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To play, unzip to your JFDuke folder and execute the Merc2.bat file.
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                      ==========================
                      ==  MERC 2 ReadMe File  ==
                      ==========================

MERC - adjective : short for Mercenary
Mercenary - adjective :  A professional soldier hired for a service


CONTENTS

I.    Story
II.   General Information
III.  Gameplay Information
        A.  Computer Screen Messages
        B.  The New Weapons
	  C.  The New Enemies
	  D.  Civilians
IV.   Troubleshooting / Gameplay Q&A
        A.  General Troubleshooting
        B.  Gameplay Q&A
V.    User Maps
VI.    Credits
VII.   Copyright & Other Information



====================
==  I. The Story  ==
====================

Following the death and destruction unleashed upon the world by the deadly FAJ
(Fugitives Against Justice) terrorist organization, military and interpol
divisions were deployed around the world to clean up the mess, and begin the
long process of restoration. It seemed as though everyone, being military or
civilian, was in some way doing their part to rebuild all that the FAJ had
destroyed. Only a few short days after the events of the whole FAJ incident,
aa large squad of armored soldiers calling themselves the Enforcers appeared
on the scene. They claimed to represent the United States Government as a
task force assigned with the job of keeping order in this newly ravaged world,
by using all force deemed prudent and necessary. Their methods were highly
questionable, but the public seemed to accept them rather easily. After all,
they wanted as much protection as they could get to ensure that another
disaster like the FAJ incident would never happen again. However, not
everyone was willing to welcome them aboard so quickly. The EDF (Earth
Defense Force), which is an organization determined to keep the peace and
neutralize any and all threats on Earth and the surrounding galaxy, decides
to keep a watchful eye on them, and find out what their exact purpose is. They
decide to dispatch one of their top soldiers, one of their finest men.
Someone who is always devoted to the cause of justice, and will fight until
the very end...

...Duke Nukem, who just settled into his newly rented apartment in a
crappy, run down side of Los Angeles, was enjoying a nice, quiet afternoon of
lying the hell down and parking himself in front of the tube. After saving the
world from nearly every freakin' alien race in the universe, beating the crap
out of mad scientists who want to steal his brain, and putting some serious
hurt on terrorist activity around the world, he thinks it's the least he
deserves. After all, a few days of R&R is something he has grown quite fond
of.

Just as Duke is falling asleep to some low rated talk show, he hears a knock
at the door. "Freakin' salesman... I don't wanna buy no magazines..." he
mumbles, half asleep. A few minutes later, he decides that maybe he should
answer the door, so he can tell whoever it is to get lost so he can get back
to sleep. Of course, whoever it was is gone by the time he stumbles to the
door. "That wasn't so hard. Maybe they'll go annoy that guy across the hall or
something. Anyhoo, back to slee-", he stops in the middle of his sentence, as
he sees a brightly colored disk lying in the middle of his desk, next to his
computer. "What's this? This one of those '10 free hours' disks or
something?!" He pops it in the disk drive, and carefully reads the message
encrypted in it. "Hmm... looks like the EDF's got me another job to do. More
terrorists? Man, I thought I was gonna get a real work out."

He clicks off the TV, loads his gun, and begins to head out the door. "So the
FAJ could be at it again, eh?" he mumbles in a raspy voice.
"*sigh*.  I'm guessin' I'll take em' out and still be home in time for
dinner."


===============================
==  II. General Information  ==
===============================

Episode and Level #   : The add-on replaces episodes two, three, and four.
Single Player         : Yeah. What it was made for.
DukeMatch             : Sure! Just choose DM setup from the menu.
Difficulty Settings   : Yep!
New Art               : Yep, all new enemies and weapons, as well as
                        some new sprites and textures.
New Music             : Yeah, totally new music by Mark Hadely!
New Sound Effects     : Yeah.
New Programming       : Yeah. All of the new weapons, enemies, and various
                        sprites were re-programmed or programmed from scratch.

System Requirements   : There are a couple small system requirements
                        before you will be able to run MERC 2 smoothly.
                        We suggest that you set the video mode to
                        VESA 640x400 or above so you will be able to
                        read the messages contained within MERC 2
                        without difficulty.  To do this run the Duke3d
                        setup program and look under video.  We also
                        suggest that you run MERC 2 on a Pentium 133mhz
                        or faster for the best performance.  But if you
                        can run Duke, you can probably run MERC 2.


==================================
==  III. Gameplay Information  ==
==================================

A.  Computer Screen Messages
----------------------------

In each apartment level there is a computer that can be accessed by inserting
an access disk into the disk drive panel.  The messages contained on the
computers are vital to the story of MERC 2 and must be read in order to
advance to the next level.


