Toblo 1.2
March 7, 2007
www.toblo.info

How To Play
==========
The best way to learn how to play is to start a single player game and follow
the in-game tutorial.  A manual is also provided in the start menu entry
for Toblo.


Readme
==========
1. What's new in Toblo 1.2
2. Issues
3. Special Features
4. More info


1. What's new in Toblo 1.2
==========

Toblo 1.2 includes updated support for Windows Vista and significant updates to
our levels layout to encourage the growth of our custom level community. You can
find out how to make levels for Toblo at http://toblo.csnation.net/level_guide.html.

Changelog:

+ Level loading is more data-driven than ever. The levels folder now has subfolders for each
  level, and the levels.ini file has only minimal data. This is to encourage people to create
  new levels for Toblo. See: http://toblo.csnation.net/level_guide.html

+ The physics engine has also been slightly optimized.

+ The graphics engine should be a bit faster due to new culling/trivial rejection code.

+ Increased draw distance for game's camera.

+ Texture quality is now a bit higher. Rendering should be a bit less jaggy. To further
  improve scene quality, we recommend that one runs Toblo with anti-aliasing enabled and
  on a resolution higher than 1024x768.

+ All pixel shaders now compile under 2.0 targets and the DirectX SDK we're running
  against is the latest release.

+ The 800x600 resolution is no longer available since it causes UI issues and shouldn't
  be required by any GPU running our game.

+ The game now sorts resolutions in the options menu, fixing a bug in Windows Vista.

+ The installer no longer prompts Windows Vista users if the install succeeded.

+ Icons have been updated to support the 256x256 size in Windows Vista.

+ The installer adds a Toblo entry to Windows Vista's Games Explorer.

+ The installer now automatically adds Toblo to the Windows Firewall exceptions list,
  making it easier for players to start LAN games.

+ Now linking with latest OpenAL version, which resolves audio issues with Windows Vista.



2. Issues
==========

LAN ISSUES
===============
Our multiplayer over LAN support is by default blocked by the Windows Firewall. Start up
a multiplayer game, then exit or Alt-Tab out of Toblo and unblock the firewall to allow
others to join.

If others try to join, but drop before getting past the loading screen, a firewall solution
like this is likely at fault.

GRAPHICS ISSUES
===============
We highly recommend users run with anti-aliasing enabled to reduce the amount of jagged
edges that appear around boxes.

If you have any problems with graphics, you will want to update to the latest version
of DirectX at www.microsoft.com/directx and update to the latest graphics drivers
for your video card at www.ati.com, www.nvidia.com, or your graphics chipset vendor's
website.

Toblo requires a card with shader model 2.0 support for both pixel and vertex shaders.
If you do not meet this requirement, the game should inform you and will not run.

AUDIO ISSUES
===============
Make sure to have the latest audio drivers from your audio chipset vendor. Toblo uses
OpenAL, which has support that is still in-development from many vendors.


3. Special Features
==========

BATTERY MONITORING
===============
Toblo has battery monitoring support for laptops. If you run on the battery while playing
Toblo, a helpful battery power display will be rendered on the HUD so you'll always know
how much longer you can play.  If the battery drops to low power, the game automatically
enables Low Detail Mode to keep your game running.


4. More Info
==========
Visit www.toblo.info for more information on our project.
