CyberStrike 2
Late Breaking Information
23 October 1998
Thank you for investing the time to play CyberStrike 2. Team
Simutronics has spent considerable effort, expense and sweat to bring
you this exciting action-packed game title. Unfortunately, due to
printing lead-times, some of the more advanced features were not
covered fully in the printed manual. This readme gives you critical
clarifications and documentation of new features. First, read the
manual, then read this file to get all the information you need to be
successful in CyberStrike 2.
Additionally, hints for getting the best performance out of this game
are covered in this file. See below for a list of supported video
cards and the exact drivers you need.
Game Features Not Found in the Player's Manual
Arming CyberPods
After completing a few missions, you will gain the ability to
change the arming of some CyberPods before you launch a mission.
When you view the arming screen, you may see a lock icon near the
lower left corner of each CyberPod. If a icon appears and the
lock is closed then you may not change the arming loadout or the
pilot for that CyberPod. If a lock appears but it is unlocked
you may change the arming loadout for that CyberPod, but you may
not change the pilot. If no lock icon appears, you may change
the arming loadout for the CyberPod, and you may also change the
pilot.
After you have completed the first few missions, command will
trust your judgement enough such that you can modify the loadout
of your CyberPod. Once you are promoted to squad leader, you
will be responsible for arming all CyberPods in your squad. In
some cases you can take along additional units depending on the
logistics of the mission.
To see the skill ratings for the pilots, right-click on the
pilot's name. You may also right-click on any module or unit
name to see additional information.
Buying/Selling
At a certain point in the game, you become responsible for the
buying and selling of supplies. Keep in mind that the prices and
availability of merchandise is highly volatile. The facilities
on Syren are able to produce a certain amount of the supplies you
need, but some supplies are difficult to obtain since the
collapse of the wormhole, and therefore the prices are high, and
availability is low.
The amount of cash you have on hand is dictated by the
operational budget your clan provides. Success during missions
can sometimes increase your funding, but you must be careful to
work within budgetary constraints.
Pilot salaries are deducted at the end of each successful
mission. Therefore, you should not hire pilots indiscriminately.
It is a good idea to not carry too many pilots on the payroll.
Try to not have any deadwood.
Some missions have special hardware requirements, such as the
need for a Mark III CyberPod, or a particular module. If so, and
you do not already have such a unit or module in inventory, one
will automatically be purchased for you. This is why you may see
your cash on hand suddenly plummet at certain points in the game.
Naturally, if the unit survives the mission, you can sell it at
the current market value to become liquid again.
It is possible, due to such circumstances, to have your cash go
negative. If that happens, your strike team is operating
over-budget, and you will not be able to buy anything until your
funding catches up with your expenditures, and you once again
have positive cash. The automatic purchases for required
equipment will still take place, and those purchases will drive
you even more into the red.
If your Raven support aircraft are all destroyed (which is rare),
one Raven aircraft will automatically be purchased for you even
if it exceeds your budget.
If you find yourself in the red, there are some things you can do
to try to get your cash situation back into the black. You can
volunteer for additional Skirmish missions. To attempt to
volunteer for a Skirmish mission, click on the Skirmish control
in the mission control center. If command authorizes the
mission, and you do well, you should earn some increased funding.
Another way to get back to being cash-positive is to sell off
unnecessary inventory items. Because you bring back salvage from
any successful mission, you will typically have some things you
do not need, such as an excess of Power Relay Towers. Sell your
excess inventory off to generate badly needed cash.
Be careful with hiring and firing pilots. Pilot skills
improve over time, and you must consider the time you spend
building up their skills as an investment. It may be very hard,
and very expensive, to replace a good pilot.
Recovering Pilots
If, during the course of a mission, a CyberPod on your team is
destroyed, there is a chance that the pilot of that CyberPod may
eject in time to save his or her life. If the pilot successfully
ejects and survives, he or she will continue to appear on your
list of available pilots on the arming screen. Should the pilot
die in spite of the attempt to eject, the pilot will no longer
appear on your list of pilots.
