The executables are located in the progs directory where all modules have their home. You can launch them via the Vicious Byte Menu created under Start/Programs. There are two executables, called battleW.exe and battleX.exe. battleW is a windowed version and needs wing32.dll, which should be installed in your systems directory by our setup program. battleX is the DirectX fullscreen version. You have to install DirectX to use this module. Click on one of these versions to launch the battle module. Now you can choose between a 'Hotseat' or 'Network Game'. To play a network game, you have to install a network card and the TCP/IP protocol for it. Please read the corresponding information in Appendix B. For now you should select 'Hotseat Game' to play Titans of Steel on one computer only. The battle module allows combat between up to 4 players/teams. The next selection is between:
The two load selections are only valid if you have already played a game. The battle module saves the game automatically every 10 game seconds. You can load the game later on with F8 and/or F9 (see Appendix A for the key allocation). Select 'New Game' to begin a fresh battle. Next, you have to select the map size. Small maps are for fast encounters, whereas huge maps allow a lot of maneuvering but will result in much longer games. After choosing the map size, you have to allocate titans for team 1. The titans of this teams are blue. If you have created team 1 in the Headquarter Module, you can select titans from it now. If you have not made a team or just wish to play a quick combat, you can select 'Random Player Team'. The computer will pick a random team for you. The same is true if you select 'Random AI Team'. The only difference is that the team will be controlled by the computer. (AI stands for artificial intelligence.) In either case, you have to select the quality level of the random team. There are 8 levels from inferior to superior and their corresponding name in the jock's rank system. Inferior jocks skill values are about 40%; superior jocks will go as high as 90%. The worst two skill levels are also handicapped by a smaller total team tonnage (-20%/-10%); whereas the best two skill levels gain some advantage (+10%/+20%) here. Now you have to do the same selection for team 2, the yellow team. After choosing team 2, you have the option to start the game or add team 3 and team 4. Please note that teams 1 and 3 are automatically allied against teams 2 and 4. If you select titans from a pre-made team you created with the Headquarter Module, you can choose to let them be controlled by the computer. Do this by right clicking on the jock's name instead of left clicking. (You can always toggle the AI on/off during the game either with 'A' or with the F3 option screen.) If you have chosen a team which is still on mission (has not finished a battle and updated the file), it is marked as on mission. Its jocks are missing in action (MIA) and can not be selected until the battle is finished or the team is retrieved from within the HQ module. When you are satisfied with your team selection, press 'Start Game'. If all teams are 'Random Player' or 'Random AI Teams', you need to select the team size. The size is calculated in tons, not number of titans. The maximum size for a team is 1600t; that is; 8 assault titans of the biggest size (200t). After all selections are made, the game starts. If all went well so far, the game loads and you are warped to the --->
If you don't like what you see press 'Q' (Shift-q) or click on the small orange bubble in the upper left corner to quit the game. Press F1 to get a help screen with the key allocation.
If you decide to go on, you are presented with the main screen. The map takes up about 4/5 of the screen. It is scrollable with the arrow cursor keys or by mouse clicks on the frame borders. Left clicks scroll by one hex; right clicks by 2 hexes. The map is divided into hexes, each representing a special terrain type (plain, three types of hill, ditch...) and different types of vegetation. These terrains directly affect movement (speed, skill checks) and combat. If more than one titan is in a hex, the total number is displayed in the upper left hex corner. Hexes with multiple titans:
The titan with the red/yellow hex border is the active titan. He has locked one of the five titans he is facing; this is indicated by the black/white hex border. Some numbers: One hex represents 333 m in diameter. Up to 9 titans can populate one hex at a time. A jumping titan is either 30 m or 60 m above ground (jump levels 1 or 2) regardless of the vegetation height. This means that a titan jumping over 0m plain on level 2 has an altitude of 60m whereas a titan jumping over a 53m hill with 21m forest at jump level 1 has an altitude of 83m. You can left click on a hex to get some information about terrain and titans, if available. The popup window can be moved with drag & drop (right mouse button) and closed by left clicking into the bordered square which displays a copy of the hex on the popup window. Hex info:
If there are titans in the hex, it is possible to get some stats by clicking on the popup window's left arrows and to cycle back with the right arrows. The titan will be displayed with a white/black HEX border if locked with the battle computer and a green SQUARE border if in range of one of your weapons. The SQUARE border would be red otherwise. If the titan's name is displayed in red, he is disabled and no longer a threat. If the scanner is switched off or the distance exceeds its range, the amount of available data is reduced. Titan info:
The screen border features little fancy non-functional decoration, as well as some more interesting areas. Most obvious are the buttons on the bottom border which are for selecting your actions and are described in detail later on. Put the mouse cursor over an area and let it stay a short time and a small help text will be displayed on the lower border. On the bottom right is an area which shows the following:
1 | 3 | 5 |
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2 | 4 | 5 |
1. Game time in seconds 2. Heading of selected titan. 3. Remaining/total jump time. The small arrow is colored red if the titan is unable to jump, green if its jump ports are fully loaded, yellow when recycling, and blue if it is actually jumping. 4. The remaining time of protection as well as the ammunition of flares. The small arrow is red when unable to launch flares, green when ready, and blue when flares are launched and active. 5. The current selected jock and its mode. ('move', 'attack' or 'wait' in netgames). The active mode is displayed in green. The jock's name is colored according to his special health status:
white | Ok |
yellow | Dizzy |
light red | Bleeding |
red | Unconscious |
The remaining time to finish the non active mode is displayed also. On the lower right border are graphical displays for the titan's temperature and the jock's health status.
