Where are the instructions?

[pianofritz]

I'm a died in the wool video games player going back before "Pong". I've played Trade Wars for years. I believe Warzone 2100 to be a very interesting game to play if you can just figure out what the hell to do other than hit and miss try this try that!

For instance, there is absolutely no details on any of the commands in the Users Guide. Everybody else may be telepathic but I'm not! For instance, what is "Snap view to North" when you press the backspace? It does not appear to do much of anything except occasionally. That's one of the things I object to is inconsistency.

Would someone please explain the first two kleyboard commands in "Unit Orders"?

I see information about Cyborgs, Automated factories (FF3?) VTOL's, hover units and it means absolutely nothing.

There does not seem to be any help sections on strategy such as have been published for years in games such as Duke Nukem or Trade Wars - why not?

I get very disgusted when there does not seem to be any way to go back to where you started when you loaded a game and have not saved the game at all. When it becomes obvious that I am going to lose and I quit and try to reload the same game, I never get the same results twice. What is going on?

[lav_coyote25]

welcome to the forums... there is a lot of information - i should know i spent over 6 years gathering it... the link is

for the original which is what i worked on - http://docs.wz2100.net/

and the in progress updating by others is here - http://guide.wz2100.net/ and the new walkthrough ( which will give you some insights is comming here - http://guide.wz2100.net/alpha1

and also here - http://developer.wz2100.net/wiki/TitleIndex - note - this is not in any particular order yet -

[Zarel]

For instance, there is absolutely no details on any of the commands in the Users Guide. Everybody else may be telepathic but I'm not! For instance, what is "Snap view to North" when you press the backspace? It does not appear to do much of anything except occasionally. That's one of the things I object to is inconsistency.

I've clarified that section of the guide - it means "rotate view to north". If you mostly don't mess with the camera, it won't do anything.

Would someone please explain the first two kleyboard commands in "Unit Orders"?

I've clarified that section of the guide, too.

"Queue order" means that when you ctrl+click, the unit will do what it would do if you had clicked, but it will do it after it's finished what it's currently doing. You can hold down Ctrl and tell the unit to do a whole bunch of things, and it will do them in order.

"Orders menu" means it opens the orders menu. Details on the orders menu is available here: http://guide.wz2100.net/orderingunits#ordersmenu

I see information about Cyborgs, Automated factories (FF3?) VTOL's, hover units and it means absolutely nothing.

What do you mean? What kind of information are you looking for?

There does not seem to be any help sections on strategy such as have been published for years in games such as Duke Nukem or Trade Wars - why not?

Well, Warzone isn't exactly the most popular game in the world - there's not that much written for it. There's some basic strategy in parts of the guide (such as the weapons guide and a moderately incorrect guide to artillery tactics).

I get very disgusted when there does not seem to be any way to go back to where you started when you loaded a game and have not saved the game at all.

Meh, well, save early, save often. We'd do it for you, but the game engine really isn't designed for that.

When it becomes obvious that I am going to lose and I quit and try to reload the same game, I never get the same results twice. What is going on?

What do you mean? I don't understand what your problem is here.

[pianofritz]

To Zarel:

I don't think you have the order in which things happen correct. Games do NOT have a lot of descriptions and strategy written BEFORE they become popular. They become popular BECAUSE of well written instructions, analysis of game play and a lot of suggested strategies plus a bundle or two of well written hints. This is what really makes a game popular when it is as convoluted as warzone2100. Trying to figure out which widget does the trick when you're up against the bloody wall does not exactly make the programmer too popular with the player. The player would much rather have some idea in advance of what's coming even if he is unsuccessful because it encourages him to try again. I don't need a lot of instructions to play games written for my four year old grandson - they're pretty well straightforward and simple. However, if you expect me to make an attempt to compete with my sixteen year old granddaughter who is a whiz bang at the computer, you'd better provide me with some good instructions or I'll soon give it up as a lost cause.

[pianofritz]

To Zarel:

pianofritz wrote:
I see information about Cyborgs, Automated factories (FF3?) VTOL's, hover units and it means absolutely nothing.

Zarel wrote:
What do you mean? What kind of information are you looking for?

I realize that I'm just a newbie but the only time I've seen a VTOL is when I upgraded the generator and BANG! - there it was. I understand that figuring out the game is somewhat part of the deal but when the game gets as complicated as Warzone 2100 the need for more specific instructions is real. I have never seen a Cyborg, an automated factory or a hover unit. What are they? Where do they come from? To you it may be simple but to someone who steps into a bewildering array of units and key commands and other extraneous events, it's like someone has let the animals out of the zoo and they are running wild - no control over them at all.

[Zarel]

I don't think you have the order in which things happen correct. Games do NOT have a lot of descriptions and strategy written BEFORE they become popular. They become popular BECAUSE of well written instructions, analysis of game play and a lot of suggested strategies plus a bundle or two of well written hints. This is what really makes a game popular when it is as convoluted as warzone2100. Trying to figure out which widget does the trick when you're up against the bloody wall does not exactly make the programmer too popular with the player. The player would much rather have some idea in advance of what's coming even if he is unsuccessful because it encourages him to try again. I don't need a lot of instructions to play games written for my four year old grandson - they're pretty well straightforward and simple. However, if you expect me to make an attempt to compete with my sixteen year old granddaughter who is a whiz bang at the computer, you'd better provide me with some good instructions or I'll soon give it up as a lost cause.

...seriously? I've never seen a popular game company publish a single good guide. Sometimes, third party publishers like Prima might publish one, but they're usually rather bad. The best strategies, descriptions, and analyses come from the players themselves. Name an exception. Seriously.

And anyway, I've been improving the Guide with your feedback - thanks for that. Considering you haven't asked any new questions, I'm guessing my answers to your original questions were satisfactory? You're welcome.

