Hardwar unofficial UIM.05 patch.
Hardwar by The Software Refinery - unofficial retail UIM.05 patch
UIM.05:
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1) The terminal negative deposit problem is fixed.
2) The problem whereby automatically generated pirates etc ran out of names, is
cured.
3) Dead pilots are once again saved in the SAV file. They really are this time.
4) An old savegame problem (present since 1998 I believe) is fixed. This caused
a fatal crash at load, occasionally.
5) Analogue gamepads (similar to Playstation controllers) should use analogue
signals now.
6) Loading an old game will recreate monorail cars when all have been
destroyed.
7) The chat messages were sometimes mixed with the FROM, this is fixed.
8) Attacks on monorails will no longer be tolerated.
UIM.04:
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Hardwar was not removing the installed FX when displaying the videos, causing
problems on some machines. I've also stopped it changing screen res to display
the videos, which means a smoother transition into the video. GDV stands for
Gremlin Digital Video, or Grainy Digital Video some would say.
This also fixes the non-functional emboss check box on Hardman.
UIM.03:
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This fixes a crashing problem if you try to target a dead pilot, when playing a
game restored from a save. This problem was caused when I stopped the game save
from saving dead pilots, and it still does not save the stiffs.
It also makes the embossing textures available directly - the game uses the
BMPs supplied.
UIM.02:
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The main purposes of this upgrade are some fixes to UIM.01 and the addition of
24/32 bit support - a cosmetic update.
Requirements
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Hardwar should still run on a 1998 era PC, but DirectX9 is required. Please
download this from Microsoft.com. We detect the DirectX
version, and report if DirectX9 is not detected, but do allow the user to
continue anyway, just in case the detection code, which uses DLL file versions,
shows a fault.
A Direct3D compatible 3D accelerator card is required from UIM.02 onwards.
Features and fixes for UIM.02
-----------------------------
1) 3DFX Glide is deleted. Any 3DFX users should select Direct3D. Users of an
old 3DFX pass-thru card should select Secondary Display.
2) Software rendering is deleted.
3) 24/32 bit display mode is introduced. If operating in windowed mode, it
selects the desktop's colour depth, where the desktop is 16 bits per pixel or
above.
4) An option to select 32 bit textures is added. This should ONLY be where 64Mb
or more of texture memory is available. Hardwar does not use the automatic
texture management system, it shrinks textures until they all fit.
If texture memory is limited on your system, try some or all of these (in
this order)
a) Do not use 32 bit textures.
b) Clamp textures to 256x256 (some older cards do not allow larger textures
anyway, so Hardwar shrinks them regardless).
c) Use the old explosions.
d) Disable mipmaps.
5) An option is added to revert to the old fog colours.
6) Hardman was not correctly reading the max number of network players - this
is fixed.
7) The 'victim' modes introduced in UIM.01 are disabled in network games.
8) The clouds now use a new BMP texture, and are redesigned. They are still an
option.
9) A missing building was re-added, Vacant 008.
10) A bug was found and fixed in the texture shrinking code (see 4 above)
causing a fatal crash where available texture memory was limited.
Features and fixes for UIM.01
-----------------------------
1) A server side bug where menu options were displayed but no longer valid at
the client side due to lag, is fixed. The bug caused a crash on the server.
2) The tunnel between Reservoir and Downtown is opened permanently.
3) A bug in some of the navigation, causing AI pilots to get confused, is
fixed.
4) Retire pilot in a multiplayer game has a confirmation screen.
5) Some new explosion graphics are added, for Direct3D users only. These are
high quality 256x256 24 bit colour images. There is an option to retain the
original ones. This has been tested on a 32Mb NVidia TNT, and a 128Mb GeForce4.
6) A bug with USB gamepad axis values is fixed. This has been tested on a
Thrustmaster 12 button gamepad.
7) An old frame buffer problem which has been present since 1998 is fixed, for
Direct3D. This caused a very occasional crash.
8) There is a new fog distance option, for Direct3D, which allows most of the
largest craters to be seen at all times. This is only intended for contemporary
fast machines and has been tested on an Athlon 2600, Celeron 2.4Ghz and faster
machines.
9) There is an option to limit the number of remote players in a network
server. This is intended for users who host servers with modest bandwidth.
Hardwar does require a lot of network bandwidth (though this is being looked
into) and if you allow 64Kpbs per player, you should be able to host a server.
If, for example, you have a 256Kbps upload speed (from your perspective) you
should be able to have 4 remote players.
10) Some work has been done to compress the network data, and tokenise the
information. Data sizes have typically fallen by 20% but this can be much
lower.
11) The manually activated autopilot now flies to a lightwell.
12) Direct3D W buffering is now enabled, where the accelerator supports it -
most cards do. This cures the z ordering problems in tunnels, and other areas.
It defaults to on, but there is an option to disable it - at least one user has
reported a problem with an old Voodoo card.
13) The flares cast a less harsh but richer light.
14) A new server side clicking bug is fixed - caused by unloading cargo.
15) The joystick throttle problem has been addressed, and there are additional
config options.
16) The maximum number of players in a network game works.
17) An option is added to simulate lag, in a single player game. Each frame
lags by 10 frames.
18) If a pilot is named "I am a victim" most of the AI pilots attack him. If
the pilot is named "I am a made victim" then he is invulnerable. This was done
to test the engine at its limits, both in terms of display capabilities and
control code.
19) When games are saved, dead pilots are not saved.
20) When using developers info, it was always allocating a huge buffer, not
needed.
21) The CD music selects random tracks during extended flying.
22) The sky colour is changed to be more like the real Titan.
23) Remote players in a network game, are updated at 10 fps when using radar,
messages or hanger display, to minimise network bandwidth.
Compatibility.
--------------
DirectX9 required.
UIM.01 will only connect to itself in a network game. It has a new network
GUID.
UIM.02 will load UIM.01, U3.04 save games, but not earlier ones.
Making Videos
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Some time ago, a facility was added to allow silent videos to be created. There
are problems with this facility, but used with care, it can create effective
videos.
This is acheived by recording your actions for a short period, then replaying
that recording, grabbing each frame into incrementally numbered 24 bit BMP
files. Use a third part utility to create an AVI, MPEG or QT, using those BMPs.
a) To record, set the detail options for highest speed. You need to be able to
record at 12 or 24 frames per second.
Start a single player game, and get to the point where you wish to start
recording. Save the game. For this example , your save is called "vid1.sav"
In the command prompt, go to the hardwar directory, and enter:-
hardwarw.exe /t:load "vid1.sav" /t:recordsave
Act out the scene. A maximum scene of 30 seconds is recommended.
b) To play back and grab at 24 frames per second:-
Set the detail options to maximum. Choose a sensible resolution for the video.
hardwarw.exe /t:load "vid1.sav" /t:recordplaygrab24
Lots of BMPs will be created in your hardwar folder.
You can then use these to create a video. Specify 24 frames per second.
It's not perfect, and it's not easy.