It is important to remember this while playing the missions. If
you see a key pilot destroyed during the mission, you should
continue the mission and attempt to win it anyway. There is a
chance that the pilot will survive and be recovered. Of course,
it is a good idea to save the game before each mission, so if a
highly skilled or key pilot does die, you can back up (replay)
and try the mission over again.
Remote Module Ordering / Tower Drops / COMM Commands
Normally when you order a module or request a tower drop, the
location of the drop/resupply zone is fixed just in front of your
CyberPod at the time the order is made. However, a special,
additional mode allows for you to position the drop/resupply zone
independently of your CyberPod position. This feature is
extremely useful in some missions, and you should take time early
on to become familiar with it.
When you press the M key and then select a class of modules to
initiate the process of ordering a module, a Drop Zone marker
appears a few feet in front of your CyberPod. If you want the
module dropped at that location, simply complete the ordering
process as described. However, you may want to have the module
delivered at a remote location elsewhere on the map.
In the lower left corner of the screen is a map of the area,
superimposed with radar information. Your CyberPod is at the
center of that map. You can have modules dropped anywhere on
that map by using the remote module ordering system.
Initiate remote module ordering in the same way you initiate
normal module ordering. Press the M key, and then select a class
of modules. The Drop Zone Marker will appear in front of your
CyberPod. To move the Drop Zone Marker, press and hold the SHIFT
key. Then move your mouse to move the Drop Zone Marker. You
will see a small cross-hair marker on the radar map as you move
the mouse around. When you have positioned the Drop Zone Marker
where you want it, right-click on the mouse to select the module
you want to order. When you right-click the mouse, the first
available module on the list will be highlighted. Continue to
right-click the mouse until the module you want is highlighted.
Then left-click the mouse to order that module.
If the Drop Zone Marker is at a good location for performing a
drop, and the module you request is available, the Raven will
acknowledge the Re-supply Request.
The timing for remote module ordering is critical. You have 30
seconds after you press the M key to complete the remote ordering
process. After 30 seconds, if you have not completed the order,
your CyberPod onboard computer will automatically cancel the
operation and return to primary control mode. This feature is in
place to prevent you from inadvertently leaving your CyberPod
under the control of a sub-menu. (This 30 second time-out
feature exists in all sub-menus.) With some practice, you will
be able to order modules for remote drops with little trouble.
NOTE:
1) This technique also applies to calling in towers (press M,
then P for power) and defenses (press M, then D). You will
find this very useful in some missions. For example, you
might want to lay down a power grid ahead of your advancement.
Or, if defending an area, you might want to place defensive
units at a distance.
2) You can use this technique when commanding wingmen as well.
For example, you can issue the GO TO POSITION command after
moving the indicator where you want the wingman to go.
Getting Help Playing
There are three additional text files on the CyberStrike 2 CD.
MISSUM.TXT
This file contains summaries of all missions in the game.
Each mission starts with a mission briefing, but if the
briefing is unclear to you, or you cannot remember what you
are supposed to be doing, you will find a summary of the
mission in this file.
STRATEGY.TXT
This file contains general advice about strategy and
tactics. There are no "game spoilers" in this file. The
advice given here is good, general advice for both the
single player and multiplayer games.
ADVICE.TXT
This file contains advice for completing the individual game
missions. This file DOES contain "game spoilers." If you
are stuck, then read the advice in this file, although
reading this file will reveal some of the plot twists and
can spoil parts of the game for you.
Technical Specifications
System Requirements
Pentium 166 MHz required, 233 MHz recommended
Windows 95 or Windows 98
DirectX Version 5.2 or higher (works with DirectX 6.0)
32 MB RAM required, 48 MB RAM recommended
75 MB Hard Disk space required, 400 MB recommended
4X CD-ROM required, 8X recommended
28.8 kbps modem required for multiplayer option
3D Video Card From List of Supported Cards Below
SoundBlaster compatible Sound Card (Optional for sound)
Windows Compatible Joystick (Optional)
CONTROL REMAPPING
CyberStrike 2 does not allow you to remap the controls, although
we do provide a lot of control options. The reason is because
this game requires a lot of "modal" use of the keyboard. For
example, when you enter different modes (such as ordering a
module), the meaning of certain keys changes. Remapping the
keyboard is, in theory, possible but ultimately became very
complex and confusing from a user interface standpoint.
