help.txt

                             EMPIRE

                  (The Wargame of the Century)



                    Written by Walter Bright
             Copyright (c) 1982-2002 by Walter Bright
                       All Rights Reserved

                     visit our web site at:
                     www.classicempire.com


    This software is furnished under a license for use only by 
    the purchaser. This software may not be copied or made 
    available to any other persons. Title and ownership of the 
    software shall remain at all times in Walter Bright.

    Walter Bright assumes no liability for the use or misuse 
    of its software. Liability for any warranties implied or 
    stated is limited to the replacement of the distribution 
    media should it be determined to be defective within 
    thirty days of its purchase.


INTRODUCTION

    Congratulations! You have purchased one of the most popular 
    games on mainframe computers, now made available on the 
    personal computer. Empire was 
    originally written by Walter Bright for a PDP-10 at Caltech. 
    The game has since been converted to run on a DEC VAX, and 
    has been played for years at Caltech, MIT and at VAX 
    installations. Empire was rewritten from scratch to run on 
    smaller computers.

    Empire is a simulation of a global conflict between two to 
    three implacable foes. No compromise is possible, each must 
    strive to annihilate the other. The war is conducted over a 
    large map, with land, sea and cities on it. Each player 
    manipulates his armies, fighters and ships to try and smash 
    the others, to reach the goal of total domination of the 
    world. Empire is not a video arcade-type game. It is a 
    thinking man's game, as it requires strategy and tactics 
    instead of hand-eye coordination.

    Warning: Empire has been known to be addictive. Typical games 
    can take several hours.

REQUIREMENTS

    Empire is designed to run on a Win32 system, which includes
    Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT, etc. It will not
    run on 16 bit Windows such as Windows 3.1.

INSTALLATION

    To install, follow these steps:

    1) Open a console window. Under XP, this means click on
    [Start] followed by [Command Prompt].

    2) Switch to the root directory:

        cd \

    3) Create the Empire directory:

        md empire

    4) Unzip the empire.zip file into the \empire directory using
    winzip, unzip, etc.

    5) You may make as many backups as needed for your personal use.


GETTING STARTED

    1) Run Empire from either the command prompt or the Run dialog
    box. A window should appear with the Emperor directing an assault.

    2) Click on the mouse button to bring up the main menu:

        New Game...             Start a new game.
        Open Game...            Continue existing saved game.
        Save Game...            Save game in progress.
        Sound on/off            Toggle sound on/off.
        About Empire            Boring copyright notice.
        Exit                    Leave Empire.

    3) Click on [New Game...]. This brings up the [New Game] dialog
    box. Select the number of computer driven enemy emperors to fight.
    0 is a little boring, and 5 is more challenging. After that, pick
    [Demo] to watch the computer emperors fight themselves. Select
    [OK] when done, and the game begins.

    4) A dialog box [City Production Demands] will appear.

    Pick one of the following demands for your initial city to produce: 

    A: Armies
    F: Fighters
    D: Destroyers
    T: Troop transports
    S: Submarines
    R: Cruisers
    C: Aircraft carriers
    B: Battleships

    For your first game, pressing A for armies is recommended.

GENERAL INFORMATION

    The game is played on a map of 60 rows by 100 columns. Row 
    numbers are 0 to 59, column numbers are 0 to 99. Coordinates 
    are shown as row,col.


    Each row,col is a tile. Tiles are:

    blank      unknown territory
    blue       sea
    green      land
    *          unconquered city

    Each player's pieces are their own colors. You'll be red.

    The entire map is unknown (blank) until you start to explore 
    it. Beware, however, that you cannot detect enemy pieces 
    unless you are right next to them. The actual map that you 
    see on the display is a summary of all the most recent 
    information that you have about the world.

    Each of your cities can be assigned to produce one of the 
    pieces. A city is attacked by moving an 
    army onto it. The army has a 50% chance of conquering it. 
    Capturing cities is crucial to destroying your opponents.

    An enemy piece is attacked by moving one of your pieces onto 
    it. Hits are traded off (at a 50% chance of landing on one 
    piece or the other) until one piece is totally destroyed. 
    Only one of the pieces will survive the conflict. Each piece 
    can withstand only so many hits before it is destroyed.
    Damage sustained by a piece is cumulative until it is either 
    destroyed or repaired. The number of hits that each piece can 
    take are:

          army                1
          fighter             1
          destroyer           3
          troop transport     3
          submarine           2
          cruiser             8
          aircraft carrier    8
          battleship          12

    Ships can be repaired by moving them into one of your cities.

PIECES



Armies:

    Armies are of primary importance. Only armies can capture 
    cities and take over continents. They move on land at a rate 
    of 1 move per round. Movement across water is performed using 
    a troop transport. To board a troop transport, just move your 
    army onto it. Armies cannot move onto their own cities, they 
    will be destroyed if they try. Armies drown when moving 
    across water without the aid of a troop transport.

