🚀 go-pugleaf

AND I WON'T STOP POSTING IT UNTIL YOU ALL START PLAYING!

Seriously though...some discussion I just read created a bit of 
confusion about what the Australian host accepts and doesn't accept. 
What an opportunity to advertise for some more opponents :-)
Unlike Doc Doom I'm not about to try Genie, so unless you all
try it out there will be no-one for me to shoot.

Come back, Doc! I promise I won't kill you so quick next time!
(and if that doesn't get me killed I don't know what will :-)

 
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/            The Australian Air Warrior FAQ version 1.1                \
\    All you need to know to be shot down by fellow Australians.       /
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This mostly unstructured FAQ is designed to let you know how to play
Airwarrior without paying huge ISD phone bills. The yanks and poms have
had an AW server for ages now, and we finally have one too. PC players
will notice that the information herein is mostly concerned with PC
software. While there may be Amiga, ST or Mac software out there,
and while I MAY have heard that there is nice SVGA-equivalent Mac
software in the works, I know nothing about it. Non-PC types, sorry,
but I just don't know.

Comments and corrections to adam@arcadia.cs.rmit.edu.au please.
 
I am not in any way connected with Kesmai, Oz-E-Mail, Genie, 
Konami, Messerschmitt Bayerische Flugzeugwerke or any other
business mentioned in this document, except as a paying customer.
Airwarrior is a registered trademark of the Kesmai Corporation.

Thanks go to the following people for assisting in the production of this
FAQ:

Mark W. Watson (mark@wehio.wehi.edu.au)
Geof Evans (rxkgre@minyos.xx.rmit.edu.au)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abbreviations:
AW = Airwarrior - the game.
B&Z = Boom and Zoom - zooming in, shooting ("booming"), then zooming away.
ftp - file transfer protocol - see your admin. if you don't know.
------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

What is It?
-----------
In short, the most fun you can legally have with a modem and PC.
Airwarrior is an innovative on-line game, a little bit like a MUD -
except that instead of collecting weapons, money and armor, you fly
around trying to shoot other players down. Mostly you fly WWII fighter
aircraft in either the Pacific or European theatre, but you can also
fly Korean War era jets and WWI fighters and bombers. A large
playfield is divided into three countries, A, B and C-land. As a pilot
for one of these countries your mission is to hurt the enemy as much
as possible by bombing and capturing their assets and by shooting
down their pilots. You fly on-line by dialling the server, in this
case Oz-E-Mail (contact number below), with your Airwarrior server
and modem. Your individual score is calculated by the amount
of kills/damage you do and the way in which you terminate your
flight :-).

The simulation is accurate - some even buy the AW software just for
the excellent modelling of the flight characteristics of the
aircraft. Unlike most on-line games, this is action - imagine Flight
Simulator 5.0 with other humans flying around trying to shoot you -
that's what it's like.

In the USA this game is available on Genie, a national e-mail and
bulletin board service. It is also available in the UK, but I can't 
tell you where because I don't know. If you are not in Australia
then most of this information will not apply to you - the UK and
USA servers have different access methods, different features and
use different versions of the software. In short, please ignore this
completely unless you want to know more about how to play AW
in Australia.
 
How To Do It?
-------------
First thing you should do is ftp to wuarchive.wustl.edu, and grab issue
number 10 of Game Bytes - it's in the directory /systems/msdos/games/Game_Byte
or something similar (that may not be exact). It contains a review of the 
Air Warrior game, as well as a good description of the online flight
experience. From this you will be able to get a better description of
the game than I am prepared to type right now.
 
Next thing is, ftp to cs.uwp.edu in the directory /incoming/games and
get the file airpc209.zip - that's the latest freely distributable version
of AW, and you can fly around and practise with that, although there is
no-one to shoot at. You can get enemies to shoot at by loading someone
else's camera files and then pressing F8 - you then have control of the
plane and can shoot at the other planes. (Although they will ignore that,
and keep flying the paths they flew when the film was recorded.)
You will notice that the graphics here look nothing like the
screenshots, because this version is VGA-only. To get pretty SVGA
graphics you need to buy the SVGA version.

You can also get these files from cactus.org, in the directory 
/pub/genie/airwar as pcair*.*.
 
Due to hardware difficulties (so I'm told) our server is running a
software version considerably older than the American server. Thus an 
older version of the host software is required. If you want to play on-line
you will also need to get version 1.4 of the same program, called
airpc14.zip - available from the same site as airpc209.zip. You
will notice that this version looks terrible! It's in EGA. 
If you want to play AW without buying the SVGA software, you just
have to put up with it.
 
My Plane Looks NOTHING Like a Plane!
------------------------------------
All of the versions of AW come with artwork for the Spitfire. All
versions except the SVGA version include artwork for nothing else.
If you want to see the nose and cockpit of your plane, and the parts
of it that should be there when you use the various views, you need
to get the artwork files. These are hard to find. One place to start
is to ftp cactus.org - you may or may not find them. I didn't.
Note that SVGA artwork is not compatible with VGA artwork - if your
screen starts scrolling like a TV without vertical hold, then you
have probably tried to use SVGA artwork with a VGA or EGA version.
 
The Soundblaster Doesn't Work!
------------------------------
You must have 384K of free EMS. The EGA version (1.4) does not
support soundblaster at all. It only uses the PC speaker, and I
would advise you not to - if you make engine and gun noises with
your mouth it will sound more realistic.

