Fighting Steel Patch 1.1 This patch must be installed over the original 1.0 version of the game. If you have installed other patches to Fighting Steel, you must first uninstall the game, install the game again, and then apply this patch. ***Trouble shooting Notes*** If you are experiencing any problems trying to run Fighting Steel, please be sure you meet the minimum system requirements (listed below) and read the Troubleshooting section near the end of this document. II. System Requirements* Windows(r) 95 or Windows(r) 98 200MHz Pentium(R) or faster (233MHz or better recommended) 64MB RAM 4 MB, 3D accelerated Video card Video and Sound cards compatible with DirectX 6.1** or higher Internet access for MPLAYER *System Configuration: May require minor adjustments to the configuration of your operating system and/or updates to the hardware component drivers. The 1.1dbz version contains all of the fixes made in previous versions as well as those listed for the 1.1dbz below. Fixes in Fighting Steel v1.1 dbz. 1. The "More Ships" scroll icon on the division/ship box panel is fixed. 2. When viewing the ships at F2 full screen (without the bottom panel), switching division view by keys (pressing 1, 2, 3 etc.) no longer re-displays the bottom panel. 3. Victory Points displayed on the End Game Victory Screen no longer change after watching the replay. 4. Fixed the music and sound problems during the End Game Victory Screen. 5. Turning off all sound effects, voice, and music should no longer cause random crashes. 6. On the Campaign Fleet Management Screen, we changed the name of the column heading "Class" to "Type," and the name of the column heading "Fatigue" to "Fitness." 7. The radar ratings on the Ship Viewer are now correct (some USN classes and the Perth class were displayed incorrectly). 8. The camera preferences should no longer reset to default values when loading a saved game. 9. The Mission Points for Tactical Transport missions should now apply only to DDs that unencumber. 10. A ship with all turrets destroyed can no longer fire starshells. 11. Ships "in port" or under repair (campaign) should no longer suffer occasional crew fatigue (regardless of the R&R attractions the sailors may find in those ports). Their level of fatigue ("fitness") should only improve or stay the same. 12. The gunnery to-hit % below 2,000 yards has been corrected. 13. The logic problem with target circle and tactical transport missions has been corrected. 14. The AI combat effectiveness logic was broken. AI-controlled ships now try to disengage when the going gets tough. 15. The Target Threat Mode for gunnery logic was broken and has been fixed. 16. Fixed the AI problem that occurred in Division Commander Mode when the player's flagship would detach. 17. Secondary ID Tags near the bottom of the 2D View no longer float half-hidden behind the division panel. 18. Scenario Editor: Checking the Propulsion System Destroyed on for one ship no longer sets it on for the other ships. 19. Scenario Editor: The Edit Ship tab panels have been revised so that the Maneuvering System cannot be destroyed (but you can set the repair time really high) and the Close-In-Weapons cannot be destroyed (it is tied to structure damage). This patch does not address a problem with radar contacts not always appearing when the target is behind a smokescreen. Known Multiplayer Bugs When in multiplayer the camera control button appeared on the left side of the 3D screen (instead of on the right side), going away when the pop up camera views were accessed and then returning to the left side when a camera view was selected. This bug was not consistent on all machines. When a player drops out of a multiplayer game, the remaining players will be frozen when they try to go to the end game/victory screen. When a player drops out of a multiplayer game, the AI doesn't take over the dropped player's ships (they just keep sailing straight). Changes/Fixes in the v1.1 'beta' of Fighting Steel are as follows: * 3 and 4 player Multiplay has been added. * After battle Replay has been added. * When starting a multiplayer game, all players must press 'P' to unpause and begin the game. * Autosave slot and other save slots in the load campaign screen will no longer 'blank-out'. * Game will no longer crash when exiting the end-game score screen. * 'Empty' divisions, or divisions with no ships will no longer be a problem in campaign play. * Division numbers will no longer shift or change throughout game play if a division is