Club Amiga de Montreal - CAM/CAM_CD_1.iso/files/475b.lha/SCombat/scombat.doc

Text File | 1991-02-05 | 19KB | 333 lines

INTRO
    SCombat is a game of strategic combat similar in style to some
CRPG games you may have played.  Up to 40 Monsters may battle up to 40
Players on a playfield that is adjustable in size from 5 X 5 to 20 X 40.
Monsters and Players have attributes which determine their effectiveness
in battle and each group may use one of 11 types of weapons.
        Please make sure all unpackeded files are in the same directory.  In
addition the directory containing the game must be the current directory.
Type SCombat.run from the CLI to start the game.

START
    Before reading the rest of this document boot up the game, click
on the ANALYZE button until you get a message of EVEN then click on GO.
You will see the Monsters and Players distributed randomly about the
playfield along with some obastacles.  Each participant appears to be
standing on a colored bar.  These are initially all dark blue.  As the
participant absorbs damage the color of these bars will change giving you
a visual clue as to what state he is in.  The colors indicate a percentage of
the particpant's beginning hitpoints in gradations of 20%.  Ranging from
Max to Min these colors are Dark Blue, Red, Grey, Light blue, Yellow and
White (which indicates participant has 5 hit points or less).  In order to
move your player click in any of the vacant boxes around his icon.  To
attack a Monster click on the Monster.  You may toggle the player grid off
and on by typing "g".  The game still functions the same.  If you click
anywhere outside the grid the whole screen will become attached to the
pointer.  Now move the pointer and you can scroll around the playfield to
get a good view of things.  Click again and you drop the screen and you can
continue with the game. You may pick up and drop the screen as many times as
you want. If you click on your own player he will attempt to rest.
He cannot rest while Monsters are adjacent and furthermore his hitpoints
must be below a rest point value which is displayed at the bottom of the
screen.  Initially, until they are injured, players will not be able to rest.
The status box at the bottom of the screen displays stats for your player.

The following keys are active during the game:

ESC - leave the battle field and return to the set up screen

F1 - increases screen scroll rate between particpant moves
F2 - decreases screen scroll rate
F3 - increases the delay between monster attacks
F4 - decreases the delay between monster attacks
F5 - increases the delay between monster moves
F6 - decreases the delay between monster moves

"r" - toggles obstacle remove mode.  Use this key to remove obstacles
      that have boxed a player or monster in when you have specified
      a large number of obstacles

"b" - toggles the bell between rounds on and off

"g" - toggles the player grid on and off

"l" - allows you to get a text description of the adjacent monster
      without losing a turn

"e" - allows you to get a full examination of an adjacent monster
      but you lose a turn.

"s" - skip player turn with all its attacks.  This is usefull if you
want to stand your ground or are blocked from moving or attacking.

"c" - capitulate.  This differs from the escape key in that you will
be taken to the end of battle screen before re-entering the Set Up screen.

"n" - noise.  Use this key to set the sound level. Press the key until
you get the level you desire.  The bell will not turn off unless you
use the "b" key.  If you find the death sounds offensive use sound
 level "Movement and Combat". Use level "All sounds" to restore them.

