Questions and Answers (latest update of this document) What is the goal of the game? The goal of the game it to take all of the other players cities. The first person (or computer) to do that wins. What are waypoints and how do I use them? Waypoints are essential to the game. They are used to order units and groups of units to certain locations on the map. They can be used to direct units to explore in a certain direction or tell a transport where to take its troops. To set a waypoint for a specific unit you can click on the unit and then drag the stylus to a location on the map. When you let up on the stylus a waypoint will be created at that location. The unit that was clicked on will be ordered to go to the new waypoint. If the stylus is over an existing waypoint when you lift it then a new waypoint will not be created, but the unit will still be ordered to go to the existing one. If the unit is part of a group then all units in that group will be sent to the waypoint. If you click on a city and drag the stylus then the city will be set to send all newly created units to that waypoint. If you want to set a waypoint without assigning a unit to it simply tap on an empty location on the map and a waypoint will be created. To remove a waypoint just tap on it. Any units that are set to go to that waypoint will now report that they are lost. You can also go to the detail page for units, groups and cities to set them to an existing waypoint. How can I tell when something has happened? When something happens like an army gets killed or captures a city the little arrows at the bottom near the status window will turn purple. The little purple arrows will take you through the messages and center the map on the location where the message happened. If you click the right purple arrow it will take you to the message. If you click the left arrow it will go back through the messages to the turn number message. If you had something selected at the beginning of the turn it will recenter the screen on that unit. The zoomed out view will show purple flashing dots where events have occured. As you use the arrows to go through the messages the zooming box will hilight the location on that map where the currently displayed message took place. When a city or unit is selected what does the information on the status bar mean? If a city is selected the status bar will display "City Name" (Number of units in city) <waypoint city is sending units to> - "Unit type being built" "% complete" If a unit is selected the status bar will display [group id] "Unit Name" (Number of units being transported) <waypoint unit is going to> "F % of fuel left" "Action Icon" "Move Icon" How does battle work? This is probably best described with an example: Your army (attack 1 armor 1) attacks an enemy tank (attack 4 armor 3) - Your base chance of hitting it is 50% You have three more friendly units around the enemy tank - Your chance of hitting it goes up to 65% ( 50 + 5 * 3 ) The enemy tank has one other enemy unit touching it - Your chance of hitting goes down to 60% ( 65 - 5 * 1 ) The enemy tank is defending - Your chance of hitting goes down to 35% ( 60 - 25 ) Now that all modifications have been made you attack once for each attack point of your unit - You attack once and get a random number of 20 out of 100 that is less than the 35 need so you hit the tank now has 2 armor left Your attack phase is over now the tank gets to go - It does all the same calculations and comes out with a base hit of 55%. It gets random numbers of 70, 12, 47, 60. Two of those are less than the 55 it need so your armor goes down by 2. Your armor is now zero or less so your unit is dead. Moral of the story, be careful attacking tanks with armies. There are other things that can modify your chances of getting killed in battle. It's harder for air units to attack ground units if the ground units are under trees. Its easier for air units to attack ground units if the ground units are in deserts. Bombers get bonuses when attack ground units and penalties when attacking air units. Fighters get bonuses when attacking air units and penalties when attacking ground units. Battleships get bonuses when attacking air units. If a unit gets damaged can I fix it? Any unit that is sitting in a city will get 1 point of damage fixed per turn. Also, carriers will repair any planes that are being transported. I have a unit set to attack cities and I can see a city why doesn't the unit go attack it? All units have a "see" range. You can see everything you know about and can give global orders but the units themselves only know where friendly units are and where things they can see are. If you want the army to attack the city (and this holds true for units attacking enemy units) you must get your unit to move within "see" range of the unit you want it to attack. This can be done by setting a waypoint near the city and tell the army to go to that waypoint. When the army gets within "see" distance of the city it will attack it. How does grouping work? You can click on an empty spot on the map and then drag the stylus to draw a white box around any units you want to group. When you pick up the stylus you will be taken to your newly formed group's page. If you make a change to this page all units in the group will pick up the change. If you click on view an view on the units in the group you can remove that unit from the group by either changing one of its settings or by changing the group number that it belongs to. Group 0 means no group. You can add other units to this group by clicking on their details page and then changing the group number unit it matches the group that you want that unit to belong to. You will notice that the unit's settings change to match those of its new group. Can I use the buttons on my PDA to control the game? Yes. The d-pad can be used to move the cursor around on the screen. The action button can then be used to select or perform and action on the item under the cursor. The other hardware buttons can be used to zoom the map in an out as well as preforming other functions. How do I report a bug, an enhancement request or just ask a question? Please go to the MetalShard Message Board to post information about bugs or to provide suggestions for future enhancements. You can also send email to support@metalshard.com if you have any questions. For the latest version of Pocket War go to the Pocket War page.