Mission 3

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Text File | 1995-04-16 | 36KB | 885 lines

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * v0.9 * * ©1992-95 by Wisisoft a strategic game of war by Alois Felber Game Manual ----------- Table of Contents: ------------------ 1. License terms.....................................................2 2. System requirements...............................................2 3. What's it all about?..............................................3 4. Installing and starting the program...............................3 5. Starting a new game...............................................4 6. Basic principles of turns and moves...............................4 7. About cities and production.......................................5 8. The game window...................................................6 9. Moving the units..................................................6 10. Fighting and conquering.......................................... 8 11. About the info menu...............................................9 12. Saving and restoring the game....................................10 13. About the different units........................................11 14. The datalink mode................................................11 15. The play-by-phone mode...........................................13 16. Loading a different scenario.....................................13 17. The settings.....................................................13 18. The WORLD EDITOR.................................................14 19. Bugs and stuff...................................................15 20. Other Wisisoft programs..........................................15 -1- 1. License terms ------------- WORLD CONQUEST is public domain software. Parts of this package are: - CONQUEST - CONQUEST.PRG (the game) - CONQU_01.RSC (monochrome resource file) - CONQU_04.RSC (color resource file) - CONQU_01.GRF (monochrome graphics) - CONQU_04.GRF (4bit graphics) - CONQU_08.GRF (8bit graphics) - CONQUEST.INT (an ASCII info file) - DEFAULT.SCN (the default scenario file) - WISISOFT.GRF (some graphics) - TITEL.GRF (some graphics) - DOCS\ENGLISH - WC_ENGL.TXT (English game manual) - WHATSNEW.TXT (English update info) - BUG_FORM.TXT (Bugreport form) - ORDER.TXT (Update Order form) - READ_ME.TXT (some general notes about how to deal with the program) - DOCS\GERMAN - WC_GERM.TXT (German game manual) - BUGMELD.TXT - BESTELL.TXT - DOCS\FRENCH - WC_FREN.TXT (French game manual) - NOUVEAU.TXT - RAPPORT.TXT - COMMANDE.TXT - LISEZMOI.TXT As long as these files remain together and unaltered within the original folder structure they can unrestrictably be copied and handed on. As this is no limited or demo version playing the game is not limited either. Commercial distribution without the consent of the author is not permitted. Please note that all versions of WORLD CONQUEST have to be considered as Beta Release. So there can't be granted any warranty of working properly. The author undertakes no responsibility for physical and mental damages caused by using this program. 2. System requirements ------------------- WORLD CONQUEST will run on all TOS-compatible ATARI computers, working with every TOS version available by December 1993. However... faster computers make the game work better. It has been written and is being tested on a 33MHz TT. It does run with MultiTOS. Whether or not it does comply with Mag!C or Geneva however I don't know at the present time. -2- Basic hardware requirements: - RAM: at least 1 MB - some additional features need more. - Graphic mode: graphic modes that use 1 up to 8 bitplanes (monochrome, ST-med, 16- or 256-color mode) - floppy/hard disk: at least 720 KB - when playing the game from floppy disk it is necessary to use a second disk to save the games. Requirements for datalink mode: - Cable to connect two computers directly using the serial interface Requirements for modem mode: - modem - BPS rate: at least 14400 BPS - Protocol: V32(bis)/V42(bis) 3. What's it all about ------------------- WORLD CONQUEST is a strategic game of war. The aim of every player is, as the name suggests, to conquer the world. This means producing military units, spreading his or her terretory, seeking to destroy the enemies. 4. Installing and starting the program ----------------------------------- Simply copy the folder "CONQUEST" with its contents to a floppy disk or the hard disk. To start the program just doubleclick on CONQUEST.PRG. After being loaded WORLD CONQUEST will display a tiny opening sequence and play a nerve straining tune. Just press any key to abort this and wait for some further data to be loaded. As an alternative the program can be forced to skip the intro as a whole by holding down the left mousbutton while the game is being loaded. Using monochrome graphics or ST-med resolution the intro will be skipped automatically. As WORLD CONQUEST works as a normal GEM application a desktop background and a pulldown-menu will be displayed. -3- 5. Starting a new game ------------------- To start a new game from the scratch, click on >Start a New Game< in the >Game< Menu. Having done so you get to another menu using which you can adjust the game-mode: - SINGLE COMPUTER - DIRECT DATALINK - DATALINK BY MODEM If you have only one computer click on >SINGLE COMPUTER<. If you have connected two Computers using a RS 232 wire you have to choose >DIRECT DATALINK<. If you want to play by phone against your friend living at the other end of town, or whereever, click on >DATALINK BY MODEM<. The program will jump to another menu, where you can activate the players' colors and type in their names. Click on the coloured bars to activate a specific color. The text on the bar will switch from >INACTIVE< to >HUMAN< to >COMPUTER< and back to >INACTIVE<. >INACTIVE< means: this color is not going to join the game. >HUMAN< means: some human player wants to play with this color. >COMPUTER< means: a computer controlled opponent is playing with this color. When you've finished selecting colors and typing in names, click on [ OK ]. The program will now init the game, which means distribute all cities, airfields, harbours and ressource sites over the map at random. (According to the default or with WORLD EDITOR edited and loaded scenario.) After that each player will be assigned a city to start the campaign from, and he or she must decide what weapon should be produced there. It's mostly reasonable to start with a tank, if you're on a big land mass. However, if you've got to start on an island or just a small continent it is often vital to build a transport ship first. (see part 5 for more details.) Before taking that decision you will be shown the location of your starting city on the overview map. 6. Basic principles of turns and moves ----------------------------------- Once the game is on, the cities start to produce military units. When the first of a player's units is finished, the game window will center on the section of the world map in which it can be found and a white frame will be drawn around it. In the following the unit having the white frame will be referred to as the "current unit". -4- After this the program will wait for a command to be given to that unit by the player who owns it. This can be done either by using the >Move< menu or by appointing a target square to the unit within the game window to move to (see part 9 for how this is done.) Been given a target, the unit will then start to move to it and when all of it's movement points for this turn are used up, the program will go on to the next unit or player. The program will only stop in it's work when units reach their target squares or if they have just been produced. The units' moves are carried out in the order of their production. The order of the players remains the same during the whole game. It is chosen at random at the start of the game. Ressource sites will produce each turn one unit of either oil, rubber or metal. Cities go on producing military units while there is enough raw material left in the stocks. 7. About cities and production --------------------------- Cities will only be able to carry on producing if there is at least one unit of each kind of raw material (oil, rubber, metal) left in a player's stocks. At the beginning of the game the players have 20 units of each (in the default scenario - others can differ). To be able to carry on the production and supplying further cities with raw material the players must conquer ressource sites. Therefore the players must first build military units that don't take too long to produce and are themselves able to conquer new ressource sites. Capable of conquering anything are only land forces (Infantry, Tank, Artillery, Anti Aircraft). Whereas Artillery and Anti Aircraft units are not very good at it. Whenever a player's unit is capturing a new city he will be asked to decide what kind of unit should be produced there. A city's production can always be changed again later by clicking on it using the right mousebutton. In the >City Production< menu the tile of the unit that currently is being produced is set into a white frame. Also displayed is how many turns it would still take to finish it. Clicking on an other unit's tile you can now change the production. A city's production may also be stopped by clicking on >Stop Production<. If a player changes a city's production before a unit has been finished, the half built thing will be thrown away. So you can't start to produce one thing, change production and continue again at the point you interrupted the first production, but either finish a weapon or lose the raw material spent on a half finished one. The cities production can also be changed by using >Overview Map< or >City List< in the >Info< menu. -5- 8. The game window --------------- The game window normally displays a section of the game board (or world map) in which the current unit can be found. There are only two different terrain types: land (green) and sea (blue). Coastal squares holding both colors are considered to be sea squares. You can scroll around the map by using either the number pad keys or the cursor control keys or the window features. Pressing [5] on the number pad or using >Center Unit< in the >Info< menu will center the window again above the current unit. You can enlarge and reduce the window size using the usual GEM method. However as the program gets quit slow using large windows it is not advisable to make the window too big. The game board size is 148*107 squares. 