MTRblast free release 5 by Iikka Kernen 1997
(Same as v0.004 except the fuzziness gun now works well in slow-cpu mode
 and PCX2PIC is included. This text file is mainly same.)

Requires:     486dx2/66, VGA, 500k base mem, 1M XMS (himem)
This helps:   1M EMS (emm386), Sound Blaster(16)
Recommended:  P120 or faster processor, Qemm, good keyboard, GUS

This is a temporary text file. I'll write a good "manual" when I have time,
and perhaps one in Finnish for all the local folks.

I'm sorry, my GUS routines didn't work in the old release. I have rewritten
the sound fx stuff for GUS now; thus, GUS is very nice indeed. It provides
a good sound quality while not needing much processor power, making the
full-speed mode available for slower CPU's. 

This text tries to tell you how to play the game, and some questions may be
answered. They're not Frequently Asked 'cos nobody has had a change to ask
me anything yet. Some things have changed since the v0.003, though. Most
importantly, you don't now get always killed when you hit walls, and now I
have included the program I use for making levels.

1. What is a "MTRblast"?
   It's a two-player action game where you either try to shoot down your
   friend or to get better lap time on a racing track. In many points it
   resembles an old (Finnish) Amiga game Turboraketti... I loved TR, and
   then nobody did anything similar for PC's. Or actually they tried and
   try all the time, but their games don't have enough speed, their levels
   are too small and their weapons don't fill the atmosphere with bullets
   and their graphics are usually bad. This game is my attempt to use a
   pentium to create a gaming experience like with Amiga 500. :)

   Oh, I really recommend a pentium. There is a "slow cpu" option that runs
   the game about 35 fps on a 486dx2/66, but this game really, REALLY rocks
   with my p150 where it runs at full 70 fps. These are screen synchronized
   rates and may vary on different video cards. Lap times are calculated by
   approximating the screen refresh rate is 70hz so you should be able to
   make same lap times on any computer. (but the "seconds" are longer or
   shorter.)

2. Differences to other shoot-yer-friend games
   The biggest difference to most of them are the graphics. Many other games
   have relatively small levels stuffed full of decorations so that you can't
   fly without hitting walls every now and then. And how well they ever draw
   their maps, they have those stupid v-shaped ships constructed from two
   lines. KOPS is a bit better, though.

   Although I have made it possible to survive crashing into walls or other
   player, it is still almost lethal on very high speeds (with nuclear fuel),
   as a collision throws you into uncontrollable spin and makes heavy damage.
   So, the levels have lots of room to fly, which also means they're BIG.
   Also remember these ships travel VERY much faster than in any other game.
   All the (main)weapons so far are rapid fire, and I mean really rapid...
   70 bullets per second with one of the ships, instead of the puny 2bps of
   many other games. Hey, almost forgot one difference... Both players have
   six lives to spend per game/level. It makes fights take longer than in
   other games, even with these deadly guns.
  
   Why cause so much damage when hitting a wall? Um, I love that in
   TurboRaketti. It just feels somehow right that when you drive 1000mph into
   concrete, you can't usually survive it. Also it makes the racing with
   ultra-hyper-fast ships so damn exciting, almost like in real life. :)
   Make a mistake and you're pieces! Mastering the game takes some time
   because of this, but it's worth of all...

   Of course, landing sites (platforms, docking places or whatever) do exist
   and landing on them doesn't damage your ship.

3. Machine requirements
   As said before, I suggest a pentium (full speed should run OK in p90) but
   you can play the game in a 486dx2 if you want. It's a bit harder to play,
   though. (Because only every other frame is drawn... When you run this game
   on a 486 you'll think "hey this runs just fine", but when you have tried
   it with a pentium you would like to get one for yourself)

   Using the fast CPU mode on a 486 is not recommended. It won't crash or
   anything, and it may look OK.. But when you start shooting, or when a
   ship explodes, the game speed will slow down. I haven't tested this game
   on a 386, but I'm sure it won't run too well. (Also it won't work at all
   on any SX machines as it needs the math processor.)

