ftp.gamers.org/ftp.gamers.org.zip/ftp.gamers.org/pub/games/uwp-uml/rpg/silly120.arj/SILLYDOC.ENG

Text File | 1994-10-11 | 27KB | 608 lines

                            SillyWar v1.2
              A Silly Multiplayer Strategy Game For PC-s
                           by Lauri Tepandi













Table of contents

1.  Preface
2.  Legal crap
3.  Requirements
4.  Installation
5.  Game basics
6.  Starting a new game
7.  Server
8.  Client
9.  Network game
10. E-mail and single computer game
11. Map editor
12. Known bugs
13. Registering
13. Acknowledgements









1. Preface

Moto: "Cogito cogito, cogito ergo sum"
(I think that I think, therefore I think that I am)

SillyWar is, as its name implies, a silly war-game. It resembles in many ways
other empire-style strategy games, where your objective is to conquer cities,
create armies, build facilities to produce more army equipment and eventually
destroy your enemies to become the ultimate ruler of the land, air and seas.
However, unlike most other such games, in SillyWar you do not have artificial
intelligence (computer) as your enemy, but, instead you are fighting against
real intelligence - other humans. No more do you have to yawn of boredom as
you see your enemy make the same stupid mistakes over and over again. Now
you can play against real masterminds  - such as yourself.
A maximum of 15 players can play simultaneously in the same SillyWar game.
The game can be played on a single computer by turns, in real time on a file-
based network (such as Novell Netware) or by turns by e-mail.

Have fun!



2. Legal crap

SillyWar is provided as is, with no warranty of any kind, either expres-
sed or implied. SillyWar is only guaranteed to occupy disk space. You
are free to copy and distribute the SillyWar shareware archive freely,
provided no changes or additions are made to the package.

Lauri Tepandi (The Author) shall in no event be held liable to you or
anyone else for any damages of ANY kind, incidental or consequential,
arising from the use or inability to use this program.

All products by Lauri Tepandi are trademarks and are Copyright by
Lauri Tepandi. Other products and brand names are trademarks and
Copyright by the respective holders.

This version of SillyWar is distributed as shareware. This means that you
may and are encouraged to distribute SillyWar. However, if you continue to
use this program and find it entertaining or useful, you are expected to
register this software. For details on how to register, see the section
registering.

Lauri Tepandi reserves the right to distribute the future versions of
SillyWar as shareware, freeware, commercial product or whatever.



3. Requirements

SillyWar requires:

 *)  a PC-compatible (preferrably at least 386) computer
 *)  VGA graphics
 *)  Mouse
 *)  MS-DOS 3.3 or later
 *)  At least 580k free conventional memory
 *)  About 500k of disk space for the program files and savegames
 *)  A line FILES=n in config.sys, where n >= 40

Optional:

 *)  For network game:
     A file-based network (by file-based I mean that it must be possible to
     share files over the network) and PC-compatible computers that match
     the above-mentioned requirements that are connected to the network
     Additional disk space on network drive for temporary network files.

 *)  SoundBlaster. It is not used in this game (not yet anyway) but it
     doesn't hurt to have one ;)



4.  Installation

Create a directory for SillyWar. (eg X:\GAMES\SILLYWAR)
Unpack the SillyWar archive with the x switch to unpack the archive to this
directory (i.e. arj x sillywar x:\games\sillywar), answer 'y' to all
questions concerning creating new directories.
If you accidentally used 'arj e sillywar' to extract the archive, then
create subdirectory MAP and move *.SWM to this subdirectory.
Run SETUP.EXE and specify the language you want the game to use, directories
for maps, e-mail games, network games (this one _must_ be a shared directory
on network if you want to play the network version) and savegames.
Now you are all set for wasting your time by playing SillyWar.
Just try running sillywar.exe



5. Game basics

*) Objective
In general, the objective of the game is to achieve control in the game
territory. However, the person who starts a new game has the possibility
to specify the exact requirements for winning the game.
There are three requirements that can be specified:
amount of money needed to win,
percentage of settlements/buildings needed to win
percentage of military units needed to win.
The player who meets all three of those requirements is considered to be
the winner.
Besides that, it is possible to specify whether the game can be won by a
group, in which case the property of group members is added together and
then compared to the requirements for winning.

