ULTIMATE DOMINATION - USER GUIDE
Alternative Realities
Installation Installing and Running
BackGround The Story of UD
Objectives Game Objectives
Starting Off Getting started
In Depth In Depth explanation
Initial Items What you get to start
Espionage Spying on your neighbours
Combat Fighting to win
Colonisation Stretching your hand
Game Depth The level of Gameplay
Sightings Aliens?
Credits Who did what, using what?
Requirements What you need to run UD
Notes On Shareware What you dont get - Registering
INSTALLATION
Floppy Disk Users Insert disk one into DF0: (internal drive) and reset your
computer, the game will run automatically;
Disk two MUST be write enabled.
Hard Drive Users Once workbench has loaded, insert disk one in any drive
and double click the disk icon, locate and run the
INSTALL program. Follow the on screen prompts and the
game will install to your hard drive. Once installed
simply locate the directory and double click on the game
icon to start.
The Game requires approximately 3Mb of Hard Drive space.
BACKGROUND
The Earth was in trouble; not from outside help, but from the endless
attacks on its life by the inhabitants. By the Earth year 3259, the once
luscious blue-green planet had become a cold looking brown, radiation
had made the atmosphere itself completely unbreathable and with a lack
of vegetation natural oxygen became but an occasional drift trailing
behind a wind of dense smog. It was time for mankind to leave. Each
surviving country began constructing the largest interstellar shuttles
ever conceived. The plan was for each ark to transport an entire
nation to a new planet in a new solar system with similar
characteristics with that of Sol. Packed on board were enough
minerals to set up a colony on one of the system's planets and the
DNA of all vegetation left on Earth in order to create a stable
eco-system. And so on January 1st 3260 the Earth became free of
mankind.
The American shuttle 'Independence' housing the last 15,000 of the
American public all in deep sleep units drifted into a new solar system
and, as predicted, a lifeless but fertile planet was found. The sleep units
began to wake the population, and a power station and housing facilities
were started on its surface; oxygen was low, but the eco-system could
support vegetation. This time the planet must be looked after.
The year is 3260NC, mankind has a new struggle
The fight for Ultimate Domination
OBJECTIVES
In order to achieve Ultimate Domination each player must fight to
claim all the planets in the system and over throw all opponents.
The game is designed for one to four players and is turn based, although
it is advisable for players to turn away from the screen when they are
not playing. It does not harm the game play. However if you plan to play
a serious conquest then you do not want your enemies to know where
your home world is.
--STARTING OFF--
QUICK START
QUICK START In this brief section you will learn how to start a game
and control your home world's eco system.
At the title screen change the number of players from
2 to 1, this is achieved by clicking on the menu option
until it reflects ONE PLAYER; and then start the game by
clicking on START CONQUEST
The screen will display the information panel which informs
each player about their colonies and signifies the start
of that players turn. At the bottom of there are 4 buttons:
BEGIN Starts your turn
SKIP Misses out your current go and moves to the next player
LOAD Allows you to load a saved position
SAVE Stores all of the current games information so that it can
be continued later. There can be a maximum of 10 positions
QUIT Quits the current game and returns you to the main menu
Click BEGIN and you will be taken to a view of your primary
planet,its name is displayed in the panel at the bottom of
the screen, and at the moment the only button available
is SURFACE, clicking the END button ends you turn.
SURFACE Clicking on SURFACE will take you to an isometric map of the
planet surface which will contain several structures.
Click the SURFACE Button
TIME Clicking on TIME brings up an overhead map which allows you
to find out what buildings you have and if there are any
under construction how many days until they are complete.
To test this feature move the mouse over the yellow square
on the map, the name RESOURCE TRANSPORTER will be displayed
When you are finished press the right mouse button (RMB) to
return to the isometric map.
