Text File
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Title : STRAIN 1.0
Filenames : (see below)
Author :
The Alpha Dog Alliance
ada@iname.com
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/8528/
(Please send us email if you enjoy STRAIN!)
Description :
STRAIN is THE largest DOOM II Total Conversion.
And it's FREE!
This is the product of our painstaking
effort at a true successor to DOOM II.
We hope you'll agree that it is much better
than 90% of all those $50 shovelware first
person shooters that wish they were DOOM!
STRAIN includes 32 new levels, all new
music, and a complete story which carries
through the levels. It also contains
100+ new textures, and many new
baddies, weapons, graphics, and sound
effects. Yes, that's right: new
baddies and weapons!
Designed for single play with special support
for co-op and deathmatch play. All difficulty
levels supported - from beginner to DOOM god.
Please visit our web site for more info
and the story!
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Where To Get This WAD
================================================================
Please check our web site for download information/sites:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/8528/
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Installation
================================================================
We have tried to make the installation as simple as possible.
First, remember you must own DOOM II and have it installed.
Unfortunately, there are many versions of DOOM II. We
recommend version 1.9. First, we explain how to upgrade your
DOOM II. If you have version 1.9, or you want to try and
use an older version (with caution), you can skip this part.
Then we explain how to install STRAIN for DOOM II.
=============================
Getting DOOM II Version 1.9
=============================
DOOM II comes in versions 1.666, 1.7, 1.7a, 1.8 and 1.9!
(phew! Actually there are TWO version 1.666 by date:
8-29-94 and 9-20-94.) You can upgrade them with free patches
from iD. The patches are located at
ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/doom2/index.txt
and they are strangely named. All the patches entail unzipping
the file, and getting some instruction and a patch.zip (yes
a zip file inside of a zip file.) The instruction will explain
how to unzip patch.zip into your DOOM II directory and run it.
Then you can delete it. Sometimes a single original zip file
will contain multiple patches named, for instance, patcha, patchb,
etc. It's not hard. We're just kind of giving an overview.
Here are the upgrade paths:
1.8 -> 1.9
Use the patch in 2_18_19.zip
1.7a -> 1.9
Use the patch in d2_19.zip
1.7 -> 1.9
First use 'patchc' in doom2p.zip to upgrade to 1.7a.
Then use the instructions to get from 1.7a to 1.9.
1.666 (9-20-94) -> 1.9
First use 'patchb' in doom2p.zip to upgrade to 1.7a.
Then use the instructions to get from 1.7a to 1.9.
1.666 (8-29-94) -> 1.9
First use 'patcha' in doom2p.zip to upgrade to 1.7a.
Then use the instructions to get from 1.7a to 1.9.
=============================
Installing STRAIN
=============================
STRAIN comes with an installer and an 'unpacker' to do
the dirty work. The steps you must follow to install
STRAIN are simply the following:
* Make sure that you have enough space on your computer
* Download the distribution files
* Unpack the files onto your hard drive using the included
file 'unpack.bat'
* Fire up the included front end 'strain.bat' and
choose 'install'
----------------------------------------
Making Sure That You Have Enough Space
----------------------------------------
STRAIN takes more space to install than to
keep around for playing.
During installation, STRAIN will need at least 15 MB
of hard drive space. This is in addition to
the space required by the distribution files
themselves, which require about 5 MB. In other words,
you will need 20 MB in the worst case.
After installation, STRAIN will take 15 MB of space.
------------------------------------
Downloading the Distribution Files
------------------------------------
Download the STRAIN files from an FTP site.
To find an available FTP site, go to our home site
"http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/8528/" and
follow the appropriate links.
The STRAIN distribution consists of 5 MB of files.
strain.txt
unpack.bat
strain.001
strain.002
strain.003
strain.004
If you want to make floppies from which to install STRAIN, get
four blank high-density diskettes and copy the files to the
diskettes as follows:
Disk 1 -- strain.001, strain.txt, and unpack.bat
Disk 2 -- strain.002
Disk 3 -- strain.003
Disk 4 -- strain.004
----------------------------
Unpacking the Distribution
----------------------------
Use the 'unpack.bat' script (which you just
downloaded) to unpack the distribution.
The command is of the form:
unpack <distribution-dir> <strain-dir>
"<distribution-dir>" is the location of your downloaded
distribution files. If they are on floppies, use "a:"
for this directory. Note that this must be a FULL path
name with the drive letter specified and NO trailing
backslash (this is due to a limitation of DOS BAT files).
"<strain-dir>" is the destination directory. This may
be your DOOM II directory or a special STRAIN directory
or anywhere you choose. This must also be a FULL path
name with the drive letter specified and NO trailing
backslash.
