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An Unofficial Chaos Overlords FAQ
Version 0.7.1
Last revised July 18, 1997
The most current Unofficial Chaos Overlords FAQ
(Frequently-Asked-Questions) is located at
http://www.panix.com/~rwebb/chaos/chaosfaq.html.
_________________________________________________________________
Author: Russell Webb (rwebb@panix.com)
Contributors: Drew Fudenberg (fudenberg@husc.harvard.edu), Tim Jordan
(lordgek@best.com), Adam K. Rixey (nyarl+@andrew.cmu.edu), George Ruof
(gruof@pacificnet.net)
Special thanks to: George Ruof of New World Computing
(gruof@pacificnet.net) and John K. Morris of Stickman Games
(stickman@lava.net)
Scapegoat: Hedin Vice (viceh@overlord.chaos.com)
FAQ revision history. (Dull stuff, really. You have been warned.)
_________________________________________________________________
Trademark information: Chaos Overlords is a trademark of New World
Computing, Inc., and is so acknowledged. Any other trademarks used in
this FAQ are also acknowledged.
Copyright information: This FAQ is Copyright 1996 by Russell Webb. All
rights reserved. Permission is given to reproduce this FAQ as long as
the author and all contributors are acknowledged and the FAQ is
reproduced in its entirety.
Contact rwebb@panix.com for additions, corrections, and flames. This
FAQ is somewhat incomplete at present; please help by mailing me
anything you think would be a beneficial addition.
_________________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
+ What is Chaos Overlords?
+ Overview of gangs, sites, and items
+ Chaos Overlords demo
+ System requirements
2. Multiplayer notes
+ General
+ Modem connections
+ TCP/IP connections
+ Direct serial connections
+ PC/Mac interoperability
3. Game elements
+ Research
+ Combat
+ AI and difficulty level
4. Strategies
+ Starting strategies
+ General strategies
+ Specific scenario strategies
5. Data tables
+ Gangs
+ Items
+ Sites
6. Gang comparison
7. Player-suggested enhancements
8. Unknown
_________________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
What is Chaos Overlords?
Chaos Overlords is a strategic game of futuristic gang combat. It was
developed by Stick Man Games and released in May 1996 by New World
Computing for the Macintosh and Windows 95 platforms.
The setting is a grim cyberpunk city of the year 2050 divided into an
8x8 grid of 64 sectors. Six human and/or computer-controlled AI
overlords attempt to gain control over the mostly-lawless city, sector
by sector, with some variation depending on the game's scenario
objectives.
You start the game employing a single gang and in control of a single
sector. Your initial gang, The Right Hands, is a band so loyal that
you don't even have to pay them any upkeep. With them you can start to
influence local businesses, gain control of nearby city sectors,
research new tech, deck them out in power armor and assault rifles, or
just send them off to cause chaos, extorting money from the local
population. By expanding your small empire across the city you raise
funds to hire more gangs, buy better weapons and armor, protect your
turf, and annihilate the opposition.
Chaos Overlords (so named from the financial need for gangs to extort
funds by wreaking chaos) is a turn-based game. Some have suggested
that the types of gangs are reminiscent of the Steve Jackson
'Illuminatus' card game, with game mechanics similar to that of a card
game like Magic (with upkeep, command, execution, and hire phases, and
with random gang hiring every turn that is similar to drawing a new
card). Though it's a turn-based combat game, don't expect a cyberpunk
X-Com or Jagged Alliance here: combat is resolved statistically, with
silhouette mannequins duking it out noisily with ranged weapons, melee
weapons, or martial arts to illustrate the attack and defense results.
Overview of gangs, sites, and items
The gangs you hire are similar to the 'agents' in Simisle by Maxis:
the gangs are the foundation of the game. All goals are achieved
directly by using them, and the success or failure of any task depends
on the gang's abilities and their surroundings. There are 90 different
gangs in the game. (The box and documentation mention 70+; a total of
90 gangs were added after printing the documentation.)
Three different gangs are available for hire each turn. At your
discretion you can turn down one of the three gangs or hire one.
During the subsequent turn a new gang will take the hired/snubbed
gang's place, so three distinct gang choices will always be available.
Gangs are not unique, however, and you may end up hiring multiple
instances of the same gang or fighting an enemy gang that is identical
in basic stats to one of your own. You are limited to simultaneously
employing a maximum of 80 gangs.
Sites are organized into clusters of three buildings in each sector,
each with some strategic value. Want a head start on research? Take
command of a city sector with a research lab, send in heavy iron to
elicit a cooperative attitude from the lab personnel, then send in Rig
Masters or Trantian Fusers to start cranking out Monom (monofiliment)
Rods or Rocket Launchers. Need cash? Those Corporate Raiders of yours
can influence a local casino for that much-needed protection money, or
influence a local hospital to give a healing boost for recuperating
gang members. There are 24 different types of sites, each with varying
modifications to the tolerance towards or abilities of your gang
members. These sites automatically affect gangs in their sector once
they have been influenced. Since there are 192 randomly-distributed
sites in a game, multiple occurrences of all buildings show up across
the map.
Fifty-three different items are available (or researchable) to equip
your gangs and give them a chance for survival. These are split into
11 different technology levels, from 0 (the most basic of items, like
a metal pipe or pair of sound-dampening sneakers) up through level 10
(such as a plasma generator or mechanized battle suit). Each of your
gangs has a limit to the technology level they can use; the Mutant
Thugs will have a fine time with a tech 3 Shotgun, but they just won't
be able to figure out a tech 9 Phaze Handgun. Once researched, items
can be purchased/fabricated and equipped amongst your gangs without
additional research.
Chaos Overlords demo and v1.1 patch
A demo of Chaos Overlords is available on NWC's web site with 8-bit
graphics for PC (6.2MB) and Mac (4.4MB), or 16-bit graphics for PC
(7MB) and Mac (6.2BM).
A demo was also available with the included CD of several PC game
magazines, including a mid-1996 issue of PC Gamer. Apparently the
demo's documentation was inadvertently omitted. Check
http://www.3do.com/nwcomputing/faq/chaosdem.zip for the missing
information.
In late July, 1996, a version 1.1 patch (more of an upgrade with new
features, really) was released for the Windows 95 version (185k) as
well as the Mac version (1.6MB). Changes include minor bug fixes as
well as a site map overview feature, the ability to continue looking
at the console gang/site/etc. displays after submitting your turn in
multiplayer games, more hot-spots in the attack, equip, give, and
other panels to immediately get info on items and gangs, and access to
enemy gang stats by double-clicking on them.
System Requirements
Windows 95 System Requirements
* IBM 486/33 or greater and 100% compatibles (486/66 recommended)
* 8MB RAM
* Double speed CD-ROM drive
* 10 - 30 MB hard drive space
* DirectDraw compatible SVGA graphics card
* Windows 95
[Note: a 486DX2/50 user reports as being satisfied with the game's
performance, so these requirements may be targeted appropriately.]
Macintosh System Requirements
* 68030 or Power Macintosh Processor (Power Macintosh Native)
* 4 MB free RAM for 256 colors (6 MB free RAM for Power Mac / 65,000
colors)
* Double speed CD-ROM drive
* 20 MB hard drive space
* 13" or larger monitor (minimum 640x480x256)
* System 7.x
_________________________________________________________________
2. Multiplayer notes
General
There is a $15 offer for an additional Chaos Overlords CD, available
to all registered CO users. Information on the offer posted by
gruof@pacificnet.com to Usenet is here.
In a multiplayer game the game host's files are the only ones used to
actually calculate results. The client data files are used for
displaying information locally. If you start mucking about with the
data files and give Parking Lots a +255 defense, it will only affect
the actual gameplay if the change is on the host, and the host data
file changes will not be visible to other players unless their data
files reflect the same modifications. This might be potentially abused
by a host that makes obscure changes that aren't immediately evident.
A checksum or CRC of host vs. client files might be beneficial if
abuse occurs.
Modem connections
PC-to-PC modem connections seem to be quite stable. Please report any
problems if they are notable.
TCP/IP connections
TCP/IP connections work well even hosted over a 28.8k connection.
There is some slowdown with a large number of players, but the speed
is still fairly satisfying.
Sources for TCP/IP Chaos Overlords opponents include:
* the web site http://www.wizweb.com/arena/chaosOverlords/
(recommended)
* notices on the Usenet newsgroups comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic
and comp.sys.mac.games.strategic
* the Chaos Overlords IRC channels: #chaosoverlords (undernet) or
#chaos_overlords (dalnet). There are good places to go after
you're so rudly disconnected at the game end--what fun is it if
you can't gloat about your CO victory, or if you can't harrass the
game winner?
Direct serial connections
No reported comments so far.
