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_____________________________________________________________________________ The Bitmap Brothers and EON Digital Entertainment proudly present: Z: Steel Soldiers - The Demo _____________________________________________________________________________ File: UK Demo Readme Date: 17-April-2001 Version: 2.0 (UK) Welcome to the demo for Z: Steel Soldiers Demo, a fast-action paced strategy game from The Bitmap Brothers and EON Digital Entertainment. This Demo version allows you to play a special Demo mission that's designed to give you an ever-so-small taster of what's to come in Z: Steel Soldiers Demo when it's released this Spring. This document contains important information for installing and using the Z: Steel Soldiers Demo CONTENTS A. The Story B. System Requirements C. Installing & Profiling Z: Steel Soldiers a) Installing Z: Steel Soldiers Demo b) Installing Directx8 c) Setting Up Z: Steel Soldiers Demo d) Z: Steel Soldiers Demo Profiler i) Device Selection ii) Resolution Selection iii) Screen Format iv) Texture Format v) Detail Options e) To Play Z: Steel Soldiers Demo f) Uninstalling Z: Steel Soldiers Demo D. Troubleshooting Problems a) Sound Cards b) Video Cards c) Known Issues d) Reinstalling e) Audio Problems f) DirectX Problems g) Hardware and System Compatibility: Performance Issues h) Hardware and System Compatibility: Known Problems i) Windows Drivers G. Basic Concepts a) Territories b) Credits c) Line-of-Sight and Weapon Range d) Fog-of-War H. Context Sensitive Menus a) The ORDER-MENU and BUILD-MENU I. The Play Screen a) Scrolling around the Battlefield b) Controlling the Camera J. Status Panels a) Messages Panel b) Info Panel c) Minimap K. Construction a) Building a Structure b) Setting a Rally Point L. Construction Units a) Creating a Unit b) Repairing Units and Structures M. Unit Behaviour a) Defensive, Passive and Aggressive Stances b) Guarding c) APC's d) Loading/Unloading Units into an APC's and Bunkers N. Structures and Units a) Command Centre b) Radar Station c) Robot Factory d) Vehicle Factory e) Anti-Air Site g) Construction Robot h) Psycho i) Pyro j) Jeep k) Light Tank l) Scout Helicopter O. Website P. Support Q. Quick Key Guide R. Disclaimer S. Legal Information ***************************************************************************** A) THE STORY ***************************************************************************** 509 years of conflict between the MegaCom Corporation and TransGlobal empires looked set to end at midnight when troops from both sides pull out from contested territory on the planet Rigal. The move is the culmination of an historic peace initiative brokered personally by Commander Keeler and TransGlobal's premier, Commander Rieman. Rigal is a traditionally favoured posting for the army's least capable soldiers, a place where everyone seems to be getting along just fine. Well not exactly. A cease-fire has been enforced across Rigal for the last 9 months with both armies having a skeleton regiment currently drawn up on either side of a demilitarised zone. All flights have been grounded along the DMZ and all personnel are under strict orders not to engage. Following a recent court martial judgment, Zod, hawkish ex-General in the MegaCom Forces, has been busted back down the ranks all the way to Captain. As such, he's been put in charge of the furthest flung outpost in the MegaCom Corporation, a dung-heap of a posting for those robots with zero career prospects. Intelligence indicates that the enemy's own supply route runs close to a Command Centre. Once the base is located, neutralize the target then set up an ambush for the next supply convoy. While we've also got access to some light vehicles, recon suggests that the enemy has armament dumps nearby - so be ready to reclaim and recycle as you see fit. The goons will be dug in pretty deep so taking out any nearby factories will greatly reduce the risk of a counter-strike. By the time their strategic command spots the incursion, it should all be over.... ***************************************************************************** B) DEMO SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ***************************************************************************** Minimum Demo System Microsoft Windows 95/98/Me/2000 with 100% compatible computer system Pentium II 266, AMD K62 550 or equivalent 8 MB DirectX 8 Compatible 3D Accelerator Card 64 MB Ram 100MB of uncompressed hard drive space Quad-speed CD-ROM DirectX 8 compatible sound card Microsoft compatible mouse and driver Optimum Demo System Microsoft Windows Me/2000 with 100% compatible computer system Pentium III 850 or AMD equivalent 64 MB nVidia GeForce2 3D Accelerator Card 128 MB Ram 100MB of uncompressed Hard-drive space Quad-speed CD-ROM Sound Blaster Live! or Aureal Vortex 2 Based Cards Microsoft 3-button