AFO 7/6/01 12:02 PM Page 1 contents Story.................................................................2-5 Controls..............................................................6 Starting Up.........................................................7 Options.......................................................7 Online.........................................................7 Tactics........................................................7 Arcade........................................................7 The Game Screen...............................................8 Army Technology...............................................9 Vehicles....................................................10 Sub Weapons......................................10-11 Alien Technology..............................................12 Vehicles....................................................13 Sub Weapons......................................14-15 Staying Alive.....................................................16 Game Modes.....................................................18 Tactics Mode............................................18 Arcade Mode............................................18 Online Play...................................................18-21 Modes.......................................................20 Auto Join..................................................20 Create.......................................................20 Tips......................................................20-21 Voice Chat................................................21 Thank you for purchasing Alien Front Online. Please note that this software is designed only for use with the Dreamcast console. Be sure to read this instruction manual thoroughly before you start playing Alien Front Online. AFO 7/6/01 12:03 PM Page 2 They came without warning, without mercy... ...unleashing unimaginable devastation on the people of Earth. Known as the Triclops, the aliens struck fear into the human race. They preyed on man, woman, and child alike, devouring them whole; their three-eyed gaze impassive, betraying no hint of emotion--making their actions all the more horrific... The air forces of the world were useless, picked out of the sky by the orbiting alien motherships. Only the surface forces are able to fight back, to give the aliens pause. The world government has called out its cavalry, and the tank brigades are beginning to make headway against the onslaught. The battles have been fierce, but sporadic so far. Now is the time for an all-out offensive. Now is the time for you to get involved. Will you fight side by side with your fellow man, or will you accept your role as food in a world ruled by aliens? you must choose your fate 2 3 AFO 7/6/01 12:03 PM Page 4 humans! low level life forms, tiny and weak... ...struggle to evolve against their very nature. They resist us with their manufactured vehicles and weapons. Though they fight us and destroy their own cities in the process we, the mighty Triclops army, will persevere and take control of this planet. We are stronger in numbers, destructive power, and sheer terror... After the destruction of the human air ships the mothership commanders deemed it time for our forces to dominate the surface as we had the skies. Now we've taken the fight to the humans and are attempting to devour their hopes, dreams, and spirit. The fight has not been an easy one though! How can such a poorly evolved creature put up such a tremendous fight for survival? We must rally as the time for human annihilation has come! The mothership commands you to descend to the Earth's surface and join your fellow Triclops. Will you fight side by side with your three-eyed brethren or will you let these lowly organisms take their planet back? 4 you must choose your fate 5 AFO 7/6/01 12:03 PM Page 6 Controls These are the default controls. There are several control schemes you can use; experiment with them to find the one that's right for you. Default Control Setting Forward--Analog Stick Up Reverse--Analog Stick Down Left--Analog Stick Left Right--Analog Stick Right Strafe Left--Trigger L + Analog Stick Strafe Right--Trigger R + Analog Stick Fire Primary Weapon--A Fire Sub Weapon--B Change Camera Perspective--X Voice Chat (Team)--Y (press and hold Y once) Voice Chat (All)--YY (press Y twice, hold down on second press) Pause Game--START NOTE: Controller Configuration #7 has optimized control settings for the Sega Steering Wheel Controller. Starting Up Save Files In order to save your game, you must have a VMU inserted in your controller. When starting the game, the VMU Select screen will appear. Select the VMU you wish to save your game files on; each Save File takes 8 blocks of memory. To name your Save File, use the D-Pad to highlight, A to select, Enter to end, and Done to begin using the file. Note: The file name that you choose for your save game will be used as your handle name for online play. Please do not use any information as your file name that you would not want others to know. Title Screen On the title screen, press START to begin playing Alien Front Online. This will take you to the Main Menu. Dreamcast Controller Analog Stick X Button Y Button D-Pad B Button A Button Start Button Trigger L Trigger R Main Menu Options--Change settings for the game, such as controller settings, sound, jump pack, and more. Online--Initiates an online gaming session. See the "Online Play" section. See page 16 for more detailed directions and requirements. Tactics--Starts a single-player campaign game. You may select which side you wish to play: Army Campaign or Alien Campaign. Arcade--Begins a single-player timed match. You can play as either the Army or the Aliens. 7 6 AFO 7/6/01 12:03 PM Page 8 The Game Screen This is what you'll see when playing Alien Front Online. In the upper left corner of the screen is the radar. Red dots are enemies, green dots are allies. Your health bar takes up the top portion of the screen. When you are severely damaged, the screen will get a "shattered glass" overlay. In the top right corner of the screen is the tally bar. Depending on the mission objectives, this will show the number of enemies remaining. Below the tally bar is the sub weapon display. This tells you what your current sub weapon is, and how much firepower you have left before it is used up. The center of the screen contains a targeting box, which changes shape depending on whether you have a target. In Online and Arcade modes only, the bottom right and left corners of the screen contain team information. 