From: lunatic@netcom.com (Lunatic Johnathan Bruce E'Sex)
Subject: GEnie Multi-Player BattleTech info file (long)
Organization: Netcom; Renegade User
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 09:17:53 GMT

     _
    /-\ lot of people here have asked about the Multi-Player BattleTech
 game that's now being put through its paces on GEnie, so I decided I'd
 go capture out the online info file and post it here for all of you to
 read.  Enjoy!
     _
    |_
    |or sign-up information see the obligatory copyright information
 at the end of this file.
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------

                   MultiPlayer BattleTech

                     Copyright (c) 1991
                   The Kesmai Corporation

                     Welcome LUNATIC

  The reset of all Beta Test characters has occurred, and
  the Special transition Campaign has begun. See the About
  BattleTech menu entry or the posting in the MP Games RT
      Topic 27, Category 3, message 173, for details.

                  New host version 9/18/92

               New front end software 8/13/92

           ComStar will Intervene on Monday 12/14

  A reminder: Beta Test is at the normal GEnie Value rate
and all characters will be restarted at the end of Beta Test

House Categories are being set up in the MP Games Guild BB, M 1048!
House Marik members: send GE-mail to D.SKILTON (Rogue)
House Liao members: send GE-Mail to D.FREY1 (Stryker)
House Steiner members: send GE-Mail to C.HODGES8 (Ranger)
House Davion members: send GE-mail to J.LEE25 (Blastum)
House Kurita members: send GE-mail to M.GILLES1 (Dobiwan)
Mercenaries: send GE-mail to DAVE.S (Tripper)

BattleTech, 'Mech, BattleMech, MechWarrior, JumpShip, DropShip
are Trademarks of FASA Corporation, registered in the U.S. Patent
and TradeMark Office. Used under license.


GEnie                             BATTLETECH                         Page 1135
                MultiPlayer BattleTech (r) by KESMAI and FASA

 1.   About Multiplayer Battletech
 2.   Enter Multiplayer Battletech
 3.[*]Download MP BattleTech Software
 4.[*]Send Feedback to KESMAI
 5.   Multiplayer Games RoundTable

P 1135?1

   We will be running a special campaign for the next approximately 2 months,
firm ending date to be announced. The campaign will run as things have during
the beta test, but new features and bug fixes will continue of course. At the
end of the campaign, the top 5 high ranking folks in the House militaries and
the top 5 wealthiest mercenaries will be award some nifty reward, to be
determined, on the order of some quantity of free time in BattleTech. Also
there will be a new special bug reporting topic I will create where I will
post bugs that are reported to me via GEnie mail. Every time you report a bug
that I deem significant enough to post in the category ("my PC locked up"
probably won't count, "I sold a mech for 656,258,234,348 C-bills after I
ripped the right leg off" probably will) you'll get a gold star <grin> The
person with the most gold stars will also get a reward at the end of the
campaign.
   At the end of the special campaign, there will be another reset and ComStar
Intervention, followed by the game going into normal production. However,
then, you WILL keep whatever military rank, House standings, unit
affiliations, and training status earned during the special campaign. We will
reset money and mechs earned.
   There are a couple of reasons we want to do things this way. There are
still a number of features I plan to add over time, but we need to get the
show on the road in the meantime. I want to do a total reset so we can track
money and promotions carefully from 0 in a controlled setting so we can get a
nice warm and fuzzy feeling we won't carry any bugs there on into the future
(money bugs are forever...) There are some additional elements involved that
will become clear over time <grin>
   Thanks!
     Kelton


                Using MultiPlayer BattleTech

     MultiPlayer BattleTech is a  sophisticated  multiplayer
online game that places the user totally in a graphics-based
environment. The  game  itself  consists  of  two  programs,
MWPC.EXE  and  MBTECH.EXE,  and  a  large collection of data
files. Altogether the program takes up about 700K on a  hard
disk. If you own the Activision game MECHWARRIOR, you should
keep Multiplayer Battletech in a  different  directory  from
the  original game: not all the files are compatible between
the two games!


