MMM version 1.22 (mp release 1)(Mexican Motor Mafia)
by John Loehrlein
all rights reserved

Release Notes:

Recommended system is
1.0 ghz Pentium or above
128 system ram or above
32 meg video card (a good geforce 2 or above)

It should run on less but the cutscenes might be choppy because they use a lot of fillrate.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer browser is accessible through the launch menu by pressing "Multiplayer".

IN ORDER TO HOST A GAME YOU MUST OPEN PORT 55100 for UDP on your firewall and if you have a router, route that port to the ip of the machine that you want to host games with.

Selecting "Post to Internet" puts the game on the master server.

There is currently three game types:

"Free4All". Players receive money for killing or being killed. They can then use this money in the shop to purchase cars and weapons. The shops are same on everyone's machines, this means another player can purchase the item you wanted before you can get to it.
"TeamFight". Like free for all but with teams
"BarrelSoccer" push the red barrel into the opposing goal to score points

There are currently only seven maps setup for multiplayer death match, and three for soccer

Multiplayer works slightly better with "system hog" turned off, I may do this automatically for release. The big advantages are that the server doesn't seem to stall as much when contacting the masterserver, and movement prediction is tighter. However the mouse is a little more responsive with "system hog" on. 

Options

System Hog: Runs as fast as possible without waiting for the monitor refresh. It you are having trouble with the frame rate don't turn this on. In non-system-hog mode the physics update 4 times per frame, which makes gameplay a little smoother.

Details: Enables dust trails, skid marks, and some other particles, also enables drop shadows on the text. Turn this off it you are using a geforce 2 or less.

Run In a Window: Runs the game in a window, really only useful for debugging, as the window captures the mouse.


Resolutions

The game will detect any available resolutions at or above 800x600, the game is designed for 1280x960. Anything lower than 1024x768 starts to look bad. Try 1600x1200 or above it looks really crisp.

If scrolling isn't smooth (especially on an LCD screen) try different resolutions. On an LCD the native resolution will usually scroll more smoothly than other resolutions. I have a 1600x1200 flat panel on it only 1600x1200 or 1280x960 look smooth.


Save and Load

The game is entirely auto-save. You can't die, and if you lose a battle you just lose some money and trade goods, but your car and weapons are unaffected. 


Difficulty

There are three difficulty modes "HardCore", "Casual", and "Non-Gamer". In Casual mode you do 50% more damage, in Non-Gamer mode you do double damage.


Combat Tips

Ramming other cars and shooting till they blow up only works early on. Starting around Chapter 2 that tactic will get you killed really fast.

Generally speaking you want to lead the other cars around since they can't shoot directly forward. Stay ahead of them and turn side to side so you can use both weapons.

Using both weapons really helps. Fire with one while reloading the other. Early on a two double-barrel-shotgun configuration is king.

Ramming cars that use dropped weapons is a really good idea, usually you can pin them and just shot them until they blow up.

Grenades and dynamite are hard to hit with because they don't explode on impact. But they do tons of damage. Try pairing these weapons up with the oil slick.

Your shots continue forever so you can hit targets off screen.

Out of all the skills I find "combat awareness" to be the most useful and "weapon handling" to be the least useful.

Speed and maneuverability trump massive weapons.


Registration

You can register the game through the launch menu, select "buy this game" to get your lock code. Then purchase the game to get your key code.

The key is based off of machine and user data, you can run the game off of an imperfect key, but you can't save an imperfect key in the launch menu. If you change your machine around and uninstall the game and then reinstall it you might not be able to save the key via the launch menu.

In this case try making a file called "key.txt" with your key as text, including spaces, and place it in the same directory as the executable. 

If your key is invalidated for any reason you can email me with your lock code and ask for a new one. Please include the old key. Check the website for the appropriate contact email. www.mexicanmotormafia.com


Hacking the Game

If you look at the lua script, you would think you can hack the game from there. I don't advise this. Final copy protection is in the code, and half hacking the game through the lua script will mess with your save game.


Controls

wasd car movement
space handbrake

mouse buttons fire
NOTE: "heavy" weapons must be fired from their appropriate button.
non heavy weapons auto-select

escape - main menu
f1 - toggle pause

(debug mode only)f2 - toggles visual Debug Mode (default OFF)
(debug mode only)f3 - toggles mouse driving (default OFF)
(debug mode only)f4 - toggles AI (default ON)
(debug mode only)f5 - toggles the console and pauses the game
(debug mode only)f6 - debug text
(debug mode only)f6 - Sizing tool

NEW VERSION: 
9/14/2005 1.20 Mutliplayer Release 1
* fixed a few out of game interface issues
* fixed the multiplayer scoreboard
* fixed registration for unicode countries

Known bugs:
* something causes "swap-weapons" not to work from time to time- just leave town and come back

FUTURE VERSIONS:

Version 1.2
* various localizations

VERSION HISTORY:

9/14/2005 1.12 Mutliplayer Beta 3
* added bots to multiplayer
* fixed a bug with the multiplayer score board
* fixed a bug with objects going into hyperspace
* maybe more compatible with integrated video solutions
* set a few default directories so that the game no longer needs config files.

