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-
- WarZone
- =======
-
- Introduction
- ------------
-
- This is a war game for up to four players. At least two players are
- required, but the game is better when there are four. The object of the
- game is to destroy your opponent(s) armies and capture their headquarters.
-
- The game is played on a large 50 x 50 square map. There are different
- types of terrain on the map such as plains, forests, rivers and mountains.
- The terrain affects the speed at which your armies may move across the
- land, and also their defensive strength.
-
- There are six kinds of military unit in your army. These are Infantry,
- Tanks, Radar, Missile Launcher, Engineers, and Aircraft. Each has a
- different strengths and weaknesses. Initially, each player has 2 Infantry
- and 2 Tanks, surrounding his home Headquarters. More units can be built by
- capturing factories.
-
- Starting a New Game
- -------------------
-
- To begin a new game, click on the appropriate box on the title screen. You
- will then be asked which players (numbered 1 to 4) are to be in the game.
- The default is player one and player four. Click on a box to toggle a
- player on or off. The boxes are arranged in the positions corresponding to
- their headquarters (ie, player one = upper left, player four = lower right)
-
- Play will now pass to player 1. At the beginning of a turn, an options
- screen is displayed where a player can either begin his turn, save the
- game, or exit the current game. Pressing Return will also begin the players
- turn. As this is the first turn, the computer will ask player 1 for his
- name, and a password. The purpose of the the password is to prevent other
- payers moving his units. When this is done, the main game screen will be
- shown, and the player can now move his units.
-
- At the beginning of each subsequent turn, each player will be asked for his
- password. A player cannot begin his turn until he has correctly type in
- his password (NB: If you do not wish to use the password facility, press
- return when asked to enter your password).
-
- The Map
- -------
-
- A new map is randomly created for each game. There are always roughly the
- same number of factories, villages and airfields. Each players starts of
- with a Headquarters in one corner of the map. A section of the map is
- shown around the military unit that is about to be moved. Viewing other
- parts of the map can be achieved by: (i) Using the arrow keys (ii)
- clicking on the main map to centre it on the square you click on, or (iii)
- clicking on the small map in the bottom-right hand corner. There is a
- white box on this map indicating the part of the map that is currently
- being shown.
-
- Moving Units
- ------------
-
- The unit that is about to be moved flashes on the screen. Information
- about the unit is shown on the right hand side of the screen. Moving
- military units can be done either of two ways: Either by pressing the keys
- on the numeric keypad (8=up, 4=left, etc) or by clicking the RIGHT mouse
- button on the square you wish to move to. A600 owners will have to use the
- latter. You will see that a number of the squares conatain a smaller grey
- square. This represents a square the is not in visible range of any of
- your units. Different units can "see" for different distances. If there
- is an enemy unit in a square that is out of visible range, then it cannot
- be seen, and consequently does not appear on the map.
-
- Only one unit may occupy a square. Units cannot be "stacked", nor moved
- over one another. When additional units are built by factories, they will
- appear in the same square as the factory. If however there is already a
- unit occupying this square, then the factory will not build new units.
-
- Units can be kept in the same place by pressing SPACE. By pressing W
- (wait) or 5, the unit can be left until other units have moved first.
- Thus, you can control which order to move your in. Also, Pressing C will
- centre the map on the current unit.
-
- At the beginning of a turn, each unit is given a number of movement points.
- Tanks and Infantry are given 4. Radar and Missile launchers are given 3.
- Each time a unit is moves, it uses up some of these points. The amount of
- points that are used up depend on the terrain. For example, moving across
- plains uses 1 movement point, whereas moving across rivers or mountains
- takes 3. If you find you cannot move a unit, make sure it has enough
- movement points left (for example, a unit with only two movement points
- left will not move onto a mountain). To end that unit's turn, press SPACE.
-
- The movement and other values can be called up by pressing the HELP key.
- These are two pages of help. The first shows each type of terrain, and
- shows it's movement cost and it's defensive bonus. The second page shows
- each type of military unit with it's attacking and defensive strengths,
- it's visibility range, and the number of movement points it gets per turn.