                       About the Game

     Multiplayer Battletech  is  designed  to  simulate  the
world  of  the  Inner Sphere about the year 3026, before the
Fourth Succession War and the immense changes it brings, but
at   a  time  when  the  Houses  have  acquired  substantial
resources in mechs and personnel,  so  that  mechs  are  not
quite  so  hard  to  come  by as they were in earlier years.
Thus warriors do not necessarily always own  the  mech  they
are  operating; they may be a member of a unit that provides
it for their use.  Houses can always find jobs  for  skilled
mech warriors, with or without their own mechs.

     Mech warriors begin as members of a  military  training
academy.   The  training  academy provides a simulation of a
mech and sends the warrior out on a series of training  mis-
sions,  one of each basic type, until the warrior has demon-
strated a mastery of the fundamentals of operating a mech of
that  weight  class. You MUST complete the training sequence
if you expect anyone to trust you in the cockpit of a mech!

     Upon completion of a  training  sequence,  the  warrior
will  graduate from the academy and will be transferred to a
regular  House  military  unit.  Regular  military  missions
involve  up  to  four  mechs  (a  lance), fighting a mission
assigned by the House.  Success in the missions can lead  to
promotions,  fame,  possibly  material rewards, and progress
for one's House. Military missions  always  involve  one  to
four  humans  with House-provided mechs against computer run
opponents of another House.

     In addition to joining a military unit, the warrior can
operate  as a lone mercenary. Mercenaries negotiate for con-
tracts with the Houses, finding missions they think they can
handle,  and  get  the  best  price  they can. Contracts can
specify that the House will provide the mechs, or  that  the
warrior  is  responsible  for coming up with one.  For large
contracts involving more than one mech,  the  mercenary  can
subcontract  to  other  mercenaries, to obtain more mechs in
return for a share of the payoff.

     Mercenaries can band together to  form  units.  A  mer-
cenary  unit  provides  a means to maintain a pool of common
mechs, and simplifies the accounting required  to  get  more
than  one  mech into a contract: a subcontract is not neces-
sary for a unit contract, since the division of  the  payoff
is specified by the terms of one's membership in the unit.

     Lastly, the  mech  warrior  can  choose  to  battle  on
Solaris  VII,  the  Game's World, where duels are fought for
the entertainment of the Galaxy. Matches can be one  on  one
or open matches of up to four mechs.


                       Getting Online

     MultiPlayer BattleTech contains a simple communications
program  as  well  as a basic autodialer. To start the game,
run the  program  MWPC.EXE.   The  program  will  clear  the
screen,  and  will take several seconds to load all the art-
work. The screen will then enter  the  basic  comm  program,
with  a  gray  blank screen.  Buttons are available atop the
screen, for setting up the serial port, entering your  GEnie
login  information,  telling the modem to dial, and exitting
back to DOS. The buttons can be activated from the  keyboard
with the function keys F1 through F4, or with the mouse.

     The first time MWPC is run,  it  will  prompt  you  for
which  comm  port  your  modem is connected to. The software
currently supports only COM1  and  COM2  reliably;  we  have
added  COM3 and COM4 support, but it seems to not  work yet.
The settings are stored in the file COMFIG.MMW,  so  if  you
change your modem setup and wish to reset the comm port, you
can simply delete that file to have the program reprompt you
for the proper comm port.

     You'll want to set the serial port up first, i.e.  baud
rate  and  so  on.   We  strongly recommend using 2400 baud,
there may be problems with 1200 baud in battles with several
mechs.

     MWPC has an emergency escape hatch, hitting alt-Q  will
exit back to DOS from just about anywhere except actually in
battle, so if something goes really wrong try alt-Q and then
disconnecting  from  GEnie.  A second emergency move is that
if you get stuck with the hourglass cursor on screen for  an
extended time, and you think the program has forgotten about
you, hitting alt-space will change the  cursor  back  to  an
arrow so you can make further selections,

     The Set Login button is used to tell the  program  your
GEnie account and password, In addition, you can specify the
dialer command for your modem, i.e. ATDT9711234. Finally, by
entering  y  or n in the See GEnie Announcements option, you
can specify whether the program will pause for you  to  read
the  various  GEnie announcements or not. Use the Tab key or
the mouse for moving between selections.

