The Games Machine 31/XENIATGM31.iso/readme.txt

Text File | 1997-06-12 | 10KB | 244 lines

CONSTRUCTOR DEMO README FILE
If you experience any difficulty with the CONSTRUCTOR demo,
please call Technical Support at 516-759-7800

Game Overview
The idea of CONSTRUCTOR is to build a successful, sustaining
neighborhood and to harass your neighbor while she tries to
do the same. To do so, you build structures such as
factories and houses. You must fill your homes with tenants
and your factories with workers, and keep your tenants
happy. You must do so within the time and land usage
constraints set down by the Council. The Council determines
how well you are doing.

Your first step to success is building and staffing a lumber
factory to provide construction materials for your first
(Level 1) houses, which are all wooden.
Once you have built at least one of each type of house and
supplied tenants for them, you will be able to build and
staff a concrete factory, which in turn allows you to build
a Gadget Factory to supply tenants with the comforts they
crave.
In this demo version, only level 1 tenants are
available/willing to move into your shoddy Level 1 wooden
housing.

GETTING STARTED
Once you've INSTALLED the demo (you'll call us if you get
stuck, eh?) and typed 'GAME' at the 'C:>\CN' prompt, you'll
see a glorious bunch of fluff screens. Bypass them by
pressing ENTER until you reach the
Main Menu
You're there when you see DEMO VERSION text. Click on any of
these choices:
PLAY GAME: Begin a one player  game vs. yourself or the
computer
PLAY NETWORK GAME: Up to four players can enjoy networked
play.
GAME SETTINGS
Click to toggle settings
Random Start Position: Toggle YES or NO
Screen Speed Scroll: Toggle from 1 (slower) to 5 (faster)
Display Full Animations: Toggle YES or NO. Turning
animations off may give you faster game speed.
Click on RETURN to go back to the main menu.

BEGINNING A GAME
After selecting PLAY GAME or PLAY NETWORK GAME, you will
come to the game select screen. (The LEVEL box and MAP area
toggle are disabled in the demo). Clicking on the GAME TYPES
box (lower left) will toggle through various missions.
Sadly, these are NOT AVAILABLE in this demo.

Click SELECT or COMPUTER on any of the four colored boxes to
play a game. Click on select to choose a color. The display
will change to PLAYER_. Type in a name.
Click on COMPUTER (on a different color) to play against a
computer opponent.
Click on ACCEPT to begin a game.
Click on CANCEL to return to the SELECT stage.
Click on ABORT to return to the MAIN MENU.

NETWORK GAMES
If you selected PLAY NETWORK GAME, follow the same procedure
as above.
Click on ACCEPT. When another player node is detected and
the player enters a name, it will appear in one of the
colored lozenges. Once all players have entered names and
clicked on ACCEPT, it's time to play! You can also assign
slots to COMPUTER players.

STARTING OUT
You will come to the game screen, showing your HQ
(headquarters) with a couple of foremen waiting in the yard.
This area is surrounded by lush grass which you will soon
destroy to make way for factories and houses.

HQ Screen
To see information about your headquarters, click on the
blue HG button in the strip at the left of your screen. The
screen will display how many workers and tenants you have
available, and details about your relationship with the
Council, time until your next inspection and your land use %
(the higher the better).
In the control panel at the bottom right of the screen are
icons that let you convert workers into tenants or foremen,
tenants into workers, to make repairs to your property and
to raise and lower rent.

BUILDING STRUCTURES
First, build a Lumber Yard.  To do so, click on the black
and white REAL ESTATE OFFICE icon (the house with a real
estate sign in the control panel on the mid-right of your
screen, 2nd icon in third row down). You'll come to the
building select screen. When a building is highlighted (has
a white box around it), information about it's cost,
material requirements and foundation size will appear.

 At the moment, only the lumber yard will be available.
Click on the LAY FOUNDATION icon.

The area where you can place the lumber yard will
highlighted in your team color and appear shaded.


The perimeter of the Lumber yard site will appear in red.
This is the MINIMUM size of the plot of land you will need.
Move the perimeter around until the arrows face an edge and
the perimeter turns tan. Rotate the perimeter arrows by
pressing the GREEN DOUBLE ARROW ICON (in the bottom right
control panel).

LEFT CLICK the mouse button once to place the front line of
the buildings perimeter.  The icon of the mouse will change
to show the perimeter symbol. You can now lengthen the
perimeter by dragging the mouse out further. LEFT CLICK will
confirm the perimeter, and the icon will change again into a
house.  This allows you to move the location of the actual
structure within the perimeter.  Clicking the mouse again
will place the grid of the building to be built.

