S t r a t a G e m
Version C 1.80
Programming, graphics and sound fx by Oskari Koskimies
Tunes by Mandarin Software
Written in STOS Basic
(C) Oskari Koskimies 1991
Requires ST with colour monitor or TV and at least 1 MB of RAM
This program and its utilities Mapper and Typedit are Public
Domain, all rights reserved etc., so don't sell it for profit,
change the code, omit any of the files when copying, or lie to
your mum, or the bogeyman will come and get you.
Naturally I accept no responsibility for anything whatso-
ever, especially if it has anything to do with this program.
Comments, suggestions and reports of outrageous (and other)
bugs can be sent to:
okoskimi@kruuna.helsinki.fi
The Real Word (TM) address is:
Oskari Koskimies
Karstulantie 8 E 75
00550 Helsinki
Finland
but if at all possible, please use E-mail.
The programs were mostly written for the fun of it, but of
course it's always nice to be appreciated (And frankly, writing
manuals is a bore). So if you have some loose cash and like the
program, I'd be most grateful for any donations. (Because, in my
opinion, one received donation means about a thousand happy
users).
Should you for some reason want the source code for the
programs (As I said, it's in STOS Basic - which by the way is a
great piece of software, gotta hand it to JAWX), send me an
envelope with your name and address on it, a formatted empty disk
and enough of the green stuff to pay for the postage and make it
worth my while, and I'll send you the stuff. Be warned, though:
you "forget" any of the above, and I'll forget about you.
Disk Configuration
STRATAGE.PRG M U S T be in an AUTO folder. This gives
some additional free memory which is absolutely necessary.
Otherwise the program is liable to show some strange quirks
(You'll get errors when trying to load a map). If you have more
than 1 MB of RAM you can move STRATAGE.PRG away from the AUTO
folder and run it from Gem, which will make it simpler to use the
Typedit and Mapper programs.
On the Program disk should be the following files:
CITNAMES.DAT
MAPPER .DOC
MAPPER .PRG
MAXVALUE.DAT
SOUNDFX .MBK
STRATAGE.DOC
STRDATA .DAT
TYPEDIT .DOC
TYPEDIT .PRG
The type and map files are on the Scenario disk. There
should be at least the default WORLD.CIT, WORLD.MAP, WORLD.NEO
and WORLD.TYP files. Others may be there as well, depending on
how much time I have had to create new ones.
Introduction
StrataGem is a two player strategy game, in which the
objective is to destroy all the units and cities owned by the
other player. In the beginning the players do not know their
surroundings. They must explore the terrain and conquer as many
cities as possible to produce more units. Sooner or later the
forces of the two players will hit together and the battle
begins.
Those of you who noticed a certain similarity of idea with
Empire aren't totally wrong; I was always pissed off by the
absence of nukes in Empire. The absence of a one-player option
has a simple reason: I don't know how to program a smart computer
opponent in a game this complex, and I never much liked Empire as
a one-player game anyhow. Anyway, apart from the basic idea the
games are largely dissimilar (or not).
Note: As this manual mostly just goes through the different
functions of the game, it's mostly a reference manual. So I'd
recommend you print it and try playing the game with the manual
at hand.
Start
The first thing you see when the program has loaded is the
"presents" screen (the one with the Suicide sample). Press a key
to skip. The title screen is shown for a short while while the
program reads data. Then the File Selector prompts you to choose
a type file. Insert the Scenario disk (You might want to remove
the Program disk first, but as I'm not responsible for anything,
what the hell) and select the type file you want. (Incidentally,
if you want to load another set of types when you have finished
one game you will have to Quit the program and then start it
again (Variable dimensioning is specified in the .TYP file, you
know the sort of thing). However, other maps can be loaded
without restarting.) Now you get to load a map in a similar
manner (Pressing quit allows you to load an old game, if you have
saved one previously). When the map has been chosen, it is loaded
(and decompressed, if needed) and its cities are loaded. Then a
presets menu will appear. If the first item is ON, city
population affects production times. If the second item is ON, so
do city resources. The third item determines whether or not city
population is zero (or very low anyhow) when conquered, and the
fourth has a like effect on cities just built by Town Builders.
When you have made your selections, the program asks for the
names of the players. These cannot be changed later. Then the
game starts.
Note: When the cities start to load, you might get an alert box
informing you that the Type and City files are incompatible, and
you are returned to the File Selector. This means simply that the
number of available types differ in the two files. You must use
the Mapper program to convert the map so that the City file
includes the new types (or excludes the deleted ones). Please see
Mapper documentation (Load Map) for details. Of course, you can
also edit the type file with Typedit.
