_---_ __ _ _ __ _ __ __ _ __ _ ___
/ _ | / _` | '__| '_ \ / _` |/ _` |/ _ \
| / \_|| (_| | | | | | | (_| | (_| | __/
| | _ \__,_|_| |_| |_|\__,_|\__, |\___|
| \_/ |_ __ _ __/ |______ ______
\ | | | | Easy Zapping! | |___/| ____|___ /
`---| |_| | ___ __ _ _ __| |_ | |__ / /
| _ |/ _ \/ _` | '__| __| | __| / /
| | | | __/ (_| | | | |_ | |____ / /__
|__| |__|\___|\__,_|_| \__| |______/_____|
Carnage Heart EZ - Easy Zapping
An "English translation" for a "Japanese game" - by Jay West
Contents: 7 chapters with 3 technical appendices
1. Introduction - Why this FAQ was written and what it's for
2. Features - Why you'd want to play EZ if you're familiar with Carnage Heart
3. Controls - How to get around in the game, quickly and easily
4. Playing - How to start a game and play through to the end
5. Menus - English translations of all the Japanese menus in the game
6. Hardware - English translation of all the Japanese "parts" in the game
7. Software - English translation of macros and programming tips
A. Strategy - A brief mention of strategy and the one to use
B. Tactics - A discussion on good tactics, as I see it
C. Logistics - A mention of logistics and how important they can be
E. N. D.
1. Introduction
So a long, long time ago there was this game called Carnage Heart.
It was made in Japan and then translated and released in English countries.
The Japanese, being more into the fringe genres, realized how awesome
the game was and there were two sequels made due to its success.
The English version died a quiet painful death since most people over here
have ADD and are unwilling to spend more than 10 minutes figuring out how to
play a game. This means that unless you can read Japanese, you're not likely
to be able to experience these sequels. Until now!
I have obtained both the sequels (if I bought my Playstation just so I could
play Carnage Heart, I might as well chip it and play the sequels, right?).
I have begun a translation.
I am now prepared to guide you through the process of playing EZ,
all without teaching you how to read Japanese!
So that brings us to the questions of what this game is,
and why you should want to play it.
First off, if you haven't played the first one, then you probably aren't
going to be interested in any of the sequels.
I'm not kidding here, this is not a game for the fainthearted.
So now I'm just talking to the hardcore, the fans of the original,
and let me tell you, EZ tries to fix all the problems of the original
and give you the game that Carnage Heart _should_ have been!
2. Features
Most importantly, the Tank and Flying OKE have been improved!
In the original game, they were pretty useless.
I have yet to hear of anyone making a Tank that is anything less than a
ticking time bomb, a rolling deathtrap.
EZ improves them by making them able to fire... get this... WHILE MOVING!
Yes, they no longer have to stop moving to fire!
This means that as long as you write a program that keeps moving away from
incoming fire, these OKE types can now actually survive battle.
The 2 and 4 Leg OKE types are unchanged; they were strong enough already.
Speaking of that, EZ is harder.
You are probably NOT going to be able to get all the way through this game
just by continuously making squads of 3 of the same 2 Leg OKE.
I found it absolutely necessary to develop a powerful 4 Leg OKE as a
"heavy weapons platform" to lay down suppressive fire.
The computer opponent (Drakken) is a much better programmer and strategist
in this game. You're actually going to have a fight on your hands this time,
not just a cakewalk. Which of course means that if you had serious problems
in the first game, you're going to need to spend a lot of time in R&D
developing some strong OKEs to get anywhere in this version. 8 )
The main new feature that makes this game harder is enemy reinforcements.
Drakken owns these moons that you're assaulting.
Enemy bases you "haven't gotten to yet" will send reinforcements.
This means you'll get a message from the army dude (likely saying "We've
spotted reinforcements moving in, Sir!" or something equally military, I
don't read Japanese but I don't have to to know what's being said) when
you're close to finishing a map.
The first time this happens it might startle you, and for good reason!
The timing is usually pretty good. You've generally stopped production
of OKEs and you're waiting for your final couple squads to move in on the
last enemy base or two and suddenly three squads of enemy OKEs show up just
where you weren't expecting anything to show up. So there's a frenzied
stage of starting the production lines back up and routing nearby units to
head off the fresh invaders and you'll think that everything's handled and
then you get into combat with these reinforcements and...
they totally destroy your forces.
They're very strong, these reinforcements.
Not just that, but quite often you'll see that you're being attacked by the
dreaded "?" OKE type! This is a type of OKE that you don't have access to
yet and can't identify. Unsurprisingly, your forces are likely to be
totally unprepared for the kind of assault that these reinforcements can
launch. You may find yourself backing up to a saved game a couple of turns
in the past. I wouldn't blame you in the least the first time it happens.
By the next map you'd better have learned your lesson and made a significant
improvement in your tactics and style of play, accounting for the possibility
of enemy reinforcements at a critical juncture. Learn or die.
Probably the MOST annoying thing in the original game was that the only way
to extend the play life was to play at the Practice, then Easy, then Medium,
then Hard difficulty level. That in and of itself was no hardship, but all
the great software you'd written for the previous difficulty was totally
unavailable to you when you started the next! You could have all these great
little programs written and stored away in a previous saved game, but you'd
have to write them down or memorize them in order to bring them into your
next game. Totally annoying. EZ features a "Card Copy" in the "Software
Design" area allowing you to load programs from other saved games! It even
knows how to load programs from the original Carnage Heart! All is not lost;
your fantastic programs of destruction are now reusable in EZ.
Also in the area of "curing the annoyance factor", when you've paid good
money to finance the R&D of some great new piece of technology, the company
you've paid will now alert you when the item is available for purchase!
Amazing! The whole "having to go through each company in Negotiation" every
turn just to find out if that new Oscillator is available YET was pretty
annoying. You still have to if you want to keep on top of the R&D, and it's
surprising that they added an alert to one and not the other, but it's
definitely an improvement.
Another thing they've added is "Macros". I didn't use them much, but you
can grab pre-programmed blocks to accomplish something for you and just
paste them into your program. Quite handy if you don't like taking a lot
of time to write some basic software.
I'm sure there are other improvements in EZ, since the whole game just
"flows" a lot better than the original. Still, I'm going to call them all
relatively minor improvements and just carry on.
3. Controls
The standard "American" control set uses X to select things,
and one of the other buttons will end up being the "Cancel".
The Japanese however chose to use X to cancel and always use O to select.
This is going to be your biggest hurdle.
Just to get the game going you're going to have to beat it into your head
that you want to press O for "okay" and X for no/cancel.
The Japanese system certainly makes sense (O for okay, get it?) but it's
just not the system we've become accustomed to. Within 5 minutes you'll
have taught your thumb to do the right thing, but it's an annoying 5 minutes.
The D-Pad will do most of what you'll want to get done, and the X and O
buttons (once you've got them figured out) are likely your main controls,
but there are many other (almost hidden!) controls built into this game.
Learning them and using them is going to save you a LOT of time and
aggravation, so I've got this little section here devoted to teaching
you the full control set. You'll be coming back here till you've fully
memorized them, I'm sure.
Basic Navigation
================
^ + D-Pad : Holding down triangle will make the D-Pad act to rotate you
through possible choices. So when you've got a menu full of options you
can "triangle up/down" through the list and much more importantly you can
"triangle down-right" to snap the pointer instantly over to that OK box in
the bottom right corner of the screen when the pointer is in the top left.
