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.