N A T I O N S F I G H T E R C O M M A N D Copyright (c) Psygnosis Ltd 1999. This is the ENGLISH readme file. FRANÇAIS : Pour le readme français, consultez le fichier "LisezMoi.txt" DEUTSCHE : Die deutsche Reamdme-Datei heißt "LiesMich.txt" * This document is best viewed using Windows' Notepad. * CONTENTS ======== 1 Introduction 2 System Requirements 3 Installation Notes 4 Supported Hardware 4.1 3D Card support 4.2 Sound support 4.3 Joystick support 4.4 Other Hardware (URGear) 5 Controls reference and configuration 5.1 Quick Reference 5.2 Changing the controls configuration 5.3 Joystick setup 5.4 URGear setup 5.5 Controls.ini 6 Multiplayer 6.1 Supported Protocols 6.2 Multiplayer Setup Guide 7 Miscellaneous 8 FAQ / Troubleshooting 9 Technical support 1 Introduction ============== This file contains information related to the setup and configuration of Nations on your computer. It also includes late-breaking information about the game. More information can also be found on the Nations website at: http://www.nations-game.com 2 System Requirements ===================== The basic system requirements for Nations are:- - 233Mhz Pentium Class processor or better. - DirectX compatible 3D Accelerator with at least 4Mb of memory. - At least 32Mb of system memory. (64Mb highly recommended - especially for AGP 3D cards which use system memory for textures.) - DirectX compatible sound card. - A CD-Rom drive and 200Mb of hard disk space. - Windows 95 or Windows 98. 3 Installation Notes ===================== The setup program is responsible for installing and maintaining your installation of Nations Fighter Command. In addition to the initial installation of Nations, the Setup program can be used to change installation level (add/remove components), or to completely remove the product when no longer required. The first time the Setup program is run you will be given the option of choosing a destination directory and an installation level. The maximum install is intended for users with a slow CD-ROM drive. Normally the medium or minimum installation will suffice. If the setup program is run subsequently you will be allowed to change the installation level (for example, to free up more disc space). Another option is "ReInstall", use this if you believe that your installation has been corrupted in someway. When you wish to uninstall Nations run the Setup program and choose the "Remove All" option. 4 Supported Hardware ==================== 4.1 3D Card support ------------------- Nations requires a DirectX compatible 3D accelerator card. Any 3D accelerator with 4Mb memory should be suitable. However, the recommendation is for a card with either 16Mb of on board memory *OR* an AGP card which can use system memory for textures. The following cards have been tested and are known to work well with Nations. You are also advised to obtain the latest "certified" driver for your card, if possible. Card Type / Name Internet Website ---------------- ---------------- 3DFX Voodoo Diamond Monster 3D (http://www.diamondmm.com) Orchid Righteous 3D (http://www.orchid.com) STB Black Magic 3D (http://www.stb.com) TeckWorks Power 3D (http://www.techworks.com) Miro HiScore 3D (http://www.pinnaclesys.com) 3DFX Voodoo 2 Diamond Monster 3D II (http://www.diamondmm.com) Orchid Righteous 3D II (http://www.orchid.com) Hercules Stingray/2 (http://www.hercules.com) TeckWorks Power3D2 (http://www.techworks.com) 3DFX Voodoo Banshee Creative Labs 3D Blaster Banshee (http://www.creaf.com) Diamond Monster Fusion Z100 (http://www.diamond.com) A-Trend Helios 3D Banshee (http://www.a-trend.com) Techworks PowerGrafx (http://www.techworks.co.uk) ELSA Victory II (http://www.elsa.com) Gainward Dragon 4000 (http://www.gainward.com) Maxi Gamer Phoenix (http://www.guillemot.com) 3DFX Voodoo Rush Hercules Stingray 128/3D (http://www.hercules.com) Intergraph Intense 3D (http://www.intergraph.com) ATI 3D Rage / Rage Pro Turbo ATI 3D Rage (http://www.atitech.ca) ATI 3D Rage Pro (http://www.atitech.ca) ATI Expert@Work (http://www.atitech.ca) ATI Expert@Play (http://www.atitech.ca) ATI All-In-Wonder Pro (http://www.atitech.ca) ATI Rage 128 ATI Rage Fury (http://www.atitech.ca) Intel 740 Asus AGP V2740 (http://www.asus.com) Real3D Starfighter (http://www.real3d.com) Intel Express 3D (http://www.intel.com) Diamond Stealth II G460 (http://www.diamondmm.com) Hercules Terminator 2x/i (http://www.hercules.com) Matrox MGA100 Matrox Productiva G100 (http://www.matrox.com) Matrox MGA200 Matrox Millennium G200 (http://www.matrox.com) Matrox Mystque G200 (http://www.matrox.com) MPact2 MPact2 (http://www.mpact.com) nVidia