Very handy.
Tactics Navigation
==================
L2 : Using this "Next" button you can cycle through bases or units.
This is the best way to give movement orders to all your units:
One at a time, "L2'ing" through the whole list. Watch the top-left
corner for the unit number so that you know when you've gotten back
to the unit you've started with.
R2 : Use this button to pull up the "Map". Quite handy to look at,
and R2 is easier than triangle-right-right, which is easier than moving
the arrow all the way to that little Map button on the right-hand side of
the screen. Note that while the map is up, selecting a base/unit will
take you instantly to that base/unit.
Image Navigation
================
R1 + D-Pad : Any 3D object on the screen can be rotated to your whim via
this control combination. Cool, but not particularly useful.
R1 + L1 : Zoom In
R1 + L2 : Zoom Out
Software Design Navigation
==========================
[] : Cycles through your tools. Goes from Put to Get to Copy to Edit to
Delete and back to Put. It skips "Block Paste" which you're not going to
use very often.
X : Not just "cancel" but also (when there's nothing to cancel) resets you
to the Put tool (very useful!) or (if you're already using the Put tool)
opens the menu or (if you've already got the menu open) goes to the Exit
command on the menu. This is a great way to quickly exit out.
R1 + D-Pad : Moves the screen instead of the pointer, allows for smooth and
easy scrolling around your program that won't fit on the screen. Very handy.
R2 : Opens the chips list, much easier than selecting it from the menu.
L2 + D-Pad : Rotates the green arrow on your "current chip" (either the
one you're editing, or the one in the little memory buffer in the top-left
corner). Very handy. Lots easier than manipulating those little buttons
around each chip.
L1 + D-Pad : Rotates the red arrow on your "current chip" (yup, just like
L2 + D-Pad, and almost as handy too).
4. Playing
This is a Japanese game, you're likely going to need a way to play
Playstation games that aren't from your current region.
I leave you to solve that one on your own.
As before, the start up screen allows you to Start a new game, Load an
existing game, or start a VS Battle. The surprising thing is that
everything you've seen (including the mandatory "Now Loading") has
been in English! The Japanese LOVE the English language.
There's LOTS of English in this game, which is why you can play it
even though you can't read Japanese! Yay! So you'll be choosing to
Start a new game and that brings you to the spiffy GUI for difficulty
level selection. Here we see Jupiter and 3 of its moons.
Selecting a menu option zooms onto the moon you've selected and gives
you details on it like Mass and how strong its gravity is and other fun
scientific things that have no bearing on the game whatsoever.
It also lists the important details for that level such as how much
cash you'll start with and how many maps you'll have to defeat to beat
that setting. The menu options are the same as in the previous game,
but I'll translate them here for you:
Difficulty Moon Start Cash Length
========== ======== ========== ======
Practice Europa $500,000 1 Map
Easy Europa $100,000 5 Maps
Medium Ganymede $200,000 7 Maps
Hard Callisto $300,000 8 Maps
I would suggest starting at the lowest and working your way up.
It extends the amount of time you can enjoy the game, and your best
designs from previous difficulty levels are easily loaded into the next one,
giving you a solid program to start with that you developed and tested
through all the last game.
Which brings us to the issue of "this game is in Japanese! How am I going
to play it now?". Well, most of this game is menu driven, and as long as
you know the order of the items on the menu, you don't need to know what
it says! By the type of screen you're at, you'll generally know which menu
you're in, and if you don't know for sure you can always back out to the
Main Menu via repeatedly pressing X. In either of the design modes, there
are lots of little icons, and pictures are universal. Very little of that
actually _needs_ translating. Considering this and how similar EZ is to
the original, it's a bit of a surprise that it wasn't released in English
just because of how much of the work had already been done by that previous
release. Still, I maintain that translation is not truly required.
The only place you're going to see a lot of Japanese text and actually
care what it says is in the Hardware Design view, so I'll provide
translations of what all that text says in the order that it should
appear in on your screen. If you're ever in doubt, you can always hit the
"View" button (on the bottom left corner of any hardware selection display
window) and have a look at the 3D render of the item you've selected.
If the picture doesn't make it clear what you're working with (which can
happen in the case of Main and Sub weapons) then all it will take is a
look at the ammunition you need to fill it.
So with this guide in hand, you should be able to fully enjoy EZ!
With that in mind, I'll just give you a quick one-paragraph summary
of things to keep in mind when you start your new game:
Your first turn is extremely important. You'll need to use your cash wisely.
Develop your production lines first, a strong factory is necessary.
Decide which bases will have developed factories and which ones won't.
You don't start off with the cash to do everything.
Next, figure out the minimum set of blueprints you need to purchase.
Optimize the blueprints that your main OKEs focus on.
Then, if you have enough cash left over, you can invest in some R&D.
You likely won't have enough to do so (unless you're playing the Practice
map, but that's what it's there for, so you can figure out what you really
need to research, if anything). You'll get more cash every 15 turns,
but you're going to need that cash to keep your factories running.
Building OKEs in your factories (and the ammunition to make them dangerous)
is going to be a constant drain on your funds, so shut down your factories
as soon as it's safe to do so, repair existing units whenever possible,
and always build the best OKEs you can.
The quicker you can get through a map, the less you've spent, and the more
you've got available for the next map. After you've beaten a map or two,
the prize money from having beaten them quickly should leave you with
enough cash to do anything you want.
5. Menus
A lot of this game is menu driven. Sadly, these menus are all in Japanese.
Happily, the menus are just like in Carnage Heart!
There are a few exceptions, but I've got all the menus translated right
here for you. You'll probably want to print this section of the FAQ and
keep it nearby, it would suck to choose the wrong menu option.
When you start at turn 1 of map 1, you're going to be at the "Main Menu".
The original Carnage Heart would reset back to this Main Menu frequently,
EZ remembers where you last were and you'll have to "cancel out"
(you know, via the X button, pressed as many times as necessary)
to the Main Menu any time you're not positive what menu you're in.
Main Menu System Menu Company Menu
========= =========== ============
Tactics Save Blueprints
Design Load R & D
Negotiation BGM Optimization
System Quit Game Information
Tactics Menu Negotiation Menu
============ ================
Deploy Units Kawashima Corp.
Form Units Brenan
Factory Mcmorell
Unit Command AAC
Base List Union Claude
End Turn Canyon Logic
Design Menu Unit Menu Card Menu
=========== ========= =========
Select Card Move Design
Hardware Defend Base Set As Master
Software Capture Base Change Design Name
Test Patrol Copy Card
Set As Master Standby Delete Card
Description of menu options:
From the Main Menu you can get to the Tactics Menu, the Design Menu, the
Negotiation Menu, and the System Menu. Selecting a unit will give you the
Unit Menu, selecting a company to negotiate with will give you the Company
Menu, and selecting a card to design will give you the Card Menu.
All other options will have the expected effect.
I'll go over the less obvious ones as a refresher course.
Deploy Units: An important part of this screen is the amount of Ammo and
Fuel assigned to the unit. For most units, "10" is likely 150% of the
ammo you might actually need before you're in base again.
Also, 1000 is usually at least 150% of the fuel you might actually need
before you're in base again. Fuel is a very limited resource if you play
quickly and with highly mobile OKEs. Luckily the enemy bases you capture
will have lots of fuel. Ammunition is also in short supply unless you
build some in your factories. You're going to do this, I can guarantee it,
but by deploying units with only the amount of ammunition and fuel that
they need you can stretch your starting resources significantly farther.
