
                          METALTECH: BATTLEDROME
                       Demo Version 1.0 Release Notes

I. GAME INSTRUCTIONS

    BATTLEDROME DEMO INSTRUCTIONS

    This demo provides a limited version of Battledrome that lets
    you play computer opponents. In the full game, you can also play
    friends over a modem or IPX network. The Menu Bar screens use an
    intuitive point-and-click interface. You'll see grayed-out buttons
    for functions are not available in the demo.

    These instructions provide a very brief description of Battledrome's 
    functions, including a quick reference. You may want to print it out 
    for convenience while playing.

    OVERVIEW

    Battledrome is a virtual robotic combat simulator. Once you set up
    your fighting vehicle, or HERC, you challenge an opponent to a
    match. When an opponent accepts your challenge, you will negotiate
    a wager and combat conditions, and then proceed to the Arena to
    battle for the agreed-on prize money.  As you win prize money, you
    will be able to buy better weapons, and will be able to challenge
    better opponents. You cannot buy new HERCs in this demo version.

    CONTROLS SETUP

    Your first step is to set up and calibrate your controls. Select
    Preferences from the Main Menu. Go to Controls. Select the 
    controllers you want to use, and what you want them to control.
    (See Joystick Information at the end for details.) If you are using
    a joystick, click Calibrate and follow the on-screen instructions.
    When done, click on the Main Menu to back out.

    INSTANT ACTION

    If you wish to jump right into Arena combat, you can click 
    INSTANT ACTION on the Main Menu. This places you in the Arena in a 
    Barreta-class HERC. See THE ARENA section for controls. If you
    prefer to select and arm your own HERC and challenge your own
    opponents, go instead to the following screens.

    LOGIN and HERC SETUP

    To start, go to LOGIN and select or create a Pilot. Then click
    LOCAL to login against the computer. You can then click HERCS on
    the Main Menu to Select and Setup your HERCULAN fighting vehicle.
    Your Wealth determines which HERCs and which weapons, engines,
    armor, etc. you can buy. More and bigger is better. In this demo
    version you cannot purchase new HERCs.

    REPAIR/RELOAD

    Before each match, you come to this area to Reload cannons,
    missiles, and mine launchers, and to Repair any battle damage
    (assuming you can afford it.) 
 
    OPPONENTS

    Once your HERC is armed, click on the Main Menu Opponents button to 
    challenge another pilot to a match.  You can only challenge "Idle" 
    opponents. Once an opponent accepts a challenge, you go straight to 
    negotiations.

    NEGOTIATIONS

    Here you negotiate the ground rules under which the match will be 
    conducted. You may propose wagers, weapons, and arena conditions,
    and SUBMIT them. It may take several rounds of proposals until one
    of you accepts or withdraws. Once one of you ACCEPTS, you go to the
    Arena and begin Combat.

    THE ARENA

    In the Arena, use every weapon and trick you have to win. If you do 
    something illegal, the Referee will tell you. Other than that, the 
    only rule is to destroy. Once combat ends, you can repair your HERC 
    and try again to move up in the rankings.

    Remember that you can move the HERC and the Turret separately. If
    you get tangled up, press [Backspace] to realign the Turret.

    Explore all of the displays and functions on your Heads Up Display 
    (HUD). The more you play, the more you'll discover of Battledrome's 
    tactical subtleties. Experiment with the probes and weapons, try 
    different strategies and Arena conditions, and above all, have fun!


II. GAME CONTROLS

    ARENA CONTROLS

    Surrender Match         Esc
    Preferences             Alt+P or F12
    Calibrate Joystick      Ctrl+J
    Brighten Screen         F8
    Quit to DOS             Ctrl+Q

    VIEW CONTROL

    Cockpit                 F1
    Probes                  F2-F5
    Attach Probe On/Off     A
    Next Probe              Alt+N
    Toggle Control
     Between HERC/Probe     Tab 
     (must be in a Probe)
    Controlling Attached Probes:
        Move around herc    Arrow Keys
        Zoom In/Out         Up/Down Arrow + >
    Controlling Detached Probe:
        Change view dir.    Arrow Keys
        Probe Forward       >
        Probe Backwards     <

    HERC CONTROL

    Change Between
     HERC/Turret            Insert or Button 2
    Forward/Reverse         Up/Down Arrows
    Left/Right              Left/Right Arrows
    HERC Left               [
    HERC Right              ]
    Turret Up               I
    Turret Down             M
    Turret Left             J
    Turret Right            K
    Turret Centered         Backspace
    Throttle
        Zero                0
        Decrease            -
        Increase            +
        Full or Reverse     /

    WEAPON CONTROL

    Fire Next Weapon        Space
    Single-Fire Weapon      1-6
    Add/Remove Weapon 
     from Chain             Alt+1-6

    HEADS UP DISPLAY (HUD)

