                          
                          
                          
                                               
                                                
                                                 
                                   Ata
                                    -                                   
                     Extracts from the American Civil War
                      
                               v1.15 FINAL
                     



                         Copyright (c) 1998-2001
                                 Badgers







PLEASE READ THE LICENSE AGREEMENT BEFORE STARTING THE GAME! IF YOU START THE
GAME WITHOUT READING THE LICENSE AGREEMENT FIRST, YOU AUTOMATICALLY AGREE
THE WHOLE CONTENT OF THE AGREEMENT.


    TABLE OF CONTENTS
    

        [ 1.0 ][ THE LICENSE AGREEMENT ]
        
        [ 2.0 ][ INFO ]
        
        [ 3.0 ][ MENU ]
           |
           |-- [ 3.1 ][ NEW CAMPAIGN ]
           |-- [ 3.2 ][ HISTORICAL CAMPAIGNS ]
           |-- [ 3.3 ][ LOADING CAMPAIGNS ]
            -- [ 3.4 ][ CONFIGURATION ]
            
        [ 4.0 ][ MAP ]
           |
           |-- [ 4.1 ][ IN CASE OF A NEW CAMPAIGN ]
           |-- [ 4.2 ][ IN CASE OF HISTORICAL CAMPAIGNS ]
           |-- [ 4.3 ][ TAX ]
           |-- [ 4.4 ][ OBSERVATION ]
           |-- [ 4.5 ][ TRADE ]
            -- [ 4.6 ][ BATTLE ON THE MAP ]
            
        [ 5.0 ][ BATTLE ]

        [ 6.0 ][ VERSION HISTORY ]
        
        [ 7.0 ][ CONTACTING ]
                        

[ 1.0 ][ THE LICENSE AGREEMENT ]

    THE AUTHORS (BADGERS) ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE 
    USE OF THIS PRODUCT. WE CAN'T BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANYTHING. THIS PRODUCT 
    IS FREEWARE, WHICH MEANS YOU CAN DISTRIBUTE THIS PRODUCT FREELY AS LONG 
    AS NO MONEY IS INVOLVED AND THE PRODUCTS REMAINS UNMODIFIED. IF YOU
    WANT TO RENT, SELL OR USE THIS PRODUCT TO OTHER FINANCIAL PURPOSES, YOU 
    ARE GOING TO NEED A SIGNED PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHORS (BADGERS). 
    EVERYTHING THAT IS RELATED TO THIS GAME IS COPYRIGHTED PROPERTY 
    OF THE AUTHORS (BADGERS).
    
 

[ 2.0 ][ INFO ]

    Thank you, you have chosen wisely. You're (probably) about to begin 
    playing Ata - Extracts from the American Civil War. There are a
    few things you should know before you begin.
    
        * Make sure Ata gets enough memory from Windows 9x. If
          you're not sure, check this by clicking right button of
          mouse on ata.exe and choose properties. Then choose "Memory"
          and change the value in "MS-DOS protected mode (DPMI) memory"
          to 65535. You have to do it by hand.

        * Ata can be played under both DOS and Windows 9x. So
          you're playing under Windows, you can a shortcut located
          in the same directory as Ata.exe to disable annoying
          key-combinations such as Alt-Enter, Alt-Space, etc.
          that may affect to playability.
          
        * If Ata crashes in some point of loading (either while
          loading menus & coredata in the very beginning or
          while loading the map), it's a probably sign of lacking
          memory (or maybe, just maybe, a bug...). 
          
          To fix this, increase the amount of free space on your
          swapdrive.
          
        * Ata has been tested on dozens of computers. And it seems to
          crash occasionally after a long period of playing. Thus, it 
          should work quite well on your computer, too. Report us if 
          it doesn't.
               
    Let's move on. 

    

[ 3.0 ][ MENU ]  
    
    Use keys up and down (+ left & right in historical menu) to browse
    around. Use Enter or Space to access to a submenu. Backspace and
    Esc are the keys to go back. 

    
        [ 3.1 ][ NEW CAMPAIGN ]
            
            Under "Begin -> Campaigns" you can find the "New Campaign"
            option. It contains imaginary starting positions and
            more arcade-alike rules than in "Historical Situations".
            
