Lost Patrol dox. Typed by Flux of Mirage UK Release date: 05/07/90 at 23:02 THE LOST PATROL --------------- 28 intermediate pictures, 10 of which are animated, 5 digitised sequences, 5 arcade sequences, 5 character interaction sequences. SCENARIO -------- June 7th, 1966; A U.S. Helicopterreturning troops from a period of R 'n' R in Saigon crashes in the remote central highlands of Vietnam. Now the seven survivors of that crash face a nightmare trek across 57 miles of harsh terrain that is infested with booby traps and enemy soldiers. The journey to Do Hoc, the nearest U.S. base, would test the most able of teams - but with little food or ammunition thier chances of making it home aree less then slim, their mission is now your mission - are you a survivor? You take the part of Sgt. Weaver, the only officer left to take charge of the remaining crew. It is important that you learn the individual characters of your team, as completing the mission may hinge upon thier reactions to your decisions. Also, during your encounters with the Vietnamese people (Montagnards in the mountain areas) show restraint and caution - all may not be as it seems. Finally, the only known rule of Jungle Warfare during those early years was "The Night Belongs to the V.C......", the rest is for you to discover. THE TEAM -------- Sgt Charlie Weaver U.S Residence; Springfield, Illinios. Status; 5'9" ; 153 pounds 29 years old, single. 2 years army service - 10mths in Vietnam on W.H.A.M. mission, intelligence. Decorated for valor during action in the An Loc Province during October 1964. PTE William Blom U.S. Residence; Pitsburg, Pennsylvania. Status; 6'1" ; 168 pounds 24 years old, married, one child. Six months active service in Vietnam. Aikido 2nd dan. PTE Robert Case U.S. Residence; Columbus, Ohio. Status; 5'11" ; 147 pounds 31 years old, married, 2 children. Nine months active service in Vietnam. PTE Harvey Moore U.S. Residence; Fayetteville, North Carolina. Status; 5'8" ; 162 pounds 22 years old, single. Six months active service in Vietnam. PTE Richard Backman U.S. Residence; Bangor, Maine. Status; 5'10" ; 161 pounds 28 years old, single. Fourteen months army service, six months active in Vietnam. Highly proficient marksman. PTE David Cain U.S. Residence; West Liberty, Kentucky. Status; 6'0" ; 163 pounds 27 years old, single. Seven months active service in Vietnam. PTE Juan Gomez. U.S. Residence; Montgomery, Texas. Status; 5'6" ; 132 pounds 24 years old, married, two children. Nine months active service in Vietnam. MOVEMENT -------- Speed of progress can be changed by clicking on the centre of the compass icon. Movement is made by clicking on any of the cardinal points of the compass icon. Terrain features such as hills, rivers, or jungle will slow your movements as in real life. Using the grid icon will enter more detailed terrain descriptions to the control panel message slot. The arrow icons scroll the map area; if using a mouse click right button to release from this mode. MORALE ------ The 'M' icon takes you to the team morale screen where current injuries are shown along with each members strength and morale ratings. Clicking upon the 'lead' icon chooses that member as the head of the team file as they move across country. Clicking upon the 'scout' icon chooses team member as Pointman, guarding your flank and checking ahead for V.C. Maximum of 2 Pointmen may be selected. MENU ---- The menu bar at the top of the control panel will give you a number of choices. TRAPS: Allows you to deploy booby traps in your walk - useful for discouraging any enemy soldiers who may follow you. FOOD: Governs the food allocation. Normally food is issued automatically at the beginning og any 'rest' or 'dig in' period. REST: For short periods. The left mouse button increases the length of rest and advances the time in ten minute units. DIG IN: For use at night, controlled as 'rest', but each time unit is one hour. Both 'rest' and 'dig in' will restore strength and morale to some degree. MINEFIELD --------- Some areas, such as V.C. bunkers, may be protected by a surronding minefield. Pick a member of your team to clear a path to your objective. Button Stab. Using the FIRE/LEFT mouse button you can stab at the ground to reveal the outline of suspected mines. Of course, stabbing or crawling directly upon the detonator of a mine will cause instant death to your men. Due to the soft nature of the ground mines may not remain visible for any great length of time, thus great care must be taken when back