    HUD On/Off              U
    Reset HUD               Ctrl+U
    Energy Allocation       E
        Shields
            to 80%          X
            +10%            Shift+X
            -10%            Ctrl+X
        Engine 
            to 80%          C
            +10%            Shift+C 
            -10%            Ctrl+C
        Weapons 
            to 80%          V
            +10%            Shift+V 
            -10%            Ctrl+V
        Balance Energy      Z
    Weapons Display         W
    Target Info             T
    View/Control Status     B
    Throttle/Heading        H
    Probe List              P
    Probe Orientation       O
    Damage/Shield           D
    Internal Systems Status S
    Game Message Display    G

    JOYSTICK

        HERC MODE
        Button 1 (Trigger): Fire Weapon
        Button 2:           Switch to Turret Mode
        Forward/Back:       Forward/Reverse
        Left/Right:         Steer

        TURRET MODE
        Button 1 (Trigger): Fire Weapon
        Button 2:           Switch to HERC Mode
        Forward/Back:       Turret Down/Up
        Left/Right:         Turret Left/Right

        PROBE ATTACHED MODE
        Normal:
            Forward/Back:   Move Up/Down around HERC
            Left/Right:     Move Left/Right around HERC
        Button 1 (trigger) depressed:
            Forward/Back:   Move towards/away from HERC
            Left/Right:     Move Left/Right around HERC

        PROBE DETTACHED MODE
        Button 1 (Trigger): Move Probe Forward
        Button 2:           Move Probe Backward
        Forward/Back:       Look Down/Up
        Left/Right:         Look Left/Right

    If available: 
        Button 3:           Align Turret
        Button 4:           Zero Throttle

        "Hat" Button:
        If Joystick Controls:   Hat Controls:
            HERC                 Turret
            Turret               HERC
            Probe                Probe

    When in a Probe, the Tab key switches from HERC/Turret mode
    to Probe mode.

    THRUSTMASTER WCS MK. II (WCS)

    The first bank of six buttons corresponds to the six weapons
    [1]--[6]. Reconfigure as you wish.

    THRUSTMASTER RUDDER CONTROL SYSTEM (RCS)

    The default setting is for Turret Control. Otherwise, RCS will
    control HERC steering.


III. INCOMPATIBILITIES

    TSR VIRUS DETECTION PROGRAMS AND "UNDELETE" UTILITIES:
    When installing or operating Metaltech: Battledrome, we recommend
    that you disable any "undelete" utilities including Norton 
    Smartcan or Mirror.  You will also want to disable any TSR Virus 
    Detection programs as each of these utilities might cause install 
    problems or random lockups during game play.  An easy and effective 
    way to accomplish this is to create a boot disk using the install 
    program's boot disk creator.  For more information, please refer 
    to your simulation documentation.

    MEMORY MANAGEMENT:
    Metaltech: Battledrome runs in 32-bit protected mode and may
    suffer from incompatibilities with older memory managers including
    QEMM 6.02 and early versions of EMM386.  If you experience lockups
    or other problems when running the simulation, try the following
    suggestions:

    a)  Make a boot disk using the boot disk creator option in the
     install program.  This option will create a custom boot-up
     configuration on a floppy disk and allow BD's own 
     memory manager to better utilize all of your computer's
     available memory.  Once the BD install routine has
     successfully created the boot disk, restart your computer
     with this disk in your A drive.

    b)  Try an updated or newer memory manager.  Many of the updated
     memory managers work more effectively with 32-bit protected mode
     applications.  Check with your memory manager manufacturer for 
     upgrade information.

    MOUSE DRIVERS
    In order to insure complete mouse compatibility within BD, we 
    recommend that you use one of the following mouse drivers:

     - Microsoft Mouse driver version 8.20a or above
     - Logitech Mouse driver version 6.23 or above 
    
    The above mentioned mouse drivers have been tested and found to work
    effectively within this simulation.  Other drivers may cause program
    lock-ups, video distortion (in the form of white lines on the
    screen), or mouse control problems.
    
    SOUND BLASTER 16 AND BOOT DISK CREATOR:
    On occasion, the boot disk creator might not copy the SBCONFIG.EXE
    line onto the AUTOEXEC.BAT file of the boot disk.  This may result
    in the introduction and the game running without any sound or music.
    If this occurs, you will need to manually insert the SBCONFIG.EXE 
    line from your standard boot-up configuration into the AUTOEXEC.BAT
    file on the boot disk.  Below is an example of how the line should
    look:

    C:\SB16\SBCONFIG.EXE /S  
    
    NOTE - the above line should appear immediately after all other 
    Sound Blaster statements within the AUTOEXEC.BAT file of your 
    boot disk.  For assistance or more information about completing 
    this step, please refer to your sound card documentation or call 
    Creative Labs Technical Support.


