Here is a list of the commands that may be given to your gangs:
Attack...
This allows your gang to attack an enemy gang foolish enough to trespass onto your turf. You can only issue this command if there are enemy gangs in that sector you can detect. Select Attack to open the Target Acquisition panel. Click on the enemy gang to be attacked. A target will appear on that gang’s ugly face. You can change targets any number of times until you hit Done. When attacking a gang, the defender always gets a retaliatory attack on the attacker (at 1/2 combat strength). If the attacker has Martial Arts, is unarmed, and is attacking a gang with no Martial Arts (or has the skill but is armed) then there is no retaliatory attack (the Martial Artist gets a free hit). Martial Artists will get retaliatory attacks against other Martial Artists. Also, any gang that Hides has no retaliatory attack if found and assaulted.
Note: All combat is simultaneous.
Bribe
Bribing the local city officials allows more crime and anarchy to occur in that sector. It costs 3 cash to temporarily improve a sector’s tolerance. Tolerance will return to its original level at the rate of one point per turn. For example, Sector A2 has a tolerance of 14. You bribe it to increase it to 17. On the turn following it will drop down to 16 (and keep dropping until it reaches 14). Note that Sites permanently increase/decrease tolerance as long as they remain fully influenced.
Chaos
This is the most basic command in the game. A gang will create anarchy in a given sector in order to increase your cash. If too much chaos occurs in a sector, then the sector will be busted (no cash from chaos will be gained that turn in that sector). If you chaos in a sector not under your control, you will gain only 1/2 the cash, but your chaos will count as full toward that sector’s crackdown. The higher the tolerance, the less likely a crackdown will occur. The higher the sector’s class, the higher the chaos. Using 2 or more gangs to chaos in a sector is not too advisable unless you use a lot of Bribing or the sector has a high tolerance.
Note: It is almost impossible to win without using Chaos (hence the name Chaos Overlords).
Control
Attempt to control a sector. The more gangs attempting to control a sector, the easier it is to control. You need to control a sector in order to influence Sites. If you have gangs in a controlled sector, they will help against enemy attempts to wrest control of your sector from you.
Equip...
Buy any equipment for that gang. You have to Research most of the equipment before you can Equip them. Equipping an item will decrease your cash by the item’s cost. Select this command to open the Equipment to Purchase panel. Select the type of item (melee weapon, ranged weapon, armor, or miscellaneous). A list of items available to purchase for that particular gang will show. Click on item to purchase then hit the OK button. If you double click on the item, the Item Information panel will pop out and show all the mods of that particular item. The performance of certain gangs will greatly benefit some equipment (always give a gun to Snipers). If a gang is killed, all of its equipment will be gone forever.
Give...
A gang will give another one of your gangs his equipment. Select this command to open the Equipment to Give panel. Click on the item to give and then select gang to give the item to. One gang can only give items to one other gang but he can give all 3 items to that gang if he wants to.
Note: a gang’s tech level will determine whether or not a gang can use a particular piece of equipment.
If the tech level of the item is too high for the gang you want to give to, that gang will be dimmed out when you select that item. You will be unable to give a gang an item if his tech level is too low to use it. If gang A gives gang B equipment, you can have gang B perform any command you want. If gang A gives an item to gang B, any similar item already equipped by gang B will be lost. You can have gang A and gang B give each other items (swapping).
Heal
The performance of a gang depends a lot on how healthy it is. Heal will have that gang rest to regain any lost force. The maximum force is ten; therefore you cannot heal any gang above ten force. A healthy gang will perform much better in actions like combat and chaos. Any gangs with a large negative Heal will be almost impossible regain force. Try to move that gang to a sector with a controlled Hospital or Equip that gang with items that increase their Heal skill.
Hide
Attempts to hide a gang from attack. If that gang is attacked, there is a chance that your gang will elude the attack altogether. Any hiding gang does not count toward control of a sector and will not get any retaliatory attack if successfully attacked. Also a gang hiding in a controlled sector will not count toward resisting any attempts of control initiated by enemy gangs. Hiding has no effect on whether your gang is detected or not.
Influence...
Intimidation and guile is what your gang needs to try to coerce a Site in your controlled sector to come under your influence. Any influenced Site will benefit (or hinder) your gangs in that as well as affect the entire sector itself. You need to influence certain Sites in order to win certain scenarios. Influencing Sites is also an important factor in winning most games.
Shortcut: You can also drag the gangs face onto a Site to have that gang influence that Site until it is fully influenced.
Don’t be squeamish about muscling in a few important Sites. Some Sites can make or break a game. Many provide cash each turn without you having to do anything.
Move...
