Praetorians Demo README file Version 1.07 Part 1: Things You Should Know Part 2: Technical Issues Part 3: Game Instructions Summary Part 1: Things You Should Know Please read through the DirectX section of this document. This section has information that is vital to successfully running the Praetorians Demo on your system. 1.1 DirectX This game is optimised for Microsoft's DirectX 8.1. In order for you to play the game, you must have DirectX 8.x or higher-compliant drivers for your video card and sound card. Please note that DirectX 8.1b is not installed with the game, you must install it separately. You will need to obtain the latest DirectX 8.x drivers from your card manufacturer or PC supplier. These drivers cannot be supplied by Eidos. 1.2 Memory and Performance While the game will run fine in 128 Mb of RAM, your playing experience will be smoother if you have at least 256 Mb. Regardless of how much memory you have, you can maximize your available memory and increase the overall performance of the game engine by doing the following:  Closing any open windows  Shutting down all other programs, including menu-bar programs like ICQ  Defragmenting your hard drive Eidos recommends that you have no other programs running at all while playing the Praetorians Demo. Other programs, including virus checkers, system utilities and screen savers can cause system degradation when playing games software and may conflict with the game for system resources, potentially resulting in instability and crashes. 1.3 Known Issues  We highly recommend that you do not ALT-TAB out of the Praetorians Demo at anytime. 1.4 Additional Information  Windows ME: The Praetorians Demo can run on systems with Windows ME though neither Eidos Interactive nor Pyro Studios have tested it extensively and unfortunately cannot offer support for any technical issues related to systems running Windows ME.  64 MB RAM: The Praetorians Demo can run on systems with 64 MB RAM and Windows 98 (not 2000 or XP) though this with may affect performance. Neither Eidos Interactive or Pyro Studios can offer support for any technical issues relating to computers with less than 128 MB RAM.  Graphics Cards: Technically speaking the Praetorians Demo may run on Graphics Cards with as low as 8 MB RAM as long as the drivers are supported by DirectX 8.x or higher. Again this has not been tested extensively so neither Eidos Interactive nor Pyro Studios can offer support for any technical issues relating to Graphics Cards with less than 16 MB RAM and without Direct X 8.x (or higher) support. Part 2: Technical Issues 2.1 Installation & Set-up System Requirements The recommended system requirements are as follows: CPU: PIII-800 or equivalent RAM: 256 Mb GRAPHICS: 100% DirectX 8.1-compatible 16 MB Graphics Card SOUND: 100% DirectX 8.1-compatible Sound Card CD-ROM: Eight-speed (8x) CD-ROM drive or faster HARD DRIVE: 150 Mb free disk space (more will be required for save games) Preparing Your Hard Drive To ensure that your installation is trouble free, you should check to see that your hard drive and file system are both tuned for optimum performance. Windows comes with two utility programs that find and fix any errors and optimise your hard drive performance. The first of these programs is called scandisk. Scandisk will check your hard drive for problems and can fix any that it finds. You can run scandisk by clicking on the Start button from the Windows Taskbar, followed by Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and finally scandisk. Once scandisk has finished running, you should next optimise your hard drive's performance by running a program called Disk Defragmenter.. You can run Disk Defragmenter by clicking on the Start button from the Windows desktop, followed by Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and finally Disk Defragmenter. Installing Praetorians Demo Double-click on the Praetorians Demo icon, this will then self extract to your hard drive. You will be prompted to select the path and directory to which you wish to install the game onto your hard drive. The default is... C:Program FilesEidos InteractivePyro StudiosPraetorians Demo You may change this if you wish to. This program will guide you through the remaining process via onscreen prompts. If at any time you are instructed to restart your computer, do so. Starting/Loading The Demo  Click on the Start button.  Choose Programs from the pop-up menu.  Drag your mouse to the right and move through Eidos Interactive, then Pyro Studios.  Click on Praetorians Demo from the ensuing pop-up menu. Uninstalling The Demo If you need to UNINSTALL the Praetorians Demo, you may do any of the following:  Click on the Start button.  Choose Programs from the pop-up menu.  Drag your mouse to the right and click on Uninstall Praetorians Demo from the list.  Follow the onscreen instructions. OR Go to the Control Panel and choose Add/Remove Programs. Click on Praetorians Demo from the pop-up panel to follow, select the Add/Remove button, and follow the onscreen prompts. 2.2 Technical Support If you need further assistance after reading the Readme file please go to the tech support area of the Eidos website. A continually updated FAQ will attempt to assist you further. www.eidosinteractive.co.uk/support/index.html NOTE: Hints and tips will not be given out over the Technical Support lines. The latest DirectX 8.x can be downloaded from the following website: www.microsoft.com/directx Alternatively, you may find help with hardware problems on one of the websites maintained by the supplier, some of which are listed below: 3D labs: www.3dlabs.com ATI Technologies: www.atitech.com Creative Labs: www.creaf.com Matrox: www.matrox.com nVIDIA: www.nvidia.com Intel support.intel.com Terratec: www.terratec.net Eidos Interactive maintains a web page with links to all major video and audio card manufacturers, which is a good first stop if you are looking to upgrade your drivers. You can reach this page at: UK: www.eidosinteractive.co.uk/support/index.html US: www.eidosinteractive.com/support/index.html Further technical information and drivers for Windows-based PCs can also be found at www.windrivers.com Part 3: Game Instructions Summary 3.1 Overview This demo contains one mission from the Praetorians single-player campaign. The full game features over twenty missions and tutorials, multiplayer and skirmish modes, three full civilizations, and additional units and war machines. When the game is first run, you must create a profile; simply enter your name and hit the “Create” button. Now you can browse the menus and play the mission by entering the Single Player menu and choosing “Campaign.