Another good thing you can do here is transport huge amounts of ammunition
and fuel from the rear bases to the front-line bases. This is probably the
second most useful thing you can do with those Card 26, 27, and 28 designs
that you start the round with.
Factory: From this screen you can Produce (by selecting an open line in the
left column you get a list of cards available for production and a button
in the bottom-left to create Ammo with, and then you can choose amount to
produce with the middle column), Add Line (by selecting a line that isn't
open), Upgrade Line (select the right two columns of an open line and
upgrade its production capacity to whatever you like), or change production
by selecting an open line that is already producing. Doing so will give you
a two-option menu of Change or Remove. Whatever you select will give you an
"Are you sure?" with the usual Yes/No choices.
Unit Command: This shows all active units. The columns are: Unit Number,
Current Action (what you selected from the Unit Menu to command this unit
most recently), Ammo, and Fuel
Base List: This shows all bases under your control. The columns are:
Base Number, Units In Base, OKEs In Base, Ammo In Base, Fuel In Base.
Test: Allows you to pit the current card (and two optional allies) against
as many as 3 opponents (in all cases of any working cards you've got).
Adding OKEs to this test run can be done by selecting the slot you want to
fill/change and then selecting it again. If you want to remove OKEs from
the Test process, there's a button in the bottom-left corner of the card
selection screen for that. Alternatively, the three buttons in the
bottom-right corner are "Change", "Cancel", and "OK". Change and Cancel
are another way of adding/removing OKEs from the selected slot.
Once you've got all the OKEs you want in the test process, you can change
the Map that the test will happen on. There are 5 maps. Map 1 has a short
tower in each corner and 4 tall fuel tanks/towers in the middle. Map 2
(useful for initial test runs) is completely empty. Map 3 has a small
building in each corner and 4 short towers in the middle. Map 4 (the best
one in my opinion) has 6 short towers scattered about the middle of the map.
Map 5 is just 4 short towers in the middle of the map.
Move: This is the only unit command I use. I don't understand the way that
Defend/Capture Base works, so I don't use them at all. Patrol is a waste of
a command in my opinion, and Standby can be accomplished by just selecting
Move and the hex that the unit is already on. Maybe you appreciate the
other options, but I only use "Move". The best thing about Move is that if
you've already given the unit orders, this option is darker than the rest.
R&D: Here you can look at any projects that the company has proposed for new
technology research. These are things that they will eventually produce for
purchase, but this is your chance to donate to the research process in an
effort to speed it up. So if you're not really interested in the technology,
then don't bother giving them funding since they'll get there eventually.
If, however, it's important to you to get that item ASAP, perhaps because
it's a component that you want, need, or rely on, then there's nothing wrong
with the small contribution they suggest. An important point to mention
here is that there's two numbers on the screen, the higher one is the
"suggested contribution" to keep research moving quickly, the lower one is
the amount you've already contributed. You can actually invest any amount
you like in research, just select the number and enter your chosen amount.
When you select the "OK" box you donate that amount of money, so be sure to
use the X button to leave this screen or you might accidentally donate money
you needed elsewhere. In the bottom-left corner is the company salesman
telling you how the project is going. Usually this statement will be "all
is progressing satisfactorily" but sometimes you'll see a "..." in the midst
of the message and that means he's saying "research has stalled... it would
help if you gave us more funding". If you're planning on donating extra
cash to a research project (to make sure it doesn't get delayed) I suggest
donating a larger amount earlier on. Donate the suggested amount twice, or
something. That way you're not constantly back into this screen. After all,
it doesn't cost very much, and you were already planning on spending it.
Information: The company representatives will give you some clue as to what
technology Drakken has purchased recently, which could tell you what kind of
OKEs are going to be coming at you next. Since it's all in Japanese though,
you're not going to be able to read it. You're not missing anything.
Change Design Name: This can also be done in Hardware Design by selecting
the name of the card, and is automatically done when you Copy Card.
There are a lot of buttons here, but the third one down the stack will
give you English letters and numbers. Punctuation can be found in the
fourth one. That should be all you need to create pleasing (and readable!)
names for your OKEs.
Any other menus or options you see are going to be of the "Are you sure?"
variety. One notable exception is in the Hardware screen when you select
the processor to use in your OKE. The engineer gives you the choice of
"Generate Auto Program?" to which you get the same Yes/No options, but
here you might actually want to say No. Saves you deleting it later.
If you already have a processor on the OKE and select a new one, then
you'll first get a "Delete existing program?" choice of Yes/No before
he asks if you want a useless Auto Program.
6. Technology
By "technology", I mean all the stuff you need to build an OKE in the
Hardware Design screen. All this stuff is in Japanese, but all the numbers
are in English. Those numbers (and sometimes the 3D model of the item in
question) will be all you'll need to know to play. If you want to know
what the Japanese translates to, that's what this section is for.
So I'll list everything in the game here, and I'll list it in the order
that you should see it in your on-screen list. Interestingly, the weapons
and equipment in EZ are exactly the same as in Carnage Heart. Which means
that you can use an equipment list from the first game if you have one.
OKE Body choices (with available Main and Sub weapon choices):
Each OKE Body type has different abilities, and there are 3 designs for
each type, each of those designs has different armaments, statistics, and
weak/strong points. Durability is the "toughness" of the OKE, how easily
they get destroyed. Higher values will last longer, lower values will get
toasted easily. Efficiency is how well the body design can use its engine
to carry weight. A "high efficiency" body design (like a Tank) can use all
the output from the engine to carry usable mass like weapons and armour, a
"low efficiency" body design (like a Flying OKE) needs most of its engine
output just to keep it aloft, meaning that the your biggest engine might
not give enough power to lift the lightest Flying OKE you can design.
2-Leg OKE Body Dura Eff. Weight Proc Cost Lvl
============== ==== ==== ====== ==== ==== ===
Prowler I 520 50% 2400 115 400 1
Prowler II 530 55% 2360 108 420 2
Prowler Assault 320 12 100 1
Prowler Shotgun 320 12 200 1
Prowler Laser 300 10 280 1
4 Rocket Pod 72 12 40 1
8 Rocket Pod 144 24 80 1
4 Missile Pod 72 12 40 1
8 Missile Pod 144 24 80 1
Lg Missile Pod 36 3 20 1
This is a very cheap and effective OKE. It moves quickly and can do a
great back flip. It's light weight and speed will make it your main OKE
but you'll eventually discard it for more durable hardware. It can achieve
longevity as a "fast & quick" OKE if you develop a 200 or 240 process
version with good software and then build them in your forward bases on the
factory lines that you don't want to pay to upgrade and aren't advanced
enough to build your more serious OKEs. Considering the amount of time
you'll spend with this OKE until the later types are researched, it
wouldn't be surprising if you developed a certain fondness for it.
