e-mail: mcford at shaw.ca
(see my probably futile attempt at avoiding spam?)
date: 22 June 2004
version: 0.2
===============================================================================
Table of Contents
===============================================================================
I. Introduction
II. Controls
III. Game Screens
1. Main
2. Stardock
3. Orbit
4. Planet
5. Military Hardware Purchase
6. Ship Purchase
7. Defensive Combat
8. Offensive Combat
IV. Strategies and Tactics
1. Blitzkrieg
2. Self-Sufficient Planets
3. Specialized Planets
4. Defensive Combat
5. Offensive Combat
V. Ship Statistics
1. Farming Station
2. Mining Station
3. Solar Satellite
4. Cargo Cruiser
5. Battle Cruiser
6. Atmosphere Processor
VI. Planet Statistics
1. Starbase
2. Tropical
3. Urban
4. Desert
5. Volcanic
VII. Miscellaneous
VIII. Version History
IX. Credits and Disclaimers
===============================================================================
I. Introduction
===============================================================================
Overlord was released by Virgin Games in 1992 (according to the introductory
screens). Possibly the only real-time strategy game on the NES, Overlord is
a port of an earlier (and harder) PC game most commonly called Supremacy.
One battery-backed save slot is provided, but should not be necessary, as most
scenarios are easily finished in a few hours.
The storyline is simple. Quoting from the manual:
"Epsilon is a galaxy that contains four barren planet systems, called
Hitotsu, Futatsu, Mittsu and Yottsu.
"You have been sent by the leaders of the Galactic Federation to colonize
these barren planets for the human race.
"After months of hard work, you have established a Starbase in each of the
four planet systems. And so has Rorn, the overall leader of a merciless
alien race.
"Your ultimate objective is to become supreme ruler of each of the four pla-
net systems, defeating Rorn's three allies and Rorn himself in the final
showdown. Total victory will be yours if you gain control of the alien base
located at the opposite end of each of the four planet systems found in
Overlord.
"To win, you need to be an expert military commander, a brilliant manager of
economic resources, and a player with fast reactions. To lose, you just
have to allow your enemy to invade your Starbase..."
Towards this end, you have control over all vital functions in your little
domain. You dictate what tax rate your planets suffer under, you control which
ships and weapons are purchased and maintained, and you command where those
ships fly and with what cargoes. When war threatens, you will also command
those weapons to fire, and where. Good luck; you'll need it.
===============================================================================
II. Controls
===============================================================================
The controls for this game are fairly simple, as with all NES games. There
are two major modes, menu and combat:
Menu Screen controls:
D-pad: Move the pointer around.
Start: Pause the game and call up the save prompt.
Select: Display a status report (only specific screens).
B: Return to the main screen, or to the previous screen.
A: Select a function.
(when held, with directional arrows)
Move through a list.
Combat controls (defensive):
D-pad: Aim Plasma cannon (move the crosshairs around).
Start: Pause the game.
Select: Alternate between Pom-Pom cannon and Lightning Base.
B: Fire secondary weapon (chosen with Select).
A: Fire Plasma cannon.
Combat controls (offensive):
D-pad
U, D: Control hovertank speed (Up=go fast, Down=stop).
L, R: Steer Hovertank.
Start: Pause the game.
Select: No function.
B: Fire a Homing missile.
A: Fire Hovertank cannon and a Ballistic missile.
I will describe the controls more fully as I describe the different screens.
===============================================================================
III. Game Screens
===============================================================================
After turning on your NES, you are treated to some rather nice splash screens
and background music. Don't get used to the music, because the game doesn't
have any for the most part. Select your scenario here. A, B, and Select all
rotate through the different scenarios, Up and Down choose whether you want
to load the saved game or start a new one, and Start chooses. The scenarios
are as follows:
Hitotsu - 8 Planets (Medium)
Futatsu - 16 Planets (Easy)
Mittsu - 24 Planets (Medium)
Yottsu - 32 Planets (Hard)
Choose wisely.
