Nail - a detailed description of the strategy game The Dark Empire.

                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
                                          
 We will devote this section to one
program, most likely a toy, which
to the best of our ability, we carefully examine and
Let's talk about it in as much detail as possible. We would like
I wanted that, after reading "The Nail",every
could say: "Now I know about this program
frame is enough..."                     
 Do you like strategy? And the strategy in
real time? For you, gripping is more important -
events rather than graphics? In my opinion,
I have something for you.  So,
meet:                             
                                          
 THE DARK EMPIRE             
 Programmed by Lothlorien         
                                          
I would like to note right away that the game was
to us without any accompanying
material and we took the risk of presenting
own thoughts about the goals of the game...   
                                          
 For ease of use of the description
Let's divide it into global themes:         
                                          
 I. PREPARATION FOR THE GAME            
                                          
 Judging by the design, the game belongs to auto-
ru game "Theater Europe", released in
Spectrophone, but here the author went further,
by implementing REALTIMEand changing the principle
working with the map and troops. Well, about everything
in order, let's start with the title menu:     
 (1) Create New Game            
 (2) Load Old Game             
Here, I think, comments are unnecessary,
the only thing is that after starting a new game
a message will appear:                       
 Now Creating Game             
 Please Wait                
 After which you just have to wait patiently
creating a map randomly, and
creation time is always different. Part-
but in strategies you get tired of the same thing
landscape, and a map memorized
It's starting to piss me off. Gene-
rator cards randomly, and this
That's right, comrades. Yes, and if suddenly you
you'll want to play your favorite card again
times, it is enough immediately after starting it from -
load - and no tricks.              
 After generating the game, you will notice three
options for adjusting game difficulty:       
 (1) Fastest                
 (2) Medium                 
 (3) Easiest                
 A very interesting gradation of complexity -
herenot a Difficult game, but for some reason a Fast one?
Probably the author meant that on this
difficulty level Your death will be quick
and painless :) ...                    
 (1) Player VS Player            
 (2) Computer VS Player         
 Here you can decide who is nicer
soak: Incorporeal Comp or better
a friend of flesh and blood sitting next to... 
   And if pity for your neighbor awakens in you,
him to yours, then never give anyone
It’s easier for a computer to make “a few moves”
speaking, head start:                             
 Let Computer Play Some Turns Y/N?     
 Press 1-9 For Turns (x50)         
 If you still manage to succumb to
persuasion, then select a number from 1 to 9,
and the number of moves will be the chosen number,
multiplied by as much as 50 - you’ll just have time to
drink tea, and the computer will write that the game is advanced
turns for several moves:                
 Game Advancing Someturns         
                                          
 Well, now let's move on to the game itself.    
                                          
 II. GAME                 
                                          
 a) Control buttons:                 
 Actually Q,A,O,P,Sp                    
Additional SS - ZOOM : scaling
maps in two types:                       
                                         
Local - convenient when inspecting local areas
ty, review                                
troops and
and their dis-
locations ,
You can also-
but see
your cities 
and those-
нику, сто-
ящие   без
приказа  ,
но переме-
щение   по
такой кар-
те  замед-
лено и не-
удобно.   
   1 - включает глобальную карту          
                                          
                                          
  Глобальная - видны только  исследованные
участки,    
боевые      
единицы и   
города.   Информацию  
о  против-  
нике можно  
получить    
только      
столкнув-   
шись     с  
ним,   или  
если    он  
попал    в  
поле види-  
мости  Ва-ших войск.  
            
            
            
            
            
                                          
   Местная - наиболее  полная  карта  с   
подробным                                 
обозначе-                                 
нием  бое-
вых единиц
(или   БЕ)
по   родам
войск и по
их  типам.
Данный ре-
жим наибо-
лее удобенfor permanent-
yannogo-
user- 
nia in the-
ching-
ry.  
          