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The three health bubbles are filled and will empty in proportion to the damage the jock suffers. Their color is corresponding to the negative skill modifiers the jock receives if wounded. |
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Above that, you can see a small titan icon which is surrounded by a green sphere if the shield is up and ready, a small red sphere if the shield is depleted and reloading, and no sphere if there is no shield enabled. Enabled scanner and E.C.M are displayed in green above this small titan; active jump is displayed below in green as well. |
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On the left border are 5 big LEDs which display the threat level of the selected titan. If a titan is locked by an enemy, the threat level is increased by one. This information is dependant on the ability of the titan to detect threats (jock's electronic warfare skill and E.C.M system) and is not always accurate. Each pink LED stands for one threat level. |
On the right border are double rows of small LEDs. These show the status of all weapon and miscellaneous systems for the selected titan. The top fifteen LEDs are reserved for the weapon systems. If there are fewer than 15 weapons installed, the LEDs stay blue. The left LED shows the weapon's damage level:
green | ok |
yellow | damaged |
red | destroyed |
The right LED shows the weapon's readiness:
green | ready |
violet | reloading |
red | out of ammo |
The next four LEDs in the middle display the status of punch/kick. The ten lower LEDs display the status of the internal systems. Here, the second LED is green if the system is on and can be toggled. The last LED displays the status of the heat system. It does show the amount of heat produced and reduced in the last game second. Check this often to see whether your titans is producing to much heat which may result in a shutdown of all systems. You can left click the LEDs to get additional information which pops up in a small window. It can be closed by left clicking into it. Alternately, you can right click and drag the mouse to switch between LEDs more quickly. If not an energy weapon, the weapon's available ammunition is also displayed [A: XX] as well as the time to reload [R: XX]. The equipment name is displayed in a color corresponding to its damage level:
light green | ok |
yellow | light damage |
light red | medium damage |
red | heavy damage |
black | destroyed |
On the left side of the lower border is a small scanner circle which displays the locked target and its status. If the target is actively scanned, the background will turn green (good) or light green (better). If a location on the target is displayed in yellow, it has less than 10 armor points left. If it is red, it has no external armor left. If its black, the location is ripped off or disabled.
To the left is a square which displays the same information for your titan.
You start the game either as an active or inactive player. The active player has control over either move or attack mode of one titan. The game internally manages a queue in which each titan is listed with his move and attack and the time in which the respective action will be finished. When no titan's action is finished during a given second (starting at second 0), time is incremented till the next titan in the queue is ready and becomes the active titan. The jocks reaction attribute will decide who is first if two or more titans are ready in the same second. Inactive players either have to wait and twiddle thumbs (hotseat game), or they can gather info (netgame only). In wait mode (netgames), the inactive player can switch between his titans with keys '1'-'8' or by right clicking the respective hex on the map. If he is under attack, he can also switch to the titan under attack with the spacebar. The selected titan is displayed on the map with a yellow/red hex boundary together with a green arrow arrow showing his heading and a blue arrow for his torso direction. The active player can perform certain actions in move or attack mode. Think of these two modes as the only things a jock can manage simultaneously during combat. Buttons on the lower border of the screen relate to these actions. If the mouse is static for a second a small popup help text will be displayed, along with the keyboard shortcut for that action. If possible, the time for executing the corresponding action will be displayed.
