PC/CD Gamer UK 1/PCGAMER01.bin/patch/grn/grn.txt

Text File | 1994-08-05 | 23KB | 695 lines

 GREAT NAVAL BATTLES VOL.2  GUADALCANAL 1942-43

  version 1.1 6/8/94

  The contents of this file, in order, include:
    - Game Clarifications and Additions
    - Game Hints
    - Additional Questions and Answers
    - Additional Technical Information
            - Vesa Drivers
            - Game Memory
            - Summary of New Command Keys
    - Directory of Ship Classes



  GAME CLARIFICATIONS AND ADDITIONS

  Version 1.1 Clarifcations and Additions:
  Bug Fixes & New Features:
   1) Fixes most of the DOS4GW games crashes during game play.
   2) Fixed most mouse trail problems during game play.
   3) Increased Betty Bomber endurance, so as to reach
      Guadalcanal.
   4) Fixed crash bug in Japanese CS class ships damage screen.
   5) Improved turn rates for CA's and BB's.
   6) Added an option for the user to alter gunnery,
   torpedo and bomb damage. Check in "Controls" in the menu bar
   and look for the "Options" selection. The effects are as
   follows, "Gunnery": hits can be increased or set to normal,
   "Torpedo": sets U.S. torpedoes to historical dud rate or
   or no duds, "Bombs": damage can be increased or normal,
   "Aground": allows ships to run aground or turn off this
   feature in the game.
   7) Clarifaction: In the User's guide, page 2 under the heading
   "Autoexec.bat", please add a line to load the mouse driver.
   For example: LOADHI MOUSE.
   .
  GENERAL

  1) If you experience a game crash,  reload your most recent save,
  go to the Memory Report in the Controls menu located at the top

  menu bar, and record the numbers found there before calling
  SSI technical support.  These numbers will show the amount of free
  memory and will be a big help to tech. support.

  2) IMPORTANT: Your game may slow down if you have too many map
  filters on. Filters like range circles or torpedoes will slow down
  the game, so turn them off to speed up the game.

  3) We have included Gravis native modein the sound install menu as a
  courtesy to our users. We do not gurantee 100% compatibility because
  out testing revealed some intermittent problems.If you have problems
  using this card in its native mode, we suggest that you use the
  Sound Blaster emulation option in the sound install menu.

  4) Currently in the game, computer will occassionally plot to close
  to land and may run some ships aground.  If you wish you can edit
  the GNB.bat file with your DOS editor and add the following command.
  Towards the end of the file look for the following:

  gnbg.exe vesa480.dll

  alter this command line to look like this:


  gnbg.exe vesa480.dll AGROUND

  This allow ships to ignore portions of land while the task force
  moves. You still cannot plot thru islands but this will allow
  you to clip a corner or two.

  4) If you manually plot the course for a bombard mission you must
  target the appropriate "X" in the waters off Guadalcanal.  The
  Japanese must target the blue (American) "X" and the Americans
  must target the red (Japanese) "X".  Likewise when you manually
  plot a supply run you must target the "X" that matches your side
  (red for Japanese and blue for American). REMEMBER that plot must
  end in close proximity to the appropriate "X".

  5) Ship speed can be affected by the direction and strength of the
  wind.  Your task force will slow down if they are sailing against
  the wind.

  6) Light carriers (CVL) will be listed as CV's in the game.

  7) You can adjust the music volume by hitting the ALT 1 through
  ALT4 keys; you may also turn off the speech by hitting
  ALT- A.  You can use these keys only during game play.


  8) You can alter the delay time for messages by accessing the
  Controls menu and using the "Message" option.

  9) When you select "smoke" for your task force, you will not see a
  graphical representation of the smoke (it slows down the game), but
  the effect do take place.

  10) If a ship starts sinking while you are in Fast Mode you are
  dropped out of Fast Mode until the ship sinks and then Fast Mode
  resumes.

  11) If your troops run out of supplies (0 supplies) you will be given
  automatic defend orders.  You can choose another option but when the
  battle report comes the computer will not let you attack and will
  place you in defend.

  12) You will recieve one plane per plane type every day as
  reinforcements.  Carriers also replaces one plane per plane type
  while at sea.

  13) Save games each take up 500K of disk space, so if you are
  low on disk space you may get a "Save File Failure" message.

