Supreme Commander Release Notes © 2007 Gas Powered Games. All rights reserved. Supreme Commander, GPGNet, and Gas Powered Games are the exclusive trademarks of Gas Powered Games Corp. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Multiplayer Connectivity by Quazal. THQ and the THQ logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners. For news and updates visit http://www.gaspowered.com ________________________________________ CONTENTS From the Developers End User License Agreement System Requirements Installation How to Install Basic Game Controls Configurable Game Controls Gameplay Hints, Tips, and Other Information Savegame Location Contact Information Multiplayer Supreme Commander GPGNet Contact Information General Information Performance Tips Technical Support Uninstalling Supreme Commander Extra ________________________________________ FROM THE DEVELOPERS A Note From Chris Taylor Supreme Commander was more than a labor of love; it was the completion of a journey we started a long time ago and was a game that we’ve wanted to make for a very long time. To see the game complete is an incredible reward for us, especially because it delivers many of the goals we set for ourselves back in 2003. And now the journey is complete, and we will soon embark on another. From all of us here at GPG and the SupCom team, to all of you, we hope Supreme Commander brings you many hours of entertainment and delivers a new and exciting experience. And most of all, we hope it’s everything you had hoped it would be...we worked very hard to make that happen. All the best! Chris Taylor CEO/Lead Designer Gas Powered Games From the GPG Development Team Thank you very much for buying Supreme Commander. We’ve worked long and hard to create a massive gameplay experience you can enjoy for years. We hope you like the game and encourage you to become part of the Supreme Commander online community. See you on GPGNet! - The Supreme Commander Team ________________________________________ END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT 1. READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE INSTALLING THIS SOFTWARE ON YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTER. THIS SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT IS A LEGAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU (AN INDIVIDUAL OR A SINGLE ENTITY "YOU") ON THE ONE HAND, AND THQ INC. AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES (COLLECTIVELY REFERRED TO AS "THQ") ON THE OTHER HAND, FOR THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT ENTITLED "SUPREME COMMANDER," WHICH INCLUDES COMPUTER SOFTWARE AND ANY ASSOCIATED MEDIA, PRINTED MATERIALS, AND/OR "ONLINE" OR ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTATION (TOGETHER CALLED THE "SOFTWARE"). BY INSTALLING, COPYING, OR OTHERWISE USING THE SOFTWARE (OR, IN THE EVENT YOU HAVE PURCHASED THE SOFTWARE AS CONTAINED ON A DVD-ROM, BY OPENING THE PACKAGING MATERIALS THEREOF), YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS. THE SOFTWARE IS LICENSED, NOT SOLD, TO YOU FOR USE ONLY UNDER THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT, DO NOT INSTALL OR USE THE SOFTWARE AND DELETE ALL COPIES IN YOUR POSSESSION. 2. 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This Agreement represents the complete agreement concerning this License Agreement between you and THQ. ________________________________________ SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Microsoft® Windows® XP Service Pack 2, Vista 1.8 GHz processor 512 MB RAM 8 GB available hard drive space 128 MB video RAM or greater, with DirectX 9 Vertex Shader / Pixel Shader 2.0 support (Nvidia 6x00 or better) Sound card, speakers or headphones Broadband internet connection (DSL/Cable). RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: 3.0 GHz Intel or equivalent AMD processor or better 1 GB RAM or better 8 GB available hard drive space 256 MB video RAM, with DirectX 9 Vertex Shader / Pixel Shader 2.0 support (Nvidia 6800 or better) Internet connection with Cable/DSL speeds Note: recommended specifications provide optimal experience for single player and up to 4 player/medium size map multiplayer INSTALLATION How to Install Place the Supreme Commander disc into your DVD-ROM drive. If the Installer does not automatically run within one minute, manually Explore the disc and run "Setup.exe" to launch the Installer. Follow the on-screen directions. NOTE: GPGNet can not be uninstalled from add/remove programs if the Microsoft .NET Framework is uninstalled first. To reinstall the Microsoft .NET Framework visit the Microsoft Download Center ________________________________________ BASIC GAME CONTROLS o          Show Key Bindings Screen     F12 o          