DogFight Screensaver
2000-2002 Remco de Korte / Onwijs
v3.0b

Short Info
----------

DogFight features 3D models of two types
of spaceships from the famous SF series
StarTrek(tm).

DogFight will run on Windows 95, 98, 2000,
ME, NT or XP. 
It may not run very smooth on slower
systems (300Mhz or below), depending on
the settings you use.

In version 3.0 I added a lot of new
options, many of which were suggested by
users. I'm planning on adding some more
(a game mode) so look out for new versions.
It took me a year to start on this one
though so don't hold your breath.

Dogfight.exe will install the screensaver
to a directory of your choice. Run this
program again to uninstall the saver.

Options
-------

Background
  1.
  you can choose either a black background
  or your desktop, in which case a darkened
  version of your desktop is used. Under 
  some conditions this may be hard to see.
  2.
  you can also choose between a static
  background with some star clusters or a 
  background with moving stars

Speed
  this was added as a preparation for the
  game mode, but also because the saver
  ran much too fast on newer systems.
  The main purpose therefor is to slow it
  down. The speed will also be influenced
  by other settings, like the moving/static
  background.

Damage
  on request, the ships now actually can
  be hit and suffer damage. If you switch
  this on you'll be able to see small 
  explosions and the ships will actually
  look damaged. There's also a statusbar
  indicating the condition of the ship.
  When the damage reaches a maximum the 
  ship is destroyed and instantly 
  regenerated.

Shield
  if you switch this on the program will
  display a shield ellipse for each ship
  which will light up when a ship is hit.
  With shields on ships are less likely 
  to be hit.

Opponents
  you can have up to three Bird of Prey 
  ships as opponents.

Sound
  obviously a way to toggle sound.

  
Versions
--------

Changes in 

v2.3:
  - rerendered graphics, slightly smaller,
    with twice the amount of frames for
    smoother animation
  - some internal changes in the storing
    and handling of graphics to reduce
    flicker
  - a couple of technical fixes by Brian
    Anderson to make the saver NT-compatible.

v2.3b
  - bug with Control Panel preview fixed   

v3.0
  - newly rendered graphics 
  - a lot of new code with small 
    optimizations
  - new graphics routines
  - moving background added
  - speed option added
  - damage option added
  - shield option added
  - sound added
  - explosions added
  - ships can actually get hit
  

Acknowledgements
----------------

The graphics for this screensaver were made 
with the freeware raytracer POV-Ray 
(http://www.povray.org).

The Enterprise model is made by Ville Saari, 
I don't know about the Bird of Prey model.

I have tried to reach Paramount asking if 
using these models in a freeware saver is 
allowed but have received no answer so far.

The two sound files are probably from
collections on pages on the web but I 
don't know which anymore.

The installer was made by Brian Anderson, 
who also found & fixed some bugs.

This program was compressed with UPX, 
The Ultimate Packer for eXecutables
1996-2000 Markus Oberhumer & Laszlo Molnar, 
http://upx.tsx.org.

Thanks to all the people who offered their 
suggestions.

Distribution & contact
----------------------

This program is freeware. You are free to 
distribute it on the internet, as long as
you don't alter the package. For questions
about distribution on cd's or otherwise
please contact me at the adress below.

Questions & comments are welcome at:
  remco@onwijs.com

You can find more free screensavers at:
  http://www.xs4all.nl/~remcodek/
