Notes for Wooden Ships and Iron Men


1.0	System Requirements

Current requirements for Wooden Ships and Iron Men (WSIM) are a 486 25Mhz IBM PC 
compatible 8 megabytes of RAM and at least 8 megabytes of available disk space.  A 
SuperVGA VESA compatible graphics card and Microsoft compatible mouse are also 
required.  

WSIM may be run in a full-screen window under Windows 95.  The following paragraph
only pertains if you are using previous versions of Windows or DOS.

WSIM utilizes a DOS extender and is compatible with EMM386 and QEMM.  Ensure you 
configure your memory to leave the maximum amount of extended memory available.  For 
instance, if you have an 8 megabyte RAM computer with the line EMM386.EXE RAM 
2048 in your CONFIG.SYS file and also load Smart Drive in your AUTOEXEC.BAT 
then you probably have only 5 megabytes of RAM available to WSIM.  This is because 2 
megabytes of RAM are set aside for EMS, and Smart Drive will take 1 megabyte by 
default (even more if you specify more).  We suggest you use EMM386.EXE NOEMS.
WSIM should not be run under Windows 3.X

2.0	Game Overview

To start the game, change to the directory containing WSIM and type "WSIM".  After the 
opening credits, the game will start in the main game screen, referred to as the "Captain's 
Cabin"

Each figure in the cabin represents one of the game functions.  Moving the mouse pointer 
over each figure will cause a one-line description of its function to be displayed toward the 
top of the screen.

2.1	Exit to DOS

Click on the Marine sentry on the far left to exit to DOS.  

2.2	Start a Scenario

Click on the standing figure in the center of the screen to start a scenario.  The Scenario 
screen is displayed.
 
2.2.1	Playing an Existing Scenario

Select a scenario from the list of scenarios.  A complete description of the scenario can be 
reviewed by clicking on the Description button.  Only one scenario is available in the demo 
version.

Select the side you wish to play by clicking on one of the two flags shown.  The 
highlighted flag shows the side you will play.

Select your opponent (computer, human, E-mail).  E-Mail is disable in the demo version

Click on Start Scenario.  The Battle screen will appear.

3.0	Playing a Scenario

Scenarios are played on the Battle screen.  Game functions are controlled by selections on 
the right hand side (the control area), while gameplay occurs on the larger area (the view 
area) on the left hand side of the screen.

Orders are issued by clicking on a friendly ship to select it.  Blue marker rings will appear 
under currently selected friendly ships, while red marker rings will appear under currently 
selected enemy ships.  Information concerning the name of the ship, its current speed, 
ammunition loaded etc., appear on the control area. You can view the ship's current status 
by clicking on the large painting of the ship in the control area.  This will display the status 
screen showing current crew assignments and damage.  Click the right mouse button to 
return to the Battle screen.  The current wind direction is indicated by a pointer on the 
compass displayed in the game area as well as the selected ship's attitude with respect to 
the wind.

You can zoom in or out of the Game area by clicking on the small telescope under the 
compass.  Click on the left (large) end of the telescope to zoom in, click on the right 
(small) end of the telescope to zoom out.  Right-click on the telescope to toggle to/from 
"birds-eye" view which will zoom out as necessary to include all of the ships in play.

You can scroll the view in the Game area by moving the mouse pointer off the edge of the 
screen in the direction you wish to scroll.  Alternatively, you can click on one of the 
compass points to scroll the view.  Holding down the right mouse button while scrolling 
will increase the scrolling speed.

The icons at the bottom of the orders area control various game functions.  Depending on 
the function, some icons will flash brightly momentarily when selected, others will stay 
bright to indicate current state.  From left-to-right, starting on the top row the functions 
are:

  Select next ship:  Represented by a ship icon.  You can select the next ship on a side 
by left clicking on this icon.  Right clicking selects the opposing side.
  Game view:  Represented by a grid.  Clicking on this icon toggles between a 3-D 
isometric view (the default) to a 2D overhead view.
  Computer controls gunnery:  Represented by a cannon.  When this icon is bright, the 
gunnery for the selected ship will be controlled by the computer.
  Computer controls movement:  Represented by a ship's wheel.  When this icon is 
bright, the movement for the selected ship will be controlled by the computer.
  Options:  Represented by a scroll.  Clicking on this icon will cause a scroll listing game 
functions such as grid on/off to appear.
  End turn:  Represented by a saluting sailor.  Clicking on this icon will end your turn.
  Grapple:  Represented by a grappling iron.  Clicking on this icon will allow you to 
select an enemy ship to grapple.  It will remain bright to indicate your intention to 
grapple this turn.
  Attempt to Rake:  Represented by a top view of one ship crossing the tee of another 
ship.  Clicking on this icon will cause the ship to hold fire until a raking position is 
achieved.  If a raking position does not present itself, the ship will not fire that turn.  
The icon remains bright to indicate your intention to attempt a rake.
  Save game:  Represented by a disk.  Clicking this icon will allow you to save the 
game.  Not available in demo version.
  Quit game:  Represented by an octagonal stop sign.  Clicking this icon will end the 
battle.

