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Text File | 1994-07-28 | 30KB | 612 lines

===================================================================== Siege! for Windows (c) Written by Edward E. Dellow Copyright (c) 1993, Strategic Solutions Version 1.1 _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER ===================================================================== Contents -------- 1.0 The shareware concept ................. 2 1.1 Definition of shareware ............. 2 1.2 Disclaimer - agreement ............. 2 1.3 Hardware\Software Requirements ...... 3 1.4 Registration ........................ 3 2.0 About Siege for windows (c) ........... 4 2.1 Quick start ......................... 4 2.2 Rules of play ....................... 4 Building fortifications Territorial influence Attacking the enemy The element of surprise Chain reactions The fork Score Card 2.3 Using the menus ..................... 7 2.4 Creating a player ................... 9 2.5 Deleting players .................... 9 2.6 Remote players ...................... 10 Network connections Communication port connections Setting options 3.0 Support Policy ........................ 12 1.0 The shareware concept Page 2 ===================================================================== 1.1 Definition of shareware --------------------------- Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program with printed manual. Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their Shareware. Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. 1.2 Disclaimer - agreement -------------------------- Users of Siege! for Windows (c) must accept this disclaimer of warranty: Siege! for Windows (c) is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of Siege! for Windows (c). Siege! for Windows (c) is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. If you find this program useful and find that Page 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------- you are using Siege! for Windows (c) and continue to use Siege! for Windows (c) after a reasonable trial period, you must make a registration payment of $20.00 to Strategic Solutions. The $20.00 registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at any one time. You must treat this software just like a book. An example is that this software may be used by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer location to another, so long as there is no possibility of it being used at one location while it's being used at another. Just as a book cannot be read by two different persons at the same time. Commercial users of Siege! for Windows (c) must register and pay for their copies of Siege! for Windows (c) within 30 days of first use or their license is withdrawn. Site-License arrangements may be made by contacting Strategic Solutions. Anyone distributing Siege! for Windows (c) for any kind of remuneration must first contact Strategic Solutions at the address below for authorization. This authorization will be automatically granted to distributors recognized by the (ASP) as adhering to its guidelines for shareware distributors, and such distributors may begin offering Siege! for Windows (c) immediately (However Strategic Solutions must still be advised so that the distributor can be kept up- to-date with the latest version of Siege! for Windows (c)). You are encouraged to pass a copy of Siege! for Windows (c) along to your friends for evaluation. Please encourage them to register their copy if they find that they can use it. All registered users will receive a copy of the latest version of the Siege! for Windows (c) system. 1.3 Hardware\Software Requirements ---------------------------------- Siege! for Windows (c) is a windows application. It should run on any configuration supported by windows. It is recommended however that you have a 386 or better and a VGA monitor. The application automatically takes maximum advantage of your displays resolution. This means that it will work on an EGA but may be difficult to read in All Clues Mode. It works well on a standard VGA and great on Super VGA. 1.4 Registration ---------------- To register, print and fill out the file ORDERFRM.TXT. Mail it to the address listed on the registration form. You may also print the registration form from within Siege! for Windows (c) by selecting Help\Registration. 2.0 About Siege for windows (c) Page 4 ===================================================================== Siege for windows(c) is a strategy game played on a board. The object is to control the most territory after a set number of turns. You may play against the computer or another person. You can even create your own players. Watch out! Siege uses an artificial intelligence, so the computer players learn from their mistakes. To play against a friend you may use a network, or a modem. Of course you may elect to play against a friend on your computer. 2.1 Quick start --------------- You install Siege for Windows (c) using a special install program on the game disk. Place the game disk in a drive (A: or B:). Startup Windows as you normally would. From the program manager, select File and then Run. The computer will prompt you for the name of a program to run. If you placed the game disk in drive A:, type 'A:\INSTALL' if you put the disk in drive B: type 'B:\INSTALL'. Press Enter or click on the OK button and you're off. The install program will ask you where to install the program and where it can find windows. If you don't know (or care) where you install the game, accept the defaults by pressing enter for both prompts. Click on the SS (Strategic Solutions) icon located in your program manager window. There should be an icon for Siege for windows (c). Click twice on this icon. From the open application, select "Play" from the menu. Click on "Begin Tournament". You're now free to play. The default settings include music, "you" (human) playing against "me" (computer), 3 games per tournament, and 21 turns per game. 2.2 Rules of play ----------------- Siege! for Windows(c) uses on a 6x8 grid of territories. The object of the game is to control the most territory after a fixed number of moves. Building fortifications ----------------------- You control territory by building fortifications. During each turn, both players add fortification to a single territory. You may fortify any territory not currently fortified by the enemy forces. The more you fortify a territory the harder it is to conquer and the more influence it has over other territories. A territory may have up to three levels of fortification. Page 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Garrisons By fortifying an open square, you place a garrison on that position. You