CyberStrike 2
Basic Documentation
August 11th, 1998
http://989studios.com
http://cyberstrike2.net


              CyberStrike 2 Pre-Alpha Demo

Published by: 989 Studios     (989studios.com)
Developed by: Simutronics Corporation     (play.net)
(c) Simutronics Corporation, 1998 All Rights Reserved

CyberStrike 2 is a single player and massively multiplayer online game.
Set 100 years in the future, it is a first person combat game where players
pilot small customizable mechanized robots.

CS2 requires a 3D accelerator to play.  At the time of this writing, CS2 supports
all 3Dfx cards (Voodoo and Voodoo II chipsets), and the following individual cards:

ATI All-in-Wonder Pro, ATI Xpert@play, Canopus Pure 3D, Canopus Total 3D, 
Creative Labs 3D Blaster PCI, Creative Labs Blaster Voodoo 2, Diamond Monster 
3D, Diamond Monster II, Diamond Stealth II G460, Diamond Stealth II S220, 
Diamond Viper V330, Hercules Dynamite 3D / GL, Intergraph Intesnse 3D, 
Intergraph Intense 3D Voodoo, Orchid Righteous 3D, Realvision Flash 3D, 
STB Velocity 3D, STB Velocity 128, Sierra Screamin 3D.  Bugs may exist with 
some 3D cards.

Please Note: This game is designed to take advantage of the 3Dfx chipset.
Other 3D accelerators may not be able to deliver suitable frame
rates or visual quality.


Contents
~~~~~~~~
This demo contains two basic missions from the single player version of
CyberStrike 2.  This demo is intended for a technology demonstration, as
it is a pre-alpha release.  Bugs may exist. 

Not included in this demo is the over-game (the ability to buy and sell
equipment, load and save games, arming your cyberpod with a custom set
of modules, and the skirmish mode), and the multiplayer game.   The final 
version of the game will have between 46 and 50 missions.  Multiplayer
testing will occur in October - to be a part of the multiplayer test, you
can go to:

http://cyberstrike.net

All CyberStrike Classic account holders will get to play a beta version of
CyberStrike 2.


Feedback
~~~~~~~~~~
We hope you enjoy this demo!

But above all, we want your feedback!  Please email any and all comments (both
good, bad, constructive and otherwise) to:

  cs2demo@play.net



Directions
~~~~~~~~~~
When you first start the game click on 'campaign' - the cyberpod in the
middle of the title screen.  From there, you go to the mission control
screen, where you can select to play the demo missions.


Basic Game Play & Background
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For complete background details, see The Whole Story, at the end of this
file.

You are a pilot in the Terran Alliance, a strong clan attempting to gain
contested resources in an effort to build a massive device.  Since the
collapse of the worm hole, your world Syren has been cut off from Earth,
and Syren's orbit has fallen into decay.  To protect the environment and
reverse the effects of being closer to the sun, the Terran Alliance
scientists have researched and designed a massive shield generator.

Your missions involve gaining resources, helping build this generator, and
protecting it from the other clans who wish to destroy it.  You do this in
a Cyberpod, a small, mechanized robot that was originally used for
exploration of the rough terrain of the planet, but later modified into
fighting machines.  Unfortunately, the collapse of the Syren orbit has
caused massive meteorological instability.  The vicious weather and
turbulent atmosphere makes it nearly impossible to fly any aircraft, and
thus the vast majority of fighting machines are ground based.

Your Cyberpod runs on power, generated from power towers.  These towers,
which are team aligned, radiate power to all friendly units nearby.  You
can order these power towers from your Raven supply ship - a large flying
VTOL plane with huge engines that constantly shift in order to keep the
plane in the air through violent weather. This raven supply ship also 
delivers needed supplies to you when you request it.

Your job, through each mission, is to push back the enemy clans long
enough to create the shield generator, thus saving the planet from certain
destruction.


Controls
~~~~~~~~
Basic joystick controls are your movement.  Pushing the joystick forward
moves your 'pod forward, back, left and right are similar.  The hat on a
joystick will help you aim, twisting your torso up, down, left and right
to help you aim at the target.  Other joystick configurations are available
at the options menu.