Gameplay
At the start of a turn an alert box informs you which
player's turn it is and how many turns have gone, the current
radiation level, and if your forces were attacked last turn (At
this point the other player should look away, read a computer
magazine, or otherwise keep his eyes off from what the player is
doing). After that you will get a notice if your cities have been
attacked (Mayday call) or destroyed (Contact lost). Then all
cities are processed and the player is informed of any newly
produced units. If a message informs you that a unit has been
produced and you press the left mousebutton after receiving the
message you will be able to name the unit. Otherwise (Right
button) it will be solely referred to as "1st Tank" or some such.
Then the units are processed and when there is one without
orders, the screen will centre on it and you can give it new
orders. The unit will have a brown rectangle around it. If the
orders you are going to give requires a target, you must point at
the target with the mouse and press the left button, so that a
crosshair appears on that place, before giving the order. If the
unit's status is "No Orders", clicking at the map will automati-
cally give it a "Move To" order. If you wished to give some other
order, just give it - the target coordinates will remain the
same. However, if this annoys you, just turn the "Auto Move"
option off in Settings (see below). If the desired target is
outside the screen, the screen can be moved either by moving the
mouse pointer to the screen border (the menu bar may be in the
way, but pointing at the text window and pressing the left mouse
key also scrolls upwards) or by using the arrow keys (a bigger
jump) or by using World Map in the Reports menu (See below).
Then the appropriate order is given using the Commands or the
Other menu. If you do not wish to give orders to the unit this
turn, press the space bar. Location information about the place
you are currently viewing, the target point (if selected) and
about the unit is displayed below the menu bar. The unit info can
be scrolled using the "+" and "-" keys on the numeric keypad.
When ready, press the right mousebutton and the unit will execute
the orders. When all units have been processed, an alert box
will ask you if you are finished. "Not yet" lets you change
orders or view reports etc. However, orders given now won't be
executed before next turn.
Keyboard commands
Some menu items can be activated by keyboard commands. The
relevant keys are listed in the menus. Other keys are:
Cursor keys: Move area to be viewed
Number pad 1-9: Move 1 step (5=skip unit)
Space: Skip unit, i.e. go to next unit although
the current unit hasn't used up all its
moves.
Number pad + - Scroll Info line
Both mouse keys
and Q Cheat mode on
Both mouse keys
and W Cheat mode off
Both mouse keys
and M Get map
(Help) Show free memory and disk space
(A ) Auto Move on/off
Menus
INFO
About StrataGem
Displays credits.
FILE
New Game, Load Game, Save Game, Quit
Obvious. A saved game requires quite much space, as three
maps (64 kB each) and two map pictures (32 kB each) are saved
with it. About 300 kB should be sufficient.
Note: You may have changed the type data (with Typedit) since
you saved a game. If the number of types differ, you
will not be able to load the previously saved game. You
will be told the number of types in the saved game and
those currently present. Please delete or add types so
that the correct amount is achieved (With Typedit).
You might also have tried to load a game saved with an
earlier version of StrataGem. In that case you will be
informed about the fact.
REPORTS
World Map
Displays a map of the world as known at the moment. Friendly
cities are flashing. There is also a flashing rectangle which
represents the area you are currently viewing. Another flashing
rectangle has replaced the mouse pointer. You may choose another
place to view by setting the mouse pointer at the desired place
and by pressing the left mouse button. The right button exits the
map. If you want to flash other sorts of terrain, use the
following keys (the rectangles will cease to flash):
Unexplored F 1
Sea F 2
Shallow F 3
Reef F 4
Field F 5
Forest F 6
Hill F 7
Nuclear Waste F 8
Mountain F 9 Depends on which player you
Vulcanic F 10 are.
Desert F 11 ||
Road F 12 \/
Player 1 City F 13 / F/E (Friendly/Enemy)
Player 2 City F 14 / F/E (Friendly/Enemy)
Neutral City F 15 / N (Neutral)
City Ruins F 16
Status Report
Displays a report of how many units of a certain sort are
currently being built, when the first one is ready, how many are
in action, how many you have destroyed and how many you have
lost. The display is in split in parts to fit in all the unit
types. Press left mouse button to flip between the parts. Right
mouse button shows you a general report about the amount of
cities conquered, combat evaluation, radiation level, city and
unit condition and the estimated effects of the radiation. If the
radiation reaches 30 % it will start to affect the population of
the cities and a graphic representation of the population (green)
and the radiation percentage (red) will be shown (x-axis:time. y-
axis: radiation/population as a percentage of the current popula-
tion). The yellow line simply denotes the 30%-limit. Inciden-
tally, if the radiation reaches 80 % it will start to affect
units. A hundred percent radiation signals the end of the game,
and as the radiation only decreases one percent every other turn,
it is worth to be careful when using nuclear weapons. Right
button takes you back to the unit report. Pressing both mouse
keys simultaneously exits.
