Revista CD Expert 19/CDE19_B.7z/CDE19_B.mdf/Total/TADINST.EXE/ADD/135

Text File | 1997-11-12 | 24KB | 601 lines

TOTAL ANNIHILATION DEMO

This demo version of Total Annihilation consists of three
single player missions taken from the full version of the
game.  The full version of Total Annihilation contains 50
missions as well as over 35 skirmish maps and extensive
multi-player capabilities.  Every week a new unit will be
available to download and incorporate into the full version
of the game.  To find out more about Total Annihilation,
visit the web site at http://www.cavedog.com.


READ ME CONTENTS:

1.    The Galactic War
2.    System Requirements
3.    Game Components
4.    Main Battle Screen Interface
5.    Unit Orders
6.    Using the Mouse
7.    Building Units and Structures
8.    Keyboard Commands
9.    Mission Walk-Throughs


1.    The Galactic War

Long ago the galaxy had known peace. Paradise was ruled with
the hand of science, and the hand was that of the galactic
governing body known as the Core.

Paradoxically it was the ultimate victory, the victory over
death itself, which brought about the downfall of their
Paradise and started the war that would decimate a million
worlds. The process, called "patterning", involved the
electronic duplication of brain matrices and allowed the
transfer of consciousness into durable machines. Effectively
it meant immortality, and the Core decreed the process
mandatory for all citizens in order to ensure their safety.

There were many who were unwilling to toss aside their
bodies so casually, many indeed who regarded patterning as
an atrocity. They fled to the outer edges of the galaxy
where they banded together to form a resistance which became
known as the Arm. War began, though it was never officially
declared by either side. The Arm developed high-powered
combat suits for its armies, while the Core transferred the
minds of its soldiers directly into similarly deadly
machines. The Core duplicated its finest warriors thousands
of times over. The Arm countered using cloning. The war
raged on for over four thousand years, consuming the
resources of an entire galaxy and leaving it a scorched
wasteland.

Both sides lay in ruins. Their civilizations had long since
vanished; their once vast military complexes were smashed.
Their armies were reduced to a few scattered remnants which
continued to battle on ravaged worlds. Their hatred fueled
by millennia of conflict, they would fight to the death. For
each, the only acceptable outcome was the complete and utter
annihilation of the other.



2.    System Requirements

Minimum Requirements
CPU:        100 Mhz Pentium or faster
RAM:        16MB
OS:        Windows 95
Hard Drive:    40 MB available storage
CD-ROM:        4x speed CD
Display:    640 x 480 x 256 Colors
Input:        Microsoft (or 100% compatible) mouse.
Software:    Direct X version 5 must be installed.

Recommended for Full Version
CPU:        133 Mhz Pentium or faster
RAM:        24 MB

Optional
A sound card is recommended for maximum enjoyment of Total
Annihilation, but not required.  If a sound card is used it
must be Direct X compatible.


3.    Game Components
Total Annihilation features two fundamental game components:
Units and Resources.  Units can be Mobile Units (tanks,
ships, planes, etc.), or Structures (factories, metal
extraction plants, etc.).  The most important unit is
the Commander.  Additional units are described in
greater detail below.  Resources, which consist of
metal and energy, are the fundamental building blocks
of the other game components.  By collecting or reclaiming
these basic resources, you will be able to create
everything else you need to annihilate your opponent.

UNITS
Commander
You are the Commander of the ARM or the CORE. You possess a
matter/anti-matter backpack which produces and stores metal
and energy.  You have one of the most powerful weapons on
the battlefield, the Disintegrator Gun.  The Commander has
the ability to construct an entire complex of war with the
nano-lathe. Your battlesuit will self-repair slowly
if it takes damage.  Lastly you can gain energy by
reclaiming bio-mass (trees and other plants) or gain metal
by reclaiming the metal found in wrecks.

Mobile Units
You have access to a full complement of land, sea, and air
units, including scouts, transports, construction and combat
units.  The game begins with just the Commander and his
matter/anti-matter backpack.  ItÆs up to you to build the
necessary units and structures (see below) to mobilize your
forces.  See How To Play, below, for more information on
building structures and units.