  Maintain a few megs of free space on your hard drive if you
  make lots of new saves.

  NAVIGATION

  1) There are two new orders in the Navigation Orders panel:
  "Manual" and "Tactical".  "Manual" allows you to manually set
  speed and course. "Tactical" allows the computer to run the ship
  during combat.

  2) You cannot steer the ship by clicking on the rudder.  If you
  wish to manually direct the course of your task force you need to
  access the Navigation Panel and  set the orders (Set Orders command)
  to Manual.   Use the "Set Course" button to enter a new heading.
  This command also works with detached ships that are under
  tactical orders.

  3) If you use the custom formation option, the computer will
  automatically sets up the flagship in the center.  You must arrange
  your task force in relation to the flagship.

  4) Be careful not to make your custom formations too wide or they
  may have trouble in confined waters.


  TORPEDOES

  1) The target readout for the torpedoes turns 180 degrees away
  from the target if a friendly ship is interposed between your ship
  and target ship.

  2) Japanese torpedo mounts will try to reload during combat
  but they may not finish reloading until the ship is out of combat.
  American ships do not reload during combat.

  3)  If you switch the Torpedo Control on the bridge to manual control
  it prevents the ship from firing torpedoes on its own.

  4) When you manually fire torpedoes you should set the game speed
  to x1, otherwise the compute button does not update properly.


  AIR OPERATIONS

  1) You can click directly on the map to send an airstrike to a
  suspected enemy position without a contact report. However the
  chance of the strike hitting a target is small, as the airstrike

  really needs a contact report.

  2) Your air strike missions are restricted by the shortest range of
  the planes involved.  If the contact is beyond the range you will
  not get a target.  Try resetting the strike without the planes with
  the shortest range.

  3) You can only set search range and direction from the Air Ops
  screen (F5) of each ship or base. This option is not available from
  the Flag Bridge.

  4) A base acts like the flag bridge of a carrier force.  You can
  launch CAP from the "Flag Bridge" of the base. All other air
  operations must take place in the Air Ops screen (F5).

  5) "Scout" missions have been renamed "Search" missions.

  6) The aircraft ranges listed when you ready an aircraft represent
  the operational range in nautical miles for a one-way trip.

  7) The second speed listed in the Aircraft Briefing screens is the
  payload speed of the listed aircraft.



  BASE OPERATIONS

  1) The Flag Bridge screen also doubles as the base screen.

  2) When you are on the "Base" screen, clicking on the Cargo button
  will list the current number of supplies and troops in that base.

  3) When loading a ship a number will appear next to the name,
  indicating the number of hours it takes the ship to load. Once the
  ship has finished loading you will see an "L" next to the name.
  Also, when you fuel or repair a ship, you will see the number of
  hours to complete the fueling or repairs.

  4) There has been a change in how fueling occurs for a ship at
  a base.  You can no longer select the amount, as the computer will
  automatically fuel the ship to 100% capacity.

  Map Filters

  The map filters have been rearranged to be more efficient and a
  couple of new filters have been added.


  1) Be careful when you use the Map filter option "Autocenter".
  You will be unable to move the map position from the chosen ship or
  task force.

  2) There are two new map filters. The first is "Range Circles"; which
  sets a series of circles in 250-mile increments around the base or
  task force. This can be a useful option for planning airstrikes.
  The second new filter is the "TF Plot Times"; which will displays
  the time in days, hours, and minutes to reach each way point in your
  plot.


  DAMAGE CONTROL

  1) During combat your damage control crews are less effective.
  The fastest way to repair a ship is to get out of combat.

  2) As long as one of the Main Gun Directors is functioning, your guns
  should be able to fire at will.

  3) Damage to your ship's shaft or rudder reduces the ship's
  speed to zero and prevents it from turning.



  SUPPLIES

  1) During unloading of a Supply Run, each ship unloads up to
  50 troops and 500 supplies per hour.

  2) The formula for supply consumption is determined by multiplying
  the number of troops by the combat option (defend=1, probe=2,
  attack=3, offensive=4) and dividing by five. For example, 1000
  troops on a probe mission would use the following supply
  (1000 x 2 = 2000/5 = 400 tons of supply used). The final number
  has some random variation applied after the calculation, so the
  number obtained should be consider an approximation.


