DescentBB

Brought to you by M*E*P
This program is a cheat for DESCENT(tm) from Interplay.

What it gives you:
1) All the weapons/missles
2) Enough power to toast everything from Mercury to Pluto
3) Enough shielding to survive anything
4) Tons of missles
5) 254 extra ships (not really needed but...)

Instructions:
1) Go into DESCENT(tm) and create a new character
2) Enter a level and save a game
2) Exit
3) Run the cheat using \"dscheat filename.sg?\" where filename.sg? is
the name of the newly created save game file (usually the same
name as the one you picked for your character) and the extension
.sg? is whatever slot you saved it in.
4) Return to DESCENT and have fun.

Send comments, questions, angry rejoinders to: wilsom4@rpi.edu

DSGE v1.00 Written by Andrew Pye

Introduction

Hi, there! First, I would like to thank you for taking the time to
download this and try it out. Second, I'd like to thank Brian C. McDonald
(author of \"GODLIKE.PLR\") for inspiring me to actually distribute this
(it's been hanging around, wasting HD space for months now...) and give
me Darren Lo's \"*.PLR Offset Tables, version .1\" (oh, BTW: I'd like to
thank him too , though, all I got from his list was the offsets of
where the horizontal and vertical screen sizes were. I found everything
else out on my own (come to think of it, I think I found those a near the
beginning of my hacking... Anyways, I only decided to add them after I
saw Darren's file)). Third, DSGE stands for \"Descent Save Game Editor\"
(yes, I know, you edit player files, not specifically save games, but DPE
(Descent Player Editor) didn't have the same ring to it ).
I want to say this right off: It will NOT work with the registered
version of Descent!! It's been tested and will only work with the
shareware version. I am working on a program that will work with the
registered version. I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Disclamer

I hate these, but they are necessary... I, myself, the author of the
program, nor the creators of Descent, or anybody else, for that matter,
will not be held responsible for any stupid descisions made on your
behalf. I have listed in this document all known bugs, inacuracies, etc.
in DSGE. If your hard disk gets trashed, all your player files screwed
up, get dumped by your girlfriend/boyfriend, get thrown into a Nazi prison
camp, I, myself, the author of the program, nor the creators of Descent,
or anybody else, for that matter, will NOT be held responsible. Now,
without further delays, here's the rest of the document.

History

DSGE was born about 2 or 3 weeks after Christmas. Since then, it's
been collecting dust on my HD until a few days ago (March 14, 1995), when
Brian told me to spread it around and \"to not distribute this program
would be an injustice to all the Descent players out there.\" Thanks,
Brian! Why, exactly, I decided to write this, I don't know. Probably I
just got bored and decided that having like 65535 lazer energy would be
pretty cool. So, I fired up old Norton Utilities and spent a week or so
hacking the now \"archaic\" player file. I also decided to go all-out on
the interface, too.

Operating Instructions

Not too hard, really, since it's all menu driven and there's usually
a description of what the current menu does on the bottom of the screen.
One thing, also: ALL the items in the \"Lazer Type\" menu WILL work with
the shareware version of the game. I've tested all them. The Smart
Missiles are the missiles that the boss of level 7 shoot at you, and the
Plasma Cannon is like the Smart Missiles, only they're only the green
homing balls without the missiles.
For those of you who REALLY need to know, here's EXACTLY how to use
the program:

C:\\>DSGE <path and file name of .PLR file WITH .PLR extention>

Substitute what's within the <>'s with what is described in the <>'s.
See? Wasn't that simple? To move up and down through the different menu
items, press the up and down key, respectively (really! What a concept!)
To select the item, press the <Enter> key (or its nearest equivilent).
To move between the different menus, press the left and right keys, or
the TAB key. For those boneheads who want to give themselves mega
armourments, like 9999 of something, though. Look at the bottom of the
screen for the minimum (usually 0 or 1) and maximum values. IF YOU GO
ABOVE THE MAX VALUES, the program will either compensate by reducing the
# by the maximum value, or the game will get royally screwed up. If you
yell at me for it, I'll point you to the following lines of this document.
Don't say I didn't warn you (see discaimer).
The rest of the program should be pretty easy to understand. If you
ever want to back out of an input field, leave it blank and press <Enter>
or press <Esc>. Also, <Esc> will get out of the program (the equivilent
to the \"Exit\" item on the main menu, but <Esc> will get out from either
menu). You will also not be told to save your game when you exit. If
you exited without saving, it won't complain (which isn't really that bad
since it's remarkably easy to edit the game. Only about 5 minutes lost).

