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Overlord (Quick Reference Guide)
The Quick Reference Guide
to Overlord
Virgin Mastertronic
CHOOSING AN OPPONENT
When Overlord has loaded, the opening sequence launches automatically.
Now you must choose which of the systems to compete for:
Hititsu, Futatsu, Mittsu or Yottsu.
You win by taking your opponents base.
Hitotsu is the easiest: you only need Credits to buy items, the enemy
is not very experienced and you have eight planets to fight over. (the
enemy gets progressively stronger and wiser in Futatsu, Mittsu and Yottsu.
In Futatsu there are 16 planets and you need credits and minerals to
complete some purchases; in Mittsu and Yottsu there are 32 planets, and
credits, minerals, and energy are needed to buy craft.
Provided you have a mouse, the only time you need to use the keyboard
is when you are naming or renaming things or confirming that you want to
scrap a ship - otherwise, Overlord is controlled entirely by moving the
cursor and clicking mouse buttons. The PC version can be played from
keyboard - use the cursor keys to move the on-screen pointer, pressing
ENTER instead of clicking the left mouse button and ESCAPE instead of the
right mouse button.
Click on your chosen opponent, and wait for the Main Screen to appear.
Choose to fight Wotok for the Hitotsu system if you want to follow the
Quick Start Tour in OVERLORD.DOC.
THE MAIN SCREEN CONTROLS
The animated System Map on the Main Screen shows the planets in the
system. Clicking on the arrows to the right of the display moves the Planet
Cursor up and down the map. A view of the current planet appears in the
Video Window to the right. The concept of 'the current planet' is important
- some of the controls only work on the current planet and generally you
have to own the current planet for those controls to take effect. When the
game starts, the Planet Cursor is on your Starbase ath the bottom of the
map, and Starbase appears in the Video Window. So Starbase is the 'current
planet'.
Ten icons in a panel below the System Map are used to access the other
control screens in Overlord. To return to the Main Screen from elsewhere in
the game, click on the right mouse button. All incoming messages appear on
the scrolling text window that was used to display the system checks and
log-on sequence when you started play; click on the message window to view
any unread messages.
THE CONTROL SYSTEM
Government Screen Icon (Picture of a Graph)
Used to access economic information and review resource levels on planets
under your control, to review military strength, to ship credits back to
Starbase, to set tax rates and to review craft located above or on the
surface of a planet
Buy Screen Icon (Picture of a Stack of Gold)
Calls up a catalogue of craft and resource-generating equipment that you
can buy providing you have the required Credits and Resources to complete
the transaction.
Navigation Screen Icon (Picture of a Ship)
Allows you to send the craft under your control on journeys through space,
to launch and land them and to locate craft in your fleet. Craft may also
be renamed on the Navigation Screen.
Planet Formatter (Smaller Picture of Planet Formatter from Buy Screen)
Clicking here dispatches your Atmosphere Processor to the current planet,
provided it is still unformatted; when it arrives, planet formatting
begins automatically.
Platoon Management Screen Icon (Picture of a Fist)
Accesses the screen where civilians are drafted, trained, equipped and
commissioned into platoons - the units that make up your army.
Cargo Bay Screen Icon (Picture of a Crate on a hook)
Accesses the controls for the Cargo Bay on the current planet; allows
cargo operations to be undertaken - loading and unloading Resources,
crewing, fueling or scrapping craft that are in the Docking Bays on the
current planet.
Planet Surface Screen Icon (Picture of a Planet)
Used to move craft between the surface of the current planet and its
Docking Bays, and to activate or deactivate Horticultural and Mining
Stations when they are on the surface.
Combat Control Screen Icon (Picture of a Skull and Crossbones)
Once you have an army, clicking here allows you to move platoons into
battle, set their aggression level, monitor the progress of a battle or
retreat from a lost cause.
Spying (Picture of a Magnifying Glass)
Gives you the option to buy information about the current planet. Data on
Resource levels, Population size and War Status can be purchased, or a
package of all information can be bought.
Disk Management (Picture of a 3.5 Floppy Disc)
Calls up a control panel that allows a game position to be saved, loaded
or restarted, a disk to be formatted or the computer reset.