CONSTRUCT Click on CONSTRUCT and once again the overhead map will be
displayed and also an inventory of the materials available
to you. To the right of the overhead map a menu is shown
that displays the various categories that the construction
plans are under, clicking on MINING AND STORAGE will
display the buildings:
MINERAL MINE
LIQUID MINE
MATERIAL CONTAINER
It is necessary to mine for more materials so that you
can keep building so we will build a mine, click on
MINERAL MINE, the mouse pointer will change to a pointer
that is the same size as the building, simply find a
suitable location for the mine and click the left mouse
button (LMB). The square will change to show that there is
a mine there. We do not require another just yet, so RMB
will take you back to the sub-menu. Build a LIQUID MINE on
a coastline, this will give it a chance to collect water
and oil, and finally RMB back to the main menu and go into
SCIENCE and build a SCIENCE LAB. Also because
Then go back to the main menu and click RMB to return to
the isometric map, which will now display the construction
grids for the new buildings. Move the mouse to the bottom of
the screen and click END. Once the information screen is
displayed click SKIP to speed time up, when the information
screen appears again click on SKIP once more, when the
display appears the 3rd time begin the round and proceed to
the planets surface, once there you will notice 2 new
options.
RESEARCH This is where you can develop new projects to aide in
your conquest.
INFOPEDIA Accesses the Infopedia, which allows you to read about
all the inventions that can or have been developed
And that's it, the only other thing that you'll need to
do is build some trees, but you'll need to do some research
for that.
PATIENCE
Although Ultimate Domination is essentially a multi-player
game it is possible to play solo, however a great deal of
patience is required - there may be times when you can't
proceed because you're waiting for your scientists to
finish developing a certain project. However UD is an
enormous game and most of it is meant to be discovered over
time and for this reason many features are not documented
in this manual, we wanted to make the game as realistic
as possible that's why most of the features are not
meantioned, we don't want to spoil it for you.
IN DEPTH
BEGINNING This section will take you take you through the various
aspects of the game and explain how they work.
The first thing that each player will see is the information
screen. It is used to signify the start of your turn and
to warn the player about key events that happened after
his/her previous go. At the base of the screen are
five buttons:
BEGIN Used to start the round
SKIP Allows the player to miss his/her go
LOAD/SAVE Lets you load and save a game position (only available at
the start of Player One's turn)
QUIT Quits the game and returns to the main menu
In most cases the next display is that of the planetary
view, at the start of the game there will only be 2
options here:
SURFACE Takes you to the planet's surface
END Allows you to end your turn
The surface view is the main control area, it's where you
can build new facilities, research new projects and
construct your war machines. On the first visit to this
screen you will be presented with a 3D map of the planet,
3 options will be immediately visible:
CONSTRUCT Gives you the ability to assign construction workers to
build new facilities
TIME Which allows you to check on a construction project to see
how long it's going to take, and
POWER Although mainly used to tell you how much electricity is
available, but by clicking on this button the program
displays how much power is being consumed by each
installation
The other buttons at the bottom of the screen allow you to
go to other sections of the game and END your turn.
CONSTRUCTION
From the surface view it is possible to build a new
installation by clicking on CONSTRUCT, this displays 2
new panels:
At the top of the screen is the materials inventory which
also displays the number of unemployed people.
The main panel at the bottom displays an overhead map
along with an index for the construction plans, there are
as follows:
RESOURCES Has the building that produce or cleanse raw minerals
MINING & Holds the different mines available and the storage
STORAGE facilities
SCIENCE Contains the buildings that lead to development of new
projects
ATTACK & Has the espionage and planetary defence structures
DEFENCE
ECOLOGICAL Plant life that can aid survival, for food and polution
levels
At the start of the game not all of these menus will be
displayed, they will appear as you progress.
Once you have located a building you want to build and
have clicked on it the main panel will inform you of
how much material is needed and the mouse pointer will
reflect the number of plots of land needed for the
construction, if for some reason it is not possible for
you to build that item the reason will be displayed.
The number of men needed for each project is equal to the
number of plots of land needed.
If all is ok, to build the facility simply find a suitable
place on the map and click the left mouse button. Once this
is done the map will display the new building and the game
will allow you (if you have the resources) to build another,
if you do not want another simply press the right mouse
button to go back to the menu, right mouse button again will
go back to the index and from there the RMB will take
you to the 3D map.
TIMES
Once you have built a building it is represented on the main
map with a construction grid, if you wish to know how long
it will be before it is completed simply click the TIME
button, which will bring up the overhead map, then simply
move the cursor over to the building, the time left will
be displayed to the right. RMB takes you back to the 3D map.