PC/Mac interoperability
NWC says that the Windows 95 and Macintosh versions of CO will work
together. It reportedly works well with TCP/IP connections between the
two platforms, but currently there are no reports of success or
failure with direct serial or modem connections between PCs and Macs.
_________________________________________________________________
3. Game elements
Research
There is no research tree. Any gang with a sufficient tech level can
research any item (with varying speeds, depending on what sites in
that sector have been influenced, and what miscellaneous items are
equipped, such as a Science Kit). Research is cumulative, and having
more than one gang research an item gives faster results. If you stop
researching and then carry on with the same research topic later, the
prior research points will carry over when research is resumed with
the same or a different gang.
Research success rolls used in excess of what is required for a topic
are wasted. For example, if Computer Hackers (Res 3) with a Science
Kit (Res 5) are at a Science Lab (Res 5) work on a Kevlar Vest (RC 2)
and gets 3 successes, the excess successful research roll is wasted.
Matching research topics efficiently with researcher skills (when
possible) is somewhat important due to this.
Combat
Force has an effect on combat. If you've repeatedly seen high-defense
gangs (say, defense 13) getting dinked by weaponless enemies (combat
5, for example), force is the reason. The formula in the manual
implies that a defender's modified defense higher than an attacker's
modified combat will be immune to injury. The formula (p.51) should
read:
Attack Roll = (Gang's Combat + Gang's Force) - Defender's Defense
An attack will only have a 0% chance of effectiveness if the attack
roll as shown above turns out zero or less. Force has no direct effect
on defensive adjustments, only as a combat adjustment.
Since all attacks occur simultaneously, retaliatory attacks are
calculated using the stats in effect at the beginning of the combat
round (including the initial force of a retaliatory attacker--that's
what the upper force bar displays during combat). Your Ground Zero
gang equipped with Reaction Leather and Phaze Handgun (com 23, force
10, def 13) may have wiped the weaponless Psychos from 10 to 0 force
on an initial attack, but the doomed Psychos (com 5, force 10)
simultaneously retaliate with a minor chance to wound Ground Zero
((5+10)-13=2 chances of 33.3% to do one force damage each to Ground
Zero).
AI and difficulty level
The computer has 2 different strategies. On Goon, Criminal, or Crime
Lord it tries to win. On Homocidal Maniac it tries to keep you from
winning... usually by killing you. :) The higher difficulties do make
the computer more aggresive so it might attack you more often than
just passing through your sectors [gruof@pacificnet.com]
The computer will never gang up on the player (except maybe in
Homicidal Maniac). The computer basically scouts all of the other
player to find any weak spots. The AI does NOT cheat. We were very
adamant about making sure that the AI played fairly. [...] [re: AIs
grabbing gang-less sectors] If you keep people in your sectors, it
should make it more difficult for the computer to take. If you saw an
unoccupied sector sitting there, wouldn't you take it?
[stickman@lava.net]
_________________________________________________________________
4. Strategies
Starting strategies
Adam K. Rixey (nyarl+@andrew.cmu.edu):
* When you start out, try and get a few casinos as early as
possible. I was having money problems the first few times I
played, but casinos generate a lot of cash (6 per turn). Also buy
a few mostly useless groups with 0 or 1 upkeep (like the clowns or
the smiley-face dudes) to just chaos each turn while your better
gangs do important things like taking over sectors and
researching. These guys also make good scouts and bait...
* As soon as you see a Research Center or something similar, take it
and station at least two people there to research equipment. You
want the big guns as soon as possible (just make sure you have
gangs that can use them...). If you can get something like a
shotgun in the first four or five rounds and give it to a
relatively cheap but good gang, you're sitting pretty.
* Try to keep at least one martial arts gang in your queue so that
if you need quick reinforcements you can hire them and they can
put up a good fight right away without equipment.
General strategies
Don't forget that Bankers, Computer Hackers, and Forgers have negative
upkeep. That is, they earn you money every turn. Of course,
accompanying them are rather stiff hiring fees, so they might be
difficult to hire too many of them near the beginning of the game.
Tim Jordan (lordgek@best.com):
* Hospitals and Temples are key: Once you control one of these
puppies it is much easier to bring new recruits to full power at
them and their added support makes them that much harder to steal
away from you (assuming of course you always leave someone there).
* Chaos 'til the cows come home: Money is key in this game and
although Casinos and Office Towers can make you big money, most
average gangs chaosing can make about 5 bucks easy. The trouble
starts when you really try to squeeze a sector for all its worth
with multiple folk since you really start pushing the envelope at
this point, but if you've got a gang with nothing incredibly
important to do besides guarding a square, chaos away!
* Detection and stealth are not to be underestimated: This may have
been obvious to everyone else from the start but I just realized
its bigger ramifications in combat recently. Quite simply put, if
your stealth is greater than the best enemy is the sector's
detection (allowing, of course, the modifiers for multiple groups
they may have there) you cannot be attacked. Since the attacker
usually has such a big advantage, this allows you to totally
choose your attacks or simply go about business as normal
(influencing, chaos, equipping, etc.) since they can't interfere
with you. This factor really comes into play when choosing armor
and weapons to equip since stealth can easily be shot to hell by
these devices. If you have sneaky folk you want to stay that way
(like your Right Hand Men in an Elimination game) consider sites
with back ally networks and quiet equipment. This also means that
scanners are pretty damned useful too, how many times have you had
a gang pummeled in a supposedly "empty" square?
* Set up research centers: Maybe this is too much a "Putting all of
one's eggs in one basket", I find that having my scientist,
hackers, and other brain types hanging in a site with a research
center and all equipped with science kits allows me to knock even
the biggest projects out in a few turns and gain a huge
technological boost on the competition. Since the first five tech
levels can be done anywhere if your gang is technologically
advanced enough, these centers should put their emphasis on the
6-10 tech items. As long as they're out of trouble and not Weight
Lifters, its often easiest to have the low tech gangs do their own
research.
George Ruof (gruof@pacificnet.net):
* Snitching: Get someone with a really high stealth and go snitch to
make police crackdowns. It's a lot easier to control sectors after
the police wipe everyone out of them.
* Factories: 30% off on equipment can help a lot. I usually hire
gangs to the hospital sector, heal them, then move them to the
factory sector to get equipped. After that they're ready to go on
a killing spree.
* Research centers: This is the only way to get high tech items. If
you get some gangs with high research numbers and give them
science kits you can gain a great advantage quickly. Hopefully
you'll also be lucky and get good gangs.
Drew Fudenberg (fudenberg@husc.harvard.edu):
* Remember that the agent's force is added in to most calculations,
so agents who are fully healed are the most effective. For this
reason the first thing I research is usually a med kit- I give it
to the researcher and have him heal before he researches further.
When I can afford high-tech agents I upgrade to the body
stabilizer for those who can use it. Yes, hospitals and clinics
can be a substitute, but they don't seem to be that densely
scattered, and it wastes a lot of time to trek back to them.
* If it looks a sector will need to maintain a sizable garrison,
uses bribes to get the tolerance up so you can have several agents
chaos at once.
* One fun high-tech combination is invisio cloak plus empathic
enhancer.
Specific scenario strategies:
Big Man
* Tim Jordan (lordgek@best.com): While I still have a tough time
with this one even on just criminal level AI, I've found the key
to life is to grab one of the center squares ASAP! Move your first
gang there right off the bat, don't rest until one is yours! Also,
if in one of those lucky situations where you have a choice of
equally distant center squares to go for, shoot for one with some
sort of healing (hospital, temple, clinic)! Since a great deal of
this game will be spent just defending your one spot, the extra
healing and support to thwart overthrows is invaluable!
_________________________________________________________________
5. Data tables
The information in the following tables are from CO data files (PC and
Mac versions are identical).