Wheel Mouse and Driver For the latest version of DirectX see www.microsoft.com/directx. ***************************************************************************** C) INSTALLING & PROFILING Z: Steel Soldiers ***************************************************************************** a) INSTALLING Z: Steel Soldiers DEMO Insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive and double-click on the CD-ROM drive icon from Windows and then double-click on SETUP. The Installation program will now run automatically. Follow the onscreen instructions. b) INSTALLING DIRECTX8 Z: Steel Soldiers Demo requires you to have Microsoft DirectX 8.0a or higher installed. During installation, your system will be checked to see if you have the correct drivers installed. If you require new drivers, your system will ask you whether you would like to Install DirectX 8. c) SETTING UP Z: Steel Soldiers DEMO Z: Steel Soldiers Demo includes a profiling utility that allows you to test and set the optimum configuration for Z: Steel Soldiers Demo. After the game has installed, point and click your cursor on [Start>Program Files>The Bitmap Brothers>Z: Steel Soldiers Demo> Z: Steel Soldiers Demo Profiler] You will be presented with the Z: Steel Soldiers Demo 'Profiler'. d) Z: Steel Soldiers DEMO PROFILER i) Device Selection If you have more than one DirectX8 certified graphics card installed in your system, you can choose which one you wish to play Z: Steel Soldiers Demo with. Click on the drop-down box and then select the display adaptor you wish to use. If a graphics card installed on your system is missing from the list, check that you have DirectX8 installed and the card is certified by Microsoft and that the card is properly installed. ii) Resolution Selection Click on the arrow to the left of the Resolution Selection box to display all display resolutions you can run Z: Steel Soldiers Demo in. The resolutions displayed depend on modes supported by your video card and certified by DirectX8. The higher the resolution the sharper the game will look, though this may also affect performance on lower-end systems. iii) Screen Format Choose between displaying Z: Steel Soldiers Demo in either 16bit (65k colours) or 32bit (16.7million colours) mode. 32bit will display smoother and richer graphics than 16bit, but may also affect performance on lower-end systems. iv) Texture Format Choose between 8Bit (256 colours), 16bit (65k colours) and 32bit (16.7million colours) to increase the colour depth and smoothness of the textures. Higher textures formats look better though they may affect performance on lower-end systems. v) Detail Options You can also toggle the following options on or off to try and increase speed on lower-end systems: Reflections: Reflections of units, structures and scenery in rivers and lakes. Shadows: Unit and structure shadows. Detail Textures: Detailed textures such as scorch marks and tire tracks around buildings. Force FX: Real-time environment force effects such as helicopters blowing plumes of smoke around. Mipmapping: Mipmapping reduces the texture detail of objects the further away they are in the distance. Anti-aliasing: Anti-aliasing smoothes out the edges of the all objects and scenery within the game. Particles: Switches off the particle-system, such as smoke and explosion fragments of objects. V-Sync: Synchronizes the frame-rate of the game with your monitors' refresh rate, to counter-act a 'tearing' effect that may appear on the landscape. Once you have chosen your settings, you can test them by clicking the PROFILE button. The profiler will now load a test scene and play a fly-through of a level, displaying the frame-rate in the top left corner and depending on the options you've toggled how the landscape will look. After a short while, depending on the speed of you computer system you will return to the profiler screen, where you can see the average frame-rate achieved at those settings in the large box under Device Selection. The higher the frame-rate number, the faster the game will run! Try toggling various options above to increase performance on slower machines. Once you are happy with your configuration, click on close and you will return to the Launcher. Your settings will be saved automatically and loaded every time you start the game. e) TO PLAY Z: Steel Soldiers DEMO Click on [Start>Program Files>The Bitmap Brothers>Z: Steel Soldiers Demo] to run the game or double-click on the Z: Steel Soldiers Demo icon on your desktop (if there). f) UNINSTALLING Z: Steel Soldiers DEMO In the unlikely scenario that you wish to uninstall Z: Steel Soldiers Demo, click the UNINSTALL Z: Steel Soldiers DEMO button from the Launcher and follow the instructions onscreen. ***************************************************************************** D) TROUBLESHOOTING ***************************************************************************** SOUND