Eradicator/Controls

Player controls

Eradicator has the usual controls one expects in 3-D games, including freelook with the mouse. Instructions are included with the game. A few items of note:

• A key can have up to two functions assigned to it
• You'll need to assign a key to use and activate things: the "use" action
• The game features an inventory of items. Assign keys to the "inv_left", "inv_right", and "inv_use" actions
• You can switch between first-person and third-person views. The key assigned to the "change_view" action does this
• With the crosshair enabled, the game will auto-aim when in third-person view
• Looking and aiming up/down can be done independently. However, this ability has little practical use and it's more convenient to simply assign both the look/aim-up and look/aim-down actions to the same keys, so the two work together in the usual manner.
• The invert-mouse option ("Flip vertical axis") is the inverse of the usual: with this option off, moving the mouse forward causes the player to look down.
• There's no console in Eradicator. The tilde (~) key, which usually activates consoles, instead has a somewhat novel (and meaningless and frequently irritating, when you accidentally hit it while playing) purpose: it changes the viewpoint angle relative to the player. If you find the player is facing at an odd angle and running sideways instead of forward, it's because you accidentally changed the view. Simply press the ~ key repeatedly until your view is once again looking forward from behind, or switch to and back from first-person view.

Picture-in-picture (PIP)

Several types of ammo have the option of being controlled and/or viewed remotely, plus there are remotely-controllable enemy robots, security cameras that are operated at consoles, etc. throughout the game. In these instances, a picture-in-picture view will be shown. The "use" key swaps the two views. When the remote view is selected, the item can be remotely operated if it supports it. Some levels require the remote operation of enemies to complete tasks.

Automap

The automap in this game works slightly differently than average. Areas you've been in are shown with the textures that are on the floor in those areas, rather than the line drawings typically seen in other games. Unvisited areas will be shown with line drawings after you get the Geosurvey. The automap rotates when you do, with the top of the screen being ahead of you. This game has "follow mode" backwards: normally, "follow mode" means the automap follows the player, with the player always in the center; the default mode. In this game, what's called "follow mode" is actually freelook mode, where you use the cursor keys to look around the map while the player stays in place. Another oddity with freelook mode is the left and right keys rotate the automap rather than scroll it side to side. The up and down keys move it up and down on the screen, like when the player moves forward and backward. There's a timing issue too: on modern computers, zooming and freelook mode will be very fast and touchy.

Sound and music

Eradicator's release was approximately coincident with that of the Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE64 sound card, and the game has the option of using that sound card's (and the Sound Blaster AWE32's) sample-playback synthesis for producing the in-game sound effects. If you're playing the game on an older computer with one of these sound cards, using the "AWE32/64 hi-res sound" option will give you substantially improved sound quality.

In-game music is provided by means of audio tracks on the game CD. Use of the CD is optional: without it, a single digitized track will be used for all levels. The "CD-ROM Redbook audio" option enables CD audio. (You may need to re-enable this option if you've previously been playing without the CD.)