Repair                                      R o          Reclaim                                   E o          Patrol P o          Attack                                  A o          Capture                              C o          Stop                                        S o          Dive                                         D o          Ferry                                       F o          Guard/Assist                            I o          Transport                                   U o          Unit Pause                                  Z o          Suicide Selected Units                      Ctrl-K o          Attack Move                                 Ctrl-Alt-RightClick o          Launch Tactical Missile                  L o          Nuke                                        N o          Turn Build Mode On                  B o          Cycle Fire State                        LeftBracket o          Move                                 M o          Zoom In                                     Q o          Zoom Out                               W o          Zoom In Fast                            Shift-Q o          Zoom Out Fast                       Shift-W o          Track Unit                           T o          Track unit On Minimap         Ctrl-Shift-T o          Track Unit On 2nd Screen                  Ctrl-Alt-T o          Reset Camera                                V o          Go To Commander                         Comma , o          Go To Idle Engineer                       Period . o          Recall Group 1                              1 o          Recall Group 2                              2 o          Recall Group 3                             3 o          Recall Group 4                             4 o          Recall Group 5                             5 o          Recall Group 6                             6 o          Recall Group 7                             7 o          Recall Group 8                             8 o          Recall Group 9                             9 o          Recall Group 10                           0 o          Set Group 1                                 Ctrl-1 o          Set Group 2                                 Ctrl-2 o          Set Group 3                                 Ctrl-3 o          Set Group 4                                 Ctrl-4 o          Set Group 5                                 Ctrl-5 o          Set Group 6                                 Ctrl-6 o          Set Group 7                                 Ctrl-7 o          Set Group 8                                 Ctrl-8 o          Set Group 9                                 Ctrl-9 o          Set Group 10                                Ctrl-0 o          Select All Air Units                        Ctrl-A o          Select All Naval Units                    Ctrl-S o          Select All Land Units                     Ctrl-L o          Select All Engineers                      Ctrl-B o          Select Nearest Idle Engineer          Alt-Period o          Cycle Through Idle Engineers                 Shift-Period o          Select Commander                            Alt-Comma o          Select All Units and Buildings              Ctrl-X o          Select All Units And Buildings On Screen    Ctrl-C o          Select All Engineers On Screen              Ctrl-Period o          Select All Factories On Screen              Ctrl-H o          Select Nearest Factory                      H o          Select Nearest Land Factory                 Ctrl-Shift-L o          Select Nearest Air Factory                  Ctrl-Shift-A o          Select Nearest Naval Factory                Ctrl-Shift-S o          Open The Escape Menu                        Esc o          Toggles The UI On / Off                     Ctrl-Alt-F1 o          Toggles Life Bars On / Off                 Alt-L o          Toggle Military Overlay                     Ctrl-W o          Toggle Defense Overlay                      Ctrl-E o          Toggle Economy Overlay                      Ctrl-R o          Toggle Intel Overlay                        Ctrl-T o          Rename Unit                                  Ctrl-N o          Split Screen On                             HOME o          Split Screen Off                            END o          Scroll Up Through Chat History (by page)    Pageup o          Scroll Down Through Chat History (by page)  Pagedown o          Scroll Up Through Chat History (by line)    Shift-Pageup o          Scroll Down Through Chat History (by line)  Shift-Pagedown o          Rotate Layout                               Alt-UpArrow o          Rotate Layout                               Alt-DownArrow o          Toggle Objectives Window             F1 o          Toggle Scores                               F2 