Forums - Strife

I will display some of the documents that are on the CD Just for some help and guidance...

Mult.txt
Welcome to STRIFE™!
STRIFE MULTI-PLAYER README 4/19/1996

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0. Table of Contents
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0. Table of Contents
1. Getting Started in Multi-player Mode
2. Rule Changes in Multi-player Mode
3. Winning at Deathmatch
4. Multi-player Demo Recording
5. Network Play
6. Modem Play
7. Command Line Parameters
8. Adding More Phone Numbers to Your List
9. Legal Stuff

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1. Getting Started in Multi-player Mode
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1. Install STRIFE as described in the manual.
2. To launch STRIFE, go to the directory in which you installed STRIFE,
type SETUP, and press the ENTER key. Unlike STRIFE in single-player mode,
STRIFE in multi-player mode must be run either from the SETUP program or
by using the command line parameters mentioned later in this addendum.
3. The SETUP program allows you to configure STRIFE to your system and
lets you provide STRIFE with programming information that is necessary for
the multi-player game (number of players, skill level, mode, etc.). The
SETUP program is simple to use and provides context-sensitive help at the
bottom of the screen.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: A maximum of eight people can play multi-player STRIFE
on a networked game.

COMPATIBLE NETWORKS: To play the multi-player version of STRIFE, you must
have a network that uses the IPX protocol. Check your network manuals for
information regarding protocol. Novell networks use the IPX protocol.

MULTIPLE GAMES ON THE NET: To play a multi-player game while another group
is also playing the multi-player game, you'll need to change your network
port address from the SETUP application. The port address tells your
server where to send information over the network. Network addresses range
from 1-64000. You should refer to the person in charge of your network for
possible port addresses.

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2. Rule Changes in Multi-player Mode
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Many of the rules for multi-player STRIFE are different from those for the
single-user game. Read the following information carefully before you
begin to play STRIFE in the multi-player mode.

MENUS: When you activate the Options menu or sub-menus, the game KEEPS
RUNNING so that other players can continue with the action. It is best to
find a safe place where your character can hide before adjusting screen
sizes or sounds.

PAUSE: A single-player may pause the game by pressing the PAUSE key, but
any other player can resume the game by pressing the PAUSE key again. Make
sure it's OK with your buddies before taking a breather.

SAVE: You cannot save a game during network play.

LOAD: You cannot load a saved game while playing a multi-player game.

WEAPONS: When a player runs over a weapon, he picks it up, but the weapon
remains in the game for other players to take. With the RESPAWNING ITEMS
option on, the items will disappear, and will come back in about 30
seconds. With the RANDOM RESPAWN option (`-RANDOM' from the command line)
places from which items are picked up will have items randomly reappear in
them after the 30 second interval.

RESTART: If you die and restart within the level, the level will NOT reset
like it does in multi-player STRIFE. Life goes on without you.

DEATH: When you die, you will often leave behind a little mound of goodies
from your inventory.

KEYS: There are no keys in the game. Doors open without keys, or never.

UNIFORM COLORS: In multi-player games, each player's uniform is a different
color. The color of your uniform is the color next to your name on the
kills screen. The colors are Tan, Red, Rust, Grey, Dark Green, Gold, Bright
Green, and Blue.

CHAT MODE: In a multi-player game you can communicate with other players in
the chat mode. To enter into chat mode which will broadcast a message to
all the players, press [T]. A cursor will appear where your messaging is
normally placed. To broadcast to a specific player, after pressing [T]
you'll need to press the number of that player (1-8). You can change your
name by pressing the [T] and [$] keys, then entering your new name. CHAT
MACROS: In a multi-player game, you can send your own pre-defined macros
(defined in the SETUP program) by initiating chat mode (as explained
above), then holding [Alt] and pressing the number key that corresponds to
the macro you wish to send. For example, if macro #2 is "I got the
Sigil!", initiate chat mode by pressing [T], then hold down [Alt] and press
[2] to send "I got the Sigil!" to everyone else in the game.

EXITING A LEVEL: When one player exits a level, all players instantly exit
to the new level with him, regardless of their position or their status.

KEY SCEEN: In deathmatch mode, the key screen shows each player's kill
count - the number of times each has been killed by another player.