Joystick button 1: fire
Joystick button 2: jump
Joystick button 3: center view

Keyboard map:

T: Target nearest cyberpod
E: Target nearest enemy cyberpod
P: Pick up a module
M: Order a module from your supply raven
C: Communicate with your team
H: Help on the description of HUDs

Enter: Request a power tower from your supply raven

1 - 0: Select the module which corresponds to the number selected.
       Some modules, such as 'armored hull' are always active, and do not
       need to be selected.  Others, such as 'rockeyes' changes your 'pod
       to fire rockeyes instead of the main energy weapon.  Once you have
       activated that module, use the fire key to use rockeyes.
Shift 1 - 0: Eject the module which corresponds to that bay


The Heads Up Display (HUD)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Upper Left - Menu
Main menu, order modules, communicate with your pilots, pick up modules,
and request power towers.

Lower Left - Radar
Shows your current radar, where towers show up as a single point based on
their team orientation and enemy units show up as a +.

Upper Right - Modules
Your cyberpod may be equipped with up to 10 different modules, from a
total list of 60 available modules.  This allows for highly specialized
'pods, from lean, quick machines to slow, heavy weapon platforms.  Your
modules correspond to a number in each bay - some, such as a repair module,
are activated when you press the number that corresponds to that bay.  That
module is then used up.  Others, such as rockeyes, have a limited supply -
in this case, 30 rockets.  When you select the module then use the trigger
button, you fire rockets instead of your main energy weapon.  Finally others
such as armored hull are always active.

Lower Right - Overhead map
Shows your current terrain overhead map

Lower Middle - Cyberpod Status
The center dark blue / light blue section shows your 'pod's shields and
hull respectively.  To the left, the large green area is your main battery
which charges your shield, allows you to move, and charges your weapon
capacitor.  Just above your battery is a while bar, your weapon capacitor,
which is your weapon battery.  As you fire, this battery will become
depleted.  With time, the battery recharges as your main battery refills
your weapon capacitor.  On the right side of this HUD is a group of four
bars, each which measures power input for all four teams.  In this demo,
you are always on the blue team.


The Whole Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The dawn of the new millenium brought political and economical changes that 
radically affected the power structures of human civilization.  With
worldwide governmental failure to effectively deal with world political 
problems, the failure of the Fair Resource Distribution Act, and the 
dissolution of the United Nations, citizens around the world lost faith in 
the governmental bodies they once supported.

By combining their economic clout, commercial entities across the globe 
formed powerful Mega-Corporations.  These highly efficient and focused 
bodies of power quickly stepped in to fill the voids left by the failed 
governments.  Free from bureaucratic interference, the Mega-Corps flourished, 
taking over virtually all public and private programs.

Among the other great achievements of the Mega-Corps, NASA Corp. was able to 
breathe new life, and profitability, into the failed space exploration
programs of half a dozen countries.  By the year 2050, a viable and 
self-supporting colony had been established on the surface of Mars.

The sudden and dramatic appearance of a wormhole in stable orbit around the 
planet Mars astonished and bewildered the best minds of the 21st century.  
NASA Corp.'s new mission was to explore the nature of this new phenomenon.  
For two years, efforts to penetrate the depths of the wormhole phenomenon 
resulted in failed attempts until finally the Sagan IV probe was able to 
return, intact, from the other side.

The images it returned rocked both the scientific and religious communities.  
Orbiting a distant and unidentified G-type star was a remarkably Earth-like 
world.  Dubbed Syren, for its lush appearance, this new world beckoned for 
exploration and colonization.

NASA Corp.'s first mission to Syren revealed a world rich in valuable 
resources.  Exploration began immediately, and within a year of the Sagan 
IV mission the first colony was established.  The discovery of abundant, 
natural deposits of Tritium-platinum, the only known catalyst capable of 
sustaining a cold-fusion reaction, caused a flurry of activity, the like of
which had not been seen since the gold rush days of the 19th century.

The Mega-Corps rushed to the opportunity to establish claims on the rich 
deposits of the rare mineral.  Boom towns rose and fell as new deposits were
discovered and quickly mined to exhaustion.  Syren became the new frontier, 
a wild and lawless frontier as the Mega Corps battled over rights of
ownership.  As greater amounts of the rich energy source made it back to 
Mars and Earth, demand for tri-platinum rose.  Mines became the sites for 
armed conflict.  Syren became the new Wild West.  Weapons were far easier 
to import than the efficient system of law and order known on Earth.

New frontiers are ripe proving grounds for both new ideas and radical 
fundamentalism.  When the little known religious leader, Jebediah Brightman, 
established his home on Syren and announced his "Prophecy of the Coming 
Apocalypse," there was no lack of devoted followers to pick up his cause.  
Brother Jebediah proclaimed it had been revealed to him that the world of 
Syren faced a disaster of astronomical proportions that would lead to the 
destruction of the world in a fiery apocalypse the would consume the 
faithless, and release the faithful to enter heaven.  In that revelation, 
the destiny of Syren was sealed.