1. Main Screen
---------------
Having started your game, you are presented with this screen.
In the upper-left to center region is a circular display showing all the
planets spiralling about. Green dots are under your control, light blue is
being terra-formatted by yourself, and red are under enemy control. The one
with the brackets is the one you are ordering about at the moment. Moving
the pointer over this display, then holding the A button and pressing Up and
Down, will switch which planet you are commanding.
In the upper-right is a view of the selected planet, with some small animation
to keep you entertained.
Just underneath the view is a button marked "-> 1". As it suggests, pressing
it by moving the pointer there and pressing A makes your command highlight
return to your home planet. Note that YOUR home planet is always the bottom
one, and the ENEMY home planet is always the top one.
The block of eight buttons that follows gives you access to different things.
From left to right, top to bottom, they are:
- Terra-format current planet
- Access Stardock screen
- Access Orbit screen
- Access Planet screen
- Purchase spy reports for current planet
- Initiate attack on current planet
- Access Military Hardware Purchase screen
- Access Ship Purchase screen
At the bottom is a text report box, with a couple of informative icons:
- the square icon on the left tells you which planet you are commanding, as
well as what type of planet it is
- the small white-on-red set of numbers (i.e. "49:3166") tells you the date
2. Stardock Screen
-------------------
This screen allows you to prepare ships for travel, load cargo on them, as
well as scrapping them when you're done with them.
Any Stardock has three ship bays; clicking on the boxes on the left edge will
switch between them.
Clicking "Prepare Ship" will do just that, if you have enough fuel to fill the
fuel tanks and enough people to form the crew. You have to prepare all your
ships, with the exception of Solar Satellites and the Atmosphere Processor,
before you can send them out.
Clicking "Scrap" will do just that as well, although there is a confirmation
prompt.
The four icons in the upper-right allow you to load the respective cargoes
onto the selected ship. Moving the pointer over one will replace the text in
the box at the bottom with a pair of bar graphs representing how much of that
cargo is where. Holding the A button and moving the D-pad moves that cargo
onto and off of the ship.
The circle-and-arrows thing in the middle-right allows you to switch planets,
and therefore Stardocks. Hold A and press Up or Down.
The four icons in the lower-right do the same as their Main screen versions.
3. Orbit Screen
----------------
This screen shows you a view of your planet from low orbit. It shows all the
ships that you currently have working at that planet, and allows you to order
them to move and/or dock at Stardock.
The top part of the screen is the aforementioned view.
The leftmost square shows which ship you are currently bossing around. A small
view of the ship is visible, and a number-letter code which says which type
("B"asic or "A"dvanced) and which one of that type in order of purchase.
Holding A and moving the D-pad changes the ship. Pressing Select on this icon
tells you where the ship is.
The next square designates the destination for the ship, as well as which
planet is shown in the view at top. Holding A and moving the D-pad changes
that. Note that if the destination is the same as the origin, then the
destination will become either the Stardock or orbit/surface.
The next square tells the ship to "do it". It will graphically show which
order you are currently giving:
- an arrow between planets says to move to the destination
- an arrow leading into blue parts says to dock with Stardock
- a ship above a planet says to undock from Stardock and enter orbit
- an arrow pointing down at a ship on a red planet says to land the ship and
make it start working (for Farming Stations and Mining Stations)
The six icons on the right are all the same as their Main screen versions.
4. Planet Screen
-----------------
Here is where you will be spending much of your game time.
In the upper-left is a numeric display of all the important statistics of your
selected planet. A convenient arrow to the left of the Food statistic will
tell you whether that planet's food stocks are growing or shrinking.
The important statistic here is the Tax Rate. Adjusting this will change the
amount of immigration from and to other parts of the Federation. The button
with the two arrows on a purple background is how you adjust it - hold A and
press Up and Down.
The first of the two big buttons in the middle is a simple command: "Move all
credits to Starbase." Credits on frontier planets do you no good at all - use
this button to gather them all at your home planet, so you can then spend them.
