home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
The Best of Game Classics
/
cd2.bin
/
STRAT
/
COS
/
_COS151.ZIP
/
COS.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1994-05-02
|
22KB
|
444 lines
CLASH OF SPEARS v1.5: Program Documentation ▄
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ (Sorcerer Productions 1994)
INSTALLATION │
═════════════╛
Installation of Clash of Spears is fairly simple. Simply unzip the
original file, !COSV15.ZIP, to some sort of disk (either 5.25" or 1.44").
If all goes well, the following files should unpack:
√ COS_001.EXE Clash Of Spears Data File
√ INSTALL.EXE Installation Program
√ COS.DOC Documentation (what you're looking at now!)
Next, simply run the INSTALL program by logging to the drive that you
unpacked the archive onto (A: or B:). The screen should scroll upwards and
an installation menu should appear, asking you if you have the hardware
requirements to play the game (Clash of Spears Requires about 1.3 megabytes
of your hard drive). Next, a window should pop up asking you where you would
like to install Clash Of Spears. Type the FULL Path, including the drive
(i.e. "C:\CLASH" or "D:\GAMES\SHAREWARE\CLASH").
Now the game will begin to install itself, and you should see lots of
messages that say "inflating" or "extracting." Installation should take
about 2 minutes, and a message will appear when it's done telling you to type
RUNME to play the game.
***NOTE FOR NETWORK USE: Clash Of Spears will work fine on a net,
provided that only one person is using it at one given time. The
registered version will be able to handle a network properly, with
no limit on the number of people who are using the game.
GAME PLAY AND SIMULATION │
═════════════════════════╛
Clash of Spears is a battle simulation. It is not a "shoot everything
that moves" game; rather, you use cunning and military logic to outwit
your opponent. As such, it is important that you understand the basics
of game play.
The game is made up of what are known as "turns." Each turn is a length
of time (about 1 month). Players alternate turns so as to give the illusion
of everything happening at the same time.
In your turn you have total control of your armies. You can move your
armies, recruit new members, invest in town commodities, change some tax
rates, etc.. Your turn can last as long as you like.
The game continues like this, with each player taking turns, until only
one player is left alive (still has a castle). Obviously, the object of the
game is to take over the other player's castles, while defending your own at
all costs.
THE TITLE SCREEN │
═════════════════╛
The first thing you will see when you run the game (besides the company
logo and opening demo) will be the title screen. This is where you can start
a new game, look at the credits, or change the game options. It's pretty
straightforward, so I won't spend time talking about it. However, I will
explain the options, below:
VIEWSCREEN JUMP: If this option is on, then the computer will "jump"
the map window to your castle at the beginning of your turn.
UNITS STARVE: This controls the food rules throughout the game. If
this option is on, you must supply your units with food, or they will
starve and die.
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: All this really controls is the amount of gold
your country starts with.
SISSY: 700 gp
EASY: 500 gp
MEDIUM:300 gp
HARD: 100 gp
NATURAL DISASTERS: This button specifies whether or not natural
disasters can happen in the game (things like flood & famine). By
leaving this on, the simulation is a lot more realistic.
FAST BATTLES: Believe me, this WAS important in the older version,
but is pretty useless now. Sorry.
FOOD PRICE FLUX: This option states whether or not the food prices
remain set throughout the game, or if they change according to
natural disasters (drought and the like).
TROOP PRICE FLUX: This is the same principle as food price flux. If
it is on, the price of troops will change depending on your morale
(and some luck).
STARTING A NEW GAME │
════════════════════╛
Starting a game in Clash of Spears is relatively easy. Just follow
the on screen instructions and you'll do fine.
First you must choose a battlefield you would like to play on. In the
shareware version, there is only one choice, but in the registered version,
there are 8 different maps you can choose. Use the "NEXT" and "PREVIOUS"
buttons.
If for some reason you don't want to start a new game, click on CANCEL
and you'll be taken back to the title screen.
Next you'll be asked for the number of players. Again, use the buttons
to select the appropriate number. Clash Of Spears supports 2, 3, or 4
players.
