The World of Computer Software/The World of Computer Software.iso/hostil11.zip/MANUAL.DOC

Text File | 1993-01-23 | 43KB | 1,651 lines

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     Welcome to Hostile Takeover; the game of discovery and

conquest.  It is easy to learn, easy to play, and a lot of

fun.

     About a year ago I became dissatisfied with the present

strategy games out on the market and decided to make my own.

They all had elements about them that I liked, but I also had

several gripes about them too.  Here are some of the things

that I have found lacking or annoying in other strategy

games.

1.  There is little variation in the playing field or map.

2.  There is no variation in the way pieces attack.

3.  To much time is spent maneuvering pieces instead of doing

    battle.

4.  There are several pieces but little variation between

    them.

5.  The user interface is difficult to use and it is hard to

    tell where your pieces are and what they are doing.



Well now that I have vented my gripes let me tell you what I

have done in Hostile Takeover to correct this.  First of all,

I created a random map generator that allows you to play a

different game every time.  The terrain is coherent too, in

that High mountains will flow into low mountains which will

turn into brush which will change into grass lands.  I have

also added the element of exploration in that you can only

see the areas that you have already explored.  When you start

the game you can only see the small area of the map that you

control.  It is up to you to see what the rest of the world

looks like.  Another feature of visibility I have added is

that you can only see your opponents pieces when they are

within range of your own pieces.  This makes spies and

sentries useful and necessary.  I gave every piece the basic

attributes of movement, strength, range of visibility and

attack, cost to produce, cost of upkeep, and turns needed to

produce.  I wanted each piece to be dynamic and different so

I only created nine pieces in Hostile 1 and eleven pieces in

Hostile 2.  Most of the pieces also have special attributes

including flying, invisibility, and special attacks.  This

game is very dynamic and action packed.  Although it takes a

lot of strategy and luck to win, you won't have to look long

for a good battle.  I have designed a very easy to use and

very informative user interface.  All the commands can be

accessed with a key stroke.  There is also a command line at

the bottom of the screen that tells you what your present

command choices are.  I also created an overview window that

shows the parts of the map that you have discovered and the

location of your pieces.  Beside the overview window is the

realview window.  It shows an up close and personal view of

your pieces.  This means you don't need to switch between

different zoom screens to view a battle or get a tactical

viewpoint.  I also display the pieces and terrain with unique

shapes and colors in the overview window so that you can see

at a glance where your pieces are, whether or not they have

movement left, where all you castles are, and what they are

producing.  I think you will find this game easy to learn,

easy to play, and filled with enough variety to keep you

playing again and again.  It is probably a good idea to read

the rest of this manual before playing the game but you don't

have too.  If you want to jump right into the game just

remember that anything in brackets () is a letter you can

press to execute a command.  When you first start the game

press (P) to select what piece you want your castle to

produce and then end your turn (T) as many times as needed

until you get your first piece.  To get a list of all the

commands press (H) for help.  You also many have to end your

turn a few times before your first piece is produced.  To

exit to DOS hit the ESC key.  If you want to read on, the

outline for the manual is listed below.



     Starting the game


     Object of the game

     Elements of the game
         1.  The map
         2.  Castles and playing pieces
         3.  Gold
         4.  Visibility

     Screen layout
         1.  Realview window
         2.  Overview window
         3.  Text window
         4.  The pointer

     Commands
         1.  (H)elp
         2.  (?) information
         3.  (P)roduce
         4.  (M)ove
         5.  (A)ttack
         6.  (D)efense
         7.  (S)ave
         8.  (L)oad
         9.  (C)enter
         10. (R)eport
         11. end (T)urn
         12. (G)ive up
         13. ESC

     Tips, Hints, and Comments

     Start up Demo

     Registration information and about Hostile 2




                      Starting the game:



     To start playing, put this disk into the A: drive and

type RUN.  Once the introduction has finished, press

any key to continue.  You will then be asked if you want to

(1) start a new game or (2) load a saved game.  If you want

to load a game press '2' and then type in the name of the

previously saved game.  The game will be restored and you can

start playing where you left off.  If you wish to start a new

game then press '1'.  You will then be asked if you want to

(1) play against the computer or (2) play against a human

opponent.

