The Bitmap Brothers and Strategy First proudly present: World War II: Frontline Command File: Demo_Readme Date: 11.April.2003 Welcome to World War II: Frontline Command, a realistic and innovative 3D realtime action-strategy game based on events, locations and technology from WWII. This document contains important information on running and playing this exclusive demo. CONTENTS A / System Requirements B / General Troubleshooting Notes C / Running the Demo D / Controls a__Control Conventions b__Camera Controls c__Unit Control Overview d__Advanced Unit Control E / Game Features F / Key Guide G / Legal http://www.strategyfirst.com A // SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS | Minimum System Microsoft® Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP with 100% compatible computer system Pentium® II 500Mhz or equivalent 128MB RAM 16MB DirectX 8.1 compatible 3D video card DirectX 8.1 compatible soundcard 230MB of uncompressed hard disk space | Recommended System Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP with 100% compatible computer system Pentium® III 800Mhz or equivalent 256MB RAM 32MB DirectX 8.1 compatible 3D video card DirectX 8.1 compatible 3D soundcard 230MB of uncompressed hard disk space | Optimum System Microsoft® Windows® XP with 100% compatible computer system Pentium® III 1.2Ghz or equivalent 512MB RAM 64MB DirectX 8.1 compatible 3D video card DirectX 8.1 compatible 3D soundcard 230MB of uncompressed hard disk space For the latest version of DirectX see http://www.microsoft.com/directx Note: Strategy First and The Bitmap Brothers cannot be held responsible for any damage sustained to your system software if installed on a non-compliant OS, software or hardware configuration. _______________________________________________________________________ B // GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING NOTES _______________________________________________________________________ WWII: Frontline Command will only work correctly on video cards which are 100% DirectX8 compliant. It may function on cards with older drivers, but it is very likely that compromises in display quality or speed will be made as older cards will not support all of the features which are required by the game. We strongly suggest that you do not run any other applications when playing WWII: Frontline Command and not to ALT+TAB out of the game as you may experience errors. a | DIRECTX PROBLEMS If you are experiencing sound or video problems using DirectX8.1, connect to the DirectX web site for the latest troubleshooting information: http://support.microsoft.com/support/directx _______________________________________________________________________ C // RUNNING THE DEMO _______________________________________________________________________ To run the game, select Play WWII Frontline Command Demo from the Start Menu. The first time you launch the demo, you can customise the various display options depending upon your machine specs as follows: Shadows: Unit and structure shadows on the landscape. Detail Textures: Detailed textures such as scorch marks and tyre tracks. Force FX: Real-time environment force effects such as dynamically affected particles. MIP Mapping: Reduces the texture detail of objects when further from the game camera. Anti-aliasing: Anti-aliasing smoothes out the edges of all the objects and scenery within the game. V-Sync: Synchronises the frame-rate of the game with your monitors’ refresh rate, to counteract a ‘tearing’ effect that may appear on the landscape. (Note that these can be adjusted within the game at a later stage) You will now be taken to the main menu screen where you can select a difficulty level: Recruit or Veteran. RECRUIT MODE: For the novice player. In the full game, the Recruit mode campaign consists of 12 missions, which must be played to complete the campaign. In Recruit mode, you will have more vehicles and infantry at your disposal, and ammunition will be unlimited. VETERAN MODE: For experienced players. In the full game, the Veteran mode campaign consists of a choice of 25 missions, 20 of which must be played to complete the campaign. In Veteran mode, you will have fewer vehicles and infantry, and will have to re-supply various types of ammunition as well as repairing critical hits on vehicles. Missions in Veteran mode will also include more difficult objectives, completion of which will affect subsequent missions. _______________________________________________________________________ D // CONTROLS _______________________________________________________________________ a | CONTROL CONVENTIONS WWII: FC allows you to command infantry, tanks, field guns, and a variety of transport and supply vehicles. These will be collectively referred to as units. Infantry units often appear in squads. A squad contains from one to six members, all of the same unit type. The terrain in WWII: FC uses ‘speed markers’ to determine unit movement speeds over different terrain types. When giving orders to your units, bear this in mind. Generally, if you tell your units to move a vast distance with a single order, they will find and stick to the fastest route (i.e. a road) even if that is not the most direct route. You can negate speed markers and give direct paths across larger distances using waypoints by pressing and holding the shift key and then placing waypoints by clicking the locations on the map. However if you are ordering short distances (e.g. micromanaging combat) they will move exactly where you tell them to go. You can also use this to get units to reverse and turn accurately. b | CAMERA CONTROLS There are a number of ways you can navigate around the Game Screen. You can push-scroll by moving the pointer to the edge of the screen in the direction you wish the camera to move, or by using the arrow keys. For significantly faster scrolling, you can hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse in the direction you wish the camera to move. You can also click a point on Minimap to move your view to the corresponding area. The mini-map view-cone indicates the direction you are currently looking at. (See Mini-Map.) In addition to scrolling around the Game Screen, you can also rotate, tilt and zoom the viewpoint: ROTATE To rotate the camera view, hold down both right and left mouse buttons and move the mouse to the left or the right. Alternatively hold down the right-hand key whilst pressing the keys left or right. The camera can also be turned to face North, South, East or West, by pressing keys F9 to F12 respectively. TILT Whilst holding down both right and left-hand mouse buttons, push the mouse forward to reduce or backwards to increase the angle of elevation. Alternatively hold down the right-hand key whilst pressing the up and