B.  The New Weapons
-------------------

- All of the weapons are replaced in MERC 2 except for the mighty foot.

 *Sub Machine Gun: (weapon # 2 on keyboard)  It packs more damage than the
  original pistol but still lacks a lot of firepower.

 *Magnum Shotgun: (weapon # 3 on keyboard)  This baby packs a little more
  fire power than the original shotgun, but holds less ammo.

 *Minigun: (weapon # 4 on keyboard)  The Minigun is a good all around weapon.
  It doesn't take off extreme amounts of damage but holds more ammo than the
  original Ripper weapon.

 *Gauss Cannon: (weapon # 5 on keyboard)  The Gauss Cannon has about the same
  strength as the RPG and can take most enemies down in one blast.

 *Nuclear Pipe Bomb: (weapon # 6 on keyboard)  The Nuclear Pipe Bomb has
  multiple explosions and a deadly damage range.

 *Electricity Gun: (weapon # 7 on keyboard)  The Electricity Gun shoots bursts
  of battery generated electricity and is quite powerful.

 *Disintegration Gun: (press 7 twice on keyboard)  This weapon disintegrates
  enemies with a blast of pure radiation. (There is a cool new effect for
  this weapon that was not in MERC 1)

 *Exterminator: (weapon # 8 on keyboard)  This double rocket launcher has
  pretty much the same strength as the Devastator, but it has a cool new look. :)

 *Laser Trip Wire: (weapon # 9 on keyboard)  Same weapon, different graphics.

 *Flame Thrower: (weapon # 0 on keyboard)  The Flame Thrower does just what
  you might expect, it shoots balls of fire toward an enemy, setting him on
  fire when he dies.


C.  The New Enemies
-------------------

 *Army Guy:  The Army Guy carries the rpg and is deadly at close and far
  range.  Your best bet with this guy is to stay as far back as you can
  get from him and get out of the way quickly if he decides to shoot an
  rpg at you.  And if you ever meet him in a tight space, well, good luck!

 *Suit Guy:  He carries the sub machine gun, and is quite hard.  Don't get
  too close to him if possible.

 *Tank:  This tank carries the Army Guy.  It is the same tank from the
  Plutonium Pak add-on, but this time the Army Guy is driving it.

 *Armored Guy:  Don't be fooled by how easy it is to kill this guy. If he gets
  too close to you, you won't be able to say "MERC 2 RULES!", before he blasts
  you to kingdom come.

 *Flame Thrower Guy:  This guy is also pretty easy to kill, but watch out for
  his blasts of fire, it only takes a couple hits to set Duke on fire, and
  then he's history...

 *Megalomaniac:  The Megalomaniac is a smaller version of the boss from
  MERC 1.  Try to learn his moves early on, because as the levels progress he
  will get more difficult.

 *End Boss???:  The only thing we are going to give away is that it's a Mech
  robot with two large arm cannons.  Are you up to the challenge?


C.  Civilians
-------------

During gameplay you will run into civilians who just simply walk around.  Feel
free to take 'em out if they get in your way. :)


==========================================
==  IV. Troubleshooting / Gameplay Q&A  ==
==========================================

A.  General Troubleshooting
---------------------------

MERC 2 doesn't work at all!

      Possible Causes:

	MERC 2 is for Duke Nukem 3D v1.4/1.5 ONLY.
	It will not work with any other version.

        Make sure you installed MERC 2 directly into your DN3D directory.

	Do NOT run MERC 2 using a Duke3d.exe or Duke3d.grp that has
	been modified in any way.

I get a "Program Requires MS-DOS Mode" pop-up box on certain levels when
running M2 through Windows.

      Possible Causes:

	Windows will suggest using Real DOS Mode when it encounters files
        that it thinks are too big to handle through a Win/DOS session
        (i.e. large midi files).

	To prevent this, right click on your Duke3d.exe file, click on
        Properties, click on the Program Tab, then click the Advanced icon.
        Uncheck the box containing the text: "Suggest MS-DOS as necessary",
        and check the box containing the text: "Prevent MS-DOS-based programs
        from detecting Windows".


B.  Gameplay Q&A
----------------

How do I get out of my apartment? The door won't open!

    To finish the apartment levels you must insert the blue keycard into the
    disk drive slot on the computer, just like you would put a keycard into
    an access panel in Duke.

    After the disk is inserted, press the spacebar near the computer monitor
    and read the message. Now you can open the door and advance to the next
    level.

I can't read the message on the computer screen.

    Run setup from your Duke3d directory and goto screen settings.  Pick one
    of the VESA modes, 640x400 or 800x600 will work nicely.


If you are having problems with MERC 2 that are not listed above or are truly
stumped by a level, stop by the MERC 2 "Game Play" forum at
http://www.dukeworld.com/merc2, or send e-mail to merc7@altavista.net.