Now each player will take turns choosing a color, a castle, a castle
name, and an alignment. Clash of Spears can handle players who have the same
color - it just makes it impossible to tell the empires apart on the main
map.
THE GAME ITSELF │
════════════════╛
Play control in Clash of Spears is done primarily through the mouse, and
keyboard input is kept at a minimum (but you CAN use the keyboard to speed up
play - the red letters of the buttons are the keys you press on the keyboard.)
A player's turn follows this basic flow:
1) PROFIT/EXPENSES WINDOW: This window tells you how much
gold you gained (or lost.. oops!) this turn.
2) CLICK WHEN READY window, followed by news updates
(like natural disasters and bargains on food).
(if your units have found a monster, they will tell you
now.)
3) TOWN PRODUCTION window, which shows all the towns you
own and how much gold they're producing for you.
4) MAIN UNIT CONTROL - where players move their "units"
(defined later) around the screen and attack others.
5) END TURN WINDOW - accessable by clicking on the title
icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
Players take turns in this order, with player #1 going first, followed
by player #2, etc. Play continues until only one player's castle remains
standing.
Now, some definitions.
UNIT: A grouping of troops. You recruit units by paying
them gold through the "Commands" button. Here are the
different types:
INFANTRY: The basic foot solider. He is the weakest
of the bunch, but costs the least and is
great for scouting around and taking towns.
CAVALRY: Horse mounted soliders. More powerful in
combat than the infantry, but costs more &
is a little slower.
ARCHERS: Soliders with bows and arrows. More
powerful than calvalry, and great for
attacking castles.
WHEELED: Soliders with carts and wagons. The most
powerful of all the units, but also the
most expensive.
Also, there are monster units, which can be found by having
another unit scout for them. Be warned though: a scouting
unit spends ALL its time scouting, and thus you cannot move
them until you tell them to stop scouting.
FORTIFICATION LEVEL: This number describes how well you
castle is defended. It is a value from 1 to 10, with 1 being
fairly weak and 10 being almost invincible. You can upgrade
your fortification level though the "Commands" button.
X PERCENT DAMAGE: If your castle is damaged, this will
appear when you click on your castle in the big view. You
can repair your castle through the "Commands" button.
MOVEMENT POINTS: Each unit can only move a certain distance.
These points, which are shown in the center of the
directional compass in the lower-right hand corner of the
screen, determine just how far that distance is. Each terrain
type (listed below) takes a certain amount of points to walk
over it - thus a unit can move, say 10 spaces in open plains
but only 3 in a dense forest. Different unit types have
different movement rates, to help in the simulation of the
game. Also, be aware that any movement points you don't use
in your turn are gone - so it's best to move a unit as far as
possible in one turn.
NOTE: Even through your movement points are less than
the amount needed to walk onto a space, you can still attack
units/castles or take over towns on that space (i.e, if you
are next to a unit that is on a desert terrain type, you don't
need to move into the desert to attack).
SOME BASIC RULES │
═════════════════╛
Basically, there are 4 different things you need to be thinking of
when you're playing the game. First, Terrain Types.
These are the different types of terrain you walk over (duh). They
are explained below. NOTE: I'm not going to give you the movement
points required because it's more fun to discover them as you play.
LOW PLAINS: Basic flatlands.
MEDIUM PLAINS: Flatlands with some little hills.
HIGH PLAINS: Elevated plains (sorta like stepps).
HILLS: Steep sets of hills (duh).
MOUNTAINS: Mountainous regious - progress for ALL units
is very slow here.
FORESTS: Like it says, forest spaces. Here too, movement
is impaired.
DESERTS: These are almost as rough as mountains.
ROAD: The easiest terrain type to move on: a paved road.
SWAMPS: Sorta hard for the calvary to drudge through.
WATER: No unit can "walk on water."
So basically all you do in the entire game is move your units around
(and attack things).
Next, towns. Towns are important in Clash of Spears because they
produce gold for you, although how much is determined by the
population of the town. To see how much a town is producing,
simply click on it in the main window. Towns also produce different
items, such as cloth or medicine. The main window tells you how
much of each item a town has produced that turn. You can alter this
by clicking with the right mouse button on the town, then selecting
"INFO" and changing the percent of tradesmen allocated to that
particular trade.