AUTOMAP: In deathmatch mode, on the Training skill level the automap
works the same way it does in single-player mode. Each player is
represented by a different color arrow.

SPY MODE: If you're playing with the Training skill level, press [F12] to
toggle through the other players' viewpoint(s). Press any other key to
return to your view. You still retain your own status bar at the bottom,
and if your view reddens from pain it is YOU, not the person whose view
you're looking out of, who has been hit.

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3. Winning at Deathmatch
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The rules for completing or winning a deathmatch game have intentionally
been left general. Any player can exit an area and force all of the
players to move to the next area. Also, there is no limit to how many
kills are required to declare a player the winner. That's completely up to
you, since you know what you like best!

Remember that you can have a ton of fun without killing each other. Invent
new games like Capture the Chalice, Monster Bash (gang up on the baddies,
not each other), or use deathmatch to give inexperienced players a virtual
guided tour through the world of STRIFE.

Note: Before you play STRIFE in deathmatch mode you might want to become
familiar with the layout of every area in STRIFE. As you know, in
deathmatch mode your starting location is random and often in an area
that is very hostile.

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4. Multi-player Demo Recording
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You can record your tournaments for posterity! To record multi-player
demos, add the line "-RECORD <filename>" (i.e. "-RECORD demoz") to the
command-line. Make sure the other players are recording also, or it won't
work. If you need more time, add the "-MAXDEMO <K>" option to increase
demo buffer space. Make sure both of you specify the same amount. STRIFE
defaults to 128K of demo buffer space, to specify 1meg you would type
"-MAXDEMO 1024" on the command-line.
IF STRIFE CRASHES TO DOS WITH A "Z_MALLOC" ERROR, IT'S BECAUSE YOU DON'T
HAVE ENOUGH MEMORY FOR THE MAXDEMO AMOUNT SPECIFIED!

When you are done recording, press the [F10] key and all players will
exit to DOS. To play the demo back, type, "STRIFE -PLAYDEMO <filename>"
and the demo will play back. To see from the other players' point of
view, press the [F12] key. Press [F12] to toggle between all players in
the demo. The TAB key will display the automap.

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5. Network Play
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When you want to run a network game, use IPXSETUP.EXE which is the device
driver for STRIFE's network mode. The parameters are as follows:

-NODES <# of players> - starts STRIFE as a network game and sets the
number of players who are going to play. If you don't specify the number
of nodes, the default is 2.

-PORT <# of the port> sets the port from which to play STRIFE multi-player
on the network. By setting a different port, more than one group of
players can play STRIFE on a single network.

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6. Modem Play
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When you want to play a modem or null-modem game, run SERSETUP.EXE which
is the device driver for STRIFE's serial communications mode. The
parameters are as follows:

-DIAL <phone number> tells the program which number to dial, if you're
going to do the calling.

-ANSWER puts your modem into Answer mode so someone can call you and play
STRIFE.

-COM1, -COM2, -COM3, -COM4 specifies which COM port to which your modem or
serial cable is connected. It is very important that you specify!

8250 tells SERSETUP to set the UART to 8250, just in case your 16550 UART
is acting up at the higher speed.

-IRQ <irq number> sets the IRQ for the COM port.

-PORT <port number> sets the COM I/O port that SERSETUP uses to
communicate with your modem. To use hexadecimal, such as the number
0x3f8, you would type "-PORT 0x3f8".

-<#> sets the baud rate of your COM port, overriding the value in the
MODEM.CFG if you're running a modem game. Legal values are 9600, 14400,
38400, 57600.

Note that to run a null-modem game, you must have a null-modem cable
plugged into a serial port on both computers and each computer runs
SERSETUP.EXE with a -COM# parameter as well as any General Parameters. Do
not use the -ANSWER or -DIAL parameters, or SERSETUP will think you're
using a modem. To get a null-modem cable, go to CompUSA or Radio Shack and
say, "I need a null-modem cable to run a STRIFE multi-player game."

