Saboteur – Windows Readme – English

-----------------------------------------------------------------
 SABOTEUR 95 v1.2
 by Alexandru Simion
---------------------------------------------------------------

 Table Of Contents

 1. About The Game
 2. Disclaimer
 3. Requirements
 4. Install
 5. Gameplay
 6. FAQ
 7. Troubleshooting
 8. Config Details
 9. Versions history
10. Contact


-----------------------------------------------------------------
 1. About The Game
-----------------------------------------------------------------

    Saboteur 95 is a free fan-made game inspired by the 
 classic Clive Townsend's Saboteur.

    As a ninja you have to complete your mission. Explore 
 the enemy facility, fight your way through dangerous 
 tunnels, sabotage key elements and try to escape.


    Saboteur 95 is a new edition of the game I made back in
 1995. It's almost identical, with only a few improvements. 
 Because of that, some informations provided in game may be 
 obsolete and were only kept for fidelity purposes.
    The first edition was running in DOS and was programmed 
 in Pascal. This new one works in Windows and uses a new 
 engine written in Visual C++.

    Most of the graphics and sounds are captured from other 
 games. A list of them is provided in game, as a respect 
 for their authors.

    The main tune is a remix of the Saboteur2 music and it was
 made by Marcel Donné.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
 2. Disclaimer
-----------------------------------------------------------------

    Saboteur 95 is a "freeware" software provided "as it is".
 Under no circumstances the author will be liable for 
 damage, loss or any other negative effects caused by the 
 use of this software.
   You may use it and distribute it for free but under no 
 circumstances are you permitted to modify or sell it.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
 3. Requirements
-----------------------------------------------------------------

    The following configuration is recommended to play 
 Saboteur 95, but the game will run on less than that:
   
    500 Mhz Intel or Amd processor
    128 MB RAM
    GeForce2 MX with 32 MB
    DirectX compatible sound card
    Microsoft Windows 98 or XP
    DirectX8 or above installed.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
 4. Install
-----------------------------------------------------------------

    The game can be found in two formats: archived and CD.
    For the archive, you extract the game files in a 
 temporary directory and usually execute the install program.
    For the CD version you install the game directly from CD.
    If you want, you can distribute it in either of these 
 formats.

    The installation program will copy the game files to the 
 specified location and give you the option of creating a 
 desktop shortcut and a program group. 
    There are no keys added in the registers, so manual remove 
 of the files and shortcuts is safe.

    The uninstall command available in the launcher program
 will erase game files from the current installation directory.
 It will also remove the desktop shortcut and the program 
 group if found. It will not remove eventual saved games or 
 temporary log files.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
 5. Gameplay
-----------------------------------------------------------------

    PURPOSE:

    The purpose of the game is to explore the enemy complex,
 kill the guards, sabotage key elements and finally escape.

    KEYBOARD:

    You will use the ARROW keys move the player character,
 SPACE key to hit and ENTER to access computers. 
 These keys can be redefined in the Options menu.
    You can jump (LEFT/RIGHT+UP), kick (UP), crouch or 
 pick up weapons (DOWN), climb if staying in front of stairs 
 or some pipes (UP/DOWN) and hit or throw the current 
 weapon (FIRE).
    Special in-game keys are F5 (save), F6 (load) and 
 F7 (toggle map if enabled in cheats). Also you can try F10
 to switch between windowed and full screen modes.

    PLAYER:

    You can choose between 4 characters including the original
 ninja from Saboteur 1. They have the same skills but 
 different appearances. Choose the one you like.
    Your energy level will decrease when you are hit, when 
 you fall from too high or when you are underwater. Resting 
 still will allow you to recover.

    ENEMIES:

    Beware that some enemies are more dangerous than others.
 Leaving the room will allow them to regenerate as well.
 By killing guards you will receive points that will ensure
 your place in the Hall Of Fame. As a ninja you may choose 
 not to engage them and silently finish your mission.

    WEAPONS:

    All weapons have the same effect. Only one weapon can be 
 carried at a time. Once thrown, a weapon will be lost. Some 
 more powerful enemies will remain unaffected by your weapons. 

