Another bloody control-the-universe strategy game.
CLUSTER WARS
The selections on the OPTIONS MENU will help streamline the game ( I hope ! ) The PAUSE option is bold when you choose to pause between "rounds" in a battle. The COLOR option allows you to change the map colors. The INPUT option submenu lets you choose either KEYboard or MOUSE (icons) to enter numbers during the game. If youre launching thousands of ships, use the KEYS setting. The BOUNCE option is handy if youre using a joystick, as the STICK setting will "bounce" the pointer to active areas of the screen. A special "feature" of this setting allows you to move the stick toward the left, after entering numbers, to quickly move to the lower left corner when BUILDing or LAUNCHing, otherwise you end up in the lower right corner.
Use the CUSTOM GAME selection to create your own games, the bottom 6 settings set the upper limits for the randomizing routines. Well, thats all, have fun & GOOD LUCK!
--FGK Aug 88
Here are the ship values:
ATK DEF COST SPEED
Missile 8 1 18 9
Scout 1 1 31 20
Fighter 10 6 32 12
Cruiser 15 13 39 9
Destroyer 40 35 84 7
DeathStar 300 200 556 2
Shield 1 600 576 0
A tB
A tB
` T h e S C E N A R I O
Hundreds of thousands of years ago two spacefaring galactic civilizations began colonizing a small (from the galactic viewpoint) star cluster, distant from the galactic center.
One of the races roughly resembled the human form on the planet you presently occupy, the only difference being their lifespans of thousands of years and their lack of two sexes. The other race, a form of conscious mineral whose origins are unknown, were called
MECHS
by the humans, because of the planet wide mechanized cities they built. The
MECHS
found organic life distasteful, and were in the habit of eliminating it wherever they found it.
Upon meeting, the two races found each other so loathsomee that an immediate repugnance formed. The level of mutual intolerance rose, and quickly led to war, and eventually to a cluster-wide conflagration that left both races all but destroyed.
"Awakening" after a long dark-age, the humans on one planet began to develop a technological civilization. Upon reaching a certain level, they discovered a cache of ancient technology, long ago buried by their ancestors. There quickly arose a set of social institutions devoted to studying and utilizing the artifacts. A technocracy gradually evolved, devoted to making humans a spacefaring race once again. The centerpiece of the old space technology, was a single device called the
ANSIBLE
This device allowed instantaneous communication, at any distance, by the home world with any one of a number of recievers, thus allowing the efficient administration of an empire of any size.
Although the recievers were easily manufactured, unfortunately the skills used in the making of a second
ANSIBLE
were too subtle. Thus the
ANSIBLE
was jealously guarded, for if it were destroyed, the Technocracy would surely dissolve.
One of the first exploratory space expeditions, to the center of the local star cluster, encountered a fleet of strange spacecraft. The human ships were quickly destroyed, but analysis of the path of the foreign fleet showed that they originated from a star that the ancient archives identified as one of the centers of
civilization.
The Technocracy has determined that the
MECHS
are a threat to the fledgling empire, and that they must be eliminated.
As chief bureaucrat of the Space Exlporation Bureau, you have been named
Ultimate Dictator and Master
of the {nonexistent} homeworld military spacefleet. You are charged with destroying the
threat, and allying any human planets to the Technocracy, but most of all you MUST protect the Home planet.
The resources of the empire are at your disposal.
Would you like to:
Read the Scenario
Read the Instructions
Start the game
Select the Game Level:
Beginner
Intermediate
Difficult
Custom game
Total Planets
Max Yield
Max Starting Energy
percent of Energy Producers
percent of Occupied Planets
percent of Human Occupants
percent of Friendly Humans
CUSTOM SETUP
Total Planets-
Maximums
?production yield-
Ostarting energy-
Max Percentages
oenergy producers-
occupied planets-
human occupants-
friendly humans-
L(max=
Please enter the
BAD INPUT
Re-enter Number
So! You decided to read the Instructions! Please ta
So! You decided to read the Instructions! Please take the time to read the SCENARIO, too. Here, I'll try to explain a few things that might not be immediately obvious.
But since I have your attention, I would like to remind you to support the efforts of SHAREWARE authors. Use your dollars to "vote" for software that you like & use. The more $$$upport, the more GEOS/SHARE/WARE you get. Not a bad deal, eh? Incidentally, the requested donation for CLUSTER WARS is $7, see the address on the intro screen.
We will now return you to your regularly scheduled program, and we thank you for your support.
GAME PLAY
Most of the important information is displayed on the bottom section of the screen. The upper left corner of the screen is the map of the local Star Cluster. Your HOME planet and the MECH home planet are drawn as large pulsing stars. Up to 125 other planets are also drawn, depending on the game level selected. To select a planet, just move the mouse pointer over the map and the background under the pointer will change color -- when you reach the area where the planet you want is, just click on the mouse. An enlargement of the area is drawn and the information is displayed below, on the line marked "Last" (for last selected.) If you havent sent a ship to explore that planet, the info will NOT be displayed.
Each planet is given a number for reference, this is the first value displayed. The second number is the planet's YIELD of energy per turn. The third value is the ENERGY RESERVE that the planet has accumulated (the column with the big E.) The other values are the numbers of ships in orbit around that planet -- more about them later.