     If you want to play against a human opponent press '2'

and the game will start at the beginning of player one's

turn.  The game is designed so that only one player should be

able to see the screen at a time.  When a player has finished

his turn, the screen will blank.  A message will be displayed

telling the other player it is his turn.  When the second

player is ready he can press 'c' to continue and his map will

be displayed.

     If you want to play against the computer press '1' and

the game will then ask you what difficulty level you wish to

play.  Once you have selected a difficulty level, play will

start at the beginning of your turn.  When you are finished

with your turn a message will be displayed telling you the

computer is taking it's turn.  When the computer is finished

your map will be redrawn and you can take your next turn.





                     Object of the game:



     The object of the game is divided into two parts.  The

first objective is to explore the map and take over neutral

castles.  The second objective is to find your opponent and

take over all of his castles.  When one player has taken over

all of his opponent's castles then he has won the game.



                    Elements of the game:



1.  The Map

The map is composed of six basic types of terrain: grass,

brush, forest, swamp, low mountains, and high mountains.

Each type of terrain affects how easy it is for pieces to

move from one place to another.  Each piece starts out with a

certain number of movement points at the beginning of each

turn.  As the piece is moved across the map, the terrain

movement cost is subtracted from the number of movement

points the piece has left.  When the number of movement

points a piece has left is less than the movement cost it

takes to move across a terrain, then that piece can no longer

move.  For example, a soldier starts out with 12 movement

points.  If the soldier moves through a square with grass in

it (movement cost of 2), then the soldier will only have 12 -

2 = 10 movement points left.


Table of Terrain:

Type               Movement Cost

Grass                     2
Brush                     3
Forest                    4
Swamp                     4
Low Mountains             5
High Mountains        Impassable


     At the beginning of the game the map is randomly

created.  This means that the map will be different with each

game.  When the player starts out he can only see about one

percent of the map.  He has to produce pieces in his castle

and go out exploring in order to see more of the map.  Once a

player has discovered an area it will always be visible on

his map.  The map will always contain thirty castles that are

randomly placed.  Each player only starts with one castle and

he has to go out and find the rest.



2.  Castles and Playing Pieces

     The next element of the game is the castles and the

pieces they can produce.  Each castle has a selection of

three possible pieces to produce.  It can only produce one

piece at a time and it often takes multiple turns in order to

do so.  The three pieces that the castle can produce are

randomly selected at the beginning of each game.  The only

castle that has fixed pieces is the first castle each player

starts out with.  It can always produce a soldier, wolf and

pegasus.

     There are nine different pieces in the game: soldier,

archer, knight, wolf, pegasus, assassin, war beast, war

wizard, and phoenix.  Each piece has it's own weaknesses and

strengths.  The main attributes that distinguish between the

pieces are movement, turns to produce, cost, range, strength,

and special abilities.  A chart of the pieces and their

attributes is shown below.  The first column lists the

movements points for each piece.  The movement points  have

already been explained above in the section titled The Map.

The next column shows how many turns a player will have to

wait before a piece is produced.  The Cost column shows how

many gold pieces it will cost a player to produce a piece.

This will be explained further in the next section.  The

Range column displays how many squares away a piece can

attack.  The last column shows the relative strength of each

of the pieces.

     The special abilities of some of the pieces will be

explained here.  The pegasus and the phoenix can both fly.

This means that it only costs them two movement points to fly

around the map regardless of what type of terrain they are

flying over.  The assassin has the ability to be invisible.

The opponent can never see the assassin.  He can only

discover it by running into it.  The phoenix has the unique

ability to attack everything around it at the same time.  The

phoenix can not be killed while it is attacking.  This means

that the only way to kill a phoenix is for the other player

to attack it during his turn.  The archer, assassin, and war

wizard are the only pieces that can attack at a distance.


