DP Tool Club 15/CD_ASCQ_15_070894.iso/vrac/gpwar096.zip/ONLINE.DOC

Text File | 1994-05-11 | 25KB | 672 lines

               ^YIntroduction

^W  The following are parts of a player log,
which can help you to get more 'into' GPWAR.

^CTurn 0^R:^W  Before signing up for this game,
I decided to do a little research.  A few
friends talked me into joining, but I am not
sure if it was to be on their side, or to be
an easy target.  There are 40 turns total
in the game, 20 turns of protection, and we
are allowed to choose our own majors.  My
"friends" told me that Oil would be a very
good choice for a major resource, since there
are few Oil Majors already in the game, so
when the time came to pick a major, I took
their advice and chose Oil.
^P
               ^YIntroduction

^WAs it turned out, they were right.  Only
one other player had Oil.  Unfortunately,
my "Friends" won't tell me which planets
are theirs, so it looks like I am on my
own from here on out.

^CTurn 1^R:^W  My first turn went well.  I
decided to build 2 science labs, and the
rest Oil Wells, bringing me to a grand
total 10 Oil Wells.  My technologies were
all relatively high.  With the bonus science
points that I started with, I raised my
Manufacturing tech to level 32, as I thought
it would be of most help to me.  I'll let
my people feed off of the food I began with.
^P
               ^YIntroduction

^CTurn 2^R:^W  Cripes!  I forgot two very
important things last turn!  I forgot to
raise my Tax rate and I forgot to bid in
the auction.  Well, that won't happen again!
I made sure to put in a hefty bid on the
2 Oil Wells that are in the auction this
turn and I raised my Tax rate to 11 %.  I
also noticed that I built 2 units of food
with only 1 plant this turn.  It must be
due to my high Manufacturing tech level.
I was able to build only one more Oil well
because of a shortage of Ore.  I will send
off a few transactions and maybe I can scare
up some Ore, for some Oil.  I also spent a
little money to get more people immigrating.
^P
               ^YIntroduction

^CTurn 3^R:^W  Yippe!  I won the auction!
I now have 13 Oil Wells.  More people are
starting to slowly flow into my planet as
well, as a result of the money I spent.
One of my transactions was accepted and
with my resources I was able to build 5
more Food plants, after disassembling my
ABM's.  My food is starting to get low, so
maybe that will help some.  I spent my 8
tech points on some General Tech, in hopes
that it will have some sort of positive
effect.  I couldn't afford a bid in the
auction this turn, as I already have a good
size loan taken out. I'll try some more
transactions this turn. Something will work!
^P
               ^YIntroduction

^CTurn 4^R:^W  My tax income is increasing
somewhat. It may have been partially because
of the increase in General tech, but it is
probably the increase in population.  My
friends have shown themselves by messages
this turn.  They want to form a trading
alliance.  Since I am low on resources, I
can probably handle that.  They are both
offering me a 3:2 trade of Ore and Exotics.

 (....Several Turns Later....)

^CTurn 10^R:^W  My planet is flourishing!  I am
getting all the resources I need!  The two
other Oil majors are not very smart, or I
wouldn't be doing nearly as well!
^P
               ^YIntroduction

^WI have completely paid off my loan, and
increased my number of Wells to 25.  And
because I kept building up on my Man. Tech,
I am producing 3 units of Oil per each Oil
Well!  My two trading partners are getting
very little from me now, as I have decided
to go to the highest bidder.  For my Oil,
I am now getting 2:1 trades!  So, each turn
I get at least 20 units of Ore for 10 Oil,
& the exotics are flowing in even faster.
Just about everyone is going through me
for their Oil.  I may win this game yet!

^CTurn 15^R: ^W Due to my greed, I finally
stopped accepting even 2:1 trades - I wanted
at least 5:2.  I got it too, for a while!
^P
               ^YIntroduction

^WUnfortunately, most of the other planets
got fed up with my prices and started just
producing their own Oil.  Now even my so
called friends don't want to trade with me!
I guess I was a little greedy though.  I
am sending everyone a message who I have
traded with before, announcing a new low
rate of 1:1.  I am sure that it will help
me get some deals coming in.

