             
                             TEGEL'S MERCENARIES             
============================================================================



         !!!! READING SECTIONS 4 & 5 IS ESSENTIAL FOR FULL !!!!
                  !!!! UNDERSTANDING OF THE GAME !!!!




**** A NUMBER OF HELPFUL OPTIONS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO FACILITATE GAMEPLAY ****

This file contains last minute changes to the Mercenaries Manual as well
as other important information.


         
         
         Contents
         
         System Requirements ...................................... 1
         Installation ............................................. 2
         Troubleshooting .......................................... 3
         Manual Additions ......................................... 4
         Manual Changes ........................................... 5
         Ending the Game .......................................... 6
        
        

 ==================================== 1 =====================================

                            -System Requirements-

   
   To install and run Tegel's Mercenaries will require the following actual
   minimum requirements on your PC (use the "chkdsk" or "mem" command
   to check):

                Low RAM free:  590 KB 
                                

                Extended RAM:  0 KB    If no Sound Card is being used.
                               700 KB  If using Sound Card

                Free Hard disk space:  5.0 MB 

                               
                             
        Required:
                - IBM-PC/AT 12MHz '286 or faster
                - 640 K Memory  
                - Hard drive (requires at least 5.5 Mb free space to install)
                - Mouse, 100% Microsoft (or Logitech) Compatible

                             
 - Memory requirements

    Mercenaries requires 590K of the 640K portion of RAM free to run.  
    1 MB of extended (NOT EXPANDED) memory is required for the
    digitized Sound Blaster sound effects. 
     
    To run the program you may have to free up more low memory and convert 
    expanded memory to extended (by altering or removing the EMM386 command 
    in your CONFIG.SYS). 

    If you don't have enough memory to run Mercenaries and are not familiar
    with the methods to free up additional memory on your computer, you may 
    start up your computer using a boot disk.  

    Please note that many users report incompatabilities when using Sound
    Blaster along with EMM386.  To avoid problems, we recommend that EMM386
    be disabled before running TEGEL'S MERCENARIES.
 
    On some computers, STACKER may cause conflicts with Mercenaries.  If you 
    have STACKER and are experiencing difficulties, reinstall the game on to
    an UN-STACKED portion of your Hard Disk.




 ==================================== 2 =====================================                     
   
                       -Installation and Configuration-
                       
 
 - Hardware Check

    To determine the type of sound card available for music and sound 
    effects, the INSTALL program is set to automatically scan the computer 
    hardware. In case the program cannot successfully scan your particular 
    hardware, you are given an option to skip the scan process and 
    manually input the sound card settings yourself. 

    If you select NO to Hardware Check, then the INSTALL program will 
    default to no sound card and you must choose the correct sound card 
    settings yourself. If you are using a Sound Blaster card for sound 
    effects, then you will need to choose the correct I/O port, sound IRQ 
    setting, and DMA Channel setting. When choosing these settings, the 
    defaults will be highlighted. You can choose the defaults or select 
    your own settings. 

 
 

 ==================================== 3 ===================================== 
                        
                              -Troubleshooting-

                             
 - Sound Card problems
    
    Some AdLib compatible sound cards may not be detected by the INSTALL 
    program and the program will default to the PC Speaker. You may 
    override this selection and choose Adlib as your selection. 

    If sound problems occur within the game, there may be a compatibility 
    problem with your specific hardware configuration. To test for sound 
    card compatibility problems, run the INSTALL program and select PC 
    Speaker to see if this eliminates your problems. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
     
     - Special Note for 486/50 Mhz machines and Sound Blaster soundcards -

    Problems may occur with Sound Blaster soundcards when attempting 
    to play music on a 486 machine running at 50 Mhz speed.  Included with 
    "MERCENARIES" are 2 files: ICD.EXE and ICE.EXE - the former to disable 
    the internal cache on the 486 and the latter to reenable the cache. 

