Rise of the Triad
Official FAQ
Version 3.00
by Derek Greentree
Laudatory Quotes!!!:
"1994 Best Shareware Game of the Year!"
- InterActive Gaming
"ROTT provides everything an action gamer could want."
- Computer Game Review
"Weapons so powerful, they blow you out of the game!"
- Joe Siegler, Apogee
"Gross! Was that his eyeball?"
- Anonymous
"Swim Swim Hungry."
- The Dopefish
Legend:
(X) Chapter
[X-X] Section(Major Topic)
[X-X-X] Topic
[X-X-X-X] Subsection(Minor, though important, information)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents:
(1) Official Stuff
[1-1] Copyright/Trademark Info
[1-1-1] Trademarks
[1-1-2] RotT FAQ Copyright and Distribution Info
[1-2] Legal purchasing of RotT
[1-3] The Issue of Pirating
[1-3-1] How do I report pirating?
(2) What is RotT?
[2-1] What is RotT?
[2-2] What company makes RotT?
[2-2-1] Who are the authors of RotT?
[2-2-2] What other games has Apogee made?
[2-2-3] Apogee? Isn't that id?
[2-2-4] What was RotT written in?
[2-2-4-1] What is that DOS/4GW thing?
[2-2-4-2] What is protected mode?
[2-3] The RotT storyline
[2-4] Why RotT? Where did the idea come from?
[2-5] Flavors of RotT
[2-5-1] Shareware Version
[2-5-2] CD/Disk/Site License Versions
[2-3-2-1] The CD Goodies
[2-5-3] Installing RotT
[2-5-3-1] SNDSETUP
[2-6] Versions
[2-6-1] What is the current version of ROTT?
[2-6-2] Version 1.3 Fixes
[2-6-3] I have vXxx. How do I update my copy of RotT?
[2-6-3-1] Software Creations BBS
[2-6-3-2] The World Wide Web
[2-6-3-3] FTP
[2-6-4] Why aren't my saved games compatible between versions?
[2-7] Where can I get RotT?
[2-7-1] Where can I get shareware RotT?
[2-7-2] Where can I get registered RotT?
[2-8] Where can I find online information about RotT?
[2-9] What is a DIP?
(3) Stuff in the Game
[3-1] Enemies
[3-1-1] Enemies Not Used
[3-2] Items
[3-3] Bosses
[3-3-1] How do I defeat General Darian?
[3-3-2] How do I defeat Sebastian Krist?
[3-3-3] How do I defeat the NME?
[3-3-4] How do I defeat El Oscuro?
[3-3-5] How do I defeat Snake Oscuro?
[3-4] Players
[3-4-1] What are the strengths/weaknesses of each player?
[3-5] Weapons
[3-6] The Shareware Version End Credit Silliness :)
[3-7] Bonuses in the game and after....
(4) Level Authors
[4-1] Very short level hints.
(5) Cheating
[5-1] What are the cheat codes?
(6) Playing RotT
[6-1] What do I need to run ROTT?
[6-1-1] How do I make more memory available for RotT?
[6-2] What are the command line options?
[6-2-1] What is RotT DOPEFISH?
[6-3] Game Controls and Keys
[6-4] What input devices can I use for RotT?
[6-5] An Apogee Industry First - Variable Violence
[6-6] Official RotT Player's Guide
(7) Multiplayer(COMM-BAT) RotT
[7-1] The SETUP Program
[7-2] What do I do to play over the modem?
[7-3] What do I do to play over a network?
[7-4] What if the players have different versions of ROTT?
[7-5] Can I play RotT over the Internet?
[7-5-1] IHHD - The Internet Head to Head Daemon
[7-6] What is COMM-BAT?
[7-6-1] What are the different kinds of COMM-BAT in RotT?
[7-7] Troubleshooting Multiplayer Connections
[7-8] Multiplayer Options
(8) Add-ons
[8-1] Level Editing with RottED
[8-1-1] What is RottED?
[8-1-2] Where can I get RottED?
[8-1-3] How do I use RottED?
[8-1-4] What are .RTC and .RTL files?
[8-1-5] I've made a neat level and I want to distribute it. Where
can I put it?(And where can I get levels?)
[8-1-5-1] The .RTD Authoring File (SAMPLE)
[8-1-5-2] SPECTRUM.COM.AU
[8-2] Hey, I'm a programmer and I want to make an editor!
[8-2-1] Technical info?
[8-3] Will there ever be official add-ons for RotT like SOD was for Wolf3d?
[8-4] Levels Created at the Time of this FAQ
(9) The Creators
(10) Troubleshooting RotT
(11) Secrets in the Game
(12) A Note From the Author
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(1)
OFFICIAL STUFF
[1-1]
[1-1-1]
Trademarks
All of the following are registered trademarks and are so acknowledged:
Rise Of The Triad(RotT), Doom, id Software, Apogee Software, COMM-BAT
Wolfenstein 3D,
RottED, Pro Audio Spectrum, Sound Blaster, Gravis
Ultrasound(GUS), Gravis Gamepad, IHHD(the Internet Head to Head Daemon),
Creative Labs, Gravis Corporation, Media Vision, Roland, Microsoft, MS-DOS,
IBM, Intel Corporation, Watcom, Borland, C++, Rational Systems, the DOS/4GW
extender, the Apogee FAQ, the Doom FAQ by Hank Leukart, Cyberman, Wingman.
All other trademarks not mentioned are(hypothetically! :) )acknowledged.
[1-1-2]
Copyright Information
This article, the Official Rise of the Triad FAQ v3.00, is Copyright 1995
Derek Greentree
You are hereby granted the following rights:
I. To make copies of this work in original form, so long as
(a) the copies are exact and complete;
(b) the copies include the copyright notice and these paragraphs
in their entirety;
(c) the copies give obvious credit to the author, Derek Greentree;
(d) the copies are in electronic form.
II. To distribute this work, or copies made under the provisions
above, so long as
(a) this is the original work and not a derivative form;
(b) you do not charge a fee for copying or for distribution;
(c) you ensure that the distributed form includes the copyright
notice, this paragraph, the disclaimer of warranty in
their entirety and credit to the author;
(d) the distributed form is not in an electronic magazine or
within computer software (prior explicit permission may be
obtained from Derek Greentree);
(e) the distributed form is the NEWEST version of the article to
the best of the knowledge of the distributor;
(f) the distributed form is electronic.
You may not distribute this work by any non-electronic media,
including but not limited to books, newsletters, magazines, manuals,
catalogs, and speech. You may not distribute this work in electronic
magazines or within computer software without prior written explicit
permission. These rights are temporary and revocable upon written, oral,
or other notice by Derek Greentree. This copyright notice shall be governed
by the laws of the state of Florida.
If you would like additional rights beyond those granted above,
write to the author at "derekg@compass.net" on the Internet.
I am not associated with Apogee in any way.
[1-2]
The Legal Purchase of RotT
According to Apogee Software, the following methods of purchasing RotT are
legal:
Directly from Apogee Software, in a retail store in a box distributed by
FormGen, or from one of our authorized overseas dealers. A list can be
found in the dealers.exe file that accompanies Rise of the Triad. You
can also purchase and download the registered version from the Software
Creations BBS (current as of September 9th).
[1-3]
The Issue of Pirating:
I would like to take a minute to discuss a very important issue facing the
software community today : pirating. Pirating, as I'm sure you know, is
the illegal distribution of copyrighted software. Great software like RotT
is the result of a lot of work by a lot of honest, nice people. They
deserve compensation for their long hours developing the product that you
use. That's why pirating is so terrible. You may not consider it, but
every time an illegal copy is distributed these people are hurt, as well
as all their dependents. If you have the registered version of RotT, and
you got it by one of the legal ways listed above, thank you for supporting
the shareware and software ideal. If you haven't, pay now.
Pirating is a crime. You may not think that you can be caught, but
you can, and the penalties are severe.
[1-3-1]
How can I report pirating?
If you encounter pirating, or the willful participation of any of the
illegal methods of software distribution listed above, please call the
Software Pirating Association(which Apogee is a member of):
1-800-388-PIR8
REMEMBER! SUPPORT THE SHAREWARE IDEAL!
(2) What is RotT?
[2-1]
Now, the good stuff!
What is RotT?
Rise of the Triad, or RotT, is a first person perspective adventure game
made by Apogee software. RotT is a great blast-fest, and features a
RSAC violence rating of 4(wanton and gratuitous violence), making
it the most violent game ever!
However, Apogee has led the way with an Industry First: an Adjustable
Violence level. The violence level in the current game can be changed from
none to excessive, and can be password protected. For more information on
this feature, please see section 6-5 of this FAQ. RotT also includes:
- an excellent Multiplayer Option, called COMM-BAT(see Chapter 7), supporting
modem, network, and serial cable games
- multiple-story levels(up to sixteen stories high!)
- fully-digitized actors, as opposed to the clay model techniques of certain
other software developers who shall remain nameless
- hazards upon hazards, including SpinBlades, Firechutes,
Wanderwalls, and more! You'll die in many, many ways!
- 20 MB of graphics and sounds
- 5 unique characters, each with their own strengths
- super power-ups(Godfire!Godfire!Godfire!)
- a unique save game feature, allowing you to view a "screen shot" of where
you saved your game
- 11 player network play
- excellent AI for enemies
- never-before-seen effects like parallaxing skies, fog, and lighting!
- 32 levels plus 40 COMM-BAT ZONES(on the CD version, disk version
has 30 COMM-BAT ZONES)
- An infinite random level generator, so there is no end to the game.
Well, all right it's not REALLY infinite. There are actually only
2,147,483,648 random level sequences( that's 2 billion, 146 million,
483 thousand, 648). If you're not a programmer, that number would have
no significance to you. However, if you're among the anointed, you
would know that 2,147,483,648 is the maximum value for a LONGINT, which
is a signed 32-bit number. So there.
- REMOTE RIDICULE(a PC first!) - send pre-recorded messages during COMM-BAT
play and cruelly taunt your opponent. Version 1.3 supports Live recording
of messages during Net Play: simply speak into the microphone and all your
opponents will hear your insult!
- registered version supports : add-on game levels, add-on COMM-BAT levels,
and add-on COMM-BAT sounds! Doom Level Designers, go nuts over how easy
it is to create levels! No more sectors or sidedefs!
- and MORE!
[2-2]
What company makes RotT?
RotT was created and published as shareware by Apogee Software, Ltd.
RotT was published commercially by FormGen, Inc.
[2-2-1]
Who are the authors of RotT?
Well, folks, credits go out like this:
Designer/Producer:
Tom Hall
Programming:
Mark Dochtermann
Jim Dose'
Nolan Martin
William Scarboro
Art:
Stephen Hornback
Chuck Jones
Tim Neveu
Susan Singer
Cygnus Multimedia
Music:
Lee Jackson
Bobby Prince
Additional Level Design:
Joseph Selinske
Joe Siegler
Marianna Vayntrub
Manual Design:
Robert M. Atkins
Tom Hall
Les Dorscheid(Cover Illustration)
See Chapter 9 for some stuff about these folks.
[2-2-2]
What other games has Apogee made?
Apogee is the distributor of Wolfenstein 3D, and the makers
of : Duke Nukem', Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold,
Raptor, Boppin', Wacky Wheels, Hocus Pocus, and more!
Apogee will now release their cutting-edge 3D games through a company
called 3D Realms. 3D Realms has also released their first game, Terminal
Velocity, and quite a game it is. But that's a whole different FAQ, by
Adam Williamson.
[2-2-3]
Apogee? Isn't that id?
No, it is not. Apogee and id have always been separate software
companies and always will be. You see, Apogee is a developer and publisher
of software. Almost all the games you see with the Apogee logo are written
by Apogee. However, id wrote a few games and distributed them through Apogee,
namely a some Commander Keen episodes and Wolfenstein 3D. Later on, however,
id switched to distributing their own games.
There is no bad will between the Apogee and id people, in fact, they are
good friends.
[2-2-4]
What was RotT written in?
RotT was written in Watcom C++ v10.0 with the Rational Systems DOS/4GW
extender.
[2-2-4-1]
What is this DOS/4GW thing?
The DOS/4GW extender in a shell for programs that are written in protected
mode. Another protected mode shell is the resident DPMI extender distributed
with Borland C/C++.
[2-2-4-2]
What is protected mode?
In the old days of computing, DOS programs had only 640 KB of memory to work
with. In fact, ol' Bill Gates, President of Microsoft, once said, "640 KB
ought to be enough for everybody". It wasn't.
The next advance came with
the development of extended memory. Extended memory provided a way for
programs to load their needed resources in a separate memory location and
free up more of that 640 KB to directly access.
The most recent development came with the DOS protected mode extender. The
protected mode extender provides a way for programs to be able to directly
access all of the memory on a computer. If your computer has a total memory
size of 8 MB, then a protected mode program can use that entire 8 MB area.
The ROTTHELP.EXE file distributed with RotT contains a more detailed
explanation of protected memory. All right, if you really must know,
protected memory uses look-up values in a table which is stored in that
640 KB. So you can't access that extra memory really directly, you
take a side turn and access it through a look up table. But that's a
whole different FAQ.
[2-3] The RotT Storyline
You are a member of the HUNT, the top secret High-risk United Nations
Task Force, sent on extremely covert operations to possible trouble spots
outside the three-mile boundary waters of member countries. You are on a
routine reconnaissance mission on San Nicolas Island, located in the Pacific
twenty miles west of Los Angeles. Your team is investigating possible cult
activity in an old monastery, when suddenly troops pour out of nowhere!
In the distance your boat explodes. Just before your radio goes all static,
you hear desperate newsmen describing the systematic destruction of Los
Angeles. An escaped prisoner informs you that a pyrotechnics expert and a
rich studio head have joined forces with the Oscurido cult. Their plan:
kill millions of innocent people for the glory of their master, El Oscuro.
Having no other escape route, the HUNT heads into the monastery, taking the
only course of action left: stop the Oscuridos or die trying.
[2-4]
Why RotT? Where did the idea for RotT?
To "Why RotT", Joe Siegler(Apogee's Online Support Manager) says:
"Why not? :) Besides, if the market is so small as to only allow
Doom, then we might as well pack up and go home now. Besides, if you
look at the list of features in ROTT, there's a lot in ROTT that can't
be done in Doom."
To "the idea", Joe says:
"Originally, the project was
to be nothing more than new levels for Wolf3D, with a few extra added
graphics. It then turned into a Wolf sequel. The original name was
"Wolfenstein 3D II: Rise of the Triad". The Wolf references got
dropped, but the work done in that era is easy to see in ROTT."
[2-5]
"Flavors" of RotT
[2-5-1]
The ShareWare Version
This shareware version contains one episode entitled "The Hunt Begins", and
consists of 8 levels in episode one and 2 secret(warp-only) levels.
The shareware version supports only 4 COMM-BAT modes:
Normal
Collector
Hunter
Tag
The end credits to the shareware version are pretty silly. See section 3-6.
Also, read this note from Joe Siegler:
"There is an extra version called Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins
SPECIAL EDITION. This is marketed in retail by LaserSoft. It is the
same as the regular shareware episode, except is has 3 extra levels, and
3 extra COMM-BAT Levels that are not available on ANY other version.
Apogee does not distribute this version, it is only available in stores
from LaserSoft."
[2-5-2]
The CD/Disk/Site License Versions
The Disk version retails for $29.95, and contains 32 game levels and 30
COMM-BAT Zones. Available for the disk version is the Triad PowerPack, for
$10, which contains an additional 10 COMM-BAT Zones. The CD Version(Super
Triad) contains 32 game levels and 40 COMM-BAT Zones, as well as shareware
versions of many of Apogee's popular games. The CD Version has
all the levels contained in the disk version plus the PowerPack, and it
retails at $34.95, which saves you five bucks.
Both the CD and the Disk versions contain 4 game episodes.
The Site License version is for Net Players. It is CD only, and costs
$84.95. The Site License version contains 50 COMM-BAT Zones in all, as well
as 11 command cards. The Site License version is the only registered
version that can be played on a network unless each computer on
the network has it's own separate copy of RotT. The shareware version
can be played on a network, but with a limit of 5 players.
See section 2-7 for How to Order This Really Cool Game.
[2-5-2-1]
The CD Goodies
On the CD is a directory called GOODIES, and it contains a lot of
extra stuff from Apogee. It contains the following:
all the songs from the game in MIDI format
all the sounds from the game in .WAV format(including some not used in
the game)
some of the textures from the game in .BMP format
lots of scanned pictures from that hard-working gang at Apogee!
Zipped-up shareware versions of lots of Apogee games for easy uploading
RandRott, the Rise of the Triad random-level generator
RTSMaker, for making your own remote-ridicule sounds
The v1.3 CD has two more things. First, there's a directory in GOODIES
called RottED that has Wayne Sikes' Rise of the Triad Level Editor.
There's also a directory off the root called PREVIEW that has screen
shots from Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior.
* The person who grouped the software together to put on CD was Joe Siegler,
so you can tell him how much you like those groovy pictures. His e-mail
address is in Chapter 11.
[2-5-3]
Installing RotT
To install RotT from the Disk Version, simply put in the first disk
and type install, then follow instructions. After the files are successfully
copied, type SNDSETUP to configure your sound card for RotT.
To install RotT from the CD, put the CD in your CD-ROM drive, switch
to that drive, and type INSTALL. Apogee's graphical interface will let
you choose two install options, to either play from your hard drive or
play from your CD. To play from your CD, you need lots of memory and a
fast computer and CD-ROM drive. Hard disk installation is recommended. The
install program on the CD also allows you to install lots of other shareware
Apogee games.
[2-5-3-1]
The SNDSETUP Program
In SNDSETUP, you configure your sound card for RotT. Select Music from
the Main Menu and choose your sound card. Then do the same for Sound FX.
The menu for Number of Voices determines how many voices can be played
simultaneously during game play. The more voices that are played at
the same time, the slower the game will run. The next menu allows you
to choose 8-bit or 16-bit mixing. The 16-bit option provides better sound
quality but sacrifices game speed.
[2-6]
Versions
[2-6-1]
What is the current version of RotT?
The current version of RotT for both the shareware and registered games
is 1.3.
