Ring OF Red Gameplay Information
By Nathan Stout
nate555@flash.net
From: RingOfRed.Org
http://www.RingOfRed.org
This is a brand new site, so please be patient cause there aint much there
yet, but there will be!
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UPDATED! 03/31/2001
Added at bottom:
- Attacking Menu
- Scope View
- Solider Types
- Solider Skills
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I just started this, so its incomplete. I will update it as soon and as often
as I can! (Version 1.2 )
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GAME PLAY
This section will help you understand game play and menu and controller commands.
GAME PLAY CONCEPT
Between levels you have the option to review your mission parameters,
adjust your platoons, save/load, and advance to the next level (sortie). In
battle the concept is simple. destroy all enemy AFWs, recruit any soliders,
and gain control of any locations on the map. The only losing conditions are:
go over the time limit for the battle, or lose your main character, Wei. This
sounds simple enough, but it's much more difficult than you think. Your enemy
(besides enemy units) is time. Time plays a very important factor in this game.
Once you are in a sortie you must act fast in order to win. You must command
your AFWs as well as the platoons, using the advantages of solider skills,
terrian, diatances, and pilot skills you can defeat your enemy.
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AFWs
AFWs (for more info on what AFWs are, see the Information section) are
classified into 4 categories: Light AFW (battles best at short distances)
Standard (battles best at medium distances) Anit-AFW (battles best at close
distances) and 4 Leg-AFWs (battles best at long distances). It is vitally
important to remember which machines fight best at which distances. It makes
defeating your enemy much much easier.
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TIME
Time is the most important factor in the game. I makes the game unique
from others in the same mech stragety genre, and it give the player the pressure
of real battle. (More to come.........)
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ORDER OF PLAY, UNDERSTANDING BUTTONS AND MENUS
This section will take you through the gameplay and explain menus and
commands. There are not alot of button commands in this game which makes it
easier on the player. The main command is the X button. During the game (not
during sorties) there are a few options you can select. Here is a list of the
options:
Operation Room: Here you learn about the upcoming battle (sortie).
Fromation Room: Here you organize your soliders in your platoons.
Placing the correct soliders in the correct platoons
is very important. Some solider's special skills work
best with certian types of AFWs.
Information Room: Here you can see information on your units, soliders,
as well as memoirs (previous cutscenes), and combat
manual (character bios).
Record Room: Here is where you ave and load games.
Sortie: This will send youn into the next battle.
When you are ready to begin a sortie you choose Sortie on the main menu and
battle begins. Once in battle (sortie), there are several commands and menus to
work in. The main menu during a sortie is called the Total Command menu.
Anytime during the Operation Map phase of a sortie (this is where you see the
battle Map), you can select an unoccupied square and press the O button or
START. On this menu are the commands:
Turn: Here you can see the individual order of each unit on the
operation Map.
Mission: Here you can see the victory or loss conditions of the
sortie.
Setup: Here you can set basic game settings.
Stop: This is a special save command. You may save during a sortie,
but once you have restarted that sortie (using that special
save point) it is gone forever.
After you begin a sortie the first thing you do is move your platoons. To do
this move the cursor over the current unit (the animated one) and press the X
button. A gray area will appear with a glowing yellow boarder. The gray is
the movement area of the AFW while the yellow area is the attack area. If you
do not wish to move at all you may just press X and the action menu will appear
with the option Standby, this takes the least amount of time (see Time above).
If you do want to more all you do is move your cursor to any space in the gray
area and press the X button again. Next the Acion Menu will appear:
Attack: When an enemy platoon is nearby (in the yellow area), you may
attack it. You can attack platoons is areas that are adajacent to
the square you are in. This includes platoons that are diagonal
to you as well. Long range AFWs can attack up to 2 squares away!
Stat: This shows you the status of your platoon / AFW.
Recovery: This is the only way in Ring Of Red to regain your AFW's HP.
You can move then choose Recover and do nothing for the rest
of the turn and you will gain some HP back. The amount you
regain depends on your character's level. However, this action
takes time. For more information, see Time below.
OK: This will end your turn.
Once you decide to attack an enemy platoon (or you are attacked), the game
shifts into the Battlefield Mode. This mode shows a close up view of both your
AFW and the enemy AFW. In the Battlefield Mode you see what the pilot sees.
Below is a list of items that appear on the screen:
1.) AFW status: This shows green lights on W for weapon and L for legs if
they are undamaged. Red, if they are damaged. Next to that is a bar
showing the AFW's HP.