Bugs / Inacuracies

Unfortunately, due to my conservatism (mostly affecting memory), this
has the following bugs / inacuracies:

* If you enter the program from a video mode outside of 80x25 (such as
80x43 or 80x50 or some other bizarre mode), the program will only save
(and therefore only redisplay on exit) the first 80x25 characters. I
decided that since most people are only using 80x25 (?), not to do
anything bigger.

* Although I made this program work on both color and monochrome (I don't
know why; I just did) monitors, I have only used the standard video
segments for displaying stuff on the screen (for various reasons).
Therefore, I have used segment 0xB800 if it detects a color monitor, or
0xB000 if it detects a monochrome monitor. If this is a program for
anyone, please tell me (via the addresses at the bottom of the screen)
and I'll either tell you how to fix it, or, if that doesn't work, I'll
recompile the source with the correct video segment for you.

* Various inacuracies in numbers. This is a big topic due somewhat by
the people who wrote Descent. When (if) you give yourself like 65535
lazer energy, it will be all messed up in the game. Don't worry. It's
because the creators of Descent didn't plan for you having >= 4 digit
numbers for some things. It may also reset in some cases (lives).
Don't worry. If anything, it'll just give you an infinite (!) ammount
of the current thing.

* If you give yourself anything higher than Lazer Type 4 and get a Lazer
Bonus item, you'll go back to Lazer Type 4. This is not a bug in DSGE,
but rather a 'safety' feature (bug?) in Descent. There is no way around
it. Be careful!

* Things pointed out above. Anything I missed here was probably because I
already mentioned it above. I just hope you read the whole document...


Other stuff

Not much here. I just wanted to point out that, although this
program is free (only because I'm too lazy to make a shareware and
registered version ), I would always accept donations. Thanks.
I also want to point out that this has been tested to work with
Descent v1.0. It should also work with other versions of Descent, but
I make no promises. Anyone with v1.1 (or higher) please mail me telling
of your success (or failure).

How to reach me

I can be reached on the internet at \"zaphod@linux.cowland.com\", and
via US mail at:

Andrew Pye
1211 Best Road
East Greenbush, New York 12061
USA (if needed)

I know I may have come off strong, and if I did, it's because I don't want
anybody to complain about something I pointed out in here. I am welcome
to any comments/suggestions/critisisms/threats/etc. I'm pretty flexible
and if I like your idea, I'll add it. I'm always willing ot expand.

Thanks,

Andrew Pye

--------------------------------------------------------
The author:
--------------------------------------------------------
Scott Early <email:dearly@ccnet.com>
StarPoint Software <http://www.ccnet.com/~dearly>


--------------------------------------------------------
Archive contents:
--------------------------------------------------------
The Descent Master archive includes the following files:

DMSGE.EXE - Descent Master for DOS
DMSGEW.EXE - Descent Master for Windows
DMLASERS.TXT - laser level description file
DMSGE.TXT - this file


--------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
--------------------------------------------------------
Descent Master general notes:
1> The file DMLASERS.TXT must be in the same directory as
the executable.
2> Descent Master has been partially tested with Descent
registered and Descent 2 registered. It has
successfully read and written Descent shareware and
Descent 2 demo saved games but I did not have copies
of the games to try them under. Please inform me of
any problems you have.
--------------------------------------------------------
Descent Master for DOS notes:
1> You must change your directory to the location of
your saved games before running DMSGE.
--------------------------------------------------------
Descnt Master for Windows notes:
1> The file VBRUN300.DLL is required to be in your
WINDOWS\\SYSTEM directory. This file is not included
due to its size but it can be downloaded seperately
from many locations.


--------------------------------------------------------
Using Descent Master:
--------------------------------------------------------
1> The first screen allows you to view the about dialog
and select which game you wish to edit. Failure to
select the correct game may result in misread
settings and file corruption if the settings are
saved.
2> You will then be allowed to to select your player and
saved game.
3> The edit window will appear. Dark settings are not
valid for your version of Descent and you will not
be allowed to edit them.
4> Select SAVE to save your settings. EXITing will lose
any unsaved changes.
5> That's it. Enjoy!

ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ»
º °±²Û DESPATCH - The DESCENT(tm) Savegame Editor Û²±° º
ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
Version 2.01 - November 24th, 1996
(c) 1995,96 by J”rg Weske [MUDDLE]


Please note:

ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ
Û ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» Û
Û º º Û
Û º DESPATCH will ONLY run with savegames of the º Û
Û º ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ º Û
Û º ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ³ R E G I S T E R E D V E R S I O N S ³ ®®®®®®®®®®®®® º Û
Û º ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ º Û
Û º of DESCENT(tm) I and ][ ! º Û
Û º º Û
Û º However, I must admit that there is an override switch to run it with º Û
Û º DESCENT(tm) ][ SHAREWARE - Interactive Demo Version. º Û
Û º This procedure is not recommended and users are strongly encouraged º Û
Û º to go out and buy DESCENT(tm) ][ to support Parallax and Interplay. º Û
Û º º Û
Û ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ Û
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ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ DISCLAIMER ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

YOU ARE USING DESPATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK! THE AUTHOR (J™RG WESKE) IS NOT
LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE USE OF DESPATCH OR BY THE INABILITY
TO USE DESPATCH. IF YOU ARE NOT SURE ABOUT THIS, OR IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT
THIS, THEN DO NOT USE DESPATCH!

All trademarks are property of their respective owners and appear for
identification purposes only.

DESCENT is a registered trademark of Interplay Productions.
DESCENT ][ is a registered trademark of Interplay Productions.
PEPSI is a registered trademark of PepsiCo Inc., Purchase, N.Y.
Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.

ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ IMPORTANT NOTICE ³ [ Here comes the good news ]
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

DESPATCH is posted as FREEWARE under the following conditions:

[1] The copyright notices may not be removed
[2] The program may not be sold, only given away WITHOUT any cost
[3] The program may not be modified in any way
[4] This file (DESPATCH.DOC) should always accompany DESPATCH.EXE

Ú Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä ¿
The user is ACTIVELY ENCOURAGED to SPREAD the program freely in every
possible way - provided that the conditions stated above are obeyed.

Here are a few examples how this could be done:
- upload it to a public FTP server or any bulletin board system
- send it via e-mail
- post it to binary newsgroups
- make a pointer to the DESPATCH homepage available on your website
[ http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/~jwes/despatch.html ]
- put it on a floppy disk, hard disk, tape, SRAM / FLASH memory card,
MO disk, punched paper tape, EEPROM, or CD-ROM and give it to friends
- fax or photocopy and mail hexdumps of the program
(but don't forget to include checksums at the end of each line !)
- send it to a neighbouring tribe using EFM coded smoke signals
- transmit it through some fancy HAM radio equipment
- label it 'Hypnosis program' and it will self-spread - however, be
prepared to receive at least 2.61E+05 'me too' messages coming from AOL
accounts within less than 24 hours
À Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ä Ù

ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ REQUIREMENTS ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

To run DESPATCH you need:

þ at least a 286 processor (-: even DESCENT(tm) requires a 386
þ a two-button mouse (-: although one button may suffice
þ a VGA (-: ever seen DESCENT(tm) on EGA ?
þ some memory [ about 100K ]
þ some kind of DOS

DESPATCH should not be affected by the Pentium(tm) FDIV bug in any way.


ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ INTRODUCTION ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

When I was first given the SHAREWARE version of DESCENT(tm) by a friend and
had it installed on my harddisk to see it for the first time the one thing
that came into my mind was:

DESCENT(tm) I - The Action Game Of The Year 1995 !

I was totally blown away. After a while of playing I accomodated to the 3D
environment which had first seemed to me very complicated to handle but
turned out to be much easier than expected. Then I started messing with the
savegame and thus created the very first version of DESPATCH which no longer
exists because firstly only very few options were delt with and secondly I
soon got the registered version which produced savegames that had a
completely different structure due to the ingame save option.

The SHAREWARE version of DESCENT(tm) I therefore is no longer supported by
this program because I believe only people who are real DESCENT(tm)-
enthusiasts and therefore paid for this great program should use DESPATCH to
'enhance' their capabilities in hopeless situations without being forced to
use the well-known cheats as GABBAGABBAHEY and so on.

When DESCENT(tm) ][ came out in 1996 many people started asking me for a
new and improved version of DESPATCH that supports the game. Unfortunately,
it was not until summer 1996 that I was able to get hold of DESCENT(tm) ][
in Germany.

ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ PURPOSE ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

