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			   DeathMatch Manager for Quake 2
				   Version 1.0b

				By Steve Streeting 1998
			     email: sjs@sadavar.demon.co.uk
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CONTENTS
========

1.	What is Deathmatch Manager?
2.	Installing Deathmatch Manager
3.	Using DMManager
4.	Configuring Maps
5.	Configuring Midi
6.	Setting Up Messages
7.	Configuring Sound Effects
8.	Future enhancements
9.	Known Bugs
10.	Acknowlegdements
11.	Comments
12.	Legal Stuff

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1. What is Deathmatch Manager?
==============================

Deathmatch manager is a Windows 95 based integrated tool for customising Quake 2 to make 
your deathmatch sessions that little bit more interesting. 

DMM allows you to specify the level maps to use, allowing automatic progression through all
your custom DM maps. It also plays MIDI files, so you can have those heart-pumping (and 
often ridiculous) tunes as a backdrop to the screams of the dying. You can also customise 
the death messages that appear during the fray, and finally alter the sound effects to give 
it that personal feel.

All this within the convenience of a friendly GUI. You also start the server from within 
the GUI with all the appropriate DM options, and jump you straight to the map you specify
(which can be in the middle of your list if you want to).

DMM consists of 2 parts:

	a) A Windows-based configuration manager to maintain the customisations
	b) A gamex86.dll to run the modifications in Quake 2

Also included in this install package are a number of WAV and MIDI files which I find good
for deathmatching with. This is to give you a feel of DMM; if you don't like them, by all
means change them. That's the idea! ;)

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2. Installing Deathmatch Manager
================================

After unzipping the archive, run SETUP.EXE. Choose to install DMM to a folder DIRECTLY
BELOW your Quake2 folder. The install will copy the majority of files into this folder;
the exception is the WAV files which will be placed in the baseq2\sound folder underneath
your Quake2 folder.

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3. Using Deathmatch Manager
===========================

To run the Deathmatch Manager, double-click on DMManager.exe in the installation folder,
or select "DMManager" from the Programs section on the Start Menu (the setup utility will
place an icon on your Start Menu).

The manager has 5 tabs, labelled "Maps", "Midi", "Messages", "Sound Effects" and the 
"Launch" tab. Each of these tabs is described in more detail in the later sections of this
file. The "Save & Quit" and "Cancel" buttons save or abandon the changes in ALL 4 of the
configuration tabs. Launching the Quake2 server from the "Launch" tab automatically saves 
any changes.


Starting the Quake2 Server
--------------------------

Start the Quake2 server by clicking on the "Launch Quake2 Server" tab, and selecting the 
options you require. All DM options are currently supported except CTF.

From here you can specify the hostname, the starting map, whether you want a dedicated 
or listen server etc. All your customisations will also be run in automatically when the
server starts. Just click "Launch", and you're playing! No awkward command-line options or
console commands.


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4. Configuring Maps
===================

DMM allows you to specify a list of maps for the server to cycle around while you play. 

When you start the configuration manager (see section 3 for how to start it up), the window
will default to the "Maps" tab, showing a list of maps to be run. To add maps, type them in
the box supplied, and click "Add" (or press return). 

For a quicker way to add custom maps, click on "Browse". This will give you a list of the
BSP files in your Quake2\baseq2\maps folder. Select as many as you like, using the standard 
<shift> or <CTRL> combinations to select multiple items, and click "OK" to add them in.

Once you have a list, you can use the "Move Up", "Move Down" and "Remove" buttons to 
alter the list.

When you run the modifications, Quake2 will automatically change maps at the end of a DM
session. When the list is exhausted, the server will jump back to the first map on the list.
If, at any time, you manually jump to a map that is in the middle of the list, the server 
will note the point at which you jump in, and continue the list from that point.

When you start a DM game, unless you use command-line params you only have a choice of
standard Quake2 levels to begin on. If you want to start on your first map, you will have
to issue a manual "map xxx" command at the server console after you start the DM game. 
This is not essential, however, since when the first map finishes the server will jump to
the first map on your list.

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5. Configuring MIDI
===================

DMM allows you to specify a list of MIDI files to play. Click on the "Midi" tab to use
this feature.

Adding MIDI files is the same as adding maps to the list. The difference is that MIDI files
must be in the DMM installation folder. Copy your MIDI files in here to use them. Again,
use the "Browse" button to add MIDI files easily. Don't worry about long file names for
MIDI files, they will work fine.