Production Map
In this mode no units are shown, and the cities are shown as
the unit types they are currently producing. If you wish to
change the production of a city, point at it with the mouse and
press the left button. A selection window will appear. The title
displays the name of the city and the time it takes to end the
current production. As the window only has place for 20 choices,
and there are more types of units (if you use the default type
file), there are "Previous" and "Next" buttons to switch between
the "pages". However, a city may not be able to produce all units
(no water available in the near vicinity, for example). In this
case one "page" is sufficient and the "Previous" and "Next"
buttons are disabled. The type currently being produced has a
"¯¯¯" marker to the left. The others have the time it takes to
produce them (The times vary from city to city, due to different
resources and population sizes). Select the type you wish to
produce. The window title will change accordingly. Right button
exits the selection window, and also the Production Map. Please
note that once you change the type being produced, the factories
of the city immediately start to produce the new type. For
example, if there's still two turns left before a destroyer is
ready, and you want to produce submarines instead, then have
second thoughts and switch back to destroyers, the production
will start from scratch and you must wait for the full production
time. A city that is Resting will increase its population twice
as fast as others.
All Production
Goes through all the cities, displaying production info and
allowing changes to be made. Follow on-screen instructions.
Display Map
Allows all the Ballistic and Tactical missiles that are not
yet launched to be primed, except for the stored ones. Missiles
in flight are shown as a normal line and primed missiles as
dotted lines. The effect of the hit is shown as a circle around
the target. The flashing may be controlled as in World Map. The
missile currently being set has four outgoing arrows around it.
The mouse pointer has the form of four ingoing arrows and is used
to set the target. Other controls are:
(SPACE ) Flip between missiles.
(C ) Clear missile target setting.
(Q ) Clear all missiles (except those already
launched).
(S ) Shows enemy missiles (in flight) as arrowheads.
This option can only be used if you have a
satellite in orbit. (RETURN) exits.
(L ) Launch missile. An alert will ring until you press
either (RETURN) to confirm the launch or any other
button to cancel.
(U ) Display units. Friendly units are shown as
slowly pulsating blue dots and enemy units as
similar but red ones. Pressing the left button
gives you info about the point under the mouse
pointer (If the point is near one of your own
satellites and an enemy unit is located in it, you
will get exact info about the unit). Right mouse-
button exits.
(P ) Set production. Click at the city that you want to
set with the mouse. Right button exits.
This may also be done by pressing (U) and
clicking at the city, and then pressing "Set
Production" in the info box.
Both mouse buttons used simultaneously exits.
Note: As I said, stored missiles cannot be primed. To do
this, unload the missiles (even on water), then
prime and launch them either directly or from the
Display Map.
COMMANDS
Clear Orders
Clears unit's orders (and stack). IMPORTANT: With this
command they keyboard shortcut and the menu item differ. Pressing
(C) clears both orders and stack, whereas selecting the command
from the menu only clears the unit's orders.
Move To
Unit will move to the target point if possible to do so. If
target point is at an enemy unit your unit will attack it (And
remember - it's always better to attack than to be attacked!). If
a friendly unit is at the target point your unit will load into
the friendly unit. If the unit has not used up all its moves when
reaching the target point, you will be allowed to give new
orders.
When moving the unit also gathers info about it's
surroundings (terrain type), including the existence of enemy
units. However, enemy land units will not be displayed if they
are within a forest, unless you are looking with a satellite.
Enemy mines, submarines and stealth planes are also invisible
except to satellites.
Sentry
Unit will watch for enemies in its observing area and if
enemies appear it will give you the choice of attacking them,
firing at them (if the unit is capable of long-range fire),
clearing the old orders and going on "sentrying". The unit will
not need further instructions while in sentry mode, and this
command is used to put the unit away for a while. However, if the
unit is airborne it will continue to use up fuel, and in any case
its morale will go down.
A unit that has been set to sentry will also detect "hidden"
units (land units in forest, submarines, stealth planes) if they
are next to it.
Follow Unit
Unit will follow the unit in the target point, and, if it is
an enemy, eventually attack it.
Fire at Co.
Unit will fire at target point until told to do otherwise or
till it runs out of ammo. The chance to hit is calculated as
follows:
Hit prob. = basic hit prob. * (fire range - distance) / fire
range
If you hit an enemy unit the enemy will be displayed on your
screen, even if it wasn't visible before.
Fire at Unit
Unit will fire at enemy unit in target point until it is
destroyed or the unit is given new orders or runs out of ammo.
The enemy unit may, however, move out of range or -sight, where
it can't be fired at. The unit will resume firing when the enemy
unit comes in range and sight.
Load
The unit will load every suitable unit (must be either
without orders or "sentrying") close by.
Unload
A selector will be displayed for the units that may be
unloaded. You can then select a unit and the place you want it to
be unloaded to. After placing the unit you will return to the
unit selector so that you can unload another unit. Pressing right
mouse button exits. If the unloading unit is a Tanker the units
will also be resupplied.