The second big button calls up a text status report.
In the upper-right is a miniature of the spherical planet display on the Main
screen. Holding A and pressing Up and Down will change which planet you are
ordering around.
The six icons below that are all the same as their Main screen counterparts.
5. Military Hardware Purchase Screen
-------------------------------------
This screen is where you purchase all your weapons of mass destructiveness.
Pressing Select will print out how many credits you have at Starbase.
The big box will show you what you are currently considering for purchase. The
two-arrow inset in its upper-right corner allows you to scroll through the
choices: hold A and press Up and Down.
The Status button will tell you how much offensive weaponry you have, as well
as a percentage telling roughly how much defensive weaponry that planet has.
Note that you can only purchase offensive weaponry when you have a Battle
Cruiser docked at Starbase to load it on.
The Buy button, obviously, purchases the equipment.
The button underneath the Buy button allows you to scroll through your planets
and choose which of them gets the defensive weaponry you are considering.
The six icons below that are all the same as their Main screen counterparts.
6. Ship Purchase Screen
------------------------
A rather simple screen, this is where you will purchase all your ships. Press
Select to call up the number of credits you have.
The two-arrow button does what you'd expect: hold A and press Up and Down to
move between choices.
The Buy button, again, does what you'd expect: click it to purchase a ship.
7. Defensive Combat Screen
---------------------------
This screen will pop up when your opponent attacks one of your planets. Your
defensive facilities will be somewhere near the top; the computer's missiles
will come from the bottom. Pressing Select will switch your B button from
firing the Pom-Pom cannon to activating the Lightning Base.
Moving the D-pad will move a crosshair around the screen; pressing A will
fire your Plasma cannon at the crosshair.
8. Offensive Combat Screen
---------------------------
This is essentially the same as the Defensive Combat screen. However, this
time you're attacking, so the computer's defenses will be at the top and your
missiles will appear out of the bottom edge of the screen. Note that pressing
A will fire both the hovertank's cannon and launch a ballistic missile at the
same time. Your hovertank will first spawn in the corner opposite to the
defenses; thereafter, when your hovertank gets killed, the next one will
appear where the old one died.
===============================================================================
IV. Strategies and Tactics
===============================================================================
There are several major numbers you need to be aware of when you are planning
your stellar conquest. Firstly, a Solar Satellite will support two Stations
of the same class - either B or A. Secondly, a Farming Station B will
provide enough food for 5000 people at a Tropical world, or 2000 elsewhere.
Thirdly, a 35% tax rate will stabilize population growth under normal
circumstances.
1. Blitzkrieg
--------------
This strategy is only possible in the 8 and 16 planet scenarios.
Surprisingly, the enemy home planet is within striking distance of your Battle
Cruisers from the outset. Take advantage of this by immediately buying a
Battle Cruiser B, as many Hovertanks as you can afford (you should be able to
reach the maximum of 3 after a short time to collect a few more credits), and
any missiles with the leftover money. Prep your Battle Cruiser, and send it
straight to the enemy home planet. Engage and destroy once it arrives. Now
enjoy your lightning-quick victory.
2. Self-Sufficient Planets
---------------------------
Through a measured sequence of terra-formatting each planet in sequence,
building up the necessary credits for resource production, defenses, and
offensive systems, take over all the planets and finally the enemy home planet.
Slow and effective - but not in the 8 planet scenario. There's just not
enough planets for you to do this, unless you're a lot better with your
defensive weapons than I am. Another problem is that you're limited to a
total of 32 ships of all types. Since you could theoretically need a lot more,
you're going to have to pick and choose which planets get what ships.
The very first thing you need to do is purchase your Atmosphere Processor and
start terra-formatting planets. After that, get a Solar Satellite, Farming
Station, and Mining Station, all for Starbase, all class A if possible, B if
not. Send them all out; now you've got a secure base of operations. Which
ships you buy next are up to you.
Perhaps the most important thing to know is where the computer likes to attack.
