PC Gamer 3.2/1997-05_Disc_3.2.iso/EFSDEMO/TUTORIAL.TXT

Text File | 1997-01-22 | 18KB | 364 lines

            EMPEROR OF THE FADING SUNS
              Tutorial / Walkthrough
            --------------------------

Welcome to the Known Worlds of the Fading Suns!  The purpose of this Tutorial
is to walk you through some of the basic procedures of gameplay that you will
need to learn in order to control the EFS environment.  Throughout this
walkthrough, mouse clicks are represented in the following ways:

    Lclick:        Click the left mouse button once
    Rclick:        Click the right mouse button once
    Dclick:        Double-click the left mouse button rapidly


START A NEW GAME
----------------
At the first options window select "Start New". On the next screen, select
"Historical" then select "Play" on the lower right corner and the game will
begin with  all defaults. In a future game, once you understand the basics,
you can select a different house to play, increase the difficulty and
customize the play environment. All these options are covered outside of the
Tutorial. The default house is  Li Halan and the default difficulty is
"Beginner".


PLAYER TURN ANNOUNCEMENT
------------------------
When it's a "human" player's turn, the Announcement screen will appear with
the current date and House whose turn it is.  Since you are currently the only
"human" controlled house in the game, simply Lclick the OK button to begin
your first turn.


ADVISOR MESSAGE
---------------
The Advisor will give valuable information throughout the game.  When you are
finished reading the messages, Lclick on the OK button.


CHOOSE PORTRAIT
---------------
Lclick on the portrait of the character that you would like to represent your
house.


EDIT NAME
---------
Put the mouse cursor over the box that contains your character's name. Leave
the mouse cursor in the box while you type what you want your name to be.
When finished, Lclick on the OK button.


TRAITS SCREEN
-------------
View your House's default Traits by passing your mouse over the selection
buttons; a description appears in the box on the lower right. For purposes of
the Tutorial, accept the defaults by clicking on the OK button.


TECHNOLOGY SCREEN
-----------------
The next screen is a Research Screen. Use it to tell your lab what to research
next.  Since your House had all three "Documentarium" traits (see TRAITS
SCREEN) you begin the game with many technologies to choose from. Names in blue
are category headers; names in red have been declared illegal by the Church but
you could research them anyway. Click on the "Database" button to see the
technologies that you already possess. Click on "Exit" to return to the
Technology Screen.  Click once on Electron Microscope. The text box in the
lower right corner tells you what researching Electron Microscope will let you
research next. Click on the "Archive Button" to read what Bishop Holst has to
say about Electron Microscopes. Click on the "Close" bookmark on the lower
right corner to get back to the Research Screen. For the purposes of the
Tutorial, research Electron Microscope. Click on "Research Tech" to begin
researching it.  When the confirmation dialogue box appears, click on "Yes" to
accept.

Note:  Each House begins the game with one Lab, the maps in the upper left
corner tell you where this one is. Each Lab has its own Research Screen and
each can be given a different technology to research.


UNITS
-----
The first units you are asked to move are on the planet Byzanthium II.  We can
ignore these units for now.  Lclick on the starmap button (the starmap button is
located just to the right of the planetmap in the upper left corner of your
screen).  You will now be on the starmap screen.  Rclick on the miniature
starmap (upper left) and you will get the full view of the Known Worlds.  Your
current homeplanet is Kish.

To view your starships orbiting Kish,  Lclick on the planet Kish.  Now Rclick on
the magenta icons (representing your  ships above the planet).. All of your (Li
Halan's) units appear with a magenta background color. The entire stack is
represented by one blinking unit on the star or planet map but each member of
the stack is shown on the sidebar on the left side of the screen. On the
starmap, the counter has the number six in the lower left showing that there is
a total of six units in the stack. On the sidebar, there are six counters. Each
has a number on the upper right corner that represents the number of move points
that it has. Anywhere that the unit is shown, it has a green bar across the
bottom of its counter that represents the unit's health.

Rclick on the stack on the blinking unit on the starmap to view the Stack Screen.
Rclick on each unit to see details about it at the top of the screen. There you
will see what the unit looks like, what its name is, as well as many other unit
statistics that are covered in more detail outside of the Tutorial. Remember
what the Frigate looks like.  Return to play by clicking on the Exit button.


EXPLORE KISH
------------
Rclick on the spinning planet below the word "Kish". This is your homeworld. Kish
is drying up slowly but surely, food is scarce. You control most of the cities on
it but several are held by Rebels. Also there is a trading post, called an Agora,
owned by the Merchant League, as well as a Fort which is an outpost of the
Imperial Eye, the secret service of the Regency. In the chaos after Vladimir's
assassination, you have lost track of detailed reports of the regions outside of
your cities. All you know is where the cities and roads are but not what the
cities do. You have no knowledge of the location of any ruins or resource
bonuses.

Scroll around by Rclicking on empty hexes or by clicking on different parts of the
map in the upper left corner (cornermap). To view the functions of all the
buttons, Rclick on any button. Return to the Starmap (again, by clicking on the
Starmap button) upper left corner of the Planetmap.