also exert one "point" of influence on the positions North, South, East and West. Forts If you fortify a territory that already has a Garrison, the territory becomes a Fort, and exerts 2 points of influence on the surrounding territories. Castles If you fortify a territory that already has a Fort, the territory becomes a Castle and exerts 3 points of influence on surrounding territories. Outposts An outpost is another way to control territory. Creation or destruction of an outpost occurs automatically when one army exhibits more influence then the other. Territorial influence --------------------- To control a territory, you must exhibit more influence over it then your opponent. Each level of fortification adds one point of influence on that territory and each territory with which it shares a border (North, South, East and West). If your territory is next to the opponent's territory and the number of points you exert on his position is greater than the number he exerts, you will cause revolution, and conquest of his territory. This will destroy the enemy structures on that territory. Attacking the enemy ------------------- To attack the enemy, build a fortification on his border that causes you to have more influence than he does. A state of siege exists when you build up fortifications against an enemy's territory that provide influence equal to that of the enemy's. The territory under siege will raise a flag for help. If the enemy does not fortify that territory in his next turn, you may conquer it by building an additional fortification adjacent to the territory under siege. The new attack does not need to come from the same territory that caused the initial siege. NOTE: For a more challenging game, you may turn off the siege warning in the option menu. Page 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------- The element of surprise ----------------------- Since an outpost is not actually a fortification, you may build a new fortification on an enemy outpost. This is normally not good practice because at a minimum you place your fortification in siege. Destruction of the fortification will occur if your enemy exhibits enough force on the territory. When you build a fortification on a territory however, you have the element of surprise. What this means is that your point of influence is applied to the attack before your opponent may counter-strike. If you place a new fortification on an enemy outpost adjacent to an enemy fortification under siege, the fortification will be destroyed. Since the fortification no longer exists, it no longer exhibits influence on your new territory. This may allow the fortification to survive the counter attack where it would normally not be able to. Chain reactions --------------- When a fortification is destroyed, it ceases to influence the surrounding territories. As a result, these territories may also be instantly destroyed if the enemy now exhibits more influence. The territories protected by these territories may also be destroyed causing a chain reaction. The fork -------- Another attack strategy is the fork. If you can place a fortification between two enemy fortifications (north-south or east-west) such that both territories are under siege, the enemy cannot protect both of them. He will have to make a decision and protect only one leaving the other vulnerable to attack. Score Card ---------- One the right of the screen, you'll see you and your opponent. Below that, the number of territories that you control. After you've won or lost games, you might look at your player's history. Select "File" from the menu, and click on "View a player". All of the games played by that player are listed, including his win and loss record, and with whom the tournament was played. Page 7 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.3 Using the menus ------------------- To select a pull down menu, hold down the Alt key and press the first letter of the menu name. You may also select a menu option with the mouse or move the cursor to the menu by pressing F10. For more detailed instructions, read your windows manual or on-line help FILE ---- Create a player Creates a new computer or human player. Computer players start dumb but learn quickly. They analyze the results of each game and their opponents strategy and adopt. A history file is kept for each computer and human player. See Creating a player on page 9. View a player Allows you to view the tournament history for all known players. The history shows the number of games won, lost and tied for each tournament the selected player was involved with. Delete a player Deletes all information (strategy and history) for a player and removes him from the roster. Before the player is deleted, you will be prompted to confirm. Save options Saves all game options so that the next time you play everything will be set to your preferences. This includes everything in the options menu, everything in the remote player options and the current players names. Restore options Restores the options to the last point where they were saved or to defaults if Save Options has never been used. This happens automatically when the game is started but you may use this option to 'undo' settings made since the last Save or restore. Exit Exits the program. If you are currently in a tournament, you will be asked if you wish to end it. If you do not choose to end the tournament, the program will not exit. Page 8 --------------------------------------------------------------------- EDIT ---- Select White player Selects the white player. The white player always starts the first game of a tournament Select Black player Selects the black player. Set options Allows you to set options which control game play factors. This includes difficulty level, music, siege warning, learning, number of turns and number of games per tournament. REMOTE ------ Open remote Opens a connection for a remote player. You will be asked to specify either a network or communication port connection. To play against a remote player, you must also select remote for either the White or Black player. See Remote players on page 10. Close remote Closes an open connection. This option is only available when a remote connection is open. Settings Allows you to change settings for a remote player on a communication port. See Communications connections on page 10. WINDOW ------ Small Changes the window size to small. Medium Changes the window size to medium. Large Changes the window size to large. PLAY ---- Begin a tournament Begins a new tournament against the two players selected. If one of the players is a remote player and you have not yet opened a remote connection you will be prompted to open one. End tournament Ends a tournament in progress. Ending a tournament in progress is considered a loss. You will be prompted to confirm this option. Page 9 --------------------------------------------------------------------- HELP ---- About Siege! Shows the about dialog box. This is useful if you need to know the version of the program. Help on using help Produces a generic windows help screen explaining how to use help Index Shows an index of Siege for Windows topics. The on-line help covers the same material as the manual. Registration/ordering Produces a help file explaining how to register the program. Product support Produces a help file explaining product support available from Strategic solutions. 