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-
- DICTATOR
- --------
-
- A game for two players (either human vs human or human vs computer).
-
- The game consists of a map of Great Britain, divided into six regions. Each
- region is further sub-divided into counties. The object of the game is to
- take over and control as many counties as possible.
-
-
- Principles:
-
- Each player has control over everything that happens in the counties he
- (or she) owns. A player can adjust the following factors in each of those
- counties:
-
- 1. The number of military units to be stationed in that county.
- Clearly, the more the better. But they cost money. Each military unit
- costs 5,000 pounds. Also, it costs 500 pounds a month to maintain each
- militrary unit.
-
- 2. Declaring war on a neighbouring county.
- This is only wise if the number of armies in your county outnumber the
- the armies in the county to be attacked. When the turn is finished, the
- result of the war will be calculated. Who wins a war depends mainly on
- sheer numbers of military units, but the popularity and value of the
- counties also have an effect.
-
- 3. The industrial & agricultural tax rates.
- Each county has statistics for the money it makes from both industrial
- and agricultural output. You can choose how much of this you want to take
- in taxes. You can set the tax rate at anything from 0% to 25%. Increasing
- the tax rates gives you more money to to spend on your armies, but
- (i) decreases your popularity and (ii) reduces the value of the county in
- the long term.
-
- There are more factors that result from the policies you set in your
- counties:
-
- Value: An overall guide of how successfull a county is. It depends on the
- population of the county, it's level of industrial and agricultural
- production, and the number of friendly neighbouring counties. The object of
- the game is to own at least 70% of the total value of Britain.
-
- Popularity: This depends on the value of the county and can be increased by
- decreasing the tax rates or by adding large numbers of military units to the
- area. If their are large numbers of unfriendly military units in
- neighbouring counties, then this can have a negative effect on popularity.
- If the popularity score of a county gets to around 30 or below, then the
- people will rise up and kill the occupying armies. The opposing player will
- then take control of the county (ie, a coup will take place). To the right
- of the popularity score is a colon and another number. This mumber shows how
- much the popularity has increased (or decreased) since the last turn.
-
- Income: The amount of money gained from that county. This is directly
- controlled by the setting of tax rates.
-
-
- Instructions:
-
- On the left half of the screen are a list of options, and on the right is a
- map of Britain. Each option draws a map of Britain showing the current
- state of the counties. For example, clicking on `Popularity Map' will show
- you how popular the current regime in each county is. `Value Map' shows
- the realtive value of each of the counties. `News' shows what has happened in
- that county is the last turn. That is, whether there has been a war which has
- now ended, a war which continues, a coup, or nothing at all.
-
- In the top left corner shows information about the player whose turn it is
- currently, ie, How much money he has left, how many military units he has, etc.
- Also shown is the proportion of the Britain owned by the player. This should
- initially be between 49% and 51%.
-
- To see what the current situation in any county is at present, simply click
- on that county on the map. All the counties statistics will then be
- displayed. If the county is one that you own, you will also be able to adjust
- some of the statistics. To do this, follow this procedure:
-
- To increase or decrease the number of military units, just click on the
- appropriate [+] or [-]. Similarly for the tax levels. Note that the new,
- adjusted rates are enclosed in square brackets [] to the right of the old
- figure. To decare war, click on the [*] in the top left-hand corner next to
- `war'. You will then be invited to click on a county to declare war on. You can
- only declare war on neighbouring counties, and of course, only on counties
- owned by the other player. To cancel a war simply click on the county itelf.
- When a county changes who it is at war with, the new county will be in square
- brackets. Note: When removing military units from a county, you will only get
- 4,000 pounds for them instead of the 5,000 pounds that it cost to buy them.
-
- After a player has finished adjusting his counties, Click on `End Turn'. When
- both players have done this, the results of their policies will be worked out.
- Any wars that have been declared will be simulated, and you will be informed of
- the winner (if any). The game then continues with the next turn.
-
- It can be very advatangous to caputure an entire region. A player who does this
- is entitled to more money for every turn that he countinues to hold it. Here is
- a list a rewards for capturing a region:
-
- Region Counties Reward
- ------ -------- ------
- SCOTLAND 6 20,000
- NORTH 5 20,000
- WALES 4 15,000
- MIDLANDS 6 25,000
- SOUTH WEST 4 15,000
- SOUTH EAST 7 25,000
-
- Note: All of the main options only draw maps showing the situation in each of
- the counties at the beginning of the current turn. That is, if you suddenly
- increase the number of military units in a county, then this will not be shown
- on the `milirary units map' until the next turn. Also, each player is not
- shown the updated statistics in countries he does not own. The reason for this
- is simple: Otherwise, player two would have an unfair advantage beacuse he would
- be able to see player one's policies beore deciding his own.
- To keep the game fair, therefore, in two player mode, it is necessary for the
- player who isn't having his turn to not watch the player who is.
-
- In one player mode, this is not a problem, as the computer blanks the screen
- while it has it's turn, and then selects `End Turn' automatically.
-
- When a player controls 70% or more of the total value, the game is over. You
- will be shown the final map, however, and will be able to examine the `final
- state of the counties' if you so wish. To exit, you will have to select `End
- Game'.
-
- Hints:
-
- 1. Avoid leaving poorly defended counties near unfriendly counties with large
- numbers of military units, especially if the county is of high value.
- 2. Counties that do not have any unfriendly neighbours (a) will be more
- successful economically and (b) reduce the need to keep them well defended, as
- they cannot be directly attacked.
- 3. Spend ALL your money each turn on as many soldiers as you can.
- 4. Very popular counties (ie popularity 50%-60%), will enable you to put up the
- taxes very high (ie 15%-20%), without too much trouble.
- 5. When you capture a county, it will have no soldiers in it at all. You will
- therefore need to protect it immediately to stop your opponent re-taking it.
-
- Files
- -----
- The following Files should be included (all in the `Dictator' drawer)
-
- Dictator.PRG (program)
- Dictator.info (icon)
- Dictator (batch file to load from workbench)
- Dictator.Doc (This document)
- Dictator.Doc.info (Document's icon)
- Dictator.Dat (Very Important: Graphics Data for the map of Britain)
-
- IconX Should be in C: directory for program to load from workbench
-
- Note: Program might not work if the current directory is not this disk.
-
- Author
- ------
- Steven Pugh
- 5 Overton Close
- Sundorne
- Shrewsbury
- Shropshire
- England
- SY1 4TF
-
- Typed by me on 13th August 1991.
-
-