If you're here because of the dreaded "Run time error 207", see Section 3.5

Ŀ
                                                                            
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          ͻ    ͹ ˼     ͻ ͹                              
          ͼ            ͼ                            
                                                                            
                          - Within The Darkness -                           

     ķ
>   This README.TXT file includes: 
      Ľ

     Section 1 : Introduction

       (1.0 - What the hell is going on!? I didn't see SF1 or SF2)
        1.1 - Introduction to StarFight III
        1.2 - The Story
        1.3 - System requirements and other tech-spex
        1.4 - Information for WINDOWS 95(TM) users
        1.5 - JP-Images game interface(TM)

     Section 2 : General Instructions

        2.1 - Game keys
        2.2 - How to play
        2.3 - Optimizing your system configuration

     Section 3 : Troubleshooting

        3.1 - Graphics problems
        3.2 - Sound problems
        3.3 - Gameplay problems
        3.4 - Memory problems
        3.5 - Unexpected crashes

     Section 4 : Other info + Legal stuff


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


        Section 1 - Introduction

   1.0 - What the hell is going on!? I didn't see SF1 or SF2
       As the most intelligent ones of you have already noticed, this game
    is labeled "StarFight III". Yes, this IS actually the third game of the
    dreaded StarFight series. The previous two (StarFight - The Beginning of
    The End and StarFight 2 - The Ending Continues) failed utterly: they had
    thousands of bugs and StarFight 2 barely ran at all. Therefore, SF3 can
    be regarded as the first real one. Confused? If yes, keep reading. If not,
    you're about to.

   1.1 - Introduction to StarFight III
       StarFight III is a SciFi game that combines the elements of space
    shoot 'em up and an adventure game in a way never seen before. Never has
    there been a more pathetic way to patch up two terrible games with each
    other. I thought that two crappy games (the adventure engine being the
    worse one) would make up an adequate one, but it didn't happen. Well,
    let's skip trough the self-pity section...
       There's some unique points in StarFight III, however. It's a PD game,
    which explains a lot about it's quality, but for a PD product I've put
    huge amounts of effort in it. And here's the result: over 55 megabytes
    of digital sound, rendered FMV animation, hand-drawn graphics and Turbo
    Pascal created code. I doubt that any other PD-game has it's very own
    animation compressor (TP created), DigiStream music system and a very
    own modifyable and flexible game engine.
       Turbo Pascal and non-protected-mode interface presents many problems:
    slow graphic routines, huge conventional and EMS memory requirements and
    crappy SB sound routines. StarFight III suffers from all of these, but on
    a computer fast enough and with a Gravis Ultrasound sound card I find
    this game very enjoyable indeed. Still interested? If so, keep reading.
    (otherwise go free yourself a big hunk of harddisk space and delete this
    game)

   1.2 - The Story
       The story of StarFight III is presented in the animated introduction.
    It's pretty complex and if you didn't understand it (har!), it worked too
    slow or locked up completely (har!!) I've got it written here for you.
       In 1977 USA launched spaceprobe Voyager 2 on it's mission to seek out
    new life forms and civilizations and to bodly go where no man... you get
    the idea. However, for 220 years later, on year 2197 the Voyager probe
    returns... With a bright flash of light (strangely resembling a hyperspace
    cloud) the probe appears on the orbit of the Earth.
       Quickly the United Nations Space Forces (UNSF), which now rules all of
    Earth+ nearby star systems with iron fist (=democracy) takes action. The
    probe is pulled into a carrier and the most respected scientest of the
    century, professor Adolf Von Braun starts to examine the probe onboard,
    ignoring all safety precautions with fatal results... Something organic,
    a huge black blob of living slime erupts from the probe on professor
    Braun. In few seconds the slimy blob dies, and Braun seems unaffected.
    But everything isn't always as it first appears to be...
       Meanwhile in Earth's capital, New Washington, an old retired UNSF
    pilot walks towards Luigi's bar in attempt of sinking his loneliness
    and grief in booze... Little does he know, that YOU are about to take
    control of him. Deliberately he starts to follow YOUR mouse's cursor
    and keyboard keys... By doing this you must direct him to solve the
    mystery of the Voyager probe and rescue the universe from a hidden
    threat... once again.