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Attack Modes |
Move Modes |
1. Show Map Same as the other Show Map buttons above. 2. Show Status Ditto 3. Break Move If you don't like what you did last move mode, you can cancel the move and be active in move mode soon. 4. Break Attack If you don't like what you did last attack mode, you can cancel the attack and be active in attack mode soon. 5. Exit Game Just what its says, exit the battle module.
Overheating is the one thing a jock fears the most (besides a critical hit into the cockpit). Heat is generated by weapons as well as movement and some miscellaneous effects like shield hits or explosions. Some weapons like napalm missiles and the flamer will cause heat on the target.
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At 150 degree celsius a titan is automatically shut down, leaving him helpless on the battlefield. At 300 degree celsius a titan will explode if the engine is not disabled. Heat is divided into categories which are possible triggers for 'wait on heat' actions and which affect skill checks. The hotter the titan, the worse the penalties, so you had better monitor your temperature closely. |
The levels are from cold to hot:
Heat level | Temperature range | Effect |
Black | 0 - 49 C | None |
Green | 50 - 74 C | Small skill penalty |
Yellow | 75 - 100 C | Small skill penalty |
Red | 100 - 127 C | Medium skill penalty Possible Ammo explosion |
White | 127 - 150 C | Big skill penalty Possible Ammo explosion |
Shutdown | > 150 | All systems down! |
Explosion | > 300 | Possible titan explosion |
Heat is reduced by a regulating system which is a closed circuit. This means that a heavy damage critical hit into any one component heavily damages the WHOLE system!
The engine generates power units which are used to maintain shields and scanners, provide movement, and reload energy weapons and jump ports. Devices are satisfied by the engine in the following order:
Part | Requirement |
Heat Regulators | 1 PU |
Move Actuators | 1-3 PU, depending on move mode |
Shield | 1-4 PU, depending on shield type |
Scanner | 1 PU |
E.C.M | 1 PU |
Weapons | See below |
Punch/Kick | 1 PU for each arm/leg |
Jump Ports | 1 PU for reloading |
Energy weapons (except flame throwers, which have ammo) need power units to recharge completely. (Example: 35 PU for a Plasma Gun or 9 PU for a Medium Laser). There is a restriction on how much PUs a weapon can reload per second: more than 15 PU needed -> reload max 3 PU per second more than 6 PU needed -> reload max 2 PU per second more than 0 PU needed -> reload max 1 PU per second A Plasma Gun will reload in 17 seconds, recharging 3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,2,2,2,1,1,1,1,1,1 PUs. A Medium Laser will reload in 7 seconds, recharging 2,2,1,1,1,1,1 PUs Close combat weapons do recharge at a constant rate of 1 PU per second. If the engine can not generate enough power to recharge each weapon, it will give priority to those which will be ready next. If you are low on energy, it is possible that some systems will be automatically put offline to supply those with a higher priority.
A jock starts a battle at full health. The amount can be read at one of the status screens. During battle there can be some events which will hurt him, resulting in loss of hit points. The more the jock is wounded, the worse the modifiers for his skills checks. The life support system built into a titan can heal a jock at a constant rate. The success depends on the jocks medical skill, while the amount depends on the quality of the life support system.
The main goal in combat is to wreck your opponents before they do the same to you. A titan is disabled if his engine is destroyed, his head is ripped off, he is shut down and his heat regulator is destroyed, or the jock is killed. Sometimes it is enough to cripple him (destroy the gyro, rip off some legs) and to concentrate on the next enemy. To damage a titan, you must first lock him with your battle computer. To lock him, you must have him in direct sight or scanner range. The game makes great use of visibility and computes the visibility for all titans to recreate fog of war. Hexes which can not be scanned are either black if never seen before, or shadowed if they once were within scan range. As the jock's memory of these hexes fades they become shadowed more and more. There are a total of 4 levels of display for any given hex: Typical battlefield:
normal | Current visible hexes |
lightly shaded | Hexes which were visible recently |
deeply shaded | Hexes which were visible some minutes ago (game time) |
black | Unknown hexes, either never scanned or a long time ago |
Titans which once were scanned but left scanner range are displayed as shrinking dots (red for enemies, yellow for allies) as time goes by. Titans which can be seen but are not in direct line of fire are marked with a small 'X' in the left top corner of their hex. They can be only fired on by ballistic firing weapons (missiles) at a reduced 'to hit' probability. A jock's indirect fire skill will help reduce the penalty for doing so. An 'L' is displayed if a target can only be seen due to a scanner link.