Usage:   icd - disables the internal cache 
         ice - enables the internal cache

** WARNING:  IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A 486 COMPUTER, DO NOT RUN THESE PROGRAMS!! **

    Thanks to Michael Spertus - CompuServe #70313,2520 for these programs.



 ==================================== 4 =====================================
     
                              -Manual Additions-
                                  
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  
                                  Hot Keys
                                  
The following is a complete list of all the Hot Keys which are available
in Mercenaries.


                    A ......................... Attack
                    E ......................... Engage/Ignore
                    F ......................... Follow
                    S ......................... Search
                    V ......................... moVe
                    X ......................... Cancel
                  1-6 ......................... Choose Merc
                    D ......................... use Device
                    T ......................... sTatistics
                    P ......................... Pickup (When Mission Complete)

                    
SPECIAL NOTES: 
               Attack:  Once the attack hotkey is selected, a menu of
                        hotkeys which represent the mercenary's
                        weapon choices will appear at the bottom of 
                        the screen.  The actual letters cannot be 
                        listed here because the hotkey assignment varies
                        from Merc to Merc.
                  
                  1-6:  It is possible to use the numeric keypad to 
                        select the appropriate mercenary but THE 
                        NUM LOCK MUST BE OFF!  If the NUM LOCK is on,
                        the game will respond as if it were in SOLO 
                        MODE (described below).
            
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

                            * ADDED HOTKEYS *
            
            Scrolling:  On expanded keyboards, the arrow keys may be used
                        to scroll the map during the mission.  Holding 
                        down the <Ctrl> button when depressing the arrow 
                        keys will cause faster scrolling.

            <Alt> + A:  Depressing the "A" key while holding down the 
                        <Alt> key will Abort the current mission.  This
                        key is designed to allow you to skip missions
                        which you are unable to complete.  For this 
                        reason, when the abort command is given, the 
                        game acts as if you had just SUCCESSFULLY 
                        completed the aborted mission and allows you
                        to go on to the next mission.  The difference
                        between aborting a mission and completing it
                        is that you will receive no credits from an 
                        aborted mission, even if it was partially 
                        completed when you aborted it.  Because the 
                        game ends if you run out of money, only a
                        few aborts will be possible.

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

Weapon Abbreviations             
             
             
                 Rocket Launcher .................. Rocket     
                 Laser Gun ........................ M-Rifle
                 Flamethrower ..................... Flame-Jet
                 Grenade .......................... Grnades
                 Holdout .......................... Hldout
                 Demo Charge ...................... Demo
                 Red Card ......................... Rd. Card
                 Black Card ....................... Blk. Card
                 Heavy Armor ...................... Hvy. Armor
                 Medium Armor ..................... Med. Armor
                 Light Armor ...................... Lt. Armor
                 Bomb Detector .................... Bomb-Det
                 Rockets .......................... Rckts.
                 6pk. Launcher .................... 6Pk.
                 Halo Rifle ....................... Halo
                 Napalm Hurler .................... Naplm
                 Balrog Flamegun................... Balrg
                 Pulse Rifle ...................... Pulse
                 Machine Pistol ................... Mach. Pist.
                 Spartan Shotgun .................. Spartan
                 Q5 Bull Pistol ................... Q5-Bull
                 Blister Charge ................... Blister
                 Explosive Charge.................. Exp. Chrge.
                 Plasma Rifle ..................... Plasma
                 Fussion Cannon ................... Fussion
                 Medic Kit ........................ Medic
                 Prism Cloak ...................... P-Cloak
                 Paralyzer Bomb ................... P-Bomb
                 Holo Disk ........................ Holo-D
                 Data Disk ........................ Data-D

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

                           * Additional Features *            


                              - Melee Combat -

       
      
To engage in this form of combat, simply move your mercenary next to the 
target.  When the mercenary is close enough, melee combat will begin.  
The amount of damage a mercenary does is dependant upon his or her strength.