Closely related to towns are castles, the third thing I'm going to
ramble about. Castles are your "main base"; if these go down, you
go down (naturally, that's what the other palyers are aiming at).
However, to prevent this rather nasty circumstance from happening,
castles are provided with a "fortification level." You can upgrade
your fortification level from "Commands" button.
And the last thing I want to talk about is units. These are the
simplist things to understand, so I'm just going to talk about how
to attack. It really is simple: just click on the little sword
button. Each unit can only attack so far out (the unit's RANGE),
so the dithered (dark) spaces represent spaces outside your attack
range.
Just for fun, the units of YOUR army blink on the little map when
it's your turn, so you can see them easier.
To attack someone, click on the unit icon. Assuming it's in range,
your main window will tell you what kind of damage was sustained by
both sides. Keep in mind that enemy units can COUNTERATTACK,
provided they are within range to do so. Also keep in mind that a
unit can only attack ONCE per TURN, so make sure that what you're
attacking is what you want to mangle. (Units that have already
attacked this turn have a small "A" on their icons.)
GUARDING: Units can also be set up to attack any enemy unit that
comes withing their attack range (guarding). To set a unit on guard
mode, simply click with the right mouse button on the unit, then
select "GUARD". A small G will appear, telling you that the unit is
guarding. To take off guard mode, do the same thing.
THE SUPPLEMENTARY OPTIONS MENU: │
════════════════════════════════╛
So, now that you know how to do the basics, let me explain some other
nifty features, namly the secondary options menu. This menu is
accessed by clicking with the RIGHT mouse button on a unit. A popup
window will appear with lots of buttons.
Cancel is pretty self - explainatory. As for the others:
TRADE: Brings up the TRADE subwindow, where you can buy/sell
weapons and armor. The layout of this window is pretty easy:
just click the button you want!
RENAME: Duh. Renames that unit.
SCOUT: Instructs the unit to scout for monsters. Remember,
units cannot move while scouting. If scouting is already on,
this button will turn it off. (Units who are scouting have a
small "S" on their icon).
GUARD: Another toggle button. This instructs the unit to
attack anything within range (see the section on ATTACKING.)
SEPERATE: This lets you split the unit you clicked on into
two smaller ones (useful for defending a castle). When you
click this button, a window will appear asking you to
tell the percentage you want to split. Use the buttons +20%,
+10%, +5%, etc.. to select a percentage, then click OK when
you're done. Next, name the NEW UNIT; the old one will
still have the name you gave it earlier.
SUPPLEMENTARY OPTIONS FOR TOWNS: │
═════════════════════════════════╛
This menu is also accessed by clicking the right mouse button, this
time on the town you want to look at. Here's what the buttons do:
RECRUIT: Allows you to draft citizens from the town, in case
you're desperate for units. Be warned, though, that people
don't like drafting - and your morale changes accordingly.
INFO: Allows you to change the production percentages for
the various commodities of the town, as well as the tax rate.
Be careful: higher taxes mean more gold but lower morale,
whereas lower taxes mean less gold and more morale. A good
town morale means that people will be anxious to live there,
and the population will rise; conversely, a low morale
causes the population to decrease.
TRADE: Allows you to buy or sell the items of that town.
The buy and sell prices for each item will change depending
on the supply / demand ratio of that item.
ADVANCED FEATURES: │
═══════════════════╛
■ Units can be moved INTO towns and castles for protection - simply
move the unit onto the town or castle.
■ Units, if they are of the same type and have the same weapons and
armor, can be merged by moving them on top of one another.
■ Units will get mad and disband if you run out of gold to equip them
with.
■ Some monster units cannot buy new weapons or armor - they're stuck
with what they've got.
■ The type of monsters you find depends on your alignment and the
alignment of the monster. Players with neutral alignments can
use both good and evil monsters, but cannot make use of some of the
more "pure" monsters - paladins and lichs (pure good and pure evil,
respectively).