^CTurn 17^R:  ^WI was right!  The trade
scene is getting back to normal, although
no one wants much more to do with me than
be a trading partner.  The protection turns
are almost over.  I need to start some real
military planning.
^P
               ^YIntroduction

^CTurn 20^R:  ^WThe end of the turns of
protection is here.  I have taken apart
all but 5 of my Oil Wells, and invested
in 10 ABM's and 10 Science labs.  I should
have thought of this long ago, but I just
didn't.  I got a "warning" message today
from "The DeathWatch".  It appears to be
a group of at least 3 members, and they
claim that I may be attacked in a few
turns.  The member that sent me the message
probably isn't the leader, but he is a
strong planet, nonetheless.  He has as
many ABM's as I, plus he has 4000 troops.
I have only managed to get 2000.  With
my remaining resources, I built 5 Anti
troop turrents, for more defence.
^P
               ^YIntroduction

^CTurn 24^R:  ^WI replied to the warning
message with an offer to join the group.
They say that they are considering the
offer, but I haven't heard a reply.  Since
they wont say much, I figured I would try
some covert actions.  I was able to
intercept a message, which seems to name
Thanatos as leader.  After doing another
quick check, I found that he now owns
TWO planets!  He took over a planet that
was once owned by one of my former trading
partners.  It looks like if I want to
beat them, I may just have to join them!
I am sending a free IPBM (Inter-planetary
ballistic missile) to Thanatos, as a
token of my gratitude.
^P
               ^YIntroduction

^CTurn 26^R:  ^WThe verdict is in!  I have
officially become a member of the most
deadly group around, The DeathWatch.  I
just got notification this turn, and it
appears as though they don't want to
waste any time!  The want me to begin
assaulting Alpha One immediately.  I have
been saving up my tech points, so I will
go ahead and pour them into my military
and disassemble my Oil Wells, and build
IPBM's.  7 IPBM's are now streaking
through space to show the other members
that I have what it takes!  In their
message, they also mentioned that we were
about to take on a major target, but he
didn't say who it was.  Next turn I guess.
^P
               ^YIntroduction

^CTurn 28^R:  ^WAnother message from the
leader, Thanatos, but he still didn't
mention the target.  He just said that
he thought it was going to be an easier
kill than he first thought!  My IPBM's
laid waste to Alpha One.  Now I am sending
in my troops to try and take over, but I
doubt I have enough.  I requested that
other members of the DeathWatch also send
in troops, so that one of us will be able
to take over.  I'll find out how well we
did next turn.  Looks like I will be one
of the top finishers after all!
^P
               ^YIntroduction

^CTurn 29^R:  ^WThis turn I went into the
game only to find out that my planet had
been devastated with IPBM's last turn.
Before I bothered to see who hit me, I
decided to look at Alpha One.  Great!
Thanatos had taken over easily.  If I was
lucky, I thought, he would send some of the
resources from Alpha One to me to help
rebuild.  My own puny statistics almost
looked like I shouldn't bother trying to
build back up.  I was pushed back down to
the level I was at around turn #5.  At
least my team was doing well...  Then I
read my messages.  The target Thanatos
mentioned that he thought wouldn't be as
hard as he originally thought was ME!
^P
               ^YIntroduction

^CTurn 30^R:  ^WI went into the game this
turn knowing what I would find.  I was
locked out.  They got me to join them, then
to waste my resources attacking another
enemy of theirs, and weaken myself at the
same time.  Then they came in, with minimal
force, and took over both myself and Alpha
One.  So this is the kind of dirty tricks I
can expect... Well, at least I will be
better prepared next time!

  That is only a sample of the things you
can do in GPWAR!
^P
                ^YOnline Docs

^CGOAL^R:

  ^WIn Geo-Political Warfare, your goal is to
take control of your galaxy both economically
and militarily.  A great military leader
would still have problems without the proper
economic backing.  Likewise, a good economic
leader wouldn't get far without strategy.

^CIndicators^R:

  ^WAcross the top line of the game window is a
row of indicators.  If any of these are red &
flashing it means that there are new messages,
transaction or news, respectively.
^P
             ^YThe Basics of GPWar

^CResources & Economics^R:
  ^WThe entire game revolves around a few
simple facts.  Anything you can build takes
up a certain amount of each of three basic
resources.  The basic strategy is to build
resources, trade them for needed ones, and
build more production facilities. Ultimately
you can use your resources to build weapons &
fight it out!  These resources are Oil, Ore, &
Exotics.  Each planet begins with a set amount
of these resources.  To get more resources,
you must build an appropriate production
facility (to build Oil, Oil wells are needed).
Each planet has one resource that it can
produce better than any other.  This is
known as a planets ^D"^RMajor^D"^W resource.
^P
             ^CResources & Economics

  ^WEach turn, 1 oil well, for example, will
produce 1 unit of oil.  If Oil is your planet's
major resource, then each Oil Well will produce
2 units of oil per turn.  With this in mind,
it makes good sense to build the production
facility that builds your planets major and
then trade your excess resources with other
planets. Note that technology helps production.

