GREAT BATTLES OF CAESAR for Windows 95 Copyright (c) 1997 by Interactive Magic, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.imagicgames.com ------------------------------------------------------------------- README.TXT ------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTALLATION: -Click on the install on the AutoPlay Screen, or double-click Setup.exe on the Caesar CD and follow the instructions. Double-click the CAESAR.EXE icon to start the game, or select IMagic\Caesar from the Start Menu. ------------------------------------------------------------------- MULTI-PLAYER: -Please note that multi-player without the CD in the CD-ROM drive will only work if you do a "Typical" install of the game to your hard drive. ------------------------------------------------------------------- ONLINE MANUALS: -To view the online manuals you need Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have this software on your computer, you can install it by running SETUP.EXE in the Manual directory on the Caesar CD and following the instructions. You must be in Windows to use the Acrobat Reader. ------------------------------------------------------------------- MOST ASKED QUESTIONS: -In several of the battles there are special conditions to reflect historically what happened in these battles. Please be sure to read the manual and/or help file carefully. -Sometimes units will not attack. This is caused by rules that are covered in the Manual (i. e., most skirmishers can not shock attack). -To determine which troops belong to a specific leader when using the free-play army deployment stage prior to starting a battle, click on one of your leaders and a watch for the units with fluttering flags. -If a unit merely does an about face when ordered to retreat it is because it has either used up all of its movement allowance or does not have enough remaining to move into the terrain it now faces (i.e. going up or down hills or through rivers). -Without giving interesting surprises away, we'd like to note that the computer AI player won't always respond in the same way when you play through some of the scenarios; sometimes the computer will play aggressively, other times it will play strictly defensively. The defensive AI will allow you to practice and hone your tactical skills. Play a particular scenario a number of times to see the different kinds of games you will get as a result. Every scenario has one or more aggressive AI's programmed for it and about half have additional strictly defensive AI's. -The "Group" commands are greyed out when they cannot be made (i.e. during momentum, if terrain or other troops are blocking the path or if some of the units are replenishing missiles). -A new command has been added. Any time during a group move you may reface that leader and his troops by clicking on the "Rotate Clockwise and Counter-clockwise" tool tabs. ------------------------------------------------------------------ SAVE AND AUTOSAVE: -Note that when re-loading a saved game, the Running Commentary history from the game prior to the re-load will no longer have color-highlighting and color-formatting. -In Preferences under the Game menu there is now an autosave facility. The introductory video can also be turned off (so that it doesn't run when you start up the game) from here. The Autosave works after every player turn, recorded as: Autosaved Game: Turn #: Leader Name. ------------------------------------------------------------------- VIDEO, GRAPHICS AND SOUND: -It is recommended you download and install the latest AVI player drivers for your system prior to starting the game You may obtain these drivers either from your computer system's tech support team, or via the Internet. If your AVI playback is via ActiveMovie, go to www.microsoft.com/support and look for the ActiveMovie download from there (note that ActiveMovie also ships with Explorer 4.0). If your AVI playback runs through a player proprietary to your video card, go to your video card manufacturer's web page to find the latest player and/or drivers. If you do not have the latest AVI player/drivers, the video may not play properly. -Avoid shifting screen resolutions and color depths while the game is running; while (with patience) the game _will_ continue to run reliably after such shifts, the changes (particularly from, say, 16-bit color to 256-color modes) may introduce palette color shifts and animation defects during play (note that these will not affect the actual animation files installed on the hard drive). -If you are running FlexiCD (part of Microsoft's Powertoys freeware add-on utilities), please make sure to right-click on the FlexiCD icon on your task bar to close FlexiCD prior to starting the game; otherwise, the music may not play from the CD. ------------------------------------------------------------------- DIALOGUE BOXES: -Check the "Notify" box on the Chat Box that appears for multi-player games to ensure that it automatically reappears when a new message is sent. If not checked, hitting "Ctrl + A" on the keyboard makes the Chat Box appear. -The Finish Leader dialogue box can be "Not shown again" when the appropriate box is checked. To restore the Finish Leader dialogue box, check the box under Preferences in the Game menu. -When the Game menu is opened just before the Game Overview result appears, if the game seems to hang, select "Alt + tab" on the keyboard to reactivate. ------------------------------------------------------------------- UNIT CONTROL: -If you are having trouble selecting/highlighting a particular unit during your move, check to see whether you're clicking near the feet of the unit. If you still have trouble, try using the Reverse View icon to reverse the map; it may be that the base of the unit is being obscured by terrain elevation. Remember also that the rules for units in various states can often be quite subtle; check the on-line Help as well as the manual to make sure the unit can be selected and/or perform the action you wish according to its current state in the game. ------------------------------------------------------------------- KEYBOARD: -"CTRL + M" is an alternate way to