MultiWar version 1.01 I. Introduction MultiWar is shareware. This means that if you use MultiWar for more than 14 days, you are expected to pay for it. The reigstration fee for MultiWar is $20. Registration details are given at the end of this document. MultiWar is a multi-player user-configurable boardgame. It features: 1. Up to five teams in one scenario 2. Scrolling board of up to 50x50 squares 3. Points achieved by occupying "victory squares" 4. Mouse Support 5. Automatic AI shortest-path movemnt 6. Included scenario editor 7. Included terrain/unit statistic and image editor If you are upgrading from an earlier version of MultiWar, read "WhatsNew.101" to see what's changed. MultiWar requires MCGA or VGA, at least 512K of memory, and an 8086 or higher. A mouse is optional but highly recommended. II. Using MultiWar At the MS-DOS prompt, type "MultiWar" . You should see an opening screen, which includes the version number. Read the instructions or continue as instructed at the bottom of the screen. You will next see the Scenario Selection Screen. Enter the number of (or click on) the scenario you want to play. Once the scenario loads, the scenario description will be displayed. Finally, once you hit a key or click the left mouse button, the primary command screen should appear. This is the screen from which the rest of the game is conducted. The game proceeds in order determined randomly during the initiative phase by the computer. Each team conducts a movement phase followed by a combat phase. One round consists of movement and combat sequences for all of the teams. Thus the sequence of phases in one round of a game with three teams would be as follows: (Initiative--computer determines the order will be Team 2, Team 3, Team 1) 1. Movement Phase for Team 2 2. Combat Phase for Team 2 3. Movement Phase for Team 3 4. Combat Phase for Team 3 5. Movement Phase for Team 1 6. Combat Phase for Team 1 During Movement Phase, pieces can be moved in any order. The player moves a unit about the board until it has run out of movement points. Different types of terrain have different movement costs. The active keys during movement are the numeric keypad directional keys (including Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn), Tab, Space, Escape, lowercase I (i), lowercase K (k), lowercase J (j), lowercase L (l), lowercase C (c), Alt-s, Alt-m, Alt-x, F1, and F2. The directional keys move you in the specified direction, if you have enough movement points to do so and there are no other units in the way. Tab goes to the next unit without ending the phase for the current unit. Space goes to the next unit and ignores the current unit for the rest of the current phase. Escape skips the rest of the current phase completely. Lowercase I (i) moves the view up. Lowercase K (k) moves the view down. Lowercase J (j) moves the view left. Lowercase L (l) moves the view right. Lowercase C (c) centers the view about the current piece. Alt-s toggles sound on/off (default:on). Alt-m toggles informational messages on/off (default:on). Alt-x exits the current scenario. F1 displays help. F2 displays a piece and terrain listing. (See a description in section VI) At any time the mouse can be used to move the view. By clicking the right mouse button on the board, the view is centered about the square clicked upon. The mouse can be used to select and move units. To select a unit, click on it. To move the selected unit to a location, click on the location. If the location is more than one square distant the artificial intelligence movement algorithm will find the shortest available route. Be aware that on slower machines finding a route to a distant point may take several seconds. Note: Artificial Intelligence movement is available only in the registered version, not the shareware version. During movement, movement statistics for the current unit are displayed on the left hand of the screen. During Combat Phase, units can attack in any order. The player attacks with a unit until it has run out of attack opportunities. The active keys during combat are the same as during movement. The directional keys attack in the specified direction if there is an enemy unit there to attack. The remaining keys behave in a manner similar to that during movement. The mouse can be used to select units and initiate attacks. To select a unit, click on it. To attack a unit adjacent to the currently selected unit, click on it. During combat, combat statistics for the current unit are displayed on the left-hand side of the screen. At the end of a side's combat phase, victory point squares held by that side generate new units. Each victory square generates one new unit of the same type as the unit holding the square. New units are always generated undamaged. They are generated in the first available adjacent square checking clockwise from the upper left. A square is considered available if no unit is in the square and the square's movement point value is less than or equal to the number of movement points of the unit being generated. The game terminates when only one side is remaining, or when the round limit for the scenario is reached. At the end of a game, a victory point tally is displayed. Hit a key/Click a button to continue. Then you will be asked if you want to play again. If you respond no, the game exits. If you respond yes, you are prompted if you want to play the same scenario again. If you respond yes, the scenario is reloaded. If you respond no, you are allowed to choose a different scenario. III. Using MultiWar Scenario Editor At the MS-DOS prompt, type "MWEdit" . You should see an opening screen. Strike any key/Click a button, and you will see the Scenario Selection Screen. Enter the number of (or click on) the Scenario you want to edit. At this point, you are asked if you want to create a new scenario based upon the scenario you selected. If you wish to edit the scenario you selected, respond "no". If you wish to create a new scenario that is originally identical to the scenario you seelcted, pick "yes". If you pick "yes", you should be asked to choose a