Use "l" (for look) often when you first start to play.  It will allow you
to develop an association between a monster's size and armor class and
his displayed icon.  Since this key doesn't really tell you anything you
cannot see for yourself, after a while you will not need it.  After you
choose "e" (for examine) you will see the Monster stats displayed in
yellow text.  If you hit the space bar at this point it will toggle between
the Monster stats and your stats.  The information on the blue status lines
is self evident except for AR and MAR.  These are short for Attack Ratio and
Monster Attack Ratio.  These values are reciprocals of one another.  When
one is high the other must be low.  When one is near 1 so must the other be
near 1.  AR is a measure of your chance of surviving a battle with the
Monster.  The higher the better and in general if it is 2 or 3 the odds
in your favor are 2:1 and 3:1 etc. Also you will see the message
"Max Damage = (some number) : 1 at (some number) %".  What the second of
these two messages reveals is, assuming a hit is rolled, what is the
possibility of doing a least 1 point of damage or better. If the message
is "1 at 21%" this means that although a hit may be rolled there is only
a 21% chance that at least one point of damage will occur.  If the message is
"7 at 100%" this means that there is 100% chance of doing at least 7 damage
if a hit is rolled.  Also for players but not for monsters you will see a
Vulnerability rating in the status box.  This is a sum of all the
Monster attack ratios that are presently targeted on the player.  When
this value is high it indicates that formidable forces are targeted on
the player.  Monsters need not be adjacent to target a player and they
also may target a player before the players Vulnerabilty stat indicates
that he is targeted.  The stat will only show positive values when the
Monster is within 3 game turns of reaching his target.

PLAYER AND MONSTER ATTRIBUTES

Hit Points - This value may range from 0 (dead) to 99.  In addition the
player size icon is keyed to the initial value for this variable. Players
and Monsters are shown in 5 different sizes obtained by locating the player's
initial HP total in successive ranges of 20 from 0 to 99.  Although HPs may
vary over the course of the game the icon remains the same.  Use the player
status bar to monitor current hit point levels.

Strength - Range:  1 to 15.  When a hit is rolled, total damage
is calculated by adding the players strength to the weapon damage.
In the status box strength is show as nn/nn.  The first number is
current strength,  the second is starting strength.

Agility - Range: 1 to 20.  Agility will increase your chance to land
a blow and decrease your chance of being hit.  In the status the first
number is the player's agility and the second is maximum agility.

Quickness - Range: 1 to 4.  This is the number of times you may move and/or
attack in one battle turn.  In the status box the second number is maximum
agility.

Luck - Range: 1 to 10. This number determines whether a hit takes place
when one was not rolled, or a lucky miss takes place when a hit was rolled.
In addition there is another value of Luck that determines when a critical
hit takes place.  All luck rolls are from 0 to 100 so a participant can
never be luckier than 10%.

Resiliancy - Range: 1 to 100.  This number is a percentage of the
participant's beginning Hit Points that can be recovered when the participant
rests.  For example:  If a player's initial hit points were 80 and his
resiliancy 30, he would recover 24 hit points if he were able to rest.
A participant may rest when his hit points drop below 30% of their initial
value. This rest point is listed in the player status box as
"Resiliancy: (NUM)/ RP=(rest point)".

Armor Class - Range: 1 to 20.  The higher the better for protection.  In
addition the player icon is keyed to the current value for AC.  For purposes
of display the AC range is divided into 5 ranges with a seperate icon for
each range.  As a participant's AC changes over the game his icon will also
change, giving a visual clue as to what is happening to him.  In the status
box the second number is the starting Armor Class for that player.


To make something clearer:  There are five sizes of Player and Monster icons
and for each of those five sizes there are 5 different icons for each level
of Armor Class.  Thus there are 25 seperate Player icons and 25 seperate
Monster icons.  Although a player's hit points may vary over the course of
the game he will never be seen to be differing in size.  He will however
be seen to be differing in AC as he absorbs punishment.  This is why an
icon can suddenly change when a player or monster is hit.  Although not too
realistic, it provides usefull information.

COMBAT MECHANICS

Whether or not a hit takes place is influenced positively for the attacker
by his own agility and the defender's Armor Class.  It is influenced negatively
by his own Armor Class and the defender's agility.  Just the reverse is true
for the defender.  This means that a heavily armored attacker is less likely
to land a blow and a heavily armored defender is more likely to receive a blow.
Total damage is calculated by rolling a number between the Min and Max of the
weapon used, adding attack Strength and subtracting defender Armor Class.

The order of battle is drawn up randomly at the beginning of each combat
round.