9/9/2005 1.11 Mutliplayer Beta 2
* added localization support, only one language currently "English" but there will be more coming
* better Mutliplayer handshaking
* cars cleaned up when clients leave
* fixed multiple MP car bomb bugs
* two new multiplayer modes "teamfight" and "barrelsoccer"

9/1/2005 1.10 Mutliplayer beta
* Multiplayer functions and has been tested with 2 clients but needs a few more goes
* chat
* masterserver
* local games
* mp shops
* movement prediction
* slightly more compatible for starting d3d devices


6/14/2005 1.00 Release
* You can now evade bandits by ducking into town
* anti-bandit missions no longer right on top of each other
* updates to the instructions
* minor tweaks to the launcher 

6/13/2005 0.92 RC3
* fixed enumeration of video modes in the launcher
* made first missions easier
* delayed "evil Roberto" Mission
* default difficulty is now "Casual Gamer"

6/11/2005 0.91 RC2
* added map scrolling via the space bar
* added sounds to the cutscences
* second pass on the cutsecenes
* fixed sticky button while trading
* fixed attacking cars from menus
* in non-system hog mode physics now run 4 times a frame
* updated the launcher to label the lock code
* updated the launcher to open a new browser window when buying the game.

6/8/2005 0.95 RC1
* All Cutscenes in
* Fixed crash bug with sequences when missing a jpg
* Dump All now works
* Added Difficulty Settings
* Music Plays Full Volume in cutscenes no matter what


5/23/2005  0.90 BETA
* arena mission
* keylock
* no longer requires .net framework
* weapon and car balancing
* debug info can be turned off

5/4/2005 0.82
*Main plot game flow in 100%
*Fixed a few bugs
*14 total battle maps
*12 total town maps
*much bigger world map
*location makers
*numerous fixes


3/29/2005  0.81
*First alpha game flow 25% of total content (maybe)
*four new arena maps
*three new town maps
*five cars added or updated(total of 15)
*intro/versus/death sequences
*instructions
*lots of crash fixes
*messenger system

3/12/2005 0.74
*graphic presentation stuff(putting art into the game)
*music play back
*implement perk effects
*3 new battle maps

2/26/2005 0.73
* new mission type deliver the goods
* new mission type hunt the bad guy
* new fonts and general UI cleanup
* can alt-tab in and out of fullscreen without hanging and general code cleanup
* ghosts (map cars) travel to and from things
* added support for leveling up and perks (all plot based)
* Slightly faster font rendering

2/17/2005 0.72
*Cars emit black smoke when under 50% health
*Cars flash and shake when hit
*Weapons stick out of the car
*New crosshair
*all games are autosaved - no player save and load (aka hardcore)
*hostile ghosts

2/15/2005 0.71
*working car lots
*add missions to the worldmap
*add roving cars on the world map that start missions
*AI have behaviors specific to their weapons
*7 more cars
*5 more maps

1/28/2005 0.65
*menu support, 
*weapon shop, car dealer, trader
*mission system started


12/30/2004 - 0.60
*general clean up the camera to support more resolutions and aspects
*world map to travel between towns and missions

12/23/2004 - 0.55
*ground materials cause changes in rolling resistance
*ground materials cause changes in squealing sound and graphics
*skid marks
*combat hud: health, ammo, etc...
*camera now handles all resolutions, aspects, and can be changed on the fly (try f2)
*camera has been zoomed out by 10%
*AI attempts to navigate around obstacles (needs work)
*AI gets frustrated if it can't shoot you and tries going around the other way


12/14/2004 - 0.50
*Multiple Levels
*All Planned weapon types (new are shotguns, grenades, mines, oil-slick, napalm-slick, rcCar-Bombs)
*AI can search the map for you
*AI shoot their guns
*fixed bugs in weapon control
*fixed bugs in raycasting


11/11/2004 0.41-Graphics, console, and configuration
*finished the first pass of the weapons and visual effects systems
*added simple lighting to the cars
*hooked lighting and shadows up to global sun
*added config.txt for resolution, fullscreen/windowed, and vsync options
*added a console(it uses direct input so the input can be interrupted)
*integrated lua as the console language and for scripting
*hooked all setup functions to lua and added init.lua to setup the game(play with it if you like)
*AI now look at teams for deciding on target
*default texture now used when texture handle is invalid (should reduce crashes)

10/26/2004 0.30- Added Sounds, guns, damage, simple graphic effects, some game flow
*fixed numerous timing issues
*improved AI a little, now enemies know what the last thing they hit was, and can get unstuck (eventually)
*Started GFX improvements. About half the visual effects system is in place
*cleaned up and added a ton of manager stuff, lots of framework done for AI and effects
*enemies now attack in waves
*integrated fmod for sound (after ripping out directMusic, which isn't very good)
*guns, aiming and autoselection


9/23/2004 0.11- mouse driving, simple ai car


9/22/2004 0.1- first ?playable version you drive the car around