*) Settlements and units
As a player you have two main types of instruments available for achieving
your objective: settlements/buildings (henceforth settlements) and military
units (henceforth units).
Settlements produce money and production resources. They also require some
money for maintenance. There can be only one settlement per square.
Units can move and attack other units or settlements or defend against
enemy units.
Units have different strengths at attack and in defence.
Some units have special qualities:
 - builders can build new settlements.
 - transports can load land units and carry them over seas.
 - carriers can load airplanes and carry them over seas.
 - army leaders. (available in registered version only) They can load other
   units and give them bonus of 1.3 in both defence and attack, the strength
   of all units that are in army is added together when army leader enters a
   battle.
 - spies (available in registered version only). They fight only against
   other spies and can't be attacked by other types of units. (when a spy
   is part of an army however, it will fight like any other unit)
   Spies can't conquer settlements.
   Spies have following special missions:
      - spionage - to use this, the spy must be in the same sector with an
       enemy settlement. After this command you can for some turns (chosen
       randomly between 1 to 10) see full statistics report for the enemy.
      - buy enemy - your unit will buy (bribe) all enemy units in the sector
       for 5 * production price. However, armies can not be bought.
      - sabotage - to use this, the spy must be in the same sector with an
       enemy building (i.e. a settlement that can be built by builders).
       After this command your spy will destroy the enemy building for
       3 * building price
   Spies have 50% chance of getting caught after each mission, in which case
   they will be destroyed.
 - airplanes have limited amount of fuel they can use. To refuel they must
   tank at a settlement or carrier. (tanking is done automatically if the
   plane is in the same square with a settlement or carrier)
   Airplanes use 10 units of fuel per turn.

To load units on transports, carriers or army leaders the units to be loaded
must be either in the same sector or in an adjacent sector (if the loader is
a ship) and their orders must be 'none'.
For detailed information about different settlement and unit types see
file sillyspc.eng

*) Battle
Battle takes place when two enemy units are in the same sector.
In case of battle the unit which moved to the sector is considered the
attacking side and the unit previously in sector the defending side.
For each side the probability of winning the battle is its strength against
enemy's strength (i.e. if your unit has a strength of 6 and enemy has a
strength of 9, then your chances of winning are 6 of 15 (6+9). Simple :)
However, if the battle takes place in a settlement then the strength
of a defending unit is multiplied by defence bonus of the settlement.
If fighting unit is not an army (army leader with units loaded on it), all
units fight separately (i.e. if you have three tanks in a sector, they defend
against the attacking units one at a time), but when in army, the strengths
of units in army are added together and multiplied by 1.3 and therefore an
army has much higher probability of winning a battle than the same units
separately.
After battle is over and winner has been determined, the loser's units are
all destroyed and some of winner's units may also have been lost in battle.

*) Turn and tick
The base measurement of time in the game is turn. The income and maintenance
expenditures of settlements and units, the movement speed of units are always
relative to one turn (e.q. a settlement may have an income of 20 per turn,
unit may have 10 movement units per turn, etc.)
Each turn is divided into 10 ticks to see exactly the movement of units,
since some units may move more than one square per turn.

*) Territory, map
The game territory is divided into squares (sectors) and is shown in an
overview map, where different terrain types are represented by icons (eg a
tree - forest).
Each square requires different amount of movement-units according to terrain
type for an unit to pass through it (however, for airplanes all terrain types
require 1 movement-unit. Naturally naval units cannot move to land and vice
verca - land units can't travel in water (unless they are on a transport))
Movement-units needed for terrain type:
plains - 2
steppe - 3
forest - 3
road - 1
ice - 5
swamp - 5
hills - 4
mountains - 5
sea - 1 (naval units and airplanes only)

*) Groups
You may form groups (alliances) with other players. Your units do not attack
your group members' units nor settlements, your planes may tank at the
settlements/carriers of your group members and you can send messages
automatically to all your group members.
The person who creates a group is automatically considered to be the leader
of the group, and he can specify group password (the password needed to join
the group), change group name and name another leader for the group. If the
group leader quits the group, another member of the group is chosen to be the
leader automatically. If the last member of the group quits the group, then
the group is disbanded.