Gangs (90 total)
Hir=Hiring cost, Upk=Upkeep cost, Com=Combat, Def=Defense, Tec=Tech
level, Stl=Stealth, Det=Detect, Cha=Chaos, Ctr=Control, Hel=Heal,
Inf=Influence, Res=Research, Str=Strength, Bla=Blade/Melee,
Ran=Ranged, Fig=Fighting, Mar=Martial Arts
Name Hir Upk Com Def Tec Stl Det Cha Ctr Hel Inf Res Str Bl
a Ran Fig Mar
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
ABOMINATORS 6 3 5 6 4 2 7 -2 -2 4 2 0 3
0 0 0 0
ANGELS OF ARCADIA 11 6 6 7 9 7 10 3 5 5 3 1 4
0 -9 -5 0
ANTI-TEMPLISTS 5 3 2 3 6 7 8 1 2 0 1 0 0
0 4 0 0
ARCHITECS GUILD 8 5 2 3 9 7 8 0 1 0 9 0 0
0 0 0 0
AZURE ORDER 8 4 0 10 0 10 10 1 1 3 1 0 0
0 0 11 0
BAD ARTISTS 6 3 0 0 4 10 5 3 1 0 1 -5 0
0 0 0 0
BANKERS 11 -1 -2 1 4 10 10 3 0 0 3 0 -1
0 0 0 0
BICYCLE MESSENGERS 1 1 1 1 2 7 10 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
BLOOD ORDER 11 6 0 13 0 9 11 3 0 3 0 0 1
0 0 0 12
BOUNTY HUNTERS 8 5 3 4 8 8 13 0 0 3 2 0 2
0 4 0 0
BROTHERS OF THE BLADE 7 3 1 5 8 8 8 0 0 0 1 0 0
7 -3 0 0
CHAIN GANG 3 2 2 3 5 6 6 0 0 0 3 0 3 -
2 0 0 0
COMPUTER HACKERS 15 -2 -1 0 8 9 14 4 1 0 2 3 -2 -
1 -1 -1 0
CORPORATE RAIDERS 7 5 0 1 9 8 8 5 5 0 6 0 0
0 0 0 0
CRAP PUKES 1 1 1 1 3 7 7 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0
CRIMSON DRAGONS 7 3 4 5 6 9 8 2 0 2 0 0 0
4 0 2 0
CYBERSHARKS 5 3 3 5 6 5 8 3 0 1 0 0 3
0 0 0 0
DEER HUNTERS 2 1 2 2 4 8 9 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 2 0 0
DEVIL RIDERS 4 3 2 4 6 6 8 1 0 0 2 0 1
0 3 1 0
DISCO FREAKS 3 1 1 3 4 3 9 1 0 1 -5 0 1
0 0 0 1
DOG BOYS 2 1 3 1 3 6 10 0 0 0 0 -1 0
0 1 0 0
DOMINATRIX CLIQUE 3 1 2 5 2 3 9 0 2 0 1 0 4 -
4 -3 -3 0
DOOMSDAY CULT 6 3 1 3 6 9 9 3 3 1 3 2 -1
0 2 0 0
EBON ORDER 8 5 0 10 0 14 9 5 -1 2 3 0 2
0 0 0 7
EMERALD ORDER 9 5 0 11 0 10 10 0 0 4 1 0 0
0 0 0 10
EX-POSTAL WORKERS 4 3 0 1 4 7 8 1 0 0 0 -3 0
0 6 0 0
EX-PRO ATHLETES 5 3 5 5 2 3 9 2 -2 1 1 -2 3
5 0 1 0
FACEMEN 5 3 1 1 6 10 9 2 5 0 3 0 0
0 0 0 0
FIGHTING NUNS 5 3 3 4 5 7 9 -5 0 0 0 0 2
0 3 1 0
FIRESTORM TEAM 8 4 4 4 8 7 10 2 0 0 3 0 0
2 4 0 0
FOLLOWERS OF SQUIGGY 1 0 0 0 2 10 7 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
Name Hir Upk Com Def Tec Stl Det Cha Ctr Hel Inf Res Str Bl
a Ran Fig Mar
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
FORGERS 20 -3 3 4 9 8 8 1 -1 0 2 3 0
0 1 0 0
FORTUNE TELLERS 5 3 -1 1 3 10 12 4 2 2 4 0 0
0 0 0 0
GREY ORDER 7 4 0 7 4 7 10 1 1 2 2 -2 2 -
6 -6 0 8
GROUND ZERO 12 7 7 8 10 6 8 5 2 4 3 0 0
0 5 2 0
GUN RUNNERS 6 3 1 3 7 10 9 3 -1 0 0 0 0
0 6 0 0
HAMMER SQUAD 2 2 1 3 2 5 7 0 0 0 2 0 2
0 0 0 0
HAMMERFIST CLAN 2 2 0 5 0 7 7 0 -1 0 1 0 3
0 0 3 0
HAPPY CAMPERS 4 3 0 3 8 10 12 3 1 3 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
HEADBANGERS 3 2 1 2 3 7 5 2 0 0 0 0 2
0 0 0 0
IRON CADRE 9 5 4 4 10 7 9 1 -3 0 5 3 6
0 0 0 0
LEATHERHEADS 3 1 3 4 2 7 6 0 0 0 1 0 2
0 0 0 0
MAGENTA ORDER 6 3 0 8 1 9 9 -3 1 2 0 0 4
0 0 0 4
MASTER LEECHES 3 1 0 1 4 9 10 3 -3 0 2 0 0
0 0 0 0
METAL BURN 7 4 3 4 7 6 8 3 0 -1 1 0 0
0 6 0 0
MIDDLEMEN 3 2 2 2 5 8 8 0 2 0 2 0 0
0 0 0 0
MUTANT THUGS 3 2 0 1 3 7 6 0 -2 5 1 0 4
0 0 0 0
MUTT ORDER 2 1 0 4 1 7 10 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 3
NANCY BOYS 0 0 0 0 1 5 5 0 -1 0 -1 0 0
0 0 0 0
NECK KICKERS 4 1 0 0 5 9 11 -6 -6 -2 -6 -6 -4 -
4 -6 15 0
NEW JACKS 5 3 2 3 6 8 9 3 3 0 3 -1 0
0 4 0 0
NIGHT WALKERS 10 6 3 6 5 11 11 4 4 5 6 0 4
0 0 5 0
NINJA EXTRAS 5 2 2 3 5 10 8 0 0 2 0 0 0
1 0 3 0
PAIN, INC. 9 5 4 5 10 9 8 0 3 0 4 0 3
0 0 0 0
PINHEADS 5 2 3 2 1 3 7 0 0 1 2 -5 5 -
2 0 0 0
PRESS CORP 6 4 1 2 8 5 11 4 1 0 4 0 0
0 0 0 0
PSYCHOS 4 3 5 1 7 5 7 3 0 1 0 1 0
0 0 0 0
PUDDING CLOWNS 1 1 -2 1 1 8 8 0 0 9 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
PYRAMID HEALERS 2 2 0 4 5 7 10 0 0 4 -1 1 0
0 0 0 0
RACKETEERS 7 4 0 3 9 9 7 6 2 0 2 0 0
1 3 0 0
REGULATORS 4 3 2 4 5 9 9 2 2 0 0 0 0
0 4 0 0
Name Hir Upk Com Def Tec Stl Det Cha Ctr Hel Inf Res Str Bl
a Ran Fig Mar
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
RIG MASTERS 9 6 4 7 10 7 8 0 0 0 0 3 1
0 1 0 0
RIGHT HANDS 0 0 1 1 7 10 10 1 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
RIPPERS 4 2 3 3 6 9 9 0 1 0 0 0 0
4 -4 0 0
ROAD REPAIR CREW 4 2 2 3 6 6 7 2 1 0 0 0 3
0 0 0 0
RUSTED BLADES 4 2 2 4 5 7 8 1 2 -1 0 1 0
4 -3 0 0
SCIENCE TEAM 6 2 -3 1 10 7 10 1 0 0 0 4 0
0 3 0 0
SCUMBAGS 1 1 1 3 2 8 8 1 -1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
SEWER RATS 1 1 2 2 2 9 7 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0
SHADOW NINJAS 6 4 3 4 5 13 8 1 0 0 0 0 1
3 0 5 0
SHOCK TROOPERS 6 4 2 5 10 5 8 0 3 0 0 0 0
0 3 0 0
SILVER ICE 7 4 4 5 7 11 8 1 3 2 0 0 1
5 0 1 0
SISTER OF THE SABER 6 3 1 4 8 7 9 0 0 0 2 0 0
6 -2 0 0
SLAMDANCERS 3 2 1 4 3 5 7 3 0 2 0 0 1
0 0 3 0
SNIPERS 6 4 1 5 8 11 11 -2 -3 0 -2 0 0
0 8 0 0
SOUTHSIDE PUNKS 4 2 3 3 5 7 7 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 2 0 0
SPASMIC SUPERHEROES 7 4 5 5 7 8 8 4 -2 5 0 0 5
0 0 0 0
STORMLORDS 8 5 6 4 9 6 9 4 2 0 0 0 0
0 2 0 0
SUICIDE SQUAD 3 0 9 0 9 1 10 0 0 -6 0 -3 0
0 0 0 0
SUNSHINE CULT 1 0 -3 0 0 10 7 0 1 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0
TEAM STICK MAN 10 5 2 3 10 12 12 5 5 6 2 2 0
0 0 0 1
TECHNO SCREAM 6 4 3 4 10 8 8 0 0 0 1 2 0
0 2 0 0
THE CLEANERS 8 5 5 5 9 9 10 1 0 1 1 0 3
0 5 2 0
TIGER CLAN 8 5 4 8 3 6 10 2 -1 3 0 0 1
0 -2 0 4
TRANTIAN FUSERS 10 5 3 6 10 5 10 1 0 3 2 5 2
0 0 0 0
TROUBLEMAKERS 3 1 0 1 4 9 7 3 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
USED CAR SALESMEN 3 2 1 3 4 5 10 0 1 0 3 0 0
0 0 0 0
WHIZ KIDS 5 3 -2 1 9 10 9 2 2 0 0 2 0
0 0 0 0
WOLFPACK 4 2 4 3 3 10 7 1 0 2 0 0 3
0 -3 0 0
WOUNDED FOOLS 1 1 1 6 2 8 4 1 0 -3 0 0 2
0 0 0 0
Items (53 total)
Typ=Type (1=Melee, 2=Ranged, 3=Armor, 4=Misc), RC=Research Cost,
Cos=Fabrication cost, Tec=Tech level, Com=Combat, Def=Defense,
Stl=Stealth, Det=Detect, Cha=Chaos, Ctr=Control, Hel=Heal,
Inf=Influence, Res=Research, Str=Strength, Bla=Blade/Melee,
Ran=Ranged, Fig=Fighting, Mar=Martial arts
Name Typ RC Cos Tec Com Def Stl Det Cha Ctr Hel Inf Res St
r Bla Ran Fig Mar
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------
ACID BLADE 1 4 10 4 5 0 0 0 0 -1 -1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
ASSAULT ARMOR 3 4 14 6 0 7 -8 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
ASSAULT RIFLE 2 3 8 4 5 0 -5 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
BATTLE SUIT 3 15 40 10 0 12 -12 2 0 -1 1 3 0
2 0 0 0 0
BODY ARMOR 3 3 10 5 0 6 -6 -1 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
BODY STABILIZER 4 7 18 8 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 0 0
1 0 0 0 0
BOOM BOXES 4 0 4 1 1 0 -3 -2 2 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0
CAMOUFLAGE SUIT 3 4 10 3 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
COMBAT KNIFE 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
COMBAT PISTOL 2 0 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
COOL HATS 4 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
DRAGONBREATH CARBINE 2 10 18 6 8 0 -6 -1 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
EMPATHIC ENHANCER 4 12 25 9 1 1 1 1 1 4 0 5 0
0 0 0 0 0
FEAR EMINATOR 4 5 10 7 2 0 -3 0 1 2 0 3 0
0 0 0 0 0
FIELD COMPUTER 4 10 12 6 0 0 -1 2 1 1 0 1 2
0 0 0 0 0
FLAK JACKET 3 1 5 3 0 3 -2 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
