TAKEOVER

For 2 Players

Game Instructions


Takeover is a strategy game where the objective is to capture your

opponent's capital city. This is accomplished by a coordinated effort

of the armies, fleets, cities and roads at the player's disposal. The

game is played with five different scenarios and randomly situated

capital cities which form constraints to each player's basic strategy.


Almost everything is represented by a colored square with the

exception of fleets and road builders. Armies are represented by red

or dark green squares depending on which player they belong to and

they settle territory which is represented by tan or green squares

respectively. Roads are indicated by yellow squares, cities by black,

ocean by blue and unsettled territory by light green squares. The

map is determined by the initial keypad input with the numbers 1,

2, 3 and 4 corresponding to the maps of Europe, Great Lakes,

Australia and swamp land map with any other input defaulting to

the map of Europe.


The game begins with each player possessing his capital city, its

associated army and a road builder all at the same location. The

army is selected by pressing the clear key which selects the army

nearest the player's cursor or the next sequential if the cursor hasn't

moved since the last selection. A selected object is indicated by a

rapid flashing of the object on the screen and army selection is

facilitated by movement of the army cursor which is controlled by

the wheel. Once the army is selected it can be stopped by pressing

the 5 key which causes the army to settle adjacent territory or it

may be directed to move by the keys 1-9 which represent eight

basic directions. The army will move square by square in the

direction specified at a rate dependent on the type of territory it is

currently on. The relative rates from fastest to slowest are

movements on roads, friendly settled territory, unsettled territory

and enemy territory. A trail of settled territory is also left behind if

the army isn't travelling on a road.


Cities are created by pressing an upper action key when an army is

selected. For city creation to take place the following conditions must

be satisfied: that the army isn't on a city or adjacent to another city,

that the army isn't on the edge of the screen and that only 20 cities

may be created by each player. Each city supports one uniquely

associated army and will generate or regenerate this army at a rate

dependent on the amount of friendly territory immediately

surrounding the city and the total amount of territory settled by that

player. Enemy territory will hinder or prevent the generation of

armies if it is surrounding the city. If a city is on the coastline it is

designated a port city which also has an associated fleet. There can

only be two port cities for each player and these are defined as the

first two cities that are created on the coast. If a port city is

destroyed during the course of a game, it may only be replaced by

creating a new port after the previous one was destroyed.


Fleets are selected by the key 0 and are moved in the same manner

as armies. They also have the capability of carrying up to two armies

per fleet and may engage other fleets in battle. If a fleet is loaded it

experiences more risk in battle when compared to a fleet which is

unloaded. The loading of a fleet is accomplished by directing an army

on the coast towards a fleet which is adjacent to the coast. The army

moves at a normal land rate onto the fleet and successful loading is

indicated by the fleet changing colors to the color of the army.

Unloading is achieved by selecting the fleet and directing it aground

when it is next to the coast. The army is unloaded at this square if

there is no other army present at that location and the fleet changes

back to it's original color.


Road builders are selected by the enter key and are moved by the

direction keys 1-9. Their movement is different from armies and

fleets in the respect that they move immediately with keypad input

if the road builder has accumulated a sufficient amount of road

builder points. These points accrue at a fixed rate and have an upper

bound.  Since the road builder moves instantaneously there is no

stop key needed. This key (number 5) is used to toggle between the

road builder's two modes which are movement only mode and build

mode. The movement only mode is indicated by a normal selection

flash rate and requires and requires less road builder points for each

square moved. The build/destroy mode requires more points and

builds roads if it is moving onto an unpaved area and destroys them

if a road already exists there. This mode is indicated by a slower

flashing rate. Road builders only move on land, expend more points if

moving on enemy territory relative to unsettled territory and a

lesser amount if on friendly territory. They may move through

friendly armies but are instantaneously returned to the capital city

when they move on an enemy army. Armies are capable of following

roads in the if they are straight or have gentle 45 degree turns. An

army will always travel preferentially straight ahead and will turn

right instead of left at forks in the road.  


Battles occur when enemy armies or fleets occupy a surrounding

square next to a friendly army or fleet. These are indicated by a slow

flashing of the objects in battle. Fleet battle calculations are done by

checking whether it is loaded or not to determine the relative risks

of sinking. Army calculations are significantly more complex due to

the fact that an army's risk increases depending on the number of

enemy armies it is surrounded by and decreases if it has friendly

armies surrounding it which lend support. It is optimal to move

armies as a coordinated front so they will support each other. When

an army dies there is a short time which must elapse before its city

will begin attempting the process of generating a new army.


A city is captured when an enemy army occupies it by moving onto

it. The game is ended when the enemy's capital city is occupied. To

aid in the location of these critical cities during the course of game

play the lower two action keys are used to place the player's army

cursor onto the two capital cities. Upon the capture of a capital city,

the game ends and all territory is occupied by the winning player's

color.


KEYPAD SUMMARY:


1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9: Move in key direction (up, down, left, right,

diagonals)

5: Stop / Change Road Builder Modes

CLEAR: Select Army

0: Select Fleet

ENTER: Select Road Builder


Upper Action Keys: Create City

Lower Left Action Key: Locate Home Capital City

Lower Right Action Key: Locate Enemy Capital City


Disc: Move Army Cursor


NOTE:

Because this game is a bit difficult to first pick up and play, a

suggested handicap for a new player is to allow him a few extra

minutes to set up cities, etc., before the more experienced player

even begins.


----------

(c)1999 Intellivision Productions, Inc.

www.intellivisionlives.com