AND VIDEO CARDS TESTED The following Sound and Video cards have been tested with Z: Steel Soldiers Demo using the latest drivers available from the respective hardware manufacturer. Unfortunately we CANNOT guarantee the following cards work as everyday configurations may differ from our test configurations! Z: Steel Soldiers will only work correctly on video cards which are 100% DirectX8 compliant. It may function on cards with older drivers, but it is very likely that compromises in display quality or speed will be made as older cards will not support all of the features which are required by the game. You may experience problems such as crashing, corrupted textures and surfaces and slow performance. If you are having problems with your game, it is most likely a video or sound driver problem. Please contact your hardware manufacturer for the latest version of drivers for your system. Although, again we don't guarantee any video or sound card will work correctly as mentioned above, we have tested the following cards with their latest drivers: a) Sound Cards Tested: Aureal AU 8830 Creative AWE 64 Gold Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 Crystal Audio 16 Crystal Sound System Crystal Soundfusion Diamond Monster Sound MX300 Diamond Sonic Impact S90 Ensoniq Audio PCI ESS1888 PnP SB PCI 512 Sound Blaster Audio PCI Sound Blaster AWE 64 PnP Sound Blaster Live Value! Sound Blaster PCI 128 Vortex Audio PCI Yamaha 128 Voice PCI Wavetable Yamaha DS-XG Yamaha DS-XG b) Video Cards Tested: 3dfx Voodoo 2 (8mb) 3dfx Voodoo 3 2000 PCI 3dfx Voodoo 5000 ATI Radeon 32MB DDR ATI Radeon 64MB DDR ATI Rage Pro Turbo AGP 2x Creative Labs 3D Banshee Creative Labs Graphics Blaster Creative Labs Riva 128 Creative Labs TNT Creative Labs TNT2 Orchid Righteous 3DII Diamond Viper II 32 Meg Diamond Viper V330 w/ Dual Diamond Monster 3D II 12MB Diamond Viper V550 AGP 16 MB Diamond Viper V770 32 MB Guilloemot Prophet 3D Hercules Stingray 128/3D Intel 740 Intel 810E Matrox G200/250 Matrox G400/450 Nvidia GeForce Nvidia GeForce 2 GTS Nvidia GeForce 2 MX Nvidia GeForce 2 64DDR STB Velocity 128 c) Known Issues: i) We strongly suggest that you do not run any other applications when playing Z: Steel Soldiers Demo ii) If you ALT+TAB out of the game, you may experience errors. We strongly suggest you do not ALT+TAB out of the game! iii) Sometimes shadows are displaced on Matrox Millennium G200. Make you have the latest drivers. iv) Savage 4 32mb may experience poor performance. Ensure you have the latest drivers. d) RE-INSTALLING If Z: Steel Soldiers Demo does not run properly once it is installed, try reinstalling: Insert the Z: Steel Soldiers Demo CD and click Setup. -or- Double-click on MY COMPUTER icon on your desktop, right-clicking the CD ROM icon, and then double-click on SETUP. -or- Double-click on MY COMPUTER icon on your desktop, right-click on the CD ROM icon, select EXPLORE, and then double click on the file SETUP.EXE e) AUDIO PROBLEMS If you experience audio problems, the source could be your sound card on your system. Use the following list of troubleshooting suggestions if Z: Steel Soldiers Demo does not play sound properly: 1) Be sure your speakers are plugged in and turned on. 2) Be sure you are using the latest sound driver available. To obtain the latest sound driver, contact your sound card manufacturer. 3) Be sure that your system's volume control is not muted and is turned up. 4) Verify that your system can play .wav files: a) Click the START button, point to SETTINGS, and then click CONTROL PANEL. b) Then double-click the SOUNDS icon. c) Try to play a .wav file If your system cannot play a .wav file: a) On the Windows desktop, right-click the MY COMPUTER icon, and then click PROPERTIES. b) Then click the DEVICE MANAGER tab, and make sure the VIEW DEVICES BY TYPE button is selected. c) Then click SOUND, VIDEO, and GAME CONTROLLERS, and look for your sound card. If you don't have a sound card, contact your equipment dealer to obtain one. If your system can play a .wav file: a) Start Z: Steel Soldiers Demo. b) Then click OPTIONS from the MAIN MENU or INGAME MENU. c) Then click SOUND. d) Then make sure none of the slider-bars are to the far left. f) DIRECTX PROBLEMS If you are experiencing sound or video problems using DirectX 8, connect to the DirectX web site for the latest troubleshooting information: 1) Connect to http://support.microsoft.com/support/directx. 2) Then click HAVING PROBLEMS WITH DIRECTX 8. h) HARDWARE AND SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY ISSUES: PERFORMANCE ISSUES To improve game performance on slower machines: 1) Click OPTIONS from the MAIN MENU or INGAME MENU. 2) Click GRAPHICS. 3) Try toggling the various details (from the PROFILER or GRAPHICS MENU) OFF. Especially ForceFX and Reflections. 