********************************************************************* * RECOIL * ********************************************************************* Thank you for purchasing RECOIL. We hope that you enjoy playing RECOIL as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. This readme includes last minute notes for RECOIL. Please read the following carefully. (c) 1999 ELECTRONIC ARTS Thank you for your interest in the products published and distributed by Electronic Arts. The use of this software is at your own risk. Before using this software, please read the License Agreement found in the RECOIL installation which sets forth the terms and conditions governing your use of this software. By using this software, you agree to be bound by the terms contained therein. If you have questions or problems please visit the RECOIL web site at www.westwood.com/games/recoil *****CONTENTS***** 1. MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 2. ONLINE MANUAL/HELP FILE 3. NETWORK/MULTIPLAYER (TCP/IP AND IPX) 4. MODEM 5. WESTWOOD ONLINE (WOL) 6. 3D SUPPPORT 7. AUREAL A3D 8. NVIDIA RIVA TNT 128 9. DIRECTX 10. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) 11. RECOIL/ WESTWOOD WEBSITE 1 *****MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS***** * PENTIUM 166MHZ * 32 MEGS of RAM * Windows 95 or Windows 98 * DIRECTX 6.x * DIRECT(X) AUDIO COMPATIBLE SOUND CARD * VIDEO CARD W/ 2 MEGS of VRAM * 220 MEGS of FREE HARD DRIVE SPACE IMPORTANT: RECOIL is not compatible with Microsoft Windows NT. 2 *****ONLINE MANUAL/HELP FILE***** We have included an in-game Online manual for you convenience. The manual can be loaded by clicking the "ONLINE MANUAL" selection on the launch screen for RECOIL. In order to view this manual you will need an operational Internet Browser. If for any reason you are unable to view this Online manual, please refer to the printed manual included with the RECOIL retail only game (Does not refer to Diamond Vortex 2.0 version). All information included in the Online manual can be found in the printed manual. 3 *****NETWORK/MULTIPLAYER****** We recommend that the host machine of a network/multiplayer game be the fastest machine of all multiplayers. The host should have the following minimum hardware configuration. * Pentium 200 MHz or better processor * 32 Megabytes of RAM * There should be no other software running in the background that may impact the performance of RECOIL. Preferably, all players of a multiplayer game should join the game at the same time. Players joining a game that has been in progress for some time may experience a loss of synchronization. On slower networks it may take as much as up to a minute for some players to receive a permission to join a network game. The loading indicator bar on the Load Screen will be about 3/4 complete when this occurs. Please be patient while the game loads. RECOIL will not allow players to join multiplayer games during the last 60 seconds or the last lap (Beach Rally). You will receive the message "This session is close to ending. Please wait for next session to start." If you experience a crash, lock, or other anamoly that stops gameplay please remember to reboot your computer. When programs lock/crash they often corrupt memory and cause other problems. Usually rebooting will fix these problems. If you have persistent reoccuring problem please contact our Customer Support department. 4 *****MODEM***** If you wish to play modem, select the "MULTIPLAYER" option under the "START" selection on the RECOIL main menu screen. Then under "CONNECTION TYPE" select "MODEM". If you wish to host a MODEM game, click on the "ANSWER" button. Your computer will wait for an incoming call from your opponents modem. After your computer has answered the call you can then set up the game as discussed in the MULTIPLAYER SETUP section of the RECOIL manual. If you wish to be the guest of a MODEM game click on the "DIAL" button. Enter the phone number of the opponent's computer you are trying to connect to. Don't forget the "1" for those expensive long distance calls when entering the number. After you have successfully connected to your opponents computer, you will be asked to wait until the host has setup and started the game. Setting up the game could take a few minutes. Please be patient as some people are either slow naturally or just cannot make up their minds about what settings they want. But remember the slower ones usually die quicker. So get a move on! 5 *****WESTWOOD ONLINE (WOL)****** To use the Westwood Online multiplayer option you must first complete the following steps. 1. Install Westwood Online from the Recoil CD (occurs during RECOIL installation). 