     After getting set up, dial up GEnie  and  log  in.  The
game  is  on  page  1135,  select option 2 to enter the game
itself, or use the autologin to do it. After a  few  seconds
for  GEnie to shuffle you around from place to place, a wel-
come screen will pop up (looking very much  like  the  title
screen),  then you'll get dropped into the Character Genera-
tor, if its the first time you've played. The character gen-
erator  doesn't do too much yet, it merely prompts you for a
name, and which of the five Houses you  wish  to  start  out
owing  allegiance  to.   If  you  don't know what the Houses
mean, bear with us until the manual is ready or read some of
the books published by FASA.

     After creating a character, or if you already have  one
from  a  previous  session, you'll be placed in the standard
Room screen.


                          The Room

     A room screen has a  number  of  component  parts.  The
upper   left  portion  of  the  screen  contains  an  iconic
representation of your surroundings,  with  a  central  icon
representing the current location and four surrounding icons
representing directions you can travel. Clicking  the  mouse
on  the  icon  for  the  current location brings up a screen
listing of who is in the current location. Clicking  on  one
of the other icons, or hitting the arrow key for that direc-
tion, will move you to that place.

     Immediately to the right of the icons is a window  that
contains a text description of your surroundings, which will
serve to explain the meanings of the icons. To the right  of
that  window  is a column of buttons that activate functions
on your personal communications equipment. The  buttons  can
be  activated by pressing them with the mouse, or by hitting
a function key, i.e. F1 for the top button, F2 for the  next
one  down,  and  so on. The functions of the buttons will be
explained in a later section.

     Below the buttons and icons  is  a  large  window  that
displays text messages that come up from other players, gen-
erally conversation or informative messages. Below the  mes-
sage  window  is a one line input window, where messages you
type are displayed. The backspace key will erase  characters
in  the  input window.  Typing a message and pressing return
or Enter will send it to everyone else in the  current  room
or location.

     From time to time other windows and screens may appear.
They generally conform to certain rules, as follows:

     Small windows that pop up in the center of  the  screen
that  ask  questions  or  present a list of options to chose
from generally insist on an answer right away. Clicking  the
mouse  in a button or on the text of an option list, or hit-
ting the corresponding key, will  answer  the  question  and
make  the box go away. You will generally not be able to hit
another button or keyboard option outside the box. There  is
one  exception:  you  can hit the / key, which will transfer
control back to the input window so that you  can  send  one
message, then transfer back to the query box.

     Small windows that pop up in the upper left  corner  of
the  message  window  are called "alerts". Alert windows are
either informative, or are asking you a simple question, but
do  not  demand  an immediate answer.  In particular, if you
are in the midst of an operation, or are  typing  something,
the arrival of an alert will not disturb that operation.  To
respond to the alert, hit the Tab key or click the mouse  on
the  buttons  in the alert window. The Tab key will make the
alert the active window, so that you can use the Y or N keys
to  answer  a  question for instance. If its an information-
only alert, it will go away when you click in it or hit Tab.
Alerts  will stack up if more that one comes in, you'll have
to deal with them in sequence.

     Those are the basics of operating the main screen.  The
additional  screens and all the game's options are activated
by hitting buttons and then responding to what they do.

     There are several different kinds of  rooms.  The  most
general  kind of rooms, where almost all commands are avail-
able, are Streets, Bars, and other various Buildings. Enter-
ing  one  of  these  places will give you the general set of
buttons  on  the  right,  and  a  group  of  movement  icons
appropriate  to  the setting. There are also special purpose
rooms, that often have limited access and only  permit  cer-
tain commands, such as Dropships and Solaris Match Rooms. In
general it is the movement icons, and sometimes the buttons,
that distinguish the use of one room from another.

                       Movement Icons

     The simplest kind of icons simply represent  places  to
be.  Clicking on them moves you there. These icons are Bars,
Streets, Alleys, Bank Lobbies, Starport Lobbies, and Solaris
negotiating rooms.  From these places you can go interesting
places and cause  interesting  things  to  happen  by  going
towards the special purpose icons.