The sudden and violent collapse of the wormhole left Syren cut off from 
Earth.  What little political and economical organization the settlers had 
vanished when it was discovered that the collapse of the wormhole had 
altered the orbit of the world.  Syren's future became frighteningly clear 
as the planet drifted into a new orbit, closer to its sun.

Cut off from Earth, the power of the Mega Corps withered.  Resources were 
rare in the new, harsh environment.  The lost colonies quickly organized 
themselves into a system of clans, battling for domination.  A new world 
order arose and a terrible future presented itself:  The Clan Wars!


* The Terran Alliance
Dedicated to the preservation of live on Syren, the Terran Alliance includes 
many of the best scientific minds on the planet.  Their goal is to protect 
the planetary population from devastation as Syren drifts into its new orbit, 
closer to the sun.  The leaders and members of the Terran Alliance believe 
that technology is the key to the future.

* The Disciples of the Apocalypse
Under the leadership of Master Brother Jebediah Brightman, the Disciples of 
the Apocalypse have a holy mission to facilitate the coming of the End.  The 
devout followers of this religious cult believe the Great Apocalypse draws 
neigh, and their purpose on Syren is to prevent the efforts of the evil 
Terran Alliance from interfering with Heaven's Plan.

The Knights of Iron
This ragtag collection of distant colonists fear both dominion by the Terran
Alliance and the destruction promised by the Disciples of the Apocalypse. 
Seeing conspiracies and collusion everywhere they turn, this home-grown
militia wants a planet free from government interference in personal freedom.
Their desire is to maintain the status quo, working the major powers against 
each other in the hope they will achieve mutual destruction.

The Syren Liberators
The newest and smallest of the clans, the Syren Liberators are secretly 
lead by Governor Ruger of Chimreor.  The Syren Liberators initially supported 
the efforts of the Terran Alliance, but have since come to believe the
Alliance plans will devastate the surface of the planet as surely as the 
efforts of the Disciples.  While publicly and openly supporting the Terran 
Alliance, the Governor feeds sensitive information to the Syren Liberators 
who use that information to forestall the efforts of the Alliance.

* are clans that the player may try in the single player game

Design Notes
~~~~~~~~~~~
The developers of CyberStrike 2 have spent considerable time working on
the tactical logic of the Artifical Intelligence of the enemy CyberPods and
wingmen.  The first thing to realize about this effort is that we went to great
lengths to make AI that doesn't 'cheat'.  Whatever a player can do, an AI
can do, but no more.  Also, an 'AI' is not privy to more information than
a player would have.  It is not able to 'see' through buildings, or perform
any act of physics differently than a player.

The AI is capable of expressing many types of behavior.  This demo
illustrates only a few.  Set at their most intense levels, an AI is able
to outfight a even an expert player in most cases.  Making the game
challenging is not simply throwing more bad-guys at the player, but
rather tweeking the AI to be approrpiate to the battlefield situation.

Unlike many mechanized robot games, CyberStrike AI's must be able
to navgiate arbitrarily complex 3D terrain (not simply flat planes).  They
are smart enough to be able to find their way form one end of a complex
map to the other using whatever terrain features there are.  They must also
be able to carry out military operations in such terrain and employ proper
tactics.

AI problems like these are generally solved by "dumbing down" the
design of the game.  For instance, having combat take place in
wide open flat planes.  But for CyberStrike 2, we did not take the easy
way out!  Instead, the AI programmers were challenged to make sure the
AIs could fight in any enviroment the artists and designers created.

The full retail product will feature some of the most impressive 3D terrains
ever seen in a robot combat game.  Battlefields where complex navigation
(both indoors and out) are key to success.  This demo only gives a tiny
taste of the possibilities.

Enemy CyberPods, depending on the skill of the AI pilot, are able to
lead targets, employ defensive maneuvers and adapt several different
tactical postures.  Even weapon selection requires a very complex
amount of logic to handle properly.  In CyberStrike, having the
"biggest gun" is not always the answer and the AIs are smart enough
to make the right call.

We will be tweeking the AI right up until the game ships, but we hope you
enjoy the efforts that went into this demo.


Final Product
~~~~~~~~~~~

The final product will have the following features:

* Up to 50 exciting and challenging missions broken into two clan storylines
* Improved interface options (keyboard/mouse/etc.)
* Even more dramatic terrains
* Loads of weapons and tactical options
* Massively multiplayer online support (Simutronics' namesake)

