_____ __ ___ ____ _______ ______ / ___/\ /\ \ \ / _/ / __ \ /_ ___ \ /\____/\ /\ /\ / / _/ / / /__/\/ / / / / \ \ / /__/ / / / / / / / / / \ \ \_/ / __/ / / / / /\/ / //___/ / / / / / / / / /\ \ \ / /\ \ / / / / / / / / \ \ / / / / / / __ / / / /__\ \ / /__\ \__ / /_ / /___/ / / /__ \ \_\/___/ / \ \/ /\/ / \/____\/ \/__/ \__/ \/_/ \/_____/ \/__/ \________/ \/_/\_\/-bbox Presents the docs to Wings from Cinemaware! Gotta get this outta the way first: greetings to Freddy Kreuger and all non-Iraqi military personnel in the Persian Gulf theatre of war. Introduction Thank you for purchasing Wings (you better do it!), Cinemaware's first Personal Combat Simulator. Stricly speaking, Wings is not an interactive movie, nor could it be called a military flight simulator, and yet it combines elements of both to create a unique interactive experience. Wings is not a game about winning or losing. In fact, there is no way to lose the game, and the only winner is the player with enough skill and determination to face over 230 different missions and see the war through to its end. It isn't easy. You find new challenges and surprises at every step, and your opponents' skills and aircraft dramatically improve as the war progresses. The game is historically accurate wherever possible. The Das Rittmeister character that you meet at the end of 1916 is fictionalized, as well as the 56th Aerosquadron itself, which represents a typical English, American, or French fighter unit. The real 56th squadron was an elite unit made up of the top pilots of England. They traded flight tactics and tested new SE5's before returning to their units to share their newly acquired knowledge. Welcome to WWI. It is March 2, 1916. You're about to find out what it was really like to be an Allied pilot in the Great War. Good luck, Lieutenant. Before Loading the Game Before loading Wings, make backup copies of both disks. Make sure that the copies are named "reel 1" and "reel 2". Put the originals in a safe place and play the game from the copies. Caution: do not write protect reel 2, as games are saved to this disk. Hard disk installation: you can install Wings to you HD. On reel 1 is a file named READ_ME.INSTALL that explains the procedure. Loading Instructions Connect a joystick and turn on your monitor. Insert reel 1 into df0: (if you have 2 drives, insert reel 2 into df1:) and turn on your computer (1000 owners, boot using kickstart v1.2 or later). If you're using only one disk drive, follow the prompts for switching disks. Once the game is loaded, the title sequence begins. You can bypass this by pressing the fire button. Flight School If you are playing Wings for the first time, you will go directly to Flight School after the title sequence. The menu selection let you Add Pilot, Delete Pilot, View Pilot, Earn Wings, Join Squadron, and Quit/Exit. The options available at any given time are highlighted. One pilot, Waldo P. Barnstormer, has already earned his wings when you arrive at Flight School. You may use him as your alter ego if you want to jump right into the game. Or, create a new pilot and go through the pilot training sessions to earn your own wings. ADD PILOT select this option and the Add Pilot screen appears (you can add up to 10 pilots). Type in your pilot's name and press RETURN (2nd Lieutenant is your first rank). The box at the bottom of the screen lets you set your pilot's abilities. Use the joystick to click on the bars (or use cursor keys) to change the ability levels. The bar color changes from red (low) to yellow (adequate) to green (good), depending on the level of ability assigined. The Ability Points indicator at the top of the box shows how many points that you can assign. When you create a new pilot, he has 40 points assinged to each ability, plus 40 more that you can distribute between his abilites. This is the only time you can actively adjust these numbers. During the game, these abilities increase or decrease according to your performance in battle. After making your selections, press ESC to go back to the Flight School screen. DELETE PILOT select this option to remove a pilot from the Flight School roster. VIEW PILOT select this option to see any Flight School pilot's statistics. You'll notice that most of these categories have no figures while you're in school. Later, after you've seen a few battles, you'll learn what these mean. EARN WINGS select this option to go to Flight School. You must pass training in order to join the 56th Aerosquadron. You'll be assigned training missions (strafing, bombing, or flying), which are excellent practice for the real thing. Once you succeed at one of the training missions, you earn your wings and are eligible to Join Squadron. JOIN SQUADRON select this option after earning your wings to join the 56th Aerosquadron. Make this selection, then choose which qualified pilot you wish to be in the game (only one pilot at a time can join the 56th). You must give a password