                               
                               - SOLO MODE -

     Solo mode is a special feature which allows you to take direct
control of the mercenary you choose.  To use Solo Mode, simply highlight 
the appropriate mercenary with the mouse and depress the <Tab> button.
At this point, you can control the highlighted mercenary with the 
numeric keypad, WHEN THE NUM LOCK IS OFF! If your Num Lock is not off, 
pressing 1-6 will highlight a new mercenary.  Whenever the Num Lock
is turned off, the highlighted mercenary will be placed in solo mode
so it is possible to select a mercenary with the keypad while the Num
Lock is on and then switch to Solo Mode by simply switching the Solo Mode
OFF.

     When in Solo Mode, the keypad may be used to control the mercenary,
as previously stated.  You are also able to use the mouse and the hot-
keys, if you wish.  All hotkey commands automatically refer to the 
mercenary in Solo Mode.  Turning the Num Lock ON, or highlighting the 
mercenary and depressing the <Tab> key will disengage the Solo Mode.

     While in Solo Mode, depressing the <~> key (the key to the left of 
the <1> key) will automatically return to the mercenary who was in Solo 
Mode before the current mercenary.  This only works when you use the 
<Tab> key to engage Solo Mode with consecutive mercenaries. 

     At any time during Solo Mode, depressing the <Space> bar will
cause the mercenary controlled to fire a weapon at any available target.
The mercenary will automatically choose the most powerful in his, her, or 
its, arsenal.  If an enemy entity is in its field of vision, the 
mercenary will target the entity, otherwise it will shoot the weapon
in a straight line.

                            - Following Combat -

     During combat, you will notice a number of indications as to what
exactly is happening to your mercenaries below is what they mean.

Yellow "Splat": The mercenary is firing at a target.
Red "Splat": This entity has just been hit by an attack.
Blue "Splat": This indicates a miss.
Explosion: The explosion is used to indicate the impact of a heavy 
           weapon.  This can be a flamethrower, grenade, or rocket 
           launcher.

     In order to further clarify what is occurring during combat, we have
included health indicators for the mercenaries on the screen.  The health 
indicators will illustrate when the mercenaries are being damaged.   

                              
                              - Armor Upgrade -
     
     When collecting an armor upgrade device, the upgrade value will not
show up in the merc's health bar at the top of the screen. It will, however,
be in his inventory, and you can check his new armor value by looking at   
his/her statistics.
     
 ==================================== 5 =====================================             
 
                               -Manual Changes-

   The following is an itemized list of the discrepancies between the manual  
and the "Tegel's Mercenaries" game.

- Flameguns, hold thirty (30) bursts.  Laser weapons vary by type.  
  The Microwave Rifle holds 60 shots, the Delaser has 40 shots, and the Pulse 
  Rifle has 20.

- Unfortunately, Demolition devices do not function.

- Mercs may use a weapon that they are not trained with.

- All attributes are limited to 98.  

- Armor values for the mercs are not listed on the roster screen.

- Use of the Tool Kit improves armor in the same way that the Med Kit 
  improves the mercs' health.

- The only method of restricting the weapons that the mercenary uses is to
  go to Solo Mode with that mercenary.

- There are no destroyable walls in the game.



=================================== 6 =====================================
                               
                               
                               ENDING THE GAME
 
     Tegel's Mercenaries ends when one of the following three conditions
     is met.

               1. When the player runs out of money.  (Lack of credits
                  makes it impossible to hire mercenaries for missions.)
 
               2. When the player loses all of the available mercenaries
                  in the game.  (No new mercenaries will follow such a 
                  poor leader.)

               3. When the player successfully completes all of the 
                  missions in the game.  (Pat yourself on the back for 
                  a job well done!)



============================================================================

- This README.TXT file can be reveiwed using most text editors.

                      For additional HELP, you may call Mindcraft 
                      Customer Support at: (310) 320-5214  
                      (9 - 6 Pacific Time  M - F)

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                                   THE END