o          Toggle Transmission Log                     F3 o          Toggle Diplomacy Window                      F4 o          Toggle Connectivity Window                   F11 o          Pause Game                                  Pause o          Screen Shot                                 Ctrl-F o          Decrease Game Speed                         NumMinus o          Increase Game Speed                         NumPlus o          Reset Game Speed                            NumStar ________________________________________ CONFIGURABLE GAME CONTROLS Tutorial Changes: o Basic Tutorial: The Build Interface makes references to Ctrl-click and Alt-click adding 50 and 500 units to your build queue, respectively. These keys add 5 units to each build queue. o Factory Tutorial: Factory Deployment Orders indicate that Engineers can be told to auto-assist the ACU or other Engineers upon being built. Assist orders must be manually given to Engineers after they are built; it cannot be done automatically. Build Mode: o Hit B to enter Build mode. You’ll be notified you are in Build mode with a small dialog. Build mode can be cancelled by hitting Escape or clicking on the Build mode dialog. When you are in Build mode you can still interact with the game using the mouse as you would expect, but none of the normal keyboard commands will work. o In Build mode you will see letter on the Build icons in the Construction Manager. You can hit the key, and if a factory is selected, it will add the appropriate thing to the queue, if an Engineer is selected it will put you in the mode to build what you selected (i.e, it will hang off your mouse.) o You are always building the tech level that is visible in the Construction Manager. You can switch tech level by hitting the 1-4 keys or clicking on the tech level tab. ________________________________________ GAMEPLAY HINTS, TIPS, AND OTHER INFORMATION Initial Deployment There is no one strategy that will always be effective in Supreme Commander--there are simply too many strategic variables. However, if you need some guidance in how to effectively begin a multiplayer or skirmish game, these steps will help get you started. Many of these tips can also help you throughout the single player campaign. With your ACU, build one Mass Extractor, two Power Generators and a Land Factory. Take advantage of the adjacency bonus when placing your factory. Continue to queue up ACU's construction waypoints. Queue up the following buildings in this order: one Mass Extractor, two Power Generators, one Mass Extractor, two Power Generators and one Land Factory. As your first Land Factory is being built, queue up one Scout and one Engineer. Do this three times until you have three engineers. Move your Scouts to areas that require intel, such as chokepoints and other strategic positions. Turn on the Intel button so you know exactly where radar coverage is provided. Have your first Engineer out of the Land Factory build one Mass Extractor, two Power Generators and another Land Factory. Continue to move Scouts into position and have order your Engineers to fan out to nearby Mass Deposits. Have your Engineers construct Mass Extractors on all nearby Mass Deposits. Change your Land Factory's queue to five Light Assault Bots and one Engineer; place this build order on repeat. Set the waypoints for your factories to cover potential areas of assault. Build an Air Factory. Queue up one Interceptor on repeat and create a patrol path for the Air Factory. From this point on, you're on your own. Good luck! ________________________________________ SAVEGAME LOCATION The save game, preferences files, replay files, and other associated game files can be located at: o XP: [root:]\Documents and Settings\[userid]\Local Settings\Application Data\Gas Powered Games\SupremeCommander o Vista: [root:]\Users\[name]\AppData\Local\Gas Powered Games\SupremeCommander\savegames\[profile]\ ________________________________________ MULTIPLAYER SUPREME COMMANDER LAN and Direct IP Multiplayer Connect: Players can connect to each other either locally over a Local Area Network (LAN) or remotely via direct IP connection. Both connection types use the TCP/IP protocol. To host or join either type of game, click Multiplayer > LAN/IP. Host a LAN or Direct IP game: 1) From the Main Menu, click Multiplayer > LAN/IP. 2) Enter your nickname. 3) Click “Host”. 4) Enter the Game Name that you want other players to see. 5) Enter a custom port or leave it set to “Auto” (recommended). 6) Click “Create”. If you have players joining via Direct IP, you will need tell them your IP address, along with the Port on which the game is running. The game will tell you the current Port number in the chat area of the Game Lobby. Join a LAN game: 1) From the Main Menu, click Multiplayer > LAN/IP. 2) Enter your nickname. 