Riva 128 Diamond Viper V330 (http://www.diamondmm.com) STB Velocity 128 (http://www.stb.com) Asus Explorer 3000 (http://www.asus.com) Asus V3000 (http://www.asus.com) Gainward CardExpert 128ZX (http://www.gainward.com) nVidia Riva TNT Asus AGP V3400 (http://www.asus.com) Creative Labs Graphics Blaster (http://www.creaf.com) Diamond Viper V550 (http://www.diamondmm.com) STB Velocity 4400 (http://www.stb.com) Hercules Dynamite TNT (http://www.hercules.com) ELSA Erazor II (http://www.elsa.com) Permedia 2 Diamond Fire GL1000 (http://www.diamondmm.com) STB GLyder Max-2 (http://www.stb.com) Hercules Dynamite 3D/GL (http://www.hercules.com) ELSA GLoria Synergy (http://www.elsa.com) Rendition V2200 Hercules Thriller (http://www.hercules.com) S3 Savage 3D Hercules Terminator Beast (http://www.hercules.com) Gainward CardExpert GX3 (http://www.gainward.com) S3 Trio 3D Hercules Terminator 128 3D (http://www.hercules.com) 4.2 Sound support ----------------- Nations supports any DirectX compatible sound card. A 16bit Stereo Wavetable sound card is recommended but an 8bit one will suffice. 4.3 Joystick support -------------------- Nations will support any device compatible with DirectX. Advanced features such as POV Hats and extra buttons can be configured from within Nations (or in some cases from the software supplied with your joystick). 4.4 Other Hardware (URGear) --------------------------- Nations supports the Union Reality Gear (URGear) motion tracking headset. Nations will also support any similar technology which provides input compatible with DirectX. See the section on configuring URGear below, for more information. 5. Keyboard reference ===================== 5.1 Quick Reference ------------------- The following is a summary of the default controls for use in Nations Fighter Command: Machine guns: Left Ctrl (or Joystick Fire Button 1) Bombs/rockets: Left Shift (or Joystick Fire Button 2) Aileron Right: Cursor Right (or Joystick Right) Aileron Left: Cursor Left (or Joystick Left) Elevator Up: Cursor Up (or Joystick Forwards) Elevator Down: Cursor Down (or Joystick Back) Rudder Right: X Rudder Left: Z Centre Rudder: C Emergency Power: TAB Increase Throttle: Q Decrease Throttle: A Full Flaps: F Partial Flaps: S Wheel Brakes: B Air Brakes: D Landing Gear: G Map: M Nation ID Flags: T Eject: E Joystick On/Off: J Glance Controls: Numeric Keypad Directional Keys 1...9 Instrument Glance: Numeric Keypad + Free Glance Toggle: Numeric Keypad 0 Camera Control: Mouse Zoom In: I Zoom Out: O Fly-by Camera: 1 Free Camera: 2 Padlock View: 3 Go to Cockpit View: 4 Break Formation: F5 Regroup: F6 Help!: F7 Return to Wing Position: F8 Broadcast Message: F9 (To all network players) Radio Message: F10 (To network players on your team) In game menu: F1 Exit: Escape Pause: Pause 5.2 Changing the controls configuration --------------------------------------- The controls above can be changed from the controls configuration screen within the game. Simply double click the control you wish to change, then when prompted press the new key that you wish to use. 5.3 Joystick setup ------------------ By default, joystick #1 is bound to the aileron, elevator, machine-gun and bomb/rocket controls. If your joystick has a rudder facility this will be bound to the analogue rudder control. If your joystick has a throttle facility this will be bound to the throttle control. You can change the default joystick controls if you like. For example you may find it more comfortable to use the keyboard for rudder/throttle controls. To do this you would go to the controls configuration screen and select the analogue rudder/throttle controls and delete them. If you want to bind extra functions to additional joystick buttons, again go to the controls configuration screen select the control and then when prompted press the joystick button you wish to use. 5.4 URGear setup ---------------- Nations supports the "Union Reality Gear" motion tracking headset. The following steps can be used to configure Nations to use URGear (This assumes that the URGear is already correctly installed.) - Go to the controls configuration screen, double click "Camera Horizontal" and then when prompted, move the headset left/right. - Now double click the "Camera Vertical" control and this time, when prompted, move the headset up/down. - Finally, ensure that your main joystick is correctly configured and check that no other controls have been inadvertently bound to the URGear device. Once the above has been done the URGear can be used in game to look around. Simply press the joystick enable key "J" to