    CHASM - The Shadow Zone (c)1996, 1997 Megamedia Corporation, Action Forms LTD.
	

              RELEASE NOTES for THE CHASM Demo v1.28.
           --------------------------------------

 TABLE of contents:

    1. Controls.
      A. System requirements.
      B. Install & quick start CHASM.
      C. Menus.
      D. Control panel.
      E. Console commands.
      F. Command line.
      G. Sound.
      H. Keyboard commands.
      I. Default keys.
    2. The game.
      A. Briefing.
      B. Gameplay.
      C. Addtional evironment.
      D. Multiplayer game.
      E. Network monitor.
    3. Troubleshooting & common problems.


 +----------------------------------+
 | 1. Controlling the CHASM demo.   |
 +----------------------------------+

 A. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.
----------------------------------------------------
   The minimum platform to start CHASM is:

 486 DX2-66 MHz CPU (Pentium processor recommended).
 Standard VGA card (PCI video recommended).
 8 MB of RAM (16M recommended under Win95).
 12 MB of free hard drive space.
 MS-DOS 4.0 or higher (Win95 DOS box, OS/2 DOS box).

 * VESA compatible card required for Network Monitor mode.

 Sound Blaster 16 or AWE32 recommended for good quality sound.




 B. Installation & quick starting CHASM.
----------------------------------------------------

  Create a directory CHASM on your hard drive. Copy CHASM.ZIP
 there and unzip it. To start CHASM type CHASM.EXE.
 



 C. Menus.
----------------------------------------------------
   Press ESC to pop up the main menu. In single game mode
menu pauses the game. Use Up/Down arrow keys to move
highlighting selection. To select menu item press ENTER.
   Press ESC key to return to Main Menu from submenu or to the game
when you are on the Main Menu.

Here is the description of menu items:

 == NEW ==
  Break the current game or demo and start new game. Submenu
 for NEW contain selection of game difficulty: Easy/Normal/Hard.

 == NETWORK ==
  Operate multiplayer game. Chasm Demo supports only Novell's ODI
 IPX stack under DOS  and  the Microsoft IPX stack in a Win95/
 Windows 3.1 DOS box. Up to 8 players can play in one network game.

  Submenu for MULTIPLAYER includes:
   JOIN - Lets you join to active multiplayer game, already
        started by another user. There are no submenus for this.
        When you select this command, CHASM will search for a server.
   START - Start new multiplayer game. Selection of this command
        results the next submenu window:
      START GAME - start network game with current settings.
      Game mode: - select game mode DeathMatch(no monsters) or
                   Monster Hunt
      Difficulty: - select difficulty level for cooperative mode.
      Level:      - select game level to play on.

   MONITOR - on the SERVER (SERVER - machine network game was
     started on) starts Network Monitor. For more details
     about Network Monitor see section "2.E. Network Monitor" of this
     document.

 == SAVE ==,
 == LOAD ==
  Pops up a list of saved games. Select the target slot and press the
 Enter key. Currently each saved game description contains level number
 and state of health.

 == OPTIONS ==
  Allows you to change the game settings. Chasm automaticaly saves all
 settings before quitting, so you don't need to save it manually. Submenu for
 OPTIONS consist of:
   SetUp Controls...
      Permits you to change the default key settings. Move highlighting
      to name of action you wish to change and press Enter. The name
      of the key assigned to this action will be changed to "?". Then
      press new key or Mouse button that you would like to use for this action.
   Display...
      Lets you to change screen parameters:
      (Use Left and Right keys to change sliders.)
        View size - change size of view.
         Contrast - change palette contrast.
            Color - change color saturation.
       Brightness - change palette brightness.
   Always Run
      When Always Run is ON, you are always at max speed.
   Cockpit
      Shows/Hide cockpit crossing.
   Reverse Mouse
      Invert vertical mouse movement for mouse view.
   Reverse Stereo
      Swaps Left and Right sound channels.
   FX Volume,
   CD Volume,
   Mouse sensitivity
      Self-explanatory
 == QUIT ==
   Exit Chasm and return to operating system.


 D. Control panel.
----------------------------------------------------
  Control Panel provides control of game modes and parameters and
 designed for experienced users usage. Use <BackSpace> key to toggle
 Control Panel. Control Panel is divided in two parts:
 Local Menu and Console. Use <TAB> key for switching between Local Menu
 and Console.