Fighters:

    Fighters are airplanes that can move over land or sea at the 
    rate of 4 moves per round. They have a limited range, 
    however, of 20 moves before they must refuel. Fighters can 
    refuel by landing in conquered cities or on one of your 
    aircraft carriers. Attempting to land in cities that aren't 
    yours is futile.

Destroyers, Cruisers, Battleships:

    Ships can move on sea, or can dock in captured cities. They 
    move at 2 moves per round like all ships, unless they're 
    heavily damaged. In this case movement drops to 1 move per 
    round. Ships can be repaired by docking them (moving them 
    into one of your cities). These ships are normally used to 
    protect your own troop transports or to menace the enemy's. 
    Ships run aground and sink if you move them onto dry land.

Submarines:

    Submarines are like the other ships except that if one should 
    score a hit against an enemy ship, 3 hits worth of damage is 
    done instead of 1 (enough to sink the smaller ships!).

Troop Transports:

    Troop transports are used to carry armies from one continent 
    to another. They can carry up to 6 armies, less if they're 
    damaged. Troop transport captains are very short-tempered and 
    tend to deal abruptly with armies should too many get aboard.

Aircraft Carriers:

    Carriers can carry and refuel fighters. They can carry a 
    maximum of 8, less if they're damaged.

OPERATION

    The program will prompt you to move each piece. The prompt 
    consists of a short message in the upper left corner of the 
    screen, and the cursor will be positioned on the map. The 
    message shows what mode you are in. The modes are:

    Move
    Survey
    Direction
    From To
    City Prod

    If no mode message is displayed, the program is not expecting 
    a command. All commands consist of single keys. No carriage 
    return is required.

    Direction keys:

    QWE
    A D        This is the layout of the direction keys
    ZXC        on a QWERTY keyboard.

    The letters QWEADZXC represent directions of movement, as if 
    the cursor were situated on the letter S of your keyboard. 
    For example, E means move upward and to the right. X means 
    move straight down. The space bar indicates no movement.

    If you have an IBM PC keyboard, the arrow keys may be used 
    instead.

    Each mode is explained below.

MOVE MODE

    Most of the game will be spent in move mode. In fact, the 
    entire game can be played without ever leaving it. In this 
    mode, the cursor will be positioned over where the piece is, 
    and the top line of the display will show what the piece is. 
    You can enter either a move or a command.

    A move is entered by pressing one of the direction keys 
    indicating the direction that you want the piece to go in. If 
    you don't want the piece to move, press the space bar.

    The following commands are available in MOVE mode:

    F     Set the piece to move towards a specified location. 
          This will put you in the From To mode. See FUNCTIONS.

    G     Set the piece (must be a fighter) moving towards the 
          nearest owned city or aircraft carrier.

    H     Give the enemy 20 free moves. Do this if you feel the 
          enemy is doing poorly and is not giving you a 
          sufficient challenge.

    I     Set the piece to moving in a specified direction. This 
          will put you in the Direction mode. See FUNCTIONS.

    J     Turn the sound on/off.

    K     Awaken the piece the cursor is on. See FUNCTIONS.

    L     Set the piece (a troop transport or aircraft carrier) 
          in the Load Armies or Load Fighters function. See 
          FUNCTIONS.

    N     Center the screen about the current position of the 
          cursor.

    R     Set the piece to moving at random. See FUNCTIONS.

    S     Set the piece to be a sentry. See FUNCTIONS.

    U     If the piece is a troop transport or an aircraft 
          carrier, wake up all the armies or fighters that are 
          aboard.

    V     Save the game. The game will be saved in a file called 
          EMPIRE.DAT on the default drive. The file will be 31000 
          bytes long. If your disk is too full for it, you will 
          get an error mesasge. If so, insert an empty (but 
          formatted) disk in and try again.

    Y     Enter SURVEY mode.

    Control Break   This is used to exit the program and return 
          to DOS.

    <     Decrease delay time by 1/4 second. This delay time is 
          the time that messages stay on the screen before the 
          program moves on. The messages become redundant after a 
          while, and can be speeded up with this command.

    >     Increase delay time by 1/4 second. Use if the messages 
          flash by too fast.


SURVEY MODE

    This mode allows you to travel around and look at the map, 
    alter the functions assigned to your pieces, change the 
    production demands given to cities, etc. It is entered using 
    the Y command from MOVE mode.

    The direction keys move the cursor around. Each time you move 
    the cursor onto one of your pieces or cities, information on 
    that piece or city will be displayed. Note that commands in 
    SURVEY mode operate only on the piece displayed (for 
    instance, you cannot operate on an army aboard a troop 
    transport from the SURVEY mode).

    Most commands operate the same as in move mode. The 
    differences are:

    G     Using G when the cursor is on a city sets the FIPATH of 
          that city to the nearest conquered city or aircraft 
          carrier. See FIPATH.

