Sky Chase Typed in by MERK. Edited by PARASITE. MAIN MENU OPTIONS Game Seletions Two Player (Human vs Human): Two joysticks are required. One Player (Human vs Computer): The computer assumes the right player's role. The options can be set for the computer player with the Computer Skill setting. The right player settings will apply to the computer in this mode. Options that can be set independently for the computer player include the following: Jet Selection Fuel Selection Ammunition Missile Store Missile Lock Threshold Bullet Hit Threshold G-Force Blackout Threshold The computer will always use "Pitch and Roll Combined" for his "joystick". One Player (With no right window): This option is the same as the other one player mode with the exception that the computer's screen is blanked out. This provides more challeng- ing competition, since you won't be able to see what the computer is doing in advance. In addition, you will notice that your jet performance is substantially improved. Zero Player (Computer vs Computer): This is a demonstration mode you can show your friends. When this mode is selected, the menus can be used to set parameters for both computer players. When "Run Demo" is selected on the main menu, preset parameters will be used. Left and Right Player Selections: Each player can choose his or her own setting preferences. This allows one player to handicap the other in order to even out the play. Jet Select: Take some time to review the aircraft fleet up close while you're making your jet selection; once combat begins, chances are things will be happening too fast and at too great a "distance" to appreciate their distinctive features. Throttle and rotation limits are different for each jet. A) Each jet's maximum velocity is set. B) Each jet's maximum roll rate is limited to a specific value. C) The maximum rate of change for each jet's pitch is similarly limited. The limit when going into a climb is the same as the jet's roll rate limit. The limit when going into a dive is approximately one half. Maximum Maximum upward downward Max Speed Maximum pitch change pitch change Throttle for level roll rate rate rate Jet limit flight degrees/sec degrees/sec degrees/sec ----- ---------- ----------- ----------- ------------ ------------ F18 11 1234 50 50 25 F14 13 1462 45 45 25 F15 12 1348 45 45 25 F16 12 1348 50 50 25 M31 15 1691 35 35 20 M27 14 1577 40 40 20 PA 15 1691 50 50 25 Fuel Select: Each 550 gallon increment lasts approximately 3-7 minutes depending on the amount of power required for flight. With 8800 gallons, or the maximum amount of fuel, combat can last for up to one hour. Firing a missile uses a small amount of your fuel. Getting hit uses a lot of your fuel. Hitting your opponent adds the same amount of fuel back to your tank. Ammunition: Each player can select the number of bullets to be carried on board. Press 1 for no bullets, 9 for unlimited bullets and 2-8 for selecting a specific number of bullet rounds. The number of bullets fired per minute increases as the overall game speed increases. If you are using the 8x8 grid for example, which increaes game speed, you will want to add more bullets. Bullets are not very effective in close range because, unlike actual jet combat where targets remain the same size regardless of distance, Sky Chase jets literally grow as they get closer and shrink with distance. As a result, striking the exact center of your target (see Bullet Hit Threshold) with the tiny bullets because proportionately more difficult in relation to increased jet size. The distance to the target cannot be to great, because the target will be out of bullet range. Missile Store: Each player may select the number of missiles to be carried on board. Missiles are effective at close range when using the HUD (Heads Up Display) missile lock feature. HUD Display: When the jets are close enough to deploy the missiles, the HUD for missile locking will appear in the center of the screen. The crosshairs show the direction that your craft is pointing. A box will also appear in front of the opponent's jet to indicate where the missile should be fired to hit the jet. There is a line drawn between the crosshairs and the box. The idea is to position the box as close as possible to the crosshairs, by making the line as small as possible. The distance that the crosshairs need to be from the box to get missile lock can be selected with the missile lock threshold setting. The HUD has auditory cues for the player. The beeping tone indicates that missile lock is near. The steady tone indicates that missile lock has been achieved. When the HUD has been succussfully activated, the "missile lock" indicator will flash green. If the opponent's HUD is locked onto your jet, the "enemy missile lock" indicator will turn red. If both players have each other in missile lock, both indicators will light up. Under these conditions, fired missiles will automatically hit the opponents jet. Missile Lock Threshold: Missile lock threshold represents the spacial interval within which missiles will automatically adjust directions to strike their targets. That interval is measured in pixels between the crosshairs and the box, (a pixel equals the space of one dot on the computer screen), and players may select thresholds ranging from 1-40 pixels. A choice of 1 pixel, for example, would mean that the center crosshairs and the HUD box would need to overlap exactly to achieve a hit; with 40 pixels, a line of that length connecting the center crosshairs and the HUD box would represent the range in which a fired missile would achieve a hit. The HUD only becomes active when an opponent is within missile range. Missile lock is achieved when the HUD is positioned over the crosshairs within the missile lock threshold range. The larger the number, the easier it is to get missile lock on your opponent. Double clicking the joystick button fires a missile when an opponent is within range. Bullet Hit Threshold: The Bullet Hit Threshold setting determines the size of the area within which you can score a hit with the jet's machine guns. The selections are small, medium and large. Small represents a one pixel dot on the center of the jet that must be hit by a bullet to register a kill. Medium represents