 * Local Menu contains the following options:

   NEW     - the same as NEW in Main Menu.
   MONITOR - starts network monitor.
   OPTIONS - currently disabled.
   DISPLAY - change display settings: contrast, color and brightness.
   QUIT    - quit to DOS.

  The Console consists of a Command line and a Message display.
  The Command line is intended for entering Console commands.
  The Message display shows the results of executed commands and
 special internal system messages.
  Console has a command history. Pressing the up and down arrows
 in the Console will change to the last command entered.



 E. Console commands.
----------------------------------------------------
 Here are the list of main Console commands:

   NEW              - start new game.
   RESTART          - restart current level.
   QUIT             - quit to DOS.

   CHOJIN           - immortal mode.
   AMMO             - restore ammo for all weapons.
   WEAPON           - gives all weapons to player.
   INVISIBLE        - gives 2 minutes of invisibility.
   ARMOR            - gives 200% of armor.
   FULLMAP          - allows you to see full map of the current level.

   KILL             - kill all monsters on the level.
   REANIMATE        - (debug) reanimate all monsters.
   RESPAWN <#time>  - set the monsters respawn time in seconds.
                      (#time=0 means no respawn)
   REVERSE          - swap right and left sound channels.
   DEPTH            - enable/disable distant fade.
   SHADOWS <number> - set the upper limit of shadows casting by 3D object.
   GO <#level>      - warp to specified level. (Not available in Demo)

==== Multiplayer commands =====
   KILLP <pnumber>  - kill player with specified number.
   KICK  <pnumber>  - disconnect player from multiplayer game.
   NICK  NEWNAME    - set your name for multiplayer gaming.
                      NICK without newname shows current name.
   RESETFRAGS       - available only on SERVER machine. Sets all frags to 0.

 * Command without a parameter returns its current state.



 F. Command line.
----------------------------------------------------
 You can use these options launching CHASM from the DOS command line:

   "-nosound"       : disable sound code.
   "-warp <#level>" : warp to map level #level.
   "-start"         : start SERVER in Network CHASM.
   "-join"          : join network game.



 G. Sound.
----------------------------------------------------
 Chasm automaticaly detects the type of sound card installed on
your computer, checking the BLASTER variable in AUTOEXEC.BAT.
Chasm gets the PORT address, IRQ number, DMA number and CARD TYPE
from this variable. A typical blaster setting for SB16 looks
like this:

  SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6

 You have to set this variable in your AUTOEXEFC.BAT manually or
run your Sound Blaster DIAGNOSE.EXE utility to automatically
set this variable. If you can't get Chasm to work, try to start
it with -nosound command in command line. It will disable
all sound code and allow a more "safe" loading.



 H. Keyboard commands.
----------------------------------------------------
 Here are described keyboard commands that doesn't control gameplay and
can't be changed in OPTIONS\SetUp Controls.

  Main Menu          ESC
  Control Panel      BackSpace
  Save Game          F2
  Load Game          F3
  Options Menu       F4
  Multiplayer Menu   F5
  Quicksave          F6
  Quickload          F9
  Quit menu          F10
  Save screenshot    F1
  Change Sceen size  +,-
  Show Map           Tab
  Change map size    [,]
  Selct weapon       1,2,3,4



 I. Default keys.
----------------------------------------------------
 List of keys assigned to common actions by default:

  Move Forward       Up
  Move Backward      Down
  Turn Left          Left
  Turn Right         Right
  Strafe Left        <
  Strafe Right       >
  Fire               Ctrl
  Jump               Space
  Strafe On          Alt
  Speed  Up          LShift
  Look   Up          A
  Look   Down        Z
  Center View        S


 +---------------+
 | 2. The game.  |
 +---------------+

  A. Briefing.
----------------------------------------------------
  B. Gameplay.
----------------------------------------------------
  C. Additional environment.
----------------------------------------------------
  A,B,C not documented yet.


  D. Multiplayer game.
----------------------------------------------------
  CHASM supports network multiplayer game by using IPX protocol
 with up to 8 players in one network game. To enable network CHASM
 under DOS, you must load IPX.COM driver provided by Novell.
 If you play Chasm in Win95 DOS box, be sure that the IPX protocol
 is installed.

