
                       -=- MW2:Mercs NAIS Shell 1.9a -=-
  	   by NdR (ender@annex.com) for NAIS (http://nais.annex.com/)

Contents
--------

	Whatzit?
	Installation
	Configuring NAIS Shell
	Using NAIS Shell to Spot Hackers
	Using Your Own Logos
	Playing New Mechs and Vehicles
	Uninstalling NAIS Shell and Activision Upgrades
	Files
	Feedback
	Version History

Whatzit?
--------

This is a set of utilities to enhance Activision's Mechwarrior 2:
Mercenaries game.  With NAIS shell, you can:

*	Design and use your own unit logos!  Want to be Clan Target?  
	Clan Mac?  Clan Floppy?  Now you can!

*	Automatically check for hacked mechs which use illegal weapons
	and equipment (like nukes).

*	Automatically strip NUKE's out of mechs in Mercnet.  Never be
	nuked again!

*	Play new mechs, like the Marauder, or a Savanna hovercraft!

NEW!	More new mechs!

NEW!	Inspect other players' mechs (use the 'I' key) to see what their
	mechs are named.

Installation
------------

Unzip this ZIP into your MERCS directory using the -D option to create
the LOGOS subdirectory.  If you didn't do that, just type:
	MKDIR LOGOS 
	MOVE *.CEL LOGOS\
now.  Next you'll need to type:
	INSTALL.BAT
to rename your MW2.EXE and our MW2NAIS.EXE so that NAIS shell will work.
Don't worry - all it does is rename a few files.  It doesn't modify or
delete ANY Mercs files - it doesn't need to.  If you had a previous
version of NAIS shell (or CustomLogo) installed, the install renames it
to MW2OLD.EXE).

To use the custom chassis types (Marauder, Savanna, etc.), you need to
rename some files in your MEK directory.  These all have names ending in
99USR.MEK (for example, RAK99USR.MEK).  Rename them to the next number
in the series for that mech.  So, if you type:
	DIR RAK*.MEK
and you get the following list:
	RAK00USR.MEK    RAK01USR.MEK     RAK99USR.MEK
just type:
	RENAME RAK99USR.MEK RAK02USR.MEK
(No, this isn't very elegant.  I'm working on a way to automate it.  But
this is the only way right now I could make sure that I didn't blow away
any of your custom mech designs when you install NAIS Shell.)

If you think something might have gone wrong in the install, check the
filesizes for MW2.EXE and MW2REAL.EXE - MW2.EXE should now be less than
200KB (this is NAIS Shell), and MW2REAL.EXE should be more than 200KB
(this is Activision's program, renamed).

Configuring NAIS Shell
----------------------

Just edit the NAIS.INI file with any text editor.  All settings and
options have explanations right in the file.  (Ooh, self-documenting...)

Using NAIS Shell to Spot Hackers
--------------------------------

NAIS Shell gives you the power to detect some forms of hacking which can
spoil the power balanace of Mercnet games.

NAIS Shell can warn you about mechs which use certain weapons and 
equipment.  By default, NAIS Shell only warns you about hacked mechs
which use illegal  equipment like nukes.  You can also set it to warn
you about Clan or 3050 technology, in case you want to run a game where
everyone's using old 3025 tech (no pulse lasers, no XL engines, etc. -
the Good Old Days (tm) of Mechwarrior :)  To set what NAIS Shell warns
you about, change this option in NAIS.INI:
	WarnTech 

NAIS Shell can also automatically strip nukes out of any custom mechs
which anyone tries to use in Mercnet.  If you set 
	StripNukes = YES 
in NAIS.INI, NAIS Shell will magically transform the nukes into much
more harmless SRM2's. (Which are usually REALLY harmless,  since NAIS
shell doesn't provide any SRM2 AMMO for them...)

Using Your Own Logos
--------------------

First, use Paintbrush or some other paint program to edit BLANK.BMP to
be your logo.  You can use any of the colors that are in the row at the
top of the bitmap.  Anything you leave the cyan color will be
transparent.

Save your file as an uncompressed 8-bit Windows BMP.  We'll assume you
called it SLUG.BMP for the rest of this example.

Now run BMP2CEL on that file to create SLUG.CEL:
	BMP2CEL SLUG.BMP
	
Give SLUG.CEL to all of your friends so they can put it in their LOGOS
subdirectory.

Now, when you enter Mercnet and type your name, start it with your unit
name in brackets.  For this example, type something like:
	[SLUG] Salt me!

Just before the mission starts, CustomLogo will update all of the logo
files with your custom ones.  If someone you play with is missing that
.CEL file, or isn't using CustomLogo, you can still play with them, but
they just won't see your spiffy logo.

If the group of mechwarriors you play with doesn't want to use [] to
enclose logo names, all of you can change the following options:
	CustomLogoStart
	CustomLogoEnd 

NOTE: if you don't all change them to the same thing, not all of you
will see the custom logos.