Once all the planets are terra-formatted, the computer WILL start attacking
your planets, treaty be damned. It starts with the Tropical planets, then
goes to Urban planets. I don't recall at the moment whether it then attacks
Desert planets, Volcanic planets, or goes for the kill by attacking Starbase,
but it definitely likes Tropical planets first. Save your credits by only
installing defenses when the alerts go off.
My own personal preference is to make each planet self-sufficient. Give each
one a Solar Satellite and a Farming Station, then adjust the tax rate to
adjust the population until it stabilizes at a population level capable of
living on the food provided by the Farming Station.
3. Specialized Planets
-----------------------
Each planet provides its own bonuses to production. Starbase boosts Farm and
Mine production, and possibly tax value, while each other planet boosts only
one area. Take advantage of this by only emplacing Mining Stations on Volcanic
planets, Farming Stations on Tropicals, Solar Satellites at Desert planets, and
moving all of your people to Urban planets for the tax boost. Because you have
a very limited maximum fleet size, saving your ships for where they'll be most
useful will also reduce the number of ships you buy. Unfortunately, you will
then be burning a lot of fuel using a Cargo Cruiser to transport materials from
where they're produced to where they're needed.
In any case, be sure to make Starbase self-sufficient by giving it at least one
of each production vessel.
4. Defensive Combat
--------------------
There are three pieces of defensive hardware available to you, and you can
install them all on all your planets if you feel like it. Unfortunately, that
is very expensive.
The cheapest installation is the Pom-Pom cannon. Costing a mere 15000 credits,
this weapon releases a dense spray of shots covering approximately 60 degrees
of arc, and travelling about 1/6 of the distance to the bottom of the screen.
Since most missiles attacking this installation will pass through that area,
the Pom-Pom cannon can render itself almost impregnable. Almost. Because it
takes time to reload after each salvo, and cannot adjust which angle it fires
at, missiles will often sneak by. It can't defend a planet alone.
At 20000 credits, you can buy the Lightning Base. When activated, it creates
a field of lightning around itself, rendering it immune to all incoming fire.
Unfortunately, not only is there a limit on how many times you can use it, it
also takes damage from its own lightning storms. The combination of these
two factors makes this base the least useful of the three.
Costing 25000 credits, the Plasma cannon is the most powerful of bases.
Firing a long-range shot at any point on the screen, this weapon can be used
to mark down missiles long before they hit your bases. Again, it can't do
the job all by itself.
The computer has three weapons at its disposal: Ballistic missiles, Homing
missiles, and some odd disc-shaped missiles. Neither the Ballistic nor the
Homing missiles present a major threat to your bases, although enough hits will
destroy them. It's the disc missiles you need to watch out for - a single hit
from one will almost destroy one of your bases. So kill them as soon as you
see them.
5. Offensive Combat
--------------------
The most important piece of hardware you can buy for Offensive Combat is the
Hovertank. Since it carries effectively unlimited ammunition, you can shoot
everything using just a single Hovertank. That is, if the computer didn't
shoot back. The good news is that only the Plasma cannon offers a real threat
to your Hovertank. Driving in circle or oval patterns will generally prevent
the computer from hitting your Hovertank.
The computer has a number of different patterns it uses to dictate fire. First
off, it will alternate between firing a salvo from the Pom-Pom cannon and
activating the Lightning Base. If you time it right, missiles fired at about
the same time as the Pom-Pom cannon fires will arrive at the enemy bases a
short time before the Pom-Pom cannon fires again -- therefore penetrating two
of the three lines of defense.
Secondly, there is the Plasma cannon to consider. If you are steering a
Hovertank around, then the computer will shoot at it; if not, it will try to
take down missiles. The computer has three patterns that I've noted: rapid,
continuous, and simultaneous.
Rapid fire is just that - the Plasma cannon will fire as quickly as it can.
Since there can only be four shots from the Plasma cannon on the screen at the
same time, it will tend to fire in groups of four. As you move your Hovertank
around, the computer will track it, and the shot groups will become uneven.