Moves gang to an adjacent sector. You select the sector to move to by clicking on it. An arrow will appear showing the direction of the move. Click OK after you select the sector.
Shortcut: From the Sector View, drag the gang to a sector on the 9 Sector Display. The destination sector will flash, and the gang will be given the command to move there.
Research...
Research any items you cannot currently equip. Successful research will put that item into the list of items able to be Equipped. Select this command to bring up the Equipment to Research panel. Select the type of item to research. The number in the research panel next to an item represents the amount of research needed to successfully research the item. When that number reaches zero, the item is researched. You need to research in controlled sectors with influenced Science Centers or Research Labs in order to research the high tech items.
Note: Some of you neophytes might think researching is a waste of time, until you find your Crap Pukes holding a Combat Pistol staring down Snipers with Rocket Launchers.
Sell...
Sells any or all items owned by a gang. When you sell an item, you receive half of the original price (this does not include discounts from factories) rounded down. Select Sell... and it will open the Equipment to Sell panel.
To select an item to sell, you simply click on the item. Clicking on the item toggles the highlight of the item. Any items that are highlighted will be sold when you click the OK button.
Snitch
Informs police of illegal activity in the sector. The exact opposite of Bribe except that Snitching is free. This reduces the tolerance of the sector by 3, thereby increasing the chance of a Crackdown.
None
This command will clear any command already given to that gang and reset the Command Bar to the green arrow.
Terminate
Removes gang from play. All items possessed by the gang are also removed from play.
Gangs
Information
Force
The overall status of the gang. The higher the force, the better the gang is feeling. The force ranges from zero (dead) to ten (perfect). When the force reaches zero, the gang is eliminated.
Upkeep
The cash payment you must make to the gang each turn.
Tech Level
The understanding of technology. This number ranges from zero to ten. A gang cannot equip or research items with a tech level greater than their own. There is no way to increase the tech level of a gang.
Statistics
Combat
The ability to inflict damage upon an opponent. This value usually increases by equipping the gang with a weapon.
Defense
The ability to absorb damage and not get hurt. This value is increased by equipping the gang with armor.
Stealth
The ability to go undetected in a sector. Most heavy armors will wipe out any stealth a gang has. If the enemy’s gangs are unable to detect your gang, they cannot attack your gang.
Detect
The ability to detect intruders in your sector. If your gangs are unable to detect a gang in that sector, that gang will not be shown to you in the game. The more gangs in a sector, the greater the chance of detection. If one of your gangs can see an enemy gang, all your gangs in that sector can attack them.
Command Skills
A gang with high command skills will be more efficient in performing the relevant commands than those gangs with little or negative command skills. A gang that does possess a negative skill can still perform that command but will not be very effective or may fail.
Chaos
The ability to extract cash out of a sector’s populous via anarchistic activities.
Control
The ability to gain control of a sector and also the ability to protect a controlled sector from being taken over by enemy gangs.
Heal
The ability to recover force. A gang can heal up to a maximum force of ten.
Influ
The ability to “persuade” a Site in your controlled sector to cooperate with you.
Research
The ability to research items. A gang can only research items of a tech level equal to or less than their own. Without any controlled Science Center or Research Lab Sites, a gang may only research up to tech level 5 (even if their tech level is greater than 5).
Combat Skills
There are 5 other overlords competing for the same scratch of city you are. Your gangs will eventually have to fight for what is yours. Combat skills directly add to a gangs combat rating when the appropriate weapon is equipped. Careful inspection of a gang’s combat skills will enable you to equip your gang effectively. All combat skills are cumulative. For example, if a gang with a 2 Strength and 4 Blade skill equips a Blade weapon, they will get both bonuses (2+4) toward combat in addition to the weapon’s combat bonus.
Strength
Overall physical strength of a gang. Strength adds to Combat with bare hands (no weapon) or any Melee or Blade weapon.
Blade
Combat adds with all Blade weapons.
Range
Combat adds with all Ranged weapons.
Fighting
Combat adds only with bare hands.
M Arts
Martial Arts. Combat adds only for bare hands. If a gang with Martial Arts attacks with bare hands, they will not take any retaliatory damage unless they attack another Martial Artist with bare hands.
Items
Types
Gangs can only equip one item from each of the following three categories:
• Weapons: Broken into 3 sub-classes, Melee, Blade and Ranged. For game purposes, there is no advantage to having a Melee, Blade or Ranged weapon except that some gangs are more effective with one type over the other.
• Armor: The main function of Armor is to protect your gangs by improving their defense. Big armors will tend to prevent damage from small gangs.
• Miscellaneous: Everything else that is not a weapon or an armor (Medical Kit, Scanners, Smoke Bombs, etc.)
