Copyright: Solar Wars v1.23
Citation: Solar Wars


Game Overview
Solar Wars Game Overview:

•	The goal of the game is to takeover all of the worlds and eliminate the other players.  This is done by scouting out local worlds, gathering ships at strong worlds and launch fleets of ships to attack them.

•	The solar system consists of up to thirty worlds orbiting a distant star.  Worlds closer to the star orbit faster and worlds farther away orbit slower.

•	Every world in the solar system produces ships each turn (up to 15 per turn) and has a strength class associated with it (5 – strongest, 1 – weakest).  Worlds can shift production to build shields for added protection.

•	Start with your “home” world (shown with white highlight around it) to launch attacks.  This world has radar to show any traveling fleets near it and can defend itself with a pulse bomb.  This world should be used as a gathering point for ships and a launch point for attacking fleets.

•	Right-click on a world to show its known information.  To learn more about a world, send a scout.  From this menu, you can calculate travel distances to and from each world.

•	To calculate travel distances, send ships, scouts, or bombs, left-click on an owned world, then left-click on a destination world.  A option menu will then popup.

•	Send annihilation bombs to take over any world in the solar system, but use them wisely!  Bombs can also be used to protect worlds:  pulse bombs for home worlds and proximity bombs for all worlds.

•	Some worlds have hidden treasures on them, such as fleets of ships, bombs, double-speed for traveling ships and an information crystal for knowing information about all unowned worlds.

•	Game options include ships traveling with shields and battle truce, to delay opponent attacks until a certain turn.

Game Description:

•	Solar System, Console, World Ship Production, Shields, Classes, Bombs, Radar and Treasures

Game Controls:

•	Checking World Information and Calculating Travel Distances

•	Sending Ships/Bombs In-between Worlds

•	Turning World Shields On & Off and Setting Proximity/Pulse Bomb on World

•	Showing Traveling Fleet Information, World Labels/Histories & Solar System Status

Game Options:

•	Ships Travel With Shield and Battle Truce

Starting a New Game:

•	Single player/Multiplayer Games

Solar Wars Web Site:

•	Go To Solar Wars Web Site and Checking For An Upgrade


Game Overview
Game Description:

Solar Wars is a turn-based space strategy game, based in a distant solar system, with up to thirty orbiting planets.  Starting with your home world, build up your ships and strategy.  Scout out nearby worlds, send fleets of ships to attack or send annihilation bombs.  Destroy opponents by setting hidden proximity bombs or pulse bombs.

Play in single player mode, with computer opponents, or multiplayer mode, over the Internet.  See how fast you can eliminate your opponents and dominate the entire solar system!

First time players should play a single player game to learn the basics of the game, such as building up and taking over worlds.  Single player games are simplified, since the radar, proximity and pulse bombs do not come into play and you are always on the offensive.  You can also play with computer opponents on five different hardness levels to practice.  They can be very challenging!

Multi-player Solar Wars games usually consist of two phases:  first is to conquer local unclaimed worlds and second is conquering other players owned worlds.  The truce option provides a nice transition of the phases.

Solar System:

There can be between nine and thirty worlds in a solar system.  These worlds are located on nine orbital paths; some paths can have multiple worlds on it.  Each world in the solar system has a ship production level and class associated with it.

Each player starts with one “home” world.  The “home” worlds are strong in their ship production level and class, and should be protected as such.  They also have a radar & pulse defense system for incoming/traveling enemy fleets.  They should be used as a gathering point for ships and a launch point for attacking fleets.

During a player’s turn, all the owned planets are highlighted in the player’s color.  Traveling fleets are represented on the destination worlds with a green dot for reinforcements and a red dot for attacks.

All of the worlds in the solar system orbit around the sun.  The orbit time of the worlds speeds up as you get closer to the sun, due to its gravitational pull.  The “home” worlds are located on the center orbit path of the solar system.  Motion of the solar system is realistic, so timing of ship movements is important!

One complete orbit of the “home” worlds is reached every year, which is equal to 20 turns.