Build
Pioneers will build a road to the target point, but they
will move at half normal speed.
Mine Searchers will make the waterways deeper, also at half
speed.
Town builders will build a town at their current location.
However, this will take some time. The time left is displayed on
the unit's info. When ready the unit will disband and inhabit the
town. The town's resources depend on its surroundings (the more
different terrain types the better, especially mountains), and
its initial population is the Town Builder unit's strength * the
city strength value in the STRDATA.DAT file (default 5000).
The resource values are:
Minimum 50
Mountains or volcanos +20
Sea or reef or shallow +10
Forest +10
Desert (for oil) +10
Rare are indeed the towns that boast a resource value of
100!
The next five commands can only be used with missiles,
with the sole exception of launch; that is also used to launch
satellites:
Dive To
Used only with Cruise missiles. The unit will dive to the
target point and detonate.
Set Target
Sets the missile's target and primes it. All primed missies
(Ballistic and Tactical only) will be launched if Launch All is
used.
Launch
Launches the missile (or a satellite).
Launch All
Launches all primed Ballistic and Tactical missiles. You
will be asked for confirmation.
OTHER
Other Unit
Lets you give orders to the unit at the target point. Press
right mouse button to return to the original unit.
Info
Gives you information about the target point. If there's a
city there, you will also get a chance to change it's production.
Info about enemy units is very restricted. However, if you access
"Info" while giving commands to a Satellite, you will get exact
info about those enemy units that are near enough.
Pressing info with no destination point selected (i.e. a
unit with no orders) automatically gets info about the current
unit.
Find Unit
Displays the units (names if available) and lets you select
one of them. The screen will then centre on this unit.
Find City
Similar to Find Unit.
--- Stack commands ---
The commands may be stacked, so that they are executed in a
row (one per turn). This is done by selecting "Begin Stack". An
"S" appears at the line number up left. Then give the unit an
order in the usual manner. Now pressing the right button will
stack the order ("Check" will be shown) and you can give a new
order and stack it and so on. "+" and "-" at the numeric keypad
will scroll through the stacked commands. Pressing (ENTER) (Num.
keyp.) will switch between the usual infoline and the stack list.
"Quit Stack" finishes, "Delete Item" deletes the stacked command
currently shown and "Add Item" will insert a command after the
current one.
To allow for patrol routes etc. a loop command exists. It
can only be set as the last of the stack (But once you have
entered it you can enter more commands after it). First you must
scroll to the command you wish to loop to. Then press the "(" key
in the numeric keyboard. You will be asked for number of times
the command will loop back (0=infinite), and then the loop is
set. If you, for example, want a unit to patrol between X1,Y1 and
X2,Y2 you move it first to X1,Y1, then stack the commands "move
to X2,Y2" and "move to X1,Y1". Then you scroll to the "move to
X2,Y2" command with the "-" key and press the "(" key, and enter
"0" as the number of loops to be made. However, be careful that a
patrolling unit won't run out of fuel. The systems of a unit
without fuel will slowly detoriate (a "Unit is affected by lack
of supplies" message will appear) and the unit will ultimately be
destroyed.
Another "extra" command is "Wait One Turn". Pressing the ")"
key puts this command as the currently last in stack. The command
is useful when you want your units to refuel, because refueling
occurs only when the unit stays "over a turn" in a city, i.e.
merely travelling through a city won't do.
One more thing to remember: The next command in the stack
won't be executed before the last one is completed, i.e. if there
weren't any stacked commands the unit would ask for new orders.
So if you stack a "Sentry" command somewhere in the middle, the
commands after that won't be executed before you abort the
sentrying. (And please note that "Clear orders" also clears the
stack when using the keyboard shortcut)
Discard
Allows you to discard single machines from a unit (deducts
strength) while keeping their fuel, thus enabling the remaining
ones to go further. Use "+" and "-" to set the amount that will
remain and press return to exit. You may not discard all
machines, and you won't be able to use this command if the unit
in question does not consume fuel.
Exchange
Allows you to change machines and supplies between units of
the same type, or between a refuel unit and a compatible combat
unit (supplies only). You may move all the machines in to the
other unit, in which case the other supplies are automatically
transferred to the remaining unit. This command can be used
either to refuel units or to create powerful superunits with
more than normal strength. Use the keys (4) to (9) on the numeric
keypad to exchange supplies and (ENTER) to exit.
Note: A unit with, say, three times the strength of an ordinary
unit is very deadly indeed. You see, the frequence of the firing
is determined by the fire rate. However, each time it's the
unit's "turn" to shoot, all the machines in it get one shot. And
in this case that means three times the normal firepower. This
will considerably decimate the enemy unit, and its return fire
will therefore be diminished. In fact, a 3X unit can very easily
destroy a normal enemy unit of the same type without getting a
scratch. It's also a good idea to use 2X or 3X units when
conquering towns - you won't lose as many machines then.
