Title:		Dixerius
Author:		Rich Whitehouse
Date:		2005-05-12
Version:	0.9
Homepage:	http://www.telefragged.com/thefatal/
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Dixerius is a short shooter game demonstrating some parts of the R-Cube engine.
It should be noted that this game and this engine have never been tested by
anyone but me on 2 machines ever. So it might explode horribly. Let's hope it
doesn't!

Some features of the R-Cube engine:


-Robust client-server networking architecture, with reliable delivery and the
potential for linear interpolation, prediction, and any other type of entity
synchronization to be plugged in on the game code side.

-Numerous scalable, optimized lighting models, including support for per pixel
lighting volumes and stencil shadows (with automated static optimizations). An
easily extendable texture shader system allows new effects and single-pass
texture combinations to be easily created without the need for new code.

-Extendable modeling and animation system, with a block-based format to allow
other formats to be easily converted over. Supports weighted models and
skeletal animation, as well as custom preprocessed visibility data embedded
in the model itself and any number of other custom model blocks - all geometry
rendered is a version of the central model format with custom blocks to suit
its specific needs.

-Integrated clipping and physics systems, with optional support for Novodex
(compiled out of this build).

-Robust sound system, which supports direct feedback to game code and rendering
effects while maintaining network compliance. A special DirectShow path is
provided for playing music in proprietary formats.

-A particle system, projected decals and textures, a menu scripting system,
a built-in level and sprite editor (with static radiosity/photon mapping), and
abstracted game object formats through external files, among other things, all
create a friendly environment for quick and convenient game development. Server
logic is abstracted into its own module to make programming with network
compatibility as sure-fire and convenient as possible.


Well, the actual game assets are hideous and unoptimized. That's because I'm
a horrible and lazy man. New games will probably be coming based on this
engine over the next however many months.


Version History
---------------
0.9
---
-More performance changes.
-Added in-engine animator that works with the map editor.

0.8
---
-Various performance improvements.
-Various visual improvements.
-Tweaked gameplay in musical mode.

0.7
---
-Various behind-the-scenes changes and fixes.

0.6
---
-Music video support. In musical mode, you can now specify videos with the
 /music command, such as:
 /music love.avi
 The video will be streamed to a texture and rendered as part of the space
 background.
-In multiplayer, the first two players will now use different color tints
 to help players differentiate each other.

0.5
---
-Added mouse control support.

0.4
---
-Fixed some systems not processing the music buffer correctly in Musical mode.
-Added functionality to pause the game. Going into the in-game escape menu now
 pauses the game in the background (in singleplayer mode).
-Reduced the memory cost of DirectSound buffers. If your machine still has
 hitches when shooting and playing other sounds, try turning off the hardware
 acceleration for your audio device (in Control Panel->Sounds and Audio
 Devices->Audio->Advanced under the Sound playback section).

0.3
---
-Fixed a potential bug with the intro window causing an instance handle to be
 lost.
-Added Musical mode. This is selectable from the main menu. In Musical mode,
 various visuals will be timed to the music, and the tempo and amplitude will
 affect the spawning of enemy ships. You can use your own custom music as well,
 just drop your MP3's into the rcgame/music folder, and hit T (unless you
 rebound it) to chat, then type something like:
 /music filthysusan.mp3
 For whatever your MP3 is actually named. This mode also works in multiplayer,
 and the music will be sync'd among all clients. Just make sure each client has
 the MP3, or no music will be heard on machines that do not have it.

0.2
---
-Specularity adjustments, exponent changes on numerous textures.
-Slightly easier, takes more enemy laser shots to destroy the player.

0.1
---
-First release.