9. Moving the units ---------------- When a unit is ready to accept a command it is set into a white frame. It's owner as well as it's kind are stated in the infobar of the game window. You can now force this unit to move to an adjacent square by simply clicking on the square using the left mousebutton or by using the number pad or arrow keys while holding down [Shift]. This can be repeated as long as the unit has movement points left. To command the unit to move to a more distant target square, click on the unit using the left mousebutton and keep holding it down, while moving to the target. A rubber band will be shown, marking the line between the two squares. Having arrived at the target square release the mousebutton. The unit will then immediately start to move. Using the "rubber band method" you cannot only command the white framed unit, but all units which are in the currently displayed section of the map. Because of that it is not possible to move to an adjanct square by simply clicking on it when there are already some other units. Doubleclicking on any unit within the map section displayed will make it become the current unit. The unit that held the white frame before that will make it's move later in the turn (it won't lose a turn). Some more special commands can be found in the >Move< menu: - WAKE UNIT - SLEEP - NEXT UNIT - MOVE LATER - USE WEAPONS - DETECT UNITS - SCRAP UNIT - CLEAR ORDERS - SURRENDER -6- >WAKE UNIT< wakes units that are asleep. Simply click on the sleeping units to wake them up. >SLEEP< will cause the current unit to sleep. Being asleep, units won't get whiteframed any more and the program won't stop for you to give them orders. They also won't of course execute any orders any more. This feature can be useful when certain units don't need to move for a while. As for example Land units that are embarked on transport ships or fighters on carriers. There might also be some stranded units, that have been left on a small island and cannot be embarked again. In addition sleeping units that have suffered damage in battle gain 1 point of strength for each turn they spend asleep in a city until they have reached their initial strength again. >NEXT UNIT< terminates a unit's move for a turn. It is used whenever a unit already is, where it should be, but still has movement points left. >MOVE LATER< will cause the program to override the current unit in the order of command and to get back to it later in the turn. Because units will take commands normally in order of their production, this option is useful to maintain more complicated actions such as embarking or disembarking or a massed attack with different units. >USE WEAPONS< has to be used when some units' special weapons are to be fired. (see part 10 for more details.) Since v0.8c >Use Weapons< has been replaced by some more specific commands: - >Unload Ship< (activates embarked units on transport ships) - >Launch Plane< (activates fighters on carriers) - >Drop Troops< (activates infantry units carried by bombers) - >Fire Guns< (fires cannons of battleships and artillery) - >Launch SAM< (anti aircraft units) - >Release Bomb< (Bomber drops a bomb) >DETECT UNITS< will make the current unit use it's sonar (if it's a ship) or radar (if it's an anti aircraft unit). If there are units within 8 squares that have been hidden from the players view, they can be revealed to him using this feature. However anti aircraft units can only detect planes and ships can only detect other ships. >DETECT UNITS< ist the only mean to find enemy submarines. >SCRAP UNIT< will scrap the current unit and put half of the ressources needed to produce a weapon of that kind back into the stocks. >CLEAR ORDERS< will undo all movement commands that are not executed. >SURRENDER< makes the current player surrender. -7- 10.Fighting and conquering ----------------------- There are three basicly different types of possible fighting actions: 1. conquering cities, installations and ressource sites 2. directly attacking enemy units 3. using some units' special weapons 1. In Order to conquer cities, installations (airfields, harbours) or resource sites, you simply have to command your units to go there. Only land forces are able to conquer anything (Infantry, Tank, Artillery, Anti Aircraft). Chances are best not to get destroyed when trying to capture something if Infantry units are used. Tanks are quit good as well. But Artillery and Anti Aircraft units are most likely to get crushed at the attempt. 