Playing New Mechs and Vehicles
------------------------------

Do you miss the Marauder?  We do too.  So we brought it back!  NAIS
Shell now supports custom chassis types.  To use a custom chassis, just
choose from one of the following mechs:

    To be a:		Use mech:	Variant names starting with:
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Marauder mech	Rakshasa	[MARAUDER] or [MAD]
    Savanna hovercraft	Hornet		[SAVANNA1] or [SAV]
    Thunderbolt		Bombardier	[TBOLT]    or [TDR]
    Blackjack		Vindicator	[BLACKJAK] or [BJ]
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------

NAIS Shell will automatically change you into the right chassis when the
game starts.

NOTE:	You CAN customize these new mechs/chassis - just go into the
	mech editor the same as you usually would.  (For example, to
	customize the Savanna, edit a Hornet.)  Just make sure the first
	part of the mech's name (the part in brackets) stays the same.
	For example, you could call your hornet "[SAVANNA1] Master" or
	"[SAV] Kai's Savanna" and it would work. 

NOTE:	Don't even think about naming an Atlas "[SAVANNA1] Surprise!" -
	it won't work.

If you are playing single-player (Instant Action), you can now use your
own chassis types.  So you can be "[JOEMECH] Joe's Mech" if you want. 
Chassis files are made in a fashion similar to building new missions,
but PLEASE don't send me E-mail asking me how to build them - it's a
long, involved, poorly documented process, I'm doing this for fun, and
documentation is work (read "not fun").  If you do manage to come up
with a new chassis you want to play in Mercnet, E-mail it to
ender@annex.com and I'll put it in the next release of NAIS Shell (this
ensures that everyone will see you in the proper chassis, and minimizes
the risk of someone using this feature to cheat in Mercnet).

Uninstalling NAIS Shell and Activision Upgrades
-----------------------------------------------

If you need to install an Activision patch to Mercs, you should follow
these steps to preserve your NAIS Shell config:
	RENAME MW2.EXE MW2NAIS.EXE
	RENAME MW2REAL.EXE MW2.EXE
	(install Activision's patch)
	RENAME MW2.EXE MW2REAL.EXE
	RENAME MW2NAIS.EXE MW2.EXE

If you already installed the patch, and all of a sudden NAIS Shell
stopped working, just follow these steps instead:
	DEL MW2REAL.EXE
	(reinstall NAIS shell)

If for some crazy reason you want to uninstall NAIS Shell (why?),
just do the following:
	DEL MW2.EXE
	RENAME MW2REAL.EXE MW2.EXE

Files
-----

	INSTALL.BAT	Installation batch file
	MW2NAIS.TXT	This file (the one you're reading)
	MW2NAIS.EXE	NAIS Shell executable
	NAIS.INI	Config file for NAIS shell
	LOGOS\		Logos subdirectory
	   BMP2CEL.EXE	   Windows BMP to Mercs CEL convertor
	   CEL2BMP.EXE	   Mercs CEL to Windows BMP convertor
	   BLANK.BMP	   Blank bitmap for making your own logo
	   NDR.CEL	   Insignia - NdR's Novas
	   MAC.CEL	   Insignia - Macintosh's Marauders
	   MOUSE.CEL	   Insignia - Clan Plastic Mouse
	   TARGET.CEL	   Insignia - Clan MunchkinMech
			   (you know, the ones who are using homing PPC's)
	CHASSIS\	Chassis subdirectory
	   MARAUDER.BWD    Marauder mech
	   SAVANNA1.BWD    Savanna Master hovercraft
	MEK\		Mech subdirectory
	   RAK99USR.MEK	   Marauder custom mech design (as Rakshasa)
	   HOR99USR.MEK	   Savanna Master custom mech design (as Hornet)

Feedback
--------

Do ya like us?  Do ya hate us?  Do ya wanna send us beer?  Come visit
the NAIS homepage at http://nais.annex.com/ and let us know.

The following new mechs are by Edward Wong (ehwong@mail.usyd.edu.au):
	Thunderbolt, Blackjack

Version History
---------------

version 1.9a - 2/03/97
*	Fixed "file not found" error
*	You can now play custom mechs in Instant Action (ANY custom
	chassis, not just the ones included with NAIS Shell).
*	When customizing the custom mechs, you can name your variant
	using an abbreviation for the chassis (for example, [MAD]
	insteaf of [MARAUDER])
*	You can now inspect other players to see what mechs they're in
*	Added more mechs!

version 1.9 - 1/18/97
*	You can now play in a Marauder or a Savanna hovercraft!

version 1.2 - 12/30/96
*	You can now customize the start and end characters which NAIS
	shell uses to identify the logo file in your name
*	Added weapon auto-grouping

version 1.1a - 12/16/96
*	Now contains the RIGHT version of the .EXE... sorry...

version 1.1 - 12/16/96
*	Renamed to NAIS Shell
*	Now warns if someone is using a hacked mech
*	Can automagically strip NUKE's out of mechs

version 1.0 - 12/12/96
*	Initial release (as CustomLogo)