  TRANSLATION OF JAPANESE SPEECH

  JAPANESE                        ENGLISH

  Tekikan Hakken                  Enemy spotted

  Gyorai Hakken                   Torpedoes spotted


  Tekikan Gekichin                Enemy ship sinking

  Meirei Dentatsu                 We are transfering command, sir

  Honkan Gekichin                 Our ship is sinking


  GAME HINTS

  SUPPLY RUNS

  The Japanese player must be very careful planning and running Supply
  Run missions. These are critical to the Japanese in the campaign
  game. As the Japanese player you face a major problem running
  against U.S. air power in Henderson Field and from the U.S. carriers.
  In order to survive your missions must arrive at Guadalcanal during
  the early evening so that your ships can unload and retreat before
  the Allied air power can strike. Create a task force of destroyers
  and cruisers and load them with supplies. Run the task force down
  and hide in the slot. The "slot" itself begins around 300 miles
  northwest of Guadalcanal. It will take you at least a day or two
  before you reach the "slot". If you arrive early in the morning or
  late afternoon, stop your TF and wait. The best time to go down the

  slot is around 1400 hrs (2:00 PM) and go at full speed, so that
  you should make it to Guadalcanal by 2200 hrs (10:00PM). By this
  method you can avoid U.S. airstrikes from Henderson; however, if
  there are U.S. carriers around, you may have to modify your schedule.
  Note that the Japanese transports only move at approximately 15 knots,
  so if they are a part of the task force you will have to change your
  tactics.

  TORPEDO ATTACKS


  The torpedo attack is one of the more difficult skills to master in
  the game. A lot depends on timing and luck.  It is difficult to hit
  a moving ship and if you are American, the chances of your torpedoes
  hitting something and actually working are very slim. The best way
  to hit a ship with torpedoes is to launch several waves at the target
  ship but at different angles.  What you want to do is force the
  target ship into a position where it cannot avoid the torpedoes.
  You can detach a destroyer or two and send them around the flank of
  the enemy Task Force and have them launch torpedoes.  Your main force
  should then launch another wave from the opposite side. You can
  also plot your Task Force for a torpedo run in one direction, then
  turn sharply and launch a second set on the new plot.


  CAMPAIGN GAME

  The main goal of the campaign game is not just to sink a lot of enemy
  ships, but to maintain a hold on Guadalcanal. If your base runs out
  of men, it will fall to the enemy. With this in mind, the control of
  the seas around Guadalcanal becomes important, as the side who can
  dominate the seas can best resupply its bases on Guadalcanal.

  For the Japanese the first campaign will be a difficult one, as you
  are initially facing a larger American force. Until you get your
  carriers into play, lay low and stick to night missions. Use your
  Betty bombers to harass the American TF's off of Henderson Field. If
  you can sink transports, you will find that it helps in the long
  term. One of the strengths for the Japanese is the ability to use
  destroyers as transport.  The destroyer's speed allows them to avoid
  the enemy air by arriving, unloading, and leaving before daylight.

  As the Americans, use your initial advantage to make multiple supply
  runs and bombardment missions before the Japanese carriers show up.
  In night battles be careful of the Japanese torpedo attacks as one
  hit could sink a cruiser.  Use Henderson Field to your advantage;
  remember to transfer some PBY's there so you can launch search

  missions.  Protect your carriers; as each carrier could be worth
  as much as 70,000 points, and losing one or two of them will cost
  you the game.

  ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

  Q: Why are there two Name options under Aircraft when the map filters
  are displayed?

  A: The map filters have been modified from the form shown in the
  user's manual. The first Name option is under the formation heading
  and when toggled on displays the names of overall flight formations.
  The second Name option displays the names of individual planes
  when they are making their attack runs and performing their search
  missions.

  Q: Why am I unable to transfer ships from Truk to Rabual or vice
  versa?

  A: Historically, both of these bases were separate commands in the
  Japanese Navy and did not transfer ships to each other.
  If you wish to move some ships to another base, you can avoid the
  separate command issue by using the "Return to Base" order when you

  have completed a mission.

  Q: Why do I receive land combat reports, that indicate zero
  casualties?

  A: Most likely both you and your opponent are in defensive mode,
  therefore you have no losses.

  Q: Why do I receive contact reports that are not listed in my
  Target Selection menu?