Table of Pieces:

Name    Movement  Turns to produce  Cost   Range  Strength

Soldier     14          1             4      1        3
Archer      12          2             4      4        3
Knight       8          2             4      1        6
Wolf        28          2             6      1        4
Pegasus     30          3             8      1        5
Assassin    18          7            20      2        5
War Beast   14          5            16      1        8
War Wizard  14          7            26      6        6
Phoenix     30          6            22      1        7



3.  Gold

     The third element of the game is the gold.  Each castle

gives a player a certain number of gold pieces in taxes each

turn.  The amount of the taxes for a castle depends upon what

that castle is capable of producing.

     When a piece is produced by a castle it costs the player

a certain amount of gold.  It also costs the player to

maintain the pieces he presently owns.  The amount of gold it

takes to maintain a piece is half of what it cost to produce

it.  For example: If it cost six gold pieces to produce a

wolf then it will cost a player (6 % 2 = 3) three gold pieces

each turn for upkeep.

     Another way that a player can use his gold is to

increase the defenses of the castles he owns.  The first

castle a player owns has a defense of seven.  The neutral

castles in the game have a defense rating ranging from two to

four.  The better the defense rating of the neutral castle,

the better the pieces the castle can produce.

     Every time a castle is successfully attacked, the

defense rating goes down.  To increase the defenses of a

castle use the (D)efense command.  The higher you want to

increase a castle's defense value the more it cost.  It costs

25 gold to increase a castle's defense from one to two.  It

costs 350 gold to increase a castle's defense from eight to

nine.



4.  Visibility

     The last element of the game is visibility.  A player

can only see an opponent's piece if it is within attacking

range of one of his own pieces.  This means that an opponents

piece can be just a few squares away and you may never see

it.  It is essential that a good network of archers or other

ranged pieces be set up so that you know where the opponents

pieces are.





                        Screen layout

     The screen is divided up into three windows.  The

windows are realview, overview, and text.  Their functions

are listed below.



1.  Realview window

     The realview window is located in the upper right hand

part of the screen.  This window shows a close up of the

pieces and the landscape.  It can be scrolled around the map

by using the arrow keys.



2.  Overview window

     The overview window is located in the upper left hand

part of the screen.  This window contains the entire map,

although only the part of the map that you have explored is

shown.  The brown rectangle shows what part of the map the

realview is displaying.  The four brown dots show where the

pointer is located.

     Every type of terrain on the map is represented by

square set of nine colored pixels.  If a pointer is on a type

of terrain and you don't know what it is then use the

information key (?).  It is very easy to recognize the types

of terrain on the overview window.

     Both players are assigned an active and passive color on

the overview window.  For player one the active color is a

light purple and the passive color is a dark purple.  For

player two the active color is a light orange and the passive

color is a dark orange.  Each of the pieces is also displayed

on the overview.  To display a piece, a pattern of the nine

pixels is highlighted in the players colors over the normal

terrain pattern.  The patterns for each of the pieces is

shown below.  If a piece is highlighted in your active color

then that piece has at least two movement points left.  If

the piece is highlighted in your passive color then that

piece has less than two movement points left and it can not

move.


       *               * *                  *
     * *    Soldier    *   *   Archer       * *    Knight
     * *               * *                  * *

                        * *               * * *
     * * *  Wolf      * * *    Pegasus      *      War Beast
     *   *            *   *                 *


     *   *            *   *                 * *
       *    Assassin  * * *    Phoenix    * * *    War Wizard
     *   *              *                 * *


The castles are also represented on the map.  The castles

take up the full 3 x 3 set of pixels.  Neutral castles are

gray and player castles are represented in the passive

colors.  If a castle is producing a piece, then the pattern

of that piece is highlighted in the active color over the top

of the castle.  This set up of the overview window allows a

player to determine at a glance where his pieces are,

whether or not they are capable of movement,  where his

castles are, and what each castle is producing.





3.  Text window

     The text window is located in the bottom half of the

screen.  It displays all of the written information for each

of the commands.  A command line will usually be displayed

along the bottom of the window.  The command line shows the

options that are available from the present command.  Any

letter that is capitalized and in parentheses can be used to

access a command.  For example, if the command line shows

"(E)xit" then a player can press E and exit out of whatever

command is active at the moment.