completely destroyed. * When a ship is detached from a division, it will remain at its present speed at the moment of detachment. * Scoring for tactical transport missions has been corrected. * Chat will now function if a multiplayer game is paused. * Ships will no longer show up with different and conflicting contact levels when viewed from different game panels. * Camera button for Multiplayer games has been returned to its proper location. * Help pop-up text problems have been corrected. * Realism preference settings are no longer locked for the hosting player for multiplayer games. * The computer AI will no longer mimic a players camo selection for its ships. * 'Blank' ship views in the 3D ship viewer has been corrected. * Several Misc. bugs have been fixed. Changes/Fixes in the v1.03 of Fighting Steel are as follows: * Occasional crash when exiting the end game victory screen has been fixed. * Torpedo hits no longer cause the game to crash in 2-player battles. * Corrected problem of campaign difficulty level switching to default level after loading a saved game. * Starshells and illumination circles are now properly displayed on 2D map. * AI controlled ships now properly use starshells. * Improved AI logic added for choosing a torpedo spread (narrow, normal, or wide). * Bow wakes for very slow and sinking ships are no longer present. * The blue ID tags for friendly ships are now a darker blue and easier to read in the 2D display. * An "Evading Torpedoes" message is displayed if a torpedo spread passes near a ship: 1000 yards for elite crews, 800 for veterans, 600 for average, and 400 for green. These distances are halved at night. NOTE: the message "Ship 'X' is evading torpedoes" should be taken to indicate that said ship has spotted torpedoes in the water, not that it is currently, or successfully evading them. * "Sir, one of our ships has sunk", and "Sir, one of our ships has been hit by a torpedo" are now working for all nationalities. * Gunnery modifier for turning in column applies just to ships in turn, not all ships in division. * When enemy ships sink, the white 'sink' spots no longer jump to different places on the 2D map. * When a user creates a multiplay game using the random battle generator, the user is no longer brought to single player scenario, country selection screen instead of the multiplay lobby. * Reform Column now sets course to nearest column heading according to port/starboard selection. * A more obvious 'quit' button has been added to the replay screen. * Players no longer get a delayed Vocal message that an enemy ship has been sunk. * A text message for enemy magazine explosions has been added. * Occasionally, the division selector buttons (1,2,3, etc.) cannot be selected with the mouse. This problem has been fixed. * At times, in the Main Guns single ship screen, a user cannot select a target that is above the currently selected target on the list of targets. This has been fixed. * When in single-ship main and secondary gun target selection pop-ups, a user no longer has to deselect current target before selecting a new one; a 'Close' option has been added. * Battle Difficulty Level is now graphically displayed on the In-Game and End-Game Victory Screens. * Campaign Difficulty Level is now displayed on the Fleet Management Screen. * Corrected problem of secondary guns not firing after selecting a target in single-ship panel. * While in the End-Game All Ships Screen, you can toggle between Victory Points and Mission Points (blue numbers for friendly points scored, red numbers for enemy points scored). * Time printout in the single ship Damage Screen will now print out all digits of the time (including the seconds). * In 2-player games, if one player goes to the Briefing Screen or In-Game Victory Screen, the game pauses for the other player. * When loading a saved game, the realism preference options now remain set to the ones you chose at the start of that battle. * Fixed problem of repeated clicking on scroll buttons in Scenario Selection Screen causing scenario to be loaded. * Button added below ship box for a single-ship division to cancel its turn in progress. * Increased safety margin that AI ships use in their torpedo-attack decisions, to reduce occurrence of AI torpedoing their own intervening ships. * The division numbers on the End-Game All Ships Screen are now correct * All searchlights and starshells are switched off when night ends. Note: We are aware of some problems that remain in v1.03 when selecting a Generated Battle for multiplayer games. We will resolve all problems concerning randomly created scenarios for multiplayer games in the next rev of Fighting Steel. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause and thank you for your patience as we work to resolve these issues. Changes/Fixes in the v1.02 of Fighting Steel are as follows: * Crash/Lockup in the 3D Ship Viewer is now fixed. * Fixed problem of Windows toolbar causing game to exit during game play. * Gunnery damage to TR type ships is approximately twice as effective as before. * Significantly improved the gunnery chance-to-hit if target is less than 2,000 yards away. * Added "Close" button to all Target Selection pop-ups that did not have one already. * Fixed problem of some campaigns ending immediately after starting them. * When a ship sinks in 3D view, its searchlights and recognition lights will now turn off. * The Auto Camera Event for the 'Enemy Illuminated' option now works. * Fixed problem of some text messages not appearing on the screen for auto camera events. * Future Plots for enemy ships in the 2D view are now red instead of blue. * The graphic on Secondary ID Tags for BC type ships has been improved. * In the All Ships Screen, division numbers for friendly ships are now blue instead of red. * Auto Camera Events no longer cause vibrating Primary ID Tags. * In Division Commander mode, firing lines now appear for all friendly ships (not just your division) if you have firing lines selected for all ships. * Fixed Fire Button problem that occurred when launching torpedoes one mount at a time at the same target. * Fixed problem of 'Enemy Ship Hit by Shell' auto camera event option still playing even when user has turned it off. * In the Torpedo Panel, only targets with a valid interception point appear in the Target Selection pop-up. * Problem of running out of light cruisers in campaign games has been lessened. * The chance of a rudder hit has been cut in half, but the repair time for rudders has been increased. * Probability of torpedoes hitting has been improved, particularly for broadside hits. * Fixed inaccuracies with start dates for Campaign games. * Torpedoes are now armed 60 seconds after launch (not at 1,000 yards per manual). * In Division Commander mode, AI now takes control of ships that detach due to Missed Maneuver or Jammed Rudder. * In the End Game All-Ships Screen, the ID Tags for each ship now show the victory points earned for damage to that ship (blue for friendly victory points, red for enemy victory points). Changes/Fixes in the v1.01 of Fighting Steel are as follows: * Secondary Gun crash is now fixed. * Green Projected course arrows will no longer remain on the map when a ship (in a single ship division) experiences a collision or attempts to detach while performing a maneuver. * The Autosave slot isn't removed from its upper box and placed with the rest of the saves for the 'Load Save Game' screen for campaigns. * Ships may now perform turns as long as they have forward momentum. Before, ships could not turn if their propulsion system was disabled - even if they had decent forward velocity. * The Campaign will no longer switch sides for the player nation in the middle of the campaign. * Secondary Guns can no longer continue to fire when they run out of ammo. * The number of guns remaining on ships with damaged turrets will now display correctly for both players in a multiplayer game. * Fire damage is now synced correctly and will display properly for both players during multiplay. * Using Starshells and Searchlights will now have an impact on Threat targeting for the computer. * 2D map filters for projected path (friendly and enemy ships) now work properly. Trouble shooting Notes: Fighting Steel uses Microsoft's new DirectX 6.1. If you experience any crashes or graphical problems while playing Fighting Steel, you most likely do not have DirectX 6.1 compliant sound and/or video drivers for Windows 95/98. As DirectX 6.1 hasn't been released for very long, its important to update to the very latest drivers available for your sound and video cards (some new drivers for DirectX 6.1 are only a few weeks old). Although most crashes will be fixed by updating just your video drivers, Fighting Steel does utilize DirectX's 3D Direct Sound and updating older sound drivers might be required as well. Below is a list of web pages for some of the more popular video card and sound manufacturers. Video Cards: Voodoo3 3DFx (reference) http://www.3dfx.com/view.asp?PAGE=nusV3drivers