  To run Network CHASM you must select one machine (preferably the fastest
 one) to work in SERVER mode.

  SERVER - machine in network game that controls all game processes
           and pass calculated data to other computers (CLIENTs) in net.
  CLIENT - all other computers in the network game.

  You must follow these steps to launch Network CHASM:

   1. Check that the IPX driver is installed on all computers you want to play.
   2. Start CHASM by typing CHASM.EXE.
   3. To start a Network Game, select one machine as a SERVER and
       activate command "NETWORK\START" in Main Menu. Then network
       game will begin.
   4. Other players can connect to SERVER at any time using
       command "NETWORK\JOIN". To leave the Network game use the "NEW" command.
   5. Network Games can be stopped by using the "NEW" command on the SERVER.
      It automatically disconnects all CLIENTs.

  Some cheat codes are available only on the SERVER machine. It allows the SERVER
to add some features to other players:
  AMMO      #playernumber
    Add all ammos to specified player.
  WEAPON    #playernumber
    Add all weapons and ammos to specified player.
  INVISIBLE #playernumber
    Makes specified player invisible for 2 minutes.
  ARMOR     #playernumber
    Set armor level to 200% for specified player.
 For example: WEAPON 0 adds all ammo to server.



  E. Network monitor.
----------------------------------------------------
  Network monitor is the mode of multiplayer game that can be
 activated on the SERVER machine and allows two main features:
  1. View the action of up to 4 players in different windows.
  2. Makes the SERVER work in dedicated mode.

   To start the monitor, go to the main menu and select the Network option,
 then highlight Monitor item and press Enter. If you have a VESA
 compatible video card and the SERVER was started, then you will see
 the monitor screen. SERVER can not play the game while the Network Monitor
 is active. The Monitor screen consists of four windows where you can see
 what other players are doing, and the Control Panel on bottom-left of the
 screen. The bottom-right of the screen shows a list of numbered
 players with their frag count.
   Press ESC to switch between Control Panel and windows. If you are in
 windows mode, the current window has a light border as the selection.  To move
 selection, use arrow keys. At the start, the 1st window is assigned to the
 1st player, 2nd to 2nd etc. You can reassign any window to any
 player, pre-assign number of player ("1".."7") when desired window
 is selected. To disable the active window press "0". If all windows are
 disabled the SERVER switches to DEDICATED mode. This mode is the best
 mode for a multiplayer game. The SERVER does not show any picture on the
 screen, but still allows the SERVER to control the game. This provides
 smoother action for all the other players on the network.
   To allow the SERVER to join in the game, select BACK TO GAME in the
 Control Panel's local menu and press ENTER. You will return in the same
 position where you were before starting Network Monitor.




 +----------------------------------------+
 | 3. Troubleshooting & common problems.  |
 +----------------------------------------+

  Using the default configuration and recommended platform you should have
 no problems running the CHASM demo.

 Known problems :
 ------------------

 Q:  I receive " Runtime error [#ERROR CODE] at [SEGMENT:OFFSET] ".
 A:  If you receive this message, please save indicated address
     in form [#ERROR CODE] at [SEGMENT:OFFSET] and E-mail it to
     chasm@megamedia.com

 Q:  I have a sound card, but can't hear any sounds in the game.
 A:  Currently CHASM works only with Sound Blaster compatible
     cards. So if your card is not SB compatible you will not have
     sound at all. The other reason why you don't have sound could be
     that you have not set the BLASTER variable in your AUTOEXEC.BAT. In this case
     you have to set this variable in your autoexec.bat manually or
     run your Sound Blaster diagnose.exe utility to automatically
     set it up. And don't forget to check the FX volume in the Options
     menu.

 Q:  I get :
    1. " Unhandled exception [#N] at [XXXX:YYYY] Error code [#E]".
    2. " Loader error (0000): unrecognized error ".
     What's wrong ?
 A:  This is not CHASM errors, but DPMI server internal problem,
     try to start chasm again or change your Operation System settings.


Contact info:

Megamedia Corporation
47381, Bayside Parkway
Fremont, CA 94538
ph: 510-623-1100
fax: 510-440-9924

For the latest Chasm info log on to our web site at http://www.megamedia.com
Feel free to post this Chasm Demo on a web site.

(c) 1997 Megamedia Corporation. All Rights Reserved 