^CMoney^R:

  ^WNext to the three basic resources, money
is probably the most scarce thing around.  Your
only source of money is through taxing your
people.  Since raising taxes too high is very
^P
                    ^CMoney

^Wunpopular with your people, your only other
ways to raise your income are to increase
your planet's population or to make your people
happier (In GPWar, a happy worker *IS* a more
productive worker).  Increasing your population
is easy...  Just offer free benefits to people
who are willing to relocate to your planet.
Keeping your people happy is another matter
completely, though.  It takes a certain amount
of money to build things, disassemble them,
do a covert action, pay for fuel for a trade,
bring immigrants to your planet, etc.  In the
future, you may be able to use money to hire
mercenary troops to help you out!
^P
                    ^CMoney

^W  One other popular way of gaining money is
through the First Universe Savings & Loan.
Yes, you can go into deficit spending!  Just
take out a loan at First Universe, and you can
pay them back whenever you decide to, as long
as you don't let your loan amount roll over
your ^D"^RMaximum Loan^D"^W.  If you do and the Bank
gets wind of it, they can collect your only
collateral.  Yes - ^RYOUR PLANET!

^CAuction^R:
^W  Each turn some items go up for bid.  These
are resources that any player can bid on and
possibly win.  Some people go for the low bid
approach, just hopeing no one else even checks.
This works, sometimes, but not in active games.
^P
                   ^CAuction

^W  The best way of looking at it is that
items won in the auction do not require any
resources, only money.  For example, 10 IPBM's
could be up for bid, which would normally cost
1000 ^Reach ^Wto build, plus resources.  The best
approach is to bid as much as possible, so that
other players won't be able to bid against you
or if they do, they will pay a stiff price.
Some games have been won or lost by auctions!

^CTrading^R:
^W  Trading requires 2 main things:  Resources
and someone willing to trade with you!  It
also costs a certain amount of credits to pay
for the fuel required to send the equipment
(The total credit cost depends on distance).
^P
                    ^CTrading

^W  Before actually going to the trade menu, it
might help to see what the current situation
is for all the other players.  To do this, go
to the ^REmpire^W menu and select the ^RPlanet
Report^W option.  Then you will see a list of
ALL your planets current statistics.  Hitting
the ^RN ^Wand^R P^W keys will show you the Next
and Previous planets, allowing you to look
through all the statistics of all the planets.
Once you have decided what your planet needs
and what resources you would like in trade for
those, you can go to the ^RTrade^W menu (off of
the main menu) and ^RSend^W a transaction.
Next, use the ^RN ^Wand^R P^W keys to get to the
correct planet, use the on-screen instructions
^P
                    ^CTrading

^Wto select which items you want to send and
the ones you would like to receive in exchange.
After getting the transaction set up as you
would like, hit the ^RS ^Wkey to ^RSend^W the
transaction or the ^RA ^Wkey to abort.  If you
send the transaction, you will be told how much
the transaction will cost you in credits to
send, in the event that the other player does
accept it.  Then you will be told how many turns
the transaction will be good for.  It is very
important when trading to look at the value of
each item in resources.  1 ABM costs several
units of each of the resources plus 1 unit
of electronics, which itself consists of more
resources, for example.  In some games certain
^P
                    ^CTrading

^Wresources are worth more than others.
Sometimes you will be able to trade on a 1 to 1
basis, other times you may only be able to get
1 unit for every 2 units of your major.  The
trading process ends when the other player
either accepts or rejects the transaction.