4.  The pointer

     The pointer is used in the game to show what square you

wish to work with.  It looks like a square frame in the

realview window and it shows up as four brown dots in the

overview window.  ALL THE COMMANDS IN THE GAME WORK WITH THE

SQUARE THAT THE POINTER IS ON.  If you want to move a piece

you have to move the pointer on the piece first and then

press M.  If you want to change a castles production then you

have to put the pointer on the castle first.  To move the

pointer you use the arrow keys.  Most numeric keypads have

the 5 in the middle surrounded by the rest of the numbers.

                    7 8 9

                    4 5 6

                    1 2 3

The direction a number moves the pointer is the direction it

is from the five.  For example you would use the 8 key to

move the pointer northward because the 8 key is north of the

5 key.  Unlike the arrow keys the numeric keypad allows you

to move diagonally.  You also use the numeric keypad to move

the pieces around in the same way.




                           Commands


1.  (H)elp

     To access the help screen press H.  The help screen

displays the names of all the commands and the letter needed

to access it.  The only thing it does not show is that you

can use the ESC key to exit Hostile Takeover and return to

DOS.



2.  (?) information

     To get information about any of the squares, put the

pointer on that square and press '?'.  This will display

information about the name of the terrain as well as the

movement cost for that terrain.  If the pointer is on a

castle, then the information command will display the name of

the owner of that castle and it's defense rating.  If the

pointer is on a piece, then information about that piece will

also be displayed.  The information command is also useful in

finding assassins.  If an assassin is within range of one of

your pieces and the pointer is on the square containing the

assassin, then the information command will tell you that an

assassin is there.



3.  (P)roduce

     The produce command is used to display what a castle can

produce and to start the castle producing a piece.  To use

this command make sure that the pointer is on a castle YOU

OWN and press 'p'.  The production screen displays a lot of

information about the piece and the castle.  On the far left

hand part of the screen is a picture of what the piece looks

like.  Next to the picture is the name of the piece.  If

that piece is being produced then "NTL" and a number will

appear below the name.  "NTL" stands for Number of Turns Left

and the number shows how many more turns it will take to

produce that piece.  The middle and right hand part of the

text window shows information about the piece and the castle.

The abbreviations and what they stand for are listed below.


MO = Movement   This shows how many movement points the
pieces has.

RA = Range  This shows how many squares away a piece can
   attack.

ST = Strength   This is a measure of how strong the piece is.
   Strength values will range from 3 to 8.

TU = Turns  This is how many turns it will take to produce
   the piece.

CO = Cost  This shows how much it will cost to produce the
   piece.

TA = Taxes  This displays how much taxes the castle will give
   the player each turn.

PG = Player Gold  This shows how much gold the player
   presently has.

UP = Upkeep  This shows how much it costs the player each
   turn to support his armies

DF = Defense  This shows the present defense of the castle.



The command bar is displayed along the bottom of the screen.

This is what it shows:  (N)ext (P)roduce (E)xit (S)top prod.

Press N to look at the next piece.  A castle has a selection

of three pieces that it can produce.  When it reaches the

last piece then it will start over again with the first

piece.  Press P to start producing the piece that is

presently displayed.  NTL and a number will appear below the

name of the piece.  Press E to exit from the production

command.  You MUST (E)xit from the production command before

you can move the pointer and continue with the game.  Press S

to stop all production at that castle.



4.  (M)ove

     The movement command allows a player to move his pieces

once they are produced.  To move a piece, place the pointer

on the piece you want to produce and press 'M'.  The text

window will display the number of movement points remaining

for that piece and the command bar will show "(E)xit

(A)ttack".  To move the piece use the numeric key pad.

     If you attempt to move a piece into a square containing

a castle, another piece, or high mountains, then an error

message will be displayed.  If an error message is displayed

and it looks like you should be able to move into a square,

then you should use the information key to check for an

assassin.  If you run out of movement then you will

automatically exit from the movement command.  If you wish to

exit from the movement command before you have used up all

the movement of a piece then press 'E'.