Structures
Structures provide a variety of functions, such as storing
energy and metal, constructing mobile units, and acting as
offensive and defensive weapons. Structures that build
mobile units are known as factories. See How To Play, below,
for more information on building structures and units.


RESOURCES
The two fundamental resources available to you are Metal and
Energy.  Every unit or structure that you build will
require a certain amount of each.

Metal
Metal is the substance from which all units are created.
Metal can be extracted from the ground with a Metal
Extractor or reclaimed from the wreckage of destroyed
units.  Metal deposits look like a smooth section of shiny
rocks and are identified on screen as the cursor passes
over them.

Energy
Energy powers all activity.  Energy can be collected using
Wind Generators,  Solar Collectors, and several other
structures.  On some planets organic matter can be converted
to energy using one of the many Construction units.


4.    Main Battle Screen Interface

Battle Map
The Battle Map is a top-down 3D perspective of the
battlefieldÆs terrain.  Depending on your line of sight
settings, the mapped (gray) areas are places your units
have explored.  Your battle map will retain knowledge of
terrain but not of enemy activity in that area. The black
areas of the screen show  unexplored territory.

Orders Button
Displays commands available to the unit currently selected.
These commands vary depending on the unitÆs capabilities.

Build Button
Displays units and structures that the currently selected
unit can build.  When a unit does not have this ability,
the option is not available.

Mini-Map
Displays the entire battlefield in the top left corner,
showing both terrain and radar information.  Units can be
given orders with the mini-map.

Unit Color
Your color is displayed in the upper left corner, next
the metal and energy bars.

Selected Unit(s)
Selected units are outlined in green.

Unit Status Bar
The unit status bar is displayed in the lower left portion
of the screen when a unit is selected. The left bar displays
the selected unitÆs health status.  The right bar indicates
the health status of the unit associated with the selected
unit.  The notation in the center describes their association.

Sending Messages
Press Enter to bring up the Message box.  Messages typed
here will appear on all the other playersÆ screens
accompanied by the name of its sender.  This is only
available in multi-player games.

Metal and Energy Resources
Displays resource information.  Shows storage capacity,
current production and
usage.


5.    Unit Orders
Select a unit by clicking on it with the left mouse button
(see Using the Mouse, below, for information on the two
mouse options).  When a unit is selected, menus appear on
the left side of the screen.  The menus display either the
orders each unit can be given or its build capabilities.
You may give a unit several orders at once.  Hold down the
"Shift" key while giving multiple mouse commands and the
unit will undertake them in order.  Units can have standing
orders, specialty orders, or immediate orders.  The three
types of orders are described as follows:

STANDING ORDERS
Standing orders control the unitÆs aggressiveness and
mobility.  These orders will determine your unitÆs basic
behavior when interacting with enemy units.  This behavior
is based on the combination of the aggressiveness and
mobility settings.  Standing orders are accessed via the
top two buttons in the Unit Orders menu.

Aggressiveness
FIRE AT WILL - The unit will attack any unit in range. Most
aggressive setting.
RETURN FIRE - Unit will not fire at an enemy unit until it
has been fired upon.
HOLD FIRE -  Unit will not fire until ordered to do so.
Least aggressive setting

Mobility
ROAM - Unit has free range of movement when interacting
with enemy units.
MANEUVER - Unit can move within a short range of its
starting position to carry out its standing orders.
HOLD POSITION - Unit will not move from current position.

SPECIALTY ORDERS
Specialty Orders apply to specific units, and are accessed
via the middle set of buttons.

Activate / Deactivate
The unit can be turned on and off.

Cloaking
The unit has the ability to cloak, rendering it invisible
to enemy units. Cloaking uses energy.

IMMEDIATE ORDERS
Stop
Cancels an immediate order.  All orders that have been
queued up with the æshiftÆ key are also canceled.

Load / Unload
The unit has transport capabilities.

Reclaim
The unit can reclaim metal and energy from terrain,
wreckage and other units.

Repair
The unit can be used to repair a damaged unit.