[2-6-2]
Version 1.3 fixes
þ Reverb Added. In large rooms, sounds now tend to echo more.
þ Ability to limit the amount of time you wish to play in the standard game.
Please see the section on command line parameters for more info.
þ Support added for the Logitech Wingman Assassin.
þ Support added for virtual reality hardware.
þ Dog Mode BarkBlast crashes in registered version fixed.
þ Problems with El Oscuro related crashes in registered version fixed.
þ Boss Key now works in standard game.
þ Live RemoteRidicule back in the game (and works on a GUS now, too!)
þ Fixed Gravis UltraSound init problem.
þ Other small miscellaneous bugs fixed.
[2-6-3]
I have vX.xx. How do I update my copy of RotT?
There are three areas where you can update your version.
[2-6-3-1]
Software Creations BBS
BBS (508)365-2359 2400 baud
(508)368-7036 9600-14.4K baud
(508)365-4035 28.8K baud
Software Creations BBS is Apogee's official #1 file site. Just call up
from your terminal program, fill out the presented questionnaire, and
set your modem a-downloadin'.
[2-6-3-2]
The World Wide Web
You can reach update patches through the Software Creations Web BBS, the
first Web BBS. The Software Creations Web BBS is located at:
http://swcbbs.com
[2-6-3-3]
FTP
The official Apogee FTP site is "ftp.uml.edu" in the directory:
/msdos/games/Apogee/
[2-6-4]
Why aren't saved games compatible between versions?
When each version of RotT is released, the saved games from a
previous version can't be used on the new version. This is because, in
order for the saved games to be compatible with the new .WAD and .EXE file,
the data structures in the save game file change slightly. That's
why they can't be used. In fact, they are automatically deleted by the
patch program. Sorry!
[2-7]
Where can I get RotT?
[2-7-1]
Where can I get shareware RotT?
The shareware episode of RotT is available at:
FTP ftp.uml.edu /msdos/games/Apogee
WWW http://www.swcbbs.com
BBS (508)365-2359 2400 baud
(508)368-7036 9600-14.4K baud
(508)365-4035 28.8K baud
TELNET swcbbs.com
Where can I get Registered RotT?
1. A store
2. Apogee 1-800-APOGEE1
3. Online purchasing at Software Creations BBS
4. Coming Soon - Online Purchasing at the Web BBS
5. FAX the ORDER.FRM file to (214)278-4670
6. Mail a check or money order to:
Apogee Software
P.O. Box 496389
Garland, TX 75049
Please include $5 Shipping and handling.
[2-8]
Where can I find online information about RotT?
A newsgroup exists:
alt.games.apogee
Or, there are 2 good WWW pages:
http://www.swcbbs.com/apogee/apogee.htm
This is Joe Siegler's Official Apogee Homepage
http://cyberspace.org/u/rhfactor/www/apogee.htm
This is RHFactor's WWW page.
Rise of the Triad's official WWW page can be gotten to directly at
http://www.swcbbs.com/apogee/rott.htm
[2-9]
What is a DIP?
A DIP is a Developer of Incredible Power. This is what the Apogee
design team calls themselves. Tom Hall sent out a memo, and at the
end he said, "If we do this, we will be the Developers of Incredible
Power." It stuck. See Chapter 9 for more.
(3) Game Stuff
[3-1]
Enemies
The following is a list of all the enemies in the game plus a short
description of each. Since Apogee used digitized shots of all their employees
in costume for the enemies, the names of who is what enemy(and who made the
sound for it) are listed in parentheses after each enemy. Unless otherwise
specified, the voices are done by the same person.
Low Guards(Actor:Steve Quarrella, Former Tech Support)
----------
There are lots of these. They wear gray shirts and black slacks. They are
armed with pistols.
Note from Joe Siegler:
"There's two ways to get a Lightning
guard in the game. You can either tell the game to put one there. The other
way is to put a low guard. In order to further maximize the actor randomness,
the game will look at the map grid before starting, and every time it sees that
there is to be a low guard, it will randomly pick a low guard, or a lightning
guard.
In regards to random guards, there is such a guard as "random". When
constructing a ROTT map, this special guard will be different every time you
go into the level. What the game does is looks and sees which guards are
actually placed in the level. For example, if the entire map has Triad
Enforcers, Low Guards, & High Guards, it will pick the random actor from these
three. Strike Team guards will not be picked randomly in this example, since
they weren't placed in the level by the designer.
I've never tried to see what happens if *ALL* the guards in a level are random
guards. I also do not think it will pick a BOSS as a random guard, if you put
a random guard on a level with a BOSS."
HP:
Easy 30
Medium 40
Hard 50
Crezzy 60
High Guards(Actor:Steve Blackburn, Apogee's VP of Operations)
-----------
These guards wear olive green jackets, have black beards, and carry MP40's.
Sometimes, when they die, you can take their MP40 machine guns(10 percent
chance).
HP:
Easy 35
Medium 50
Hard 65
Crezzy 80
Lightning Guards(Actor:Kevin Green, Customer Supp. Manager;Voice:Kevin Green
---------------- and William Scarboro)
These guards also wear olive green jackets. If they're right next to
you, they'll steal your weapons. Some of them also beg for mercy when
they're about to die. Beware, some have bazookas!
The ones that beg will just fall over and "die" if you don't kill them.
However, they don't really die, because if you turn your back on them, they
will get back up and start shooting again!
HP:
Easy 45
Medium 50
Hard 60
Crezzy 75
Triad Enforcers(Actor:George Broussard, Executive VP of Apogee)
---------------
These guards wear black and carry a chain gun. They throw hand grenades
at you("here,catch!").
P.S. George Broussard is now the President of 3D Realms, which is a sister
company of Apogee. They are distributing a game called Terminal Velocity.
You outta check that puppy out(ftp.uml.edu/msdos/Games/3DRealms).
HP:
Easy 425
Medium 475
Hard 525
Crezzy 525
Strike Team(Actor:Scott Miller, President of Apogee)
--------------
These guards wear white uniforms and will duck and roll 2 door lengths when
shot at.
Joe Siegler:
"They'll dodge missiles, too. They also try and dodge wanderwalls, but that
doesn't usually work. :)"
HP:
Easy 40
Medium 50
Hard 60
Crezzy 70
Overpatrols(Actor:Nolan Martin, Former Programmer)
-----------
They are dressed in black uniforms and shoot nets at you. If you are trapped
in an Overpatrol net, I hope you have the knife.
HP:
Easy 50
Medium 55
Hard 60
Crezzy 70
Death Monks(Actor:Lee Jackson, Musician;Voice:Tom Hall, Director)
----------
Death Monks are dressed in brown robes and waddle around. If they are next
to you they will drain your life.
HP:
Easy 200
Medium 250
Hard 275
Crezzy 300
DeathFire Monks(Actor:Allen H. Blum III, Programmer;Voice:Tom Hall)
---------------
DeathFire monks are the same as Death Monks except they shoot fireballs.
HP:
Easy 200
Medium 250
Hard 300
Crezzy 350
Robot Guard(based on a model by Gregor Punchatz;Voice:Sound CD #4005)
-----------
Small metal robots that shoot explosive disks.
HP:
Easy 100
Medium 125
Hard 150
Crezzy 175
Ballistikraft(Gregor Punchatz model;Voice: Sound CD #4005)
-------------
Large metal robots. Slow-moving; fast firing. Run. Run fast, run hard.
Look at HP to see why.
HP:
Easy/Medium/Hard/Crezzy INFINITE
BOSSES
Bosses can't be harmed by bullet weapons.
General Darian(Actor:Steve Maines, Former Art Director;Voice:Mark Dochtermann,
-------------- Programmer)
Tall boss with a rocket launcher.
Quotes:
"They'll bury you in a lunchbox!"
"You're toast!"
HP:
Easy 1500
Medium 2300
Hard 2400
Crezzy 2800
Sebastian "Doyle" Krist(Actor:Joe Siegler, Online Support Manager)
-----------------------
The boss who sits in a chair and has a monocle. His chair is a duded-up
office chair, and, though you can't see it, the controls on the arms
are office staplers. Joe says he almost stapled his hands during filming.
The Chair used is Stephen Blackburn's Comfy Office Chair, with Marianna
Vayntrub's paper and glue.
Quotes:
"Hey, where ya' going?"
"Come back here!"
From Joe Siegler:
"I also say "Bleh", and "It wasn't supposed to turn out like this". I also
recorded two other bits that weren't used in the game, but do appear in the
WAV file directory on the CD.. They are "Dammit", and "I won't fail like
Darian did"."
HP:
Easy 2500
Medium 3400
Hard 3600
Crezzy 3800
NME(based on a model by Gregor Punchatz;Voice:Sound CD #4005)
---
The Nasty Metallic Enforcer. Hard to kill.
Very hard to kill. If you can say you beat the NME without
cheating, you've made quite and accomplishment. The NME, is, in fact,
the hardest boss in the game.
P.S. - It's very hard to notice, but on the back of the NME's head is
a Texas license plate that says "SPRAY". This was the design team's nickname
for the NME.
Quotes:
"Whirr-click!"
"Buzzzz"
HP:
Easy 3000
Medium 4500
Hard 5000
Crezzy 5900
El Oscuro, all forms(Actor:Tom Hall, Creative Director)
--------------------
The Main Boss.
From Joe Siegler:
"The things that El Oscuro says are true Latin. I forget what they mean
offhand, but it's stuff like "I'll kill you". Except for one. One of the
things that Oscuro says means "Eat Your Veggies". That's a reference to the
old Commander Keen series where "Eat Your Veggies" is the name of the song
that appears in the Dopefish level. :) (The Veggies Latin one starts with
the word "Comedi".)"
HP(El Oscuro):
Easy 3000
Medium 3600
Hard 2500
Crezzy 4800
HP(Snake Oscuro;per head):
Easy/Medium/Hard/Crezzy 1000
PLAYERS
Taradino Cassatt(Voice:Joe Selinske)
Thi Barrett(Voice:Susan Singer)
Doug Wendt(Voice:Lee Jackson)
Lorelei Ni(Voice:Pau Suet Ying *)
Ian Paul Freeley(Voice:Jim Dose')
* Pau Suet Ying is a waitress at a Chinese restaurant
about half a mile from Apogee's HQ. :) Ahhh, Chinese food. The fodder of
programmers everywhere. Chinese food and Jolt Cola, that's the stuff.
For Dog Mode, the Dog's snout and paw are:
Loki(George Broussard's dog), the Carpet Wetting Maestro
Joe Siegler says:
"The dog's snout and paw are actually Loki. It was not easy getting the
dog to behave so it could be videotaped for scanning. :)"
For God Mode, the Hand of God is:
Tim Neveu's Hand
[3-1-1]
Enemies Not Used
The following alternate enemies were digitized but not used at the end.
Joe Siegler says:
"The female guards were removed from the game at the end of development
after the manual was already printed. The reason for this is that the
plan was to have the game randomly pick between a male/female guard of
the same type. So, the game would have to keep the sounds/graphics
for both the male and female guards in memory at once, and because of
this, it really increased the amount of memory needed to play the
game. It was impossible to do this and make it work nicely in 8 megs,
or AT ALL in 4 megs, so the idea was dropped. However, the manuals
were already printed, so there wasn't anything that could be done about
it. If you play ROTT all the way through, and finish it (the
registered version) the right way, you'll see a (VERY LONG) list of
credits. At the end is a list of "Actors who were cut from the game".
Since they were already digitized, we made use of a single frame of
them, and stuck 'em in. There were alternates to the low guard, the
Overpatrol, and the Strike guards. The rest didn't have female
counterparts."
The following alternate enemies were not used:
Alternate Low Guard(Actor:Marianna Vayntrub, Mark Dochtermann's Fiancee;
Voice:Colleen Compton)
Alternate High Guard(Actor:Steve Hornback, Main RotT Artist)
Alternate Overpatrol(Actor:Pat Miller, Scott Miller's Mom)
Alternate Strike Team(Actor:Ann Grauherholz, Tom Hall's Friend)
Alternate Lightning Guard(Actor:William Scarboro, RotT programmer)
Alternate DeathFire Monk(Actor:Mark Dochtermann, RotT programmer;
Voice:Tom Hall)
[3-2]
Items
The following items are listed from the foreground tile
summary section of RottED. Items followed by a plus(+) in
parentheses are registered version only. Items followed by a (SS) are
Super Secret, rarely if ever seen in the game!
INTERACTIVE/DECORATION
----------------------
Ceiling Lights, 4 versions
Dead Guy, 3 versions
Metal Light Pole
Empty Healing Basin
Statue with knife on it(+) - Touching this statue will give you the
knife
Crate of TNT
Bonus Barrel - Barrel with white label on it
Fire Urn
Jump Pad - constant, periodic, or one-time only jumping
Floor garbage, 4 varieties
Floor grating
Metal scraps
Empty key pedestal
Table
Stool
Brown pillar
Gray pillar
Dark pillar
Oscuro Larvae(+) - In last level only
Collector Item- Triad that spawns in Collector and Scavenger COMM-Bat
Tree in pot
Plant in pot
Urn
Statue w/o knife(+)
Monk bed
Barrel
Bulletproof vest - blue; no bullet damage
Asbestos vest - gray; no fire damage
Gas mask
GADs - Gravitational Anomaly Disks. The gray disks that float at a certain
height. EGADs(Elevator GADs) rise and sink. TGADs(Train GADs) move along
a path.
KEYS
----
Gold Key Pedestal - Contains Gold Key
Silver Key Pedestal- Contains Silver Key
Iron Key Pedestal- Contains Iron Key
Oscuro Key Pedestal- Contains Oscuro(red) key
HEALTH/LIVES
-------------
Monk Meal(called Guard Gruel in the manual) - oatmeal-like substance in Green
bowl; replenishes 10 hit points
Priest porridge cold - red substance in brown bowl; replenishes 10 hit points
Priest porridge hot- red substance that glows in brown bowl; replenishes 50
hit points. Priest porridge hot can be make from Priest Porridge cold
by detonating a missile near it.
Small monk crystal - thin glowing crystal; worth 10 hit points
Large Monk crystal - large glowing crystal; worth 50 hit points
1Up - Looks like a powerup containing a glowing blue ankh, gives extra life
3Up - Same as 1Up except ankh glows green, gives 3 extra lives!
Healing Basin - Large, ornate basin containing water; worth random number of
hit points, from 25 to 100
Life Item, 1 point - Gray circle with ankh inside it, worth 1 life
point(collecting 100 life points gives you an extra life)
Life Item, 5 points - Gold circle with ankh inside it
Life Item, 10 points - Gold Studded circle with ankh
Life Item, 25 points - Two revolving circles surrounding red ankh
SUPER SECRET
------------
Developer Ball(D, I, and P)(SS)(+) - The Developer balls don't really
"do" anything. They are super secret items, and the three exist
on three different levels in the game. If you collect them all, you get
a 100,000 point bonus at the end of the game. The DIPs put them in because...
well, they're just cool, let's put it that way.
Scott's Mystical Head(SS)(+) - a digitized frame of Scott
Miller(the President of Apogee)'s head. This super-secret item gives
you 2,764,331 points. A sound clip also says, "Scott's Mystical Head!" This
item is found on the level called "the room". 1-800-276-4331 is Apogee's
order number. Hint, hint.
Joe Siegler says:
"It's a digitized shot of Scott Miller, the President of Apogee. The
idea was to find something really super secret, and the frame used was
one of him in shock.
Remember "The Wizard of Oz", and the "Pay no attention to the Man
behind the curtain" bit? Well, the joke was based off of that. The
real reason isn't all that interesting I suppose, it's just funny to
us. :)"
HAZARDS
-------
Firechutes, 4 directions - shoots fireballs
Spinblade Stabber, from Ceiling - a rotating, bladed pole comes
out from the ceiling
Spinblade Stabber, from Floor- same as ceiling, but comes from floor
Spinblade Stabber, attached to Ceiling - a rotating, bladed pole is attached
to the ceiling and remains exposed
Spinblade Stabber, attached to Floor - same as ceiling but attached to floor
Raising gun emplacement, 4 directions(+) - raises when you are near and
shoots in one direction
Four-way gun emplacement(+) - Shoots directly at you when near
Rolling Boulder, 4 directions(+) - drops and rolls in 4 directions
Heat pit
Pit trap(+) - normal looking floor that breaks under you and causes damage
Path-Following Spinblade - This is a SpinBlade, or series of them, that
follow a path along the floor or ceiling
Firejet - A plume of flame shoots from the floor or ceiling
Stabbers - A revolving series of spears comes out from the floor or
ceiling. Not fun.
Crushing Cylinders(+) - Floor or Ceiling. If the ceiling is high enough, the
cylinders that come from the floor will lift you up.
PUSHWALLS/TRIGGERS
------------------
Touchplates - Trigger remote events; have four levels of visibility
Turbo WanderWall- A wall that moves around a room and is lethal
Pushpillar - will move when activated, 3 colors(brown, gray, or dark)
POWERUPS/POWERDOWNS
-------------------
God Mode Powerup - powerup with a rotating hand in it; makes you ten feet
tall and able to shoot Godfire(which seeks out and utterly discorporates
people); YOU ARE INVINCIBLE.
Dog Mode Powerup(+) - powerup with a rotating bone it;makes you 3 feet tall
and gives you the BarkBlast; YOU ARE INVINCIBLE.
Mercury Mode powerup - powerup with a winged shoe in it;makes you fast and
allows you to fly with PGUP and PGDN
Random Powerup(+) - Random powerup or powerdown
Shrooms Mode Powerdown - powerup with a mushroom in it; colors explode
everywhere and your vision wanders sickeningly
Elasto Powerdown - powerdown with a ball in it;reduces your friction factor
to nothing, and you bounce off walls
[3-3]
Bosses
Help me with a boss, you say. Right here, I say!
[3-3-1]
How do I defeat General Darian?
Darian does not have any special weaknesses, but a trick to know
when fighting Darian is how to avoid the SpinBlade Stabbers he uses.
If you stand underneath a light, Darian can't use his Stabbers against
you. If you do it right, you can blast him through an open door and
then scoot out of the way.
[3-3-2]
How do I defeat Sebastian "Doyle" Krist?
