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Nerf Arena v1.1

Updates Nerf Arena Blast to version 1.1...

Nerf Arena v1.1

Updates Nerf Arena Blast to version 1.1. The patch includes new team game improvements, fixes for international version problems, new advanced options for setting up team game servers, and more. Check out "more info" for a full list.

CONTENTS

Version 1.1 Patch Improvements

Problems with International Versions of Windows

New Team Game Improvements

New Options for Setting Up Team Game Servers for Advanced Users

ORIGINAL RELEASE NOTES

Minimum System Requirements

Recommended System Requirements

Setup and Installation

Installation of Direct Draw 7.0

Problems with CD Music: Don't Hear Music, Music Too Soft or Loud

Problems Playing the Video Clips: Clips Won't Play or Play Unevenly

Graphic Hardware Issues

Other Hardware Issues and Atari's Troubleshooting Webpage

If Your Game Needs to Be "Reset"

Game Play Framerate, Visual, Sound Quality and Speed Issues and Tips

Setting Up an Internet Server

Adding "Bots" (Computer Controlled Players) to Multiplayer LAN and Internet Games

License Agreement

Version 1.1 Patch Improvements

The ArenaBlast Version 1.1 Patch includes a number of improvements. The most noticeable are:

Direct3D and Nvidia graphic problems have been fixed

Disruption of full game servers by demo logon attempts has been eliminated

Multiplayer character setup is now saved and stable

Disconnection from play in multiplayer when you hit the menu esc has been eliminated

Flying players coming out of tunnel in Amateur have been eliminated

Team Multiplayer has been improved and re-organized to two team default (See below)

Qualifying point values shown on doors for bonus levels have been fixed

Various improvements have been made to AI character behavior

Multiplayers moving before start buzzer in PointBlast has been fixed

Problems with International Versions of Windows

There have been some reports of difficulty playing ArenaBlast on non-English versions of Windows. We've made changes in the patch that can help with these problems. However, if you still are unable to install or play ArenaBlast correctly on a non-English version of Windows, try creating a folder (e.g. Nerf ) on your hard drive. Then copy the contents of the ArenaBlast CD into the folder you've created. From within the System folder just copied over, double click on the Nerf.exe application. This should permit you to play the game and avoid installation/path related problems that some have seen.

New Team Game Improvements

Team games now are set to permit two teams to play against one another. (See the next section on how to change the default two team setting). Team play is started from the Menu Multiplayer Start Server page, as before. In the default settings, the two teams are the Twisters, (in Orange and Blue uniforms) and the Tycoons, (in Red and Black). If you log on to a Team Game server setup in the usual way and have set your character to be one of the Twisters or Tycoons, you will be placed on the team of your choice as the character you've chosen.

However, if you log on to team server with your multiplayer character set to a player from a different team than those playing, you'll be assigned to the team with the least number of players, and your character will be changed to a player from that team.

In this way, team balances will tend to be maintained, and each player will be clearly recognizable as a member of the team he's playing with. If you want to change teams, go into the menu's multiplayer player setup, and select a character from the team you want to change to. Then click on the "Find games" tab and press Play. You'll be reconnected to the game as the new team member you selected and your team will be changed to your selected character's team.

New Options for Setting Up Team Game Servers for Advanced Users

The usual (default) number of teams in a team game is two. This number can be changed by editing the Nerf.ini file and changing MaxTeams=2 to the desired number of teams under each gametype you want affected by the change. For BallBlast, look for [NerfI.TeamScavengerHuntGame] and change the MaxTeams number a few lines under that heading. For PointBlast, look for [NerfI.TeamGame], and SpeedBlast look for [NerfI.TeamArenaRaceGame].

Below the MaxTeams setting in each area, you'll see lines like these:

TeamColor[0]=Twister

TeamColor[1]=Tycoon

...

This is the order that the teams are assigned as you increase the number of teams that can play in a team game. For example, if you want a four team PointBlast game with the Luna, Orbiteers, Tycoons, and Barracudas, you'd go into your Nerf\System folder, open Nerf.ini in a text editor, look for the [NerfI.TeamGame] heading, then in the few lines after, change the value shown to MaxTeams=4.

Below that, you'd change the TeamColor order to:

TeamColor[0]=Luna

TeamColor[1]=Orbital

TeamColor[2]=Tycoon

TeamColor[3]=Barracuda

...

The number of players permitted on each team is the total number of players permitted in the game divided by the number of teams. In other words, if in the Start Server Menu you set Max Players to 20, and you have set up a 4 team game, there can be up to 5 players on each team.