   Memory is pretty important... You must have either QEMM or the usual
   HIMEM and EMM386 to run this game. The music system needs EMS and the
   levels are stored to XMS 'cos they're so BIG. I suggest QEMM, I've heard
   its XMS routines are 40% faster than in HIMEM. Also it always gives you
   more base memory and doesn't take as long to load when booting... :)

   Um, the sound system doesn't need EMS if you have enough base memory free
   and don't use large .mod files for background music. But it seems likely
   that whenever someone makes some "official" music for this game, it'll
   need more memory than 640k. (Blame BILL GATES for the base mem limit!!!)

   I have added the "-nosound" command line option for those unfortunate
   individuals whose machines tend to hang up when the program is trying to
   detect SB or GUS. Generally you shouldn't need this even on machines 
   without soundcards, but try it if your CPU crashes.

   If you don't like the music (me neither), you can either turn it off in 
   the menus, or just get another .MOD file and copy it over blasters.mod.

4. How to play it?
   Yes, now there IS a keyboard setup. Run KEYS.EXE to set your keyboard...
   The key names are for Finnish keyboard so it may look funny if you're
   using something other (It DOES work fine, though). I just don't have any
   other keyboard than the Finnish one I'm using.

   In the Keys program, you can move the arrow up and down by arrow keys,
   and pressing enter will wait for another key press which will be used for
   turning, shooting etc in the game. Press S key to save changes and exit.
   ESC quits without saving. The keys program is very simple and I did it in
   2 minutes, don't expect it to be cool in any way.

   This is the default configuration just in case you need it:

               Player 1 (left)             Player 2 (right)
   Turn left         A                        Left arrow   
   Turn right        D                        Right arrow
   Thrust            W                         Up arrow
   Fire 1st         TAB                           ALT    
   Fire 2st      CAPS LOCK                      CONTROL

   The right player apparently fires by BOTH alt/control keys... That's not
   my fault though. I've found no way around this yet. My key reading
   interrupt reads the keys pretty directly, seems like the both controls
   are the same button for the hardware (???). And same with alts. I changed
   the fire from shift to alt as my own keyboard jammed when the right player
   fired and left did something... :)  (If you get kb jamming now, try using
   keypad numbers for arrow keys... Num Lock turns off automatically)

   In the game, there's a panel at lower part of the screen, showing your
   hit points, fuel and ammo. You can get more of these by touching a
   suitable bonus icon (fuel can for fuel, wrench for hit points...), or
   by landing on a platform. The platforms vary in what they give you, and
   may only work on one player. (In the 3rd map you can't get resupply from
   the enemy base)

   The game ends when one of the players has lost all his lives. Some text
   appears on screen to tell who won and who lose. Draw game means that
   either you have pressed ESC while both players had equal amount of lives
   left, or both players lost all their lives.

5. Different ships
   There's five of these available... I still haven't made any cool names
   for them yet, so they're just ship1-5.