4) Also try reducing the detail level by moving the slider bar down to the left. g) HARDWARE AND SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY ISSUES: KNOWN ISSUES 1) Pink tinges appear on the bridges on some cards, such as a nVidia RivaTNT and nVidia Riva Avanti. 2) S4 Savage Pro - Can offer slow performance. Switch off all graphic options. i) WINDOWS DRIVERS Z: Steel Soldiers (and most other D3D games) will not work with the drivers which are installed by Windows 2000 for the majority of video cards. You will need to install the latest drivers before you will be able to play the game. In general, you still experience problems with drivers designed for Windows 2000 over those designed for Win 9x. ***************************************************************************** G) BASIC CONCEPTS ***************************************************************************** Z: Steel Soldiers Demo is an immensely fast, strategic game that requires both skill and quick wit if you are to progress. The demo level contains various mission Objectives' that have to be met in order to complete the mission. Ignore them, and you won't be able to win! The following conventions are used throughout the Z: Steel Soldiers Demo Readme: Click: Press the Left-mouse button. Right-Click: Press the Right-mouse button. Double Click: Quickly press the Left-mouse button twice in succession. Click and Drag: Hold down the Left-mouse button (unless directed otherwise) and move the mouse left/right. a) Territories Each level, or 'Battlefield' is divided up into separate areas and referred to as 'territories'. Inside each territory is a 'Flag', which an infantry unit needs to claim in order to take control of that territory. Only Infantry 'robot' units may claim a flag and capture the territory. When a territory has been claimed the borders will change to the same colour as the side that took control of the flag. Once a territory is claimed, you will automatically begin to draw credits from that area. To capture a territory, select a robot and then click on the flag in the territory you wish to capture, the robot will then move to that flag and claim it. Robots in close proximity to a flag will automatically try and claim it. b) Credits The resource system in Z: Steel Soldiers Demo is unique but simple. It has been designed to let the player concentrate on the most important part of war, the battle itself, without having to worry too much about mining or harvesting specific resources. All resources are simply measured Credits. Each territory contains a 'Flag' with a number between 1 and 5 depicted upon it. This number is a multiplier for the amount of 'credits' you will draw from that territory, each minute, when captured. The more territories you claim and the higher the flag number, the greater the amount of credits you will have available to your factory each minute. So for example, a '2' flag will double the amount of credits you receive from that territory, whilst say '2' will triple the amount. The Message Panel details the amount of credits you currently have and the maximum amount you can store at the bottom left of the panel. Next to this are two separate bars indicating your credit income (green) and credit expenditure (red).(See section below on STATUS PANELS for more details). Important Note: Every unit or structure requires credits to manufacture, but so does repairing. Manufacturing will gradually slow down to the point of a trickle if your credit expenditure outweighs your credit income. A Construction Robot can only repair a damaged unit or structure if you have available credits to do so. A Construction Robot will not automatically try and repair a unit or structure if your credits are low, as manufacturing takes priority. c) Line-of-Sight Every unit and structure in Z: Z: Steel Soldiers has a Line of Sight. A BLUE collared ring displayed around the selected unit indicates the maximum vision range. A unit will only attack an enemy that is within its Line of Sight. If you target an enemy unit within the selected units vision range, then a red attack cursor will appear. If the unit is within vision range, but cannot actually see the target (perhaps something on the terrain is blocking the units view), then the targeting cursor will change to yellow indicating the unit needs to move to a different position before it can fire. Units need an unobstructed Line of Sight to the enemy before they can fire. Hills and other terrain features block the Line of Sight. It is also useful that reconnaissance units, such as a Spy support your heavier units, as their Line of Sight is greater.This allows the heavy units to attack from a distance by sharing the reconnaissance unit's Line of Sight! d) Weapon Range In addition to Line of Sight, each unit and offensive structures has a Weapon Range indicated by collared rings around the selected unit or structure. Red indicates a units maximum weapon