2.) AFW's attack status: This shows the loading meter and two images of a
shell being loaded into a cannon. When the meter reaches all the way to the
top, a bell goes off and the bottom image is lit letting you know the AFW can
fire it's cannnon. You can see the enemy's loading meter as well (which is
very important!).
3.) Shooting and Maxumum Attack: This shows you a bullet and a star it's the
number of special shells you can fire (see below in the Special Shell menu
option) and it shows you how many Maximum Attacks you can use (see below in
the Maximum Attacks menu option).
4.) Player's AFW Rank: This shows a graphic of the direction the AFW is facing
and it shows the position, type, and HP of your support platoon (the 3 groups
of soliders with the AFW). For more info on the solider types see Solider Types
below. When you give the command for your troops (the 2 squads on the ground
on either side of the AFW) to take the reargrard or vanguard, you will see the
symbols on the display move into that position. Remeber that troops in vanguard
position are open to attack. Also remeber that troops have certian skills
that can can only be used if they are in the vanguard position (and even the
rearguard).
5.) Firing accuracy guage: This yellow number guage shows you your targeting
percentage. The higher the percentage, the more likley your shot will hit it's
target and the less time you spend targeting.
6.) Unit commands: This (control on the right side of the screen) is the control
for moving your unit forward, back or to stop it. This is very very important
because, in order to increase you accuracy in battle, your AFW needs to be in
it's best position. Remeber the different AFW types (Light, Anit, 4 leg,
Standard) work best at different positions on the battlefield. What you do is
move into the best position by sing the unit commands control. Watch the Firing
Accuracy guage (#6.) until you reach the highest percentage. If you keep moving
(once you reach the highest percentage) the percentage will start to drop. So
you have to always keep an eye and keep your unit in the best location. The
higher percentage the quicker you can fire off a shot with confidence.
7.) Time gauge: This (top of the screen) guage shows your operational capacity
(turn time). Once it reaches zero the turn is over, so keep an eye on it at all
times! under the time gauge is the distance to your enemy. Remember that each
AFW attacks best at different distances. Under the distance gauge is the slider
bar representation of the distace between units.
--- NEW TO VER 1. 2 -----------------------------------------------------------
Now that you understand the different gauges in the Battlefiled Mode you are
ready to take on the enemy. At anytime during battle (anytime) you may press
the X button to bring up the Command Selection menu. This menu lets you attack,
order your soliders to attack, use one of your special skills, or use one of
your solider's special skills. The commands are:
VS AFW: This will allow you to fire your main weapon at the enemy AFW.
You can oly select this when a shell is loaded.
VS Solider: This will let you target an enemy solider on the field. You
can only select this when a shell is loaded.
Rank: Here you can change the formation of your soliders. In total you
have 3 squads, one on your AFW (the Crew) and 2 on the ground
around your AFW. The Rank command lets you order your soliders to
the vanguard (front of the AFW where they can attack but are
undefended), and you can order them to the rearguard (rear of the
AFW where they are safe from attack). It is important to know which
skills your solider have and where (vanguard or rearguard) they
will be most useful.
Special shell: This option can be used when one of the soliders that is
on the AFW has some special skill. The skill can only be
used once each turn (60 seconds). Make sure that the squad
on the AFW has skills that are useful to being on the AFW.
For instance you would not want a solider with the Grenade
skill in the AFW crew, because he cannot use that skill
while on the AFW.
Maximum Attack: These are the special attacks that the pilots have. You
get more of these when you level up. You can always see
how many Special shell and Maximum attacks you have on
the main screen. They are listed under the attack status
gauge. The shell is the number of special shell attacks
you have while the number next to the star is the number
of maximum attacks you have available.
Remember that while you have to wait for the regular attack status gauge to
reach maximum, you may use these special attacks. So use them!
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SCOPE VIEW
When your AFW is ready to fire and you select VS AFW or VS Solider
your view changes to the Scope View. This is just before you actually fire your
main weapon. This is where you make or break in this game. As soon as you go
into this view a percentage shows up on the right side of the screen. As time
progresses, the percentage grows. The precentage is the precentage that your
shot will hit the target. The longer you wait the better your chances of
hitting the target. This is also bad baecasue it give the enemy more time to
attack you! Also, if kyou are hit while you are targeting an enemy unit, your
percentage goes back to beginning!
So how come the percentage starts lower (and makes me wait longer)
than at other times? That is because of a couple of factors. The main factor
is your distance to the enemy unit. Remember the differet types of AFWs
(Standard, Light, Anti, 4 Leg)? Each attacks bast at a certian distance.