6.  Starting a new game

To start a new SillyWar game choose 'start new game' from the main menu,
which takes you to the game starting options menu, where you can configure
the game as you like.

The options that can be specified are as follows:
a) game handle - a shortcut for the game, (8 letters maximum) that will be
used for filenames of the savegame, temporary work files and e-mail exchange
files. (required parameter)
b) game name - short description for the game. You can put here anything you
like. (required parameter)
c) radio button to choose game type, which is either e-mail or network game.
See the appropriate sections about the differences between these to game
types.
d) checkboxes for 15 players to determin how many players take part in the
game and which colors they will be using. (at least one must be checked)
e) menu to choose map for the game (required parameter)
f) requirements needed for winning the game (see section 'game basics')
g) random towns, random villages - specify how many settlements will be
created randomly on the map besides those that have been put on the map with
map editor.
h) start amount of money - how much money does each player have at start
of game
i) start no. of settlers - how many settler units does each player have at
start of game
j) start no. of militia - how many militia units does each player have at
start of game
k) checkbox start with hometown - determins whether players have a town
at the start of the game

After you have configured all parameters to your liking, press the 'start
the game' button. The server will be started.
See sections 'e-mail game' and 'network game' for differences between
those two game types.



7.  Server

SillyWar server is a part of the SillyWar game that processes all the
orders that come from players, calculates all changes of object locations,
battles, etc. and sends back new object information and messages about
game events to players (clients).
SillyWar server will be run when you choose 'start a new e-mail or netgame'
or 'continue a netgame/make a e-mail game turn' in the main menu.

When the server is running you can pause the game by selecting 'pause the
game'. If the game in process is a network game, the players will be
notified that the game has been paused.

You may stop the server program by selecting 'save and quit'. In network game
you can quit the server process only after all players have quit from
their clients. In e-mail game it is not recommended to quit the game, since
the server process will finish automatically after the necessary number of
turns have been processed.



8.  Client

SillyWar client is a part of the SillyWar game that helps the player
communicate with SillyWar server by receiving the messages and game
information from server, presenting them to user and allowing the user
to give orders to his troops/settlements with a easy-to-use graphical
interface.

The client program will be invoked when you select 'join a network game' or
'play a e-mail game' from the main menu.
In case of e-mail game you have the option to see what has happened during
the previous turn if you answer 'yes' to the question 'do you want to see
the events of last turn?'. After all events have been shown to you the
client program will switch to command mode.

In client mode the screen consists of 2 maps (a bigger detail map that can be
zoomed in and out and a smaller map that always shows the map in the smallest
scale) and some buttons.

Maps. If you click on the bigger map, you'll be able to give orders to your
units or settlements that are in the sector on which you clicked. If you
click on the smaller map, the big map will be scrolled so that you can see in
more detail what is in the area on which you clicked.

Buttons.
  a) main menu:
  'Next free unit' - activates any unit that is idle (i.e. has no orders)
  'Message' - allows you to send messages to other players
  'Group' - you'll be able to create/join groups, send messages to your
        group members, etc.
  'Options' - you can change your name, alias and password
  'Help' - approximately as useful as the whole game ;]
  'Statistics' - shows a detail statistics report for you a player that you
        are spying against
  'Totals' - shows total number of units and settlements for all players
  'Game Info' - displays some basic info about the game being played
  'Quit' - quit from the client program and return to main menu

  b) unit menu:
  'No orders' - sets the unit to 'idle' mode
  'Guard' - the unit will remain in the sector and guard it against intruders
  'Move' - move the unit to another sector, after pressing this button you
        must choose a sector on the map where you want this unit to go
  'Intercept' - the unit will start chasing another unit, which you'll have
        to choose on the map
  'Give' - give the unit to another player
  'Disband' - unit will be destroyed
  'Spy' (available only if the unit is a spy) - allows you to select a
        special spy command
  'Build' (available only if the unit is a builder) - allows you to start
        building a new settlement
  'Contents' (available only if the unit can load other units) - allows you
        to see what units have been loaded on this unit
  'Load' (available only if the unit can load other units) - the unit will
        load all units that are in the same sector (or in case of ships -
        in an adjacent sector)
  'Unload' (available only if the unit can load other units) - the unit will
        unload all units
  'Cancel' - no commands will be given to the unit, the unit will continue
        doing whatever it was doing