                           Trams

     The tram icons represent a tram system  that  intercon-
nects  the  various  locales on each planet. Clicking on the
tram icon brings up a list  of  places  the  tram  goes  to.
Clicking on one of them puts you there.

                    Interstellar Travel

     The galaxy icon in the starport causes  you  to  travel
from world to world. This screen works much like the compar-
able screen in MECHWARRIOR. You can use  the  mouse  or  the
arrow  keys  to  move  the  selection  from star to star, or
activate the Planet screen and  choose  from  an  alphabetic
list  of  all  systems  under  that House's nominal control.
Select Travel to actually move there. Personal travel is via
command  curcuit, so its instantaneous, and it is relatively
inexpensive (the technology has  improved  recently!)  Tran-
sporting  mechs  and  equipment  will take time and is a lot
more expensive.

                         Dropships

     The dropship icon puts you in a special  room  that  is
only accessable by people doing a particular mission. If you
have more than one mission available, you'll be prompted for
which  dropship  you  want. Within the dropship commands are
more limited than in a normal room.

                     Start the Mission

     The icon of a door found in the  dropship  is  used  to
actually  begin  the  mission.  To indicate you are ready to
start, hit this button. If you are in a single mech mission,
the  mission  will start. If more than one mech is involved,
then the others in the dropship will  be  notified  you  are
ready,  and  when  everyone  present is ready, all enter the
mission simultaneously.

                   Military Headquarters

     The military headquarters  icon,  which  looks  like  a
parchment contract, is used for joining a military unit or a
training academy. It is essentially the  House  headquarters
on  the  planet. To join a military unit, just hit the icon.
You'll be presented with a list of units on the planet. Note
that  sometimes  units  have  minimum  requirements, so just
because a unit  is present doesn't  mean  they  will  neces-
sarily accept you!

                        Bank Teller

     Within the bank, there is a bank teller icon, which you
hit  to  perform  a  transaction.  It  is always possible to
transfer money to someone else who is also in the bank. Mer-
cenary unit members can transfer credits from their personal
accounts to  the  unit.   Unit  leaders  can  also  transfer
credits from the unit to their own personal account.

                          ComStar

     The ComStar icon is activated to send or receive a Com-
Star  message,  to  access the News Grid, which will contain
information on the doings  of  the  other  players,  and  to
access the Planetary Info screen.  This screen resembles the
galaxy map used in the star port, but instead of moving  you
allows  you  to  access  public information about the planet
such as who currently controls it and  what  military  units
are operating there.

                     Unit Headquarters

     The unit headquarters is  a  special  place  that  only
members of the unit can enter.

                     Solaris Open Match

     The Solaris open match room is a special  room  with  a
very  limited  set  of commands available, namely choosing a
mech and starting a match. Essentially the room functions as
a  dropship, but with free mechs and no preassigned mission.
Up to four mechs can go into an open match, which ends  when
only  one  remains  alive.  See the Solaris section for more
details.
                       New Mech Sales

     The new mech sales icon brings up a list of  new  mechs
and  their prices. Select a mech to buy it, once done buying
mechs hit Cancel to return to the street.

                      Used Mech Sales

     The used mech sales icon is used to buy and sell mechs.
If  you  have a mech currently selected that you are allowed
to sell (i.e. you own it) you will be asked whether you wish
to  sell it. If you do not have one selected, or cannot sell
the one you have, or decline to sell, you will be  presented
with a selection of used mechs available on the planet.

                       Data Terminal

     The data terminal is very much like the  ComStar  icon,
but  it also has additional information available from House
Intelligence.


                          Commands

     There are a large number of commands available in addi-
tion  to  those  accessed by using the movement icons. These
are obtained using the buttons on  the  right  side  of  the
screen. The available buttons are detailed below.