2. Use the Westwood Online "Internet Registration" to establish a log-in name and password. 3. Verify your log in name and password by using Westwood Online directly. NOTE: If Recoil is closed while Westwood Online is open, Westwood Online will be closed also. ^^^^^GAME CHANNELS^^^^^ In order to setup (host) a game and chat with other players you will need to create a CHANNEL. To do this simply type a name for the channel in the "NEW CHANNEL NAME" box. Type a password in the "PASSWORD" box if you desire one. Type the maximum players (2-4) that you wish the channel to have in the "MAX PLAYERS" box. Click on new to create the CHANNEL. It's as simple as that! Click on "REFRESH" after creating any new channels. If you wish to JOIN an already existing channel double-click (left mouse button) on the channel in the "GAME CHANNELS" box. Click on REFRESH. If you wish to leave a channel at any time just click on the "LEAVE" button. New channels that are created will show up in the "GAME CHANNELS" window. The names of all the channels that are available are displayed here as well as the number of users in each channel. The maximum players allowed in each channel and the LATENCY (see LATENCY below) is also displayed here. The names of any players that have joined a channel will appear in the window titled "PLAYERS IN CHANNEL". If you wish to exclude certain players from your channel click on the name to highlight it and click on the "KICK" button. This kicks the player from the channel. The player that was kicked out of the channel can rejoin again at any time. So if you wish that they were gone for good (maybe because they said something about your sweet dear mother or offended your delicate sensibilities in some other way) use the "BAN AND KICK" button instead of "KICK". ^^^^^GAME SETUP^^^^^ After a channel has been created the area with the title "GAME" will change its name to that of the channel name. The host of the channel (player who created it) can change the "ARENA", "TIME LIMIT", and "KILLS TO WIN". They can also select to "ALLOW MAPS" and to "DISPLAY PLAYER NAMES" or not. Once all the desired settings are taken care of, the host can start the game by clicking on the "START" button. ^^^^^CHAT^^^^^ You can chat with other people that are on the same channel as you. Type any messages you wish to send in the "MESSAGE" box and click on the "SEND" button. Chat messages are displayed in the "CHAT" window. If you are looking to play a game with a friend or someone in particular and you cannot locate them, you can use the "PAGE" function. Type the message you wish to send them in the "MESSAGE" box. Type their name in the "NAME" box. Then click on the "PAGE" button. IMPORTANT: Please refrain from using profanity while chatting with other players. ^^^^^LATENCY^^^^^ In order to determine the speed/quality of your WESTWOOD ONLINE connection, we have used the following "LATENCY CODES". 1 BAR "I" = 250 MILLISECONDS 3 BARS "I" = 500 MILLISECONDS 5 BARS "I" = 750 MILLISECONDS 7 BARS "I" = 1000 MILLISECONDS 9 BARS "I" = 1250 MILLISECONDS 11 BARS "I" = 1500 MILLISECONDS 13 BARS "I" = 1750 MILLISECONDS 15 BARS "I" = 2000 MILLISECONDS etc. A range of 1-5 BARS is an acceptable connection under most conditions. The speed and quality of your Internet connection is dependent on many factors such as modem speed, Internet traffic, physical distance between Internet devices (i.e. Hubs, Routers, etc.), and the number of devices the information (packet) being sent has to pass through. If the number of BARS is extremely high, try reconnecting to your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Sometimes doing this will create a better Internet connection. 6 *****3D SUPPORT***** Players with a VOODOO II chipset video card should note that the card performs better when the resolution is set 800x600. The framerate is substantially better at this resolution than at a lower resolution (such as 640X480). Some 3D accelerators offer a control menu that allows you to set the display refresh rate for each supported resolution. To maximize 3D accelerator performance you should set the display refresh rate to the highest that your monitor can support. The ALT-TAB Windows function has been disabled in hardware or Accelerated mode. This function is still available in the GameZ or Software mode. 7 *****AUREAL A3D***** If you own an A3D card you should be aware of the following. There are 3 variants of A3D cards: Vortex 1 cards Vortex 2 cards DSP cards If you own a DSP-type A3D card (Monster Sound M80, Monster Sound MX200, Xitel Storm 3D and Shark Predator 3D) you will need to download new A3D 2.0 drivers from Aureal.com or A3D.com. It is also always best to have the latest sound card drivers before