range (the farthest the units or structures weapon can fire) and green indicates a units minimum weapon range (if applicable). Some units may not have a minimum weapons range as they carry short-range weapons. Others, such as the Tough, have a large minimum range due to the high-powered weapons they are using and may need to move away from the target before firing, if they are too close! e) Fog of War Anything outside of a unit or structures' Line of Sight is invisible to the player. This is called the Fog-of-War and hides the position of the enemy. If you discovered an enemy structure earlier that is now out of your unit's Line of Sight, it will still appear on the radar in the last position you saw it, and as a 'ghosted' structure on the Battlefield. This is just an indication of the last detected position of that structure and is no guarantee that it is still there! ***************************************************************************** H. CONTEXT SENSITIVE MENU ***************************************************************************** As a rule, left clicking confirms orders and selects units and structures. The right button cancels orders, deselects/reselects units and displays the context-sensitive menu for the specific unit or structure the cursor is placed over. a) The ORDER-MENU and BUILD-MENU Z: Steel Soldiers Demo uses a context-sensitive menu system that allows the player maximum control over their units at any time. They only display the orders specific to a selected unit or structure as and when you need them. When a unit or structure is selected, right-click to a display a MENU-BAR specific to that unit or structure. You can also just right-click onto a unit or structure to display the menu bar, without having to select either first. ORDER-MENU The LEFT-HAND side of the centre-square, as a rule lists all the specific utility commands that can be issued to that unit or structure. This is called the ORDER-MENU. Clicking on a displayed icon will choose that order, whilst right clicking will cancel an order. BUILD-MENU The RIGHT-HAND side of the centre-square, as a rule lists all manufacturing, structure and weapon options available to that specific unit or structure. This is called the BUILD-MENU. Clicking on an icon will choose the order, whilst right-clicking will cancel an order. Continued clicking will stack build-orders. IMPORTANT NOTICE - UNIT LIMIT You will not be able to build or order any unit when you have reached your maximum unit count viewable on the 'Message Panel' - see Section on STATUS PANELS for details. You'll have to wait until a unit has been destroyed or reduce your build orders. ******************************************************************************** I. THE BATTLEFIELD / PLAY SCREEN ******************************************************************************** a) Scrolling around the Battlefield You can navigate map by moving the pointer to the edge of the screen in the direction you wish the camera to move, or for a more responsive and significantly faster method you can hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse in the direction you wish the camera to move. b) Controlling the Camera Rotate: To rotate the camera view, click and hold both right and left mouse buttons and move the mouse to the left or the right. Alternatively hold down the right-hand <CTRL> key whilst pressing the <CURSOR> keys left or right. The camera can also be turned to face North, South, East or West, by pressing keys F9 to F12 respectively. Tilt: Whilst holding down both right and left-hand mouse buttons, push the mouse forward to reduce or backwards to increase the angle of elevation. Alternatively hold down the right-hand <CTRL> key whilst pressing the <CURSOR> keys up or down. Zoom: If you have a wheel mouse, roll the wheel forward to zoom in and roll the wheel backwards to zoom out. If you have a three- button mouse, hold the middle button and move the mouse forwards or back. You can also press PGUP/PGDN keys. ***************************************************************************** J. THE STATUS PANELS ***************************************************************************** There are three Status Panels on the screen: Messages, Info View and Minimap. Customizing the Status Panels Each of the panels can be moved, minimized or maximized as you would any window on your desktop. Click on the 'dock' icon on the title bar of a panel to 'lock' it in place. You can also change the colour of panels from the Graphics menu. a) Messages There are three icons at the top left of the Message Panel that allows you to cycle between the Messages, Mission Objectives and information tabs. The Message and Information Panel also details the amount of credits you currently have and the maximum amount you can store at the bottom left of the panel. Next to this are two separate bars