8 Army Technology The Army vehicles and weapons are machines of exceptional firepower. Each has strengths and weaknesses, and you should make your selection based on the mission objectives. AFO 7/6/01 12:03 PM Page 10 Army Technology Vehicles MK2 Merkava: Lightly armored, but speedy. Carries a 105mm smoothbore cannon. Great for advanced scouting. M1A Abrams: Not as fast or maneuverable as the Merkava, primarily due to its heavier armor plating. A 120mm smoothbore cannon is its primary gun. M109-A2: A self-propelled 155mm Howitzer cannon. Heavy armor and very slow, but it packs the biggest wallop in the Army arsenal. Hellfire Missile: The Hellfire's massive rate of fire helps prevent enemies from getting a lock on you by keeping them off-balance. Homing Missile: Also known as a fire-and-forget missile. Most effective at a distance. Sub Weapons Flame Thrower: A steady stream of concentrated flame turns the aliens extra-crispy. Guided Missile: Can be controlled by the player while the sub weapon button is held down. The player can maneuver the missile to its target and the camera follows the missile as it travels. Turbo Engine: Your tank's speed is increased for a short period of time. Machine Gun: An automatic gunner with the fastest re-fire rate of any sub weapon, it can track the movement of the enemy. Grenade launcher: Also known as the drop-and-pop. Very effective for damaging enemies that are using protective cover. 10 Nuclear Missile: The most powerful weapon the Army has. This is an "area of effect" weapon that can instantly damage or destroy many vehicles at once. Once placed, there is a 3-second countdown. 11 AFO 7/6/01 12:03 PM Page 12 Alien Technology The Alien vehicles have been grown using alien organic technology, and thus are less machine than entity. A translucent bubble encases the cockpit; from here, the aliens operate the controls for their plasma weaponry. Vehicles Hov Craft: Very light armor, and faster than any other vehicle in the game. A plasma laser provides the Hov Craft with its best line of defense. 2L Walker: The 2L Walker is an all-purpose vehicle. It carries a slightly more powerful plasma laser than the Hov Craft, and has better armor. Unfortunately, it is a much slower machine than the Hov Craft. SP Walker: Destruction has never been more beautiful. The SP Walker has both heavy armor and the most powerful cannon in the game. However, it is also the slowest vehicle in the game. 13 AFO 7/6/01 12:03 PM Page 14 Alien Technology Sub Weapons Gravity Ball: Prevents an enemy from firing on you by encasing it in a null-gravity field and lifting it several meters off the ground. When the field disappears after a few seconds, the enemy crashes to the ground, causing major damage to the enemy vehicle. Flying Drone: This hornet-like projectile is similar in operation to the Army's Guided Missile. Cloaking Spore: Less of a weapon than a defensive measure, the Cloaking Spore makes your vehicle invisible to the enemy. Beware, though--it does not cloak your footsteps! Cyclops Blast: The most destructive plasma weapon in the alien arsenal, the Cyclops Blast delivers a plasma shock of immense force. It can destroy a Merkava in one shot. Seeker Wing: Once locked on to its target, the Seeker Wing will stalk its prey mercilessly. Alien Spike: A stinger-like weapon that strikes enemy vehicles with a charged particle beam. It must be used at close range. Meteor Shower: A radio-signaled orbital onslaught called in from the alien motherships. The single most devastating attack the aliens can use, the Meteor Shower can destroy or damage a multitude of vehicles in a single strike. Light Swarm: This weapon launches a dizzying swarm of plasma particles at the enemy. 14 15 AFO 7/6/01 12:03 PM Page 16 Staying Alive You will discover just how difficult it can be to maintain your vehicle in good working order during a fight. There are several mechanisms for achieving optimal performance. The Motor Pool The Army maintains a repair facility during campaign play. It appears on the field as a lighted, green-lined box. Parking your tank within it will repair damage; the more damaged you are, the longer it will take. The staff at the motor pool will also upgrade your vehicle with subweapons, provided any are available. The Healing Bath The Aliens use a heavy-UV light bath to repair damage to their organic vehicles. It appears in campaign play as a lighted, red-lined circle beneath a floating bath-ship. Parking your vehicle within the circle will repair any damage you may have; heavily damaged vehicles take longer to repair. If any subweapons are available, the bath-ship will attach them to your vehicle. Med-Bots Found only in Arcade and Online play, med-bots heal up to one-third of your vehicle's total strength. They are dropped by vehicles that get destroyed in battle, appearing as small white boxes with a red cross emblazoned upon the side; merely run over them to pick them up. 16 17 AFO 7/6/01 12:03 PM Page 18 game modes Tactics Mode Tactics Mode is a single-player campaign with branching missions and objectives. You can play as either the Aliens or the Army. Missions become progressively harder. In order to advance to the next higher tier of missions, you must successfully complete all missions prior to the branching point. Online Play Each online mission is timed. When time runs out, your score for the mission will be tallied, then you will be taken to a new mission. Play continues in this manner until you quit the game by pressing START, then B to quit. Up to eight players may take part in a mission, with up to 4 players per team. If you get unintentionally disconnected during play, the game will automatically try to reestablish your connection to the Internet. During online play, if you join a game after it has already started, you will not receive any stars for that battle. On the tally screen, you will receive an "NA" to show that your score was not affected by the results of that battle. Also, other players that were involved in that battle will only receive the points that they earned after any new users have joined, so please understand that the points that you receive at the end of any battle will not always be 100% accurate. After the next battle is started, however, if everyone plays from start to fin ...