  c) settlement menu:
  'No orders' - the settlement will be set to 'idle' mode (i.e. it will not
        produce anything)
  'Name' - you can change the name of this settlement
  'Give' - give the settlement to another player
  'Produce' - choose a unit to be produced in the settlement
  'Destroy' - settlement will be destroyed
  'Cancel' - no commands will be given to the settlement

  d) options menu:
  'Real name' - enter your real name here
  'Alias' - enter your alias. Aliases are used in all messages and info that
        are shown to you or other players.
  'Old password' - must be the password that you have previously entered in
        options dialog as 'new password', must be left empty if you haven't
        specified a password.
  'New password' - the password that you want to use in the future. If you
        enter a password, then no-one can play with this player in the game
        without knowing the password, since the client program will ask it
        before entering the command mode.
  'New password again (verification)' - since the password is not displayed
        on screen when you enter it, it would be difficult to detect typing
        mistakes, and therefore you must enter the same password here
        exactly as you entered it in the 'new password' inputbox. (or leave
        it blank, if you didn't enter a password)
  In case of e-mail game there are some additional choices under options
  menu, please see section 'e-mail game'

  e) group menu:
  'Create' - you can start a new group by inputing a name for the group
        and a password that will be required to join this group
  'Join group' - you can join an existing group by choosing the group
        and entering the password required to join this group
  'Quit group' - you will quit from your group
  'Members' - displays the members of your group
  'Message' - send a message to all group members
  'Name' (available only for the group leader) - change the group name
  'Leader' (available only for the group leader) - appoint a new leader for
        the group
  'Password' (available only for the group leader) - set a new password for
        joining the group



9. Network game

For network game a separate computer is required for the server.
You may try to start the server under a multitasking environment and play
at the same computer under a different task (like OS/2, Windows, Desqview),
but it is not recommended unless you have a fast computer, because the game
may become quite slow, especially when there are many players. If you do
start the server under multitasker, be sure to make it run in background and
give it plenty of background priority.

To start the network game, just choose 'start a new game' from the main
menu and choose the network radio button in start options dialog.
After you have set all necessary options and pushed the 'start game' button
the server is set up and you may connect to the game from other computers
that are connected to the network. Just start sillywar.exe from another
computer, choose 'join network game', choose the game in progress and bingo.
To stop the game, all the players have to quit from the game and after that
you can also choose quit from the server. The game is saved automatically.



10. E-mail and single computer game

Important! The person who starts the e-mail game server must make sure
that all of the players and the server are using _exactly_ the same version
of SillyWar and have the same copy of the map that is going to be used in
the game. Unpredicted things may happen, if some of the players have a
different map than the one that is in server, since the map is not copied
from server with the game info, but is taken from players local map
directory. Also - it is not allowed to change the map during the game.

For e-mail game start the game as usual and choose e-mail radio button
from the start options dialog. After pressing 'start game' button the game
starts as normal, but you must not quit the server process, it is finished
automatically after the required number of turns have been processed.
The server creates so-called server info files for each player into
subdirectory MAIL. The files are named <GAMEHANDLE>.MS<PLAYER>, where
<GAMEHANDLE> is the handle for the game which you entered in the start
options dialog and <PLAYER> is a character that represents the player
('1'...'9', 'A'...'F'). The person who runs the server must now send
each file to the player by mail. The player then must copy the file to
his/her MAIL subdirectory, select 'play an e-mail game' under main menu,
(optionally) view the events of last turn, give orders to his/her troops
and send back file <GAMEHANDLE>.MC<PLAYER> from MAIL subdirectory to server.
When the server has received all playerfiles, the person who runs server
must choose 'continue game' from main menu. And so on.
NB! The e-mail exchange files *.MC* and *.MS* are packed and uuencoded/
uudecoded automatically.

Single computer game is right now no different from e-mail game, except for
the fact that you do not need to send any files by email. Just start the
game as e-mail and after server has finished the turn choose 'play e-mail
game', give your orders, let your opponent give orders to his/her troops
and after all players have done that, choose 'continue game' to repeat
the cycle.

