Bandit Kings of Ancient China manual
- Bandit Kings of Ancient China
- manual
Bandit Kings of Ancient China
BASIC TERMS
Before beginning play, there are a few terms you should be familiar
with.
Prefecture : One of the 49 sections that divide the game map.
Territory : A Prefecture that is under someone's control.
Good Fellow: One of the ten major characters that you may choose to
play.
Bandit : A character in the service of a Good Fellow.
Chieftain : A bandit in charge of a Prefecture.
Minister : The villain of the game--the Imperial Minister of War,
Gao Qiu.
Official : A character in the service of Gao Qiu. An enemy of
bandits.
Magistrate : An Official in charge of a Prefecture.
People : Characters that can become either Bandits or Officials.
Heroes : Any Bandit, Chieftain, Good Fellow, Official, Magistrate,
or Minister.
Men : Soldiers serving under Heroes.
Scenario 1
Lin Chong 1101 AD
The Leopard Headed kills the agents of Gai and is exiled to the
frontier. Good Fellows: Lu Zhi Shen, Shi Jin, Lin Chong, Wu Song and
Yang Zhi.
Scenario 2
Song Jiang 1103 AD
The Welcome Rain, against his wishes, murders his wife, the wicked Yian
Po Xi. Good Fellows: Lu Zhi Shen, Shi Jin, Song Jiang, Lin Chong, Wu
Song, Yang Zhi and Chao Gai.
Scenario 3
Song Jiang 1104 AD
The Welcome Rain writes a revolutionary song that leads to his capture.
Good Fellows: Lu Zhi Shen, Shi Jin, Li Kui, Li Jun, and Chao Gai.
Scenario 4
Chao Gai 1105 AD
The Heavenly King is struck by Shan Ting Gui's poisoned arrow and falls
in battle. Good Fellows: Lu Zhi Shen, Shi Jin, Song Jiang, and Li
Ying.
WINNING THE GAME
Victory Conditions
Unlike past KOEI games, the objective is not to conquer the country.
This time, your mission is much more direct. Stop Gai Qiu...
permanently. However, as Gao Qiu begins the game in an almost
impregnable position, this is not as easy as it seems. In order to
challenge Gao Qiu, you must become an equally powerful figure in the
Empire. By taking territories, winning battles, and doing good deeds,
you will gradually become more and more popular. In January of every
year, the Emperor will search the country for a champion with enough
popular support to defeat Gao Qiu. If the Emperor decides that you are
indeed the one, he will issue you an Imperial Edict, giving you the
authority to confront Minister Gao Qiu, and hopefully, kill him.
LOSING THE GAME
You can lose the game in any of the following ways:
* If your Good Fellow dies
* If your Good Fellow is taken prisoner or becomes a Criminal
* If any Good Fellow other than your own kills Gao Qiu
* If the time limit is reached and the Northern Barbarians invade in
January of 1127 AD
In multi-player games, when all of the players' Good Fellows are killed
or imprisoned, the game will end. If someone decides to retire early,
the computer will take the part of that player's Good Fellow, and play
will continue.
USING THE KEYBOARD
Keys Used in the Game
Numeric Keys : You can use the numeric keys 0-9 freely.
Return Key : The prompt to hit the Return Key is represented by
the symbol.
Delete Key : You may use either the Del or Backspace Keys to move
the cursor back.
Alphabetic Keys: Use "Y" and "N" when answering Yes or No Questions.
Space Key : Use when setting your Good Fellow's attributes, and
when flipping through a list of Heroes on the Main
Display.
Entering Responses
When entering your responses on the Main Display, numbers, and "Y" or
"N" must be followed by . When you are asked questions, you
will be prompted by the message "(Y/N)?" Use the "Y" or "N" keys to
respond. You do not have to hit in this case. Note that you
may also use the number "0" key for a "Y" answer, and for a "N"
answer.
On the Battle Display, use the Numeric Keypad to indicate the direction
you wish to move in.
