The Strategist Readme

The Strategist - Copyright (c) Oxeye Game Studio 2004-2007
http://www.oxeyegames.com

Last Modified: 2 May 2007
Game Version: 2.5a

Shareware Notice

This game is Shareware. You may play this version as much as you like, and redistribute it freely to your friends. You may not sell it for more than to cover any redistribution costs. If you enjoy the game you should support us and get the full version!

When you register the full version you will get the following extra features:

- Play all scenarios in the campaigns! More than 30 missions!
- Play with up to 10 players!
- Play with teams!
- Create your own missions and campaigns!

Please check http://www.oxeyegames.com for more information!

Credits

Programming: Jens Bergensten, Alexander Persson, Jonas Johnsson
Game Design: Jens Bergensten, Daniel Brynolf
Artwork: Daniel Brynolf, Jacob Kindstedt, Pontus Hammarberg
Music: Peter Askelöf

Additional Credits
The "daisy" engine contains a JPEG implementation, which has been made by Independent JPEG Group.

A number of sound effects has been based on the work by people at The Free Sound Project:
- Richard Fröhlich, http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=71614
- acclivity, http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=37876
- Dynamicell, http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=47052
- NoiseCollector, http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=4948
- FreqMan, http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=92661
- ermine, http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=15220
- Heigh-hoo, http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=21830

1.0 Introduction

Welcome to The Strategist readme!

1.1 What is The Strategist?
The Strategist is a turn-based strategy wargame. The goal of the game is to attack and conquer all your enemies' command centers. You can play with friends locally or over the Internet, or against the computer, in teams or free for all. Starting with version 2.4 you can also play single-player campaigns or multi-player games on custom maps with events and triggers.

1.2 Requirements - Macintosh
- Mac OS X 10.3 or later
- A 3D-accelerated graphics card
- 800 MHz CPU

1.3 Requirements - Windows
- Windows 98, 2000, XP or Vista
- DirectX 9 or later
- A 3D-accelerated graphics card
- 800 MHz CPU

1.4 Troubleshooting
If you encounter problems while playing The Strategist, please let us know by mailing support@oxeyegames.com or visiting our forums.

1.5 Known Problems
- It has been reported that if you have anti-alias turned on there can appear lines in the graphics. To solve this problem, turn of anti-aliasing in your video card settings (set it to "let the application decide").

- If you are using a firewall, which obviously is a good habit, you may experience some problems when joining or creating network games. Most firewalls will display a warning message when the game tries to connect to the Internet, and this warning message may appear "behind" the game, which causes the computer to freeze. A solution to this problem is to run the game in windowed mode (deselect "Fullscreen" in the "Settings" tab and press "Apply") the first time you want to start a network game, and then return to fullscreen mode when you have configured your firewall.

1.6 Contact
Support contact: support@oxeyegames.com

Please visit Oxeye Game Studio for further contact information.

2.0 Game Rules


1. The player information. Here you can see information about the current player, such as the number of units and regions the player control. Read more about the player info below.
2. The end turn button. The number in the circle shows how many actions you have left in this turn (in the image the player doesn't have any remaining actions).
3. The construct building buttons. Buildings cost units and actions.
4. The Command Center action buttons. Command Center actions cost units and actions and can only be used from Command Centers.
5. Unit movement buttons. Use these to modify how many units you want to move, and if you want to move your upgrade units with the others.
6. The green areas are neutral regions that can be conquered by players. If there are units in a region, they are given as bonus troops to the player that conquers the region.
7. Regions owned by a player. The top region has a darker shade to represent that it has attacked this turn.
8. The current player's turn time. In multiplayer games you can force people to play quickly by enabling this timer.
9. The current turn. In skirmish games you are not allowed to attack other players until this value is 6.
10. Menu buttons. From left to right, "View Message Log", "View Mission Objectives" and "Game Menu".



1. The player's color.
2. Area for the player's team. This player is not in a team, so the location is empty. When players are in teams, the different teams are represented with the letters A, B, C and D.
3. Number of Command Centers this player has.
4. The player's name.
5. Number of regions this player controls.
6. Number of units this player controls.



1. Number of active units. Active units can be used to attack with or perform other actions.
2. Number of tired units. Tired units can't perform actions, but they will defend the region and will become active in the next turn.
3. A Command Center building.

2.1 Placing Reinforcements
In the first turn every player must place their starting point, their first Command Center. This is done by just clicking on a neutral region when it's your turn. You will receive 50 bonus troops in that region to begin with.