  A: Your search planes have a much long range than your strike
  planes (Kates, VALs, Avengers, etc.).  The contact will not be listed
  as a target until your strike planes come within a reasonable range
  to hit the contact.

  Q: Why do B-17s and Bettys seem to do very little damage to Henderson
  or Guadalcanal?

  A: Neither of these two planes was very useful in land bombing roles
  in this campaign.  First, Henderson Field was very difficult to
  damage by bombs alone, and second, bombing at high altitudes often
  resulted in very inaccurate bombings.


  Q: Why doesn't my task force move even after I set a plot for it?

  A: Since you are in manual mode you need to set the speed for your
  task force (it is probably at 0).

  Q: Why do my search planes turn around at 4:00PM and head home.

  A:  It is because at that time the pilots know they need to head
  back before sunset. Make sure you launch your air formations early
  enough to allow them time to do their missions.

  Q: Why did my air strike go after a secondary target close to the
  original target I selected?

  A: The pilots have a tendency to attack the first thing they see.
  This happened quite often in the actual battles.

  ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION

  VESA Drivers

  What exactly is a VESA driver? Good question. The VESA driver itself

  is a small program which loads into memory and interacts with your
  video board. This little program (in conjunction with your video
  board) is then is able to display resolutions such as 640x480,
  800x600, and 1024x768, all using 256 glorious colors. This enhanced
  resolution can be used to great effect in many ways. A VESA driver
  is also a driver which follows standards set by the Video Electronic
  Standards Association. This Association is responsible for setting
  and supporting industry-wide video graphics standards for the benefit
  of end-users.

  Why is this driver needed? The driver is necessary since the original
  VGA standard (introduced in 1987) set 320x200 as being the highest
  resolution available. Video board companies soon upped the ante with
  higher-resolution VGA boards (also knows as Super VGA, or SVGA,
  boards) and quickly found a need to make these boards compatible with
  each other. Hence, the VESA association was formed to set standards
  for these boards. We should note here that every video board company
  has its own VESA driver, and that a VESA driver made for one video
  board does not necessarily work with another.

  Great Naval Battles II uses a high-resolution 640x480x256 mode in
  order to more accurately depict the detail of naval combat.
  Obviously, in order to reap the benefits of this higher resolution,

  you need to install the VESA driver before playing the game.

  Our installation program tries to identify the video board you are
  using, and installs the appropriate VESA driver in the GNB2.BAT file.
  Running the game by typing GNB2 and pressing Enter/Return should work
  for the majority of users.

  However, some video boards may not be detected by the installation
  program, or the VESA driver used may not work with your board. If you
  have trouble running the game with the GNB2 command, try
  typing START2 and press Enter/Return. The START2.BAT file includes
  a universal VESA driver that should work with most video boards.

  One other option you may wish to consider is installing your VESA
  driver in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so it is always available upon
  boot-up. To do this, you will need to know the location and name of
  the VESA driver for your video board. Add the complete path and
  filename for the driver as a line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file using
  the EDIT command. As an example, we have included an AUTOEXEC.BAT
  with an Orchid VESA driver installed. Note that you may need to
  refer to your video card manual and DOS manual for additional
  information.



  Example AUTOEXEC.BAT

  PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\MOUSE;C:\UTIL
  C:\UTIL\ORCHDVSA
  PROMPT $P$G

  Note: This examples assumes the VESA driver resides in the UTIL
  directory.


  GAME MEMORY

  Great Naval Battles Vol.2  requires a large amount of extended
  memory in order to run.  This game does not use expanded memory,
  it is very important that you do not use EMM386.sys in your
  CONFIG.SYS file in your computer. This game needs at least 3,080,192
  bytes of extended memory in order to run.


  SUMMARY OF NEW COMMAND KEYS
  ALT 1 - ALT 4   Change Music Volume
  ALT A           Turn Speech ON/OFF

  PAGEUP/DOWN     Page up/down the ship list in a task force or base.

