TINY TROOPS WHERE WAR IS FANTASTIC The Story Agaris IV, a small planet spinning through the awesome darkness that is the universe. From a distance the primarily green planet looks an inviting place to visit, especially to the weary traveller. Drawing closer would, however, tell an altogether different story. Even from the outer reaches of the atmosphere the explosions from the planet surface can be seen. Plumes of fiery smoke lighting the land far below dissuade even the bravest of visitors, who often decide that it is better to head for their favourite bar on the other side of the Galaxy rather than touch down in the midst of a war. War has in fact been raging on the planet for the better part of 500 hundred years. The Klutes and the Furfurians, the two indigenous inhabitants of Agaris IV had always been enemies. Since the first pair of amphibious creatures crawled from the primordial ooze, on to the land mass that would become Klute and the other to the land mass that would become Furfur, there had been animosity. Back then the battles were fought over food and very basic things. Now it was all far more complicated with the two sides fighting for............for the right to.........so they could.........well, just fight really. That was until Dr Idries Shah, a geophysicist for the republic of Klute called an emergency meeting between General Cal Gilbran of Klute and General Orithius Abaston of Furfur. The meeting was to be held at the only neutral place on the planet, the leisure island of Magnus situated in the middle of the Quirium ocean, which separated the two warring continents. Within the giant Kerob Tharis complex the two Generals sat, impatiently awaiting the arrival of Dr Shah who was as ever late. He ran into the room, threw armfuls of paper onto a desk and announced in one hurried sentence "Hello Generals, sorry I'm late, I lost track of time, what with research and all, oh by the way we have to stop the war!", he then took a breath and sat down. "Stop the war?", bellowed General Abaston, "What on Agaris do you mean?", "I'm sorry wasn't that clear enough?", said Dr Shah "Stop - The - War", he said very slowly. General Abaston looked like he was going to explode. "Don't be ridiculous, we are mortal enemies, we can't stop the war". General Gilbran spoke calmly, "Why do we have to stop the war?". "Ah", said Dr Shah, "Now that's a good question", "Why then!", interjected General Abaston, this started both of the Generals arguing. Dr Shah stood up and held his hands out flat in front of him in a signal to placate the Generals and quell their arguing. He then began to speak, "The reason that we must stop the war is that the constant bombardment is ripping the fabric of the planet apart, in short, if we do not stop the war, within one year the planet will be destroyed and so will we!". The Generals sat in stunned silence until Abaston said quietly, "There must be something we can do, it can't end like this". One Month Later "So what you are suggesting is that we don't actually stop the war we just fight is elsewhere", said General Gilbran. "That's correct!", said Dr Shah, "We have already isolated a perfect planet in the ninth quadrant, some 300 hundred million light years away. Our tele-portation facilities within the Furfur science centre will allow both armies to reach the planet and fight without harming Agaris. As far as we can tell this planet has no intelligent life, (except for the small cannibalistic lettuce duck), so we will be harming no one". "Excellent! contact General Abaston and make the necessary preparations, I'm sick of this boring cease-fire". The preparations took under a week to complete. Both sides eager to resume the battle. Armies and vehicles were transported one after another to the surface of a planet on the other side of the Galaxy. Battle commenced once again and everyone was happy. The people of Earth were blissfully unaware that a war raged beneath their feet. In all of Dr Shah's calculations he had discovered no intelligent life on Earth. This was because he was looking on a similar scale to his own people. The people of Earth were a 100 times bigger than those of Agaris and as such the ant sized creatures raged a war in gardens, toy rooms, on beaches and in the kitchen and no one ever knew. The battle commences... System Requirements Tiny Troops will run on an A500+, A600, A1200 or better and will automatically detect your system configuration and use any resources it finds such as extended memory or faster CPUs, for example if you have an A1200 then you will have additional graphics & sound along with better playbility. Playing Tiny Troops After watching the introduction animation (which can be speeded up by pressing the space bar) you will be faced with the following options, you can select any option by moving the mouse pointer then pressing the Left Mouse Button (LMB). One Player Game Choosing this option allows one human player to battle against a computer controlled enemy, your main objective is to win