Battle Module

The executables are located in the progs directory where all modules
have their home.
You can launch them via the Vicious Byte Menu created under Start/
Programs.  

There are two executables, called battleW.exe and battleX.exe.

battleW is a windowed version and does need wing32.dll which should
be installed in your systems directory by our setup program.

battleX is the DirectX fullscreen version. You have to install DirectX
to use this module.

Double click on one of these versions to launch the battle module.

Now you can choose between a 'Hotseat' or 'Network Game'. To play a
network game you have to install a network card and the TCP/IP protocol
for it. Please read the corresponding informations in Appendix B.

For now you should select 'Hotseat Game' to play Titans of Steel on
one computer only. The battle module does allow combat between up to 4
players/teams.

The next selection is :


'New Game'
'Load Game'
'Load Autosave'

	
The two load selections are only valid if you have already played
a game. The game does save the game automagically every 10 game
seconds. You can load the game later on with 'l' and/or 'L', see
Appendix A for the key allocation.

Select 'New Game' to begin a fresh battle.

Now you have to select the map size, small maps are for fast
encounters whereas huge maps do allow a lot of manouvering but will
result in much longer games.

After choosing the map size you have to allocate titans for team 1.
The titans of this teams have a blue color.
If you have created team 1 in the Headquarter
Module you can select titans from it now.
If you have not made a team or wish to do just a quick combat you can
select 'Random Player Team'. The computer will pick a random team for
you.
Same is true if you select 'Random AI Team'. The only difference is
that the team will be controlled by the computer.
( AI does stand for artificial intelligence. )

In either case you have to select the quality level of the team.
There are 8 levels from inferior to superior and their corresponding
name in the jocks rank system.

Now you have to do the same selection for team 2 , the  yellow team.
After choosing team 2 you now have the option to start the game or
add team 3 and team 4.

Please note that teams 1 and 3 are automatically allied against teams
2 and 4. 

If you select titans from a pre made team you did create with the
Headquarter Module, you can choose to let them be controlled by the
computer. You do this by right clicking on the jocks name instead of 
left clicking.

If you have choosen a team which is still on mission ( does not have
finished a battle and updated the file ) it is marked on mission.
Its jocks are missing in action (MIA) and can not be selected
until the battle is finished or the team is retrieved from within the
HQ module. 

Satisfied with your team selection you press 'Start Game'.
If all teams are 'Random Player' or 'Random AI Teams', you have to do
a last choice and select the team size. The size is calculated in
tons, not numbers. The maximum size for a team is 1600t, that is 8
aasault titans of the biggest size ( 200t ).


After all selection is done the games starts.
If all went well so far the game loads and you are warped to the ->




Battle Game Screen



If you don't like what you see press 'Q' ( Shift-q ) or click on
the small orange bubble in the upper left corner to quit the game.


Press F1 to get a help screen with the key allocation.



If you decid to go on, you are presented with the main screen.
The map takes about 4/5 of the screen. It is scrollable with the arrow
cursor keys or mouse clicks on the frame borders. Left clicks do scroll by one
hex, right clicks by 2 hexes.


The map is divided into hexes, each representing a special terrain type
(plain, three types of hill, ditch ...) and different types of vegetation.
These terrains directly affect movement (speed, skill checks) and combat.
If more than one titans are in a hex, the total number is displayed in the
upper left hex corner. 

Hexes with multiple titans :


The titan with the red/yellow hex border is the active titan. He has
locked one of the five titans he is facing, this is displayed by the
black/white hex border.


One hex represents 333 m in diameter. Up to 9 titans can populate one hex
at a time. A jumping titan is either 30 m or 60 m above ground (jump levels
1 or 2) regardless of the vegetation height.
This means that a titan jumping over plain on level 2 is 60m above
ground whereas a titan jumping over a 53m hill with 21m forest at jump level
1 is 30m above ground.
Game time is represented in seconds.

You can left click on a hex to get some informations about terrain and
titans, if available. The popup window can be moved with drag & drop 
(right mouse buttton) and closed by left clicking into the bordered square 
which displays a copy of the hex on the popup window.

Hex info:


If there are titans in the hex it is possible to get some stats by
clicking on the popup windows left arrows and to cycle back with the right
arrows. The titan will be displayed with a white/black HEX border if 
locked with the battle computer and a green SQUARE border if in range of 
one of your weapons. The SQUARE border would be red otherwise.
If the titans name is displayed in red, he is disabled and no longer a
threat.
If the scanner is switched off or the distance does exceed its range,
the amount of available data is reduced.