down keys. ZOOM If you have a wheel mouse, roll the wheel forward to zoom in and roll the wheel backwards to zoom out. If you have a three-button mouse, hold the middle button and move the mouse forwards or back. You can also press keys. c | UNIT CONTROL OVERVIEW SELECTING UNITS Units and squads are selected by clicking on them or clicking and dragging a selection box around them. When a unit is selected, its icon will appear in the lower left corner of the screen, which can be used to select the unit and also to access its secondary weapon. You can deselect units by right-clicking on an unoccupied area of the landscape. MOVING UNITS Clicking on the landscape at the desired destination can move a selected unit or group. If the location cannot be reached, or is otherwise unsuitable (deep water or steep cliffs, for example) the cursor will change to indicate that units cannot move there. ATTACKING Units will automatically attack enemies who are in their firing range. You can order selected units to attack specific targets by left clicking on the desired target. The cursor will change when it is over a valid target. THE ORDER RING Right clicking on an infantry unit or vehicle will bring up its order ring. (Note: right clicking on any member of an infantry squad will bring up one ring for the whole squad.) Moving the cursor around the ring will highlight the different orders. Click on a highlighted item to use it. Try experimenting with different stances / movement types etc. D | ADVANCED UNIT CONTROL WWII: FC contains many advanced gameplay and control options including: BUILDINGS AND AMBUSHES Buildings in WWII: FC can be entered by infantry to be used as cover or even to set ambushes. After loading units into buildings, access the Order Ring by right-clicking on the building. MAP SCREENS In addition to the Main Game Screen, there are two other map screens available, the Map Screen, and the Briefing Screen. These are reached via the two buttons below the compass in the upper right corner of the Game Screen. FORCE FIRE The Force-fire button on the order ring can be used to force units to fire when they cannot see a viable target. GROUPING UNITS To put units into a permanent group, select the desired group of units, then press CTRL + a number key. You can assign groups to numbers from 1 to 0 on the keyboard. _______________________________________________________________________ E // DEMO FEATURES _______________________________________________________________________ Note that the full game contains many more features, including towable artillery, many more unit types, 4 player multiplayer via LAN and GameSpy etc. LINE OF SIGHT The un-fogged area of the map indicates LOS. Range of vision depends on unit type – snipers, for example, have a large vision range, while tanks have a comparatively short one. SHARED LINE OF SIGHT (SLOS) is what happens when a unit with a long vision range is positioned near a unit with a short vision range. Both units can shoot at targets as long as one unit can see them. This means infantry can be used to spot targets for tanks. FOG OF WAR The fog which covers most of the landscape is known as the Fog-of-War, or FOW. The clear area indicates your current range of vision (Line of Sight, or LOS). Occasionally, Axis symbols will appear, moving through the FOW just outside your LOS. These indicate enemy units that your troops can hear, but cannot see. MORALE The morale bar is green when units’ morale is high. It will shorten, and change colour from green, through yellow, to red for very low morale. Units with high morale will have increased weapon accuracy, and be more willing to engage the enemy. Units with low morale will have lower weapon accuracy, and may even refuse to follow orders. Extremely low morale is indicated by a red exclamation mark above the unit. Units with extremely low morale will initially refuse to follow any orders. Infantry in this condition will huddle on the ground in fear. INCREASING MORALE Morale is increased as your units can see that they are eliminating enemy forces. Morale is boosted permanently when you achieve a mission objective. By putting units in proximity to each other they will “Support” each other boosting morale. When a Commander is with other units, morale is boosted significantly. Armed vehicles and tanks will also boost morale significantly. Small scouting forces will lose morale the further they get from the main group. ATTACK MESSAGES During the game, messages from units coming under fire will appear in the upper left corner of the screen. Clicking on one of these will move the camera to the unit that sent the message. Use these to navigate to trouble spots quickly. _______________________________________________________________________ F // KEY GUIDE _______________________________________________________________________ “Escape” in-game menu "Space Bar" selects / deselects current / last selection "Cursor Keys" Move camera Left Up Right Down "LCTRL & F1-F4" Store camera position "F1-F4" Go to stored camera position "Tab" Track Camera on selected unit “F9” Camera west “F10” Camera north “F11” Camera south “F12” Camera east "Page Up" Zoom Out "Page Down" Zoom In "Ctrl & Cursor Key Left" Pan Camera Counter Clockwise "Ctrl & Cursor Key Right" Pan Camera Clockwise "Ctrl & Cursor Key Up" Pan Camera Up "Ctrl & Cursor Key Down" Pan Camera Down "CTRL & 0-9" create group "0-9" Select created group "0-9" twice in succession, select created group and go to map position Select unit within control group, hold “Shift” and select unit to remove unit from group Select control group, hold down “Shift” and click on unit outside of group to add to control group Select Ctrl group and press "Del" to disband entire group "[" "]" Cycle previous / next available unit "G" will select all units of same type on screen "X" scatter selected units "V" cycle squad formations "Alt" Use alternate weapon for selected units “Enter” opens in-game chat window in multiplayer "F" Force Fire "A" ambush mode "D" defend mode "R" run "W" walk "C" crawl "S" stop "E" Eject "U" Unhitch units in selection "M" Toggle Mini Map _______________________________________________________________________ G // LEGAL _______________________________________________________________________ All rights in the game are strictly reserved and there is no consent implied or actual for it to be copied or reproduced in any way without prior written permission. ©The Bitmap Brothers 2003. Licensed to Strategy First Inc. Uses Bink Video. ©1997-2003 RAD Game Tools, Inc. This product contains software technology licensed from GameSpy Industries, Inc. ©1999-2003 GameSpy Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.strategyfirst.com

World War II Frontline Command NA Demo (134.34MB)