You can listen to the MIDI files both while in the "Browse" window, and when in the main
MIDI window by using the play / stop buttons in the window. Just click on the MIDI file you
want to hear and click on the play button.

HOWEVER - MIDI files will ONLY play on the server. This is an unavoidable limitation, I'm
afraid, since Quake2 was never designed to play MIDI files, so I had to add MIDI code to 
the gamex86 DLL. Since this only runs on the server, only the server will play MIDI. I don't
think there's a way around this. ID's design means that all the rules are on the server,
with the clients having a very basic functionality (which AFAIK you can't alter without
hacking the Quake2 EXE). Sorry! The MIDI part of DMM is therefore most useful for those 
who play in the vicinity of each other (ie a LAN).

Clients running the patch (which of course, they don't need to) will hear MIDI when they
start Quake 2, but it will stop as soon as they join a server (the DLL is killed then).

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6. Configuring Messages
=======================

DMM allows you to change those boring messages that Quake 2 sends when people kill each 
other in deathmatch. Simply click on the "Messages" tab to edit them.

By default, the messages I use will be there. Just edit the text as appropriate, using 
'$v' to represent the victim's name, and '$a' for the attacker's name. Quake 2 will insert
the names at run-time.

There are separate messages for suicide, environment death, and for each of the weapons.

Don't get too extravagant with the messages; people don't have time to read lengthy ones 
in the heat of battle! The limit is 100 characters, including names, so aim for a limit of
about 50 characters per message. This is easily enough IMO.

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7. Configuring Sound Effects
============================

This version of DMM allows you to alter the sound effects for picking up weapons and items
(separate sounds per weapon and category of item), and to add extra sounds when players 
are killed.

Click on the "Sound Effects" tab to alter these sounds. I had planned to include weapon
firing sounds too, but I have been pressed for time, so these may follow in a later version.

To change a sound, click on the effect you want to change and either type the name of the 
WAV you want to use (no path), or preferably use "Browse" to find the one you want.

Note that to work in Quake2, sounds must be in WAV format, must be MONO and 8-bit. The
configuration manager will play ANY wav sounds, so check / convert formats using a WAV
editor if you get problems. All the WAVs provided with DMM have been converted already.
Sounds must be in the "baseq2\sound" subfolder underneath your Quake2 folder. The "Browse"
option will only let you select from this folder too.

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8. Future Enhancements
======================

I hope to be able to implement the following in future versions of DMM:

a) Alteration of more sound effects, notably weapon firing effects
b) Frag logging and league table of players
c) Inclusion as on/off options of other popular patches like damagematch and bounty
d) Addition of new items / powerups

I do NOT intend to include any weapon additions or patches in DMM. ID finally got the
weapon balance right in Quake2, and to unbalance it with new or altered weapons would be 
heresy!

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9. Known Bugs
=============

None currently known if you use the GUI to do everything.

However, when starting the server manually (using "quake2 +set game..."), I have noticed 
that sometimes demos won't play, giving a "version incompatibility between game and map" 
type error. This happens when the startup demo tries to play, for example.

This does not seem to affect play at all (all Quake2 maps still work fine), since you can
still start DM sessions etc. Plus, DMM starts the server for you from the "Launch" tab,
and you never see the problem this way.


I have not tested DMM on Windows NT, so am unaware of it's compatibility. If anyone has
further info and needs an alteration for NT, please email me.

Apologies to non-Wintel users. I felt the best way to integrate DMM was via Win95,
not least because it's the only platform I have access to! I am making the gamex86.dll
source available in a separate archive, and this could be recompiled for other platforms,
although the text files containing the customisations would have to be manually maintained.

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10. Acknowledgements
====================

The map switching code is based on a modified version of the Quake2 Map Mod produced by
Jeremy Mappus (aka. DarkTheties). I also reused his text file loading code in other places
(with a few alterations) because it was faster than writing from scratch. Acknowledgements
go to him for supplying his source (which is more than some stingy mod coders do!)

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11. Comments
============

Comments and feature requests (I'm not promising anything! ;) to me at:
			
				 sjs@sadavar.demon.co.uk

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12. Legal Stuff
===============

As usual, the author accepts no responsibility for the consequences of the use or misuse
of this software. Use it at you own risk.

This mod and it's GUI may be freely distributed for non-profit puposes. It may not be
charged for, whether in it's own right or as a compilation. Any other publication
requires expicit permission from the author.