four- character ID for your scenario. The ID will complete the question marks in the name 'SCEN????.INF'. Then you will be asked to choose a name for your scenario. The current convention for four-letter IDs is as follows. The first two characters should be the author's initials. The second two characters should be a unique scenario number. For example, one of the included scenarios is "SCENAO01". "AO" is short for Andrew Oliver, and "01" indicates it is the first such scenario. At this point you will be asked if you wish to use the terrain and piece data and pictures from the old scenario. This is an important decision. Each scenario (.INF file) specifies where its terrain and piece information are stored. Many scenarios can share the same terrain and piece datafiles. This allows you to save disk space if you have many scenarios with similar terrain and units. However, when you edit the terrain and pieces for one scenario, all scenarios using the same terrain and pieces have their terrain and pieces change as well. So if you are expecting to make changes to the terrain and pieces, respond "no", which will create new copies of the terrain and piece datafiles. If you wish to share terrain and pieces with the original scenario, respond "yes". The primary editing screen should appear. You should see two boards, one without units on the left and one with units on the right. The board on the left is used to edit the terrain, change the size of the board, and change victory square placement, while the one on the right is used to change piece placement and the number of teams. You can only be working on one of the two boards at a time. The F10 key witches between them. You can also switch boards using the mouse by clicking on the currently inactive board. On both boards the following keys are active: F1 displays help. F2 displays a piece and terrain listing. (See a description in section VI) Alt-s toggles the sound on/off. Uppercase E (E) allows editing of the general scenario information, including scenario name, number of rounds, and the value of combat victories. Uppercase D (D) allows editing of the scenario description. A minimal text editor is invoked, allowing the editing of the twenty-three line scenario description. Ctrl-z allows the user to specify whether the Zone Of Control rule is used or not. (See section V for a description of the rules) Ctrl-h allows the user to specify whether the Half Damage rule is used or not. (See section V for a description of the rules) Ctrl-t allows the user to specify whether the Terrain Modifies Defense rule is used or not. (See section V for a description of the rules) Ctrl-c allows the user to specify whether the Combat Victory Generates Victory Points rule is used or not. (See section V for a description of the rules) Uppercase V (V) toggles the victory point display mode between scenario and built-in. Scenario display mode displays victory squares as they are shown in the image file for the scenario. Built-in mode displays victory squares as a white circle. Alt-x exits the editor. On the board without pieces (the board on the left), the following keys are acitve: The directional keys move the cursor. Lowercase Q (q) changes the current terrain type up by one. Lowercase A (a) changes the current terrain type down by one. Enter toggles the terrain pen between the raised and lowered states. Ctrl-q changes the type of the terrain under the cursor up by one. Ctrl-a changes the type of the terrain under the cursor down by one. Shift-Up arrow reduces the height of the board by one. Shift-Down arrow increases the height of the board by one. Shift-Left arrow reduces the width of the board by one. Shift-Right arrow increases the width of the board by one. Uppercase E (E) edits the general scenario information. Lowercase E (e) edits the value of the victory square under the cursor, if there is one. Uppercase S (S) saves the scenario. Lowercase V (v) adds a victory square underneath the cursor, or removes an existing one. F10 switches to the Terrain Editing Board. The mouse can be used to draw the terrain. To select the terrain type, click on the terrain square in the status bar. The left mouse button will change the current terrain type up, while the right mouse button will change the terrain type down. Clicking on the pen toggles the pen state up or down, bu this really isn't necessary. Simply click and drag on the board without pieces and the chosen terrain type will be drawn. On the board with pieces (the board on the right), the following keys are active: The directional keys move the cursor. Uppercase Q (Q) changes the side of the unit under the cursor up. If the unit is already of the highest side, or there is no unit under the cursor, then this key has no effect. Uppercase A (A) changes the side of the unit under the cursor down. If the unit is already of the lowest side, or there is no unit under the cursor, then this key has no effect. Lowercase Q (q) changes the current piece type up. Lowercase A (a) changes the current piece type down. Control-q increases the current side up by one. Control-a decreases the current side down by one. Enter toggles the piece pen between the raised and lowered states. Lowercase W (w) changes the type of the unit under the cursor up. If there is no unit under the cursor, one is created on the current side. Lowercase S (s) changes the type of the unit under the cursor down. If the unit under the cursor is of type 1 (infantry in most of the included scenarios) it is removed. Tab grabs/drops the piece under the cursor. Once grabbed, a piece can be moved around the board with the cursor. - decreases the number of sides by one. There is a minimum of two sides. + increases the number of sides by one. There is (currently) a maximum of five sides. Insert places a new unit of the current team and piece type under the cursor. Delete removes the unit under the cursor, if there is one. Uppercase E (E) edits the general scenario information. Entering nothing for the scenario title keeps the same title. Lowercase E (e) edits the name of the current side. Uppercase S (s) saves the scenario. F10 switches to the Terrain Editing Board. The mouse can also be used to edit the piece placement. Selecting the piece type and side is done by clicking on the piece and side squares in the status bar with either the left or right mouse button. The pen can also be raised and lowered, but placing new peices can be done using the mouse simply by clicking and dragging on the baord with pieces. IV. Using MultiWar Terrain and Piece Editor At the MS-DOS prompt, type "MWTAPE" . You should see an opening screen. Strike any key/Click a button, and you will see the Scenario Selection Screen. Enter the number of (click on) the Scenario with the terrain and/or units you want to edit. The first terrain square should appear, enlarged on the left and at its normal size on the right. A status bar should be at the bottom of the screen. The following keys are active: The directional keys move the cursor within the current bitmap. F1 displays help. F2 displays a piece and terrain listing. (See a description in section VI) Lowercase Q (q) increases the current color. Lowercase A (a) decreases the current color. Tab makes the current color the color under the cursor. - raises the pen. + lowers the pen. Ctrl-Left arrow moves to the previous terrain/unit. Ctrl-Right arrow moves to the next terrain/unit, creating a new, blank one if at the last one. Ctrl-q changes the current color by 128 up the palette. Ctrl-a changes the current color by 128 down the palette. Lowercase R (r) removes the last terrain/unit square and associated information. Lowercase S (s) saves the bitmaps and associated information for the terrain and the units. Lowercase E (e) edits the information for the current terrain/unit. Ctrl-c copies the current square. Ctrl-v pastes the square in the clipboard to the current bitmap. Lowercase I (i) moves the palette cursor up Lowercase K (k) moves the palette cursor down Lowercase J (j) moves the palette cursor left Lowercase L (l) moves the palette cursor right Shift combined with a directional key shifts the image one pizel in that direction. Thus shift-right arrow shifts the image right by one pixel. Lowercase F (f) fills with the current color starting under the cursor. F10 toggles between editing modes, including terrain, units, and special squares. Alt-x exits the Terrain and Piece editor. The mouse can be used to edit bitmaps. Select a color from the palette on the right. Draw on the bitmap by dragging with the left mouse button down. Clicking with the right mouse button on the bitmap changes the current color to the color under the cursor. The current color isn't changed when you switch to a different bitmap. This allows you to copy colors from one bitmap to another. While you are editing units, color 255, which shows up as gray on the displayed bitmaps and the color box in the status bar, is transparent. The board and colored border indicating the side show through where the unit bitmap is transparent. The special editing mode is the third mode available in MWTAPE. The first block in special mode is the block which is displayed for victory squares in MultiWar. The second block is the bitmap denoting damaged units. In both bitmaps, color 255 is considered transparent. V. The Rules in MultiWar The rules in MultiWar are four toggles which are used to add variety to scenarios. They are: * Zone of Control * Half Damage * Terrain Modifies Defense Values * Combat Victories Generate Victory Points When the Zone of Contorl rule is used in a scenario, a unit's movement phase ends the first time it moves into a square adjacent to an enemy square. Otherwise a unit can move freely around enemy units. The Half Damage rule causes units to be damaged once before they die. Thus with the half damage rule on it takes two successful attacks to destroy a unit. Otherwise the first successful attack destroys a unit. When the Terrain Modifies Defense Values rule is in use, a defending unit has the defense value of the square in which it is located added to its defense bonus. The Defense Value can be negative, and is specified in MWTAPE. The Combat Victories Generate Victory Points rule enables the victorious side in a battle resulting in the elimination of a piece to collect victory points. The amount of victory points collected is specified in MWEdit. VI. Piece and Terrain List The piece and terrain list allows you to view the unit types and terrain types available in a scenario, as well as read their statistics. The piece and terrain list is available from MultiWar, MWEdit, and MWTAPE by hitting "F2". After hitting F2, the piece list will appear. You can scroll up and down through the list using Page Up and Page Down. Space bar toggles between pieces and terrain. The Escape key exits the piece and terrain list. VII. Disclaimer This program and its accompanying files are provided "AS IS" and without any warranty of fitness or merchantability for any particular purpose. The author accepts no responsibility for damages resulting from the use of this program, and the user assumes all risk when using it. VIII. Planned changes/improvements The following modifications are planned for future versions: 1. Movement restricted by the terrain--i.e. have ground and water units restricted to ground and water, respectively. 2. Fill command in the Scenario Editor 3. Modem play. 4. Improved mouse support. 5. A Windows version 6. Internet play using Windows Sockets. IX. How to contact the author I am reachable by both electronic and U.S. mail. My addresses are as follows: EMail: Andrew_Oliver@hmc.edu U.S. Mail: Andrew Oliver HC 67, Box 2410 Dryden, ME 04225 U.S.A. Please contact me with bug reports and suggestions, as well as your registration payment. If you design a scenario for MultiWar, I would greatly appreciate it if you could send me a copy. I'm always interested in seeing what others have created with MultiWar. To register MultiWar, please send $20 to the above U.S. Mail address. Please include your address so I can mail you a disk containing the latest version of MultiWar, which includes Artificial Intelligence shortest-path movement.