Examples:
Suppose you'd like STRAIN to be in a sub-directory of DOOM II
"c:\doom2\strain". Further suppose the distribution is at
"c:\download". Then you would use the following command:
unpack c:\download c:\doom2\strain
(Use full path names. If you are in c:\temp at the time,
do NOT type "unpack ..\download ..\doom2\strain". Instead
give a path starting at the drive letter.)
Or suppose you'd like STRAIN in the same place as above, but
the distribution is on floppies:
unpack a: c:\doom2\strain
The unpacker will prompt you for each of the disks in succession.
Make certain that you have at least SOME disk in the drive when
you press a key. The unpacker can recover from the wrong disk
being inserted. However, if there is no disk in the drive, you will
get the infamous "Abort, Retry, Fail" message and there is no
way to recover. You will have to terminate the BAT file (with
^C) and then begin unpacking again.
Note: in these cases, the unpacking will fail if there is
not enough free space on drive C:
-------------------
Installing STRAIN
-------------------
If all went well, the unpacker should have instructed you to type
"strain". This would be an ideal time to type "strain". :-)
After the front end comes up, you can simply hit the "Install"
button. You will be prompted for the location of your registered
copy of DOOM II. The installer will do the rest. Now you're
ready to play!
Shortcut: you can skip entering the front end program by
typing the 'install' option to the 'strain' program:
strain install <DOOM2-DIR>
Note: While the installer is installing STRAIN, you may get a message
from DeHackEd asking "Do you want to do this?" Just hit the 'y'
key to confirm.
Note: The installer makes noises and plays a tune and is generally
cool. If you are in Windows 95 and do not get these effects, it
won't hurt anything, but you'll need to set your BLASTER and SOUND
environment variables to get sound.
-------------
Cleaning Up
-------------
You can then delete the distribution files: strain.001 through
strain.004, unpack.bat, and strain.txt.
But a better suggestions would be to pass them on to a DOOM II loving
friend. (-: Or at least archive them somewhere.
----------------
Playing STRAIN
----------------
To play, follow these steps:
* Change to the STRAIN directory (not the DOOM II directory
unless you dumped STRAIN into the DOOM II directory).
* Type 'strain play' or, alternatively, you can bring up
the front end by typing 'strain' and then clicking the
'Play' button.
Note: the demos in STRAIN will look psychotic. This is
because we chose not to replace them. What you are seeing
is the movements of your marine from an old demo, but now
in a new setting! So he looks berserk, bouncing off walls,
shooting at air, and so forth. If we had replaced the
demos, then using a version of DOOM II other than 1.9 would
have been problematic for sure. We won't go into it.
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Copyright / Permissions
================================================================
Authors should write us (ada@iname.com) to inquire into the use
of these levels.
You MAY distribute this WAD, provided you include this file and
the entire STRAIN package, with no modifications.
You may distribute STRAIN in any electronic
format (BBS, Diskette, CD, etc) but no money may be collected
for this add-on without writing us for permission. Not even
if the money is just to 'recover the cost of the medium.' This
obviously includes software compilations. Just write us
already. Also, you must keep the STRAIN package intact,
including this file.
Other than that, enjoy and please spread STRAIN as far and wide
as possible! And please write us to let us know what you think
or to at least let us know how far it spread!
Oh yeah, for the crazies out there who are always after an
unearned buck: STRAIN and its installer are provided as is and
come with no warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied.
In no event will the copyright holders be liable for any damages
resulting from the use of this software.
================================================================
The Alpha Dog Alliance
================================================================
Charlie Patterson | Adelusion
David Rotramel | Rich Johnston
Arthur Chang | Eric Roberts
Bjorn Hermans | Jon Landis
Bill McClendon | Holger Nathrath
Chainsaw | Andy Badorek
Florian Helmberger | Darrell Esau
Ron Allen | Adam Windsor
David Graves | David Davidson
Bishop | Stuart Burke
Brian Burke | Will Vale
Iikka Keranen | David Shaw
Mark Klem | Justin Patterson
Bob Lindemann | Aaron Koller
Xenos | Reid Harmon
Frank Buckley |
Chris Shullenbarger | John Walker
Richard Church | Mister Bungle
For FULL credits on who did what, please see our web page
(listed at the beginning of this file).
===============================================================
Additional Credits To
===============================================================
id Software,
Greg Lewis (DeHackEd),
Ben Morris (DCK),
Antony J.Burden and Simon Oke (DETH),
Marc Rousseau (ZenNode)
Olivier Montanuy (WinTex)
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