 2 - transition between cities             
 3 - transition between combat units    
 4 - turn transition for two players     
                                          
                                          
There are also 4+5 keys, which
must be pressed simultaneously to call
additional menu, but we'll look at it
separately below.                          
 b) Branches of troops:                         
There is not much variety here:
1. Submarine - Подлодка: 10           
                                      
                                          
2. Transport - Транспорт: 8           
                                      
                                          
3. Battleship - Линкор:  14           
                                      
                                          
4. Cruiser - Крейсер:    10           
                                      
5. Destroyer - Destroyer 8          
                                      
                                        
6. Army - Army/infantry: 8          
                                      
 Apparently, the author decided to focus on 
naval battles, leaving only
Queen of the fields. The number after the colon denotes
starts the number of moves for making a BU.   
 c) Business account management:                     
In order to lead squadrons and
armies, they must be produced.  For
For this you will need Cities . Initially
You have two BU at your disposal
usually Army and Transport, and you also control
You are working with one City .                     
 To make something, point
cursor on the City and enter it by pressing
SP, a message will appear at the bottom of the screen:     
 -name of the city- -produced BU-   
 -moves before release-  
Use the up/down buttons to select
boron of produced equipment, andfire -
confirmation of the selected company code.                  
 Yes, there is an unpleasant little thing about cities -
after production of one unit of product
the city stops its production, i.e.
after each release it is necessary to set the production
starting again is not very convenient, but
this feature can be eliminated by entering
option:  Break In Menu                 
 You can get here by pressing 4 and 5 od-
at the same time. Below are the names of the items
and their goals:                                
 1. Save Game - Uploading the game       
 Everything is clear here...             
 2. Continue - Continued         
 Apparently the same here.           
 3. Restart - Restart               
 You will be prompted to start the game from the beginning without
re-creation of the landscape.                   
 4. New Game - New Game           
 Differs from the previous selection item
rom: creating a new game or downloading an old one
swarm - in short, exit to the initial menu.     
 5. Redefine - Remapping       
 Having chosen the fifth item, you will fall into another
one menu:  5.1 Keys - Buttons                 
 5.2 Colors - Colors                   
 5.3 Exit - Exit to the main menu    
 Let's take a closer look at point 5.2 , and
Here, too, another small menu awaits:
 5.2.1 Map Colors - map colors     
 5.2.2 Background - Background       
 5.2.3 Player 1 & 2 - ...             
                                          
 6. Options                
 Very useful and quite complete me-
nude game settings settings, better game
start from here, first
building it. Here it is:                       
 1. Attack adjacent enemy               
   2. New Units move randomly             
   3. Continuous Prouction                
   4. Message Displey On                  
   5. Advance Play Some Turns             
   6. Flash Unordered Units               
   7. Flash Unordered Cities              
   8. Show Units Nubers                   
   9. No Order - Move Random              
  10. Switch off Sounds                   
  11. Retreat from Combat                 
                                          
   По нашему будет так:                   
   1. Атаковать ближайшего врага          
 -Если Ваша  БЕ  находится  неподалеку  от
противника, то, при включении этого пункта
попытается напасть  на  неприятеля. Полез-
на при сооруженииdefensive line
childbirth                                    
 2. New BUs move randomly         
 -This means that every produced
the piece of equipment is not standing, stupidly waiting
kaza, but moves along a cunning and well-known
only her trajectories. Practical application
has no opinion.                           
 3. Long-term production        
 -The city will produce products without
stopping without waiting for orders from outside. Hour-
this option does not work, and the cities
still stops:(                 
 4. Additional messages            
 -Output of more detailed information about the selection
early BE.                                
 5. Skipping several moves.           
 6. Flickering highlight on the BU map without 
       order.                           
 -Visible only on the local map.      
 7. See paragraph 6.6, only forcities   
 8. Show company code numbers                
 -Output of equipment serial number        
 9. A BU moves randomly without an order    
 -See number 6.2                        
 10. Mute sound                   
 11. Avoid combat                       
 -Your equipment will avoid battles with
enemy, can be useful in deep
any reconnaissance or if there is a small fleet
military equipment.                           
This is such a useful menu "Break In
Menu". Move through points using pedals
Up/Down,and activation or disabling
item - Left/Right. Return to main
menu using  Fire .             
 After you have already learned how to produce
driveall sorts of bullshit, a lot to configure
parameters, it would be necessary for the diversity of science
try to move these same BEs, I apologize
for the expression. So, having chosen the one you like
cruiser, you will notice strange inscriptions and
drawings shown on the right.             
When you press Halt, the selected BU is simply
will be rooted to the spot.                     
 In Move You will be offered which station
the light can move (you can also stand 
in place or rush along RND).    
In theory, use Move to move   
technique is possible, but it is very   
inconvenient. It's easier to show the point   
arrival, and the equipment will go on its own   
as it should, andnot in a straight line (as with   
Move ).  Item  Adv. , apparently   
stands for Advanced ,   
t. e. complicated - this is   
main option when using   
BE. By indicating the desired location or from -   
marking the target with Adv., the technique itself   
will reach the right place.  It is necessary   
say that there is no such thing          
cool route tracing, as in Last
Battle - where robots go around bumps
shores, go around each other... Alas, in
DARK EMPIRE  there is no such thing, therefore, sending
technique, take the trouble to look, don’t get stuck
is your battleship ashore...                 
 That's basically all that's enough
know to begin with, but in order to
damn...                                   
 I will give a small comparative character-
game characteristics:                           
╔═════════════ ══════╦════════════════════╗
║ PROS ║ CONS ║
╠═══════════════════╬ ════════════════════╣
║Large map, no-║No movement on ║
║how many scales.  ║world map.      ║
╟-------------------╫--------------------╢
║Creating a service map-║Too slow ║
- in a tea-like way.    ║creation algorithm ║
╟-------------------╫--------------------╢
║Possibility of creating- ║Too few species ║
║a large number of ║this very equipment. ║
║quality of technology ║ ║
╟-------------------╫--------------------╢
║Excellent setting - ║Unchangeable color ║
║ menu.          ║curb and main ║║ ║screen.             ║
╟-------------------╫--------------------╢
║Game opportunity ║Not the most successful re-║
║together.            ║implementation of play in pairs║
╚═══════════════════╩ ════════════════════╝
                                          