3) Click on any available games in the highlighted Server List window. Information on that game will be displayed in the Server Information window to the right. 4) Click “Join” to play or “Observe” to just watch the game, if the host has allowed observers. You will then appear in the Game Lobby. Join via Direct IP: 1) From the Main Menu, click Multiplayer > LAN/IP. 2) Enter your nickname. 3) Click the “IP Address/Hostname” field at the bottom of the window. This area will become highlighted, and a cursor will appear in the field. 4) Enter a valid IP address or Hostname into the “IP Address/Hostname” field. 5) Enter the Port number in the “Port” field. 6) Click “Join” to play or “Observe” to just watch the game, if the host has allowed observers. If the IP/Hostname and Port are valid, you will appear in the Game Lobby. If you wish to join a LAN game instead, simply click in the “Server List” window to highlight it, choose a server, and press Join/Observe as normal. GPGNet: GPGNet is an Internet gaming service provided by Gas Powered Games which allows players to meet up, challenge other players, join games, and compete in a worldwide ranking system, all without paying any special connection charges. In order to use GPGNet, your computer must have the TCP/IP protocol installed, and must provide TCP/IP support for 32-bit applications. Product Key Required • You must have installed Supreme Commander with a valid product key in order to connect to GPGNet and play online. A product key cannot be connected to GPGNet by two PCs at the same time. If upon connection to GPGNet you receive an error message related to your product key, please re-install Supreme Commander and enter a valid product key. Online Knowledge Base • GPGNet includes an extensive Knowledge Base with troubleshooting information for both GPGNet and Supreme Commander. You can find the Knowledge Base by opening GPGNet and going to Help > GPGNet Knowledge Base. .NET 2.0 Framework Required • GPGNet requires the .NET 2.0 Framework installed in order to function. The necessary files are normally installed along with your installation of Supreme Commander. Some users, however, must install the framework separately. If you receive an error message reading "can't find MultiplayerClient.exe," this is usually caused by a failure to have .NET 2.0 installed. You can locate the files by using Windows Update or by visiting http://www.microsoft.com/net. Firewall settings • Open ports 6112 to UDP traffic, and open 9103 to UDP traffic. These are among the most common ports used by online multiplayer games. SupCom cannot be modified to use other ports. Also, open ports 30340 and 30341 to UDP traffic, for GPGNet to function. Make sure that GPGNet and SupCom appear on your Windows Firewall exception list, and the exception lists of other firewall products you are currently running. If you are behind a DMZ, disable all on-access scanners. Anti-virus software • Many users of antivirus software (such as Nvidia Access Manager, NOD32, Norton, PandaSoft, etc.) are unable to connect to GPGNet, experience poor performance or game crashes. If you experience trouble, we suggest that users place both SupCom and GPGNet on the exception lists for these software products or otherwise disable them during gameplay. If you CAN connect to GPGNet, but CANNOT connect to games • First, please understand that SupCom is a peer-to-peer multiplayer game, meaning that open connections must exist between all the players attempting to play. While common for RTS games, this configuration differs significantly from server-client games such as first-person shooters and MMOs. If you CAN connect to GPGNet, but CANNOT connect to games, this is likely a firewall or antivirus conflict either with your own connection, or your opponent's connection. It is not uncommon for players to be able to connect to server-client games but be unable to connect to peer-to-peer games. Please see the steps above to open your connection to all necessary traffic in order to play. If you CANNOT connect to GPGNet • If you have firewall software, please make sure you have ports 30350, 30351, 9103 and 6112 open to UDP traffic. Automatic patch downloads • GPGNet automatically delivers patches of itself and of SupCom to connected players. If patching fails, never seems to end or aborts, make sure you don’t have anything in the background that is either updating Windows or using your Internet connection during the patch download and application process. Routers with Symmetrical NAT • Certain routers that use symmetrical NAT may not work well with GPGnet and Supreme Commander. These routers are very rare, and most have firmware updates available to fix the problem. If