a 9 pixel area and large represents a 25 pixel area. Collision detection for bullets is two dimensional, making it easier to hit a jet that is far away because it is smaller, and thus, more likely to fall within the hit area. Trigger Timing: Holding the joystick button down causes continuous machine gun fire. When the HUD is displayed the missile can be fired by pressing the joystick button twice, quickly, in succession. The missile trigger is distinguished from the bullet trigger by the length of the interval between the 2 clicks of the joystick button. This delay can be set for Fast, Medium or Slow. G-Force Effect: Gravity forces affect the pilot by affecting blood flow to the brain. There are 2 kinds of G-forces: negative G's, which accrue when a plane descends and forces blood into the head, and positive G's, which accrue when a plane ascends or turns sharply, forcing blood out of the head. Your body and plane can tolerate many more positive than negative G's. Excessive negative G's cause the blood vessels in your eyes to rupture, or Redout. Blackout occurs if the effect of positive G's are too strong, causing you to lose control of the jet. Sky Chase's G-froce limit is 9 G's for both positive and negative G-forces. When you blackout, the G-force meter will flash and the "autopilot" will take over a jet and return it to a straight and level course. Once the jet is flying straight and level, the blackout will terminate and, within two seconds, the pilot will regain control. To reach 9 G's you must roll to 90 degrees or change pitch at the maximum limit. The amount of time required at 9 G's to blackout can be adjusted for each player. The amount of time to blackout can be set to low, medium, high or unlimited. Grid Select: Sky Chase displays a grid on the ground. The number of cells in the grid effects the overall speed of the game. Game speed increases with fewer cells and decreases with more cells. The fastest game is achieved by selecting the 8x8 grid and the slowest, the 64x64 grid. The grid is projected on the ground to supply perspective. The combat takes place over the grid. The outside perimeter is a small distance from the outside of the grid. Computer Skill: The computer can be adjusted to different levels of difficulty. Players can choose from one of four levels-Easy, Average, Difficult and Ace-which correspond to increasing levels of maneuverability. The computer skill option is only applicable to single player or computer vs computer modes. Flyby Control: The flyby mechanism which initiates all jet combat is automatically activated at the beginning of each round. Players can also select flyby as a means of resuming combat following any kill, or can bypass flyby and merely resume combat from jet positions at the time of the kill. Sound Control: The game sounds can be turned off if desired. Music Control: The game music is only played when the option menus are being displayed; it too may be disconnected. COCKPIT INSTRUMENTATION Radar (bottom center of screen): The radar provides an overview of the combat zone, allowing the player to determine an opponent's position. The arrows on the radar screen represent the jets; the red arrow is the left jet and the white arrow is the right jet. The borders are colored to remind you which is which. The arrows can appear in 16 different positions to represent the heading of each jet. When the arrows overlap, the arrow on the top is the higher jet. The relative altitudes of the jets are better represented with the altimeter. Altimeter: There are 2 bars on the Altimeter. The green bar reflects the pilot's altitude and the red bar, the opponent's altitude. This gauge allows you to determine if your opponent is above or below you. Exceeding the ceiling of 50,000 feet will cause a crash. The 50,000 ft. indicator will flash to warn you that the ceiling is near. Score: The score is displayed with the guage. Thrust: The thrust is a constant force that represents the force of the jet engine. The thrust value will increase as the throttle is increased and decrease when the throttle is decreased. The jet's rate of turn will decrease as it's speed increases and the rate of turn will increase as it's speed decreases. Heading (Top side box): Indicates the direction the aircraft is pointing in from side to side, i.e. north, east, south or west. This indicator shows the top view of the jet. The heading guage matches the direction of the arrow on the radar. Pitch (Middle side box): Indicates the angle the aircraft is pointing in from nose to tail, i.e. climbing or diving positions. This indicator shows the side view of the jet. Roll (Bottom side box): Indicates the angle the aircraft is pointing in from wing to wing, i.e. turning or banking. This indicator shows the rear view of the jet. Speed: The speed represents the air speed in MPH. Missile Lock Indicators (Center of screen below flight view): One flashes green when your missile lock indicator is on; the other flashes red when the opponents indicator is locking on you. G-Force Indicator (Bottom right corner): The indicator shows the current G factor. Pilots will black out at 9 G's. The indicator turns red at 9 G's and flashes bright red while you are blacked out. Perimeter Indicator (Next to Altimeter): Lights up to warn that your aircraft is in danger of colliding with the perimeter of the cubed-shaped combat arena. If you hit the perimeter your jet will blow up. Bullets Remaining: Represents the number of bullets left. Missiles Remaining: Represents the number of missiles left. Screen Outline: The screen outlines are color coded red and white to correspond with the arrows on the radar screen for easier recognition of players' jets. AIR COMBAT Flyby: The flyby is a fair way of starting an aerial combat and is initiated automatically. Pilot controls are suspended until the jets approach and pass each other head on. After the flyby, combat begins with all pilot controls activated. WEAPONS Machine Guns: Holding the joystick button down cause continuous machine gun fire. The Bullet Hit Threshold area determines the hit area within which you can score a hit. The hit area is 2-dimensional making it easier to hit a jet that is farther away because it is smaller, and thus, more likely to