ORIGINAL RELEASE NOTES

Minimum System Requirements

Operating System: Windows¨ 95/98

Processor: Pentium¨ 200 MHz MMX or higher

Memory: 32 MB RAM

Hard Disk Space: 120 MB Free

CD-ROM Drive: 4X Speed

Video: 2 MB Windows¨ 95/98 compatible SVGA video card*

Sound: Soundblaster compatible sound card

DirectX: DirectX version 6.1or higher (included)

Modem: 57,600 baud (for modem/Internet play)

3d Card Optional

Network: TCP/IP connection

* Indicates device should be compatible with DirectX version 6.1 or higher.

Recommended System Requirements

Operating System: Windows¨ 95/98

Processor: Pentium¨ 233 MHz or higher

Memory: 64 MB RAM

Hard Disk Space: 275 MB Free

CD-ROM Drive: 4X Speed

Video: 3D accelerator *

Sound: Windows¨ 95/98 compatible sound card*

DirectX: DirectX version 6.1 (included) or higher (included)

Modem: 57,600 baud (for modem/Internet play)

* Indicates device should be compatible with DirectX version 6.1 or higher.

Setup and Installation

1. Start Windows¨ 95/98.

2. Insert the Nerf ArenaBlast CD-ROM game disc into your CD-ROM drive.

3. If auto-play is enabled, a title screen should appear. If auto-play is not enabled, double-click

on the "My Computer" icon on your Win95/98 desktop.

4. Next, double-click on your CD-ROM icon to install the game. If the install screen still does not appear at this point, locate the "setup.exe" file on the Nerf ArenaBlast CD-ROM and double-click on it.

5. Follow the remainder of the on-screen instructions to finish installing Nerf ArenaBlast.

6. Once installation is complete, click on the Start button at the bottom of the screen, and

choose Programs/Atari /Nerf ArenaBlast/Play Nerf to start the game.

You may also start the game by selecting PLAY from the title screen.

Note: You must have the Nerf ArenaBlast CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive to play.

Installation of Direct Draw 7.0

On most systems, the Nerf ArenaBlast CD-ROM requires DirectX 6.1 or higher in order to run.

If you’re having problems running ArenaBlast and do not have DirectX 6.1 or higher installed on

your computer, you can install Direct X 7.0 from theArenaBlast CDROM.

To install Direct Draw 7.0, put the ArenaBlast CDROM into your computer's drive. Open "My Computer" on your desktop, select the ArenaBlast icon, right click and select "open" to open the disk without starting it. You'll see a number of folders and programs on the disk. Double click the DX70eng.exe program to start it. Follow the instructions and your system will be upgraded to Direct Draw 7.0.

Problems with CD Music: Don't Hear Music, Music Too Soft or Loud

The music that plays during the game is played from the ArenaBlast CD in your CDROM drive. In the in-game Set-up Menu under General Options, you can adjust the CD music volume and ArenaBlast's sound effects with separate controls, (hit the Esc button during the game to see the Setup Menu). This music control adjusts within the basic volume level set by Windows CD Audio volume control. If you adjust the game Menu control to full volume and still find you can't hear the music, or that it's too soft, you should adjust your basic CD Audio volume in Windows.

The Windows CD Audio Volume Control can be accessed by double clicking on the small speaker in the "System Tray" of very small icons on the Taskbar. It can also be accessed by selecting Volume Control from the Programs->Accessories->Entertainment menu under your Start button Programs selection. Once the Volume Control is open, adjust the basic CD Audio Balance and Volume levels to suit your preferences.

Note that, due to the hardware limitations of some brands of CDROM drives, the in-game Set-up Menu volume control is completely unable to adjust the volume of the music, and it can only be set from the Windows control, as described just above.

You will not hear the music at all, or will hear it stop during play if you selected the minimal sized install to your hard drive (if you checked only "Install Nerf Game" and not "Install Game Content"). This is because with the minimum installation size, the game must frequently retrieve files from the CD, and is therefore unable to stream music for you to hear. If you decide you want to hear music in the game, you must re-install the game from your ArenaBlast CDROM with the option selected to load the Nerf Game and the Game Content to your hard drive. It's unnecessary to install the Video Clips to your hard drive to hear the game music.

If you have other sound-related problems, try checking the Atari Troubleshooting Webpage given below.

Problems Playing the Video Clips: Clips Won't Play or Play Unevenly

If you the video clips play unevenly, this can be due to the characteristics of your computer memory, CPU speed, CDROM drive or hard drive. Frequently, on hard disks with fragmented space, you may get better results by defragmenting, or by re-installing the game from your ArenaBlast CDROM and choosing the option NOT to install the Video Clips on your hard drive. The clips can play very smoothly directly from CDROM on many machines. On the other hand, if your CDROM has an extremely slow transfer rate, the opposite may be true for your machine.

