To Install VR Slingshot NOVICE Version on a hard disk,
type: Install (path) and enter.
A. WELCOME TO VR SLINGSHOT (TM) NOVICE VERSION
Buckle up for Virtual Reality! Dodge that venom-spitting vipercraft and
hang an outside loop around the Gravitron! If you're not leaning sideways
in your chair in three minutes, you may want to visit your doctor to examine
you for Shallow Reflexes!
Most people don't get to see the difference in physics-based virtual
reality. That's why we're giving you a complete hands-on experience with
it to see the infinite variability depending on what you do, with physics
that behave much like those in the real world. VR Slingshot(TM) is the first
game to combine:
1. Real-time computational fluid dynamics airflow simulation,
2. Real-time physics-based interaction,
3. Advanced flying and driving simulation,
4. Stereoscopic 3D graphics, 3D sound, and
In this Version you will be able to play a true Virtual Reality game,
ENERGY DUEL, and build your flying skills before you decide to order
the Advanced VR Slingshot(TM) package, play CYBERBALL, and take on a friend
head-to-head.
To get going, you should have a 486 or better with an analog joystick (with
or without throttle). And sound. Get sound. Beg, borrow, or commandeer a
Soundblaster or Pro Audio sound card. And some way, somehow -- you owe
it to your ears to get stereo headphones so you can hear the vipercraft
coming up behind and sweeping past you. Most 486's should give you decent
play speed. If you upgrade to Stereo 3D LCD shutter glasses, you'll probably
want a 486/66mz or a Pentium.
If you don't have a joystick yet, do this first: just turn on your sound in
HARDWARE SETUP. Watch the autopilot demos of both Energy Duel
and Cyberball, and you'll see the computer playing against itself. First
select one game or the other in Preferences. Then put "Practice" on
"Professional." Then hit "A" on the keyboard and use the spacebar to select
from a cockpit view and two remote views.
When you decide to play ENERGY DUEL (only), you should start with HARDWARE
SETUP. You will want to identify your sound cards and music. If you have
Stereo 3D LCD shutter glasses, you would set those up on this screen also.
B. SET-UPS, CONTROLS, AND INDICATORS -- ENERGY DUEL
You will be flying in what we call a TeleVirtual Arena with an invisible
top and sides, which you may discover by hitting them like a bird hits
clear glass. You can land on the Gravitron (the top floating object) Main
Pad (center floating object) or the Hanger (on the ground) to load up on
energy again. Mostly you will be exploring generalized physics.
Computational Fluid Dynamics...tell your professor that! You will soon
get the feel of gravity, lift, and of hitting hard objects....but we
are kind. Nothing will explode, and you will not die.
SET-UPS
Go to HARDWARE SETUP. Set Sound and Music to your appropriate sound card.
Go to PREFERENCES Give yourself a name. Select a Thrust rate (20 or 30
gives you less apparent control sensitivity, and less speed and climbing
ability. Remember to set the computer's Thrust to be equal to yours,
or to bestow a handicap. The Sim Rate adjusts the speed at which the
computer runs the whole simulation, and as you know there are faster and
slower 486's. Experiment with settings until game is the most fun for you.
Go to JOYSTICK CALIBRATION. Different joysticks have different X and Y axis
characteristics, so set Min (X = FAR LEFT; Y = FAR FORWARD) and Max. (X = FAR
RIGHTL; Y = FAR BACK). When you have Minimum and Maximum values set for each
axis, click CENTER JOYSTICK. If your stick has a throttle, toggle that box
to JOYSTICK, and calibrate the throttle (Min.=Forward). If your joystick does
not have a throttle, toggle that box to MOUSE and use your mouse forward and
backward for throttle. Then set two finger buttons so that one is "fire" and
the other is "rudder," which allows you to hold the button down, move the
stick left or right, and have YAW or RUDDER instead of roll. Use this rudder
while driving on the ground.
FLIGHT CONTROLS -- These let you sit back from the computer with your
joystick.
EFFECT ACTION
Roll left Move stick left.
Roll right Move stick right. (Used in sequence, these
Pitch up Move stick back. allow you to bank your
Pitch down Move stick forward. turns)
Rudder Hold down the steering button (the non-
(and firing button)and move the stick left or
ground right to turn (on the ground) or yaw (in
steering) flight). You may also use rudder pedals.