Titan info :


The screen border features little fancy non functional decoration and some
more interesting areas. Most obvious are the buttons on the bottom border
which are for selecting your actions and are described in detail later on.

Put the mouse cursor over an area and let it stay a short time and a small
help text will be displayed on the lower border.

On the right bottom is an area which shows the following :

       1.          3.                5.

       2.          4.                6.


1. Game time in seconds
2. Heading of selected titan.
3. Remaining/total jump time. The small arrow is coloured red if
   the titan is unable to jump, green if its jump ports are fully
   loaded, yellow when recycling and blue if its actually jumping.
4. The remaining time of protection as well as the ammunition of flares.
   The small arrow is red when unable to launch flares, green when
   ready and blue when flares are launched and active.
5. The current selected jock and its mode. ( 'move', 'attack' or 
   'wait' in netgames ). The active mode is displayed in green.
   The jocks name is coloured according to his special health status.
   white     :  OK
   yellow    :  Dizzy
   lightred  :  Bleeding
   red       :  Unconscious
   The remaining time to finish the non active mode is displayed also.

On the lower right border are graphical displays for the titans
temperature and the jocks health status.

The three health bubbles are filled and will empty in proportion to the damage the jock does suffer. Their color is corresponding to the negative skill modifiers the jock receives if wounded.

Above you can see a small titan icon which is surrounded by a green sphere if the shield is up and ready, a small red sphere if the shield is depleted and reloading and no sphere if there is no shield enabled.

Enabled scanner and E.C.M are displayed green above this small titan,
active jump is displayed below in green as well.

On the left border are 5 big LEDs which do display the threat level of the selected titan. If a titan is locked by an enemy the threat level is increased by one. This information is dependant on the ability of the titan to detect threats ( jocks skill and E.C.M system ) and not always accurate. Each pink LED does stand for one threat level.

On the right border are double rows of small LEDs.
These show the status of all weapon and miscallenous systems for the
selected titan. 

The top fifteen LEDs are reserved for the weapon systems. If there are few
than 15 weapons installed the LED stay blue.

The left LED shows the weapons damage level :
green   : ok
yellow  : damaged
red     : destroyed

The right LED shows the weapons readiness :
green   : ready
violett : reloading
red     : out of ammo


The next four LEDs in the middle display the status of punch/kick.

The ten lower LEDS display the status of the internal systems.
Here the second LED is green if the system is toggable and on.

The last LED displayes the status of the heat system.
It does show the amount of heat produced and reduced in the last game
second. Check this often to see wether your titans is producing to
much heat which may result in a shutdown of all systems.

You can left click the LEDs to get additional informations which pops
up in a small window. It can be closed by left clicking into it.
Additionally you can right click and drag the mouse to switch between
all LEDs more quickly.

If not powered by energy the weapons available ammunition is also displayed
[ A: XX ] as well as the time to reload [ R: XX ].

The equipment name is diplayed in a colour corresponding to its 
damage level :

light green   : ok
yellow        : light damage
lightred      : medium damage
red           : heavy damage
black         : destroyed


On the left side of the lower border is a small scanner circle which
displays the locked target and its status. If the target is activly
scanned the background will green (good) or lightgreen (better). 
If the targets torso locations are displayed yellow, it has less than
10 armor points left. If its red, it has no external armor left.
If its black, the location is ripped off or disabled.

 Locked enemy titan

To the left is a square which does display the same information for your
own selected titan.

 Own titan


Action Modes



You start the game either as an active or inactive player.
The active player has control over either move or attack mode of
one titan. The game internally manages a queue in which each titan is
listed with his move and attack and the time in which the respective
action will be finished.
When no titans action is finished during a given second (starting at second 0)
time is incremented till the next titan in the queue will be ready and
becomes the active titan. The jocks reaction attribute will decide who is
first if two or more titans are ready in the same second.

Inactive players either have to wait and twiddle thumbs ( hotseat game ) 
or he/they can gather infos ( netgame only ). In wait mode (netgames) the
inactive player can switch between his titans with keys '1-8' or by
right clicking the respective hex on the map. If he is under attack he
can also switch to the titan under attack with the '0' or SPACE key

The selected titan is displayed on the map with a yellow/red hex
boundary together with a green arrow arrow showing his heading and a
blue arrow for his torso direction.


The active player can perform certain actions in move or attack
mode.
Think of these two modes as the only things a jock can manage
simultanously during combat.