Console:

The area below the solar system is known as the console.  This contains all information on battles, reinforcements, owned worlds and traveling fleets.

All world data is listed in the Owned Worlds window, including production, class, shield percentage and mode, ships, bombs (shown as B), treasures (shown as D for double-speed fuel) and for multiplayer games, proximity bombs set on the worlds (shown as P).

By left-clicking on the listed worlds, that world is highlighted graphically.  This is useful for finding a certain world.  By left-clicking on the listed traveling fleets, that traveling fleet is shown graphically.

The upper center window is for game data, including battle announcements, turn time messages, solar system information (number of world treasures still available, who owns the most worlds or ships), truce announcements, and player turn statuses.

The lower center window shows the game history, including a player’s past battle, reinforcement, scout and bomb information.  To expand this window, left-click on it.  During battles, this window converts to a colored slider bar showing the struggle of the battle; the battle statistics are shown with the attacking fleet on the left side and defending fleet on the right side windows.

The center icon bar indicates what world treasures are owned, including double-speed fuel, number of bombs and the information crystal.  A button bar allows a player to show the world labels, traveling fleets, finish a turn, read this help file, check the status of the solar system, or quit the game.

For multiplayer games, the communications window is used to chat with the other players.  The long thin windows in the center of the console are for receiving game information.

World Ship Production, Shields, Classes, Bombs, Radar and Treasures:

Production/Shield:

The ship production of an unclaimed world can range from zero to fifteen ships per turn.  When desired, this production can be re-directed to produce a shield instead.  The shield protects the world by absorbing incoming attacks – each hit from attacking ships reduces the shield by one.  The shield can range from zero to one hundred percent.

An added bonus of having shielded worlds is that attacking fleets that leave from a shielded world can carry that shield with them if this option is set at the beginning of the game – see game options below.  Once they reach their destination, the shield protects them in battle – each hit from the defending world reduces the attacking fleets shield by one.  Keep in mind that unclaimed worlds also have shields also and turn them on and off at will.

Classes:

The class of unclaimed worlds can range from one (the lowest) to five (the highest).  The class affects the strength (hitting power) of the ships on that world during battles.  A class 1 world is about half as strong as a class 5 world, and can thus be taken over with fewer ships.

Ships transferred from a lower class owned world to a higher class owned world will be upgraded to the higher class; conversely, ships transferred from a higher class owned world to a lower class owned world will be downgraded to the lower class.

Radar:

Radar defense systems exist in multiplayer games only on a player’s home world and will alert a player to incoming or passing traveling fleets of ships, bombs and scouts, as well as proximity bombs set on worlds.  The radius of the radar reaches from the innermost orbit path to the outermost orbit path.

When there is a radar alert, a dotted ellipse is shown on the radar radius.  Enemy traveling fleets will be displayed:  a scout is shown as a small cross; a bomb is shown as a series of overlapping circles; a fleet of ships is shown as one, two or three circles next to each other, depending on the amount of ships.  The quantity of ships in the fleet is also shown.  The trailing line behind the traveling fleets shows its direction of travel and speed (longer line means faster travel).

During a radar alert, a pulse bomb can be set on the home world (see below) to destroy any traveling fleets within the radar radius.

Bombs:

At the start of the game, each player’s “home” world has between three and five bombs, depending on the number of worlds in the solar system.  Bombs can be used in three different ways:

Annihilation Bomb:	When a bomb is sent to an unowned or enemies world, it destroys the world’s ships and takes over the world.  Any bombs found on the world are given to the new owner.  Bombs can be transferred from owned world to owned world also.

Proximity Bomb:	In a multiplayer game, a bomb can be sent to orbit any world and detonate at a specified threshold when a fleet of ships enters it orbit.  A traveling bomb will set off a proximity, regardless of the threshold set.

Pulse Bomb:	In a multiplayer game, when a radar alert is shown, a pulse bomb can be set on the home world to destroy any traveling fleets within the radar radius.  The home world must have a bomb in order to use this option.  The pulse bomb detonation will be shown at the end of turn.