Capture
The unit can be ordered to capture an enemy unit.  Units
that take longer to build also take longer to capture.

Move
The unit can be ordered to move to a new position.

Guard
The unit can be ordered to guard another unit.

Patrol
The unit can be ordered to patrol an area of the map.  If a
mobile construction unit is told to patrol an area, it will
repair all friendly units and reclaim metal and energy
from any available source along its path.

Attack
The unit can be ordered to attack another unit.

D-Gun
The unit has the Disintegrator Gun.

Bomb
When bombers are ordered to attack the attack cursor will
change to a bombing cursor.


6.    Using the Mouse
Total Annihilation supports two mouse interface options:

Left-Click interface (the default), and Right-Click
interface. Both options use the left mouse button
to select a unit, and to click on the Build and
Orders menus.  You can also left-click and drag
to select multiple units. You can change the
mouse interface in the Interface section of the Options
menu.  With both the Left-Click and the Right-Click
interface, the cursor continually updates to indicate
the action that would result by left-clicking on that
spot on the screen.  However, because only the Left-Click
interface allows you to activate an order by
left-clicking on the battlefield, it alone shows the
cursor changing to indicate the pending action.

Left-Click Interface
The Left-Click interface uses the left mouse button
for selecting a unit as well as activating an order.
To select a unit, place the cursor over it and click the
left mouse button. A selected unit displays a green
outline. Once the unit is selected, you can use the
left mouse button to activate an order. For example,
you can move a selected unit to an open field by
left-clicking on the field.  Or you can order a
selected unit to attack an enemy unit by left-clicking
the enemy unit.  As you move the cursor around the
screen, it will change shape to indicate the action
that left-clicking would carry out at that location.
You can deselect a unit by right-clicking.  You can
also right-click inside the mini-map view and move
the mouse while holding the right button down to
scroll the mini-map.  You can right-click outside
the mini-map view to center the mini-map view over
that point.

Right-Click Interface
As with the Left-Click interface (see above), you
select a unit by left-clicking it. Once a unit is
selected, use the right mouse button to activate
the default order. For example, you can right-click
on an open field to move the selected unit there.
You can also give a unit orders by left-clicking
one of the command buttons on the left side of the
screen.  See Unit Orders, above, for more information.
Use the left mouse button to deselect and to move
the mini-map view.


7.    Building Units and Structures
Construction units and factories can build other
units.  Select a mobile construction unit or
factory, and press the build button just under
the mini-map to display the Build menu.  Up to
six buttons will be displayed, each with a picture
showing the unit that can be built.  If you move
your cursor over these buttons, information about
the cost of the unit will appear on the Unit
Status Bar at the bottom of the screen. To build
a unit, simply click on the corresponding button.
You can build multiple units by clicking the
button once for each unit to be built.  For
example, to build five units, click the
button five times. Below the six buttons
are two arrows. Clicking on these arrows
will move through the selected units other
build menus.

To Build a Structure
Use the Commander or a mobile construction unit
to build structures.  Click on the picture of
the structure you wish to build and place the
green outline in the desired location.  If the
square turns red, the structure cannot be built
in that location.

To Build a Mobile Unit
Mobile units are built using factories.
Left-click on the unit icon in the factoryÆs
Build menu to start production.  Multiple clicks
will queue up the build orders.  Right-click
to cancel a build order from the queue.