to be allowed in the 56th Aerosquadron, and you can find that password in your Pilot's Briefing Manual (HAHAHAHA! password removed by SKID ROW!) After you give the correct password, you receive a briefing from your commanding officer, Col. Charles Farrah, at the 56th HQ. Then the Squadron Roster appears, where you see all the members of the 56th listed by rank, the # of missions they've flown, and enemy plans they've downed. Select CONTINUE GAME. A company journal appears-your diary of the war. Pages turn automatically to the current day's entry-read it carefuly, as it often has vital information about your upcomming missions. Press FIRE to go to your first mission. QUIT/EXIT If you haven't joined the 56th, this ends the game session. If you have a pilot in the 56th, QUIT/EXIT takes you to the Main Menu. Main Menu If you have a saved game, the Main Menu appears after the title sequence. You can also access this menu from other points in the game. The Main Menu has 5 selections: REVIEW PILOTS, CONTINUE GAME, NEW GAME, FLIGHT SCHOOL, EXIT/SAVE. use the joystick to move the cursor arrow to the desired selection; press fire to select. REVIEW PILOTS select this option to view the Squadron Roster. This lists all the members of the 56th by rank, # of missions flown, and enemy pilots downed. From this screen you can select Current Pilot, Memorial (list of the 20 best Wings players), or Exit (to return to the Main Menu). CONTINUE GAME anytime the game take you to the Main Menu, select this option to resume playing the current game. NEW GAME select this option and you see the prompt DELETE GAME IN PROGRESS? Select YES to start a new game. If you have a game in progress that you don't want to lose select NO, then CONTINUE GAME (or Exit/Save to save the game). FLIGHT SCHOOL select this option to create and train pilots. EXIT/SAVE select this option to end the current session and save the game. Only one game at a time may be save on Reel 2. If you wish to save more than one game, make copies of Reel 2 and use a different copy for each game. Aerial Combat Missions In any aerial combat mission, your flying skill is of paramount importance. You must be able to evade enemy fire, maneuver to get enemy targets in your sights, an occaisonally land a badly crippled airplane without crashing. Enemy planes and the baskets of enemy observation balloons are easily distinguished by their red coloring; Allied aircraft are light brown. If you can see bushes, you are flying VERY low. To maintain level flight, keep your the horizon line inside your circular gunsight. If you stall (your engine coughs and you start to dive), don't panic. Release the stick for a moment to regain lost airspeed, then ease it back to return to level flight. Missions aren't over until all enemy planes and balloons have been shot down (make sure that your enemy actually hits the ground; a damaged plane CAN recover and come back to attack you). You can ditch (land you plane) to make a hasty exit from any aerial combat missions. Of course, this is frowned upon by Wing HQ. Look araound by pressing these keys on the number pad: 8-forward; 4-left; 6-right; 2-back. Press fire to shoot your machine guns. NOTE: when you are facing forward, watch for your pilot's head to turn left or right; that is the direction of the nearest enemy plane. Before each aerial combat mission you receive mission orders that include the date, type of mission, and who (if anyone) will be flying with you (including how many missions each of you has flown and how many confirmed kills you've made). After you your mission orders and take off (click on FLY), a "movie card" appears. Important information about the upcoming battle is included in these messages. There are four types of aerial combat missions. PATROL Destroy all enemy aircraft (you may meet anywhere from 1 to 10). If any enemy planes get by you and your comrades, you fail your mission. BALLOON BUSTING Destroy all enemy balloons (1-5) and any palnes protecting them. You will also be under anti-aircraft fire from the ground. ESCORT Ensure the safety of the bomber or recon plane you are assigned to escort by destroying all enemy aircraft. If you lose the plane that you're escorting, you fail your mission. PROTECT Destroy all enemy planes and ensure the safety of the Allied base or balloons you are assigned to protect. If the base is hit or the balloons destroyed, you fail your mission. At the end of each aerial combat mission you recieve a Post Flight Log. This mission report tells you whether your mission was a success or a failure, the name of all 56th pilots involved, their status (OK, downed, etc>), and how many planes and/or balloons each pilot shot down. If you are unlucky enough to go down and can't make a smooth landing, your pilot will be killed. This means that you must go back to Flight School and create a new persona to continue the war. Strafing Missions In any strafing mission, your shooting skill is