There are no tricks to defeat Krist, but
Joe Siegler says:
"... Krist, if he escapes
the room, and goes up on a stairwell of GAD's will stay up there, and
won't come back down. That's a bug. It was fixed in v1.3 registered,
but is cute to see if you don't have v1.3 registered."
[3-3-3]
How do I defeat the NME?
Joe Siegler says:
"NME can't fire at you if you land on him, but if you land
on top of NME, you're pretty much SOL anyway, since as soon as you
jump off, you're hosed.
Oh yeah, don't lead NME out of the room he's in. We never intended
for him to leave the room he's in, and if you do, and get him down
near the SpinBlades, the game will crash."
So there are no tricks to defeat the NME.
For those of you who were expecting a little more and are disappointed,
this is the exact answer that I got straight from the horse's
mouth(Joe Siegler):
"I have a standard answer for all other bosses
besides El Oscuro:
As for the boss creature, there is no trick that I can tell you like
'move the left arrow five times, hit the up arrow, dance a jig, fire 7
times'. It's really just a timing thing. You need to watch the guy,
and see what his pattern is. All Apogee boss creatures have patterns,
and if you watch them, you'll see where you can safely go and where
you cannot go."
[3-3-4]
How do I defeat El Oscuro?
Joe Siegler:
"The trick to El Oscuro in the "Lair of El Oscuro" level is to not fire
at him at all. You need to just avoid him for awhile, and he'll
eventually expend his own energy and die. Firing at him only makes
him stronger.
Bear in mind that this is not the last level, there are two more
levels with some variant of El Oscuro."
[3-3-5]
How do I defeat Snake Oscuro?
Joe Siegler says:
"Here's how to really do it.
(This solution implies that you save your game several times, since
you'll probably die a few times doing all this if you've never done
it before.)
To defeat El Oscuro properly in the "In the Dark Nest" level, you need
to first get rid of the two rooms of larvae that are at the start of
the level. Do NOT go up the stairs right away. Back up, and get one
of the heat vests, and look around on the left hand wall. There's a
bunch of larvae in there. Destroy them, and while you're in there, go
over towards the Oscuro wall, and you'll hit a touchplate. Then, go
back to the stairwell, but do not go up, go into the similar room of
larvae on the other side, and you'll note that a wall has moved back,
and you'll be able to get the Oscuro key behind a wall that was in the
way (it would have been in the way if you went to this room first).
Get rid of all the larvae in this room too, and THEN you can go up the
stairwell (you might as well grab a fully charged weapon and another
heat vest before you go up there).
Go to the top of the stairs, but do not go over yet. Look down, and
you'll see two "rooms" in front of you. The rightmost one is the one
you want to go at first. If you just walk off gently, you'll fall on
a mercury mode that is suspended in the air. If you run off, you'll
miss it. There's a touchplate around the outside of the aforementioned
"room" that will allow access inside. (This goes for all 4 "rooms" in
the main battle chamber, but this one is the one we want to concern
ourselves with now). Anyway, inside there is a touchplate. Hit that
touchplate, and a firewall at the far end of the room, a firewall will
move out of the way revealing a doorway which is opened with the
Oscuro key you got before you came up the stairs. To get over the
wall, you need to do one of these things.
Try not to let Snake Oscuro get trapped in here with you, or it will
make things very difficult.
1) Fly over it (if you got the mercury mode when falling off the steps)
2) Grab the firevest, and then the firebomb. Turn around, and point
the firebomb at the floor. You'll fly up in the air, and over the
wall.
Once over, there's a pushwall to be pushed. Follow the now opened up
pathway, and you'll be led to the third room of larvae. Look out in
this room, as there are a lot of Deathfire Monks in here, too. Once
you dispose of all the larvae, SAVE YOUR GAME! :) You can then go
back out the way you came in, and defeat the Oscuro Snake, and on to
final victory.
Note: The Oscuro snake can only be hurt when he's over a firepit."
[3-4]
Players
There are five available characters in the registered version. They are
listed below. Only the first is available in the shareware episode.
1) Taradino Cassatt
2) Thi Barrett
3) Doug Wendt
4) Lorelei Ni
5) Ian Paul Freeley(Get it? I.P. Freeley.)
[3-4-1]
What are the strengths/weaknesses of each player?
Taradino Cassatt:
Cassatt is Mr.Average. That's why he's in the shareware episode. He
has average life, average speed, and average weapons accuracy. If nothing
special is called for, Cassatt's a good choice.
Thi Barrett:
She's pretty average, too. She's a female average character, in case
you don't like Cassatt or you prefer a female character. She's a little
faster than Cassatt. My personal favorite.
Doug Wendt:
This guy is a tank. He's pretty slow, and only has average weapons
accuracy, but, man, he can take tons of damage. Lots o' hit points here.
Lorelei Ni:
Not many hit points. Fast. Extremely good weapons accuracy. Not
for beginners.
Ian Paul Freeley:
Freeley is a player who is provided for a happy medium between players
like Cassatt or Barrett and Wendt. He's got more hit points than Cassatt
or Barrett, but he's slower. On the other hand, he doesn't have as many
hit points as Wendt, but he's faster.
[3-5]
Weapons.
Hee hee hee.
Keep in mind that firing rate is only an approximation by me. Initial Ammo
is how much ammo you have when you pick up the weapon. Once again, a weapon
followed by a (+) is in the registered version only. The things one
can do with a stopwatch and a lot of time on one's hands.
BULLET WEAPONS:
Pistol - Standard start off weapon. Better upgrade quick unless all you
want to do is see yourself die, which is pretty cool in itself.
Initial Ammo : Infinite
Firing Rate : 2.5 shots/sec
Damage : 13 HP
Dual Pistols - Better than the regular pistol but still not good enough.
Initial Ammo : Infinite
Firing Rate : 3.25 shots/sec
Damage : 26 HP
MP40 - Good weapon. You should use this on lower enemies and save your
ammo. For instance, if you get a heat seeker and you're in a room of low
guards, use your MP40. Save the heat seeker.
Initial Ammo : Infinite(Thank you, DIPs!!!!!)
Firing Rate : 4.25 shots/sec
Damage : 10/bullet
MISSILE WEAPONS:
All the missle weapons have a firing rate of
2.2 missles/sec
except the Split Missle.
Bazooka - Pretty straight forward. Point, shoot, boom. Best weapon, I think,
to get ludicrous gibs.
Initial Ammo: 10 missles(NOTE:
if you get this weapon by killing a lightning guard, it will only have
3 shots left).
Damage : 160-222
Heat Seeker - This works better the farther away you are from your enemy. If
you are too close, it's likely that the missle will not be able to turn in
time and will miss. This is a good weapon, but the missles aren't very
powerful.
Initial Ammo : 7 missles
Damage : 100-162
Drunk Missle - Without a doubt the most fun weapon. Not the most powerful,
but, man, it's really cool. Even the sound is cool. Upon firing, a
cluster of 5 missles shoots out which then heat seek. The results are
_messy_ :).
An individual missle is pretty weak.
Here's a neat little story about Drunk Missles from
Joe Rovang(jrovang@netcom.com):
"I love trying to outrun drunk missiles in Comm-bat play. Once I
was killed three separate times in a row by the same single shot of
drunk missiles.
Another time I was trying to outrun drunk missiles, I managed to
dodge them and get them to chase me as I ran toward my opponent (the
one who shot them). I slipped around him and into a corridor just in
time to have him get splattered by his own drunks, while I got away
without a scratch."
Initial Ammo : 7 clusters of 5 missles each
Damage : 25-56/missle
Firebomb - Dangerous to you and to enemies. This is a long range weapon
only. You should be very careful. Some of us have been fragged more
than once by being too trigger happy and using it in close quarters. >:)
Upon firing, little mushroom clouds spread out in a "X" formation. Good
for checking behind corners. Another good use of the firebomb(when you
have an asbestos suit) is if you shoot it down(so the missle detonates
right next to you) it will fling you up and away. A workable alternative
to not having Mercury Mode.
Initial Ammo : 5 missles
Damage : 150-242
Flamewall - One of the best weapons to use. Whenever you use it you
should try not to hit people with the missle but have it hit the ground in
front of them. This is because the missle isn't powerful enough to kill
with a direct hit, but on hitting the ground, a wall of fire spreads out
and goes away from you. All regular enemies are instantly fragged by this
fire. The flamewall is great for Multiple Frags. NOTE: If you have a
fast player, you can actually run into your own wall of fire. It's
not pretty, especially in COMM-BAT. Doh!
Initial Ammo : 5
Damage : death or destroys Asbestos vest
Split Missle(+) - This weapon is pretty cool. It works like this:
You hold down the fire button and a missle shoots out. When you release
the fire button, the missle splits into 2 missles which go out at 45
degree angles and heat seek. This is good because the individual
warheads are about average strength, and while's they're combined
they're a bit stronger than a bazooka shot. The missles release like
this:
(You)
|(Missle)
|(You release fire button here)
/ \ (Missle)
(Missle) / \
Initial Ammo : 7 missle clusters of 2 each
Firing Rate : N/A(will not fire constantly if you hold down the fire
button)
Damage : 100-162/missle
MAGICAL WEAPONS:
Excalibat(+) - A glowing bat that you can hit enemies with(which
isn't very powerful but it really cool to see). If you hold down the
fire button, after a period of time(See firing rate) a 180 degree wall
of glowing, explosive baseballs fire out, and those baseballs are really
powerful. It's called an Excaliblast.
You can really have fun with this one.
Initial Ammo : Infinite swings, 10 Excaliblasts
Firing Rate : 1 Excaliblast/3.5 seconds
Damage(Swing) : 10-50
Damage(Excaliblast) : 160-122/ball <--- Yep. Per ball.
Dark Staff(+) - Super powerful and really cool looking. The fire from
this weapon in a black sphere rippling with energy. One shot will
destroy all regular enemies(not bosses). NOTE: The Dark Staff's
sphere will travel through a door or an enemy if you are right next
to them. So, shoot through a Door. It's cool. Come on, live a little.
Initial Ammo : 7 Kinetic Energy Spheres
Firing Rate : .6 shots/sec(1 shot/1.704 sec)
Damage : 280-432
POWERUP WEAPONS:
God Mode - You're ten feet tall. Your weapon is Godfire. YOU ARE INVINCIBLE.
You laugh at all enemies. Godfire will seek out and discorporate all
enemies in the area near you, and a few shots will destroy a boss. If
you're playing COMM-BAT, the person who's in God Mode flickers with
many different colors. God Mode lasts 30 seconds. Fire away.
Initial Ammo : Infinite Godfire
Firing Rate : 1.2 shots/sec
Damage : 500/Godfire
Dog Mode(+) - You're 3 feet tall. YOU ARE INVINCIBLE.
You can rip people to shreds or explode
them with the BarkBlast(which is unleashed by holding down the fire
button. If you're playing COMM-BAT, the person in Dog Mode looks like
a miniature player with a dog's head. The dog's head has glowing eyes.
Dog Mode lasts 30 seconds.
Initial Ammo : Infinite biting and BarkBlast.
Firing Rate : 1 Barkblast/3.5 seconds
Damage(Bite) : 30
Damage(BarkBlast) : 100
[3-6]
Shareware End-Credit Silliness.
If you've played and beaten the Shareware version, and waited for
a while at the end screen, you'd notice that the last message on the screen
would occasionally change. These messages are silly little things put
in by the programmers. They change as the version number changes(they
get progressively sillier). Here's a list of them, courtesy of Joe
Siegler:
Version 1.0:
1) You've won the battle, Cassatt. But when the Oscuridos return,
will you be ready as they wage their Dark War?
2) Armed with only a pistol and 30 bucks, you must stop the minions
of El Oscuro before they kill millions of innocent people.
3) Take a vacation. You've earned it. Maybe on San Nicolas Island...
4) Thanks for playing. If you liked "The HUNT Begins", check ordering
info for information about continuing your adventure.
5)
6)
7)
8) Look, this is pointless. You are done. Push off.
9)
10) Wow, you must like this fine background screen.
11)
12)
13) Sigh.
14) All right, um . . . you found the secret message! Congratulations!
15) Didn't work, huh? Okay, how about this . . .
16) THE END
17) Dang. Thought I had you there.
18) Stop watching. Pretty please?
19) With sugar on top?
20) Wait . . . I could just go to the demo loop! See ya.
After #20, one of the patrol robots comes on the right side of the screen
and the text "Am I late?" appears over his head.
Version 1.1
#1-#12 Same as Version 1.0
13) Fnord.
#14-#18 Same as Version 1.0
19) Bet you were expecting some new messages in Version 1.1.
20) Well, too bad. This is the only one.
21) OK, I lied. There are 2 different messages. So sue me.
22) Actually three is a nice number.. That's it. Hope you enjoyed it.
P.S. did you find the new cheat codes?
After #22, the patrol robot comes out.
Version 1.2
#1-#12 Same as Version 1.1
13) "Bob"
#14-#18 Same as Version 1.1
19) You know that if you registered, there would be a lot more cool stuff
happening right now.
20) Episode IV : A New Hope *(FAQ Author's Note: For those of you living
in the Stone Age, this is from the first Star Wars movie)*
21) Just think of all the new secret messages you could find hidden in
the registered version!
22) Someone right now is probably enjoying the really exciting ending of
the registered version.
23) ROTT was filmed before a live audience.
24) No animals were harmed during the creation of this video game,
although one dog did get its butt spanked when it peed on the carpet.
After #24, the patrol robot comes out.
There were no changes in V1.3 over V1.2.
[3-7]
Bonuses in the game and after...
If you've played RotT, you've probably noticed that you get some
bonuses after some levels. If you want to know what they mean, here they
are(note, they are also included in the ROTTHELP.EXE file supplied with
version 1.3).
BONUS WHAT IT MEANS
Supercharge Bonus Got all powerups on level
Adrenaline Bonus 100% Kills
Bleeder Bonus used all health items on level
Skin of Teeth ended level with 1 dot of health
Republican Bonus 1 Got all missile weapons on level
Republican Bonus 2 Destroyed all plants on level
Democrat Bonus 1 Never used a handgun on level
Democrat Bonus 2 All shrooms & healing basins used on level
Ground Zero Bonus Hit with your own missile (hint: FW)
Bull in China Shop Destroyed all life items on level
Curiosity Bonus Every switch, pushwall, pillar, sound area
pushed, messed with, or whatever
Bonus Bonus Got all bonuses
It is REALLY hard to get the Bonus Bonus.
There are more bonuses at the end of the whole game in Dark War. They are
pretty tough to get, too.
Genocide Bonus Kill every one of the same type of actor in the game.
This can be gotten multiple times depending on how many
different types of actors you can wipe out.
DIP Bonus Collect all three developer balls.
(4)
Level Descriptions
From Joe Siegler:
Here is a listing of all the levels for Rise of the Triad, and who
designed them. The vast bulk of levels were done by Tom Hall, so to
avoid typing his name a zillion times, assume it was done by Tom Hall
unless you see a name after the level.
Also, the individual registered episodes have their own names, but this
information was never really publicized much. Their names are also
listed here.
Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins (Shareware)
----------------------------------------------
1-1 The HUNT Begins
1-2 Foggy Mountain Shareware Warp Only Levels
1-3 The Fourth Door --------------------------
1-4 Dark Tunnels 2-1 Too Tall
1-5 Metal Threat 2-2 Play Room
1-6 Ride 'em Cowboy (Joe Siegler)
1-7 Boom Boom Boom
1-8 Wall to Wall (Joe Siegler)
Rise of the Triad: Dark War (Registered)
----------------------------------------
Episode 1: Approach Episode 2:Monastery
=================== ===================
1-1 The Thick of It 2-1 Into the Castle
1-2 Winding Way 2-2 Great Halls of Fire (Marianna)
1-3 Burned and Amazed 2-3 The Room
1-4 Too Much Room 2-4 Spiraling In (Marianna)
1-5 Two Key Return 2-5 Rocky Plateau
1-6 Spring Surprise 2-6 Four Way Chamber
1-7 General Darian 2-7 Sebastian Krist
1-8 Turn of the Screw (Marianna Vayntrub) 2-8 Elevator Trouble
Episode 3:Caves Below Episode 4:The Slow and the Dead
===================== ===============================
3-1 Robotricks 4-1 "Monky" Business
3-2 Down & Over (Marianna Vayntrub) 4-2 Fire and Brimstone
3-3 Dead in Five Seconds 4-3 Crushing Defeat
3-4 Clear and Present Dangers 4-4 Diamonds & Rust
3-5 The Angry Quilt 4-5 Backfire
3-6 Movin' Walls 4-6 Circles of Fire
3-7 Know Thine NME 4-7 Lair of El Oscuro
3-8 Eight Ways to Hell (Joe Siegler) 4-8 Switched Around (Joe Selinske)
4-9 Canyon Chase
Registered Warp Only Levels 4-10 In the Dark Nest
---------------------------
5-1 Dead in Two Seconds
5-2 The Vomitorium
5-3 This Causes an Error! (Joe Siegler)(This level is a joke level)
Rise of the Triad COMM-BAT Levels
---------------------------------
Shareware Comm-Bat Registered Comm-Bat (Continued)
================== ===============================
The Corpseyard (William Scarboro) Batter Up!
Falling for It Attonement
Fun House Memorize This
The Labryinth Swimmin' Pool
Dark Warrens The Sanctum of Rocking (William)
Hill and Hill Again Think Up!
Iron Tower Ziggurattack
The Great Divide Free Flight
Cross Purposes (Joe Siegler)
Registered Comm-Bat Joustin' Time (Mark Dochtermann)
=================== Captured
One Stop Gun Shop Yellow Brick Road
The Well Crystal Fields
Way Too Tiny
Sign Language Site License Comm-Bat
Land Bridge ---------------------
Checkers King of the Hill (Joe Selinske)
Tree House The Castle
Mazewar '94 It's the Pits (Joe Selinske & Tom Hall)
Impossible Land Popcore (Joe Selinske with Tom Mods)
Picture This Round 'n' Round
Mark's Madness (Mark Dochtermann) Hey! More Barrels! (Joe Selinske & Tom)
Bazooka Joke Too Tight
Above All This Race Track (Mark Dochtermann)
Four Square Cave In (Joe Selinske with Tom Mods)
Giza Glen Park
Ramp Urge to Kill (Jim Dos‚)
Into the Fray Death Tree
Lotta Lava Oh Yeah! (Joe Selinske)
The Machine Staff Meeting
[4-1]
Hints
If a level has a hint that I can find, here it is.
