ACM(6)								   Games Manual 							    ACM(6)

NAME

       acm - an aerial combat simulator for X

SYNOPSIS

       acm [ options ]

DESCRIPTION

       acm  is	a distributed air combat simulator that runs on the X window system.  Players can engage in simultaneous air combat from different
       Unix workstations.  Players fly jet aircraft equipped with radar, heat seeking missiles and cannon.

       Each player flies something close to either an F-16C Falcon or MiG-29 Fulcrum.

USAGE REFERENCE

       The following command line options are recognized by acm:

       -plane F-16 or MiG-29 or C-172
	      Select the aircraft type that you'd like to fly.

       -frame-rate n
	      Limits the displayed frame rate to n frames per second.  If neither -frame-rate nor -update-rate are specified, ACM updates the dis-
	      play as fast as possible, effectively eating all available CPU time.

       -update-rate n
	      Sets  the simulation update rate to n interations per second. If neither -frame-rate nor -update-rate are specified, ACM updates the
	      display as fast as possible, effectively eating all available CPU time.  If -frame-rate is supplied alone the update  rate  defaults
	      to 50 hertz.

       -watch-frame-rate
	      Print statistics about the actual display frame rate on standard output.

       -nosplash
	      Don't display the initial splash screen.	(Try this if you have problems on start-up.)

       -dis-silent
	      Stops DIS packets being sent.

       -dis-site integer
	      Sets  the DIS simulation address to the specified value.	The DIS standard defines this address as an enumerated value corresponding
	      to a geographical site.  For more information, consult the IEEE 1278 protocol definition.

       -dis-appl integer
	      Sets the DIS application id to the specified value. This value is used in DIS packets to distinguish your acm application from other
	      DIS applications running at the same site.

       -linuxjs joystick-device
	      Specifies  the  joystick device file to the Linux Joystick v2.0.0 driver.  The Joystick driver supports a wide variety of joysticks,
	      although the simulator will only use the X-Y axis, the next axis as the throttle, and the first two buttons.

       -js serial-device
	      Specifies the local serial port where a Colorado Spectrum Workstation Gameport is attached.  The Gameport allows you to connect  PC-
	      compatible joysticks and use them with ACM.

       -audio auserver
	      The name of a NAS audio server.

       -geometry geometry_spec
	      An X compatible window geometry specification.

       -team <1 or 2>
	      Specifies the starting airfield.	Airfields are about 50 nm apart.  Team 1 flies F-16's, team 2 flies MIG-23's.

       -simx  Consult  the SIM/x server to obtain appropriate DIS simulation and application identifiers.  (This will cause a crash if there is no
	      SIM/x server.)

HOW TO TAKE-OFF
       Your mouse is the control stick.  The neutral position is the center of your view display -- denoted by the  dot  in  the  center  of  your
       heads-up-display (HUD).	Moving the mouse away from you pitches the plane down, moving it back pitches the plane up.  Left and right inputs
       roll the aircraft in the corresponding direction.  On the ground at speeds up to 100 kts, nose wheel steering guides the aircraft.

       To take off for the first time, select 20 degrees of flaps (press H twice), then press the full throttle key (the 4 key on  the	main  key-
       board).	Keep the mouse in the neutral position until you are moving at about 140 kts, then pull the mouse about two-thirds of the way down
       the view window.  You should pitch up and lift off the ground fairly easily.  Gradually move the stick closer to the neutral  position  and
       let  your airspeed build -- don't move it back to neutral too quickly or you will end up back on the ground again!  As your airspeed passes
       about 250 kts, raise the flaps (press Y twice) and landing gear (press G).  Congratulations, you're flying a multi-million dollar jet.

ENGINE CONTROLS

       The following keys control your engine thrust:

	    4	 Full Power

	    3	 Increase Power (about 2 percent)

	    2	 Decrease Power (about the same amount)

	    1	 Idle Power

	    A	 Toggle Afterburner

       Your engine gauge displays the power that you are generating.  Below that, you have displays showing your total fuel remaining as  well	as
       your current fuel consumption rate.  The afterburner uses fuel at an amazing rate; use it wisely.

