing:	Right Shift

Zoom In:		Enter

Zoom Out:		Left Alt

Exit/Previous Menu:	Left Control



External Camera



Rotate View:		Up/Down/Left/Right

Zoom In:		Enter

Zoom Out:		Left Alt



Other



Pause Game:		F1 (press any key to resume)

Quit to DOS:		F12



Problems with StarFighter

-------------------------



If StarFighter is running too slowly for your liking, there are a couple of

things you can do to improve the situation:



        1.      Decrease the detail level. Using the F7 key, you can lower

                the amount of detail used, thus speeding the game play.



        2.      Decrease the visibility. Using the F5 key, you can lower

                the visibility by bringing in the fog. This will result in

                faster game play.





Star Fighter Credits

--------------------



Krisalis Software Ltd.



Producer:                  Tony Kavanagh.

Director:                  Pete Harrap.

Original Design:           FEDNET - T.D. Parry and A.P. Hutchings.

PC & Console Programming:  Pete Harrap, Mark Incley, Richard Teather,

                           and Karen Crowhurst.

Modelling & Cinematics:    Dave Colledge.

Artwork:                   Mark Potente and Neil Adamson.

Music & Sound:             John Avery, Rhubarb Productions.

Quality Assurance:         Steve Sumner, Richard Beirne, and Graham Morley.

Thanks To:                 Mark Adamson and Darryl Blandford.



The 3DO Company



Executive Producer:        Greg Richardson.

Producer:                  Nick Earl.

Director:                  Gary Lake.

Narration:                 Howard Swain.

Audio & Sound F/X:         Bob Vieira, Jeffrey Bihr, Spark Studios.

Quality Assurance:         Mike Herauf, Jason Wildblood, Dan Silberman.

Thanks To:                 Scott Walker for providing novice pilot input

                           and low score testing.





USES SMACKER VIDEO TECHNOLOGY BY INVISIBLE INC.

D.B.A. RAD SOFTWARE.



End of readme.txt

