

     The files in this archive include many new features for use
with Flight Sim Toolkit.  However, keep in mind that some of these
features are still experimental, and might have some bugs we
haven't encountered.

     Here's a listing of what these new features are, and their
current limitations:

     WORLD.EXE:  
     
     This new World Editor has a number of improvements.  First,
Hangers can now produce "Strafer" aircraft that will actively and
realistically strafe any object of the opposite Team color.  Simply
check the "Strafer" box in the selected Hanger's Properties page.

     Second, Depots can now produce "fighting" ground vehicles. 
These vehicles have a weapon range of 2 kilometers. The new
Properties page for Depots has a list of new values to allow for
customizing these vehicles: 

     Speed:  The default speed for the vehicles to travel at when
their assigned Path segment is 0.  (To make stationary vehicles,
give them a Speed of 0, and assign them to a two-point Path with
speeds of 0.)

     Strength:  This is how many damage points the Depot-produced
vehicles have.

     Shells:  This is how much ammunition these vehicles have.
     
     Fire Gap:  This is the time, in seconds, that it takes to the
vehicle to reload.

     Predict:  This toggles a simple "lead-computing" algorithm to
make the vehicle's fire more accurate.  

     AA:  This causes the vehicle to only engage enemy aircraft. 

     The other Depot Properties are the same as earlier versions of
FST, and FST:  WWII.

     Third, Paths now have "Active" flags assigned to each leg. 
With the Active flag on, vehicles and aircraft assigned to that
Path will behave according to their Class.  (Fighters will Fight,
Bombers will Bomb, Strafers will Strafe.  You get the picture...)
With the Active flag off, the vehicles assigned to that Path won't
do anything but follow the path.  This allows FST users to more
tightly control the behavior of the vehicles, preventing them from
attacking objects they weren't supposed to.

     COCKPIT.EXE

     This new Cockpit Editor allows FST users to design cockpits at
320x200, 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768 resolution.  HOWEVER, the
800x600 and 1024x768 resolutions will only work on cards with the S3
864 and 964 chipsets with at least 2 megabytes of RAM.  (Such as the
Diamond Stealth 64.)  If you haven't seen FST running in 1024x768
at 25 frames per second with these cards, you're in for a treat! 

     FLY.EXE

     This new version of FLY has a number of improvements.  First,
it's faster, and has slightly improved sorting routines.  As a
result of using a new compiler, it MUST have the DOS4GW.EXE
program in the same directory.  This means it takes a bit longer to
start the simulation, but pays off.

     Pressing "T" during play engages a simple "Target Tracking"
feature that draws a vector to the nearest bogey.  The vector
won't lock onto aircraft behind you.

     A simple "virtual cockpit" feature has been installed,
allowing the player to slew his view around while the Head's Up
Display repositions itself.  This is a pretty basic feature, but
is still kinda neat.  We're still playing around with this one.

     The slight "player bias" has been turned off.  The computer
aircraft now treat the player just like everyone else.

     There's a new multi-channel sound driver.  This plays back
multiple .WAV files at once, as opposed to FST's old
single-channel driver.  ***BUT***  This driver currently plays ONLY
on cards with an IRQ setting of 7.  Even then, we've only been
able to get sounds to play reliably on 16-bit SoundBlaster cards.
MediaVision and Sound Galaxy cards haven't even squeaked for us
with this new driver...

     The new FLY.EXE also has some different video drivers.  The
VESA driver is faster, but a bit unstable.  Users experiencing
troubles with the FLY -V command should run the GETVESA.EXE
program before running FLY.EXE.

     ***WARNING***:  ATI cards aren't supported in this version of
FLY.  (We're still working on the new ATI drivers.)  If you have an
ATI card, don't try running this new FLY.EXE with the -A graphics
setting.  Use the -V command (VESA) instead.

     Here are the graphics flags to run the new FLY:
     
     -S0:  1 or 2MB S3 864 or 964 card, 640x480.
     -S1:  2MB S3 864 or 964 chipset card, 800x600.
     -S2:  2MB S3 864 or 964 chipset card, 1024x768.
     -S:   Older S3 chipset card, 640x480.
     -V:   VESA 1.2 compliant card, 640x480.

     Finally, the new FLY.EXE generates a file called SCORE.DAT
upon exiting.  This file contains an ASCII text listing of the
shapes that the Player destroyed, and a listing of the total number 
of shapes destroyed during the session.  Players can write a simple
QBasic program to read this file and develop their own scoring
system for FST!   

     I want to emphasize that this version of FLY.EXE is still
experimental, so I'd appreciate it if you could report any bugs or
difficulties you encounter.  However, nearly everyone should be
able to enjoy all these new features without any problems.

     In the future, FST users can look forward to a CyberMaxx VR
Helmet driver for Flight Sim Toolkit, in addition to new versions
supporting the next generation of 64-bit, 128-bit, and 3-D graphics
cards.  We're also trying to put together the "FST:  Helicopters"
data disk, as well! 

     I hope that you enjoy this upgrade.  I think that you'll find
these new features add a lot of potential, flexibility, and fun to
FST.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to let us
know.

     Bryan Walker
     Simulations Producer
     Domark Software 

     

     

     

     

 