In all following turns you will receive reinforcements that you can place in one of your own, or an ally's, region. You receive 3 units for each region you control. You will receive 4 units if you have captured an enemy Command Center the previous turn. The maximum number of reinforcements you can get is 30 (or 45 with the Command Center bonus).

2.2 Using Actions
Each turn you have a limited number of actions. You receive one action for every "Command Center" you control, and one action if you have a "Strategist" upgrade unit. With an action you can do one of the following:
1. Use unmoved troops to attack a neighbor region
2. Build a new Command Center in a region
3. Build a harbour in a region which is connected to water
4. Build industries in a region which hasn't a Command Center or industries already
5. Use a special action

2.3 Attacking
To expand your empire you must use actions to attack neighbor regions. Attacking a neutral region (dark green) will always succeed and also give you bonus troops. Attacking an enemy region will cause damage on both your force as well as the defending force according to the following formula:
1. The damage done on the defender is 50% of the attacker's unmoved troops that are attacking
2. The damage done on the attacker is 25% of the defender's troops.

Attacking from a harbour is not as efficient as attacking by land, but also safer. When attacking via water, the amount of damage is based on the distance between the two regions. If the target region doesn't have a harbour, it will not be able to defend itself.

Note that the attacker deals more damage than the defender, so it can be advantageous to make the first attack (which obviously will require at least one action).

When damage has been resolved the defender may lose his region if there are no troops left. To take control of a region the attacker must have a "power majority" in the neighbors to that region. Regions with harbours are neighbors to all regions which are connected to the same water mass, but their troops only count as 50% when determing power balance.

There are a number of reasons why you are unable to attack a region:
- The regions are not connected
- The target region hasn't got any troops, and you don't have majority around that region
- You are unable to deal any damage (such as when attacking with only one unit)
- You have already attacked with the region this turn

2.4 Moving Troops
All troops may be moved one step and become "tired". Tired troops can't be used for actions. Regions with harbours can move troops to all other regions that are connected to the same water mass.

You can also move troops into regions that your allies control.

2.5 Special Action: Propaganda
The Propaganda action can be used on an enemy force to disable their units the next turn.

- The propaganda action will disable (make them tired) 33% of the regions active units.
- The propaganda action costs one action and 5 units to use.
- You may not target an enemy region which has the Command Center upgrade.

To use the propaganda action, select one of your command center which has at least 5 units, then press the "Propaganda" button. Now click on the region you wish to target.

2.6 Special Action: Chopper Transport
The Chopper Transport action can be used to transport units from your command center to one of your own or an ally's region.

- The chopper transport action will move up to 100 units from your command center to any region you, or an ally, control.
- The chopper transport action costs one action to use.

To use the chopper transport action, select one of your command centers which has at least one unit, then press the "Chopper Transport" button. If you want to move less than 100 units, change the value in the "Move Troops:" edit box before you click on the destination.

2.7 Special Action: Destroy Development
The Destroy Development action will destroy an enemy harbour and/or industries anywhere on the map.

- The destroy development action will remove the harbour and/or industry upgrades from one enemy region.
- The destroy development action costs one action and 40 units to use.
- You may not target an enemy region which has the Command Center upgrade.

To use the destroy development action, select one of your command centers which has at least 40 units, then press the "Destroy Development" button. Then click on the target region from which you want to remove the harbour and/or industries upgrade.

2.8 Special Action: Blitz
This action allows you to remove the "tired" status from up to 100 units in any region that you control.

- The blitz action costs one action and 20 units to use.
To use the blitz action, select one of your command centers which has at least 20 units, then press the "Blitz" button. Then click on the target region whereyou want to defatigue up to 100 units.

2.9 Special Rule: "Safe begin" protection
This rule prevents players from attacking each other the first five turns. In other words, until turn 6 you are only able to attack neutral regions and use special actions.

When games are started with this rule, the last player that gets to place her starting position will get 20 more units than the first player. All other players between the first and last will get a linear amount from 0 to 20 extra units, depending on the number of players. For example, when three people are playing, the first player will get 0, the second 10 and the last 20 extra units (in addition to the normal 50 starting units).

This rule is used whenever you play a skirmish game in single-player or multi-player mode.

2.10 Upgrade Units
Upgrade Units are special units that are used in the campaigns and custom scenarios. They move around with the other units and are destroyed if the region loses all of its units. As with normal units, upgrade units can be "active" and "tired". When an upgrade unit is "tired" it may not use its special ability.