2-Leg OKE Body Dura Eff. Weight Proc Cost Lvl
============== ==== ==== ====== ==== ==== ===
Jujuman01 540 55% 2900 142 500 1
Jujuman02 550 58% 2850 134 540 2
Jujuman Assault 380 14 110 1
Jujuman Shotgun 360 14 220 1
Jujuman Laser 300 12 280 1
8 Rocket Pod 144 24 80 1
12 Rocket Pod 216 36 120 1
8 Missile Pod 144 24 80 1
12 Missile Pod 216 36 120 1
2 Lg Missile Pod 72 6 40 1
4 Lg Missile Pod 144 12 80 1
6 Floating Mine 108 18 60 1
6 Scatter Mine 108 18 60 1
Another highly versatile OKE, this is likely to become your main OKE type
on the battlefield once you've got it researched and optimized. Able to
carry heavier weapons and armour than the Prowler, the Jujuman is little
more than a better 2-Leg OKE. Not that any more is needed. Your 2-Leg
software is likely to be quite advanced and seriously deadly by the time
you're able to produce this OKE, and you'll probably see a significant
increase in favourable battle results.
2-Leg OKE Body Dura Eff. Weight Proc Cost Lvl
============== ==== ==== ====== ==== ==== ===
Vypor I 570 60% 3120 152 720 3
Vypor II 585 ??% 3080 122 840 4
Vypor Assault 440 18 140 1
Vypor Shotgun 370 16 260 1
Vypor Laser 310 14 300 1
8 Rocket Pod 144 24 80 1
12 Rocket Pod 216 36 120 1
8 Missile Pod 144 24 80 1
12 Missile Pod 216 36 120 1
4 Lg Missile Pod 144 12 80 1
6 Lg Missile Pod 216 18 120 1
6 Floating Mine 108 18 60 1
6 Scatter Mine 108 18 60 1
Carrying on in proud tradition is the best 2-Leg OKE of them all! The
highest durability and efficiency ratings of any 2-Leg, fantastically low
process cost, and the ability to tote 6 large missiles, all for the low
price of a level 4 factory. This OKE maintains everything you've come to
like about the 2-Leg OKE and builds on it. Wait till you see what happens
when you pull the trigger on the main weapon! I suggest you pack lots of
ammo. I wouldn't suggest using it till you've got it optimized though,
the process cost on the first version is kind of prohibitive.
4-Leg OKE Body Dura Eff. Weight Proc Cost Lvl
============== ==== ==== ====== ==== ==== ===
Livewire 720 70% 2900 146 540 2
Livewire IM 730 73% 2820 124 580 3
Livewire Assault 340 16 140 1
Livewire Shotgun 420 16 220 1
Livewire Laser 330 12 300 1
8 Rocket Pod 144 24 80 1
16 Rocket Pod 288 48 160 1
8 Missile Pod 144 24 80 1
16 Missile Pod 288 48 160 1
2 Lg Missile Pod 72 6 40 1
4 Lg Missile Pod 144 12 80 1
6 Floating Mine 108 18 60 1
6 Scatter Mine 108 18 60 1
As you can see, this OKE can do anything! With efficiency halfway between a
2-Leg and a Tank type, you can get some heavier weapons and armour on this
platform quite easily. Your biggest difficulty is going to be creation of
good software. Still, if you can take advantage of this OKE type and its
ability to grapple, dodge, AND lay down heavy fire, you're going to find it
to be a serious asset to your attacks.
4-Leg OKE Body Dura Eff. Weight Proc Cost Lvl
============== ==== ==== ====== ==== ==== ===
Rogue I 680 78% 3200 186 680 2
Rogue II 690 82% 3120 182 740 3
Rogue Assault 430 18 140 1
Rogue Shotgun 430 16 220 1
Rogue Laser 330 12 300 1
6 Rocket Pod 108 18 60 1
12 Rocket Pod 216 36 120 1
6 Missile Pod 108 18 60 1
12 Missile Pod 216 36 120 1
2 Lg Missile Pod 72 6 40 1
4 Lg Missile Pod 144 12 80 1
6 Floating Mine 108 18 60 1
6 Scatter Mine 108 18 60 1
Since there's no armour between 35mm and 50mm (a small failing in an
otherwise great game), the increased efficiency of this 4-Leg is unlikely
to be of any use to you. Although this OKE is more nimble than its
Livewire counterpart, the increased process cost is quite likely to stop
you from using it altogether. Feel free to design one though, since the
bases you capture from Drakken sometimes have factory lines upgraded high
enough to make even a solid Rogue card in 2 turns...
4-Leg OKE Body Dura Eff. Weight Proc Cost Lvl
============== ==== ==== ====== ==== ==== ===
Manticore 800 72% 2950 164 840 4
Manticore B1 815 76% 2840 162 920 5
Manticore Assault 410 18 150 1
Manticore Laser 320 14 340 1
8 Rocket Pod 144 24 80 1
8 Missile Pod 144 24 80 1
2 Lg Missile Pod 72 6 40 1
Make no mistake, this OKE was made to GRAPPLE! If you can write some
software to sneak this OKE into short range, you can easily bash the enemy
to kibble! The sub weapons are very light, so you should be able to build a
Large Missile version for a reasonable process cost. Be very careful about
fitting a Laser onto this beast, it fires a lot more than one shot at a
time and you could easily kill yourself with heat. Of course, you should
be too busy sneaking into short range to fire the main gun...
Tank OKE Body Dura Eff. Weight Proc Cost Lvl
============= ==== ==== ====== ==== ==== ===
Kouger 1060 98% 4660 96 380 1
Kouger B1 1120 100% 4500 92 400 2
Kouger Assault 430 14 100 1
Kouger Laser 330 10 260 1
14 Floating Mine 252 42 98 1
14 Scatter Mine 252 42 98 1
This is the best OKE for playing around with Mines. I've found that
Scatter Mines are ineffective compared to other sub weapon types, and
Floating Mines are best for taking out Flying OKEs. So this OKE will
likely be your best counter to an enemy Flying OKE. Which you won't be
seeing for a LONG time, if ever. Which means I didn't find this OKE to
be of any use at all. Your mileage may vary, of course. If you can find
a good way to utilize its significant guns then perhaps its lack of a
"better" sub weapon will become unimportant.
Tank OKE Body Dura Eff. Weight Proc Cost Lvl
============= ==== ==== ====== ==== ==== ===
Jackhammer 970 96% 4400 112 620 3
Jackhammer B1 1040 100% 4220 108 660 4
Jackhammer Assault 420 14 110 1
Jackhammer Laser 340 12 260 1
18 Rocket Pod 324 54 180 1
24 Rocket Pod 432 72 240 1
18 Missile Pod 324 54 180 1
24 Missile Pod 432 72 240 1
4 Lg Missile Pod 144 12 80 1
8 Lg Missile Pod 288 24 160 1
12 Floating Mine 216 36 96 1
12 Scatter Mine 216 36 96 1
Here it is, the heavy weapons platform to rule them all! Nothing can
carry more rockets than this bad boy. If Drakken isn't using the Missile
Jammer device, then this one OKE with a full load of Large Missiles and
some good software can take out a full unit. Of course, it's a Tank, so
your software is going to need to focus on movement to avoid being a
sitting duck for enemy fire. I see this OKE as a software challenge with
solid battle results payoff.
Tank OKE Body Dura Eff. Weight Proc Cost Lvl
============= ==== ==== ====== ==== ==== ===
Ronin 860 <?> 3700 128 560 4
Ronin IM 860 <?> 3550 102 640 5
Ronin Assault 390 12 120 1
Ronin Laser 310 10 280 1
16 Missile Pod 288 48 160 1
24 Missile Pod 432 72 240 1
4 Lg Missile Pod 144 12 80 1
6 Lg Missile Pod 216 18 120 1
10 Floating Mine 180 30 80 1
10 Scatter Mine 180 30 80 1
Continuing the proud tank tradition of "heavy weapon platform", this is a
cheaper and faster missile tank than any of the previous OKEs.