activate it in game. 5.5 Controls.ini ---------------- All of your control settings are saved to the "controls.ini" file in the Nations\ directory. You may achieve addition effects by manually editing this file. However, any changes you make are at your own risk!!! You may restore the defaults at any time by choosing the "restore default configuration" button in the game. 6. Multiplayer ============== 6.1 Supported Protocols ----------------------- Nations supports the following protocols for multiplayer gaming: IPX (Local Area Network) TCP/IP (Local Area Network/Internet) Serial Connection (Null Modem cable) (115200 Baud recommended) 6.2 Multiplayer Setup Guide --------------------------- When setting up a multiplayer session, the Server must first select the map, set the number of players and kills and then finally click the "Unlock" button. Clicking "Unlock" is essential as it allows other players to join. We recommend that a high specification PC is used as the server. 7. Miscellaneous Notes ====================== 7.1 Windows 2000 ---------------- At the time of writing it was not possible to test Nations under Windows 2000 (Microsoft's new operating system). Nations should, however, function normally provided suitable 3D hardware and drivers are installed. 7.2 Multiple graphics cards --------------------------- If your system includes multiple graphics cards it is imperative that the selection made in the Nations 3D settings applet is correct. This applet is presented the first time the game is run. It can also be started from the "3D settings" icon in the Start Menu. 8. FAQ / Troubleshooting ======================== The in game speech appears to be in a language other than what I choose ----------------------------------------------------------------------- All the in game speech is in the language appropriate to the context it is used. So if you're playing as a German pilot you will hear German radio chatter. Text subtitles are provided in the language chosen at installation time. My aircraft drifts to the left/right and seems slow/sluggish ------------------------------------------------------------ Aircraft are extremely sensitive to rudder movement. Even slight rudder movements can effect both the direction and the speed of the aircraft. Unfortunately many joysticks have very poor quality rudder controls, this can result in changes being detected which weren't intended. The above is particularly true of joysticks which have rudders implemented as a twist on the main stick itself. The solution is to try and adjust your joysticks deadzone/sensitivity to eliminate the problem. Most joysticks have a feature to do this. It is also possible to make changes to deadzones via the "controls.ini" file, see section 5.5. I would like to use my joystick but don't want to use its throttle/rudder ------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you would prefer to use keys for rudder/throttle control whilst using joystick for aileron/elevator controls you need to go to the controls configuration screen, double click the analogue rudder/throttle and then press delete to unbind them. I'm trying to play a network game but I can't see the game to join ------------------------------------------------------------------ This may be because the host/server hasn't actually unlocked the game for public access. See the section on multiplayer setup for more information. When using network IPX I can't see the game to join --------------------------------------------------- If using IPX, you must all be using the same "FrameType" setting. (Under Windows 95 you can change this from Control Panel, Network Settings, IPX, Advanced, FrameType) When I click the start mission button I get the error "StartGame returned -5" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This probably means that the game couldn't allocate sufficient hard disk swap space. Check the amount of free disk space on drive C: If this is low you may need to free up some extra space in order to play Nations. 9. Support ========== 9.1 Internet On-Line Support ---------------------------- Technical support is available online from our web sites at http://www.psygnosis.com and http://www.nations-game.com 9.2 Tech support ---------------- You can contact our support departments at: United Kingdom: EMail: help.line@psygnosis.co.uk Telephone: 0151 282 3333 North America: Email: helpline@psygnosis.com Telephone: (650)287-6500 Psygnosis Customer Support HQ is at: Psygnosis Ltd. Napier Court, Stephenson Way, Wavertree Technology Park, Liverpool, England. L13 1HD United Kingdom