Myth II Help Version 1.8.0 1. Preferences 1.1 Startup Screen (Mac only) These options appear in a small separate window for Mac users when Myth starts up. If it is set to no longer show this dialog, just hold Option key when launching Myth to bring it up again. Switch resolutions – When checked, Myth will switch the monitor resolution when showing the Myth main menu and when entering a game. Windowed mode – When checked, Myth runs in a window. Can be used in combination with the Windowed setting in Myth’s preferences to run the game in a window. Don’t play cutscenes – When checked, disables all cutscenes. Don’t show this dialog again on startup – When checked, does not bring up these settings again. 1.2 Graphics Landscape Textures – When checked, detail textures (a.k.a. dtex) appear on maps if you have the right files. Some plugins come with built in detail textures while others do not. You can download add-ons that add detail textures to old maps. Detail textures affect maps without forcing everybody to download a new copy of a map and without requiring others from having the same add-ons. If checked, they can be toggled on/off during a game using either the Page Up or F11 keys. Anisotropic/Landscape Filtering – When checked (OpenGL/DirectX), textures look better when viewed at steep angles. When checked (Software), will smooth out the map to make it look better. Motion Interpolation – When checked, Myth will interpolate intermediate frames between the game engine frames (a.k.a. ticks) which run at 30Hz. This makes the motion of objects smoother, creating the illusion that the game engine (physics, etc.) runs at the full fps that your computer can handle. In order to achieve this effect, graphics are delayed by one tick, so what appears on screen is slightly behind what is happening. The effect of motion interpolation may not be obvious to all users. To compare, run a single player map with and without this setting at a slower game speed and watch arrows and bottles as they move. VSync – When checked, synchronizes your frames per second (FPS) with your monitor's refresh rate. This eliminates the “screen tearing” effect due to displaying partial frames. 32 Bit (Windows only) – When checked, runs Myth in 32-bit color. This applies to all graphics, except detail textures, and reduces banding on texture gradients. Earlier versions have always used 16-bit (except for DirectX 11 which is always in 32-bit). Myth for Linux and Mac OS X (Universal Binary) run in 32-bit color, and the Mac Classic build runs in 16-bit color. 3D Fog – When checked, will show fog on maps that use it, like the single player map "Salvation". Windowed/Automatic/Fullscreen (Windows only) – Fullscreen – Standard fullscreen mode, on the primary monitor. Changes the monitor's resolution to the selected one. Automatic – Runs in a window with the selected resolution, if it would fit on the desktop. Otherwise, behaves like “Fullscreen”. Windowed – Runs in a window with the selected resolution, if it would fit on the desktop. Otherwise, enters a special “windowed-fullscreen” mode which creates a borderless window which covers the current monitor. The monitor resolution is never changed in windowed mode, so Alt+Tab is typically much faster than in fullscreen mode. (Windowed mode is highly recommended on Windows Vista and above.) Max FPS – When checked, forces Myth to show no more frames per second than the value you selected. Can hold Shift while clicking to enable both VSync and Max FPS instead of one or the other. (Having both is not recommended unless you know what you are doing.) Tex. Cache – Allows you to manually specify the amount of VRAM in megabytes Myth should use to cache textures and sprites. A good rule of thumb is to set this number to be approximately 75% of your graphics card’s total memory. Rendering – Allows you to select the rasterizer that will be used during games. OpenGL and DirectX 11 are the recommended options as they support certain features the older options (Direct3D, Software, etc.) do not support. Which one runs better for you depends on your computer hardware and drivers. Myth will automatically order the list from most recommended to least. Resolution – Allows you to select the resolution Myth will use during a game. Gamma – Allows you to control the brightness of the game. Double click the slider to reset to default. 1.3 Sound Volume – Allows you to set the sound volume of the game. F3/F4 keys can be used to change the volume at any time. (Mac/Linux: volume cannot be changed during cutscenes.) Ambient Sounds – When checked, will play ambient sounds during games. In Game Subtitles – When checked, will show in game subtitles for sounds that make use of them. DirectSound/Sound Manager/OpenAL/None – Allows you to choose the sound provider Myth will use. If your sound is not working, try switching the selected sound provider. Menu Music – When checked, Myth will play music in the main menu. 3D Sound – (Windows) When checked, Myth will play sounds differently so that their specific 3D location is more obvious instead of the current way sounds are played. This old setting is not recommended and is known to cause issues. 