    COMPLEX:

    The enemy complex has a vast network of computers and 
 gates. You need to access these computers in order to open 
 the gates and enter other rooms. 
    Each room is labeled with an index. For example, room 5C 
 will be right to room 4C, and room 4D will be below room 4C. 
    The computers offer references to room targets using these 
 indexes. Some computers request a special password that
 is provided by others. You should note these when you find
 them. Also in some rooms directional marks are placed on the
 walls for guiding purposes.
    If it seems complicated, it is!

    SABOTAGE:

    There are two special locations to sabotage: one primary
 and one secondary. However you may choose to escape without
 completing any of them. You will not receive points for 
 these but they will be mentioned near your score in the 
 Hall Of Fame.

    CHEATS:

    The cheats page can be accessed only by a special code.
 Contact me if you feel that you can't beat it without help.
    Undying will no longer kill you. 
    Reincarnate will give you infinite lives.
    Weapons will no longer loose your weapons when trow them.
    Water resist will make you immune to waters and acids.
    Free access will accept you on consoles without a pass.
    Map will provide in-game map with rooms status, computers,
 and REALLY UN-RECOMMENDED status toggle and teleport functions.

    The map notations are as follows:

    light blue (2 kinds) = computers with text or image
    red = remote computer that toggles target room's status
    green = teleporter computer
    orange = special location
    white rectangle = room selection
    blue rectangle = current player room
    green rectangle = room target from a remote or teleporter
    center white dot = room status ON

    SPECIAL:

    There is only one save file that will be overwritten every 
 time you save. Save (F5) and load (F6) are available only 
 in-game.
    

-----------------------------------------------------------------
 6. FAQ
-----------------------------------------------------------------

    Q: Why remake an old 2D game like Saboteur ?
    A: The original Saboteur was one of the best games ever.
       It was enjoyed by a lot of people (including me) and it
       still has it's fans.

    Q: OK, but why create another edition of it?
    A: The game I created in 1995 is no longer running correctly
       on current systems without an emulator. So, as I was
       working on a game engine, I decided to test it by porting 
       the old version. Also, the old one was not released on 
       the internet and only a few people enjoyed it. I felt
       I could improve that too.
       
    Q: The game is not starting at all. What should I do?
    A: Read the Troubleshooting and the Config Details chapters.
       If you are still in trouble, send the bug report.

    Q: I am stuck in the first few rooms. Is there more ?
    A: Yes! There are almost 400 rooms. But you might missed 
       the "Barrel Jump". Don't be ashamed, a lot of people
       miss it. Just start the jump from the previous room.

    Q: I am stuck again!
    A: Try to pay attention to the rooms you visit and to the
       information offered by computers. Some are important.
       There are a few hidden passages. Check the direction
       markers on some walls. If you are desperately in need of 
       help, read the Cheats chapter and contact me. 
       An walk-through is also available for download.
 
    Q: What about the obsolete info you were talking about?
    A: Trying to be as close as possible to the first 
       edition of the game, I kept the in-game about pages
       as they were 10 years ago. However, as I have changed my 
       address, my contact infos are now obsolete. Check the Contact
       chapter for updated informations.

    Q: The site and the email addresses don't work anymore! 
       How should I contact you?
    A: One thousand years must have been passed... 
       Or maybe I have changed my web address. Do not panic!
       Do a search on the internet about Saboteur 95 or
       Alexandru Simion, and you should find it again.

    Q: I still have some more questions unanswered here!
    A: Go and post them on the game forum or contact me.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
7. Troubleshooting
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 
    Hopefully the game will work on your computer too. 

    If something is wrong, and the game will not start 
 it is probably because it can't initialize the video mode.
 Enter the launcher and adjust the config, then try again. 
 You can also choose to use the manual config. Read
 the config chapter to find out about what it means.
 A log file is generated on a major error so this may be 
 useful too. You can also try to install other video drivers.
    If still you can't fix it, let me know about it. But I 
 can't promise you anything.

    Sound distortions may appear on buggy sound drivers, 
 yet I've solved most of them. The game uses FMod sound library.
    If the game crashes because of the sound you can try to 
 disable it from the config (silent=1). 
    If the sound module can not be initialized, the game will 
 run in silent mode.