“ 3.2 Game Controls Mouse Left Mouse Button - Select Drag - Selection box +Shift - Add / remove troops from current selection +Ctrl - On a troop : select all troops of the same type on the screen - On empty space : select all troops on the screen +Alt - Generate a minimap warning signal for allies Right Mouse Button - Issue default order depending on target (move, attack, protect, etc) +Ctrl - Run if need to move to perform the action Double-clicking the left or right mouse button acts just like Ctrl-clicking in most situations. Some orders (move and build) allow you to specify the desired facing at the destination, by dragging the mouse before releasing the mouse button. If you rotate the mouse wheel while dragging the mouse, you'll change the disposition of the troops at the destination. Middle Button - Scroll view (scroll mode is selected from the Game Options menu) On troop - Track that troop as it moves Rotate Wheel - Zoom in / out. Note: some mouse drivers do not support the Mouse Wheel for gaming purposes. You can use Page Up / Page Down keys instead. Keyboard Shift - Show queued movement orders for all troops, ranges for auras and archers If pressed while issuing an order, the order will be queued Page Down - Zoom in Page Up - Zoom out Arrow keys - Scroll view TAB - Hide / show game interface ESC - Pause the game and bring up in-game menu Space - Center view on selected troop F1 - Show the position of the last minimap warning. F2 - Cycle through the scouts. F3 - Cycle through the special units (generals & medics). F4 - Cycle through the controlled villages. F5 - Toggle minimap civilization colors. F6 - Toggle selection group bar. F7 - Toggle Stats info panel. F8 - Toggle Minimap image. F9 - Mission objectives. F10 - Pause the game and bring up in-game menu. F11 - Tips window Ctrl+S - Quicksave game Ctrl+L - Load the last Quicksaved game 1..9 - Recall selection group Ctrl+ 1..9 - Assign current selection to selection group Shift+ 1..9 - Add selection group to current selection Ctrl+Shift+ 1..9 - Add current selection to selection group 0 - Select all troops not assigned to a group Ctrl+0 - Remove currently selected troops from their selection group T - Track selected troop as it moves W - Generate a minimap signal for allies Z - Select all troops on screen X - Select all troops in the entire map C - Cycle through the command panels A - Attack F - Facing D - Defensive Stance G - Aggressive Stance H - Hold Position L - Patrol M - Move N - Cycle through the available formations P - Protect R - Repair S - Split J - Join 3.3 Gameplay Tips You can get useful gameplay tips by using the Tip Window. To bring it up at any time, just press the F11 key. To display more available tips, use the left and right arrows at the bottom of the panel. Other useful keys are F9 to display the Objectives menu, and F10 or ESC to bring up the main menu. Capturing Villages If the village is captured by the enemy, you've got to destroy the enemy's garrison by attacking it with your forces. Then, use an Auxiliary Infantry troop to build your own garrison. Just select the Infantry and right click on the village. Once you have captured a village, select one of your Centurions and instruct him to go inside by right clicking on the village. Recruiting new troops Centurions are able to train new troops from the population of villages. Recruitment commands can be queued using the Recruiting menu, and will be carried out when the Centurion goes inside a captured village. Additional troops can be queued there as well. You can see the cost of each troop in the tooltip over the troop's icon. Some troops need Honor Points in order to be recruited. Honor points are earned by fighting the enemy. Building Structures Auxiliary Infantry is important as they are in charge of building and repairing structures and war machines. Check the Construction menu to see what options you have available. Sometimes you must build a bridge over a river. In order to do so, select an Auxiliary Infantry troop, right click over one of the suitable sites in the river, and just wait until the job is completed. Those spots are marked with bridge remains. Demoting and Promoting You can use the Demote command to obtain an Auxiliary Infantry from other troops. This may be necessary if you need to build something and don't have any Infantry troops left. You can raise a new Centurion from any troop by using the Promote command. You can have one Centurion for every 100 Unit Control Points. Types of Terrain There are various types of terrain in the map, and some troops are not allowed to traverse some of them. For example, Cavalry troops can't enter thick forests, while the Legionaries can't step on shallow waters. The mouse pointer will change its appearance depending of the type of terrain that the unit is on: a leaf for thick forests, a drop of water for riversides, and so on. Exploring the map There are two kinds of scouting units. The Hawk Scout can send his trained Hawk to explore the terrain from above. Its main use is to gain visibility over a hill for your ranged units. The Wolf Scout can enter forests and see what's in there before sending your troops to a potential ambush. Healing your Troops The Roman Physician and the Barbarian Druid are healing units. They both have a Regeneration Aura, inside which any troop will slowly regain its health. You can also use the Heal ability to recover your troops faster at the expense of the healer's Stamina. Running and queuing orders You can command almost any kind of troop to run by double clicking on their destination or by holding the CRTL key pressed while issuing the command. Running will deplete your troop's Stamina, though. Issuing a command while the SHIFT key is down will queue that order. Queued commands will be executed in order automatically, which will free you to attend other tasks. How to use special abilities Many of the troops under your command have special abilities. To use any of these, just use the appropriate icon in the Command Panel of the interface. Many special abilities can be used automatically; this is shown by the special border around the icon. You can right click on the icon to disable this automatic mode. Special abilities use some of your troops' Stamina. Using Special Abilities Some troops have special formations that can be activated from the Command Panel of the interface. Every formation has an effect on the mobility, defense and attack values of the troop. Special formations do not use any of your troops' Stamina.