Buttons on the lower border of the screen relate to these actions.
If the mouse is static for a second a small popup help text will be
displayed.

Attack Modes	Move Modes

Wait Mode ( only available in network games ! )




1. Show Map


Same as the other Show Map buttons above.


2. Show Status


Dito


3. Break Move


If you don't like what you did last move mode you can cancel the move
and be active in move mode soon.


4. Break Attack


If you don't like what you did last attack mode you can cancel the attack
and be active in attack mode soon.



5. Exit Game


Just what its says, exit the battle module.



The guts of combat




Heat


Overheating is one thing a jock fears the most (besides a critical hit
into the cockpit). Heat is generated by weapons as well as movement
and some miscellaneous effects like shield hits or explosions. 
Some weapons like napalm missiles and the  flamer will cause heat on
the target.

At 150 degree celsius a titan is automatically shut down, leaving him helpless on the battlefield. At 300 degree celsius a titan will explode if the engine is not disabled. Heat is divided into categories which are possible triggers for 'wait on heat' actions and which do effect skill checks. The hotter the titan, the worse are the penalties, so you better monitor your temperature closely.

Heat is reduced by a regulating system which is a closed circuit. This
means that a heavy damage critical hit into the arm component does
heavily damage the WHOLE system !



Energy


The engine is generating power units which are used to maintain shields,
scanners, movement or to reload energy weapons and jump ports.
Devices are satisfied by the engine in the following order :

                Requirement
Heat Regulators    1 PU
Move Actuators   1-3 PU, depending on move mode
Shield           1-4 PU, depending on shield type
Scanner            1 PU
E.C.M              1 PU
Weapons         See below
Punch/Kick         1 PU  for each arm/leg  
Jump Ports         1 PU  for reloading

Energy weapons need power units to recharge completly.
(Exp : 20 PU for a Plasma Gun or 9 PU for a Medium Laser).
There is a restriction on how much PUs a weapon can reload per second :

more than 12 PU needed -> reload max 3 PU per second
more than  5 PU needed -> reload max 2 PU per second
more than  0 PU needed -> reload max 1 PU per second

A Plasma Gun will reload in 11 seconds, recharging
3,3,3,2,2,2,1,1,1,1,1 PUs. 

A Medium Laser will reload in 7 seconds, recharging 
2,2,1,1,1,1,1 PUs

Close combat weapons do recharge at a constant rate of 1 PU per second.

If the engine can not generate enough power to recharge each weapon,
it will give priority to those which will be ready next.

If you are low on energy it is possible that some systems are
automatically put offline to supply those with a higher priority.



Health


A jock starts a battle at full health, the amount can be read
at one of the status screens.

During battle there can be some events which will hurt him, resulting
in loss of hit points. The more the jock is wounded, the worse are the
modifiers for his skills checks.

The life support system, build into a titan can heal a jock at a
constant rate. The success does depend on the jocks medical skill,
the amount on the life support.




Fog of War


The main goal in combat is to wreck your opponents before they do
the same to you. A titan is disabled if his engine is destroyed,
his head is ripped off, he is shut down and his heat regulator is 
destroyed or the jock is killed.
Sometimes it is enough to cripple him (destroy the gyro, rip off some
legs) and to concentrate on the next enemy.

To damage a titan you must first lock him with your battle computer.
To lock him you must have him in direct sight or scanner range. The
game makes great use of visibility and computes the visibilty for all
titans to recreate fog of war. 
Hexes which can not be scanned are either black if never seen before
or become shadowed if they once were within scan range. As the jocks
memory of these hexes fades they are shadowed more and more.
There are a total of 4 levels of display for any given hex :

 Typical battlefield

normal         : Current visible hexes.
lightly shaded : Hexes which were visible recently. 
deeply shaded  : Hexes which were visible some minutes ago (game time).
black          : Unknown hexes, either never scanned or a long time ago. 

Titans which once were scanned but left scanner range are displayed as
shrinking dots (red for enemies, yellow for allies) as time goes
by.
 
Titans which are only scanned but are not in direct line of fire are
either marked with a small 'X' or 'L' in the left top corner of their hex.
They can be only affected by ballistic firing weapons (missiles) at a
reduced 'to hit' probability. A jocks indirect fire skill will help reducing
the penalty for doing so. 'L' is displayed if a target can only be
scanned due to a scanner link.


Skill Checks


Whenever you have to pass a skill check manually, please press the
right mouse button.

There are several modifiers which are calculated for a final chance of
success.