   1.3 - System requirements
       As forementioned, StarFight 3 is a VERY slow game, and requires huge
    amounts of CPU horsepower. Also, it's optimized for Cyrix 6x86 processor,
    so running it with a 486 or Pentium might be problematic. (Absolute
    minimum system IS absolute minimum. Don't even try to run the game on
    anything less)

               Absolute minimum system:
                 - 486DX4 75MhZ
                 - DOS (6.0 or later) or Windows 95
                 - 12MB RAM (DOS)/16MB RAM (Win95),
                   (12MB EMS, 590KB free conventional memory)
                 - VESA (v1.2 or later) SVGA card with 1MB RAM
                 - SmartDrive of 512KB loaded
                 - MicroSoft compatible mouse
                 - Gravis Ultrasound, Sound Blaster 2.0 or
                   100% compatible sound card

               Highly recommended system:
                 - AMD P133/Cyrix 5x86 133MhZ/Pentium 133MhZ or faster
                 - DOS 6.22 or Windows 95
                 - 16MB RAM (DOS)/24MB RAM (Win95)
                 - PCI SVGA card
                 - Fast EIDE or SCSI hard disk (unfragmented)
                 - SmartDrive of 2MB loaded
                 - MicroSoft compatible mouse
                 - Gravis Ultrasound sound card with 512KB DRAM (or more)

               Dream system:
                 - Cyrix 6x86 120MhZ/Pentium 166MhZ/AMD K6 166Mhz or faster
                 - DOS 6.22 or Windows 95
                 - 16MB RAM (DOS)/32MB RAM (Win95)
                 - PCI SVGA card
                 - Very fast EIDE or SCSI hard disk (unfragmented)
                 - (in DOS) SmartDrive of 2MB loaded
                 - MicroSoft compatible mouse
                 - Gravis Ultrasound sound card with 1MB DRAM

     Technical notes:
          1. Load the SmartDrive. The game won't run too well without it.
          2. The game uses video modes MCGA 320x200, SVGA 640x480 and
           SVGA 800x600. Your video card MUST support these.
          3. Windows 95 might cause unexpected "Run time error 207"s.
           I cannot determine why. Just use DOS.
          4. Pentium CPUs don't seem to be able to handle high-speed
           integer calculations, so the game might slow down, unless you
           have a Pentium 166MhZ or higher. Same goes with 486 CPUs.
          5. Cyrix 5x86, Pentium Pro, Pentium II and AMD K5 chips are
           untested with SF3, but they should work just fine.
          6. Some Sound Blaster cards seem to make irritating pops while
           digital music playback, especially on slower machines. Ignore it,
           or buy a GUS.
          7. If something goes wrong with the game arcade section, just press
           the "Emergency exit", CTRL-ALT-LSHIFT
          8. If you get a "Run time error 207 at 14XX:000B", see section 3.5


   1.4 - Information for WINDOWS 95(TM) users
       StarFight 3 should perform without problems in Win95. If problems
    occur, however, you should reboot to genuine MS-DOS mode. Sound cards
    shouldn't cause any problems (even GUS seems to work just fine). Win95
    will slow down the game if you don't have 32MB of RAM (or more).