WARNING
While the game is in progress, please be careful not to: Turn off the
Power
SAVING A GAME
Making a Save Disk
1. Format a disk to be your Save Disk.
2. At the opening menu, select Option "3: Create a Save Disk." If
you wish to cancel this process at any time, press the Esc Key.
3. When instructed to, insert your disk into Drive B, press ,
and wait.
4. Hit and start the game.
If you do not create a Save Disk before beginning play, you will not be
able to save your game data during play. Your Save Disk can hold up to
10 Saved Games on a single diskette.
CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES
Understanding the Character Attributes
There are 255 characters in BANDIT KINGS, and although all are
represented by the same attributes, their strengths and weaknesses make
each one unique. Also, some of the attributes will change as the game
progresses. For a complete listing of a character's attributes, use
Command 15 .
Attribute Meaning
Name The character's name
Age The character's age
Position The character's social rank
Serves The Hero the character serves under
Men The number of followers the character
has
Steersman Whether the character can steer a
ship
Ship Whether the character has a ship or
not
Body The character's present stamina and
health
Strength The character's physical strength
Dexterity The character's physical ability
Wisdom The character's mental ability
Integrity The character's moral fiber
Mercy The character's mercy
Courage The character's bravery
Popularity The amount of popular support for the
character
Loyalty The character's loyalty to the
Chieftain or Official he serves
Prefecture Attributes
Attribute Meaning
Prefecture The Prefecture's number and name
Shipyard Whether this Prefecture has a
shipyard or not
Smithy Whether this Prefecture has a smithy
or not
Gold The present amount of gold in the
Prefecture
Food The amount of food in the Prefecture
Metal The amount of metal in the Prefecture
Fur The amount of fur in the Prefecture
Rate The Prefecture's current market rate
Heroes Number of Heroes present in the
Prefecture
Men Total number of Men in the Prefecture
Skill The training level of the Men
Arms The arms level of the Men
People The number of free characters in the
Prefecture
Castles The number of fortified lairs or
castles
Support The Prefecture's support for its
Ruler
Flood The level of Flood Control
Land The productivity of the land
Wealth The wealth of the citizens
EVENTS
Throughout the game, events such as Floods, snowstorms, Riots, and
Epidemics will occur. Read this section to learn how to minimize the
damage caused by these untimely occurrences.
Yearly Events
The following will occur every January:
Taxes : If your Support is 40 or greater, you will receive taxes
in the form of Gold and Food.
Depreciation: Skill, Arms, Flood, Land, Wealth, and Support will all
suffer a slight decrease due to the passage of time.
Aging : The date will advance one year and all characters will
age 1 year.
Unrest : All Good Fellows will suffer a decrease in Loyalty among
their Chieftains, and all Chieftains will suffer a
similar decrease among their Bandit followers. The same
applies to Gao Qiu and his Magistrates and Officials.
The amount of the decrease depends on the compatibility
of the characters involved.
Seasonal Events
The Season will change every March, June, September, and December.
Typhoon : In Summer, Typhoons can occur. A typhoon will decrease a
Prefecture's Flood, Land, and Wealth values, while raising
the Rate Value.
Snowstorm : In Winter, heavy snows can occur. A snowstorm will make
any movement (Command 4 ) or fighting (Command 1
) impossible. Land and Support will decrease,
while Rate will increase. In Spring, the snow will melt
and its effects will end.
Epidemic : An Epidemic can hit during any season. Wealth, Support,
and Body values will decrease. Men will die and Market
Rate will increase.
Festival : Spring and Fall bring Festivals to the Song Empire. The
origin and effects of these boisterous event remain a
mystery even today.
Wild Beast: This is the occurrence of bears, wolves, leopards or
tigers of unusual size terrorizing the citizenry. They
will remain for one season. You can hunt them down. If
you are successful, your Popularity will go up. If you
fail, you will risk a decrease in Popularity as well as
serious injury.