        [ 3.2 ][ HISTORICAL CAMPAIGNS ]
        
            There's "Historical Situations" right under the "New Campaign"
            option. Behind the submenu, there's an option for every year 
            of the American Civil War. Practically it means that the
            starting positions and the troop amounts are realistic.
            
        [ 3.3 ][ LOADING CAMPAIGNS ]
        
            Ata automatically saves your campaign after every travelling
            sequence. Each campaign type has its own savefile, fe.
            "free" campaign has CAMPAIGN.SAV. If you start a new
            campaign, you are being warned, because your old savefile
            (if there's one) will be replaced with new.
            
        [ 3.4 ][ CONFIGURATION ]
        
            "Configure" is the word. Escape cancels everything, Enter
            accepts. You can change the global mouse sensitivity, the 
            speed of keys in the menu by using arrows left and right. 
            The battle keys can also be changed and the default keys
            are:
                
                            North                South

            Up              W                    Key Up
            Down            S                    Key Down
            Left            A                    Key Left
            Right           D                    Key Right
            Shoot           Left Ctrl            Right Ctrl
            Reload          Left Alt             Right Alt
            Change Unit     Left Shift           Right Shift
            Change Mode     Tab                  Enter
            Escape          ~ (next to 1)        Backspace
            

            Notice! You can return the default settings simply by removing 
            the file Ata.cfg which can be found from the same directory as 
            Ata.exe
            


[ 4.0 ][ MAP ]

    The map in a nutshell: realistic map, some basic info in the lower 
    right-hand corner, "end turn"-button in the upper right-hand corner 
    and a mode bar at the bottom.
    
    The turns go like this: North turn, South turn, Travel, South turn,
    North turn, Travel, North turn, ...
    
    While North & South turns, the players do the actions they want to,
    such as moving/hiring the troops. The Travel shows you what actually
    happens (at this point you can't do anything).
    
    The left mouse button is for accepting things, the right one for
    cancelling (except when you press the button while the cursor is
    over your army -> the Trade-screen is on).

    After pressing the left button over your army, the appearing foot
    icons show the states you are able to move to. Please notice
    that you can move through several states at once if they are in
    your control.
    
    If you're conquering previously unconquered states, enemy's states
    or as an "after battle", a message window appears showing the results
    of your actions.
    
    PLEASE NOTICE!  This game is a lot more enjoyable if you don't
    watch while your friend's moving his/her troops. Also known as
    the Turn-My-Head -game.
    

        [ 4.1 ][ IN CASE OF A NEW CAMPAIGN ]

            If you chose the "New Campaign" option, you have three armies 
            and three main states (per side) which are marked with crossed 
            flags. Normal states are marked with a single flag. 
    
            Every state contains the maximum count of applicants in the 
            beginning (8 footmen, 3 horsemen, 2 cannonmen).
            
        [ 4.2 ][ IN CASE OF HISTORICAL CAMPAIGNS ]
        
            Choosing alternative "Historical Situation" results in
            hyper-realistic positions of the armies and conquered
            states. The other difference to the "free" campaign is that 
            the amount applicants and employed troops is a constant, and 
            therefore you can't hire more men. What you see is what you get.
                                                  
        [ 4.3 ][ TAX ]
    
            Using the tax button you can deside the amount of tax:
            0, 10, 20, 30 or 40. The smaller the tax is the faster you'll
            get new applicants to your conquered states. And vice versa.
            
        [ 4.4 ][ OBSERVATION ]
        
            This is simple. An easy way to observe the states and the armies.
            Also the amount of applicants is shown. No detailed information 
            is available on the enemy states (this is especially handy
            when your playing the Turn-My-Head- game).
            