IV. MISCELLANEOUS

    SOUND CARD PROBLEMS
    While we have made every effort to support as many sound cards as 
    possible, there are a few sound cards that are not supported
    directly within Battledrome.  You may have to configure your card 
    for Sound Blaster emulation if you have a card that is  not 
    directly supported by the game drivers.  Some Sound Blaster 
    emulation utilities might not work properly with Battledrome.
    NOTE - not all sound cards are compatible with the Sound Blaster
    card.  Check your hardware documentation to determine if your
    card is compatible.

    SOUNDSET SOUNDCARD DETECTION

    Soundset's autodetection feature is highly dependent on having
    the correct environment variables set and device drivers loaded in
    your autoexec.bat file for some kinds of cards. If soundset
    does not detect your card make sure that you have installed your
    soundcard properly in your machine and that you have run the 
    installation software that came with your soundcard. If all else 
    fails, you can set the parameters for your soundcard manually in
    soundset.
    
    GRAVIS ULTRASOUND

    Gravis Ultrasound and Ultrasound Max cannot be detected from
    Soundset.  There is a utility called GRAVBD.exe in your
    BattleDrome directory that will properly configure your
    resource.cfg for the Gravis cards.  At this time the Gravis
    drivers only supprt digital effects not MIDI music.

    CREATIVE LABS AWE-32

    You cannot adjust the volume of the midi music on an AWE-32.

    ROLAND MT-32

    The SRL on Battledrome's box is incorrect. Battledrome does not
    directly support the ROLAND MT-32. However, you can still use the 
    MT-32 as your music output device.  To configure Battledrome for 
    the MT-32, select MPU-401 for your MIDI music driver in Soundset.  
    This sets MIDI music output to go to a General MIDI output device.  
    Because the MT-32 is not a true General MIDI device, you may 
    experience some missed or substituted instruments in the MIDI music 
    track, however most tracks will play fine.

    SCSI DRIVERS
    If your system is equipped with a SCSI hard drive, you will need to
    make sure that you are loading the appropriate SCSI driver in your
    CONFIG.SYS file.  For additional information or instructions on
    how to accomplish this task, please refer to your hard drive or
    SCSI controller documentation or manufacturer.

    To run BD on a 4 Meg machine, you will most likely need to
    make a boot disk or remove your high memory driver from your 
    config.sys file.  BD doesn't require a high memory driver, and 
    such drivers can take up enough memory to cause BD not to run.


    CONFIGURING YOUR JOYSTICK
    The first time you run Battledrome after installing it onto 
    your computer, you must manually select and calibrate your 
    joystick.  Once you have done this, the computer will 
    automatically remember your settings.  

    THRUSTMASTER DEVICE SUPPORT

    We have added additional key combinations that Thrustmaster users
    may wish to use in .adv files for the WCS Mark II or in .B50 files
    for the FLCS. BD does not support the WCS MK I.

    Thrustmaster throttle keys:
    Ctrl-9 toggle fwd/reverse gears
    Ctrl-8 max fwd throttle
    Ctrl-7 3/4 fwd throttle
    Ctrl-6 1/4 fwd throttle
    Ctrl-5 all stop
    Ctrl-4 1/4 rev throttle
    Ctrl-3 3/4 rev throttle
    Ctrl-2 max rev throttle    

    There is a default BD.ADV file for the WCS Mark II shipped with
    Battledrome. A .B50 file for the FLCS was not available at the 
    time of duplication.

    You can reach Thrustmaster technical support at (503) 968-3400
    9-5 Pacific time weekdays if you have questions about Thrustmaster
    controls. 

    GRAVIS GAME PAD
    We have found that BD works well with the Gravis Game Pad.  To
    use this device, select and calibrate the pad as 1 Standard
    Joystick.  Make sure you set the game pad to ANALOG rather than 
    DIGITAL.  Check your game pad documentation for instructions on 
    how to accomplish this.

    CUSTOMIZING YOUR BOOT DISK
    Because Metaltech: Battledrome uses a 32-bit DOS extender,
    you do not need to load a memory manager as outlined in the
    game documentation on page 68.  The automatic boot disk 
    creator in the install program will create a boot configuration
    that is optimized to run this game.  It will allow BD's built
    in memory manager to optimize your full computer's memory to run
    the game as effectively as possible.  

    IMPROVING PERFORMANCE

    To increase performance, try the following:

    -Use a smartdrive if you have enough memory in your machine
    -Decrease the arena detail in the simulation (F12 or Control-P)
    -Avoid selecting arenas with "Many" obstacles or blaster turrets
    -Take only 1 or 2 camera probes into combat
    -Select "None" for sound and music in the install program
   
    CONTACTING SIERRA CUSTOMER SERVICE:
     Sierra On-Line Direct Sales   Sierra On-Line Customer Service
     P.O. Box 3404                 P.O. Box 3404
     Salinas, CA  93912            Salinas, CA  93912

     Phone: (800) 757-7707         Phone: (800) 743-7725 
     Fax:   (408) 644-2018         Fax:   (408) 644-2018


