PC Gamer 8/1995-07_Disc_8.iso/root/readme.txt

Text File | 1995-04-20 | 11KB | 253 lines

Thanks for checking out the Jagged Alliance Demo!

In this demo, you'll get a chance to play around with
Jagged's combat system - tossing grenades, blowing enemies
up, shooting guns - and if all goes well, you'll take over
the sector, just one of 60 on the island!

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INSTALLING THE DEMO
------------------------------------------------

1.   Move all the files to a directory, or insert disk 1
     into your drive, and type INSTALL.EXE.

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About the Mercenaries
------------------------------------------------

When you arrive on Metavira, you'll see the main play
screen.  On both sides are mercs in your command.

SELECTING MERCS AND MERCENARY PANELS

*  Action Points (Orange): Tracks action points in turn-
   based time.
*  Breath (Blue):  Breathing rate and energy.  Lowers as
   member exerts energy.  Rises as they rest.
*  Health (Red):  The member's health.  If hurt, it lowers
   and leaves an "injury tracker" in its place.  Untreated
   injuries are yellow, and may continue to hurt the merc if
   not treated.  Treated injuries show pink.

To select a mercenary..................Click on merc; double
                                       click portrait; F1-F8
To select combat mode or mute....................Right click
                                                     portait
To locate a member in the field...................Left click
                                                    portrait
To determine who's who..................Move the cursor over
                                                    a member
To see stats actual values for merc...........Click and hold
                                           on statistic bars
To see mercs' statistics all at once. ...............Press S

PERSONAL OPTIONS (ON FLIP SIDE OF MERCENARY PANELS)

*  MAX AIM: By default, the merc will always take extra time
   and action points to target the enemy to the best of his
   ability.  You can alter points, though, unless "Fast
   Firing," a Control Panel option, is on.
*  RSV PTS: The merc will always stop with enough points
   left to perform an action based on what's in their Main
   Hand.
*  MUTE:  Turns on or off the merc's "ok" an acknowledgement
   speech.

INVENTORY CONTROLS

To swap item from secondary
secondary to main hand........................Right click on
                                              secondary item
To view complete inventory...............Right click on vest
                                        pocket area, "I",INV
To move any item to another location..............Left click
                                                     on item
To drink from canteen.......................Pick up canteen,
                                               left click on
                                                    portrait
To use camo-u-flage.............................Pick up kit,
                                       left click on body to
                                                   'camo' up
MOVING AROUND

To move..............................Double click on desired
                                                    location
To move all at once (not in combat)...........Hold down left
                                       button on destination
                            plus right click
To sneak..............................Hold down SHIFT during
                                                 normal move
To back up..............................Hold down ALT during
                                                 normal move
To crouch.............................Hold down ALT and left
                                           click with cursor
                            over merc
To look in a particular direction..........Hold right button
                       down & left click
To exchange places another merc.............Hold cursor over
                                      merc to swap with, "X"

INVESTIGATING & CHECKING THINGS OUT

You check things out in Jagged Alliance with (surprise) your
hands and your eyes.  So, the Hand Cursor is all important
(above).  When your merc sees something, he'll tell you, and
a white circle will flash around the object.  Things that
are hidden, though, may require a bit of searching.

To get hand cursor.................Press CTRL at any time to
                                force it or, Hold the cursor
                                still for couple seconds (if
                                           object there), or
               Left click on an object where the
                                         cursor is an "X"
Opening Doors............................Look for "Door" and
                                                 click on it
Magnifying Items or Signs...................Hold cursor over
                            it, "Z" or CTRL plus right click
Picking up items...............Get hand cursor (above), left
                                                 click on it
Blue Flags......................When a merc detects a buried
                                    object, a blue flag will
                        be placed on the area.  Click on the
                        flag to disarm or dig up the object.

USING ITEMS

Items that are in the mercenary's main hand may be used at
any time.  Some items, like a medical bag for instance, have
specific uses.  To use an item in the merc's main hand,
right click in the main play field, and the cursor will
change signify his or her intent.  If a medical bag's in
that hand, for instance, you'll get a "healing cross"
cursor.  Next, you need to select the target of the item's
use. Where you left click is that target.  If some items
don't seem to have an apparent use, they may need to be
merged with other items.  In fact, many items in Jagged
Alliance can be merged with others to create new items.