   1.5 - JP-Images game interface (TM)
       StarFight 3 uses a game interface called JP-Images. It's completely
    Pascal generated, but still offers some flexibility into the game engine.
    All of the game's levels and cutscenes are script-based, so you should
    be able to modify them, or at least correct my type-Os or bad english
    with very little effort. If you're interested to use my game engine
    (unlikely) or just to give some advice please contact me at my E-mail
    address Jp_ass@HotMail.com


        Section 2 - General Instructions

   2.1 - Game Keys
       There are basically very few keys to use througout the game, but
    here they are.
       General:
          MOUSE              - Move cursor (surprise surprise!)
       Adventure section:
          LEFT MOUSE BUTTON  - Move character
          RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON - Look at object/Cancel object selection
          DOUBLE CLICK       - Use object/Use item on object
          ESC                - Exit game
       Arcade section:
          LEFT MOUSE BUTTON  - Shoot weapons at cursor or torpedo at TARGET
          RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON - Select closest enemy as TARGET
          ESC                - Message log/Exit game
          LEFT/RIGHT         - Rotate ship/Toggle Map-Message Log
          UP                 - Accelerate ship
          SPACE BAR          - Erase message on screen and drop TARGET
          BACKSPACE          - Toggle locked/free target view mode
          ENTER              - Activate torpedo launcher (fire launches
                               torpedo at TARGET)
          CTRL-ALT-LSHIFT    - Emergency exit

   2.2 - How to play
       Adventure sections:
    As every point n'click adventure game, StarFight 3's adventure sections
    are basically of making selections in a conversation and using correct
    items on correct objects. The adventure sections are made in this game
    basically to carry the storyline, so they should be pretty easy.
       In conversations you can make selections by moving the mouse UP and
    DOWN. Some objects require that you're next to them before you can use
    or look them, so you should ALWAYS move next to an object before you
    doubleclick them. Your inventory is located at the bottom of the screen.
    Generally the only instruction I can give you is that you should just
    think. That'll get you trough anything. Also, most of the latter
    adventure sections will only consist of talking to one man/collecting one
    object.
       Arcade sections:
    StarFight 3 is basically an arcade game. Therefore the arcade sections
    are a lot more complex than the adventure sections. Generally the goal
    in every mission is to kill all enemy precense and survive (just like in
    every other shoot-em-up game). The mouse cursor is used to direct your
    shots and the ship itself follows keyboard commands. Many might find the
    game hard, but it's supposed to be that way. Here are some general tips:
      1. If you want to know what's happening or what you're supposed to do,
       please read the briefings and take a look at the ship's message log
       (press ESC) every now and then.
      2. If you have trouble staying alive, remember this: move. Move a lot.
      3. If you have torps, use them. Don't save them for the biggest
       bastards, it's easy to hit them with your cannons instead.
      4. Watch (and on GUS, listen) closely for the LOCK signal on your
       panel. When it's blinking a torpedo is trying to hit you, and you'd
       better do some evasive actions.
      5. If the game crashes, don't worry. StarFight 3 has an automated
       savegame system, so your pilot (=save file) is never lost. Just re-
       type the same name when you restart the game.
      6. In a smaller ship, try to position yourself the way, that a larger
       friendly ship is between you and the enemy. It'll give you protection
       as well as fire support.
      7. Keep an eye on your weapon energy gauge. There's nothing worse than
       having to engage in a battle while the guns are empty (they'll
       recharge, of course, but it'll take time).
      8. If you still find the game hard, you might want to turn on all of
       the detail: this way the game becomes slower and easier!