I realize that I'm just a newbie but the only time I've seen a VTOL is when I upgraded the generator and BANG! - there it was. I understand that figuring out the game is somewhat part of the deal but when the game gets as complicated as Warzone 2100 the need for more specific instructions is real. I have never seen a Cyborg, an automated factory or a hover unit. What are they? Where do they come from? To you it may be simple but to someone who steps into a bewildering array of units and key commands and other extraneous events, it's like someone has let the animals out of the zoo and they are running wild - no control over them at all.

Well, the images give somewhat of a good idea of what they do. The Intelligence screen provides details, or you could also look them up in the Guide itself.

A VTOL is a type of aircraft.

A cyborg is an infantry unit. It has less HP, is more vulnerable to some weapons and less vulnerable to others, has shorter range, and is less expensive.

"Automated Manufacturing" is an upgrade that improves the rate at which your factories produce units.

You can get a general idea of what a research topic does by looking at its icons. The "+" means "upgrade", etc. The name is really just flavor text; if you don't know what it means, you can usually guess from the icons. I mean, who really remembers that HVAPFSDS stands for "High-Velocity Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilised Discarding Sabot"?

[stiv]

I have never seen a Cyborg, an automated factory or a hover unit. What are they? Where do they come from?

You have never seen them because the game takes place IN THE FUTURE.

Warzone is a complicated game. It will take time to learn it. Try to enjoy the process and DON"T PANIC. And don't be afraid to ask your granddaughter for help. Google is your friend.

[lav_coyote25]

To Zarel:

I don't think you have the order in which things happen correct. Games do NOT have a lot of descriptions and strategy written BEFORE they become popular. They become popular BECAUSE of well written instructions, analysis of game play and a lot of suggested strategies plus a bundle or two of well written hints. This is what really makes a game popular when it is as convoluted as warzone2100. Trying to figure out which widget does the trick when you're up against the bloody wall does not exactly make the programmer too popular with the player. The player would much rather have some idea in advance of what's coming even if he is unsuccessful because it encourages him to try again. I don't need a lot of instructions to play games written for my four year old grandson - they're pretty well straightforward and simple. However, if you expect me to make an attempt to compete with my sixteen year old granddaughter who is a whiz bang at the computer, you'd better provide me with some good instructions or I'll soon give it up as a lost cause.

you already have the advantage - your olderngod and the wisdom that comes with that... ( i also count myself there... 55 on this end...) and do not let the little puppies have a moments rest - always push to gain the advantage - that is how one learns and overcomes real life - just transfer it to game life. xD

[pianofritz]

you already have the advantage - your olderngod and the wisdom that comes with that... ( i also count myself there... 55 on this end...) and do not let the little puppies have a moments rest - always push to gain the advantage - that is how one learns and overcomes real life - just transfer it to game life.

I don't know about that "wisdom" bit - I only know that I've gotten to the point where I realize more and more each day how little I really know.

You deserve a great deal of congratulation for the docs and the guide. The docs are the most useful to me right now. That's if I can learn the damn things without having to pause the game and look up the latest hoodoo and what to do about it! Thanks for the info.

[pianofritz]

Attention Zarel:

"I have never seen a Cyborg, an automated factory or a hover unit. What are they? Where do they come from?"

Zarel wrote:
You have never seen them because the game takes place IN THE FUTURE.

That's not what I had in mind. I have not seen anything about these items IN the game. Where do they show up?

[XboxJosh]

[offtopic] Uh, I think stiv wrote that... [/offtopic]

[Zarel]

(I'm Zarel.)

Zarel wrote:

you already have the advantage - your olderngod and the wisdom that comes with that... ( i also count myself there... 55 on this end...) and do not let the little puppies have a moments rest - always push to gain the advantage - that is how one learns and overcomes real life - just transfer it to game life.

Lav wrote that, not me.

(In fact, I'm at the other end of the spectrum; I'm 19.)

I don't know about that "wisdom" bit - I only know that I've gotten to the point where I realize more and more each day how little I really know.

You deserve a great deal of congratulation for the docs and the guide. The docs are the most useful to me right now. That's if I can learn the damn things without having to pause the game and look up the latest hoodoo and what to do about it! Thanks for the info.

The Docs were written by Lav, and the Guide by me. Keep note that the Docs are written for the original 1.10 version of Warzone - some things have changed since then.

Zarel wrote:
You have never seen them because the game takes place IN THE FUTURE.

Actually, Stiv wrote that, not me.

That's not what I had in mind. I have not seen anything about these items IN the game. Where do they show up?

Once you research them, you can build a Cyborg factory, then manufacture cyborgs.

You can design VTOLs in the Design menu.

Automated Manufacturing is just an upgrade - it will make your factories produce units faster; that's it.

[whippersnapper]

.

Themousemaster's WIP The *NEW* Warzone guide. Done with RED units V2.2RC1 is the best guide to the WZ Campaign ever written IMHO and I've seen 'em all, including the Prima Guide published for the game when it was released in 1999 and selling for about 20 bucks back then.. Zarel's published up-to-date strategy for MP WZ in the forums (as well as his detailed Guide HERE) is also top notch as is Lav's Docs Project (the Developer Wiki also has good info as do True Blue's WZ Game Guides HERE ).. I do not understand what is missing from that mass of information on the game.... It's a 1000% more info than I had available to me when I bought the game in 1999 for roughly 40 bucks & learned it by playing and asking questions on Pumpkin's own official bbs.

Regards, whipper

[JimmyJumpUp]

I have never seen a Cyborg, an automated factory or a hover unit. What are they? Where do they come from?

OK, you got me on the Cyborg but I have seen many hovercraft and they build Chevys in automated factorys now, been dooin it for years. :rolleyes: xD