2. A direct attack on enemy units is working the same way. However, land forces cannot attack navy units if they are on sea. They can though, when the ships are in a harbour or city. The same is true for ships of course. Planes can attack everything and be attacked by everything. In every battle the damage that the units suffer is subtracted from their strength. When a unit's strength is used up, it is destroyed. Units on adjacent squares to the one that is being attacked support depending on to whom they belong either the attackers or the defenders. Combat values are multiplied with the number of units involved. 3. Firing the special weapons is done by using >Use Weapon< in the >Game< menu. The following units are equiped with special weapons: - Artillery (Cannons to shoot at land and sea units) - Anti Aircraft (SAMs or whatever to launch at planes) - Battleship (Guns to shoot at land and sea units) - Bomber (Bombs to release on every ground target) The guns of the artillery and battleship units have a range of 6 squares. After activating >use weapon< the mousepointer is changed into some crosswires. To appoint a target square to shoot at, simply move the mouse onto it and press the left mousebutton. Anti aircraft units are capable of shooting at airplanes within a circle of 5 squares. The process of appointing a target is the same as stated above. Bombers will release one of their two bombs on the square on which they are located. That one as well as all adjacent squares are affected. This means that all ground units and sites located in that squares will suffer damage. If cities, installations or ressource sites have been bombarded, they won't be totally destroyed, but just turned "neutral" again. So whoever is the first to reach them with land units, can again conquer and take profit of them. -8- 11.About the Info menu ------------------- Using the >Info< menu you can activate the following windows with information on a particular topic: -UNIT INFO -GENERAL INFO -OVERVIEW MAP -VIEW STOCKS -HALL OF FAME >Unit Info< will display information about the current unit, such as type, movement points left, strength, whether they are embarked, asleep or carrying other units. The >Unit Info< window can also be activated directly by moving the mousepointer on a particular unit and pressing the right mousebutton. If there is more than one unit on a square you can switch their infopages by using the right mousebutton. >General Info< will provide you with information about the current game's status. It will display all players amount of cities, installations, ressource sites, and army strength. Take look at >General Info< to learn who's winning. The players' current scores are also displayed. They result from the player's property and battle victories. >Overview Map< will display, well... the overview map. Plotted on it are the current players units (white dots). Enemy units won't be displayed. Using >Overview Map< you can also control what kind of units are under construction in all your cities. The kind of unit under construction in the current city will be displayed in the infobar of the info window. On the map. The current city's location will be shown an XOR-drawn circle on the map. You can switch through the cities by pressing the right mousebutton. To change a city's production move the mousepointer inside the circle and press the left mousebutton. >View Stocks< takes a look at your stocks of raw materials, how much is being produced each turn and how many cities try to produce weapons. It's important to know if production is running in more cities than can be supplied with raw material, as in the unsupplied cities the production will be interrupted. >Hall of Fame< will display the highscore list of the currently active scenario. The information window can always be closed by pressing the [RETURN] key or clicking on the close symbol. -9- The further options of the >Info< menu: - CITY LIST - SLEEPING UNITS - CENTER UNIT - CURRENT UNIT - WEAPON RANGE - MOVEMENT RANGE - CHAT >City List< displays a list of a player's cities, their location, what they are producing and how long it still takes them to finish it. Clicking on an entry will make the program branch to the >City Production< menu. >Sleeping Units< displays a list of a player's sleeping units, their location and how much damaged they are (0 means, they are OK). Clicking on an entry will wake up the unit concerned and make it become the current unit. >Center Unit< centers the current unit within the game window. >Current Unit< works like >Center Unit< if the current unit is presently not within the game window and makes it blink until the mousebutton is pressed. >Weapon Range< marks all squares that can be shot from the current unit's location. >Movement Range< marks all squares that can be reached by the current unit within the current turn. >Chat< is only available in the datalink mode and is used to communicate with the player using the remote computer. 