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			-    ------------------------=<|
			| Lambda Arena Version 0.3 Beta Test |
			----------------------------------=<|
  _________
 | Index |
  
    I. Intro
   II. New Since Last Version
  III. This Is a Beta
   IV. Installation
    V. Playing
   VI. Rules
  VII. New Commands
 VIII. New Cvars
   IX. Weapons
    X. Maps
   XI. The Team

 -------
 | Intro |
 -------

Welcome to Lambda Arena. We won't bore you with a story here, but in this mod, you'll get
to fight man against man, or if you wish, team vs. team, on relatively small fighting areas.
When you enter the arena, your basic goal is to wipe out the other team, and you're given
lots of weapons and ammo to do so.

 ------------------------
 | New Since Last Version |
 ------------------------

IMPORTANT: This version has been released in order to make people interested in fixing this
mediocre version up. We need an experienced coder who has a grip of the SDK, who can work
on the existing MSVC++ 6 code, with our other coder, daMaker. You'll be in charge of the
harder parts, check the section below for more....

This version isn't very good, but should give you an idea of where the mod is heading.
Please excuse any spelling errors, bugs and unbalanced weapons, it will be fixed soon.

 Lots of bugfixes

 New spectator mode, type 'ghost' to toggle between free flying and being in the spectator
  area

 Three new weapons: Colt XM177E2 Automatic Rifle (accurate, good rate of fire), MAC 10
  Machinepistol (eats 9mm bullets like popcorn, inaccurate) and an SOG Bowie Knife which
  replaces the Crowbar. The "every second bullet being lightning traced"-thing has also
  been removed. Oh, and the weapons are not the best ever made, but hey...

 Select armor upon joining an arena: Kevlar Vest (bullets), Energy Shield (energy) or
  Asbestos Suit (explosives). Each offer 50% protection from the specified type of damage

 New shell models for 9mm bullets and the 5.56mm the XM177E2 uses

 Three new maps: 'Cold Steel', 'Dazed' and 'Frag', bringing the total to 4 maps, 17 arenas

 A shitload of new military skins

 Three-second countdown when a match starts where you can't use your weapons. It works just
  like in Rocket Arena, and allows you to get your bearings before the game begins

 Ability to lock and unlock your team with 'lockteam' and 'unlockteam' - stop players from
  joining your team if you don't want them to

 Change the name of the next team you create with the cvar 'teamname' - put this in your
  autoexec.cfg to make it persistent

 New deathmessages when you die

 You now know which color your team skin is

 Re-designed menu interface

 New HUD

 Totally cool icon

 The whole thing has been changed a bit more towards resembling Rocket Arena. This mod is
  now about having fun, not about realism. This might change in the future

 ----------------
 | This Is a Beta | 
 ----------------

That's right, this is a beta version of Lambda arena. We have big plans for this mod, but
for this version, we're using most of the normal Half-Life weapons, and it doesn't have that
many maps either. You can help make Lambda Arene complete, here's what we need:

 3D Modellers 

We'd like to see Lambda Arena end up as a mod with lots of real weapons, and we have tons of
pics and instructions for you to follow. It's not all real though, we have plans for fantasy
weapons too, so tell us no matter what you want to do.

 Sound people 

A weapon isn't finished before it has some juice sounds, so if you can make some or know
where to get some great sounds that could be used for weapons, we're eager to hear from you.

 Mappers 

We need all the mappers we can find, and you don't need to be exceptionally skilled to do a
map for us, if you don't want to do more than a single battle arena, then that's all we're
gonna ask for. Arenas, as they are called, are a battle area within a *.bsp map, and their
goal is to look realistic, and create a fun playing area. We need both small, medium and
large arenas, small ones are meant for 1v1/2v2 and large are meant to be able to hold as
many as 12 players, 6 on each team. Full instructions and an example *.rmf is included in
the \readme dir (lamap.zip).

 Skill Requirements 

Before you consider working for us, please make sure you understand what we mean by being
dedicated, because that's what we want to be to work with us. In our eyes it means working
at least five hours a week (may vary depending on work area), and being able to show some
professional results. You must be able to communicate, which means that we cannot wait more
than a few days at max. for you to answer an email. Preferably, you must check your email
each day at least. If you can handle these demands, you might be the right guy for us, so
please email us at <la@planethalflife.com> if you're interested.

					  -=< | >=-					

We're also extremely interested in hearing what you think of this mod. This version features
lots of important changes, so PLEASE email us with your thoughts so we can make this mod
better. Thanks. Oh, and don't forget that this is a test version intended to make people
know that the mod is kinda alive and to make people interested in working with us.

