Manual Starting a Game
Original 1996 manual, converted verbatim from the game’s manual.doc.
After the introductory movie you will be at the main screen.
Note: You can skip the introductory movie by clicking the mouse or pressing any key.
From this main screen you start a game of Enemy Nations. Your choices are described below. To choose any item, click on that button.
This will take you through a series of missions in a single-player game. We strongly recommend you play this before playing any other games.
While the mission objectives here are the same for each game, the actual world created is randomly generated each time. In addition, the computer opponents will react differently each time. So you will find that replaying the Training Grounds will require different tactics each time.
When you choose Training Grounds you will be presented with this dialog:
Note: Where possible we use standard Windows dialogs instead of the rendered art from the game because this prints a lot clearer in the manual.
Under Computer Opponent you set how difficult a fight you want from the computer players. This sets both how hard the computer will fight and also, for the harder levels, gives the computer a boost to it’s racial advantages (see Race Dialog).
The number of opponents you have in the Training Grounds is based on the speed of your processor. The more CPU time the computer AI gets, the smarter it can be. So we limit the number of AI players for slower machines.
The World size sets how big the world will be. The actual world size is based on the number of players (human and computer), some of their racial characteristics, and this setting. Because we grow the world based on the number of players, you don’t find the world crowded as the number of players increases.
In a small world you will find yourself at least skirmishing with other players almost from the initial landing. You will usually be competing in at least one place for the same resource. Games at this size will generally be quick affairs and complete in ½ - 1 hour.
In a medium world you get a bit more breathing room. You will generally not find other players for the first 10 - 20 minutes unless you go looking for them (or they go looking for you). You will sometimes find yourself fighting for the same resource but this is rare.
But as you grow past your initial base you will find that you start bumping elbows with other players. Research is important in games this size although you will rarely get to the advanced weapons. Games at this size will generally take 30 minutes - 1½ hours.
In the large world you will have a chance to build up a large colony. Not only do you have a lot of room to yourself but your opponent has a long way to travel to attack you. By the time they get there you will generally have more units.
The length of these games depend on the players but they can take several hours to finally resolve. Because of the time, research usually is the critical factor in these games.
After selecting the computer difficulty and world size press the Race button which will bring up the following dialog:
Enemy Nations gives each race over 10 modifiers. These modifiers give each race an advantage (or disadvantage) in items as diverse as attack strength and population growth. The description for each race gives a general idea of each race’s strengths, but it is not comprehensive.
You need to select a race and to type in your name.
Note: The Ekoda race exists to handicap a player who is significantly better than the other players.
Once you select a race press the Start button.
Which takes you to the below screen.
Read your mission carefully. You need to fully complete each mission before you can continue to the following mission. It is very easy to overlook a small part of a mission and wonder why you haven’t completed it.
Note: While it is possible a bug still exists, every bug reported in the final 3 months of testing about missions not completing was traced down to the tester having not completed a part of the mission. So please read it carefully.
If you need to re-read the mission, you can do so by bringing up the File dialog in the game and pressing the Mission button. If you think you have completed the mission, bring this up again and re-read it.
Then press Play and the game will load the artwork and begin. Playing the game is covered in the next chapter.
This creates a game with one human player (that’s you) and however many computer opponents you wish to challenge.
First choose the number of computer opponents you wish to play. Based on the speed of your computer if you select above the suggested limit it will suggest that you choose less. If you select above twice the suggested limit it will refuse to start the game.
Because more CPU time gives the computer opponents more brain power, you are much better off staying below the suggested limit and increasing the opponent difficulty.
Second choose the difficulty level you wish to have the computer play at. Each increase in the difficulty level should make the computer about 50% harder to beat.
Third select the world size. For details on this see the description in the Training Missions section above.
Fourth select the starting position. This has a significant impact on both how the game is played and how long it will last. Because the more you start with the quicker you can have an economy that is producing tanks.
Minimal Civilian provides enough lumber to build a Lumber Mill and Farm and enough steel for those two buildings along with an Iron Mine, Coal Mine, and Smelter. Because you need to generate more materials just to build a basic economy, it generally takes over 15 minutes just to build and send out some Infantry.
Full Civilian gives you enough resources, cranes, and trucks to build all the buildings for a basic economy. Therefore you can be building Infantry in under 5 minutes (and so can your opponents).
Minimal Military gives you Full Civilian as well as enough military units to harass your opponents. It is unlikely that you could actually win a game without building more units but you could definitely slow down your opponents.
Full Military gives you Full Civilian plus a significant military force. While you could potentially end a game quickly with a lighting strike, you could also find this to be a very long game with all sides building an economy in the midst of a battle from the very start.
After choosing the Starting Position press the Race button. Please read the section titled Choose Race above for a description of this dialog.
This is described in the chapter below discussing Multi-player games.
This is described in the chapter below discussing Multi-player games.
This brings up the standard Windows Open File dialog. Select a saved game file. The file then loads all of the game art and then the saved game file.
You will then see the following dialog:
This dialog allows you to pick any player in the saved game. If the saved game was a single player game then it will include all of the computer players. If it was a multi-player game then it will include all of the other human and computer players.
Note: A saved game is a saved game. You can save a single-player game and load it for multi-player and vice-versa. The only restriction is a Train Mission game is always a Training Mission game.
All other players will become computer players. So if the computer is kicking your butt, you can save the game and switch places, thus taking the computer player and letting it take your position.
The box on the right gives you an idea of the present condition of that player. After all, you don’t want to take a player that is about to die.
Note: The two lines saying Human above signify a computer player that took the Human Race, not a human player.
Then press Start and the game will load the artwork and begin. Playing the game is covered in the next chapter.
This is described in the chapter below discussing Multi-player games.
This will play the credits of the people involved in creating the game.
This will replay the introductory movie.
Sets game options. Described in chapter below.
This will exit Enemy Nations™ (but the real question is why would anyone ever want to use this button).
This will minimize the game (and kill the sound). This is very useful if your boss walks in while you are playing.