Populate City
Allows you to add one Infantry unit to a city, thus
increasing the population somewhat (2000 * strength). Essential
when your city has been bombed to ruins but not yet invaded, as
the population will not increase once it has been reduced to zero
(logical, ain't it). The Infantry unit must be in the city.
Settings
Lets you set unit sound, mushroom cloud (At large-scale
nuclear attacks the "mushroom cloud" which takes some time to
develop can be quite an annoyance. Therefore this option lets you
reduce the explosion to a mere flash.), Auto Move (Automatic Move
To - command when giving orders to a unit with a "No Orders" or
"Moving" status and clicking at a location on the map) and
radiation (When the Radiation option is turned OFF the radiation
level is not increased when a nuclear warhead detonates, so that
you can freely throw nukes at each other) on/off.
UNIT TYPES
Please note: This list may not be completely correct, as the type
file may have been edited later.
"Cargo:" lists the units this particular type of unit may carry.
Infantry Only type that can conquer cities. Fast to
produce, but reduces the population of the
city. (If a city refuses to produce Infantry,
especially a newly-conquered one, it might be
because it hasn't enough people. One Infantry
unit requires 20,000 soldiers.) Cargo: Land
mines.
Light Artillery Lightly armored, can move relatively freely.
Short range fire.
Heavy Artillery Heavily armored, slow, can't move through
forests. Long range destructive fire.
Laser Tower Extremly cumbersome, heavily armored. Very
accurate long range fire but with little
destructive capability. Used against mis-
siles. This type has a very long sensor range
and if it's in sentry mode, it will let you
shoot down any missiles passing over (A
Ballistic Missile moves 25 steps/turn, and
the sensor area of Laser Towers has a dia-
meter of 26 steps). However, a missile aimed
directly at the unit may well hit (as the
RADIUS of the sensor area is only 13 steps).
Tanks Standard fighting equipment. Cannot fire over
distances.
Pioneers Poor fighters, used to sweep mines und build
roads. Cargo: Land mines.
Town Builders No better at fighting than Pioneers, used to
build new towns. Slow and cumbersome move-
ment. When the town has been built, the unit
disbands and inhabits it.
Radar Stations Position these at your borders, and enemies
will be detected when they approach, except
of course for the "invisible" types and the
land units that are in a forest. The stations
are unable to move by themselves, and must be
dropped off other units.
Transport Vehicles Heavy duty transport trucks that can carry
most land units. Travels only over roads and
fields, though. Cargo: Infantry, Light
Artillery, Heavy Artillery, Laser Towers,
Tanks, Pioneers, Town Builders, Radar
Stations, Land mines, Mini-Missiles.
Supply Trucks Carries ammunition and fuel to land troops.
Virtually worthless in battle, though.
Travels over any terrain except sea and
reefs.
Land Mines Invisible to enemy except to satellites,
cannot move by themselves. Fast to produce.
Light Transporters Can go up rivers, payload restricted. Cargo:
Infantry, Light artillery, Tanks, Pioneers,
Sea mines.
Heavy Transporters Cannot enter rivers, heavy payload. Cargo:
Infantry, Light & Heavy artillery, Laser
towers, Tanks, Pioneers, Town builders, Radar
Stations, Transport vehicles, Sea mines,
Satellites, Helicopters, Mini-Missiles.
Tankers Carry fuel and ammunition for sea vessels.
Not very good fighters.
Submarines Difficult to hit, but are easily sunk once it
happens. Slow fire rate, but high impact.
Invisible to enemy except to satellites. Also
used as mobile missile bases. Cargo: Sea
mines, Cruise missiles, Ballistic missiles,
Tactical missiles, Mini-Missiles.
Destroyers Fast attack vehicle, mainly against transpor-
ters and aircraft. Can traverse rivers. Short
range fire. Cargo: Sea mines.
Cruisers Take over when the destroyers get in trouble.
Medium range fire. Cargo: Sea mines, Helicop-
ters, Tactical missiles, Mini-Missiles.
Battleships Floating fortresses. They are slow but their
destructive potential is awesome. Long range
fire. Cargo: Sea mines, Helicopters, Cruise
missiles, Ballistic missiles, Tactical mis-
siles, Mini-Missiles.
Carriers Mobile base for aircraft. Slow movement,
defends itself with its aircraft. Cargo: Sea
mines, Fighters, Helicopters, Bombers,
Stealth Fighters, Stealth Bombers, Helicop-
ters, Spy planes, Cruise Missiles, Tactical
missiles, Mini-Missiles.
Sea Bases Seaborne castles that can destroy virtually
everything that comes close enough. They can
also shelter and resupply other sea units.
