GOLGOTHA DEMO 5 README
- Status Bars, Radar, and Vehicles -

Status Bars, Radar, and Vehicles

The status bar is designed with screen space, rather than beauty, in mind. We sacrafice an ornate status bar for a functional one which allows you to see more of the screen at any moment. We used colored bars and icons for the supertank weapons so that you could more easily measure them in your peripheral view. The purchase buttons up top are large enough to click fairly quickly but small enough to be unobtrustive. The radar map is one pixel per map tile. It gets larger or smaller according to the size of the level.

The bottom status bar has four important statistics for your supertank, assuming you have a supertank. One of those is ARMOR. This is the same as "hit points" in D&D parlance. When you run out of ARMOR, your supertank is dead. You will need to purchase another if you want a new one. There is no sense of "lives". When your supertank dies, you just need more cash- a lot more cash. You may have to wait for that cash while your opponent takes the opportunity to make a power play, just like hockey, and crushes you like a bug. Keep an eye on your armor and other vital supertank statistics. If any stat gets unacceptably low, remember that you can go inside your base anytime and get free ammo and repairs!

Another stat in the lower status bar is the CHAIN GUN, which is the measure of how many chain gun rounds are left. You fire the chain gun with the "0" key on the numeric keypad. All chain gun shots will aim automatically in a 360-degree radius around you. They pack a sizable punch. Just hold it down and watch vehicles turn black. Though short-ranged and the weakest of the three, you'll often find this is one of the last weapons you have remaining, and proficient use can easily save your butt.

The MAIN GUN measures exactly how many main gun rounds you have left. These rounds pack a real punch. You can take out almost any vehicle on the field in literally one or two shots if you hit with the main gun. But be careful. You have only a couple dozen rounds.

The MISSILES are a devastating weapon. They each break into three warheads. Each warhead is guided and does massive damage. If you connect with all three warheads on an enemy supertank, you will take it out. If you kill the enemy's supertank, it's a stunning blow and a chance to make a power-play and win the level! But watch out. The enemy supertank has these missiles, too, and he will fire on you at first site.

The top status bar has a series of vehicle purchase icons. On the very left side is the supertank icon. If you put your mouse over it, you will see the cost of purchasing a supertank. $10 billion. Not cheap. The supertank is an exceptional vehicle, and you should never lose your supertank unless you can afford to. Other vehicles cost anywhere from a few hundred million to a one or two billion dollars. Not so bad.

The other seven vehicle purchase buttons are:

To the right of the vehicle purchase buttons, is your bank balance and the cost of what you're about to purchase (whatever you are holding the mouse cursor over). Your bank balance increases automatically at a constant rate. If you take over a bank, it will increase faster. Multiple banks have cumulative effects. Banks are the only special buildings in this demo.

To the right of the bank balance and cost field is the option menu button. Click on this and the vehicles will be replaced by options. More about these options can be found under the Options section.

To the right of your option menu button is the radar screen. Anytime there is a lull, your eyes should be glued to this screen. Keep an eye out for the red flashing dot. That's the enemy supertank, and he will kill your supertank on site! All the other red dots are enemy vehicles or charred enemy remains. All the blue dots are on your team. The flashing dot is your supertank. Yellow dots represent your currently selected formation. You can click on the radar at any time to cause the game to go into the Strategy View and to zoom into the specified location. The yellow brackets on the radar show where the Strategy View is currently pointing. These brackets change in size because sometimes it is looking from way up on top of a mountain, and other times, it is looking at the bottom of a valley.

Detailed Help Sections

The following sections have more detailed help with labelled screenshots:

Getting Started Status Bars, Radar, and Vehicles Action View Strategy View Options Level Editor Excuses

A Word from the Development Team  From Dave Taylor (Producer) 10/16/97

"Between Demo 4 and Demo 5, we primarily focused on getting software rendering working and at an acceptable rate on a wide range of machines. The gameplay, although it has made some progress with the addition of the base-reloading, an enemy super-tank, and our first stab at enemy AI, has still been largely overlooked. But not to worry. We feel these demos are healthy for the company and we do plan a Demo 6, perhaps even a Demo 7, before the game is released. I would like to thank the people who have sent us drooling support for Golgotha, even at such an early stage. We love the encouraging words."

Tons of Web Site Stuff

There's even more about Golgotha and Crack dot Com. Click on one of the links below to go to the Crack dot Com web site or check out the It's Golgotha Dammit and Golgotha Connection web sites.

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