I haven't yet developed this OKE in-game, so all values are unverified.
Flying OKE Body Dura Eff. Weight Proc Cost Lvl
=============== ==== ==== ====== ==== ==== ===
Valiant01 380 32% 1600 182 1040 5
Valiant02 410 <?> 1520 172 1160 6
Valiant Assault 160 10 110 1
Valiant Laser 120 10 300 1
12 Rocket Pod 216 36 120 1
18 Rocket Pod 324 54 180 1
12 Missile Pod 216 36 120 1
18 Missile Pod 324 54 180 1
4 Lg Missile Pod 144 12 80 1
This is the first flying OKE you'll be able to get, and you probably won't
even have an engine developed that will lift it when you do get it.
Theoretically though, you could develop this OKE into the ultimate support
platform, flying high above the battlefield and raining destruction down
upon your enemies. Good movement routines and a Missile Jammer are pretty
much essential, as it will only take a couple hits to destroy it entirely.
I haven't yet developed this OKE in-game, so all values are unverified.
Flying OKE Body Dura Eff. Weight Proc Cost Lvl
=============== ==== ==== ====== ==== ==== ===
IronDeath01 430 <?> 1900 218 1250 6
IronDeath02 455 <?> 1820 202 1200 7
IronDeath Assault 170 14 110 1
IronDeath Laser 130 12 300 1
6 Missile Pod 108 18 60 1
12 Missile Pod 216 36 120 1
6 Lg Missile Pod 216 18 120 1
6 Scatter Mine 108 18 60 1
12 Scatter Mine 216 36 120 1
This flying OKE introduces the "bomber" concept. Load it up with Scatter
Mines, fly over top an enemy OKE, drop Scatter Mines, fly away.
With a load of DeathSpheres, the only chance your enemies will have is
shooting the bomber down before it totally destroys them.
By the time this shows up in R&D, your game is probably already over,
so it's really only here for playing around with.
To emphasize this, the process cost makes the Rogue look cheap.
I haven't yet developed this OKE in-game, so all values are unverified.
Flying OKE Body Dura Eff. Weight Proc Cost Lvl
=============== ==== ==== ====== ==== ==== ===
Raptor 580 <?> 2580 236 1360 7
Raptor IM 600 <?> 2490 216 1420 8
Raptor Assault 390 12 120 1
Raptor Laser 310 10 280 1
6 Missile Pod 108 18 60 1
12 Missile Pod 216 36 120 1
6 Lg Missile Pod 216 18 120 1
6 Scatter Mine 108 18 60 1
12 Scatter Mine 216 36 120 1
I've never played a game long enough to develop this OKE, but by looking at
it I'd say it was an improved IronDeath. The same thing, but more so.
I mean really, who's even got a factory that can produce one of these?
I obviously haven't yet developed this OKE in-game, so all values are guesses.
OKE Engine choices:
The Engine gives power to your OKE and it and the efficiency of the chosen
body type determines how much weight (armour, weapons, fuel, etc.) you can
put on the OKE. Since you MUST give an OKE something from every category,
you might not be able to fit even the lightest of components on a design
if the engine isn't powerful enough. Conversely, the engine is a large
amount of the process cost, so you should use the smallest engine you can
to keep the total process count down.
Engine Name Output Disp. Weight Proc Cost Lvl Description
=========== ====== ===== ====== ==== ==== === ===========
Cargill SV1 15000 9.0 190 24 190 1 A bad engine
Cargill SV1 MK2 15500 10.8 195 20 210 1
Tyron Z1 16400 12.6 200 26 240 1 A terrible engine
Tyron Z1 MK2 17000 14.4 205 25 260 1
Golle 1800C1 17400 16.2 220 24 290 2
Golle 1800C1 MK2 18000 18.0 225 20 310 2 <- Best engine in the game
Cargill SV2 18500 19.8 250 34 340 2
Cargill SV2 MK2 19000 21.6 255 30 360 2
Tyron Z2 19600 23.4 260 38 390 2
Tyron Z2 MK2 20200 25.2 265 33 410 2
Golle 2800C2 21400 27.0 270 45 440 3
Golle 2800C2 MK2 22200 28.8 275 38 460 3
Cargill SV3 23000 30.6 280 52 490 3
Cargill SV3 MK2 23800 32.4 285 44 510 3
Tyron Z3 24800 34.2 290 56 540 4
Tyron Z3 MK2 25800 36.0 295 50 560 4
Hug 2020 28200 37.8 310 64 590 4
Hug 2020 MK2 30000 39.6 315 58 610 4
G-Tough 404 31200 41.4 330 74 640 5
G-Tough 404 MK2 32000 43.2 335 69 660 5
Tyron Z4 33200 45.0 340 82 690 5
Tyron Z4 MK2 34800 46.8 345 74 710 5
Hug 7070 36500 48.6 360 80 740 6
Hug 7070 MK2 37200 50.4 365 78 860 6
G-Tough 505 38300 54.0 380 88 890 6
G-Tough 505 MK2 40000 57.6 385 82 910 6
Tyron Z5 42000 61.2 390 96 940 7
Tyron Z5 MK2 43800 64.8 395 94 960 7
Hug 9090 44400 68.4 410 108 990 7
Hug 9090 MK2 45800 72.0 415 108 1010 8
The first engine (Cargill) is too small to do much for you.
The Tyron is even worse. The Golle is more powerful and will add fewer
processes to your OKE. It's got enough power in it that you can use it
through most of the game, you're likely to not use any other engine till
you decide to move up to the next size armour. All other engines from the
Golle onwards are pretty much the same, they give you more power but the
process cost is higher than you'll likely want to pay.
OKE Main Weapon Ammunition choices:
Each kind of main weapon has its own type of ammunition. Lasers have the
longest range but at the expense of raising your heat significantly.
This can be a significant enough cost that you can be forced to use the
assault sometimes. This is also why the Cooling Device is the first
Optional Component you can pick up. On the plus side, if you hit someone
with a laser, THEIR heat will go up! This can make it a fearsome weapon
when combined with rockets. The assault gun has a range almost as long as
the laser, but without the heating cost and can therefore hold a better rate
of fire. Definitely the weapon for laying down continuous fire. The shotgun
is a short-range weapon, the fired pellets spread out until they're
ineffective. The way the shot spreads out makes this gun much more
difficult to dodge. All ammunition packages have a rated firepower
(on a per shot basis, which is an important consideration when you realize
that there are a dozen "shots" in one shotgun shell!), a weight, and a cost.
Assault Ammo. FP Weight Cost
============= == ====== ====
80 AP Ammo 45 80 80
140 AP Ammo 45 140 80
200 AP Ammo 45 200 80
80 DFAP Ammo 50 160 90
140 DFAP Ammo 50 280 90
200 DFAP Ammo 50 400 90
80 CHEM Ammo 55 240 100
140 CHEM Ammo 55 420 100
200 CHEM Ammo 55 600 100
80 HDAP Ammo 60 400 110
140 HDAP Ammo 60 700 110
200 HDAP Ammo 60 1000 110
Assault guns may have lower firepower ammunition than other guns, but they
don't increase your heat. Although it can be used at ranges up to 180m,
accuracy decreases pretty rapidly past the 100m mark.
