Translation Guide for Panzer Front - Dreamcast Japanese Version - Released 1999
With a special Gameshark Importing FAQ.
Version 1.1
Special thanks to Turret Muppet and www.panzerfront.co.uk/.
Copyright 10/7/2001
[email protected].
The Dreamcast seems to have a host of good import games that deserve a look. And
none is more deserving that Panzer Front. A tank battle simulation with squad
back-up, this game succeeds where Hidden and Dangerous has failed.
EUROPE: 1941-1945
When you first boot up the disc you get a nice movie of World War II tank action
and actual in-game screen shots. Hit Start twice to get into the first game menu.
For most all options hit A for affirmative and B to return. Note that many of
the menus are divided between English and Japanese text. Unless indicated
otherwise
in this FAQ, assume the language is English. For example, all selections below
are in English.
:
START (see below)
LOAD
---- Load from VMU Slot 1/ Load from VMU Slot 2
----Confirm yes/no
----Go directly to START menu selections
CREDIT -- Run credits
START selections...
TANK SELECT
This is the arcade game using super tanks that the designers thought up in their
head. It is completely historically inaccurate.
TANK SELECT
SELECT MAP -- Chose your mission. See the Tactics section for more information
on this option. Note, you cannot customize these missions like the Tactics
section
beyond choosing your super-tank.
TANK STATUS -- Irrelevant numbers made up by the designers to get you into the
game.
Start Mission
TACTICS
This is Section is the meat and potatoes of the game. Each mission is given a
date and simulates an actual battle during WWII using the same tanks involved
in that battle. On the tactics screen your options are highlighted with a
lighter
color bar and moved with the D-pad.
Mission Select
Usually the screen starts with USA Training 1 highlighted. Click A and scroll
through the various missions with the D pad. Click A again on the mission you
want. Clicking B will take you right out of the Mission Selection menu back to
the Select Tank -- Tactics- Tutorial -Options main menu screen. If you change
your mind and want to select a different mission make sure the mission scroll
is highlighting and click A again, and scroll through the missions as before.
Once a mission is selected you have the choice of either starting the battle
(see
below), seeing the previous high scores for the mission by hitting the R-Trigger,
or changing the tanks used by you and the enemy.
Changing Tanks:
Highlight the blue (you) and red (enemy) bar at the right with the D-pad.
Clicking
A button on a tank such as the M4A1 will bring you up to a yes/no screen. Click
yes to change the tank and no to go back. The reason for this screen is that if
you change the tanks it will not record a score for you on the VMU as the game
considers this cheating. Note that the list of available tanks is only for the
time period and years they were in service. You can not select a tank made in
1944 for a mission set in 1942. Also at the bottom of the tank selection,
starting
with the Aureole/88 tank there is the list of the seven dream tanks at the
that
were never made but are in TANK SELECT arcade mode. These exist only in the
minds
of the game designers. They have super firepower and armor.
START BATTLE
After a mission has been selected you will see a START BATTLE option using the
start button at the bottom of the screen in English. Hitting this once will take
you to a MISSION BRIEFING selection or a START BATTLE option which will take you
directly to the battle.
MISSION BRIEFING
You are the blue and the enemy is the red. Movement is indicated along the line
of an arrow. If there is a curved blue dish, you are expected to defend and
repulse
forces at that location. If there is smooth red wavy lines, this is the enemy's
defensive front. If your blue arrows go into the red area, be prepared to move
your units in a concerted offensive. You may not have to kill all the enemy
units
there, just make sure your ground troops and tanks penetrate the line. Sometimes
there is only Japanese text in the mission briefing. Usually this means kill
everything in sight.
TUTORIAL
Watch this to understand how each gun sight works for each nationally. It is
customized for Rookie, Veteran, and ACE controller settings.
OPTION
(Note: There are two screens in the options menu.)
When you first go into Option you have a choice of Rookie, Veteran and Ace
settings.
Beyond setting up your guns and giving you unlimited ammo, Rookie and Veteran
settings also make you watch a cut scene every time you blow up an enemy tank.
This can be very annoying, It is for this reason ACE settings are recommended.
Also note - you can not select the type of ammo to fire in the game in the
ROOKIE
setting. So if you want to select High Explosives to blow away a bit of hedge
to see the enemy, you can't
The JAPANESE selections on the Options screen are as follows:
ROOKIE VETERAN ACE
Reverse forward tread assignment on/off
Lock turret to viewing reticule on/off
Range of enemy tank indicator on/off
Range of enemy bunker/anti tank gun on/off
or fire point
Double the ammo loading speed on/off
Tank gets damaged on/off
Limit the ammo amount on/off
Reverse reticule on the X/Y axis on/off
Vibration pack on/off
Select Controller Type TYPE#
(Controller mapping is all in English with one special note: GRASS should read
GLASS as in looking glass or binoculars. A translation mistake due to the
mispronunciation of the letter L.)
EXIT
- Save to VMU
- Save to Slot 1/Slot 2
- Return to main menu
(A small preference recommendation here, select the ACE settings and leave them
the way they are expect turn ON the Range of enemy bunker/gun/fire point option.)
MUSIC / SOUND EFFECTS MENU - R>
On the Option main menu hit R-Trigger to get to a second menu which will allow
you to chose from Mono/Stereo, level of music and sound effects. As this is all
in English, there is no need to translate. Hit L-Trigger to go back.
IN GAME BUDDY TANK COMMANDS
Once you choose a mission you are thrust onto the battlefield. Here you can
control
not only your own tank but those of your buddies. As each controller set up is
different and your tank will move according to the options you selected and the
controller scheme you chose. The field map and the buddy tank commands: however,
remain the same. If you want to get your squad from Point A to B without being
shot up, you had better learn those commands.
