Hymené

- A World of Adventures -

Welcome

Hymené is what most of you may look at as a game. However I have designed it to be something rather different. It is not just a regular game; It is a world and a system that I have created in the image of myself, the way I want it, in a world which has meant a lot to me throughout my life. Thus, I shall call it a ‘vision’.

This vision is basically a three-dimensional world where you connect to the internet and share experiences and adventures with other clients. It sounds like many other games that you may already know, but it is different to that. The rules and the way it works are very peculiar. There are many things to do and many ways to do it.

Hymené is not about being the best and winning. It is about playing or living the game. We have all played games that we lose on and unless we win, we feel we do not enjoy it. I have created this vision in such a way where winning and losing is not the key thing. It is about being individual, and enjoying what you do. If you want to fight, you fight. If you want to explore, you explore. Everyone is equal.

The world of Hymené is completely unorthodox and adnormal. This vision has not been designed to strict game rules. Anything can be around the corner. From vast deserts, to cities and free items. From fellow players, to almighty Gods. There are no rules, there are no regulations. The world is there for you to do what you wish. What you do is up to you. If you decide to be a kind player, you will get kindness back. If you decide to be an outlaw who kills people in public, you will eventually get hunted down yourself by real players.

Hymené is full of secrets. Inside the world you can find anything, from a computer game, to the meanings of my life. My mind is complex, and I will do everything I can to put my mind into this program. This program is my mind, where I have made it so you may walk around and experience the joys of my own creations.

Hymené is not perfect. It’s graphics are not the best, it’s animations and techiques are simple, but that is how it is. It is simple, it is peculiar. It is crude and raw. You do with it whatever you can, it is not about being the best, it is simply about exploring new fun.

Hymené is free, and it costs nothing to buy, or to play online. Feel free to give it to any of your friends, but please do not alter it in any way.

Background

This software is not a game where I expect you to judge it and compare it to other games in certain catagories. It is not supposed to outperform or out-visual the latest games. It is simply my vision, and my efforts. It is there for you to explore and venture around. If you don’t like it, then don’t play it. You will be missing out on lots of fun if you don’t :)

Setup

Unzip it, run it. There is no official installation, but it does require DIRECT X 8 or whatever it is these days. It was coded using directx8 and openGL.

I will also recommend a reasonable cpu and graphics card. It was coded on an athlon 700 tbird and a geforce1 DDR which performed fine. Who knows how it will work on your computer, it’s not like I have all the computers in the world to test it on.

Obviously, to play this game you will require The Internet. However, it is possible if you get the server program, to host your own lan games.

This game was written in visual basic, believe it or not. The run time dlls are complete with it. This includes the vb6 run time, and the winsock one. Also, the opengl DLL which you need is there.

Configuration

There are several programs in the Hymené package. The game itself is hymene.exe, however I would recommend that firstly you run config.exe. This is a simple program that will help you get your settings right and quickly choose a character name and the colors and controls of your choice. It also has graphic options and other things you can later explore to get your Hymené game just how you like it.

Once your config is done, run hymene.exe to test it out. Since getting controls right is not always easy (ie; mouse sensivity), you can go back and forth testing it out by changing the config at any time until you get it right.

Different Character Profiles

You may exit the game at any time to change your players colors and race, however, by changing the name you will be creating a new profile, or character as you may call it. This is ideal if you wish to have several characters, or more than one person uses your computer to play Hymené.

The profiles are kept in a directory called ‘/player’. You can delete the profiles at any time if you wish to erase a character and start over. However, if you attempt to hack the profile, it will be erased automatically and server administrators will be notified, so it’s best you left it alone ;) Its also possible you will be sent to Hymené hell, so it’s best not to try and get cockey.

Connecting to a Server

In Hymené there is what you will probably be familiar with, something called the console. It is where you can type, talk, and enter commands. To get the console up and down in fullscreen, press escape. There is a small chat console that you can get using the ` key (on the far left under escape most likely). This is better for talking to people, but is not always visible in all situations of the game. The escape button is the main console you want.

There is a command to connect you to a server on the internet or across the LAN. The syntax is this:

/connect [ip/host]

So for example, /connect 192.168.0.1 would connect you to that address. If there is no response, then the server is not running, or the address is wrong, or the internet has a problem. The response you should get will be the downloading of a map. This might take seconds to minutes, depending on the map and your connection. Once it’s done it will load and thus, you should be in the world of Hymené.

Common Problems Starting the Game

I don’t particularly like the idea of DirectX8, so any problem there I’m afraid you’ll have to beat them up about it. I think the worst that will happen is there will be no sound - DirectX is used only for sound in this game. A message may appear on startup saying the sound could not work.

Nextly the graphics runs in OPENGL, so have that ready, lol.

The WINSOCK control is used for the internet coding, and the OCX file is included. If there is a problem then try replacing your old winsock control with the one that comes with Hymené, or put it in windows/system or something, that usually works.

Make sure you set up the config so your game runs in screen resolution which works on your computer. 640x480 and 800x600 seem to be the most common. The game is not really designed for the lower resolutions, and the text gets bunched up. Only use it for tests or if you like the performance of professional combat for example.

Not finished

The game is not yet finished and is prone to bugs. It shouldn’t excactly mangle your computer, but don’t blame me if it doesn’t work properly. If there is an error message, email me with it and explain to me the problem. Then I can try to fix it for the next versions.

Thank you for taking the time to explore Hymené, I hope you enjoy it,

Chalcedony