These hints come from the RotT Players Guide(See Ch.11), and I
can't very well copy that entire book into here, so if a hint seems
too cryptic, tough. Use the map cheat or something else.
E1A1 Get the four one-ups on this level. The first is easy:
Wait 2 minutes and shoot some guys while the elevator comes. The
second is hard : run like the wind to outrun the closing wall.
The third is easy : Use a jump pad to land on a pillar and
push the wall back. The fourth is hard : Avoid the fireballs.
E1A2 Getting the two 1 ups while in Dog Mode is the big thing here.
E1A3 The way to the secret level is fairly easy. Leap to get
the Mercury Mode power up in the maze, then fly to the secret room,
shoot, push the pushwall, and fly to the exit. Don't forget the 2
one-ups.
E1A4 Use the God and 2 Dog power-ups.
E1A5 You can get all the ankh coins in the room with the cage.
It takes practice. Try all the jump pads in the room. The optional
area is harder; in fact, these are the toughest jumps in the whole game. The
next-to-last jump is nasty.
E1A6 The elevator area is the hardest. Use the jump pads to skip
part of the puzzle.
E1A8 Don't miss the 2 power-ups, especially the one the touchplate
maze.
E2A1 The Excalibat is hidden by a bunch of pushwalls just off the
secret bird-shaped room.
E2A2 Get the gas mask hidden in the hallway before entering the gas room.
Don't miss the one-up in the touchplate tunnel.
E2A3 This map has Scott's Mystical Head. Get the Mercury power-up, destroy
the gun emplacements, and meet Scott.
E2A4 There are 2 one-ups in this level, but I hope you like pushwalls.
E2A5 There's 2 one-ups(one easy, one hard), and a secret exit to the secret
level.
E2A6 The first Developer Ball is in this level.
E2A8 2 one-ups.
E3A1 3 one-ups and a God powerup.
E3A2 2 one-ups and Godmode.
E3A3 The I Developer Ball is easy to get here, use the fireproof vest
hidden behind a maze pushwall.
E3A4 Go into each side room to move the pillars out of the way
on the East side of the level. If you have Shrooms mode, the pushable
push pillar will glow; this is true of any pushpillar maze.
E3A5 Bring big weapons when you round the corner.
E3A6 Traps guard the way to the secret level...
E3A8 A power-up kind of level.
E4A1 Get the Dog and God mode powerups for Monky Fun.
E4A2 Four 1-ups and Dog Mode.
E4A3 Don't panic at the start, just walk forward.
E4A4 3 one-ups for the true explorer.
E4A5 Getting out alive here is a trick.
E4A6 Don't let the calm at the beginning of the level fool you; it's a
trap. The P Developer Ball is here.
E4A8 10 one ups.
E4A9 One up hidden near the end.
(5)
Cheating
[5-1]
What are the cheat codes?
Type in each cheat code, letter by letter, to get the
desired effect. You can type in either the "code" or
the "alternate". Note that for the codes, the slash
is a backslash, not a forward slash. The codes are not
case sensitive. The "dipstick" code must be given before
any others, to enable the other cheats. Note that any
cheats marked by an asterisk work only in the registered
version of the game. All other cheats work in both the
shareware and registered versions. Codes that give a message on the
screen are followed by "confirmation message".
Code Alternate Description
---- --------- -----------
\ECC DIPSTICK Enable/disable cheat codes.
Confirmation Message:
"Cheat Codes Enabled!"
Transport:
\GTL GOTO Provides a menu to the accompaniment of the
"Fish Polka" and allows you to choose a level.
\GOO GOOBERS Restart from first level.
\REL REEN Re-enter level.
\L8R GOGATES Exit to DOS.
\ECL GOARCH Exit current level.
\FUN [none] Pause and enter rotation mode (use mouse).
Left and right buttons zoom in and out.
\EKG [none] Extreme Gib mode.
Every kill you make will be the kinds that
bring up the message "Ludicrous Gibs!". In
other words, the kills you make will be
EXTREMELY messy.
Confirmation Message:
"EKG Mode On!"
\LEE MAESTRO Game jukebox. Choose a song!
Gameplay:
\WWW CHOJIN Woundless with weapons. This is the
"invulnerability" code. With this code,
you also have all the weapons, and you
will never run out of ammo for anything.
After a while, this just sucks the fun out
of the game.
Confirmation Message:
"Woundless with Weapons On."
\GOD TOOSAD God mode.
Confirmation Message:
"God Mode!"
* \DOG WOOF Dog mode.
Confirmation Message:
"Dog Mode!"
\MER FLYBOY Mercury mode.
Confirmation Message:
"Mercury Mode! Press PGUP and PGDN to fly."
\SHR BADTRIP Shrooms mode.
Confirmation Message:
"Shrooms Mode POWERDOWN!"
\ELA BOING Elasto mode.
\RFA SPEED Enable autorun(all movements will be running).
\PAN PANIC Reset to normal; full health; no modes, keys,
or extra guns.
Confirmation Message:
"Back to normal. Ahhh."
\OOF WHACK Hurt yourself.
\DIE 86ME Kill yourself.
Confirmation Message:
A voice says "Youuuu suuucckkk."
Effects:
\DON DIMON Light diminishing on.
\DOF DIMOFF Light diminishing off.
\FON LONDON Fog on.
\FOF NODNOL Fog off.
\SON SHINEON Light sourcing on.
\SOF SHINEOFF Light sourcing off.
\CON GOTA386 Turn off floor and ceiling textures.
\COF GOTA486 Turn on floor and ceiling textures.
Equipment:
\BAR SHOOTME Bulletproof armor.
\FAR BURNME Asbestos armor.
\GAR LUNGDUNG Gas mask.
\GAI SIXTOYS Get items (keys, bulletproof armor, health).
Confirmation Message:
"Items Aplenty! Bulletproof armor!"
\BUM SLACKER Get all keys required to finish the level.
Confirmation Message:
"Slacker Pack."
\OFP HUNTPACK Outfit player (bulletproof armor, keys,
heatseeker, and, in the registered version,
a split missile).
Confirmation Message:
"Outfit player!"
\GW2 JOHNWOO Double pistols.
\GW3 PLUGEM MP40 machine gun.
\GW4 VANILLA Bazooka.
\GW5 HOTTIMES Heakseeker.
\GW6 BOOZE Drunk missile.
\GW7 FIREBOMB Firebomb.
\GW8 BONES Flamewall.
\GW9 SEEYA Hand of god (permanent god mode).
* \GWA SPLIT Split missile.
* \GWB KESOFDEATH Kinetic energy sphere.
* \GWC HOMERUN Excalibat.
* \GWD CUJO Dog weapon (permanent dog mode).
Views:
\CAM RIDE Missile camera on/off.
\HUD WHERE HUD on/off (x,y,room coordinates).
Demos:
RECORD Record a demo (does not work in v1.0).
STOP Stop a demo (does not work in v1.0).
PLAY Play a demo (does not work in v1.0).
+ Misc Command Line Parameter - In the registered version, "dopefish" will
cause Scott's Mystical Head to appear on
the main log on screen to the accompaniment
of belches performed by Joe Siegler. :)
(6) Playing RotT
Unless otherwise stated, this material comes almost verbatim from
the ROTTHELP.EXE file for version 1.3.
[6-1]
What do I need to run RotT?
þ Rise of the Triad's minimum requirements are a 386DX/40 with 4 megs of total
memory. However, Apogee strongly recommends a 486DX2/66 with 8 megs of
total memory, and a local bus video card. A fast hard drive will also
help things a lot. A sound card is also strongly recommended.
*FAQ AUTHOR'S NOTE: I run RotT on a 486 DX-33, at it runs fine.*
[6-1-1]
How do I make more memory available for RotT?
The best way around this is to "boot clean." This means to boot your
system without loading any unnecessary memory resident programs. The
easiest way to do this is to create a bootable floppy disk according to
the instructions in your DOS manual (see the FORMAT /S command) and
create a file called CONFIG.SYS and a file called AUTOEXEC.BAT on that
disk. Please refer to your DOS manual for instructions on creating these
files.
These files should contain the following lines:
CONFIG.SYS
==========
FILES=30
BUFFERS=30
STACKS=9,256
AUTOEXEC.BAT
============
@echo off
MOUSE
SET BLASTER=
The and items in the sample
AUTOEXEC.BAT file refer to the lines that start with the words PATH and
PROMPT in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file that is on your C: drive. These lines
are optional, but including them will make navigating your hard drive a
little easier.
If you have DOS 5, you will need to create a boot disk and make
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, using the above examples. If you have
DOS 6 or higher, you have two ways of booting clean without the need for
a boot disk.
For DOS 6 and higher, the fastest way is to reboot your computer and
watch for a message that says "Starting MS-DOS" (IBM versions will say
either "Starting PC DOS" or "Starting IBM DOS"). When you see this
message, press your F8 function key. You will then be prompted to
confirm each line of your current CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files.
This will allow you to temporarily turn off the programs that you do not
need or that may be causing problems. ONLY ANSWER "YES" TO THE LINES
SHOWN ABOVE AND THE "OK to process AUTOEXEC.BAT?" QUESTION. When
finished, you will be left at a plain C:\> prompt.
NOTE: Pressing the Left Shift or F5 function key at the "Starting
MS-DOS" prompt will not work properly. ROTT requires at least
30 available "file handles" to operate properly.. This is defined
by the FILES=30 statement in your CONFIG.SYS file. If you bypass
your CONFIG.SYS file completely by pressing Left Shift or F5, you
are stuck with the DOS default of 8 file handles. You will
experience errors if you attempt to run the game this way.
If you are more familiar with DOS, we strongly recommend that you set up
a multi-boot option. These newer versions of DOS allow you to set up
multiple boot configuration sections in your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
files, mostly eliminating the need for boot disks. Again, please consult
your DOS manual for instructions on how to create a boot disk, or a
multi-boot configuration using the parameters stated above.
ROTT is a protected mode program, and it does not require the services of
such memory managers as QEMM, EMM386, etc. Please read the section on
protected mode programs for more information.
[6-2]
What are the command line options?
The command line parameters for ROTT are stackable, which means that you
can use more than one at a time, if you need to. An example of a stacked
set of command line parameters would look like this...
ROTT NOSOUND CYBERMAN
Please note that while these are intended for use with the ROTT game, you
can use them on the setup program. The setup program will pass any command
line parameters to the ROTT game that were given to it.
Here is a list of the command line parameters you can use with ROTT.
NOTE : These command line params are from v1.3 and some have no
effect on earlier versions.
? ¯ Gives you a list of all the common command line
parameters used by Rise of the Triad.
NOSOUND ¯ This option turns off all sounds (both music and
sound effects) for the game, and makes it silent.
QUIET ¯ Disables all displays of text (except error msgs)
that would normally occur before the title screen.
NOJOYS ¯ This turns off joystick detection. Useful if you
are getting false joystick detection. Use this if
the menus just start scrolling on their own, with
no input from you.
NOMOUSE ¯ This turns off mouse detection. If your menus start
scrolling on their own, and the NOJOYS parameter
didn't fix it, try this instead. If you still get
self-scrolling menus, try using both NOJOYS and
NOMOUSE together.
NOECHO ¯ Disables reverb/echo sound.
DEMOEXIT ¯ Forces the game to exit to DOS if the demo loop is
interrupted (by a keypress).
TEDLEVEL ¯ Used with Apogee's Internal ROTT Level Editor. Has
no useful function other than for Apogee's use.
SPACEBALL ¯ This turns on detection for the Spaceball controller.
CYBERMAN ¯ Turns on detection for the Cyberman controller.
ASSASSIN ¯ Turns on detection for the Logitech Wingman Assassin.
ENABLEVR ¯ Enables driver for virtual reality hardware. Contact
your VR hardware vendor for support.
TIMELIMIT ¯ Allows you to play for a certain amount of time
with unlimited lives. Killing enemies and picking
up life items adds time to the clock. (This is for
standalone play only.) If you use this, you MUST
also use MAXTIMELIMIT.
MAXTIMELIMIT ¯ Sets the maximum time limit you can play, so you can
only earn up to this many seconds of time.
WARP ¯ Warps to a specific level number from 1 to whatever.
DOPEFISH ¯ See section 6-2-1. :) :) :)
FILE ¯ This is the name of a user added wad file for ROTT.
For example, if you wanted to use a custom wad file
named FNORD.WAD, you'd need to type in this....
ROTT FILE FNORD.WAD You can add three such files
using this method.
SOUNDSETUP ¯ Makes ROTT go through setting up your sound card.
VER ¯ Shows the version of ROTT you are playing.
SLOWDEATH ¯ When you die in ROTT, this will let you see your
death in slow motion, as opposed to the normal speed
it's shown at. "Wicked."
NOWAIT ¯ This will bypass all opening cinematics and screens,
and will place you at the Main Menu.
NOW ¯ This will bypass all menus and screens, automatically
placing you into the game in Level 1 as the default
default character and using the default difficulty.
PAUSE ¯ This will bring up a "Press any key to continue"
prompt when you first run the game. This is useful
if you need to contact Apogee for help, and they need
to ask you a few questions about ROTT and your
system.
NET ¯ Tells ROTT that you're playing a multi-player game.
This is listed here for completeness' sake, but
should never be used. It's really used by the setup
program to pass data to the communication vectors.
In other words, the real explanation isn't worth all
the time it would take to explain it. :)
MAPSTATS ¯ This will output the map statistics (ie: Number of
different walls, doors, etc.) of the current level
to the file MAPINFO.TXT.
TILESTATS ¯ This will output the tile statistics (ie: Number of
different actors, plants, objects, etc) of the
current level to the file MAPINFO.TXT.
LEVELSIZE ¯ Computes the amount of memory needed to run a
particular level.
IS8250 ¯ This parameter is passed by ROTTSER.EXE. It will
tell ROTT you are playing with an 8250, and in which
case, it will turn off the music for modem games.
The final three command line parameters were only used during development, so
we could make sure that the levels we were designing didn't blow up the game!
There are also some command line parameters that are used by the ROTTIPX.EXE
and ROTTSER.EXE programs to control various aspects of modem/serial and network
game play. They are being provided here for completeness sake. The incorrect
usage of these can cause problems. Apogee recommends that you not use these
directly, and start all multi-player games from the setup.exe program provided.
Both sections require the use of the NET command line parameter for them to be
of any use at all.
These parameters relate to ROTTSER.EXE (Serial and Modem play)...
VECTOR interrupt vector with which to communicate with ROTT
ANSWER answer mode
DIAL dial mode
PAUSE pause before launching
STATS print out run time stats after ROTT returns
PLAYER 0 - makes you the master
1 - makes you not the master
must be used on both systems with different values, to work
properly
These parameters relate to ROTTIPX.EXE (IPX Network play)...
VECTOR interrupt vector with which to communicate with ROTT
PAUSE pause before launching
NODES number of players in game
SOCKET network socket to use
SERVER specify this computer to be a server
STANDALONE specify this server to be standalone
else client on top of server
REMOTERIDICULE turn on RemoteRidicule support
MASTER This will force a specific client in Comm-Bat ROTT to be Player
1 (or the Master). Only the first use of this in a game will
be honored. Any uses beyond the first will be ignored. If
this is not used, the first person to launch into a NetROTT
game will be the Master. (This parameter can cause instability
in Comm-Bat ROTT. We recommend against it's use.)
[6-2-1]
What is ROTT DOPEFISH?
If you type in ROTT DOPEFISH, the first screen you see is a head swirling
around the screen, and lots of belching. The head is Scott's Mystical
Head(See the items section), and the belcher is Joe Siegler. :)
The full story of the Dopefish is printed here from the APOGEE FAQ, which I
recommend you check out. It's chock full of info.
(from the Apogee Faq)
Lee Jackson's history of the Dopefish, added to by Joe Siegler:
Dopefish is the product of the fertile mind of Tom Hall. It was one of 24
drawings he did of ideas for characters for Commander Keen: Good-bye, Galaxy!
while part of id Software. Dopefish was one of the characters from these
drawings that made the cut. According to Tom, "I just drew this stupid
little fish," and the rest is history.
Dopefish is described in the cast of characters for Secret of the Oracle as
the second dumbest creature in the universe (the number one ranking is
anyone's guess). His thought patterns go, "swim swim hungry, swim swim
hungry." Dopefish "will eat anything alive and moving near them, though they
prefer heroes."
Dopefish was "adopted" by the Tech Support staff at Apogee soon after Joe
Siegler, Steve Quarrella, and myself came onboard. Dopefish was Joe's
favorite character, and Steve was the resident Keen expert -- I provided a
few vocal effects and some art. We got hold of some screen capture software
and went to town.
The Dopefish "product line" started with an ANSI screen which Joe and I did --
he converted a screen capture to raw ANSI, and I cleaned it up and made it
presentable. You can see the results by logging into Software Creations and
typing DOPEFISH (or just DO for short) at the menu prompt. After this, we
convinced Jay Wilbur of id to have some Dopefish polo shirts made from an EPS
file of the front-facing burping Dopefish (a.k.a. "Burpfish"). When Christmas
rolled around, my wife decided we needed to bring Dopefish into the real
world, so she made 20 or so stuffed Dopefish dolls (mostly side view, with a
couple of Burpfish for good measure). These were done in both EGA (green)
and CGA (purple) versions and were given out at the Apogee Christmas party
that year. When Jay Wilbur heard of this, his first thought was that we
needed to get a life. This past Christmas, Brenda (my wife) took a printed
enlargement of a screen capture and did pixel-for-pixel-accurate needlepoint
tree ornaments, and Joe had coffee cups made with a Burpfish on them. Below
the Burpfish on the mugs is the caption, "Eat Your Veggies!", which is the
title of the music for the level that Dopefish appears in, composed by Bobby
Prince. Brenda also made a mobile of Dopefish for Christmas 1994, but due to
extreme delays in getting it done, it was never delivered until July 1995.