                          Mission

     The Mission button is used to obtain a new mission.  If
you  are  a  member  of a training unit, the next mission in
sequence will be assigned to you. If you are a member  of  a
military  unit,  you'll  be asked how many mechs you plan to
have available for the mission. If you are a merc, you'll be
asked  whether  you  wish  to negotiate for a mission on the
current planet or on another, If you answer 'another' then a
space  map  will  appear  where  you can specify the desired
planet. The program will present you with the number of mis-
sions available on the planet for each number of mechs.

     Once the size of mission is specified,  if  you  are  a
member  of  a  military  unit, a mission will be assigned of
that size, and you can file it in the unit's records under a
name  you  specify,  or  you can choose to decline it (these
guys are pretty lax!) At that point, you and  other  members
of  the unit can proceed to the dropship to perform the mis-
sion.

     If you are a mercenary, a list of missions available of
the  specified  size  will  be  presented.  The mission list
specifies the opponent House, the payoff, the  mission,  and
the  planet where the mission is to be performed. Select one
and a contract will be  presented.  To  negotiate,  use  the
arrow  keys  to  raise  or lower the bid. The mouse or arrow
keys can be used to change the active entry, which will show
in  color.  A  specific  value can also be typed in, and the
number will show in blue while you are typing. The  contract
window is much like an alert window, in that the Tab key can
be used to switch back and forth with the input window.

     Once the House accepts the bid, you'll be prompted  for
a  mission  name.  If the contract is with a mercenary unit,
then any members of the unit can proceed to the dropship  to
participate.  If  in the name of a single warrior, then sub-
contracts will need to be obtained for additional mechs.

                           Mechs

     The Mech button is used to contact the mech storage and
repair  facilities  on  the  planet.  The  options generally
available under this button are as follows:

    Examine current Mech


     This option brings up a mech status screen on the  mech
you currently have assigned to you. This screen displays the
type of mech, who owns it, general  characteristics  of  the
mech,  the  ammo  it has available, its armor condition, its
name, and a list of possible actions. If you don't  own  the
mech  and can't alter it, such as if its a House-owned mech,
the only available action  will  be  to  Examine  it,  which
brings up a detailed display of the Mech's subsystems.

     If you can repair or reload  the  Mech,  the  following
actions will be available:

    Repair
    Repair All
    Reload
    Buy Extra Ammo
    Name Mech


     Repair brings up a repair screen, where you can  repair
individual  subsystems  on  the  mech.  Select the subsystem
using the mouse or arrow keys.  Press  Enter  or  Return  to
repair  the  selected  subsystem.  Hit D (for Done) when you
are finished repairing  the  Mech.  Additional  buttons  are
available  for  examining  individual  parts, removing parts
from a mech and placing them in storage, or in putting spare
parts from storage onto a mech.

     Repair All will attempt to repair all outstanding  dam-
age.

     Reload will attempt to reload all expended ammo.

     Buy Extra Ammo is used to purchase additional  ammo  to
carry  around  in the Mech's ammo locker. This might be used
in extended campaigns.

     Name Mech is used to attach a name to the Mech.

    Choose one of my Mechs


     This option is used to bring up a mech selection screen
of your own mechs.

    Choose a unit Mech


     This option is used to bring up a mech selection screen
for  mechs  belonging  to  your unit that you are allowed to
use.


     If you are  a  unit  leader,  a  number  of  additional
actions  will be available under the Mech button, for manag-
ing the unit's mechs.

    Display Mech Assignments


     This option is used to  display  what  unit  mechs  are
assigned to what unit members.

    Assign a Mech to a Lance

     This option is used to assign a unit mech to one of the
lances  in  the unit. Once assigned to a lance, the mech can
be made available to the warriors in that lance.

    Assign a Lance Mech to a Member


     This option assigns a mech associated with a  lance  to
one of the lance members, thus allowing that warrior to make
use of the unit mech for whatever contracts he has.

    Examine unit Mechs in use


     This option allows the unit  leader  to  examine  which
unit mechs are actually currently in use by unit members.


                         Contracts

     The Contract button is used for reviewing  and  manipu-
lating contracts.

    Review filed contracts


     This option is used to examine contracts  filed  either
under your personal records or under your unit.