You can remap joystick buttons using various utilities. For
example, the SideWinder series of joystick from Microsoft has a
utility for assigning joystick buttons to certain keystrokes.
This is our recommended method for managing joysticks with extra
buttons.
VIDEO CARDS
If you are having a problem with CyberStrike 2 working correctly
with your video card, the first step is to make sure you have the
absolute latest driver. We have found that this fixes most
problems. Here is a list of supported 3D cards and the drivers
we have tested with:
Supported 3D Video Cards Recommended
Driver Version
ATI Xpert@Play
ATI Xpert@Work
ATI All-In-Wonder 4.10.2278
ATI All-In-Wonder Pro
Best Data Arcade FX 3D
Best Data Arcade FX 3D II
Canopus Total 3D
Canopus Total 3D 128V AGP
Canopus Pure 3D
Canopus Pure 3D2
Creative Labs 3D Blaster Voodoo2
Creative Labs 3D Blaster Exxtreme 4.10.01.2111-12.0395
Creative Labs Graphics Blaster Riva TNT
Creative Labs 3D Blaster PCI 4.02.0205
Diamond Monster 3D
Diamond Monster II 4.10.01.0200
Diamond Stealth II S220 4.10.01.0104
Diamond Stealth II G460 4.10.01.1346
Diamond Viper V550 4.10.01.0220
Diamond Viper V330 4.10.01.0001
Diamond FireGL 1000 4.00003.223.1
Diamond FireGL 1000 Pro 4.10.01.2348
Genoa V-Raptor 3D
Hercules Dynamite 3D/GL
Hercules Thriller 3D 4.10.01.3539
Hercules Stingray 128 4.10.01.2072
Matrox Millenium G200
Matrox Mystique G200 4.10.01.4140
Matrox Productiva G100
Metabyte Wicked 3D
Number Nine Revolution 3D-Ticket to Ride
Orchid Righteous 3D
RealVision Flash 3D
Sierra Screamin 3D
STB Velocity 128 4.10.01.0182
STB Velocity 3D
STB Black Magic Voodoo2
STB Glyder MAX -2
WinFast 3D L2300 4.10.01.2105-0356 WHQL
To get the latest driver, visit the web site of the vendor of your
video card. If you have a 3Dfx based video card, then we suggest you
use the Glide 3.01 drivers (included on the CDROM).
Known Issues
STB Velocity 128
In Overgame and multiplayer Hub, there is a redraw problem. As
the cursor moves around, and animations take place on the
display, image distortion and bleeding may occur. This appears
to be a bug in the STB DirectX drivers. There is no known fix at
the time of release for this bug. Contact STB to see when they
will have updated drivers.
General Notes
Some of 3D cards have problems with polygon interfacing, which
results in gray outlines around polygons. This effect is most
noticeable when dynamic lighting is turned on.
When dynamic lighting and detail mapping are both turned on,
slight variations in alpha blending among different cards can
result in slight image distortions.
Slow Frame Rate
The most common causes of slow frame rate are:
Inadequate System Speed
Insufficient System Memory (or slow RAM)
Insufficient Video Memory
Getting good frame-rate in a game requires every part of your
system to be "up to speed." For example, we were testing
CyberStrike 2 on an AMD K6 300 machine with a Voodoo1 3D
Accelerator. We were very confused why the frame-rate was so
bad. Eventually we found the problem: The machine had 60ns RAM.
We replaced it with 100PC RAM and suddenly the game ran
fantastic! This should serve as an object lesson in optimizing
your game hardware.
Note that:
The game runs best on a Pentium II processor.
AMD K6 chips are Pentium compatible, but have slow floating point
operations and CyberStrike 2 uses a lot of floating point.
3DNow Technology does not speed up the 3D of any game that does
not specifically take advantage of it (or uses DirectX 6.0's
rendering pipeline, which CyberStrike 2 does not). This
technology will not improve CyberStrike 2's frame-rate. A patch
may be available in the future to get some benefit.
While the ideal solution to slow frame rate is to upgrade your
system, we recognize that not everyone can afford to upgrade
their system just to play a game. Therefore, there are some
software settings you can adjust to speed up the frame rate.