            ^CBuilding and Demolition

^W  There are many things you can use your
resources on.  IPBMs, ABMs and ATTs are all
used for military purposes, and are not that
needed early on.  Often, players will
underestimate how much food their people will
require.  As a general rule, a population of
^P
            ^CBuilding and Demolition

^W5000 people will need 20 units of food per
turn.  Although it is rare, some planets make
food production a priority.  They can then
trade their excess food for the real resources
that they need.  Usually, however, it pays
to produce your major, except in the rare case
of a glut of one particular resource.  Many
items require that electronics first be built
and then used to build them.  This is a multi-
level production case.  Beside building things,
you can tear them down.  This breaks down any
item into its basic resources for only a cost
of credits.  Those resources would then be
free to be used in other items.  Science Labs
produce technology points, which are useful to.
^P
                  ^CTechnology

^W  Technology is an extremely valuable tool
and usually it is what gives winning players
their edge.  You can create tech points by
doing research in science labs, then spend the
tech points on the areas you need most.  The
four types of technology are:  ^YGeneral,
Medical, Military, and Manufacturing.
^WEach area of technology helps you in a variety
of ways.  ^YGeneral Tech ^Wis sort of a LUCK type,
plus it does have a few basic things it helps
out like contentment.  ^YMedical Tech ^W will help
lower the cost of curing disease.  It also is
good for contentment.  ^YMilitary Tech ^W is used
mainly late in the game.  It controls things
like how well you do in an attack and how
efficient your army can get through training.
^P
                  ^CTechnology

^YManufacturing Tech^W is thought by some to be
to most useful early in the game.  It's can
help your production facilities to produce
more units per facility.  For example, when you
reach tech level 30, your food plants begin
producing 2 units of food each.  Later, your
major plants (oil, ore, or exotics) will begin
producing 3 each.  Next thing to come is all
of your non-major resource facilities begin to
produce extra units.  At the highest point, it
is possible to produce about 5 units of food
per plant, 4 or 5 units of your major, and
several units of your non-major resource per
facility.  As you can tell, this can easily
be the difference between being a success or
a failure with high competition trading.
^P
               ^CPlanetary Relations

^W  It is vital to start interacting with the
other planets soon.  In some cases, if you
wait for a friend that you can really trust to
join the game, they may be of little use to you
for trading because they may get the same major
as your planet.  Of course, this could help you
both as well, if you agreed not to trade your
resources except for a certain price (known as
price fixing in the real world - some companys
do this all the time!)  The advantage of that
is if they want it bad enough, and all the
suppliers want a high price, they will pay it
to get the resource.  Alliances in GPWAR are
by definition very loose knit.  Your only bond
to someone is your word.
^P
               ^CPlanetary Relations

^W  Besides pure trading alliances, sometimes
players form military alliances as well.  These
can be very valuable to you.  If you form one,
you may attempt to "advertise" it a little.
Perhap pick out a name for it, and throw a few
threats around.  The best alliances are the
ones that have both Military and Trade sides
to them.  That way, your members can only trade
among one another, keeping valuable resources
out of the hands of your enemies.  Another
popular strategy to play is that of a Neutral
planet - One that seems purely interested in
only trading and keeping itself alive.  The
advantage to this is that almost everyone
could come to you to trade.
^P
                 ^CMilitary Action

^W  Military attacks can not be preformed until
the end of the turns of protection.  To attack
a planet, you should first launch a volley of
IPBMs.  This will reduce the population of
the defending planet, and also will reduce the
defending troops.  Beware, though, because
ABM's are a mighty defence.  Each ABM the
defender has will fire at incoming IPBMs.
When you think you have reduced the population
and troops enough, just send troops.  ATTs
that are defending the planet will first try
to shoot down your troops before they land.
Remember than a planets triios are better at
defending their own planet, so you will need
more troops or much more efficient ones.
^P
                     ^CMenus

              ^C  Empire Menu^R:
^YPlanetary Report ^R- ^WThis displays the
statistics of your planet and everyone else's.
This is good in determining portential
trading partners, allies, or military targets.
^YSwitch Planets ^R- ^WUse this to change the
current planet you control, once you have
taken over other planets.
^YTax Level ^R- ^WChange your tax rate.
^YDraft Rate ^R- ^WChange your draft rate.
^YAuction ^R- ^WEach turn a number of items
are put up for bid.  Whoever bids the highest
will get the item at the end of the turn.
^YLoan ^R- ^WTake out a loan from the bank. Be
careful though! They can reposess your planet!
^P
                     ^CMenus