8.    Keyboard Commands
 CTRL1 - CTRL9    Assign the currently selected units to a squad
 ALT1 - ALT9    Activate (select) the previously assigned squad
 1 - 9        Select the menu for the current unit
 F1        Display information on selected unit
 F2        Bring up the Options menu
 F3        Go to the unit that last reported/chatted information
 CTRL+F9    Screen capture,  will Print screen to file SHOT####.pcx
 F12        Clear all chat messages
 CTRL+A        Select all of your units
 CTRL+C        Center screen and select your Commander
 CTRL+D        Self-destruct selected units (will toggle on and off)
 CTRL+S        Select all units currently on the screen
 CTRL+Z        Select all units of same type
 A        Give an attack order
 B        Select the Build menu for that unit
 C        Give a capture order
 D        Use the Disintegrator Gun
 E        Give a reclaim order
 F        Toggles fire orders
 G        Give a guard order
 H        Share resources with another player
 K         Toggles selected unit's cloaking capabilities
 M        Give a move order
 N        Scroll to the next unit off screen
 O        Select the Order menu for the current unit
 P        Give a patrol order
 R        Give a repair order
 S        Give a stop order (cancel any previous orders)
 T        Track the selected unit
 V         Toggles move orders
 -        Reduce the game speed
 +        Increase the game speed
 SHIFT        Hold down to queue up multiple commands
 ENTER        Activate the message bar
 ESC        Cancels the current command before it is executed
 , (comma)    Select the previous menu for that unit
 . (period)    Select the next menu for that unit
 ~ (tilde)    Toggle damage bars on the units
 PAUSE        Pause the game



9.     MISSION WALK-THROUGHS

Arm Mission 1:  A Hero Returns
OBJECTIVE:  The objective of this mission is to secure the
Galactic Gate from a Core threat.

MAP:  You start near the middle bottom of the map.  The
Galactic Gate is located in the upper section of the map in
a big caldera.  Core units are scattered across the map to
stop you from gaining control of the Gate.

STRATEGY:  Select all the units and use them together for
more force.  You can do this by clicking and dragging the
green box over all the units on the screen or by using the
Ctrl-A key combination.  Using all your units together masses
their firepower, taking out enemy units faster with less
damage incurred to your own units (very important since you
have no repair capabilities at this level).  Keep an eye on
the mini-map (upper left corner), your units will appear as
blue dots.  The exposed area will appear green, uncovered
territory appears black, explored territory that is out of
sight shows gray and enemy units are red dots.  With your
units still selected, click on the upper left corner of the
battle map.  Your units will start moving up and to the
left, across the terrain at different rates.  If you are
trying to mass your firepower onto enemy units, it's
important to keep all of your units together, so keep an
eye on them and don't let them get too
spread out.

Enemy units will quickly appear.  Click on the Core units as
they come into sight. Your units will converge and attack.
Continue this until there are no more enemy units.  Watch
your cursor for changes.  It will reflect when a unit is out
of attack range, etc.  You can also track unit health by
turning on the damage bars, which appear as a green line
under each unit.  The damage bar turns red as a unit takes
damage, until the unit is dead (then it turns black).

Move your massed units in their direction and
attack as you see them.  Keep moving across the map toward
your goal attacking enemy units as you encounter them.  Move
all your units up and into the caldera containing the
Galactic Gate.  This will end the mission.


Arm Mission 2: Core Kbot base, destroy it!
OBJECTIVE:  Establish a base by building metal extractors,
energy generators, defensive systems and a Kbot manufacturing
facility.  Destroy all Core units or just the Core Kbot lab.

MAP:  The map is comprised of two land masses separated by a
river with two crossing points.  The Core is on the larger
L-shaped portion of the map from the mid-left, down and over
to the lower right.  Your units start in the middle of the
upper right section of the map.  The two crossing points are
the shallow portions of the river.  Just to your right is a
small cliff from which several Core units will launch an
attack.  If you travel to the upper right side of the screen
you will see the entrance to a canyon be prepared for
patrolling Core units if you go there.  The Core Kbot lab is
located almost directly down from your starting position.

STRATEGY:  You start this map with a new unit, your Commander.
He's a very powerful asset, but you only have one of them.
Protect him at all costs!

Begin by building energy generators.  Select the Commander
and then the Solar Collector from the build menu on the left
side of the screen.  When you move your cursor back onto your
battle map, your cursor will appear as a green square if it
is over a suitable spot on which to build.  Select a spot,
click and the Commander will start building.  At the top of
the screen are two bars, these indicate the amount of Metal
and Energy you have.  This will be affected as the Solar
Collector is built.  Move the cursor over the unit being
built to track the progress of its construction in the unit
status bar at the bottom of the screen.