Weapons, Armor, and Strength can deteriorate over time.
The maximum damage that can be inflicted using an edged weapon is reduced
based on some ratio of the number of hits delivered with it.  This ratio
is adjustable using the Weapon Rate variable on the Set Up screen.  If
the variable is set at 5, for example, then for each 5 hits delivered
maximum damage for the given weapon is reduced by 1.  No matter how many
hits are delivered maximum damage can never fall below minimum damage,
so a Halberd could never be worse than 12-12 for example.  The Weapon Rate
variable can range from 1 to 9.  The Hammer, Club, and Spiked Maul do
not suffer weapon deterioration.

Armor Class is likewise influenced by the number of hits taken and the
Armor Rate variable on the Set Up screen.  Current AC will be reduced
by this ratio as the player absorbs damage.  For example, if the variable
is 4 then for each 4 hits absorbed, AC will drop by one.  This allows a
group of weaker or less equipped attackers to beat down the AC of a
heavily armored defender.

Strength deteriorates in the same manner as above using the Stren Rate
varialble on the Set Up screen.

Bravery - this variable controlls how brave the monsters are.  If it is
set at 4, for example, this implies that monsters will target and accept
battle against players when the odds are 4:1 against them.  If they are
in battle, it determines how high the odds have to be before they will
run away, in this case 4:1.  When in battle monsters take into consideration
the possible threats of all adjacent players, not just the one that is
ostensibly attacking them.  Setting this value too high will make the
Monsters too brave, they will attempt to battle players who
can quickly kill them while ignoring more likely targets.  Setting this
value too low will make the monsters overly cautious and consequently
ineffective. 4-5 are good values.

Attack Ratio - all monster decisions are based on calculating this value.
It is derived from the ratios of the player's and monster's current
hit points, possibility of hitting each other,  maximum damage if a hit
occurs to either of them, and the number of attacks each has.

Tide of Battle - this variable is displayed between rounds on the blue
status line.  It is an indication of how the current battle is going.
If it is positive, the odds are in your favor.  If negative, they are in the
monster's favor.  In general the value indicates odds, for example 2.3213
would indicate about a 2:1 advantage for the player.  This variable is
calculated in such a way that it is more meaningful when the number of
participants is high.  Consequently when the number of players is very
low (1 - 4) it may fluctuate pretty wildly.  It also reflects relationships
which may not actually be occurring on the battle field.  It is merely for
fun and reference rather than strategy.

Board X - This allows you to set the width of the playfield between 5 and 40.

Board Y - Height of playfield between 5 and 20

Generalship - if you fight more than 5 monsters you will get a Generalship
rating.  This can be positive even if you lose, if you take enough Monsters
with you.  It can also be negative if you win.  This could arise if the odds
were heavily in your favor but you won taking a lot of casualties.

SET UP SCREEN

Player and Monster Attributes - There are two columns of arrows next to
each attribute.  Click in the arrows to set the numbers in the two columns.
The first column indicates the level you want to set the attribute at.
The second column indicates the percentage of the total monsters or players
that you want to have that level of attribute.  For example if you want
50% of the monsters to start out with Strength of 8 you would set the first
column to eight and the second to 50.  If you want a completely random
assignment of Strength among the Monsters or Players, set the corresponding
percentage to 0%.  When you click GO the assignment of the all the attributes
takes place based on the values you specify.  Attributes are assigned in this
way:  For each attribute all the monsters or players, which ever is currently
being assigned, are thrown into a pool.  The percentage you specify are
drawn out at random and given the level you specify.  The rest, up to the
total number, are assigned a random level.  Then they are all thrown back
into the pool and the assignment of the next attribute takes place in the same
manner.  From this it follows that you cannot directly specify all the
attributes for any 1 Monster of Player except as you make all the percentages
very high.  If they are all 100% for example then all the levels will be
directly specified.  In addition, when the percentage is less than 100%,
the remaining players or monsters are given a level of attribute that
excludes a certain range of values around the one you specified.  This
insures that there will be some low values if high were specified and
visa versa.