indicating your credit income (green) and credit expenditure (red). Clicking on a message will zoom the camera to the source of the message, such as a unit under attack. b) Info View As an important message is displayed, the Leadercam(tm) will zoom the camera to the corresponding event. Click on it to zoom you to the source of the image. c) The Minimap The Minimap provides a scaled down representation of the current, entire Battlefield. Blue markers are the enemy, red are yours. A yellow view-cone shows your current viewpoint with the width of the cone representing the field of view. You can move units via the Minimap as well. ***************************************************************************** K. CONSTRUCTION ***************************************************************************** Structures can be obtained by a variety of methods; they can be included in the resources you begin a mission with, they may be captured as part of the process when an un-owned territory is claimed by one of your robots, or they can be built by one of your construction robots. a) Building a Structure To build a structure, select one of your construction robots and then right-click to activate the MENU-BAR. Icons will be displayed on the BUILD-MENU (right-hand side) depicting each available structure that the construction robot is capable of building based upon the current tech level available to you. Select the desired structure icon and the cursor will change to a 'footprint' marker that shows the size of flat land required to build it. If the marker is completely green, the structure can be built on that location, however if any of it is red you can't build at that location. Click to lay the structure. b) Setting a Rally Point All factories allow you to set a point to where your manufactured units will rally rather than gathering outside of a factory. Right-click on a facility and click the 'Rally Point' icon from the ORDER-MENU. Now click where you want the units to rally to and green marker will appear. Only units manufactured after a Rally Point is set will move directly to that location. ***************************************************************************** L. CONSTRUCTING UNITS ***************************************************************************** All units are constructed in Factory except for a Construction Robot, which is built solely at the Command Centre a) Creating a Unit To create a unit, click the right-mouse button onto a factory to activate the BUILD-MENU. Icons will be displayed depicting each of the various units that the specific facility is capable of producing. Click on any available 'unit' icon and a number '1' will appear in the bottom corner of the icon. This indicates you have chosen to build one of that particular unit. If you continue to click the same icon you are able to stack orders for that specific units. Clicking the right-mouse button on the same unit will reduce or cancel the order. Units are built in the order chosen. b) Repairing Units and Structures Construction Robots will automatically repair damaged units or structures that they are within close proximity to, though they are unable to repair themselves. They will only repair a bridge when ordered to do so. Every unit or structure requires credits to repairing. A Construction Robot can only repair a damaged unit or structure if you have available credits to do so. To repair a unit or structure, select a Construction Robot or Robots and move the cursor over a damaged structure, unit or bridge-end. The cursor will change to a spinning spanner cursor, indicating that it can be repaired. ***************************************************************************** M. UNIT BEHAVIOR ***************************************************************************** a) Defensive, Passive and Aggressive Stances As default units are set to a 'Passive' stance when they are manufactured. The currently selected stance is highlighted green. You can change their current stance by clicking the appropriate icon from the Units BUILD-MENU. * In 'Passive Mode' Units automatically engage any enemies that enter their LOS and then try to chase them until it is destroyed. * In 'Defensive' mode, will stop him from engaging an enemy unless they engage first. The unit will not move or pursue the unit. * In 'Aggressive Mode' the unit will actively look to pick a fight, hunting and chasing down any unit that it comes into contact with. b) Guarding Units that are set to aggressive stance automatically engage any enemies that enter their LOS. Placing in a unit in 'guard' mode and targeting a specific building to protect will stop the unit from going off on a heroic pursuit! c) A.P.C. The APC is the only Ground Unit in Z: Steel Soldiers Demo that can traverse water. An APC can carry a maximum of four robots at a time and is ideal for transporting units