     You can also attack another piece while in the movement

command.  Make sure the piece you wish to attack is within

range of your piece and press "A" for attack.  This will put

you into the attack menu.  See the attack command in this

document for more information.  Any movement points that are

left at the end of your turn can NOT be carried over to the

next turn.



5.  (A)ttack

     The attack command allows one piece to attack another

piece.  To attack with a piece, put the pointer on the piece

you wish to attack with and press 'A'.  If you are attacking

with a range one piece then the screen will display:

     Direction

     Movement XX

     (E)xit

The XX stands for the number of movement points the piece has

left.  It takes two movement points to attack with a range

one piece.  Once you have pressed 'A', then use the numeric

key pad to show which direction you want the piece to attack.

If you are successful then the enemy piece will disappear.

If you loose, then your piece will disappear.  If you attack

a castle and win, then two flags in your color will be

displayed with your castle.

     If your piece has a range greater than one and you are

attacking a piece that is farther than one square away then

only the enemy piece has a chance of getting hit.  If your

piece has a range greater than one but it is only attacking

one square away, then the rules are the same as a range one

piece.  If a ranged piece is attacking a castle and it wins,

then the defense of that castle is decreased by one.  This

means that you can set up a siege on the higher defense

castles to bring their defenses down.  A ranged piece can

only take over a castle if it is one square away.  To attack

with a ranged piece, put the pointer on the piece you want to

attack with and press A.  The screen will display:

     Space bar to attack

     Movement XX   Range Y

     (E)xit

The XX stands for the amount of movement the piece has left

and the Y stands for the range of the piece.  It takes three

movement points instead of two to attack with a ranged piece.

Once you have pressed 'A', move the pointer to the piece you

wish to attack and press the space bar.  If you forget to

move the pointer and press the space bar right away, then

that is considered an attack on your own piece and your

ranged piece will DIE.  If you are successful with your

attack then the enemy piece will die.

     If you are not successful with your first attack and you

still have at least three movement left, then you will be

asked if you want to attack the enemy piece again.  This will

continue until your piece runs out of movement, or you

indicate that you do not want to attack the piece again, or

the piece your are attacking dies.

     The most unusual of all the pieces to attack with is the

phoenix.  When the phoenix attacks, it attacks everything

around it regardless of whether or not it belongs to you or

your opponent.  The phoenix will not die while it is

attacking.  The ONLY way to kill a phoenix is for your

opponent to attack it during his turn.  To attack with a

phoenix just press 'A'.  It takes three movement points to

attack with a phoenix.

     When two pieces with different strengths attack each

other, the piece with the higher strength does not always

win.  Here is how the winner is determined.  The first thing

the computer does is create two random numbers.  The first

random number is for the defender and the second random

number is for the attacker.  If the random number rolled is

less than or equal to the strength of the piece then it is

considered a win for that piece.  If the random number is

greater than the strength of the piece then it is considered

a loss for that piece.  If a random number is created for the

attacker and defender and both pieces have a lose then that

round is cancelled.  If both pieces have a win then the round

is also cancelled.  Only if one piece wins and one piece

looses is the round counted.  The piece that wins the best

two out of three rounds wins.

     Suppose a pegasus of strength 5 is attacking a wolf of

strength 4 and the computer generates a 6 for the attacker

and a 9 for the defender.  The 6 is compared with the 5 and

pegasus has a loss.  The 9 is compared with the 4 and the

wolf also has a loss.  Since both players lost the round is

cancelled and the computer generates another set of numbers.

The pegasus gets a 2 and the wolf gets a 4.  The 2 is

compared with the 5 and the pegasus has a win.  The 4 is

compared with the 4 and the wolf also has a win.  Since both

players won, the round is cancelled and the computer again

generates another set of numbers.  The pegasus gets an 8 and

the wolf gets a 1.  The pegasus looses and the wolf wins.

Since there is a difference between the two pieces this round

counts.  The computer then generates a 6 for the pegasus and

a 7 for the wolf.  The pegasus wins and the wolf looses.