When specifying the % of obstacles you are giving a pecentage of the
spaces on the game board that will be occupied by obstacles.  You can
make this 100% and then use the Remove Mode to edit the game board to
your own liking.  If you make this value too high the monsters will
probably be stuck most of the time.


OPTIONS

GO - takes you to the battle field with the attributes you specify

RESTART - resets the Set Up screen so that all values are those used
when the program was started

ANALYZE - Using the attributes you specify, analyze attempts to tell
you who has the initial edge in battle. You may click repeatedly on this
button until you get a result you are satisfied with, then chose GO and
you will enter battle with the displayed odds. Analyze first assigns
all attributes.  Then each group, either Monsters or Players, are
paired off against a group of fictional opponents with average abilities
in all attributes.  Then each group is sorted from high to low based
on their calculated abilities vs. such opponents.  Next, the Monsters and
Players are paired off against each other so that strong attacks strong
and weak attacks weak.  Any disparity in numbers is resolved by having
the excess pitch in against the strongest opponent.  The results are
summed and averaged and displayed on the screen. Owing to
the way the results are calculated it is possible that some anomalies
will occur which are not truely reflective of the relative abilites of
both sides.  The first number is the conservative result of excluding
those anomalies.  However, under some circumstances they may in fact
be indicative of relative strengths.  The second number is the result of
letting the anomalies stand.  Your own experience will tell which is more
correct.  This method is necessarily fictional and reflects pairings
that most likely will never occur.  It also does not take into consideration
initial board position, or the Resiliancy or Luck stats, as their impact
on the final outcome couldn't be guestimated.  The numbers are probably
more accurate for large numbers of participants than small.  My own
experience is that they are pretty good with some exceptions now and again.
This value is also the source of the tide of battle variable.  If you
click anywhere on the Set Up screen after you have used Analyze you
will destroy the analyzed party.  To insure you go to combat with the
analyzed party use GO immediately afterward.


MATCH - This function will attempt to match a group of Monsters to
a group of Players using the initial values you specify for each along
with the value you specify as the Match Value on the Set Up Screen.
You may match on values from 1 to 9.  This indicates that you want the
initial advantage to be from 1:1 to 9:1 in favor of the Monsters.  You
cannot Match in favor of the players.  If you want the players to have
the advantage use the analyze function.  Match works this way:
Analyze is repeatedly called until the conservative result is within
range of your Match Value.  If not in range the first remedy is to
rectify any disparity in numbers.  If or when the numbers are equal
the monster attributes are raised or lowered to achieve the proper result.
Match will not add Monsters above equality to achieve its results,
consequently not all high Match Values can be realized.  If you want
to insure matching on a high number, first make sure that the number
of Monsters is greater by 3 or 4 than the number of Players.
Match is much more accurate than Analyze to achieve a given result
consequently if you want to insure fighting a group that truely is
superior by some factor, use Match. Match also gets rid of the anomalies
of Analyze by adjusting attributes so that any possible erronius values
are ironed out first. IMPORTANT - do not choose Analyze
after Match or you will destroy the Matched Party.


Finally - although I have tried to give the Monsters as much strategy
as possible, they can still be seen to be making bad decisions.  In
particular they have extreme difficulty getting out of boxes and
traps and around long walls that block their path at right angles.
Monsters can always navigate around 1 or 2 objects, and most of the
time around 3, but walls of 4 or more will usally block them.  This
may be considered a boon or a bug.

Hopefully future versions will include smarter Monsters, ranged combat,
Magic Users and a game board with more than just obstacles on it.  Perhaps
even a mini rollplaying scenario.

Any comments, complaints or suggestions can be addressed to me on
Compuserve at 73577,2202 : On Genie as RDEWITT2 or by mail at
Box 8854, Albany, NY 12208