quickly across the Battlefield or through impassable rivers. Offensive Infantry will fire from within an APC except when it's traversing through water, as the APC needs to batten-down-the-hatch! d) Loading/Unloading Units into an APCs and Bunkers Units can be grouped and ordered into an APC/Bunker by selecting the units and then pointing the cursor over an empty APC or bunker. When the 'load' cursors appears, click to load the units. To get a specific unit out of an APC/Bunker, right-click the APC/Bunker and either click on the unit you wish to disembark from the BUILD-MENU or click the 'Eject All' icon from the ORDER-MENU to unload all units. ***************************************************************************** N. STRUCTURES AND UNITS ***************************************************************************** Communications a) Command Centre The Command Centre is your headquarters and functions as a communications hub, holding the core AI that handles all battlefield control, and acts as your initial credit storage facility. (Without any form of credit store you will not be able to manufacture any units from your factories.) Construction Robots can only be manufactured in a Command Centre and cannot build another should it be destroyed, so it's vital you look after ones that you take command of, or acquire one very quickly... b) Radar Station A single Radar Station will provide full GPS and communications for a command centre, revealing all ally and detected enemy units and structures within its range. Selecting an existing radar will display its current range on the Minimap. You may need to build other Radar Stations to extend your radar coverage across an entire map. Manufacturing & Storage Facilities c) Robot Factory Manufactures all robot ground troops excluding a Construction Robot, which can only be built at a Command Centre. d) Vehicle Factory Manufactures all ground vehicles. Ancillary e) Bunker An armoured defence post that allows Robot Units within, to fire at nearby enemy targets. Units cannot be harmed whilst they are inside the bunker, though they will be destroyed if the bunker is destroyed. f) Anti-Tank Gun An armoured gun position that is equipped with a rotating gun turret that has two barrels that fire alternately. g) Anti-Air Site Fires salvos of explosive shells at any enemy air units that come within range. You cannot build an Anti-Air site in the demo, but you may encounter one... Demo Units h) Construction Robot A heavily armoured unit, that has no offensive capability, a Construction Robot facilitates the construction of all structures and repairing all robots, ground vehicles, grounded air units, structures and bridges in the field. i) Psycho Fast, but poorly armoured, a Psycho is your basic ground assault unit. Armed with a heavy machine gun, a Psycho can inflict low damage to any unit. j) Pyro A slow, but medium armoured unit, a Pyro carries a heavy, but clumsy flamethrower that jets out a napalm spray that is deadly to any units, structures or objects in its proximity with deadly effect. Be careful though, because as powerful as Pyros are, they can inadvertently set fire to any combustible objects within close proximity causing fire to spread to more dangerous objects causing them to explode... k) Technician A Technician can hack into the command protocols or primary processor core of almost any enemy building or unit and convert them to the players' control. Some structures are heavily shielded against Technicians. l) Jeep Lightly armoured fast recognizance vehicle. m) Light Tank Lightweight and manoeuvrable tracked vehicle, armed with twin 30mm cannons that are effective against infantry, ground targets and airborne targets. n) Scout Helicopter A fast, highly manoeuvrable air reconnaissance unit with effective anti-infantry capability and low Armour strength. * You cannot build aircraft in the demo. A scout helicopter needs to land in the Battlefield before a Construction Robot can repair it. This is accomplished by clicking the 'Land' icon from the ORDER-MENU for the specific unit. o) Mortar Tank Similar in size and weight to the Medium Tank and armed with a Plasma Mortar that detonates on impact with a lethal blast radius. Useful when used in conjunction with another unit as a 'spotter' so the Mortar Tank can stay hidden when launching it's ordinance. ***************************************************************************** O. WEBSITE ***************************************************************************** Check the Z: Steel Soldiers Demo website at: www.zsteelsoldiers.com ***************************************************************************** P. SUPPORT ***************************************************************************** If you are experiencing problems with the Z: Steel Soldiers Demo, please send an e-mail to support@eon-digital.com, detailing your