tracking on your route. BATTLE SEQUENCE --------------- Pinned inside a ruined farmhouse you battle a V.C. force of unknown size and strength. Both grenades and ammunition must be used sparingly if you are to survive. Use left mouse/joystick to rise up from behind the wall which protects you, then place the crosshairs over enemy soldiers and fire/right mouse to dispose of them. Grenades can be thrown using the 'grenade' icon to make ready, then aiming and firing as for gunfire. Team fire can be regulated by utilising either the 'heavy' or 'normal' icons:- Remember that more rapid shooting may at times be less accurate then normal fire. Each shot you fire will be taken as due performance from the rest of your team; your ammunition reduced accordingly. Remaining too long above wall level will bring heavy injuries, too long below and your position may be over-run. Retreating can be dangerous during a full scale battle. BATTLE READOUT -------------- Small skirmishes with the enemy will be displayed as a readout of ammunition, grenades and current injuries, rate of fire, etc, as for full 'battle sequence'. Updates on the battle will be displayed in the control slot at regular intervals. GRENADE SECTION --------------- While crossing open ground you are suddenly attacked by machine gun fire. As the V.C. are too well entrenched to be knocked out with normal rifle fire, using grenades to destroy them is a dangerous last resort to free your position. Pull the pin from a grenade using space bar, mouse or joystick. You then have upto 5 seconds to aim your grenade with the crosshairs, build up strength with joystick/mouse, releasing same to actually throw the grenade. Details of injuries sustained etc will be displayed to the control slot. HAND TO HAND ------------ Your scouts may encounter V.C. soldiers guarding temporary daytime arms or supply bunkers. As total silence is imperative so as not to alert any other Viet Cong who may be close by, your scout will choose an unarmed attack. Should he fail to report back to the group at the designated time he will be regareded as MIA and left behind. Using 'retreat', may alert the enemy to your position. KEYBOARD -------- Cursor keys for RIGHT, LEFT, DOWNWARD movement. X - Punch. Z - Kick. JOYSTICK -------- Joystick LEFT, RIGHT, DOWN for corrosponding movement. FIRE - Punch. FIRE+LEFT - Kick. Allowing your strength bar in the control panel to fall to zero will count as the death of the designated player. SNIPER SECTION (mouse or joystick only) -------------- Pinned down by enemy sniper fire you must use the telescopic sights of your rifle to locate the distant enemy then dispose of him. As you and each of your men have diffrent levels of skill as a sharpshooter - and of course you have limited supplies of ammunition - it is important that you choose the man to use the rifle most carefully. Choosing to retreat from the area will be dangerous under the circumstances. Cycle through your team's names and abilities with the 'team' icon. Once selected click upon the 'scope' icon for a magnified view of the terrian which can be searched for the tell-tale flash of snipers rifles. Remember that the steadiness of the sights corrosponds to the ability of the man holding the rifle! HINTS AND TIPS -------------- 1) Maintain morale. 2) It is not always advisable to shoot first and ask questions later. 3) For the arcade sequences ensure you select the right man for the job. GLOSSARY -------- AK47 - Assualt rifle used by Viet Cong and NVA. AWOL - Absent without official leave. C. RATIONS - U.S. field rations. DIDI MAU - Vietnamese for 'Go Away'. GRUNTS - Infantryman. GREENS - Army basic issue clothes. HOOCH - Tent or, later, peasent hut. KIA - Killed in action. KLICK - Kilometer. M16 - U.S. assualt rifle standard issue. MAMA-SAN - Pidgin english for any older Vietmanese women. MIDEVAC - Medical evacuation, usually by helicopter. NCO - Non-commissioned officer e.g Sergent. NVA - North Vietmanese army. R AND R - Rest and recreation leave. RPG - Rocket propelled grenade used by enemy forces. TAIL-END CHARLIE- Last man in patrol. VIET CONG - Vietmanese Communist, South Vietmanese Guerilla forces. WIA - Wounded in action. AMENDMENTS ---------- Please note that the following sections of the game are controlled by mouse only:- Battle Sequence Grenade Section Sniper Section Minefield - This section is controlled by joystick or the following keys. Cursor keys and space bar to stab the ground. Use mouse to select team member. Typed by Flux/Mirage UK