A planet may or may not be occupied. The occupants are either HUMAN or MECH. The MECHS are ALWAYS unfriendly, and the humans CAN be friendly, but aren't always so. Planets occupied by MECHS build defensive fleets, but won't launch them until theyve connected with the MECH home planet (they're offline.)
You win when youve captured ALL MECH planets. The MECHS win when they take your HOME planet, irregardless of the number of planets or fleets you have -- so gaurd the HOME planet!
The energy reserve of a planet is used to build fleets of ships. At the start of the game, there are no ships orbiting any planet. To build (or add to) a fleet orbiting the last planet selected, click on the BUILD icon, then select the icon of the ship type to build and enter the number that you'd like. Be aware that clicking on the OK icon at this point will build that amount of ships and that there is no way of canceling them.
To launch a fleet, you must first select the ORIGIN and TARGET planets by clicking on either icon then selecting a planet. The distance between the two, and ship counts are displayed below the ship drawings. The order in which you select these two is unimportant, but remember that you can only build on the
planet selected. I recommend selecting the TARGET planet first then the ORIGIN, so that you can build on the ORIGIN without reselecting it. Now just click on LAUNCH
SHIP SPECIFICS
MISSILES
: Medium speed, offensive weapons, cheap & effective when used in large numbers.
SCOUTS
: The fastest ship, good only for exploring planets, very poor attack & defense capabilities.
FIGHTERS
CRUISERS
DESTROYERS
: In that order, are: faster to slower & weaker to stronger. These 3 may well make up the fighting core of your fleets.
DEATHSTARS
: Planet Buster. Useful in overcoming Planetary Shields. One drawback: these juggernauts are S L O W.
PLANETARY SHIELDS
: These are not "ships" per se, but are extra defensive screens for your planets. They cannot be launched, but must stay on they planet they are built on. They are most effective when combined with ships that have a strong attack force.
FINDING THINGS
When you need to find a planet, use the EXAMINE PLANETS icon, very useful in games with lots of planets! This icon also colors the map to indicate which planets are held by you and the MECHS.
Use the EXAMINE FLEET icon to locate fleets already launched. You are allowed up to 127 fleets (as are the MECHS), the highest fleet being the most recently launched. As lower number fleets arrive, the higher fleets are "moved down" so that the fleet numbers will change during the course of a game.
When using either EXAMINE icon, selecting NO at the initial prompt allows you to enter the number of the object you want to examine. Otherwise, use the icons to choose: PREVIOUS, NEXT, FIRST & LAST.
BATTLES
When a fleet arrives at an enemy planet, and if you have explored the planet -or- the fleet or planet is yours, then the battle for that planet will be displayed. The PLANET and FLEET numbers are displayed, along with their respective numbers of ships. The total attack force of one side is applied against the total defense force of the opposing side. If the attack force is greater than the defense force of one ship, that ship is destroyed and removed. Attack and defense forces are applied simultaneously until one side is eliminated. To The Victor Goes The Spoils.
ARE YOU DONE YET?
When you are finished examining, building, and launching, click on the END TURN icon. The MECHS will make their move, then the next turn starts, and each planet's YIELD is added to its energy reserve. Arriving fleets are added to those already in orbit -or- attack the orbiting fleets -or- claim the planet for their empire if it is unoccupied or friendly.
I ALMOST FORGOT
Fleets comprised of more than one type of ship travel at the speed of the slowest ship. One more thing: When you click on the LAUNCH icon, you'll be prompted to launch ALL SHIPS. If you select NO you are given the choice of which ships to launch, in a way similar to building ships.
N+ C1 O+
Options
N+ C1 O+
Options
PAUSE
BOUNCE
COLOR
INPUT
STICK
MOUSE
ICONS
ARE YOU SURE ?
_`WOULD YOU LIKE TO EXAMINE ALL
OF YOUR SPACEBORNE FLEETS ?
`THE FLEET
FLEET:
`OF THE PLANETS ?
`THE PLANET TO LOCATE
PLANET #
9 \9
: a1`
DJJJ`
END TURN
A MECH FLEET ARRIVES
BTHERE IS A BATTLE!
FLEET #
-HAS ARRIVED AT
CEMPIRE PLANET
TSPY SATELLITE RELEASED!
FMECH PLANET!
FA HUMAN PLANET!
FUNINHABITED PLANET
TNOW AN EMPIRE PLANET
THE HUMANS GLADLY
JOIN THE TECHNOCRACY
THE HUMANS VOW TO FIGHT
FIGHT TO THE DEATH!
7AT PLANET #
YOUR PLANETS:
YOUR FLEETS:
2MECH PLANETS:
YOU DID IT !!! ALL MECH PLANETS HAVE BEEN TAKEN !!!
YOU RULE FOR A THOUSAND YEARS.
THE ENTIRE EMPIRE SINGS YOUR PRAISES !!!
THE PEOPLE SAY: WELL, HE WAS A GOOD
GENERAL
THE PEOPLE DESPISE YOU FOR THE DESPOT THAT YOU ARE !
PRIESTS OF THE TECHNOCRACY CONGRADULATE YOU,
THEN ASSASSINATE YOU AND PUT A PUPPET IN POWER !
YOU BLEW IT !!! THE ANSIBLE IS DESTROYED !!!
THE ENTIRE EMPIRE NAVY IS DESTROYED!!!
THE MECHS FLAY YOU ALIVE, YOU DIE AN AGONIZING DEATH
(.txt)