vital. Press fire to shoot your machine guns and watch slightly ahead of your plane for the flashing streaks where the bullets hit the ground. Some targets require several hits to finish them off. You must be able to hit enemy trucks, trains, tents, infantrymen, etc., and avoid hitting ambulances, and red-cross tents. You must also avoid being hit by ground fire. You can't die in a strafing mission, but you can be shot down by repeated machine-gun hits or a single hit from a large anti-aircraft gun. Before each strafing mission you receive a set of mission orders that include the date, the type of mission (your primary target), any secondary targets, and what to avaoid hitting. In order to succeed in a strafing mission, you must destroy 50% or more of your primary objective targets (in a train strafing mission, you must destroy 50% of the cars as well as the engine). Destroying secondary targets improves you pilot's ratings. At the end of each strafing mission, the Post Flight Log tells you whether your mission was a success or a failure, how many rounds of ammunition you shot, what percentage of your shots hot a target, and your status. It also tells you how many of those targets you destroyed and what percentage of the targets you destroyed. Bombing Missions You first bombing mission comes later in the game, as bombs were in short supply at the beginning of the war. When you do get bombs, good aim is crucial. You must be able to hit enemy targets and avoid hitting hospitals, churches (what fun is that?), schools, and ambulances (all of which are marked by a red cross). You can't die in a bombing mission, but you can be shot down by direct hits from anti-aircraft fire (close shell bursts rock your plane and make it uncontrollable for several seconds). You can see how many bombs you're carrying (max of 10) by looking at the underside of your wings. Press fire to shoot your machine guns. To drop a bomb, press fire while simultaneously tapping back on the joystick. Before each bombing mission you receive a set of mission orders that include the date, the type of mission (your primary target), any secondary tagets, and what to avoid hitting. After you see the mission orders, a recon photo of the target area is diplayed. On the photo you'll see your primary targets circled in red (if your primary target is a moving taget such as a submarine or a train, you won't see a recon photo). In order to succeed in a bombing mission, you must destroy all of your primary objective targets. Destroying secondary targets improves your pilot's ratings. At the end of each bombing mission, the Post Flight Log tells you whether you mission was a success or failure, how many bombs you carried, how many bombs you dropped, how many targets were part of your primary and secondary abjectives, and how many of those targets you destroyed. Aerial Combat Flying All functions of flying your plane in Wings are controlled by the joystick. Pushing the joystick forward or pulling it back operates the elevators (located on the tail of the plane) and points the nose of the plane down (diving) or up (climbing). Airspeed increases are accomplished by diving. Pushing the joystick left or right operates the ailerons (the wing flaps) and causes one wing to drop and the other to lift, enabling rolls and turns. There are three methods of control, from which all aerobatics maneuvers are derived: roll, pitch and yaw. Think of your plane as having three axes. The first axis runs from the nose to the tail, and rotation arounf this axis is called a roll (turning over). The second axis runs from wingtip to wingtip and rotation around it it called pitch (diving and climbing). The third axis passes vertically through the center of the plane and rotation around it is called yaw (turning left or right). ROLL To execute a roll, push the joystick all the way to the left or right and hold it. Level off by centering the joystick when the horizon is level. PITCH To climb from level flight, pull the joystick back. Listen to the engine sounds and you'll notice that the engine slows down as you climb. If you climb to steeply, you lose too much airspeed and stall the plane. Push the joystick forward to dive, which increases you speed and can correct a stall if done in time. YAW To turn, push the joystick left or right to bank the plane, then center the joystick. The plane continues in a full turn. To stop turning, level the plane. On the next few pages are several aerobatic maneavers you can perform in your SE5. A little fancy wing-work can help you evade the huns in a dogfight; but, don't forget, the object here is to shoot your taget and get out alive! CAUTION: When doing aerobatics of any sort, be sure you have enough altitude to complete the maneuver without hitting the ground! Loops are especially dangerous in WWI aircraft, as you always come out of a loop at a lower altitude than when you began it. ONE-HALF ROLL TO INVERTED FLIGHT From upright level