ROBOTZ!
		Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
		-------------------------------------

		H A R D W A R E   R E Q U I R E M E N T S

Q. Which CPUs are supported?
A. The game was tested with i8080,i8085,KP580BM1,z80.
   There is a high degree of probability that it will run on AMD8080
   except that this CPU won't be properly detected and game or sound
   speed may be affected.

Q. What about the CPU clock frequency?
A. The game supports a range from 1.5 to 12MHz, including standard
   Vector-06c 8080 at 3MHz. Sound should be fine in the entire range,
   although a bit muffled at low CPU frequencies. The playability below
   8080 3MHz is questionable and above may be too fast. There are no
   game speed delays for higher frequency CPU at this moment. This is
   done intentionally, so stop bitching ;-).

Q. Does it need the RAM drive?
A. Yes. As a minimum you need 256K "classic" RAM drive, Kishinev schematics.

Q. What about the improved RAM Drive (Barkar page access extensions)?
A. Yes, it is fully supported, but there won't be any gain since the
   game is not using extended memory access modes of the device.

Q. So what is the minimal hardware configuration that can run the game?
A. 64K main RAM, 256K Kishinev RAM drive, 1 floppy drive, no sound board.

Q. Will it run on real Vector-06c?
A. Yes (provided that you have a RAM drive and a floppy).

Q. Will it run on Vector 06c.02?
A. Yes (provided that you have a RAM drive and a floppy).

Q. Will it run on Vector 6128?
A. Not until you equip it with the RAM drive. At this moment there is
   no known solution how to attach the RAM drive to 6128, but this
   virtual configuration was tested in Virtual Vector emulator and
   seems to work just fine.

Q. Will it run on Krista-2 or Vector-1200 (aka Vector-Start)
A. No. These clones are not fully compatible with Vector-06c,
   although it may be possible to start the game on Krista-2.

Q. Will it run on Altera-DE1 under Vector06cc emulator by svofski?
A. Yes, in full glory.

Q. What software emulators can run the game?
A. Virtual Vector by Ramiros
   emu by b2m


		S O F T W A R E   R E Q U I R E M E N T S

Q. What software is needed to run the game?
A. The game requires MicroDOS v3.1 for Vector-06c with at least 46K TPA.
   It was tested with stock BIOS, Bold BIOS 2.x, BIOS T-34. BIOS T-34
   was found to have an issue of not reprogramming the palette after
   system cold reboot. This will affect the font color after game exits
   to T-34 OS.


			S O U N D

Q. Does this game support R-Sound 2 sound board?
A. Yes, RS2STM.DRV file implements a driver that can play STM modules via
   R-Sound 2 sound board. RS2STM.DRV must be installed in place of original
   "sound renderer" driver file.
   Start the game with original sound driver. Take note, which file name
   contains implementation of "sound renderer" driver class at game bootup.
   Exit the game, rename RS2STM.DRV accordingly and start the game again.

Q. I still don't understand a heck about sound driver installation.
A. Game engine is expecting uniform naming convention for all installable
   sound/SFX drivers. Sound and SFX driver names should look like
   SOUNDxxx.DRV
   where xxx is 001,002, etc. up to maximum number of simultaneously supported
   drivers (in particular version of the game).
   Note: game engine will load drivers sequentially starting from the driver
   in SOUND001.DRV file up to maximum number of simultaneously supported.
   Boot loader checks that there is a single driver of the particular class
   in the system as well as whether there are no device usage collisions.
 
Q. What about other sound devices, can they be supported?
A. Yes, but you have to implement the sound driver.
   It is not that hard, just disassemble one of the existing to figure how.

Q. Game currently supports playing of STM files, but I want to play PT2,
   PT3, whatever module format. Is it possible?
A. Yes. You need to implement the appropriate sound driver that plays
   the module format, provides game engine with sound module file
   extension and properly calculates module size (last is not the strict
   requirement, but game engine will try to load entire file otherwice).

Q. Are there any limitations on sound module size?
A. Yes. Currently sound module size is limited to 8K minus driver size.
   SFX sound library size is limited to 16K minus respective driver size.

Q. I want to change my in-game music. Is this possible?
A. Yes. You can change in-game and menu screen music. Just name the
   module files accordingly. Below are sound file name conventions:
	MENU.<EXT>	- menu music
	OPTIONS.<EXT>	- options music
	LEVELxxx.<EXT>	- level file music, where xxx is game level 000-999

   The <EXT> file extension above should correspond to the type of sound
   module, supported by the driver. For example, STM.
 
Q. Driver has an issue in playing the STM file: file is played partially, then
   garbage is heard.
A. Most probably, an issue is really in STM module size field inside STM file.
   Fix it, and it should be Ok.

Q. I am a lazy bum; I don't want to fix no STM files of mine. I just want to
   play this C00L STM without glitches above.
A. Write me a note, I'll send you the driver that loads entire file.


			F O N T S

Q. Can I use different system font?
A. Yes. You have to get 8x8 font file in low res format and rename it
   to SYSTEM.FNT. Right now 2 files, DIGITAL8.FNT and DIGITAL9.FNT
   are provided as a choice.


	    I N   -  G A M E   M E N U   S C R E E N S

Q. I don't like your silly game menu/intermediate screens.
   Can I change these?
A. Absolutely. Just follow the naming convention:
	MENU.IMG	- main menu screen
	OPTIONS.IMG	- options menu screen
	LEVELxxx.IMG	- level loader image, where xxx is game level 000-999
   Images must have pixel depth of 3 planes.

Q. I don't like the palette, chosen for particular screen.
A. You can change this too. There are 7 16-byte palettes defined at
   the location 0x10 inside .IMG file. Be aware that it is the last
   of 7 palettes that is normally used to display the screen. First
   6 palettes are used for color effects like transitions or blink.


			B O O T   L O A D I N G

Q. I hate this screeching sound after the boot load / I have motion sickness
   when the whole screen is scrolling / I just want to start the game ASAP.
A. Press <Cntrl> button as soon as boot loader starts playing or hold <Cntrl>
   button near the end of the boot load. Playing/scrolling will be skipped
   for good.

Q. Screw the game, I like this screeching sound after the boot load.
   I want to play the boot sound again and again.
A. Press <Shift> any time while the boot loader is still playing the sound.
   The sound will start over.


			P L A Y I N G   T H E   G A M E

Q. I don't like any of the provided palette colors. Can I change these?
A. Yes. Each level describes its own palette colors. There are four
   palettes of choice, each containing 4 colors. They are located at
   offset 0x40 up to 0x4F inside .LVL file.


				T E C H I N F O

Q. How fast is the rendering?
A. Depends on the CPU. On the stock Vector-06c, with its wait states and i8080
   at 3MHz it takes exactly 1300 cycles per one background 16x16 pixels tile.
   Therefore, it takes 169,000 cycles to render 4-color background in 10x13
   tiles window, which is 2.82 screen interrupts roughly. This yields maximum
   *theoretical* speed around 18 FPS for just the background scene rendering.
   With the same configuration it takes 2420 cycles per foreground overlay
   alpha-tile including the wait states. Thus, it would take extra 314,600
   cycles if the whole backround scene was overlayed with alpha tiles
   (never the case). It would amount to theoretical 6 FPS to render such scene
   including the background.


				T O O L S

Q. I want the level editor.
A. I want it too ;-)

Q. I want the sprite editor.
A. Write me a note.


Be cool!
-PPC