 --------------
 | Installation |
 --------------

The file 'la03betatest.zip' is a compressed zip archive, which you can open with Winzip
<http://www.winzip.com> for example. Just double-click the file (which should open it in
Winzip), and now press extract. The files are already sorted, with the lowest dir being
'la', so enter your Half-Life main directory (ie: 'C:\Half-Life\'), and press OK. The files
should now be in a dir called 'C:\Half-Life\la', and this file that you're reading now, in
'C:\Half-Life\la\readme' (or where ever your Half-Life dir might be located).

 ---------
 | Playing |
 ---------

To play Lambda Arena, you must run the Half-Life executable with the parameter -game la. If
you copy your shortcut to Half-Life, right click it, choose Properties/Shortcut and then
look in the text-box labelled path, it should say something like 'C:\Half-Life\hl.exe'.
Change this to 'C:\Half-Life\hl.exe -game la', and the game will be run with the \la dir as
the game directory.

Now you can either run around a map on your own by loading it from the console (add the 
' -console' parameter to get access to it in the game and don't forget to set the 
'deathmatch' cvar to '1', by typing: 'deathmatch 1' in the console), or you can join a LAN
game. When running around on your own, add the ' +set sv_cheats 1' parameter to the shortcut
and you can now use the cheat 'fightnow' in the console to get in the arena with weapons.

The real way of playing the mod is of course online, and we can only recommend that you use
Gamespy <http://www.gamespy.com> for that purpose. If you don't know how to use it at all,
we suggest that you visit half-life-info.com <http://half-life-info.com>, choose the
Multiplayer/Getting started section, and learn how to use it. In Gamespy, go to the menu
View/Custom Tab/Import... and select the 'Lambda Arena.qst' file in the \la dir. Now make an
update of your Half-Life servers by right clicking the Half-Life bar in the left side of the
screen and choosing 'Update'. Wait until all servers have been updated and refreshed, then
click 'Lambda Arena' tab in the 'Only show these servers' box, right above the listed
servers. Now you'll have filtered out all servers except those running Lambda Arena. You can
also press the Game tab to sort the servers after which game they're running. Look for 'la',
a good ping and lots of players, then double-click the server to join the game.

 ---------
 | Da Rulz |
 ---------

When you join a game you'll be presented to an on-screen menu, displaying the arenas on the
map you're on. The numbers next to the arena title shows how many players there are in
it/how many players it can max. hold, and either an S, M or L. It stands for Small, Medium
and Large, and describes the size of the arenas. You'll then see the teams currently in the
arena you have selected, and you can either join either on of them, or create your own team.
Your team will have the name "Team <playername>" Upon joining an arena, you now choose a
weapon from each of four categories. You'll also need to select a type of armor:

Kevlar Vest - 	damage taken from bullet weapons (glock, magnum, XM177E2, MAC 10, shotgun,
		crossbow) is 50% of normal

Energy Shield -	damage taken from energy weapons (gluon, tau cannon) is 50% of normal

Asbestos Suit - damage from explosives (RPG launcher, MP5 grenades) is 50% of normal

Which weapons you want to choose depends on which strategy you want to use, so it's up to
you. You should be happy if someone decides to join your team, but if you want to be alone,
use the commands listed below. When your team is up for a match, you and another team will
be put in the fighting area, and after a three-second countdown, the thing will begin. If
your team (that means no matter how many/few players it has) wins, the entire team will
remain in the arena as winners, and be put up against the next team in the row. The players
on the losing team will be put back in the spectator area.

Lambda Arena maps are different from other maps, in that they consist of different "arenas".
This means that each bsp has up to five fighting arenas, each different from the other. You
can select an arena on start-up, arenas can be of different sizes, ranging from small up to
large, DM style ones. When you join an arena, you'll have to choose weapons, see the weapons
section for categories and specifications. Mostly you'll then be put in the spectator area 
of the arena you've chosen, an area protected by security glass, meaning that you can safely
watch the match. If the arena is large, you can always switch to free flying a to see more
of the action. This is possible by using specially developed technology, which is currently
kept a secret. When you die, you'll be put in the spectator area.

The rest of the game is up yourself. You may choose which weapons you want to use, what
strategies you want to take advantadge of and so on.

 --------------
 | New Commands |
 --------------

Letters in brackets are the default bound key, change it in the autoexec.cfg

 showplayerinfo [P] - brings up a menu where you can make gameplay choices and such

 ghost [G] - toggles between free flying and being in the spectator area

 lockteam [L] - stop players from joining your team if you don't want them to

 unlockteam [U] - does the opposite

 -----------
 | New Cvars |
 -----------

 teamname - sets the name of the next team you create

 ---------
 | Da Gunz |
 ---------

This beta has some Half-Life weapons, some new. The plan is to replace all the HL weapons.
Oh, and some weapons are very redundant, but we'll remove them soon.