A few video adapters don't support Direct Draw 320 mode, and on machines slower than 233 Mhz or with less than 64 meg of RAM, these the Video Clips may at first not play at all. These cards can, in limited cases, give an error and prevent game start-up. There are two work-arounds that will permit you to start the game if you encounter this situation. One is to double click on Nerf.exe in the System folder within your Nerf installation folder, or set a shortcut to start this program. This bypasses the initial video and starts the game directly. The second is to go into the Nerf System folder, edit the file named Vnerf.ini with a text editor and change Clock=210 to Clock=180 and Mem=48769 to Mem=20000. You should make no other changes to the file, and save it as a text file with the original name (no .txt extension). This will permit you to start the game in the usual way from the start menu and see the higher resolution video clips, but these video clips may play somewhat unevenly on your machine, depending on its characteristics.

Graphic Hardware Issues

Nerf ArenaBlast may experience display problems using the Nvidia RIVA 128 2X video display card, or on limited number of other adapters or configurations.

On some graphic adapters that don't support Direct Draw 320x240 mode, you may receive an error that stops game start up. If you believe you may have this problem, see the second paragraph of instructions in the section above, Problems Playing Video Clips.

Contact the Webpage given in the next section if you need further information on resolving graphic hardware issues.

Other Hardware Issues and Atari's Troubleshooting Webpage

If you have hardware problems while installing or playing Nerf ArenaBlast, go to the Atari troubleshooting site on the Web at:

http://www.hasbro-interactive.com/atari/tech_support/index.cfm

If Your Game Needs to Be "Reset"

If a power interruption, system crash or other unusual circumstance leaves your game stuck in a state in which it won't start or play correctly, there's a couple of things you can do to reset it. One is to reinstall the game from your ArenaBlast CD. This can be done by placing your CD in the drive, starting the disk as described at the beginning of these notes, and selecting the Re-install option when it appears. This process is designed to save your existing games.

A second method, which does not preserve your saved games, is to go into the Nerf\System folder and delete the User.ini and Nerf.ini files. Do not delete any other .ini files in the folder, (or you may need to re-install your game). Once these two files are deleted, you can start your game normally, and it will reset itself and start and play correctly.

Game Play Framerate, Visual, Sound Quality and Speed Issues and Tips

The framerate and speed with which your ArenaBlast game runs depends on a number of game settings and your computer's characteristics. When you first install and start up ArenaBlast, the installer detects the characteristics of your computer and sets the ArenaBlast's settings to best match it. Usually, these are the best settings for your computer. These settings, which include the screen resolution, the amount of texture detail shown and the sound quality set for the game, directly affect the framerate and responsiveness of your gameplay. The settings are also adjustable from within the Options section of ArenaBlast's in-game Set-up Menu, which you access by hitting the Esc button during gameplay. In general, the higher the resolution, texture and sound quality settings are, the slower the game responsiveness and framerate become. However, many capable computers can run smoothly with many or all of the settings fairly high. If you wish, you can experiment with the settings to find a combination that sets a balance of quality and speed that works for you.

Another feature that gives you flexibility is the on-screen display that you see during ArenaBlast showing energy, points, ammo and your place in the competition. By pressing F5, you can cycle through various combinations of game information, clear your screen to see no information on-screen as you play, or see all the information at once. You'll find that clearing some elements of the on-screen display can speed the framerate of your game. Some may prefer this advantage or view, as opposed to the advantage of seeing all the information at once while you play.

Setting Up an Internet Server

You can set up an ArenaBlast server using the Multiplayer->Setup Server selection in your game menu. Note that if you choose to make your server Public, it can be seen from anywhere on the internet by anyone who has the same version of ArenaBlast that you do. Usually, this is not a problem. However, you should be aware that by making your server public, it becomes easier for potential hackers to locate your computer and potentially damage files on it. This risk can be lessened somewhat by making sure that your hard disks are not shared if you start a server. However, there is no way to completely eliminate hacking risk if you're connected to the internet, and risk from hacking is increased the more public and available your computer and its connection become. Activities like hosting a webpage or a game server both advertise your computer and provide a degree of access to it.

Adding "Bots" (Computer Controlled Players) to Multiplayer LAN and Internet Games

This is an advanced feature that some players may want to try. If you want to add Bots to multiplayer games, edit the Nerf.ini file in the Nerf\System folder. Search for "bMultiPlayerBots=False" and change it to "bMultiPlayerBots=True". The next time you start a multiplayer server, there will be computer controlled players in the game. To change their number, change "InitialBots=5" a few lines below to a different number. Note that, in some circumstances, this may affect the number of players in the regular ArenaBlast game. You can return to the original settings by changing the lines back to what they were originally.

NerfEd Note: NerfEd, the editor used to build the Nerf ArenaBlast game has been included on your ArenaBlast CDROM as a free bonus for your enjoyment and exploration. However, NerfEd is in no way guaranteed to work on your system by either Hasbro Interactive or Visionary Media, Inc, nor is it documented. It's been provided because many have requested it, and because others will enjoy exploring a tool that can build real-time 3D games. Neither company is able to provide technical support or answer questions regarding NerfEd at all, so please don't ask us for assistance in this area. Thanks.

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