Index:
Introduction
Distribution
Requirements
The Story
Getting Started
Default Controls
Game Modes
Game Options
Game Screen
Weapons
Bonuses
Commands
Chat
Dedicated Server
Version History
Credits
Contact

    Soldat is a unique side-view multiplayer action game. It takes the best from games like Liero, Worms, Quake and Counter-Strike and gives you fast action gameplay with tons of blood and flesh. Soldiers fight against each other on 2D battle arenas using a deadly military arsenal.

:---===DISTRIBUTION:

    Soldat is a Freeware game. You can play it without any costs. The only thing I expect as the author is to mail a good word about the game on michalm@poczta.fm . Thanks to that I will be better motivated. Of course I will be even better motivated for motivation in a can or motivation in paper. Soldat can be distributed freely but cannot be sold unless it is agreed with me. If Soldat is placed on a Web Page, CD or is reviewed please let me know.

The newest version of Soldat is always on http://www.soldat.prv.pl

Optimal requirements:
- A PC, a keyboard, a mouse, a brain
- Celeron 400
- 3D accelerator compatible with DirectX
- 32 MB RAM
- hard disk space
- sound card
- network card, modem etc.
- Microsoft Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP
- Micorsoft DirectX 8.1

    It's Quake style:
A couple of guys decided to kill each other and you can be one of them.

:---===GETTING STARTED

 Singleplayer.

The easiest way to start a game:
- Select a map from the MAPS listbox on the right
- Select some bots from the BOTS checklistbox on the far right
- Click the START GAME button

 Multiplayer.

 If you want to play with other people, you have to decide how first:

a) You start a game and others join you

    Click on the OPTIONS menu. In the NETWORK options select connection type (LAN or Internet). Set the online players limit (should be small if you have a slow internet connection). The game can be registered in LOBBY SERVERS, so other players can find you're game in the JOIN GAME servers search. Now select a game mode, some maps from the list and press START GAME in the first menu. If you're game has been succesfully registered in a Lobby Server you will get a message in the game.
Important! - you can't create a network game if you have a firewall. If so, try to activate ports in the firewall (default: 23073 for the server, 10 numbers higher - 23083 for the client)

b) You join a game

    Click on the JOIN GAME menu. If you know the IP address of the server you want to join (you have to know it in a LAN game) then type it in the REMOTE HOST IP field. If you want to search for active servers in the internet, click REQUEST SERVER LIST. When you're lucky and there are games currently running click on the server on the list and then JOIN GAME.

:---===DEFAULT CONTROLS:

[A] - run left
[D] - run right
[W] - jump
[S] - crouch
[Left Mouse Button] - fire
[Right Mouse Button] - fly
[E] - hold down and then release to throw grenade
[F] - throwaway current weapon
[Q] - change weapon to secondary
[R] - reload weapon
[T] - chat

The game keys can be changed in the PLAYER options.

[/] - enter command
[F1] - players list with scores
[F2] - player status
[F3] - statistics (FPS, ping, network bandwith)
[F4] - show real in-game lag
[F6] - pause game
[F7] - minimize the game
[F11] - take a screenshot
[ALT] - + a,b,c... or 1,2,3...0 keys - chat taunts or commands
[ESC] - exit to menu

1. Deathmatch
    Everybody fights against each other. The one who kills the most wins.
Recommended Respawn Time: 3-6 seconds.
 

2. Pointmatch
    The same as Deathmatch but here you fight for points. There is a yellow flag on the map, when you carry it you double your points for kill. You can also get points for multikills. For killing 2 guys in a row you get double points, when you kill 3 you get 4 times more points. If you carry the flag and kill 6 guys in a row you can get 64 points!
Recommended Respawn Time: 3-6 seconds.
 

3. Teammatch
    There can be 4 teams on the map (Alpha Team, Bravo Team, Charlie Team, Delta Team) that fight against each other. The team that gets the highest score (sum of all kills) wins.
Recommended Respawn Time: 2-8 seconds.

4. Capture the Flag
    A competition for two teams (Alpha Team & Bravo Team). To score you have to steal the opponents team flag and bring to your base with your flag.
Recommended Respawn Time: 6-10 seconds.
 