FORCE BLADE 1 9 20 8 9 1 -2 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
FORCE FIELD 3 10 20 8 0 8 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
0 0 -3 0 0
FUSION GUN 2 12 30 9 13 0 -10 0 0 0 -1 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
INVISO CLOAK 3 10 25 9 0 5 8 0 2 -2 0 -2 0
0 0 0 0 0
IONIC MESH VEST 3 12 30 8 0 10 -3 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 -1 0 0
KATANA 1 3 11 5 6 0 -4 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
KEVLAR VEST 3 2 7 4 0 4 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
LASER GUN 2 6 16 6 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
LEATHERS 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
LIGHTNING SPEAR 0 10 25 9 12 0 -9 0 0 0 -1 2 0
0 0 0 0 0
LO-LITE GOGGLES 4 4 8 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
Name Typ RC Cos Tec Com Def Stl Det Cha Ctr Hel Inf Res St
r Bla Ran Fig Mar
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------
MEDICAL KIT 4 1 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
METAL PIPE 0 0 1 0 1 0 -2 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
MONOM ROD 1 12 32 10 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
PAIN NEGATORS 4 4 6 4 0 2 0 -2 0 0 2 0 -2
0 0 0 0 0
PARTICLE RIFLE 2 9 20 7 8 0 -4 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
PHAZE GLOVES 0 8 15 7 8 0 -3 0 0 0 0 1 1
0 0 0 0 0
PHAZE HANDGUN 2 14 35 9 11 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
PLASMA GENERATOR 2 15 45 10 15 1 -12 0 0 -1 -2 3 0
0 0 0 0 0
POLEARM 0 2 6 4 4 0 -8 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
POWERED ARMOR 3 8 17 7 0 9 -10 1 0 -1 0 2 0
1 0 0 0 0
RAGE REPEATER 2 4 12 5 6 0 -3 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
REACTION LEATHER 3 7 12 5 0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
RIOT GEAR 3 1 4 2 0 4 -8 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
ROCKET LAUNCHER 2 10 25 8 10 0 -9 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SCANNERS 4 6 10 7 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SCIENCE KIT 4 9 7 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5
0 0 0 0 0
SHADES 4 1 6 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
SHOCK PADS 3 0 3 1 0 2 -6 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SHOTGUN 2 1 6 3 4 0 -5 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SMOKE BOMBS 4 3 8 3 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SNEAKERS 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SOFT METAL ACCELERATOR 2 12 23 7 9 0 -1 0 0 0 -1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SWORD 1 1 4 3 3 0 -2 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
THUNDER MACE 0 6 13 6 7 0 -6 0 1 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
VITAMINS 4 4 6 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0
WHIP 0 1 3 2 2 0 -4 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
Sites (24 total)
Res=Resistance, Sup=Support, Tol=Tolerance, Cas=Cash, Com=Combat,
Def=Defense, Stl=Stealth, Det=Detect, Cha=Chaos, Ctr=Control,
Hel=Heal, Inf=Influence, Res=Research, Str=Strength, Bla=Blade/Melee,
Ran=Ranged, Fig=Fighting, Mar=Martial Arts, %ED=% Equipment discount,
TL=Enables research through tech level x
Name Res Sup Tol Cas Com Def Stl Det Cha Ctr Hel Inf Res Str B
la Ran Fig Mar %ED TL
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------
ARBORETUM 5 1 -1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
ARENA 11 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
BACK ALLEY NETWORK 9 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
BAR/DANCE CLUB 10 -2 0 2 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 0
CASINO 14 -1 0 6 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
CLINIC 9 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
CONDOS 9 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
CORPORATE TOWERS 13 2 -2 5 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
FACTORY 10 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 30 0
GYM 7 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0 0 0
HEADQUARTERS 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
HOSPITAL 15 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
HOUSING 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
MASS MEDIA STATION 13 2 1 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
MUSEUM 4 1 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
OFFICES 8 1 -1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
PARKING LOT 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
RESEARCH LAB 12 1 0 -2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 0
0 0 0 0 0 10
SCIENCE CENTER 8 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
0 0 0 0 0 8
TEMPLE 16 3 -2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 0 0
0 0 2 0 0 0
VACANT LOT 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
WASTE INCINERATOR 6 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
__________________________________________________________________________
6. Gang comparison
Here are some upper limits and analysis for the gangs, including the
maximal blade/melee, ranged, fighting, and martial arts stats you can
achieve for each gang.
Com+ Com+
Str+ Fig+ Com+ Com+
Name Bla Str Ran MA Stl
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
_________________________________________________________________
7. Player-suggested enhancements (paraphrased or quoted from Usenet)
Add visible name/stats to enemy gangs in order to make rational combat
choices. [rwebb@panix.com]
Add site icons to city map even when uninfluenced to give a more
strategic perspective to the game instead of RSI-inducing building
hunts. [rwebb@panix.com]
Let players customize their "decks" by tweaking the relative
frequencies of various gangs. [fudenberg@fas.harvard.edu]
Add "subways"- this would be a new action (other than "move"); it
would require a second, simpler map of subway connections. Possibly
make the stations "sites" that have to be controlled before they can
be used. [fudenberg@fas.harvard.edu]
Add some vital overview screens. It would be nice to see all the gangs
that are working for me. It would be nice to see all the sites I
control. It would be nice to see what techs are available and/or which
ones remain to be researched. [kagass@primenet.com]
Add ability to toggle other startup options. It has 12 scenarious with
different goals, but it would be neat to do something like "I want to
play 'Greed' but give everybody 50 starting cash and an extra gang" or
something. [nyarl+@andrew.cmu.edu]
When I'm buying equipment, I'd like to see the stats for the gang I'm
buying it for at the same time. [nyarl+@andrew.cmu.edu]
Add more higher-level summary to give you a better overview of your
gangs and sites. [bfrohock@sky.net]
After I finish my turn in a network game I have to sit and wait with a
"please wait" screen until everyone else finishes their turns. This is
really annoying. It would MUCH better if I could continue to browse
through my sectors and look at stats and stuff. I don't want to use a
time limit and I hate waiting at that screen. [ostfeld@intac.com]
It would've been nice if this game had some kind of diplomacy to it.