Weapon skill checks

1. Jocks combat skill with the respective weapon.
2. Add the weapons basic modifier if applicable.
2. Modify this by the jocks damage status as well as the weapons.
3. Add the battle computers to hit modifier, taking into account its 
   damage status.
4. Subtract the titans heat modifier.
5. Calculate the titans and targets move modifier.
5. Calculate the targets defensive hex modifier as well as the firing
   titans offensive hex modifier.
6. Add the targets size and speed modifier.
7. Calculate range modifiers.
8. Check for indirect fire.
9. Subtract defensive modifiers for shield, E.C.M and flares if
   applicable.


Move skill checks

1. Jocks piloting skill
2. Actuator or gyro damage mods
3. Movement mode mods
4. Terrain modifier 
5. Heat modifier
6. Jock status mods ( wounded, dizzy ... )
7. Handling class of titan
8. More I forgot to list ...



Damage


If damage occurs the game engine checks for the body part which is
affected checking line of fire and other aspects.

Damage ranges from 1 to 25 for one hit and is normally substracted from
the armor of the respective body part.
If the armor is reduced to zero the damage is applied to the internal
structure and critical equipment damage is likely to happen.

Equipment can be damaged light, medium, heavy or it can be destroyed.
Light damage caused by heavy shells is also possible even if the armor
is not yet penetrated due to disruption.

Some weapons ( meson guns ) can cause interior equipment damage even
if the armor is still intact.
Damage control systems ( D.C.S ) do help against this effect.
They can automatically reduce or even negate interior equipment damage. 

When the internal structure is gone, the body part and its equipment 
is either disabled (torso) or ripped off (arms, legs, head).





Appendix A : Keys



The cursor keys are for scrolling the map if the size of the map
exceeds the game screen.

The following keys are for emergency situations only :

'R'   : Recover queue if game is out of sync !
'D'   : Dump queue into a file called error.log into the data directory.





Appendix B : Network Games



The battle module does use TCP/IP for network games.
Due to a nasty bug we were NOT able to find up to now, only the windowed
version battleW.exe will work for network games, the DirectX version
will crash !
Therefore we have disabled the network option in battleX.exe.


Setting up a network game :

battleW does read a small init file called binit.dat which is located
in the data directory.
For a 4 player/computer game it should look like this for player 1:

# Begin
# First entry is the team number for the team played on the local
# computer. Can be either 1, 2, 3 or 4.
# TEAM NUMBER :
1
# Second entry is the total number of teams/computers in one session.
# Can be either 2, 3 or 4.
# Total NUMBER :
4 
# End


Lines beginnig with a # are for comments only.
The first entry is the local players team number.
It has to be different for each player !
A two player game must use 1 and 2.
A three player game must use 1, 2 and 3.
A four player game must use 1, 2, 3 and 4.
You can NOT skip a number.
The second entry is the total number of players and will be the same
for all players.

Example :

In a two player game the binit.dat for player 1 will look :

# Begin
# First entry is the team number for the team played on the local
# computer. Can be either 1, 2, 3 or 4.
1
# Second entry is the total number of teams/computers in this session.
# Can be either 2, 3 or 4.
2 
# End

Player 2 has the following binit.dat

# Begin
# First entry is the team number for the team played on the local
# computer. Can be either 1, 2, 3 or 4.
# TEAM NUMBER :
2
# Second entry is the total number of teams/computers in this session.
# Can be either 2, 3 or 4.
# Total NUMBER :
2 
# End


You have to configure your TCP/IP stack for your network card.
Choose a different IP address for each player windows network
properties setup like this :

196.0.0.1 for player 1
196.0.0.2 for player 2
196.0.0.3 for player 3
196.0.0.4 for player 4

Choose the netmask 255.255.255.0

Technical note :
The game will use UDP broadcasts and should not be used in your
companies LAN without contacting your system administrator.
It will put some load on the network. 


Starting a network game :

One of the players will host the game.
He has to select 'Network Game' -> 'Create Game' whereas all
other players have to select 'Network Game' -> 'Join Game'.
Those who join are called the clients and have to wait for the host
to setup the game and send them some data.
Note that you have to select 'Join Game' on all clients before the
host does do a 'Start Game' !

If you are playing with pre made teams all team data files have to be
copied to the hosts data directory. The file must be named
corresponding the the players team number in binit.dat.
Player 1 with TEAM NUMBER 1 in binit.dat will use the teamfile team1.
If player 2 wants to use its own team he has to copy it to the hosts
data directory and name it team2.