   2.3 - Optimizing your system configuration
     Performance tips:
        - Load a SmartDrive as big as you can (not over 2MB, however)
          On a computer with 16MB or more RAM a SmartDrive of 2MB is
          recommended. If none is present, 512Kb is automatically loaded.
        - DeFragment your harddisk, it'll speed up the animations
        - If the game's speed isn't steady but jerks a lot, try disabling
          the music or using SLOW HARDDISK MODE (=music EMS preloading)
          DigiStream music requires quite a lot of CPU time, too.
        - Pentium 133MhZ/AMD K5 133MhZ/Cyrix 6x86 100MhZ can handle full
          detail playably. With anything less you should disable EXPLOSION
          TRANSPARENCY, since it uses A LOT of CPU integer processing power.
        - On a computer with 16MB or less RAM run the game in DOS. Win95
          consumes a lot of RAM and turns SF3 into a HD-muncher. If you
          have a Pentium 75MhZ/5x86 100MhZ/486DX4 133MhZ or slower you
          shouldn't run SF3 in Win95 at all.
        - If you have SB and GUS in your computer, please use GUS. It offers
          superior sound quality (music hardware interpolation up to 16bit
          44KhZ from 8bit 22KhZ) and consumes less CPU power.
     Memory tips:
       StarFight 3 requires DOS conventional as well as EMS memory. It
    shouldn't be too difficult to optimize your memory for StarFight.
    If you have problems, however here's what you should do:
        - Open your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS
        - Remove some TSR programs and unnecessary device drivers.
          (like CD-ROM drivers)
        - Sometimes Win95 loads DoubleSpace even when it isn't neccessary.
          Remove it by adding line DBLSPACE=0 in your Win95's MSDOS.SYS
        - Reduce the number of FILES and BUFFERS to about 30
        - Your EMM386 line in CONFIG.SYS should say EMM386 RAM HIGHSCAN.
          This seems to have best results.
        - If you still can't make it, look DOS manuals for help.
    NOTE! You MUST load SmartDrive (in DOS, not in Win95) with at least
          512KB to make the game run OK!!! This is added in the batch file,
          but you'd better do it yourself before running the game anyway.


        Section 3 : Troubleshooting

   3.1 - Graphics Problems

    Problem: The game screen is all fucked up with all kind of crap.
    Solution: It's supposed to be that way!

    P: Animations run very slowly and jerk a lot.
    S: Defragment your harddisk. You might want to adjust the MOVIE SPEED
       UP value in SETUP.INI : on a very fast machine it should be 0.
       Adjust it up (not over 60, however) until the anims run at adequate
       speed. (However, the setup program SHOULD be able to determine this
       value AUTOMATICALLY at game speed test)

    P: SVGA screens are fucked up.
    S: Use Scitech Display Doctor or UniVBE. It should correct VESA
       problems.

   3.2 - Sound problems

    P: GUS isn't making any sound!
    S: Check all enviroment variables, get out of Win95 and above all,
       run GUS diagnostic program. It should find out what's wrong.

    P: GUS/SB volume is too loud!
    S: On a newer SB card you can adjust MASTER VOLUME with MIXERSET.EXE in
       your SB directory. There's no internal amplifier in GUS, however. You
       must adjust GUS volume in your stereos/amplifier, since there is no
       built-in volume control in SF3.

    P: SB isn't making any sound!
    S: Get out of Win95. Your SB MUST be set using interrupt 5, low DMA 1
       and base address 220h! Changing these should be very easy, and these
       built-in settings seem to match with 95% of today's SB cards. If you
       own an Pro Audio Spectrum card you won't get any sound - it's just too
       incompatible with CT-VOICE.DRV

   3.3 - Gameplay problems

    P: The game is too hard!
    S: See Gameplay Tips on section 2.2 - How to play

    P: The game runs too slowly! I cannot play!
    S: If your computer matches the minimum configuration, you shouldn't
       have these problems. Try to reduce detail from OPTIONS in the main
       menu. Especially EXPLOSIONS TRANSPARENCY eats a lot of CPU power as
       well as digital soundtrack. See section 2.3 for more tips improving
       game performance.

   3.4 - Memory problems

    P: "640KB Should be enough for anyone" - Bill Gates
    S: Yep, it SHOULD be...

    P: The game doesn't run!
    S: See section 2.3 for detailed explanation how to free up memory.

   3.5 - Unexpected crashes

    P: Game halts with error message "Run time error 207 at 14XX:000X"
    S: This problem I haven't been able to solve yet. You can avoid it,
       however. Make a very sparse boot, where you load nothing but the
       most necessary stuff (=EMS manager, mouse driver, SmartDrive).
       DON'T RUN WIN95, WINDOWS 3.XX OR ANY OTHER PROGRAMS BEFORE RUNNING
       STARFIGHT 3! This should help. If the game still crashes occasionally
       just reboot (reset, not CTRL-ALT-DEL) and it should work again.
       Also, the Sound Blaster version of the game seems to cause less 207s.