Information
Cost
All items cost money to obtain. Researching items makes them available to purchase. Generally the more expensive an item is, the more beneficial it is.
Tech Level
All weapons have a tech level. A gang can only equip an item if their tech level is equal to or greater than that of the item.
Statistics/Skill Mods
When a gang equips an item, it can modify any stat or skill of that gang. Weapons will improve combat (unless a gang has negative combat skills for that weapon). Armor will improve a gang’s defense. Miscellaneous items tend to modify a great range of stats and skills.
All stat and skill mods are cumulative. If a weapon gives +1 to chaos, and an armor gives +1 chaos and a miscellaneous item give +3 chaos, equipping all 3 items will give that gang +5 to chaos. Note that some items will give negative modifiers. For example, big, heavy armors tend to give gangs a huge penalty to their stealth stat, making them walking (hard to kill) targets.
Sites
Each sector on the map contains three different Sites of importance. A sector must be controlled before any Sites can be influenced. Any fully influenced Site will affect all of the controller’s gangs in that sector as well as the sector itself. Other gangs belonging to other Overlords will glean no benefit from these Sites.
When a Site is influenced, the City View will show that Site’s icon on the sector it was influenced in. Only your influenced Sites will be revealed to you. You cannot see if an opponent has influenced Sites in his/her sector.
Data
Resistance
All Sites have a resistance level. The higher the number, the more difficult it will be to influence that Site. It also is a barometer to determine how much benefit that Site will have to that sector and your gangs. As gangs influence a Site, the resistance will fall. When resistance is zero, the Site is influenced.
Note: If you lose control of a sector with influenced Sites, all Sites in that sector will revert to their maximum resistance.
Sector Modifiers
Influenced Sites can affect the stats of the sector that Site is in.
Tolerance
Tolerance is the level of Chaos that can occur in a sector each turn. If Tolerance is exceeded in a turn by Chaos, the sector will Crackdown. A Site can increase tolerance (promote chaos) or decrease tolerance (curb chaos).
Support
Certain Sites are looked upon very favorably by the people. These Sites will improve Support. Having a positive support will make it harder for rival Overlords to take control of that sector. Also in the Acceptance Scenario, the object is to garner the highest total support at the end of the time limit.
Cash
Some Sites house profitable businesses. Influence of these Sites provide a steady income every turn. A couple of Sites have a negative cash flow, so you have to pay money every turn to operate the Site. Influencing a few high cash Sites is a good way to finance your war machine.
Statistics/Skill Mods
Any influenced Site will add mods to a gang’s statistics and/or skills. A fully influenced Site will affect all of your gangs in that sector only. For example, a Hospital will give a big bonus to all Heal skills of your gangs in that sector. If you buy items in a sector with an influenced Factory, the item will cost less. Once a gang moves out of that sector, he will lose any bonus from those Sites. Note that if you lose control of a sector that has fully influenced Sites, you lose all the Sites too.
Crackdown
When the Chaos in a sector exceeds the Tolerance, a Crackdown will occur in that sector. A Crackdown in a sector will cause no money will be gained from any Chaos activity in that sector. If three Crackdowns occur in a sector in a five turn period, the controlling Overlord will lose control of the sector and control will revert to neutral status. The Cops will appear in that sector and proceed to “clean house”.
The Cop icon will appear in that sector and you will be able to see it even if you have no gangs in that sector. Cybernetic monsters, these Cops will attack every gang in the Crackdown sector they can find from 3 to 5 turns. They use armored cars with Pulse Cannons and cannot be targeted for attack and cannot be killed. No gang can attempt to re-control that sector until the Cops are gone.
The higher a gang’s Stealth, the better the chance it has of avoiding a Cop’s wrath. Hiding a gang will increase its chance of avoiding attack but does not guarantee it. If your gangs Crackdown the sector while the Cops are there, the Cops will stay even longer.
Endgame Screen
After a scenario is finished (and you are not eliminated) you will see the Endgame Screen. The Overlords’ pictures are posted on the left in order of place (1st place on top, last place on the bottom). There are two sets of information available to view, Awards and Stats.
Awards
Various awards will be given to the different Overlords based on their performance in the game. These awards have no impact on who wins or loses but it gives you a little idea of the way each Overlord played.
Skull
This is awarded to the Overlord whose gangs did the most total damage in combat.
Fist
This is the given to the Overlord with the most Overthrows. An Overthrow occurs when you take control of a sector directly from another Overlord.
Dollar Sign
This is bequeathed upon the Overlord who spent the most cash during the game.
Safe
This is bestowed upon the Overlord who spent the least amount of cash during the game.
