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Games for GAUGE^3D
Copyright (C) 2000 Kenton Varda
Home page: <http://www.gauge3d.org>

The example programs in this directory are public domain.  Do whatever you
want with them.

These programs are distributed in the hope that they will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
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See the file "INSTALL" for information on compiling and installing these
programs.

This directory contains some simple games that use GAUGE.  In order to play
these games, you need the game data, which can be downloaded from
<http://gauge3d.org>.  This data is not on CVS as it would greatly increase
download times.

==========================================================================
Asteroids
==========================================================================

Running
-------
  Once you have compiled and installed the game as specified in the file
"INSTALL", you have to download and install the data files.  You can find
them in the downloads section at <http://www.gauge3d.org>.  Instructions
on installing the data files are included in the package.

  After you have installed the data files, you can run asteroids by
typing "gauge3d-asteroids" on Linux or by double-clicking asteroids.exe
on Windows.

Controls
--------
	up/down      - accellerate/decellerate
	left/right   - turn
	space bar    - fire
	ctrl         - shields
	page up/down - adjust LOD (only affects spheres right now)


Configuration
-------------
If you don't like the default controls, video settings, or game constants,
you can edit them in the config file.  After you run the game once, the
a folder called "Config" will be created in the game directory.  In that
folder you will find a file called "asteroids.cfg".  Open it with your
favorite text editor and have fun!  If you screw it up, you can always
just delete it, and the game will create a new one with the default
settings the next time you run it.

If you want to use Direct3D rendering rather than OpenGL (and you are
using Windows 9x/ME/2k), change "video/preferred renderer" from "opengl"
to "direct3d".  You need DirectX 7.0 or higher to use this.  Please be
warned that the Direct3D plugin is not as stable as the OpenGL plugin.
Also, the Direct3D plugin currently does not display lighting perfectly,
though you probably won't notice the difference.

Troubleshooting
---------------
Problem:  I don't see any lighting effects, and I am using OpenGL (the
  default) on Windows.
Solution:  You may have a bad OpenGL driver.  Many 3D hardware
  manufacturers write very bad GL drivers.  Cards from Matrox, ATI, and
  some 3dfx are known to have this problem (NVidia cards, on the other
  hand, have *excellent* OpenGL support).  There are two possible
  solutions to this problem:
   - Check to see if your hardware manufacturer has released an updated
     driver with better OpenGL support.
   - Use Direct3D instead, as described under "Configuration", above.

Problem:  On Windows, pressing alt freezes the game and brings up the
  window menu.
Solution:  Don't press alt.

Problem:  The game sometimes pauses for brief moments when I press keys,
  and I am using Windows 9x/ME.
Solution:  We have tracked this down to the console window.  The console
  is that big, black DOS-like window that opens up in the background and
  prints out what keys you are pressing.  It appears that Windows 9x has
  problems rendering that window efficiently, and will occasionally
  cause brief interruptions in game play when new text arrives in the
  console.  Fortunately, there is a simple solution:  Minimize the
  console, or place another window (like the display window) on top of
  it.  Then, Windows will say "gee, this window isn't visible, so I
  guess I don't need to render it."

Problem:  None of the keys work, or they work at first and then stop
  working after I die, and I am using Windows.
Solution:  A couple of people have reported this, and it appears to go
  away if you reboot.  We are still trying to figure out what causes this
  problem.  It only appears to happen on Windows 9x.

Problem:  The game crashes.
Solution:  Well, crap.  There are tons of possible reasons for that.  If
  you edited your config file, you should try deleting it and running the
  game again.  Another thing to try is changing your preferred renderer.
  Your system may have probles with either OpenGL or Direct3D, so make
  sure you try both (if you use Windows).  If that doesn't help, please 
  e-mail me at <temporal@gauge3d.org> and tell me what kind of system you
  have and how you got the game to crash.  Remember, this is pre-alpha
  software, so you should not expect it to be perfectly stable. :)


-Kenton Varda
<temporal@gauge3d.org>