all 65 battles that are laid out before you. You can only progress onto the next battle when you have achieved the tasks that you have been set by your General. Two Player Game Choosing this option splits the playing screen and allows two human players to battle it out between themselves. The amount of battles that you are playing across will be decided by the players themselves, with the winner being the player who has won the majority of the battles. Controls Choosing this option allows player one to select the control methods for both players. (either Mouse or Joystick) Exit To Dos Choosing this option does exactly that. Who should I fight for? Once you have chosen either the 'one' or 'two' player game you must decide which side you wish to fight for, simply click on either the Klute or Furfurian. The Troop Selection Screen This is where you choose exactly which Troops you wish to send into battle. Your General watches you from the top left hand corner of the screen, if you would like his advice and a clear idea of the battle objectives then simply click on his picture. In the top centre of the screen is a small monitor which displays the amount of Troops you are free to use. In the top right of the screen a small window shows you the battlefield map that you are about to teleport into, however it only gives you an indication of the terrain and does not show you the positions or locations of any of the enemy units, clicking on this map allows you to scroll about the battlefield. The lower section of the screen displays the 'Troop Pool' which houses all the Troops that are available to you. To transfer any Troop into the 'Squad Pool' (ready for the next battle) simply click on that Troop (notice the monitor amount decreases), if you make a mistake then click on the Troop you no longer require from the 'Squad Pool' to place him back into the 'Troop Pool'. You can also click on the arrows to scroll through all the available Troops. When you have made your final Troop selections all that is left to do is press the WAR icon and shout at the top of your voice 'War Is FANTASTIC!' The Battlefield Electronic whining, tele-portation commences and your Troops appear armed and ready in the Battlefield. You can scroll around the battlefield by either moving your mouse pointer to the edge of the screen and holding down the LMB or using the arrow keys on the keyboard or by clicking & dragging on the scan map in the lower-left corner of the screen. You will also notice you have many icon options at your disposal, these are outlined below. Crossed Swords Choosing this icon moves the play area directly over a Troop who is currently fighting. Disk Presents you with the following further options: Load Game Simply pick the file you wish to load. Save Game Pick the file you wish to save over and then follow the on screen prompts. Concede If your situation is hopeless, select this to try again! Quit To Titles Quits to the options screen. Eyeglass Expands or shrinks the scan map in the lower-left corner of the screen. Book The left page presents you with advice, while the right page gives you the current game statistics. House Icon "Run Away!" This instructs your Troops to head directly back to the home teleport. Clear Use this button if you make a mistake entering orders for your Troop, he will then revert to his previous orders. Skull & Bones "Armageddon!", all your troops will all attack the enemy base with everything they have. Controlling A Troop To select a Troop just click on him, you will see his status appear in the far right display window, he will stop whatever he was doing and wait for your new orders as outlined below. Attack Represented by the Fist, once chosen you can select a target by clicking on it. (Your pointer will change to a fist as you move over potential targets). Move Represented by the Arrow, once chosen select a destination by clicking with your LMB or use your RMB to plot up to 4 way points (Use your LMB to select the final destination). Stand Guard Represented by the Shield, once chosen allows you to set an area for your troop to stand guard. Repair Ones Self Represented by the Spanner, once chosen your Troop will teleport home for repair. Call For Help Represented by the multiple arrows, once chosen the Troop's friends will stop whatever they were doing and run to his aid. Controlling A Group Of Troops Click in the play area and then drag a box around the Troops you want to select, they will all stop what they where doing and wait for your new orders as outlined below. Group Attack Represented by the Fist, simply select a target by clicking on it. (Your pointer will change to a fist as you move over potential targets). Group Move Represented by the Arrow, simply select a destination by clicking with your LMB or use your RMB to plot up to 4 way points (Use your LMB to select the final destination). Wedge, Wall, Pincer, Decoy Pressing one of these selects a formation type, you must then click on the battlefield to tell the group where to form.