    There is a command line parameter, an integer value 
 representing the engine flags as bits combinations.
 Bit 0 instruct the game to generate detailed log file.
 Bit 1 will display the current fps.
 Send this parameter to the game directly, not to the launcher 
 program. Ex: sab.exe 3
 
    For bug reports you may use the forum or the contact email.
 Please be ready to provide full description of the error,
 how it happened, how often, game and hardware configuration. 
 The detailed log file will be required too. 

    You should also check the web site for updates and patches.
 
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
8. Config details
-----------------------------------------------------------------

    The game is configured from the sab.ini file. 
 The launcher program have an easy interface to write it. 
 Let's see what it means:

    SOUND

    [SOUND]
    silent	= use or don't use sound (0 or 1)
		  useful if sound generates run problems

    VIDEO CONFIG

    [VIDEO]
    adapter     = video adapter index (0=default) 
    windowed    = full screen or windowed (0 or 1)
    bpp         = video mode bits per pixel (16, 32)
    width 	= resolution or window width (min 320)
    height 	= resolution or window height (min 200)
    scale       = game image scale (1,2,3,4,... or 0 for 
                  safe nonscale)
    filter      = scale mode (0,1)
                  0 = not filtered , for low resolution feel
		  1 = filtered, for interpolated scaling.
    manual 	= config mode (0,1)
                  0 for auto-config using this basic config
                  1 for manual-config using the followings

    refresh	= refresh rate (0=default, 60,75,85, etc)
    pfscr	= screen pixel format
    pfz		= zbuffer pixel format
    pftexo	= opaque texture pixel format
    pftexa	= alpha texture pixel format
    pftext	= render target texture pixel format

    Available values for pixel and zbuffer formats are:

 pf 32bpp: PF_A8R8G8B8, PF_A8B8G8R8, PF_X8R8G8B8, PF_X8B8G8R8,
 pf 24bpp: PF_R8G8B8, PF_B8G8R8, 
 pf 16bpp: PF_R5G6B5, PF_A1R5G5B5, PF_A4R4G4B4, PF_X1R5G5B5		
 zb 32bpp: PF_D24S8, PF_D24X4S4, PF_D32, PF_D24X8, 
 zb 16bpp: PF_D15S1, PF_D16	

    If you don't know what these mean, you can still try to 
 match the desired bpp (bits per pixel). If you don't know 
 what this means either, you probably should not use the 
 manual config and send me your bug report.

    In windowed mode, some of the pixel formats must match 
 the current windows display mode (like the pfscr). So,
 if your windows display is set to 32bits per color, you 
 should try an appropriate value for pfscr, like 
 PF_X8R8G8B8 or PF_A8R8G8B8.
    In full screen resolution must be set only to supported 
 video formats, like 320x200, 640x400, 1024x768 and so.
    The supported video modes are listed in the detailed log.

    The manual config was created as an brute approach to
 video initialization, in case of weird particular problems.


    GAME OPTIONS
    
    The game options are also recorded in this file:
  
    [GAME]
    speed	= in-game speed [0-19] (9=medium)
    sound	= play sounds
    credits	= life credits [0-4]
    player	= player character [0-3]
    key1	= left key (DirectInput code)
    key2	= right key
    key3	= up key
    key4	= down key
    key5	= fire key
    key6	= access key


    The sab.ini file is automatic created if not found.
 So if you mess it to much, you can delete it and let the 
 configure program and the game to generate default values.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
 9. Versions history
-----------------------------------------------------------------
	v1.0 date: 050515
		+ first official version

	v1.1 date: 050529
		+ fixed energy and weapon that do not reset when 
		  restarting the game
	
	v1.2 date: 050928
		+ fixed screen scale on new video cards that accept 
		  textures with sizes not power of 2

-----------------------------------------------------------------
10. Contact
-----------------------------------------------------------------

    You can contact the author of the game by email

    [email protected]

    You can also visit the web site or enter game forum

    http://www.simion.co.uk/saboteur
    
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Download original