Cargo: Light Transporters, Submarines,
Destroyers, Cruisers, Mine Searchers, Sea
Mines, Fighters, Stealth Fighters, Helicop-
ters, Spy Planes, Cruise Missiles, Ballisti-
cal Missiles, Tactical Missiles, Mini-
Missiles.
Mine Search Poor fighters. Used to sweep mines and dig
rivers deeper so that bigger vessels may
enter them. Cargo: Sea Mines.
Sea Mines The sea version of Land Mines.
Fighters The airborne version of Tanks. Cargo: Tacti-
cal missiles, Mini-Missiles.
Bombers Slow fire rate but high impact. Cargo: Air
Mines, Tactical missiles, Mini-Missiles.
Stealth Fighters Like Fighters, only invisible to enemy units
except to satellites. Cargo: Tactical
Missiles, Mini-Missiles.
Stealth Bombers Like Bombers, only invisible to enemy units
except to satellites. Cargo: Air Mines,
Tactical Missiles, Mini-Missiles.
Transport Planes Used to carry troops. A lousy fighter. Cargo:
Infantry, Light Artillery, Tanks, Pioneers,
Radar Stations, Supply Trucks, Land Mines,
Sea Mines, Air Mines, Cruise Missiles,
Ballistic Missiles, Tactical Missiles, Mini-
Missiles.
Satellites Used for exploration. Once launched, they
remain in air till their fuel runs out and
they crash. They have scanners which enable
exact information to be gathered about enemy
units in their vicinity. They are also armed
with a few rounds of inertia slugs, which are
quite effective because of the high impact
speed.
Helicopters The only airborne unit type that is able to
land outside the cities and can thus be set
to sentry for an indefinite period. Medium
armament. Cargo: Mini-Missiles
Spy planes Long range rekognaissance planes.
Air Mines Air version of Land Mines.
Cruise Missiles Once launched they may be moved around as
ordinary units as long as their fuel lasts.
When near target, select it and use "Dive
To". This type of missile is used when you do
not know the exact location of your target.
Ballistic Missiles Fast and deadly.
Tactical Missiles Short range missiles with a small nuclear
warhead.
Mini-Missiles Can only take out one unit, but the one is
taken out rather thoroughly.
The missiles are characterized by their high destruction
potential. Ballistic missiles have the biggest warheads and the
Mini-Missiles the smallest. The warhead is in direct proportion
to the effect the detonation will have on the radiation level.
UNIT PROPERTIES
There are a few properties that might not be immediately
self-evident:
Strength: Number of machines left in the unit (In infantry 1
strength point is 2,000 men).
Orders: There are a few that have not been explained (I
think) elsewhere.
Flying Missiles that are flying to destination.
Stored Actually you shouldn't ever come across this,
because stored units cannot be inquired about
their info. Anyway, it's the order or "state" that
loaded units have/are in.
Hovering Cruise Missile and Satellite version of "No
orders".
Going in The unit has been ordered to go and get itself
loaded (into another unit, that is).
Experience: The better the experince, the better the units
fight (They hit more often). They get experience -
how else - by fighting (and winning, of course).
Incidentally, firing at cities won't increase a
unit's experience. The different levels are:
Green
Rookie
Fighter
Veteran
Elite
Moral: The moral is increased by winning fights and by
staying in cities. When outside cities, it will
steadily go down. The different levels are:
Panicky
Uneasy
Steady
Good
Excellent
At start every unit has a rating of "Excellent".
It will drop during the game, and a unit with a
rating of "Steady" or lower will be very choosy
when picking its fights.
FIGHTS
When you try to move your unit in the same place with an
enemy unit, the usual result is battle, unless:
- The enemy unit is too heavily armored for the attack
to be meaningful.
- The enemy is stronger than you, and your unit has a lousy
morale, so it refuses to attack.
If the battle is joined, but seems to go badly, pressing the
right mouse button enables your unit to flee. However, its morale
will suffer a serious blow AND the enemy will get a free shot at
your escaping unit, often destroying it anyway.
The most important factors when determining a unit's worth
in battle are its fire rate, strength, HP, hit probability,
evasion probability and damage values. These can be studied (and
edited) with the Typedit program. Fire rate determines how often
the unit gets to shoot. Strength determines how many shots go off
each time. Each time a shot hits there's a small explosion shown
on the stricken unit. If a machine is destroyed (The unit's
strength is reduced) a "boom" sound is heard.
And do remember: The locations of the attacker and the
"victim" are not without importance. For example, striking from a
forest at a unit in a field has definite advantages. For more
exact information, see description of the STRDATA.DAT file below.
MISCELLANOUS
Pressing (Return) when faced with an alert box has the same
effect as "pressing" the topmost button.
The mouse pointer may disappear sometimes. This usually
happens if you make hectic mouse movements in the upper parts of
the screen. I'll be damned if I know why, but pulling downward
and pressing the mousebutton gets it back (The downward pull is
in order to avoid making accidental menu selections).