  DIRECTORY of SHIP CLASSES

  JAPANESE SHIPS

  BB's

  NAGATO CLASS
    Mutsu

  KONGO CLASS
    Kongo, Hiei, Kirishima, Haruna

  YAMATO CLASS
    Yamato

  CV's

  JUNYO CLASS
    Junyo, Hiyo

  RYUJO CLASS

    Ryujo

  SHOKAKU CLASS
    Shokaku, Zuikaku

  ZUIHO CLASS
    Zuiho

  CS's

  CHITOSE CLASS
    Chiyoda, Chitose

  CS MARU CLASS
    Kamikawa Maru

  NISSHIN CLASS
    Nisshin

  CA's

  TAKAO CLASS
    Chokai, Takao, Atago, Maya


  FURUTAKA CLASS
    Furutaka, Kako

  AOBA CLASS
    Aoba, Kinugasa

  NACHI CLASS
    Myoko, Haguro

  MOGAMI CLASS
    Suzuya, Kumano

  TONE CLASS
    Tone, Chikuma

  CL's

  YUBARI CLASS
    Yubari (not in manual, appears in ship briefings list)

  TENRYU CLASS
    Tenryu, Tatsuta


  SENDAI CLASS
    Jintsu, Sendai

  NAGARA CLASS
    Nagara, Yura, Isuzu

  DD's

  KAMAKAZE CLASS
    Asakaze, Oite, Yunagi

  MUTSUKI CLASS
    Uzuki, Mochizuki, Yuzuki,  Mutsuki, Yayoi

  SHIRATSUYU CLASS
    Kawakaze, Umikaze, Suzukaze, Shiratsuyu, Shigure, Murasume,
    Samidare, Harausme, Yudachi

  KAGERO CLASS
    Arashi, Kagero, Maikaze, Isokaze, Urakaze, Hamakaze,
    Hagikaze, Tanikaze, Kuroshio, Oyahio, Hatsukaze, Yukikaze,
    Hayashio, Amatsukaze, Tokitsukaze, Nowaki


  HATSUHARU CLASS
    Yugure, Ariake

  ASASHIO CLASS
    Natsugumo, Minegumo, Asagumo

  FUBUKI CLASS
    Sazanami, Oshio, Shirakumo, Asagiri, Yugiri, Amagiri,
    Akebono, Uranami, Shikinami, Ayanami, Fubuki, Shirayuki,
    Hatsuyuki, Murakumo, Isonami

  AKATSUKI CLASS
    Akizuki, Akatsuki, Ikazuchi, Inazuma

  YUGUMO CLASS
    Makinami, Naganami, Yugumo, Akigumo, Kazegumo, Makigumo

  MINEKAZE CLASS
    Hakaze, Akikaze, Tachikaze




  ALLIED SHIPS


  BB's

  NORTH CAROLINA CLASS
    North Carolina, Washington

  SOUTH DAKOTA CLASS
    South Dakota

  CV's

  LEXINGTON CLASS
    Saratoga

  YORKTOWN CLASS
    Enterprise, Hornet

  WASP CLASS
    Wasp

  CVE's


  LONG ISLAND CLASS
    Long Island

  CA's

  NEW ORLEANS CLASS
    New Orleans, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Astoria, Quincy,
    Vincennes

  PORTLAND CLASS
    Portland

  PENSACOLA CLASS
    Salt Lake City, Pensacola

  NORTHAMPTON CLASS
    Chester, Northampton, Chicago

  AUSTRALIA CLASS
    Australia

  CANBERRA CLASS

    Canberra

  CL's

  BROOKLYN CLASS
    Boise, Helena

  ATLANTA CLASS
    Juneau, Atlanta, San Juan

  PERTH CLASS
    Hobart

  DD's

  PORTER CLASS
    Phelps, Balch, Selfridge, Porter

  FARRAGUT CLASS
    Dewey, Hull, Farragut, Macdonough, Worden, Dale

  BENHAM CLASS
    Benham, Ellet, Wilson, Lang, Sterett, Stack


  BENSON CLASS
    Grayson, Gwin, Aaron Ward, Farenholt, Laffey, Monssen,
    Buchanan, Lansdowne, Duncan, McCalla, Lardner, Meredith

  BAGLEY CLASS
    Maury, Patterson, Mugford, Ralph Talbot, Jarvis, Bagley,
    Blue, Helm, Henley

  MAHAN CLASS
    Preston, Mahan, Lamson, Conygham, Shaw, Cushing, Smith

  SIMS CLASS
    Hughes, Anderson, Russell, Morris, Mustin, O'Brien

  FLETCHER CLASS
    Nicholas, Fletcher







  J.Young