Please note that this Dopefish merchandise is not, and was not ever, for
sale to the general public. They were all strictly in-house gags, so
please don't swamp Apogee with requests for any of these items. However,
if you're a Dopefish fan yourself, and have created some goofy Dopefish
items yourself, Joe Siegler would love to hear about it. See the sections
on "contacting Apogee" for information on how to reach him.
Other Dopefish-related items that have appeared include several Windows and
OS/2 desktops/icons (including the "official" OS/2 Apogee icon on the only
OS/2 machine at the office, mine), screen savers, and fax images. There's
also a BMP that Tom Hall put together that, when tiled, looks great as a
Windows background. The OS/2 logo and the Windows BMP are both available in
Apogee's CompuServe forum. Joe Siegler has a full-page Dopefish that will
occasionally mysteriously show up in someone else's fax machine. Dopefish has
also appeared in countless taglines, Internet signature files (described by
Tom Hall as "Pisces Swimeatus"), and even in a reinterpretation of the birth
of the universe, where the Big Bang is replaced by the Big Burp. Steve even
holds the title, granted via a mail-order ordainment service, as "Pope of the
Church of the Dopey Fish." The title is legally recognized, by Texas state
law.
Why Dopefish? Well, he swims, he eats, and he burps. What more can you ask
for? I personally think that the latter reason is why Joe likes him so much.
Joe is known for a few wall rattlers and personally did the voice of Dopefish
in Wacky Wheels and Rise of the Triad. He really practiced for it, too.
Sitting at his computer at four in the morning with a two liter bottle of
Diet Coke, he ran through take after take, hurting himself a couple times
in the process, until he came up with just the right length and resonance.
To date, Dopefish has been involved in three Apogee games: Commander Keen:
Good-bye, Galaxy! (as a character), Wacky Wheels (making a secret cameo
appearance), and Rise of the Triad (as a command line parameter and the
subject of a song, the "Fish Polka," composed by me). In addition, the first
level in the rejected ROTT level set is called "Use the Fish." If you load
this level up, use the map cheat, and look at the map, you'll see that the
entire level is essentially the Dopefish -- you're playing inside. The title
"Use the Fish" comes from the fax that Jay Wilbur of id Software sent Apogee
when he granted them permission to use the Dopefish as a cameo character.
Even though he belongs to id Software, he is a welcome adopted member of the
Apogee family. If there are ever any new Keen games, you can wager a goodly
amount that the Dopefish will be in it.
[6-3]
Game controls and keys(from F1 in RotT)
The standard defaults are:
KEY RESULT
--- ------
Left Arrow Left Rotation
Right Arrow Right Rotation
Up Arrow Forward
Down Arrow Backward
Pgup Look/Fly up
PgDn Look/Fly Down
Insert Scroll through weapons
Enter Toggle weapons
Home Aim Down
End Aim Up
Backspace Volte-face(180-degree turn)
Tab Map view
Ctrl Fire
< Strafe left
> Strafe Right
Esc Main Menu
Shift Run
Caps Lock AutoRun
1-4 Weapon change
Del Drop Weapon
F2 Save Game
F1 Help
F3 Restore Game
F4 Controls/Sound/Music
F5 Detail Level
F6 QuickSave
F7 Messages On/Off
F8 End Game
F9 QuickLoad
F10 Quit
F11 Gamma Correction
F12 Boss Key(v1.3 only, a "The Boss Is Coming" screen.
Shows the Dos Prompt. Any keypress restores
Game).
COMM-BAT
--------
F1-F11 Remote Ridicule Messages
F12 Live Remote Ridicule, NETPLAY ONLY
T General Message
Z Direct Message
CYBERMAN/3 BUTTON MOUSE
-----------------------
Movement Move or turn
Button 1 Fire
Button 2 Sidestep
Button 3 Use object/open door
GRAVIS GAMEPAD(Or, as one of my friends says, "BEAVIS GAMEPAD")
--------------
Pad Direction Move or turn
Button 1 Fire
Button 2 Sidestep
Button 3 Use object/open door
Button 4 Run
JOYSTICK
--------
Stick direction Move or turn
Button 1 Fire
Button 2 Use object/open door
SPACEPLAYER
-----------
Movement Move or turn
Button 1 Use object/open door
Button 2 Automap
Button 3 Fire
Button 4 Aim
Button 5 Switch weapons
[6-4]
What input devices can I use for RotT?
þ For game play the following devices are optionally supported:
Keyboard, Mouse, Cyberman, Space Player, Gravis GamePad, Logitech Wingman
Assassin, & virtual reality hardware(The Assasin and VR hardware
are only supported in v1.3).
[6-5]
Variable Violence
This is an adjustable violence level, and can be password protected.
You must end your game to change the violence level. Violence ranges
from NONE to EXCESSIVE.
[6-6]
The Official RotT Player's Guide
There is a book available from Apogee called "The Official
RotT Player's Guide". This book is written by Bernie Yee, and contains
a complete inventory of all RotT objects, obstacles, and enemies. It
also has a complete map as well as a walkthrough for every level
of the game, Q and A from the creators of RotT, and Tom Hall's tips
on creating your own levels. I highly recommend it(I got a lot of
good stuff from it, but I couldn't very well put _everything_).
It's specs are:
Publisher=Infotainment World
ISBN= 1-57280-053-4
(7)
Multiplayer(COMM-BAT) RotT
[7-1]
Using the SETUP Program
If you want to play a network, modem, or serial game, you must use the
SETUP.EXE program, found in your game's directory. This setup program will
allow you to launch any of the multi-player games mentioned above, as well as
allow you to select alternate level packs, graphics, and sound (if you have
them), and access other miscellaneous game options. This section of the
technical help file will explain and show you how to use the options that the
setup program offers.
Here is a brief summary of the options inside the ROTT setup program:
þ MODEM GAME
This option will let you setup the parameters needed to play ROTT over a
modem. When you select this option, you will see a new menu with the
following items listed:
¯ Quick Dial Default Number - This option will dial your default player
phone number without having to do anything
else. If you have not set up any phone numbers
in the phone book, this will not be highlighted.
¯ Number List - This will bring up a screen where you can set up the various
phone numbers of your ROTT opponents. You can use the up
and down arrows to scroll around the list. Press "E" to
edit the parameters. Pressing Space next to an entry will
define it as a default. You can only have one default number.
Pressing Enter on a selected phone number will dial that
number immediately.
¯ Manual Dial - This will let you manually enter and dial a phone number
that is not set up in your Number List.
¯ Wait for Call - This will put your modem into answer mode, so your friend
can call you to play.
¯ Change Modem Setup - This option will bring up another screen where you
can select your modem type from the supplied list of
modem strings. After you select one of the modems,
you can then alter the init and hangup strings if you
so desire. The file that these strings is kept in is
called MODEM.PCK, and is editable/listable with any
standard ASCII file editor/viewer.
¯ Change Dial Out Prefix - This option will be useful for people who might
need to enter a 9 to reach an outside line to
dial on, disable call waiting, etc.
þ NETWORK GAME
This option will let you play ROTT via an IPX/SPX network. Please note you
need to have your IPX/SPX software loaded before picking this option, or the
network driver will tell you it cannot find an IPX network. There are two
ways to play network ROTT. You can either have one computer dedicated as a
ROTT "Server", with all players launching the game from standalone "Client"
systems, or you may have one player's computer act as both Server *and*
client while all other players launch as Clients. If you have more than 8
players, you must have a dedicated server. Please see the "Setting up an
IPX/SPX Network Game" section for more information on starting network games.
þ SERIAL GAME
This option will let you play via a serial (null-modem) cable. Please make
sure you have your COM port correctly defined before selecting this option.
Please note that if you are playing a serial game, both players MUST select
the same port speed, or the game will not work properly.
þ SETUP COM PORT
This option will allow you to set up the various options of your COM port
for modem or serial play. This must be done before attempting to play either
a serial or modem game, or you will have problems. Pressing enter here will
bring up a submenu of COM port setup options. They are:
¯ Select COM port - This will tell ROTT which com port you are using. If you
are unsure, check your computer's manual for more info.
¯ Select IRQ - This will let you alter the default IRQ settings for your COM
port. This can be dangerous, and unless you know you need to
alter this, it is a good idea to leave this option alone.
¯ Select UART - This will let you alter the COM I/O port that your computer
uses to communicate. A Hexadecimal number is required here.
This can be dangerous, and unless you know you need to alter
this, it is a good idea to leave this option alone. This is
NOT where you indicate the type of UART chip you have. The
UART chip type cannot be changed from the setup program.
¯ Select Port Speed - This option will allow you to select what port speed
you wish to open your com port at. This is not to be
confused with a connect rate.. If you run into trouble
with modem/serial games, it's probably a good idea to
start with a low number and work your way up until you
find the fastest rate at which your systems can connect
successfully. Also, the 115200 rate is only available
if you have a 16550 or higher serial chip/card. While
8250 and 16450 are supported in v1.1+ it is recommended
that you use a 16550, due to the 16550's far larger
buffer size. 8250 and 16450 buffers are far smaller,
and can cause problems with multi-player ROTT games.
¯ Select PULSE/TONE - This option will let you tell ROTT what type of phone
you have; pulse or tone. By default, this is set to
tone. If you only have pulse dialing, this is where
you can alter this option.
þ USE MODIFIED STUFF
( This option is non-functional in the shareware version of ROTT )
This option will allow you to play ROTT with various alternate files, from
new levels, to different sounds and graphics. Normally, these things are
kept in the same directory as the ROTT game is, but if you wish to keep these
files separate from the game itself, you can alter the directory that ROTT
will look for them in by choosing the "Change Alternate Directories" Option.
Any of the other options here will allow you to select which alternate file
you wish to use. In this example, I will use 'Alternate Game Levels'. You
would scroll down to "Choose Alternate Game Levels", and then press enter.
You will be presented with a list of all the alternate game levels that are
present in your defined level directory. You would scroll to the one you
wish to play, and press the space bar. A û would appear next to the selected
file, and it would then be loaded when you played ROTT. Please note that if
you select alternate files like this, you MUST run ROTT from the "Run ROTT"
option. Alternate level selections are not saved. If you wish to play with
alternate files, you will need to select them every time you wish to play
the game.
þ CHANGE CODENAME
When you play in multi-player mode, you are given the choice to enter a name
that you are identified as. This option in the setup program will let you
choose a default name so you don't have to keep typing it in every time you
play a game; whatever you enter here can be overridden when you start the
game. This is only here as a convenience.
þ MODIFY MACROS
When you are in Comm-Bat mode, you can send preset pieces of text to your
opponents instead of having to type the same message over and over again.
This is where you set them up. Use the arrow keys to scroll to the macro
you wish to edit, and press ENTER. You can type in your macro here. Please
see the section on Comm-Bat play on how to use these in the game.
þ CONFIGURE SOUNDS
This option will let you set up your sound card for music and sound effects.
You can alter the volume level for both music and sfx here.
þ RUN ROTT
This option so incredibly runs Rise of the Triad!
[7-2]
What do I do to play over the modem?
þ There are a few global rules that will apply no matter what you do in
playing ROTT over the modem. These rules are as follows:
¯ You must have a 9600bps modem or higher.
¯ When connected to another computer, both sides MUST use the same port speed. I
¯ The init string you are using MUST disable data compression.
¯ The init string you are using MUST disable error correction.
¯ Make sure you are running from DOS. Multi-tasking environments such as
Windows or DesqView are not supported.
¯ This isn't a requirement, but we strongly recommend that you have a 16550
chip as your serial chip. Serial ports that use 8250's and 16450's are old,
and do not have very large buffers, and can cause problems with modem play.
¯ This isn't actually a requirement, but we strongly recommend that you do
this in your init string. Have your init string monitor the DTR, and if
dropped, have the modem enter command state. This will allow ROTT to hang
up the phone properly. If you do not do this, ROTT may not be able to
properly hang up the telephone when it's done. This command is usually &D1.
Please consult your modem manual for more information.
þ Please check your modem manual for the proper init strings. Apogee technical
support is unable to assist with specific modem string setups. The reason
for this is that in order to provide a tested string, we would have to have
that modem, and since we do not have all modems at Apogee HQ, it is not
possible for us to provide support on a modem that we do not have. The modems
we do have are listed in the MODEM.PCK file under "Tested Modem Strings". If
you find you need to make your own string, please consult your modem's manual
or contact either the modem manufacturer or the computer vendor or
manufacturer for assistance. They will be able to provide much better info
that Apogee's Tech Support department, since they are intimately familiar
with their own product. This goes for any error received during modem or
serial play. Virtually all of them are related to a bad modem init
string.
þ If you have trouble getting your modem working with ROTT, but have been able
to properly play either Doom or Heretic by id Software with your modem, you
might wish to try the init string from Doom or Heretic in ROTT. We've found
that a lot of Doom modem strings work with Rise of the Triad.
So, you're sitting there saying, "I just want to set up and play!". OK, here's
a list of the steps you'll need to follow to get ROTT up and running via modem.
Please consult the section on using the setup program for detailed help on how
to do these various things.
1) Type in "setup" to begin.
2) Go to "Setup COM Port" and ensure that the COM port you're using is setup
properly with the right port speed, and adjust PULSE/TONE, if you need to.
NOTE: For modem play, it is recommended that both sides open the port at
the same speed. If you are playing via serial mode, you MUST have
both sides opening their ports at the same speed. Start at 9600, and
see if it works OK; you can then pick higher speeds if you wish to.
3) Go to "Modem Game" and set up your modem with the Change Modem Setup option.
If you need to, also change the dial out prefix.
4) Go to the "Number List" & set up all your friends in the dialing directory.
5) If you are going to be called, just go to "Wait for Call". If you are going
to be doing the dialing, select someone and call them!
6) Once connected, you're ready to play Comm-Bat ROTT! Please consult the
section on Comm-Bat play for details on how to set up the various Comm-Bat
play options of ROTT.
[7-3]
What do I do to play over a network?
þ There are a few global rules that will apply no matter what you do in
playing ROTT over a network. These rules are as follows:
¯ The network has to have IPX/SPX protocols.
¯ Make sure you are running from DOS. Multi-tasking environments such as
Windows or DesqView are not supported.
Setting up network play is easier than setting up modem or serial mode. Here
are the steps necessary for getting Comm-Bat IPX play working in ROTT.
1) Make sure your IPX/SPX protocols are loaded on all computers. The ROTTIPX
driver will not run without your protocols loaded.
2) Decide which computer will be acting as the ROTT server, and whether this
computer will be playing or not. If the server computer will also be
playing, it should be a fairly powerful computer (we recommend at least a
486 (not an SX) with at least 8 megs of memory, preferably more. The reason
for this is that the server computer will be at a slight disadvantage if
playing, and more memory or a more powerful computer will help alleviate
the problem.
3) Figure out how many people are playing.
4) If you are playing multiple games of ROTT on the same network at the same
time, you will need to make use of the "Change Socket Number" option.
Please see your network administrator for more info regarding what to put
here. This is something specific to your network.
4) Go to the ROTT Server and run the setup program, then go to 'Network game',
and select "Launch as Server".
5) Enter the number of players and press ENTER. The ROTT server will then
wait for the designated number of players to join.
6) If the server computer is to be playing, pick "Client on top of Server."
If there is a standalone server, pick "Standalone Server".
7) Go to the Client computers, run the setup program, and then select
"Launch as Client". Once the server is found, you will see a message
telling you which player you are. If the other players are slow getting
into the game, they will be ridiculed on your computer!
8) At this point, you're ready to play! Consult the Comm-Bat section on how
to set up all the various play options of ROTT Comm-Bat play.
Here are some miscellaneous network items to keep in mind:
þ Each player must have a registered copy of Rise of the Triad on their
computer, or there must be a site-licensed version of ROTT in use. This
does not apply if you are using Shareware only.
þ It is not possible to play a network game using a shared copy of the game on
the network. Each player must have an installed copy on their local machine.
þ ROTT will not work properly if players are on different LANs that are
connected together. Make sure that all players are on the same LAN,
or you may not be able to play.
þ Live RemoteRidicule will only work in network mode. Check your microphone
before you play NetROTT to make sure that it is set up properly.
þ When playing NetROTT, we urge you to not select your network server as the
ROTT server. The reason for this is that if someone on your network starts
making extensive use of your server and doing heavy disk access, you will
note ROTT slowdowns. The ROTT server can be any computer, not necessarily
your network server.
þ Everyone should be at the DOS prompt before launching the ROTT server.
Once the server is launched, the first person to launch as a client will
be the "Master", if playing with a standalone server. If playing with a
Client on top of a Server, then the server will always be the Master.
(See the Comm-Bat section for a description of Masters & Clients) If you
are playing with a standalone server, this can be overridden with the
'MASTER' command line parameter. If this is used, the first person to
enter into the game with the MASTER command line parameter will become
master, and any subsequent uses of the MASTER parameter in that game will
be ignored. The MASTER parameter will be ignored if you are playing with
a Client on Top of Server setup.
[7-4]
What if the players have different versions of RotT?
If you are playing Rise of the Triad's Comm-Bat mode, we strongly recommend
that all players either have the same type of game (shareware, registered,
CD, or Site License). It is possible to play one version against another one,
but the process to start will be different. If you need to play mixed versions
like this, it is recommended that the master computer be the version of the
game that is the lowest. In other words, if one of the versions is shareware,
then that person should be the master. This is the easiest way to do it.
If the lowest version is master, then you need to do nothing different.
If you are playing mixed versions, and the Master is not the lowest version,
then the Master must always select the Comm-Bat level set that is on the
lowest computer playing the game. This is done by selecting the "Use Alternate
Comm-Bat Levels" option in the setup program. In other words, if you have
three people playing, two of whom have ROTTCD versions, and one who has just
the registered version, the Master MUST select DARKWAR.RTC or an error will
occur.
The master is the player who calls the other, or, in NetPlay, the first
player to start RotT.
[7-5]
Can I play RotT over the Internet?
You may be able to using a program called IHHD, the Internet Head-to-Head
Daemon.
