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ASCII text
— 4K bytes
— 1990-09-07
— PP20 compressed
PowerWars
~~~~~~~~~
A galactic struggle between the mighty forces of two opposing factions called,
for simplicity, good and evil. This is a two player game in which the actual
game board influences the play.
The Ranks
~~~~~~~~~ Force (attack) Shield Movement (squares) Value
RepairShip 1 1 1 4
Fighter 2 1 2 1
Guard 1 2 2 2
EliteFighter 3 2 3 5
EliteGuard 2 3 3 3
PowerSource
-with shield 4 3 1 6
-without 5 1 2 7
RepairShips are important yet weak pieces. When they move the square they move
on to will change colour one step towards their side (see colour table below).
The PowerSource is equivalent to the king in chess. When it is first defeated
(usually by an EliteFighter or another PowerSource) it will lose its shield -
in effect it has two lives. It then becomes move powerful and more agile, yet
is very vulnerable.
Getting Started
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After loading PowerWars you must tell the computer who is going to be playing.
A setup screen appears. Select, by clicking with the mouse either human or
computer in both the player 1 and the player 2 columns. Don't hold the mouse
button down for too long, or the computer will get angry (if you don't believe
me try it and see!). The computer in column one plays a slightly different game
to the one in column 2. You can also alter a value called 'Flash': click on the
arrows above and below the number beside 'flash' to increase/decrease this
value. This affects how many times the computer will flash the square it moves
from and the square it moves to - to help you see which piece it moved! When
you have made your choice, click on GO!. You will then be prompted for the
names of the human players (if any). If you are player one the computer will
not let you call yourself `Computer 1' (similarly you can't be `Computer 2' if
you are player 2) because it would then think it was playing and not you! Names
are also truncated to twelve characters. When this is completed the computer
comes up with a requester that asks you if everything is correct. Click on
either 'Yes' or 'No' (or press 'Y' or 'N'). If you click 'No' you can re-enter
the players.
Gameplay
~~~~~~~~
Pieces on the screen can be identified by moving over them with the mouse (If
the border of the square is flashing, it is one of your pieces). If the piece
isn't identified, move the mouse onto a blank square then back again. Text
appears in the upper right hand corner of the screen informing you of the piece
name and its statistics: force followed by shield followed by movement. If it
is your piece, select it by pressing the left mouse button. It will then be
highlighted by a thick blue rectangle (to deselect simply click on the
highlighted square again). Then you can move the mouse and if the square
beneath the mouse is in range of that piece it will have a flashing border.
Click on the square you wish to move to, and if the move is legal the ship
will move there - if not you will be informed and be able to rechoose. Moves
are always up, down, left or right. To move diagonally requires two movement
points, for example the RepairShip can only move one square up, down left or
right, whereas an EliteFighter can move one, two or three squares up, down,
left or right or diagonally by combining, say, left and down (or left, down and
down or left, left and down or ...). This may sound very confusing but don't
worry - you really don't need to know anything about it. When you have selected
your piece, move the cursor to the square you want to move to. If the move is
within the move range of that piece the square will have a flashing border. By
experimentation you will find that each piece has a diamond shaped area of
possible moves. For example, an EliteFighter (squares in range are marker by a
`*', the ship itself is a `.'):
EliteFighter: * RepairShip: *
* * * * . *
* * * * * *
* * * . * * *
* * * * *
* * *
*
Combat
~~~~~~
To attack the opposition you move a piece of yours onto a piece of theirs.
Attacks are worked out as follows (this is where the colour of the game board
comes into play): Firstly, taking into consideration the following square
colours:
White +2 Good
Yellow +1 Good
Orange NEUTRAL
Red +1 Evil
Black +2 Evil
Combat is emulated as follows:
If the attacker is attacking a square of its colour, its force is adjusted
accordingly, either +1 or +2. If it is a square of the defender's colour, the
defender's shield is adjusted accordingly, either +1 or +2. The attacker's
force is then unaltered. Then the attacker's force and the defender's shield
are compared. If the attacker has a greater force, then he wins and moves onto
the defender's square. But if the force is less than the shield, the defender
wins, and HE MOVES TO THE ATTACKER'S SQUARE (this means you can sacrifice a
ship at a powerful one on its own square, and it will move to your square). The
square that the winner of the fight ends up on changes colour - one step
towards his side. However, is the force and shield values are equal, then the
attacker's force and the defender's force are compared. If the attacker has a
greater force or a lesser force he either wins or loses, with square colour
changes and piece movements as above. If they are equal then one of two things
can happen: 50% of the time it will be a draw: both pieces are left where they
were and nothing happens. The other 50% of the time both ships will be
destroyed, and no square colour changes will take place.
