Thank you for downloading! This is OP-WWIs first driveable German tank! By coincidence, it was also Germany's first tank in the real world: The A7V. Only 20 or so of these vehicles were made and only after German soldiers experienced the deadly wrath of British tanks which were deployed earlier. Each A7V deployed in WWI was given a unique name. Among them, were: Wotan, Isolde, Mephisto and Hagen. The driveable A7V modelled in SDOE is the 'Mephisto'. The Mephisto was chosen because in the real world, it is the only original example that still exists, restored, in a museum in Queensland, Australia after being captured by ANZAC soldiers in WWI. In SDOE, it also holds the record for the quickest driveable vehicle production from scratch ever! Work was officially started on this vehicle on the 17th of February! The A7V is a juggernaut of a tank. Huge, and slow. Though quite vulnerable to enemy fire because of its slowness, it is very heavily armoured, known to take a pounding before giving in and it bristles with no less than 6 .303 calibre machine guns and a hull mounted 5.7cm main gun. Just as a side note, Mephisto was originally manufactured as a 'female' tank, meaning it only had machine guns. Later it was re-manfactured as a 'male' tank, which saw the addition of the 5.7cm main gun. Mephisto in SDOE is modelled as it was after the conversion. ------------------------------------ REQUIRED ADD-ONS: ------------------------------------ Never a fun section, but essential nevertheless. Below are the add-ons REQUIRED TO BE INSTALLED in your SDOE install in order for the missions supplied with the vehicle to work: - WWI Pack 2 - WWI Pack 2 Patch - Somme Terrain - Somme Terrain Update 2 Once you have these installed, you have everything needed to enjoy the experience! Please note that the vehicle will be driveable without the above add-ons, however you will not be able to run the scenarios that take place in Somme and some that contain extra ground units not included with this download. If you need help with all this stuff said here, email me! (address below) For more information on where to get these add-ons, visit: http://ftp2.progeng.com/opwwi/start.asp Also, be sure to visit the WWI Forum at www.fightersquadron.com and also the SDOE Forum at www.simhq.com for more updates and happenings in the wonderful world of OP-WWI! Also, I recommend you have the latest 1.5.2.10 patch installed when using this add-on because it uses 512 x 512 hi-res textures which may look blurred when running SDOE 1.5. If your video card doesn't support 512 x 512 textures anyway, then resize the "A7V.tif" and "A7V2.tif" textures files found in the textures folder in /media/aircraft/A7V/ to 256 x 256 pixels. ------------------------------------ ADD-ON CONTENTS: ------------------------------------ Here's what you get: * Driveable WWI A7V 'Mephisto' tank. All positions are fully mannable by you, including the drivers position, all gun positions and two observer positions within the tank. The interior of the tank is fully modelled down to the ammo crates inside and both the interior and exterior was modelled off pictures of scale models taken from the internet. * 14 PREMIUM scenarios done by the mission master himself, Chaps. These awesome scenarios will be installed in the 'Missions' section of SDOE. You then select 'Mephisto' from the theater section to access them. Most if not all the missions take place on the Somme add-on terrain. (which requires the latest update installed too) * 4 Training missions. Includes Driving, Gunnery, Cross Country Driving and another scenario done by Chaps to test your skills before tackling the 14 scenarios that await you in the 'Missions' section of SDOE! * A7V and FT-17 static units. These have been added in for you to make your own missions and have opponents that can shoot back at you. They are also used in the scenarios supplied with this download. * German and French barricades. As with the driveable FT-17 download, these barricades which are essentially piles of rubble with two soldiers kneeling behind are also supplied in this download. They have been added for you to make your own custom missions too. There are two types of French barricades, Anti-tank (AT) and non AT. The non AT French barricades won't destroy your Mephisto as easily as they are equipped with only standard rifles, however beware of the AT barricades. The German barricades are the ordinary non AT type. German and French barricades have authentic sounds and vocals. All these units are used in the scenarios supplied with this download also. * Crates. Useful for target practice. Used in training missions. You can use them too. :-) * Very helpful chart in .jpg format detailing the keys needed to quickly jump to specific crew positions in the tank. Believe me, in the heat of combat, you'll need this! Print it out, keep it next to you! (installed to the root directory of SDOE) ------------------------------------ INSTALLATION: ------------------------------------ 1 - Simply unzip it to the root directory of SDOE. Or, copy the media folder and other files unzipped with this download and paste them into the main directory of your SDOE installation. 2 - Add these lines your sounds.ppf file inside the media folder of your SDOE install: sndRifle1 ( parmFilename "Rifle" parmdB 400 parmPriority 150 ) sndRifle2 ( parmFilename "Rifle2" parmdB 400 parmPriority 150 ) sndFrHalt1 ( parmFilename "FrHalt1" parmdB 400 parmPriority 150 ) sndGHalt1 ( parmFilename "GHalt1" parmdB 400 parmPriority 150 ) If you DO NOT have a sounds.ppf file, rename the "ADD THESE LINES TO sounds.ppf" installed to your main SDOE directory to "sounds.ppf" and place it inside the media folder. 3 - That's it! Now simply run SDOE. I recommend you try the Training section, then tackle the scenarios installed in the 'Missions' section of SDOE! It's your call though. Have Fun! ------------------------------------ CREDITS/LEGAL: ------------------------------------ - Chaps: THE mission master! He helped by making 15 scenarios for the A7V and also was a great buddy and playtester during development of this add-on. - Harman_5: I was responsible for making this vehicle from the ground up, 3d model, textures, etc. If you find something wrong...I'm the one to blame! ;-) Comments and criticism (good or bad) are encouraged, and help is available by emailing me: Harman_5@dingoblue.net.au OP-WWI Driveable A7V Version 1.0 - 27th February 2002 THIS ADD-ON IS NOT SUPPORTED BY ACTIVISION OR PARSOFT. PLEASE DO NOT ASK THE SAID COMPANIES FOR SUPPORT OR INFORMATION REGARDING THIS ADD-ON. IF YOU NEED HELP OR INFORMATION REGARDING THIS ADD-ON, PLEASE EMAIL ME. PLEASE NOTE THAT WHILE I CAN OFFER HELP, I CANNOT ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE EFFECTS THIS ADD-ON CAUSES TO YOUR COMPUTER AND/OR ITS SOFTWARE.