Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Dominion Wars/Help/English Windows 1.04 ReadMe

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine(r) Dominion Wars v1.04

Much has changed in the gameplay of Dominion Wars since the manual was originally put together some 3 months before our gold master date. Those changes will be detailed in this file.

The Founders, the architects and leaders of Gizmo Games, hope you enjoy playing Dominion Wars as much as we enjoyed creating it.

- The Dominion Wars team

This document contains additional information on:
 * Install and Operation
 * Options / Preferences Menu
 * The Fleet Interface Panel
 * Multiplayer Game Types

INSTALL AND OPERATION

Install:
 * If you do not have DirectX 8.0 or higher, Dominion Wars will automatically install DirectX 8.0 onto your system, as Dwars requires this version to run the game.
 * If you have a higher version of DirectX than 8.0, the install program will not overwrite the version you currently have.
 * Following the install of Dominion Wars, you will be prompted if you wish to install Gamespy Arcade. Gamespy Arcade is required if you wish to play over the Gamespy network.
 * The typical install requires 525MB of free hard drive space.
 * The compact install requires 80MB of free hard drive space. All movies and music will stream off the CD.

Operation:
 * Dominion Wars requires that the CD be in the drive in order to run the game.
 * In multiplayer, each player will need to have an original copy of the game, as Dominion Wars does not spawn.

OPTIONS / PREFERENCES MENU

Difficulty setting:
 * You can set the difficulty of the game by using the slider bar. Normal (default) setting is in the center.  The extreme left makes the game easier by tweaking the enemy's firing rate to be 20% slower, accuracy 20% less, and search radius 50% less.  The extreme right of the bar makes the enemies fire 20% faster, hitting 20% more often, and increasing search radius by 50%.

Speed setting:
 * The game can be slowed down by 50% by sliding the bar all the way to the left, or sped up by 50% by sliding the bar all the way to the right.

FLEET INTERFACE PANEL

Threat icon system:
 * When ships are within scanning range of any ships in your fleet, those ship silhouettes will appear on the left side of the screen, above the mini-map. Ship/base icons are colored according to their team-blue, green, yellow, brown, purple, cyan, red, gray.
 * Letter designations are assigned to each ship-A through F. There may be multiple ships of the same class in a team's fleet, therefore use the letter designations to help identify targets.
 * When one of your ships is being targeted, the bar around the icon will turn red, and the icon will position itself above the ship being attacked.
 * You may interact with any of the threat icons in the same fashion as ships in the main viewscreen-single-click to target them for attack (targeted ships will be identified by green brackets) or double click on them to position the camera on that ship. Example, if your Defiant-class is attacking an enemy Galor-class ship, the Galor's threat icon will appear above the Defiant.  There will be green brackets in the icon.  If the Galor is attacking the Defiant in return, the bar around the icon will turn red.
 * Ships conducting transports will have the bar around their silhouettes turn blue while the transport is happening.
 * If a ship silhouette suddenly disappears from display, that ship has probably either cloaked or has been destroyed.

Transporters:
 * You may transport both crewmembers and equipment to other ships or planets.
 * To put crew into the transporter, simply click on the crew-type (security, engineering, command) and they will move into the transporter room. Your cursor will change to transport mode.  You need to select a destination (enemy ship, friendly ship, planet, starbase, etc.).  Left-click and your crew will be transported if you are within range and if the target's shields are down.  (Note that friendly ships will automatically lower shields to conduct the transport.)  Right-clicking while in transport mode will cancel the order.
 * To put cargo into the transporter, first click on the Cargo button. You'll see a small display of cargo on board your ship.  Click the cargo you wish to transport, then select the destination.
 * If you are transporting items from a target to your ship, you must first scan the target. Click the Cargo button and you will see any pieces of cargo on board the target.  You'll need to knock the target's shields down first, then select the cargo you wish to beam off.  Finally select a destination for the cargo.

MULTIPLAYER GAME TYPES

For all game types, the Host Player selects maps, starting credits, whether or not ships or OWP's (orbital weapon platforms) respawn, whether or not to allow Starship Creator: Warp II ships, and the victory point total to reach.

Death Match:
 * Score a point each time you destroy an enemy ship.
 * Points are scored per-player, rather than per-team.
 * Certain maps contain planets with components. Use scanners to find those components and beam them aboard your ships.  They can turn the tide of battle!

Conquest:
 * Score a point for each planet you take over and hold. Beam troops onto planets to hold them.
 * Your starbase will constantly generate new crew.
 * If you lose a planet to enemy control, you lose a point.
 * The first player to conquer all planets or to achieve the point total set by the host is the victor.

Domination:
 * Capture and hold planets by transporting crew onto them.
 * Score points for holding planets - the longer you hold them, the more points you will receive.
 * Your starbase will constantly generate new crew.
 * First player to reach the victory points is the winner.

Find the Founder:
 * At the beginning of each game, the computer will randomly place a Changeling (excuse me, a Founder) onto a random object on the map.
 * Use the Scan command to scan objects in search of the Founder. If the Founder is present, an icon of him will appear under scan details in the Cargo hold.
 * Travel to the Founder's location, and use transporters to target and beam him onto one of your ships.
 * Take the Founder back to your starbase and beam him aboard to score a point for your team.
 * After the Founder is delivered to a starbase, the computer will randomly place the Founder back onto the map.
 * The first player to reach the victory points is the winner.

Attack/Defend Starbase:
 * Each side has a starbase.
 * The goal is to attack and destroy your enemy's starbase while at the same time protecting yours.

Instant Action Games:
 * The computer will randomly select ships & appropriate captains for those ships based upon the set resource point allocation.
 * Fleets will be selected according to the race each player has chosen.
 * Devices and crew will automatically be added to ships if resources are available.

DOMINION WARS COMMUNITY FAN SITES

Visit the Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine(r) Dominion Wars website: www.ds9games.com

Gizmo Games website: www.gizmogames.com

The Official Star Trek gaming site: gaming.startrek.com

Some of our favorite Dominion Wars fansites:


 * The Dominion Warpath: http://dominionwars.n3.net/
 * Art of War: http://www.scifi-gaming.com/artofwar/
 * Starfleet Defiance: http://www.angelfire.com/de3/DW4/
 * Star Trek Games: http://www.startrek.gamespage.com/