The main purpose of DESPATCH is to enable the user to alter certain values
stored in the savegame to achieve better chances in hopeless situations or
just to have fun flying around without having to worry about all the enemy
around. With DESPATCH you can change almost every flag/value found in the
game except LEVEL, SCORE and DIFFICULTY because - to my mind - there's a
certain amount of 'cheating fairness' which has to remain. DESPATCH should
rather be considered a tool than a simple cheat which is implemented in
DESCENT(tm) anyway. Besides, since DESCENT(tm) saves the exact position of
your ship inside the maze, simply altering the LEVEL will most certainly end
up with you stuck inside a wall or some other place. There is no easy way I
could figure out and, above all, there was not much motivation for me to do
so. I think the built-in feature to restart DESCENT(tm) in any level that
you've already 'conquered' is quite sufficient. But if you're really
despaired because you just cannot cope with a certain level and you don't
want to use that silly 'FARMERJOE' which would inevitably brand you as a
CHEATER you will have to alter the respective *.PLR file where the highest
level you've reached so far is stored. Simply pop out your disk editor and
enter the desired value at offset $1D (for DESCENT(tm) I), $28 (for
DESCENT(tm) ][) or $27 (for DESCEMT(tm) ][ Shareware) in the *.PLR file.
Then start DESCENT(tm), select the player whose file you've just edited and
choose 'NEW GAME' - hey, there we are ! [This information, of course, is
classified and I only revealed it, because there's no support for this
in DESPATCH since my program only tampers with savegame files and, apart
from that, I did not really know where to put another pair of buttons ]
Please forgive me for this slight inconvenience you might have to endure but
normally, say, equipped with mega-missiles as quad-laser and a couple
thousands engergy and shield counters you should be able to solve ANY level
without batting an eyelid so there's really no utter need for the cheat
described above, it's just for completeness and, of course, your
convenience.


ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ USAGE ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

When DESPATCH is started, it will first scan the current directory for any
*.PLR files and display the results. If errors occur, i.e. a shareware save-
game or an unknown *.PLR file was found you will be prompted for a keypress.
If the latter happens and an unknown *.PLR file is found, please send the
UUEncoded *.PLR file and some savegames to me so that I can analyze them.
Savegames or *.PLR files that produce an error will be ignored and DESPATCH
starts with the first savegame of the first valid player it finds in the
current directory. To change the player or savegame just click on the
respective buttons. The version of the savegame currently loaded (i.e.
DESCENT(tm) I or ][) will be displayed in the 'Savegame Type' display
window. If you made any changes to the current savegame the file will be
saved an branded with 'DESPATCHed' inside the position preview.

DESPATCH will not work with savegames of DESCENT(tm) ][ shareware unless you
specifiy the '/d2sharewareoverride' switch. You may set all values, but do
not expect weapons which are not implemented in the demo to suddenly show
up. Do not complain if anything does not work properly, I do not officially
support this procedure, it's just here because so many people asked me to.
This is also the reason for the switch text being almost as long as the
program itself to make you think about using the shareware and it is why
this information is here, hidden in somewhat boring text. Again, let me
point out that there is so much more to see in the full version of
DESCENT(tm) ][, namely the great SVGA support and new weapons which multiply
the fun that it is really worth the amount of money they ask. Don't be a
lamer, you'll know where your money went.


ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ CHANGING VALUES ³ [ not too complicated, I hope ]
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Well, couldn't be simpler: just click on the respective buttons. There will
be a 500ms delay an then the auto-repeat function will take over. A click
with the left mouse-button will increase/decrease the value by one, right
button by hundred, both buttons by thousand. Hold down <SHIFT> and click any
of the buttons to reach maximum/minimum values. To enter a certain value
directly, just click inside the respective display. A frame will appear and,
after you released the button, you will be prompted with a cursor. Now enter
the desired value, use <BACKSPACE> to correct. Pressing <ESC> or hitting the
right mouse-button in this mode will discard any changes to the value. Hit
<ENTER> to confirm your changes, values which are larger or smaller than
permissible are ignored, the value is set to the maximum/minimum for the
current item. However, hitting <ENTER> with only the cursor displayed in the
window, will have the same effect as <ESC> - the old value will be restored.

If a DESCENT(tm) I savegame is loaded, the values of items that are only
present in DESCENT(tm) ][ are not displayed and cannot be changed.

One of the best things in DESCENT(tm) is that you can set higher values than
four in the LASERLEVEL byte. This 'bug' provides you with almost everything
as laser. So you could have quad-homing missiles at only the cost of some
small amount of energy from time to time. But be careful ! Don't pick up any
laserlevel-powerups because this will reset the value to the normal maximum
of four !
When chaning the LASERLEVEL value, a description of the weapon that will
replace the normal laser is displayed in a text-windows right to the laser-
level display. Note that for DESCENT(tm) I all values above 31 and for
DESCENT(tm) ][ all values above 36 will result in a normal laser level one.

Leave DESPATCH by pressing <ESC>. The current savegame will be saved.

þ Remember: You cannot abort without saving, so if you do not want to change
anything, don't run DESPATCH.

That's it, in a nutshell !


ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ PRODUCT HISTORY ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

April 8th, 1995 - DESPATCH V1.01 : first version released to the public

April 25th, 1995 - DESPATCH V1.02 is here
fixed:
- Some silly mouse drivers screwed up the whole display because
their creators in their endless wisdom had not considered
restoring some VGA registers after tampering with them. So for all
of you who had problems: DESPATCH now restores those registers
itself, but if you have the chance, go and get a better driver
like LOGITECH 6.40 or the Microsoft driver V8.20 or higher which
does quite the same job.
Anyway, thanks to Mister X and Silent Slayer for still using an
ancient driver and pointing out that 'bug' to me.

May 8th, 1995 - DESPATCH V1.03
added:
- All new direct-edit-by-keyboard-input feature for all values as
proposed by Tracy L Remington.
- Description how to alter the MaxLevel value (see PURPOSE)
revised:
- Savegames are now only branded with 'DESPATCHed' if any changes
occured, thus you might browse through your files and find the
ones you edited more easily when loading a game from DESCENT(tm).

August, 1996 - DESPATCH V1.04 (* never released *)

October 26th, 1996 - DESPATCH V2.00: A Quantum Leap forward
- Almost completely redone from scratch
- Now supports both DESCENT(tm) I and DESCENT(tm) ][
- Great many numbers of improvements to the code
- All new virtual 640x680 screen, which forced the creation of a custom
16-colour mousepointer casting transparent shadows since the pointer
of the normal mouse driver can only support resolutions up to 640x480.
added:
- Laserlevel description
- Savegame Type display
- DESCENT(tm) ][ new weaponry:
Flash-, Guided-, Mercury- and Earthshaker Missiles, Smart Mines,
Super Laser, Gauss-, Helix-, Phoenix- and Omega Cannon
- DESCENT(tm) ][ new goodies:
Energy-to-Shield Converter, Full Map View, Afterburner, Headlight

November 24th, 1996 - DESPATCH V2.01 released
added:
- support for DESCENT(tm) ][ þ The Infinite Abyss
thanks to William Malloy who was so kind to send the files
fixed:
- German umlauts no longer displayed instead of square brackets in
\"[AUTOSAVE BACKUP]\" savegames


ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ CLOSING COMMENTS ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

If you really like this program (or even love it), find it unbelievably
utterly useful or just worth it, please do not hesitate to send a postcard
or a book or some cash or a CD or some computer hard- or software or a
clean, fresh towel or just something to:

ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ J”rg Weske ³
³ An der Schatzgrube 33 ³
³ D-99425 Taubach ³
³ Germany ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Your kind donations would be received with deep gratitude and would very
much encourage me to continue my work on different or similar projects.

If you have comments or suggestions about DESPATCH or just want to have a
chat, please fax, call or do write to:

e-mail:
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ wej@informatik.tu-chemnitz.de ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
WWW:
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/~jwes/despatch.html ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ


snail mail: see above


phone: (Mon-Wed) (Thu-Sun)
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ +49-(0)371-216608 ³ ³ +49-(0)36453-80376 ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

fax: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ +49-(0)371-216607 ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ


ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ CREDITS ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
The producer wishes to thank the following persons:

ð Mr DRAKON - for encouragement, support, beta-testing, critics
ð Mc Andy - for pointing my attention to DESCENT(tm)
ð Pheedy - for graphical hints and critics
ð Mister X - for beta-testing, savegame analysis
ð Silent Slayer - for critics and pointing out the 'mouse-bug'
ð Tracy L Remington - for the suggestion of the direct-edit feature
- Bill Jibby, William Malloy, Philip R. Columbus, Jeremy Sewell,
Gary Thompson II - for kind feedback and resulting encouragement
ð Richard F. Ferraro - for providing necessary VGA knowledge
ð Ralf Brown & all the other guys who contributed to the excellent INTER-
LIST, Michael Tischer, Ray Duncan, J”rg Koch, Michael Schusser,
Joachim Erdweg, Holger Sch„kel, Andreas G”tz, StA-Soft
- for programming background and related information
ð Parallax/Interplay - for making such great games
ð Logitech - for creating cool input devices
ð PEPSI(tm)-Cola - for the best soft-drink I've found so far
ð Enya, C‚line Dion, Loreena McKennitt, Heather Nova, Mylene Farmer,
Tori Amos, Sin‚ad O'Connor, The Cranberries, Roxette, Enigma, Erasure,
Phil Collins, Depeche Mode, Wolfsheim, Metallica, Helloween, Sting
- for their excellent music
ð Stephen W Hawking, Douglas Adams
- for contributing to my philosophy of life

Thank you all !



Thanks for your attention and patience, have fun using DESPATCH !


°±²Û MUDDLE Û²±