[7-5-1]
IHHD
From Hank Leukart's Doom FAQ(modified by permission):
Enter IHHD -- the Internet Head to Head Daemon designed by Jim
Knutson. With this brilliant little piece of code, multiplayer gaming has
soared to new heights. With IHHD, you'll be able to play Head to Head
against other human opponents all over the world, with the only cost to you
being the regular prices you pay to connect to or use your Internet host.
Best of all, it's free.
First of all, your host needs to be running UNIX as its operating
system.. If you aren't sure what your host is running for its operating
system, check the information given at the login prompt or send mail to
your administrator.
Other than that, you should be able to run IHHD with ease. Your
first order of business is to get the IHHD software. It is available via
anonymous FTP at "cactus.org" in the "pub/IHHD/src" directory.
To get it:
(1) FTP to cactus.org ("ftp cactus.org" at UNIX prompt)
(2) At the login prompt, enter "anonymous"
(3) At the password prompt, enter your E-mail address
(4) At the command prompt, type "cd pub/IHHD/src"
(5) Type "binary"
(6) Type "get dialer1.6.4.shar"
(7) Type "bye"
If you followed the above steps, you should now have the
"dialer1.6.4.shar" file in your home directory. Type "ls" at your host's
command prompt to verify its existence. If you don't see it, try the
above steps again or call for help.
Next, if you've successfully retrieved the "dialer1.6.4.shar" file
from the FTP site, you need to prepare the IHHD to run on your UNIX system.
For UNIX veterans, the "dialer1.6.4.shar" file is in fact a shar file, and
contains a makefile for easy compiling on your system. For the rest of
us, follow these steps to get the IHHD up and running:
(1) Create a directory to put the IHHD software in.
Type "mkdir IHHD" at the command prompt.
(2) Move the IHHD file to the new directory.
Type "mv dialer1.6.4.shar IHHD"
(3) Go to the IHHD directory.
Type "cd IHHD"
(4) Unpack the IHHD files.
Type "sh dialer1.6.4.shar"
(5) Compile the IHHD software to run on your system.
Type "make"
(6) You should now see a whole mess of files in the IHHD directory.
The important filenames you're looking for should be:
"dialer"
"tcpdialer"
"tcpanswer"
"call"
"showlog"
(7) If you've got these, you're cool. Otherwise, try the above
steps again, re-retrieve the "dialer1.6.4.shar" file from
"cactus.org" using the instructions above, or call for help.
If everything checks out, you're ready to rumble!
Here's how you get connected using IHHD:
(1) Set up a time to play with another Internet RotT player.
Ideally, you should use E-mail to make the prior arrangements.
Make sure you and your opponent use the same baud rate and line
settings for your modems.
Make sure data compression, error correction, and hardware
flow control on your modem are off.
(2) When it's time to play, start your favorite terminal program
and call up your Internet host using your modem. Make sure that
your baud rate and line settings correspond to your opponent's.
(3) Login to your Internet host normally.
(4) Contact the other player by sending a short E-mail message
indicating that you are on the net and ready to play.
(5) Once you both establish that you're there and ready to go,
return to your UNIX prompt.
(6) Type "cd IHHD" to enter your IHHD directory.
(7) You may have to type "terminal download," if you do not have it
activated already.
(8) Type "dialer opponent's.host" to start the IHHD connection.
For example, if you were playing against knuston@cactus.org,
you would type "dialer cactus.org" to initiate the connection.
Another way is to type "tcpdialer opponent's.host" while your
opponent types "tcpdialer -answer". Or reverse roles, where
you type "tcpdialer -answer" while your opponent types "tcpdialer
your.host". Don't ask me what the difference is; I don't know.
So, to recap, there are two methods of IHHD connection.
Method 1: dialer. You each type "dialer other.guy's.host"
Method 2: tcpdialer. One of you types "tcpdialer other.guy's.host"
while the other types "tcpdialer -answer".
(9) Regardless of which method you use to connect, type short text
messages followed by a carriage return until you see your opponent
acknowledge you. Unless you have "local echo" set to ON in your
serial settings, you will not see the text you type.
(10) If you don't see your opponent after a reasonable amount of time,
exit dialer or tcpdialer by pressing "CTRL-C" (i.e. hitting
the "CTRL" and "C" key simultaneously.) Contact your opponent
again by E-mail and agree to try the other method of
connecting.
(11) If you're connection looks fine and your opponent has acknowledged
you and you have acknowledged him, exit your terminal program
and change to your ROTT directory. Run SETUP.EXE, and select
"Run Serial Game."
(12) If everything goes well, RotT will start up and bring you to
your first game over the Internet! Congratulations, you are
now connected by IHHD. You can now proceed to play RotT as if
you were connected via a regular phone line.
Unfortunately, because of the nature of the Internet, delays and
warping may occur with your IHHD connection, depending on the quality of the
connection between your and your opponent's host machines. These delays
are often sporadic, and depend largely on what's going on the Internet
at that particular times. Then again, you might just be extremely unlucky
and have a cruddy Internet connection.
To gauge the quality of the connection, try to "ping" your opponent's
computer from your host. At the UNIX prompt, type "ping -s opponent's.host".
You should get a listing of "ping times", which you may stop at any time by
pressing "CTRL-C". Try pinging some other hosts you know to get an idea of
how much ping times vary, and use this data to guesstimate the quality of the
connection between your host and your opponent's.
Another way to judge the quality of your connection is to simply look
at the other player. If he's jumping all over the place, you've got a
cruddy connection. If he's relatively smooth and steady, you've got a good
connection.
[7-6]
What is COMM-BAT?
COMM-BAT is Multiplayer RotT, whether it be through a modem, serial,
network, or Internet connection.
[7-6-1]
What are the different kinds of COMM-BAT in RotT?
There are nine different Modes (or games) you can play in Comm-Bat mode. Only
three of them are available in shareware. The other 6 are registered only.
They can all be played in Team mode, except "Tag". When you play in team mode,
everyone with the same color will be on the same team. Capture the Triad has
a limit of two teams. Every other game can have as many teams as you want,
with the exception of TAG, which cannot be played in Team Mode at all.
¯ NORMAL - This is just you and your buddies blasting each other into
oblivion. There are no special parameters for this game, and
everyone is your enemy. Shoot at will!
¯ SCORE MORE - This is very similar to NORMAL, with one notable exception.
You get more points for more difficult kills. The different
point values you can get are:
1 point - Killing an enemy with a missile weapon on the ground.
2 points - Killing an enemy with a bullet weapon on the ground.
2 points - Killing an enemy with a missile in the air.
3 points - Killing an enemy with a bullet in the air.
4 points - Crushing someone (ie: standing on their head).
¯ COLLECTOR - In this game, the object of the game is to collect more
"Triads" than your opponent(s). There are small colored Triads
scattered throughout the levels, and you need to collect more
than your friends to win. There are no weapons in this game.
This game is very well suited for young children.
¯ SCAVENGER - This is very similar to Collector, except that there are
weapons in this game. You can shoot at your opponents as they
try to get the Triads.
¯ HUNTER - In this game, one player is the "Prey". This player will be
unarmed. It is everyone's job to find that player and kill
them. A player is prey for a defined amount of time (this time
is declared by the Master). At the end of that time, the
prey becomes a hunter, and another player is then chosen to be
the prey. During play, the Prey will have no weapon on their
screen. That picture and screen name of the Prey will be in the
upper left side of the screen, so that everyone will know who
the Prey is. The person with the most amount of points wins the
game. If you are playing hunter in team mode, then your entire
team is "Prey" at the same time.
¯ TAG - In this game, one person at a time is defined as "it". This player
is denoted in the upper left hand corner of the screen. If you are
"it", it is your job to run up to another player and tag them.
You tag someone by going up to them and pressing the 'use' key (by
default, this is the space bar). Once you tag that person, they
become "it." One point gets added to their score, and it becomes
their responsibility to seek out other players and tag them. The
person with the lowest number of points at the end of the game will
win. This game cannot be played in team mode.
¯ ELUDER - In this game, you chase roving "Eluders" (they look like small
coloured Triads - similar to the objects in Collector). Your object
is to tag them by running up to them and pressing the 'use' key.
Each one you tag earns you a point. The person with the most points
at the end of the game wins.
¯ DELUDER - Very similar to ELUDER, except that you need to destroy the roving
"Eluders" instead of tagging them.
¯ CAPTURE THE TRIAD - In this game, you play teams (if there are only two
playing, it is two teams of one). Each team gets a Triad
to protect. It is the object of the other team to steal
your Triad from your home base and take it back to their
home base. This is the only mode of ROTT that has to be
played in team play.
[7-7]
Troubleshooting Multiplayer Connections
MODEM/SERIAL
þ If you have trouble connecting at higher rates, try a lower port
speed. These are not actual connect rates, these are port opening speeds.
We recommend you start at 9600, and then go from there to see what levels of
port speed you can successfully connect and play at.
þ When you play Rise of the Triad via modem/serial, you will note a line of
text that reads "UART is a ..." This will either be 8250 or 16550. If you
have an 8250, it means that you have a slow serial chip, and you may be
prone to modem jerkiness and other game slowdowns. Apogee strongly
recommends a 16550 or greater serial chip, since these have larger buffers
and can deal with the influx of data better. If you have a 16450, it will
be detected as an 8250, since a 16450 is virtually identical to an 8250.
Also, software driven 16550 ports will most likely not be properly detected.
You will need a "real" 16550 port in order to have it detected as such.
þ If you have an 8250/16450 and experience slowdowns, try these steps to
speed things up:
¯ Make sure you are using 8 Bit Mono sound. 16 Bit Stereo sound sometimes
makes things go slower on certain system configurations.
¯ Try setting the number of voices from 8 down to 4. If this doesn't help,
keep trying to lower the number of channels down until you get something
that is acceptable.
¯ Try with all sound and music off. If it is still slow, then the problem
lies elsewhere.
¯ Make sure the init string you are using is correct for your modem. Quite
often, incorrect strings will cause VERY slow game play.
þ Slowdowns during game play can be caused by several things. It can be your
modem string, or it can be something simple like a bad phone connection,
general bad phone lines in your area (or your opponents), or an 8250 chip.
þ If you are the person making the call, you are player one. You will be
the "Master", and will be the one choosing the battle parameters and options.
þ If you experience modem flakiness after connecting once, you might wish to
physically turn your modem off and then back on again. Some modems do not
reset properly, or react better if you switch them off and then on again. If
you have an internal modem, try resetting your system by pressing the reset
switch on your computer or by powering down, waiting a few seconds, and
powering back up again.
þ The MODEM.PCK file is a standard ASCII file. You can edit this as you
desire, but you must follow the convention that is used in the file. If you
alter the file format, you may not be able to pick modems properly. Please
see the notes in the MODEM.PCK file for editing information.
NETWORK
þ If you get the error "Unknown Packet During Setup" when launching the
server, it means that someone who was playing a previous game using
that server is still in the game. Ensure that everyone has exited and
is at DOS before starting the server.
þ If you launch as a client, and the server is not found, this means that
something has become unsynced. At this point, ensure that every computer
is at the DOS prompt before launching the server. It also helps to reboot
all computers playing ROTT before attempting to play. If possible, make
ROTT the first thing you run after rebooting. This can help in certain
memory/computer configurations.
þ It is possible to play more than one game on a network at one time. However,
you can not START more than one game at a time. In other words, if your
party wants to play NetROTT, and there is another group playing the game,
then you will have to wait until all of them are in the game and playing
before any of the second group can start. To start another game while one
is in play, you need to make use of the "Change Socket Number" option in
the setup program. Please see your local network administrator for more
information regarding what to use here.
þ If you are getting an error where the game finds more players then there are
actually playing, make sure all players are on the same LAN, everyone is
booted clean, and try a different socket value.
þ If you are playing a network game, and you get the error message "IPX not
detected", it means that you haven't loaded your IPX protocol. This will
need to be loaded before any ROTT programs are run. Please ensure that the
IPX protocols are loaded before running the setup program.
[7-8]
Multiplayer Options
There are many different options you can select to alter RotT's Comm-Bat
play. Here is a description of them.
¯ GRAVITY - You can select Low, Normal, or High. Normal is pretty Normal.
Low gravity can make it seem like you're flying, and it will
take a long time for anything to fall to the ground. Low gravity
makes it easier to get objects in the air (including the other
players in the game). High gravity makes things fall like a
rock, and it is very difficult to get objects in the air that are
in hard to reach places in this mode.
¯ SPEED - You can select either Normal or Fast. In Fast mode, the players run
very fast, and it is a bit more difficult to control this way.
¯ AMMO PER WEAPON - You can select One, Normal, or Gunfinity. In Normal, you
have the regular number of shots per weapon. In One, you
only get one shot per weapon, and then the weapon goes
away. In Gunfinity, there are an unlimited number of
shots per weapon. Be warned that Gunfinity makes it very
easy for a player to sit in a corner and defend their
position, creating a very unfair advantage.
¯ HIT POINTS - You can alter the number of "hit points" per character. You
can select one of the options listed, anywhere from 1 to 4,000.
At one, you take one hit from any weapon, including the pistol,
and you die. On the other end of the spectrum, having 4,000
hit points makes it very difficult to kill someone unless you
have Gunfinity or God Mode. You can also select "By Character"
which means each character has their normal number of hit
points as defined by their abilities.
¯ RADICAL OPTIONS - These options radically change the game play of Comm-Bat.
You can control whether things respawn, and how powerful
they are. Here is a listing of what they are.
Spawn Dangers - This controls whether you will get items such as firejets,
boulders, spinblades, etc.
Spawn Health - If you're daring, you can play the level without health.
Spawn Weapons - This controls whether you want weapons in the level. If
you choose this, there will not be any rocket weapons.
Spawn Mines - If you turn this option on, it will turn all the health
in a level to mines, which are very painful to run over!
(Mines are not in the shareware version of Triad.)
Respawn Items - This controls whether you want items such as the vests
to reappear after they've been picked up/used..
Weapon Persistence - Normally, when you pick up a weapon, there is none
left behind. If this is switched on, the weapon will
still be there after you pick it up. Furthermore, you
cannot drop your weapon (this is done by hitting your
'delete' key by default) with this switched on.
Random Weapons - Normally, a specific weapon will appear in the same place
every time. If you turn this on, there will be different
types of weapons appearing each time you play.
Friendly Fire - If this is turned on, you will lose points if you kill
yourself playing solo, or your team will lose points if
anyone on your team kills themselves or another teammate.
If this is turned off, then you can kill your own teammates
or yourself and you don't lose any points.
¯ LIGHT LEVELS - There are 6 levels of lighting you can choose from. They are
Dark (everything is dark), Normal (as defined by the level
designer), Bright (everything is really bright), Fog
(everything has a foggy look to it), Periodic (this means the
light level pulsates during play), and Lightning.
¯ POINT GOAL - You can choose from a variety of point goals. You can choose
1, 5, 11, 21, 50, 100, Random (the computer makes one up),
Random Blind (the computer makes one up but doesn't tell you),
and Infinite (play till the cows come home). If you reach a
defined point goal before the time you chose expires, your
game will end.. Also, if you are playing with Random Blind, you
cannot press TAB to see everyone's Killcounts.
¯ DANGER DAMAGE - You can control how much damage the various hazards in the
level cause when you hit them. You can choose Normal, Low
(not much damage at all), or Kill (you instantly die when
you hit something).
¯ TIME LIMIT - You can choose how long your game will last in minutes. You
can select from 1, 2, 5, 10, 21, 30, 99, and NONE (play till
the cows come home). If you reach the selected time limit
before you reach the point goal you selected, your game will
end.
During Comm-Bat play, there are some extra features that are not available
when you are playing the game by yourself. They are:
¯ RemoteRidicule - You can press F1 through F10, and a sound will play on the
computers of your opponents (assuming they have sound
cards). Imagine the fun of walking up behind someone who
doesn't know you're there, and making his computer say
"Behind Ya!", and then whack him in the head with a
baseball bat!
¯ Live RemoteRidicule - If you have a Sound Blaster or 100% compatible, you
will be able to speak live to all other players in
the game by plugging a microphone into your Sound
Blaster and pressing F12. What you say will be
transmitted to all the others in the game. Only one
player at a time can use this function. Please note
that this option is only available in network play.
Please note that while Live RemoteRidicule can be
heard by everyone, you need a Sound Blaster, Sound
Blaster Compatible, or Pro Audio Spectrum in order to
record (transmit) sounds that everyone else can hear.
If you have a sound card that's supported by ROTT, but
is not specifically listed here, you will not be able
to transmit messages using Live RemoteRidicule.
¯ Messages - You can send text messages to other players, too. If you want to
send a message to everyone, depress the "T" key, and then type
away. When you're done, press ENTER, and your message will be
transmitted to everyone. If you want to send a message to a
specific person, you need to depress the "Z" key. After you type
in your message and press ENTER, you will be shown a list of
people playing. You can then select whom you want the message to
go to.
¯ Macros - If you want to send messages, but you don't want to type the same
messages over and over again, you can make use of the Macro system.
Macros are set up in the setup program (see the section on using
the setup program for more info). When you're playing, you need
to press "T" or "Z" like a normal message, but after that, you can
press ALT-x where x is a number key between 1 and 0 on your keyboard
for your macros.
¯ Viewing - If you are playing in team mode, you can press the "9" key to look
through the eyes of your teammates. Continue pressing "9" to
scroll through the views of all of your teammates until you return
to your own.
When you are playing ROTT by yourself, the F5 key will change the detail level,
and the F7 key will turn messages on and off. These can still be accessed when
playing Comm-Bat RotT, but you need to use the Shift key as well.
(8)
Add-ons
[8-1]
Level Editing with RottED
[8-1-1]
What is RottED?
RottED is a RotT level editor/creator made by Wayne Sikes. It is
currently the only such editor for RotT. RottED is for Windows.
[8-1-2]
Where can I get RottED?
You can get RottED by FTP from:
spectrum.com.au /games/Rott/
There is also a link to it(and another editor) from the Rott Page:
http://www.swcbbs.com/apogee/rott.htm
[8-1-3]
How do I use RottED?
Once you've gotten RottED to run properly, the obvious question is how
to make levels using RottED. I'm going to abbreviate RottED to RE for the
rest of this section. The first time you run RE, you're going to be confused.