Fire Press the "fire" (non-steering) button.
Throttle On Joystick : Move throttle
(forward adjustment forward to increase
and or backwards to decrease.
reverse) Mouse: Move forward to increase or
backwards to decrease. Press left
mouse button to zero throttle.
Ground flip Move stick left or right until your aircraft
is right side up without pressing the
steering button. (Be sure to zero the
throttle when flipping.)
FLIGHT INDICATORS (ENERGY DUEL)
LEFT BAR Your energy level
RIGHT BAR Opponent's energy
V BAR Your Velocity
A BAR Your Altitude
T BAR Your throttle (Midpoint is zero throttle;
flying backward can cause stalls.)
PITCH Far left bottom of play screen
ROLL Next to Pitch
TRACKER Middle of screen, tells you where opponent is:
White ahead, Red behind.
If the joystick trims were moved since the last joystick calibration or
any time the joystick becomes un-centered, you can press BACKSPACE while
the game is running to re-center the joystick. A SAVE config saves the
new joystick and other parameters.
2. KEYBOARD COMMANDS
No keyboard commands are required once a game begins, but you can find some
interesting effects with the space bar to give you a cockpit view, or two
remote views. With remote tracking, you can watch yourself fly as you
are learning. Autopilot (A) lets the computer play against itself. It is
likely that neither opponent in this autopilot mode, however, is half as
intelligent as you. Remember that. If you play head-to-head against your
friends in the Advanced Version, you will probably see human deviousness
that no computer can match.
MAIN SCREEN VIEW ADJUST KEYS
Backspace Re-centers joystick.
Spacebar Cycles through viewpoints:
1. Cockpit view
2. External chase view
3. Fixed external view
DELETE Toggles to pause game.
a Toggles autopilot On/Off. Autopilot is active when
score is green.
f Toggles frame rate display On/Off.
t Toggles target vector (tracker) On/Off.
v Toggles velocity vector On/Off.
q Quits current contest.
d Toggle dot detail level Up/Down. (Speed increases
with fewer graphics.)
l Toggle Main pad landing lights On/Off in Energy Duel.
g Toggle ground detail Up/Down.
RETURN Toggle between minimum and maximum detail (unites d, l, g ).
DELETE,HELP Toggles to pause game.
(3D LCD SHUTTER GLASSES ONLY)
In HARDWARE SETUP you will tell the computer which serial or parallel
port your 3D LCD-shutter glasses are plugged into, and then you will also
need to find which of the stereo modes and frame selections operates best
with your computer and screen. Mode 1 is the most common, syncing on retrace
before field advancement, but on some computers you'll need Mode 2. Try each
and see which works best. Do the same with the other stereo selections, and
then save the setup. Stereo, on this menu, refers to "Stereoscopic."
(In other texts you may see LCD shutter glasses referred to as 60 Hz 3D
glasses because that is a common, but not the only, rate of shuttering.)
The stereoscopic adjustments for separation and inter-ocular angle can
be set up to suit your eyes' ability to fuse the images. Large screens
and projection screens require less separation than smaller screens.
(Note: 10% of all people cannot see stereoscopic 3D.) Use these Keys and
be sure to save your optimum key settings also, since your eyes are VERY
personal to you:
S Toggles stereoscopic 3D On/Off.
MAIN SCREEN VIEW ADJUST KEYS (3D STEREO GLASSES ONLY)
7,8 Decreases, increases stereo separation. Reduces stereo separation
when using large screens or when you can't easily fuse the images.
Increases stereo separation to increase the overall 3D effect.
9,0 Decreases, increases stereo inter-ocular angle. This adjustment
affects near object stereo effects more than far object stereo
effects. Adjust this factor to a level that is comfortable
for your eyes.
- (dash) Zooms Out
= (equals) Zooms In
TARGET AND VELOCITY VECTOR VIEW (3D STEREO GLASSES ONLY)
Y,U Decreases, increases stereo separation. Reduces stereo separation
when using large screens or when you can't easily fuse the images.
Increases stereo separation to increase the overall 3D effect.
I,O Decreases, increases stereo inter-ocular angle. This adjustment
affects near object stereo effects more than far object
stereo effects. Adjust this factor to a level that is
comfortable for your eyes.
P Zooms out.
[ Zooms in.
] Resets view parameters to last loaded or saved.