Since this round also counts the pegasus and the wolf both

have one win and one loss.  The computer now generates a 2

for the pegasus and a 5 for the wolf.  The pegasus has now

won two out of three and is considered the winner.




6.  (D)efense

     The defense command allows a player to increase the

defenses of his castles.  To use the defense command, put the

pointer on a castle you own and press 'D'.  The screen will

look like this:



     Castle Defense  x     Cost  yy

     Player Gold  zzz

     Increase castle defense (y/n)?



The 'x' stands for the present castle defense value.  The

'yy' stands for how much it will cost to increase the defense

of the castle to the next higher value.  The 'zzz' stands for

how much gold the player has.  To increase the defense, press

'y'.  If you do not have enough gold, an error message will

be displayed.  The defense command will only raise the

defense of a city by one.  If you want to raise the defense

by more than one then you will have to use the defense

command multiple times.



7.  (S)ave

     The save command will save a game that is presently

being played.  To save the game press 's'.  You will be asked

if you are sure you wish to save the game.  To continue press

'y'.  You will then be asked to provide the name of the file

to save it under.  The name can only be eight characters long

with a three character extension.  It is not necessary that

you end the name with '.gam' but it is recommended.  Once you

have said that you wish to save the game you MUST enter a

name for it to be saved under.  Do NOT hit ESC or try to exit

from this screen.  If you hit ESC it will cause the entire

screen to scroll.




8.  (L)oad

     The load command is used to restore a game that was

previously saved.  To load a game press 'l'.  You will then

be asked if you are sure that you wish to load an old game.

If you want to continue, then press 'y'.  You will then be

asked to provide the name of the file with the saved game.

If the name can not be found in the present directory, then

an error message will be displayed and the present game will

continue.  Once you have said that you wish to load a game

you MUST enter the name of a game.  If you want to cancel the

command just enter a dummy name.  DO NOT hit ESC because it

will cause the screen to scroll.




9.  (C)enter

     The center command will center the realview window

around the pointer.  To center the window, press 'c'.  This

command is especially useful on slower computers.  It is a

lot faster to move the pointer and then center the realview

window than it is to move the realview window with the arrow

keys.  The realview window is automatically centered around

the pointer when you (M)ove a piece or (A)ttack with a piece.




10. (R)eport

     The report command provides different information about

both players.  This allows you to see how well your opponent

is doing.  The abbreviations are explained below.



Pg = Player gold  This shows how much gold the player
   presently owns.

Tx = Taxes  This shows how much taxes the player receives
   each turn.

Up = Upkeep  This shows how much it costs a player to
   maintain his armies.

Ma = Map  This shows how much percent of the map a player has
   discovered.

#A = Number of Armies

#C = Number of Cities



11.  End (T)urn

     The end turn command will allow a player to end his

turn.  If a player is playing against the computer then the

message 'The computer is taking it's turn' will be displayed.

After the computer has finished, the player's map will be

redrawn and his next turn will begin.  In the beginning of a

game the computer's turn will be so short that the message

will barely blink on the screen.

     If two players are playing against each other then only

one person should be able to see the screen at a time.  When

a player finishes his turn the screen will blank.  When the

next player is ready to play then he can press 'c' and start

his turn.




12. (G)ive up

     The give up command will allow a player to surrender the

game.  The player will be asked if he is sure he want to give

up.  If the player answers yes then he will be asked again if

he is really sure he wants to give up.  If the player really

wants to give up then a message will be displayed proclaiming

the winner.  Player one's map will then be displayed.  The

realview screen can be scrolled using the arrow keys but none

of the other keys will work.  To continue the end game

sequence press 'c'.  Player two's map will then be displayed.

After 'c' is pressed again then the full map will be

displayed.  When 'c' is pressed again then the ending credits

are shown.  Press any key from here to exit to DOS.




13.  ESC

     The ESC key will exit a player to DOS.  It should only

be used when no other commands are active.  DO NOT hit ESC

while saving or loading a game.  Once a player presses the

ESC key from the main menu, he will then be asked if he wants

to exit to DOS.  To exit to DOS press 'y'.