    Negotiate a subcontract


     This option is used to initiate a subcontract  negotia-
tion  with  another mech warrior in the same room. A list of
possible subcontractors is presented. Upon choosing one,  an
alert  appears on the other person's screen that you wish to
initiate a negotiation. If the other person agrees, then the
initial  subcontract  appears  on your screen. You can alter
the contract entries for up front and total payoff, as  well
as  specify  the subcontractor's share of the contract. When
you hit Submit, the  contract  then  appears  on  the  other
person's  screen,  where  he  can  then alter the shares and
return  the  bid.  Negotiation  continues  until  one  party
accepts the other party's bid, or one party hits Cancel. The
subcontract is then  filed  under  the  original  contract's
name.

    Cancel a contract


     Any existing contract, including an  uncompleted  mili-
tary  or training mission, can be cancelled. If the contract
involves an up front payment, it will have to be returned to
the House, or the contract will not be cancelled.

    Examine subcontracts


     The holder of a contract with subcontracts may  examine
those subcontracts using this option.

    Renegotiate subcontract


     This option is  used  to  reopen  negotiations  on  the
shares of an existing subcontract. Both participants must be
in the same room.

    Renegotiate unit contract


     The leader of a unit may use this option to renegotiate
the  membership  contract  of  a  unit member present in the
room.


                       Personal Data

     The Personal button is used to examine  and  manipulate
various personal data.

    Change Handle

This option is used to change the name one is known by.

    Review Personal Status


     This option brings up a table of personal data.

    Form a mercenary unit


     Any mech warrior who is not already a member of a  unit
may form one. Unless he or she has a good combat record, the
unit may lack credibility!

    Resign from unit


     The resign option will enable a unit  member  to  sever
the association with the unit.

    Examine my Unit Membership Contract

     A member of a mercenary unit (but not the  leader)  can
use this option to examine the unit membership contract.

    Review Unit Status


     A member of a unit may use this  option  to  check  the
status of the unit.

    Lance Leader Commands

,pp A player who has been designated by the unit  leader  as
the  leader  of  a  lance  has an additional set of commands
accessed via this option, namely the various additional mech
manipulation  commands  the  unit  leader has under the Mech
button, but applying only to that lance, and the ability  to
move the lance headquarters from place to place.

    Exit to GEnie


     This menu option will tell MP BattleTech  to  send  you
back to the GEnie menu.

                            Unit

     The leader of a unit has an  additional  button  avail-
able,  the Unit button, for handling the organization of the
unit.

    Display Unit Status


     This option displays the status of the unit.

    Invite New Member to Unit


     This option  is  used  to  initiate  negotiations  with
another  player  in  the room over unit membership. Negotia-
tions are over an up front credit  transfer  (which  can  go
either way,) shares owned of the unit, and percentage of all
earnings paid to the unit. When a contract is completed suc-
cessfully  by  a  unit, first explicit subcontracts are paid
off, then the payoff is made by dividing the money up  among
the survivors in the proportion to their shares in the unit,
with the appropriate kickbacks then made to  the  unit.  The
unit  leader  always  pays  50% of earnings to the unit, but
since the leader has access to the unit's bank account, this
is a formaility.

    Change Unit Name

     This option changes the name of the unit.

    Change Unit Nickname


     This option changes the unit's nickname.

    Display Lances


     This option displays the membership of  the  lances  in
the unit. Lances are an organizational tool used in the dis-
bursment of mechs to unit members.

    Assign a Member to a Lance


     This option is used  to  assign  a  unit  member  to  a
specific  lance.  All  unit  members should be assigned to a
lance by the unit leader when they join the unit.

    Change Name of a Lance


     This option is used to name a lance.

    Advanced Unit Commands...


     This option is used to bring up a further list of  less
commonly used options.

    Create a New Lance


     This option is used to create a  new  lance.  When  the
unit is formed it consists of one lance of four mechs. Up to
two additional lances may be formed, which allows a total of
twelve warriors in the unit.

    Eliminate a Lance


     An empty lance can be eliminated with this option.