If you double-click on a tile, you'll see a screen that will really confuse
you, since you don't have the vaguest idea what a "Sprite Plane" is.
Well, first, you should print out a listing of all foreground and background
tiles. To do this, go into help, pick Foreground Tile Summary, and then
choose File...Print Topic. Do the same for Background Tile Summary. Now,
I'm going to show you a glossary for RottED.
PLANE - A field where data is stored.
SPRITE - Any interactable object, such as an enemy, a health item,
a powerup, a touchplate, etc.
WALL - In RottED, Wall can mean an actual wall, a door, or a floor area.
TILE - In the editing screen of RottED, you will see a large grid. Each
separate rectangle in the grid is a TILE. Each TILE contains
information.
SPRITE PLANE - Each tile has a sprite plane where information about
sprites on that tile are stored.
WALL PLANE - Each tile has a wall plane where information about what floor
pattern, wall, or door is on that tile.
INFO PLANE - Each tile has an info plane where special information about
that tile is stored.
The grid you see in the editing screen is actually a top-view of the map
you're going to create. However, there is an area of the editing screen
which is not a physical component of the map you're going to create.
The first 5 tiles in the top row if the map contain critical information
for that map. These five tiles determine:
The height of the map you wish to create
The light level of your map
Environmental effects such as fog and lightning
The ceiling pattern of your map
The song that will be associated with your map.
Until you become more familiar with RottED, I suggest that you start
each map by pressing CTRL-C. This will make RottED load some default
values to the critical tiles.
Now, to begin creating.
I suggest that you use the RottED tutorial that is included with RottED,
but I will include a short tutorial here.
Creating A Room
First, start RottED and make a new level. For it's name choose
"FIRST.RTL".
To make a room, you need an area bounded by walls on four sides. This is
easy. First, choose what you want your wall to look like by picking a
value from the background tile summary printout(see, you really SHOULD
have printed it out). I usually use number 23. Then, double click which
tile you want to be the upper-left corner of your room. Put 23 in the
wall plane space and press OK, but FIRST remember which tile you are
modifying(the tile's coords are on the top of the screen). Then, pick
up the wall data from that tile by holding down the W key and clicking
on the tile. The cursor should change from the standard mouse pointer
to a text-editing like cursor. Now, click and drag a straight, horizontal
line across the screen, make it at least 8 tiles long(remember which tile
you ended at). Now, click and drag a vertical line down from the
tile your horizontal line ended at. Now, another horizontal line going
to opposite from your first and going the same length. Finally, a vertical
line going up to the very first tile you edited. Do you follow? Though
you can't see it, you've made a rectangular area bounded by the wall tile
you chose:
(Your first tile)
|
\|/ LINE 1
X---------------X
| |
| |
LINE 4 | |LINE 2
| |
X---------------X
LINE 3
If you want to see this area, choose View...Tile Brightness, then click
on Default Tile Brightness, then OK. If your area is deformed or the walls
have "holes", try again. Now press END. This takes you out of the "COPY
WALL DATA" mode. Now, you need a floor. Put your mouse cursor in the
middle of the area you created, and hold down the F key while you click the
left mouse button. This brings up a screen with all the background tiles.
Choose a floor tile by clicking on it, a good one is the white tile with
the "X" through it. Now, as you can see, your area's floor has been covered
with the floor you chose.
Now, you need to add a vital piece of info, and that's a first person
starting point. Choose a tile to start at and double click on it.
In the SPRITE PLANE space, put the value 20. This is a first person start
facing east. Now, choose another tile that you want to be an end-level tile.
Double click on it and put the value 107 in the SPRITE PLANE. Next, on
that same tile, choose the box that says "Level Info" and put the value 0.
Press OK. You should see that the tile you selected for an exit has a red
X and a red 0 on it. This is because there aren't any other levels in this
RTL, so when you hit the exit tile, you'll go back to the beginning of
the first level.
Now, save your level.
Move your level to the ROTT directory and enter setup. Choose the "Alternate
Stuff" option. Next choose the "Alternate Game Levels Option", highlight
your level's filename, and press the spacebar. Go back to the main
menu and "Save and Run Rott". Start a new game. You should be in your level.
You should now be able to use the RottED tutorial to add new options.
Here's one thing that RottED doesn't mention, however:
To make an elevator, you need to first create the boundaries. It should
look Like this:
+-----------------------+
|ELEVA- |ELEVA- | WALL | Make this elevator where
| TOR | TOR | | you want it, and make
| WALL |WALL | | one exactly the same(with
+-----------------------+ The Same Number Tile) where
|ELEVA- |NUMBER | ELEV- | You want it to exit.
|TOR |TILE | ATOR | That's how it works.
|SWITCH |(90-97)| DOOR | An elevator with a Number Tile
+-----------------------+ Of 90 will exit to the
|ELEVA- |ELEVA- | WALL | other elevator with the tile
| TOR | TOR | | of 90.
|WALL | WALL | |
+-----------------------+
TIPS FOR LEVEL CREATING(AND ERRORS):
In Comm-Bat levels, don't make things too complex. Mark Dochtermann
implemented a new packet transfer technique for modem play, but
it still can't be TOO complex.
All life items(and items in general) should be obtainable.
Show the player something they want, but create a barrier they
must overcome.
Never create a place where the player can't get out; and if you
do, make sure they can kill themselves.
When you create an important item, put a touchplate in front of it
that dumps enemies all over the player, but don't do this too often.
Try to use themes.
In COMM-BAT, never have a super-defensible weapons "pick-off-the-other-guy"
location. Or, if you do, always provide a non-horribly-hard way to
pick off the waiting person.
[8-1-4]
What are .RTC and .RTL files?
Files with a ".RTC" extension are COMM-BAT files. Files with a
".RTL" extension are regular game levels.
[8-1-5]
How can I distribute levels I've made?
[8-1-5-1]
The .RTD Author File
Whoa, there, Tonto. First you need to fill out a .RTD file. You really
don't HAVE to, but just show a little consideration and do so. A sample
file follows.
RTL Authoring Template v1.0
================================================================
Title : The Name of your Level(or group of levels)
Filename : The Filename for your levels.
Author : Your name here
Email Address : Your e-mail address
Misc. Author Info : Other e-mail addresses, a URL, something.
Description : Put something like "3 COMM-BAT levels" or
if your level has a theme, put that.
Additional Credits to : Did someone help you? Give a little credit.
================================================================
* Play Information *
Episode and Level # : What Rott Level does this replace?(N/A for Comm-bat)
Single Player : No for COMM-BAT, Yes otherwise
Comm-Bat Level : Yes or No
Difficulty Settings : If you have different enemies for different
difficulties, put implemented.
* Construction *
Base : New level from scratch? Modification?
Editor(s) used : Pretty much always RottED. The guys at Apogee
use TED.
Known Bugs : I think this is self-explanatory.
* Copyright / Permissions *
Authors MAY/MAY NOT use this level as a base to build additional levels.
You MAY/MAY not modify this file.
* Where to get this RTL *
FTP sites:
BBS numbers:
Other:
[8-1-5-2]
The incoming levels site is a FTP:
SPECTRUM.COM.AU
in the dir "games/Rott/incoming".
[8-2]
Hey, I wanna make an editor!
[8-2-1]
Technical Info?
You can get a technical info file from:
ftp.uml.edu /msdos/games/Apogee/
the filename is rottspec.zip
or from spectrum.com..au
[8-3]
Will there ever be any add-on packs for RotT?
Joe Siegler says that Apogee is tossing around an idea now of creating
an add-on pack.
[8-4]
Levels created at the time of this faq-
The following are .RTD files for levels available at spectrum.com.au at
08/25/95. If you uploaded a file but didn't include a .RTD file, then
sucks to you.
================================================================
Title : ANT 2
Filename : ant2.rtl
Author : Unknown
Email Address : 100344.3715@compuserve
Misc. Author Info :
Description : Some com-bat levels
Additional Credits to :
================================================================
* Play Information *
Episode and Level # :
Single Player : No
Comm-Bat Level : Yes
Difficulty Settings : Not implemented
* Construction *
Base : New level from scratch
Editor(s) used : Rotted 1.0
Known Bugs :
* Copyright / Permissions *
(Dunno.. The author didn't make a rtd file so I made one for him - AR)
* Where to get this RTL *
FTP sites: spectrum.com.au:/games/rott/incoming
BBS numbers:
Other:
================================================================
Title : Ant's Rott Episode
Filename : ANT4.RTL
Author : Ant.
Email Address : 100344.3715@compuserve.com
Misc. Author Info :
Description :An entire episode for Rott, including a secret level.
Additional Credits to : Su for helping create some of the levels.
Wayne Sikes for creating ROTTED.
================================================================
* Play Information *
Episode and Level # : Episode 1, levels 1-7 +secret
Single Player : Yes
Comm-Bat Level : No
Difficulty Settings : Yes
More details on the levels, are included in the file ant4.txt,
included in the ant4.zip file.
* Construction *
Base : New levels created from scratch
Editor(s) used : ROTTED 1.1
Known Bugs : None that I know of.
* Copyright / Permissions *
Authors MAY use this level as a base to build additional levels,
as long as they give me some credit for using my levels.
You MAY distribute this RTL, provided you include this file, with no
modifications. You may distribute this file in any electronic format (BBS,
Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you distribute the ant4.zip file in its
entirety.
* Where to get this RTL *
FTP sites: spectrum.com.au
Other: Compuserve Action Games forum
Compuserve Apogee forum.
================================================================
Title : A.T.F. C.B.L. 1
Filename : ATF_CBL1.ZIP
Author : Alex T. Frase
Email Address : Anonymous
Misc. Author Info :
Description : Alex T. Frase's Comm-Bat Levels
Additional Credits to : Peter E. Frase; for ideas, inspirtaion
and proofing of levels
================================================================
* Play Information *
Episode and Level # : N/A
Single Player : No
Comm-Bat Level : Yes
Difficulty Settings : Not implemented
* Construction *
Base : New level from scratch
Editor(s) used : RottED 1.0
Known Bugs : "Confusion" has been known to crash is played
before or after another Comm-Bat level
* Copyright / Permissions *
Authors MAY use these levels as a base for other levels, but I would
request recognition in any text files as the original author. You MAY
distribute these levels to others, on the condition that none of the
files are altered in any way.
* Where to get this RTL *
FTP sites: spectrum.com.au:/games/rott/incoming
BBS numbers: None
Other: None
================================================================
Title : Comm-Bat for Two
Filename : DCOMM.RTC
Author : Derek Greentree
Email Address : derekg@compass.net
Misc. Author Info :
Description : 3 pretty fun COMM-BAT Levels
Additional Credits to : No one.
================================================================
* Play Information *
Episode and Level # : N/A
Single Player : No
Comm-Bat Level : Yes
Difficulty Settings : Not implemented
* Construction *
Base : New level from scratch
Editor(s) used : Wayne Sikes' Excellent RottED v1.1
Known Bugs : First Level is a little slow over modem play,
complex. Works fine, though.
* Copyright / Permissions *
Authors MAY use this level as a base to build additional levels.
However, I request that you send me an e-mail letting me know where to
find the levels that you built from this.
You may do whatever you want with this file, as long as my name remains
somewhere on it as the original author.
* Where to get this RTC *
FTP sites: ftp.spectrum.com.au/games/rott/incoming
BBS numbers:
Other: E-mail me at derekg@compass.net and I will send you a copy.
================================================================
Title : The Front line
Filename : Frntline.rtl
Author : TIGERS1003
Email Address : TIGERS1003
Misc. Author Info : Fell free to E-mail me with any qeustions
Description : 5 levels made with ROTTEDv1.1
Additional Credits to : Wayne sikes ,The author of ROTTED
================================================================
* Play Information *
Episode and Level # :5 levels
Single Player : Yes
Comm-Bat Level : No
Difficulty Settings : Not implemented
* Construction *
Base : New levels from scratch
Editor(s) used : ROTTEDv1.1
Known Bugs : None
* Copyright / Permissions *
You MAY distribute this RTL, provided you include this file, with no
modifications. You may distribute this file in any electronic format (BBS,
Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include this file intact.
================================================================
Rotlev2.zip ----- Massive Head Trauma, Death Trap, The Mourge, Iron Works
Title : Massive Head Trauma, Death Trap
Filename : LOST.RTL, SCOT.RTL
Author : Geddylee
Email Address :
Misc. Author Info : Thanks to Wayne Sikes for the great editor!
Description : MHT = underground levels
: DT = outside
: The Morgue = outside, Gad infested
: Iron Works = Metal walled level
Additional Credits to : Scot Fitzgerald
================================================================
* Play Information *
Episode and Level # : 1
Single Player : Yes (reccomended 2 player)
Comm-Bat Level : Yes
Difficulty Settings : Not implemented
* Construction *
Base : New level from scratch
Editor(s) used : Rotted v1.1
Known Bugs : none (please report any bugs or suggestions to
PATRICKKEL@AOL.COM)
* Copyright / Permissions *
Authors MAY use this level as a base to build additional levels.
You MAY distribute this RTL, provided you include this file, with no
modifications. You may distribute this file in any electronic format (BBS,
Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include this file intact.
================================================================
Title : Rise of the Triad Reject Comm-Bat Levels
Filename : REJECTS.RTC
Author : Tom Hall, Joe Selinske, & Joe Siegler
Email Address : apogee@metronet.com
Misc. Author Info : Created by ROTT Level Designers
Description : These levels were created for the official
release of Rise of the Triad, but were rejected
for various reasons. They are being released
here so that you can enjoy them.
================================================================
* Play Information *
Episode and Level # : Various
Single Player : No
Comm-Bat Level : Yes
Difficulty Settings : Not implemented
* Construction *
Base : New levels from scratch
Editor(s) used : Ted (Apogee's Real ROTT Editor)
Known Bugs : None
* Copyright / Permissions *
Authors (may NOT) use this level as a base to build additional levels.
You MAY distribute this RTL, provided you include this file, with no
modifications. You may distribute this file in any electronic format (BBS,
Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include this file intact.
* Where to get this RTL *
FTP sites: swcbbs.com
BBS numbers: Software Creations at 508-368-7036
The Arsenal of Freedom at 214-271-5410
Other: Apogee's CompuServe forum coming in Aug 95.
==============================================================================
Notes: There are 21 levels in this pack. This is a listing of all the
level designers. All levels in this pack (with the exception of
the "This Causes an Error" level were originally created for use
in Rise of the Triad. For whatever reason, these levels were not
used, and since they were just lying around, we figured we'd just
throw them out in the public for free for whomever wanted to play
them! Here's a list of all the levels in this pack, who designed
them, and notes on a few of them.
01) Use the Fish -> Designed by Joe Selinske
Fans of the Keen IV game might recognize this level. If you rename this
file to rejects.rtl, and look and use the map cheat to see the whole map,
you should recognize this map. :)
02) Wan Fife -> Designed by Joe Selinske
Fans of id Software's Doom might recognize this level. Thanks to John
Romero of id Software for the inspiration for this level.
03) The Pound -> Designed by Tom Hall
This level is spent almost entirely in Dog mode.
04) Valhalla -> Designed by Tom Hall
The idea behind this level is to knock the other guy off the side of the
level with a Godball. Woe be the person who isn't in God mode.
05) Aztec Paramecium -> Designed by Joe Selinske
06) Death Box -> Designed by Tom Hall
For those people who complain about large levels. :)
07) Battle Squid -> Designed by Joe Selinske
08) Great Wally -> Designed by Tom Hall & Joe Selinske
09) Lumpy's Delight -> Designed by Joe Selinske
10) Pillar Killers -> Designed by Joe Selinske
11) Red Rum! Red Rum! -> Designed by Joe Selinske
12) Barreling Down -> Designed by Tom Hall & Joe Selinske
13) Spears of Density -> Designed by Joe Selinske
14) Balconexus -> Designed by Joe Selinske
15) Spinblade Runner -> Designed by Tom Hall & Joe Selinske
16) Five Windows -> Designed by Joe Selinske
17) Storm's Eye -> Designed by Tom Hall & Joe Selinske
18) Skylands -> Designed by Joe Selinske
19) Speed -> Designed by Joe Selinske
20) Twin Falls -> Designed by Joe Selinske
21) This Causes an Error! -> Designed by Joe Siegler
This level was thrown on at the last second. If you rename this
file to REJECTS.RTL, and load it up as a regular level file, and not
a Comm-Bat level file, you'll have some fun in this level. Keep in mind
that this level is a joke, and the error created is intentional.
================================================================
Title : Wolfenstein 3D
Filename : WOLF3D.RTL (External Zip is WOLFROTT.ZIP)
Author : Joe Siegler
Email Address : joe.siegler@apogee1.com
Misc. Author Info : Level Designer for ROTT
Description : I had decided to clone Wolf3D Level 1 for Rise of
the Triad, but when id Software did it for Doom 2,
the idea was dropped. I had forgotten about it
until now, so I decided to release it on my own. :)
Additional Credits to : Tom Hall and id Software for the original level
geography of Wolf3D Episode 1 Levels 1 and 10.
================================================================
* Play Information *
Episode and Level # : E1L1
Single Player : Yes
Comm-Bat Level : No
Difficulty Settings : Not implemented
* Construction *
Base : New level from scratch (Sort Of)
Editor(s) used : Ted (The Editor Apogee used to make our levels)
Known Bugs : None
* Copyright / Permissions *
Authors (MAY) use this level as a base to build additional levels.
You MAY distribute this RTL, provided you include this file, with no
modifications. You may distribute this file in any electronic format (BBS,
Diskette, CD, etc) as long as you include this file intact.
* Where to get this RTL *
FTP sites: swcbbs.com
BBS numbers: Software Creations at 508-368-7036
The Arsenal of Freedom at 214-271-5410
Other: CompuServe's Apogee Forum (Coming Aug 95)
---
(9)
The Creators
THE DEVELOPERS OF INCREDIBLE POWER
We got our name from a memo of Tom's about work hours. At the end, it read:
[some text about working together well, and if we do...] We will be...
The Developers of Incredible Power! It kind of stuck after that. We don't
mean it to be bragging--we mean it to have a sense of humor about ourselves.
So many companies take themselves so bloody seriously all the time.
Anyway, here we are....