LOOKING AROUND

       The keys of the numeric keypad control which direction you're looking outside of the cockpit:

		 8 Forward

	    4 Left    5 Up 6 Right

		 2 Aft

       It pays to look around when you're in a combat environment.  Your chances of staying alive increase remarkably.

THE HEADS UP DISPLAY (HUD)
       On  the left side of the HUD is a ladder showing your current airspeed in nautical miles per hour (it displays true airspeed).  Above that,
       in the upper left corner, is a G-meter.

       The right ladder shows altitude; above that is a readout of your current angle-of-attack in degrees ("a=X.X").  Your jet will stall at a 30
       degrees positive angle of attack and negative 16 degrees.

       The airplane symbol (something like "-O-") shows the direction that the relative wind is coming from.  The relative wind combines your cur-
       rent angles of attack and sideslip.  A ladder in the center of the HUD show your aircraft's current attitude.

       The lower, horizontal ladder shows your current heading.  Discretes in the lower left-hand corner show the state of your  weapons  systems.
       Slightly  above	them  is  a readout of your current thrust percentage as well as the state of your engine's afterburner -- the "AB" symbol
       means the afterburner is on.

USING YOUR RADAR DISPLAY

       The radar system has a field of view of 130 degrees vertically and side-to-side.  Radar automatically locks onto the closest threat in  its
       field of view.  A locked target is displayed as a solid block.  Other hostile targets are displayed as hollow squares.

       Targeting  information is displayed in the lower right corner of the display.  The top number is the heading of the locked target, the next
       number is the relative heading you should steer to intercept the target (displayed as "ddd R", and the third number is the  rate  that  you
       are closing with this target, expressed in knots.

       You can lock onto other targets by pressing the target designator key (Q).

WHO'S GUNNING FOR ME?
       Radar  sets  that  are  tracking  your  aircraft  can  be detected.  Your Threat Early Warning System (TEWS) display warns you of potential
       threats.  This circular display shows the relative direction of radars (other aircraft) that are looking at you.

ARMAMENTS

       Your aircraft is equipped with heat-seeking missiles and a 20 millimeter cannon.  Weapon information is displayed in  the  lower  left-hand
       corner of your HUD.  Different weapons may be selected by pressing mouse button 3.

       The  missiles  are  patterned after U.S. AIM-9M Sidewinders.  They can detect infrared (IR) targets at any aspect (not just from the rear).
       Their range varies dramatically with the altitude and closure rate.  The missile subsystem couples with your radar set to provide  time-to-
       impact information when AIM-9's are selected.

EXAMPLES

	acm -js /dev/tty0  -simx

	acm -geometry 1000x500

KEYBOARD COMMAND LIST

       Stick and Rudder Controls

       The Mouse is your stick.  It controls pitch and roll.

       Z -- Rudder Left

       C -- Rudder Right

       X -- Center the Rudder

       Engine Controls

       4 -- Full Power

       3 -- Increase Power

       2 -- Decrease Power

       1 -- Idle

       A -- Toggle Afterburner State

       Radar Controls

       R -- Toggle Radar State (On/Standby)

       Q -- Target Designator

       Flaps

       H -- Extend 10 degrees

       Y -- Retract 10 degrees

       Speed Brakes

       S -- Extend

       W -- Retract

       Weapon Controls

       Mouse Button 2 -- Fire the selected weapon

       Mouse Button 3 -- Select another weapon

       Pitch Trim Controls

       U -- Set Take-off pitch trim

       J -- Set pitch trim to the control stick's current pitch setting

       Other Controls

       G -- Retract/Extend landing gear

       P -- Self-Destruct (Quit the game)

       L -- Launch a target drone

       View Controls (Numeric Keypad)

       8 -- Forward

       2 -- Aft

       4 -- Left

       6 -- Right

       5 -- Up

AUTHOR

       Riley Rainey, rainey@netcom.com

								  August 1, 1998							    ACM(6)