Merging Items...........................Place item 1 in main
                                       hand in review, place
                                    item 2 in the attachment
                                                   position.


------------------------------------------
COMBAT
------------------------------------------

Everything in a combat situation is governed by action
points.  Action points are a numerical representation of how
many actions a mercenary can perform in a single turn, and
are based upon the experience and overall statistics of the
mercenary including his or her health.  Mr. Hyper on Sugar
can swim around Metavira several times, host a beachside
infomercial on psychic haircare products and still have time
to raise his gun to shoot someone.  Mr. Slower than Death,
on the other hand, would have just figured out that
something was going on in that same period of time.

For instance, a mercenary who can run 20 feet in one second
would have 20 action points (he can move quickly). A
mercenary who can only run only 5 feet in one second would
have 5 action points (and be pretty darn slow).  The more
the mercenary can physically do in a set amount of time, the
more action points he or she has.  So, in combat, where
physical actions cost action points, a faster mercenary can
do more.

Some actions, though, take a set amount of time no matter
how fast the mercenary is.   For instance, if a fast
mercenary and a slow mercenary pull the trigger of identical
guns at the same time, both bullets will fire at the same
time and take the same amount of time to head down the
barrel. So, the faster mercenary would expend more points to
perform the action than the slower mercenary.  Just because
one mercenary is fast doesn't mean he can make a bullet go
down the barrel of a gun faster.

In general, though, action points determine how much your
mercenary can do when it's his or her turn in combat.  Since
their action points are limited, be careful not to run
slower mercenaries all over the place.  An action that takes
10 points might not be much to a guy who has 20, but it's
sure a lot to a merc with 12.  There's only so much he or
she can do in the space of seconds, and it would be a pity
to have a merc bravely run up to an enemy, eagerly draw his
gun but have no time left to shoot.  Leave the marathon
stealth runs to the fast guys.

For whatever you choose to do, though, Jagged Alliance will
continually alert you to the action point cost.  You'll see
the amount in the center of your cursor.

If you don't use all of your action points in a turn, up to
5 points will roll over to the next turn.  If you have more
than that left over, the extra is lost.

WHEN YOU'VE USED UP ALL YOUR ACTION POINTS OR DON'T HAVE
ENOUGH LEFT TO DO ANYTHING, CLICK DONE TO GIVE THE TURN OVER
TO THE ENEMY FORCES.

To target an opponent..............Have weapon in main hand,
                                right click in play field to
                                "use," left click on  target

                  . . . then (optional) . . .

To perfecting the gun's aim.................Right click once
                                        targeted for desired
                                          level of accuracy;
                                   more points=better aiming

                       . . . then . . .

Fire the bullet............................Left click again

MAX AIM and RSV PTS (on flip side of merc panels allow you
to set defaults)

Healing Wounded......Get a med or first aid kit in a trained
merc's main hand, use it (right click), and select the
wounded merc as the target.

   WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED WITH YOUR TURN  CLICK DONE OR "D"

Screen Views

Quick Automap............................................Ins
Automap while in sector view.............................Tab
Adjusting View....................................PgUp, PgDn

General Controls & Quick Keys

   Pause.....................................P
   Cancel....................................ESC
   Exit game.................................ALT X
   Selecting Mercs...........................F1-F8
                                             Spacebar
                                             (select next)
   Show enemies selected by merc.............F9,
                                             Enter (locate
                                             next)
   Options Menu..............................F10
   Exchange places with another merc.........Hold cursor
                                             over one to
                                             swap with, X
   Compressed time (moves day along).........C
   Abort Day/Demo............................A
   Repeat last message.......................L
   Inventory of selected merc................I
   Options menu..............................O
   Merc stats................................S
   Quit (even in turn-based combat)..........ALT X
   Done (in combat)..........................D
   Magnify items.............................Hold cursor
                                             over item, Z


Be sure to check out companion press release to see Jagged
Alliance's other features!