Like if I could talk to the other overlords and maybe find out why
they're all beating the crap out of me. [ostfeld@intac.com]
_________________________________________________________________
8. Unknown
Version 0.7.1
Last revised July 18, 1997
The most current Unofficial Chaos Overlords FAQ
(Frequently-Asked-Questions) is located at
http://www.panix.com/~rwebb/chaos/chaosfaq.html.
_________________________________________________________________
Author: Russell Webb (rwebb@panix.com)
Contributors: Drew Fudenberg (fudenberg@husc.harvard.edu), Tim Jordan
(lordgek@best.com), Adam K. Rixey (nyarl+@andrew.cmu.edu), George Ruof
(gruof@pacificnet.net)
Special thanks to: George Ruof of New World Computing
(gruof@pacificnet.net) and John K. Morris of Stickman Games
(stickman@lava.net)
Scapegoat: Hedin Vice (viceh@overlord.chaos.com)
FAQ revision history. (Dull stuff, really. You have been warned.)
_________________________________________________________________
Trademark information: Chaos Overlords is a trademark of New World
Computing, Inc., and is so acknowledged. Any other trademarks used in
this FAQ are also acknowledged.
Copyright information: This FAQ is Copyright 1996 by Russell Webb. All
rights reserved. Permission is given to reproduce this FAQ as long as
the author and all contributors are acknowledged and the FAQ is
reproduced in its entirety.
Contact rwebb@panix.com for additions, corrections, and flames. This
FAQ is somewhat incomplete at present; please help by mailing me
anything you think would be a beneficial addition.
_________________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
+ What is Chaos Overlords?
+ Overview of gangs, sites, and items
+ Chaos Overlords demo
+ System requirements
2. Multiplayer notes
+ General
+ Modem connections
+ TCP/IP connections
+ Direct serial connections
+ PC/Mac interoperability
3. Game elements
+ Research
+ Combat
+ AI and difficulty level
4. Strategies
+ Starting strategies
+ General strategies
+ Specific scenario strategies
5. Data tables
+ Gangs
+ Items
+ Sites
6. Gang comparison
7. Player-suggested enhancements
8. Unknown
_________________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
What is Chaos Overlords?
Chaos Overlords is a strategic game of futuristic gang combat. It was
developed by Stick Man Games and released in May 1996 by New World
Computing for the Macintosh and Windows 95 platforms.
The setting is a grim cyberpunk city of the year 2050 divided into an
8x8 grid of 64 sectors. Six human and/or computer-controlled AI
overlords attempt to gain control over the mostly-lawless city, sector
by sector, with some variation depending on the game's scenario
objectives.
You start the game employing a single gang and in control of a single
sector. Your initial gang, The Right Hands, is a band so loyal that
you don't even have to pay them any upkeep. With them you can start to
influence local businesses, gain control of nearby city sectors,
research new tech, deck them out in power armor and assault rifles, or
just send them off to cause chaos, extorting money from the local
population. By expanding your small empire across the city you raise
funds to hire more gangs, buy better weapons and armor, protect your
turf, and annihilate the opposition.
Chaos Overlords (so named from the financial need for gangs to extort
funds by wreaking chaos) is a turn-based game. Some have suggested
that the types of gangs are reminiscent of the Steve Jackson
'Illuminatus' card game, with game mechanics similar to that of a card
game like Magic (with upkeep, command, execution, and hire phases, and
with random gang hiring every turn that is similar to drawing a new
card). Though it's a turn-based combat game, don't expect a cyberpunk
X-Com or Jagged Alliance here: combat is resolved statistically, with
silhouette mannequins duking it out noisily with ranged weapons, melee
weapons, or martial arts to illustrate the attack and defense results.
Overview of gangs, sites, and items
The gangs you hire are similar to the 'agents' in Simisle by Maxis:
the gangs are the foundation of the game. All goals are achieved
directly by using them, and the success or failure of any task depends
on the gang's abilities and their surroundings. There are 90 different
gangs in the game. (The box and documentation mention 70+; a total of
90 gangs were added after printing the documentation.)
Three different gangs are available for hire each turn. At your
discretion you can turn down one of the three gangs or hire one.
During the subsequent turn a new gang will take the hired/snubbed
gang's place, so three distinct gang choices will always be available.
Gangs are not unique, however, and you may end up hiring multiple
instances of the same gang or fighting an enemy gang that is identical
in basic stats to one of your own. You are limited to simultaneously
employing a maximum of 80 gangs.
Sites are organized into clusters of three buildings in each sector,
each with some strategic value. Want a head start on research? Take
command of a city sector with a research lab, send in heavy iron to
elicit a cooperative attitude from the lab personnel, then send in Rig
Masters or Trantian Fusers to start cranking out Monom (monofiliment)
Rods or Rocket Launchers. Need cash? Those Corporate Raiders of yours
can influence a local casino for that much-needed protection money, or
influence a local hospital to give a healing boost for recuperating
gang members. There are 24 different types of sites, each with varying
modifications to the tolerance towards or abilities of your gang
members. These sites automatically affect gangs in their sector once
they have been influenced. Since there are 192 randomly-distributed
sites in a game, multiple occurrences of all buildings show up across
the map.
Fifty-three different items are available (or researchable) to equip
your gangs and give them a chance for survival. These are split into
11 different technology levels, from 0 (the most basic of items, like
a metal pipe or pair of sound-dampening sneakers) up through level 10
(such as a plasma generator or mechanized battle suit). Each of your
gangs has a limit to the technology level they can use; the Mutant
Thugs will have a fine time with a tech 3 Shotgun, but they just won't
be able to figure out a tech 9 Phaze Handgun. Once researched, items
can be purchased/fabricated and equipped amongst your gangs without
additional research.
Chaos Overlords demo and v1.1 patch
A demo of Chaos Overlords is available on NWC's web site with 8-bit
graphics for PC (6.2MB) and Mac (4.4MB), or 16-bit graphics for PC
(7MB) and Mac (6.2BM).
A demo was also available with the included CD of several PC game
magazines, including a mid-1996 issue of PC Gamer. Apparently the
demo's documentation was inadvertently omitted. Check
http://www.3do.com/nwcomputing/faq/chaosdem.zip for the missing
information.
In late July, 1996, a version 1.1 patch (more of an upgrade with new
features, really) was released for the Windows 95 version (185k) as
well as the Mac version (1.6MB). Changes include minor bug fixes as
well as a site map overview feature, the ability to continue looking
at the console gang/site/etc. displays after submitting your turn in
multiplayer games, more hot-spots in the attack, equip, give, and
other panels to immediately get info on items and gangs, and access to
enemy gang stats by double-clicking on them.
System Requirements
Windows 95 System Requirements
* IBM 486/33 or greater and 100% compatibles (486/66 recommended)
* 8MB RAM
* Double speed CD-ROM drive
* 10 - 30 MB hard drive space
* DirectDraw compatible SVGA graphics card
* Windows 95
[Note: a 486DX2/50 user reports as being satisfied with the game's
performance, so these requirements may be targeted appropriately.]
Macintosh System Requirements
* 68030 or Power Macintosh Processor (Power Macintosh Native)
* 4 MB free RAM for 256 colors (6 MB free RAM for Power Mac / 65,000
colors)
* Double speed CD-ROM drive
* 20 MB hard drive space
* 13" or larger monitor (minimum 640x480x256)
* System 7.x
_________________________________________________________________
2. Multiplayer notes
General
There is a $15 offer for an additional Chaos Overlords CD, available
to all registered CO users. Information on the offer posted by
gruof@pacificnet.com to Usenet is here.
In a multiplayer game the game host's files are the only ones used to
actually calculate results. The client data files are used for
displaying information locally. If you start mucking about with the
data files and give Parking Lots a +255 defense, it will only affect
the actual gameplay if the change is on the host, and the host data
file changes will not be visible to other players unless their data
files reflect the same modifications. This might be potentially abused
by a host that makes obscure changes that aren't immediately evident.
A checksum or CRC of host vs. client files might be beneficial if
abuse occurs.
Modem connections
PC-to-PC modem connections seem to be quite stable. Please report any
problems if they are notable.
TCP/IP connections
TCP/IP connections work well even hosted over a 28.8k connection.
There is some slowdown with a large number of players, but the speed
is still fairly satisfying.
Sources for TCP/IP Chaos Overlords opponents include:
* the web site http://www.wizweb.com/arena/chaosOverlords/
(recommended)
* notices on the Usenet newsgroups comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic
and comp.sys.mac.games.strategic
* the Chaos Overlords IRC channels: #chaosoverlords (undernet) or
#chaos_overlords (dalnet). There are good places to go after
you're so rudly disconnected at the game end--what fun is it if
you can't gloat about your CO victory, or if you can't harrass the
game winner?
Direct serial connections
No reported comments so far.