you are using a router with symmetrical NAT, please contact the manufacturer to see if there are firmware updates available. ________________________________________ CONTACT INFORMATION General Information http://www.thq.com http://www.gaspowered.com Mailing Address THQ Customer Service 29903 Agoura Road Agoura Hills, CA 91301 Technical Support The THQ technical support department will attempt to help you resolve any problems that you may experience with Supreme Commander. Please note that each GPGNet profile is stored on Gas Powered Games’ GPGNet servers and may be deleted by Gas Powered Games when abandoned by the GPGNet account owner who created it. Such abandonment is determined by the same rules that apply to GPGNet accounts. To prevent the deletion of your GPGNet profile, be sure to play with it long enough upon creation and often enough thereafter to prevent abandonment. Web-based technical support can be found on the support section of our web site at http://info.thq.com/support/ Prior to contacting our technical support representatives, we ask that you have the following information available. • Your phone number • Your E-Mail address and Postal address • Model of computer you are using • The version of the Windows operating system you are using • Manufacturer information for the DVD-ROM, mouse, and keyboard peripherals you are using • The THQ game you are having problems with (e.g. Supreme Commander) • Description of the problem or the error message you received Support web address: www.thq.com/support E-mail Address: support@thq.com Phone (US/Canada): 818-880-0456 Our support representatives will not answer questions pertaining to game playing hints, product release dates, and other non-technical issues. ________________________________________ PERFORMANCE TIPS Fidelity Settings: - Primary Adapter: Lets the user choose between either windowed- or fullscreen-mode for the primary monitor (as defined in the user's desktop settings). For fullscreen, the user selects the desired resolution. - Secondary Adapter: Lets the user choose the fullscreen resolution for the secondary monitor (if available.) Note, this is only allowed if the primary adapter is set to fullscreen. Also, any change to this option requires a restart of the game. - Fidelity Presets: Lets the user set all remaining video options to a convenient preset value. This option will automatically change to "custom" if any single video option is changed. - Background Image: Lets the user turn on or off the rendering of the background image (and sky cube when zoomed in). - Fidelity: Changes the rendering quality of terrain, water and meshes. Basically, it affects the amount of work the system is allowed to perform while rendering geometry. For example, in low fidelity units do not render reflections. - Shadow Fidelity: Alters the quality of shadow generation. Off: no shadows. Low: shadows are cast onto the terrain only. Medium: shadows are cast on terrain and meshes (trees, units, etc.) High: same as medium but filtered to soften edges. - Anti-Aliasing: Lets the user select the number of anti-aliasing samples (or no anti-aliasing.) - Texture Detail: Lets the user specify how detailed the textures should be. Basically, the user is using this to limit the size of the textures used. - Level Of Detail: Modifies the rate at which lower resolution models are "swapped in" as the camera pulls away. - Vertical Sync: When turned on, the system waits for a vertical refresh before presenting the next frame to the screen. Background Applications and Performance Programs that run in the background while on the Internet, such as ICQ, web browsers, voice communication applications, or file sharing programs cut into the speed at which Supreme Commander plays. Turning off these Internet-specific applications can also increase your game speed. Antivirus and firewall software also commonly contribute to performance issues. If you experience performance problems with Antivirus or firewall software try to configure the software to exclude Supreme Commander from security checks. Contact your software vendor for details. System RAM and Performance Another method of increasing performance in Supreme Commander is to add RAM to your computer if you are playing on a 512MB system. Supreme Commander can consume a great deal of memory in very large games causing the system to use virtual memory. This process is slower than using RAM directly, and while the speed of your processor is a factor in the performance of the game, additional memory can greatly enhance your game speed on baseline systems. Dual Core and Performance Supreme Commander will utilize your dual and quad core processor natively and automatically. Running a dual or quad core processor is one of