hq.txt v1.11 12/05/98


The headquarter program is the executable which deals with the team
creation and management.

Work on it started 5 years ago when Vicious Byte tried to do Titans of
Steel for the first time. Therefore its graphics are a bit dated and
the interface is far from perfect but it should do its job.
Though we promised to do a major rewrite for v1.0 we must admitt that
we could not keep this, sorry.

Hq.exe is located in progs directory and can be launched directly from
here or by executing tos.bat from the main directory and selcting the HQ.
Sound can be disabled by launching with the -s command line parameter.
(hq.exe -s)



This a short help on how to create new jocks and build teams.
You can navigate through the different screens with the two
arrow keys at the screen bottom. When active they are displayed green,
otherwise they stay black.


1. As soon as you launch hq.exe you have to decide which team file
   to edit. These files are used during startup of the battle module
   as well as to modify/repair your titans in the factory module. 
   They are located in the data directory as team1 to team4.
   If there does not exists such a file it will be created and your
   new team will start with 500000 $ initial money and no jocks
   or titans. If you want to delete a complete team you have to manually
   delete the file from the data directory, again sorry :-).


2. Next you are in the main menu. Here you can :

a) Rename your team.
b) Hire new jocks via the state prison database.
c) Buy new titans via the titan factory database.
d) View/Modify your teams jocks.
e) View/Sell your teams titans.
f) Logout and save if you want to.


a) To rename your team click on the word TEAM in front of its name.
   The default name is VICIOUS WITCHES.

b) To search the database you must enter the search criteria like
   name, callsign, race and sex. You are only allowed to hire 
   new jocks if you can pay 25000 $ to release them from prison.

   There are four races available :
   Human, Android, Replicant and Cyborg.

   Humans are like you and me, therefore they get a +1 bonus on
   charisma :-)

   Androids are like those you may know from Alien2 or Alien4 movies.
   In ToS they have self healing abilities and are sexless.
   Androids gain +1 on both reaction and neural sense attributes.

   Replicants are like those you may know from the Bladerunner movie.
   They are cloned humans, genetically enhanced either in dexterity
   or intelligence. Therefore they receive +2 on on of those attributes.

   Cyborgs are sturdy humans enhanced with cybernetic implants.
   They receive +1 on constitution but suffer a -1 penalty on
   charisma.

   If you choose male jocks you are granted a additional +1 bonus
   on constitution whereas females receive +1 om instinct. 
   
   After you have entered all necessary data you will be presented
   with the result of your search. 
   Now you are on the jock development screen.

   A jock is defined by 7 attributes and 19 skills in 3 categories.
 
   Each skill can be developed to a limit which is defined by its
   primary and secondary attribute.
   This limit is calculated as follows :

   Max  =  5 * ((2 * primary attribute + secondary attribute) / 3)
   
   Attributes range from 5 to 20, thus allowing a maximum skill of 100%.

   The attributes are :

		Intelligence
		Neural Sense
		Reaction
		Instinct
		Dexterity
		Constituation
		Charisma

   Neural Sense does need some explanation. Recon and light Titans are
   piloted manually by the jocks, therefore they have dexterity and
   reaction as their primary/secondary attribute. 
   Medium and heavy titans are controlled with the help of a neural 
   bridge, connecting the jock with its machine. Each character
   has a personal sensibility towards this device, called Neural Sense.
   Therfore Neural Sense and Dexterity are the primary/secondary
   attibutes for the skill 'piloting medium & heavy' titans.

   Please note that intelligence does limit the numbers of skills a jock
   can improve. Each point of intelligence does grant one skill to train.

   Rookies do start with 300 development points (DP) in each of the
   three categories piloting, combat and other which they can
   distribute amongst their skills and/or attributes.
   These points do represent their initial training.
   

   A jock can improve his attributes (at a very high cost) by left
   clicking on the attributes name.
   The better the attribute, the more DPs he has to pay to for it.
   Jocks can improve skills by 1 point to their limit by left clicking.
   Shift-left click does add 10 points. Same goes for reductions with the
   right mouse button. The price for increasing skills and/or attributes
   is displayed in the DP columns on this screen.

   The cost of increasing the attribute or skill are displayed in the
   DP column of the screen. Note that the cost for attribute increases
   is deducted from all three categories !

   There are three types of skills, piloting, combat and others.

   They are

   Piloting             Combat                  Other
   ----------------------------------------------------------------
   Recon/Light          Close combat            Electronic Warfare
   Medium/Heavy         Guided Missiles         Scanner Systems
   Assault              Unguided Missiles       Defensive Systems
   Jump                 Cannons                 Damage Control
                        Energy Weapons          Leadership
                        Indirect Fire           Tactics
                                                Buisness
                                                Survival
                                                Medical
		

   Most of the skills are self explanatory. Leadership and tactics
   will be used only in the shareware version v2.0.

   After you have finished to distribute the DPs you can go back
   and hire more jocks up to a maximum of 8 per team.


c) Select the titan database to buy titans for your team up to a 
   maximum of 16.
   You can select among premade designs and  those created with the 
   factory module.
   The cost is modified by your team managers buisness skill !

d) Have a look at your jocks. Here you can fire them and allocate
   them to a titan for the next battle. Your team manager is choosen
   automatically, he/she is the one with the highest buisness skill.
   If this skill is less than 70%, the difference is added to the
   cost when buying and subtracted when selling titans. The
   biggest penalty is 40% for managers with <= 30% in buisness.
   Buisness skill in excess of 70% does give a bonus, a jock with
   a skill of 100% does receive 30% discount !

e) Have a look at your teams titans and sell them if you want.
   Damaged titans are displayed with exclamation marks (!) left
   and right of their cost and should be repaired in the factory.
   Note that titans only will earn you half their original value if
   sold. You can get more if your managers buisness skill exceeds
   70% though. 

f) Select logout to quit. If you do not save now ALL changes you
   made to your team will be lost. 


Well thats all for now. Vicious Byte is aware that the HQ is the
worst part of the game, please do NOT judge ToS only by looking
at this module :-)

Henrik
		

 
   
   