fall within pixel range. Bullets are not very effective in close range, because it's harder to hit the small target area on such a large wire frame jet image. Smart Missiles: Double clicking the joystick button fires a missile when the oppenent is within range. The missile can be activated when the jets are within range, with the crosshairs appearing on the center of the screen. The missile will actually turn toward the opponent as it is flying. The missile lock range is set by the missile threshold. When you fire a missile, you see it rushing away from the nose of your aircraft. Your opponent will see the same missile, if he is facing it. Using Sound: The jet soundgets higher pitched as the jets approach and lower as they move farther away. This "doppler effect", the change in the pitch of sound in relation to speed and proximity, provides players with an audio clue about the relative positions of the jets. The missile, missile lock, bullet and explosion sounds are in stereo, with the right and left channels reflecting the sounds of the right and left players. Computer Pilot: The computer pilot, which is always the right player, will follow an invariable series of strategies: *If the opponent is out of missile range but within machine gun range, the computer will fire the guns. *The computer will resort to machine guns within missile range when it runs out of missiles. *The computer pilot will always attempt to fly directly towards the calculat- ed missile lock coordinates. *The computer will always fire when it has the opponent in missile lock. *If you fly in a large circle by staying in a rolled position, the computer will follow you exactly. *The computer, even in Ace mode, can be considered handicapped in that its pitch is limited to a maximum of 60 degrees. In the easy and medium modes the pitch and roll limits are restricted even more. Novices may wish to disarm the right computer player to even out your odds and train more effectively. Goals: The game continues until the jet's fuel is exhausted. The player with the most points wins. Points: Points are given for the following: 1-Opponent fires missile 10-Destruction of opponent with machine guns or missiles 10-Opponent crashes on ground, ceiling or perimeter 10-Mid-Air collision (both players get 10 points) Combat Zone: The perimeter of the cube, or combat zone, is just outside of the grid area. The radar screen will display a solid black square within a green field and flash the perimeter warning light to let you know that you are approaching a wall. The perimeter includes the ceiling as well as the 4 walls and ground. Pausing: Pressing upper or lower case "P" during play will cause the game to pause. Just press the joystick trigger button or any key to resume play. Quitting: Press upper or lower case "Q" to quit the game during play. You will then return to the copyright screen; press any key to get to the main menu. To return to other software applications turn your computer off and reboot. FLYING Turning, Climbing and Diving: When the aircaraft is turned in any horizontal direction, i.e. north, south, east or west, you are adjusting its heading. Heading direction is displayed in the heading indicator box and the radar screen. When the nose of the aircraft is raised or lowered, you are adjusting its pitch, causing it to move up or down. The degree of pitch is shown in the pitch indicator box. When the aircraft is rolled, or rotated to one side, the combination of air pressure and velocity will force the plane into a banking turn. The degree of roll is reflected in the roll indicator box. Dive Dive/ | Dive/ Bank Left\ | /Bank Right \|/ Bank Left-------+-------Bank Right /|\ Climb/ / | \ Climb Bank Left | Bank Right Climb Use the joystick to manipulate pitch and roll. (your heading will be affected by these 2 factors in combination): Top position = Nose Down (Dive) Right position = Banking turn to the right Left position = Banking turn to the left Bottom position = Nose Up (Climb) Joystick Select: The four diagonal positions can be set in one of two ways: Option 1: The high speed roll. This is a banked turn, or roll, occuring at such a high speed of rotation that the jet will actually proceed in a straight line until released from it; upon release from the high speed roll, the aircraft will continue to bank at the angle it is released from. This ability to make faster, sharper turns makes the high speed roll an excellent offensive tool. Option 2: Pitch and roll combined. This combines the pitch and roll of the two positions adjacent to the diagonal; for example, the bottom right corner would produce a roll which climbs to the right. The pitch and roll combina- tion produces a kind of corkscrew motion and, because it makes it very difficult for an opponent to follow, it is an excellent defensive tool. Throttle: The throttle controls the thrust, or jet engine force, of the aircraft. The throttle of each player's jet can be set during flight. The throttle will always be set in the middle during the flyby but will conform to the player's preferences following the activation of pilot control. Remebere that higher throttle settings consume fuel faster. The jet's rate of turn will decrease as it's speed increases. Likewise, the jet's rate of turn will increase as it's speed decreases. This accurately reflects the actual performance of a jet, just as a car turns more sharply when it is going slow than at high speeds. To turn at the fastest rate, therefore, slow down before turning. Throttle commands: Left Shift Key = increase in left players throttle Left "ALT" key = decrease in left players throttle "." key on keypad = increase in right players throttle Enter key on keypad = decrease in right players throttle Jet Speed and Performance: Two variables control the overall speed and performance of the combat; throttle settings and grid size. For the slowest game, choose the 64x64 grid with a low thrust setting; for the fastest game, choose the 8x8 grid with the highest thrust. You can use a high throttle setting to offset low speeds in a grid with many squares, or use a low throttle setting to compensate for higher speeds in a grid with few squares. Selection of the paper airplane will also increase the overall game speed.