playing RECOIL, regardless of sound card type or not. The Vortex 1 and Vortex 2 incorporate A3D 2.0 drivers available with RECOIL (which uses the brand new A3D 2.0 API). The use of the new A3D 2.0 API does not imply that all the new features are supported. RECOIL does not support Aureal Wavetracing (geometry based reflections, occlusions, reverb and acoustic materials). RECOIL uses the A3D 2.0 API for what is called "Direct Path" A3D audio only. That is, sounds are positioned in space (above, below, front, back, left, right) around the listener. Doppler and other audio effects are calculated automatically. While all of this is hardware accelerated (with proper hardware resource management), there is no understanding of geometry as there would be with the Aureal Wavetracing features of A3D 2.0. "Direct path" simply indicates that the sound goes directly from the sound source to the listener with no objects obscuring the sound or reflections (echoes) reaching the listener after bouncing off other walls or objects. IMPORTANT: If your computer does not have an A3D card please make sure that you have the DIRECTSOUND option checked. The DIRECTSOUND option is located under OPTIONS on the opening RECOIL selection screen. If this option is not checked, RECOIL will not operate correctly on NON-A3D equipped computers. If you are experiencing problems with RECOIL (ie. level to level transitions, missing sounds, in-game flics not playing, etc.) you may need to install the latest A3D driver(s). In most cases it is best to have the latest driver for your particular sound or video card. You will be able to find the drivers for the A3D soundcard at www.aureal.com. 8 *****NVIDIA RIVA TNT 128***** Problems with the Riva 128 occur when saving/loading a game or playing at higher resolutions. To resolve this problem please take the following steps. 1. Download the latest drivers for the Riva 128. 2. Once downloaded, right-click on the Win95 desktop and select (left-click) on "Properties". 3. Select the Riva tab and uncheck the "use square textures only" box. 4. Click "OK" and you should be ready to go! 9 ***** DIRECTX ***** Your computer must have DIRECTX 6.0 installed in order for RECOIL to operate correctly. Please be aware that there are separate versions of DIRECTX 6.0 for WIN95 and WIN98. Problems with the video, sound, etc. could arise if the incorrect version is installed. Both versions are included with RECOIL. Please be sure that you are installing the proper version for your computer operating system. Please be sure to restart your computer after installing DIRECTX 6.0. 10 *****FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)***** 1. WHAT CAN I DO TO INCREASE RECOIL'S FRAMERATE? There are many things you can do to increase framerate. You can adjust some of the settings in the OPTIONS menu. By lowering the settings you should be able to increase your framerate. For example if your sound quality is set at "MED" in the OPTIONS menu, this would be taking up more resources than say a setting of "LOW". Conversely, if you had a sound quality setting of "LOW" and switched it up to "MED" your framerate would decrease. The RECOIL TEAM has made every possible attempt to perfect the settings for the majority of machines, but in order to fully enjoy RECOIL, some personalized "tweaking" may be necessary. 2. WHY ARE THE VIDEO FLICS (AVI'S) SO CHOPPY? If you have a slower CDROM and have not installed the videos (AVI's) to your hard drive, the video may play with some anomalies. Also, the video files may take a while to load. To resolve this, you should choose to copy the AVI's to your hard drive during the installation process. 3. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HAVE IN STORE FOR ME? Hours of entertaining gameplay from RECOIL! 4. WOULD YOU LIKE CHEESE ON THAT? Sure! A little bit o' cheese never hurt anyone! 5. WHAT IS A DRIVER? A "DRIVER" is a file that allows your hardware (soundcard, videocard, modem, etc.) to communicate with the rest of your computer. These are typically supplied by the hardware vendor. 11 *****RECOIL/WESTWOOD WEBSITE INFO***** Please visit the RECOIL Web Site (www.westwood.com/games/recoil) for up-to-date information regarding RECOIL and additional free stuff. The following are just a few of the things that are on the RECOIL website. * Walk through of the single-player world * Strategy and tactics for defeating enemies * Access to the secret areas * Special Cheats Please visit the Westwood Web Site at www.westwood.com for info on upcoming releases, current products, and other assorted sundry. ******************************************************************** Thanks again for purchasing RECOIL! TEAM RECOIL ENG 3.0 - GM