PC/Mac interoperability
NWC says that the Windows 95 and Macintosh versions of CO will work
together. It reportedly works well with TCP/IP connections between the
two platforms, but currently there are no reports of success or
failure with direct serial or modem connections between PCs and Macs.
_________________________________________________________________
3. Game elements
Research
There is no research tree. Any gang with a sufficient tech level can
research any item (with varying speeds, depending on what sites in
that sector have been influenced, and what miscellaneous items are
equipped, such as a Science Kit). Research is cumulative, and having
more than one gang research an item gives faster results. If you stop
researching and then carry on with the same research topic later, the
prior research points will carry over when research is resumed with
the same or a different gang.
Research success rolls used in excess of what is required for a topic
are wasted. For example, if Computer Hackers (Res 3) with a Science
Kit (Res 5) are at a Science Lab (Res 5) work on a Kevlar Vest (RC 2)
and gets 3 successes, the excess successful research roll is wasted.
Matching research topics efficiently with researcher skills (when
possible) is somewhat important due to this.
Combat
Force has an effect on combat. If you've repeatedly seen high-defense
gangs (say, defense 13) getting dinked by weaponless enemies (combat
5, for example), force is the reason. The formula in the manual
implies that a defender's modified defense higher than an attacker's
modified combat will be immune to injury. The formula (p.51) should
read:
Attack Roll = (Gang's Combat + Gang's Force) - Defender's Defense
An attack will only have a 0% chance of effectiveness if the attack
roll as shown above turns out zero or less. Force has no direct effect
on defensive adjustments, only as a combat adjustment.
Since all attacks occur simultaneously, retaliatory attacks are
calculated using the stats in effect at the beginning of the combat
round (including the initial force of a retaliatory attacker--that's
what the upper force bar displays during combat). Your Ground Zero
gang equipped with Reaction Leather and Phaze Handgun (com 23, force
10, def 13) may have wiped the weaponless Psychos from 10 to 0 force
on an initial attack, but the doomed Psychos (com 5, force 10)
simultaneously retaliate with a minor chance to wound Ground Zero
((5+10)-13=2 chances of 33.3% to do one force damage each to Ground
Zero).
AI and difficulty level
The computer has 2 different strategies. On Goon, Criminal, or Crime
Lord it tries to win. On Homocidal Maniac it tries to keep you from
winning... usually by killing you. :) The higher difficulties do make
the computer more aggresive so it might attack you more often than
just passing through your sectors [gruof@pacificnet.com]
The computer will never gang up on the player (except maybe in
Homicidal Maniac). The computer basically scouts all of the other
player to find any weak spots. The AI does NOT cheat. We were very
adamant about making sure that the AI played fairly. [...] [re: AIs
grabbing gang-less sectors] If you keep people in your sectors, it
should make it more difficult for the computer to take. If you saw an
unoccupied sector sitting there, wouldn't you take it?
[stickman@lava.net]
_________________________________________________________________
4. Strategies
Starting strategies
Adam K. Rixey (nyarl+@andrew.cmu.edu):
* When you start out, try and get a few casinos as early as
possible. I was having money problems the first few times I
played, but casinos generate a lot of cash (6 per turn). Also buy
a few mostly useless groups with 0 or 1 upkeep (like the clowns or
the smiley-face dudes) to just chaos each turn while your better
gangs do important things like taking over sectors and
researching. These guys also make good scouts and bait...
* As soon as you see a Research Center or something similar, take it
and station at least two people there to research equipment. You
want the big guns as soon as possible (just make sure you have
gangs that can use them...). If you can get something like a
shotgun in the first four or five rounds and give it to a
relatively cheap but good gang, you're sitting pretty.
* Try to keep at least one martial arts gang in your queue so that
if you need quick reinforcements you can hire them and they can
put up a good fight right away without equipment.
General strategies
Don't forget that Bankers, Computer Hackers, and Forgers have negative
upkeep. That is, they earn you money every turn. Of course,
accompanying them are rather stiff hiring fees, so they might be
difficult to hire too many of them near the beginning of the game.
Tim Jordan (lordgek@best.com):
* Hospitals and Temples are key: Once you control one of these
puppies it is much easier to bring new recruits to full power at
them and their added support makes them that much harder to steal
away from you (assuming of course you always leave someone there).
* Chaos 'til the cows come home: Money is key in this game and
although Casinos and Office Towers can make you big money, most
average gangs chaosing can make about 5 bucks easy. The trouble
starts when you really try to squeeze a sector for all its worth
with multiple folk since you really start pushing the envelope at
this point, but if you've got a gang with nothing incredibly
important to do besides guarding a square, chaos away!
* Detection and stealth are not to be underestimated: This may have
been obvious to everyone else from the start but I just realized
its bigger ramifications in combat recently. Quite simply put, if
your stealth is greater than the best enemy is the sector's
detection (allowing, of course, the modifiers for multiple groups
they may have there) you cannot be attacked. Since the attacker
usually has such a big advantage, this allows you to totally
choose your attacks or simply go about business as normal
(influencing, chaos, equipping, etc.) since they can't interfere
with you. This factor really comes into play when choosing armor
and weapons to equip since stealth can easily be shot to hell by
these devices. If you have sneaky folk you want to stay that way
(like your Right Hand Men in an Elimination game) consider sites
with back ally networks and quiet equipment. This also means that
scanners are pretty damned useful too, how many times have you had
a gang pummeled in a supposedly "empty" square?
* Set up research centers: Maybe this is too much a "Putting all of
one's eggs in one basket", I find that having my scientist,
hackers, and other brain types hanging in a site with a research
center and all equipped with science kits allows me to knock even
the biggest projects out in a few turns and gain a huge
technological boost on the competition. Since the first five tech
levels can be done anywhere if your gang is technologically
advanced enough, these centers should put their emphasis on the
6-10 tech items. As long as they're out of trouble and not Weight
Lifters, its often easiest to have the low tech gangs do their own
research.
George Ruof (gruof@pacificnet.net):
* Snitching: Get someone with a really high stealth and go snitch to
make police crackdowns. It's a lot easier to control sectors after
the police wipe everyone out of them.
* Factories: 30% off on equipment can help a lot. I usually hire
gangs to the hospital sector, heal them, then move them to the
factory sector to get equipped. After that they're ready to go on
a killing spree.
* Research centers: This is the only way to get high tech items. If
you get some gangs with high research numbers and give them
science kits you can gain a great advantage quickly. Hopefully
you'll also be lucky and get good gangs.
Drew Fudenberg (fudenberg@husc.harvard.edu):
* Remember that the agent's force is added in to most calculations,
so agents who are fully healed are the most effective. For this
reason the first thing I research is usually a med kit- I give it
to the researcher and have him heal before he researches further.
When I can afford high-tech agents I upgrade to the body
stabilizer for those who can use it. Yes, hospitals and clinics
can be a substitute, but they don't seem to be that densely
scattered, and it wastes a lot of time to trek back to them.
* If it looks a sector will need to maintain a sizable garrison,
uses bribes to get the tolerance up so you can have several agents
chaos at once.
* One fun high-tech combination is invisio cloak plus empathic
enhancer.
Specific scenario strategies:
Big Man
* Tim Jordan (lordgek@best.com): While I still have a tough time
with this one even on just criminal level AI, I've found the key
to life is to grab one of the center squares ASAP! Move your first
gang there right off the bat, don't rest until one is yours! Also,
if in one of those lucky situations where you have a choice of
equally distant center squares to go for, shoot for one with some
sort of healing (hospital, temple, clinic)! Since a great deal of
this game will be spent just defending your one spot, the extra
healing and support to thwart overthrows is invaluable!
_________________________________________________________________
5. Data tables
The information in the following tables are from CO data files (PC and
Mac versions are identical).