3.1	Movement orders

Movement orders are issued by clicking on the "Ahead" spoke of the ship's wheel in the 
Orders area.  The Orders area is automatically resized to a small icon to maximize the 
view of the playing area.  The selected ship will start to move ahead.  A dashed leader line 
will appear to indicate the projected movement of the ship.  In addition, concentric circles 
will appear underneath the ship.  Each ship rate has an allowable maneuvering distance 
which must be traveled before it can perform another maneuver.  In other words, a ship 
that has just turned to port must travel ahead in a straight line until it has traveled the 
maneuvering distance for that rate of ship.  The concentric circles indicate the size of the 
maneuvering distance and shrink as you approach the end of the minimum distance.  Once 
they disappear, you can perform a maneuver.  You can click on the ahead spoke at any 
time to instantly carry out movement to the end of the maneuvering distance.  You can 
click the center of the wheel or press the Escape key at any time to cancel the movement 
order.  Any ships not given a movement order will automatically sail ahead in a straight 
line to the limit of their speed in relation to the wind.  Certain maneuvers, such as tacking, 
cannot be carried out unless there is a minimum percentage of the crew assigned to the 
rigging.

Sails can be changed between battle, plain, and full sail by clicking on the sails of the large 
ship in the Orders area.  The sails in the artwork as well as the actual ship models in the 
Game area indicate the current state of sails.  If three sails on each mast are shown, the 
ship is at full sail.  Two sails indicate plain sail, and one sail indicates battle sail.  To 
change to battle sail, click on the top sail area of the large ship in the Orders area.  Click 
on the middle sail area for plain sail, and bottom sail area for full sail.  The graphic will 
show sails being furled/unfurled to indicate the transition.  Changing sails takes one full 
turn to take effect.  A minimum of 20% of the crew must be assigned to the rigging to 
change sails.  The more sail deployed, the faster the ship will move.  However, the effect 
of hits to the rigging will be increased accordingly.

During the course of movement ships may collide and become fouled.  They will 
automatically attempt to unfoul on subsequent turns.  Ships which are fouled may not 
receive movement orders and will automatically drift.

3.2	Gunnery Orders

Gunnery orders are given by clicking on the cutaway hull directly above the icons in the 
Orders area.  Clicking on the cannons on the right side of the cutaway gives orders to the 
cannons on the right (starboard) side of the ship.  Cannons on the left (port) side of the 
ship are given by clicking on the left side of the cutaway.

In its simplest form, a gunnery order is given by clicking on the load box directly 
underneath the cannon.  At the beginning of the game, both the port and starboard load 
boxes will say "No load" indicating that they are awaiting a decision on type of shot to 
load.  You may load both sides simultaneously only at the beginning of the game.  
Thereafter, you may only load one side per turn.  Clicking the load box will cause the 
default cannon shot (roundshot) to be loaded into the cannon.  The cannon will be run out 
indicating it is loaded.  The computer will automatically select the closest enemy ship as its 
target and target the hull if it is within 1200 yards, otherwise it will select the rigging.  The 
selected enemy target is indicated by a red crosshairs positioned over the target ship.  The 
computer will automatically open fire as long as the target ship is within the maximum 
range of the type of shot (2000 yards for roundshot, 600 for chainshot, and 200 for 
doubleshot and grapeshot).  You can override all of the automatic settings.  The type of 
shot is overridden by left/right clicking the mouse over the load box.  You can choose 
roundshot (the default, standard shot), grapeshot (inflicts casualties on the crew-range 200 
yards), chainshot (devastates rigging-range 600 yards), or doubleshot(twice as nice as 
roundshot-range 200 yards, takes two turns to load).  The target is overridden by right-
clicking on any enemy ship.  The aim point (hull/rigging) is overridden by clicking on the 
hull or rigging of the enemy target representation in the Orders area.  The open fire range 
is overridden by moving the mouse pointer near the cannons on the friendly ship in the 
Orders area.  The pointer will change to a cannon ball.  Click and drag the pointer left or 
right to adjust the open fire range.  You can also direct that fire be held until a raking 
position on the target is gained by clicking on the Attempt to Rake icon.

3.3	Melee

Melee may occur whenever two ships are fouled or grappled.  Ships may become fouled 
whenever they collide during movement.  Fouling is normally unintentional.  Grappling is 
used when you intend to send boarding parties on the enemy ship.

