Hottest 5/Hottest 5 (1995)(PDSoft)[!].iso/pdsoft/library/lha/newworld.lha/Docs/NewWorld.Doc

Text File | 1993-12-19 | 13KB | 298 lines

***************************************************************************

                        |\  |  \      /
                        | \ |   \    /
                        |  \|EW  \/\/ORLD

            A game of exploration, trade, and conquest...

                          by Kevin Roll
                       ([e-mail])

***************************************************************************


REQUIREMENTS


    New World requires OS 2.04 and at least 1 meg of contiguous memory. The game
may not function on 512K/512K split systems. AGA is not necessary, but recommended.
Also, a 68020 or higher processor is recommended; the game runs pretty slow using
a 68000. The game may be installed on a hard disk by simply copying all
files and subdirectories and assigning NewWorld: to the hard disk directory.
You may save about 360K of memory by running the game without sound effects; to do
this, run it as "nw NOSOUND". Those with faster machines will want to use the nice
texture-mapped graphics; run the game with the TEXTURE keyword for this effect.

    Please send all comments and bug reports to [e-mail].  Be sure to
include your exact system configuration and as detailed report of the
circumstances as you can manage.

    New World uses the ReqTools requester toolkit contained in reqtools.library.
ReqTools is Copyright (c) Nico François.

    New World is Copyright (c) Kevin Roll 1993.


INTRODUCTION


   In New World, you play the role of an early explorer, setting out from
Europe to face the unknown. Armed with a loan from the crown, you must
equip an expedition and sail west in search of the New World. Once you
find it, you must deal with the natives there. Whether you will trade
peacefully or attempt a conquest is up to you, but you must live with
the consequences of your actions!


USING THE WORLD CREATOR


   The World Creator is used to create random worlds for use with New
World. Before playing your first game, you must create at least one
map file. You may create as many as you want, but beware, they take up
a lot of space! The World Creator is invoked from the CLI as follows:

cw <mapfile name>

The process of world creation takes around 5 minutes (on my A4000/040 :) ).
First, the land is generated using a fractal technique. Next, rivers
are run over the landscape. Finally, villages and other neat stuff are
created.


GETTING STARTED


   To begin, run the game from the Workbench or CLI. You will be prompted
to select a map file. You may have as many map files as you have space for,
with separate games going on each. Note that for technical reasons, once
a game is begun on a map file there is no way to reset it. So, if you
think you might like several tries, make a copy of the map file before
starting the game. Once the game is up and running, you will find
yourself in Europe, staring at a blank map.

The game supports four command line options, as follows:

    NOSOUND        Disable sound effects (saves ~360K)
    LOG            Enable map log files
    SCRMODE        Bring up screen mode requester
    FONT        Bring up font requester
    TEXTURE        Use texture-mapped graphics


IN EUROPE


   The game begins by showing you the total map, which will be blank since
you haven't discovered anything yet. The map appears every time you return
to Europe. Note that the stats window is draggable. To continue, click
the close box in the upper-left corner.

    The first time you play a map, you will be asked to select a difficulty
level. 0 is the easiest, 99 is the hardest. The difficulty level affects the
visibility of villages, economic factors involved in trading, and the rate
at which men die and accidents occur. Level 0 is a cakewalk; on the higher
levels you will find it increasingly difficult to make a profit.

   Next, you proceed to the outfitters. Here, you must purchase the things
you will need for your expedition. The first time out, the crown lends you
enough money to get a rudimentary expedition. The number of ships, men,
food, and goods you are taking can be adjusted using the slider bars.
Note that food is bought for in terms of weeks, which is relative to the
number of men in your expedition.

   A little forethought here will be necessary for success. A large fleet
of ships will give you more carrying capacity, but they are expensive. More
men can carry more things, but require more food. The Indians will trade
food and gold for your goods; or you can attempt conquest, at the expense
of your army. When you are ready to set sail, click on the button at
the bottom of the window.


AT SEA


   Control of your expedition is accomplished using a joystick in port
2. Simply steer in the four cardinal directions; pushing diagonally will
cause you to zig-zag. Pressing and releasing the button will cause your
ships to hold their present course; press the button with the joystick
centered to stop them. Your goal at first will be simply to find land;
after you know your way around, you will want to guide your fleet to the
mouths of large rivers, or near big settlements. The dangers at sea
include thunderstorms in open water, and shipwrecks in the shallows. When
you have found a suitable place to land, maneuver your ships so they are
directly adjacent to the shore. You will then be ready to disembark.
WARNING: Attemping to move onto the land will result in one or more of
your ships being wrecked, so be extremely cautious!


DISEMBARKING THE EXPEDITION


   Selecting Disembark from the Options menu (or pressing Right Amiga-D)
allows you to unload a land-going expedition from the ship. You must
offload men, supply them with food, and take along however many goods you
think you will need. Once you are on shore, you are free to roam across
the land, exploring the terrain. Make sure, however, that any men left
on the ships have an adequate food supply, or your fleet may not be
there when you return! You may bring up the Disembark menu by returning
to the ship, allowing you to transfer supplies. When you are ready to
depart, simply place all of your men on the ships. Note that any supplies
not placed on the ships at this point will be dumped and lost forever.
This is sometimes useful as an emergency measure when out of room, but
normally should be avoided.