In case of e-mail game there are two additional options under options menu:
*) a radio button 'record turn info' with possible options
- nothing (which means that you will not receive any information about
what happened last turn, not recommended ;)
- messages (you will receive only messages that were sent to you during last
turn, including battle reports, etc.)
- everything (you will receive messages and you can view unit movement by
single tick)
*) a 'Max nr. of turns inputbox', in which you can specify how many turns
should be made next time the server is run. The actual number of turns
made is determined by the _smallest_ number entered from any player.

It is advisable to make backups of the server savegame frequently, because
the savegame may be lost in case of some fatal error occurs (i.e. disk full,
low memory, etc.)



11. Map editor

You can create your own maps or edit the existing ones with the program
sillymap.exe. It is very simple and I'm sure you'll figure it out.

Just a couple of things you should know:
There are two tiles displayed on the edit screen, one is used when you left-
click on the map and the other when you right-click on the map. If you click
on either of the tiles, you can choose another tile to draw with.
The 'road' selection under the tile selection menu means that the program
will try to automatically draw suitable connections for roads.
The village and town icons will allow you to place towns and villages on map
and name them. However you must make sure that you don't place them in water.
The 'del stl' icon allows you to delete settlements (towns and villages)
from the map.

NB!!! If you change any of the original maps, be sure to save them under
a different name to avoid problems when you join a e-mail game that might
use one of those maps.

You may distribute the maps you create with this map editor, but _NOT_
together with the original SillyWar archive! The original SillyWar archive
must remain exactly the way the author has made it.



12. Known bugs

Sorry, none right now :(
But don't worry, this will be fixed soon ! :]



13. Registering

SillyWar is distributed as shareware. This means that the unregistered
evaluation version may be distributed freely. With evaluation version you
can test the product before making the decision. If you decide to use it, you
are expected to register it with the author. If you decide not to use it, and
act according to this decision, you are under no obligation. SillyWar is
protected by international copyright laws.

Besides the fact that you are supporting the future development of SillyWar
you also receive some benefits for registering, which may make it easier and
more fun for you to defeat your enemies. You will be allowed to produce and
use units and settlements that are restricted to registered players only
(the most useful of those are perhaps army leaders, which will allow you to
build the ultimate offence and defence powers, but there are more - check the
file sillyspc.eng for all unit and settlement types that you can use in
registered version). In registered game you are able to set your units to
guard areas bigger than one square, which is very useful if you have a block
of buildings together and you don't have enough units to put them in each
building (the maximum guarding radius equals to view radius of the unit).

A registered copy of SillyWar may not be used in more than one computer at
the same time, nor may it be used in the same game by more than one player.
(as a matter of fact the program checks if there are more than one players
in the game with the same registration code and punishes those players, so
if you have a registered copy then besides the legal aspects, it is also
against your own best interests to give away copies of the program or
the registration code)

To become as a registered user just print out and fill in the included
registering form in file order.eng and send it with a cheque or money order
for USD $29 to the following address:

Lauri Tepandi
Rävala 15-28
EE0001 Tallinn
Estonia

Right now I can accept cheques or money orders in USD only.
Be sure to make your check payable to LAURI TEPANDI.

If you have troubles with sending cheques, you can also send cash in your
letter (US dollars or the equivalent amount in EEK only, no other currency
accepted), but there is always a risk of it getting lost in the post.
The author can not be held responsible if such thing occurs.

After I have received the registering form and verified that the
registeration fee has been payed, I will send you the registration code,
which you can input in the registration dialog box along with your name to
register the game.
If possible, then the code will be sent to you by (internet) e-mail or
(fidonet) netmail, which is the fastest way, if not then by post.

The same registration code will probably be valid for several updates of
SillyWar, however the author reserves the right to sell the future versions
for a small upgrade fee for registered users if he finds it necessary.

All prices are subject to change without prior notice.



14. Acknowledgements

A lot of 'thank you very many'-s go out to:

Peter Wawa - for a lot of cool ideas for the design and
solutions for the implementation of the game

James Chao - for his jclzh archiver sources

Scott D. Ramsay - for his nice shareware vga graphics library for pascal,
which provided several useful examples

all beta testers - for finding all those nasty bugs in the game

all registered players (hmm, there are none, but I think I leave this
line in just in case, besides it sounds kinda cool too) - for support and
making it possible to develop future versions of the game