1.4 Options Show Status Bar – When checked, shows the status bar found at the top of the screen during a game. Can be toggled in game with F6. Show Control Bar – When checked, shows the control bar found at the bottom of the screen during a game. Can be toggled in game with Shift+F6. Interface Transparency – When checked, makes the status and control bars transparent. Can be toggled in game with Ctrl+F6. Disable Persistent Formations – When checked, will not keep the units in the same formation you last used. Instead they will use a formation that matches their current positions relative to each other. If you want your selected units in formation, you will have to keep setting one each time you move them. TFL Style Gesture Arrows – When checked, will use Myth TFL style gesture arrows. To see these gesture arrows, just select units, hold click on one of them, and drag out in any direction. This only changes the appearance of the gesture arrows. TFL Style Selection Boxes – When checked, will use Myth TFL style selection boxes. These selection boxes are just thicker than Myth 2 style. Good for players that have a hard time seeing the standard selection boxes at higher resolutions. Use Persistent Ready (Multiplayer) – When checked, will not reset the "Ready" button when a game host changes the settings to a game, which would normally require you to press "Ready" again. Useful for players that are not always paying attention when settings are altered before the game is started. Holding Shift as Ready is pressed will do the opposite of what you have set. Meaning, if this checkbox is not checked, holding Shift while pressing it will use persistent ready for that one instance. Autosave Films (Multiplayer) – When checked, Myth will automatically save films of netgames. Use Multiple Processors / Cores (Windows only) – When checked, allows Myth's threads to run on multiple cores. While Myth itself is not multithreaded, modern graphics drivers are, and in some situations very large FPS gains have been observed. Lock/Unlock No Blood – Allows you to eliminate blood and gore from the game. A dialog will come up with two password fields. If you select OK without entering a password, blood will be replaced by twinkling stars, and body parts by scraps of armor. If you enter a password in both fields and select OK, then you will need the correct password to unlock the no blood option. Interfaces – Allows you to choose a custom interface to use for Myth which changes the appearance of most things. Some interfaces also change certain sounds and even the fonts of the text shown. Controls – Allows you to alter the keyboard and mouse controls of the game. ? – Opens this helpful file if it is located in your Myth II folder. 2. Controls Enable Mouse Movement – When checked, allows you to move the camera by moving your mouse to the top, bottom, and sides of the screen. Top Corners Rotate Camera – When checked, lets you rotate the camera by placing your mouse in the upper left and right corners of the screen. Bottom Corners Orbit Camera – When checked, lets you rotate the camera by placing your mouse in the lower left and right corners of the screen. Reverse Axis – When checked, reverses the direction your camera will move when you place your mouse in the corners or sides of the screen. Left Click Doesn't Gesture – When checked, the mouse left click button will not gesture. Gesturing allows you to change the direction your units face. TFL Mouse Actions – When checked, the way you target enemies is the same as Myth TFL. When targeting with your melee units, a regular click will now just target enemies of the same type instead of all enemies. Shift clicking will target all enemies instead of just the same type. Use Control Bar Inventory – When checked, changes the way the inventory system is shown. Now when you press the inventory key (I), the control bar buttons will be switched with buttons that represent inventory items of the selected unit. Alternate Preset Recall – When checked, presets are recalled directly by pressing the number keys. (Go to the Key Combos section for more info.) System Keyboard Layout – (Windows/Mac) When left unchecked, Myth will use the Standard US keyboard layout, even if you have an international (non US) keyboard. When checked, there may still be some keys that do not match with what you would expect for international keyboards. Current Set – Allows you to store multiple sets of keyboard preferences. This is especially useful if more than one person plays Myth on the same computer. Simply click the set you want to edit or use. If you only use one set or don’t know what to do, stick to the default. Revert Set – Allows you to reset the keyboard settings for a given set to the default values. Right Click – The action to take when you use the mouse right click button. Gesture Move – (Default) Allows you to gesture selected units without accidentally switching to selection box mode and force you to retry gesturing. Attack Ground – Allows you to attack the ground just like using Ctrl+clicking. Deselect Units – Allows you to deselect your units when you right click anywhere. Ignored – Allows you to use right click for something outside of Myth. Mouse Wheel – The action to take when you scroll the mouse wheel. Ignored – (Default) Allows you to use mouse wheel for something outside of Myth. Move – Allows you to move the camera forward/backward just like W/S keys. Zoom – Allows you to zoom the camera in/out just like C/V keys. Cycle Presets – Allows you to cycle forward/backwards on your unit presets. Cycle Inventory – Allows you to cycle up/down on a unit’s inventory list. Caps Lock – The action to take when you toggle Caps Lock. Ignored – Allows you to use Caps Lock for something else in controls or outside of Myth. Selection Boxes – (Default) Allows you to show faded selection boxes/health bars of your units without having them selected. This way you know which units are yours and see their health. Health Bars – Allows you to show only the health bars of your units without having them selected. This way you do not confuse the selection boxes of selected and unselected units. Players Stats – Allows you to show the F7 player stats without having to hold that key. Chat Backlog – Allows you to show the most recent chat in the game without holding Up Arrow. Horiz Mouse Mvmt – The action to take when you move the mouse to the sides of the screen in game. Move (Pan) – (Default) Allows you to pan the camera to the sides like Z/X keys. Rotate – Allows you to rotate the camera like A/D keys. Orbit – Allows you to orbit the camera like Q/E keys. Ignored – Allows you to do none of the above. 