Unfortunately, by adjusting some of those options, you may also
lose some of the detail and dramatic visual effects in the game.
To adjust the video settings, go to the OPTIONS screen and select
the Video tab. Make the following changes to your video
settings. These settings have different effects on frame rate
and game speed depending on your system configuration. Change
the settings one or two at a time and check to see what impact
the changes have on your system before deciding to stick with
the new settings.
Use Low Resolution Textures and 8 Bit Textures
Switch to a lower screen resolution (512 x 384)
Under Jungle Canopy, select Light Canopy or No Canopy
Turn off visual effects:
Dynamic Lighting
This setting has a large potential effect on
frame rate and game speed. However, it also has
a very large effect on game playability. On some
some systems, night missions may become very
difficult, even unplayable, with this option
turned off.
Glow Effects
This setting has a large effect on frame rate and
game speed for most systems. However, by turning
this effect off you will lose a lot of the
dynamic visual effects and night missions may
become more difficult.
Background Sky
This setting has a moderate effect on frame rate
and game speed. By turning off this setting you
lose much of the visual effect during outdoor
missions, but playability should not suffer.
Texture Filtering
This setting has moderate to little effect on
frame rate and game speed. Turning off this
effect will degrade the visual elements of the
game.
Detail Mapping
This setting has the biggest effect on frame
rate and game speed. However it also has the
biggest effect on game playability. It is
recommended that you do not turn off this
effect.
Fog
This setting has little or no effect on frame
rate or game speed on most systems.
One feature that may improve frame rate while in the game is to
turn off the information boxes that appear over the CyberPods.
The semicolon key (;) acts a toggle switch to turn the
information boxes off and on. By turning them off, you may
see an immediate improvement in frame rate. However, the
identity information those boxes provide will not be available.
You can also disable the info boxes from the Video Options.
This technique works on video cards where updating textures
dynamically is slow.
3D CARD RECOMMENDATIONS
For best results, we recommend a 3Dfx based video card. The game
will run identically and with good frame rate (limited by the
rest of your system configuration) on any Voodoo or Voodoo2 based
system. A Voodoo Banshee chipset should also work, but none were
available for testing. The Voodoo2 chipset, with its extra RAM
is the best bet. Not only will the frame-rate be the best possible
for your system, but the visual quality will be as the designers and
artists intended.
Other 3D accelerators have various problems with properly
rendering the types of special effects we use throughout
CyberStrike 2. A few chip sets such as the i740 and the RIVA TNT
do a decent job. We expect some of the newer generations of 3D
cards to do an even better job. But attempt to avoid "cheap" 3D
cards because you "get what you pay for."
Frequently Asked Questions
The sound is garbled or not present, how can I improve the sound?
Go to the OPTIONS screen and select the sound tab. Make sure
that the Sound Effects and Music settings are turned on or off,
depending on what you want. You can also increase or decrease
volume from this screen.
Switch back and forth between Direct Sound and WaveOut Sound
to determine which setting gives you the best sound.
The video looks great until I go to play a mission, then everything
looks bad, or it stops working entirely. How can I fix this?
Go to the OPTIONS screen and make sure you have the correct
3D Video Card selected. Only the specific cards listed are
supported.
Check your 3D video drivers against the list above. If a
specific version of the driver is listed, make sure you have
that version.
Switch settings between Primary Video Driver, Glide Driver, and
Direct X Driver to determine which works best for you.
I get a mutual exclusion error when I try to launch the game using
Glide 2. What do I do?
You should update your Glide software to version 3.01. You can
find it at http://www.3dfx.com. A copy should also be on the
game CD-ROM.
I see a lot of white boxes and video dropouts when I play. How can
I fix this?
If you see a lot of white boxes or video dropouts, it is
because of a lack of video memory, or system memory. Make
sure you have at least 32 MB of system memory. If the
problem seems to be a lack of video memory, read the advice
in the section above about Known Issues with Slow Frame
Rate. That same advice applies to video dropout.
When I try to move, my CyberPod seems to move sideways instead of
straight ahead. What is the problem?
Your CyberPod's chassis can turn independently of the torso.