                ^C  Trade Menu^R:
^YRead Messages ^R- ^WIf you have messages
from other players waiting, this will let you
view them.
^YWrite Messages ^R- ^WThis allows you to
select the planet to send a message to and
puts you into the full screen ANSI editor.
^YView Transactions ^R- ^WIf you have waiting
transactions, this will let you view them
with the options to accept/delete/hold them.
^YSend Transactions ^R- ^WAllows you to make
trading offers to other players.
^YRecent News ^R- ^WShows your news since the
last time you played.
^P
                   ^CMenus

               ^C  Military Menu^R:
^YBomb Population ^R- ^WWant to fly planes in and
drop bombs on the other planet's people? This
works, but is much less effective than IPBMs.
IPBMs.  There is, however, no defense for it.
^YLaunch IPBMs ^R- ^WIPBMs are the most
devastating way to say HELLO to your enemies.
Each IPBM will kill hundreds or thousands of
enemy troops.  You get your results the next
turn, after maintenance runs.
^YSend Troops ^R- ^WAfter the enemys population
is low enough, you can send troops in to
attack.  It is important that the enemy pop.
is low, because after your troops kill the
enemies army, a percentage of the population
will make up a militia and continue fighting.
^P
                   ^CMenus

               ^C  Resource Menu^R:
^YAdvance Technology ^R- ^WIf you have science
points available, this will allow you to
advance your tech levels.
^YBuy Satelite ^R- ^WSatelites allow your
population room to "grow".  If you crowd too
many people together, contentment gets lowered.
^YHeal Population ^R- ^WIf your population has a
disease this allows you to research a cure.
^YRaise Contentment ^R- ^WAllows you to "bribe"
your population.  They will temporarily be a
little more content.
^YIncrease Population ^R- ^WThis is a must.  This
puts out advertisements to get more people to
come to your planet.  They will gradually come
over the period of your next few turns.
^P
                   ^CMenus

             ^C  Production Menu^R:
^YConstruction ^R- ^WThis option takes you to
a screen with a chart of everything you can
build, it's cost in resources and in cash. Just
use the on-screen instructions to build what
you need. Also, the current amount of resources
are shown on-screen for your convience.

^YDemolition ^R- ^WIf you need resources for
something else, you can break down things that
you are no longer using to free up resources.
^P
                   ^CMenus

               ^C  Covert Menu^R:
^YBiological Warfare ^R- ^WUse this to disease
enemy planets.  While this isn't that damaging
it can be if the other planet can not afford
to heal his population.
^YLower Contentment ^R- ^WThis will lower the
contentment of an enemy planet.  The advantage
of this is that income is based partially off
of contenment, so you lower their income.
^YIntercept Messages ^R- ^WAllows you to read
messages that other players will receive. This
will give you an edge in many situations.
^YJam Messages ^R- ^WAllows you to stop a
message from getting to a planet.  This will
keep delicate info. from getting to enemies.
^P
                   ^CHints

  ^WYour first turn is arguably your most
important.  The first thing you should do is
probably build a few food plants and then
build the facility that produces your major
resource. (Oil Wells if Oil is your major, etc)
The next step would be to spend your tech
points that you begin with.  After that you
should increase your planets population.  To
accomplish all this, you may have to take out
a loan, though.  Also you should, each turn,
check the auction.  If the other players in
the game neglect the auction, you should have
no problems getting all the resources you
need for a very low cost in credits.  Next,
you should check out the stats on the
^P
                   ^CHints

^Wother players.  This will give you a good
idea of your competition and you can start
sending messages out.  This way you can
begin alliances and start making threats
right away.  It is very important to keep
good relations with at least some neighbors
so you will have trading partners.  ^YDon't
be stingy with your resources.  You will only
get left behind by the players who are willing
to trade.^W  Trade is the name of the game,
at least until war breaks out.  You can also
check your standing against the other players
with the Galactic Analysis command from the
main menu.  This isn't an accurate measure
of worth in the first several turns.
^P
                   ^CHints

^W  After a few turns of play, you may need
to start increasing your food production.
Before long, you will need it if you keep
increasing your population.  You may also
consider starting to work on your tech levels
and raising all your techs.  This can give
you a big advantage early into the war turns.
As the game begins to get close to the end
of the turns of protection, you should think
about lowering your production and building
ABM's, but gradually.  Suddenly dropping your
production levels can "Shock" your economy,
and will keep you guessing about the future
of your planet, something you should be very
familiar with by the end of protection.
^P