Piece Promotion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If a Fighter makes it to the opposite side of the screen, it gets promoted to
an EliteFighter, much the same as pawns are promoted in Chess. If a Guard makes
it to the other side of the screen, it is promoted to a RepairShip. Note however
that the ship mut make it itself to the other side, and is not promoted if it is
'lured' to the other side, i.e if a ship attacks it, loses, and it then moves
to a square on the opposite side of the screen from where it was originally, it
is NOT promoted.
Quit and Restart
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you want to quit at any stage, simply click the close gadget in the
upper-left hand corner of the screen. You will not be asked if you are sure -
so only do this if you really want to quit.
To restart a game, assuming there is at least one human player playing, click
on the 'Restart' gadget on the right hand side of the screen. If there are no
human players this gadget will not be there - instead, you can hold down the
space bar briefly. You will then be asked to confirm your intent to to restart.
Click on 'Yes' or 'No' ( or press 'Y' or 'N'). The game will then go back to
the start, and you will be able to rechoose players, etc.
Setup
~~~~~
There is also another gadget present when one or more human players are playing
(if not, you can briefly hold down the 'S' key). It is on the right hand side of
the screen and is labelled 'SetUp'. Clicking on this (or pressing 'S') will
bring up a requestor asking you if you are sure that you want to go to setup.
Click 'Yes' (or press 'Y') if you want to. The gadgets disappear and are
replaced by five coloured boxes and an 'Exit' gadget. Click on the coloured
boxes to select the colour of the square. The current colour is indicated by a
tan rectangle around one of the coloured boxes. In the upper-right hand corner
of the screen there are two lines of text, and to the left of these, two
arrows. The text indicates what ship is currently selected, and for which
player. Clicking on the arrows will cycle through the list of possibilities.
Notice that 'Hyperspace' and 'Blank square' are also included - for placing of
hyperspace squares and erasing squares. There are also two of each player's
PowerSources - one with shield, one without. When you have selected your
desired colour and piece, click anywhere on the game board. That square will
then change to the current colour, and will contain the current piece.
When you are through, click on the 'Exit' gadget. Providing each side has one
(and only one) PowerSource, the game will continue where it left off.
Strategy
~~~~~~~~
It is a good idea to move your RepairShips about to try and get a buffer of
squares of your own colour. It will then be easier for you to win on those
squares, and harder for you to be beaten. Try to knock out the other player's
RepairShips if you can, as this will severely cripple him. EliteFighters can
be used for an assault on the PowerSource, but they need to attack it on a
square of their own colour - on a neutral square or on the opposing side's
square the EliteFighter will be pulverized. Some other pieces have to attack
the PowerSource on the +2 square for their side. So what if the other player is
smart and leaves his PowerSource on a square of his own colour (like you
should do)? This is where a sacrifice could help you win the game. Send a
Fighter or a Guard up against the PowerSource, and when they lose the
PowerSource is moved to the square that they attacked from. You can use this to
force the opposition to move onto a square of your own colour. But remember, it
will have to be a +2 square of your own colour to start with, because when the
sacrificial battle is over the square changes colour one step towards the
opposition. Later on in a game try to move a Fighter across to the other side
of the board to get it promoted to an EliteFighter. EliteFighters are a
formidable opponent and they have excellent range. Try also to get a
Repairship by moving a Guard across. RepairShips are extremely valuable, and if
you have a RepairShip working on the opponents side of the board you can ensure
battles are more favourable for you. RepairShips are also needed to give you a
+2 square to lure the enemy PowerSource onto, usually by sacrificing a piece.
And last, but not least, have lots of FUN.