Shotgun Ammo. FP Weight Cost
============= == ====== ====
50 AP Shot 20 100 90
70 AP Shot 20 140 90
100 AP Shot 20 200 90
50 HD Shot 25 150 100
70 HD Shot 25 210 100
100 HD Shot 25 300 100
50 CR Shot 30 200 110
70 CR Shot 30 280 110
100 CR Shot 30 400 110
50 HDAP Shot 35 250 120
70 HDAP Shot 35 350 120
100 HDAP Shot 35 500 120
Shotgun shells have a maximum effectiveness at about 50m, overall damage
tends to decrease slowly as you leave that range. This weapon is unusable
past the 125m mark. Although you can only get at most 100 shells for a
shotgun, the low range and deadly effectiveness means that you aren't going
to fire it many times. And when you do, you're likely to destroy your
opponent in just a couple hits.
Laser Oscillator FP Weight Cost
================ == ====== ====
MT Oscillator A 50 120 320
MT Oscillator B 50 200 320
GL Oscillator A 55 240 360
GL Oscillator B 55 400 360
CL Oscillator A 60 240 400
CL Oscillator B 60 400 400
HM Oscillator A 65 240 520
HM Oscillator B 65 400 520
Laser Oscillators provide either 120 or 200 shots, depending on size.
Although it can be fired at the maximum range of 200m, accuracy decreases
pretty rapidly past the 120m mark. So even though it looks like a great
long-range weapon, it doesn't end up being as effective as you might think.
OKE Sub weapon Ammunition choices:
Each kind of sub weapon has its own type of ammunition.
Rockets are unguided but have a large area of effect.
Missiles are guided weapons, and each one has a different guidance system.
Large missiles carry a heavier payload (bigger boom!) and their guidance
systems tend to be better and longer lived.
All mines divide into two types, the "shrapnel burst" type that shoot out a
spray of shrapnel, and the kind that explode on contact. The strength of
mines is that I have yet to see a software design that looks out for them.
Technically, that should mean that there's a big hole in most (specifically,
Drakkens) software. However, since mines rely on the enemy walking/flying
into them, they remain mostly ineffective. Both styles of mines have no
"range" to speak of (since they pretty much just sit there until an enemy
comes near enough) but all sub weapon munitions have a Firepower rating
(how much damage they do on a full hit), a weight (that's per item!),
and a cost (again, per item).
Rocket Range F.P. Weight Cost Description
====== ====== ==== ====== ==== ===========
Snake Short 70 30 90 "Shotgun style", small area
Snake MK2 Short 75 25 85
Hercules Short 72 40 94 "Shotgun style", medium area
Hercules MK2 Short 77 35 90
Panther Short 78 50 99 "Shotgun style", large area
Panther MK2 Short 83 45 96 <- probably the best rocket
DragonFly Short 82 60 105 "Area effect"
DragonFly MK2 Short 87 55 100
NightHawk Short 76 70 109 "Area effect"
NightHawk MK2 Short 81 65 105
Rockets are short-range, unguided weapons that have a large area of effect
that not only damages but also severely raises the heat level of any OKEs
caught in the blast area. So although they're unguided, they can easily be
a lot more difficult to avoid than missiles. Combined with Lasers, you can
easily "overheat" an opponent to destruction! There are two varieties of
rockets, both separate (at about the 50m mark) into numerous sub munitions
but they differ from that point on. "Shotgun style" rockets explode when
they hit something, generally creating a semi-triangular blast area if/when
they land. "Area effect" rockets spread out and all explode at the same
time, covering a large area and releasing flying shrapnel.
Against ground-based targets, the "shotgun style" rockets are going to be
more effective as the "area effect" rockets tend to spread out so much that
a simple "duck and cover" defence can prevent having to take any damage at
all from them. Against a flying (or jumping!) target, the "area effect"
rockets might be the only ones that will do any damage at all since the
"shotgun style" rockets tend to be limited in effect to the ground.
Be aware of the difference, it's quite critical.
Missile Range F.P. Weight Cost Description
======= ====== ==== ====== ==== ===========
Mercury Short 70 40 100 The smallest missile
Mercury MK2 Short 75 37 94
Phantom Short 72 45 110
Phantom MK2 Short 77 42 104
Avenger Short 78 50 112
Avenger MK2 Short 83 47 108 <- excellent short range missile
Gremlin Medium 82 55 119
Gremlin MK2 Medium 87 52 113 <- good medium range missile
Eagle Medium 76 60 124 Worse than Gremlin
Eagle MK2 Medium 81 57 120
Delta Medium 70 65 129 Worse than Eagle
Delta MK2 Medium 75 62 125
Cryon Medium 92 70 137
Cryon MK2 Medium 97 67 132 <- excellent medium range missile
Wildcat Short 86 75 148
Wildcat MK2 Short 91 72 143 <- best short range missile
Alpha Medium 100 80 156
Alpha MK2 Medium 105 77 150 <- best medium range missile
Century Medium 94 85 160 Worse than Alpha</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
Century MK2 Medium 99 82 155
Large Missile Range F.P. Weight Cost Description
============= ====== ==== ====== ==== ===========
Shogun Long 150 140 170 Surprisingly good
Shogun MK2 Long 155 135 165
Gorgon Medium 192 160 180 Powerful but medium range, be warned!
Gorgon MK2 Medium 197 155 175 <- good medium range large missile
Hydra Long 154 170 190 Little better than the Shogun
Hydra MK2 Long 159 165 185
BlueWing Medium 184 190 200 Worse than Gorgon
BlueWing MK2 Medium 189 185 195
Leviathan Medium 194 200 220 Little better than the Gorgon
Leviathan MK2 Medium 199 195 215 <- best medium range large missile
Glyphone Long 172 220 240
Glyphone MK2 Long 177 215 235
Orion Long 180 230 260
Orion MK2 Long 185 225 255
Medusa Long 194 250 280
Medusa MK2 Long 199 245 275
NecroZone Long 200 270 300
NecroZone MK2 Long 205 265 295
Nightmare Long 228 290 320 Heavy damage long-range large missile
Nightmare MK2 Long 233 285 315 <- best long range large missile
Missiles are short-to-medium ranged weapons. The range on them is more how
long their guidance systems are active than anything. So a "short range"
missile that is very difficult to avoid at 50m can be ridiculously easy to
avoid beyond 100m. The "medium range" missile can remain difficult to avoid
up until the 150m mark. Only Large Missiles have "long range" capability
and their guidance systems will remain active for 200m. For this reason,
avoid firing any kind of missile when you're at the limit of its effective
range, fire when the enemy is unable to get away and you'll see nice results.
Floating Mine F.P. Weight Cost Description
============= ==== ====== ==== ===========
Macabre 120 20 90 The smallest floating mine
Macabre MK2 125 15 85
Anthaless 200 30 100 Shrapnel spray downward
Anthaless MK2 205 25 95 <- best floating mine against ground OKEs
SteelFang 200 40 110
SteelFang MK2 205 35 105
Kraken 250 50 130
Kraken MK2 255 45 125 <- best floating mine against flying OKEs
Empire 200 60 140
Empire MK2 205 55 135
Floating mines are typically an "anti Flying OKE" weapon, and therefore you
probably won't be using them. There is one exception though, the Anthaless
can be used on ground OKEs. So if you're going to use them, that's likely
the one to use.