 SOG Bowie Knife
  
  Melee weapon included in the unlikely case of players running out of ammo. Does 30 points
  of damage and has a fast rate of "fire"

 9mm Glock17
  
  Each bullet does 8 points of damage, and it has a clip size of 20 bullets.
  Max. ammo: 200 9mm bullets (Shares ammo with MAC 10)

 .357mag Colt Python
  
  Deals 25 points of damage, it features a zoom function. It has a clip size of 6 bullets.
  Max. ammo: 18 bullets

 5.56mm Colt XM177E2 Automatic Rifle
  
  This is a rather accurate weapon, and powerful too, in that each bullet does 15 points of
  damage. It has a good rate of fire, 7 per second. Max. ammo: 200 5.56mm bullets

 9mm MAC 10 Automatic Machinepistol
  
  A devil of a gun that spits out bullets very fast, 20 rounds per second, each doing 8
  points of damage. Max. ammo: 200 9mm bullets (Shares ammo with Glock17)

 12" Franchi-SPAS12 Shotgun
  
  The primary fire uses one shell and fires 30 pellets, each doing 3 points of damage. The
  spread is as normal. Max. ammo: 48 shells

 Crossbow With Scope Sight
  
  This features hitscan (instant-hit) arrows causing 25 points of damage. It has a clip size
  of five arrows, and it takes a little over four seconds to reload a clip. It also features
  a zoom function. Max. ammo: 25 arrows

 Tau Cannon
  
  Each beam causes 10 points of damage, and you can charge it in secondary.
  Max. ammo: 100 cells (Shares ammo with Gluon Gun)

 Gluon Gun
  
  Each cell causes 4 points of damage, and it has the same fast firing rate.
  Max. ammo: 100 cells (Shares ammo with Tau Cannon)

 RPG Launcher
  
  This will hold only 1 RPG at a time, and has a reload time of about 4 seconds. One RPG
  spot-on-target causes 70 points of damage. Max. ammo: 4 RPG's

 H&K M203 Grenade Launcher
  
  Launches a highly explosive grenade, doing do 60 points of damage. Max ammo: 6 grenades

 ---------
 | L Mapz |
 ---------

Lambda Arena comes with lots of maps, here are the ones included in this release. If you
want to make maps, read the stuff in the 'This Is A Beta' section. Make sure you look at the
individual maps' text files in the \maps dir.

   __________________________
-+| The Beginning - la_begin |+-
   
 Creators: PTB L PTB (1 + 3), Prodigy^ (2), Nobody (4)
 Number of Arenas: 4 (S/4, S/4, S/6, M/8)

   _______________________
-+| Cold Steel - la_steel |+-
   
 Creator: Prodigy^
 Number of Arenas: 5 (M/8, M/6, S/4, L/8, M/6)

   __________________
-+| Dazed - la_dazed |+-
   
 Creator: JMR
 Number of Arenas: 4 (S/4, S/4, M/6, M/6)

   ________________
-+| Frag - la_frag |+-
   
 Creator: JMR
 Number of Arenas: 4 (M/4, S/4, M/4, M/4)

 ----------
 | The Team |
 ----------

This version is special because I (Prodigy^) felt the mod was going dead. I decided to
release this version made by PTB L PTB, because I wanted to encourage the other team members
to get some work done (heck, had I been them I wouldn't have done much either), and I felt
that the mod really needed a good coder to work with daMaker. So, this version is made by
PTB L PTB and me, but the current team is:

 Prodigy^
 Founder, ideas, mapping, menu interface, HUD, 3D modelling, website, documentation

 daMaker
 Programmer, ideas

We're sort of the base of the mod, please mail us at <la@planethalflife.com> for bug
reports, questions, general comments and other stuff related to the mod.

 Gabriel "fraggy" Blomberg	<frag.daddy@iname.com>
 PUbert			<geoff_t@hotmail.com>
 [VAL] Valadil	 		<valadil@hotmail.com>
 Skinners

Also thanks to:

 PTB L PTB 			<ptblptb@hotmail.com>
 Original coding, ideas, design issues, packing up to this version (MANY thanks)
  Her buddies Mj. Master for the models of Beta 1 and Maniac, JMR for great advice

 Various mods for inspiring
 All the people who gave us deathmessages
 All the mappers
 Dominus for ASCII art inspiration
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Most graphics, models, sounds etc. is Copyright () 1998-99 Valve L.L.C. All rights reserved
All other stuff is Copyright () of Lambda Arena, 1999. Copy it and you will die immediatly