In order to build the actual structure you must click on the
building grid (when the mouse turns into a building or
house) and then press the icon to call in the workgang.
This can also be done by clicking the mouse on the foreman
and walking him over to the plant.  3 workers are
automatically assigned to each foreman at the beginning of
the game, so they will follow the foreman when you move him
around.

The foreman will still be highlighted after the Lumber yard
has been built.  Click on the MOVE icon (two legs) to
activate it, and then click the mouse (the cursor will
change to a house symbol) where you wish them to go, in this
case on the lumber yard.  This will put the workgang into
the Lumber yard and they will start to produce units of
Wood.  This will be displayed in the upper left corner under
the W symbol. You will also know when they are producing
units when the FMV starts within the lumber yard screen.

Note:   In order to build on other estates (lots) you must
purchase the land by clicking on the GLOBE on the left edge
of the main game screen.  Then select the estate you would
like and press the purchase Icon. The Council may not allow
the purchase for various reasons that are just as absurd,
arbitrary and frustrating as those imposed by real life
housing authorities.


Now you know how to build and staff structures. Time for
tenants+

TENANTS
Tenants are like you and me: whining crybabies who want
every whim satisfied. Tenants who are unhappy cause damage
and light fires. But they are necessary, and even useful.
You can elect to have tenants spawn (instead of pay rent) to
increase the number of available tenants and workers.
The Tenant Screen
When you click on a house that says TO LET, you'll go to the
inside structure screen.  This screen details the current
status of your tenants and property. The blue bar meter at
the bottom of the screen reddens as your tenants become
stressed or unhappy.
Getting a Tenant
Click on the GET TENANT icon (man with suitcases facing you)
in the lower right control panel to find a tenant. There are
two skeevy couples available in this demo. Click on one to
select, then take their money (click purchase icon).

You'll see a Spawn Meter in the upper left, with Worker,
Tenant and Rent icons to the right of it. By default,
tenants pay rent. To have them begin spawning instead, click
on either the tenant or worker icon. Once  offspring are
born, they will appear in your HQ tally.
The four bars below this area reflect the name of the
estate, the current value, the amount of rent being paid,
etc.
To the right you'll see a picture of the house (or the
tenants, once they've moved in).
Below this, info boxes tell you the life span of your
tenants, how many children they have and how long until the
birth of the next.

At the lower right are tenant action icons that let you
treat your tenants with the care they deserve.
FENCE Build a fence as soon as the house is complete. The
workmen will already be in the yard.
REDECORATE  Click on the paint roller icon to see rooms  and
purchase upgrades. You must send a workcrew inside the house
to complete an upgrade.
GADGETS Once you've built a gadget factory, you can built
and purchase gadgets like Double Glazed windows (they block
out factory noise) and
Computers (to make your tenant's offspring smarter).
EVICT Click on the icon of a man with suitcase going away to
send troublesome tenants packing! Warning: evictions can
backfire+
GET TENANT See Getting A Tenant (above)
REPAIR Click on the house with trowel icon, then target a
house for repairs (including putting out fires!)
RAISE/LOWER RENT  Treat your tenants to a rent increase (or
decrease)!
SELL PROPERTY  You can sell a house back to the Council.
After doing so, the property will become a vacant lot.


Tenant Complaints
When the red Tenant icon at the left of the screen is
blinking, batten down the hatches. Come cranky cretin is
demanding your attention, and it will probably cost you
money.

THE GADGET FACTORY
Once you've built a Gadget Factory, you need to select items
to build. To do so, click on the factory (or the F icon in
the strip at the left of the screen) to see the gadget
screen. You'll see a variety of items that can be built,
each with a number indicating plant capacity for that item.
Click on the item to order the number you want built (each
click raises the number ordered). Send in a work crew to
begin manufacturing, and away you go. Once items are built,
you can click on an item and then on the delivery icon ( a
house with a package and arrow), then target where you want
it delivered. You can also have tenants  go to the factory
to pick up gadgets by clicking on the gadget icon in the
tenant screen.

There's a start. Keep  building, and good luck!

TIPS:
╤ To get rid of annoying hippies, try sending a work gang to
beat the stuffing out of him (On the HQ screen, grab a
workcrew. Click on the fist icon and target the hippie).

╤ Try to cover every pixel of your plots with a built
structure. The Council considers empty space "wasted".

╤ To plant TREES, you've got to have a Gadget Factory built.
Click on the PLACE OBJECT icon (it's the black and white
icon with arrows pointing at a tree--top row right), then
select a lovely evergreen. Bliss!