EXPLORE THE PLANET RAMPART
--------------------------
Rclick on the planet Rampart. It is to the lower right of Kish and is connected to
it by a jump route. You are told that you have lost all knowledge of the planet.
You must move a ship to orbit above the planet or trade for the map information.
For now, move a ship to explore Rampart from space.

Rclick on your ship stack above Kish. All are currently selected as shown by their
brightened background color and by the blue pulsing line around them. Select a
frigate by using the short cut of Dclicking on one of the frigates.

Move the frigate to Rampart by clicking on the planet icon. The jumproute will
become bright green. Click a second time to cause the ship to enter the jumpgate
above Kish and exit the one above Rampart. Jumping will exhaust all of a ships
move points so the other ships will automatically become the current group.
However, now that a ship is in orbit above Rampart you may rclick on it to view
the map. You can only tell where roads and active cities are. To know more about
the surface, you must land troops on the planet. That will be covered in turn two
of the tutorial. Return to space by clicking on the jumpgate symbol.


SCOUT
-----
You would do well to find out who your neighbors on Kish are. Rclick on Kish.
Rclick on the Factory. Select one militia soldier. Move him 2 hexes North on the
road next to the Eye Fort and the League Agora. To move, click once at the
destination. Dots and x's will show the moveto route. Click again on the
destination to confirm it. He will spot units inside of the Agora, signalled by
a audibal "unit spotted" message. Whenever a unit doing a moveto spots a new unit
it stop and await orders in case the new information changes your plans. Restart
the move by clicking on the destination hex again. Rclick on the Agora, twice to
view the stack. There are a lot of valuable resources (cargo) in there. They are
there for you to buy. Exit the stack screen.


PURCHASE CARGO
--------------
The Agora should still be the active hex. The Agora should appear on the sidebar.
A button next to it says "Trade". Click on it and a menu appears. Select foods to
buy by using the slider bar, notice the affect on your bank account. Select a
second one, slide it to the right, notice that the food is also sliding to the
right. This represents how you are now able to buy less food. However, purchases
do not take affect until you click on the "Purchase" button and exit the screen.
Slide the second choice back to zero. Click on the purchase button. A cargo pod
will now be adjacent to the Agora; it may be under the militia. Rclick on it.
Move it back to your factory to protect it.


SELL CARGO
----------

 You may also sell the League excess cargo. Select the Metal cargo pod
in your Shield generator complex. Move it up to the Agora by clicking on the it
twice. Click on it to move into the Agora. You are prompted to Attack or Sell.
Choose Sell. A screen will appear to tell you how much the League will give you
for the contents of each cargo pod.  If you like the price select the check box
next to the cargo type. Click on the "Sell" button to exit the screen and accept
the price.


RAISE TAXES
-----------
After spending money, you'll want to make sure you have enough funds for the next
turn. Click on the "House" pulldown from the menubar.  Please notice the budget
area located in the lower right corner. The first row is how much your house is
making from taxes (per turn). The second is how much you skim (steal) from the
Tithe that you are responsible for collecting for the church. The third row is
how much your unit pay is per turn. The fourth row (debt) is how much you owe the
League for any loans (none at this point). The fifth row (bank) is how much was in
the bank when you first entered the house status screen.. The last row is what
will be in the bank at the end of this turn.

Move the slider bar on the first row (tax). Drag it to the right to increase your
revenues next turn. The red heart indicates that the people in the cities will not
like this, they may rebel. Exit the screen.


ATTACK
------
You may attack the Agora, seizing the cargo by force with high casualties, causing
the League to declare war on you and cease trading with you. Lets try that:

First, bombard the Agora from space. If the ships are not the active group, return
to space by clicking on the jumpgate symbol in the upper left corner; rclick on
the space ship stack. Select the cruiser by dclicking on it. Click on Kish. You
are prompted to Attack or Land. Choose Attack. You will get a red target icon.
Rclick to scroll around until the Agora is on the screen. Click on the Agora.
Confirm that you wish to attack. Combat will occur between your cruiser and the
Agora garrison, which includes a Planet to Space missile launcher (PTS Missile).
Combat only last one round, your cruiser should survive, possibly taking out an
infantry. Click on "Combat Done".  Bombardment takes one movement so you could
attack again but you don't have to.

Rclick on Kish. Rclick on the Li Halan Fort to the north of your Palace. Create a
group with only tanks in (all with 8 or more  move points). Move onto the Agora
to attack it. Choose "Attack". Choose the "Normal" attack mode. If you capture
the cargo, move it to your factory to protect it.


DIPLOMACY
---------
You are now at war with the League. To see that, click on the Diplomacy pulldown,
then click on the League banner. The treaty status chart is on the lower left
corner. There are crossed swords between you and the League and a thumbs down to
show that they are not trading with you. Exit the screen by clicking "Done".


SEND CONTRACT
-------------
You might want to make friends with someone now. On the Diplomacy menu click on
the Hazat banner. Notice that you do not know their budget condition. You would
be able to look at the budget for house Hazat if you were Allied with them; but
you are currently at the default status, Peace.