flight, push the joystick all the way to the right (to the left, if you want to roll left). As you approach upside-down position, keep in mind that pulling back on the joystick noses the plane toward the ground and pushing forward pitches it skyward. Level off when inverted. [Note: lots of nifty diagrams here.....BUY THE GAME TO SEE THEM! They can't be done in ansi, sorry.] ONE-HALF ROLL FROM INVERTED FLIGHT From inverted level flight, push the joystick all the way to the right. As you appraoch the upright position, center the stick. SLOW ROLL From upright level flight, push the joystick all the way to the right. To stop rolling, center the stick. FOUR-POINT HESITATION ROLL Push the joystick to the right to begin the roll. Briefly center the stick at the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 points of this roll. To stop rolling at the end of the roll, center the stick. EIGHT-POINT HESITATION ROLL Same thing as the four-point roll. Just stop at every 1/8 point of the roll. ONE-HALF LOOP TO INVERTED FLIGHT Start at a reasonalby high altitude and dive to increase airspeed. At the bottom of the dive, pull sharply back on the stick until you loop into inverted flight. Center the stick to level out. ONE-HALF LOOP FROM INVERTED FLIGHT From inverted flight, pull back on the stick until you loop into upright flight. Center the stick to level out. ADVANCED MANEUVERS ATTEMPT ONLY FROM HIGH ALTITUDES INSIDE LOOP Start at a reasonably high altitude and dive to increase airspeed. At the bottom of your dive, pull sharply back on the stick to climb and loop. Continue holding back on the stick all the way through the loop, until you finish in upright level flight. ONE-HALF CUBAN 8 Start at a reasonably high altitude and dive to increase airspeed. At the bottom of the dive, pull sharply back on the stick to climb and loop. Continue to hold back on the stick through the top of the loop until you are nosing directly down. At the 3/4 point of the loop, center the stick. Push right on the stick to do a 1/2 roll to upright position; center the stick to stop roll. As you come upright, pull back on the stick until you are level in horizontal flight. SPLIT S Do a 1/2 roll right to inverted position. Pull the stick back to pitch downward, until you level out when you reach horizontal position. IMMELMANN TURN Start at a high altitude. Dive to increase airspeed. At the bottom of your dive, pull back on the stick to climb and loop until you are in level flight. Then release the stick. Roll right to upright flight and center the stick to stop the roll. RATINGS To view your status in Wings, select REVIEW PILOTS from the Main Menu, then select Current Pilot from the Squadron Roster screen. The status screen is divided into 4 sections. The first section shows your rank; name; # of missions; # of times you ditched or were downed; # of reprimands you've received; and # of times you were victorious in each type of mission (dogfights, bombing raids, and strafing runs). The second section shows your confirmed kills, broken down by monoplanes, biplanes, triplanes (five planes and you're an ACE!), and balloons. The third section lists your personal stats: flying ability, mechanical aptitude, shooting ability, and stamina. You set these levels when you create your pilot, then your performance in battle affects them from that point. Successful missions affect all four of these favorably; an unsuccessful mission affects them all negatively. The amount of effect is determined by the mission's difficulty level. Successful missions positively affect your entire squadron. Repeated failure has a negative effect on the squadron's morale. FLYING ABILTY The general maneuverability of your airplane (how fast you can fly and turn) is affected by this ability. MECHANICAL APTITUDE This rating affects how well your plane holds up in the air, whether or not the guns jam, and how much functionality and control you have if you are hit. SHOOTING ABILITY The level of this ability affects the # of hits that you need in order to take out enemy aircraft. It also determines the accuracy and range of you machine guns. STAMINA The level of stamina determines how well you're able to survive crashes. Rookie pilots tend to be killed instantly in mid-air collisions, while pilots with high stamina may get a chance to land. Certain activities in successful missions can favorably affect particular ratings. In a strafing mission, if you hit the required # of primary targets, then take out a majority of your secondary targets, your shooting ablility increases. Hitting all the supply areas in a successful strafing mission also ads more to your shooting ablilty. If you sustain no hits to your plane during a successful strafing mission, you get a signifigant increase in mechanical aptitude. The more hits you sustain, the smaller the increase. Getting shot down results in a decrease in mechanical aptitude (even in a successful mission). After you hit your