5. Rambomatch
    Rambo - First Blood style. On the map there's John Rambo's Bow. The one who takes it gains super powers and can regenerate health. The rest of the players hunt him for the bow because only Rambo gets points for kill.
Recommended Respawn Time: 6-10 seconds.

Standard options available in the OPTIONS menu:

- Respawn Time - time, in seconds that you have to wait until your next respawn. You also select your weapon in this time.
- Mouse Sensitivity - the sensitivity of mouse cursor movement
- Friendly Fire - if checked you can kill your teammates
- Bonus Frequency - how frequent do special bonuses appear on the map. 0 - none... 5 - lots.
- Flame God, Berserker, Predator, Vest, Cluster - bonuses that will appear in the game
- Chat - bots talk
- Volume - sound volume in percents
- Game Music - play music during the game
- Difficulty - affects bots accuracy
- Game Password - the game servers password
- Connection - the type of network game you want to play (LAN/Internet)
  Next to the Internet option there is a connections listbox (Modem, ISDN, DSL, T1). This is used in the servers browser, so players know what is you're connection.
- Max Players - maximum number of network players
- Port - game servers network port (should be the same as servers for client)
- Game Name - the name of your network game server. Will appear in clients servers search results.
- Lobby Servers - servers that hold a list of Soldat internet games
- Register in Lobby Servers - when you start a server it can register in Lobby Servers so people can search it in the JOIN GAME servers browser.
 

In the Start Game options:

- Kill Limit, Point Limit - When a players Kills or Points reach this number the round ends. In Teammatch the team score must reach it.

- Capture Limit - Flag captures limit in Capture the Flag mode.

- Time Limit - amount of time that the round is played (in minutes).

- Survival Mode - A Deathmatch, Teammatch and Rambomatch game style mode. There is no respawning in this mode. After a player is killed he has to wait until there is one man standing or one alive team and then the round ends and moves to the next map. The scores remain after changing the map. They reset after the whole map list is done.

- Loop - loops the map list
 

Non-standard options are available in the SOLDAT.INI file.

The Soldat HUD:

- Bars and symbols in then bottom of the screen represent:  Health; Ammunition, Grenades and Reloading; Jet Fuel.



- Player Status [on/off F2] is placed on the bottom left:
The first numbers are: your place in the game / number of players in the game.
The middle number is your kills/points.
The third shows the Kill Limit/Point Limit/Capture Limit in the game
In a network game you will see a lag-o-meter - a dot that changes size and color depending on your ping time.
 

- In Teammatch mode in the bottom right there is a column of numbers showing team scores.



- In Capture the Flag mode in the bottom right there are numbers showing captured flags by a team. When a flag is out of base you will notice also a crossed flag symbol.

:---===WEAPONS

   To select a weapon use the numerical keys 1-9,0 after start or when awaiting for respawn. You can throwaway your weapon and pickup another. You can carry two weapons (Primary & Secondary Weapon on your back).

Selectable weapons:

1. Desert Eagles
Akimbo weapon! An automatic hand-gun that can break a man's arm. That's why it doesn't fire so frequently but the bullets can easily pierce thick armor.

2. HK MP5
The most popular submachine-gun in the world. Fast and furious. In short ranges it can defeat heavy weapons.

3. AK-74
Modified version of Automat-Kalasznikov from 1947. Weapon of terrorists and most of worlds army forces. The best rifle in the past 50 years.

4. Steyr AUG
This weapon looks like a toy but it sure isn't. With great speed it spits out bullets killing everything in a fast attack.

5. Spas-12
This Shotgun makes a massacre with its 12-Gauge bullets. The best weapon for close-contact.

6. Ruger-77
A hunting rifle. Very fast and accurate. Good for hunting deers and people.

7. M79
The famous grenade-launcher from the Vietnam War. Viet-Cong quickly ran to the bushes when they heard its characteristic sound. The 40mm grenade can blast anyone into pieces even after a shot behind a hill.

8. Barret M82A1
This sniper weapon has incredible power. It was designed to pierce tank armor. The Army didn't even plan to use it against people. But who cares?