Try to form an Alliance (which, in the future, will be represented by a green
wreath) with the Hazat.  Diplomacy proposals are constructed in the Contract
area on the upper right of the Diplomacy screen.  Click on the top line, just
beneath the "Give me.."; a menu will appear.  Select "...an Alliance with you."
Return to the Diplomacy screen. Click on the first line beneath the
"AND I'll..." .  A menu will appear; select "give you technology."  Select the
"Hospitals" technology then click on "Choose".

The "AND" button can be toggled to "OR" which brings up a threat menu, but you
really dont have the muscle to threaten anyone yet.

To send the contract, click on the done button on the lower right of the
screen.  If you made a mistake on the contract and wish to change it, click on
the "Clear" button and start over.  Exit the Diplomacy screen.


LOAD SPACE TRANSPORT
--------------------
To explore another planet you will have to put a unit on the ground. Space
travel takes a while so go ahead and get a unit into space this turn. Use the
Jumpgate symbol to bring up the Starmap. Rclick on the ships. Rclick on them
again to bring up the stack screen. Rclick on units until you select one called
a "Lander"; exit out of the stack screen. Dclick on one of the two Landers.
Click on the planet Kish. Choose "Land". Land on the farming city to the lower
left of your territory. Rclick on the farm to bring up the stack screen. Click
and drag a militia into the Lander. Do not let up on the mouse button until the
unit is above the Lander icon. Drop the militia into the Lander; he will appear
to the landers right, connected by a coupling. The militia will have a plus
marker on it now to show that it is cargo. Exit the stack screen. Dclick on the
lander to select it, and its cargo.  A ship icon will appear on a button on the
upper left corner of the screen. It is called the Launch button, Lclick on it
to make the ship goto space.


BUILD A UNIT
------------
After losing those units attacking the Agora you will definitely want to
produce some more.  To produce a unit in any city, rclick on a city.  The city
will appear on the sidebar and a "Build" button will appear next to it. All
cities produce basic "garrison" units and engineers.  Advanced units are built
in Factories, Forts, Spaceports and Palaces.  Rclick on your factory.  Click on
"Build" on the sidebar.  Scroll through the list of options.  Notice that each
cost a different number of turns and resources to build.  Each unit also has a
maintenance cost.  You must pay that every turn. Select a medium tank to build.
Click on the Build button on the upper left of the build screen.  Confirm your
choice.


BUILD CITY
----------
Select the Engineer in the Palace. Move him to an empty hex, preferably the
desert one that is surrounded by the pulsing blue light. The blue lines
represent areas covered by the shield generator.  Shields make it impossible
for a space ship to bombard it. Click on "Build City" under the Orders
pulldown. Click on the  Lab (becomes highlited with a white box). Click on
Build, then Confirm. The Engineer will be consumed, and a Lab will be
produced.


SENTRY UNITS
------------
That is all you will want to do this turn. Click on the double red arrows on
the lower left corner to cycle through your remaining units. As each stack
comes up, click on the double red arrows button on the lower left. This is
the Skip command. This causes the unit to not ask to be moved again this
turn. Eventually, a stack on Byzantium II will appear. You must keep at least
one Noble on Byzantium II to participate in the politics of the game not to
mention to become Regent. Keep skipping units until a message states that you
have moved all of your units. Select OK to end your turn.


TURN #2
-------


MOVE TRANSPORT TO RAMPART
-------------------------
Select the Lander with the militia in it. This is shown by a C:1 on the
transport, meaning it has one cargo and a plus symbol on the militia on the
sidebar. Move the Lander to Rampart by clicking on the planet icon twice.

Click on the "End Turn" button on the lower left of the screen. It will warn
you that you have not moved all of your units. End your turn anyway.


TURN 3
------


SET NEW PRODUCTION
------------------
The tank you started producing on turn one should be done
now. You will be prompted to select another unit to build. You could choose to
produce "nothing".


LAND TRANSPORT
--------------
Land the Lander Transport above Rampart. Rclick on the Lander
stack. Then click on the planet icon. Choose "Land". Land on the polar ice
caps in the southern hemisphere.  Unload militia by Rclicking on the stack,
accessing the stack screen. Click and drag the milia out of the Lander and
onto a blank rectangle on the stack screen. Exit the stack screen. Select the
militia and deselect the Lander. Move the militia away from the Lander,
exploring a small area. Ideally you would move a Scout tank to a new planet
because it has better speed.



SEGASOFT, INC
150 Shoreline Drive
Redwood City, CA  94065


HOLISTIC DESIGN, INC.
5002 N. Royal Atlanta Road
Suite "H"
Tucker, GA  30084


EMPEROR OF THE FADING SUNS, FADING SUNS UNIVERSE AND ITS DISTINCT CHARACTERS,
LOGOS, AND MARKS ARE TRADEMARKS OF HOLISTIC DESIGN, INC.  SEGASOFT AND THE
SEGASOFT LOGO ARE TRADEMARKS OF SEGASOFT, INC.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.