Continuous fire is where the computer will space out its Plasma cannon shots.
By doing so, it then is able to keep firing no matter how far away your tank
is. Sometimes the computer will combine Continuous and Simultaneous fire.
Simultaneous fire is were the computer will fire its Plasma cannon when you
fire anything. This tactic is possibly the most dangerous. Because you will
only be firing your Hovertank's cannon when it is close to the enemy bases,
you will find it very difficult to dodge the Plasma fire that results.
One point which I should mention: it is possible to kamikaze your Hovertanks
into the enemy bases. This will do a lot of damage, just like the disc
missiles the computer shoots, but you have to consider that the computer will
be trying to shoot your Hovertank down before it hits.
===============================================================================
V. Ship Statistics
===============================================================================
With the exception of the Atmosphere Processor, all ships come in two versions,
"B"asic and "A"dvanced. Advanced versions cost more and produce more than
Basic ones do. One note: the cargo-carrying capacity numbers may be off
slightly, due to inaccuracies in the graph system used to show how much you've
loaded on. I used numbers from the Planet screen, but especially when loading
two different cargoes onto the same ship, they didn't always match.
1. Farming Station
-------------------
Perhaps the most critical of all ships, the Farming Station produces food for
your planets. On Tropical planets, it is capable of using the lush jungle
for much of its processing needs, thereby increasing its output. Each unit
of food is approximately capable of supporting 160 people per game day.
2. Mining Station
------------------
Essential for supporting a fleet, the Mining Station produces fuel for your
ships. As the volcanoes on Volcanic planets are busily bringing new rock up
from the radioactive core, Mining Stations placed on them produce much more
fuel than elsewhere. Before a particular event, a ship requires 50 units of
fuel to move one planet's distance (say, from Starbase to planet 2). Ships
must also be fully fueled the first time you prepare a ship for launch.
3. Solar Satellite
-------------------
The cheapest of all ships, the Solar Satellite is also the only one that does
not require fuel, a crew, or any resources to operate. Unfortunately, all it
does is produce energy. Desert planets, through their lack of clouds, are
able to receive the energy it produces much more efficiently.
| Cost | Output:
| | Desert | Other
---------+------+-----------+---------------
Basic | 975 | 13 energy | 6 energy
Advanced | 1550 | 26 energy | 12 energy
4. Cargo Cruiser
-----------------
Your mass-transport vessel. Cargo Cruiser A's are horribly expensive on fuel,
but if you need to move an entire planet's-worth of resources, they're your
only real choice.
5. Battle Cruiser
------------------
Really a transport and not a warship, you may only purchase one of these
ships at a time. While docked at Starbase, you may load any amount of
Ballistic missiles, Homing missiles, and Hovertanks onboard; you can
then send the ship to an enemy-held planet, whereupon it will unload its
cargo as you command in an attempt to wrest control from its defenders.
If you lose the battle, however, then you also lose the Battle Cruiser.
6. Atmosphere Processor
------------------------
Not really a ship as the previous vessels were, the only control you have over
this mammoth installation is which barren planet it terra-formats. Since
barren planets are completely useless, you will most certainly spend the 27000
credits necessary to purchase one.
===============================================================================
VI. Planet Statistics
===============================================================================
Starbase
--------
Your home. An urban scene is shown reflecting on a pool of water. Because
many years have been spent terra-formatting this world, it provides significant
boosts to both food and fuel production.
Barren
------
A useless rock, much like Mars. Shown as a gray landscape occasionally being
hit by a meteor. Nothing can go to a Barren planet, except the Atmospheric
Processor.
Terra-Formatting
----------------
Not quite as useless as Barren planets, a world undergoing Terra-Formatting is
being worked on by the Atmospheric Processor in order to turn it into a
habitable colony. Appears as a red landscape with a red fire on one side.
Still, no ships may be sent here.
