@database 012a5680-0 @master Com:Ups/MechForceStuff/MechForceStuff.guide @$VER: 1.0 @remark Created with Heddley v1.1 (c) Edd Dumbill 1994 @node "Main" "No title" Welcome to Mechstuff! by Rick Keller July 27, 1996 @{"Introduction" link "Introduction" 0} What's this for? @{"Orders" link "Orders" 0} A few notes.... @{"Maps" link "Maps" 0} Interesting tips @{"Mechs" link "Mechs" 0} All original, most very cool! @{"Units" link "Units" 0} New opponents!! @{"The Author" link "Author" 0} Hey, that's me! @endnode @node "Introduction" "Introduction" Introduction A long time ago, there was a game called MechForce, written by Ralph Reed. It was a really cool game based on the role playing game Battle Tech. I tried it, and registered it, and played it incessantly. After a while, I moved on to other things, and forgot about it. Since then, there has been recently a buzz about this game on Usenet's comp.sys.amiga.games. It seems there are some people interested in finding the source code and doing some work on it. Personally, I'd love to see that. Anyway, this buzz has got me started on playing the game again, and I thought that since there was so many others who enjoy(ed) this game, I would collect some of my own personal @{"mechs," link "Mechs" 0} @{"orders," link "Orders" 0} and @{"maps" link "Maps" 0} to let the community at large enjoy. Requirements- Mechforce by Ralph Reed. It is still on Aminet, under games/misc. No longer supported by the author, so you can't get the registered version anymore :( I don't know if you can use this stuff without it, but trying won't be overly painful. Oh yeah- If the sky turns green and the moon explodes because you used this, that sucks but tough luck. You have been warned. So enjoy! There is nothing to the installation, just copy the contents of each drawer to the corresponding dirs in the game itself, and you are on your way. If you want, put the orders in a special drawer and change your config file accordingly so you can try these out. @endnode @node "Orders" "Orders" Orders These were all written by me except where noted. Most of the orders are pretty self-explanatory, but here are a few highlights: Defend Oasis- Written by Tom Mohr. D'Rall Shootout- I wrote this so I could go against a friends unit, and I gave him a copy with my unit as the villain. I included his and mine for your enjoyment. See units for more details. Executioner's Song- Did you ever want to go against a bunch of mechs you knew you could just blast the snot out of? While not overly challenging, it's fun just the same. Uses the unit "Canon Fodder." Written by Tom Mohr. Forest Firefight- Written by Bryan Wilczynski. Glacier Battle- Another one of Tom's, this one has a tricky map. Kill- Another on of Tom's. Read orders for both side. Typical Tom! Island Battle- Tom again! Mirror, Mirror- This is one of my favorites! The idea is that you crossed over into a parallel universe. (Yes, the title is from Star Trek!) For your own use, make an NPC version of your unit (I just called mine Evil-xx) and use it as the enemy here. A good test of tactics, because the enemy is YOU! Mountain Firefight- This is another one written by Bryan Wilczynski. Ritual Challenge- A little silly, just a toe-to-toe slugfest! Secure Mountains- The map makes this one very difficult. The diff level is random, so, unless you cheat, you don't know what you are up against. This can drag, as the sightlines are limited. Swamp Battle- The mech's in the NPC unit should be slighlty damaged before play, as per the orders. Written by Tom Mohr. @endnode @node "Maps" "Maps" Maps Sometimes, the map names don't lend much support to the mission name. Here is a list of the maps and their corresponding missions. In all cases, the map was created by the author of the mission. River1- D'Rall Shootout. As is TRUE for most of the maps, this one is designed so that you can use terrain to your advantage, if you know how! (Rick Keller) Oasis- Defend Oasis. (Tom Mohr). Execution- Execution. The bad guys are supposed to be in the middle. Watch out for the deep water!! (Rick Keller) Firing Squad- Executioner's Song. Your guys on the left, nice leveled effect so everyone gets a good shot!! (Tom Mohr) GameMap1- Forest Firefight. (Bryan Wilczynski) Glacier Battle- Glacier Battle. Ok, so some of the map names correspond with the mission. Very dangerous terrain. (Tom Mohr) Rickmap1- Hold Harbor. My first map, I'm so proud! (Rick Keller) Island Battle- Island Battle. Watch your step!! (Tom Mohr) Mirrormap- Mirror,Mirror. (Rick Keller) Moutains1- Mountain Firefight.