Gangs (90 total)
Hir=Hiring cost, Upk=Upkeep cost, Com=Combat, Def=Defense, Tec=Tech
level, Stl=Stealth, Det=Detect, Cha=Chaos, Ctr=Control, Hel=Heal,
Inf=Influence, Res=Research, Str=Strength, Bla=Blade/Melee,
Ran=Ranged, Fig=Fighting, Mar=Martial Arts
Name Hir Upk Com Def Tec Stl Det Cha Ctr Hel Inf Res Str Bl
a Ran Fig Mar
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
ABOMINATORS 6 3 5 6 4 2 7 -2 -2 4 2 0 3
0 0 0 0
ANGELS OF ARCADIA 11 6 6 7 9 7 10 3 5 5 3 1 4
0 -9 -5 0
ANTI-TEMPLISTS 5 3 2 3 6 7 8 1 2 0 1 0 0
0 4 0 0
ARCHITECS GUILD 8 5 2 3 9 7 8 0 1 0 9 0 0
0 0 0 0
AZURE ORDER 8 4 0 10 0 10 10 1 1 3 1 0 0
0 0 11 0
BAD ARTISTS 6 3 0 0 4 10 5 3 1 0 1 -5 0
0 0 0 0
BANKERS 11 -1 -2 1 4 10 10 3 0 0 3 0 -1
0 0 0 0
BICYCLE MESSENGERS 1 1 1 1 2 7 10 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
BLOOD ORDER 11 6 0 13 0 9 11 3 0 3 0 0 1
0 0 0 12
BOUNTY HUNTERS 8 5 3 4 8 8 13 0 0 3 2 0 2
0 4 0 0
BROTHERS OF THE BLADE 7 3 1 5 8 8 8 0 0 0 1 0 0
7 -3 0 0
CHAIN GANG 3 2 2 3 5 6 6 0 0 0 3 0 3 -
2 0 0 0
COMPUTER HACKERS 15 -2 -1 0 8 9 14 4 1 0 2 3 -2 -
1 -1 -1 0
CORPORATE RAIDERS 7 5 0 1 9 8 8 5 5 0 6 0 0
0 0 0 0
CRAP PUKES 1 1 1 1 3 7 7 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0
CRIMSON DRAGONS 7 3 4 5 6 9 8 2 0 2 0 0 0
4 0 2 0
CYBERSHARKS 5 3 3 5 6 5 8 3 0 1 0 0 3
0 0 0 0
DEER HUNTERS 2 1 2 2 4 8 9 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 2 0 0
DEVIL RIDERS 4 3 2 4 6 6 8 1 0 0 2 0 1
0 3 1 0
DISCO FREAKS 3 1 1 3 4 3 9 1 0 1 -5 0 1
0 0 0 1
DOG BOYS 2 1 3 1 3 6 10 0 0 0 0 -1 0
0 1 0 0
DOMINATRIX CLIQUE 3 1 2 5 2 3 9 0 2 0 1 0 4 -
4 -3 -3 0
DOOMSDAY CULT 6 3 1 3 6 9 9 3 3 1 3 2 -1
0 2 0 0
EBON ORDER 8 5 0 10 0 14 9 5 -1 2 3 0 2
0 0 0 7
EMERALD ORDER 9 5 0 11 0 10 10 0 0 4 1 0 0
0 0 0 10
EX-POSTAL WORKERS 4 3 0 1 4 7 8 1 0 0 0 -3 0
0 6 0 0
EX-PRO ATHLETES 5 3 5 5 2 3 9 2 -2 1 1 -2 3
5 0 1 0
FACEMEN 5 3 1 1 6 10 9 2 5 0 3 0 0
0 0 0 0
FIGHTING NUNS 5 3 3 4 5 7 9 -5 0 0 0 0 2
0 3 1 0
FIRESTORM TEAM 8 4 4 4 8 7 10 2 0 0 3 0 0
2 4 0 0
FOLLOWERS OF SQUIGGY 1 0 0 0 2 10 7 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
Name Hir Upk Com Def Tec Stl Det Cha Ctr Hel Inf Res Str Bl
a Ran Fig Mar
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
FORGERS 20 -3 3 4 9 8 8 1 -1 0 2 3 0
0 1 0 0
FORTUNE TELLERS 5 3 -1 1 3 10 12 4 2 2 4 0 0
0 0 0 0
GREY ORDER 7 4 0 7 4 7 10 1 1 2 2 -2 2 -
6 -6 0 8
GROUND ZERO 12 7 7 8 10 6 8 5 2 4 3 0 0
0 5 2 0
GUN RUNNERS 6 3 1 3 7 10 9 3 -1 0 0 0 0
0 6 0 0
HAMMER SQUAD 2 2 1 3 2 5 7 0 0 0 2 0 2
0 0 0 0
HAMMERFIST CLAN 2 2 0 5 0 7 7 0 -1 0 1 0 3
0 0 3 0
HAPPY CAMPERS 4 3 0 3 8 10 12 3 1 3 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
HEADBANGERS 3 2 1 2 3 7 5 2 0 0 0 0 2
0 0 0 0
IRON CADRE 9 5 4 4 10 7 9 1 -3 0 5 3 6
0 0 0 0
LEATHERHEADS 3 1 3 4 2 7 6 0 0 0 1 0 2
0 0 0 0
MAGENTA ORDER 6 3 0 8 1 9 9 -3 1 2 0 0 4
0 0 0 4
MASTER LEECHES 3 1 0 1 4 9 10 3 -3 0 2 0 0
0 0 0 0
METAL BURN 7 4 3 4 7 6 8 3 0 -1 1 0 0
0 6 0 0
MIDDLEMEN 3 2 2 2 5 8 8 0 2 0 2 0 0
0 0 0 0
MUTANT THUGS 3 2 0 1 3 7 6 0 -2 5 1 0 4
0 0 0 0
MUTT ORDER 2 1 0 4 1 7 10 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 3
NANCY BOYS 0 0 0 0 1 5 5 0 -1 0 -1 0 0
0 0 0 0
NECK KICKERS 4 1 0 0 5 9 11 -6 -6 -2 -6 -6 -4 -
4 -6 15 0
NEW JACKS 5 3 2 3 6 8 9 3 3 0 3 -1 0
0 4 0 0
NIGHT WALKERS 10 6 3 6 5 11 11 4 4 5 6 0 4
0 0 5 0
NINJA EXTRAS 5 2 2 3 5 10 8 0 0 2 0 0 0
1 0 3 0
PAIN, INC. 9 5 4 5 10 9 8 0 3 0 4 0 3
0 0 0 0
PINHEADS 5 2 3 2 1 3 7 0 0 1 2 -5 5 -
2 0 0 0
PRESS CORP 6 4 1 2 8 5 11 4 1 0 4 0 0
0 0 0 0
PSYCHOS 4 3 5 1 7 5 7 3 0 1 0 1 0
0 0 0 0
PUDDING CLOWNS 1 1 -2 1 1 8 8 0 0 9 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
PYRAMID HEALERS 2 2 0 4 5 7 10 0 0 4 -1 1 0
0 0 0 0
RACKETEERS 7 4 0 3 9 9 7 6 2 0 2 0 0
1 3 0 0
REGULATORS 4 3 2 4 5 9 9 2 2 0 0 0 0
0 4 0 0
Name Hir Upk Com Def Tec Stl Det Cha Ctr Hel Inf Res Str Bl
a Ran Fig Mar
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
RIG MASTERS 9 6 4 7 10 7 8 0 0 0 0 3 1
0 1 0 0
RIGHT HANDS 0 0 1 1 7 10 10 1 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
RIPPERS 4 2 3 3 6 9 9 0 1 0 0 0 0
4 -4 0 0
ROAD REPAIR CREW 4 2 2 3 6 6 7 2 1 0 0 0 3
0 0 0 0
RUSTED BLADES 4 2 2 4 5 7 8 1 2 -1 0 1 0
4 -3 0 0
SCIENCE TEAM 6 2 -3 1 10 7 10 1 0 0 0 4 0
0 3 0 0
SCUMBAGS 1 1 1 3 2 8 8 1 -1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
SEWER RATS 1 1 2 2 2 9 7 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0
SHADOW NINJAS 6 4 3 4 5 13 8 1 0 0 0 0 1
3 0 5 0
SHOCK TROOPERS 6 4 2 5 10 5 8 0 3 0 0 0 0
0 3 0 0
SILVER ICE 7 4 4 5 7 11 8 1 3 2 0 0 1
5 0 1 0
SISTER OF THE SABER 6 3 1 4 8 7 9 0 0 0 2 0 0
6 -2 0 0
SLAMDANCERS 3 2 1 4 3 5 7 3 0 2 0 0 1
0 0 3 0
SNIPERS 6 4 1 5 8 11 11 -2 -3 0 -2 0 0
0 8 0 0
SOUTHSIDE PUNKS 4 2 3 3 5 7 7 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 2 0 0
SPASMIC SUPERHEROES 7 4 5 5 7 8 8 4 -2 5 0 0 5
0 0 0 0
STORMLORDS 8 5 6 4 9 6 9 4 2 0 0 0 0
0 2 0 0
SUICIDE SQUAD 3 0 9 0 9 1 10 0 0 -6 0 -3 0
0 0 0 0
SUNSHINE CULT 1 0 -3 0 0 10 7 0 1 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0
TEAM STICK MAN 10 5 2 3 10 12 12 5 5 6 2 2 0
0 0 0 1
TECHNO SCREAM 6 4 3 4 10 8 8 0 0 0 1 2 0
0 2 0 0
THE CLEANERS 8 5 5 5 9 9 10 1 0 1 1 0 3
0 5 2 0
TIGER CLAN 8 5 4 8 3 6 10 2 -1 3 0 0 1
0 -2 0 4
TRANTIAN FUSERS 10 5 3 6 10 5 10 1 0 3 2 5 2
0 0 0 0
TROUBLEMAKERS 3 1 0 1 4 9 7 3 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
USED CAR SALESMEN 3 2 1 3 4 5 10 0 1 0 3 0 0
0 0 0 0
WHIZ KIDS 5 3 -2 1 9 10 9 2 2 0 0 2 0
0 0 0 0
WOLFPACK 4 2 4 3 3 10 7 1 0 2 0 0 3
0 -3 0 0
WOUNDED FOOLS 1 1 1 6 2 8 4 1 0 -3 0 0 2
0 0 0 0
Items (53 total)
Typ=Type (1=Melee, 2=Ranged, 3=Armor, 4=Misc), RC=Research Cost,
Cos=Fabrication cost, Tec=Tech level, Com=Combat, Def=Defense,
Stl=Stealth, Det=Detect, Cha=Chaos, Ctr=Control, Hel=Heal,
Inf=Influence, Res=Research, Str=Strength, Bla=Blade/Melee,
Ran=Ranged, Fig=Fighting, Mar=Martial arts
Name Typ RC Cos Tec Com Def Stl Det Cha Ctr Hel Inf Res St
r Bla Ran Fig Mar
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------
ACID BLADE 1 4 10 4 5 0 0 0 0 -1 -1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
ASSAULT ARMOR 3 4 14 6 0 7 -8 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
ASSAULT RIFLE 2 3 8 4 5 0 -5 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
BATTLE SUIT 3 15 40 10 0 12 -12 2 0 -1 1 3 0
2 0 0 0 0
BODY ARMOR 3 3 10 5 0 6 -6 -1 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
BODY STABILIZER 4 7 18 8 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 0 0
1 0 0 0 0
BOOM BOXES 4 0 4 1 1 0 -3 -2 2 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0
CAMOUFLAGE SUIT 3 4 10 3 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
COMBAT KNIFE 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
COMBAT PISTOL 2 0 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
COOL HATS 4 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
DRAGONBREATH CARBINE 2 10 18 6 8 0 -6 -1 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
EMPATHIC ENHANCER 4 12 25 9 1 1 1 1 1 4 0 5 0
0 0 0 0 0
FEAR EMINATOR 4 5 10 7 2 0 -3 0 1 2 0 3 0
0 0 0 0 0
FIELD COMPUTER 4 10 12 6 0 0 -1 2 1 1 0 1 2
0 0 0 0 0
FLAK JACKET 3 1 5 3 0 3 -2 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
FORCE BLADE 1 9 20 8 9 1 -2 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
FORCE FIELD 3 10 20 8 0 8 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