FORESEE
When you are considering building it is important to be
aware of a few things:
-Have you sufficient power to sustain it
-Have you enough men for the job
-If you build it are you going to be left with insufficient
materials
-Will it increase the polution levels for the planet
INFOPEDIA
The infopedia can be accessed from the surface map by
clicking the INFO button.
The infopedia screen is split in to several sections,
the main part displays an index for each section,
and the panel at the bottom gives immediate access to
the other functions:
INDEX Takes you straight back to the main menu,
> Moves to the next project,
EXIT Takes you out of the infopedia
By clicking on one of the section names displays the first
available project under that heading to move to the
next project click on the Arrow, once you reached the end
it will take you back to the start. If you enter a section
that has no completed projects 'NO SIGNAL' will flash in
the middle of the screen.
RESEARCH
The research and development section uses the same computer
interface as the infopedia, however there are additional
buttons on the panel:
INDEX Returns you to the index
Clock Face Displays the time in days, for the projects
Info Sign Takes you to the infopedia
EXIT Leaves the research department
To access the available projects simply click on one
of the sections.
A new list will be displayed (if any projects are available)
this will contain the names of the projects that your
science crew can work on, next to each name is a number,
this number reflects the number of men you have assigned to
that project:
The amount of men can be increased by clicking the left
mouse button whilst over the project name, decreasing
can be performed in the same way by using the right
mouse button. Each science lab can hold up to 5 scientists.
Once a project has been set it is worth noting that on
leaving the research section the project stats (that is the
number of men) can no longer be changed for that project.
The right mouse button will now cancel the project.
SYSTEM VIEW
Once you can view the surrounding solar system you will
notice you can only see a certain amount of space around
the planets you own (depending on the strength of your
scanners), also as you build up your technology you will
be able to detect space debre and other objects. Without
any major scanner all objects detected will be displayed
as a white blip, however when you develop a more powerful
detecting system the white blip will be replaced with more
distinguishable items:
Missile Missile or projectile
Ship Ship or fleet of ships - man made
Green blip Unknown object
White Blip Probe
It is also possible to see neighbouring planets and what
sort of planet they are:
SUN Impossible to land on and/or colonise
FERTILE Old Earth type planet with a prosperous eco-system
GASEOUS Almost no land, contains unkown gases
ROCK Unfertile land, excelent for colonisation
DEVESTATED Unfertile land with hardly any useable plots
MARSH High levels of water, Small amounts of land
However it is impossible to tell if the planet is habited
or profitable for colonisation without sending a probe
there first.
INITIAL ITEMS
Vegetable From the DNA of Earth made vegetable gardens this plots
Garden of land combines the growth of food with release of valuable
oxygen which helps keep polution down
Material A small self-contained facility capable of storing up to
Container 20 units of each basic material
Power Uses state of the art turbines to generate a constant flow
Generator of clean energy which can power most facilities of today's
standard
Science A high quality laboratory that can take on any number
lab projects at a time and can house up to 5 scientists per
building
Mineral Using the finest titanium drill this mine can extract any
Mine of the available minerals from within the planet
Liquid Draws oil and water from below the surface, ideal for
Mine supplying water for your settlers. For the best possible
use we suggest that it is built on a shore line.
ESPIONAGE
WARNING In order to play the game it is not necessary to read this
section as it may spoil the gameplay. In order to avoid
spoiling the game some of the information herein is vague.
If you have any difficulties in understanding any of the
screens, simply press HELP and a concise guide to the
current sect`on will be displayed.
After clicking the SYSTEM MAP button on the planet view
screen you will be presented with a view of the solar system
simply click on PROBE and select a probe bay, then click
on the source planet and then the planet that you wish to
have a satellite orbit and it will be launched. The planet's
control centre can only sustain five satellites at a time,
however once a satellite has reached the planet another can
be launched.
To view a planet's surface when you do not not own it,
simply go to the system view, click PLANET and select a
planet that that you have a satellite orbiting. All planets
that you can view have a white rectangle under.
COMBAT
WARNING: In order to play the game it is not necessary to read this
section as it reveals information on latter aspects of the
game. If at any point you have difficulties understanding
the display simply press HELP and a concise guide to the
current screen will be displayed.
From the surface view enter FLEET DESIGN and add some
craft to the list, then go to the system view and click
SEND FLEET, choose your fleet and select a destination or
target. If it is a target then a battle will commence when
the fleet intercepts it.