12.Saving and restoring the game ----------------------------- Just click on the options in the >Game< menu and proceed as you would in every other GEM aplication. There should really be no problem in doing that. However the loading of a saved >Datalink< game can be tricky. Please read part 14, which refers to that problem. Using >Auto Save< in the >Settings< menu you can activate a feature which saves off the game automatically every amount off turns you define. Please note, that there can be only one game in memory at the time. -10- 13. About the different units ------------------------- Unit: Strength: Prod.time: Speed: sight rng: Specials: [pts] [trns] [sqrs/trn] [sqrs] ------------------------------------------------------------------ Infantry 1 2 2 2 Tank 2 4 4 2 Artillery 2 5 3 3 cannon (range 6) Transport 2 5 6 5 transports land units Destroyer 4 6 9 6 Submarine 3 6 8 4 "invisible" Battleship 10 10 8 5 guns (range 6) Carrier 8 12 8 6 transports fighters Anti Aircraft 2 5 3 4 SAMs (range 5) Fighter 4 6 15 10 Bomber 6 10 10 10 carries 2 bombs These values can still differ from one version to the other. Planes are restricted in their movement by the measure of their fuel tank. Fighters can be filled up with fuel for moving 20 squares, bombers for 30. If a plane runs out of fuel it will crash. Fuel is available in cities and airfields, as well as on carriers. Only fighters can land on carriers, as the bombers are too big. To land on a carrier, simply move the fighter to it. Embarking land units on transport ships is somewhat more complicated. Move the land units (Infantry, Tank, Artillery, Anti aircraft) into a city or harbour where there is already a transport waiting, or move a transport into a city or harbour where land units are waiting. Apart from loading bombs, bombers can also be used as transport planes for infantry units, which allows you to use them as airborne troops. Infantry units can mount a plane in cities as well as on airfields. However you can only put three of them in one bomber. 14. The datalink mode ----------------- 14.1 Setting the RS 232 interface parameters --------------------------------------- Click on >RS 232< in the >Settings< menu to adjust the data transfer rate and the type of handshake. All other parameters are set by WORLD CONQUEST automatically. Be sure having set on both computers the same data transfer rate and handshake type before trying to establish a connection. If you are using programs such as "FastSerial" that enable higher transfer rates than 19200 BPS, forget about the built in >RS 232< settings feature and use the FastSerial-CPX to set the interface before establishing a datalink. Please note that WORLD CONQUEST always uses the COM-port that is defined by the Serial-Interface- CPX. -11- 14.2 Establishing a datalink ----------------------- To play a datalink game, you have to connect two computers using an RS 232 wire. On both computers: Start the program, click on >New Game< in the >Game< menu and click on >DIRECT DATALINK< in the >Game Mode< menu. The computer on which you do this first will then display the message: "send handshake" and start to count back from 1000 to 0. The time you click on >DIRECT DATALINK< on the other computer both should display the message: "Connected at XXXX bps". In case they don't react that way, something is wrong and you have to try it again. Especially if both computers are counting down, the connection attempt has failed. There are still several problems left that cause errors in the connection attempt. It might not be so easy to establish a working connection. But try several times. It will work sooner or later. 14.3 Selecting players and colors ---------------------------- When a datalink has successfully been established, you have to press a key on each computer to get into the >Player Select< menu. There everything works the same way as it did in the single-computer-mode. Remember to press the >OK< button only when both of you have made all settings correctly. When the >OK< button is selected on the first computer, the >Player Select< menu will be quit on both computers and the game will start. 14.4 The datalink game ----------------- The game works basicly much the same as in the single-computer mode. However, when it's not your turn, the mousepointer will change into the datalink symbol and you won't be able to manipulate the program. 14.5 Saving and restoring -------------------- The game will be saved on both computers. Whenever the active player saves the game, the program will tell the other computer to do the same. To restore a datlink game simply click on >Restore Game< in the >Game< menu and do as in the single-computer-mode. After having loaded the data the program will make an attempt for a datalink. If the datalink won't work, the program replaces the remote player by an computer controlled enemy. -12- 15. The play-by-phone mode ---------------------- Use >DATALINK BY MODEM< instead of >DIRECT DATALINK<. You then will have to define the command string according to what you want to do. You can choose between: - DIAL REMOTE - ANSWER ON CALL - WAIT FOR CALL If you want to call the other player, type in his or her phone number and click on >DIAL REMOTE<. If