Another strange quirk is a "ghost" alert box. The mouse
pointer disappears and when you press the mousebutton you hear a
ring like when you are faced with an alert box and are clicking
away outside it. I suppose the interrupt-driven on menu-commands
somehow manage to jump in the middle of the alert box subroutine.
Anyway, just press (Return) and you are out of the invisible
alert box.
If the memory runs low ((3000 bytes) you'll get a message to
that effect. You'll also get a chance to erase unit names, a
massive use of those being one of the main causes of memory
shortage. Other things that use up memory are stacked commands
and cargo units, neither of which should be a problem. One other
way to get more memory is to save the game, quit, change the
values in the MAXVALUE.DAT file and then restart the program and
load the game. However, be careful that you do not make the
values too small (your units and cities must fit in).
There isn't a lot about the different types of units in this
text. The simplest way to find out about their relative speeds,
fire ranges etc. is to check the .TYP file (and print it) with
Typedit.
CHEAT MODE: Both mouse buttons must be pressed at the same time.
(Q ) Set cheat mode on
(W ) - " - off
(M ) Gives you the complete map. The world map, however, is
not available directly, therefore you have the option
to load a .NEO picture if such is available. Press the
(QUIT) button if this is not the case.
Cheat mode lets your units travel anywhere, about 100 steps
at a time, and when you set city production the time is always
set to zero. This can be used to se up a starting situation, for
example.
Version Update
The Mapper utility can now pack the maps and thus reduce the
disk space needed. StrataGem will load both packed and unpacked
maps. However, saved games won't be packed (The routines for that
were too slow, and they took up too much memory).
Land units moving in forests are now invisible until you run
into them, and the Ground Mine and Air Mine metatypes have dual
natures, so that they can also be used as metatypes for invisible
sea and air units, respectively (=Submarines and Stealth Planes,
see Typedit documentation for more info).
The info option now gives you info when you try to get info
about a enemy unit that isn't anymore at the spot it was last
seen at. However, you won't get info about what an enemy unit is
doing anymore, unless you are using a satellite.
Radiation now affects cities less.
It's now possible to have the armour pierce value of the
attacking unit and the armour of the defending unit affect the
damage effect of a shot, i.e. damage = full damage * (armour
pierce - armour) / armour pierce. To do this you must enter a
negative damage value with Typedit.
The Prime option has been removed, and Set Target now
automatically primes a missile (actually Set Target was removed
and Prime renamed, as I needed the memory and Set Target was
pretty useless anyhow).
Terrain now affects the outcome of a fight. More about that
later.
City evasion, hit probability, shell damage, fire rate and
strength values can be edited. Ditto.
Four preset options has been added.
The order of the info lines had been changed to a more
convenient one.
The Mapper's default cities are now in an editable file.
The maximum number of cities and units has been reduced to
500 and 900 for memory reasons. This can be changed by editing
the MAXVALUE.DAT file, but you are advised to check the amount of
memory with the (Help) key when starting to play. You should have
at least 10 kB of free memory when starting.
A few new unit types have been added. Please check the type
file with Typedit for info about them.
Scrolling upwards can now be done by pointing at the text
window and clicking.
The fire rate is now handled properly in the battle routine.
Extensive cosmetic work has been done.
And last and least, the intro now uses samples. Sorry, now
room for 'em in the program itself. (Well, there's a 2 Meg
version of this game that does use samples - E-mail me if you
want it and are prepared for a bloody big uuencode file)
The MAXVALUE file
The file MAXVALUE.DAT consists of two numbers (in ASCII),
500 and 900 as default. They are the maximum numbers of cities
(total) and troops (per player), respectively. If you have more
than 1MB of memory and want to have a truly massive setup, you
can change the figures more to your liking.
The STRDATA.DAT file
STRDATA.DAT is also an ASCII file. It consists of city
evasion probability, hit prob., armour, shell pierce, shell
damage, fire rate and strength values, two sets of descriptions
of different orders, names for different terrain types,
descriptions of experience and moral levels, the number data for
the unit movements in the eight directions, the menu data, the
keyboard shortcut data, and the terrain effect data. The number
data should NOT be tampered with, all other things can be edited.
However, you should only edit lines that already have text on
them and NEITHER DELETE NOR INSERT LINES!
Contents of the STRDATA.DAT file
Here's what the different parts are:
The first seven values (first line, default 1, 40, 0, 50, 4,
10, 5000) are the cities' evasion, hit, armour, shell pierce,
shell damage, fire rate and strength values. They are the same
for all cities, and they correspond to the values that the
different types of units have (see Typedit documentation for more
info), except for strength, which is the number of inhabitants
which equals one unit of strength (for example, a city with 75000
inhabitants and a strength value of 5000 has a battle strength of
15)
Then come the order descriptions (16 + 15 lines). The first
set is used to say what the unit is doing, the second is used
with stacked commands.