    P: The game crashes right when I run it.
    S: Check that you've unzipped the game with -D parameter. There should
       be subdirectories GFX and EXEDATA in your StarFight 3 directory.
       Also check that you've selected the correct sound card (run SETUP.BAT).
       And that you've unzipped ALL StarFight 3's 10 .ZIP files (SF3_01.ZIP..
       SF3_10.ZIP). DIR /S command in SF3 directory should show approximately
       48500Kbytes.

        Section 4 - Other info

        This game is public domain. It may be copied and distributed freely.
    Since the MID, XM and MP3 music files used to make the game's soundtrack
    included no restrictions about distributing/copy rights, I supposed they
    were PD too. However, if you hear your module/MIDI being played in this
    game and you don't want it to be distributed this way or if I haven't
    mentioned you in the credits, contact JP-Production and I'll be sure to
    fix it right away.

                   StarFight 3 - Within the Darkness

           Programming:
            Jukka Paajanen

           Graphics:
            Jukka Paajanen

           JPX v1.01 digital sound engine
            Jukka Paajanen (coding)
            Kurt Kennett (GUS drivers)
            Advanced Gravis (GUS support)
            Creative Labs (SB drivers+lousy support)

           Music/SFX:
            Many persons, whose names weren't there...

           JP-Images v3.6 graphics interface
            Jukka Paajanen

           JP-Cinematics v5.0pro movie compression
            Jukka Paajanen

           Beta Testing (blame them if something's unfinished)
            Aleksi Jokinen
            Mikko Paajanen

           Special thanks to
            Aleksi Jokinen for borrowing me his modem
            Devlopers of the GUS drivers (theyrre grrreat!)
            MikroBitti magazine (for reviewing first StarFight)
            Olli Martikainen (for some graphics tools)
            Mikko Paajanen (for stupid ideas)

           Very special thanks to the unknown makers of the musics

      All product names mentioned in this text are trade marks of their
                            respective owners.

        All persons and events in this game are purely fictional. All
    similarities with real persons or events are completely unintentional.

    If you have something to say about this game, any complains or you'd like
    to know about JP-Production's future projects, please write to following
    address:

                    JP-Production/Jukka Paajanen
                    Sarkatie 23
                    52200 Puumala
                    Finland

                               or

                       jp_ass@hotmail.com

    Oh, and one more thing. This game is a result of over one year of
    completely free-of-payment work, so I don't want to hear any complaining
    about some small faults. I know, that this game would have been MUCH
    faster if it was coded in full assembler language. I was unable to
    totally optimize this game, but I promise next StarFight to be a lot
    better (once again). Also, "Run time error 207" seems to be a TP7 bug.


    And here's some info about future projects...

       Decieve & Demolish - Enemy Within
           * You're alone in a giantic spacecraft... In a diplomatic
             situation that threatens the very existence of mankind...
           * Rendered and hand drawn alien graphics with smooth animation.
           * Compelling storyline with depth
           * Horrible system requirements
           * Many ideas 'borrowed' from Star Control(TM)
           * Superb cinematics with all-new JP-Cinematics v6.0 engine
           * Digital soundtrack, GUS and SB support
           * HUGE in size, not too big on hard disk
           * It'll be completely free!!
           * A LOT better subtitle than that!
           * The name of the game might still change
           * Coming in spring '98 in a BBS site near you.

       StarFight IV - 4th in the Neverending Saga
           * 640x400 in-game-graphics with JP-Images32X
           * 320x400 cinematics with yet-to-be JP-Cinematics-X
           * digital music tracks or MIDI-music (I can't quite decide...)
           * support for all major soundcards (if I find some sound drivers)
           * 32-bit Protected mode (hopefully)
           * possibly an adventure section
           * speech (if I find anyone to speak them, write if you're
                     interested)
           * minimum system: 486/66, SVGA, 16MB RAM
           * an excellent subtitle
           * ...the Aliens are back...or are they...
           * Coming in '98



                            - End of file -