                    Tips, Hints, Comments


1.   The ONLY thing you can do when the game first starts is

     to select a piece to produce and end your turn.  If the

     piece you select takes more than one turn to produce

     then you may need to end your turn one or two times

     before you have a piece to work with.  You can not do

     any exploration or find any other castles until you

     produce your first piece.



2.   The more castles you can get at the beginning of the

     game, the faster you win.  In order to do this you need

     to develop a search pattern that will let you discover a

     large area of the map very quickly.



3.   The only advantage that the computer has is that it

     knows where almost everything is.  This includes all the

     castles and all the pieces except the assassin.  Aside

     from this the computer does not cheat.  It has to move

     the same way you do and attack with the same chances

     that you have.



4.   A strength five pegasus will occasionally loose to a

     defense two city.  It is very rare that an archer will

     kill a war beast but it can happen.



5.   Novice level is very easy.  Good level has a more

     aggressive search pattern and the computer starts out

     with two cities.  Expert level has a very aggressive

     search pattern and the computer starts off with three

     cities.



6.   Use your archers to find out where the enemy pieces are

     and then use your heavy pieces to take them out.  Since

     a successful attack by a ranged creature will decrease a

     castle's defense by one, it is often useful to use

     several archers to mount a siege on high defense

     castles.



7.   If you try to load a game and then you change your mind

     when it asks you for a file name, DO NOT hit the ESC

     key.  This will cause the screen to scroll.  The only

     time you need to use the ESC key is when you want to

     exit to DOS from the main menu.



8.   Don't forget the NumLock key MUST BE ON for you to move

     the pointer.  If NumLock is off then all the numeric

     keys will do is move the realview window.





9.   All the messages in the game will be displayed until a

     key is press.  If you hit the key for a command and the

     command doesn't respond until the second time you press

     the key, you were probably just clearing a message

     screen.



10.  The report command is very useful for seeing how strong

     your opponent is.  Once you get used to the cost of

     things, you can start to tell how good your opponents

     pieces are and when he has just produced a major piece.

     The upkeep and number of castles is an excellent way to

     compare your present strength and growth potential.



11.  To print this document type PRINT at the dos prompt.



12.  To speed up the pointer, type  MODE CON:RATE=29 DELAY=1

     at the DOS prompt before playing the game or add it to

     your autoexec.bat.  What this command does is decrease

     the delay between when a key is first pressed, and when

     it starts repeating itself.  It also speeds up how fast

     the key repeats itself.  On slower 8 Mhz systems this

     may overload the buffer because the graphics can't keep

     up and crash the game.



13.  The symbols for the pieces in the overview window may be

     confusing at first but it doesn't take long to start

     recognizing them.  If your not sure what piece a symbol

     represents then put the pointer on the symbol and use

     the (?) information key.



15.  This game does not like to run on a network and I have

     also had a few reports of it not working in a windows

     environment.

                        START UP DEMO



     This is a demo of what a possible game would be like.  I

will tell you all the keys needed to start the game and

capture a castle.  First put the HOSTILE TAKEOVER disk in the

drive and type HOSTILE at the prompt.  When the screen

displays HOSTILE TAKEOVER in red, press any key to continue.

This demo assumes you are playing against the computer player

so press (1) when you are asked if you want to play against

the computer or another person.  Since you are just starting

out, this demo will select the novice level.  Press (1) when

you are asked what skill level you wish to play.  The

computer will then think for a little bit and then part of

the map will be displayed on the screen.  The first thing to

do is to start your first and only castle producing a piece.

The game starts out with the pointer on the castle.  To get

into the castle's production menu press (P).  You can look at

the pieces the castle can produce by pressing (N) for next.

For now, start out by producing the soldier.  Make sure the

soldier is being displayed on the production screen and press

(P) for produce.  Now that you have selected what you want

your castle to produce, press (E) to exit.  This is all you

can do on your first turn so press (T) to end your turn.  The

screen will blink and then your map will be displayed again.