VERY IMPORTANT!
You will need to run the SETUP program and select Choose Modem from the
Network/Modem/Serial menu so you can set your modem init string correctly.
Select the modem and press [Enter] and SETUP will create a new MODEM.CFG
file that corresponds to your modem (the MODEM.CFG file is used by
SERSETUP for initializing the modem.)
If your modem is not in the list, you will most likely need to edit the
MODEM.CFG file in the STRIFE directory. The first line of the file is an
initialization string that:

1. Turns off error-correction and
2. Turns off data-compression.

The MODEM.CFG file has a Hayes-standard init string like this:

AT Z S=46 &Q0 &D0

You just add your own commands after the "AT Z " if your modem doesn't
work with these settings, dig through your modem manual for the correct
settings. The second line is a hang-up string used when you quit STRIFE.
The third line is the baud rate at which you want your COM port set.
The legal settings are: 9600, 14400, 38400, 57600.
If the modem connection isn't working when you call your friend, have him
call you instead. Try setting the modem to GENERIC (in the SETUP.EXE
program) if your modems don't connect. If you STILL can't get the modems
to connect, both of you should run your favorite COMM programs and connect
with 9600, no error correction and no data compression. Then quit the
COMM program and keep the connection going. Then just run SERSETUP with a
-COM# parameter (as if you were running a null-modem game) since you're
already connected. If you had trouble connecting, but figured out some
settings that work, please fax them to us at (214) 686-9288 so we can
expand our modem init string database and perhaps have the SETUP program
ask you for your modem type in a future version of STRIFE.

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7. Command Line Parameters
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These parameters can be passed straight to STRIFE, or passed to IPXSETUP
or SERSETUP, each which then passes them to STRIFE.

-DEATHMATCH starts STRIFE as a deathmatch game. This is the default mode
for a network game.

-ALTDEATH specifies respawning items during deathmatch.

-RANDOM items picked up will be randomly respawned. This is only useful
with -ALTDEATH

-SKILL <# of skill level> sets the skill level (1-5) you wish to play.

-CONFIG <pathname> allows you to use your configuration file from any
directory you choose. This is primarily for diskless workstations that
don't have a C: drive to which to save config information. You need to
rename the DEFAULT.CFG file created by the SETUP program to a directory
and name of your choosing to avoid conflicts.

-NOMONSTERS allows you to start playing with NO Enemies shooting you! This
is great for deathmatch where, really, the enemies just get in the way.

-NOJOY isn't what it sounds like. It just disables your joystick.

-NOMOUSE disables your mouse.

-NOSOUND turns off sound effects.

-NOMUSIC turns off music.

-NOSFX turns off both sound and music.

-NOVOICE turns off the voices. There are, however, no voices in
deathmatch play.

-PLAYDEMO <filename> runs a demo you've previously recorded, see -RECORD.

-RECORD <filename> tells STRIFE to record the game you are starting.
Demo files will be saved as <filename>.lmp.

-MAXDEMO <xxx> If you want to record a demo bigger than 128k, use this
option. <xxx> will be the size (in kilobytes) of the demo. example
-MAXDEMO 1024 will record a 1 megabyte demo.

-RESPAWN tells STRIFE to respawn some robots 12 seconds after you kill
them. The robots that explode and go away when killed, will not respawn.
The BLOODBATH skill level already does this. Note that using -RESPAWN and
-NOMONSTERS at the same time is a dumb thing to do.

-TURBO <xxx> gives you a speed boost. This is great in deathmatch! The value
xxx can be from 0 to 250. The other player(s) will be notified of your
speed increase! THIS IS CONSIDERED CHEATING!

@<filename> will allow you to specify a Response file from which STRIFE
will read additional command-line parameters. For example, typing `STRIFE
@MYPARMS' will tell STRIFE to look in the MYPARMS file for additional
command-line parameters. The file format is simply one parameter per line
with a carriage return to terminate the line.
Each parameter is typed exactly as you would type it on the DOS command-
line.

-FAST will make the enemies move and shoot up to 3 times faster, just as
if you were playing in Bloodbath mode, but without the respawning.

-TIMER <# of minutes> will prevent STRIFE from exiting the level until
after a specified number of minutes. This is for you level scroungers!
This option is only useful in deathmatch mode.

An example line for entering the above information would be:
STRIFE -DEATHMATCH -SKILL 4 -TIMER 10
NOTE: Without using the -WARP parameter in single-player, all of these
game options will be reset to the defaults. Network games will auto-
matically warp to the start level without this parameter.