9. FN Minimi
The best machinegun with great firepower. Can be very helpfull for backing-up your team.

10. XM214 Minigun
The famous "O'll Painless" from the movie Predator. This chaingun is mounted on army helicopters. It uses a tremendous amount of ammo and can kill the same amount of enemy's.

Standard arsenal:

Colt 1911
 For years it was the standard US Army pistol. You get it always after respawn as a secondary weapon.

Fists
 After throwing out your weapon you can play Rocky.

Fragmentation Grenades
 You get 3 grenades after respawn. When you pickup the green box you get another 3.

Special weapons:

Rambo Bow
 The famous Bow of John Rambo available in Rambomatch mode. Great for stealth operations. Silent, fast as a lightning and lethal. You can change to exploding arrows with the change weapon key.

Flamethrower
 Is used to set other players on fire. Available after picking up the Flame God bonus.

:---===BONUSES

    On the map you can pickup several bonuses, that spawn from time to time:
 

  Medikit

Regenerates you're health to the maximum level.

  Grenades

Holds 6 grenades, you can carry the same number of them.

  Cluster grenades

3 grenades that explode when hitting the ground. After that they throwout deadly explosive pieces.

  Bulletproof vest

It uses quickly but can save you're life.

  Flame God

Duration: 15 seconds

You become the immortal master of fire! You get a flamethrower to burn the enemy's and immortality in one. Flame you're opponents without risk and laugh at them when they try to runaway!

  Berserker

Duration: 15 seconds

In one word: massacre! You're weapons are foure times stronger in Berserker Mode. Crush you're enemys with a couple of shots!

  Predator

Duration: 25 seconds

Become the lonely hunter! In Predator Mode you are invisible. Also no one can hear you're gun fire. Don't fly and fire too much and you will become a ghost ready to strike! Try to steal you're opponents flag in CTF mode!

After pressing the "/" key you can enter one of the following commands:

Commands from a parameter:

These are parameters that can be used when running Soldat.exe:
- Soldat.exe -dedicated (starts a Soldat dedicated server)
- Soldat.exe -start (starts the game without entering the menu)
- Soldat.exe -dedicated -start (runs the dedicated server automaticly)

    The default key for Chat function is T, to send it press ENTER.

Taunts - You can use ready taunts from the file TAUNTS.TXT by using the ALT key + alpha-numeric keyboard keys.

Teamchat - If you want you're chat text to appear in the console only for you're teammates insert "^" before the text, like this: ^Whats up!

1.0.5b

- Better network code
- New servers browser
- New bonus: Cluster Grenades
- Bonuses are selectable now
- New game option: Survival Mode
- Added Time Limit
- New customizable player appearance (hair, helmets, chains)
- Improved corpse bleading
- New animation and way of throwing grenades
- Aiming is much harder when moving
- Slower M79 reload
- All weapons have more power now except M79 & Barret
- Fixed little Alt+Tab problem
- New idle animations
- Berserker powers your weapons x4 now
- Clanmatch option
- Dedicated server doesn't use the whole CPU now
- Dedicated server can be minimized to the tray
- New editable server welcome message
- Dedicated server can communicate with the game players now
- Dedicated server can run from a parameter now
- Number of players in team are shown when selecting a team
- Restart game and nextmap option
- Players ban option
- You can turn off the changing bonus screen color (ATI problem)
- Respawn time is 2 times longer after suicide
- You get -1 points after suicide and teamkill in Pointmatch, CTF and Teammatch
- Option for showing real lag on objects
- Taking screenshots is now available
- Soldat Map Maker 1.0.1b (fixed some minor bugs, added grid option)
- New music track (Gore)

1.0.4b
- Added defensive obstacles
- Player names under cursor
- New map: ctf_Laos
- Improved font visibility
- Improved grenade and bullets visibility
- Desert Eagle Akimbo
- Major weapon tweaking
- Multikill Combos in Pointmatch
- Bonus time decreased for 5 seconds
- Improved dedicated server
- Fixed some major network bugs
- Fixed repeating messages problem
- Fixed network bugs with flags
- Fixed some possible cheats in network game
- Fixed bug with vanishing grenades
- Window size doesn't change anymore when Large Fonts is on
- New sound for picking up the vest
- Jetpack has more fuel now but loads slower
- Added Soldat Map Maker 1.0b