====================
==  V. User Maps  ==
====================

Feel free to make your own user maps for MERC 2.  To do so, place kextract in
your Duke3d directory and extract the .art tiles from the merc2.grp file using
the following command line parameters: "kextract merc2.grp *.art"

PLEASE NOTE: You must also have the regular Duke3d .art tiles in your
directory for build to work properly with the new tiles.

To test your map, use the following parameters:

"duke3d x/merc2.con g/merc2.grp -map mapname.map"

Once you finish your map, send it to merc7@altavista.net and it will be posted
on the M2 site under the "User Maps" section.  Be sure to include a map
template with your map.


===================
==  VI. Credits  ==
===================

MERC 2 BY TCM (The Total Conversion Masters)
 - Web Site: http://www.dukeworld.com/merc2
 - E-mail: merc7@altavista.net


NEW PROGRAMMING
Ryan Conner
Jared Moore AKA "Minion"

NEW ART
Ryan Conner
Gabriel Crown AKA "Wolf"

LEVEL DESIGN
Chris Abdo
   E1L2 "Slum Dynasty"
   E2L4 "Another Drug Bust"

Mike Bruneau
   E3L5 "Fragbase"

Ryan Conner
   E1L1, E1L3, E2L1 "Your Apartment"

Bill Gallop AKA "Avenger"
   E1L5 "High Stakes"
   E1L6 "Lab Rats"

Mark Hadley
   E3L1 "Corporate Entity"

Imjesagirl
   E2L2 "Cavern Of Despair"

Dan Lichtenberg
   E1L4 "Air Raid"
   E2L3 "Zero Tolerance"
   E2L5 "Taking 'Em Down"
   E2L6 "Final Sanction"

Matt Yohe
   E3L3 "In The Gutter"

Victimizer
   E3L4 "Mid-Evil"

Zodiac
   E3L2 "Matinee Maul"

LEVEL TOUCH-UP
Ryan Conner
Victimizer

MUSIC
Mark Hadley

SOUND EFFECTS
Ryan Conner
Mark Hadley

STORY
Dan Lichtenberg

CINEMATICS
Ryan Conner
Michael Forshay

BETA TESTING
Victimizer
Air Wolf
Matt Yohe

OTHER PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE MAKING OF MERC 2
Jack Cooper AKA "Wiket"
Craig Hines (converted our intro animation into .anm format)
Corey VanderLaan
Imjesagirl
Matt Yohe
Zodiac

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Bryant Arnett (Creator of Red Rum) (http://home.earthlink.net/~rnet1/)
   - For creating the dos launcher for M2.

The Alpha Dog Alliance (http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/8528/)
   - For allowing us to use the graphics for the Exterminator.

Ian Jones (Made the Sub Machine Gun graphics)
   - For the mp5k.zip add-on.

Imjesagirl (Imzadist@concentric.net)
   - For allowing us to use her level, E2L2 "Cavern Of Despair".

Everyone who gave us support along the way.  It's not easy to finish a
freeware add-on and you guys helped keep our spirits up and gave us the
support we needed to finish this thing.

PLEASE NOTE: Some of the graphics and sounds in MERC 2 were obtained from the
following game demos.
- Carmegeddon by SCi Ltd
- Fate by Intracorp Entertainment, Inc
- Marathon 2 by Bungie Software
- Red Neck Rampage by Interplay
- Shadow Warrior by 3D Realms
- Strife by Rogue Intertainment
- TekWar by Intracorp Entertainment, Inc
- Witchaven by Intracorp Entertainment, Inc


==========================================
==  VII. Copyright & Other Information  ==
==========================================

This add-on is FREEWARE, it is not to be sold or boughten. It is for
entertainment purposes only and not to be distributed for sale.  This is for
use with Duke Nukem 3D Atomic Edition or Plutonium Pak.  3DRealms/Apogee and
GTinteractive Software own all the rights to Duke Nukem 3D, but this add-on is
not made or supported by them.  So don't call them up if it doesn't work.

This add-on, or any of the new stuff contained in it, may not be altered or
copied in any way with out written permission by me (Ryan Conner:
rConner@bigfoot.com).  You may distribute this add-on freely, given you don't
try to sell it and all the files remain intact.

DISCLIAMER:  TCM takes no responsibility if this add-on screws up your
computer in any way, but if you follow the install instructions found on the
M2 site (M2install.txt) the add-on should work fine.

If there is anything contained in this add-on that is copyrighted and is being
used without the author's permission or something like that, please contact me
and we will work it out.  The last thing I want to do is infringe on any
copyrights.


                    MERC 2 is Copyright (c) 1998. TCM.