WHO TITLE WHAT THEY REALLY DID
Tom Hall Creative Director Designed game. Did most of levels.
Drank lemonless, spoonless iced tea.
Mark Dochtermann Head Programmer Wrote engine, comm code. Ate a lot of
Chinese food, and looked weirdly into
the air at times. Flew many sad
(sometimes leaky) airplanes.
William Scarboro Programmer Wrote actor code. A lot of it. Also
has this thing for buddah and pushing
buttons in elevators with heads.
Jim Dose' Programmer Wrote sound code, some menu code. Also
locks keys inside his running car when
outside of liquor stores.
Stephen Hornback Artist Did most of the wall textures, most of
the actors, the cool explosions, most
of the items in the game, & the Apogee
earth background. Dreams of working on
Cosmo 6D with a Pink Floyd soundtrack.
Chuck "D9" Jones Artist Did the snake door, tech door, some
cinematics, and the Game Over picture.
Has this incredible talent of hiding
from people at pool parties and making
them look silly!
ASSOCIATE DEVELOPERS
These people helped us out a lot
Lee Jackson Our master musician won a world-championship pun-off. Three
times. Also spent a lot of time pining for the fjords. (Not
fields or fiords.) Fnord. Ruh. Warp.
Joe Selinske He did a bunch of battle levels and some game levels, also
spent too much time eating sushi and watching Japanimation.
Later went on to wear very silly hats with horns on them.
Joe Siegler He did some game levels, including several that really make
people mad like "The Vomitorium". Drinks Diet Coke like
most people inhale air. Also wrote the ROTTHELP file.
Robert Atkins He did the awesome printed manual for Dark War, and admired
Princess Leia in a "special" way.
Marianna Vayntrub She did some game levels in Dark War, Krist's chair, Mark.
FORMER DEVELOPERS
These folks have left the Developers of Incredible
Power, but left their mark on the game
Tim Neveu He drew many cinematic screens, the weapons, and the menu
pictures. Dreams of working for the Moon Pie people.
Nolan Martin He programmed most of the menus and the setup program,
and loved donuts.
Susan J. Singer A former Artist who did many side textures, above textures,
the female modem players, the five characters' faces, Tom.
(10)
Troubleshooting
þ Apogee strongly recommends that you consult your hardware and software
manuals for your system before you make any suggested changes to your
current system setup. Your manuals will tell you if you are about to
make changes that may irreparably alter your computer or its
configuration. Modifying your system or software can be dangerous if not
done properly. Apogee will not be able to assist you with any problems
resulting from such modifications.
þ If you get the error "Get Static for Index", it means your game data has
become corrupt. Run SCANDISK (if you have MS-DOS v6.20 or higher) or
CHKDSK /F (if you have any other DOS version - see your DOS manual for
instructions), then delete the game and reinstall. If the problem persists,
it's possible your disks have some bad data; obtain another copy.
þ If your copy of ROTT locks up randomly and you have a sound card, you might
be experiencing a DMA conflict. These are caused by having more than one
hardware device sharing a DMA (Direct Memory Access) channel with your sound
card. DMA channels are used by ROTT to send sounds to your sound card. When
you have more than one piece of hardware on a single DMA channel, the chip on
your motherboard that controls DMA transfers may become confused and send the
sound to the wrong place. When this happens, your system will lock up.
Devices that usually cause DMA conflicts include CD-ROM drives, older
dedicated FAX boards, tape backup drives connected to an accelerator card
(not including tape drives plugged into your floppy drive controller cable),
and in newer systems, the ECP/EPP parallel port on your I/O card or on the
motherboard itself. If any of these devices are present on your system, they
may be the source of your lockups.
DMA conflicts cannot usually be spotted by diagnostic software (e.g., PC
Tools SI.EXE, Norton Utilities NDIAGS, etc.). Apogee does not recommend the
use of such software to determine if you have a DMA conflict. Instead, if
you suspect a DMA conflict, try the following test:
1. Run the SNDSETUP program and select NONE for your Sound FX card.
2. Play ROTT and watch for lockups.
If the game no longer locks up, then you were definitely experiencing a DMA
conflict between your sound card and some other device.
The ONLY way to resolve a DMA conflict is to physically move the conflicting
device to another DMA channel. In all but the rarest cases involving devices
that "download" their configuration at boot-up time, you cannot do this
through software. You also cannot solve the problem by simply unloading the
driver for the conflicting device. Since this is a true hardware conflict,
the problem can persist even if the device driver is not loaded when you boot
your machine. In laymen's terms, booting clean won't solve the problem. You
will most likely have to move a "jumper" (see your manuals for a description)
to physically reconfigure the conflicting device. If you need assistance
with reconfiguring your device(s), please consult your system's manuals or
contact the manufacturer of the device(s) in question. Apogee Software
cannot provide assistance for reconfiguring your hardware.
For best performance, do not move your sound card to a different channel:
leave it where it is (usually channel 1 for 8-bit cards, or channels 1 and 5
for 16-bit cards). Instead, move the conflicting device. After you have
resolved the DMA conflict, you may re-run the SNDSETUP program and re-select
your sound card under the Sound FX setup.
If your copy of ROTT still locks up, you may wish to check some settings in
your CMOS configuration as a last resort. If any of these are on, then
switch them off: Hidden Refresh, Hardware Video Shadowing, Turbo Switching.
Also, if you have either of these, turn them on: HD1 Block Mode; IDE HDD
Block Mode.
þ If you have a Diamond SpeedStar video card, disable Zero Wait State.
þ If you hear static when you are playing with a Sound Blaster or
compatible card, make sure to turn the MIC and LINE volumes to zero.
Your card may be seeing input from these, resulting in static. For a
Sound Blaster Pro, the program that adjusts these is called SBP-SET: see
your card's manual for precise instructions on how to do this. If you
still continue to hear static after doing this, try disconnecting any
parallel port devices. IRQ5 and IRQ7, which are used by sound cards, are
often frequently used by printers as well. If you have both plugged in,
the result may be static and poor sound performance.
þ If you are running a Compaq computer with a VGA card and the game tells
you that you do not have a VGA card, or if you experience lockups on a
Compaq computer with a VGA card, you will need to contact Compaq for a
special video driver. The reason for this is that Compaq has some video
cards that do not conform to all proper detection methods. There is a
device driver available from Compaq that will fix this problem. The
driver's name is FINDVGA.SYS. This file used to be available on their BBS
with the filename of SP0117.ZIP, but as of the writing of this document,
it is not available. Please contact Compaq if you cannot locate the file
þ If you are playing with a joystick, and your performance seems erratic, make
sure to calibrate the joystick inside the ROTT program. Also, check and
make sure that the joystick port you are using for ROTT is speed adjustable.
If it is, then try tinkering with the speed. If it is not, then there may
not be anything you can do to alleviate the problem, short of buying a game
card that provides speed adjustable game ports. Check your port's manual for
more info. Also, make sure you do not have more than one active joystick
port on your machine at any time. If you have a game card that provides two
game ports, make sure that no other game ports (such as those on a sound card
or I/O card) are active.
þ Help! My Space Player is not recognized by ROTT!
The reason for this is that you must tell ROTT that you have this controller,
and you're using it. This is done with the SPACEBALL command line parameter.
Please see the section on Command Line Parameters for more info.
þ Help! My Cyberman is not recognized by ROTT!
The reason for this is that you must tell ROTT that you have this controller,
and you're using it. This is done with the CYBERMAN parameter. Please see
the section on Command Line Parameters for more info.
þ Help! My Wingman Assassin is not recognized by ROTT!
Yup. You guessed it. You need to tell ROTT that you have this type of
controller, and that you're using it. This is done with the ASSASSIN
command
line parameter.
þ If you get an error that starts with either "FX SETUP ERROR", "MUSIC
ERROR", or some other error that has "sound" in the error, it means that
something is awry with your sound setup. Delete the SOUND.ROT file in
your game directory and re-run the SNDSETUP.EXE program that comes with
ROTT. Make absolutely sure that you select the proper sound card, since
an incorrect selection can cause errors. If this doesn't work, try
reinstalling the game.
þ If you have a GUS and you are not getting sound effects, or if your GUS
sound effects are scratchy or distorted, make sure your GF1 IRQ is set to
7 or lower. This is controlled by the SET ULTRASND= command in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. A sample of this command line would be:
SET ULTRASND=220,1,1,7,5
The next to last digit on this line (the 7, in this example) is your GF1
IRQ. This number must be 7 or less for ROTT to operate properly. If it
is higher than 7, you will need to edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT and change it
to 7 or lower. Save the change, exit your editor, and reboot so that the
change will take effect.
þ If you get an error that starts with "Z_Malloc", or get "Max Precache
Reached", it means that you are having memory problems, usually due to a
lack of memory available for ROTT. Make sure you are booting without a
memory manager, or things like disk caches that take up valuable memory
that ROTT needs to run properly.
þ If you get an error that says "Different number of Pushwalls/Doors/etc when
trying to load a savegame", it means that either your map data or your save
game has become corrupt. Go to the load save game menu, and delete the save
game in question. If this doesn't solve the problem, reinstall ROTT.
þ If you are playing a net/serial/modem game, and you get an error that has
"Player x is unsynced at ...." it means that you had bad packets or otherwise
had a bad connection. Quit the game in progress and try again.
þ If you get an error that says "Illegal Load Game Value", it means your save
game is corrupted. Either save over it, or delete it.
þ If you have an AWE32 Sound Card, and get the error "MPU-401 Initialization
Error", you will need to turn your computer totally OFF, wait about 5-10
seconds, and then turn it back on again. Delete SOUND.ROT, and try
reselecting your music/sfx again. This error is caused by picking incorrect
settings; if you pick the wrong settings for an AWE32, you need to power
down and retry, not just reboot.
þ If you have an AWE32 Sound Card, and get the error that the AWE32 card is
not being detected when you try and select music, do the following steps
to set up AWE32 music:
1) Do a full reset of your computer; this means totally powering down, and
then restarting your computer (just in case the AWE32 is in a bad state).
2) Set up sound fx by running SNDSETUP.EXE. Do not setup music at this time..
3) From the DOS prompt, type "EDIT SOUND.ROT". (Or use your favorite text
editor; SOUND.ROT is an ASCII file)
4) On line 19, you should see the following: "MusicMode 0".
Change this to read "MusicMode 5".
5) On line 76 you will see settings for the Sound Blaster. They will look
something like this:
;
; Sound Blaster Settings
SBType 6
SBPort $220
SBIrq 5
SBDma8 1
SBDma16 5
SBMidi $330
SBEmu $0
On the line that say "SBEmu", change the number that follows from "$0"
to be the same as the number following the "SBPort" parameter (in this
case, "$220"). For this example, you would have:
;
; Sound Blaster Settings
SBType 6
SBPort $220
SBIrq 5
SBDma8 1
SBDma16 5
SBMidi $330
SBEmu $220
6) Save the file and exit to DOS. ROTT should now be able to detect your
AWE32 properly. If you still have trouble, then you may have incorrect
values for the ports on your sound card.
þ If you notice the game running slowly on your system, here are a few
suggestions on improving game performance.
¯ Disable your disk cache. Since ROTT does its own internal caching,
external caches get in the way. This can result in anything from slow
performance to complete lockups. Disk caches also take away memory that
the game could use to operate more efficiently.
¯ Disable your upper memory manager (QEMM, 386Max, EMM386, etc). Since
ROTT is a protected mode game, the services of these programs are not
needed.
¯ Turn the option for "Auto Detail Adjust" on. This will adjust the graphics
level of the game on the fly, and will attempt to keep the game moving at
a fast speed all the time. When you hit a snag, or a possible slowdown,
ROTT will bump the graphics level down a bit until things speed up again,
and then will adjust the graphics back up.
¯ Try reducing the screen size. When playing the game, you can press either
'-' to reduce your screen size, or '+' to increase it.
¯ Turn off the ceilings and floors. This will usually speed things up
considerably, since the game will not have to draw or keep track of any
ceiling or floor graphics.
¯ Try reducing the amount of digital channels that you have set for sound
effects. Some system configurations have problems with having ROTT set
for higher than 4 digital channels.
¯ Try reducing the mixing selection on your sound card from 16 bit to 8
bit. This is done from the SNDSETUP.EXE program, under the "SETUP
SOUND FX" menu item. 8 Bit Mono is the fastest music/sound combination
there is in ROTT, so if you have slowdown problems, try selecting 8
Bit Mono.
(11)
Secrets in the Game
(from the Apogee FAQ)
If you start ROTT when your system clock indicates that it's one of five
different holidays, the "group picture" of the five main characters is
changed slightly. In addition, on Christmas, the music for the first
level is changed to a familiar Christmas tune. The holidays and effects
are as follows:
Easter Lorelei Ni wears Easter Bunny ears.
Cinco de Mayo 05/05 Ian wears a sombrero.
Independence Day 07/04 Doug holds an American flag.
Halloween 10/31 Thi wears a witch's hat.
Christmas 12/24 Taradino wears a Santa Claus hat; new music
12/25 for the first level.
Also, there's a way to get all five "holiday hats" in Rise of the Triad to
show up on the screen at the same time. If you finish the game the right way,
and destroy all the larvae in the last level, watch ALL the credits (takes
several minutes). You'll get to a screen that says "The HUNT is victorious.
The End." Do nothing. Let it sit there for about a minute or two, and
you'll get another "The End" screen where all five "holiday hats" are shown
at once.
In the secret level "Eight Ways To Hell" (episode 3, area 8), designed by
Joe Siegler (a noted and revered Dopefish follower), there's a hidden area
about half way through the level. It's a long, narrow hallway with
boulders running down the middle and elasto-modes on the sides. There's
a touchplate at the beginning of the hallway which, when triggered, will
open up a secret room. The gray walls in the middle of the secret room
spell a message written in the Commander Keen language (see the Keen
secrets section, below). Look at all the gray walls from all angles, or
use the \MAP cheat (see the cheats section). Then look at the map to see
the letters. Translated, it says, "Dopefish Lives!"
Bosses play big roles in Rise of the Triad. There are four, one at the end
of each episode, and arranged in order of weakest to strongest. There are
ways to kill two of the bosses that the programmers at Apogee never thought
to try. These "loopholes" are "fixed" in version 1.3 of ROTT, but version 1.2a
and previous versions still have the loopholes. For Sebastian "Doyle"
Krist, you can lure him out of the room by hitting the touch plate diagonally
away and to the right of the gold door as you enter it. The triggering the
touchplate will block the gold door and open a passageway. Lure Krist
through here carefully, then through the brown door. Then go up the
staircase! Krist, in his wheelchair will follow you up. However, due to
a bug in Krist's programming (he was never intended to ascend stairs), he
won't fall back down to the ground. He'll fire missiles at you, but with
you safely beneath him, they won't hit. Shoot him until he's dead. You can
also lure the NME out of the room he starts in, but if he's led into the
nearby spinblades, the game will crash.
The second loophole involves the final boss, El Oscuro, in his final form
(the snake-like form). Get a firebomb and an asbestos vest. Then find
El Oscuro and lure him into a corner. Keep the corner at your back. Aim
the firebomb down and fire it -- this will thrust you up into the air.
Land on El Oscuro and wait for him to exhaust himself. (The intended method
of killing him is to not fire at him at all, but dodge his own attacks until
he dies of exhaustion. Firing at him simply makes him stronger!)
Several people have run across the curious message "I'm Free" while playing
ROTT, and don't know what it means. If you get this, you're probably playing
either the "This Causes An Error" level in the registered version, or you're
playing a user-made level. The cause of the note is whenever a moving wall
crosses the boundary of a level and just keeps on going. The game detects the
problem, but, before crashing with a regular error message, manages to put up
the picture saying, "I'm Free" (drawn by Tom Hall). The "This Causes An
Error" level, originally titled "WanderWall Bug Map," has a pushwall in it
that leaves the level, crashing the game with the "I'm Free" message.
In the rejected ROTT levels (ROTT_REJ.ZIP), there is a level called "This
Causes An Error Too."
What all this is, is a manifestation of in-house humor. If you don't get it,
that's good, because you're not supposed to. It's one of those "you had to
be there" things. At any rate, the story goes...during the development of
ROTT, when a level was tested wherein a pushwall was inadvertantly directed
out of the level bounds, someone joked, saying, "I'm free." He probably
wishes he hadn't, for all the confusion it's caused customers who have run
across it -- either that, or, if he were more like me, he feels a deep sense
of satisfaction in having successfully dumbfounded a significant enough
percentage of the gaming community to warrant mention in FAQs such as these.
(12)
A Note From The Author
Well, that's all that I have to tell you. I've written this
file partially to save bandwidth on the newsgroup alt.games.apogee,
and partly because I really like RotT. It's a lot of information
that I've included here, and I hope that you like it. I've tried
to make it the best I can, and if you do like it, thank you very much.
You can tell me so at derekg@compass.net, I always enjoy getting
mail. If you didn't like it at all, tough nuggets. If you think
it should be altered, mail me.
I can also be reached through my WWW page(which I think is pretty
cool, but, hey, it's mine):
http://www.compass.net/~derekg/
I know I've had fun writing this,
and I hope you had fun reading it. A lot of the stuff in here is
the result of people's help, so I'd like to thank the following people:
Bernie Yee for writing the Rise of the Triad Official Player's Guide.
Jon Durward, a friend and the author of Hex, for
providing me with some good talks
Joe Rovang, who proofread and made some good
suggestions
Sam Stoddard, author of the Apogee FAQ,
for lots of good information, which I put in this FAQ
Hank Leukart, author of the Doom FAQ, for
good stuff about the IHHD(which he gave me permission to use)
and a really complete copyright notice
Adam Williamson, author of the Wolf3D and
Terminal Velocity FAQ, for inspiration, though he doesn't know it
and, last, though certainly not least,
Joe Siegler, for:
1. Giving his Time.
2. Giving Answers. Lots of them.
3. Not going insane from a constant barrage of
questions and telling me to push off.
4. Belching so well. :)
Without Joe, this FAQ would not be.
_|\_
\ / \ Pisces Swimeatus
|>< |> OO The Dopefish
/ \___/UU
"I just drew this stupid little fish." -- Tom Hall