Once you've built the Solar Collector, build a Metal
Extractor.  Metal Extractors can be built anywhere, but on
top of a silver metal deposit is best.  Repeat this process
until you have two more Metal Extractors and Solar Collectors
then build a Laser Tower.  This will help protect you from
patrolling Core AKs that might wander into your camp.
To queue, or issue consecutive orders, to the Commander,
select a unit from the build menu, move your cursor over
the battle map, hold down the "Shift" key and left click the
green build box where you want the next unit to be built.
As soon as the Commander finishes building one unit, he will
start building the next.  Select a Kbot lab to build next.

You can wait until the Kbot lab is complete or start
attacking the enemy now.  Select all the offensive Kbots,
except the Commander.  Either click and drag the green box
over them or hold down the "shift" key and select
each unit individually with the left mouse button.  Once you
have them all selected press the CTRL-1 key combination.
If damage bars are visible, a number "1" should now appear
under all selected units.  They are now grouped and can all
be reselected by using the ALT-1 key combination.  Move them
around the map to search for the enemy.  Mass your firepower
against one Core unit at a time.  Stop the units at the mouth
of the canyon, they will finish up any Core units that try to
come through there.

Once the Kbot lab is complete click on it and the build menu
will appear.  As you move your cursor over the menu you will
see the cost of metal and energy to manufacture the available
units.  Click on the Jethro 4 times.  You should see a +4
superimposed over the Jethro icon.  This means your Kbot lab
will build 4 Jethros before stopping production.  Don't stop
there, click 4 times each on a Hammer, Rocko and PeeWee.
The Kbot lab will start to "nanolathe" or build a small
assault force.  As units are nanolathed they walk off the
platform.  Move them to a clear area to wait until all the
other units have been produced.

Once all the units have been manufactured select the whole
group and use the CTRL-2 key combination to set them as
Group 2.  Move them all down to the river.  Find the shallow
crossing point in the river and click on the other side.
As the first unit reaches the other side it will start taking
fire from the Laser Tower on the top of the ridge in front
of you.  Head toward the Laser Tower and as soon as you see
the ridge crest, click on it.  You can click on the Laser
Tower to attack as soon as you see it, but it's on higher
ground and your fire will not be as effective.  Run your
units to the ridge top and then attack it.

You will encounter more enemy units once you reach the top
of the ridge.  Continue toward your objective attacking as
you go.  When you see Core structures (a Radar Tower, an
Energy Storage Unit and a Solar Collector), destroy them but
keep attacking the Core units as you see them.  None of the
structures can kill you but the Kbots can!  Once you have
destroyed all the buildings and aren't being attacked by
roving Core units, continue moving toward the goal.  You
should see the Core Kbot lab as you move forward.  Attack
and destroy it.  The mission ends as soon as the lab is
demolished.


Arm Mission 3: Spider Technology
Objective:  Save at least one Spider by returning it to your
base.

MAP:  The map consists of three land masses separated by a
"Y" in a river.  Your Commander and units start at the lower
right side of the "Y".  The spiders are located at the very
top center of the map, at the summit of a steep hill.

STRATEGY:  The key to this mission is time.  Build up your
base with energy generators, a Metal Extractor and a
couple Laser Towers for defense (placed on the outside of
the Dragon's Teeth).  If you start running low on resources
use your Commander to reclaim trees for energy and rocks for
metal.  Build a manufacturing plant of some sort and start
producing units.
Slowly advance your units up the map to the Spiders; staying
on your side of the river makes it easier.  Once you've
cleared a path for the Spiders to get to your base, select
them and walk them down.  You might have to walk them around
the base a little to complete the mission.

LEGAL INFORMATION

Copyright ⌐ 1997 Humongous Entertainment.

You may use, copy and distribute this program only if you:

(1) include this notice on any copy and don't charge for
any copy or distribution

(2) do not reverse engineer (except to the extent such
cannot be prohibited)

(3) agree that this program is provided on an "as is",
no warranty basis and

(4) agree that Humongous Entertainment has no liability
(because the program is provided without charge).


Copyright ⌐ 1997 Humongous Entertainment.
All Rights Reserved.