Whenever you have to pass a skill check manually, please press the right mouse button or the enter key. There are several modifiers which are calculated for a final chance of success. Firing skill checks 1. Jock's combat skill with the respective weapon. 2. Add the weapon's basic modifier, if applicable. 2. Modify this by the jock's damage status, as well as the weapon's. 3. Add the battle computer's to hit modifier, taking into account its damage status. 4. Subtract the titan's heat modifier. 5. Calculate the titan's and target's move modifiers. 5. Calculate the target's defensive hex modifier as well as the firing titan's offensive hex modifier. 6. Add the target's size and speed modifiers. 7. Calculate range modifiers. 8. Check for indirect fire. 9. Subtract defensive modifiers for shield, E.C.M. and flares if applicable. Move skill checks 1. Jock's piloting skill 2. Actuator or gyro damage mods 3. Movement mode mods 4. Terrain modifier 5. Jock status mods (wounded, dizzy ...) 6. Handling class of titan 7. Stance modifier (crouch, stand, etc...) 8. Hit modifier (when hit by weapon; black ray gun gives added penalty)
If damage occurs, the game engine checks which body part is affected, taking into account line of fire and other aspects. Damage ranges from 1 to 25 per hit and is normally subtracted from the armor of the respective body part. If the armor is reduced to zero, the damage is applied to the internal structure and critical equipment damage is likely to happen. Equipment can receive light, medium, or heavy damage, or it can be destroyed. All weapons causing more than 3 points of damage can cause interior equipment damage even if the armor is still intact. Meson guns have an increased chance for this effect. Damage control systems (D.C.S.) help against this effect. They can automatically reduce or even negate interior equipment damage. When the internal structure is gone, the body part and its equipment is either disabled (torso) or ripped off (arms, legs, head).
F1 | Display keys help screen | |
F2 | Display team statistics | |
F3 | Set options [toggle AI, break moves and/or attacks] | |
F4 | Set options [animation, message delays, message display options] | |
F5 | Display last 50 messages | |
F6 | Access scan history | |
F7 | Save game | |
F8 | Load game | |
F9 | Load autosave game | |
Q | Quit game | |
HOME | Center on current titan | |
END | Center on target | |
Cursor Keys | Scroll map; select option/page in popup window | |
A | Toggle AI on/off for current titan | |
M | Create different map in hotseat game | |
P | Save current screen as battle.pcx in the data directory | |
+ (plus> | Toggle arc of fire on/off | |
- (minus) | Toggle hex coordinate overlay on/off | |
/ (slash) | Toggle weapon range circles on/off | |
* (asterisk) | Toggle scanner range circles on/off | |
1-8 | Toggle status window for team member on/off, or Select titan as inactive player in netgame |
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9 | Toggle weapon window for current titan on/off | |
0 | Toggle armor window for current titan on/off | |
ESC | Close window | |
ENTER | Perform skill check or select choice in window | |
SPACE | Select titan under attack as inactive player in netgame. |
The following special keys are for emergency situations only: R : Recover queue if game is out of sync! D : Dump queue into a file called error.log into the data directory.
The battle module uses the TCP/IP protocol for network games. Setting up a network game: The battle module reads a small init file called binit.dat, which is located in the data directory. The following options should be set up (note that these lines may already be in the binit.dat file with the comment symbol # placed before them; be sure the remove the # character when editing): iphost xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with the IP address of the game host substituted. This can be found by running winipcfg from the Windows Start/Run menu. ipplayer NAME where NAME is the name displayed for the player in the netgame. Starting a network game: One of the players will host the game. He has to select 'Network Game' -> 'Create Game'; whereas all other players have to select 'Network Game' -> 'Join Game'. Those who join are called the clients and have to wait for the host to setup the game and send them some data. Note that you have to select 'Join Game' on all clients before the host selects 'Start Game! If you are playing with pre-made teams, all team data files have to be copied to the host's data directory. Player 1 with TEAM NUMBER 1 in binit.dat will use the team file team1. If player 2 wants to use its own team, he has to copy it to the host's data directory and name it team2.