0 0 -3 0 0
FUSION GUN 2 12 30 9 13 0 -10 0 0 0 -1 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
INVISO CLOAK 3 10 25 9 0 5 8 0 2 -2 0 -2 0
0 0 0 0 0
IONIC MESH VEST 3 12 30 8 0 10 -3 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 -1 0 0
KATANA 1 3 11 5 6 0 -4 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
KEVLAR VEST 3 2 7 4 0 4 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
LASER GUN 2 6 16 6 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
LEATHERS 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
LIGHTNING SPEAR 0 10 25 9 12 0 -9 0 0 0 -1 2 0
0 0 0 0 0
LO-LITE GOGGLES 4 4 8 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
Name Typ RC Cos Tec Com Def Stl Det Cha Ctr Hel Inf Res St
r Bla Ran Fig Mar
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------
MEDICAL KIT 4 1 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
METAL PIPE 0 0 1 0 1 0 -2 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
MONOM ROD 1 12 32 10 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
PAIN NEGATORS 4 4 6 4 0 2 0 -2 0 0 2 0 -2
0 0 0 0 0
PARTICLE RIFLE 2 9 20 7 8 0 -4 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
PHAZE GLOVES 0 8 15 7 8 0 -3 0 0 0 0 1 1
0 0 0 0 0
PHAZE HANDGUN 2 14 35 9 11 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
PLASMA GENERATOR 2 15 45 10 15 1 -12 0 0 -1 -2 3 0
0 0 0 0 0
POLEARM 0 2 6 4 4 0 -8 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
POWERED ARMOR 3 8 17 7 0 9 -10 1 0 -1 0 2 0
1 0 0 0 0
RAGE REPEATER 2 4 12 5 6 0 -3 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
REACTION LEATHER 3 7 12 5 0 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
RIOT GEAR 3 1 4 2 0 4 -8 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
ROCKET LAUNCHER 2 10 25 8 10 0 -9 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SCANNERS 4 6 10 7 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SCIENCE KIT 4 9 7 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5
0 0 0 0 0
SHADES 4 1 6 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
SHOCK PADS 3 0 3 1 0 2 -6 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SHOTGUN 2 1 6 3 4 0 -5 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SMOKE BOMBS 4 3 8 3 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SNEAKERS 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SOFT METAL ACCELERATOR 2 12 23 7 9 0 -1 0 0 0 -1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
SWORD 1 1 4 3 3 0 -2 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
THUNDER MACE 0 6 13 6 7 0 -6 0 1 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
VITAMINS 4 4 6 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0
WHIP 0 1 3 2 2 0 -4 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
Sites (24 total)
Res=Resistance, Sup=Support, Tol=Tolerance, Cas=Cash, Com=Combat,
Def=Defense, Stl=Stealth, Det=Detect, Cha=Chaos, Ctr=Control,
Hel=Heal, Inf=Influence, Res=Research, Str=Strength, Bla=Blade/Melee,
Ran=Ranged, Fig=Fighting, Mar=Martial Arts, %ED=% Equipment discount,
TL=Enables research through tech level x
Name Res Sup Tol Cas Com Def Stl Det Cha Ctr Hel Inf Res Str B
la Ran Fig Mar %ED TL
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------
ARBORETUM 5 1 -1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
ARENA 11 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
BACK ALLEY NETWORK 9 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
BAR/DANCE CLUB 10 -2 0 2 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 0
CASINO 14 -1 0 6 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
CLINIC 9 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
CONDOS 9 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
CORPORATE TOWERS 13 2 -2 5 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
FACTORY 10 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 30 0
GYM 7 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0 0 0
HEADQUARTERS 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
HOSPITAL 15 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
HOUSING 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
MASS MEDIA STATION 13 2 1 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
MUSEUM 4 1 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
OFFICES 8 1 -1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
PARKING LOT 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
RESEARCH LAB 12 1 0 -2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 0
0 0 0 0 0 10
SCIENCE CENTER 8 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
0 0 0 0 0 8
TEMPLE 16 3 -2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 2 0 0
0 0 2 0 0 0
VACANT LOT 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
WASTE INCINERATOR 6 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
__________________________________________________________________________
6. Gang comparison
Here are some upper limits and analysis for the gangs, including the
maximal blade/melee, ranged, fighting, and martial arts stats you can
achieve for each gang.
Com+ Com+
Str+ Fig+ Com+ Com+
Name Bla Str Ran MA Stl
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
_________________________________________________________________
7. Player-suggested enhancements (paraphrased or quoted from Usenet)
Add visible name/stats to enemy gangs in order to make rational combat
choices. [rwebb@panix.com]
Add site icons to city map even when uninfluenced to give a more
strategic perspective to the game instead of RSI-inducing building
hunts. [rwebb@panix.com]
Let players customize their "decks" by tweaking the relative
frequencies of various gangs. [fudenberg@fas.harvard.edu]
Add "subways"- this would be a new action (other than "move"); it
would require a second, simpler map of subway connections. Possibly
make the stations "sites" that have to be controlled before they can
be used. [fudenberg@fas.harvard.edu]
Add some vital overview screens. It would be nice to see all the gangs
that are working for me. It would be nice to see all the sites I
control. It would be nice to see what techs are available and/or which
ones remain to be researched. [kagass@primenet.com]
Add ability to toggle other startup options. It has 12 scenarious with
different goals, but it would be neat to do something like "I want to
play 'Greed' but give everybody 50 starting cash and an extra gang" or
something. [nyarl+@andrew.cmu.edu]
When I'm buying equipment, I'd like to see the stats for the gang I'm
buying it for at the same time. [nyarl+@andrew.cmu.edu]
Add more higher-level summary to give you a better overview of your
gangs and sites. [bfrohock@sky.net]
After I finish my turn in a network game I have to sit and wait with a
"please wait" screen until everyone else finishes their turns. This is
really annoying. It would MUCH better if I could continue to browse
through my sectors and look at stats and stuff. I don't want to use a
time limit and I hate waiting at that screen. [ostfeld@intac.com]
It would've been nice if this game had some kind of diplomacy to it.
Like if I could talk to the other overlords and maybe find out why
they're all beating the crap out of me. [ostfeld@intac.com]
_________________________________________________________________
8. Unknown