-
- Aircraft have 5 movement points each turn, and can fly over any terrain
- using only one point. However, they must land on an airfield regularly or
- they will run out of fuel. The amount of fuel left is shown underneath the
- movement points.
-
- Units cannot move between two squares if both squares are adjacent to enemy
- units. This rule enables enemy movement to be restricted in a war zone.
- However, this rule does not apply to aircraft.
-
- When a factory is captured, you will be shown a list of all the units, and
- asked which unit you wish to build. Either click on the unit, or use the
- arrow keys followed by Return to make your selection. You can change your
- mind about what to build by clicking on the factory with the LEFT mouse
- button and reselecting. Different units take different amounts of time to
- build, and there length of time (in turns) is shown next to each unit.
-
- There is a maximum number of military units you can own. This number is
- defined by the population under your control (ie, the number of villages).
- Each village captured means five military units can be supported. Once
- this maximum is reached, no more units can be built.
-
- Factories and villages that have been captured are drawn with boxes around
- them in their owner's colour.
-
- Engineers
- ---------
-
- Engineers can perform certain special functions:
-
- By Pressing F while on Plains, the Engineers can build a Fortress.
-
- By Pressing B while in a River, the Engineers will build a Bridge.
-
- Function Keys
- -------------
-
- By pressing the keys F1-F6, a number of maps and statistics can be shown
- about the current game:
-
- F1 shows the Land Ownership map. This colours in that part of the land
- which a units of yours were last in.
-
- F2 shows the villages map. This enables you to see which players own which
- villages, by drawing them in their owners colour. It does not, of course,
- tell you where enemy units are.
-
- F3 shows the factories map. It enables you to see which players own which
- factories. You can click on a factory, for more information about it. If
- it is owned by you, you will shown what is being built and how long it will
- take until it is completed. You can change what is being built by pressing
- C, or RETURN to return to the main map.
-
- F4 shows the visibility map. All your military units are shown on this
- map, together with the land area they can "see" (in white). If your units
- can see any enemy units, they will be indicated as well.
-
- F5 shows information on the territory each player owns, including the
- number of factories, villages, and the total land area under each players'
- control.
-
- F6 shows the military units stats. This gives the number of units you
- currently own, and the maximum you can own (= 5 for each captured village).
- However, if you own no villages, there is a minimum number of allowed units
- of 5.
-
- Attacking
- ---------
-
- Units attack by attempting to move into a square already occupied by an
- enemy unit. One of the units is successful, and the other is destroyed.
- The probability of success depends of the attacking strength of the
- attacker, and the defensive strength of the defender. The defender may
- also have a bonus strength because of the terrain he is on. The ratio a:d
- of attack strength versus defence strength is shown before the battle, and
- this is the same ratio that the attacker will win.
-
- After a unit has successfully attacked, it may continue to move if it has
- any movement points remaining. However, each unit can only attack once
- during each turn.
-
- Ordinarily, only aircraft can attack enemy aircraft. However, a plane that
- is currently on an airfield can be attacked by any unit.
-
- Saving
- ------
-
- Pressing Escape will return you the the option screen. From here, you can
- save the current game, exit, or continue with your turn.
-
- Keys
- ----
-
- keypad, RMB = move unit.
-
- HELP = Show help pages.
-
- W or 5 = Move this unit later this turn.
-
- SPACE = Do not move this unit this turn.
-
- C = Centre the map on the current unit.
-
- V = Grey squares for invisible squares: toggles off/on.
-
- T = Show terrain underneath military units.
-
- B = (if engineer) Build a bridge over river.
-
- F = (if engineer) Build a fortress (on Plains only).
-
- arrow keys = show another part of the map
-
- Function keys = Information and stats about current game.
-
- Esc = Return to player's options menu (where game can be saved or quit).
-
- Author
- ------
-
- This game is (c) 1993/1994 by Steven Pugh and may be freely distributed but
- not sold for profit. If you like it, please send a shareware donation of
- at least £5. "War Zone" was Written in GFA BASIC.
-
- Steven Pugh
- 10 Wellington Close
- Sundorne
- Shrewsbury
- Shropshire
- England
- SY1 4SP
-