Voodoo2 Canopus Pure 3D II http://www.canopuscorp.com/video2/software.htm Creative Labs 3D Blaster http://support.soundblaster.com/files/download.asp Diamond Monster 3D II http://www.diamondmm.com/products/drivers/driver-index.html Guillemot Gamer 3D2 http://www.guillemot.com/northamerica/index.html Jazz Renegae 3D http://www.jazzmm.com/ MetaByte Wicked 3D http://www.wicked3d.com/support/drivers.htm Quantum 3D Obsidian 2 http://www.quantum3d.com/ STB BlackMagic 3D http://www.stb.com/drivers/ Voodoo Banshee Creative 3D Blaster Banshee http://support.soundblaster.com/files/download.asp Diamond Monster Fusion http://www.diamondmm.com/products/drivers/driver-index.html Elsa Victory 2 http://www.elsa.com/AMERICA/PRO_INDX.HTM Gainward Dragon 4000 http://www.gainward.com/oem.htm Gigabyte Ga-630 http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/gigabyte-web/swagp.htm Guillemont Maxigamer Phoenix http://www.guillemot.com/northamerica/index.html Megabyte Wicked 3D Vengence http://www.wicked3d.com/support/drivers.htm Quantum 3D Raven http://www.quantum3d.com/ Voodoo Rush Biostar Venus 3D Rush http://www.biostar.com.tw/English02/04_driver/!contents.htm Deltron Flash AT3D Rush http://www.deltrontech.com/driver.htm Hercules Stingray 128 http://www.hercules.com/support/drivers/ I/O Magic Rush http://www.iomagic.com/Newweb/drivers/videocards/mrush.htm Intergraph Intense 3D Voodoo http://archive.intergraph.com/bbs/ibbsfile.htm RIVA TNT/TNT2 Chipsets http://www.rivazone.com/drivers/ Savage 3D and Savage 4 http://www.s3.com/swlib/ ATI Video Cards http://support.atitech.ca/drivers/drivers.html Matrox Video Cards http://www.matrox.com/mga/drivers/latest_drivers/home.htm Sound Cards: Creative Labs http://support.soundblaster.com/files/download.asp Diamond Multimedia http://www.diamondmm.com/products/drivers/driver-index.html Turtle Beach http://modoc.wpi.edu/tbeach/ If crashes still continue, even after you have updated both your sound and video card drivers, then please try the following: * Verify that you meet the minimum system requirements for Fighting Steel. (see below*) * Verify that you have at least 80 MB free on your C:\ drive (For Windows 95/98 swap file) * Close all programs in Windows except for 'Systray' and 'Explorer'. To do this, hit the keys at the same time to bring up the 'Close Program' window and 'End Task' all programs except for Systray and Explorer. * Reinstall DirectX 6.1. If you notice any error messages or outdated files, take note of them and call Technical Support (contact information is listed below) *You can set Fighting Steel to check your minimum system requirements by changing the DBZLIB.INI file that is found in the \Fighting Steel\INI folder. Open this folder and change the SYSTEMCHECK = 0 to read, SYSTEMCHECK = 1. Save this file and then rerun Fighting Steel. If your computer doesn't meet the minimum system requirements to run Fighting Steel, you will be notified of this fact. How To Contact Technical Support If you have worked through these troubleshooting suggestions and still need assistance, you can contact SSI Technical Support by using the options listed below. When calling our tech support group it will be very helpful if you can tell us your computer make and model, and the brand names of both the video card and sound card you are using. If possible, have the computer both positioned near your phone and turned on. Please also be prepared to give us a detailed description of what happens when you try to run the program. You can contact us in any of the following ways: ·Internet For general help and tips: http://www.ssionline.com/support/general_help.html You may also fill out our technical Support form found at http://www.learningco.com/support ·Mail Send your questions to: The Learning Company 1700 Progress Drive P. O. Box 100 Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100 USA Attn: (Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for a reply) ·Phone If you encounter any other problems with Fighting Steel, please contact our Technical Support Department at (319) 247-3333 between 9:00 am and 9:00 pm Central Time or try our automated Technical Support department at (800) 409-1497. Technical Support FAX is available at (319) 315-9600. Copyright Information (c) 1999 The Learning Company, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Fighting Steel is a registered trademark of Learning Company Properties Inc. Windows, is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders. End of Readme