To grapple an enemy ship, click on the Attempt to Grapple icon.  It will brighten, and the 
mouse pointer will change to a grappling iron and position itself over the nearest enemy 
ship.  If this is the desired target, click the left mouse button.  If not, merely move the 
pointer over the desired target and click the left mouse button.  The pointer will remain as 
a grappling iron until a target is selected or you click on the Attempt to Grapple icon again 
to cancel the grapple order.  When the target is selected, a grappling iron will be placed 
over the target and the pointer will return to normal.  The Attempt to Grapple icon will 
remain bright to indicate that a grappling order for that ship has been given.  If your ship 
comes within 50 yards of the selected enemy ship during this turn, it will attempt to 
grapple.  If the grapple is successful, the two ships will be joined together and melee will 
occur.  The Attempt to Grapple icon will remain bright as long as the ships remain 
grappled.  In addition, a grapple icon will be placed over the grappled ships indicating 
their status.  You may attempt to disengage from a grapple on subsequent turns by 
clicking on the Attempt to Grapple icon.  It will turn dark, indicating your desire to 
ungrapple.  If successful on the following turn, the grapple icon will be removed from the 
grappled ships and they will separate.  If not, the grapple icon will remain, and the 
Attempt to Grapple icon will turn bright.

Once you are fouled or grappled, you may form a boarding party in an attempt to capture 
the enemy ship through melee.  Follow the instructions given in section 3.4.2 to assign 
crew from the rigging or guns to the boarding party.  If neither ship forms a boarding 
party, melee does not occur.  Once melee is initiated, the melee will continue over 
consecutive turns until one side is victorious, or the ships become unfouled or ungrappled.

3.4	Crew Orders/Status Screen

The status screen is displayed when you click anywhere on the hull of the large ship in the 
Orders area.  This is where you get information on damage as well as allocate your crew.  
You can view the status of other friendly ships by left/right clicking on the ship nameplate 
on the bottom of the screen.  Return to the Battle display by pressing the clicking on 
"exit" or pressing the Escape key.

3.4.1	Damage/Casualties

Damage occurs to one of 3 areas; hull, rigging, and guns.  Grids on the status screen 
indicate the current status of each of these three areas.  An icon is placed in each grid 
square showing the amount of damage that can be absorbed in each area.  Only the largest 
ships will have icons filling every available grid box.  

Damage to rigging:  As hits are taken in the rigging, the undamaged sail icon will be 
replaced by a tattered sail icon.  Hits are taken in the fore, main, or mizzen masts.  If all 
the sail icons are damaged, the mast is considered to have been destroyed.  Damaged 
rigging will affect the movement capabilities of the ship.

Damage to guns:  As hits are taken in the guns, the undamaged gun icon will be replaced 
by a destroyed gun icon.  There are two types of guns; cannons and carronades.  
Carronades are identical to guns in all respects except they have a maximum range of 600 
yards.

Damage to the hull:  As hits are taken in the hull, the undamaged hull icon will be replaced 
by a damaged hull icon.  When all of the hull icons are damaged, the ship will surrender 
and strike its colors.

Casualties to the crew may also be caused by combat.  As this occurs, the number 
displayed under "Crew Casualties" will increase.

3.4.2	Assigning Crew

Crew is assigned by clicking on the area from which you wish to move crew, then clicking 
on the area to which you wish the crew to move.  For example; to move crew from the 
guns to rigging, you would click on the text area that says "Gun Crew".  The lettering will 
turn red to indicate that crew will be moved from the guns.  Next click on the "Crew 
Aloft" text area.  Each time you click, crew will be removed from the guns, and added to 
the rigging.  Left-clicking moves crew in 1% increments, right-clicking moves crew in 
10% increments.  You can also specify an exact percentage by typing the percent you wish 
to move.  To end the crew reassignment mode, click on the "Gun Crew" text again.  The 
lettering will revert back to white.  The default crew assignment is 90% to the guns, 10% 
to the rigging.  Moving crew to the boarding party is advisable if you intend to grapple 
with an enemy ship or if you are grappled.  Certain movement orders require a minimum 
crew on the rigging, and will prevent you from removing crew from the rigging below the 
required minimum until you cancel the movement order.

3.5	Turn Resolution

Turns are resolved simultaneously once both sides have completed giving orders.  The 
screen will shift to a full-screen mode and the movement and combat will be animated.  
During resolution you can click on any of the compass points to scroll the view to keep 
the best view of combat.  You can also click on the telescope to zoom in or out.  If ships 
move out of the field of view, an arrowhead will be drawn on the outside of the compass 
indicating the direction of the nearest ship in that direction.  You can then scroll the screen 
or click on the arrow to bring the ship into view.