In the VGA version, (2.09) you must rename the file SB.DRV to 
PCAUDIO.DRV. If you do not so this the Soundblaster will not work.
This version does not support the PC speaker (thankfully!). 

If you have problems with sound cutting in and out or being VERY
intermittent, try moving the soundblaster from interrupt 5 to something
else.  This sems to help. Try other interrupts at your own PC's risk.

Video Problems
--------------
If your VESA screen is not working (display is crammed in the first
1 to 2 cm of the screen (eg. cirrus logic video drivers) then there are
currently 2 fixes.  Playcorp can provide a driver called univesa.exe
that will make it work but you will probably have to adjust the vertical
size of your screen as you switch in and out of high-res graphics modes.
The second is to upgrade to 1.13 using the upgrade from cactus.org or
others.  This supports the VESA cards by running a program VESACFG that
gets the card to provide the specific details needed to get the display
right. Remember that you can't play online with 1.13 though! If you
really want to play _right_now_, you might try the universal VESA
drivers that sometimes come with .gif viewers, like the excellent
VPIC.

Finally You Have To Pay
-----------------------
To get on-line you have to call the Oz-E-Mail network, and join up. It
costs $50 to join, which includes 5 free hours of on-line time. (sort
of free, anyway :-) Further time costs $25 for five hours. Once you
have given Oz-E-Mail your details you will be allocated a user ID
and password of your choosing. The last step is to load the AW
software, and fly. Payment is via credit card or if you don't have
one of those you can mail a cheque. 
 
Where To Get SVGA Airwarrior?
-----------------------------
Lastly, if you like it, head off and buy SVGA Airwarrior. As you will 
see from the screenshots included in some of the archives it is much,
much nicer. It's like the difference between Flight Simulator 1.0
and Flight Simulator 5.0. Be sure that you get the version with 
money amounts labelled in UK pounds - at the moment the UK import 
version is compatible with the Australian server, while the USA
import version is not. This is not a problem as long as you're patient,
Playcorp (Australian distributors) will send you a free downgrade
so that you can play. The SVGA version includes two manuals, an excellent
A1 size map and Spitfire poster (double sided), four disks of the
software and artwork and details about Oz-E-Mail. I highly recommend
buying the SVGA package; you will not only enjoy flying much more,
you will be encouraging further development of the game and others
like it.

There is nothing wrong with the USA import version - it's just that
as our server stands, it is not compatible. You can get a free downgrade
from Playcorp to a version which will work, but you will have to wait
a few days until it arrives in the mail. I do not know what other 
differences exist. If you only want to play off-line then the USA
version is probably better. If you want to know where I got mine,
mail me - I'm not going to advertise them over the net, they haven't
paid me!
 
Specific Information on the Australian Server
---------------------------------------------
The Australian server is best described as primitive at the moment.
Whereas the Americans fly in a real-time full-realism environment
where kills and scores are recorded on an ongoing basis, we fly in
a half-time low-realism environment where no score is recorded from
call to call. This is going to be fixed soon however - everyone I
have spoken to is keen for this to happen as soon as possible.
When this does happen, upgrades for your Airwarrior software will
be available over the Internet. The very latest version of the 
SVGA software is 1.13b, and is available via ftp from cactus.org.
This version allows you to fly off-line with up to 10 drones. 
 
Watch Out
---------
Watch out for me of course - on your six. Watch out also for the amount
of time you spend on line. In the first night I played I spent five
hours on-line, and there were only three others in the air. Of course
a lot of that time was spent flying in half-time mode just looking
for the enemy, but it shows you how easy it is to spend time and money
in this game. Watch out that you don't wind up with a huge credit
card bill. You can pay by cheque or money order also, and only
pay for the time you can afford. Don't spoil a great game for yourself!
 
Hardware
--------
The SVGA version of AW requires a 386 or better, with at least 4M of
memory. The recommended minimum speed is 25MHz.
I fly with a 286-16 with 1M ram, using the EGA version. I hope that
this will change soon, but it is quite usable if a little ugly.
A good joystick is essential - you have enough to worry about learning
a whole new type of flying without having to worry about a touchy
mouse too. I use a CH Flightstick - the throttle control wheel is
supported, and is very useful. The Thrustmaster sticks are also
compatible, although I don't know how useful all the extra buttons are.
 
Tactics And Weapons
-------------------
Enough has been said about tactics and weapons in the excellent
manuals you get with the game for this section to be redundant. One
thing you should probably do is pick a Spitfire first time. Other
aircraft like the F4U Corsair or Fw190 are best suited to experienced
pilots who have had time to work out their strengths and weaknesses.
Some planes just don't dogfight, and some planes just don't B&Z. 
You find out which ones do which as you go.
 
Always, always, look around! Use the views and at least you will
see the plane that killed you. You might even be able to get him
first.
 
Important Phone Numbers:
------------------------
Oz-E-Mail (on-line service): 1-800-805-874
For registration, and for help with account problems.

Dial-in lines:
	Melbourne: 03 525 4904
	Sydney:    02 437 5812
	Perth:     09 472 1021
	Brisbane:  07 279 3914
	Canberra:  06 257 2662
	Adelaide:  08 364 1451
 
These are the only capital cities supported at this time. For more
information, please call Oz-E-Mail.
 
Playcorp (Australian Distributors): 03 329 1999 (Ben Coleman).
For help with problems relating to software.
 
Other addresses:
----------------
Kesmai (wrote the software): kesmai@genie.geis.com
Me (Adam Eberbach, "Grue" on-line): adam@arcadia.cs.rmit.edu.au
Please mail any corrections/additions to me.