        [ 4.5 ][ TRADE ]
        
        
            
       [primary side]                              [secondary side]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         
        [armies]--|
                  |_______          TRADE
                  |   |   |                  
             ---------------                        ---------------
            |_S_|_A_|_A_|_A_|                      |_S_|_A_|_A_|_A_|
             |
             |
          [state]    
                           
                           |--------[total amounts]---------|
                           |                                |
             ____   _ _   ___                       ____   ___
            |_F__| |_|_| |___|   <-[RECRUIT]       |_F__| |___|
       [footmen]  
             ____   _ _   ___                       ____   ___
            |_H__| |_|_| |___|   <-[DISMISS]       |_H__| |___|
      [horsemen]
             ____   _ _   ___                       ____   ___
            |_C__| |_|_| |___|  -> [GIVE TO] ->    |_C__| |___|
     [cannonmen]
                    | |
  [change amounts --| |--|
   with up & down        |
   arrow]                | 
                         |--[prizes]  


                            DONE             CANCEL (all changes)
                            
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        

            On the left is so called "primary" side. This means that every
            action affects this selection. 
            
                * Let's pretend you have chosen the state-icon to be the 
                  selection on the left. 
                * Change the amounts from the arrows.
                * The buttons (RECRUIT, DISMISS, GIVE) may become disabled.
                  This means you cannot perform some of the possible 
                  operations.
                * If you don't have enough money, moneyline will turn red 
                  and the RECRUIT-button become disabled. All other buttons
                  and options correspondingly.
            
            If this seems dizzy to you, we recommend the "try & learn" -
            method. It's late already, so we'll write a better documentary on
            this issue later (if needed).
            
        [ 4.6 ][ BATTLE ON THE MAP ]
        
            If an army attacks a fortress (a state), this will occur.
            There's absolutely nothing you can do, so sit back and enjoy (?).
            



[ 5.0 ][ BATTLE ]

    Drums, please... and the winner is...
    
    Yes, two or more armies meet means just one thing -- battle.

    The icons show which one of the troops is selected. You can change 
    the selection with the Change Unit -key (Shift).
    
    You are also able to escape with the escape key (~ or Tab) if your 
    army is numbering over one in men.
    
        [ 5.1 ][ FOOTMEN ]
            
            Moving the footmen is simple. Up, down, left, right and everything
            between. Shoot with Ctrl, reload with Alt (bullets left are shown
            in the uppers corners). In case you run out of ammo, Ctrl key
            commands your footmen to stab the enemy footmen with the bayonets. 
            Enter is a special key. It changes between running and walking. 
            Running spends stamina which restores slowly.
    
        [ 5.2 ][ HORSEMEN ]
            
            Key to one side to make them move. Key to the opposite side
            to make them stop temporarily. Up and down. Ctrl keeps on
            hitting. The horsemen come back after riding out of the screen.
            
        [ 5.3 ][ CANNONMEN ]
        
            Up and down. Ctrl to shoot. The longer time you keep the button
            down the longer will the distance of the shot be.
            


[ 6.0 ][ VERSION HISTORY ]

    Ata v1.15 FINAL: (ONLY AVAILABLE AS A PATCH)
        + 'Couldn't setup selected videomode' is quite annoying. Added a fix that should prevent it.
          Thank you very much Sakamaki Shigeaki!

    Ata v1.10 FINAL: (FULL VERSION OR THE PATCH)
        + It's now 97% stable.
        + Now the footmen can use their bayonets to stab the opponent.
        + You may encounter a mexican or an indian attack. Beware.
        + Little changes to playability here and there.
        + Hundreds of small bugs were KIA.
        + Graphics have changed a bit (versus-text, etc).

    Ata v1.05 FINAL: (ONLY AVAILABLE AS A PATCH)
        + It is now more stable.
        + The .pif-file was fixed.
    
    Ata v1.02 FINAL: (ONLY AVAILABLE AS A PATCH)
        + Fixed a few bugs.
    
    Ata v1.00 FINAL: (FULL VERSION)
        + The first release ever (aside from that ... thing earlier).
            


[ 7.0 ][ CONTACTING ]

    Badgers is:
    
        Artwork & designing
            Timo Vihola
            
        Programming & designing
            Kimmo Vihola
                    
        Music composition
            Jonny Jansson

          
    
    |
    |----> Contact Badgers by e-mail: badgers@mbnet.fi
    
    You are forced to contact us if you have found a bug. :)
    If it's a crash bug and it prints some cryptic text, please
    include the whole output with the bug report. Thanx.
    
    And visit our website at: http://badgers.dreamsave.com/ or http://www.mbnet.fi/~badgers/
    

    
   



















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