select missile volley. The keyboard arrows can be used to scroll the map. ------------------------------------------------------------------- RESOLUTION: -The recommended resolution for playing is 800x600 or greater (using 640x480 will result in some text being cut off in the status bar). ------------------------------------------------------------------- RULE CLARIFICATIONS: -Please note that The Great Battles of Caesar has been carefully balanced to play best with the turn limits for each scenario enabled (the default option); if you find a particular scenario isn't challenging once you've removed the turn limits, try it again with the limits back on. Turn limit disable is provided primarily for multi-player gaming, though the computer AI will play a credible game even with the limits off. -When you are playing the tribal side in the three battles of Sabis, Vercellae, and Bibracte and trying to rally a routed unit, you may only use its own leader. Additionally, its own leader must be within two hexes of the routed unit you are trying to rally (i.e. no more than one open hex between them). This is to replicate the attachment the tribesmen only had to their particular leader. -In Ruspina there are two ways for the Caesarian side to win. Caesar can either fight it out with Pompey's forces and try to kill enough rout points worth of troops to win by the end of turn 6 or he can try to retreat his troops off the map edge to his rear similar to the option that Alexander had at Pelium in the Great Battles of Alexander game. Caesar must retreat off the remnants of his forces before either the end of turn 6 or before Pompey's forces destroy enough of Caesar's units to trigger a victory by rout points. -Historically, cavalry units in classical battles would sometimes suffer from "battle rage" and -- even after succeeding in defeating an opponent -- would continue to pursue the opponent across the battlefield, willy-nilly. Great Battles of Caesar simulates this fact; watch for it in the game. Note that units which suffer from battle rage may have a chance of returning to the field after they've calmed down; once they return, though, there is little chance they will return under control of the player or any leader. Consider them extra diversion for the opponent if and when they do return, but don't count on them as reinforcements. -A Leader's Command Range is measured using an unobstructed path of hexes equal to the range, not including the hex occupied by the Leader. -Normal terrain penalties for going up or down levels apply, i. e., if the range extends up a level it will reduce the Command Range from the leader by one hex. The Command Range is obstructed by hexes occupied by enemy units, an unoccupied hex in an enemy Zone of Control (ZOC), or terrain a leader could not cross or enter. Friendly units negate enemy Zones of Control for purposes of tracing the Command Range. Chariots do not rotate to face an oncoming charge. -Leaders may not be moved next to any enemy units, even routed ones. -The "Charge" sometimes mentioned in the Running Commentary window is the TQ (Troop Quality) check just before shock combat, explained on page 56 in the Manual. -In the Combat Results dialogue box the Current Hits are those just received in the battle, the Total Hits are the unit's overall total hit allocation at this time. -Heavy infantry units do not have to enter combat if located in an enemy zone of control. ------------------------------------------------------------------- SPEED UP PLAY HINTS: -If you have a less capable machine, it may play this game very slowly. There are a number of ways to speed up play, as follows: -If you have enough free hard drive space, use the Full Install. -Go to Preferences in the Game menu and choose to have no sounds or animations. -Go to the Unit menu periodically, and choose "Remove Dead Units." For multi-player games, de-select the Overall Combat Results box (this is found in Preferences under the Game menu). ------------------------------------------------------------------- VICTORY CONDITION: -Please note that a winner can be declared only at the end of a turn. Even if the last unit on a side is eliminated, that turn must still be completed. ------------------------------------------------------------------- WINDOWS PROBLEMS: -Sometimes when you minimize the game to do something else (i.e., open Explorer), when you later try to maximize the game, it will not do so. To restore the game, go to the Start menu bar, right-click on Caesar and left click restore on the menu that pops up. -If you are using the scroll bar when the End of Turn window opens, there's a slight chance the screen will pause. To get past the pause, just change your window focus with your mouse by clicking on the task bar, then back on the main map. -Due to Windows-related focus issues, there may be times when the animated wait cursor will not change back to a mouse pointer when the computer opponent has finished a turn. Moving the animated cursor slightly with the mouse will fix this problem. -The help file has a difficult time resizing or moving around if you have Microsoft Windows 95 Plus pack installed with the dragging windows option turned on. If you turn off the dragging windows option it should resize just fine. -------------------------------------------------------------------- CUSTOMER SERVICE: I-Magic Web site: http://www.imagicgames.com E-Mail Tech Support: techsupport@imagicgames.com If you have questions or need additional assistance with this or any other Interactive Magic product, feel free to call our Customer Service Department at (919) 461-0948, between 9AM - 9PM Eastern. For UK Tech Support call: (01344) 409399, between 9.30AM - 5PM GMT For German Tech Support call: (01805) 221126, between 5PM - 8PM Monday through Friday, or 2PM - 5PM Saturday and Sunday (GMT +1). ------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Windows 95' and 'Explorer' are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. 'Pentium' is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. 'Adobe' and 'Acrobat' are trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------- END OF DOCUMENT