the other player is already ringing, click on >ANSWER ON CALL<. By clicking on >WAIT FOR CALL< you have also the opportunity of setting your modem to the auto answer mode. You could of course define a dial command in the slot meant for the answer command, but don't! It's important to use the right command strings in the slots meant for them, as the one who dials will become the "mastercomputer". So if you answer for an example using the >DIAL REMOTE< button having defined an answer command in the dial slot, the datalink won't work. Please mind to save the game off every turn, when playing WORLD CONQUEST by modem, as if you're unlucky the data transfer routines can be jammed, especially if your modem is not equiped with the ability to use a V42 protocol. 16. Loading a different scenario ---------------------------- Click on >Load Scenario< in the >Game< menu to replace the default scenario by a previously edited one. To create and edit scenarios use the program WORLD EDITOR, that can be ordered along with the update of the main program. If you want to start a datalink game using a different scenario, be sure, that there is the same scenario in use on both computers. 17. The Settings ------------ Using the >Settings< menu you can toggle some general parameters of the program: >RS 232< configures the RS 232 interface. >Unit Colors< can be used to alter the RGB values of the different players' colors. >Font Size< enables the user to choose the size of text display within the windows. The program does only use the standard ATARI system font. Possible size: 8,9,10,16,18,20. Please note that the range of font sizes you can use depend on the resolution of your display. -13- >B/W screen< is used to adjust RGB values of all used colors to a reasonable contrast if the game is run on a greyscale monitor or black-and-white tv set. >Auto Save< toggles the >Auto Save< feature on and off. When activating the button >Use Fileselector< in the >Auto Save< panel, a fileselector will show up before every saving attempt. >Sound< toggles the spectacular sound effects on and off. >Map Buffer< switches the extended map buffer option on and off. Activating the extended map buffer option speeds up the graphic display especially when using higher graphic resolutions. To use it the program needs additional RAM: - 300 Kb (monochrome) - 600 Kb (ST med) - 1.2 Mb (all 16-color modes) - 2.4 Mb (all 256-color modes) When using ST low resolution the gain of speed is not very dramatic, so don't worry when you have too less memory to use this feature. >Smart Moves< causes the units to find themselves a way along and around more complicated coastlines. As this requires quite a lot of calculating it is probably not sensible to use it on computers slower than the 33MHz TT. In the GEM panel that will be displayed when clicking on >Smart Moves< you can define the level of complication of the ways to be found - the so called "detour level". Available values are from 0 to 10, which means that the computer will find ways around the coast only if their length is less or equal to the distance in a straight line plus an amount of squares equal to the detour level. >Skill Level< can be used to adjust the strength of the computer controlled enemies. There are ten different levels. >Save...< saves the settings to disk. 18. The WORLD EDITOR ---------------- As stated at the beginning of this manual WORLD CONQUEST is Public Domain software. However, if you want to encourage me to go on spending my free-time improving this game and writing other stuff, please send SFr 20.- or an equivalent sum in your national currency in cash (please no cheques or coins) to: Alois Felber Feerstrasse 17 5000 Aarau Switzerland -14- or remit the same sum on the Swiss Postal Cheque Account No: 50-98596-1 In return I will send you a disk holding the latest WORLD CONQUEST update as well as a registered copy of the programm WORLD EDITOR that allows you to create alternative scenarios. Also on the disk I'll enclose some already designed additional scenario files. If you have the opportunity to print out the ORDER.TXT file, please do so. Fill in the form and enclose it in your letter. 19. Bugs and stuff -------------- This program is far from being perfect. So if you find bugs, please do report them to the address stated above or via E-Mail: Internet: hubba@ezinfo.vmsmail.ethz.ch Fidonet: Alois Felber on 2:301/526.1 Have a look at the BUG_FORM.TXT for what kind of information is vital to me in order to eliminate bugs. Suggestions, advise, comments and critics of all sorts are always welcome too. So don't forgetta to write. :-) 20. Other Wisisoft programs ----------------------- HOW TO BECOME AN EMPEROR (a strategic fantasy wargame) ATARI ST/STe/TT - Graphic mode: ST low res. LANCELOT (a tactical Boardgame) ATARI ST/STe/TT - Graphic mode: ST low res COST (THE phonebill calculator for Binkley Term ST and Rufus) ATARI ST/STe/TT/Falcon (all graphic modes) D-CODE (the little ASCII-textfile printer spooler program) ATARI ST/STe/TT/Falcon (all graphic modes) -15-