After that come the terrain descriptions (16 lines) and the
experience (5 lines) and the moral levels (another 5 lines).
Then comes the movement data (9 lines). DO NOT CHANGE THESE!
Next is the Menu data (52 lines). After each part (Info,
File, Reports, Commands, Other) comes an empty separator line.
The "ààààààààààààààà" parts are the lines between the menu items,
and should not be changed, as the program won't recognise them
then. You may change the names of the menu options if you wish,
but DO NOT INSERT OR DELETE LINES!.
Then comes the keyboard shortcut data (3 * 16 lines). The
first 16 lines is for the Reports, the second for the Commands
and the third for the Other menu. To enter a keyboard shortcut,
count which line the item has in the menu (for example,
Production Map is number three and Quit Stack is number seven).
Then you just enter the letter on that line in the relevant data
section (for example, Quit stack would be the seventh line in the
third section, i.e. the letter would be placed on the 2*16+7=
39th line in the keyboard shortcut data, where Q is at the
moment). However, be careful that you do not use keys already
reserved ((A) is used by Auto Move, by the way).
The last jungle of numbers is the terrain battle effect
data. The first line affects what happens on sea, second on
shallow waters, fourth on field and so on (see Mapper documenta-
tion for complete list).
The numbers on each line consist of three groups of two
numbers. The first group affects cover, the second firing at
land/sea units and the third firing at air units. Of each group,
the first number is the weight limitation for the effect. If the
number is positive, a machine in a unit must weigh no more than
that if the effect is to take place. If the number is negative, a
machine's weight must be at least as much as the absolute value
of the number (a machine's weight = the unit's weight / the
unit's strength). A value of 0 means "never" and -1 means
"always" (of course).
The second group is a modifier that is multiplied with the
relevant unit's chance to hit an enemy unit, thus either
lessening or improving its chance to hit. If the number is
positive, it is multiplied as such. If the number is negative,
the effect is calculated as follows (p=original hit probability,
P=new hit probability, l=weight limit, w=a machine's weight):
P = p * ((modifier-1) * (l-w) / l + 1)
Of course, if the weight limit was negative (a lower limit),
the first calculation method is always used.
As an example, you could look at the seventh line:
-1, 1.3, -1, 1.2, -1, 1.1
1st pair: Cover
1st value (-1):
The effect happens always (or with every machine that weighs
at least 1 ton, i.e. all).
2nd value (1.3):
The chance to hit a land unit that is in this kind of
terrain is multiplied with 1.3 (air units cannot get any cover,
naturally). This is because a nuclear waste is an open space,
and anything moving there is relatively easy to hit.
2nd pair: Shooting at land units
1st value (-1):
The effect happens always.
2nd value (1.2)
The chance to hit any land unit FROM this kind of terrain is
multiplied with 1.2 (air units are not affected). This is because
it's also easier to shoot when you are in an open space.
3rd pair: Shooting at air units
1st value (-1):
The effect happens always.
2nd value (1.1):
The chance to hit any AIR unit from this kind of terrain is
multiplied with 1.1. The same reason applies.
or the eighth line:
20, -0.5, -1, 1.8, -1, 1.2
1st pair: Cover
1st value (20):
The effect happens with every land or sea unit that weighs
no more than 20 tons / machine.
2nd value (-0.5):
The chance to hit a land unit that is in this kind of
terrain is multiplied with 0.5 - 1.0, depending on its weight
(See formula above). This is because a mountains are liable to
offer a lot of cover.
2nd pair: Shooting at land units
1st value (-1):
The effect happens always.
2nd value (1.8)
The chance to hit any land unit FROM this kind of terrain is
multiplied with 1.8 (air units are not affected). This is because
it's very easy to shoot somebody from above (if the target unit
is also in mountains, the effect will be negated by the fact that
the target unit will also have a hitting advantage).
3rd pair: Shooting at air units
1st value (-1):
The effect happens always.
2nd value (1.2):
The chance to hit any AIR unit from this kind of terrain is
multiplied with 1.2. This is because shooting at air units is a
bit easier from high ground.
Final note: Different people like different games. Some
might be annoyed by the long time it takes to produce troops,
others think some types of units are totally useless and
ineffective, or even worse, absolutely invincible (probably true,
this game hasn't been really field-tested yet), and still others
think that the graphical representation stinks. Well, it's up to
you to make it better. The Typedit and Mapper utilities can be
used to change all these things, and a few more. So, instead of
complaining - why not make it better yourself instead? And of
course, one can make virtually any kind of units, like a fantasy
wargame setting, medieval or futuristic troops, etc.
Enjoy!
Oskari Koskimies