Cannon Fodder 1993, Virgin Interactive Cannon Fodder - Manual Epilepsy Warning - Read this before playing Cannon Fodder A very small percentage of individuals experience epileptic seizures when exposed to certain light patterns or flashing lights. Exposure to certain light patterns of backgrounds on a television screen or while playing computer games may induce undetected epileptic symptoms in persons who have no history of prior seizures of epilepsy. If you, or anyone in your family, has an epileptic condition, consult your doctor prior to playing. If you experience any of the following symptoms while playing a computer game: dizziness, altered vision, eye or muscle twitches, loss of awareness, disorientation, any involuntary movement, or convulsions, IMMEDIATELY discontinue use and consult your doctor before resuming play. WELCOME! ~~~~~~~~ Welcome to Cannon Fodder. This manual has been produced to ensure that you get the very best out of this premium product. If you should find either the program or the documentation unsatisfactory in any way, drop us a line detailing in full the reasons for your dissatisfaction. This will help us to avoid repeating any similar hiccups in the future. Queries, opinions and complaints should be sent to CUSTOMER SERVICES, Virgin Interactive Entertainment, 338A Ladbroke Grove, London W10 5AH. CAUTION! ~~~~~~~~ Diskettes are magnetic media, just like cassette tapes. Do not expose to x-rays or intense magnetic fields as the data they hold will be erased. Do not attempt to `back-up' this data as it may be destroyed in the process. BOX CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Accompanying this manual inside the box you should find three Cannon Fodder program diskettes. We advise that these disks are `write-protected' at all times by ensurinf the black plastic tab in the corner of each disk is moved `up' so a `hole' is created! CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~ 1) Box Contents 13) Share and share alike 2) Loading Cannon Fodder 14) Regrouping Troops 3) Trouble Shooting 15) A Mission Reminder 4) What you can expect to see during play 16) Phase Complete 5) From Conscripts to Troopers 17) Saving Games 6) Controlling Troopers 18) Loading Saved Games 7) The Status Panel 19) The Train Spotters guide 8) The Pointer to the enemy 9) Moving Troops 20) To the Terrain 10) Using Weapons 21) To Vehicles 11) Boarding and Leaving Vehicles 22) To Ranks 12) Form a new Troop (or 2) 2) LOADING CANNON FODDER Note that Cannon Fodder is for One player only (but friends are allowed to cheer you on). - Set up your computer as described in its instruction manual. Ensure that a mouse is plugged into the port `1 JOYSTICK'. - If your computer is turned on, turn it off. Wait for at least thirty seconds before turning on your computer again. This will remove any virus which may be present and so minimise the risk of infecting and possibly destroying your Cannon Fodder disks. - Insert the Cannon Fodder disk 1 into the computers internal disk drive. The program will load and run automatically. When you are prompted to insert Cannon Fodder disk 2, do so. - You will know that Cannon Fodder has loaded when you see the title screen. Further loading from disk 2 may be required, so do not remove it from the drive unless you are prompted to insert disk 3 or until you no longer wish to play. 3) TROUBLE SHOOTING In the unlikely event that Cannon Fodder fails to load, turn off your computer and remove any extraneous external peripherals such as printers (leave the monitor or television connected) before repeating the loading procedure. If Cannon Fodder still refuses to load then pop the faulty disk(s) - not the packaging - into a suitably-sized jiffy bag or padded envelope along with your name and address. To aid our trouble shooting department, please provide in as much detail as possible your equipment configuration (not forgetting any RAM expansion devices). Send the package to: THE RETURNS DEPARTMENT, Virgin Interactive Entertainment, 338A Ladbroke Grove, London W10 5AH. Virign Interactive will endeavour to replace the faulty disk within 28 days of its receipt. 4) WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE DURING PLAY All the action takes place in the playfield which takes up the best part of the screen. Here are some of the things you will see..... TOP LEFT - STATUS PANEL MID LEFT - AN ENEMY INSTALLATION LOW LEFT - THE MAP ICON ON SCREEN- BIRDS, GRASS, TROOPERS, POINTER + VEHICLES! 