(Bryan Wilczynski) Rickmap2- Power Defend. My second map. The idea was that neither side could get too close to the other. Forgot about jump jets!! Though, it is fun to shoot one down over the canal. (Boy, is that thing deep!!) (Rick Keller) Challenge1- Ritual Challenge. No where to run, no where to hide!! (Rick Keller) Maze- Secure mountains. The only drawback to this one is that games can get long, looking for the other mechs. (Rick Keller) Fire Island- Smoking Gun. (Rick Keller) Swamp Battle- Swamp Battle. This is actually a pretty cool map! (Tom Mohr) @endnode @node "Mechs" "Mechs" Mechs Emperor- 20 ton. (Rick Keller) HobGoblin- 55 ton. God, I love the Auto cannon- 20!! (Tom Mohr) Bloodbath- 55 ton. (Tom Mohr) Viking- 60 ton. This is supposed to sit back and support the in-close mechs. This is a philosophy I have tried to employ in a few different mechs. This is not one of the more successful versions, but a decent mech anyway. (Rick Keller) Phalanx- 65 ton. I believe there is already a Phalanx on the regular game. This version uses an Auto Cannon 20. I like this one for arena combat, because the cannon rips through opposing mechs of a similar weight! (Rick Keller) Torg- 75 ton. A great arena mech because of it armoring! Takes quite a beating. This was another 'cherry picker' that was supposed to sit back and poke opponents while the big boys dished out their pounding. (Rick Keller) Gladiator- 75 ton. One of my favorites, probably because it can almost always shoot and has good heat dissipation rate. Not an in inclose mech, not a cherry picker, but somewhere in between. I have used it in in-your-face situations, but it works best a few hexes away from opponent. (Rick Keller) Dragon- 80 ton. Cherry picker that works pretty well.(Rick Keller) Dragon2- 80 ton. A little different, though I like the Cannon10 better than the plasma cannon due to the heat. (Rick Keller) Dominator- 85 ton. Cross between the Dragon and Dragon2, but with more punch. This one has good heat dissipation too. (Rick Keller) Dragonfly- 85 ton. Cherry picker that flies. (Rick Keller) Exp 3- 100 ton. The big in close mech. I love this one! Can take quite a beating, but can dish out an even bigger one! (Rick Keller) @endnode @node "Units" "Units" Units I have included some units for some of the custon missions. Some are needed to fill out the flavor of the mission, and some will provide you with some new mechs to play against. I'll give you a quick rundown on the units, and their function. Lance- EvilAC: This is the parallel universe version of my unit, Apocalypse Club. Lance- EvilClub A: This one is the parallel universe version of Tom Mohr's unit, Club Armaggeddon. I used this as the bad guys in my version of "D'Rall Shootout," and gave him EvilAC for his own enjoyment. Lance- Canon Fodder: This is you target practice unit for 'Executioner's Song.' Check out the 'Thundercrush' mechs they use! Company- Escaped Cons: Used for the swamp battle. The reason a custom unit was made was because the convicts steal some slightly damaged mechs, so you should damage the external armor slightly (or more, if you wish) to follow the script. @endnode @node "Author" "The Author" Well, that's my stuff, I'm looking forward to seeing what this dredges up from the rest of you. By the Way--I'm Rick Keller, and I live in Buffalo, New York. My system is an A1200/030/882, with a 120 meg internal Seagate and a 730 meg Nec via Squirrel SCSI. I also have a Sanyo 256 CDRom, and a 'Generic' 14.4 modem. Oh yeah, I'm currently looking at a 1084S. So, if you enjoyed these little tidbits, drop me a line at: bela@net.bluemoon.net. Also, take a look at my web site: http://www.bluemoon.net/~bela. No MechForce stuff, some Amiga links, and a bunch of samples from "The Simpsons." Tom Mohr is simply one of the most terrific human beings God placed on the planet. He is amazing. He carried the Olympic Torch through Buffalo for the '96 Games, he is a 3rd degree blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do (and my instructor- I'm a first degree.), and an all around swell guy with a really twisted mind! Oh yeah- he was also the best man at my wedding. Bryan Wilczynski is in the same category as Tom. He is amazing! About 6'5, but the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet. Best of all, he's still an Amiga nut! His email is strider@net.bluemoon.net. Tell him you checked out his MechForce stuff. He is also a first degree black belt, and a master of minimalist communications. By that I mean that when he says something, it's short, sweet to the point, and definitive. Just check out the orders that he's written! And--his wife just had their first baby a couple of weeks ago! ---PLEASE---- If you know of the whereabouts of the original source code for MechForce, let me know!! I dabble in C a bit, and I would love to sink my teeth into this prog. Things I would like to do with it include: -integrate Warrior,Factory, Map Editor, and HQ into the main prog. These would exit to a main screen instead of WB. It would look nicer. It's so coitus-interruptus when you just bop back to WB after an intense game. -modem play. This game cries for it! -improve computer strategy. -better interface during the game -more 2.x and 3.x compliant (it causes a little patter with some CX's, I've noticed) I may try to write a new version from scratch, but with no model and the current state of my programming skills, it could take quite a while! Ah well, that's me! Take care and go blow something up now! @endnode