Strategist - Adds a command action every turn.
Sapper - The sapper's special ability is to destroy region development such as industries and harbours. Sappers will always destroy a target's industry or harbour even if the region itself isn't conquered.
Engineer - The engineer's special ability is to build harbours, industries and command centers without having to pay a command action (you only pay the unit cost).
Hero - The Hero's special ability is to allow a region to attack more than once during the same turn.
Helicopter - A region with a helicopter is able to move up to 100 units to any other region, even if they are not connected.
Armor - The armor's special ability is to move up to 100 units to a connected region without making them tired (the armor itself will get tired, though). The armor doesn't work when moving across water.
Speaker - The speaker's special ability is to add 10 bonus units every time a neutral region is conquered, or an enemy region that doesn't have any units to protect it. In addition, when the speaker attacks the defender may only use active units to defend themselves.
Artillery - The artillery is able to attack regions that are two steps away. The damage dealt is 20% of the target's unit count (in other words you deal more damage if you attack larger forces).

3.0 Miscellaneous

3.1 Version Changes
2006-05-02 2.5a
- Corrected a PowerPC-related license bug
- Changed the campaign menu layout slightly

2007-03-23 2.5
- Redesigned the GUI
- Added new map artwork
- Added an particle engine
- Added event particles for standard events
- Added particles to custom maps
- Added player color portraits
- Created a completely new campaign with 18 missions
- Removed the replay functionality
- Updated the old campaigns for the new features
- Changed blitz cost to 20 units
- Changed destroy development cost to 40 units
- Made it possible to restart a mission without leaving the game
- Created a central multi-player lobby
- Added sprites for soldiers
- Added environment sprites

2006-03-31 2.4
- Changed the victory condition system to be trigger-based
- Made it possible to load custom maps instead of generating random maps
- Made it possible to play on custom maps with custom triggers and scenarios
- Added a "view replay" option to the main menu
- Removed the help window again... this time it only appears in the tutorial campaign
- Added a campaign menu
- Made it possible to play and continue campaigns (campaign progress is stored), and to view campaign scenario solutions
- Removed the option to disable "limited reinforcements"
- Added an option to disable "destroy development"
- Changed the messages when conquering named regions in custom maps
- Fixed a problem with the unit count edit box (when moving units)
- Added a screenshot button (F11)
- Added a button click sound effect
- Added an option to disable the "it's your turn" message
- Added world sprites for command centers, harbours and industries

2005-12-16 2.3
- Improved the help popups
- Improved the lobby, has support for lobby topics
- Added the "cylinder map" feature
- Added experimental replay recording and viewing
- Added message when a player is defeated
- Changed the game rules slightly when using the "Safe Begin" rule

2005-09-14 2.2
- Added help menu popups
- Changed the message log, it only displays errors now and it is set to "on" as default
- Corrected a minor visibility problem with the message lists
- Nicks are prefixed with "X-" in the game lobby now to indicate that they are in-game
- Toned down the intro music
- Corrected problems with nicks in the lobby
- Oups! Discovered that the installer didn't extract the readme as it should. Fixed!

2005-09-09 2.1
- Added an IRC-based lobby

2005-08-13 2.0a
- Corrected an error during reinforcements if a time-out occurred
- Corrected an error that allowed players to remove reinforcements

2005-08-13 2.0
- Completely reworked the art engine
- Completely changed how the game handles players
- Added "Build Industries" action
- Added "Blitz" action
- Changed the via-water attack rules
- Changed the max amount of units in a region to 500
- Completely reworked the network code

2004-08-10 1.0
- Released version

2004-04-14 Release Candidate 2
- Removed "Call for UN" special rule
- Added "Safe begin" special rule
- Corrected network problem
- Changed some sound effects

2004-04-12 Release Candidate 1
- Initial release

3.2 Hints to Mission 17

Mission 17 is a quite difficult puzzle mission that may require some help. To read the hints, select the text in your web browser:

Hint 1: You must use all 6 actions in the first turn, and at least 5 actions in the two other turns.

Hint 2: You must destroy both harbours, but you can only afford to use one Destroy Development action... the other harbour must be destroyed in a different manner.

Hint 3: Use Chopper Transport to move your Sapper, but make sure that your Armor has cleared her retreat first.

Hint 4: In the second turn, use Chopper Transport and Blitz to quickly destroy either Command Center with your armor. Remember to leave 20 units for the blitz action when you chopper. Repeat the procedure in turn 3.

Hint 5: The actions in the first turn are: Attack, move, attack, destroy development, chopper, blitz, attack, move.