    Promote a member to Lance Leader


     This option will promote a member of a lance to  leader
of  the  lance.   The lance leader is allowed to control the
use of mechs within the lance.

    Fire a Member

     This option will boot someone out of the unit.

    Disband Unit


     This option will disband the unit completely, releasing
all  members,  and  turning  the  unit's credits over to the
leader.

    Move Unit


     If the unit leader is not on the  unit's  home  planet,
this  option  will  allow  the leader to transfer the unit's
base of operations to the current  planet.  This  moves  the
unit's  headquarters.  Mechs  owned  by  the  unit  but  not
assigned to a specific lance, and the unit's stock of  spare
parts, are located on the planet with the unit HQ.

    Move a Lance


     If the unit leader  or  lance  leader  is  not  on  the
lance's  home  planet,  this option will allow the leader to
transfer the lance's  base  of  operations  to  the  current
planet. The lance headquarters providees an additional place
where unit members can  obtain  missions,  and  the  lance's
mechs  are always located on the planet where that lance has
its HQ.


                      Running Missions

     Once  a  mission  has  been  negotiated  or   otherwise
obtained, it can run by going to the space port and entering
the drop ship for that mission. From  the  drop  ship  three
buttons are available.

     The Mech button in  the  dropship  has  two  functions,
depending  on the mission type. If the mechs are provided by
the House, then the Mech button will bring up a mech assign-
ment screen. The mission leader, who is the person who nego-
tiated the contract  if  present,  or  the  ranking  warrior
present,  has  a  screen  to assign the house provided mechs
among those present. The others will have a display  screen,
where  they  can examine their mech and those of the others.
If the House does not provide the  mechs,  the  Mech  button
brings  up  the  usual Choose one of my Mechs, Choose a unit
Mech, Examine current Mech.

     To assign mechs, use the mouse or left and right  arrow
keys  to  select  one  of the mechs, then use the up or down
arrow keys to cycle  through  the  names  of  the  available
warriors.  When  you are satisfied with the assignments, hit
the OK button to make the rearrangements.

     The Briefing button brings  up  a  contract  window  to
review the mission.

     The Personal button brings up  the  Change  Handle  and
Review Personal Status options.


     Once all present have indicated their readiness to  run
the  mission, and have chosen mechs if necessary, all parti-
cipants are simultaneously sent into the mission.  The  MWPC
program transfers control to MBTECH, and after a few seconds
of a blank screen (this will be improved) the  mech  cockpit
appears. One possible complication to be aware of: if one of
the mission participants does not make it into  the  mission
for some reason, such as a software or hardware failure, the
other participants will wait for 30 seconds or so  with  the
blank screen before the program gives up on the wayward par-
ticipant and proceeds with running the mission without them.
If  this  happens to you, be patient, premature rebooting of
your own system only makes it worse!

     Controls in combat are identical to those  in  MECHWAR-
RIOR except for the following:

     The Pause key has been disabled  on  all  screens.  You
can't pause a multiplayer game!

     The F G and V keys can be held  down  to  look  around.
Holding  down  the  F  key gives a view to the left, holding
down the G key gives the view to the right, and holding down
V gives a view directly behind the mech.

     Holding down the B key will give you a  view  down  and
forward  45 degrees, holding down X will look straight down,
and holding down Y will look straight. These keys are useful
when jumping or avoiding being jumped on.

     The I key will toggle an informational display  on  the
currently  targeted mech. This will display the other mech's
operator's id, House, and unit if any.

     The P key will toggle the small  mech  display  on  the
control  panel between displaying your own mech and display-
ing the currently targetted mech.

     An altimeter is now displayed in the HUD  when  a  mech
jumps.

     The / key is used to talk to other players via a radio.
The  '  key  activates a radio private to only mechs on your
side, useful at the moment primarily on Solaris.

     The basic commands to operate a mech are summarized  in
a  file  in  the  MP  Games  RT for those who don't have the
manual for MECHWARRIOR.