Monthly Events
The following occur monthly:
Rate Change: The Market Rate will change, affecting the prices of
Food, Fur, Arms, Ships, and Men.
Expenses : Lack of Gold or Food can lead to mass desertion among
your Men.
Recovery : Body values will automatically recover. Body will never
rise above the Body Maximum.
Riot : A riot can occur when a ruler's Support is between 40-55.
This can sometimes be averted by paying Gold to quiet the
citizenry down. A mistake can easily mean the chopping
block for that Prefecture's Ruler.
Desertion : When a Bandit's Loyalty to his or her Chieftain gets too
low, there is always the chance that Bandit (or
Official), will leave his or her master.
MAIN COMMANDS
Command List - This is a list of the Main Commands and Exile Command
that you may use on the Main Display.
Main Commands
1. Fight Go to War
Go on Expedition
2. Service Flood Control
Cultivation
Construction
3. Make Ships
Weapons
4. Move Hero
Provisions
Go into Exile
5. Negotiate Ally
Invite to Lair
6. Travel Return to Lair
Go to Marketplace
Go Downtown
Go to Smithy
Go to Shipyard
7. Solicit Gold
Metal
8. Hunt Food
Fur
9. Personnel Swear Brotherhood
Promote
Exile
10. Organize Hire Men
Assign Men
Assign Ships
11. Train
12. Feast
13. Rest
14. Give Citizens
Hero
15. View Your Home Prefecture
Other Prefecture
Your Territories
Alliances
16. Interrupt Save
Wait
Sound
Animation
Fixed Displays
Quit
Exile Commands
1. Flee
2. Recruit Hero
3. Settle
4. Rest
5. View
6. Interrupt
How to Enter Commands
Game Turns - Every month, every Prefecture will get a turn in which to
execute one command (aside from Empty Prefectures). The order in which
a Prefecture's turn comes up is random and will change every month.
However, you will only be able to input commands for those Prefectures
under your direct control (your Home Prefecture, and any Territory
ruled by your Sworn Brother or Sister). All of your other Chieftains
will execute orders on their own. You can exercise some control over
what kinds of commands your Chieftains will be executing by sending
them standing orders using Command 9 Option 4.
Entering Commands - Use the numeric keys to enter the number of the
command you wish, and press . Sub-commands are entered
similarly. If you make a mistake, you can go back by using the Delete
Key before you hit . You can view a list of all possible
commands by pressing instead of a number. You can return to
the Main Display by pressing "0" key. In the EGA version, invalid
commands, such as going to a Shipyard in a Prefecture that has no
Shipyard, will be highlighted in red. In the CGA version, invalid
command numbers will be displayed, but not the command itself. For
example:
1. Return to Lair
2. Go to Marketplace
3. Go Downtown
4. Go to Smithy
This applies to invalid Battle Commands as well.
Who Will Execute Commands - When you enter a command, you must
sometimes select someone of your band to carry these orders out. Often
it will be yourself (your Good Fellow) but sometimes you will want to
use Sworn Brothers or Bandit followers instead. As all commands
require different abilities, you will want to be careful in making your
selection. All commands will cost the executing character a certain
amount of Body points. If the characters's Body is too low to pay this
cost, the character will be unable to carry out your orders. The
amount of Body required varies according to the difficulty of the
command. When a command is successfully executed, the character who
carried out the command will receive an experience bonus. The
attribute that will increase depends on the type of command completed.
For example, successfully completing a command will cost the
character 15 Body Points, but will increase his Dexterity Experience by
15 points and his Wisdom Experience by 10 points. When Experience
reaches 100 points, the corresponding attribute will increase by 1
point. Experience will return to 0 and must be built up again. For
example, if a character's Strength Attribute becomes 100, that
character's Strength Attribute will immediately increase by 1 point.
Strength Experience will return to 0, and must by built up again. This
is to reflect a character's growing experience in using his or her
attributes to the best advantage.
