Invasion

Invasion v1.2 ============= (C) 1997-1998 Thomas Ashton =========================== Minimum Requirements ==================== Invasion requires: + A Psion series 5, Geofox or compatible. + About 230 KB of free disk space to install to. An EPOC16 version (for the 3a, 3c, Siena and compatibles) is available from the Internet at the address below. Installation ============ After un-zipping the INV1232.ZIP file you should have two files -- README.TXT (which you're reading now) and an INV1232.SIS file. Now you can: Either: Double click on the .SIS file from Windows and then follow the instructions. (Needs PsiWin 2.1 or above) Or: Copy the .SIS file to your Psion then double tap on it or press enter when it is selected. Then simply follow the instructions. This needs the add / remove programs add on available from http://www.psion.com/ The Plot ======== 2093: A remarkable new discovery was made by scientists that made faster than light travel possible. This new discovery allowed space vessels to reach incredible speeds that where previously the stuff of science fiction. 2097: After several expeditions in to other galaxies by government agencies, astronauts finally discovered an alien civilisation. After the initial language problems where solved an ambassador from the alien civilisation was sent to speak to the people of Earth. The alien ambassador claimed to be from an empire that spread across seven galaxies known only as the "Galactic Empire". The ambassador demanded that the Earth governments joined this empire and surrendered their people as slaves. 2098: The Earth governments refused to surrender and Earth was invaded. The superior alien technology was no match for our own and the majority of people where taken away as slaves and a few people manage to escape on space shuttles. 2099: The survivors of the invasion set up an army called the "Earth Forces". The new army's main aim was to free all the slaves of the Galactic Empire and destroy it once and for all. 2101: After several years of building up an army and 'stealing' alien technology the Earth Forces army finally reached a size that was large enough to start an attack. They officially sent a declaration of war to the Galactic Empire and prepared for war... Introduction ============ In this game you take on the role of a new commander in the war between Earth Forces and the Galactic Empire. When you play the game you will be allowed to control all the tanks and structures on your side that are displayed on the battlefield. All the tanks and structures will follow your orders exactly, even if you make stupid decisions, so be careful. The Title Screen ================ From the title screen you get to choose what you want to do with the game. Here is a quick look at what the different menu options do: New Game - This allows you to start a new game as either a commander -------- for the Earth Forces or the Galactic Empire. In this mode you must work your way through a number of missions with different objectives until finally your chosen side wins the war. Quick Battle - This allows you to have a quick battle with the computer. ------------ Rather than having to work your way through different missions this mode allows you to jump straight in to the action. Your only objective is to destroy the other army. Two Player - This is like the 'Quick Battle' mode, but allows you to ---------- play against a friend instead of the computer. Jump to Level - This mode allows you to skip straight to any mission you ------------- have already reached by playing the new game option. Load Game - This loads a previously saved game from disk. --------- Set Preferences - This allows you to set your preferences about sound levels --------------- and whether you get asked to confirm ending your go. Register - If you have registered (see the section later) this is -------- where you type your code in. About - Copyright and stuff. ----- Exit - Exit the game (and asks you to register if you haven't ---- done so already). How to Play =========== (These instructions make it look difficult, but it isn't really! If you don't understand them then just install it and figure it out as you go along!) Starting a New Game ------------------- For the purpose of these instructions you should be in a game so that you can follow along. To do this simply select 'New Game' from the menu or toolbar and then press enter to choose to play as a commander for Earth Forces. You will then be shown your mission briefing. This is where, in a normal game, you will be told what you must do to complete the level. Press enter again and the level will start to load. What is on the Screen --------------------- When you first start a new game the view should be centred around your base and a couple of tanks. This shows you a large view of a small section of the level. At the left of the screen is a light grey area. This area shows you what state the game is in at the moment. At the top left of this toolbar is a map. This shows you a view of the whole map at once. The grey boxes are the enemy and the black boxes are on your side. There is also a black outline of the current map so that you can see where the things are in relation to the land. The box at the bottom shows how much money you have (this should be $200) How the Turn Based System Works ------------------------------- Invasion is a turn based game. This means that once you have finished doing everything you want to do in that go you must end your go and let the other player do the same. Each tank that you control has a limited amount of 'time'. Everything you order it to do, such as firing or moving, uses up a small amount of this time. Once you have used it all up you must wait until the next turn until you can use the tank again. Similarly, buildings take a certain number of goes to complete whatever tasks you tell them to do. Every go you get an extra $50. To end your turn in the game press the TAB key or tap the end go button on the toolbar - but not yet! First you must do something with that turn... View Mode --------- This is the default mode that each game will start in. When you are in this mode you can use the cursor keys or drag the pen on the screen to scroll the main viewing area around the map and see what is going on. You can take this chance to scroll around the map and find out what is going on (which is not much). Build Mode ---------- This mode allows you to tell your structures what to build or research. To enter this mode tap the build button on the toolbar and you will be