These bombs should be used sparingly since when they are gone, you’ll wish you had more!

Treasures:

Some unclaimed worlds have treasures on them, waiting to be claimed.  These treasures include:

- An Information Crystal, which tells all information about unclaimed worlds, continuously.

- Double Speed Fuel, which reduces the traveling time for traveling ships from a world

- A Hanger containing a bomb

- A Hanger containing a fleet of ships

Sending Ships & Scouts Between Worlds:

Ships can be sent between worlds in order to build-up ships on one world or to attack unclaimed worlds.

A scout ship can be sent to find out information on a world, such as its production, class, shield and number of ships, on the turn it arrives.  This information is useful for planning attacks.


Game Options
Game Options:

Ships Travel With Shields:

An added bonus of having shielded worlds is that attacking fleets that leave from a shielded world can carry that shield with them (if this option is set).  Once they reach their destination, the shield protects them in battle – each hit from the defending world reduces the attacking fleets shield by one.

Keep in mind that unclaimed worlds also have shields and turn them on and off at will.

Battle Truce:

A battle truce can be set at the beginning of a multiplayer game to prevent player’s from attaching each other until a certain turn.  This is useful to allow time to takeover worlds, build up ships and world treasures and set up defenses.

The minimum truce setting is 10 turns; there is no maximum truce setting, but 20 - 30 turns is typically a good truce setting.


Game Controls
Game Controls:

Checking World Information:

To check the known information on a world, right-click on it.  At the start of the game, one piece of information (production, class, shield or ships) is known on each unclaimed world; no information is known for enemy owned worlds.  After a scout is sent to any world, all information is known for the turn the scout arrived.  This information is placed in the game history window and in the world history (left-click).

Calculating Travel Distance Between Two Worlds:

To calculate the travel distance between two worlds, left-click on an owned world that ships or bombs are currently on, and then left-click the world that they will be sent to.  Both worlds will be highlighted and a line will be drawn between them.  A menu will popup that allows a player to calculate the travel distance between the worlds, send a scout, send 10, 25, 50, 75 or 100% of the ships from the world, or send a bomb.

After selecting to calculate the distance, the optimum travel path for the ships will be drawn between the worlds.  Keep in mind that worlds closer to the sun travel faster than worlds further out, and sometimes it is easier to wait for worlds to come closer rather than chasing them around the sun.

Calculating Travel Distance To All Worlds From a Specific World:

To calculate the travel distance to all worlds from a specific world, select the world to travel from by clicking on it with the middle mouse button (or wheel), or right-click the world to bring up the information window and then left click on “World Travels From”.  The number of turns to each world from the specific world will be shown next to each world.

This can be useful for planning attacks to nearby worlds.

Calculating Travel Distance From All Worlds To a Specific World:

To calculate the travel distance from all worlds to a specific world, select the world to travel to by right-clicking on it to bring up the information window and then left click on “World Travels To”.  The number of turns from each world to the specific world will be shown next to each world.

This can be useful for reinforcing nearby owned worlds.

Sending Ships/Bombs In-between Worlds:

To send ships or bombs between two worlds, you should first get an idea of how far the travel distance is between the worlds.  Keep in mind that worlds closer to the sun travel faster than worlds further out, and sometimes it is easier to wait for worlds to come closer rather than chasing them around the sun.

When you are ready to send, left-click on an owned world that ships/bomb are currently on, and then left-click the world that they will be sent to.  Both worlds will be highlighted and a line will be drawn between them.  A menu will popup that allows a player to calculate the travel distance between the worlds, send a scout, send 10, 25, 50, 75 or 100% of the ships from the world, send an annihilation bomb or send a proximity bomb.  If a proximity bomb is selected, a window will popup to set the bomb threshold.

A small graphic indicator will be placed on the destination world.  Its color will be red, for an attacking fleet, or green, for reinforcements between two owned planets.

Turning World Shields On & Off:

To toggle a world’s shield, double click on that world’s information in the Owned Worlds window, or right-click on the desired world to bring up the world information window and then left click on “Shield”.