ATTACK: When a battle situation has arrived the attacking player
gets to select a ship within the fleet to break off and
attack. Then the defending player selects a ship to block
the attacker. After the combat has been resolved, the
attacking player may choose to fight again or retreat.
This continues until one of the fleets has been destroyed or
the attacker has retreated.
COLONISATION
Before colonisation of neighbouring worlds can be performed
there are a few constructions and advancements required.
To ensure the gameplay these constructions are not
meantioned below.
Once you have located a possible planet for colonisation you
will need to have built a colonisation shuttle and have
ampel resources for a new colony. When you are certain that
you want to colonise a new planet then simply send a shuttle
towards the desired planet, when it arrives there are two
situations that can occur once one of your colonisation
shuttles has arrived at a new planet. The target planet
can either be uninhabited or inhabited.
Uninhabited Planet: On arriving at an uninhabited planet
a new button will appear on the system map screen
CLAIM PLANET. On clicking this button a list of resources
needed will be displayed, if you meet the necessary
requirements you can click on CLAIM to take control of the
planet. A colonisation plant will be transported to the
surface. You can now build on this new planet.
Inhabited Planet: If you send a shuttle to an inhabited
planet you will first need to send fighter craft in order
to take out any defences that the planet might have. Once
your shuttle can get passed all the defences a new button
will appear on the system map view ATTACK PLANET. You will
then be asked to nominate a certain number of your men that
you want to beam down to the surface to attack.
If they are successful you will gain control of the planet
and all the remaining facilities.
However, if your men fail then you will lose them and
probably the shuttle as well.
GAME DEPTH
Ultimate Domination is huge. Even though by reading this
manual it may not seem so, most of the game involves
technological advancements that are not available at the
start of the game and because we do not want to spoil the
game none of the advancements are discussed in this manual,
for all of these aspects the game has been made as
user-friendly as possible.
SIGHTINGS
Alien Threat:
During a recent struggle in the Barnard Star
region between the UK colony and the Russion
colony an unknown craft made a devestating
blow to both sides settlements, this report
has neither been confirmed, nor disproved.
It is suggested that all parties keep an
eye out.
CREDITS
Initial Work Paul Huckstepp
Game Design and Background
Work Paul Huckstepp
Coding Paul Huckstepp
Graphics Paul Huckstepp
Video - 3D raytracing Paul Huckstepp
Playtesting Paul Huckstepp
Stuart Gentry
David Baldwin
Ultimate Domination is produced by Alternative
Realities 1997
All events and people meantioned are fictitious
and any simularities to events and/or people
living or dead are truly coincidental.
This product was created using:
Amos Pro, Imagine 4 (PC), Text Engine 5,
Personal Paint 6, Rend 24, Image Studio
On:
A1200, 6Mb Ram, CD ROM drive
REQUIREMENTS
Minimum system requirements are:
Any Amiga, WB2.0+, 2Mb Ram
Recommended system requirements are:
Any 68020 Amiga, WB2.0+, 4Mb RAM, Hard Drive
NOTES ON SHAREWARE
Naturally it would be suicidal to release a game as freeware
if it took you over a year to produce, and so UD is
Shareware. This version is unregistered and is on 2 disks
is limited to 1 or 2 players and has only a few animations
out of the 18 in the full product, there is no intro
storyline either, and you have only 50 cycles of play time
although a lot can happen in 50 turns. The load and Save
facilities have also been disabled, this way you cannot
hack into the code and change the variables.
The full product is available directly from me for a mere
5 pounds. For this you get the three disk upgradeble version
of Ultimate Domination, which features:
�1 to 4 players
�Intro animation with speech
�Load and Save up to 10 games
�18 raytraced cut scenes
�Unlimited game time
�Piece of mind that you are influencing me to continue
programming
Please make any cheques payable to: P. Huckstepp
and send them to:
Alternative Realities
19 Lilac Rd
Strood
Kent
ME2 2LE
VERSIONS
Checking the version number of UD couldn't be easier
simply load the game from WORKBENCH and when the title
screen appears press LEFT-AMIGA+CTRL+A this will return
you to the workbench.
A small text file will have been created in RAM called
version, simply load this into a text viewer.