Grom Readme File v 1.0 November 2002 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 1.1 Minimum 1.2 Recommended 2. GAME ISSUES 2.1 Installation 2.2 Starting the Game 2.3 Mouse control and default keys 2.4 FAQs 3. SUPPORT 3.1 Support contact 3.2 Updates 3.3 Grom online 1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 1.1 Minimum Pentium II 350 MHz or better 128 MB RAM MS DirectX compatible graphics card with 32 MB and latest drivers 12 x CD-ROM drive MS DirectX compatible soundcard MS Windows compatible mouse and keyboard MS Windows 95B/98/ME/2000/XP 800 MB free hard drive space MS DirectX 7 or higher 1.2 Recommended Pentium III 800 MHz 256 MB RAM MS DirectX compatible graphics card with 64 MB and latest drivers MS Windows 98/ME/2000/XP Remaining requirements: see above 2. GAME ISSUES 2.1 Installation To install Grom on your machine, start "setup.exe" with a left double-click. Follow the instructions for a full installation of the game. 2.2 Starting the game Start Grom by double-clicking the Grom shortcut on your desktop or double-clicking on the Grom icon located in the Windows start menu. 2.3 Mouse control and default keys You can play Grom by using the mouse and/or the keys of your keyboard: Left mousebutton: Select character click on a character or on his portrait Select several draw a selection box around the characters characters Move character(s) click the spot where character is supposed to go to Move character(s) double-clicking the spot where the character is supposed to go to activates the running mode Choose a weapon click object menu in the upper right corner, choose weapon in dropdown menu and release the mousebutton Use weapon place crosshairs on an enemy and fire weapon when bright red crosshair is visible Open map click on the map icon in the inventory Open documents click on the documents icon in the inventory Right mousebutton: Choose character AI click anywhere and set mode on wheel menu to 'defend', mode 'attack' or 'fire at will' Choose character's click anywhere and set mode on wheel menu to 'stand', stance 'lie down' or 'crouch' Open rucksack click on a character or his portrait Close rucksack click anywhere next to the rucksack Show item info with rucksack open, click on item The following key configuration is set by default and can be changed in the game menu’s options: ~ selects all characters in the team 1 to 5 select individual characters Shift modify selection Space toggle the pause mode on or off Esc, M show the main menu F2 quick save F3 quick load Delete hide/show desktop icons +/- zoom in/out Arrow scroll background Ctrl (held) make characters invisible to the mouse pointer (useful when trying to select items screened by character models) Enter in wide-screen mode: fast forward cutscenes Backspace reload weapon Q to P and A to L select Weapons Z make activated character(s) stand X make activated character(s) crouch C make activated character(s) lie down V AI mode "Attack" B AI mode "Fire at will" N AI mode "Defend" G small medkit H medkit J the stone of health K mine detector 2.4 FAQs "When is the game over?" The game is over as soon as one of your character dies - or you have successfully completed the whole game! "Sometimes a book-symbol pops up with some text next to it - what is it for?" Whenever this symbol pops up, a new entry was added to the documents in your inventory. To see the new entry, right-click on the character and left-click on the documents symbol left of the rucksack. "How can I best act in a fight?" Fighting is a very important element of the game. Characters will engage in combat with various of enemies and use a variety of weapons. At the very beginning of the game, it is important to remember a few key fighting tips: - If any character led by the Player is killed the game is over. - If you don’t kill all the enemies in a particular location, most of the time you may not be able to leave that location. - Not all enemies can be killed just by shooting at them. - You can fight only against specific enemies; you cannot shoot at a non-enemy NPC, nor can you kill it. An enemy may be recognized by moving the mouse cursor over it if the mouse cursor changes into the crosshairs icon. - Characters led by the Player can wound each other. "What is the Yak for and how can I control it?" The Yak carries an extended inventory for your use, but it won't be there throughout the entire game. It has its own artificial intelligence and you can set it this way: Comma key: the Yak will follow you Period key: the Yak will move away from you Slash key: the Yak will stay where it is "How can I pick up objects that are hidden by a character?" Simply hold down the Ctrl key and move the cursor over the spot where you think an object is located behind a character. Now the object is "visible" to the cursor and may be picked up. "How can I skip dialogues?" During cutscenes you can accelerate time by pressing ENTER, which will fast-forward the scene like a film. This is useful if you have already seen the cutscene before. While scrolling through a cutscene, scrolling will stop if there are some dialogue lines to choose from. Be careful!!! If you scroll a cutscene and don’t remember what the characters in it were talking about you may miss some key information about what to do next!!! Like regular conversations, while a cutscene is playing, you cannot perform any other actions. "What do yellow and red lines between an enemy and one of my characters tell me?" A yellow line tells you to be careful: you are close to the enemy and he might see you if you act conspicuously. The red line means the enemy has spotted you and will immediately attack or move into position to attack. "How does the life energy status bar work?" Energy bars appear as the following colors: - Green color = condition - Red color = life Points - Violet Color = the character has a very small number of Life Points remaining (the character may die very soon) - Navy Blue color = time left for the character that lost consciousness to regain it (see Blue). - Blue color = time left for the character that lost consciousness to get up by itself. Two colors can be shown at the same time on the Energy Bar – for example, green and red (Condition and Life Points). In this situation Condition will be smaller than the number of Life Points. Energy Bars make it possible to quickly see what shape your characters are in. If the green bar falls to zero, the character will lose consciousness (if this is a player-led character) or it will die (if this is an enemy). If the red bar falls to zero, the character will die. Navy blue and blue colors are related to losing consciousness and they are shown only on Energy Bars placed under Character Icons. A character that loses consciousness cannot do anything - it just lies still and appears to be dead. Enemies will not attack such a character, though they may stand next to it and guard it. In the meantime the Energy Bar of the unconscious character fills slowly with navy blue color. When it fills up it starts to flicker faintly and fill with blue color. In the meantime you can select this character to become an Active Character and start to control it in the usual way. After selecting this character as the Active Character the enemies will still ignore it and its Energy Bar will continue to fill with light blue color. Only after performing any kind of action – changing the gun, opening the rucksack, healing, making a movement or shooting will the enemies react to the character and attack it. Because a character that regains consciousness is very weak (it has only a few points of Condition), you will only have a short time to shoot at the enemy before he reacts. 3. SUPPORT 3.1 Support contact If you have any questions concerning the game, you can email us at support@gromgame.de. 3.2 Updates There is a built-in program that can check if there is a patch available for the game. Choose the Grom group from your Windows start menu and click on "check online for updates". 3.3 Grom online You can find more information on Grom in the internet at http://www.gromgame.de. Information about the developer can be found on http://www.rebelmind.com. Information about CDV and upcoming products are available at http://www.cdv.de. (c)2000-2002 CDV SOFTWARE ENTERTAINMENT AG. All rights reserved. CDV, the CDV logo and GROM are either registered trademarks or trademarks of CDV Software Entertainment AG or Rebelmind in Germany and/or other countries. CDV Software Entertainment AG, Neureuter Str.37b, 76185 Karlsruhe, Germany Tel: +49-(0)721-97224-0, Fax: +49-(0)721-97224-24 Ogg Vorbis. Copyright (c) 2001, Xiphophorus Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: - Redistribution of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. - Redistribution in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. - Neither the name of Xiphophorus nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.