----------------------
EMPIRE ALLEGRO ADVANCE 1.7
----------------------

Changes from Empire Allegro Advance 1.6:

This version is the "not finding any bugs, so it's time to make this thing not look like crap" version!

General:
  -Changed small text from the default allegro font to something better
  -Changed big text from Comic Sans to something better
  -Made the buttons look a little nicer
  -Added the option to arrange the maps by name, size, or the number of players
  -Made the tiles scroll smoothly in the game, instead of jumping from one tile to the next
    >Doesn't happen in the map editor, though, because I think it would just be a nuisance when placing tiles

Graphics:
  -Added some particle effects, and the option to turn them off
  -Added the option to turn translucency on and off, in case FBlend isn't fast enough
  -I'm now using FBlend instead of the Allegro blenders, so that should improve performance
  -FBlend doesn't do 24-bpp, so now neither does the game
  -Changed the depth of the bitmaps in the datafiles from 24 to 16, which means a smaller overall download size
  -Added the ability to choose what color depth you want, and whether you want fullscreen or windowed

Map Editor:
  -You can now hold down the left/right buttons in the map editor to scroll through the map tiles
    >So you don't have to start clicking like mad to get to the tanks or rarely-used sea tiles

In-Game:
  -Added more game options
    >Can display the damage before you attack
    >Can include a time limit for each turn
    >Can change the amount of money you get for each building
  -Added the ability to bring up a menu when the AI is taking its turn
    >Now you can easily quit when you get bored of watching that AI versus AI game you started
  -You can now see how much money you have while in the unit purchase screen
  -Included a description for each unit in the unit purchase screen

As usual, saved games from previous versions won't work.

-----------------

Changes from Empire Allegro Advance 1.5:

-Teams!
  -This addition means saved games from previous versions can't be loaded

-----------------

Changes from Empire Allegro Advance 1.0:

-Vastly improved AI
-Slightly improved map editor
-Changed draw method from dirty rectangles to double buffering
 >Dirty rectangles was starting to become a hassle
 >Double buffering makes using translucency much easier
-Improved how maps are stored and manipulated
 >...And saved and loaded, which unfortunately leads to incompatibility
 >But check version1.5.txt for details on that
-Removed the refresh button, since it isn't needed with double buffering
-Fixed a bug involving merging loaded transport units
 >And a bunch of other, less-important bugs

-----------------

Changes from the last version of Empire Allegro:

  -Computer players with a semi-competent AI!  (More information on AI can
be found the ai folder)

Map Editor:
  -Fixed so no more than 50 units per team can be placed.
  -Added a 'continue map' feature, so all is not lost if you accidently click "Back" instead of "Name Map".
  -Modified to include AI profiles, as well as fix several small problems with saving, loading, and naming maps.
Main Game:
  -Fixed a bug related to loading maps with pre-placed units.
  -Revised the special ability power gain, so after a battle the person whose unit took more damage gains more for the special ability, since before a person who began winning early on would quickly gain more and more power and steamroll the opposition.  Now the losing sides in a skirmish have a better chance at retaking the lead.
  -Fixed a little APC glitch, where it showed the resupply option even when not next to a unit when it was on the edge of the map.
  -Fixed the many, many problems with landers and their associated functions.
  -Changed pathfinding so that it actually works the way it was originally intended to (before it had a problem that I balanced out by giving each unit one more move than it should get).
  -Add a "Merge" command for all units.
  -Updated the characters and added some new special powers to choose from.
  -Added an option to enable double buffering, which makes things look better when there are a lot of units on the screen being animated at once.
  -Added a few new sound effects
General:
  -Add screen refresh button 'R' (for if the screen blanks somehow) 
  -An absolutely massive amount of graphical tweaks and bugfixes.
  -Maps are now arranged in alphabetical order.
  -Compiled using a newer version of Allegro (4.1.14)


NOTE: DOS version has been removed for now, because I can't compile for DOS right now and the current DOS version is hopelessly out of date.
NOTE: Save files and map files are incompatible with Empire Allegro versions. 
To fix the map files, just open them in a text editor and add a 0 at the end.

NOTE: If you're just copying Empire Allegro Advance over the old Empire Allegro, be sure to delete the old empire.ini file.

Also, if you stumble onto a bug or a case of extreme AI stupidity, let me know at kdevilla@andrew.cmu.edu.

==============================================================================

Is almost unplayable on (my old computer):
  200 MHz CPU
  64M RAM
  WIndows 95
Recommended (the other system it was tested on):
  700 MHz CPU
  256M RAM
  Windows 98
Will run easily on (my laptop):
  2.4 GHz P4
  384M RAM
  Windows XP
Will DEFINITELY run very well on:
  Athlon XP 2600+
  512M RAM
  Windows XP

If you have an even slower computer than that first one, I doubt that the game will run very well or at all.

==============================================================================


HOW TO PLAY:
  The gameplay has been designed to mimic Advance Wars (GBA) almost completely, so if you know how to play Advance Wars you're fine.

  For those of you who are depriving yourselves of that game, the object of the game is to defeat your opponent(s) either by capturing their HQ or destroying their units and capturing or covering their unit-producing buildings.  The game is fairly easy to learn, so just experiment with different units and see what they can do and not do.

  Certain characters have different strengths, weaknesses, and special abilities, which you can customize using the Player Maker program.  The characters originally included are based on some people from the www.allegro.cc forums.  Drop by sometime.

CONTROLS:
  Left mouse:  Select
  Right mouse: In the game:    Bring up various menus
               In map editor:  View minimap
  Space:  View minimap (in game)
  Shift:  See attack range (only for distance-attack units)
  Ctrl-B: Quick exit button.  Pressing this instantly exits the game.

To scroll the map, move the mouse to the edge of the screen.

==============================================================================


The Map Editor:
  The map editor is, I hope, easy to use.  There are buttons to select and place tiles and units.  There are two important things to know about the editor first:
1. You must name the map before you can save.
2. CHECK THE MAP BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO USE IT.  The "check map" button will tell you if there is any fatal problem with the map.  If you ignore it and try to play on a problematic map, bad things will happen.  Bad things like your computer freezing / crashing / refusing to boot up normally or at all.  I've had all three happen to me at some point or other while making the game.  Granted, I was making it on a Windows 95 machine at the time, but still...

The Player Maker:
  A Visual Basic program I made, this lets you create your own characters or modify existing ones.  Should be easy to use.

NOTE: When the Player Maker is open, it creates 8 temporary bitmaps for the 8 players.  It will delete them once it is closed.  Do not delete them while it is running or bad things will happen.  Also, do not delete any of the player bitmaps and then try to run the Player Maker.  It will not load unless there are 8 "playerx.bmp" pictures in the folder the Player Maker is in.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The unit sprites and building tiles in this game have been taken from Advance Wars, for the Gameboy Advance, so they belong to Nintendo.  This game was inspired by Advance Wars, and you should all go out and buy that game (or Advance Wars 2) right now if you haven't already.

The land tiles, except for the buildings, were made by me.

The sound effects were found using findsounds.com, so I have no idea who they may belong to.

The music, well...there is no music in the game right now, and I think it's going to stay that way.

This game was made using Allegro, the game programming library, along with FBlend.
http://www.allegro.cc