Setting Proximity/Pulse Bomb on Worlds:

To set a proximity on a world, left-click on an owned world that a bomb is currently on, and then left-click on the world again, or right-click to bring up the world information window and then left click on “Bombs”.  A window will popup to set the bomb threshold.

When a radar alert is shown, a menu will popup instead that allows a player to send a proximity bomb or set a pulse bomb.  The pulse bomb can only be set on a player’s home world.

Showing Traveling Fleet Positions/Information:

To show the information on a traveling fleet of ships to a certain world, left-click on the world with a red or green graphic indicator on it.  To graphically show traveling fleets, click on the listed information in the traveling fleet window, or click the “Fleets” button.

Showing World Labels:

To show the world number of all worlds, click the “Labels” button or hit “Ctrl-L”.

Showing Solar System Status:

To show the current status of the Solar System, left-click on the sun or click the “Status” button.  This will list for each player the number of worlds owned, total production and total ships on owned worlds.

Showing World Histories:

To show the history of a world (battles, reinforcements, traveling fleets, scout information), left-click on the world.  If there is a history for the world, a dialog box will popup showing this information.

Ending A Player’s Turn:

To end a players turn, click the “Done” button.  This will highlight the owned worlds of the next player, or complete the turn and rotate the solar system.

Saving A Game/Loading A Game:

To save a game in progress, select “File: Save Game” from the pull-down menu, or hit Ctrl-S.  To turn on AutoSave, select “File: Turn on AutoSave” from the pull-down menu, or hit Ctrl-A.

To load a game, select “File: Load Game” from the pull-down menu.


Starting a New Game
Starting a New Game:

Single player Game:

To start a single player game, type your name in the box, select the game options and click on the “Start New Game” button.

You can also play a single player game against up to three computer opponents by checking the “A.I.” box next to the player names box.  You can select their difficulty level from 1 (easiest) to 5 (hardest).  Look out, they are not easy to beat!

Multiplayer Game:

In Person:

To start a multiplayer game in person, type the names of the players into the boxes and select the game options.  When you are ready to start, click on the “Start New Game” button.  Each player takes their turn sequentially.  When the last player is done their turn, the solar system will rotate, world travels and battles will take place and the next turn will begin.  Keep in mind that each player will see the battles and ships movements of other players in-between turns.

Online:

In an online multiplayer game, one player runs a server and the other of the players run clients.  To start an online game, first type your name and then click the "Online Multiplayer Game" checkbox. This will load the active servers currently running on the Internet.

To connect to one of the active servers listed, double-click the listing. This will attempt to connect to the server; if the server is not available any longer, you will get a "Server Timed Out" error and that server will be removed from your active server list. Your active server list is automatically updated every minute with the most recent servers.

To run a server, select the game options and then click the "Run Server" button. This will automatically list you as a server on the Internet and will allow other players to find your server. You may have to wait several minutes for client players to arrive, depending on the number of players online. When you have enough players for your game, click the "Start" button. This will launch the game and synchronize all the client players. Each player in an online multiplayer game takes their turn at the same time. When all the players are done their turns, the solar system will rotate, world travels and battles will take place and the next turn will begin.

To chat with other players during the game, a communications window is provided. Players can type messages to each other during their turn or after they are done.

To start a new game while already connected, the server player must select "File: New Game" from the pull-down menu. This will reset all game information, generate a new solar system and synchronize all of the clients. To load a saved game while already connected, the server player must select "File: Load Game" from the pull-down menu. This will load the saved game information, and synchronize all of the clients.


Hardware Recommendations
Hardware Recommendations:

This game was designed to be run on a minimum PII-333 with 8 meg RAM on the video board (16 meg recommended).  This provides for nice, smooth graphics and gameplay.  Individual results may vary depending on the total system configuration.

For better gameplay, close other programs while running Solar Wars.


Solar Wars Web Site

Go to Solar Wars Web Site

Check for Solar Wars Upgrade