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8. Adding more numbers to your list
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
You must use a text editor (such as EDIT that comes with DOS) to edit the
MODEM.NUM file. The format is simple; The first line is the person's name
(which will appear in the list), the second line is the phone number. The
third line should be blank.

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9. Legal Stuff
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STRIFE ™, the STRIFE logo and STRIFE likenesses are trademarks of
Velocity, Inc. STRIFE is Copyright 1996, Velocity, Inc., All rights
reserved.
Velocity ™ is a trademark of Velocity, Inc.
This product contains software code owned by Id Software, Inc. (the "Id
Code") Id Code copyright 1993, 1996 Id Software, Inc. All Rights
Reserved. The Id Software, Inc. name is a trademark of Id Software, Inc.
DOOM is a trademark of Id Software, Inc.
IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines, Inc.
Sound Blaster is a registered trademark of Creative Labs, Inc. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective companies.
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END Multi.txt

Readme.txt
Welcome to STRIFE ™!
STRIFE README 4/21/1996 STRIFE VERSION 1.0
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iii. IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE ANIMATED INTRO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By deleting STRIFE.AVI, STRIFE.BAT and AVI.EXE and running STRIFE1.EXE to
start STRIFE, you can bypass the movie and save yourself about 11MB of disk
space.

The animated intro has been known to have problems on certain systems,
especially those that are not 100% SoundBlaser compatible. If yours is
one of these systems, just bypass the movie.

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ii. IS YOUR README FILE OUT OF DATE?
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You can get our latest releases from the following places:
Velocity's WWW Home Page
http://www.velocitygames.com/

Rogue's WWW Home Page
http://doomgate.cs.buffalo.edu/addons/adds/rogue/

Note that there is also a file called MULTI.TXT, that covers multi-player
topics.

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i. WHAT IS MY STRIFE VERSION NUMBER?
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To find out, look at the file VERSION.TXT. To do this from DOS, enter the
command "TYPE VERSION.TXT".

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0. Table of Contents
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
iii. IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE ANIMATED INTRO
ii. IS YOUR README FILE OUT OF DATE?
i. WHAT IS MY STRIFE VERSION NUMBER?
0. Table of Contents
1. Auxiliary Programs
2. Special Sound Options
3. General STRIFE Questions
4. Performance Issues
5. Trimming the hard-disk space requirements of STRIFE
6. Known Problems and Limitations within STRIFE
7. Specific Hardware Compatibility Notes
8. Legal Stuff

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1. Auxiliary programs
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There are a number of auxiliary programs that come with STRIFE. These are
IPXSETUP.EXE, the IPX Network Device Driver that enables you to play
STRIFE over an office network that uses the IPX protocol, and
SERSETUP.EXE, the serial device driver that enables you to play STRIFE
over a modem or serial cable.
Documentation for the IPXSETUP.EXE and SERSETUP.EXE programs follow.

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2. Special Sound Options
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These options are normally disabled for stability reasons, but the
features may work on your computer. Setting the environment variable
DMXOPTIONS to -OPL3 may, if you have a modern SB compatible card, give you
stereo FM music. Setting the same environment variable to -PHASE will
enable phase-shifted sound, which is most easily heard with headphones.
This deepens the stereo effect of sound effects.

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3. General STRIFE Questions
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Q: Where can I get the network STRIFE demo via the WWW?
A: Point your browser at http://www.velocitygames.com/ or visit
http://www.gamers.org/~rogue/demo.html and click the "Click Here"
graphic.
Q: Why do I start the game fighting Acolytes?
A: Read the "Mercenary" story in the manual opener, it's funny.
Q: Why do the endings use voices for characters that are already dead?
A: To leave room for a sequel. Please send proposals to strife@velo.com)

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4. Performance Issues
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Background:
STRIFE requires more memory than DOOM. A disk cache (such as SMARTDRV)
will speed things up a bit, but anything more than 256k or 512k doesn't
seem to make a difference.