ENTERING FIELD COMMANDS (Note: The following FAQ was written using Controller
Version 4, Ace Mode with Range of Fire Point turned on. Other controller schemes
use different buttons to achieve the same results.)
Hit the Start Key. This brings up a scrollable map with the analog stick. You
are light blue. Your controllable buddy tanks are dark blue. Your non-
controllable
buddy tanks from a different squad are light green. The red square is always a
supply point where you can rearm or change your weapons load out. Enemy units
are Orange.
REARMING
To rearm move your tank in the real battle field to the area within the supply
point square and hit the rearm options in the positive (yes/no). The next screen
gives you A for increase and X for decrease. If you hit A all of your ammo will
be replenished. You can decrease your supply of any form of ammo, like smoke
shells
by using the X button. This gives you a number in the remains column. You can
now added to any other shell type you want. There is a glitch however, for some
reason if you then select another ammo type want to increase capacity by hitting
the A button it takes you right out of the menu, and you can't reload until you
back off and drive into the supply point again. The only way to increase your
stores of a particular shell type is to use the analog stick. If you select yes
and then use the analog stick you can select the type of ammo with up and down
movements and then increase or decrease the stores with left and right movements
of the stick. Hit the A button to resume battle with your stores load out
changed.
BUDDY TANK COMMANDS
(Special thanks to "Turret Muppet" and the folks at the www.panzerfront.co.uk/
forum.)
Y button toggles through the tanks at your command.
Analog Stick does the same but you can highlight enemy tanks and friendly Greens
with it also.
X button tells you what type of tank it is and where the armor weak points and
strengths are.
B returns you to battle.
Blue arrows
Move forward from way point to way point at speeds between 1 and 4. The A button
adds a point, B point deletes previous point. And X button sets the path. To
change the speed within a path setting end the task. Re-select the tank again
and chose a new speed. The new way point will begin where the old way point
ended.
You can add any of the following commands to the end of a way point:
Green Arrow: move backward.
Long Red Arrow with square base: The selected tank will fire at the point you
select with the cross hairs that appear with this option. Use A button to set
fire point.
Short red arrow with square base: Fire at will.
Yellow arrow with square base: Tank will begin firing with your first shot.
White bowl with line: Defence (sic) or hold your ground and take out anything
within range.
FORMATION COMMANDS
If you select your tank another menu comes up in English. It is self explanatory
as there are graphics that go along with it. Formation commands don't work well
in wooded areas, but are fine when driving across the Russian plains.
FIRE SUPPORT
In some missions you can call in artillery and air strikes. If the field
howitzer
is white, not gray, you will know. Sometimes you can call in two strikes. Just
click on the options and direct your cross hairs to the positions you want to
level. Be careful, artillery is indiscriminate.
MAP SYMBOLS
Personnel: Triangle capped with a sphere. You must make sure your army survives
in some missions. This means taking out enemy soldiers with either high
explosives
or machine guns.
Tanks: They look like tanks, and any tank visible, whether it is friendly or foe
can be highlighted and identified.
Anti Tank Cannons: These also look like what they are. Take them out with high
explosives.
(Note: you can also rotate the field map on its axis with the D-pad and zoom in
using the L and R triggers. Topography plays an important role in this game.)
AMMO Designations. Note that each tank, and model carries slightly different
Ammo
designations and firepower. For example, you don't get a machine gun for you
Assault
Gun.
American: Sherman tank
APC -- Amor piercing shell - high trajectory with wide latitude of aiming -
precise
placement improves success. Use on treads and sides of German tanks with success.
HURP - I'm not sure what the abbreviation is, but these shells pack a wallop and
take down most German armor with one shot to the front. Extremely finite ranging
required. If you have the chance - set the range using the APC and then switch
to the HURP's and set the targeting reticule on the enemy.
HE - High Explosive. Useless against armor. A necessity against anti-tank guns,
personnel, fire points. Use HE ammo to clear out hedgerows and trees for a
better
view!
HCBI - Again I don't know the abbreviation. But it is a SMOKE BOMB. Set a couple
of these off to screen your movement and escape.
CAL. 30H6 - Machine gun. Effective against ground troops and Anti-Tank guns.
German: Tiger Tank
PZGR 39-- same as APC, but with more wallop.
PZGR 40 - same as a HURP but they pack a punch.
SPRGR - same as HE.
M934 - Machine Gun.
Russian T-34 (Note: I can barely read the numbers and letters as they are in
simulated Russian alphabet.)
SP-350A - Your standard APC
SP -350N - Same as American HURP
Q+ - 354 - HE
7. G2hhRP - Machine Gun
Special Gameshark Import Mini-FAQ:
-- Note this was originally written by Paperboy using the Gameshark for
Dreamcast
Version 3.3
To load finicky import games, first load the Gameshark from the desktop (the
screen with the VMU, clock and settings) by inserting the game disk -- with GS
in slot two of any controller -- press and hold L, R, A, X, Y, and the start
bottons.
After the machine says it can't read the disk, get it to read it again by
lifting
and re-depressing the A button while still holding the rest of the keys. Once
the Gameshark disk boots, insert your import, select your options and again
press
and hold L,R,A,X,Y and Start just after you tell your Gameshark to start the
game.
For some reason this seems to reset the bio settings.
Again a special thanks goes out to all my PAL friends at
http://www.panzerfront.co.uk/ There you can find excellent walk throughs for
many
of the missions.
Other links of interest:
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/1975/g_wot_hp.htm
http://www.onwar.com/tanks/
Copyright 2001 by Paperboy