MOVING ACROSS LAND


    Control of the expedition is identical on land; simply push the joystick
in the cardinal directions. As you move about, note the terrain you are
crossing. Higher terrain will take more time to traverse, with mountains
being the worst of all. Moving along rivers as much as possible will save
you considerable travel time.


VIEWING THE MAP


    To view the map, select it from the Options menu or press Right Amiga-M.
The map window will pop up. The window will display your immediate surroundings,
and your approximate latitude. The cross in the center marks your current
location. Note that the map window is draggable.


CACHES


    Sometimes you may find it necessary to leave some of your supplies behind. By
selecting Cache from the Options menu (or pressing Right Amiga-C) you may leave
behind a cache of food, goods, and gold. Any food left here will quickly decay,
but the other commodities will be unharmed.


FINDING VILLAGES


    As you move over the landscape, you must try to locate native settlements. These
appear in several forms; tipis in the temperate zones, pueblos in the desert, and
wigwams in the hills. On level 0, all villages will be visible; as the level is
increased, only the larger ones will appear. See the section on consulting
bearers below for more information on finding villages.


TRADING WITH VILLAGES


    Upon entering a village, you will be told how the natives view your presence.
This is also apparent from the tempo of the native drums; faster drums indicate
displeasure. The more angry the natives are, the less likely they are to trade.
Your options are trade, conquest, or to leave the village.

    Your first, and more sensible option, is to trade with the village. You are
asked how many goods you wish to give as goods. The natives are notoriously
greedy in most cases and it is to your advantage to give as much as you can
spare.

    If the chief decides to trade, and you have been generous, he will send
along bearers. These are extremely useful for several reasons. One, they help
carry your burden, allowing you to bring along more stuff. However, the
bearers will find their own food and not eat up all of yours! Secondly, the
bearers will direct you to other settlements, as explained below.

    When the chief decides to trade, the village trading window will pop up. As
you take food and gold, goods will be subtracted in trade. Greedier tribes will
demand more goods for the same amount of food and gold; you will have to watch
closely and "shop around" for the best deal. Also, as the difficulty level
increases, trade becomes costlier and costlier.


ATTACKING


    Your second, and far riskier option is to attack the village. A certain
number of your men will die in the attack; the more warlike tribes will
extract a much higher cost in men. Indeed, a larger village may completely
wipe out your party, ending your expedition rather quickly.

    If you succeed in your conquest, a certain number of natives will be
forcefully recruited as bearers. The stocks of food and gold in the village
will be yours to take. Naturally, the tribe will now hate you on sight. At
the higher levels, the native anger toward you will begin to negatively
affect your score. So, conquest is not a good option for maximum points.


CONSULTING WITH BEARERS


    Native bearers are doubly useful because they can reveal to you the
location of other settlements and things such as gold mines. To consult with
the bearers, move into an unknown area and select Consult Bearers from the
Options menu (or press Right Amiga-B). The bearers will mutter amongst
themselves, and Voila! Any settlement or object of a tribe from which you have
bearers will appear on the map. When moving through unkown lands, you will
want to frequently consult the bearers in order to locate all villages.


FORTS


    If you are exceptionally generous to a tribe as a whole, and to a certain
village in particular, the chief will ask you to build a fort. You will be
given the honor of naming the new edifice. A certain number of natives will
remain and become part of the garrison, and the fort will be stocked with
food and whatever gold was in the village.

    A fort is an extremely useful thing to have. It will gradually attract
new men to join your army. The men there will be at work keeping the food
supply up, and collecting gold in their spare time. By leaving most of your
men at a fort, you can save space in your ships and return to Europe on a
smaller food supply.


RETURNING TO EUROPE


    After each trip to the New World, you may return to Europe by sailing directly
east. Here you are given the options of continuing, loading a new map, saving and
quitting, or just quitting. You can also instantly bring up this requester by
selecting "Quit" from the options menu (which also returns you to Europe).
If you choose to load a new map, the current one is NOT saved! Continuing on, you
may view the map of the explored territory, and the cycle begins anew. You may use
the vast amounts (?) of gold you acquired to purchase a larger expedition.

    Your score is calculated from many factors. The basic factor is the amount
of land you have explored. The establishment of forts greatly increases your
score, depending on their size. Conversely, poor relations with the natives
will decrease your score. Note that wealth does not affect your score in any way.


DEATH


    If you ever run out of men while on land, or ships while at sea, your
expedition is lost. You will be returned to Europe minus a year of your time,
and will have to begin anew.


LOG FILES


    As you move about the map, a log file may be saved of all of your significant
actions. This file is named <name>.log, where <name> is the name of your map.
The log file is straight ASCII and can be used as a record of your explorations.
To activate this feature, use the LOG keyword.


OBJECTIVES


    Your objectives fall into two parts; explore the new world and become filthy
rich. As noted above, your accumulated wealth does not affect your score either way,
so the two goals are separate. There is no set end to the game; you may continue
to explore and establish settlements for as long as you wish. Competitive play may
be achieved by several players starting out with copies of the same map file.