    K     Using K when the cursor is on a city disables the 
          city's FIPATH if it has one. See FIPATH.

    P     Assign new production demands to a city by putting you 
          in the CITY PROD mode.

    U     Using U when the cursor is on a city awakens all the 
          pieces that may be in that city.

    V,Y   Not available.

    esc   Return to MOVE mode.

DIR MODE

    This mode expects a direction key to be pressed. This will 
    then assign the direction function to the piece that the 
    cursor is on. See FUNCTIONS.

    Escape (the esc key) will abort this mode.


City Production Demands

    This dialog box is for selecting production demands for a city.

                                 Production Time

                        Key      Start    Continue
    armies               A         6         5
    fighters             F         12        10
    destroyers           D         24        20
    troop transports     T         36        30
    submarines           S         30        25
    cruisers             R         60        50
    aircraft carriers    C         72        60
    battleships          B         90        75

    The start time is the number of rounds required to produce a 
    piece for the first time. The continuing time is the number 
    of rounds required to produce subsequent pieces. If you 
    change the production demands of a city before it has 
    completed its piece, the partially completed piece will be 
    discarded.

FROM TO MODE

    This mode is used to assign the MOVE TO function to a piece. 
    Move the cursor until it is on the location that you wish to 
    move the piece to, and press T (as in FROM location TO 
    location).

    Note: If you are giving the MOVE TO function to a fighter, 
          the cursor's distance from the fighter cannot exceed 
          the fighter's fuel remaining. This also applies to 
          setting the FIPATH of a city.

    Escape will abort this mode.

FUNCTIONS


    In order to relieve the tedium of moving each piece each 
    round, your pieces can be assigned various functions, under 
    which they move automatically. The functions are:

    NONE            No function, or awake. You will be asked for 
                    a move each turn.

    SENTRY          The piece will not move.

    RANDOM          The piece will move at random subject to the 
                    following conditions:

                    1) The piece will not do anything to cause it 
                    to be destroyed.

                    2) If it is an army, it will board an 
                    unloaded troop transport and wake up if it is 
                    next to one.

    MOVE TO         The piece is set to move towards a specified 
                    location. When it arrives, it will return to 
                    the NONE function. If something is in the 
                    way, you will be asked to move the piece 
                    around the obstacle (this is called 
                    temporarilly waking up).

    DIRECTION       The piece will move in a specified direction. 
                    It will temporarilly wake up if something is 
                    in its way.

    LOAD ARMIES     A troop transport can be assigned this 
                    function, in which case it will go on sentry 
                    duty until it is fully loaded with armies.

    LOAD FIGHTERS   Same as LOAD ARMIES, but for aircraft 
                    carriers instead.

    In general, the following constraints apply:

    1) When a fighter is 10 moves out, it will temporarilly wake 
    up to give you a chance to return it to a city or carrier for 
    refueling. The G command comes in handy here.

    2) Armies always temporarilly wake up if they're next to an 
    unconquered city.

    3) All pieces wake up if they're next to an enemy piece.

FIPATH

    Each of your cities can be assigned a FIPATH. This is a 
    location, which when a fighter lands in that city, is 
    assigned to that fighter. It shows up as a MOVE TO function 
    for the fighter. FIPATHS are assigned to cities from the 
    SURVEY mode using the F and T commands. Clear the FIPATH 
    using the K command. FIPATHs are very useful when cities are 
    producing fighters far from the front, the fighters can be 
    'chained' from city to city up to the front. 


MISCELLANEOUS

    Other players' moves are performed while the computer is 
    waiting for a command from you. This can be entertaining at 
    times, like when a piece is destroyed while you are trying to 
    move it! In any case, there is a 10 to 20 round maximum 
    spread between players. If you exceed this limit, no more 
    commands will be accepted until the other players have caught 
    up a bit.

    Watch out on the map displays. The locations of enemy pieces 
    shown may not be accurate, as they probably moved since you 
    detected them! Remember that the map displays only a history 
    of what you have seen before.

    The computer operated players play by the same rules and 
    under the same conditions that you do. It has no special 
    advantages, though it may appear otherwise at times.

    When a new game is started, it may take 100 to 200 rounds of 
    play before you discover the other players (or they discover 
    you!). Be patient, it's a large map.

    Be careful of whether you are in MOVE mode or SURVEY mode. 
    Entering many commands in MOVE mode when you thought you were 
    in SURVEY mode can run ships aground and drown armies 
    inadvertantly.

    When in MOVE mode, and the cursor is on a troop transport, 
    the message at the top of the screen will show whether a 
    transport is to be moved or an army that is aboard it. Moving 
    the wrong one can run the transport aground or drown the 
    army.

DEMO MODE

    When running in Demo mode, where the computer emperors fight each
    other, your initial point of view will be for the Red player.
    To cycle through all the players' point of views, type the 'O'
    key, or select [View][Change POV].