primary targets in a bombing mission, you get extra flying ablity for success at hitting seconday targets. If you avoid being hit by anti-aircraft flak during a successful bombing mission, you get extra stamina. When you abilty levels change, the "nickname" you get for each category changes on your status screen. The chart below shows some of the changes you may see, starting with the lowest possible rating. FLYING MECHANICAL SHOOTING STAMINA Sitting Duck Butterfingers Pea Shooter Door Mat Clay Pidgeon I Apprentice I Marksman I Lead Belly I Clay Pidgeon II Apprentice II Marksman II Lead Belly II Sky Falcon I Grease Monkey I Sharpshooter I Granite Gut I ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? When you win a medal, it appears in its appropriate niche in the bottom window. Medals and promotions are awarded based on the pilot's successes and the mood at Wing HQ. Mood is affected by how the squadron does as a unit. Keep this is mind next time one of your buddies sweeps in and steals a hard-earned kill just as you were about to deliver the finishing blow. WINNING AND LOSING You can't really lose the game, but you can lose a pilot. Naturally, if your pilot dies, he's out of the picture. If you fail at three missions in a row, you recieve a severe warning from you C.O. You get a second warning with your 4th consecutive failure, and you're thrown out of the squadron with five failures in a row. Just one success in between these failures will keep you in the air. Your pilot can also be given a dishonorable discharge for behaviour unbecoming an officer of the 56th Aerosquadron. Unacceptable behavior includes shooting down one of yur own planes or balloons, or shooting any object marked with a red cress (ambulances, hospitals, schools, and churches). Each time you do one of these dastardly dees, you get a reprimand. Three reprimands and you're out! You can win Wings by Surviving until Armistice Day. The last mission is on Nov 10, 1918. When you make it through that mission, you've made it through the war and to victory! STRATEGY AND TACTICS AERIAL COMBAT MISSIONS At the beginning of a mission where the enemy is in front, circle around and attack from behind. When your group is outnumbered you can't afford this luxury, because you risk losing your wingmen who are counting on you for cover. In this situation, attack quickly, spltting the opposition, then dive out before you sustain too much damage. This tactic can save your buddies' lives by diverting enemy fire. And on the really tough missions, you're going to need all the help that you can get up there! Use the numeric keypad to look around. Don't let the enemy surprise you! If you see an enemy pilot in front of you, don't try to fly straight at him. Figure out which direction he's headed and fly to where you think he is going. To avoid enemy fire during a dogfight, keep dodging, don't fly at a constant altitude, and, if you get hit, dive or climb immediately. There are three ways to avoid Archie (anti-aircraft) fire when going after an enemy balloon: fly over the balloon and dive straight down on top of it (this strategy was used by many pilots); fly around the shell bursts and attack from the rear; or strafe the anti-aircraft gun and destroy it (dive straight down at the beginnin of a balloon busting mission and you'll usually find the anti-aircraft gun). Be careful when attacking an enemy plane head-on, especially when it is above you. A well placed burst could send him spiraling out of control-and right into your flight path! When following a banking target, lead him with your shots. Don't shoot Allied anti-aircraft guns! STRAFING AND BOMBING MISSIONS When you recieve mission orders, your mission objective is the primary target you must destroy. STRAFING MISSIONS Keep moving and try to hit the infantry before they crouch down to shoot. This helps keep your plane in one piece. If you don't have time to take out the anti-aircraft gun, watch where the shell bursts are hitting and fly around that spot. It only takes one hit from an Archie to end your mission in a hurry. When you're strafing infantry, get them before they can escape to the right or left side of the screen. BOMBING MISSIONS Keep moving to avoid the anti-aircraft gun. When you're ready to drop your bombs, wait for the guns to fire; then, move in quickly and release your deadly cargo before they can fire again. When enemy planes come in, quickly take them out (if you can't avoid them). They'll interfere with you and keep you from getting to your target. That was the instruction manual; I will NOT type in the "Aviator's Briefing Manual for the First World War" as that is 80 pages! It is also just a bunch of interesting stuff about WWI that you don't need to play. However, if anyone wants the stats for the planes, let me know and I will type them up. Otherwise, YOU CAN BUY THE GAME TO READ THAT MANUAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mictlantecuhtli/Skid Row