   ship1: This is like an X-wing except the guns are in the middle of the
          wings... Still they're so wide you'll get problems with the recoil
          of large shotguns. I suggest no heavier stuff than auto shotguns.
          Pretty heavy so it's maybe better in shootouts than racing.
   ship2: This is the v-shaped ship seen in other games, except it's a
          rotate- and scaleable sprite like all others in this game... It's
          light and turns fast, and the two guns are near to each other in
          its nose so only the biggest super shotgun harms you by recoil...
          Being light, this one is for racing... Also it's easy to kill. Get
          some nuke fuel and it's an ultimate racer. One racing disadvantage
          exists, however: The two guns on the nose often cause you to "stick"
          into wall if you crash with nuke fuel. (When one hits the wall, it
          turns your ship so that the other hits and so on...)
   ship3: It's a battleship, man! Four cannons linked together so it fires
          with two guns at once! The recoil doesn't matter as the guns are
          symmetrical, so the super shotgun is mighty usable. It's better
          armored than anything else, and goes fast as a slug... Agile as
          the Deathstar... Don't go racing with this one!
   ship4: The formula 1 of the game, it eats sound barriers for breakfast
          but doesn't turn too well. Give it nuke fuel and you're either
          the winner of the race, or pieces. Most likely the pieces if you
          haven't trained enough. This beauty of a ship does only have one
          gun, but it's the double-speed super-catling that can match any
          other ship with two guns... Only it's easier to hit something with
          two guns. Oh, the gun is of course in the middle... Sometimes in
          a race, it's a good idea to give your opponent a quick punch with
          something like... super shotgun! ;)
   ship5: While not as heavy as the ship3, this one has as much firepower.
          It has less ammo and armour, but it's faster and easier to fly.
          This ship is armed with a double-speed cannon under its nose and
          two normal guns in wings. They're not linked symmetrically so the
          recoil from big shotguns may be harmful. The autocannon and vulcan
          are pretty good for this ship, as it's easy to hit your opponent
          with at least two guns at once.

  The ships have different amounts of ammo and fuel; They depend mostly on
  the weight of the ship, so in the ship selection screen you can expect the
  ships with greatest mass have more ammo than others. I will make better
  ship selection screen with more info later.

6. The guns

   1st Weapons:
   Use the 1st fire button to use these weapons.

    * Auto Cannon:   The usual thing that shoots out bullets faster than you
                     can count. (MUCH faster)
    * Spread Fire:   Shoots bullets in varying directions to make hitting
                     easier... Most of them will be wasted, though. Good for
                     beginners who can't hit anything with autocannon. ;)
    * Fivegun:       Shoots five bullets at once, forming an arc. Pretty
                     similar effects as with the spread fire.
    * Auto Shotgun:  Very small and fast shotgun. Shoots five bullets at
                     once, almost in the same direction. (Result is like a
                     slow autocannon with 5 times the damage)
    * Shotgun:       The usual shotgun that shoots ten bullets and has some
                     recoil effect if your guns are asymmetrical...
    * Super Shotgun: The way-too-large weapon for most ships. The recoil can
                     really harm you, but this gun does harm your opponent
                     too. :)
    * Vulcanizer   : Shoots out bullets at light speed. Very good in tight
                     places where normal bullets just aren't fast enough.
                     But since the bullets go so fast, you can't see them
                     and it makes aiming harder than with autocannons.

   2nd Weapons:
   Use the 2nd fire button to use these weapons.

    * Rockets      : OK, they're ball-shaped but they're rockets when I say
                     they are, all right? Gives a nice punch to your opponent
                     with a direct hit. If you don't hit, the rocket will
                     explode into pieces after 2/3 of a second. (The pieces
                     are technically bullets)
    * Bullet Bomb  : This is the not-always-so-useful thingy that shoots
                     a circle of bullets around you. But it looks cool.;)
    * Proximines   : Basically kind of rockets that float where you have laid
                     them and explode when they hit a ship. If nobody hits
                     them, the mines will fall down after a minute. MIGHT
                     KILL THE SMALLEST SHIP ON ONE HIT!
    * Missiles     : Standard homing missiles... A missile will be armed
                     2/3 seconds after launching, and then it homes to the
                     closest ship. (possibly you)  Can be avoided by flying
                     behind something (preferably the other player).
    * Zoomer       : A nice virus-type weapon that makes your opponent feel
                     suddenly very claustrophobic. Just try it. :)
    * Fuzzinizer   : Distorts one's view, making it harder to see/avoid
                     incoming bullets and like.
    * Electrocutor : A rapid-fire lightning bolt gun that always shoots
                     towards your enemy, dependless on where you're aiming.
                     It's actually not that powerful, as it has limited range
                     and it eats your ammo pretty fast.
    * Nuclear Fuel : Doubles your speed. This is how you can do those record
                     times. (Or smash into a wall very easily)
    * Repair Bot   : Converts 2nd ammo to hitpoints. Spends your ammo even if
                     you don't need any repairing. (If you press the button)
    * Bot Fighter  : Semi-intelligent thing that goes after your opponent and
                     shoots him with autocannon. When its fuel is low, the
                     fighter will try to crash into its target. Since I added
                     the possibility to survive wall contacts, I'm no more
                     developing this... Crashing into walls doesn't matter.

