Chaos Overlords Quick Start


        The objective of Chaos Overlords is simple- RULE THE CITY.  The specific objectives may vary slightly depending on which scenario you choose, but fighting and making money are constants in any game of Chaos Overlords.

        You begin every game with one sector and one gang, your Right Hands. The first thing you have to do is expand your empire, and to do this you need more territory and more people.  You get money by controlling sectors, influencing sites in those sectors, and by "Chaosing."  To do all this you need people, more gangs to do your work.
        In the lower right of the screen are three pictures of gangs that are available for you to hire.  The number in green is the cost to hire the gang.  Double clicking on any of the faces brings up a detailed summary of the gangs abilities.  In the summary, all the statistics of the gang are listed.  Numbers in red are penalties, and numbers in green are bonuses.  Gangs with lots of green numbers are generally better than gangs with lots of red numbers.  The upkeep listed is how much per turn the gang costs you, and the tech level is the highest level technology the gang can use.  Force is like the gang's hit points, and can range from five to nine when you hire (with a maximum of ten).  Gangs with a higher force do everything better. To hire the gang, click on the picture, and drag the gang to a sector you control, or a sector where you already have a gang (even if you don't control it).  When you release the mouse button, the gang is hired and will appear in that sector at the beginning of your next turn.
        To control other sectors you must move gangs into those sectors. Double click on your home sector.  The screen will zoom in and show the sector and the eight surrounding sectors.  In any highlighted sector, the gangs you control in that sector will be displayed on the right of the
screen.  Click on the small green triangle near the top of the picture of your gang.  This opens up a menu of orders you can give your gang.  Select Move.  A small map of the eight surrounding sectors appears.  Click on the sector you wish to move your gang to and select OK.  The triangle becomes the word Move (letting you know the gang has been given an order) and the gang will move when you end your turn.  Another way to move the gang is to click on the picture of the gang, and drag it to the sector where you want the gang to move to.
        When your gang begins its turn in a sector you do not control, you can attempt to control the sector by selecting Control from the order menu of that gang.  The gang will attempt to control that sector when you end your turn.  Unless the sector is controlled by another Overlord, you will most likely succeed in controlling the sector.  After you have controlled the sector, you have the option of influencing the sites in the sector.
        If controlling a sector is owning the ground people walk on, then Influencing sites is owning the buildings and even the people themselves. Sites in a sector can provide you with cash and other useful benefits.  The only way to take advantage of these sites is to influence them to work for you.  To Influence, you must have a gang in a sector you control, and then select Influence from the Order Menu.  A window will appear asking you to choose which site they are to influence, after clicking on the picture of the site you want, select OK.  The gang will begin to influence that site when you end your turn.  It usually takes more than one turn (sometimes as many as five or more) to completely influence the site (you can use the right click option to give a 'standing order' to Influence).  You only gain benefits from the site if you have it completely influenced.
        Another way to gain quick money is to Chaos.  Chaos involves creating anarchy in a sector to get money.  To have a gang Chaos, select Chaos from the Order Menu.  The gang will create chaos when you end your turn.  The amount of money you make is determined by the type of sector you Chaos in.  The higher class the sector is (Upper as opposed to Lower class) the more money you make.  There is a danger to Chaos, however.  The tolerance of a sector is how easy or hard it is to chaos in a sector.  If you perform a lot of chaos in a low tolerance sector, then the police will crack down on you and you will get no money from the chaos in that sector.  If you get too many crackdowns in a short period of time, you will lose control of the sector.
        Eventually you will need to fight the gangs employed by the other Overlords.  When a sector you have a gang in has a red circle (instead of the normal green circle), then an enemy gang is detected in that sector.  To see the enemy gang(s) in that sector, bring up the zoom view of that sector (by double clicking on the sector) and click on the lit Overlord face at the top of the screen.  The gangs controlled by that Overlord which are detected in the sector will be displayed.  To fight, click on your face, then select Attack from the Order Menu on any gang you want to fight.  Then select the picture of the gang you want to attack in the window that comes up.  A red cross-hair will appear on the enemy gang you have selected.  When satisfied with your target, select OK.  At the beginning of your next turn, a window will appear displaying the combat.  Your gang is always on the left, and the enemy gang is always on the right.  The two bars below the gangs' pictures are their force totals.  The top bar shows their force at the beginning of the fight, and the bottom bar shows their force at the end of the fight.
        To get better at combat, you need to have good weapons and armor. To develop better weapons and armor, you need to research.  To research, select a gang and give them the order to Research (from the Order Menu). A window will appear asking you what you would like to have the gang research.  Technology is divided into four categories, Melee/Bladed Weapons, Range Weapons, Armor, and Miscellaneous.  To select a different category, click on the picture that represents the category you want (Gun for Ranged, etc.).  To select a technology to research, pick the item from the list. To preview the item you are researching, double click on the name, and a window will open giving the item's statistics.  Researching can take a very long time to complete, so keep at it and be patient, and if possible, get as many gangs as possible to help research(you can use the right click option to give a 'standing order' to Research)..
        To Equip an item you have successfully researched, select Equip from the Order Menu.  Select the category you want to equip, and then select the item you want.  Make sure you have enough cash available to equip the gang with the item you want.  A gang can only equip with one item per turn.
        After battle, a wounded gang can attempt to get force back by Healing.  Selecting Heal from the Option Menu instructs the gang to heal its damage.  When you end your turn, the gang will recover some of its damage. The amount healed varies, and is sometimes minimal or none.
        Bribing and Snitching are two commands to deal with Chaos, or more specifically, tolerance.  Both are accessed through the Order Menu, and both cost three cash.  Bribing raises the tolerance in a sector (making it easier for you to Chaos) and Snitching lowers the tolerance in a sector (making it harder for your opponent to Chaos, and causing the police to crack down more often).  Bribing is best done in your sectors, and Snitching is best done in enemy sectors.