                                          
                                          
 Now I want to share a few
advice from Artem and I accumulated
experience of strategists.                          
                                          
 TIPS OF AN EXPERIENCE OR STRATEGY FOR WIN   
                                          
 To get yourself a motherboard, you only need
two full transports, although insured
It wouldn't hurt to have a couple more.          
 Reconnoiter the path to the
mainland, otherwise your transport workers will
easy prey for the enemy.                 
 Having landed the troops, deploy them in a chain and
comb the island (well, or the mainland) on
the presence of cities, foreign technology and beer :)).
   In captured cities it is worth releasing
soldier, because they will form your battle shield -
th islands.  In coastal cities, it is more logical to manufacture
to mount vessels to patrol the mainland and
reconnaissance raids.                             
 By the way, your enemy loves from the occupied
island to arrange some kind of gigantic
barracks, filling the entire territory with soldiers
riya. The capture of such an enemy outpost is
tied to the colossal losses of your pe-
hots. In general, such an island can be discovered
live until better times, with the condition that
there are no sea cities, otherwise submarines and
transports will jump out like hell
snuff boxes.                                
 Actually, except for the aggressive type
fighting, you can stick to a different
battle concepts. Having accumulated legions of infantry, es-
personnel of battleships and convoys of transports on-
start the Great Expansion, crushing along the way
liquid enemy defense. But the main thing is not to forget -
It turns out that the longer you develop your army,
However, the more powerful the industry and the more furious
enemy resistance - strategy in re-
real time, after all.                
 Yes, use hot keys more often
shi - sometimes helps with a large contingent
Armed Forces Volume.   With Fire and Sword, the whole world is at your feet   
 Lord of the Dark Empire!           
                                          
 By the way, the game is not that simple
and uninteresting, as it may seem on
first glance to our experienced and ordered
to the "Black Raven"-loving reader. But to me
I want to believe that you appreciate
follow this unconventional strategy.        
 While processing the game, I encountered
with text messages, not involved -
in the game, and there are pieces of code where
there are links to this unused
text, but these pieces are also autonomous relative
specifically the program. I believe that the author
there were a few ideas he didn't want
or could not implement it, leaving behind the developments
in the game body. Here I want to address the
tatelu with some kind of competition - if
You can find, much less activate
these fragments or some other hidden ones
functions, then write or call the editor
magazine and share your discoveries - we
We will publish your correspondence in the following
current issue of our magazine and you will receive
latest issuefree.                  
You can contact us at the coordinates
from the heading "PARAGRAPH" .                      
                                          
                                          
P. S.: When I was proofreading the material, I decided
check the accuracy of the description and verify it
with the game... After six hours I was tired of-
threw himself on the back of the chair with a blissful smile -
why on the face - I re-read it for the fourth time
пьянящую весть:                           
                                          
                                          
                                          
        
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
                                          
                                          
                                          
; Article written by SFD & ART            
; Game Tested by SFD & ART                
; Edited by SFD                           
; Corrected by RVA                        
; Music composed by DJ IRONMAN            
; ГВОЗДь (C)1997 ALFA (tm)