system and the exact nature of your query. We cannot guarantee support for the Z: Steel Soldiers Demo. ***************************************************************************** Q. Quick Key Guide ***************************************************************************** Quick Key Guide BASIC CONTROLS Throughout the Quick Key Guide the following conventions are used: LMB = Left Mouse-button RMB = Right Mouse-button + = Hold indicated keys/mouse buttons together Name Key Definition Default action LMB This would normally be move or attack, but may be repair, convert, etc. Select LMB When clicked on a unit or structure will select it Build & Order Menus RMB When clicked over a unit or structure, will display the Order, Build or Attack menus. Deselect / reselect SPACE Reselects or deselects current selection Add/Remove from selection SHIFT + LMB Again, this can be either by clicking on a specific unit, or dragging a box to select multiple units Stack order SHIFT + LMB Adds the given order (i.e. default action or key press order) to the unit's order stack. Force fire CTRL + LMB Select unit & hold down the 'CTRL' key to force units to fire at any location or unit. Holding down 'CTRL' will change the standard game cursor to an 'ATTACK' cursor. Rotate Structure left / right , / . Pressing either , (comma) or . (full stop) will rotate a structures footprint when in build mode before laying the foundation down. Force move ALT + LMB Select unit & hold down the 'ALT' key to force unit to move to any location. Holding down 'ALT' will change the standard game cursor to a 'MOVE' cursor. Select onscreen O Selects all units on Screen Create Group CTRL + 0-9 Creates a group of units that can be selected at any time. Select the units that you wish to be part of the team, then press 'CTRL' and a number key '0-9'. The group will be assigned to that number. To reselect the group, press '0-9'. Pressing the number again scrolls the screen to view the group. Select Group 0 - 9 Creates a group of units that can be selected at any time. Select the units that you wish to be part of the team, then press 'CTRL' and a number key '0-9'. The group will be assigned to that number. To reselect the group, press '0-9'. Pressing the number again scrolls the screen to view the group. Scatter X All the selected units disperse in different directions. Guard G Units will actively guard the designated building Set rally point R All units manufactured units will be sent to the selected destination point. Select Factory and hold down 'R' whilst clicking on the destination point. In-Game Menu ESC Brings up In-game Menu Pause P Pauses and resumes a pause game Help System H Displays the in-game Help Panel Scroll map RMB + Cursors + Hold down the RMB or cursors keys to LEFT/RIGHT scroll the map Zoom view Mouse Wheel Middle Mouse- Button + Forward/Back PgUp + PgDn Zoom in and out of map. If your mouse has a 'wheel' in, you scroll up to zoom in and scroll back to zoom out. Alternatively, for a non- wheeled mouse, holding the middle mouse button and pushing forwards or backwards on the mouse will perform the same zooming action. User Camera (Setting) CTRL + F1-F8 Saves the camera position which can be selected at any time. User Camera (Using) F1-F8 Plan View CTRL + F12 Switches camera to a birds-eye, top- down view Preset Camera F9-F12 Toggle between preset camera orientations for North, South, East and West Angle / Tilt ALT + RMB or Allows you to move the viewpoint between 30 and 90 degrees. CTRL + Cursors UP/DOWN Rotation ALT + RMB + LEFT/RIGHT Allows you to rotate the camera 360 degrees around your current position CTRL + Cursors LEFT/RIGHT Centre Base HOME Scrolls camera over the top of your command centre ***************************************************************************** R. DISCLAIMER ***************************************************************************** Please note this demo intended for promotional purposes only and is only an indication of the final product that may or may not include some of the claimed or demonstrated features. ***************************************************************************** S. LEGAL INFORMATION ***************************************************************************** (a) This demo is intended for promotional purposes only. It is also intended only to be an indicator of the final product that may or may not include some of the claimed or demonstrated features. All references to characters and corporations are intended to be fictional and not in respect of any person alive or dead or present or previous corporation. All rights in the demo are strictly reserved and there is no consent implied or actual for it to be copied or reproduced in any way without prior written permission. (c) The Bitmap Brothers 2001 Exclusively Licensed to EON Digital Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. 