The following are more specific instructions on "how to play" Chaos Overlords

Game Setup Screen:
* Select the type of goal (left):
* Kill 'Em All:  Eliminate all other players.
* Siege:  Take control of all headquarters.
* Big Man:  Control sectors in center of city.  You receive 1 point for having control of each sector for 1 round.
* Select Player face (middle right) by clicking on the large Red player shown, then click on Add (lower right) to fill in the remaining spaces with human players, if desired.  All empty spaces are played by the computer--there are always six players.
* Click on Begin (lower right) to start a game.

Main Screen

Info Screen (upper right):
* Goal
* Current Year, week
* Score
* Total Cash
* Active Sector information:
* Coordinates: columns A-G, rows 1-8
* Income:  low (LO) to upper (UP)-- "class" of the active sector, which indicates the level of cash you may be able to chaos from the residents.  High class sectors have better stuff to steal, therefore your gang will be more efficient in "chaosing" there.
* Tolerance: if Chaos exceeds this number, the police will crackdown on your activities, and you will get no money from this sector for that round.
* Support: resistance of sector residents to takeover by your opponents.
* Cash: income you will receive this round from sector and site taxes.

Throughout the game, red numbers indicate negative quantities.  

Control Panel (right):  
* Events: 	view events for this round (if any).
* Comlink: 	L-view messages from other players (Not active in Demo version).
		R-send messages to other players (Not active in Demo version).
* Combat: 	L-view combat summary for this round (if any).
		R-view detailed combat for this round.
* Financial: 	L-total of expected credits and expenses for all sectors.
		R- total of expected credits and expenses for current sector.
* Mercs: 	L-displays the statistics for all of your gangs in the active sector.
		R-displays statistics for gangs in the hire pool.
* Ranking: 	relative game positions of all six players.
* Done: 		ends your turn.

L is a left click. / R is a right click (Option click on Macintosh).

Hiring Pool (lower right):
* You may hire or fire one gang each round.
* The one-time cost of hiring each gang is shown to the lower left of each picture.
* Gang statistics: double-click on their picture.
* Hire Gang: drag the gang's picture onto a Sector that you control, or where you already have a gang.
* Fire Gang: click on the red X at the lower right of the gang's picture.

Main Grid (left):
* Sector color indicates which player Controls it.  
* Flashing border: active sector.
* White circle: you have at least one gang present.
* Green center: no enemy gangs detected.
* Red center: one or more enemy gangs detected.
* ? mark: at least one gang awaiting instructions.
* Icons: shows which sites you have influenced.
* Double-click to go to Sector Screen.

Sector Screen

* Opponent bar (top): when the gang indicator circle has a red center, one or more of your opponents' pictures will be highlighted--click on their picture to see what enemy gangs are present.  
* Mini-grid (upper left): centered on active sector.  Double-click any of the surrounding sectors to see their screens.
* Gangs (right): all of yours, to a maximum of 6 allowed per sector, per player.  Double-click on the pictures to see statistics.  Force-bar (above picture) is fully green at maximum.  Item windows (below picture) show, when equipped: Weapon, Armor, Misc. (left to right).
* Sites (lower left): double-click on the pictures to see statistics.  Red bar (below picture) will turn green when Influenced.
* Green arrow (lower left): return to the Main Screen.

Gang Command Menu (pull-down under force-bar):
* Give each gang one command per round.
* Attack: attack another gang.  Click on the picture of the enemy's gang.
* Bribe: temporarily increase the tolerance level for the sector.  (cost = 3)
* Chaos: raise cash.
* Control: attempt to control active sector.
* Equip: buy weapons, armor, and other items--availability dependent on gang's Tech level.
* Give: gives an item to another gang.
* Heal: restore Force-bar.
* Hide: attempt to avoid combat.
* Influence: attempt to influence Site.
* Move: deploy to any of the 8 surrounding sectors.
* Research: You must complete research on an item before you can equip any of your other gangs with it.  Ability to research is dependent on Tech level.
* Sell: sells an item for cash.
* Snitch: temporarily decreases the tolerance level for the sector. (cost = 3)
* None: gang does nothing this turn.
* Terminate: fire gang.  
* Right click (Option click on Macintosh) will show available commands that may be issued as standing orders.  Gangs will automatically continue to perform standing orders until completed, or until you give them another command.
