Escuela de Combate(Combat School) emulator English translated documentation v. 1.21
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Translation by Dragon-X

What's New in v. 1.21
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A lot of corrections.  My bilingual friend helped me with the phrases that were giving me
trouble, so the translation should now be pretty much correct in all areas.  There are some
areas, however, that even my friend couldn't understand.  When translated, these parts
don't make sense(Things like "decoding of the funds", etc.).  My friend believes it's some 
kind of Mexican slang that he's not familiar with.  

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There is a Combat School emulator called "Escuela de Combate" that has recently been released 
by Jos Tejada Gmez.  The documentation is in the form of two help files.  One appears to be 
written in French, and the other is written in Spanish.  To meet the needs of those of us who 
speak neither of these languages, I have translated the documentation into English below.  I 
translated the documentation directly from the Spanish help file.  My Spanish is very poor, 
and some of the parts I just had to guess at, and some parts I actually rewrote to make more 
sense in English(and some of it still makes no sense), so if anyone has any corrections to 
this translation, feel free to change the document.  So do not be alarmed if any part of this 
translation is inaccurate(which is likely).  I believe that I've done a decent enough job of 
the translation that most people should be able to understand it.  Unfortunately, I am not 
able to convert this document into Windows help format, like the Spanish documentation was in.  
It's recommended that you keep the Spanish help files as well as this English translation, as 
there are several screenshots in the help files that I could not include in this document. 

I have left several references to "Escuela de Combate" in this document.  "Escuela de Combate"
is Spanish for "Combat School".  I have left this in Spanish in some places since the
emulator is actually named "Escuela de Combate". 

I am not revealing my email address or my real name as I am not doing this for attention.  
I have used emulators for a long time now, and this is my way of giving back.  Granted, it's 
not much, but I don't have the skill to write an emulator, so I do what I can. :)

Dragon-X
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What Combat School Was

Combat School was created in 1988 by Konami, using the graphic circuitry that was used a year 
earlier in Gryzor(Contra), but with sound circuitry that was inferior to Ghost and Goblins or 
Ghouls and Ghosts.  The machine was very popular, so much so that the British company Ocean 
purchased the computer rights, and created commercial versions for 8-bit: Amstrad CPC, ZX 
Spectrum, and Commodore 64.  The conversion is very obtainable in the three formats, perhaps 
the best being the Commodore 64, followed by the Amstrad.  The Spectrum version is far too 
difficult.

Even though the game was a success, there were no sequels. You could consider that the "Gryzor"
soldiers came out of the "Combat School" but that is only speculation.

The basic object of the game is to get past all of the tests that separate us from our 
graduation as a soldier(or officer) of the army of the E.E.U.U. (although the game is 
Japanese...).  The tests are the same in all of the versions, although the positions of the 
obstacles or the exact map varies from each other.

One of the notable differences from the arcade version is the absence of the instructor.  In 
the arcade the sargeant always appears implying morality and competitivity, he appears in no 
computer version(except in the fighting level).  Other differences are the two cuts from the 
arcade: The race between the 3rd and 4th levels and the "smoker scene"; none of this appears
in any computer version.

Our analysis of Combat School ends here, now you judge the same game. 

What is "Escuela de Combate"?

"Escuela de Combate" is an emulator of the arcade game "Combat School".  To play Combat 
School, a 386 computer or better with Windows 95/NT is required.  Besides this preparation, 
the emulator uses MMX instructions so that the equipment with those characteristics note an 
increase in the emulator speed.

What the emulator lacks:

Sound:  The arcade machine had digital voices and synthesized music.  None of this is in this 
version of the emulator.
Konami:  The true Konami version is not emulated, but a bootleg version; it is said that a 
group of engineers took the original romset and adapted part of the code.  The visible 
differences are: 1) The Konami logo does not appear, and "Datsu" appears in its place.  2) The 
machine doesn't test the equipment when started.  3) No service mode or test mode exists.
Graphics problems: In the pulse the color in the faces of the character fails, and on occasions 
the object priority isn't very good.  But in general it all functions adequately.

Using the Emulator

Suffice it to say that to play the game you must have the "Combat School" ROMs in the same 
directory as the executable.  For now, only the bootleg "Combat School" ROMs from DATSU are 
supported, accepting the names "combat.0xx" as well as "cs.0xx".

Once the program is executed, the game will begin.  Coins must be inserted to play the game.

The game saves the high score table automatically, for keeping your scores permanently between 
games.  If you wish to erase this table, delete the file with the extension ".tab" in the 
emulator directory.

The Keyboard

In "Escuela de Combate" you must use the keyboard to insert coins into the machine and to 
press the 1Player and 2Player buttons.  The keys are:

1 - 1 Player
2 - 2 Players
3 - Insert 25 cents(one credit)
4 - Insert 1 dollar(four credits)

If the game functions too slowly you can make the emulator skip some frames by pressing "+" 
on the numerical keypad, at most you can skip 75% of the frames.  To do the opposite, press 
the "-" key on the numerical keypad.

You can also control the players by means of the keyboard, if you configure it that way.  The 
default keys are:

Player 1:  Movement: Cursors; Buttons: period, dash
Player 2:  Movement: a,w,s,d; Buttons: y,u

At this time, the keys are NOT remappable.

The Joysticks

"Escuela de Combate" allows the use of joysticks in the game, the configuration must 
always be changed through the Control Panel.  If the emulator does not detect the joysticks, 
even if they are selected, they will not function.  If there is only one, it is automatically 
assigned to the first player.  Only two buttons are used on each one to allow the use of two 
joysticks simultaneously.

How to contact the programmers

If you are grateful for our work, or you have some positive comments for us, you can write to:

combatschool@hotmail.com

We will NOT respond to letters with typical anglicisms like "mail", "interface", etc... nor 
will we answer criticisms or unpleasant letters.  Legally we cannot send any ROMs if you do 
not own the original machine, so don't ask.

However we will contact anyone with the ROMset of the original "Combat School", the Konami 
version.  If you are the fortunate owner of one of these, tell us.

Credits:

Project and Code Director - Jos Tejada Gmez 	(Valencia)
Research and Extra Coding - Manuel Abadia		(Murcia)
Fund(?) Deciphering - Cesreo Gutirrez	(Murcia)
Processor Emulation - Larry Blank		(Florida, E.E.U.U.)
Arcade Machine Specs - Ricardo Fdez.		(Segovia)
ZIP and CRC32 Code - M.A.M.E.
Special Thanks - LiM			(www.emuspain.com)