5) FROM CONSCRIPTS TO TROOPERS Before you get to see the above screen, you need to call up some fit young men to become troopers. As luck would have it, over at Boot Hill there is a queue of some 360 eager conscripts waiting to go to war - but only 15 of them are allowed to volunteer for each mission. Fortunately for all concerned, the innocent are aided to the experienced troop of survivors from previous missions. There are 24 missions to complete, each one with a different terrain and objective and split into a maximum of six phases. For more intimate details see know your mission profiles and know your terrain! 6) CONTROLLING TROOPERS You do not exactly control troopers but instead determine their behaviour thanks to a remarkable interfacing technique involving a mouse, a pointer, and a troop leader. Troopers will only follow their leader but can be encouraged to run around in circles, shoot anything that moves, throw grenades, shoot bazookas, drive Tanx, fly choppas, split up and do their own thing, and die. At the start of the game all troopers are conscripted as lowly Privates. Their ranks increase for every phase they somehow survive, but their promotion only happens when the mission is complete. After every three missions the raw recruits recieve extra training and so have already risen in rank when called upon to do their duty. The rank of the troop leader is shown above his head, just so you know who`s in charge. Note that the bullets fired by your troopers are clever. They will not kill a fellow trooper - unless he is wounded and squirming around on the ground in agony. However, it must also be noted that all other weaponary kills everyone, regardless of what side they are on. 7) THE STATUS PANEL It does more than inform.... THE TROOPS LOGO - Shows the logo of the troop. GRENADES - Shows whether or not the troop has any grenades and, if so, how many. At first the troop has no grenades. Extra grenades are found in boxes of four. Pick them up - and be careful not to blow them up. Note that, in the interests of public safety, from the phase entitled `Pier Pressure' onwards, each trooper is given two grenades - free of charge. BAZOOKAS - Not to be confused with the crude trombone-like musical instruments of the same name - or indeed, bazoomas, which are something else entirely - these bazookas are weapons of war. This symbol shows whether or not the troop has any bazookas and, if so, how many. At first the troop has no bazookas but a keen eye will soon spot the barrels in which four bazookas are stored. Pick them up - and be careful not to blow them up. Note that, in the interests of Public Safety, from the phase entitled `My Beautiful Skidoo' onwards, each trooper is given a free bazooka. TROOP STATUS - Shows whether the troop is on foot or in a vehicle. This box is highlighted when the troop is active. TROOP TROOPERS - The names of the troopers in the troop are shown along with their ranks, in order of importance, with the leader at the top. 8) THE POINTER This is the aforementioned mouse-controlled pointer used to determine the behaviour of your troopers (and troops). As you will see, the pointer changes to reflect one of three types of trooper conduct: A) TROOPER (OR TROOP) DESTINATION POINTER B) WEAPON DESTINATION CROSSHAIR C) VEHICLE IN, OUT POINTERS 9) MOVING TROOPS Use the mouse to move the pointer around the screen until it`s tip touches the desired destination. Not that the way you can view the immediate area surrounding the active troop. Press the left hand mouse button to make the troop leader move towards the pointer`s tip. The rest of the troop will follow in rank and file. 10) USING WEAPONS It couldn`t be simpler ... Press the right-hand mouse button to turn the pointer into a crosshair and make the trooper or troop shoot at the centre of the crosshair. Press and hold the right-hand mouse button then press the left-hand mouse button to make the troop leader throw a grenade or fire his bazooka at the centre of the crosshair. 11) USING VEHICLES Five types of vehicle become available in Cannon Fodder. Each vehicle holds up to eight troopers. For details of the vehicles and their special functions, see know your vehicles! Boarding Vehicles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Use the mouse to move the pointer around the screen until the tip touches the desired vehicle. The pointer will change to show that the empty vehicle may be boarded. Press the left-hand mouse button to make the trooper (or troop) board the vehicle. Press and hold the left-hand mouse button to make the trooper (or troop) shoot the vehicle`s weapon (if it has one). Note that grenades and bazookas cannot be used while inside a vehicle. Leaving Vehicles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Use the mouse to move the pointer around the screen until it`s tip touches the occupied vehicle. The pointer will cha...
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