3. New Game Level – Allows you to select the single player map you want to play. Double clicking the map will load it just as it would if you pressed the OK button. Dimmed maps (which have a bullet on the left) are the levels you have not visited before. A checkmark is used on maps that you have already visited and on maps that are automatically set by their creator to show up from the start. To undim maps, you must beat the map before it or Shift+click the mapset (campaign). You can use the Up/Down Arrow keys to select a map. Campaign – Allows you to select the set of maps to show on the Level list. Selecting “Myth II: Soulblighter” will show the default maps while other mapsets will show maps from plugins you have. This is the same as the Mapset list you see on multiplayer options, but it will only show mapsets that contain at least one single player map. You can use the Up/Down Arrow keys to select a mapset. Click on “Campaign” to toggle the order they are shown between alphabetical and map count. (search) – Allows you to filter the campaign list by typing a few characters. The campaign list also has a type-to-seek function, which can take you to the first item that starts with the letters you type. Tagsets – Allows you to select plugins that contain no maps which are known as tagsets. If you want to activate a plugin with a map, read the Campaign description above. TFL Gameplay – See description in Multiplayer Options. Anti-Clump – See description in Multiplayer Options. 4. Multiplayer Options Level – This list is not labeled but shows the maps you can choose to play. For co-op, dimmed maps (which have a bullet on the left) are the levels you have not visited before. A checkmark is used on single player maps that you have already visited and on maps that are automatically set by their creator to show up from the start. To undim maps, you must beat the map before it or Shift+click the mapset. You can use the Up/Down Arrow keys to select a map. Mapset – Allows you to select the set of maps to show on the list above. Selecting “Myth II: Soulblighter” will show the default maps while other mapsets will show maps from plugins you have. You can use the Up/Down Arrow keys to select a mapset. Click on “Mapset” to toggle the order they are shown between alphabetical and map count. (search) – Allows you to filter the mapset list by typing a few characters. The mapset list also has a type-to-seek function, which can take you to the first item that starts with the letters you type. Tagsets – Allows you to select plugins that contain no maps which are known as tagsets. If you want to activate a plugin with a map, read the Mapset description above. Co-operative – When checked, will show single player maps instead of multiplayer maps. The mapset list will only show mapsets that contain at least one single player map and hide mapsets that only have multiplayer maps. When unchecked, it does the opposite. TFL Gameplay – Allows the map to play like it would if you were playing Myth: The Fallen Lords. This includes unit attributes, physics, and even graphics. The default Myth II maps are vTFL compatible, but not all maps from fan-made plugins are compatible with vTFL (virtual TFL mode). Anti-Clump – Allows the map to play with TFL-like unit spacing and turning. If a map is not vTFL compatible, you can still use this option on it at least. Play Narration – (Co-op) When checked, allows the co-op game to play narrations and cutscenes for all players. The game won't start until all players are done watching or skipping the narrations and cutscenes. Game Type – (Multiplayer) Allows you to select the game type to use on the multiplayer map. Each game type has its own objectives and rules. Read them in the status bar or in the hints when playing. Name – Name your game whatever you like. Players in the server lobby will see this name. Password – If you want to keep your game open for anyone, leave this field blank. Difficulty Level – Allows you to select the difficulty level to use on the map. For co-op, this setting is important as Timid will make the map easy while Legendary will set it to its hardest. For multiplayer, this could mean different units or number of flags and balls. Player Limit – Allows you to set the maximum number of players allowed in your game. If you choose a map with a few units or your internet connection is very slow, then you will want to allow less players into your game. Time Limit – (Multiplayer) Allows you to set the maximum time your game can last. Planning Time – (Multiplayer) Allows you to enable and set the maximum planning time (PT) your game uses before the game starts. This gives you time to distribute units to your teammates and decide what to do and where to go. Allow Unit Trading – (Multiplayer) Allows you to enable unit trading (UT) during planning time. You can trade units for other units based on their individual cost values. Allows Old Clients – When checked, allows players with older versions of Myth than the host player to join the game. Useful option to disable in order to prevent having players with a version that might not be fully compatible with a map you want to play. Server is Observer – When checked, allows a player to host a game without being part of the game. Players that join the host’s team with this setting will be observers as well. Show Enemy on Map – When checked, allows you to see enemy units as red dots on the overhead map when nearby. On some plugins, certain units are set to not show up even if this setting is enabled. Allow Veteran Units – When checked, allows you to use units that survived the previous map. Vets normally attack faster and more accurately than units without any experience. Allow Alliances – (Multiplayer) Allows you to form alliances with other teams. Use the (=) key to ally. Allow Teams – When checked, allows you to form teams of your choosing. Players that are not on a team will be added to one randomly when the game starts. Maximum – (Multiplayer) When checked, allows you to set the maximum teams allowed on the map. This lets you use less starting locations than what is available on the map. Deathmatch – (Multiplayer) Allows you to enable instant respawn for any dying units in the game. 5. Key Combos “Formations/Presets” (Number keys) – (Note: When Alt/Cmd is mentioned, it means Alt key is used for Windows while Command key for Mac.) By default, The number keys set the formation the selected units will use. Double tap the same number key to set the formation in place. Holding Alt/Cmd+(number key) for a few seconds creates unit presets while pressing, but not holding, only recalls the unit preset. In alternate preset recall, The number keys recall unit presets. Double tap the same number key to center the camera on the unit preset. Alt/Cmd+(number key) creates unit presets instantly. Holding Shift while pressing number keys adds/removes presets from selection. “Rotate Preset/Set Formation” (F) – By default, rotates presets (cycles through them) and centers the camera on them. 1.8.0: Does not center the camera on the unit preset if you use Shift+F. In alternate preset recall, sets formations by pressing F and then a number key. Shift+F and then a number key to set the formation in place. Shift+(Control Bar Formation buttons) – Sets the formation in place. Shift+“Zoom In/Out” (C/V) – Cycles through a few zoom presets. More zooming presets available in films and for observers in a game. Works with mouse wheel zooming as well. Alt+Enter/F11 (Windows) – Toggles between windowed/fullscreen modes even in a game. You can then resize or maximize the window. Shift+resizing constrains the window to specific resolutions. Al+F10 (Windows) – Toggles “On Top” mode which forces Myth to stay on top of all windows even if you select other windows. Ctrl+G (Windows/Linux) – Toggles “Grab Cursor” which locks the cursor inside Myth’s window. Print Screen or Windows key/Option+F12 – Takes a screenshot (in BMP format) of Myth and saves it in the “screenshots” folder. OpenGL/DirectX: Use with Shift to save a mega screenshot that is 8,000 pixels wide. Delete/Forward Delete – Toggles the FPS/ping display on the right top corner of the screen. Can use Shift+Backspace/Delete as well. (Note: The Delete key on Windows is the Forward Delete key on Mac. The Backspace key on Windows is the Delete key on Mac.) 1.8.0: Now shows ping for netgames. Shift+“Next Tip” – In the game hints dialog, this will cycle backwards to the previous tip. Ctrl+(Plus) – Forces a win in single player. 1.8.0: Now works on the non-keypad plus key. Ctrl+(Minus) – Forces a loss in single player. 1.8.0: Now works on the non-keypad minus key. Double Click “Kill Count” – Toggles between displaying all shields/skulls or one icon and a number. Click “Mapset/Campaign” – Toggles the order they are shown between alphabetical and map count. 6. Dot Commands These commands are used in chat to give you some extra information. While the metaserver might have its own dot commands, these are part of Myth no matter what metaserver you are on. Most of these only work in the game lobby but some also work in the metaserver lobby or give different information in the metaserver lobby. Only the user will see the messages made by these commands. .help – Gives you a list of dot commands you can use in case you don’t remember them. .count – Tells you the player count in the game and the player limit so you know if the game is full. .host – Tells you which player in the game is the host. .info – Tells you the game name as well as the information .count, .host, .plugins, and .version give you. .plugins – Tells you which plugins the game currently has active. .userid – Tells you the user ID number of the player you selected. Useful to track impersonators. .version – Tells you what version and build number of Myth you are running. .vets – Tells you if vets are enabled and if there are any veteran units from previous games. 7. Multi-Touch Partial multi-touch support has been implemented for Windows 7 and 8 (but not RT) users. Feedback on the general setup is encouraged, even if it is just to say that you like it. One Finger – Allows you to click and double click where needed. Two Fingers – Allows you to orbit and zoom the camera. Three Fingers – Allows you to pan the camera. Press and Tap – Allows you to right click at the location of the held finger.