HINTS, TIPS, WARRANTY, LICENSE, ETC. │
═════════════════════════════════════╛
First, a couple of pointers:
■ Buy a unit with ONE member to walk around and claim towns.
This saves money.
■ Keep a couple of units near your castle, in case something
happens.
■ If you buy a HUGE unit, you can sell the surplus food and
get a little money. Be careful, though: the amount of
food required for a unit is equal to the amount of troops
in it; a 200 troop unit will need 200 lbs. of food!
■ If you're careful, you can run a unit without ANY food, by
selling all of it - just be sure it has food when all the
units eat, so that it doesn't die! (This is useful if you
need some "fast cash.")
■ Be sure to keep an eye on the other player's units - this
will prevent surprises from happening when you attack a
unit that you thought was armed with clubs, but is actually
armed with Broadswords!
And now, some boring legal stuff:
WARRANTY:
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
SORCERER PRODUCTIONS MAKES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. ALSO, SORCERER PRODUCTIONS TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY
FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED BY EITHER A DIRECT OR INDIRECT RESULT
OF USING THIS PROGRAM.
BY INSTALLING THE PROGRAM ON YOUR HARD DRIVE, YOU HEREBY
AGREE TO THIS.
(Basically, all this says is that if Clash of Spears blows
up your monitor, tough! [ It won't though! ] )
LICENSE AGREEMENT:
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
BY INSTALLING CLASH OF SPEARS ONTO YOUR HARD DRIVE, YOU AGREE
TO THE FOLLOWING:
CLASH OF SPEARS CANNOT BE DISTRIBUTED IN ANY WAY IF
IT IS THE REGISTERED VERSION. NO PIRATES!
CLASH OF SPEARS REGISTERED MAY BE USED BY MORE THAN
ONE PERSON AT THE SAME TIME ONLY IF IT IS ON A
LOCAL AREA NETWORK AND THE SYSOP OF THAT NETWORK HAS
PAID THE NETWORK REGISTRATION FEE.
CLASH OF SPEARS, THE SHAREWARE VERSION, CAN BE
DISTRIBUTED SO LONG AS NO ENHANCEMENTS ARE MADE TO
IT, AND ALL FILES ARE INCLUDED IN THE ARCHIVE.
SHAREWARE VENDORS CAN SELL THE SHAREWARE VERSION
OF THIS PROGRAM, PROVIDED THEY DO NOT CHARGE OVER $5
FOR IT, AND THEY MAKE SURE THAT:
1) THE BUYER HAS A FULL UNDERSTANDING OF THE
SHAREWARE CONCEPT.
2) THEY RECOGNIZE SORCERER PRODUCTIONS AS THE
AUTHOR / CREATOR OF THE PRODUCT.
YOU WILL NOT DISASSEMBLE OR REVERSE ENGINEER ANY
FILES IN CLASH OF SPEARS.
YOU WILL NOT HEX EDIT ANY FILES.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
YOU WILL NOT TAKE THY NAME OF THY SORCERER IN VAIN.
YOU WILL NOT INSERT THE WORD "NOT" INTO ANY SENTENCE
WHERE IT DOES NOT GRAMMATICLY BELONG (EG: "THIS IS
COOL... NOT!").
YOU WILL NOT LISTEN TO ANY MUSIC COMPOSED OR SUNG
BY ANYONE WITH A TEN-GALLON HAT.
YOU WILL NOT READ PAST THE LINE FOLLOWING THIS LICENSE
AGREEMENT.
░░░░░░░░░░░░▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓██████▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒░░░░░░░░░░░░
Boo! This is what you are not supposed to be reading.
If you are reading this, you are in violation of the
license agreement.
Just kidding. Have fun, and remember:
"I'm in the middle of nowhere,
near the end of the line,
but there's a border to somewhere waiting,
and there's a tankful of time.
Oh, give me just another moment
to see the light of the day,
and take me to another land where
I don't have to stay...
Open up the sky, let the planet that I love shine
through!!!"
█ -Meat Loaf
█ (from the song, "For Crying Out Loud")
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
And just one last thing: Please don't take offense if I have mispelled
anything in this document... It's hard to concentrate at 5 in the morning.