Desert
------
Similar in overall environment to the Sahara Desert, Desert planets are very
short on water and have thinner atmospheres than normal. The arid landscape
and few plants can easily be seen in the Main Screen view. One advantage
these worlds hold is that energy transmission from Solar Satellites easily
penetrates the atmosphere - Energy production is more than doubled.
Volcanic
--------
Only marginally more habitable than Venus. Cameras sent to anywhere on these
planets are apt to spot volcanoes and lava flows. Mining Stations, however,
find these conditions ideal for fuel production; the continual turnover of
surface rock reduces the need for time-consuming drilling, roughly tripling
output.
Tropical
--------
Highly similar to Earth in the Devonian prehistoric period, Tropical worlds
are heavily forested. It would take some effort to spot anything other than
a jungle. Putting that effort into emplacing Farming Stations here will
yield triple the normal production, as the Stations will be able to both find
rare chemicals in the jungle and use their surroundings for decomposition
tasks, easing the work they must do themselves.
Urban
-----
Urban worlds are essentially one large city, as can be viewed in the Main
Screen window. Whether it is because this particular planet is on a major
trade route, or the planet possesses scarce minerals useful for high-tech
industries, colonists placed here will produce half again the tax money.
Classified
----------
A planet controlled by the enemy. Only a red "Classified" icon will be seen
when trying to view this planet. Further information will require a report
from a Spy.
===============================================================================
VII. Miscellaneous
===============================================================================
There are many different events that occur over the course of a scenario.
Perhaps the most important is the Fertility Drug. It gives a large boost to
the Population Growth rate, and therefore messes up whatever balance you have
made using the tax rate. Furthermore, it's not a stable boost; while it's
active, you'll have to continually adjust the tax rate to compensate. Worse,
it gets cancelled after some time. It does make a good credit-earning
opportunity, however.
Another event that occurs is the temporary introduction of a new hybrid plant.
For the time that it is active, all your Farming Stations get a +25 production
bonus. Again, don't allow your planetary populations to increase; the boost
gets withdrawn after a period of time. Just take advantage of it to increase
your food reserves.
Two other events that can occur are both electromagnetic storms. One raises
the amount of energy on each of your planets to about 30 000. The other takes
away half the energy on each of your planets.
One other event is the introduction of a new drive for your spaceships. After
this, your ships use half the fuel to make a jump - now 25 tons instead of 50.
I seem to recall another event - something about the introduction of new drill
heads, boosting Mining Station production. It's probably something similar to
the Farming Station boost.
One note for all of you who are confused as to why adjusting the tax rate
changes the population growth rate: you're not changing the number of babies
born, you're changing their willingness to immigrate from and emigrate to the
rest of the Federation. Since their tax rate is in the 35% range, by picking
that tax rate for your own planets, you will equalize immigration and
emigration.
A note about the cargo carrying capacity of various ships: because the amount
you load and unload is graphically controlled, the exact capacity varies. For
example, while tring to determine the capacity of the Cargo Ship A, I got 7852,
7936, and 8179 through loading different combinations of cargo. The numbers
listed for each ship have therefore been rounded off.
===============================================================================
VIII. Version History
===============================================================================
Version Date Comments
------- ---- --------
0.1 7 Feb 2004 writing begins after seeing Bounty on GameFAQs
0.2 22 Jun 2004 manual text received, writing continues
===============================================================================
IX. Credits and Disclaimers
===============================================================================
Many thanks to Adam Lamontagne, who pointed me to an online copy of the manual
text, typed up by Steve Begin, which allowed me to correct names and story.
This document is copyright 2004 by me, Matthew Ford, and should only be
found on one website:
www.gamefaqs.com
People are allowed to download this FAQ for their own personal use only. If
anyone wishes to make this FAQ available to the public, either for free or for
profit, they must contact me for permission first. I comment that that is not
likely forthcoming. Should anybody post, print, or otherwise disseminate this
document without such permission, they are in violation of copyright, and will
be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law... maybe.
I make no guarantees as to the usefulness of this information, so don't depend
on it for anything more valuable than what you paid for it (free).