1.0.3b
- Major weapon modifications
- Fixed bug with clones
- Fixed bug in the servers list ("out of bounds")
- Fixed some bugs in a network game ("access violation")
- Fixed bug with flags in network game
- New dedicated server

1.0.2b
- Added new bonuses: Predator, Flame God, Bulletproof Vest, Berserker
- Fixed network code (working guaranteed packets)
- Fixed lots of bugs in a network game
- Option to name the server
- New sounds
- Minigun has smaller recoil
- Player with the BarretM82A1 can see 10% more
- Teamchat option
- Force software mode option

1.0.0b
- 2 new maps: Cambodia & Arena3
- 2 new CTF maps: ctf_Run & ctf_Death
- Drasticly improved network code
- Better play on high pings
- Colored dot Lag-o-meter
- Improved bot navigation on maps
- Camera shows the winner of the game now
- Weapon tweaking
- Spas-12 has a recoil now
- More blood and other ornaments
- Improved dedicated server
- Added arrow that shows the player after respawn
- New two-colored gradient backgrounds
- Added players limit option
- Added maps list option
- Optimized maps
- Soldat Manual
- Added intro with music
- Added music during the game
- Improved sounds (new fly sound)

0.9.9b - third public beta
- Added kill limit option
- New game mode : Teammatch
- New game mode : Capture the Flag
- Added changeable skin color
- Added players and team status
- 3 new small maps : Fest, Mikra & Bunker
- 2 new CTF maps : ctf_Kampf & ctf_Viet
- Improved medikits and grenade boxes
- Added scene Antialiasing option
- New Select Weapon menu

0.9.7b - second public beta
- New network code base on UDP
- New game mode : Rambo Style
- Added 2 Bow types in Rambo Style
- 2 new maps : Karh & Cave
- Added scenery graphics (grass, rubble, wood etc.)
- Changed weapon M4-Carbine to Steyr-AUG
- Better gameplay (more health)
- Weapon tweaking
- Added medikits and grenade boxes
- Maximum 6 grenades
- Soldat Config
- Added Ceasefire Time after respawn
- Removed the quit game problem
- Ready taunts option in Taunts.txt file
- Added controls change option
- Added server password option
- Added dedicated server option
- Removed shortcut problem (caused no sound)
- Bots are much smarter: they run away from grenades etc.
- Bots can talk and have their own opinions for life

0.9.4b - first public beta
- 7 maps
- 2 game modes : Deathmatch & Pointmatch
- Network code based on Directplay

0.0.0 - Soldat doesn't exist

    Programming, graphics, sounds, music, story :

Michal Marcinkowski (michalm@poczta.fm)

Tools and components used in development:

- Borland Delphi 6 (http://www.borland.com)
- DirectX 8 + Jedi DirectX 8 headers (http://www.microsoft.com; http://www.crazyentertainment.net; http://clootie.narod.ru)
- FMOD (http://www.fmod.org)
- Flatstyle (http://www.flatsyle.de)
- BlackUDP by Lifepower
- Mode Enumeration Unit from PowerDraw (c) Lifepower (http://turbo.gamedev.net)

Soldat Lobby Server by TRSSam

Additional music (Gore) by BSG (Dvader1985@cs.com)
 

Special thanks to:

+ For all of the Soldat Community! Everybody that mailed me and talked about Soldat on message boards, giving me good advice and motivating me.
+ Warsztat (http://warsztat.pac.pl) - for there help in testing the betas
+ Thomasa Jakobsen from IO Interactive for his wonderful article (http://www.io.dk/~tj).
+ Number27 for his tutorials (I don't have the address).
+ Dolny for hosting the official web site, promotion and ideas
+ Special special thanks for all those that tested Soldat and made it a better game (yes its you!)
+ In a short version I thank: the electric company, my computers, my keyboard, start menu, John Pascal (or whatever his name is), John 'god' Carmack, Bill, Shwarzenneger ...

E-mail : michalm@poczta.fm
WWW : http://www.soldat.prv.pl