     A major change that  has  been  made  in  the  way  the
software  operates  from  the way MECHWARRIOR worked is that
MultiPlayer BattleTech is CPU speed independant. If you have
a  fast  machine,  you will get smoother animation, but your
mech will move at the same speed as  a  mech  running  on  a
slower  machine.  This standard pace may be slower than some
of you with fast PC's are used  to  seeing,  so  do  not  be
surprised  or  alarmed. The slowest machine we recommend for
use with this game is a 12 Mhz  AT-class  machine,  anything
slower will have very poor performance in combat,

     The beta version has no sound.

                          Missions

     Missions fall into several classes, namely kill all the
other  mechs,  defend  the  base  (i.e.  kill  all the other
mechs), ram the enemy base, or destroy the enemy base.

     When the mission is completed, all  the  survivors  get
their  payoff  or  credit, and all are sent back to the star
port of the planet they left from.  This  entails  switching
back  to MWPC, so the screen will go black for a few seconds
again, before the room screen comes back up.

                          Solaris

     The planet Solaris VII is unique in the  Inner  Sphere:
it is a sort of neutral zone where mech warriors go to duel,
for the entertaining of the masses and for glory. All combat
on  Solaris is player vs.  player. The planet is also unique
in the complexity of its layout, which requires some further
explanation.

     Solaris City is divided into six sectors:  an  Interna-
tional  Zone  and  a  sector  controlled  by each House. The
International Zone houses the space port  and various ameni-
ties of use to travellers. In particular, "The Mech Warrior"
is a good place to meet recruiters for the House stables.

     The Solaris tram system provides travel between all the
zones,  and within each sector. To travel between one sector
and another, choose the tram and specify the desired sector.
Then,  to  travel  elsewhere in the zone, hit the tram again
and choose the local destination.

     There  are  two  basic  kinds  of  fighting  arenas  on
Solaris,  open arenas and House arenas. The House arenas, of
which the Steiner and Davion arenas are currently open,  are
used  for  arranged  matches  by  two  warriors. Players can
arrange bets (which are not at the moment paid off!), choose
mechs,  and  go. Mech choices will depend on what stable the
player belongs to and his standing with  it.   In  the  open
matches,  on  the other hand, the choice of mechs is totally
free, and up to four warriors fight till only  one  remains.
Open  matches are the simplest way to get into a fight.  The
open matches are generally held in various  large  abandoned
factories  made  up  inside  as battle arenas.  Head for the
nastier areas of Solaris to find them.

                          Training

     Training is an essential part of becoming a  mech  war-
rior.  When  you  start out, you will be a member of a House
academy, Upon completion of the training missions, you  will
be  graduated  out  of  the  academy  as a Mech Warrior, and
transferred to a House military unit. As you gain competence
and  respect, the House will promote you, and will recommend
you return to your academy for  further  training  in  addi-
tional  mech  classes.  When they recommend doing so, travel
back to the planet and use the enlisting icon  to  join  the
academy,   After  completion  of  further  training,  you'll
receive promotions, and will then be able to return to  your
military unit.

     In addition to  the  House  academies,  there  are  two
private  training academies which are less picky about House
of origin and history of service, The private academies, the
Hero  Training Institute on Maxwell and the Blackjack School
of Conflict on Blackjack, charge an admission  fee,  and  do
not  offer  House  promotions  on  graduation,  but they are
always available to qualified applicants.

     There is one exception to the usual course of training:
House Steiner doesn't care for light mechs, and don't bother
to train in them.  Warriors training for House Steiner  will
immediately  begin training in medium mechs. Thus a prospec-
tive merc coming from House  Steiner  may  find  himself  in
trouble  if  he  goes to another House, and they really want
him to use a light mech! On the other hand, he knows  medium
mechs well before those of other Houses.

     Since the Blackjack School is in Steiner space, it  has
a  unique  property: it will train anyone in either light or
medium mechs.  Thus a Steiner graduate can go there to learn
light  mechs  in preparation for work with other Houses, and
mercs from other Houses can come there  to  get  a  jump  on
medium training.

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  /         -= Lunatic Johnathan Bruce E'Sex     (:      /
 /  lunatic@netcom.com  GEnie: LUNATIC  CI$: 76170,672  /
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