Q: I have an 8MB machine, but STRIFE is still telling me that I don't have
enough memory.
A: Here are a few tips to find where the memory is going.
1. Use the 'mem /c /p' command from the DOS command line to find out who's
being uncooperative.
2. Quit Windows (or Windows 95). If you need to, make a DOS boot disk to
keep windows from loading.
3. Check your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to see how much SMARTDRV.EXE is using for
a disk cache. On 8MB machines, Windows sets it to 2048 (2MB) which could
be your problem. Try changing the number(s) to 512. You can run STRIFE on
an 8MB machine with a 512k disk cache. We've tried it.

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5. Trimming the hard-disk space requirements of STRIFE
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These files constitute the STRIFE movie. Delete them, and just run
STRIFE1.EXE:

STRIFE.AVI (11 MB)
STRIFE.BAT
AVI.EXE

You can cut away another 29MB of space by deleting the VOICES.WAD file,
but nobody will ever talk to you again.

All these deletions should drop the STRIFE directory to a bit under 35MB.

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6. Known Problems/Limitations within STRIFE
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Q: I occasionally get a consistency failure during network play.
A: Unfortunately, we know. It tends to happen after an hour or more of
networked play with lots of people in the game. We don't have a fix as we
are going to press, but we should have it by the time that STRIFE hits
the shelves. If you encounter this problem, the following will help:
- Don't drop teleporter beacons or degnin ore in networked play
- Grab the patch off of our web site at
http://www.velocitygames.com/ or
http://doomgate.cs.buffalo.edu/addons/adds/rogue/
- Quit and restart the game
Q: I think I'm stuck in an area-- I can't get out.
A: Try reloading your saved game. If that doesn't work, commit suicide,
then hit [Spacebar] to restart the area at the beginning. This should
solve your problem. This should work even if you have already saved your
game past the point of getting stuck.
Q: I've got a room with a ton of stuff in it, and some of the items/actors
have started to disappear! What's going on?
A: The DOOM engine has a limit on the maximum number of items that can be
visible at one time. Since STRIFE is pushing the limits of the engine as
it is, we made it so it will stop drawing objects when reaches that limit.

Q: Sometimes my turn keys seem to lock up for a little while, having no
effect on my movement!
A: We've noticed that on some keyboards, when you're using the dedicated
arrow keys, it will sometimes not turn when you press right or left. This
usually happens when you have several other keys down, such as forward and
run. We're looking for the problem. In the mean time, you can use the
number pad's arrow keys, those seem to work all right.

Q: I ran a second game of STRIFE while my first game was windowed, but the
sound is messed up.
A: Don't run two copies at the same time in Windows. If you discover that
you have no sound when starting STRIFE in Windows, just quit out and look
for a previously-started game of STRIFE on your desktop or in your
minimize bar. Resolve that game before starting anew.
Q: My STRIFE game dumped out to Windows and I don't know how to get it
back.
A: Remember, [Alt] + [Tab] will minimize any window, even STRIFE. Be
careful around these keys while playing. You can return to STRIFE by
pressing them again, or clicking the full window button on the
windowed STRIFE game. When you return, you may need to tap the direction
keys to get them to relax they tend to "stick" when windowing out, leaving
you spinning in your game when you return.

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7. Specific Hardware Compatibility Notes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
STRIFE has been known to have problems on some sound cards that emulate
the Sound Blaster through software. Also, see the note at the top of this
file about the animated intro.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Legal Stuff
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
STRIFE ™, the STRIFE logo and STRIFE likenesses are trademarks of
Velocity, Inc. STRIFE is Copyright 1996, Velocity, Inc., All rights
reserved.
Velocity™ is a trademark of Velocity, Inc.
This product contains software code owned by Id Software, Inc. (the "Id
Code") Id Code copyright 1993, 1996 Id Software, Inc. All Rights
Reserved. The Id Software, Inc. name is a trademark of Id Software, Inc.
DOOM is a trademark of Id Software, Inc.
IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines, Inc.
Sound Blaster is a registered trademark of Creative Labs, Inc. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective companies.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Special thanks to Robert Huebner for networking assistance.
Thanks to Serge Smirnov (sxs111@po.cwru.edu) for graphics compression.
Thanks to Wolfgang Hessler (hessler@athene.informatik.uni-bonn.de) for
the DOS AVI player.
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END Readme.txt