1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
|
LGeneral 1.1.1
written by Michael Speck
1. About
--------
LGeneral is a turn-based strategy engine heavily inspired by Panzer General.
It provides the PG demo data as separate package (thus only two scenarios)
but if you hold a copy of PG I you can play the full game by using the
LGeneral Converter (lgc-pg) which can be found at http://lgames.org.
To learn more about the LGeneral resource format for creating your own
scenarios have a look at the HOWTO also located at http://lgames.org.
2. Installation
---------------
LGeneral runs in X and uses SDL (>= 1.1.4) and SDL_mixer (optional, any
version). Both libraries can be found at http://libsdl.org.
Now enter your favorite shell and type in the following stuff (in the
directory you extracted the LGeneral source)
> ./configure [--disable-sound] [--disable-install] [--disable-dl]
--disable-sound: no sound
--disable-install: no installation; play from source directory
--disable-dl: disable use of AI modules and stick to the
built-in AI
> make
> su (become root)
> make install (if install wasn't disabled)
The LGeneral engine is now installed and needs to be fed so get the
converter (lgc-pg) and follow its instructions or get the lgeneral-data
package.
That's it!
3. Troubleshooting
------------------
1) If SDL is not found remember that you'll additionally need the development
package for compiling though not for running. (a popular Mandrake user mistake)
2) The same applies to SDL_mixer!
3) If your sound is out of sync change the last argument for Mix_OpenAudio()
in audio_open() in audio.c from 256 to 2048. This might help.
4. The Main Menu
----------------
When the LGeneral title screen is displayed click any mouse button to move
on and you'll see the themes background without anything on it. Now click the
_right_ mouse button to popup the menu. Each menu item has a tooltip displayed
at the top of the screen and I consider them quite self-explaining for most
of the time. ;-)
1) Resolution:
Modifications to the resolution settings are not applied
immediately but must be confirmed with the apply button.
2) Start Scenario:
Clicking on 'Load Scenario' will bring up the selection dialogue. If you did
not installed any scenarios this is a dead end (get lgc-pg!) else there should
be the directory 'pg'. Open it and select a scenario. If the selected scenario
is valid some information is shown and you may now run it or modify it's
settings (control and ai module for each player).
3) Start Campaign:
Works analogue to 'Load Scenario' though there are no campaigns at the moment
even with 'lgc-pg'.
5. The Interface
----------------
If you start a scenario or load a game you'll be at the tactical map. Moving
the cursor above a unit displays a quick info about the unit(s) and the
hex tile.
1) Select A Unit:
A unit is selected by left-click on it where a hex tile is split into two
regions. The upper one contains the air unit and the lower one the ground unit.
For example if there is no air unit and you click into the air region the
ground unit will be selected if there is one.
2) Unselect Unit:
A simple right-click anywhere will unselect the unit.
3) Move Unit:
When selecting a unit the fog mask will change to show where the unit may move
or em/debark. Left-click on any of the highlighted hex tiles to execute the
movement.
4) Attack An Enemy:
If the unit within the hextile and region the pointer is on is a valid target
it will change into a crosshair. A left-click initiates the attack. To decide
wether an attack is useful or not have a look at the expected losses displayed
at the top of the screen. (very useful!)
5) Unit Menu:
If you left-click on a selected unit the unit menu will popup. (is explained
below)
6) Full Unit Info:
If you have no unit selected and you right-click on one a full unit info will
be displayed. Note: It is still possible (though a bit slow) to move the
pointer above other units to compare properties. A right-click will close
the unit info.
7) Main Menu:
If you have no unit selected and you right-click into an empty hextile the main
menu (as described in the section above) will popup.
8) Scrolling:
To scroll the tactical map either use the cursor keys or move the pointer to
the border of the screen.
6. The Unit Menu
----------------
These are the options in the unit menu:
1) Supply:
Ships and aircrafts must be close to there supply point (harbor, airfield) and
receive a supply level of 100% there. Ground units receive 100% if close to
an allied town and airfield and loose 10% for each hex tile being away from
the nearest supply point. So be aware that long sieges with no town near in the
back may cause trouble if you take to long or move to fast!
2) Air Embark/Debark:
If your unit is on an allied airfield and can use an air transport it may
embark. If your unit is using an air transport and uses parachutes it
may debark anywhere on the map (if the embarked unit is able to enter this
tile, of course) else it is only allowed to debark at an allied airfield.
3) Merge Units:
LGeneral's way of reinforcements differs from PG's. Instead of buying units
by prestige new ones are available at a specific turn (depending on their
delay) and damaged units may merge with units of the same unit class as long as
the strength is <=13.
4) Undo Turn:
A unit may undo it's movement if no enemy was spotted.
5) Rename Unit:
Change the name of the unit.
7. Differences between LGeneral and Panzer General
--------------------------------------------------
As said in the first section LGeneral is heavily inspired by PG but it's not
exactly the same. I modified some aspects I didn't like at PG.
1) Reinforcements:
Buying reinforcements by prestige isn't that good I think. IMHO sending units
in a specific turn (thus at a specific date) is better and allows a
historically more accurate scenario. These units may be deployed around any
allied town that was not lost during playing. This also means that conquered
towns may not serve as deploy centers.
2) Core Units:
There will be none. It is nice to have a fully experienced killer troop you
brought all the way from Poland to Washington but how did you manage that? You
loaded and saved to get good combat results with this unit at a low damage
rate. Anyone must admit that this is a very untactical way of using a unit.
Much better going with the auxiliaries: If there was a town to be taken they
had to go for it at any cost thus they were used to there full tactical extend.
And that is what should be done with all units at the battle field. With core
units that are treatened like being on holidays this can't be done so there
simply will be no way to reuse units in the next scenario of a campaign.
8. Bugs
-------
We tested as much as we could and already removed a lot of funny and mysterious
bugs but this game is still under development so report any suscpicious
behaviour to kulkanie@gmx.net.
Known bugs:
1) Loading the dynamic AI now works but it seems to screw some pointers which
results in no unit movement. However on some machines it does work. I wasn't
ablt to spot the reason so if you do please tell me!
9. Feedback
-----------
Any comments and bugreports are welcome. Please send them to kulkanie@gmx.net.
And don't forget to look at http://lgames.org for updates sometimes!
Enjoy the game!
Michael Speck, 2002 May 20th
|