For instance the 4 leg AFW is a long distance AFW and the percentage starts
out higher when the AFW is at the 'long' distance. The standard AFW has a
higher starting percentage at 'medium' distance. What you do is move into the
best position by uing the unit commands control. Watch the Firing Accuracy
guage (#6 on the picture above) until you reach the highest percentage. If
you keep moving (once you reach the highest percentage) the percentage
will start to drop. So you have to always keep an eye and keep your unit
in the best location. The higher percentage the quicker you can fire off a
shot with confidence.
Also remember to keep an eye on the time gauge, if you are waiting until
your percentage get really high, but you see that the time gauge is almost up,
you had better fire and hope you get lucky. Its better to try a long shot than
lose the shot altogether if your round ends and you didn't get to fire.
QUICK WORD ON SQUADS
During battle the two squads on the ground with your AFW can randomly preform
special skills. So make sure that those squads have the skills you want during
battle. During the game when you occupy an enemy object (like building, harbor,
etc...) on the main map you can sometimes pickup new soliders with better and
more skills. You can also pickup new soliders from the star icon on the main
map, but the enemy can beat you to them!
Once you have all the information mastered and you know when and how to make
the most of each action, you can defeat your enemies and win! This game is
great at making you use all your available resources to win!
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SOLIDER TYPES
There are several different solider types in Ring Of Red. Each type has his or
her own speciality. The are basically 6 main classes of solider:
Infantry: Anti-troop soliders that (with their bolt-action rifles) are
used to attack enemy soliders in the enemy vanguard.
Shooter: Anti-armor soliders that attack the enemy AFW with their rocket
launchers.
Supply: Anti-armor soliders that know how to work on the AFWs inside
and out. They can also attack enemy AFW with grenades.
Medic: Anti-troop soliders that are there to heal other soliders.
Mechanic: Anti-armor soliders that setup equipment, place and remove
obsticles in the field and attack with grenades.
Recon: Anti-troop soliders that determine target distance and assist in
targeting.
Here are the different skills that soliders have and where they can use them.
It is up to you to make sure that the soliders are in the right place so they
can utilize their skills.
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SKILLS USED IN THE VANGUARD
Co-Op: VS solider special attack.
Rapid Fire: VS solider special attack.
Charge Fire: VS solider special attack.
Grenade: VS AFW special attack.
Homing Shot: VS AFW special attack.
Wire: Inhibits enemy AFW movement and destroys the legs.
Mine: Damages the enemy AFW and destroys the legs.
Adhes Mine: Damages the AFW (more than mine) and destroys the legs.
Chain Mine: All soliders and AFW are damaged and destroys the legs of
the AFW.
Straight Strike: During Close Combat (C.C.) it destroys enemy AFW
weapon.
Smoke Shot: Enemy accuracy rates are temporarly reduced.
WP Shot: (White Phosphorous) Same as smoke shot and soliders temporarly
retreat.
Snipe: Allows soliders to attack enemy reargurad as well.
Flash Shot: Immobilizes enemy AFW and temporarly inhibits enemy attacks.
Illumination Shot: Allows your night time attack the same accuracy as
a day attack.
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SKILLS USED IN THE REARGUARD
Hyper: Soliders defense is increased temporarly.
Cleanup: Removal of obsticles set by enemy soliders.
Fast Repair: Damaged legs and weapon is repaired slightly on the spot.
Gas Neutralization: The effects of WP Shot are neutralized.
Gas Mask: Soliders will not pull back, even with WP Shot.
Repair: Damaged legs and weapon is repaired completely.
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SKILLS USED IN THE CREW
Heat Shell: VS AFW special attack. Best when used at 'close' distance.
APC Shell: VS AFW special attack. Damage is increased.
APCR Shell: VS AFW special attack. Damage is increased. Best at 'long'
distance.
Shrapnel: VS AFW special attack. All soliders in the vanguard are damaged.
Incendiary: VS AFW special attack. One squad in the vanguard is heavily
damaged.
Incendiary Shrapnel: VS AFW special attack. All soliders in the vanguard
are heavily damaged.
Illumination Shot: Allows unit to attack during night time with the
accuracy of day.
Smoke Shot: Enemy firing accuracy rates are temporarly reduced.
WP Shot: (White Phosphorous) same as Smoke Shot but soliders are forced
to temporarly retreat.
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MUCH MUCH MORE TO COME!
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If you have any comments, suggestions, or corrections mail them to:
Visit
http://www.RingOfRed.org
This is brand new, so at the moment there not much there, but keep an eye out!
Nathan Stout
updated: 03/30/2001