F10 Resets view parameters to defaults
Once keyboard adjustments have been made they can be saved with the SAVE
option from the CONFIG menu (this saves the complete VR Slingshot(TM)
setup). You can even exchange your own sounds, music, textures, and
pictures with those in the program. The manual with our Advanced version
tells you how.
You will begin to develop skills hands-on that make Energy
Duel more enjoyable the more you learn and play. That's the real value
in VR Slingshot(TM) ....a concept with infinite variability depending on
what you do, with physics that behave much like those in the real world.
This program is copyrighted shareware and you may copy it or send it
to individuals who might also be interested. If you do so, these simple
rules must be followed:
1. You must replicate the entire program, including all README files.
2. No person can use any replicated or transmitted copy of this program
for commercial purposes (such as any type of promotion or arcade
attraction) without a special VR Slingshot(TM) entertainment license.
Call 1-800-707-1VRS to discuss any entertainment licenses.
3. All rights and representations will be intact in every copy made or
transmitted.
4. You must be registered, and must instruct each person who copies it
to be registered. To register for this shareware, please send $5.00
in check or money order to:
VR SLINGSHOT, 1335 N.Northlake Way,#102, Seattle, Wash. 98103
You may also contact the VRS BBS at 206-547-1285 for Frequently Asked
Questions.
D. WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU UPGRADE TO THE ADVANCED VR SLINGSHOT PROGRAM
We hope you enjoy playing ENERGY DUEL against the computer opponent
(or just flying around -- that's fun, too). You'll be able to explore
a generalized physics model in virtual reality without paraphernalia
and learn that virtual reality is "what you can do, not what you wear."
(Thanks to Myron Krueger) You'll enjoy VR Slingshot even more when you
experience CYBERBALL in the Advanced Version, and much more than that
playing your crafty friends head-to-head over direct link or modem.
If you like this NOVICE Version, you can order the Advanced VR Slingshot(TM)
program for just $39. In that Advanced version you will have:
(1) the ability to play the thrilling and bizarre new sport called
CYBERBALL, which you've been able to watch here.
(2) the ability to play head-to-head with a friend (direct-linked
or over a modem) in both Energy Duel and Cyberball. On
some 486 systems this can reach as many as 70 frames per
second at 4800 bps.
(3) a thorough 48-page manual,
(4) a coupon which will get you a deep discount on stereoscopic 3D
LCD shutter glasses if you decide you want to upgrade from
2D to Stereo 3D (not from us but from 3DTV Corporation,
PO Box Q, San Rafael, California, 94913-4316 Tel.415-479-3516
Fax 415-479-3316. 3DTV will also sell you the full version),
(5) a personal mailbox on the VR Slingshot BBS (to receive complete
answers to your best questions) at 206-547-1285. An Internet
address will be available shortly from BBS for special uses.
To order the Advanced VR Slingshot(TM) Program: Call 1-800-707-1VRS (ORDERS
ONLY) with a Master Charge or Visa number. U.S. cost IS $39 plus $6 shipping
(no CODs). Visa & MasterCharge Only. Non-US call 206-282-6809 (ORDERS ONLY).
___________________________________________________________________
For fax orders, fax this form to VR SLINGSHOT, 206-547-8802 (Visa and MC only)
Please send me the Advanced VR Slingshot(TM), and bill $39.00 cost and $6
shipping to this credit card (if non-US,bill my card for "least expensive
trackable shipping"- usually $14). Shipping rates may increase without notice.
Name: _______________________________________________________
Address______________________________________________________
City/State/Zip_________________________________________________________
Telephone No.___________________________Fax___________________________
Visa or
MasterCharge No.____________________________Expiration Date: _______________
Signature of Cardholder ______________________________________
(Non-US Orders MUST use credit card to obtain trackable shipping ).
On non-US orders, Visa or MasterCharge number will be used to provide
"least expensive trackable shipping" -- approximately $14.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Checks or Money Orders (US only). Be sure you give us your full street
address and phone number. Enclose $39.00 plus $6 shipping -- UPS in US)
Non-US pay by money order only - $39.00 (US) plus $14 shipping. Checks or
Money Orders should be made out to "VR Slingshot" and should be addressed to:
VR SLINGSHOT, 1335 No.Northlake Way, Suite 102, Seattle, Wash. 98103