Scatter Mine F.P. Weight Cost Description
============ ==== ====== ==== ===========
Tightrope 100 20 60 Shrapnel spray up
Tightrope MK2 105 15 55
Zonde 100 30 70 Jumps up, fires a shrapnel spray down
Zonde MK2 105 25 65
Voodoo 260 40 90 Explodes when stepped on
Voodoo MK2 265 35 85 <- strongest explosive scatter mine
DeathSphere 210 50 110 Moves towards nearby enemies, explodes
DeathSphere MK2 215 45 105 <- best seeking explosive scatter mine
Zeus 100 60 130 Fires shrapnel spray at enemy OKE
Zeus MK2 105 55 125 <- best shrapnel scatter mine
Scatter mines generally only effect ground targets, but there is the one
exception of the Tightrope. If you can figure a way to get the enemy to
walk into the scatter mines (or perhaps bring the scatter mines to the enemy,
as a "bomber" Flying OKE could manage) then these could be powerful weapons.
Of interesting note is the DeathSphere which will move towards any enemies
that get near to it. These can be effective even against OKEs that have mine
avoidance routines, since once it's locked on it's tough to shake!
OKE Processor choices:
Your main criterion for choosing a processor is going to be capacity.
The bigger the chip, the easier it is to write effective software.
Speed is nice to have, faster processors can give quicker reaction times.
A processor doesn't add much weight to your OKE, and the difference in
process cost is also pretty small from one processor to the next, and the
level of technology required to make a processor is generally lower than
any line you'd use to make the OKE it's in. Generally, just use the
smallest and fastest processor that you can fit your software onto.
Processor Speed Capacity Weight Proc Cost Lvl Description
========= ===== ======== ====== ==== ==== === ===========
CP-468FX Low 8x8 4 8 40 1
CP-478FX Low 9x9 4 10 50 1
CP-588FX2 Med 10x10 4 12 100 2 <- good large processor
A-LEX661P1 High 8x8 6 10 95 3 <- best "small & fast"
A-LEX662P2 Med 9x9 6 12 120 1
A-LEX663P3 High 11x11 7 16 140 2
GHC-01TW Med 12x12 7 14 240 3
GHC-07TRI High 13x13 8 18 320 1
CX-P6000 Med 14x14 8 20 360 2
CX-P6100X High 14x14 9 24 400 3 <- best large processor
OKE Fuel Tank choices:
The chosen fuel tank is going to contribute to your overall weight
significantly, but you're likely to find the process cost to be the
limiting factor. As usual, the monetary cost and required factory
level are pretty much irrelevant.
Fuel Tank Weight Proc Cost Lvl
========= ====== ==== ==== ===
40 Litre 211 6 20 1
50 Litre 264 7 20 1
60 Litre 317 8 21 1
70 Litre 370 9 22 1
80 Litre 423 11 23 1
90 Litre 476 13 24 1
100 Litre 529 15 25 1
110 Litre 582 17 26 1
130 Litre 688 19 28 1
150 Litre 794 21 30 1
A 40 Litre tank is enough for any OKE that doesn't move around much,
but those OKEs tend to get destroyed really quickly. The heavier your
OKE (weight generally being a function of how thick your armour is) the
more fuel it'll consume just walking around. The bigger engines use it
up quicker, and using a Missile Jammer will also consume fuel.
Since units only refuel once a turn, if they fight more than once they'll
need the extra fuel to fight the subsequent battles. I like to use at
least a 60 Litre tank, and prefer to have at least 80 Litre, just in case.
However, if you need to drop 2 process points so that your OKE can be built
in two turns on a level 3 factory line, definitely downgrade the Fuel Tank.
OKE Armour choices:
You go for the heavier armour for the higher defensive value.
You're limited in choice by the massive weight, few OKEs can manage more
than 35mm armour, if that. The process and monetary cost is too small to
worry about, and the required factory level is only a concern if you've
found a way to tote the heaviest of armours.
Armour Size Def Weight Proc Cost Lvl
=========== === ====== ==== ==== ===
25 mm 5 4080 14 80 1
30 mm 7 4800 16 100 1
35 mm 12 7200 18 150 1
50 mm 16 12000 24 180 1
60 mm 24 14400 28 240 2
70 mm 26 16800 34 260 3
80 mm 30 19200 39 300 4
100 mm 33 21600 45 340 4
120 mm 36 26400 58 420 5
150 mm 40 33600 66 540 6
OKE Optional Component choices:
There are 3 kinds of Optional Component, the CD that reduces heat, the ID
that jams guided missiles, and the RD that fixes OKE damage during battle.
Note that this is the only part of the OKE that you don't absolutely HAVE
to have. If you can live without one, it's probably best if you do so.
Device Name Weight Proc Cost Lvl Description
=========== ====== ==== ==== === ===========
Chill 2 CD 460 22 160 1 Cooling Device
Omni P1 ID 200 20 240 1 Interference Device (Missile Jammer)
Goltex 1 RD 900 28 220 2 Repair Device
Chill 4 CD 560 28 250 2 Cooling Device
Omni P3 ID 260 28 360 2 Interference Device (Missile Jammer)
Goltex 2 RD 980 37 320 3 Repair Device
Chill 8 CD 690 36 340 3 Cooling Device
Omni P5 ID 340 38 520 3 Interference Device (Missile Jammer)
Goltex 3 RD 1200 42 450 4 Repair Device
You start out with the CD so that you can rapid fire a laser, or give a laser
to the Tank OKE and actually use it. I find that intermittent fire (via an
advancing fire routine) or simply switching to an assault gun is a better way
to go. The ID is a very powerful component if your opponent is using
missiles, it usually destroys their guidance system (and seeing an enemy's
dangerous large missile twirling off into space is always nice) and makes
them a lot easier to avoid. If Drakken ISN'T using missiles then it's a bit
of a waste to put it in, but I've been happy with a "better safe than sorry"
policy. You might beat the game before you even see the RD come into play,
but if you've got a good dodge routine in your OKEs then this device can
enable them to get through a ridiculous number of battles and survive.
7. Software
All the best hardware in the game is going to do you no good at all if you
can't make software to use it well. The auto programs are pretty awful, you
can't even learn from them. They're best used as bad examples. So you're
probably going to end up starting from a clean slate and writing your own
custom software. A good beginning strategy is to have laser and missiles.
Fire the missiles at anyone within 60m (with an ammunition check that fires
the laser if you're out of missiles) and the laser at anyone within 120m.
With good dodging and movement routines, this is a long-range sniper with a
deadly close-range missile attack. Writing good software is difficult, and
you'll probably find yourself adding to and tweaking your original design
until you need to bring in a larger processor and pretty much start again
from scratch. It's a long learning process and making a habit of looking for
problems during Testing and actual battles can lead to serious improvements.
You should be creating new cards on a regular basis, copying the old card
into a new slot and upgrading the weaponry. when you do that, have a look at
the software and see if you can make some upgrades there, as well. I like to
give my OKEs a "version number" so that every time I copy a card I increase
the version number. It's quite common for my initial "laser & missile" OKE
to go through a dozen upgrades. So is there anything to help you along the
way? Anything to give you a hand in the long process of software creation?
Yes. It's not a lot, but in EZ there are Macros. A macro is a set of chips
that try to do something. Theoretically, you could build a program just by
linking a bunch of macros together. I'm not saying it would work well, but
you could probably learn a lot from it. So since we can't read Japanese,
I'll tell you what each of these macros does, in order from top to bottom.