taken in to the build menu. From here you can order your structures to build or research different things. If, for example, you decided you wanted a factory then you would go to the structures section of the menu then press right. Another sub-menu would then appear asking which structure you want to construct. If you move the selector over each building in the list the box at the top right displays the amount of money it would cost to build it and the number of goes before it would be completed. You would then press enter to build this structure and the money would be deducted from your funds. The same applies for research and units. If, for some reason, you decide you don't want to build a factory any more then go back to the structures section of the menu (or the units / research section for units / research) and you will see a progress indicator showing how much of this task has been completed. If you want to cancel the construction of this structure then press the delete key. Some menu items will be 'greyed out' initially. This can either be because you have not researched enough to build that yet, or you are not playing with a high enough technology level. In a normal game you start with only a small amount of technology and so only a few options will be available. As you progress you would slowly accumulate enough respect to be allowed better hardware. At the end of each turn any structures, units or research that have been completed will become available. If it was research then the new menu items will appear ready to be selected. If it was a unit then it will come out the front of the factory. If it was a structure then a grey image of it will appear at the top left of the screen. This can be positioned with the cursor keys until it is where you want it. Structures must be no more than one square away from the HQ for the power lines to reach and not on top of anything such as space, rocks or other tanks / buildings. If it is a factory it would be a good idea to leave a gap of one square in front of it for the tanks to come out. When it is where you want it press enter and it will be built there. If your HQ is destroyed you will not be able to build any new structures. If a factory or research centre is destroyed then you will not be able to make any more tanks or do any more research respectively. Orders Mode ----------- Until now you might have been building lots of things but not doing anything with them, orders mode lets you tell your army what to do. To switch to this mode tap the orders button on the toolbar. Once you are in this mode you will see that there is a square at the top left corner of the screen. This square can be moved with the cursor keys or with the pen. The first thing you might want to do would be to see how much health one of your buildings or tanks has. To do this position the square over the building or tank that you want to find out about and press the enter key or tap again. On the left side of the screen, below the map, a bar will appear showing how much health the object you selected has. Before you can do anything else in the game you must deselect it, so press the escape key. If you had selected a tank you would also notice that not only did it have a health bar, but a time bar too. This time bar displays the amount of time the unit has left in this go. Further down from here there are two buttons that say move and attack. These show what mode the tank is in. When the tank is first selected it is in move mode (as indicated by the word move at the bottom of the screen). In this mode you can move the tank with the cursor keys (or by 'dragging' it with the pen) until it is where you want it to be or you have run out of time. Any time you use on it now will be given back at the end of the turn. If you tap the attack button then the tank will switch to attack mode. In this mode you will see a line going out from the tank to a crosshair at the end. This indicates where the tank will fire. Move the crosshair with the cursor keys or with the pen until it targets something you want to attack and press enter or tap on the "Fire" button at the bottom-right corner of the screen to fire (as long as you have enough time left). If you want to see what the range of the tank is then press d. When you have finished press escape to deselect your unit. Guard towers are special structures in that they can fire. To use them simply select them and the targeting cursor will appear as if it was a unit in attack mode. Winning (or Loosing) -------------------- Normally you win the level when you destroy all of the other players base and tanks. If all of yours are destroyed then you loose. Some single player levels have special missions which are explained in the briefing and in these you might not have to destroy everyone. Troubleshooting =============== Q. The Invasion icon doesn't appear on my extras bar! A. Make sure that you have installed it correctly. It *must* be in the \SYSTEM\APPS\INVASION folder. Q. Player two gets an extra $50! A. This is meant to happen, it should make up for the slight disadvantage of starting last. History ======= v0.7 (Beta) - Initial beta release of Invasion. Only one quick battle level and many features disabled or not present. v1.0 - First 'proper' release of Invasion. v1.01 - Jump-to bug fixed v1.2 - Improved User Interface - Improved computer AI - Save Game - Victory / Defeat Screen - Distributed as a .SIS file Registration ============ Invasion is shareware. This means that what you are experiencing at the moment is not the complete thing - more of a taster of what the full version will be like. If you decide that you would like to register Invasion then please send 10 (UK) pounds to me. By doing so you will encourage me to make more games for the Psion and have extra fun yourself. When you register I will send you a code which you can then type into the game to unlock the rest of the levels and disable the nag screen. By Post: Send a cheque or postal order made out to Thomas Ashton for 10 pounds (UK). Also include an e-mail address for me to send the code to or a SAE for me to reply with. On the Internet via RegNet: Visit the page http://www.swregnet.com/2296p.htm and fill in the form. The RegNet price of Invasion is $25 to cover the charges of RegNet. Contact ======= E-Mail: Thomas@ashton01.globalnet.co.uk WWW: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~ashton01 S-Mail: 21 Bartlett Rd, Gravesend Kent DA11 7LU ENGLAND P.S. Thanks must go to Juan Jose Design (juan-jose-design@wxs.nl) for the logo!