This means you can walk in one direction while looking in
another direction. If you have a joystick with a POV Hat,
the sensitivity setting or installation setting for it may
be causing your CyberPod's chassis to turn when you don't
mean for it. Exit from the game, bring up the Control Panel,
double-click on the game controller icon, and reconfigure
your joystick settings.
If you inadvertently turn you CyberPod's chassis in the game,
you can cause it to look straight forward by using the
* key on the keypad, the Delete key, or the joystick
button number 3.
I have modified a lot of different options settings and everything
is all messed up. How can I set it all back to the starting
defaults?
You can delete the file named GAME.CFG. The next time you
start the game, it will prompt you to configure the game
settings all over again.
What is the difference between low resolution and high resolution
graphics?
There is a big difference in the amount of memory used, for a
small to moderate improvement in the graphics. If your video
card has 8 MB or more of video memory, you may want to use
High Resolution and 16 Bit Textures. Some video cards do not
support 16 Bit textures and may default to 8 Bit textures
anyway.
If you have less than 8 MB of video memory, you should always
use Low Resolution and 8 Bit textures. CyberStrike 2 was
designed around the use of the Low Resolution Textures, and
they look great. You will see very little change by shifting
to High Resolution, so even with lots of video memory, you
may want to play with Low Resolution just to get a better
frame rate.
The display is very dark and difficult to see, even during the
daytime missions. What can I do to brighten it?
This is probably due to the Gamma Settings for you video
card. To adjust the settings, exit from the game and go
to the Windows Desktop. Right-click on a vacant area of
the screen. Select Properties. Look for a tab that has
the Gamma Settings for your video card, and adjust those
settings to produce a brighter display. If you cannot
find the Gamma Settings, refer to the owner's manual
for your video card.
The enemy CyberPods are really beating me up. Can I make the
game easier?
Yes. Go to the OPTIONS screen, select the Game tab, and
switch the game difficulty to an easier level.
How can I get more equipment and hire more CyberPilots?
You cannot Buy or Sell equipment, or hire new CyberPilots
until you have been promoted high enough to do so. When
have been promoted far enough, click on the Buy/Sell control
in the Mission Center.
How do I see what skills the CyberPilots have?
Right-click on the pilot's name, either in the arming screen,
or the Buy/Sell screen.
How do I know what each of the weapons and other modules do?
While in the arming screen, or the Buy/Sell screen, you can
right-click on any of the items to get more information.
I need more equipment but I have run out of money. What do I
do now?
Play one or more Skirmish missions. Skirmish missions are
random combat encounters, and you get paid for winning
skirmishes between regular missions. However, it is a
good idea to save your game before you go into Skirmish
mode, just in case.
When I am in the game I get stuck in sub-menus, like the
Communication menu or the Module menu. How can I get out
of these sub menus?
You can wait a few seconds, don't press any keyboard
controls, and the game will automatically drop out of
the sub-menu. If you are in a hurry to get back control
of your CyberPod, you can simply press the ESC key
several times. Each time you press ESC, it drops back
one sub-menu layer. Pressing ESC three or four times
should guarantee that you drop back to the game.
Are the missions always the same?
All of the missions were developed using some very
complex scripts and a highly sophisticated AI. While
the mission objectives will always be the same, the
way the mission plays out can change dramatically
depending on what equipment you take and what you do
during the mission.
If you want some fun, random play, use the Skirmish
mode. Skirmish mode allows you to set up a few
parameters, and then play a random mission based on
those settings. This is an excellent way to earn
money later in the game when you start buying new
equipment. It is also a good way to practice, since
you can set up Skirmish missions with a wide variety
of difficulties.
Additions to Credits:
Thanks to the additional 989 Testers who didn't make
it into the credits in time:
Justin Anelia
Mike Moore
Annette Almirol
Customer Support
For additional support, please contact 989 Studios Support at:
989 Studios Customer Support
1-888-GAMES02 (426-3702)
9:00 AM to 12:00 Midnight Pacific Time, 7 Days a Week
Or look for 989 Studios on the web at:
http://989studios.com
The official CyberStrike 2 web site can be found at:
http://www.cyberstrike2.net