BraveTree Productions' ThinkTanks v1.1 Release Notes

Thank you for purchasing ThinkTanks and supporting independent game developers. We had a blast making this game so we expect you to have a blast playing it!

If you experience difficulty running ThinkTanks, try to resolve the issue by reading the troubleshooting section of this readme and by checking for support on the ThinkTanks help forums. Failing that, send email to support@bravetree.com.

Troubleshooting:

Problem: The game brings up a dialog saying it can't find a compatible display device.

Solution: ThinkTanks requires an OpenGL compatible graphics accelerator. If you have such a video card, make sure the drivers for it are up to date. If your drivers are up to date, try setting your desktop color depth 32 bits and trying again. If that doesn't work try setting it to 16 bits. Try turning off dual monitor support.

Problem: I tried to register the product but it did not work.

Solution: The ignition library (the system ThinkTanks uses to register the product) requires an internet connection. If you are registering from a Macintosh, you might need to have web sharing turned on. If you have Internet Explorer configured with a proxy server, the ignition library will use that setting when contacting the ignition server, so if you are experiencing problems and you have a proxy server set on Internet Explorer, make sure the setting is correct. Also, if you are on a Macintosh, be sure you are not running the game from the .dmg file. If you do that, it will be unable to write the ignition file to the hard drive and will not be able to register you. If your computer is not connected to the internet at all or the above suggestions don't help, you can still register the product off-line by following the instructions on the registration screen that comes up when you start the game.

Problem: I downloaded the ignition file for off-line registration, but where do I put it?

Solution: On Windows and Linux put the file in the same directory as the application. On a Macintosh, put the file in the root directory of the application package (open the package by option-clicking on the ThinkTanks icon and selecting “Show package contents”).

Question: How can I get the game to run as smooth as possible?

Answer: Go to the options menu and try out different combinations of the following: detail selections, 16/32 bit color depth, screen resolution, and full screen. In general, you will get the best frame-rate with the lowest detail selection, the lowest bit depth, the lowest screen resolution, and full screen. Visual quality will improve with higher detail selection, higher bit depth, and higher screen resolution. We attempted to make the game start up in the mode that is best for your computer, but you may prefer different settings than we chose for you.

Question: Can I host a dedicated server for ThinkTanks?

Answer: Yes. On Windows, if you chose to install a shortcut in the Start Menu, then you will find dedicated server shortcuts there too. On Linux, there is a directory of dedicated server scripts available. To start a server from the command line on Windows and Linux type:

ThinkTanks -dedicated -mission <missionName> -game <B|TB|S|TS>

where,

missionName can either be the name of a mission (full path from app directory, so game/data/missions/TT1_1.mis, e.g.) or one of GREEN, BLUE, RED, or ALL which will cause game to cycle on that mission (or all the lush missions in the case of GREEN or all missions in the case of ALL).

And,

B - battlemode, TB - team battlemode, S - scrum, TS - team scrum

If you are using a Macintosh, you will do similarly, but you need to type the name of the application inside the application package. So, from the command-line from the directory that contains the application package, you would type

./ThinkTanks.app/Contents/MacOS/ThinkTanks\ OSX -dedicated -mission <missionName> -Game <B|TB|S|TS>

where <missionName> and <B|TB|S|TS> have the same meaning as described above for Windows and Linux.

Question: The application when in full screen mode leaves a border of several pixels and doesn't properly capture my mouse so that when I move the mouse off screen and click it task switches.

Solution: If you are using Windows and have an Nvidia video card, make sure that NView is disabled. You can do this by right-clicking on your desktop, choosing “properties”, selecting the “settings” tab, pressing the “advanced...” button, and selecting the “nView” tab.

New in version 1.1:

- Adjusted Tanks to make heavy more useful.

- Made Aiming easier.

- Changed reload station so that powerups are not cleared.

- Scrumball now hops toward center of map.

- Added an option to cycle between all maps from a dedicated server.

- Increased time that low ammo message is on the screen.

- Increased range of the radar .

- Changed transparency of the radar.

- Made health powerups show up on radar when health is low.

- Lifting finger off mouse for an extended period now reloads ammo burst (no more one shot bursts).

- Added pause key for solo and quickplay play (ESC key).

- Removed the ability to make a Demo name in registered version.

- Added Target range for new users.

- Also: Improved LAN play support, DirectX support, graphics optimizations.

For further support, email: support@bravetree.com

Check out our webpage: www.bravetree.com

Go look at some of the resources and other games on the GG web site:

- The GarageGames home page

- The online forums

- The FAQ resources

- Torque game engine documentation

- Torque game engine developer home page