# Size Purpose Description
== ==== ======= ===========
1 3x4 Attack 1/3 chance of sub weapon, check heat, fire main
2 3x4 Attack 1/5 chance of 2xsub weapon, check heat, fire main, advance
3 3x7 Attack 1/5 chance of 2xsub weapon, fire main, grapple, check heat,
avoid obstacle, avoid friend
4 3x6 Attack 1/5 chance of 2xsub weapon, fire main, check heat, avoid
friend, exit on danger, advance
5 3x7 Attack 2xsub weapon at enemy within 20m, watch out for friends,
obstacles, and heat, fire main if clear
6 3x3 Dodge Either avoid friends or do a random dodge and jam missiles
7 3x4 Dodge Either advance on enemy ahead or turn left, jam missiles
8 3x4 Dodge Move left or right depending on friends and obstacles, jam
missiles, avoid friends
9 3x7 Dodge Avoid obstacle ahead, jump, jam missiles
10 3x7 Dodge Avoid obstacle on side, move left or right, jam missiles,
avoid friends
11 3x3 Seek Either advance or turn towards the nearest enemy
12 3x3 Seek If there's no incoming danger and no obstacle to the right,
then advance, otherwise turn left
13 3x4 Seek If there's no incoming danger then turn towards the enemy
14 3x7 Seek Turn toward enemy, jump right if friend left, avoid obstacles
15 3x6 Seek If there's no incoming danger and no enemies and no obstacles
and no friends nearby, turn left
16 3x7 Seek Turn toward enemy, if there's no incoming danger then either
sidestep or advance to avoid obstacles
One of the most important things that macros might teach you will be to
separate your processor into sections where you accomplish one task.
The bottom-right corner might be your dodge routine, for instance.
Or the top-right might be your short-range attack routine.
Or the bottom-left might be your seeking and ally avoidance section.
If you can write your software in sections and intelligently move from one
section to another then you're going to be able to make sense of what the
OKE is doing in combat.
A. Strategy
It's important to have a solid strategy set up before you're done turn 1.
Plan on which of your bases are producing the OKEs to take which enemy bases
in what order. As you take enemy bases, your "front line" moves forward,
with the "front line" being where OKEs are produced and every base behind
that just kind of sitting idle. It's often good to have scouting groups
(probably the third best thing to do with units of card 26/27/28) on the
edges of the map where you expect enemy reinforcements to come in.
These "scouting groups" will see reinforcements as soon as they appear and
give you a couple turns of "early warning", allowing you to divert units not
immediately required at the front to hold back the strong reinforcing units.
B. Tactics
I've found that after a couple maps it's vitally important to have some sort
of "heavy weapons platform" that can lay down serious "suppression fire" so
that my 2 Leg OKEs aren't pinned down by enemy fire. I've chosen to go the
4 Leg OKE with heavy armour and 16 Rockets route, your mileage may vary.
Whatever your unit disposition, you'll need to send full units (3 OKEs, no
less) towards the enemy bases as fast as you can. This means that when
you're designing your OKE, keep in mind production costs. That means that
200, 240, 260, and 280 are your "magic numbers". If your OKEs have a
production cost of that much (or a bit less) then you'll be able to punch
them out in 2 turns on an adequate factory line. You might be able to
"out produce" Drakken, but I would say that without good (current!) hardware
and strong software all the production on the planetoid isn't going to help
you. Against some of Drakkens stronger units you're going to need to apply
some tactics though. First off, this means you'll have to take advantage of
the fact that your OKEs will "repair" when they're in a base (repairing an
OKE takes a little while, but it's still a lot better than building them
from scratch). Any time your unit loses an OKE (or even just gets really
close), it's usually best to back that unit off and head for the nearest
base for repairs. Another important tactic is "defending the base". If you
have formed units (not just OKEs, they have to be assigned to a unit!) in a
base (repairing themselves, most likely), then when Drakken attacks the base
he'll have to destroy ALL the units there to take the base! If you've got 6
damaged OKEs in a base, you turn them into two units and even the best
Drakken can produce will have a tough time taking that base from you. It'll
probably cost you a handful of OKEs, but you'll keep the base and likely the
factory lines there will produce a strong new unit for you on the next turn.
Another good tactic that you'll get great mileage out of is "the swarm".
If you attack one unit multiple times on the same turn, those units won't
have time to get re-supplied! So if you take a group of "throwaway" units
(likely a collection of card 26/27/28 OKEs) and attack a strong Drakken unit
with them first (and likely lose them all, no big loss) then when your next
unit attacks the Drakken unit will likely have exhausted its supply of those
strong and nasty sub weapons. This will make your final assault much easier
and your damage levels will but significantly lower. Be warned though,
Drakken will also use this technique on you! Still, overall I'd have to say
that this is the absolute best use for those generally useless card 26/27/28
OKEs that you start with. The final word on tactics that I'll give here will
be your design choices of Main Weapon and Sub Weapon. The standard choices
are Laser (for the long range and high ammo supply it gives) and Missiles
(for the large ammo supply and general cool effectiveness). This combination
is actually quite effective, but no matter which choices you make it's
important that you write software to use them at the appropriate time. One
of those weapons should be your "long range" weapon, and the other should be
"short range". So Laser (long) and Missiles (short) can be very effective,
but you can easily throw that effectiveness away if you fire off your
Missiles at too long a range. At short range, their damage can be severe.
Another good combination can be Shotgun (short) and Large Missiles (long),
those Large Missiles (given intelligent firing software!) can easily destroy
anything Drakken throws at you until they start implementing the Missile
Jammer in their OKE designs. Another mentionable layout is Shotgun (short)
and Rockets (long), this is your OKE for laying out the suppressive fire and
still having strong short-range defensive power. Intelligent design of OKEs
in BOTH the hardware and software area will make your battles much easier.
C. Logistics
Your units can only move 1 hex a turn, so you're going to have to plan many
turns in advance where your units are headed. The most important part of
your logistics is going to be the _formation_ of your units. Generally,
your units closer to Drakken need to have lower unit numbers. This will
lead to a "ripple effect" as all the units closest to the enemy move first,
followed by those behind them, sometimes in a long chain. If a unit halfway
along the chain has a lower unit number than the unit in front of it, it's
going to try to move before the unit in front of it has moved out of its way
and this will result in a delay of at least 1 turn (usually more) in getting
those units to the front lines. So as you form units in the beginning you're
going to make unit 1 and 2 and so forth until unit 1 gets destroyed, at which
point it will be important to NOT form unit 1 but to carry on forming from
unit 9 (or wherever you left off) so that your "unit train" remains flowing.
Once you've taken a forward Drakken base and start producing units there,
then you can start forming unit 1 and 2 again (since you're now making units
farther forward than the units moving up from the rear). It can quite often
be helpful to take units to a base just so you can reform the unit with a
different unit number. An issue that can't be overlooked here would be the
movement of ammo and fuel with your units. If your front line needs ammo or
fuel, the last unit of OKEs leaving before factory shutdown can take
everything with them. Hopefully you won't have any problems in this area,
but nothing's worse than having some very strong OKEs fresh off the assembly
line that haven't got ammo for their guns or fuel for their fantastic
movement and dodging routines.
E. N. D.
Roll Credits:
http://www.network-science.de/ascii/ was very helpful for the ASCII art