7. The Levels
   If I didn't say this before, there's three maps currently available. The
   first two are racing maps, but the map1 is pretty good in dogfighting too.
   The map names may be not final.

   Map1: The Oval. (duh!)
         This one is either a large open arena with enough room for some
         fighting with heaviest of the ships, or a VERY fast Indianapolis-
         style racing track. My own lap record with nuke-fueled ship 4 is
         3.84 seconds. The bonus items are spread around, but most are on
         the track. (The 2nd ammo is in the slime pool)  You can land on
         the ground at the lower right corner for resupply.
   Map2: The Caverns. (Double duh!)
         The harder of the two, this is a race-only map (though the ship
         number 2 might turn fast enough to make fighting possible). The
         track is not _VERY_ narrow, but when you're flying a ship 4 with
         nuclear fuel, nothing feels wide... :)  And you WILL have problems
         in the upper right corner if you go very fast. Both starts are in
         the same place, and all the bonuses are collected to the pit... My
         lap record with the usual nuke-fuel ship 4 is 4.42. (VERY FAST!)
         There is a hidden platform that gives you all bonuses at once...
   Map3: The Liquidius (Yeah...)
         This is a dogfight map based on one level in TurboRaketti. It has
         two "bases" where the players start, and one refuel platform at the
         lower left corner. You can't race in this level. I'm going to add
         more decorations once I make it possible to have different sprites
         in each map.

   One hint for all maps: The trees, arrows, houses, etc are decorations.
   You can fly through them. Trust me! :)

8. Future stuff...

   Stuff that's to be made very soon:
     Nothing left. :)

   Stuff that's coming "in two weeks":
     * Pilot roster with rankings and like.
     * Weapon that shoots out *.*'s and sounds like a *.* and takes *.*
       ammo when shot.
     * Computer ships:
                      Perhaps some day...
     * Level editing utilities:
                      Some kind of GUI for placing items would be nice...
                      Anyway, I'm pretty sure somebody other will make
                      one if I don't. (Yes, I have now included all the
                      _NECESSARY_ stuff for making levels, see the text
                      file LEVELS.TXT)

   Things I won't do:
     * Destructible walls:
                      They only make problems. But I might make destructible
                      decoration sprites, and possibly an option to load
                      different sprites for each map so you can blow up
                      different stuff in every level... (And draw them by
                      yourself when I make level editing easier)
     * Flowing water:
                      I don't need that 'cause you can't make a hole in the
                      bottom of a lake. ;)  Also, it would NEVER run in a
                      486 with this big maps. (And I'm going to make them
                      even larger)  Flowing water does work in some other
                      games, but only because they have so small levels, and
                      they don't even try to run 70 frames per second.
                      (Example: 1024*1024 pixels' map would need 420MHz CPU
                       just for checking every pixel if there's water... and
                       this doesn't contain the CPU power needed for MOVING
                       the water, or the game itself!)

9. Bugs?
   None. I fixed the timer variable overflow bug that caused jamming after
   about 10 minutes of playing... Oh well, the fuzzinizer didn't work pretty
   well in slow-cpu mode, I've fixed it now.

10. Legal Stuff:
   This version of the game MTRblast is freeware. You are not allowed to 
   charge money for it, except for covering your expenses (postage + disk).
   This game is meant to be distributed in Internet and BBS systems. You 
   may not charge money for MTRblast levels either.

   CD-ROM distribution is acceptable if you send me the final product. Ask
   me for my mail address.

11. The Final Row:
   Having problems? Send mail to: ikeranen@raita.oulu.fi . I may reply. :)