Big Fat Chicken
This is slapped on the Overlord who did the most Hiding during the game.
If no significant combat/hiding occurs, then no awards for those categories will be given at all.
Stats
These are the exact numbers of the game.
Cash Earned
The total amount of cash gained during the game.
Cash Spent
The total amount of cash spent during the game.
Damage Inflicted
The total number of damage points all of your gangs inflicted against your opponent’s gangs during an attack.
Note: Damage from a retaliatory attack is not added to this total.
Casualties
The number of gangs under your control that died.
Overthrows
The number of sectors your gangs stole control of from another Overlord.
Hitting the Done button on the Endgame Screen will return you to the Title Screen.
The Inner Sanctum
The Structure Of A Turn
A turn is divided into five phases. These phases take place sequentially, in the order given. The Command phase is where you will spend most of your game time. The other four phases happen instantaneously. Here is an explanation of the phases:
Upkeep
You are required to pay upkeep on all of your gangs. You also collect any taxes owed to you by sectors or Sites.
Command Phase
This phase is where you give commands to your gangs.
Execution Phase
All commands given to your gangs are performed in this phase.
Hire Phase
If you chose to hire a gang this turn, it is brought into play. If you removed one, it is replaced with a new one.
Player Elimination Phase
Any player without at least one sector or gang is eliminated from the game. Also, in certain scenarios, you can be eliminated in other ways.
Command Sequence
The commands given to your gangs are divided into 6 phases. Each phase is executed for all players simultaneously. Here is a listing of the phases and the commands executed within them:
Instant Phase
Bribe, Heal, Hide, Influence, Research, Snitch
Combat Phase
Attack
Transaction Phase
Equip, Give, Sell
Chaos Phase
Chaos
Movement Phase
Move, Terminate
Control Phase
Control
Designer Notes: The Give, Equip and Sell all occur after Attack. If the transacting gang is killed, any items involved will be lost. Chaos occurs after Give, Equip and Sell so you will be able to do these item transactions before Crackdown (if it occurs). By looking at the timing, you can figure out strategies to take advantage of it (you can have one gang Give an item to another gang that is moving out of the sector or to stop someone from controlling a sector you can smack him around to make him a weaker controller).
Playing A Multi-Player Game
Setting Up A Multi-Player Game
To play a multi-player game, the players must decide who will be the host and what protocol will be used (the host should be on the fastest machine possible). All other players will be connecting to the host as nodes. When the host player is selected, he must enter Chaos Overlords and begin specifying all of the information about the game (scenario, difficulty level, turn time limit, etc.). After the host process, all of the nodes can connect. When the node players connect, they will be given a face and a color. They can change their face and name, but not their color. When each node has their information entered, they should click the Begin button to signify that they are ready. After all node players are ready, the host must then click Begin to start the game (the hosting player cannot click Begin until after all node player have done so). You will now be playing.
Selecting A Multi-Player Protocol
AppleTalk
Allows you to play over an AppleTalk network.
Comm Toolbox
Allows you to play through a modem or serial connection using the Apple Modem ot Serial Tools, respectively.
MacTCP
Allows you to play over the Internet. You must first login to you internet provider, so that you can be assigned an IP address (you only need to know your IP address if you are the host).
Note: Windows 95 and Macintosh are compatible through modem and serial connections using the appropriate protocols. Network compatibility between Windows 95 and Macintosh is available only through TCP/IP (WinSock and MacTCP).
Hosting A Multi-Player Game
After specifying the correct network protocol from the Comm menu, select Host Game... from the file menu. Some protocols will now need to get additional information about the host connection. After all information is entered, you will be taken to the host screen. In the host screen, you will be able to select the scenario you wish to play. You can also enter your player name/change the face. You should also make sure of the difficulty setting (Options menu). You should wait here until all of the other player join. After all players are ready, you can hit the Begin button. You can tell a ready player from the hilited player face.
Joining A Multi-Player Game
After specifying the correct network protocol from the Comm menu, select Join Game... from the File menu. In most protocols, you will now need to specify information about the host. If all of the information you entered about the host was correct, a control panel will appear allowing you to specify information about your player. Hit the Begin button when you are ready. After all players hit Begin, the game will start.
Copyright Information
Chaos Overlords
”1996 New World Computing, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This software program is copyrighted. All rights are reserved.
New World Computing, Inc., makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to the software, it’s quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. New World Computing, Inc., shall not be liable for loss or damage, direct or indirect (including but not limited to any interruption of service, loss of business and anticipatory profits or consequential damages) resulting from the use or operation of this product. (Some states do not allow these exclusions, so they may not apply to you.)
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