At the start of a game, the computer player's turn is so

short it almost looks like it hasn't taken it's turn at all.

Since this is your second turn, and it only takes one turn to

produce a soldier, there should be a soldier one square north

of your starting castle.  The pointer starts out on the

castle so use the numeric key pad to move it one square

north.  Now that the pointer is on the soldier press (M) to

move it.  Move the soldier around the map by using the

numeric key pad.  When it runs out of movement press (E) to

exit the movement menu.  Continue producing more soldiers and

exploring the area until you find another castle.  This demo

assumes the second castle is directly north of a soldier and

the soldier has more than two movement points left.  Make

sure the pointer is on the soldier and press (A) to attack

the castle.  You will be asked which direction to attack so

press (8) to attack northward.  If you are successful, the

castle will display your flag.  If not, then your soldier

dies.  If you are successful then move the pointer northward

and set the production (P) for your new castle.  If the

soldier has any movement left then move him around to explore

more territory.  Now that you have two castles, continue to

explore the territory and find more castles and your

opponent.  Good luck.





                   REGISTRATION INFORMATION


     I have just graduated from the University of Evansville

as an Electrical Engineer.  About half way through college I

decided that I liked software a lot more than hardware.  All

of the graduating engineers have to do a senior project.

Since I liked software and I want to make a career of gaming,

I decided to create a game for my senior project.  Hostile

Takeover has taken me about a year to create and it is

composed of over 14,000 lines of code.  I would like to spend

the rest of my life creating exciting, high quality games and

I hope you will help my dream come true by registering with

me.  The registration fee for Hostile Takeover 1 is $10.  I

have also created Hostile Takeover 2.  It has many new and

exciting features including:



     - Neutral castles that fight back.

     - New pieces with new special abilities.

     - A map four times as big as the present one.

     - A MUCH more intelligent computer player.

     - A new and MUCH BETTER system of attack and defense.

     - A Destination command where a piece will automatically
       move to the destination you specify.

     - Better graphics.

     - Hidden specials in the game that you have to find .


When I created Hostile Takeover 1, I mostly played it with my

friends, so the game naturally evolved so it plays best

between two people.  Since the computer takes such a short

time for its turn, I was able to add a lot of new things in

HT2 that would have drawn out the game too long between two

human opponents.  As a result, HT2 plays best between a human

and a computer.  I have still had some exceptional games with

my friends but it takes a lot longer to finish them.  If you

liked HT1 I know you will like HT2.  When I finished HT2 I

could not believe how well it turned out.  HT1 is good but

HT2 is awesome.  The registration fee for HT2 is $15.  If you

register both HT1 and HT2 together then it is only $20 for

both.




    If you liked this game and want to get Hostile Takeover 2

please send $20 to



     Michael Taggart

     606 Roma Ave

     Jeffersonville, IN 47130  USA



Please include your name, address, telephone number, what

size disk you need (5 1/4 or 3 1/2), and where you got this

game.  If you liked HT1 but you do not want HT2 I would

appreciate it if you would still register HT1 and the fee is

only $10.  If you are registering from a foreign country

please include an extra $3 for shipping and handling.  If you

live in Canada there is no extra charge.  I would also

appreciate any comments about Hostile Takeover and any ideas

you would like to see implemented in Hostile Takeover 3.  If

you would like to play test HT3, please tell me that too.  In

the future I would like to create a role playing game but the

amount of time needed to create good graphics and a good plot

line is tremendous.  If you would be interested in helping

create a game and you have skills in art, writing, music, or

programming please let me know.  I now want to talk about

something that is totally different than Hostile Takeover and

has nothing to do with it.  I am starting my own business and

I am looking for people that are self motivated and would be

willing to work about 5 to 15 hours a week on something that

has a lot of growth potential.  If your interested write me a

letter even if you don't want to register HT.

     To print this document just type PRINT at the DOS

prompt.  If this does not work then use the DOS EDIT or any

other text editor and it will have a print option in there.

     If your registering with me don't forget to include what

disk size you need and where you got this game from.

     Thank you for playing Hostile Takeover and I hope you

enjoyed it.