the best ways to improve performance in Supreme Commander. Updated Video Drivers It is highly recommended that you install the latest drivers for you video card. These can be downloaded from your video card manufacturer's website. Please visit http://www.nvidia.com/ or http://www.ati.com/ depnding on the type of card you have. Updated Sound Drivers If you are experiencing problems with audio, or general performance problems, you should check with your soundcard manufacturer to see if there are updated drivers available. These can usually be obtained from the soundcard manufacturer website. Motherboard Drivers Often motherboard drivers are overlooked when updating systems, and as a result most computers are running very old versions that simply do not work properly and may cause very noticeable slow downs and stability issues. Please check with your motherboard manufacturer to see if there are updated drivers available. ________________________________________ TECHNICAL SUPPORT - Save Game Error: "Save Failed! Error writing data during serialization." This error occurs when you attempt to make a save file and are out of hard drive space. You need to clean up sufficient space on your hard drive before attempting to save again. - In windowed mode, if the screen goes black but music is still playing, attempt to manually resize the window. In this circumstance, the game has not crashed, it is likely just that an edge of the window was clicked but the resize mode hasn't completed. By manually clicking on the edge of the window, you can finish the resize command. - If your computer's desktop is set to 8-bit color mode, Supreme Commander will crash on exit. 8-bit color mode is not supported, and you should set your desktop to at least 24-bit color mode. - All in game text becomes corrupted if the game is started in 16-bit color mode. Please use 24-bit color mode or higher to play Supreme Commander in a supported mode. Dual Monitor Mode: - It is possible to set your primary monitor out of range if you set an invalid resolution on your primary monitor and ANY resolution on your secondary monitor. To get out of this mode, go to your start menu and load Supreme Commander through the Safe Mode link. ________________________________________ UNINSTALLING Uninstalling Supreme Commander To uninstall Supreme Commander follow these steps: 1. Click on the Start menu 2. Choose Control Panel 3. Double-click Add/Remove Programs 4. Select Supreme Commander 5. Click Remove 6. Follow the on-screen instructions. When uninstalling Supreme Commander, you are given the option to delete your saved games, screenshots, and replays. Your GPGNet profile will remain on GPGNet and you may still play over GPGNet from any system that has Supreme Commander installed. NOTE: GPGNet can not be uninstalled from add/remove programs if the Microsoft .NET Framework is uninstalled first. To reinstall the Microsoft .NET Framework visit the Microsoft Download Center ________________________________________ Extras Supreme Commander Fun Facts • Although Quantum Gates exist in space in the SupCom fiction, sending ships through them is exceptionally dangerous. That is why the three factions employ land-based Quantum Gates. • The Mavor is named after Lead Programmer Jon Mavor. • The Wagner is named after Producer Gary Wagner. • Before recording the VO for Supreme Commander, all of the dialogue was vetted through what Editorial Manager William Harms called “SupCom on Broadway”. Volunteers from GPG acted out all of the speaking parts, and Harms and members of the design team took notes and made edits based on how the lines sounded. One of the sessions was videotaped, but to protect the acting-challenged, it will never be released. • ‘Scathis’ is an online handle used by Lead Content Engineer John Comes. • The map “Ian's Cross” was named by Terrain Artist Ian Walker. • The map “Finn’s Revenge” is named after Creative Director Chris Taylor’s youngest son. • GPGNet was originally a working title, and we were sure it would be replaced at some point. There were dozens of suggestions for new names, but the original, "temp" name stuck. • The map “Sung Island” is named after Units Modeler Sung Campbell. • Several of the minor characters are named after friends of the design team (e.g., Sweeney, Elliott, Stensen). • The character President Riley is named after Creative Director Chris Taylor’s son. • The character Mach was originally named Janus, which was changed to Mercury, and finally to Mach. • The character Toth was originally named Ochiba, which was changed to Camille, and finally to Toth. (The name Toth is an homage to comic book artist Alex Toth, who passed away in 2006.) • Marxon’s first name is Jaran. • The Cybrans were originally called the Recyclers.