Patch Readme 2/17/02 8:15PM

COMMAND & CONQUER RENEGADE DEMO

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LIST OF CHANGES IN THE PATCH
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. The Renegade Demo will automatically detect and set your bandwidth
2. Contraints have been created to ensure appropriate server bandwidth
3. Added a command to report important performance values
4. Found and removed some memory leaks that were affecting server performance
5. Miscellaneous bug fixes and improved server stability

Additionally this readme contains more information regarding the server settings and what they do. (see Server Options below)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. AUTOMATIC DETECTION OF CLIENT BANDWIDTH
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is very important that your game is setup to use the correct connection speed for your Internet connection. If the connection speed is not setup properly, it will drastically affect your game performance. This setting communicates to the server how frequently your game should update. If it is set too low, the server does not update your client as often as it could. If this value is set too high, the server may flood your game with too much information.

Therefore the game now automatically detects and sets your bandwidth. The option is no longer available.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. SERVER CONNECTION SPEED - CONSTRAINTS ON SETTING UP A SERVER
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are setting up a server, it is important that your connection speed is setup correctly. The connection speed for the server determines how frequently clients connected to the server are updated. This has a direct effect on the experienced "lag" of the players connected to your server.

The game will automatically determine your bandwidth and use it to determine the maximum number of players your game can host (you can always host less than the maximum number). The number of players is scaled up using the following criteria:

Upload Bandwidth equal to or greater than 0.5 Mbps allows up to 8 players
Upload Bandwidth equal to or greater than 1.0 Mbps allows up to 16 players
Upload Bandwidth equal to or greater than 2.0 Mbps allows up to 32 players


Cable modems and DSL with an upload bandwidth of 128k/sec are NOT allowed to host.

<> To promote the best gameplay experience for all of our players, the demo server will automatically be set to a DEDICATED server.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. COMMAND TO SHOW IMPORTANT PERFORMANCE VALUES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you press [F8] and type "FPS" and press [Enter] the following information will be presented in the upper right portion of the screen:

Server: FPS, BW (bandwidth)
Client: FPS, SFPS, Ping time, BW


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SERVER OPTIONS - MORE EXPLANATION AND INFORMATION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basic
------------------
Game Name - Name of Game as it appears to other players in the game browser
Password - Password to enter game
Number of Players - Total Number of players allowed on Server: Automatically
Configured by the game.
Preferred Side (Default: Auto Team) - Allows a preferred team. Choices are Auto,
GDI or Nod
IP Address - IP address of machine

Gameplay
------------------
Starting Credits (Default: 0) - Starting credits given to each player
Radar Mode (Default: Show all units)
Show No units - Radar is inactive
Show All Units - Show all friendly and enemy units
Show Allied - Show all Allied (friendly) units
Players only
Friendly Fire (Default: Off) - Setting this allows players to damage friendly
units
Can Repair Buildings (Default: On) - Enables or disables building repair
Driver is Always Gunner (Default: On) - The driver controls both the vehicle
and the vehicle's weapon
Spawn Weapons (Default: Off) - Enables pre-placed weapons spawners

Advanced
------------------
Dedicated Server (Automatically set to On, cannot be turned off)
Server Auto Restart - Not active in this menu
Teaming Options (Default: Remix Teams)
Manual Teaming - Players can choose which team to join at any time
Remix Teams - Randomly Mixes the players on each team on the next map in the cycle
Internet Options - Not active on the Renegade Demo
Message of the Day - Message displayed to players when joining the game


Victory Conditions
------------------
Destroy All Enemy Buildings (Default: On) - A team can win the game by destroying all enemy buildings before time runs out. If this is set to off, the Place endgame beacon cannot be set to off.
Place EndGame Beacon (Default On) - Enables a victory condition based on placement and detenation of the Ion Cannon/Nuke Strike beacons in the Beacon Pedestal
(See the readme file for more information).


Map Cycle
------------------
Mod Package - Not available in the demo.
Available Maps - Displays all maps available maps to place in Map cycle. For the Demo there is one map, Under.
Map Cycle List - Currently selected maps in server map cycle. For the Demo there is one map, Under.
Map Time Limit (Default: 25 Minutes) - Time limit for each map in the cycle. Winner is determined by the score if a game reaches the time limit.
Loop Maps (default: On) - Restarts the Map Cycle after last map.


Save/Load - Different server options can be saved to be loaded at different times