2.4 Creating a player --------------------- Siege! for Windows (c) comes with some players but you may want to create your own. To create a player, select "File" from the menu, and click on "Create a Player". Siege! for windows(c) will want to know if the player is a human or computer. Of course, the difference is that if the player is a human, the computer won't make the move, but if you select a computer player, it will. You may wish to create human players for each person who plays so that you can keep their history. A name will also be necessary. There are restrictions on the length of a name. It can't be more than eight characters. To get your new player in action, select "Edit" from the menu, and click on "Select a White player" or "Select a Black player". A list of players will appear and you can select one. The player on top will always go first. 2.5 Deleting players -------------------- You have the option to delete a player as well. To delete a player, select "File" from the menu, and click on "Delete a player". A list of players will appear. Select the player to delete. Page 10 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.6 Remote players ------------------ You can play siege with a friend on another computer. You attach the two computers through a network or communication port. The player not playing on your computer is known as a remote player. To play against a remote player you must do two things. 1) Choose either 'Play\Select White player' or 'Play\Select Black player' from the menu and then select '<remote>' as the name of the player. 2) Choose 'Remote\Open connection' from the menu. Select communication port or network and proceed through to create a connection (see below). These two steps may be performed in any order. If you have selected a remote player (step 1) but not opened a connection (step 2) before starting a tournament, you will be prompted to create a connection. Network connections ------------------- Siege will work on most networks without any complex installation procedures. To play over a network, you and your friend must be able to share access to the same file. Some networks don't allow sharing of files. Yours probably does if you see a network disk drive. To connect, you must specify the same file name, in the same directory, on the same disk. If you're not familiar with the terms above, ask your network administrator to help. Communication port connections ------------------------------ You can also connect two computers through their communication ports with or without modems. To connect to computers without a modem you will need a 'null modem cable'. You can find one at most computer stores. If you have connected the computers with a null modem cable, select direct. If your using a modem, select dial or answer. If you select dial, or course your friend must select answer. You must also specify the communication where you have attached you modem or cable (usually one or two). You may also need to visit the communication settings dialog box to set up communication speed and a phone number. The screen displayed here will have a bunch of "Greek" on it. If you don't know what those things are, DON'T TOUCH THEM! Otherwise, you may enter the phone number on this screen. Page 11 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Phone communications is not easy, so if you have problems, ask someone who uses the modem often. Setting options ------------------ There are several options that control the way games are played. You may set the options by selecting 'Edit' and 'Set options' from the menu. These options will remain in effect until you end Siege! for Windows or change them. You may also make these option the startup defaults by selecting 'File' and 'Save options' from the menu. You may erase changes to the options by selecting 'File' and 'Restore' from the menu. Difficulty level Changes the expertise of computer players. You may specify one of five levels, Very easy, Easy, Moderate, Hard, Very hard. Play music Toggles music on or off. Siege warning Toggles siege warning on or off. With siege warning on (default), a castle under siege closes it's door and raises a flag. Turn this feature off for a more challenging game. Allow computer Toggles computer learning on or off. With this players to learn option on, computer players learn from all players that beat them (computer or human) and adopt to their tactics. You may want to turn this option off to prevent computer players from changing once you have programmed them the way you want. Turns per Changes the number of Turns per tournament. tournament The default is 21 but you may change it if you like shorter or longer games. Games per Specifies the default number of games per tournament tournament. The default is 3. 3.0 Support Policy Page 12 ===================================================================== Strategic Solutions provides user support to registered versions via mail, telephone, and CompuServe Information Service (R). for 3 months after registration. Strategic Solutions will answer questions and fix serious bugs during the three month period. For problems involving a specific hardware or software environment or feature, we may choose not to modify the program. In that case, if a problem is reported within three months after purchase, then we shall offer to refund the user's purchase price. If a program bug prevents you from evaluating Siege! for Windows (c) during the first 30 days (prior to registration), Strategic Solutions will attempt to assist but is not under obligation to resolve issues beyond our control. Phone : (817) 232-8781 CIS : 71321,2745 Address : Strategic Solutions 7908 Firefly Fort Worth, Texas 76137 You may share Siege! for Windows (c) with others for the purpose of evaluation as long as it's unaltered and distributed in its entirety. Strategic Solutions is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware- related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536.