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1996-05-17
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IRON OX, Version 3.00
(C)opyright 1993-1996 Joel W. Downer
Tips Compiled by Dan Shore, Fido 1:109/457
OVERVIEW
────────
Iron Ox is a game of strategy, intense competition, and just a little
bit of goofy humor. It will test skills you didn't know you had -- from
your ability to manage a large estate of mines and farmland to your
ability to write bad poetry. The game involves a number of different
layers of strategy, so you may be able to master the basics in a short
time, but you can play for months or even years without completely
exhausting the possibilities.
Game play is based on turns (usually one per day), with each player
having hours to use within that day to perform their tasks or work. Each
day will equate to a month for your character. The game advances to a
new month each time daily maintenance is run and the player can then
take another turn.
The game also revolves around 4 products that can be mined or produced.
They are Luxite, Ore, Energy and Food. There is really no one item that
is more beneficial than another. While Luxite is used like Money for
purchase of CyberMutts (Defense/Attack Dogs), you also need Energy and
Food to survive each day, and Ore to help produce Iron Oxen.
PLAYING THE GAME
────────────────
When you join a game, you will choose an alias by which people will know
you in that game. You also choose what species you want to be -- you
can be human, or any of several non-human races. The races available
are:
Human : The baseline for comparison -- average at everything.
Rockpicker : Good miner and very good at dirty tricks, but not the
best choice for beginners. Vulnerable to starvation,
and greatly mistrusted by everyone.
Slouch : Not much good at anything, but very lucky.
Caper : Very talented -- good at almost everything! -- but works
short hours and takes frequent vacations. Keep an eye
on the boredom monitor in the game status screen. Don't
work too hard, and try to keep entertained!
Photovore : Very powerful character, but tricky to use to its
fullest advantage. Doesn't mine well, but excellent at
making Food and Energy. Lots of hours per day to play
with, and invulnerable to starvation. A beginner might
not be able to use the Photovore to its full potential,
but the generous number of hours can be a good way to
learn.
Shovelfist : Great miner, but unlucky and not especially clever.
Vulnerable to starvation. People pick on Shovelfists.
Rubblemuncher: Invulnerable to starvation (like the Photovore) and
*great* at making Ore. However, this character doesn't
get many hours per day, and may have trouble making
enough Energy to meet its needs.
Handler : Not much good at making things, but decent at dirty
tricks and *very* good at bartering. Mostly a character
for advanced players and team play.
Metamorph : Very attractive character because of its ability to
change shapes! The best way to use a Metamorph is to
change shape into something the colony is likely to be
short on (e.g., to change into a Rubblemuncher when no
one in the colony is good at making Ore). Note that
changing shape will disable your character for a full
turn, so it's not a decision you should make lightly.
The best choices for beginning players are the Human, Slouch, Caper, and
Photovore.
STRATEGY
────────
When you start the game, you will be located at the TOWN CENTER. The
remaining sectors (called plots identified by coordinates) of the map
will appear "blank", until you EXPLORE them. It is like being in a part
of the world you know nothing about, hence you need to explore to find
new places and products. As you explore plots, the map will
automatically display the plot you moved onto while also displaying
information about the plot to the right of the map. The display on the
right will look something like this (without the comments):
Display Comments
─────────────────────────── ─────────────────────────────────────────
Hours: 100 Cash: 3987 <--- Hours left and Cash on hand
Inv: 6 F 42 E 1 O 0 L <--- Your Current Inventory of products
Land: 27C (Plains) <--- Where you are currently located
Owner: (Player Name) <--- Person who owns the land you're on
Goods: 0 F 0 E 0 O 0 L <--- Amount of products located on plot
Prod: 27 F 69 E 1 O 14 L <--- Product producing ability (0-100%)
North: Mount. South: Desert <--- Next plot North/South of current plot
West: Mount. East: Plains <--- Next plot West/East of current plot
While exploring, make a note of the coordinates containg good Food,
Energy, Ore and Luxite.
***>> Here are 15 tips to help you get started playing IronOx:
1. Explore the map
Pick up products that are located on a plot you explore. Be careful
of moving onto Swamp plots as you may get Snake bit and you will
lose some of your movement hours. To know if a swamp will be the
next plot you move onto, look at the right side of your screen at
the plot info display and you will see what the plot to the North,
South, East, and West contains.
North: Swamp South: Desert <--- Next plot North/South of current plot
West: Mount. East: Plains <--- Next plot West/East of current plot
2. Claim your one plot of land every turn!!
It doesn't cost anything, it's always worth something, and it's good
for your score.
A. Claim land?
──────────────
You have to explore (move onto) the plot you want to claim.
B. How do I know which is a good plot to claim?
───────────────────────────────────────────────
When you move onto a plot, information will be displayed pertaining
to the plot you are on, to the right of the map. You will see values
listed for each type of product ranging from ZERO (0) to One Hundred
(100) percent. Zero means the plot is useless for that type of
product while One Hundred means the plot is The BEST for that type
of product. Here is an example of the display:
Goods: 10 F 2 E 7 O 14 L <--- Current products located on the plot
10 Food, 2 Energy, 7 Ore, 14 Luxite
Prod: 27 F 69 E 1 O 14 L <--- How good is the plot for each product
27% for Food, 69% for Energy
1 % for Ore , 14% for Luxite
This plot would be better than average
for ENERGY, lousy for ORE and LUX, and
barely passable for FOOD.
C. Tips on good plots
─────────────────────
Usually <G> mountain plots will be good for Ore, River plots will be
good for Food, Desert plots will be good for Energy, and Luxite plots
are all over the place. Like I said...usually....explore and find
the good ones!!!!
E. Good Luxite Plots (Prospect !!!!)
────────────────────────────────────
Prospect? Buy a LuxKit from the Prospector's Office in the Town
Center for $200 and go 'a-wandering, and you'll collect data as you
go. Otherwise all Luxite plots will appear as "???" instead of
having a numerical value. Note that a Luxite Kit will only last
for one day. When you play the next day the Luxite Kit will be
gone. So when you buy a Luxite Kit, plan on doing some extensive
exploring for Luxite Plots, otherwise you just threw $200 away.
3. Place an Iron Oxen on your plot to produce a product
You start out the game with 5 Iron Ox