6. OPTIONS

The Options menu is used to modify game settings. Available options are highly dependent on the hardware we support and specific scaleability features of the engine, so this is section is exceedingly likely to change considerably during development. The Options Menu is split into a number of tabs:

6.1. Gameplay

An area for miscellaneous game options.

  • Game Speed: This slider modifies how quickly game action occurs (in Random Map games, the player can modify this value from the Session Creation screen).
  • Scroll Rate: This slider modifies the rate at which the Battlefield Window scrolls.
  • Tool Tip Delay: This slider modifies the period that a user must hover the cursor over an object before its Tool Tip is displayed.
  • Splash Screen. A toggle button that enables/disables splashes and intros that come up at the start of the game (so the player doesn't have to hammer Esc to get to the main menu). Splash Screen is enabled by default.

6.2. Graphics

Options that control the visual aspects of the game. Players with low-performance hardware can disable features to maintain a decent frame-rate, or players with advanced machines can enable settings that strain even cutting-edge contemporary machines (future-proofing).

  • Resolution and Colour Depth: As many resolutions as we can support (minimum is 1024x768), and 16 bit or 32 bit colour levels (or beyond).
  • Gamma Correction: Slider that controls the brightness level of the environment.

Various detail level settings:

  • Texture Quality.
  • Mesh Detail.
  • Toggle Effects (water animation, particles, weather effects, etc).

6.3. Audio

Options that control the aural aspects of gameplay.

  • Volume: Sliders that control the individual volume levels of sound effects, music, and voiceovers.
  • Response Frequency: Control the frequency with which units play their feedback voice samples, as they can become extremely annoying after a while. Consists of two drop-down boxes, one for Selection Response, one for Action Response.

Selection Response:

  • Always: Default setting. A unit will play a sound whenever selected.
  • Seldom: A unit will play a sound the first time it is selected, but never again as long as it remains selected (for example, you will not hear a selection sound when you centre on the selected group).
  • Never: Never play a sound when selecting a unit.

Action Response:

  • Always: Default setting. A unit will play a sound whenever given an instruction.
  • Seldom: A unit will play a sound the first time it is given an action, but for no other actions as long as it remains selected.
  • Never: Never play a sound when giving any unit an action.
  • Playlist Editor: The Playlist Editor consists of two scrollable lists of music files, one for Peace tracks, and the other for Battle tracks. During a game, these lists will be filled out with the tracks allocated to the current scenario. The player can change the sequence in which the tracks are played by moving tracks up and down the lists, and toggle Random or Sequential play. The player can also select the current active track. Finally, the Playlist Editor has two tabs: Standard and Custom. Standard tracks are those that ship with the game and are attached to the current scenario. Custom tracks are player-added tracks which can be played irrespective of the scenario's requirements. The game has a Custom Music folder, with Peace and Battle sub-folders. Any compatible music files (or shortcuts to music files) placed in these folders will appear in the lists when the Custom Tab is selected. When it is selected, these lists will be used during the game.

6.4. Input

Options that control how the player interacts with the game.

6.5. Chat Presets

This window lists the text strings assigned to all 40 chat presets. The player can customise the text in any preset.

Last modified 16 years ago Last modified on Feb 23, 2008, 4:19:00 AM
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